Thursday Sports – Skubal lifts Tigers to just 1/2 game back in AL Wild Card

tigers-royals-baseball-5

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Detroit Tigers 4, Kansas City Royals 2
Oakland A’s 5, Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles Angels 4, Chicago White Sox 3 – 13 Innings

Tigers 4, Royals 2 – Tarik Skubal earns 17th win as Tigers beat Royals 4-2
Tarik Skubal allowed three hits over five innings for his 17th win and the streaking Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Wednesday night to move within a half game of a playoff spot. Riley Greene hit a go-ahead home run as the Tigers won their fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 games. Skubal, who has won his last five decisions, made his case for the AL Cy Young Award stronger by matching Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins and lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 2.48. He walked one and struck out seven. Will Vest got the final two for his second save.

A’s 5, Cubs 3 – Soderstrom and Gelof lead A’s past Cubs 5-3, clinching NL Central crown for Brewers
Tyler Soderstrom homered and Zack Gelof hit a tiebreaking double in the eighth inning as the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3, putting the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs. Chicago’s loss clinched the NL Central title for the Brewers, their third in four years. Milwaukee became the first major league team to reach the 2024 postseason. The 22-year-old Soderstrom drove in two runs and scored two more to help Oakland to its first series victory over the Cubs since 2013. Brent Rooker was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two walks. Tyler Ferguson threw a hitless seventh for the win, and Michel Otañez struck out two in the eighth. Mason Miller earned his 27th save, setting a franchise rookie record.

Angels 4, White Sox 3 – Sox dealt 117th loss as Adams’ infield single in the 13th inning lifts Angels to 4-3 victory
Eric Wagaman scored with one out in the 13th inning when Jordyn Adams’ grounder deflected off the glove of third baseman Miguel Vargas, and the Los Angeles Angels dealt the Chicago White Sox their 117th loss, rallying for a 4-3 victory on Wednesday. Instead of winning consecutive series for the first time in four months, the White Sox tied the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the third most losses since 1900. Chicago needs to go 7-2 in its final nine games to avoid the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.

Tonight
Washington (Corbin 6-13) at Chicago Cubs (Assad 7-5), 7:40 p.m.
White Sox and Tigers are off

NFL – National Football League – Week 3
Tonight
New England Patriots at New York Jets, 8:15 p.m.

NFL – No charges will be pursued in shooting that killed 2 after Detroit Lions game
No charges will be filed in the deaths of two men who were shot at a tailgating site after a Detroit Lions game. Prosecutor Kym Worthy says it’s a case of self-defense. She also disclosed the extraordinary fact that one bullet killed both men Sunday. Worthy says the 40-year-old shooter felt threatened when 25-year-old Jalen Welch pulled out a gun during an argument. The shooter fired once and the bullet killed Welch and 40-year-old Rayshawn Palmer. The prosecutor says Palmer was just trying to be a peacemaker.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Tonight
Chicago Sky at Connecticut Sun, 7:00 p.m.
Indiana Fever at Washington Mystics, 7:00 p.m.

WNBA – WNBA awards Portland an expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026
The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play in 2026. The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise. The Bhathals started having conversations with the WNBA late last year after a separate bid to bring a team to Portland fell through. It’s the third expansion franchise the league will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two. The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

NHL – Panthers Matthew Tkachuk opens up about the death of his friend Johnny Gaudreau
Matthew Tkachuk estimates that he tells a story about Johnny Gaudreau’s exploits, both the on-ice and off-ice variety, to somebody at least once a week. And he’s not going to stop, either. Tkachuk spoke Wednesday about the death of his longtime friend and former teammate, calling Gaudreau “the most offensively talented player I’ve ever seen.” Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed on Aug. 29 when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on a rural road in New Jersey. Tkachuk spoke at the Panthers’ media day, the first formal event of the new NHL season.

NHL – Nick Foligno named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks
Nick Foligno has been named captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. The move was announced by the team on the eve of its first official practice of training camp. The Blackhawks played without a captain last season after the franchise decided to move on from Jonathan Toews, a three-time Stanley Cup winner who had been captain since 2008. Foligno, who turns 37 on Oct. 31, quickly became one of the team’s most popular players after he was acquired in June 2023. The role of captain — especially with Connor Bedard still just 19 and beginning his second season in the NHL — seemed like a natural fit for Foligno all along.

