MLB Highlights: Pirates 13, Giants 12

Gabriel Jesus completed a transfer deadline day move from Arsenal to Barcelona on Tuesday on a three-year contract. The 29-year-old Brazil striker was part of Arsenal's Premier League title-winning squad last season after lifting four league crowns with Manchester City. He joins Spanish champion Barcelona following the departure of Robert Lewandowski at the end of last season. Jesus joined Arsenal in 2022 after six trophy-laden seasons at City. Despite enduring an injury-disrupted time at the Emirates Stadium, he was part of the squad that ended the London club's 22-year wait to be crowned English champion. Jesus is the latest arrival in a busy transfer window for Barcelona, following deals for Anthony Gordon, Rodri, Joao Cancelo, Karim Adeyemi and Dominik Livakovic. Reporting by The Associated Press. mchezo.life

ANGEL STADIUM (Anaheim, Calif.) — The only direction from here is up, Angels fans. Amid an 11th straight losing season, after a decade of destitution, owner Arte Moreno is finally heeding his fans’ advice and selling the team. Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, is acquiring a controlling interest in the Angels for a reported $4 billion, a Major League Baseball record. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to MLB approval, according to the Angels and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Moreno, who bought the Angels in 2003 for $183.5 million, will retain a minority stake in the club. But it’s the dawn of a new day in Anaheim. "Fresh start," said Mike Trout. "You kinda felt that was needed. No hard feelings against Arte, but we’re super excited. The guys are excited. There’s a good vibe around the clubhouse, vibe around the stadium." Trout was among the many Angels players and executives stunned by the news but encouraged by what it could mean. The Rams have made the playoffs seven times in the last nine years. In 2016, Kroenke moved the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles. The Rams hired Sean McVay as their head coach in 2017, went to the Super Bowl in 2018 and won it in 2021, a year after moving into their brand-new SoFi Stadium. (For what it's worth, the Angels' lease at Angel Stadium runs through 2032.) KSE, Kroenke’s holding company, also owns the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Arsenal F.C. (Premier League) and the Colorado Rapids (MLS), among its vast sports portfolio. The Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche and Arsenal have all won championships since 2022 under KSE’s ownership. "What a track record," Trout said. "Wherever he buys, he wins." Trout, who has never won a playoff game in 16 years with the Angels, and teammate Zach Neto both reached out to Rams players shortly after hearing the news of the sale. The feedback they received about Kroenke was encouraging. "Most important thing that they said is he just wants what’s important for us," Neto said. "That’s to make the clubhouse better, in the sense of whatever we need, we get — whether that’s amenity-wise, speakers, whatever it is. He’ll make sure we get those." That has not always been the case under Moreno, whose tumultuous tenure started promisingly and ended hopelessly, with the owner unwilling to invest in the resources or put the infrastructure in place to return the Angels to relevance. Moreno bought the team in 2003, a year after the Angels won the World Series. The next year, he brought in Vladimir Guerrero and watched him win MVP. The Angels made the playoffs five times from 2004-09. Since 2010, however, they’ve made the postseason just once, in 2013, when they were swept in the American League Division Series. They wasted the primes of Shohei Ohtani and Trout, unable to get them to the postseason over their six years together or acknowledge the reality of their plight. The Angels sought quick fixes, routinely rushing prospects through the system. Moreno’s unwillingness to make the difficult choice to rebuild prevented the kind of change necessary to chart a prosperous path forward. In July 2023, instead of trading Ohtani to get the requisite pieces to reshape the farm system, the Angels dealt more prospects away and finished the year 73-89. Ohtani left in free agency and won the World Series in each of his first two seasons with the Dodgers. This year has marked a season of change in Anaheim. The announcement of the ownership sale comes months after team president Molly Jolly dismissed general manager Perry Minasian in June. John Mozeliak, who spent 18 years running baseball operations for the Cardinals — a stretch that included 10 postseason appearances, six division titles and a World Series championship — took over as the interim GM and began charting a new path forward. In an effort to revive a rudderless franchise, he started making the wholesale changes the team refused to do for years, including a deadline fire-sale that injected the Angels’ lagging farm system with needed talent. He has also started making changes to the coaching staff — pitching coach Mike Maddux, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott were fired in August — and reshaping the front office. Just a day before the announcement of the ownership sale, Mozeliak promoted Matt Swanson and Michael Lord as assistant general managers while restructuring the scouting department. Then, on Tuesday morning, Jolly dropped a folder down on his desk and let him know his day was going to change. "Obviously, this was news to me," Mozeliak said of the ownership change. "When I first came here, I spoke with Arte, and he had mentioned that this was a possibility. But to learn it this morning from Molly, I was definitely surprised. But it wasn’t a shocker. I think it’s exciting news for everybody. I think change is what I came in to try to start doing." Mozeliak plans to continue to do that with an eye toward the future, until he’s told otherwise. "Obviously, the new ownership is going to have to give us some direction on what they want to see that to look like," Mozeliak said. "But I do think they should be part of that calculus." Moreno explored a sale in 2022 before ultimately remaining in place, much to the chagrin of fans whose chants to "sell the team" have reverberated throughout Angel Stadium in recent years. If a change was going to be made, many expected it would come after the next collective bargaining agreement. The timing took most by surprise. Jolly was one of the few who did not sound shocked. She didn’t divulge exactly how long Moreno had been in talks with Kroenke, other than to say it did not come together quickly. "I knew he was contemplating it as far as, what is your legacy and your exit strategy?" Jolly said. "So, that didn't surprise me at all that, at some point, he was going to transfer to the right next person." How long Mozeliak and the current Angels regime remain in place is to be determined. Kroenke could start with a clean slate, should he choose to do so. Mozeliak’s contract goes through December. Kurt Suzuki is managing on a one-year deal. The only players under contract beyond this year are Trout and Yusei Kikuchi. For many years, the Angels under Moreno maintained a top-10 payroll in the sport. That has since changed in recent seasons. But under Kroenke, who now becomes MLB’s richest owner, there is hope for a brighter future. "We’re excited for the new guy to come in and hopefully change things around and get some new life in here," Neto said. It couldn’t be much worse. "You look at the track record, I know the No. 1 thing on his mind is going to be to get to the World Series and win a championship," Trout said. "As a player, it makes you feel good to have that and to feel that." Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

