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Cloudy skies with periods of rain after midnight. Low 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

Brad Keselowski, left, congratulates Chris Buescher after Buescher won a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, in Bristol, Tenn.

Brad Keselowski, left, congratulates Chris Buescher after Buescher won a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, in Bristol, Tenn.

One of the first things Brad Keselowski did before buying into Jack Roush's race team was check the years remaining on the contract for Chris Buescher, the driver he was inheriting with his purchase.

He was pleased to learn that Buescher was locked down. But it wasn't long enough, in Keselowski's mind.

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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

MINNEAPOLIS — An announced total of 24,896 fans came to Target Field on a chilly and drizzly fall Friday evening, and probably a majority of those were not there to witness the Twins (73-78) potentially formally eliminate themselves from the American League Central race.

Gavin Hardison threw for one touchdown, Marcus Bellon returned a punt for another score and UTEP defeated Boise State 27-10. Bellon’s 47-yard punt return gave a Miners a 20-10 lead late in the third quarter. The Miners iced the game with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that took 9:10 off the clock in the fourth quarter. Reynaldo Flores capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Although the Miners outgained the Broncos 148-53 in the first half, UTEP didn’t take the lead until Hardison hit Jeremiah Ballard with a 42-yard touchdown pass with 2:10 remaining in the second quarter.

Chris Bassitt pitched eight sharp innings in his return to Oakland, Eduardo Escobar hit a grand slam and the New York Mets extended their lead in the NL East by beating the Athletics 9-2. Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos each added a pair of RBIs to move the Mets 2 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the division. New York has won seven of eight games to open a little cushion in the tight division race before traveling to Atlanta for three games next weekend. The A’s matched a franchise record with their 50th loss of the season at the Coliseum.

Cards' Pujols hits 700th home run, 4th player to reach mark

DENVER — The Padres said this series was going to be different.

Rhys Hoskins homered and drove in four runs, Aaron Nola pitched six shutout innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 9-1 for their third straight victory. Alec Bohm had three hits for the Phillies, who moved into second in the NL wild-card standings, a half-game ahead of San Diego. Dansby Swanson and Eddie Rosario doubled for the Braves, who dropped their third in a row. Atlanta hasn’t lost four straight all season, and it’s just the fourth three-game slide this year for the reigning World Series champions.

Rookie Alan Trejo singled in the winning run in the 10th inning, highly touted prospect Ezequiel Tovar picked up hits on the first two pitches he saw in the big leagues, and the youthful Colorado Rockies stalled the San Diego Padres’ playoff progress with a 4-3 victory. Randal Grichuk homered and Yoanathan Daza added a two-run triple for the last-place Rockies, who started six rookies. They improved to 7-1 against the Padres at Coors Field and have won 14 of the past 15 meetings in Denver over the past two seasons.

The Cleveland Guardians are moving closer to the AL Central title. Josh Naylor’s tying RBI double was among five consecutive hits in the sixth inning of Cleveland's 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers. Rookie right-hander Cody Morris got his first big league victory as the Guardians won for the 16th time in 19 games. They can clinch the division as early as Sunday. Cleveland just had a three-game series sweep in Chicago and now has an eight-game lead over the White Sox with 11 games left. The Guardians got six hits and five runs off Taylor Hearn in a seven-batter span.