AP Wednesday Sports Roundup

MLB-SCHEDULE

O's top Yanks...Mets shock Nats

UNDATED (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays needed extra innings to regain their 1 ½-game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East.

Troy Tulowitzki delivered a tiebreaking, RBI single in a four-run 10th that propelled the Jays past the Red Sox, 5-1 in Boston. Chris Collabello singled home an insurance run before Tulowtizki scored on a balk.

R.A. Dickey had to settle for a no-decision after holding the Bosox to a run and four hits in six innings. Toronto's bullpen followed with four hitless innings.

In New York, Chris Davis led off the ninth inning with his major league-leading 41st homer to push Baltimore to a 2-1 victory over the Yanks. New York lost despite Alex Rodriguez, who reached the 30-home run plateau for the 15th time in his career. Rodriguez tied Hank Aaron's record for most seasons with 30 homers.

New York's other team padded its division lead. The Mets own a six-game edge in the NL East after turning a 7-1 deficit into an 8-7 triumph over the second-place Nationals in Washington. Yoenis Cespedes lined a three-run double while the Mets were putting together a six-run seventh that tied the game 7-7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis  snapped the deadlock with a solo shot in the eighth as the Mets beat the Nats for the fifth straight time.

David Wright also homered for the Mets, who rallied after Jordan Zimmermann held them to one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Baseball's tightest division race is in the AL West, where Houston's lead is down to one game over Texas. The Astros were 4-0 losers at Oakland as Sonny Gray held the Astros to five hits in seven innings. Mark Canha ripped a three-run homer off Scott Kazmir in the fifth, two innings after Billy Burns went deep off the Houston lefty.

The Rangers inched closer with a 9-6 win at Seattle as Shin-Soo Choo crushed a three-run homer. Mitch Moreland, Rougned Odor and Joey Gallo also supplied long balls in the Rangers' second consecutive win.

Texas enjoys a 2 ½-game lead over Minnesota for the second AL wild-card berth.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Andrew McCutchen smacked a three-run homer and Jung Ho Kang added a solo shot in Pittsburgh's 7-3 triumph at Cincinnati. Francisco Liriano was terrific over six innings, holding the Reds to three hits while striking out 10. The victory puts the Pirates within 4 ½ games of the NL Central-leading Cardinals.

— The Cards were 8-5 losers to the red-hot Chicago Cubs, who won their fifth in a row. Starlin Castro was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, four RBIs and three runs scored, while Anthony Rizzo added a two-run blast and three ribbies. Jason Hammel blanked the Redbirds until Randal Grichuk belted a two-run homer in the Cardinals' five-run seventh.

— Clayton Kershaw led the Dodgers to a 6-4 win over the Angels, allowing one earned run and four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Justin Ruggiano hit a solo homer as the Dodgers retained their 8 1/2-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West. Kole Calhoun smacked a solo shot for the Angels, who are 4 1/2 games behind Texas in the AL wild-card hunt.

— Tim Hudson was sharp in the Giants' 6-2 win at Arizona, giving up a run and four hits with no walks over six innings. Hudson also belted a solo homer in the Giants' three-run third. Gregor Blanco and Joe Panik supplied the Giants' other round-trippers.

— Kansas City's lead in the AL Central is back to 12 games over Minnesota after the Royals rode a four-run first to a 4-2 triumph over the second-place Twins. Eric Hosmer sparked the rally with a three-run double and scored on a two-bagger by Kendrys Morales. Edinson Volquez limited the Twins to a pair of runs and six hits in seven innings.

— Rajai Davis lifted a sacrifice fly in the 13th inning to give Detroit an 8-7 win over Tampa Bay. Davis also homered after J.D. Martinez socked his team-high 36th round-tripper of the season.

— Rob Brantly's three-run homer in the second put the White Sox ahead to stay before Jose Abreu added a solo shot and two RBIs in a 7-4 win against Cleveland. Carlos Rodon struck out eight and held the Indians to a run and five hits in seven innings.

— Philadelphia beat Atlanta 5-0 behind Rookie Aaron Nola's seven shutout innings and Odubel Herrera's three-run homer. Nola allowed six hits with a career-high seven strikeouts as the Phillies dealt the Braves their 13th loss in 14 games.

— J.T. Realmuto homered twice, including an inside-the-park job during a three-run fourth that pushed Miami past Milwaukee, 6-4. Justin Bour provided two RBIs for the Marlins.

— Cory Spangenberg scored on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the ninth to give San Diego a 2-1 win against Colorado. Nolan Arenado's ninth-inning homer tied the game after Wil Myers went deep to put the Padres ahead in the sixth.

MLB-YANKEES-INJURIES

Eovaldi likely done for rest of regular season

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Yankees are not in the best of health as they try to catch the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East race.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says that elbow inflammation will keep pitcher Nathan Eovaldi from throwing for two weeks before he starts a two-week throwing program. That means Eovaldi will likely miss the remainder of the regular season after going 14-3 with a 4.20 ERA.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi says there's no telling when first baseman Mark Teixeira will return from a bone bruise in his right shin.

