DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit his 507th home run, Detroit got nine innings from its bullpen and the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory. MJ Melendez led off the game with a home run for Kansas City, and Cabrera hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the inning. Scheduled Tigers starter Matt Manning was scratched just before game time because of arm fatigue. Will Vest pitched the first inning, allowing Melendez’s homer, and the next six relievers combined for eight shutout innings. Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his 29th save. The Tigers need one win in their last eight games to avoid 100 losses.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Woodruff struck out 10 over six scoreless innings and Devin Williams delivered four big outs late to boost the Milwaukee Brewers’ playoff hopes with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The victory, Milwaukee’s first since last Saturday at Cincinnati, combined with the Phillies’ loss to the Cubs in Chicago moved the Brewers within a half-game of Philadelphia for the third and final NL wild-card spot with seven to play.
TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge tied Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 home runs in a season, hitting a tiebreaking, two-run drive for the New York Yankees in the seventh inning that led them over Toronto Blue Jays 8-3. The 30-year-old slugger drove a 94.5 mph belt-high sinker with a full-count from Tim Mayza over the left-field fence at Rogers Centre. The 117.4 mph drive took just 3.8 seconds to land 394 feet from the plate. and it put the Yankees ahead 5-3. Judge watched the ball clank off the stands, just below two fans who reached over a railing.
TORONTO (AP) — Roger Maris Jr. considers the home run feats of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to be illegitimate and says Aaron Judge should be recognized as the holder of the big league season standard if the New York Yankees slugger hits No. 62. Maris says "baseball needs to look at the records.” In 1961, Roger Maris broke the record of 60 set by Babe Ruth in 1927. Maris’ mark stood until McGwire hit 70 in 1998, and that was topped by Barry Bonds’ 73 in 2001. McGwire admitted using steroids, while Bonds and Sosa maintained they didn’t knowingly use PEDs.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are hopeful that Harrison Butker, their big-legged kicker whom they so sorely missed last week in Indianapolis, will be able to play when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The Chiefs waived Matt Ammendola after he missed a chip-shot field goal and an extra point in last week's 20-17 loss in Indianapolis. If Butker remains out for the third straight week, the Chiefs would turn to Matthew Wright, whom they signed to the practice squad. Wright appeared in three games for Pittsburgh two years ago and 14 games for Jacksonville, where he connected on 21 of 24 field goals and 13 of 15 extra points. The former Central Florida standout’s career long is 56 yards.
UNDATED (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved their football operations to South Florida to avoid Hurricane Ian and remain hopeful of being able to return home to play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. The team practiced at the Miami Dolphins' training facility on Wednesday. The Bucs insisted the disruption to their normal routine will not hinder their ability to prepare for the team they beat in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Family members, and even some pets, accompanied players and coaches in relocating ahead of the storm making landfall on Florida’s west coast.
UNDATED (AP) — The first full weekend of conference games in the Big 12 includes a rematch of last year's championship game as ninth-ranked Oklahoma State plays at 16th-ranked Baylor. The Bears won the title game last December on a last-second fourth-down stop near the end zone. Oklahoma State is the league’s highest-scoring game at nearly 52 points a game and is coming off an open date. Baylor opened Big 12 play with a win at Iowa State. Still-undefeated Kansas with standout quarterback Jalon Daniels is home this week against the Cyclones. No. 18 Oklahoma plays at TCU; No. 25 Kansas State hosts Texas Tech; and West Virginia is at Kansas.
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The administrators who've been given the task of expanding the College Football Playoff from four to 12 teams left their latest in-person meetings outside Chicago with the biggest question unanswered: How soon? The CFP management committee is scheduled to convene again Oct. 20 in Dallas. The members expect to get some work done before then by video conference. But whether the logistical hurdles can be cleared to implement a new format as soon as 2024 is unclear. The playoff will definitely expand by 2026, but the management committee has been tasked with trying to flip the format for the 2024 and '25 seasons.
UNDATED (AP) — For a few ranked teams, the first month of the season was all about home sweet home. No. 4 Michigan, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Washington will play their first road games of the season this weekend. The Cowboys have a big one against Big 12 rival and No. 16 Baylor. The Wolverines and Huskies face unranked but potentially formidable conference foes in the year’s first road trips. Michigan goes to Iowa and Washington faces UCLA on a short week. Their first road tests are among this week’s five most intriguing games.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Arizona 5 Houston 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 2 Tampa Bay 1
Final Detroit 2 Kansas City 1
Final Boston 3 Baltimore 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 8 Toronto 3
Final Minnesota 8 Chicago White Sox 4
Final Seattle 3 Texas 1
Final L.A. Angels 4 Oakland 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 4 Cincinnati 3
Final Washington 3 Atlanta 2
Final N.Y. Mets 5 Miami 4
Final Chicago Cubs 4 Philadelphia 2
Final Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 1
Final San Francisco 6 Colorado 3
Final L.A. Dodgers 1 San Diego 0