AP Wednesday Sports Wrap

UNDATED (AP)— The defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants blanked NL Central-leading St. Louis 2-0 in a rare loss for the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Ryan Vogelsong and four relievers combined on the two-hit shutout. Vogelsong went six innings, allowing both hits to improve to 9-8.

Giants ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner keyed a seventh inning rally with his first career pinch hit.

The Giants have won six of eight to move within two games of NL West-leading Los Angeles. The Cardinals lost at home for just the 19th time in 64 games.

In other baseball:

__Alex Rodriguez hit a seventh-inning grand slam -- the 25th of his career to extend his all-time record in that category -- to help the New York Yankees beat Minnesota 8-4 at Yankee Stadium. It was the 25th homer for A-Rod. The Yanks maintained their one-game lead over Toronto atop the AL East.

— Toronto scored five times in the sixth inning and beat Philadelphia 9-5. Josh Donaldson hit two homers and Edwin Encarnacion also went deep for the Blue Jays, who've won 13 of 15.

— The Pittsburgh Pirates needed 15 innings to outlast Arizona 9-8. Pedro Florimon tripled home Francisco Cervelli with two outs in the bottom of the 15th to win the Pirates longest game of the season. Pittsburgh closed within five games of NL Central-leading St. Louis.

__ In a game delayed by rain for two hours, 17 minutes at Wrigley Field, the Detroit Tigers used a 19-hit attack to outlast the Chicago Cubs 10-8. Ian Kinsler went 5 for 5 and drove in two runs for the Tigers.

__ In 10 innings, Oakland beat the L.A. Dodgers 5-4. Billy Butler's run-scoring double in the 10th won it for the Athletics.

— Curtis Granderson connected off Kevin Gausman on the game's second pitch and homered again in the fifth, then Jacob deGrom made the lead stand for the first-place New York Mets, who beat Baltimore 5-3. The Mets have beaten the Orioles nine straight times dating to 2010.

— The Washington Nationals remain four and a-half back of the Mets by beating Colorado 15-6 to end a six-game slide. Yunel (yoo-NEHL') Escobar hit a two-run homer and drove in four. Besides allowing 15 hits, Rockies pitchers helped out the Nats with 10 walks, two wild pitches, a balk and a hit batsman.

— Hisashi Iwakuma followed his no-hitter by limiting Texas to two runs and five hits over seven innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Rangers 3-2. Iwakuma no-hit the Orioles last Wednesday.

__ AL Central-leading Kansas City needed 13 innings to beat Cincinnati 3-1. Ben Zobrist tied the game with a homer in the ninth inning. Jarrod Dyson scored the tie-breaking run from first base on pitcher Ryan Mattheus' throwing error in the 13th.

— Ichiro Suzuki had his first four-hit game in over two years, and Cole Gillespie drove in a season-high three runs in the Miami Marlins' 9-6 victory over Milwaukee. __ San Diego blanked Atlanta 9-0. Ex-Brave Melvin Upton Jr. hit two two-run home runs against his former team.

__ — Kole Calhoun and Albert Pujols  homered in the first inning and the Los Angeles Angels held on to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3. Garrett Richards won his 12th game.

— Marwin Gonzalez had three hits and his 10th-inning leadoff homer lifted the Houston Astros to a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay.

— Boston used a 16-hit attack to rout Cleveland 9-1. Travis Shaw went 4 for 4 and Mookie Betts drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double.

MLB-NEWS

Red Sox hire Dombrowski in shakeup...Mitchell on concussion watch

UNDATED (AP) — The last-place Boston Red Sox shook up their front office, hiring Dave Dombrowski as the new president of baseball operations and saying goodbye to general manager Ben Cherington. Dombrowski joins the Red Sox — his fifth major league club — immediately.

In other baseball news:

— Yankees pitcher Bryan Mitchell has been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list a day after being hit in the face by a line drive. He sustained a nasal fracture.

