Tuesday’s Sports In Brief

September 14, 2022 GMT

NFL

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are not putting quarterback Dak Prescott on injured reserve after surgery on his right thumb, leaving open the possibility that he could return within the next four games.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on the team’s flagship radio station that the team wants Prescott “to be a consideration for playing within the next four games.” That is the minimum number of games a player has to miss if placed on injured reserve.

Prescott had surgery Monday, a day after he got hurt in the fourth quarter of a season-opening 19-3 loss at home to Tampa Bay. He was following through after releasing a pass when his right hand bent awkwardly after making hard contact with the raised hands of rushing linebacker Shaq Barrett.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt will miss Sunday’s game against New England with a left pectoral injury, though coach Mike Tomlin is optimistic Watt’s prognosis isn’t as bad as initially feared.

Tomlin said Tuesday the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year won’t be available for Pittsburgh’s home opener, but refused to offer a potential timetable on how long Watt might be unavailable and hinted the worst-case situation — that Watt would be lost for the season — is no longer on the table.

Watt sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter of a 23-20 overtime victory over Cincinnati while attempting to sack the Bengals’ Joe Burrow. Watt walked off the field with Steelers physician Dr. James Bradley and went straight to the locker room. He declined interview requests on Monday but appeared to be upbeat.

BASEBALL

PHOENIX (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched seven dominant innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West for the ninth time in 10 seasons, blanking the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 Tuesday night.

Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Joey Gallo homered as the Dodgers boosted the best record in the majors to 98-43. They lead second-place San Diego by a whopping 20 1/2 games.

Manager Dave Roberts’ team will have plenty of time to get set for its 10th straight year in the postseason. The Dodgers’ first playoff game is almost a month away, on Oct. 11.

The only season the Dodgers didn’t clinch the division in their recent run was last year — they won 106 times but still finished one game behind San Francisco. Los Angeles then beat the Giants in the NL Division Series before falling to eventual champion Atlanta in the NLCS.

A crowd of 21,143, mostly clad in Dodger blue, watched the clincher. It’s the Dodgers’ 20th NL West crown since the majors split into divisions in 1969.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Angels star Mike Trout’s streak of consecutive games hitting a home run ended at seven, one shy of the major league record, and the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians beat Los Angeles 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Trout went 0 for 3 with three routine flyballs and a walk. The three-time AL MVP was chasing the mark of eight straight games with a home run, set by Pittsburgh’s Dale Long in 1956 and matched by Don Mattingly of the Yankees in 1987 and Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993.

Oscar Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the sixth broke a 1-all tie and gave Cleveland its fifth straight win. José Ramirez started the inning with a double and Gonzalez lined an 0-2 pitch from José Suarez (6-7) off the railing atop the wall in left field.

Gonzalez, one of several rookies who have made a major contribution in Cleveland’s surprising season, has eight home runs. Rookie Kirk McCarty (3-2) held Los Angeles to one hit in 3 2/3 innings for Cleveland, which has won seven of eight.

NHL

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Stars have signed general manager Jim Nill to a one-year contract extension through 2023-24 season.

Nill is going into his 10th season with the Stars, which was the last year on his current deal before the extension announced Tuesday. Dallas has made the playoffs three of the past four seasons, and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final two years ago.

The Stars have a 356-259-84 record with five playoff appearances overall in Nill’s nine seasons.

The Stars in June hired Peter DeBoer as the franchise’s new coach. DeBoer, who has twice gone to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season with a new team (New Jersey and San Jose), is the fifth Stars coach since Nill became GM in April 2013.