Braves win again behind Medlen…Reds win without Dusty
UNDATED (AP) — Kris Medlen is running in some pretty select pitching company. The Atlanta hurler pitched eight innings of four-hit ball and the Braves won his start for the 21st straight time by blanking the Miami Marlins 3-0. The New York Yankees won 22 straight times when Whitey Ford started games from 1950 through 1953, a span interrupted by Ford serving in the Korean War.
Medlen is 9-1 this year. He broke in by losing the first two starts of his career in 2009. He hasn’t taken a loss in any of his 26 starts since, with the Braves prevailing in the last 21 of those. His one loss this year came in relief.
Medlen struck out six, walked one and lowered his ERA from 1.62 to 1.51. Chipper Jones, playing his last game against Miami, went 1 for 4.
In the rest of the NL:
— Drew Stubbs hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning and Cincinnati beat the Chicago Cubs 6-5 hours after Reds manager Dusty Baker left the ballpark for chest X-rays. Baker was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and was expected to stay overnight in a Chicago hospital. A team spokesman said the tests were to “rule out pneumonia.” Bench coach Chris Speier brought the lineup card to home plate and there was no sign of the 63-year-old Baker during the game. He won’t be with the team on Thursday and there is no timetable for his return.
— Marco Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie shortstop Jean Segura hit a double and triple as the surging Milwaukee Brewers stayed in contention for a postseason berth with a 3-1 victory over the fading Pittsburgh Pirates. The Brewers have won four straight and 22 of 28.
— Philadelphia rallied to beat the New York Mets 3-2 on a two-run home run by Ryan Howard in the ninth inning. Jimmy Rollins homered for the other Phils run.
— The Nationals are one victory away from becoming the first Washington-based baseball team to make it into the postseason since 1933 — when Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House. The Nationals scratched out a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of a doubleheader. The Dodgers lost a six-run lead in the nightcap but won it 7-6 on Matt Kemp’s homer in the ninth.
— David Freese and Yadier Molina both connected for their 20th home run of the season, and Lance Lynn threw 6 1-3 shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over Houston. The Cards own a two-game lead over the Dodgers in the race for the final wild card spot.
— Arizona beat San Diego 6-2. Adam Eaton tripled to spark a three-run fifth inning. Arizona remained 4 1-2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card.
Over in the AL:
— Andy Pettitte didn’t miss a beat when he took the mound for the first time since breaking a bone near his left ankle on June 27. The 40-year-old left-hander scattered four hits over five shutout innings in the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over Toronto in the opener of a day-night doubleheader in New York. The Yanks won the nightcap, 2-1. Ichiro Suzuki went 7-for-8 in the doubleheader, driving in the winning run in the second game. The Yanks have a half-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East.
— After taking 18 innings to decide Tuesday night’s game, the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners needed a mere 11 innings before the Orioles finished a three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory. Adam Jones cracked his 30th homer, a two-run shot in the 11th. That’s the Orioles’ 15th straight extra inning victory.
— AL West-leading Texas beat the L.A. Angels 6-2. That dropped the Angels 7 1/2 games back of the Rangers. Derek Holland pitched seven innings of six-hit ball. Geovany Soto hit a late two-run homer.
— Bruce Chen pitched into the seventh inning, Alex Gordon hit a two-run double and the Kansas City Royals beat the AL Central-leading White Sox 3-0 to snap Chicago’s five-game winning streak. That cuts the White Sox’ lead to two games over Detroit.
— Miguel Cabrera homered, Omar Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2. Verlander is 15-8.
— Minnesota beat Cleveland 6-4. Josh Willingham hit his 35th home run. Willingham had four hits and four RBIs.
— Desmond Jennings hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay’s seven-run sixth-inning, and the Rays snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox 13-3.
AP source: MLB nears 8-year deals with Fox and Turner
NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says Major League Baseball is nearing agreements with Fox and Turner Sports on eight-year contracts through 2021.
Under the deals, which are likely to be announced before the postseason, Fox will retain rights to the World Series and to a league championship series every year. The amount baseball receives from the two networks is likely to double to an average of about $800 million annually.
ESPN and MLB last month announced a new deal covering 2014-21 that will increase ESPN’s average yearly payment from about $360 million to approximately $700 million.
