NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts had 301 total yards in the first half in the breakout game of his young career, finishing with three total touchdowns as he led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Hurts looked downright unstoppable from the opening drive. He hit five receivers on 5-for-5 passing — highlighted by a 19-yard strike to A.J. Brown — and finished the drive himself with a 3-yard scoring run.
He finished with 333 yards passing and a touchdown, and 57 yards and two scores on the ground.
Darius Slay intercepted Kirk Cousins twice in the second half. Cousins finished the game 27 for 46 for 221 yards and three interceptions. Justin Jefferson had six catches for 48 yards a week after he had 184 receiving yards and two TDs in a win against Green Bay.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen threw four touchdown passes, including three to Stefon Diggs, and the Buffalo Bills rolled to a 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
The Bills followed a season-opening 31-10 rout of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams by throttling an opponent that has been their nemesis in each of the past two seasons. Fullback Reggie Gilliam and linebacker Matt Milano, with a 43-yard interception return, also scored touchdowns for Buffalo.
Allen completing 26 of 38 attempts for 317 yards and sat out the entire fourth quarter. Diggs had 12 catches for 148 yards.
Buffalo’s defense limited Tennessee to 182 yards of offense and 12 first downs, while registering two sacks and forcing four turnovers.
The Titans opened 0-2 for the first time since 2012.
Two-time rushing champion Derrick Henry was limited to 25 yards on 13 carries while scoring on a 2-yard plunge. Ryan Tannehill finished 11 of 20 for 117 yards and was benched in the third quarter after his second interception.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills cornerback Dane Jackson suffered a neck injury in a collision with a teammate on Monday night and was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Jackson had full movement in his limbs, but coach Sean McDermott didn’t have an update beyond that on the player’s condition following a 41-7 win over the Tennessee Titans. McDermott said he has a brief chat with Jackson in the stadium tunnel before the ambulance left for the hospital.
Bills safety Jordan Poyer said Jackson informed him he was all right during a text exchange following the game.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay was suspended by the NFL for four games for violating its personal conduct policy.
Gay was arrested in January in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, and charged with misdemeanor criminal property damage of less than $1,000. Gay’s representative, Maxx Lepselter, said at the time that Gay broke a vacuum that belonged to the mother of his son during an argument in which nobody was harmed.
Gay agreed to a diversion program in June to resolve the criminal case.
There was no appeal of the penalty, so Gay will miss Sunday’s game in Indianapolis along with games against Tampa Bay, Las Vegas and Buffalo. NFL rules prohibit him from interacting with the team during the first two weeks.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans has been suspended without pay for one game for his role in a scuffle that resulted in him and New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore being ejected from the Buccaneers-Saints game.
The NFL said Monday that Evans violated unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules by knocking Lattimore to the ground when the Buccaneers star intervened in a confrontation that initially involved Lattimore and Bucs teammates Tom Brady and Leonard Fournette.
Evans, who can appeal the decision, was suspended for next Sunday’s home game against the Green Bay Packers.
It’s not the first suspension of Evans’ career. The other, a one-game ban in 2017, also involved Evans knocking Lattimore to the ground during a Bucs-Saints matchup at the Superdome.
BASEBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets are on track to have baseball’s highest payroll for the first time since 1989, among a record-tying six teams set to pay a penalty for spending.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who started the season as the top spender, fell into second due to Trevor Bauer’s suspension.
New York entered the last full month of the season with a $273.9 million payroll, according to updated figures through Aug. 31 complied by Major League Baseball. The Dodgers are second at $267.2 million, followed by the New York Yankees at $254.4 million.
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, at a big league-high $43.3 million, makes roughly $5 million less than Oakland’s entire team and combines with teammates Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor for about $103 million — more than eight of the 30 clubs.
When the Mets last topped MLB in payroll, their total was $21.3 million.
The Dodgers’ payroll dropped when Bauer was suspended for two years without pay on April 29 for violating the sport’s domestic violence policy. Bauer’s 2022 salary was $32 million but was reduced to what he was owed at the time of the suspension: $3.8 million.
Los Angeles led in payroll in both 2020 and 2021. The Dodgers set a payroll record with $291 million in 2015.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Houston Astros clinched their fifth AL West title in six years, getting a leadoff home run from Jose Altuve in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Headed to the postseason for the sixth straight season, Houston won for the eighth time in nine games and improved the AL’s best record to 97-51. The Astros have led by the division by nine games or more since June 15.
Luis Garcia (13-8) won his fifth straight decision, giving up two hits and four walks in five innings while striking out four. Hunter Brown pitched three innings and Héctor Neris finished the five-hitter, the Astros 16th shutout this season.
Tampa Bay (82-65) is in position for the second of three AL wild card berths, one game behind Toronto (83-64) and a half-game ahead of Seattle (81-65). José Ramírez had three of the Rays’ five hits.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Max Scherzer was pulled from his 200th win with a perfect game intact, and the New York Mets clinched their first playoff berth in six years by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.
Reinstated from the injured list before the game, Scherzer (10-4) struck out nine in six innings. The 38-year-old ace threw only 68 pitches, but that was as far as the NL East leaders let him go in his first start in 16 days.
Brewers star Christian Yelich doubled leading off the seventh against Tylor Megill, making his first major league relief appearance after 27 starts. Megill also came off the injured list earlier in the day.
Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer off reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes (10-8), and the Mets won their fifth straight to wrap up at least one of the three National League wild cards. They lead the NL East by one game over defending World Series champion Atlanta, which beat Washington 5-2 at home.
It is the 10th postseason appearance in the franchise’s 61-season history, and first since the Mets lost to San Francisco in the 2016 NL wild-card game.
