(Chicago, IL) — The Chicago Cubs avoided being swept by edging the Brewers at Wrigley Field Wednesday night 4-3. The Cubs scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jake Bauers popped a solo home run in the seventh inning after hitting a run-scoring single in the fourth. Quinn Priester took the loss, and Milwaukee went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Freddy Peralta tries to wrap up a series victory for the Brewers when he starts game four tonight (Thursday).
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of their NL Division Series. The Phillies avoided a sweep with the win on Wednesday night. Schwarber’s first homer cleared the right-field pavilion, the first allowed by the Dodgers in these playoffs. The Phillies add five more runs in the eighth inning, including a solo shot by J.T. Realmuto and a two-run drive by Schwarber. Clayton Kershaw struggled in his first postseason relief appearance since 2019. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman went hitless, while Mookie Betts tripled and singled in four at-bats.
NEW YORK (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer each drove in a run, and eight Toronto pitchers shut down the New York Yankees in a 5-2 victory that sent the Blue Jays to the American League Championship Series for the first time in nine years. Nathan Lukes provided a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the pesky Blue Jays bounced right back after blowing a five-run lead in Tuesday night’s loss at Yankee Stadium. AL East champion Toronto took the best-of-five Division Series 3-1 and will host Game 1 in the best-of-seven ALCS on Sunday against the Tigers or Mariners. Those teams are set to decide their playoff series Friday in Game 5 at Seattle.
DETROIT (AP) — Riley Greene and Javier Báez homered in a four-run sixth inning and the Detroit Tigers kept their season alive with a 9-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. The Tigers forced a Game 5 by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in more than a month. They went 0-8 after Tarik Skubal’s 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 6, including Seattle’s 8-4 win on Tuesday. The series decider will be on Friday in Seattle, with Skubal facing George Kirby.
PHOENIX (AP) — A’ja Wilson made a turnaround jumper with 0.3 seconds left, capping a stellar 34-point night and lifting the Las Vegas Aces over the Phoenix Mercury 90-88 in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday for a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Aces are one victory away from winning their third title in four seasons. Game 4 is on Friday in Phoenix. Las Vegas looked like it had a comfortable 76-59 lead entering the fourth quarter, but DeWanna Bonner made two free throws with 1:01 left to tie it at 88. That set up Wilson’s heroics in the final seconds.
(Green Bay, WI) — Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor has named 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco his starter for Sunday’s game in Lambeau Field. NFL.com reports that Flacco takes over for Jake Browning, who was winless in three games. Quarterback Joe Burrow is injured. Flacco practiced with his new teammates for the first time Wednesday after coming from Cleveland in a trade. The Packers are coming off their bye week.
(Madison, WI) — The “return on investment” isn’t there for the Wisconsin football program. Yahoo Sports is reporting that head coach Luke Fickell is one of the highest-paid coaches in the country at 7-point-9 million dollars a year. The Badgers are on pace to miss a bowl game for the second consecutive year, and their record under Fickell’s leadership is sub-.500. If the school decides to fire him, it will cost more than 27 million dollars to buy out his contract.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo reaffirmed that he’s “locked in” with the Milwaukee Bucks while acknowledging the possibility that could eventually change depending on how things develop over the next several months. The two-time MVP said that “I’ve always wanted to be in Milwaukee, always wanted to represent the city, as long as we have the opportunity to win.” He added that “now if in six, seven months I change my mind, that’s human, too. ”
(Oshkosh, WI) — He’s played some of his best basketball in this state. WITI-TV is reporting that the NBA G-League Wisconsin Herd has acquired former college All-American Johnny Davis. The Washington Wizards drafted Davis 10th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. He played three seasons for that team, averaging three-and-a-half points per game. Davis played two seasons with the Badgers. He was named Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko has found a fresh start and a warm welcome with the Minnesota Wild. The 14th-year NHL veteran didn’t anticipate such a hearty welcome from his new team. He also couldn’t have envisioned this scenario earlier in his career with the St. Louis Blues. The Wild acquired Tarasenko in an offseason trade after a disappointing year with the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll start on the second line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno when Minnesota visits St. Louis to open the season on Thursday. Tarasenko had 25 goals in 51 career games for the Blues against the Wild.