Weekend Sports in Brief

MLB

ATLANTA (AP) — Just in time, Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros broke out the bats.

Because if they had waited any longer, this World Series would’ve been over.

Staggered by Adam Duvall’s grand slam in the first inning, Correa and Alex Bregman ended their slumps in a hurry. They kept swinging, refusing to let their season slip away and rallying past the Atlanta Braves 9-5 early Monday to cut their Series deficit to 3-2.

The Braves might not admit it was a deflating defeat, their 66-year-old manager Brian Snitker is too steady and savvy for that. But by any measure in the Analytics Age, this had to sting.

Correa, moved up to third in the lineup for Game 5 while Bregman was dropped to seventh, delivered three hits. Martin Maldonado found three different ways to drive in runs and pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez blooped a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning for a 7-5 lead.

A matchup of bullpens turned into the first high-scoring game of this Fall Classic, and the highest-scoring team in the majors this year won it.

Game 6 is Tuesday in Houston.

BOSTON (AP) — Jerry Remy, a Boston Red Sox second baseman who went on to become a local icon as a television broadcaster, has died of cancer. He was 68.

The Red Sox confirmed that Remy died on Saturday night. He had a long and public struggle with lung cancer, and drew thunderous applause at Fenway Park earlier this month when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a playoff game while using an oxygen tube.

Remy was a former smoker who had a yearslong battle with lung cancer, including surgery for the disease in November 2008. His struggle with the illness was well known to baseball fans. Support from Red Sox fans helped him as he underwent years of treatments for the disease, he told reporters in 2018.

Remy had spent 10 seasons in the majors — the first three with the California Angels and the last seven with Boston — before retiring after the Red Sox released him on Dec. 10, 1985. Remy hit .275 with seven homers and 329 RBIs in 1,154 games.

NHL

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Defenseman Brett Pesce scored a power-play goal with 2:27 left in regulation and the Carolina Hurricanes remained undefeated with a 2-1 victory over the winless Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

The Hurricanes are 8-0-0, extending the best start to a season in franchise history.

Martin Necas scored the other goal and set up Pesce’s game winner. Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots for his seventh win.

Rookie Karel Vejmelka made 37 saves for the Coyotes, 0-8-1. Christian Fischer gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.

Pesce’s first goal of the season allowed him to become the 14th different Carolina player with at least one goal.

It was the first game in NHL history between an undefeated team having played seven or more games against a winless team with at least seven games, according to NHL Stats.

NASCAR

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — The desperation of NASCAR’s playoffs erupted Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, where non-playoff driver Alex Bowman spun Denny Hamlin to set up an overtime victory in a wild finish for the final spot in the championship finale.

Hamlin led 103 laps and was out front with six to go when Bowman, who was not eligible to move on to the championship, wiggled and bumped Hamlin out of his way. It sent the race into overtime and Bowman held off Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski to win.

The victory by Bowman prevented one of the other playoff drivers from winning the race and locking up a slot in next Sunday in the winner-take-all championship at sold-out Phoenix Raceway. A victory by Busch or Keselowski would have pushed either into the finale.

Kyle Larson, reigning champion Chase Elliott, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will race for the title in a matchup of a pair of Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports against a pair of Toyotas from Joe Gibbs Racing.

GOLF

Lucas Herbert had two birdies during the toughest, wind-blown stretch of Port Royal and held steady to the end Sunday for a 2-under 69 to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

Herbert closed with four pars to hold off Danny Lee (71) and Patrick Reed, who finished with four birdies over his last six holes for a 65 and then waited to see if it would be enough.

Herbert, the 25-year-old Australian who won the Irish Open earlier this year, stayed in front by closing with two good par saves and missing a pair of 7-foot birdie attempts he didn’t need.

His first PGA Tour victory, and third worldwide, sends him to the Masters for the first time.

The wind and rain, which caused tee times to be moved up, was as fierce as advertised, and play was halted briefly without having to bring the players off the course.

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