Sports

12:30 PM ET October is right around the corner. Wondering which teams will be playing in the 2021 MLB playoffs? Well, we’re about to find out. With the final stretch of the Major League Baseball season in full swing, teams are getting ready to clinch postseason berths — whether it’s a division crown and a

10:42 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Turns out 21 was Denny Hamlin‘s lucky number in Vegas. After finally getting his first career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on his 21st try, Hamlin is on an undeniable hot streak he just might ride all the way to his long-sought first NASCAR Cup Series

3:30 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Even without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic on the roster, Team Europe clinched its fourth consecutive Laver Cup victory by going up 14-1 against Team World on Sunday. Tokyo Olympics singles gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany and Andrey Rublev of Russia gave Team Europe an

10:43 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry moved teammate Justin Allgaier out of the way with 42 laps remaining Saturday night to win the Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the opener of the seven-race Xfinity Series playoffs and Allgaier, who started the race ranked third, could have

10:30 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been at Manchester United long enough to know that you are never more than one game away from a crisis and after Aston Villa‘s 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Saturday, it’s now three defeats from the last four games for the Norwegian.

7:39 AM ET LAS VEGAS — The return of Nick Diaz is complicated. I’ve been talking to professional fighters since 2009, but I have never had an interview go the way my conversation with Diaz went this week. Diaz, 38, returns from a six-year absence on Saturday, against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. He has

4:26 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Teofimo Lopez has signed a contract to allow Triller to move his lightweight championship fight with George Kambosos from Monday, Oct. 4, at New York’s Hulu Theater at MSG, to Saturday Oct. 16, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh and Teofimo Lopez Sr., the fighter’s father and trainer, both

4:19 PM BST Rugby World Cup winner Steve Thompson, who was diagnosed with dementia aged 42, has pledged to donate his brain for research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the former England hooker said on Thursday. Thompson is one of a group of nine former players who filed a class-action lawsuit against World Rugby and

7:00 AM ET Everyone has their favorite harbingers that a new NHL season is upon us. Fresh ice. Awkward player photos. Unsigned restricted free agents threatening to sit out of meaningless games. Optimism in Toronto. Mine? The preseason penalty crackdown. Every year, the NHL’s hockey operations department, egged on by disgruntled and aggrieved general managers,

7:43 AM ET SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Tiger Woods won’t be playing in this week’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Neither will Phil Mickelson, though he is here and will serve as a non-playing assistant captain for the United States team. Six rookies are giving a face-lift to the American side, which has lost four of

8:00 AM ET Our NBArank countdown is back for its 11th season. Which players are beginning their ascent up the league’s hierarchy? Who is on the verge of breaking into the superstar tier? To get the final NBArank prediction, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players: Kevin Durant vs. James Harden,

6:50 AM ET NFL NationESPN Thirty-two games have been played in the 2021 NFL season, and … are we really sure which teams are good and which are bad? There are 18 1-1 teams, including the New Orleans Saints, who looked fantastic in Week 1 and then only scored 7 points in a Week 2

12:53 AM ET Associated Press BENSALEM, Pa. — Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner who failed a postrace drug test, won’t run in Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. Embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday he is going to keep the colt in California and run in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes against

10:51 AM ET Rutgers cornerbacks Max Melton and Chris Long have been suspended after being taken into police custody because of a paintball gun incident, coach Greg Schiano announced Tuesday. NJ Advance Media reported that the two players have been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, stemming from an

7:08 PM ET ESPN News Services CLEVELAND — Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run Monday, breaking Johnny Bench’s record for homers by a catcher in a season, as the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 7-2. Perez, 31, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, topping Bench’s total from 1970 for the

11:10 AM ET Jakob Chychrun knows his fashion. At the NHL player media tour in Chicago, he wore Gucci loafers with a roaring tiger and a pair of stark white Valentino sneakers with an “Arizona red” streak on them. “Fashion is something I definitely enjoy. You can show a little different side of you sometimes,”

11:42 PM ET Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson denied Kevin Harvick his first win of the season with a masterful pass at Bristol Motor Speedway that was overshadowed Saturday night by a post-race skirmish between Harvick and reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott. Tempers were so hot that Harvick, his losing streak now at

5:27 AM ET Former England, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur striker Jimmy Greaves has died at 81. One of England’s greatest ever forwards, Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 international appearances and is Spurs’ record goal scorer with 266 goals in 279 games. Greaves also played for AC Milan and West Ham United and scored a

8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of

7:54 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Oleksandr Usyk’s journey to his heavyweight title fight against unified champion Anthony Joshua in London on Sept. 25 has not been without success or