Nectarios Triantis scored two goals late in the second half as Minnesota United beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 on Saturday for their third straight victory.

Despite the loss, San Jose (14-10-10) clinched a top-four spot in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Minnesota (11-12-11) entered needing a win and some help to secure a wild card spot, but Seattle beat LAFC to keep the Loons out of the playoffs.

Tomás Chancalay tied it at 1-all in the 57th minute for Minnesota. Chancalay raced past the defense for a through ball from Joaquín Pereyra and rolled a breakaway shot inside the far post.

Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the 82nd when Marcus Caldeira settled a ball at the back post and poked it to Triantis for a deflected shot that bounced off the post and in.

Triantis received a pass near the midfield circle and took four touches to get inside the 18-yard box for a shot through the legs of a defender and under a diving Angus Gunn in stoppage time.

San Jose is winless in its last eight league games against the Loons dating to a pair of 1-1 draws in 2023. The Quakes have failed to score two goals in any game during the stretch.

Preston Judd opened the scoring for San Jose in the 45th. Niko Tsakiris made a long run but cutting back two defenders on a nice individual effort and he sent a through ball for an unmarked Judd, who calmly sent it inside the far post.

Up next

San Jose: Will play No. 5 seed Houston in a best-of-three series.

Minnesota: Season is over.

Nikita Kucherov scored a power-play goal 3:23 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied past the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night.

In the opener of a four-game trip, the Lightning got two goals and an assist from Jake Guentzel and a goal and two assists from defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous. Brayden Point and John Carlson also had two assists, and Dennis Hildeby made 19 saves.

Kucherov took a pass from Guentzel in the slot and ripped a shot past Calvin Pickard for his first goal in seven games.

The reigning NHL MVP, Kucherov recently requested a trade from the Lightning because he feels disrespected by a lack of communication with general manager Julien BriseBois. Kucherov, a two-time MVP, can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Tampa Bay has won three in a row and is 4-0-2 in its past six games.

Maxim Shabanov scored twice and Blake Coleman once for the Wild, who lead the Western Conference with 28 points. Minnesota had won three straight and is 6-0-2 in its last eight games.

Pickard stopped 30 shots in his third start this season.

Shabanov’s second goal gave the Wild a 3-1 lead at 6:49 of the third period. Guentzel, who grew up in Minnesota, scored on a tip in front seven minutes later to start the Tampa Bay rally.

With the Lightning on a power play and Hildeby pulled for an extra skater, D’Astous' slap shot found its way through traffic to tie the game with 3:31 left in regulation.

Minnesota, which beat San Jose 4-1 on Friday, was up 2-0 less than three minutes into the game.

Coleman scored off a rush at the 55-second mark and Shabanov scored a power-play goal on a rebound barely two minutes later.

Guentzel scored near the end of a four-minute power play late in the second with a one-timer from the right circle. It was the only shot Tampa Bay had during the man advantage.

The Foligno brothers returned to the Wild lineup and were involved in a dustup midway through the first period.

Nick Foligno, who missed 15 games with an upper-body injury, was assessed a roughing minor. Back after 14 games with a lower-body injury, Marcus Foligno fought Scott Sabourin in an ensuing scrum.

Up next

Lightning: At the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Wild: Start a three-game trip Tuesday in Montreal.

Ty Dieffenbach threw two 75-yard touchdown passes to Aidan Mizell in the fourth quarter for No. 5 UCLA, as the Bruins sped away from Minnesota to stay undefeated with a 34-20 victory on Saturday.

Wayne Knight rushed for 109 yards and his 15th score of the season to help keep the Bruins (9-0, 6-0) atop the Big Ten and boost their College Football Playoff bid after landing eighth in the first ranking this week.

Dieffenbach, who took over a month ago for the injured Nico Iamaleava, had a career-high 303 yards on just eight completions to overcome an interception and a lost fumble. He found Mizell, a transfer from Florida, streaking through the secondary on consecutive one-play possessions to fend off the Gophers (5-4, 3-3).

The Bruins have been the breakout story in major college football behind first-year coach Bob Chesney, who took James Madison to a playoff spot last season and has tied the largest year-over-year turnaround in program history. UCLA went 3-9 in 2025.

Drake Lindsey passed for 205 yards and a touchdown to freshman tight end George Rohl that tied the game at 17 in the third quarter, but the defense wore down in the second half after keeping the Gophers right there with the Bruins before the coverage breakdowns on the track-speedy Mizell.

The combination of kicker Luke Drzewiecki's recent success and an offense producing the second-fewest yards in the conference and three touchdowns in the past three games prompted Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck to call twice for 56-yard field-goal attempts that became two of the most pivotal plays of the game.

On fourth-and-2 in the first quarter, the wide-right try stopped Drzewiecki's FBS-best streak of 26 straight made field goals. Dieffenbach took a read-option run for 18 yards and hit Knight with a swing pass for 28 yards on the next two plays to jump-start UCLA's first touchdown drive.

Then on fourth-and-4 in the third quarter, Drzewiecki went wide right again, and Knight raced 31 yards around the right edge on the subsequent snap. Noah Fox-Flores scored on a 27-yard reception three plays later to put the Bruins in front 17-10.

Isaac Asuma scored 20 points and made four of Minnesota's 11 3-pointers, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Golden Gophers beat St. Thomas 76-62 on Friday night.

All four of Asuma's 3-pointers came during a 16-0 run that put Minnesota ahead 33-16 late in the first half. St. Thomas was just 2 of 18 from the field over the final 11 minutes of the half.

Crocker-Johnson made a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half to extend the lead to 45-24.

St. Thomas got within seven points twice in the second half, but Minnesota answered the first scare with a 9-0 run and then scored five straight after the second instance. Kyan Evans' only made 3-pointer put Minnesota ahead 72-60 with three minutes left.

Nolan Groves added 15 points and three 3-pointers off the bench, and Grayson Grove had 10 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota (2-0), which was coming off an 85-50 win over North Dakota. The Golden Gophers improved to 99-6 against Summit League teams.

Jeremy Lorenz scored 13 points and Hayden Tibbits had 12 for St. Thomas (1-1), which opened with an 87-78 victory over Presbyterian. The Tommies are predicted to finish second in the Summit League this year.

It was the first time the Golden Gophers played the Tommies since 1934 and the first since St. Thomas competed at the Division I level in 2021. Minnesota was 6-1 against the Tommies when they were Division III, dating from 1907-34.

Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 16th goal and added three assists in the Minnesota Wild's 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Maxim Shabanov and Zach Bogosian also scored for the Wild. They are 6-0-1 in their last seven games and have 27 points, tops in the Western Conference.

Jesper Wallstedt stopped 23 shots for his 11th victory in 16 starts, both tops among NHL goalies.

Macklin Celebrini scored and Yaroslav Askarov made 25 saves for the Sharks. They are 1-6-0 in their last seven games

Shabanov broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal with 5:45 left in the second period. Kaprizov zipped a cross-ice pass through the slot that Shabanov redirected past Askarov at the far post.

Hughes made it 3-1 when he skated across the high slot before sending a wrist shot over Askarov's shoulder at 6:55 of the third period.

Bogosian later added his first goal of the season to seal the win for Minnesota.

Kaprizov opened the scoring when he beat Askarov from the right faceoff circle during a 5-on-3 power play at 7:56 of the first period.

San Jose tied it midway through the second period on Celebrini's seventh goal of the season. The Sharks' captain won a faceoff in the Minnesota zone and drove to the net as the puck found its way back Dmitry Orlov at the point. Orlov fired a wrist shot that Celebrini deflected past Wallstedt.

Minnesota is 8-0-3 in its last 11 games against the Sharks.

Ayo Dosunmu scored 26 points in the Timberwolves 115-109 victory over the Pelicans on Friday night in New Orleans.

With the victory, the Timberwolves (7-3) remained unbeaten in NBA Cup play, moving to 2-0. New Orleans (4-5), which had four-game winning streak snapped in the loss, dropped to 0-1 in Cup play.

Dejounte Murray’s 3-pointer gave New Orleans an 89-87 lead with 7:55 to go in the game, but LaMelo Ball responded with five consecutive points, igniting a 10-2 run by the Timberwolves to give them a 97-91 advantage. Minnesota would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game.