— The Texas Rangers have acquired outfielder Will Venable from the San Diego Padres for minor league catcher-outfielder Marcus Greene and a player to be named. The 32-year-old Venable is expected to join the Rangers on Thursday, when they open a four-game series at Detroit. In 68 games with San Diego this season, he was hitting .258 with six home runs and 30 RBIs.

NFL-PATRIOTS-BRADY

Brady, Goodell to meet with judge in New York today

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady wasn't on the practice field with the New England Patriots yesterday. That's because he was meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL'). That's according to two people familiar with the "Deflategate" legal case.

The two were unable to reach a settlement over the four-game suspension Goodell handed the Patriots quarterback for his role in the deflated football incident.

That means it will be back to court today for a settlement hearing between the NFL and the players' union, in which U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman may decide the issue of whether the suspension should stand.

NFL-NEWS

Niners' Simpson suspended...Bills' McCoy hurts hamstring

UNDATED (AP) — The NFL has suspended San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerome Simpson without pay for the first six games of the season for violations of the league's substance-abuse policy. The suspension stems from a legal case from the summer of 2014.

The team says it knew of the probability of a suspension when Simpson was signed.

The 29-year-old wideout had been a candidate to be San Francisco's No. 3 receiver behind Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith.

He served a three-game suspension to start last season with Minnesota before the Vikings cut him as he faced more trouble.

In other NFL happenings:

— San Francisco dealt tight end Asante Cleveland to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots for offensive lineman Jordan Devey. The 49ers had an excess of tight ends, making Cleveland expendable. He spent most of 2014 on the Niners' practice squad before being promoted to the active roster Nov. 27.

— Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy hurt his left hamstring during a joint practice with Cleveland and is having tests to determine the extent of the injury. Coach Rex Ryan said trainers informed him the hamstring is intact and has not been pulled off the bone, which he described as "a real positive." McCoy led the NFL with 1,607 yards rushing in 2013 while with Philadelphia. He was acquired by the Bills in a trade for linebacker Kiko Alonso this offseason.

__ Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin left practice with an apparent neck or shoulder injury during 11-on-11 work against St. Louis at training camp. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said he hoped the injury was no more than a so-called "stinger," but that it was too early to tell.

— New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan says while it's possible, he does not expect quarterback Geno Smith to be placed on the short-term injured reserve list. Smith is sidelined for six to 10 weeks with a broken jaw after being punched by a teammate last Tuesday.

— Minnesota has placed right tackle Phil Loadholt on injured reserve, ending his season with a torn left Achilles tendon. Loadholt was hurt on the second play from scrimmage Saturday in an exhibition game.

— After losing defensive tackle Austin Brown to an apparent right knee injury, the New Orleans Saints have worked out a deal with free agent defensive tackle David Hunter. Brown was injured during his first Saints practice.

— Arizona Cardinals rookie outside linebacker Zack Wagenmann is out for the season with a broken foot, and the team has signed safety Anthony Walters to take the vacated roster spot.

NBA-76ERS

Center Embiid has second foot surgery

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid underwent surgery for the second time on his right foot on Tuesday, this time a bone graft procedure.

Embiid had two existing screws replaced and a bone graft of the site was done using bone from his hip.

The 7-footer from Kansas was the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He missed his entire rookie season after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot in June 2014.

NBA-VANDEWEGHE

Kiki promoted to EVP

NEW YORK (AP) — Kiki VanDeWeghe has been promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations for the NBA.

VanDeWeghe had been serving as senior vice president of basketball operations. He joined the league office in 2013 after working as general manager with the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets.

Rod Thorn, president of basketball operations, retired this month after more than 50 years as a player, coach and executive in professional basketball.

TRACK AND FIELD

Coe wins 4-year term as IAAF president

BEIJING (AP) — Sebastian Coe has won a four-year term as president of the governing body for track and field, beating Sergei Bubka  in an election Wednesday and given the mandate to restore the image of the IAAF amid a doping controversy.

The 58-year-old Coe replaces Lamine Diack, who stepped down after 16 years.