Tuesday’s Sports In Brief

BASEBALL

TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge walked four times and stayed at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, and the New York Yankees won the AL East title by beating Toronto 5-2 on Tuesday night.

The Yankees celebrated their 20th division championship, tied for second-most with the Los Angeles Dodgers behind Atlanta’s 21, but not home run history. New York secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the Division Series.

Judge lined out in his first at-bat and then drew four straight walks in his seventh straight game without a home run. He has walked 11 times in 30 plate appearances since hitting No. 60 against Pittsburgh last week.

The Yankees have eight games left in the regular season for Judge to tie or break the AL mark set by Maris in 1961.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals wrapped up the NL Central title by beating Milwaukee 6-2 behind six strong innings from Miles Mikolas.

Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer and Goldschmidt added two RBIs as St. Louis sealed its first division crown since 2019 and fourth straight playoff berth by defeating the team that won last year’s NL Central championship.

FOOTBALL

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett suffered a sprained shoulder, strained biceps and minor cuts when he flipped his Porsche in a frightening single-car accident Monday.

Garrett, who spent several hours being treated at a hospital, rolled his car on a rural road following practice. He was driving with an unidentified female passenger, who was also taken for emergency care.

Despite the injuries, Garrett had not yet been ruled out Sunday against Atlanta.

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff met for almost seven hours to work on expanding the postseason system from four to 12 teams as soon as the 2024 season.

he CFP management committee, comprised of 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, is scheduled to convene again at the Big Ten offices for a few hours Wednesday morning. They are set to meet again in person in Dallas on Oct. 20.

BASKETBALL

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The NCAA put Memphis on three years of probation with a public reprimand and a fine, but declined to punish Tigers coach Penny Hardaway or hand down an NCAA Tournament ban.

The NCAA had accused Memphis of four Level I and two Level II violations, considered the most serious infractions, and a total of seven alleged violations including lack of institutional control, head coach responsibility and failure to monitor.

The Independent Accountability Review Panel put the blame on Memphis failing to monitor Hardaway as an athletic booster or educate him better after hiring him as basketball coach. The panel also ruled Memphis provided impermissible benefits of meals to athletes and publicity benefits to recruits.

HURRICANE IAN

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Three Sunshine State universities took steps to salvage home football games as Hurricane Ian approached.

Florida moved its game against Eastern Washington from Saturday to Sunday. Central Florida did the same with its game against SMU. South Florida relocated its Saturday game against East Carolina from Tampa to Boca Raton.

Although South Carolina is a safer distance from the major storm, the Gamecocks didn’t want to wait to make a decision regarding their game against South Carolina State. Those schools will play Thursday night, two days earlier than previously scheduled.

The NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers relocated their football operations to the Miami area in preparation for a game Sunday night against Kansas City. The Dolphins play at Cincinnati on Thursday night. They changed their travel plans for Wednesday and are leaving a few hours earlier than originally scheduled.

SOCCER

HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Lionel Messi scored two goals and was twice accosted by fans running on the field as Argentina extended its unbeaten streak to 35 matches by beating Jamaica 3-0 in its next-to-last World Cup warmup match.

A fan sprinted onto the field in the 65th minute and tried to take Messi’s photo. After his first goal, Messi was approached by a barechested fan who asked him to sign his back, and he started to scrawl a signature as three guards tackled the fan and more swarmed in.

After the game, Chiqui Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, said Lionel Scaloni will remain coach through the 2026 World Cup.

MURCIA, Spain (AP) — The United States had a scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia in its final World Cup warmup.

The Americans will open World Cup play in Qartar against Wales on Nov. 21. In its last seven games against World Cup-bound nations, the U.S. has one win, three losses and three draws, getting shut out six times.

GOLF

Phil Mickelson, the driving force among PGA Tour players in the rival LIV Golf series, and three other players asked a federal judge to remove their names from the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Ian Poulter filed separately to have their names removed. That leaves only three players — Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones — and Saudi-funded LIV Golf as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in early August.

AUTO RACING

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR docked William Byron 25 points and fined him $50,000 for deliberately spinning championship rival Denny Hamlin in a retaliatory move missed by scoring officials.

The penalty dropped Byron to eight points below the cutline heading into the race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The Hendrick Motorsports driver had been 17 points to the good, and third in the standings.

NASCAR also fined Ty Gibbs $75,000 and docked 23XI Racing 25 owner points for what it called “retaliatory vehicle contact on pit road with crew members/officials in close proximity; second offense” on Sunday at Texas.