Bosox take pounding
Split series vs. Chisox with 8-0 loss
James Shields threw six scoreless innings, Tim Anderson and Daniel Palka homered and the White Sox beat the major league-leading Red Sox, 8-0, on Sunday to split their four-game series.
Anderson had three hits — including two doubles — for the White Sox, who have won seven of their last 10 games.
Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez had two hits apiece for Boston, which had won four of its last five.
The Red Sox have the ma- jors’ best record at 94-44 and maintained a 7½ -game lead in the AL East over the Yankees.
VEGAS’ D-MAN BANNED FOR PEDS
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt will miss the first 20 games of the season after he was suspended for violating the NHL’s performance-enhancing substances policy.
It’s the league’s first suspension under the policy since
Jarred Tinordi in 2016 and just the fifth since the most recent collective bargaining agreement went into effect in 2013. Schmidt, his agent and the Golden Knights criticized the punishment and questioned its merits.
“It is difficult to accept this suspension,” Schmidt said Sunday in a lengthy statement. “I understand that I will miss these games, but I do not agree with the suspension and I will not accept being labeled a cheater.”
Schmidt can take part in training camp, but is ineligible for preseason games. The earliest he can return is Nov. 18 at Edmonton.
“It was utterly shocking to be informed that I tested positive for a microscopic amount of a tainted substance,” Schmidt said. “Not only did I not intentionally take a banned substance, I could not have received any performance enhancement benefit from the trace amount that inadvertently got into my system at a level that was far too small to have any effect.”
ANCER TAKES TPC LEAD
Abraham Ancer of Mexico opened with three straight birdies on his way to a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead Sunday over a familiar figure going into the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship.
It wasn’t Tiger Woods, but the guy playing with him — Bryson DeChambeau, who is coming off a four-shot victory in the first FedEx Cup playoff event and shot 63 while playing with Woods for the first time in a tournament.