Ball finished the game with 22 points and eight assists. Jaden McDaniels added 23 points in the win for the Timberwolves.

Jeremiah Fears led the way for the Pelicans with 24 points and Saddiq Bey had 17. Zion Williamson, who entered the night averaging 21.5 points per game, scored a season-low 13 points for New Orleans.

Minnesota hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter, including a pair by Dosunmu to jump out to an early 13-5 lead early in the first quarter. New Orleans responded with a trio of 3-pointers from Karlo Matkovic during a 17-4 run, taking a 24-22 lead on a bucket by Fears.

The novelty of the first men's basketball matchup in 92 years between Minnesota and St. Thomas, two schools a mere 3 miles apart along the winding Mississippi River, will give the Gophers a rare attendance boost during the first week of the season.

That doesn't mean this game will become a regular occurrence. Extra ticket sales don't factor into NCAA Tournament selection criteria.

“If you take the name off the jersey or that they were local, there’s no upside to us playing them,” Minnesota coach Niko Medved said.

The Gophers were expecting around 10,000 fans, Medved said, for the game on Friday night. They only topped that mark last season twice, against rival Wisconsin and Nebraska, another nearby Big Ten foe.

The 14,000-seat arena — now officially called The Barn by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota — will be livelier than it's been for any nonconference game in years. St. Thomas, in its sixth year as a Division I program after making an unprecedented jump directly from Division III, will undoubtedly bring its best for the biggest crowd it'll likely play in front of all season.

But despite the fact the Tommies won 48 games over the last two years, their place in the Summit League simply means they won't boost Minnesota's strength of schedule. The NCAA's quadrant system — ranking all 365 team and sorting them into four groups to categorize the quality of each win and loss — that provides the framework for at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament will likely label this as a ho-hum third-tier game for the Gophers once the committee convenes in March. St. Thomas ranked 113th last season, and Minnesota was 82nd.

Other public-private nonconference rivalries between intrastate schools like Cincinnati-Xavier, Wisconsin-Marquette or Nebraska-Creighton almost always present both teams a “Quad 1” game.

“Taking emotion out of it, it doesn’t always make a lot of sense. I’m doing it right now because I think it’s great for basketball in the Twin Cities,” Medved said.

For teams like St. Thomas somewhere between the low and mid majors, the reluctance of power conference teams to play them underscores the perpetual uphill challenge to the get the big-stage games.

“There’s no doubt one team typically has more risk than another,” St. Thomas coach Johnny Tauer said. ”Even though they may be the Goliath versus the David, the way it’s set up, there are incentives to play teams that you’re likely to beat by a significant amount.”

Even with an expanded field, reaching the NCAA Tournament has never been harder for about four-fifths of the programs.

“A lot of mid-majors would love it if there was a path to an at-large bid for really, really great seasons,” Tauer said. “It takes two to tango. We all sit in our seat of what is the best thing for our program.”

Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber returned to practice with the team on Thursday, moving closer to making his regular season debut that was delayed by a fractured skull.

Wild coach John Hynes said Faber has been cleared by team doctors to play, but the 24-year-old still needs to ramp up his strength and conditioning to be ready for game action. Faber won't play in either of Minnesota's home games on Friday or Saturday, Hynes said, but he's scheduled to be on the next road trip that begins on Tuesday at Montreal.

Faber was hit on the side of his helmet near the left ear hole by a shot in a preseason game on Sept. 25 and later taken to a hospital for surgery after his condition worsened. Faber logged the ninth-most minutes of any player in the NHL last season and had a career-high 51 points in 80 games.

The Wild lead the Central Division with 25 points at 11-3-3, despite the absence of Faber and other key players to injuries. Captain Jared Spurgeon, who replaced Faber on the top defensive pair with Quinn Hughes, suffered a lower-body injury and has missed the last seven games. Spurgeon will also join the Wild for the road trip next week along with forwards Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno and goalie Filip Gustavsson, who has yet to play this season while recovering from hip surgery. The Foligno brothers have each been out for a month due to upper body injuries.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray will miss at least the next game because of a hamstring strain, coach Kevin O'Connell announced on Thursday.

Carson Wentz will start instead against Buffalo on Monday, with Max Brosmer serving as the backup. Murray's status will be evaluated week to week, O'Connell said, with the hope he can be ready to play by Nov. 15 when the Vikings (6-1) visit Green Bay. Murray is not under consideration for injured reserve, O'Connell said, which would require a minimum four-game absence.

“We do feel like we’d be putting him at risk by possibly turning this into a more significant injury than it already is,” O'Connell said.

Murray was forced out of the season opener after 11 snaps because of a concussion that also kept him out of the following game. Wentz threw three touchdown passes in the rally to beat Green Bay and started the rainy victory at Chicago, going 23 for 39 for 276 yards with six sacks and no turnovers while Murray was out.

Wentz, the second overall pick in the 2016 draft, went 2-3 as the starter last year while J.J. McCarthy was sidelined. O’Connell sidestepped a question about whether Wentz could keep the job with a strong performance even after Murray is cleared.

“There's a ton of confidence in Carson,” O'Connell said. “He's already helped us.”

Murray was hurt on a read-option run in the fourth quarter at Detroit last week when he turned the corner past star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson for a 9-yard gain. Murray remained in the game as the Vikings took their first loss, but an MRI exam on Monday confirmed the strain after he had reported soreness.

O'Connell, who declined to specify the severity of the injury, stressed the importance of a cautious approach with an injury that can linger if it's not fully healed. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson wound up missing seven games with a hamstring strain in 2023. With Murray struggling to find a rhythm throwing the ball, the Vikings will be wary to send him out if he can't run at full speed.

“Just knowing that Kyler needs his mobility, it's a big huge part of what makes him an effective player,” O'Connell said.

Since Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles tendon at Green Bay on Oct. 29, 2023, O'Connell and the Vikings over a span of 52 games will have switched starting quarterbacks for injury or performance 17 different times, including 14 in-season changes and five in-game.

It's the third season of Unrivaled basketball and this year's rosters bring a fair share of familiar pairings and new potential.

The 3-on-3 league based in Miami has taken the world of sports by storm, providing another pro-women's basketball league in the U.S. to root for in the WNBA's off-season and offering players another option to hone their skills and stay in the states. Napheesa Collier cofounded the league with Breanna Stewart in 2025.

The league, which offers a fast-paced, two-month season, new rules and a 1-on-1 tournament for 48 women’s basketball stars, has reinvented social media’s presence in women’s sports and how fans can connect to the players.

The 2027 rosters for the eight clubs were announced on Wednesday. Four WNBA players that played for the Minnesota Lynx last season will play for Unrivaled in 2027. Here's where they landed.

Olivia Miles makes her Unrivaled debut

While the WNBA Rookie of the Year joined Unrivaled last year through an NIL deal as part of the league’s Future is Unrivaled Class of 2025, she will make her league debut on the court in January.

Miles was named to the club Hive. She'll play alongside Sonia Citron, Cameron Brink, Rae Burrell, Naz Hillmon, and, for StudBudz fans and those missing a former Lynx, Natisha Hiedeman.

Miles, who signed a multi-year deal with the league, was the first rookie announcement this offseason.

Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams share the Unrivaled court again

After playing together on the Lunar Owls during the inaugural season of Unrivaled in 2025, Williams played for the Breeze in 2026 while Collier was side-lined recovering from double ankle surgery.

Now, the two Lynx starters and vets will make their return to the Owls for the league's third year. They will be joined by Marina Mabrey, Skylar Diggins, Sydney Taylor and Temi Fagbenle.

Kayla McBride returns to Unrivaled

McBride will play for the Phantom. She did not play for the league last year. In 2025, she played for the Laces.

Her teammates are Kelsey Plum, Aaliyah Edwards, Natasha Cloud, Tiffany Hayes and Li Yueru.

Unrivaled brings together women’s basketball biggest names

Minnesota-native Paige Bueckers returns to the Breeze for her second season in the league. For her rookie season, she was fourth in points per game and second in assists per game across the league. She'll play alongside former Lynx DiJonai Carrington. Up and coming French star Dominique Malonga also keeps a spot alongside Bueckers.

Former Lynx Bridget Carleton makes her Unrivaled debut playing for the Mist alongside Stewart, who will return to defend the title.

