AP Sports Summary for October 16th.
Montgomery shuts out Astros, Taveras homers as Rangers get 2-0 win in Game 1 of ALCS
HOUSTON (AP) — Jordan Montgomery shut down the Houston Astros and Leody Taveras homered as the Texas Rangers did just enough against Justin Verlander to get a 2-0 win in the opener of the AL Championship Series Sunday night. Montgomery threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings and Taveras made it 2-0 with his solo homer in the fifth inning. Rookie Evan Carter helped in the win, too. The 21-year-old doubled and scored in the second and made two nifty defensive plays. The Rangers, who are in the ALCS for the first time since back-to-back appearances in 2010-11, improved to 6-0 this postseason after sweeping the Rays in the Wild Card Series and the Orioles in the ALDS.
Hall runs for a TD after Adams' INT and Jets shock Eagles 20-14 to send Philly to its first loss
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Breece Hall ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 1:46 remaining, one play after Tony Adams intercepted Jalen Hurts, and the New York Jets held on to shock the previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 for their first win against them. The Jets appeared on their way to falling to 0-13 in their history against the Eagles, but Hurts' third interception of the game — and the fourth turnover by Philadelphia — was returned by Adams 45 yards to put New York into immediate scoring position. Hall's run shook MetLife Stadium as the Jets fans went wild and Zach Wilson connected with Randall Cobb on a 2-point conversion. The defense shut down the Eagles one more time to seal the win.
Browns stun 49ers 19-17, hand San Francisco its first loss and QB Brock Purdy his first as starter
CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal with six seconds left as San Francisco was stunned 19-17 by the Cleveland Browns, who ended the 49ers' regular-season winning streak at 15 and handed quarterback Brock Purdy his first loss as an NFL starter. Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals — the last with 1:40 left — for the Browns, who pulled off the upset without quarterback Deshaun Watson. He missed his second straight game with a bruised right shoulder. P.J. Walker came off Cleveland's practice squad and outplayed Purdy, who had won his first 10 starts. The 23-year-old drove the 49ers into field-goal range, but Moody was wide right on his attempt.
AP Top 25: Washington into top 5 for 1st time in 6 years. Air Force ranked for 1st time since 2019
Washington has moved up to No. 5 in The Associated Press college football poll, the Huskies' best ranking in six years, after a thrilling victory against Oregon. And unbeaten Air Force is ranked for the first time since 2019. The top four teams in the country were unchanged after No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State all won Saturday in blowout fashion. Washington got two first-place votes and jumped two spots past No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Penn State. That gave the Huskies their best ranking since reaching No. 5 in October 2017.
Jones and Stewart help Liberty avoid sweep, take Game 3 of WNBA Finals, beat Aces 87-73
NEW YORK (AP) — Jonquel Jones scored 27 points and Breanna Stewart added 20 to help the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-73 and force a Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. New York struggled in the first two games against the Aces in Las Vegas, but the Liberty found their shooting touch in Game 3 behind Jones, who hit four of the team's 13 3-pointers. This was the Liberty's first win in the WNBA Finals since 1999. The Aces are up 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Game 4 is Wednesday night in New York. Kelsey Plum scored 29 points and A'ja Wilson added 16 for the Aces.
Zack Wheeler blossoms into ace for Phillies, gets Game 1 start against Arizona in NLCS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler is the Philadelphia Phillies' most dependable starter as he gets set for Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. He signed a $118 million, five-year contract ahead of the 2020 season. Wheeler has topped 200 innings once, 200 strikeouts twice and won a pair of playoff games over that span. The Diamondbacks send out 17-game winner Zac Gallen for the Game 1 start. Merrill Kelly, a 12-game winner who tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings in an NLDS win over the Dodgers, goes in Game 2. Late-season surprise Brandon Pfaadt is in line for the Game 3 start.
Assistant coach Alyssa Nakken interviews for Giants manager position
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Alyssa Nakken, who became the first woman to coach on the field in a major league game when she worked first base for San Francisco in April 2022, has interviewed for the Giants managerial vacancy. President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi confirmed Sunday night that Nakken had gone through a first-round interview last week. The 33-year-old Nakken, a softball star at Sacramento State from 2009-2012, has been a coach on the Giants staff since Kapler hired her in January 2020.
Kyle Larson earns spot in NASCAR's championship race with victory at Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kyle Larson edged Christopher Bell at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway finish line to become the first driver locked into NASCAR's championship race. The 2021 Cup champion earned the first of four spots in the Nov. 5 title-deciding finale with his win Sunday. A win in any of the three playoff races this round earns an automatic berth into the championship finale. The remaining slots are filled based on the points standings. Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Christopher Buescher are the four drivers below the cutline. The win capped a week for Larson in which he began his preparations for next year's Indianapolis 500. Larson plans to run both the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 next May and on Thursday completed the rookie orientation program at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Clark's triple-double highlights game at Kinnick. Women's basketball record crowd of 55,646 shows up
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A total of 55,646 fans turned out in Iowa City for the "Crossover at Kinnick" women's basketball exhibition between DePaul and Iowa. Returning national player of the year Caitlin Clark had a triple-double of 34 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder came up with the idea to play an outdoor game in the football stadium with the hope of setting an all-time women's basketball attendance record. The crowd nearly the doubled the previous record of 29,619 set by Connecticut and Oklahoma in the 2002 NCAA championship game at San Antonio's Alamodome.
Tom Kim wins in Las Vegas for the 2nd time in the same PGA Tour season
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tom Kim is a winner in Las Vegas again. It was a wild finish in the Shriners Children's Open. At one point there was a six-way tie for the lead with 12 players separated by one shot. Kim emerged with a 66 to defeat Adam Hadwin by one shot. It's his third PGA Tour title at age 21. He's the youngest to do that since Tiger Woods. Kim also joins Byron Nelson in 1944 as the only players to win the same event twice in one year. That's because the PGA Tour is going to a calendar season in 2024.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Final Texas 2 Houston 0
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Final Charlotte 117 Oklahoma City 115
Final Toronto 134 Cairns 93
Final Miami 132 Memphis 124
Final Milwaukee 108 L.A. Lakers 97
Final Denver 116 Chicago 102
Final OT Golden State 121 Sacramento 115
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Ottawa 5 Tampa Bay 2
Final Anaheim 6 Carolina 3
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 24 Tennessee 16
Final Cincinnati 17 Seattle 13
Final Cleveland 19 San Francisco 17
Final Houston 20 New Orleans 13
Final Jacksonville 37 Indianapolis 20
Final Miami 42 Carolina 21
Final Minnesota 19 Chicago 13
Final Washington 24 Atlanta 16
Final Las Vegas 21 New England 17
Final Detroit 20 Tampa Bay 6
Final L.A. Rams 26 Arizona 9
Final N-Y Jets 20 Philadelphia 14
Final Buffalo 14 N-Y Giants 9
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WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Final New York 87 Las Vegas 73
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Texas at Houston 4:37 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Arizona at Philadelphia 8:07 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PRESEASON
Atlanta at Indiana 7 p.m.
Maccabi Ra'anana at Cleveland 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Brooklyn 7:30 p.m.
Houston at San Antonio 8 p.m.
New Zealand Breakers at Utah 9 p.m.
Portland at Phoenix 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Arizona at N-Y Rangers 7 p.m.
Calgary at Washington 7 p.m.
Chicago at Toronto 7 p.m.
Detroit at Columbus 7 p.m.
Florida at New Jersey 7 p.m.
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Dallas at L.A. Chargers 8:15 p.m.
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