In other major league news:

— Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman will make his first start of the season Saturday against the Yankees in the Bronx. The 24-year-old underwent surgery in March after tearing the ACL in his left knee, an injury that was expected to keep him out the entire season. Stroman was 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA in 26 appearances as a rookie in 2014.

— Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy has been activated from the 15-day disabled list Orioles after recovering from a strained left groin. Hardy, who went on the disabled list on Aug. 24, is hitting .222 with seven homers and 32 RBIs.

MLB-ANDUJAR OBIT

Former 20-game winner dies

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Former St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros pitcher Joaquin Andujar has died at 62 of complications from diabetes. Andujar was a two-time All-Star in five seasons with the Cardinals, helping the team win the 1982 World Series and 1985 National League pennant. He had 20-win seasons in 1984 and '85, led the National League in victories in '84 and was a 15-game winner on the Cardinals '82 World Series club.

Andujar broke in with the Astros in 1976 and represented the team in two All-Star games. He also spent two seasons with Oakland before completing his career with the 1988 Astros.

T25-POLL

SEC dominates first in-season poll

UNDATED — The SEC has landed a record 10 teams in the first Associated Press college football poll of the season, although Ohio State remains a unanimous No. 1 following its 42-24 win at Virginia Tech.

Alabama is the highest-ranked SEC school after climbing to second in the poll. TCU is third, followed by Baylor, Michigan, Auburn, Oregon, Southern Cal, Notre Dame and Georgia.

In addition to the Crimson Tide, Tigers and Bulldogs, the SEC has LSU, Texas A&M, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Mississippi State in the poll. Texas A&M and Mississippi State cracked the top-25 with victories last weekend.

NFL-GOODELL

Open to change in his job description

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN Radio that he is willing to lessen his role in the player discipline process, but he's still reluctant to give up final say.

The players union wants disciplinary power now held by Goodell to be handled by a neutral arbitrator, but Goodell says the league resists third-party arbitration.

Goodell said he's "very open" to changing his role in dishing out discipline and called it "extremely time consuming." He added, however, that any change would come within the initial discipline process, not with the way appeals are handled.

NFL-BILLS

Veteran QB rejoins Buffalo

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Quarterback Matt Cassel is back with the Buffalo Bills. Just days after being cut by the team, he has agreed to a new, cheaper contract and has been named the backup to Tyrod Taylor.

Cassel was scheduled to make a $4.15 million base salary in his previous contract, which was deemed too expensive for a backup.

NFL-COLLUSION

Court rules against players union

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The NFL Players Association's lawsuit alleging that league owners set a secret salary cap in 2010 has been rejected again in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis issued his order Tuesday. He denied the motion filed by the NFLPA in 2012 to reopen the long-running case that was closed in 2011 when the lockout ended. The union sought $4 billion in damages, citing collusion.

NBA-SUNS

Unhappy brother wants out

PHOENIX (AP) — Disgruntled Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris has been fined $10,000 for making "a public statement detrimental to the NBA." He said in a tweet last week that his "future will not be in Phoenix." The tweet came a month after he told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was upset with the way the Suns traded his twin brother Marcus to the Detroit Pistons.

US OPEN

Day 9

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams is within two match victories of completing a calendar slam.

Williams maintained that goal by defeating her sister in the U.S. Open women's quarterfinals, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Venus Williams. Serena fired 12 aces and broke serve three times in earning the right to take on Roberta Vinci in the semifinals on Thursday.

It was the 11th three-set victory at a major this year for Serena, who improved to 9-5 against her sister in Grand Slam matches

Vinci advanced with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 triumph over Kristina Mladenovic. The unseeded Vinci had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event before this month.

The men's semifinals will include top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who was able to outlast No. 18 Feliciano Lopez, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.

Defending men's champion Marin Cilic stretched his U.S. Open winning streak to 12 matches by holding on to beat 19th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4. Cilic will take on Djokovic in Friday's men's semis.

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GOLF-PRESIDENTS CUP

Lefty to play for US in Prez Cup

UNDATED (AP) — Phil Mickelson has been selected to the Presidents Cup as a captain's pick by Jay Haas even though he was 30th in the standings and hasn't won in two years. Haas says Mickelson deserved a pick after making the last 20 Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams without needing one. Haas also picked his son, Bill Haas, who ranks 11th in the standings.

International team captain Nick Price has chosen Sang-Moon Bae and Steven Bowditch to fill out his 12-man team that will try to end 17 years of losing against the Americans. The matches are Oct. 8-11 in South Korea.

OBIT

Ex-Giant dies at 27

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa state medical examiner says former New York Giants safety Tyler Sash has died at the age of 27. The director of forensic operations for the medical examiner tells The Associated Press that his office and local police are investigating Sash's death.

No cause of death has been determined, but an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Sash started 37 games for the University of Iowa from 2007-10, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior. He helped the Giants win their last Super Bowl.