Former Lynx Jessica Shepard will play on Laces alongside WNBA Finals MVP Gabby Williams; French guard Marine Johannès, who is nicknamed "La Magicienne;" Jackie Young, Maddy Siegrist and Satou Sabally, who was out most of the 2026 WNBA season for a severe head injury.

As for the Rose: Chelsea Gray, Lexie Hull, Brittney Sykes, Aziaha James, Kayla Thornton and Shakira Austin will round out the team.

And for the last Unrivaled club the Vinyl: Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Dearica Hamby, Aneesah Morrow, Flau'jae Johnson and Jordin Canada have been selected.

Unrivaled stops in Minneapolis January 24

Four Unrivaled clubs will play in Minneapolis in January as a Midwest tour stop. Hive will face the Breeze, with Miles and Hiedeman going head-to-head with Bueckers. And the Lunar Owls will face the Mist, with Collier and Williams facing Carleton and Stewart.

Jessica Vicker of Minneapolis bought her tickets for the Target Center stop a while ago. She was hoping for the Laces and Phantom because she loves Gabby Williams and McBride.

At an Unrivaled roster reveal at A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis on Wednesday, she said she is excited these players can stay in the U.S. during the off-season.

“We're used to like not having any idea where these people are in the world for over half the year,” she said. “We'll be able to see them in January in a different capacity, playing a totally different form of basketball.”

Vicker was joined by Laquita Lucas who’s excited to see former Lynx players like Hiedeman — also known as T — and to see Collier, who will become a free agent during the WNBA off-season.

“I'm excited to see T play, even though she's not a Lynx player anymore. She's still one of my favorite players,” Lucas said. “Obviously seeing Phee play is going to be great. But I'm still, like, we were just talking about it, like wondering if she’s coming back next season.”

Ayo Dosunmu had 21 points and Jonathan Kuminga powered a fourth-quarter run that allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to pull away for a 117-107 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Minnesota led by two before a 3-pointer from Kuminga, a steal by Dosunmu and a tip-in by Kuminga made it 111-104 with about two minutes remaining.

Kevin Durant made two free throws for Houston before another 3 by Kuminga extended the lead to 114-106 with less than a minute to go.

LaMelo Ball scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Minnesota after finishing with a season-high 34 in his previous game.

Alperen Sengun had his 13th career triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Rockets as they lost for just the second time this season. Durant added 21 points and Fred VanVleet had 18.

Kuminga finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Jaden McDaniels had 14 points and eight boards for the Timberwolves.

The Rockets led by two midway through the fourth quarter before Ball scored seven points during a 10-2 run that gave the Timberwolves a 104-98 lead with about five minutes to play.

Sengun made one of two free throws before a 3-pointer by VanVleet got the Rockets within 104-102 about a minute later.

Already without star Anthony Edwards for up to two months after arthroscopic knee surgery, the Timberwolves also played without guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who missed his second straight game with a bruised hip.

Kuminga received a flagrant foul 1 in the second quarter after elbowing Sengun in the jaw and knocking him to the court.

Timberwolves: Visit New Orleans on Friday night.

Rockets: Visit Phoenix on Saturday night.

Major League Baseball proposed delaying the start of a salary cap until 2028, saying teams have too many commitments for next season that wouldn't allow them to reduce spending quickly enough.

A day after the start of free agent negotiations for the 2026-27 offseason, owners on Tuesday proposed to players the sport adopt a hard cap of $258.2 million for 2028 and a floor of $180.2 million, using luxury tax payrolls with average annual values. A team would be allowed to remain as low as 90 percent of the floor in 2028, which would be $162.18 million, but would have to spend the entire amount of the floor over a three-year period.

“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “This proposal would allow a smoother transition into the cap and floor system without delaying key player benefits, including earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary, a 30 percent increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool and transactional reform that will reduce roster churn.”

Baseball's five-year labor contract, reached in March 2022 on the 99th day of a lockout, expires Dec. 1 and management is expected to again lock out the union. MLB hadn't proposed a salary cap since the negotiations that led to a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994 that forced cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years. The players’ association has said it never will accept a cap.

“Coming off another incredible season of baseball, MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values,” the union said in a statement. “Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike.”

Management's proposal is tied to a 50-50 split of revenue with players, and the union takes issue with management's definitions of revenue and expenses. Cap and floor figures would be lower if there is a work stoppage that causes MLB revenue to decline. Management's May proposal included a fixed $245.3 million figure for a cap and $171.2 million for a floor, also with the provision a club could be at only 90 percent of the floor.

“The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all,” Caplin said.

Management said eight teams would have to reduce current payroll by a combined $528 million to get under the 2028 cap: Boston, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Yankees, Philadelphia, San Diego and Toronto.

Twelve teams would have to increase spending by $636 million to reach the floor: the Athletics, the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Miami, World Series champion Milwaukee, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, AL champion Tampa Bay and Washington.

MLB said it was willing to discuss phase-in timelines and procedures. It would keep the current luxury tax system and revenue-sharing plan for 2027 with the same thresholds and tax rates as in 2026, then centralize MLB media revenue for 2028.

Players claim the cap proposal would eliminate guaranteed contracts because of its escrow provision that would claw back salary money if the players' share of defined revenue in a year is above 50 percent. The union called the plan “replacement of market-based fundamentals with a zero-sum system that harms the middle class and pits player against player” and said the proposal would lead to “stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams." Players said the proposal would cause a $400 million reduction in amateur signing bonuses for 2027.

“The players remain unified in our stance against a salary cap and will remain unified throughout this process,” San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb told The Associated Press in a text message Tuesday night.

Owners said they would accept the union's proposal to reduce service time for free-agent eligibility from six seasons of service to five for players at least 30 years old but would give a player's team the right to make a qualifying offer as under the current free-agent rules. If a player rejects the qualifying offer, he would be eligible for salary arbitration.

MLB would accept the union's proposal to eliminate qualifying offers for other free agents.

Management would raise the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million for those with two years of service and $900,000 for others — those others would earn $100,000 more from the pre-arbitration bonus pool if they accrue a full year of service as long as they are not on the injured list for half a season or more. Minor league minimums would increase from $63,600 to $73,400 for initial big league deals and $127,100 to $146,700 for additional contracts.

MLB proposed a one-time bonus payment to players as part of the plan, using money from luxury tax proceeds the current labor agreement earmarks for players’ 401(k) accounts. The bonus would be based on 2026 service time, with those in the majors for at least 172 of the 187-day regular season getting $285,000. The bonus would be $213,400 for three-quarters of a year, $142,300 for half and $71,100 for a quarter.

MLB would increase the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million in 2026 to $65 million in 2027, then up to $75 million over the term of a seven-year labor agreement through the 2033 season. It would include Prospect Promotion Incentive draft picks in the international draft MLB wants and would allow a player to earn his team two PPI picks, one in the amateur draft and the other in the international draft. MLB would accept the union's proposal to exclude foreign professionals, such as Japanese players, from the calculation if a player earns additional service time based on his finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

Owners would eliminate a player's fourth option year and reduce optional assignments per season from five to four. They would decrease the number of years by one for when a player must be protected from the Rule 5 draft and allow a player selected in the Rule 5 draft to be optioned.

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Joel Eriksson Ek scored what proved to be the winner after a Flyers clearing attempt hit a referee as the Minnesota Wild beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Tuesday night.

The Wild scored two goals in 31 seconds in the first period. Boldy took a pass from Quinn Hughes and snapped it from the high slot past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar to open the scoring.

On the next shift, a pass from Blake Coleman hit off Porter Martone's skate and caromed right to Michael McCarron, who wristed it past Vladar to make it 2-0.

The Flyers were unhappy with referee Kyle Rehman on the opening shift of the second period. A clearing pass from Jamie Drysdale hit Rehman and created a 2-on-1 for Minnesota. Boldy fed a pass to Erikisson-Ek for a wrister that beat Vladar to extend the lead to 3-0.

Philadelphia's Trevor Zegras shouted at Rehman and was immediately assessed a 10-minute misconduct.

Jesper Wallstedt made 23 saves for the Wild, who extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1) and have won five straight on the road.

Philadelphia closed to within 3-2 on a goal by Tyson Foerster and a power-play goal by Denver Barkey, but the Wild iced the game when Danila Yurov scored an empty-net goal.

