AP Thursday Sports Roundup

MLB-SCHEDULE

Mets sweep Nats...Cards rally past Cubs

UNDATED (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes continues to carry the New York Mets on his back during the stretch run.

Cespedes delivered the tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning on Wednesday as the Mets earned a 5-3 victory and a three-game sweep of the Nationals in Washington. The Mets trailed 2-1 in the eighth until Kelly Johnson hit a solo shot and Cespedes delivered his 14th homer in 36 games since joining the Mets from Detroit before the July 31 trade deadline.

The Mets trailed in the seventh inning or later in each game of the series before improving to 25-11 since acquiring Cespedes. Jacob deGrom allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings to help the Mets stretch their lead in the NL East to seven games over Washington with 23 games remaining.

In other major league finals:

— The Cardinals avoided their first home sweep by scoring three times in the eighth to beat the Cubs, 4-3. Matt Carpenter sparked the Cards' rally with an RBI single before scoring on Stephen Piscotty's go-ahead, two-run double. The Redbirds stormed back after Jon Lester held them to a run and two hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.

— St. Louis still leads the NL Central by 4 ½ games after the second-place Pirates held off Cincinnati, 5-4. Jung Ho Kang snapped a 1-1 tie with a grand slam in the sixth inning. J.A. Happ struck out 10 while limiting the Reds to two runs and three hits in six-plus innings.

— Steve Pearce smacked a tiebreaking, solo homer in the eighth inning as Baltimore downed the New York Yankees for the second straight night, 5-3. Chris Davis had two RBIs for the Orioles, including a run-scoring double in the ninth. Carlos Beltran homered and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who managed just one hit after carrying a 3-1 lead into the third.

— Toronto was a 10-4 loser in Boston, keeping the AL East leaders 1 ½ games ahead of the Yankees. David Ortiz launched a three-run homer and Mookie Betts added a solo shot and three RBIs to help the Red Sox take the rubber match of the three-game set. Ryan Hanigan also had three ribbies for the Bosox.

— Rookie Miguel Sano cracked his 16th homer of the season to snap a 2-2 tie in the 12th inning of Minnesota's 3-2 victory at Kansas City. Kurt Suzuki also hit a solo homer to help the Twins win the rubber match and pull within 11 games of the AL Central-leading Royals. Ben Zobrist went deep for Kansas City.

— The Twins are within 1 1/2 games of Texas for the final AL wild-card berth following the Rangers' 6-0 loss at Seattle. Mark Trumbo and Kyle Seagear hit two-run homers for the Mariners, who didn't allow a hit after Prince Fielder's first-inning single. Vidal Nuno struck out 10 in seven innings for his first win of the season.

— Houston has doubled its lead in the AL West, moving two games ahead of Texas by whipping Oakland 11-5. Colby Rasmus, Evan Gattis, Carlos Gomez and Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Astros, who also got four RBIs from Hank Conger. Collin McHugh picked up his 16th victory despite yielding five runs over 5 1/3 innings.

— Albert Pujols slapped a tiebreaking, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to send the Angels to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers. The Dodgers knotted the score in the eighth off Garrett Richards, who fans 11 while holding Los Angeles to four hits over 7 2/3 innings. The Angels pulled within 3 ½ games of Texas in the wild-card race and kept the NL West-leading Dodgers 8 ½ games ahead of the Giants.

— Arizona rode Jarrod Saltalamacchia's two-run homer to a 2-1 triumph over San Francisco, which moves the defending World Series champs closer to playoff elimination. Rookie Zack Godley gave up a run and three hits in five innings to improve to 5-1.

— Logan Forsythe, Tim Beckham, J.P. Arencibia and Mikie Mahtook hit solo homers as Tampa Bay ripped Detroit 8-0. Beckham, Forsythe and Asdrubal Cabrera each had two RBIs to back Jake Odorizzi, who scattered six hits in six innings.

— Francisco Lindor was 3-for-5 with a solo homer, a triple and two runs scored in Cleveland's 6-4 decision over the White Sox in Chicago. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin allowed three runs on five hits in 5 2-3 innings to win his fifth straight.

— Christian Yelich hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh and Martin Prado  had three RBIs as Florida topped Milwaukee, 5-2. Tom Koehler pitched well over eight innings, giving up two runs and four hits with 10 strikeouts.

— Christian Bethancourt hit a go-ahead, solo homer and Michael Bourn provided four of Atlanta's season-high 18 hits in an 8-1 rout of Philadelphia. Julio Teheran gave up one run and four hits in seven innings for his 10th win.

— Jedd Gyorko belted a three-run homer and Matt Kemp supplied a solo blast as San Diego pounded Colorado, 11-4. Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte each had three hits and two RBIs from the top of the Padres' lineup.

MLB-METS-HARVEY

Mets lay out plan for Harvey

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mets general manager Sandy Alderson says the plan for pitcher Matt Harvey could include regular season starts down the stretch against the Yankees and Nationals. Alderson also said the NL East leaders haven't determined how they might use Harvey in the postseason.

MLB-ATHLETICS-MELVIN

Skipper gets extension

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Athletics manager Bob Melvin has received a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2018 season. Melvin has guided the A's to three playoff appearances and a 385-338 record, but the team currently owns the AL's worst record at 60-79. The announcement comes after Oakland earned back-to-back wins over the AL West-leading Houston Astros.

