Weekend Sports in Brief

Updated Aug. 31, 2020 3:44 a.m. ET
Associated Press

MLB

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cody Bellinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers set the National League record for home runs in a month. And they still haven’t lost a series all season.

Bellinger’s two-run homer gave the Dodgers 57 long balls in August after solo shots from Corey Seager and Will Smith, and LA beat the Texas Rangers 7-2 on Sunday.

The 10th home run of the season for Bellinger topped Atlanta’s previous mark of 56 home runs in June 2019. The record came in the third inning of LA’s final game of August. The club is off Monday.

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HOUSTON (AP) — A member of the Oakland Athletics organization tested positive for the coronavirus, causing Major League Baseball to postpone the team’s game Sunday against the Houston Astros.

The finale of the A’s three-game series at Minute Maid Park was called off less than four hours before the scheduled first pitch.

The A’s said the team conducted testing and contact tracing for the entire traveling party Sunday morning at the hotel and would self-isolate in Houston with recommended safety precautions in place. There were no details provided on whether the positive test came from a player, coach or someone else.

NFL

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Disgruntled pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue is headed north, far away from Jacksonville.

A person familiar with the trade says the Jaguars agreed to send Ngakoue to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday for a second-round draft pick in 2021 and a conditional fifth-rounder in 2022. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been formally executed with the league.

The person said Ngakoue agreed to rework his 2020 salary to get out of Jacksonville. Ngakoue still has to sign his one-year franchise tender with the Jaguars to make the deal happen. He had been the league’s only franchise-tagged player unsigned, opting to turn down an offer that would have guaranteed him $17.8 million this season.

He will now make roughly $13 million in 2020, the person said.

—By AP Sports Writer Mark Long.

GOLF

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (AP) — Jon Rahm saved the biggest putt for last.

He made a 65-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the BMW Championship.

This came just moments after Dustin Johnson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation to force the playoff.

The final day at Olympia Fields was filled with big drama. Rahm closed with a 64 for the lowest round of the week and won for the second time this year.

Johnson remained No. 1 in the world and No. 1 in the FedEx Cup going into the Tour Championship next week.

ROGERS, Ark. (AP) — Austin Ernst rallied to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour title, closing with an 8-under 63 for a two-stroke victory over Anna Nordqvist.

Four strokes behind Nordqvist entering the round, Ernst had the best score of the day, making 10 birdies and two bogeys at Pinnacle Country Club. She joined 2014 champion Stacy Lewis as the event’s only American winners.

SOCCER

MILAN (AP) — Zlatan Ibrahimović is back in Italy and ready to sign a new contract with AC Milan.

The 38-year-old Ibrahimović is expected to sign a one-season deal worth 7 million euros ($8.3 million).

Ibrahimović began his second stint with Milan in January on a six-month contract and helped turn the Rossoneri’s season around with 10 goals in 18 Serie A matches.

AUTO RACING

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — William Byron snaked his way through a smoky crash late Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway and narrowly avoided another melee a few laps later.

Those moves got him to victory lane for the first time in his young NASCAR Cup Series career and back in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

They also helped knock out Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time series champion whose final season won’t end with another title.

MADISON, Ill. (AP) — Josef Newgarden raced to his second IndyCar victory of the season Sunday, holding off rookie Pato O’Ward before a late caution ended the race at World Wide Technology Raceway under the yellow flag.

It’s the second IndyCar race to finish under caution in one week. Takuma Sato won the Indianapolis 500 under yellow last Sunday.

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish at the Belgian Grand Prix to clinch his 89th career win and move two behind Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record on Sunday.

The world champion was untroubled from pole position, beating his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by eight seconds and finishing 15 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

HORSE RACING

LONDON (AP) — The Jockey Club’s group chief executive resigned Sunday after a review found evidence to support allegations of “bullying behavior” and “inappropriate racist comments.”

Delia Bushell was one of 19 witnesses interviewed as part of a review into allegations about her conduct and the findings made it “untenable” for her to stay in the role, the organization’s board said.

The former BT Sport and Sky executive was given the job little more than a year ago.

E-SPORTS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bronny James is going pro — in video games.

The son of NBA star LeBron James has joined professional esports organization FaZe Clan, where he’s expected to stream Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone under the handle “FaZe Bronny.”

The 15-year-old James is a promising basketball player who could follow his dad into the pros, but he’s already reached celebrity status online. He has 4.3 million followers on TikTok and over 300,000 followers on streaming platform Twitch.

Terms of James’ deal were not disclosed.

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