The line of Kirill Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy have now gone 17 games to start the season without being on the ice for a goal against.

Wild: Returns home to host San Jose on Friday.

Flyers: Begin a five-game road trip in New York against the Rangers on Thursday.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray says the team won't be haunted by Sunday’s loss in Detroit, which ended their undefeated record this season. The Lions won 19-15.

“The confidence in the group is not going to waver,” said Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Gophers had heartbreaking loss in Indiana. Minnesota kicker Luke Drzewiecki hit a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to give the Gophers a 16–13 lead. But Indiana answered with their own 60-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime. Indiana took home the win, 23-16.

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As a result, the Vikings went into Detroit on Sunday at 6-0 — the last undefeated team in the NFL. The Vikings were allowing a league-best 12.3 points per game, and were in the top 10 in points allowed, rushing yards allowed and passing yards allowed.

For 30 minutes, none of that changed. The Lions only had 154 yards and six points in the first half, while Minnesota had sacked Jared Goff four times and became the first team this season to intercept him.

“We have total trust and confidence in our defense,” Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said. “We know they are capable of keeping us in every game.”

That defense, though, struggled a bit in the second half. Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 116 of his 153 yards and a touchdown, and little-used No. 2 running back Sione Vaki carried six times for 36 yards.

“If you cannot run it on these guys, you’re going to struggle and we got it going, particularly in the second half,” coach Dan Campbell said.

Even wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown picked up a first down on a play where he lined up wide, 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, then caught a screen pass that counted as a lateral.

“What they do is kind of wacky so you have to be wacky and fight fire with fire,” Goff said, adding the team had worked on the play for just a few days.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Lions leading 12-7, the defense forced a three-and-out with 12:48 left. Jack Fox's punt was caught at the Vikings 16, but Minnesota went 84 yards in seven plays for Kyler Murray's touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson with 8:44 to play.

The 2-point conversion was successful, giving the Vikings a 15-12 lead, but that's when the Lions took over. Gibbs carried the ball three times for 35 yards and Vioki had two carries for 22 yards and a reception for 5.

That moved Detroit to the Vikings 7, where Jared Goff hit Jameson Williams for a touchdown and a 19-15 lead.

The Minnesota offense only gained 5 yards in three plays, giving them a fourth-and-5 from their 33 with 3:01 to play.

O'Connell's faith in his defense never wavered. He decided to punt.

“We had all three timeouts left, plus the two-minute warning,” he said. “There was an opportunity for the defense to get a stop and get us the ball back.”

Gibbs, though, ran for 22 yards on the first two plays of the drive, taking the clock down to two minutes, and the Lions picked up two more first downs before moving into the victory formation.

The Vikings held the league's second-best scoring offense to 19 points, 11.6 below their season average. That's an outstanding performance — it just wasn't good enough to save a staggering offense.

“It's November, and we're still looking for that complete 60-minute game,” O'Connell said. “We need to start playing with the right amount of urgency.”

Jerry Koosman, an All-Star left-hander who got the final out of the New York Mets' shocking 1969 World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles, died Sunday. He was 83.

Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Koosman had been sick for about a year and died of multiple illnesses in Osceola, Wisconsin, surrounded by his children.

Koosman jumping onto catcher Jerry Grote as they hugged on the Shea Stadium mound after the final out of the World Series remains an iconic image in baseball history. The Mets had never finished with a winning record before 1969.

“We were so choked up with emotion we couldn’t talk,” Koosman was quoted as saying in Peter Golenbock’s 2002 book, “Amazin’: The Miraculous History of New York’s Most Beloved Baseball Team.”

Koosman went 222-209 with a 3.36 ERA over 19 major league seasons, throwing 140 complete games that included 33 shutouts and becoming a two-time 20-game winner.

Relying primarily on fastballs and curves, he was 140-137 with a 3.09 ERA for the Mets from 1967-78, then pitched for Minnesota (1979-81), the Chicago White Sox (1981-83) and Philadelphia (1984-85).

"I feared losing. I didn't want to be looked upon as a loser by anyone," Koosman said in a 2019 interview with Mets broadcaster Howie Rose.

An expansion franchise that launched in 1962, the Mets lost 100 games in five of their first seven seasons and had not come come close to a winning record.

Then in 1969, they surged into first place on Sept. 10 during a 10-game winning streak, winning 38 of their last 49 games and finishing atop the new National League East with a 100-62 record. New York’s No. 2 starter behind future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, Koosman went 17-9 with a 2.28 ERA in 32 starts in 1969.

Koosman was knocked out in the fifth inning in Game 2 against Atlanta of the first NL Championship Series before the Mets rallied and went on to sweep the Braves in the best-of-five matchup.

After Baltimore beat Seaver and the Mets 4-1 in the World Series opener, Koosman allowed one run over 8 2/3 innings and got the victory as New York won Game 2 by 2-1. Koosman pitched a five-hitter in Game 5, retiring future Mets manager Davey Johnson on a game-ending flyout to left fielder Cleon Jones as thousands of fans rushed onto the field at Shea Stadium.

“I turn around and look at Cleon and I see Cleon going back and, uh, the first thing is the heart stops," Koosman told Rose. “Well, then you see him slow down — oh, God, now you know it's OK. Now the only other thing is: Don't drop the ball.”

Koosman was honored with a parade when he returned home to Morris, Minnesota.

Born in Appleton, Minnesota, on Dec. 23, 1942, Koosman played baseball while with the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. According to his biography by Irv Goldfarb of the Society for American Baseball Research, his catcher was John Luchese, son of a Shea Stadium usher. Luchese told his father about Koosman, who passed the information to Joe McDonald in the Mets' front office. Koosman signed on Aug. 27, 1964, for $1,600.

Koosman worked his way up the minor league system and made his big league debut on April 14, 1967, at Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium with 2 2/3 hitless innings of relief. He was sent to Triple-A Jacksonville when rosters were trimmed and led the International League with 183 strikeouts.

He made it to the major leagues for good in 1968, pitching a four-hit shutout at Dodger Stadium in his first start. He was picked for the All-Star team and faced one batter, striking out Carl Yastrzemski for the final out in the NL's 1-0 win at Houston's Astrodome.

Koosman finished 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA on a staff led by Seaver that included a young Nolan Ryan. He finished second to Cincinnati catcher Johnny Bench in NL Rookie of the year voting

He was part of the 1969 rotation with Seaver, Gary Gentry, Don Cardwell and Jim McAndruw, again making the All-Star team.

“There’s the old saying: good pitching gets out good hitting,” Koosman when the Mets retired his No. 36 in 2021. “So that’s what happened and our pitching kind of took over.”

With the Mets trailing 3-0 in the sixth inning of Game 5 against the Orioles, Cleon Jones claimed a Dave McNally pitch hit him. The ball bounced to Koosman, seated in the Mets dugout by manager Gil Hodges.

“As I bent down, Gil says: `Swipe it against your shoe,'" Koosman told Rose.

Hodges then showed the ball to plate umpire Lou DiMuro, who awarded Jones first base. Donn Clendenon followed with a two-run homer, starting the Mets' comeback in a 5-3.

“Maybe it wasn't mine. Maybe it was Cleon's show polish,” Koosman said.

He made two starts in the 1973 World Series against Oakland, getting no decision in Game 2 and winning Game 5.

With the Mets in decline, Koosman told the team after the 1978 season he would retire unless traded. The Mets dealt him to the Twins in December 1978, and he later was traded to the White Sox in August 1981 and to the Phillies in February 1984.

He is survived by sons Michael and Shawn, and daughter Danielle. His marriage to the former LaVonne Sorum ended in a divorce.

Victor Wembanyama had 43 points, seven rebounds, six blocks and four assists as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-111 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

Dylan Harper added 25 points and six assists for San Antonio in the opener of a three-game homestand. De’Aaron Fox scored 20.

Wembanyama was 17 of 34 from the field in reaching 40 points for the 10th time in the regular season and the 11th time in his career. After blocking Jonathan Kuminga’s 3-point attempt, Wembanyama raced downcourt for a two-handed dunk to give him 40 points.

Ayo Dosunmu had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead the short-handed Timberwolves. Kuminga and Jaden McDaniels added 19 points apiece.

