AP Sunday Sports Roundup

Afternoon results from college ball

UNDATED (AP) — It looked like an easy schedule for the top 10 teams in The Associated Press football poll, but it was a tough afternoon for Clemson and Georgia.

Second-ranked Clemson had to recover an on-side kick in the final minute to preserve a 30-24 triumph against Troy. DeShaun Watson threw for three touchdowns while Clemson was building a 27-10 lead, but the Trojans rallied for two touchdowns in the last five minutes to reduce the margin.

The Tigers lost a touchdown just before halftime when Ray-Ray McCloud grabbed a punt, returned it more than 70 yards and flipped the ball away before crossing the goal line, creating a touchback. McCloud finished with a career-best 86 yards receiving on seven catches, and Watson had 292 yards passing for the 2-0 Tigers.

Ninth-ranked Georgia trailed 14-13 midway through the third quarter before scoring two touchdowns in a 61-second span of the period to beat Nicholls 26-24. The Bulldogs trailed 14-13 until Jacob Eason's 66-yard scoring pass to Isaiah McKenzie was quickly followed by Lorenzo Carter's 24-yard fumble return for a TD moments later. Nick Chubb ran for 80 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs, who won despite being outscored 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

In other top-25 action:

— Top-ranked Alabama was a 38-10 winner against Western Kentucky behind freshman Jalen Hurts, who passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start. Calvin Ridley had nine catches for 129 yards, and ArDarius Stewart gained 90 yards on five receptions for the Crimson Tide. Alabama's defense had four sacks and held the Hilltoppers to 23 rushing yards.

— Deondre Francois threw for three touchdowns and Dalvin Cook ran for two more as No. 3 Florida State hammered Charleston Southern, 52-8. Francois was 25 of 32 for 262 yards and an interception, with Travis Rudolph grabbing seven passes for 105 yards. Cook had 83 yards on 11 carries, including a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter that extended FSU's lead to 42-8.

— No. 4 Ohio State overcame a sluggish offensive start, a lightning delay and a driving rainstorm in the second half to beat Tulsa 48-3. J.T. Barrett, Mike Weber, Barrett and Curtis Samuel had touchdown runs after the Buckeyes failed to reach the end zone in the first half. Weber gained 92 yards on 17 carries.

— Fifth-ranked Michigan ripped Central Florida 51-14 as Wilton Speight threw two of his four touchdown passes to Jake Butt. Khalid Hill had a pair of scoring runs and Speight was 25 of 37 for 312 yards. Chris Wormley blocked a pair of field goal attempts to help the Wolverines build a 31-0 lead by the early stages of the second quarter.

— Houston tailbacks Kevrin Justice, Mulbah Car and Kyle Postma each ran for over 100 yards as the sixth-rated Cougars ripped Lamar 42-0. The Cougars relied on their ground game while quarterback Greg Ward sat out with a shoulder injury. The game lasted 6 hours and 18 minutes because of a lightning delay that began late in the first quarter.

— Jake Browning tied a school record with five TD passes and finished with 294 yards in eighth-ranked Washington's 59-14 dismantling of Idaho. Dante Pettis and John Ross each had two scoring receptions for the Huskies, who led 42-0 lead following the first series of the second half.

— Corey Clement ran for 111 yards and two scores before leaving with a left leg injury in 10th-ranked Wisconsin's 54-10 rout of Akron. Bart Houston threw for 231 yards and hit Jazz Peavy seven times for 100 yards and two TDs. The Badgers' defense accounted for one safety, with the secondary picking off a pair of passes in the second quarter.

— Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele (boo-SHEHL') threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns as No. 11 Texas whipped UTEP (YOO'-tehp) 41-7. Buechele threw touchdown passes of 29 and 7 yards to Jerrod Heard and hit Dorian Leonard for a 46-yard score. Aaron Jones ran for 123 yards and a 51-yard touchdown for UTEP.

— Baker Mayfield passed for 244 yards and three touchdowns despite playing just the first half of 14th-rated Oklahoma's 59-17 assault on Louisiana-Monroe. Joe Mixon rushed for 117 yards and Samaje Perine ran for two touchdowns as the Sooners prepared for next Saturday's game against Ohio State.

— Arkansas pulled off a wild 41-38 upset win at No. 15 TCU on Austin Allen's five-yard TD run in the second overtime. Allen threw three touchdowns passes for the Razorbacks, who blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter before ending the Horned Frogs' 14-game home winning streak.

— Iowa easily won a turf war as C.J. Beathard threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns in the 16th-ranked Hawkeyes' 42-3 crushing of Iowa State. LeShun Daniels rushed for 112 yards and a TD to help the Hawkeyes beat Iowa State in consecutive seasons for the first time in six years.

— Joshua Dobbs threw for three touchdowns and ran for two others as No. 17 Tennessee clawed back from an early 14-point deficit to beat Virginia Tech 45-25 in the Battle of Bristol. The game was played in front of an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990 at Bristol Motor Speedway, shattering the previous mark of 115,109 at Michigan's home win against Notre Dame three years ago.

