Quakes lose, go pointless on three-match road swing
The Earthquakes gave up two late goals and played a man down for most of the second half in a 3-1 to loss to the host Atlanta United on Saturday.
San Jose (13-13-5, 44 points) had tied it in the first half on an attack involving Cristian Espinoza. But Espinoza was then sent off in the 34th minute for receiving his second yellow card. Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega made nine saves, yet ultimately couldn’t prevent his side from closing a three-game road swing without earning a point. The Quakes have lost five of seven overall. They return home Wednesday to face Philadelphia Union.
Emerson Hyndman scored in the 90th-minute, and Pity Martinez added an insurance goal in stoppage time as host Atlanta United, whose leading scorer Josef Martinez was stretchered off with a leg injury.
The two late goals helped Atlanta (17-11-3, 54 points) move into second place in the Eastern Conference above Philadelphia, which plays Sunday. And it helps soften the potential blow of losing Martinez, who leads United with 26 goals and had his MLS record streak of games with a goal halted at 15 when he exited in the 79th minute.
Motorsports
HERTA CONTINUES TO OVERSHADOW INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP RACE >> Colton Herta’s masterful debut weekend at Laguna Seca Raceway continued with a pole-winning run for the Indycar season finale in Monterey. The rookie has been fast in every session around the historic road course and has overshadowed the Indycar championship race, which will be decided in the finale Sunday for the 14th consecutive year.
Andretti Autosport announced right before qualifying began that Herta will be brought inside its organization next season in a fifth entry, then the 19-year-old posted the fastest lap in qualifying to stack the four title contenders behind him. Scott Dixon qualified second and was followed by Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden. Newgarden has a 41-point lead over Rossi in the championship standings, and today’s race is worth double points.
TRUEX BATTLES BACK FOR RICHMOND WIN >> Martin Truex Jr. passed Kyle Busch with 25 laps at Richmond (Virginia) Raceway to go and won his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series playoff race. The victory completed a redemptive finish for Truex, the championship leader coming into the race. He was leading with 87 laps remaining when Ricky Stenhouse Jr., running on fresher tires, spun him out, allowing Busch to sail by for the race lead.
But Truex dropped only to third under caution, then gradually reeled his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in and pulled away.
NFL
BROWNS PLACE LINEBACKER ON INJURED RESERVE >> The Browns placed linebacker and defensive captain Christian Kirksey on injured reserve, a move that will sideline him for at least eight games. Kirksey is believed to have suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the second half of Monday night’s 23-3 win over the New York Jets. It’s still possible he’ll have season-ending surgery.
Golf
MUNOZ SHOOTS 63, LEADS SANDERSON FARMS BY 1 SHOT >> Sebastian Munoz made a 15-foot birdie on the 17th hole and saved par at the end for a 9-under 63, giving him a one-shot lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship. Munoz was at 16-under 200 at the Country Club of Jackson (Mississippi), one shot ahead of Ortiz, who had a 65.
Byeong Hun An, who started the third round with a two-shot lead, shot 70 and was two shots behind. WILLETT, RAHM SHARE LEAD HEADING INTO FINAL DAY OF BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP >> England’s Danny Willett and Spain’s Jon Rahm set up a thrilling finale to the BMW PGA Championship by carding identical third-round scores of 68 to share the lead at the European Tour’s flagship event. They are 15 under for the tournament at Wentworth, in Virginia Water, England, and will face competition from Christian Bezuidenhout, local favorite Justin Rose and Shubhankar Sharma who were in third place three shots back.
Figure skating
LIU WINS JUNIOR SKATE >> Richmond teen Alysa Liu continued to dominate figure skating by winning her second Junior Grand Prix event in Gdansk, Poland, qualifying for the series final in December in Turin, Italy.
Liu, 14, rallied from fourth place after the short program late Friday to win the free skate in the Baltic Cup in, ahead of two Russians. Liu had her best international score yet with 138.99 points in the free skate.
Liu started her free skate with a triple axel-double toe loop combination jump. She then landed a quadruple lutz and triple axel. Liu completed six more triple jumps to leapfrog the field.
Liu, who won the U.S. senior title in January, made her junior international debut last month with a Grand Prix victory in Lake Placid, New York. She became the first American woman to land a quadruple lutz in competition. Liu also became the first woman in history to successfully complete a quadruple lutz and triple axel in the same program.