Minnesota was without injured starters Anthony Edwards (knee surgery) and Rudy Gobert (back spasms). LaMelo Ball was limited to 20 minutes due to foul trouble.

The Spurs opened the second half on a 13-4 run that included a fifth foul on Ball, who fouled out with 3:43 remaining. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

San Antonio grabbed a 43-33 lead after Wembanyama threw the ball off the backboard to set up his own layup, which was followed by Harper stealing the ensuing inbounds pass for a layup.

The Timberwolves went on a run shortly after Ball exited with 7:40 left in the first half after picking up his fourth foul. Minnesota responded by going on a 16-0 spurt to take a 51-46 lead. Kuminga and Dosunmu had five points apiece during the surge.

Minnesota outscored San Antonio 33-26 in the second quarter, getting 10 points off five Spurs turnovers.

Up next

Timberwolves: Host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

Spurs: Host the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti always believed in backup quarterback Grant Wilson.

When the seventh-year player got his chance Saturday, he delivered.

Wilson took over for the injured Josh Hoover in the second half and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime to help No. 4 Indiana rally for a 23-16 victory over Minnesota. The defense closed out the win by sacking Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey on fourth down to end it.

“This is entertainment, so I thought we'd bring some entertainment to this game,” Cignetti joked. “Minnesota played great and we just made some plays, but this team just finds a way (to win).”

Indiana (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) needed overtime for the second straight week to avoid a damaging second loss as it tries to repeat as national champions. Last week, the Hoosiers won 13-6 at Michigan.

This one appeared to be over when the Golden Gophers (5-3, 3-2) took a 16-13 lead with 19 seconds left on Luke Drzewiecki's career long 60-yard field goal. But Becker's 33-yard catch on the next play from scrimmage set up Paddy McAteer for a career-long 60-yarder to tie the score as time expired.

It marked the second season in Big Ten history that multiple field goals of 60 or more yards were made — and it happened in the same game.

For Minnesota, it was a crushing blow after leading most of the game on the road and on national television. Instead, the Gophers fell to 0-13 against defending national champs, and they still have beaten Top 25 opponents in back-to-back weeks since 1956.

“They made some big-time plays, and we did everything we could to put ourselves in position to win,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “But our kids never blink, never back down. We expected to win this game. That's a hurt locker room in there."

Indiana pulled struggling starting quarterback Josh Hoover at halftime after he took a big shot on his second interception of the season, and two late replay reviews overturned potential game-winning situations — one erased a go-ahead TD pass, the other took away an interception that would have put Indiana deep in Minnesota territory with 2:59 left in regulation.

Wilson was 9 of 17 for 156 yards and one score after Hoover went 8 of 19 for 119 yards with one TD and the interception in the first half. Becker caught eight passes for 149 yards and the decisive score.

Quarterback Drake Lindsey led Minnesota by going 20 of 37 with 120 yards and one TD. Javon Tracy had seven receptions for 40 yards.

The takeaways

Minnesota: The Gophers played well enough defensively to give themselves a chance in a huge game. But the two late pass coverage breakdowns proved costly, and an offense that finished with only 215 total yards couldn't bail them out at the end.

Indiana: While the offense struggled through a fourth straight game, one of the Football Bowl Subdivision's stingiest continues to stand tall. So far, it's been good enough in all but one game. But it's a dangerous combination with November and the College Football Playoffs looming.

Not so special

Indiana's not so special teams may have been even worse the offense Saturday. It started with a 5-yard running into the kicker penalty on the first punt of the game though Fleck argued it should have been a 15-yard roughing the kicker call.

Billy Gowers' punts of 15 and 27 yards in the first half set up Minnesota's first two scores as the Gophers took a 10-7 halftime lead. And Nico Radicic had a 52-yard field goal blocked, missed a 31-yard field goal wide left and never got to try a 27-yarder with 9:11 left in regulation because of a bad snap.

Injuries

Indiana: LB Rolijah Hardy hurt is back in pregame warmups and did not play. Hoover started the game with an injured right shoulder and landed hard on the shoulder before his head bounced off the turf on the interception return. RB Turbo Richard did not return after leaving in the third quarter after hurting his left shoulder and CB A.J. Harris left with an undisclosed injury in the fourth.

Minnesota: TE Julian Johnson was injured on an incomplete pass in the third quarter that left him on the ground for several minutes as his teammates took a knee. Eventually, he was helped off the field and went to the injury tent before going to the locker room.

Up next

Minnesota: Hosts No. 7 UCLA next Saturday.

Indiana: Hosts Southern California on Nov. 14 following an off week.

LaMelo Ball had a season-high 24 points and Jaden McDaniels scored 23 as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Clippers 127-101 on Friday night in NBA Cup group play for their first win without star Anthony Edwards.

Bones Hyland added 19 points and eight assists off the bench for the Timberwolves (4-2), who offered a glimpse of how they can still thrive while Edwards recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.

After a 127-125 overtime loss at Cleveland on Monday, a fresh exam for Edwards indicated the need for the procedure after the wear-and-tear injury limited him to a career-low 61 regular-season games in 2025-26. The Timberwolves were out of sorts for most of a 119-114 loss to Golden State on Wednesday, before regrouping behind their new star Ball and the two-way excellence of McDaniels.

Ball made three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves used a 20-2 surge to run away with the game. Each of their four victories have come by more than 20 points. McDaniels finished 11 for 15 from the floor, with seven assists and six rebounds.

Backup guard Jaylen Clark relieved McDaniels from some of the defensive duty on Darius Garland and helped force five turnovers by the Clippers star. Clark had five points, two steals and a plus-23 rating in 17 minutes.

Garland scored 24 points on 10-for-22 shooting and Brook Lopez added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Clippers (1-4), who lost their fourth consecutive game. They've played so far without newcomers Brandon Ingram and Max Strus due to foot injuries.

Clippers rookie Keaton Wagler had 12 points on 2-for-11 shooting and was minus-24. Rui Hachimura returned to the starting lineup from a one-game absence (quadriceps) with 12 points in 26 minutes.

Four-time U.S. Olympian and Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield is taking a leave from hockey because she is pregnant with her second child, she said in an announcement on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Coyne Schofield revealed the news in a social media post on X that featured a picture of her son, Drew, wearing a cap with the words “big bro” on it, and the caption: “Coming soon...” followed by a heart emoji.

Coyne Schofield will miss the entire PWHL season and will not compete in the women’s world ice hockey championship tournament, which opens in Denmark next week. Though she practiced with Team USA at its pretournament camp in Plymouth, Michigan, this week, she will not be joining the team overseas, the team said.

“We can’t wait to welcome the newest member of the Frost family next year, and we’ll be here to support Kendall and her family every way possible,” Frost GM Melissa Caruso wrote in a message posted by the team on its X account. “Kendall means so much to our team both on and off the ice. While we’ll miss seeing her compete this season, the leadership, experience and energy she brings to the Frost extends far beyond the game.”

Coyne Schofield is from the Chicago area and is married to former NFL offensive lineman Michael Schofield. In August, she signed a two-year contract to continue playing for the Frost, with whom Coyne Schofield opened her PWHL career as one of the team's first three foundational players in 2023.

She won her second Olympic gold medal in February at the Milan Cortina Games, and is a two-time silver medalist. She’s also a two-time PWHL Walter Cup champion with the Frost.

Coyne Schofield played an integral role in negotiations to launch the PWHL as a six-team league in 2023. She’s previously joked that she give birth to her son on July 1, 2023 and then the league a day later, when players voted to ratify the PWHL’s collective bargaining agreement.

Before the inaugural season opened, the PWHL altered its CBA as a result of Coyne Schofield by providing a nanny for players’ children through their first birthday.

Overall, Coyne Schofield has 41 goals and 98 points in 89 international career games, to go along with six world championship gold medals. In 77 career PWHL games, she’s tied for fourth on the league list with 30 career goals and tied for third with 63 points.

Matthew Schaefer scored his second goal of the game on a wrist shot at 33 seconds of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Schaefer beat goalie Jesper Wallstedt from the right circle on a break.

Schaefer also had an assist, Bo Horvat scored a power-play goal and Adam Pelech also connected for for New York. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

Joel Eriksson Ek, Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy scored for Central Division-leading Minnesota, with Boldy tying it at 3 with 3:53 left in regulation.

