Angels SS Andrelton Simmons opts out of final 5 games

ANAHEIM — Shortstop Andrelton Simmons has opted out of the remainder of the Los Angeles Angels’ season.

The Angels announced the four-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop’s decision Tuesday before they faced the San Diego Padres.

Los Angeles (24-31) is still technically in the playoff race with five games left in the regular season, and Simmons clearly caught the Angels by surprise, although the club said it respected his decision.

The 31-year-old Simmons, who can be a free agent this winter, is finishing his fifth year with the Angels. After spraining his ankle in late July and missing 22 games, Simmons is currently batting .297 with 10 RBIs while playing his usual stellar defense, albeit with four errors in 30 games.

“At this time, I feel this is the best decision for me and my family,” Simmons said in a statement. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we would like to sincerely thank the Angels organization and Angels fans for welcoming and making us feel at home.”

Manager Joe Maddon acknowledged he was caught by surprise when general manager Billy Eppler told him about Simmons’ decision Monday night after Simmons went 1 for 4 with an RBI single in the Angels’ home finale. Maddon texted Simmons, but hadn’t heard back by Tuesday afternoon.

“I’ve really enjoyed this guy a lot,” Maddon said. “I’m a big fan. This guy is a good baseball player, and I’ve enjoyed the conversations, too. It’s just unfortunate. He’s really a big part of what we’re doing right now.”

Simmons is a favorite of Angels fans for his defensive wizardry, and owner Arte Moreno has described Simmons as perhaps his favorite player to watch on the roster. Simmons has batted .281 with 36 homers and 281 RBIs during his five seasons with Los Angeles, and he won the Gold Glove in 2017 and 2018.

“He’s a thinking kind of a player, and I’ve enjoyed him a lot,” Maddon said.

Simmons will be a free agent this winter, and the Angels have an obvious replacement for him in David Fletcher, who has a .374 on-base percentage while regularly hitting leadoff for the Angels during his breakout major league season. Fletcher has been playing second base since Simmons’ return from injury.

Lightning lead Stars 3-1 after 2nd in Stanley Cup G2

EDMONTON, Alberta — Nikita Kucherov had the

ing some early hits, and the Lightning led the Dallas Stars 3-1 after two periods in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.

Tampa Bay had failed to score on its previous 14 chances with the man advantage, since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finale, until the Kucherov-assisted goals.

Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat had the power-play goals, with Victor Hedman picking up the secondary assist on each one. Kevin Shattenkirk’s goal put Tampa Bay up 3-0 after the first period.

Dallas finally got on the board on a power play with 5:17 left in the second. John Klingberg took a shot from near the blue line, and Joe Pavelski redirected the puck with his raised stick even with Ryan McDonagh all over him in front of the net.

The Lightning are trying to do what they did in each of their first two Stanley Cup Final appearances, when they followed Game 1 losses by winning Game 2. They were the 2004 champion when they beat Calgary in a seven-game series, and lost the 2015 final in six games against Chicago.

Raiders open Las Vegas stadium with 34-24 win vs Saints

LAS VEGAS — Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes and the Raiders gave their new fans in Las Vegas plenty to celebrate even if they weren’t allowed in the stadium by beating the New Orleans Saints 34-24 on Monday night.

The new $2 billion stadium in the desert held its first event following the Raiders’ move from Oakland without any fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That was one of the few things that didn’t go right for the Raiders (2-0), who overcame an early 10-point deficit to the Saints (1-1) and opened the season with two straight wins for the fourth time in the past 25 seasons.

Carr was in complete control for most of the night, completing 28 of 38 passes for 282 yards. Darren Waller caught 12 of the passes for 103 yards as Carr’s most trusted option.

Carr engineered four straight scoring drives in the second and third quarters to turn a 10-0 deficit into a 24-17 lead.

Picking apart the New Orleans defense with short passes, the Raiders controlled the clock and kept Drew Brees and the Saints off the field. Las Vegas converted 10 of 17 third downs and also went for it successfully twice on fourth down.

The Raiders even survived a fumbled pitch by Jalen Richard by stopping the Saints and then scoring on the ensuing drive on a 20-yard run by Richard.

After being gashed on the ground early, the Raiders did a good job against Brees, who struggled without his injured No. 1 receiver Michael Thomas.

Brees went 26 for 38 for 312 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Oakland Athletics clinch first AL West title since 2013

OAKLAND — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first AL West title since 2013 on Monday night with an assist from the rival Houston Astros.

Houston lost 6-1 to the Seattle Mariners, ending its three-year reign as division champion and making the A’s the first team in the majors to lock up a division crown in this pandemic-shortened season. They will be home for a best-of-three playoff series beginning Sept. 29.

Oakland was off Monday before opening an interleague series at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

AP Source: Broncos bringing in free agent QB Blake Bortles

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos are in the process of adding free agent Blake Bortles to serve as their backup quarterback, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Broncos haven’t announced the signing, said the seventh-year veteran is going through the COVID-19 protocols after agreeing to a oneyear deal.

Bortles, the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, won’t be able to join the team until the weekend.

Brett Rypien is expected to serve as Jeff Driskel’s backup Sunday when the Broncos (02) host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1).