NCAAFB – No. 17 Notre Dame looks to find consistency in its rushing game
Running back Jeremiyah Love provided Notre Dame’s lone Week 2 rushing highlight when he took a handoff, hurdled a Northern Illinois defender and sprinted 34 yards for the score. It was a far better effort last weekend when the Fighting Irish rushed for 362 yards and six TDs in a 66-7 rout at Purdue. Now coach Marcus Freeman wants to see what No. 17 Notre Dame does for an encore Saturday when Miami (Ohio) visits South Bend. Freeman says "that’s what our identity is. We want to be able to run the ball.”

ESPN – Wojnarowski leaving ESPN to become GM of St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team
ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from broadcasting to return to his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, to take over the newly created position of general manager of the men’s basketball program. The Atlantic 10 school in western New York announced Wednesday that Wojnarowski will oversee a wide range of responsibilities while working alongside coach Mark Schmidt and his staff. His duties will include focusing on name, image and likeness opportunities, transfer portal management, recruiting and alumni player relationships. Wojnarowski graduated St. Bonaventure with a journalism degree in 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2022.

Tennis – Coco Gauff splits with coach Brad Gilbert
Coco Gauff has split from coach Brad Gilbert after more than a year and one Grand Slam title together. The pair announced the news via separate messages on social media on Wednesday. The end of their partnership comes 2 1/2 weeks after Gauff’s defense of her 2023 championship at the U.S. Open unraveled amid 19 double-faults during a three-set loss to Emma Navarro in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. That was the latest in a series of disappointing-for-her results in recent months for Gauff, a 20-year-old American who recently dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 in the WTA rankings.

MCCAA – Michigan Community College Athletic Association
Last Night
Women’s Soccer
Grand Rapids Community College 5, Lake Michigan College 1

Men’s Soccer
Grand Rapids Community College 4, Lake Michigan College 1

Today
Women’s Volleyball
Lake Michigan College at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, 6:30 p.m.
Kellogg Community College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.

MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Last Night
Boys Soccer
Covert 2, Michigan Lutheran 0
New Buffalo 4, Our Lady of the Lake 0
Buchanan 0, Berrien Springs 0 – TIE
Brandywine 3, Dowagiac 2
Edwardsburg 2, Otsego 2 – TIE
Niles 2, Sturgis 2 – TIE
Plainwell 3, Paw Paw 1
Vicksburg 8, Three Rivers 3
Fennville 8, Coloma 0
Delton-Kellogg 8, Constantine 0
Saugatuck 5, Watervliet 0
Kalamazoo Christian 3, Allegan 0
Hartford 8, Cassopolis 0
Bloomingdale 7, Comstock 4

Girls Volleyball
Portage Northern 3, St. Joseph 0
Mattawan 3, Lakeshore 0
Battle Creek Lakeview 3, Battle Creek Central 0
Portage Central 3, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0
Gull Lake 3, Kalamazoo Central 1
Our Lady of the Lake 3, Eau Claire 0
Michigan Lutheran 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0

Tonight
Boys Soccer
St. Joseph at Gull Lake, 6:30 p.m.
Lakeshore at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 6:30 p.m.
Battle Creek Lakeview at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo Central at Battle Creek Central, 6:30 p.m.
Portage Central at Portage Northern, 6:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo Hackett at Paw Paw, 6:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Zeeland West, 6:45 p.m.
New Buffalo at Berrien Springs, 6:00 p.m.
Coloma at Buchanan, 5:00 p.m.
Jackson Christian at Hartford, 5:00 p.m.

Boys Tennis
Edwardsburg at Lakeshore, 4:00 p.m.
St. Joseph at Gull Lake, 4:00 p.m.
South Haven at Kalamazoo Hackett, 4:30 p.m.

Girls Volleyball
Benton Harbor at Dowagiac, 4:30 p.m.
Otsego at Niles, 6:00 p.m.
Three Rivers at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Sturgis, 6:00 p.m.
Paw Paw at Vicksburg, 6:00 p.m.
Howardsville Christian at New Buffalo, 6:00 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Coloma, 6:30 p.m.
Martin at Constantine, 6:30 p.m.
Gobles at Lawton, 6:30 p.m.
Holland Black River at Schoolcraft, 6:30 p.m.
Delton-Kellogg at Parchment, 6:30 p.m.
Galesburg-Augusta at Kalamazoo Christian, 6:30 p.m.

Girls Swimming
St. Joseph, Unity Christian at South Haven, 6:00 p.m.