— Notre Dame was held scoreless in the first quarter before DeShone Kizer threw two touchdown passes and ran for another TD to send the 18th-ranked Irish to a 39-10 beating of Nevada. Equanimeous St. Brown led Irish receivers with six catches for 85 yards while Torii Hunter Jr. sat out with a concussion.

— No. 19 Mississippi knocked off Wofford 38-13 behind Chad Kelly, who was 20 of 27 for 219 yards and three touchdowns. The Rebels didn't allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter and bounced back nicely from Monday's 11-point loss to Florida State.

— Trevor Knight threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns to lead 20th-ranked Texas A&M's offense in a 67-0 laugher against Prairie View A&M. The Aggies outgained the Panthers 672-205 in earning their largest shutout victory in 23 years.

— Danny Etling came off the bench to engineer three straight scoring drives to help 21st-ranked LSU pull away in a 34-13 win against Jacksonville State. Etling completed six of his first eight passes for 100 yards, including a 46-yard scoring strike to tight end DeSean Smith to cap his first drive for the Tigers.

— A mistake by officials on an intentional grounding penalty allowed Central Michigan to pull off a 30-27 upset over 22nd-ranked Oklahoma State. Corey Willis scored the winning touchdown off a lateral at the Cowboys 12 on the final play after OSU was called for intentional grounding on fourth down. Officials erroneously allowed the Chippewas to take possession for one final play following the grounding call.

— Seth Russell threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score as No. 23 Baylor hammered SMU 40-13. Russell and the Bears put together a 20-point third quarter after heading into the locker room tied 6-6 at intermission.

— Dakota Prukop and Royce Freeman led Oregon's high-powered attack in a 44-26 win over Virginia. Prukop threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, while Freeman highlighted Oregon's ground attack with 207 yards and two TDs, including an 85-yard scoring run.

— Mark Walton rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns in No. 25 Miami's 38-10 win against Florida Atlantic. The Hurricanes have set a school record with 108 points in the season's first two games, breaking the previous mark of 104.

MLB-SCHEDULE

AL East race gets closer

UNDATED (AP) — The American League East race continues to tighten as the fourth-ranked New York Yankees move closer to first place. The Yanks won their seventh in a row this afternoon, and the division-leading Boston Red Sox fell in Toronto.

Melvin Upton smacked a two-run homer while the Blue Jays were building an early 3-0 lead in a 3-2 triumph over the Red Sox. J.A. Happ improved to 18-4 by limiting Boston to two runs and four hits over six-plus innings. Happ blanked the Bosox until Dustin Pedroia's (peh-DROY'-uhz) solo homer in the sixth.

Devon Travis had three hits as the Jays pulled within one game of the Red Sox.

The Yankees are within three games of first place after Masahiro Tanaka (mah-sah-HEE'-roh tah-NAH'-kah) struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings to lead a 5-1 verdict over Tampa Bay. David Archer blanked New York until Jacoby Ellsbury ripped a two-run homer in the sixth and rookie Gary Sanchez went deep one batter later. Sanchez is hitting .344 with 13 home runs and 24 RBIs in 33 major league games this year.

Baltimore is just two games behind Boston and in control of the final AL wild-card berth after Matt Wieters (WEE'-turz) homered twice and had five RBIs in the Orioles' 11-3 pounding of Detroit. Adam Jones and Chris Davis also homered and drove in two runs apiece to back Ubaldo Jimenez (oo-BAHL'-doh HIH'-meh-nehz), who allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings. The outcome puts the Birds one win ahead of the Tigers in the wild card race.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Cleveland's lead in the AL Central remains six games over Detroit after the Indians were beaten 2-1 at Minnesota on Joe Mauer's RBI single in the bottom of the 12th. Miguel Sano (sah-NOH') tied it with a second-inning homer before Mauer's hit allowed the Twins to avoid their major league-leading 90th loss of the year. The Indians had won three in a row.

— Carlos Gomez homered twice and drove in three before Jonathan Lucroy (LOO'-kroy) belted the go-ahead, two-run blast in the eighth to lead Texas past the Angels 8-5. Lucroy also finished with three ribbies and Cole Hamels gave up two runs in six innings. Texas has a magic number of 11 for winning the AL West, and they remain tied in the loss column with the Indians in the battle for home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

— Rich Hill is 11-3 after tossing seven perfect innings to lead the Dodgers past the Marlins 5-0 in Miami. L.A.'s bid for a perfect game ended when Jeff Francoeur (fran-KOOR') lined a two-out single off Joe Blanton in the eighth. All five runs came off homers as Joe Pederson sandwiched his two solo shots around sixth-inning blasts by Corey Seager and Justin Turner.

— San Francisco stayed four games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers as Hunter Pence went 3-for-3 with a solo shot and four runs scored in the Giants' 11-3 laugher at Arizona. Brandon Belt and Eduardo Nunez drove in two runs apiece to help Johnny Cueto (KWAY'-toh) pick up his 15th win. The Giants are one game ahead of St. Louis for the first NL wild-card berth.