MLB-NEWS

Brewers' Lucroy out with mild concussion

UNDATED (AP)— Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy will be sidelined a couple of days after sustaining a mild concussion Tuesday night against the Marlins. Lucroy took a foul ball off of his mask and is being evaluated by doctors as part of the concussion protocol. He has to be cleared by the doctors before he can return to the lineup.

NFL-NEWS

Giants send JPP home...Bills coach expects McCoy to play in opener

UNDATED (AP) — The New York Giants have sent two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul home because he is not ready to play. Coach Tom Coughlin  announced the decision after the team examined the right hand that Pierre-Paul injured in a fireworks accident on the July Fourth holiday. Coughlin said the team did not feel he was ready to come back and that there is no timetable for his return. He refused to describe the injury to Pierre-Paul's right hand.

The Giants have also signed linebacker Jasper Brinkley, who was released by the Cowboys on Monday. The Giants announced the move as they started preparations for the season opener against Dallas on Sunday. Brinkley has played in 79 regular-season games with 33 starts for Minnesota and Arizona. He missed the 2011 season because of a hip injury.

Also in the NFL:

— Buffalo coach Rex Ryan says he expects running back LeSean McCoy to be ready to play in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. McCoy's playing status had been in question as recently as last week, when the seventh-year player said he was optimistic but not entirely sure if he could play because of an injured hamstring. The Bills acquired the NFL's 2013 yards-rushing leader in a trade with Philadelphia.

— The Chiefs have placed offensive lineman Paul Fanaika on injured reserve and re-signed veteran linebacker Dezman Moses ahead of Sunday's season opener in Houston. The team did not disclose the nature of Fanaika's injury.

— The New England Patriots have asked the NFL to reinstate the suspended employees at the heart of the scandal that came to be known as "Deflategate." NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says the request is under review.

NHL-CANUCKS

Coach has surgery

VANCOUVER (AP) — Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins will miss training camp after undergoing hip surgery. The team says he will be ready for the start of the season next month.

The Canucks say Desjardins had the operation to treat "an acute flare up of his pre-existing hip condition."

NHL-WORLD CUP

NHL players to compete internationally

TORONTO (AP) — Players from the NHL will take part in next year's World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. Up next are negotiations to try to secure their attendance at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. NHL players have competed at the Olympics since 1998, creating an elite tournament that has become one of the Olympics' most popular events.

While participating players enjoy the experience, team owners don't seem to like shutting down their league for two-plus weeks in the middle of the season and hoping their stars don't get injured.

The eight-team World Cup of Hockey has not been played since 2004.

NBA-CAVALIERS

Cavs ink big man

CLEVELAND (AP) — The NBA Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers have signed backup center Sasha Kaun, who has spent the past six seasons playing in his native Russia after attending Kansas. The 6-foot-11 big man played on the bronze-medal winning Russian national team in the London Olympics for Cleveland coach David Blatt in 2012.

The Cavs acquired Kaun's contract rights in 2008 in a trade.

T25-TENNESSEE

Vols suspend lineman

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee defensive tackle Danny O'Brien has been suspended from the 23rd-ranked team for a violation of team rules. Volunteers coach Butch Jones says O'Brien will miss Saturday's game with No. 19 Oklahoma and no timetable had been set for the junior's return.

O'Brien had two tackles and a sack last week against Bowling Green in his 12th career start.

US OPEN

Men's, women's semis set

NEW YORK (AP) — The men's and women's semifinals are set at the U.S. Open following Wednesday's matches.

Second seed Roger Federer never dropped a set in reaching his 38th Grand Slam semifinal. Federer cruised to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 triumph over No. 12 Richard Gasquet, a match that was completed in under 90 minutes. Federer never facing a break point while compiling a remarkable 50-8 edge in winners.

Fifth seed Stan Wawrinka had dropped four straight meetings to Kevin Anderson before knocking off the South African, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0. Wawrinka broke Anderson's serve five times while facing just one break point, which he saved. Anderson had 42 unforced errors to Wawrinka's 15.

Federer and Wawrinka will meet in the semifinals on Friday. The other men's match will have top seed Novak Djokovic against ninth seed and defending champ Marin Cilic.

Second seed Simona Halep and No. 26 Flavia Pennetta will square off in the women's semis. Halep pulled out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 triumph over 20th-seeded Victoria Azarenka after Pennetta rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 triumph against fifth seed Petra Kvitova. Halep's match was delayed 85 minutes by rain early in the final set.

Thursday's other women's semifinal will have top seed Serena Williams against unseeded Roberta Vinci.

TENNIS-BLAKE ARREST

Blake falsely arrested

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say internal affairs detectives are investigating claims by former tennis professional James Blake that he was thrown to the ground and then handcuffed while mistakenly being arrested Wednesday at a Manhattan hotel.

Blake is biracial and told the Daily News of New York he wasn't sure if he was arrested because of his race but said the officer who put him in handcuffs inappropriately used force.

The NYPD's top spokesman said a cooperating witness misidentified Blake to detectives investigating fraudulently purchased cellphones as one of two people he recognized as being involved with the scheme.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told NY1 cable television news station that Blake has a right to be upset. Bratton vowed to aggressively address Blake's allegations.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Site for 2023 event announced

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The PGA Championship is returning to Oak Hill in Pittsford, New York, in 2023. This will mark the fourth time the club has held the event and first time since Jason Dufner won two years ago.

Only one other course has hosted the event as many times, Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.