Wallstedt stopped 22 shots.

The Islanders won their second straight to improve to 7-4-2. The Wild dropped to 9-4-2. They had won three in a row.

Islanders: Host Edmonton on Saturday.

Wild: At Washington on Sunday.

The PWHL and its union on Thursday announced reaching an agreement to increase each team’s active roster by one player and a stepped-up jump in minimum annual base salaries over the remaining five years of their existing collective bargaining agreement.

The changes reflect the league’s growth in popularity and coincide with the PWHL expanding to 12 teams by adding four new franchises entering its fourth season, which opens Dec. 5.

“The PWHL and PWHLPA remain committed to working collaboratively to advance player opportunities, compensation, and the continued growth of professional women’s hockey,” the league and PWHL Players Association said in a joint press release.

Active rosters will grow to 24 players which, coupled with expansion, means the PWHL will have created 104 additional roster spots over last season.

The minimum base salary for this season will be $42,000, up from about $38,000 last year. And the number will jump to $45,000 next year, followed by $2,500 annual increments over the remaining three years of the CBA and topping out at $52,500 in 2030-31.

This is ahead of the 3% annual increase that was first negotiated and ratified by players in launching what was then a six-team league in July 2023.

The PWHL, however, is doing away with teams carrying up to three reserve players. Instead, the two sides have agreed to allow teams to sign players to one-game standard contracts, in addition to the current rules allowing for 10-day standard contracts.

Training camps are set to open on Nov. 18.

Anthony Markanich and Mauricio González scored four minutes apart midway through the second half and Kelvin Yeboah added his 18th goal of the season to help Minnesota beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Minnesota (9-12-11), which entered with a six-point gap to make up for a playoff spot, is unbeaten in its last five matches with two victories.

Kansas City (6-22-4) has lost four straight games.

Markanich tied it at 1-all in the 72nd minute by heading in a corner kick by Joaquín Pereyra. It was his ninth goal of the season — to match last year's total. Minutes later, a Sporting KC turnover led to Nectarios Triantis finding a wide-open González on his left for a calm finish.

Tomás Chancalay forced another turnover deep in Sporting KC's area and sent a pass to a wide-open Yeboah near the corner of the six-yard box for a shot off the hand of a diving Stefan Cleveland.

Taylor Calheira scored for Sporting in the 31st.

Kansas City: Hosts Houston on Saturday.

Minnesota: Plays at LAFC on Sunday.

Stephen Curry scored a season-high 44 points, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had 26 and Golden State Warriors held on Wednesday night for a 119-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were without injured guard Anthony Edwards.

The Warriors have won two straight after opening 0-3, while Minnesota has dropped two in a row after starting 3-0.

Wednesday was the first test for Minnesota to see how its lineup would look without Edwards. The Timberwolves announced Tuesday that Edwards would miss extended time after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Edwards averaged 33.3 points through Minnesota's first four games.

Curry shot 11 of 27, including six 3-pointers, and was 16 of 16 on free throws. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.

After trailing by 24, the Timberwolves climbed back in the fourth quarter thanks to Jaden McDaniels and Jonathan Kuminga. Trailing 116-112, Minnesota had multiple chances to make it a one-possession game but McDaniels missed two shots from deep in the final minute.

Kuminga led Minnesota with 20 points against his former team. Kuminga was drafted seventh overall by Golden State in 2021 and was traded to Atlanta midway through last season. He signed as a free agent with Minnesota in September.

McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. each had 19 points.

Wolves guard Lamelo Ball struggled from the floor for the second straight game. He finished 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 8 from 3-point range to finish with just eight points.

Warriors: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

Timberwolves: Hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

The small-ball Milwaukee Brewers playing in the smallest market in the majors are World Series champions for the first time.

Hey, Milwaukee: grab a brat, raise a beer and prepare for that parade.

To borrow a line from Bob Uecker, your title drought is up, outta here, gone.

Young ace Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, rookie Cooper Pratt had two more hits and two RBIs, and Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to set off a long-awaited celebration among thousands of Brewers fans in attendance at Tropicana Field.

“It’s the best feeling ever. All of our fans are here. I know the city’s waited a long, long time for this,” said captain Christian Yelich, who got hugs from franchise icon Robin Yount on the field when it was over. “We’re so happy to bring it home to them.”

World Series MVP William Contreras hit an RBI double and Misiorowski allowed just two hits before leaving the game because of a right calf cramp. He got a standing ovation from the Brew-Crew fans, who took over the section behind Milwaukee’s dugout for the last three games.

They filled the entire infield section of the ballpark for the trophy presentation and were still chanting “Let's go Brewers!” almost two hours after the final pitch.

The 22-year-old Pratt set a Series rookie record with six straight hits before his sacrifice fly in the sixth. Jackson Chourio set a five-game Series record with 11 hits.

“This is one of the greatest moments of my life. Oh my gosh. It doesn’t even feel real," said Pratt, who made his major league debut in June. “This is surreal. It only took four months!”

The championship comes in the 58th season for a franchise that began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee the following year. The Brewers’ only previous trip to the World Series in 1982 ended in heartbreak when they blew a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning of Game 7 and lost 6-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

But this team displayed the toughness and resilience of 67-year-old manager Pat Murphy, who survived a heart attack in 2020 and was the NL Manager of the Year in his first two full seasons at the helm in 2024 and 2025.

“This group of guys right here, the 2026 team, will be remembered forever — and they deserve that because they were a team,” Murphy said. “They’re not worried about their own stats. No one cares about that. They care about coming together and winning tonight.”

With their flame-throwing, 24-year-old two-time All-Star on the mound, the Brewers rebounded from a heartbreaking, 4-3 extra-inning loss in Game 4 when they were three outs from a sweep in the 12th before a stellar bullpen finally faltered.

Pitching on four days’ rest for only the fifth time in 34 starts this year, The Miz had his longest outing since throwing 6 1/3 innings against the Cubs on Sept. 8. Leg cramps also forced him out of two outings earlier in the season.

“I don’t even have words,” Misiorowski said. “It’s amazing, just watching my guys celebrate. And the city — I know they’re going crazy in Milwaukee. It’s awesome.”

Misiorowski, who broke the World Series velocity record with a 103.5 mph fastball on the first pitch last Friday, opened with 12 straight four-seamers between 100.9-103 mph. He topped out at 103 twice among his 86 pitches, 58 strikes.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander didn’t record a strikeout in the first three innings for the first time in his two-year career and finished with two, matching his career low. But he was fired up after Yandy Díaz missed a cutter to end the fifth: The Miz pumped his fist twice and punched the air walking off the mound.

The NL Cy Young Award favorite allowed one run over five innings to get his first postseason win as a starter in a 3-2 victory in the opener. He was 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA in the best-of-seven Series.

JoJo Romero got two outs, Abner Uribe recorded two more and closer Trevor Megill pitched the last two innings, allowing an RBI double to Chandler Simpson with two outs in the ninth.

Megill retired Richie Palacios on a grounder to end it, threw his arms in the air and was mobbed by teammates near the mound while Brewers fans celebrated in the stands.

First baseman Jake Bauers tucked the ball in his back pocket before piling on and later gave the souvenir to Murphy, saying the skipper “deserved it.”

“Milwaukee has waited 44 years, and Milwaukee, you have your world championship!” Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said from the postgame stage on the field.

Pratt, who was 4 for 5 with a tiebreaking solo homer in the 12th inning of Game 4, gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single against Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in the second. Pratt singled for his sixth straight hit in the fifth and scored on David Hamilton’s single off Kevin Kelly.

Contreras hit an RBI double off Garrett Cleavinger in the sixth and Pratt added a sac fly to make it 4-0.

The teams combined for just four home runs in the Series, three by Milwaukee. The Brewers scored a major league-low 32.1% of their runs on homers this season and Tampa Bay was second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Brewers led the majors with 103 wins in the regular season and went 11-2 in the postseason, including seven comeback wins and a sweep of the mighty Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

“That’s the best team I’ve ever played against,” Rasmussen said.

Making history

Milwaukee’s only other MLB championship was won in 1957 by the Braves, who moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season.

Murphy’s team finished what Harvey Kuenn’s star-studded crew couldn’t accomplish 44 years ago as the American League champions. Harvey’s Wallbangers had five Hall of Famers: Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers, who missed the postseason with a forearm injury.

They also had a Hall of Fame broadcaster in the booth. The beloved Uecker died in January 2025 at age 90 after announcing Brewers games for 54 years.

“Cooperstown will remember the 2026 Brewers,” Murphy said.

Still seeking a title

The Rays, an expansion team that debuted in 1998, dropped to 0-3 in the World Series after defeats in 2008 and 2020. They're one of four MLB franchises that have never won one. Colorado, San Diego and Seattle are the others.

“They’re banged-up and hurting right now, but just grateful for the way they carried themselves all season long, winning a bunch of games. It’s as close-knit of a group as I’ve ever been around,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.

Lockout looming

This might have been the last Major League Baseball game for an extended period.

The Brewers won the World Series at a time when owners are pushing the players’ association for a salary cap because they maintain small-market teams can’t regularly succeed. A management lockout is likely to start Dec. 2 and could threaten the 2027 season.

This was the first Series since 1991 between teams in the bottom half of payrolls. The Brewers ranked 19th as of Aug. 31, and the Rays were 25th.

Shaunice Christmas-Miller and her wife, Kendall, have the flexibility in their jobs to work from home Thursday and watch Game 6 of the WNBA Finals despite the early tipoff on the West Coast.

That doesn't mean either is happy with the Golden State-Atlanta game starting at 9:30 a.m. PDT at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, several hours ahead of the Cavaliers-Hawks NBA game Thursday night. With the potential championship-clinching contest not being played in primetime, they know many other fans won't be able to skip work and watch a potentially historic day in women's basketball.

Shaunice Christmas-Miller, who works in human resources, wishes everybody involved had considered the various options further in advance to avoid such last-minute scrambling.

“They should have thought ahead for the whole seven-game series,” she said. “The women deserve primetime slots.”

Several of the WNBA Finals games have drawn record ratings, showing how much interest there is in the league, this series and its athletes. The Valkyries have sold out every game since they began as an expansion franchise last year.

“They would never make the men's NBA final happen at 9:30 in the morning,” said Kendall Christmas-Miller, an accounting manager for a medical tech company. “I'm glad that they found accommodations but there's still more work to be done when it comes to prioritizing women's sports, especially when they're performing at this level and getting the viewership.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr plans to tune in over breakfast.

“We’ll have a day off that day, so, yeah, I’ll be watching,” he said.

He will hardly be alone, according to Shaunice and Kendall. The couple from San Jose has attended every home playoff game this season at Chase Center — nicknamed “Ballhalla” for the raucous atmosphere created by Valkyries fans — and they believe the fan base will still show up Thursday.

“Absolutely, they will definitely find a way,” Shaunice said.

Other fans are frustrated, too

“MOVE THE HAWKS GAME WOMEN = PRIME TIME” read one sign at the arena Monday night, when the Valkyries moved within a victory of a championship by beating the Dream 64-55.

Others expressed their feelings on social media.

Rapper Flavor Flav posted Tuesday: “Thursday is a paid holiday. Because Flavor Flav said so.” Included in his post was a photo of a note directed to bosses everywhere as a permission slip of sorts requesting excused absences for employees, signed by Flavor Flav with dual titles beneath his name — “The World's Greatest Hype Man” and “Official Supporter of Women's Sports.”

Ole Miss women’s coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin sounded off.

“I’d rather play anywhere else than have a 12:30 tip for a WNBA FINALS game man! Not a good look! For fans and for the players,” she posted on social media. “Just my 2cents that no one asked for.”

Kendall Christmas-Miller said while the decision to start the game early is disappointing, “women’s sports fans are resilient and we’re going to keep pushing and keep finding a way to show up.”

Valkyries focus on what they can control

Golden State coach Natalie Nakase and her players have focused all along on what they can control, and this certainly isn't one of those things.

But there were some clever postgame offerings:

“Call in sick, I recommend it,” point guard Veronica Burton cracked.

“Yeah, right? Y'all know how to fake a cough, didn't we all do that?” teammate Kiah Stokes added.

Guard Kaila Charles has no doubt the Valkyries will adjust for the early tipoff.

“I think it’s a good thing that we’re able to play in a bigger arena so that they can have more people come and support women’s basketball,” Charles said.

Golden State hosting early morning watch party

Valkyries co-owner Peter Guber walked into Chase Center on Monday unconcerned about the franchise's devoted home crowd coming together when it matters most, despite the morning challenges such as commuter traffic to get into San Francisco for a watch party.

Supporters have been invited to gather outside at Chase Center's Thrive City viewing area beneath the big screen, which is 74 feet wide and 42 feet high.

“Whatever they do, they come where the action is and this is the action,” Guber said, insisting Golden State's faithful fans will all be “up and ready to go.”

Nakase has made public pleas to the fan base before, and she did so again.

“The beauty of Ballhalla, they’ll sacrifice,” she said. “They're going to sacrifice. They're going to open that app, they're going to open their phone, they're going to watch. I have no doubt that everyone who has been supporting us through this whole way — maybe we picked up fans within the Finals — everybody’s going to watch. ... That's what we do on Golden State, we sacrifice for the betterment of our team.

“So our fans, I ain’t worried about it, our fans are going to show up, show out, we play for them because they show up, show out. They don't ever miss a beat.”

And on Thursday, even over their morning coffee.

“We’ve got the best fans in the league,” Burton said, “so I’m sure they’ll be supporting us, whatever time.”

Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Utah Mammoth 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

Utah's Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt's shutout bid.

Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.

Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.

Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.

Wild: Return home to face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Mammoth: Open a six-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers are the surprising last teams standing with a zero in either the win or the loss column.

The Vikings beat Indianapolis 16-10 on Sunday and are now the only undefeated team remaining after losses by San Francisco and Kansas City, while the Chargers are the last winless team after Miami beat the New York Jets.

That makes this season the first in the Super Bowl era, according to Sportradar, when the last undefeated team missed the playoffs the previous season and the last winless team made the previous postseason.

While the Vikings and Chargers are on opposite sides of the standings, they are tied in one statistic that shows just how unlikely this 6-0 start is for Minnesota. The teams are averaging 1.5 offensive touchdowns per game for the second-lowest mark in the NFL.

The Vikings scored five TDs on offense in the opener against Green Bay and have only four in five games since then but still keep winning. Minnesota has scored 125 points overall to tie for the second fewest for any 6-0 team in the last 90 seasons.

The Rams scored 116 in the first six games in 1978 on the way to a 12-4 record and a trip to the NFC title game. The Vikings also scored 125 points in the first six games in 1973 in a season that ended with a Super Bowl loss to Miami.

The fast start should bode well for Minnesota as the final undefeated team has made the playoffs every season since 2017. The last team to miss out were the Vikings in 2016 when they were the only undefeated team at 5-0 after six weeks before finishing 8-8 and falling short of the postseason.

Ravens blow another double-digit lead; 49ers fail to make a big late comeback

Three teams overcame double-digit deficits to win in Week 7, with one of the teams that blew the lead not a surprise.

Cleveland fell behind 14-0 early before beating Tennessee 27-24, Atlanta rallied from 14-3 down to beat San Francisco 29-20 and Cincinnati overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit to beat Baltimore 35-13. That gives the league 20 double-digit comebacks this season to tie for the third most through seven weeks in a nonstrike season.

The Bengals' comeback was particularly noteworthy as it marked the 10th time in the last five seasons that the Ravens lost a game after leading by at least 10 points in the second half. No other team has done it more than six times in that span.

But it's extremely rare for a team to fall behind by that much at halftime and win such a lopsided game. In fact, Cincinnati became the third team in NFL history to win a game by least 20 points after trailing by 13 or more at the half.

It last happened on Nov. 19, 1950, when the Giants came back from 20-7 down at the half to beat the first version of the Baltimore Colts 55-20. Those Colts folded after the season and a new version that now plays in Indianapolis started three years later. Only one other team has done it in NFL history with the Bears coming from 14-0 down at the half to beat the Eagles 49-14 on Nov. 30, 1941.

The Falcons built a 26-14 lead in the fourth quarter after their first-half deficit and that proved too much for San Francisco to overcome. The 49ers are 0-49 in 10 seasons under Kyle Shanahan, playoffs included, when trailing by at least eight points in the fourth quarter. Every other team has at least one win in that scenario in that span, led by the eight for Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

The comeback by Cleveland prevented Tennessee from winning back-to-back games for the first time since 2022. The Titans have gone 65 straight games without consecutive wins to tie the Browns for the longest streak ever at 65, according to Sportradar. Tennessee will set the record next week with a 66th game.

Tampa Bay did go 74 straight without winning consecutive games in a season in the 1980s but did win the final game in 1988 and the opener in 1989 to break up that streak.

Kickers struggling early in the season

The kicking revolution that took over the NFL last season after a change in the kicking ball has abated early this season with the most misses at this point in a season in five years.

There have been 98 missed field goals and extra points so far for the most in the first seven weeks since there were 102 in 2021.

The problem was especially costly for Green Bay last week. Trey Smack missed a 26-yarder in the first quarter and had a 35-yarder blocked in a tie game in the fourth quarter, contributing to the Packers' 20-17 loss to Detroit.

Smack became the first kicker to miss two field goals from 35 yards or closer in the same game since Mike Nugent did it for New England in a 27-13 win against Cleveland in 2019. It was the first time it happened in a loss of three points of fewer since Shaun Suisham did it for Pittsburgh in a 21-18 loss to the Raiders in 2013.

There has been only one other miss in 172 attempts this season from 37 yards or closer and that came in Week 2 when Chicago's Cairo Santos had a 23-yarder blocked in a 9-3 loss to Minnesota.

The Packers aren't the only team with kicking issues this season. The Rams released Harrison Mevis after he missed two field goals in a Week 5 overtime loss to Buffalo, Eddy Pineiro became the first 49ers kicker in 40 years to miss a kick in at least five straight games and Harrison Butker missed two field goals for Kansas City on Sunday night to give him an NFL-worst 15 missed kicks since the start of last season.

Seahawks shut down Mahomes and the Chiefs

Seattle's Dark Side defense proved to be too much against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Seahawks beat the Chiefs 20-3 on Sunday night in a win that was more dominating than even the score indicated. Kansas City failed to make it into the red zone even once in the game for the first time in 153 starts for Mahomes in the regular season and playoffs.

The Chiefs went scoreless in the first half for the fifth time with Mahomes at quarterback, tied their fewest points ever in a Mahomes start with a 27-3 loss to Tennessee in 2021 and finished with their second-fewest yards (213) and fewest first downs (11) in those 153 games.

In fact, the Chiefs only had one touchdown the previous week against the Chargers on a run by Kenneth Walker III, marking the first time a Kansas City quarterback started back-to-back without throwing or running for a TD since Alex Smith did it in 2013.

Milwaukee was three outs from its first World Series title when Junior Caminero started the bottom of the 12th inning with a grounder to third. Thousands of Brewers fans who trekked to Tropicana Field to witness the long-awaited moment started to cheer.

Not so fast.

Third baseman Joey Ortiz bounced the throw, and the ball glanced off first baseman Jake Bauers’ mitt for an error.

One of the most stunning rallies in World Series history started to unfold.

Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson followed with consecutive singles in a 15-pitch span against rookie Shane Drohan, and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off elimination Tuesday night with a 4-3 win that forced Game 5.

“Sometimes the game tests you. Sometimes the game makes you want to dig deep,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said. “It’s all part of the journey, all part of the experience, and that’s part of our story.”

Milwaukee rookie Cooper Pratt hit a tiebreaking home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th for a 3-2 lead, sending the Brewers sprinting out of the dugout in excitement as they sensed completing the first Series sweep since 2012.

Milwaukee's bullpen, led by seven outs from Aaron Ashby, had combined for seven straight scoreless innings, before Caminero reached against Antonio Senzatela.

Ortiz grimaced.

“I've got to make that play," he said. “Just no excuse about it.”

Caminero appeared to hurt his left foot but stayed in the game. Brewers manager Pat Murphy brought in Drohan, a 27-year-old left-hander who had not pitched since a one-inning start in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 15.

With Pratt shifted toward second for the left-handed batter, Hicks hit an opposite-field grounder through the vacated shortstop hole and into left field as Caminero slid headfirst into third.

“For just regular D, that's right at Coop,” Drohan said of the defensive alignment.

Pinch-runner Cedric Mullins replaced Caminero before DeLuca, who had made sparkling catches to deny Yelich in the third and William Contreras in the fourth, hit a grounder past the mound as Drohan tried in vain to make a behind-the-back snag. The ball bounced into center as Mullins tied the score at 3.

Nick Fortes ran at second for the slower Hicks. After missing a bunt attempt and pulling back another while taking a called strike, Simpson lined a single into center, loading the bases.

Sal Frelick moved in from left to form a five-man infield, with three defenders on the left side and everyone playing in.

Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, batted for Victor Mesa Jr.

"It’s what you dream of as a player to be in that spot,” Williamson said.

On the game's 367th pitch, he hit a chopper that kicked up chalk from the foul line 7 feet from home plate. The ball bounded high over Bauers and onto the grass in short right field. Fortes sprinted across the plate with the winning run, then headed toward first to join his jumping teammates in foul territory.

“That was totally what I told him to do,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, drawing laughs.

Drohan walked off, his head bowed.

“Definitely hard. I’m human," he said softly. “I knew what I was walking into. I just didn’t do the job there.”

Tampa Bay became the fourth team in World Series history to avoid elimination with an extra-inning comeback, according to OptaSTATS, joining the 1912 Boston Red Sox, 1986 New York Mets and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals — who all went on to win titles.

“We've got a lot of fight in us. We’re never going to shy away," Simpson said. “We were going to keep fighting until the end — the last inning, the last out, the last play, the last pitch."

Game 5 in the best-of-seven matchup is Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, with NL Cy Young Award favorite Jacob Misiorowski scheduled to start for the Brewers. Cash said he hadn't decided on a starter yet.

Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost Game 5.

Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, the only one that rebounded to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series.

“It just shows the resiliency of this group,” Williamson said. “We continue to fight, and that’s been the motto this series and this full season, is just fight.”

Caminero was replaced by Mullins at third base and hobbled off the field with an ailing left foot. But the All-Star slugger said he’ll definitely play Wednesday night.

“He’ll play tomorrow on one leg. I’ll make sure of it,” Cash said.

Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were bidding to become only the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.

“I feel like today we’ve just been playing so free,” DeLuca said. “It’s a pretty cool position we’re in and it’s a special opportunity that we have."

David Hamilton also homered for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and double, improving to 10 for 20 in the Series.

“When you’re achieving something like this, it’s going to have its adversity,” Murphy said. “We had some things go our way yesterday. They had some things go their way today. That’s the way it is.”

Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour to become the first rookie to hit a World Series extra-inning homer. His go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2 after Seymour allowed Frelick’s tying home run.

“Nobody said this was going to be easy,” Pratt said.

Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State feel to Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks.

Simpson hit an RBI double off starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came around on Pratt's double.

Caminero singled leading off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a hard grounder to Hamilton and Caminero twisted toward the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.

Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, drove an 0-2 fastball at the letters from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason — half his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.

Six scoreless innings followed before the late drama in a 4-hour, 20-minute game that ended at 12:28 a.m. with the first Series walk-off pinch hit in extra innings since Gene Larkin's single won Game 7 for Minnesota in 1991.

“You play Wiffle ball in the backyard with your friends and you’re dreaming of hitting a walk-off ball in the World Series,” Williamson said.

Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards needs an arthroscopic procedure to alleviate issues with his right knee and will miss several weeks, a person with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Timberwolves had yet to make any public announcements of Edwards’ plan to have the procedure.

Edwards has been listed on injury reports with a right knee issue, though it wasn't clear what the problem was. The Timberwolves had listed him as questionable for their game against Golden State on Wednesday, before the decision was evidently made to go forward with the surgery.

Edwards was off to a flying start this season, averaging 33.3 points and leading Minnesota to three wins in its first four games. He scored 45 points in the season-opening win at Miami, then had 47 points in a loss to Cleveland on Monday night.

If he is out for two months, that would essentially take him up until Minnesota's Christmas game against Oklahoma City. It would also mean Edwards would miss around 25 games, meaning he would fall short of the NBA's 65-game threshold for end-of-season awards like the All-NBA team and MVP.

Edwards was limited to 61 games last season, mostly because of knee-related issues.