— Bryce Harper was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts before he launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning to send Washington past Philadelphia 3-0. Max Scherzer struck out eight to increase his NL-leading total to 251, but he got a no-decision after holding the Phillies to four hits over 6 2/3s. The Nationals' magic number for winning the NL East is down to 12.

— St. Louis bolstered its playoff chances by scoring five times in the eighth to beat Milwaukee 5-1. Kolten Wong snapped a 1-1 deadlock with an RBI single and scored on Stephen Piscotty's two-run double later in the eighth. Adam Wainwright allowed a run and six hits in eight innings, blanking the Brewers following Keon Broxton's solo shot in the fifth.

— The Redbirds are a half-game ahead of New York for the second NL wild-card berth after Adonis Garcia laced an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to give Atlanta a 4-3 triumph over the Mets. Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis (mahr-KAY'-kihs) homered for the Braves, who ended the Mets' six-game winning streak. Kemp's home run tied it an inning after Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EH'-nehs SEHS'-peh-dehs) went deep for the Mets.

— Collin McHugh combined with four relievers on a two-hitter as the Astros silenced the Cubs 2-1 in Houston. Alex Bregman opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third before Marvin Gonzalez laid down a suicide squeeze later in the inning. Houston remains 2 1/2 games out of an AL wild-card slot.

— Seattle clobbered Oakland 14-3 behind three hits and three RBIs from Nelson Cruz. Nori Aoki (NOHR'-ee ah-OH'-kee) chipped in three hits and two ribbies, while Kyle Seager provided a solo blast and two RBIs. Felix Hernandez tossed six scoreless innings for the Mariners, who stayed 3 ½ games out of an AL wild-card berth.

— Joey Votto (VAH'-toh) was 4-for-5 with a solo homer and two runs scored in Cincinnati's 8-7 decision over Pittsburgh. Tucker Barnhart drove in three runs to help the Reds overcome a 4-0 deficit.

— Whit Merrifield supplied the go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning of Kansas City's 6-5 triumph against the White Sox. Eric Hosmer belted a two-run homer and Alex Gordon hit a solo shot as the Royals stayed four games out of an AL wild-card berth.

— YAngervis Solarte (yahn-HEHR'-vihs soh-LAHR'-tay) hit a two-run double to cap the Padres' five-run second in a 6-3 victory over Colorado. Solarte drove in three runs and Wil Myers collected two RBIs to back Christian Friedrich, who fanned 10 and held the Rockies to two hits in seven shutout innings.

MLB-NATIONALS

Strasburg uncertain about future

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg says he isn't sure he will pitch again this season. He left Wednesday's start in the third inning and tests determined he has a strained flexor mass in his right elbow. The tests also showed that the injury is not related to his ligament, which needed Tommy John surgery five years ago.

MLB-INDIANS

Salazar to miss start

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cleveland right-hander Danny Salazar will miss his next scheduled start with a sore right forearm. He was pulled from Friday's game against the Twins complaining of discomfort in the arm. Salazar was on the disabled list for elbow inflammation a month ago.

Salazar, who was chosen to for the All-Star Game, has not won in seven starts since July 19.

US OPEN

Women's championship goes to Kerber

NEW YORK (AP) — Angelique Kerber officially becomes the top-ranked player in women's tennis on Monday. That will come two days after she captured her second Grand Slam title.

The second-seeded Kerber is the U.S. Open champion for the first time following a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 triumph over Karolina Pliskova. It's the second major title of the year for Kerber, who also claimed the Australian Open crown.

Kerber trailed 3-1 in the third set before taking five of the last six games. Before Kerber's rally, Pliskova appeared poised to win her first major title just two days following her upset of top seed Serena Williams.

Pliskova totaled 47 unforced errors compared to just 17 for Kerber in the 2-hour, 7-minute match.

The men's title match is slated for Sunday with top-ranked Novak Djokovic (NOH'-vak JOH'-kuh-vich) and No. 3 Stan Wawrinka (vah-VRIHN'-kuh) squaring off. Djokovic has won 19 of their 23 meetings, but Wawrinka beat him in last year's French Open final.

NASCAR-RICHMOND

Hamlin wins

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned his third career Sprint Cup win at Richmond and gave Joe Gibbs Racing its third straight victory at the track.

Hamlin outdueled Martin Truex Jr. in winning the race. He started from the pole and led 183 of 402 laps before finishing 0.157 seconds ahead of Truex.

Brad Keselowski was third, following by Kasey Kahne (kayn) and Kevin Harvick.

PGA TOUR

Johnson leads through 54

CARMEL, Ind. (AP) — U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson will carry a three-stroke lead into the final round of the PGA's BMW Championship at Crooked Stick.

Johnson followed Friday's course-record 63 with a 4-under 68 that leaves him 18 under for the tournament, three strokes ahead of Paul Casey. J.B. Holmes owned a share of the lead with Johnson late in the round before falling four strokes back.

Roberto Castro is six off the pace after entering the third round in a first-place tie.