HOUSTON (AP) — Adolis GarcĂa homered twice and drove in five runs as the Texas Rangers reached the World Series with an 11-4 blowout of the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series. GarcĂa went deep for the fourth straight game and set a record for RBIs in a postseason series with 15. Corey Seager got things started for the Rangers with a long home run in the first inning, and Nathaniel Lowe also went deep to give Texas — one of six major league teams without a World Series title — its first berth in the Fall Classic since consecutive trips in 2010 and 2011. After winning their Lone Star State showdown with Houston, the wild-card Rangers open the World Series at home Friday night against Arizona or Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit back-to-back homers and Merrill Kelly struck out eight to help the Arizona Diamondbacks force Game 7 of the NL Championship Series with a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The winner of Tuesday night’s game advances to the World Series against Houston or Texas, who played Game 7 of the AL Championship later Monday night. The Diamondbacks came ready in Game 6 to back up the bold pregame words from manager Torey Lovullo and tamed Phillies bats and the hostile home crowd.
HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Rangers slugger Adolis GarcĂa set a record for RBIs in a postseason series with 15 in the AL Championship Series and extended his home run streak to four games after going deep twice in Game 7 against the Houston Astros. He had an opposite-field solo homer in the third and added another solo shot in the eighth that pushed the Rangers to an 11-3 lead. The Dominican slugger known as “El Bombi” had struck out four times in Game 6 before a grand slam in the ninth inning of that 9-2 win.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kirk Cousins connected with rookie Jordan Addison for two first-half touchdowns, Camryn Bynum intercepted San Francisco’s Brock Purdy twice in the fourth quarter, and the Minnesota Vikings beat the 49ers 22-17. Christian McCaffrey scored twice for the 49ers. They lost their second straight game for the first time in a 34-game stretch and fell to 5-2. The Vikings improved to 3-4. Cousins went 35 of 45 for 378 yards. Addison had seven receptions for 123 yards.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been taking his play to a new level whenever Taylor Swift is in the house. Kelce had 12 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 31-17 victory over the Chargers, when the pop star showed up to see her new beau play at Arrowhead Stadium. Kelce has 48 catches for 499 yards and four touchdowns in the six games since Swift accepted his invitation to see him play. Kelce is averaging 108 yards in the games she attends and 46.5 yards in the one she does not. But perhaps most importantly, the Chiefs have not lost since Swift became their newest fan.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles have traded for two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to help a banged-up secondary. The Tennessee Titans and Eagles confirmed Monday night they swapped Byard to Philadelphia for safety Terrell Edmunds. The Titans also will receive the Eagles’ fifth- and sixth-round draft picks in 2024, pending both players passing physicals. Byard has 27 interceptions since becoming a starter in 2017. The deal fills a big need for the Eagles. They lost safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to Detroit in free agency and are dealing with injuries in their secondary.
UNDATED (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins’ high-octane offense were shut down by a gang of kelly green Eagles. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills gave Bill Belichick a week off from job speculation. Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions failed their biggest test against a stingy defense. Three of the NFL’s most-hyped teams had a rough Sunday. The Dolphins had a chance to showcase the league’s most prolific offense in a prime-time matchup in Philadelphia. Instead, they got knocked around by a defense wearing throwback uniforms who looked and played like Buddy Ryan’s ferocious group led by Reggie White and Jerome Brown.
UNDATED (AP) — Reigning AP national player of the year Zach Edey is a unanimous selection on The Associated Press preseason All-America team in college basketball. The big man tested the NBA waters before deciding to play one more season for No. 3 Purdue. Edey is joined by Marquette guard Tyler Kolek, Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, Duke big man Kyle Filipowski and North Carolina forward Armando Bacot. Edey was the consensus national player of the year last season after averaging 22.3 points and 12.9 rebounds while shooting nearly 61% from the field.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Texas 11 Houston 4
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NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Arizona 5 Philadelphia 1
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Montreal 3 Buffalo 1
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Minnesota 22 San Francisco 17
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Arizona at Philadelphia 8:07 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
L.A. Lakers at Denver 7:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Golden State 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Toronto at Washington 6 p.m.
Anaheim at Columbus 6:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Ottawa 6:45 p.m.
Carolina at Tampa Bay 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Montreal 7:15 p.m.
Dallas at Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Florida 7:45 p.m.
Colorado at N-Y Islanders 8 p.m.
Seattle at Detroit 8:15 p.m.
Boston at Chicago 8:30 p.m.
St. Louis at Winnipeg 8:45 p.m.
Edmonton at Minnesota 9 p.m.
Vancouver at Nashville 9:15 p.m.
N-Y Rangers at Calgary 9:45 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles 10:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Vegas 11 p.m.