Preseason schedule canceled
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL canceled its entire September preseason game schedule. That’s the first on-ice casualty of the four-day lockout of the players’ association.
The league is wiping out all games through Sept. 30, a move it deems “necessary because of the absence of a collective bargaining agreement.”
The regular season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 11.
Also, a person familiar with the plan says NHL employees at the league offices will switch to a four-day work week Oct. 1 because of the lockout. The move will effectively cut salaries by 20 percent.
The NHL’s fourth shutdown since 1992 began at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, when its collective bargaining agreement with the players union expired.
Winslow joins Pats…Mendenall practices with Steelers
UNDATED (AP) — The New England Patriots have signed tight end Kellen Winslow and re-signed wide receiver Deion Branch.
The announcement comes three days after tight end Aaron Hernandez was sidelined with a right ankle injury. The Patriots have not said how many games they expect him to miss.
Winslow was released by the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 1. He spent the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following five seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He had 75 receptions last season and has 437 in his career.
The Patriots released Branch on the final roster cutdown after he caught 51 passes last season.
In other NFL news:
— The Pittsburgh Steelers’ struggling running game could get a shot in the arm on Sunday in Oakland. Starting running back Rashard Mendenhall practiced on Wednesday and is inching closer to returning from right knee surgery. Mendenhall hasn’t played since tearing the ACL in his knee in last year’s regular season finale.
— Running back Ahmad Bradshaw, offensive tackle David Diehl and wide receiver Domenik Hixon of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants have all been ruled out of Thursday night’s game at Carolina. All three were injured in Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay and did not practice this week. Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, the NFC offensive player of the week, is out with a foot injury.
— Washington Redskins receiver Joshua Morgan says he’s receiving death threats and other venomous messages on Twitter because of his fourth-quarter blunder in Sunday’s loss to the Rams.
— The Jets say star cornerback Darrelle Revis has been cleared for practice on a limited basis while he continues recovering from a concussion suffered in the season opener. His status for the team’s game at Miami on Sunday is uncertain.
— The Detroit Lions have bolstered their depleted secondary by claiming cornerback Jerome Murphy off waivers from the Saints.
— Buffalo Bills starting safety Jairus Byrd is missing practice because of an injured right foot and it’s uncertain whether he’ll play at Cleveland this weekend.
— Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Johnson’s divorce is final from reality TV star Evelyn Lozada, a month after his arrest on a domestic battery charge. Johnson currently is out of football.
Williams recovering from kidney surgery
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina coach Roy Williams is recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from his right kidney and is expected to be on the sideline when the season starts.
Still, the coach might need another operation to remove another tumor from his left kidney. His doctor says in a statement that he expects Williams to coach this season and “for years to come.”
It’s unclear exactly how much time the 62-year-old Williams will miss leading up to the start of preseason practice Oct. 13.
Couples lone inductee
ATLANTA (AP) — Fred Couples has been elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Couples won the 1992 Masters among his 15 career victories on the PGA Tour. He was elected on the PGA Tour ballot with 51 percent of the vote, the lowest percentage for any inductee.
US beats Aussies 6-2 in Sundhage’s final game
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Abby Wambach broke a tie early in the second half and Alex Morgan added two goals and two assists, helping the U.S. women’s national soccer team beat Australia 6-2 in an international friendly that was coach Pia Sundhage’s farewell game.
Sundhage announced earlier this month she was stepping away after leading the squad to back-to-back Olympic gold medals. She will return home to coach the Swedish national team.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 4 Toronto 2 (first game)
N-Y Yankees 2 Toronto 1 (second game)
Minnesota 6 Cleveland 4
Detroit 6 Oakland 2
Tampa Bay 13 Boston 3
Kansas City 3 Chi White Sox 0
Texas 6 L.A. Angels 2
Baltimore 3 Seattle 1, 11 Innings
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 3 L.A. Dodgers 1 (first game)
L.A. Dodgers 7 Washington 6 (second game)
Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 1
Atlanta 3 Miami 0
Philadelphia 3 N-Y Mets 2
Cincinnati 6 Chi Cubs 5, 11 Innings
St. Louis 5 Houston 0
Arizona 6 San Diego 2
San Francisco 7 Colorado 1