Catch-up With The Sports You Missed Over The Weekend

Anybody who predicted the Oakland A’s would be dueling the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West should also be picking stocks for us.

Yuli Gurriel, Evan Gattis, Martin Maldonado, Alex Bregman and Marwin Gonzalez homered Sunday for the Astros in a 9-4 win over the A’s in Oakland. Justin Verlander earned the 200th victory of his career and the Astros, struggling of late, pulled even with the A’s and into a tie for first place. The A’s have won seven of their last 10 while the Astros are the reverse image – 3-7.

Clayton Kershaw picked up his 150th career win as the Los Angeles Dodgers hammered the Seattle Mariners 12-1 to win the rubber game of their weekend set. Justin Turner drove in five runs, three on a late homer off Andrew Romine, a position player forced into a stint on the mound.

And the Colorado Rockies, with a 4-2 win, swept four games from the Atlanta Braves, dropping them into a tie for first place in the National League East with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cincinnati Reds also pulled off a four-game sweep by beating the San Francisco Giants 11-4 on Sunday.

NASCAR:
Kurt Busch put an end to a string of 58 winless starts on Saturday night at Bristol. It was not only his first win of the season but his first since the Daytona 500 that kicked off the 2017 season. Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski scored enough points to clinch berths in the playoffs though none has won a race this season. There are two races remaining before the playoffs featuring 16 drivers begin. The Cup next races Sept. 2 in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

ELSEWHERE:
Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 to win the Western and Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.

Brandt Snedeker won the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship for the second time.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury defeated Francisco Pianeta in a unanimous 10-round decision in his second comeback bout and now has agreed to fight Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight title. No date or site has been chosen.

The Washington Redskins, depleted already in the backfield, are having Adrian Peterson in for a visit. Peterson, 33, played for the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals last season to no great effect (3.4 yards per carry).

Buffalo Bills quarterback A.J. McCarron suffered a cracked collarbone that will keep him out several weeks and likely open the door for rookie Josh Allen to grab the starting job.

Atlanta United forward Jose Martinez scored his 27th goal of the season to tie the league record in a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in MLS action.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman