Sports Express | August 21, 2026: Blue Jays hit 3 homers to top Rays in wild-card push

1. Blue Jays hit 3 homers to power past Rays 5-1 in wild-card race

Source: CP24

In St. Petersburg last night, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 to keep pushing in the AL wild-card race. Kazuma Okamoto, Nathan Lukes and Daz Cameron each homered, George Springer drove in two runs, and starter Shane Bieber pitched seven strong innings in Thursday's win.

Lukes broke a 1-1 tie with a homer to lead off the fifth, and Cameron followed with a solo shot two batters later. Lukes also made a leaping catch in right field in the seventh. Bieber (5-2) retired the first nine Rays batters, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out seven. Okamoto opened the scoring with his 26th home run of the season in the second inning; he leads AL rookies in RBIs (74) and extra-base hits (44) and ranks second in homers.

Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez left after his fourth-inning groundout with right hamstring tightness, and first-base umpire John Libka ejected assistant hitting coach Lou Iannotti in the seventh. Tampa Bay, which entered Thursday with the most home wins (43) in MLB, has lost three straight series at Tropicana Field and finished its homestand just 2-5. Toronto now heads to New York for a three-game series with the Yankees.

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2. Soccer powerhouses weigh no-confidence vote to oust FIFA's Infantino

Source: The Globe and Mail

World soccer's regional powerhouses are discussing whether to move a vote of no confidence to oust FIFA president Gianni Infantino after he angered them with a proposal to sell private investors a stake in the World Cup, sources told Reuters. UEFA, Asia's AFC and CONCACAF, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean, are considering the move. Reuters could find no previous instance in FIFA's 122-year history of its Congress holding a no-confidence vote in a sitting president.

"There is no way out," one source said. "Either he goes the peaceful way and decides not to stand in March or he goes the hard way." Under FIFA's statutes, the FIFA Council is required to convene an extraordinary congress if at least one-fifth of FIFA's 211 member associations submit a written request; it must then be convened within three months, with each attending association holding one vote. FIFA reiterated that it will not support, facilitate or tolerate any election process inconsistent with its Statutes, democratic procedures and established governance framework.

Infantino has said he intends to seek reelection at the scheduled March 2027 FIFA Congress and retains significant support, including from Africa's CAF. FIFA has apologized to its member associations for mistakes in handling the proposal, and last week six Arab football associations, including Qatar and 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco, publicly backed Infantino. FIFA says its revenue for the 2023-2026 cycle is expected to exceed US$15 billion.

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3. McIlroy and Scheffler suffer reversal of fortunes at BMW Championship

Source: BBC Sport

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler had a reversal of fortunes few could have predicted on Thursday's opening day of the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis. Reigning Masters champion McIlroy posted a six-under-par 64 to take a share of the lead, while world number one Scheffler — who won the St Jude Championship by eight shots last Sunday — opened with a two-over-par 72, joint 44th in the 50-man field.

McIlroy reached the turn at two under, then birdied the 13th and three of the last four holes. He credited "good work" with his team, including swing coach Michael Bannon and caddie Harry Diamond, for helping him rediscover his form. "I felt at least like I got myself back going in the right direction," McIlroy told the Golf Channel. "This golf course sets up a lot better for me than Memphis did last week."

Scheffler's strongest areas last week in Memphis — approach play and putting — were his frailties in St Louis, ranking third-worst in the former and fourth-worst in the latter. He still tops the FedEx Cup standings and, like McIlroy, is already assured of his place in next week's Tour Championship featuring the top 30. Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and England's Matthew Fitzpatrick came in at five under.

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4. IndyCar debuts on the National Mall: Freedom 250 Grand Prix this weekend

Source: NPR

Dozens of race cars and tens of thousands of spectators are poised to gather at Washington, D.C.'s National Mall this weekend for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. The two-day motorsports event, culminating in Sunday's marquee 250-mile race, is the first IndyCar race in the nation's capital — and organizers say it might be the last. "This is a one-time only event, because we're celebrating the country's 250th one time," event chair Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation, told NPR on Tuesday.

Cars will zip through 147 laps of a 1.7-mile route in the shadow of the Capitol building, with flyovers and other fanfare. At a preview event in July, President Trump said drivers may reach speeds of 190 miles per hour down Pennsylvania Avenue.

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5. 49ers thump Chargers 41-17 in preseason bounce-back

Source: Sports Illustrated

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Chargers 41-17 on Thursday in a game that wasn't even as close as the final score, sending a message after getting dominated in Tuesday's joint practice. Quarterback Brock Purdy played one drive, completing 4 of 6 passes for 29 yards. Backup Mac Jones delivered one of the best throws of the night, a 21-yard pass over the middle to De'Zhaun Stribling, who also dropped a perfectly placed deep throw.

Running back Kaelon Black showed explosiveness, while Sincere McCormick had the longest run of the night at 37 yards. Stribling was excellent and is already the second-best wide receiver on the team behind Mike Evans. Third quarterback Adrian Martinez threw a pick-six and a second interception, but also ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Jordan Watkins.

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6. A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts speak for the first time since Brown's departure

Source: NBC Sports

A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts caught up for a few minutes after Thursday's joint practice — the former teammates' first conversation since Brown was traded away from the Philadelphia Eagles, per ESPN's Tim McManus. McManus said it appeared to be a cordial visit as the two players smiled and shook hands. Just a day earlier, Brown had revealed he hadn't spoken with Hurts since the trade.

Brown caught 339 passes for 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns in his four seasons in Philadelphia, making two Pro Bowls and helping the Eagles win a Super Bowl. He requested a trade and was dealt on June 1 to the New England Patriots. "I've got a lot of love for him and always have," Hurts said Wednesday. Both players seemed eager to leave the past in the past and focus on the new season.

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7. NFL fines Cowboys and Saints $500,000 apiece after brawl-filled joint practice

Source: AP News

The Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints have been fined $500,000 apiece by the NFL after their brawl-filled joint practice Tuesday in Oxnard, California. The league announced the fines Thursday after requesting video of the tumultuous workout. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team will appeal the "pretty stiff" fine, even though he understood why the NFL issued such a hefty penalty; the Cowboys also plan to fine their own players who were involved.

"The Competition Committee has made sportsmanship — including at joint practices — a point of emphasis over the past several years," the league said in a statement. "All clubs were reminded by memo prior to training camp of their responsibility in preventing unsportsmanlike behavior at joint practices that has the potential to result in injury."

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8. deGrom reaches 2,000 strikeouts, second-fastest in MLB history

Source: Sportsnet

Jacob deGrom reached 2,000 career strikeouts in the second-fewest games and innings pitched in major league history when the Texas Rangers right-hander fanned the first two batters among his 10 K's in a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night in Arlington. Daylen Lile and Abimelec Ortiz both chased sliders below the zone; deGrom received a standing ovation and acknowledged the applause by tapping his cap over his heart.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner called the achievement "cool" but said he likely won't reflect on it until he's done pitching. "Maybe whenever my career is over I'll look at that kind of stuff," he said. DeGrom (9-8, 3.77 ERA) allowed just a second-inning single and a fifth-inning walk, both to Brady House, in six innings on 94 pitches; his 10 strikeouts matched a season best.

DeGrom was pulled from his previous start on Aug. 13 after two innings with triceps fatigue, and his start against Washington was pushed back one day. He now has 2,008 strikeouts in 1,666 1/3 innings over 272 starts since his 2014 debut with the Mets. Hall of Famer Randy Johnson got his 2,000th strikeout in 262 appearances for the fewest games; Chris Sale holds the record for fewest innings at 1,626.

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9. Dropped routine fly ball sparks six-run Cardinals rally in stunning win

Source: MLB.com

The St. Louis Cardinals shocked the Cincinnati Reds 10-9 on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park with a stunning six-run ninth inning. With two outs in the top of the ninth and the Reds leading 5-4, pinch-hitter Everson Pereira struck out, then JJ Wetherholt lofted a routine fly ball to left-center field that created chaos between Reds left fielder TJ Friedl and center fielder Dane Myers — the ball clanged off Myers' leather, plating the tying and go-ahead runs.

Matt McLain, who had already hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, came up with the bases loaded in the ninth and drove one to the wall in right, but Jordan Walker secured it for the final out. "I was very happy with that catch," Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien said. "I was begging him to catch it." George Soriano entered to pitch the bottom of the ninth with a five-run lead but struggled; O'Brien wound up pitching anyway as Cincinnati scored four runs before falling short in what might go down as the wildest win of the Cardinals' season.

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10. Redblacks fall to 0-10 with one-sided loss to CFL-leading Alouettes

Source: Sportsnet

The Ottawa Redblacks suffered their 10th straight loss to open the season Thursday night, dropping a 46-16 decision to the league-leading Montreal Alouettes before 22,482 at Molson Stadium. "Our margin for error is small," Redblacks quarterback Jake Maier said. "When a play doesn't go our way, you can feel it a little bit more as a football team that's trying to find their footing." Maier completed 14 of 23 passes for 126 yards with two interceptions; backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson entered in the fourth quarter, going 4 of 9 for 55 yards and a pick.

In their first season under head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie, the Redblacks became just the ninth team to lose its first 10 games of a season. They've dropped 16 straight contests dating back to Sept. 5, 2025 — the longest skid since the Hamilton Wildcats lost 16 straight in 1948-49. Ottawa, playing with a league-high 17 players on the six-game injured list, also extended its losing streak against the Alouettes to 14 games.

Montreal's Davis Alexander threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-23 completions, improving the Alouettes to 9-1 and his own record to 20-1 as a CFL starter. "We've got to look in the mirror and everybody's got to do their job better," Dinwiddie said.

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