• Gauff tops Sonmez 6-3, 6-4 in first-round match

• American saves three break points in pivotal hold

• Fourth seed also has world No 1 ranking in sight

Coco Gauff returned to the scene of her grand slam breakthrough on a rain-lashed Tuesday night and safely cleared the first hurdle toward another, launching her pursuit of a second US Open title in four years with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez beneath the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 22-year-old American, seeded fourth in New York, arrived with momentum and expectation running particularly high, fresh off her first title of the year in Cincinnati and having shown encouraging signs that the serve which has so often dictated the rest of her game is becoming a more reliable weapon. Now, three years after she first lifted the trophy here, both a third major championship and the world No 1 ranking are within her reach.

BlogBryce Harper Not Playing Tonight: What's Behind His Sudden AbsenceBryce Harper’s name has been on every fan’s lips this week. The Philadelphia Phillies have a home game tonight, and the stadium’s big screen still shows his smiOpen →

The summer transfer window slammed shut across Europe on Tuesday evening, and for fans of the U.S. men’s national team, it was a frustrating Deadline Day as the biggest potential move of any American player post-2026 FIFA World Cup fell apart at the 11th hour. Folarin Balogun was thought to be headed to English Premier League mainstay Everton from Monaco in a deal worth more than $50 million. With three goals in four games during soccer’s quadrennial showpiece, the 25-year-old New York-born, London-bred Balogun was the breakout star for the Americans at this summer’s World Cup. That showing drew interest from multiple suitors, but the Toffees — the club where USA legends Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Brian McBride all once played — appeared to have won the race for his signature. But following some last minute hiccups, Balogun reportedly walked away from the deal late Tuesday despite traveling to Merseyside to complete the deal. Although Balogun’s high-profile move didn’t happen, other Americans found new clubs this window.Here’s how the transfers of five of his Stars and Stripes teammates could impact their club careers and the national team in the months ahead. Zavier Gozo: Real Salt Lake To Crystal Palace As I reported in May, USA coach Mauricio Pochettino thought enough of Gozo’s performances with RSL to include the uncapped 19-year-old on the Americans’ 55-player "provisional" World Cup roster, the preliminary list from which the final 26 came. So did Palace after the Utah native bagged 10 goals in 42 MLS games, including six in 16 appearances in 2026. Gozo made his Premier League debut for the London club in last week’s loss to mighty Manchester City. Gio Reyna: Borussia Mönchengladbach To Strasbourg After spending the first seven years of his career in Germany, the 23-year-old traded the Bundesliga for France’s Ligue 1. Reyna, who scored a brilliant goal to cap the Americans’ World Cup-opening 4-1 rout of Paraguay, joined Les Bleus et Blanc for $3.5 million in early August on a five-year contract. The onetime teenage prodigy managed only one goal in 20 appearances — 16 of them off the bench for ‘Gladbach in 2025-26. He should play more this season; Strasbourg’s new No. 10 started and logged 76 minutes in central midfield during the club’s most recent outing, a 2-1 win over Lens last Saturday. Sebastian Berhalter: Vancouver Whitecaps To Middlesbrough The scrappy central midfielder and set-piece specialist could’ve traded Western Canada for England’s second tier before the World Cup, opting instead to stay in Vancouver and cement the roster spot he won with aplomb last year. It worked: Berhalter appeared in all five of the USA’s contests and scored in the 3-2 group stage loss to vs. Türkiye. Now he’ll try to help ‘Boro gain promotion back to the Premier League after heartbreak in last season’s promotion playoff final. Berhalter walked straight into coach Kim Hellberg’s starting lineup upon arrival in late July, notching the game-winning assist against Wrexham in his first appearance the following week. The 25-year-old, who would’ve been a free agent this winter, has started each of the club’s five games across all competitions so far. Max Arfsten: Columbus Crew To Middlesbrough Arfsten became the third American at ‘Boro, joining Berhalter and Aidan Morris — one of the final cuts to Pochettino’s roster — when he signed Aug. 4 for a fee of up to $7.5 including incentives, according to the Athletic’s Tom Bogert. The attack-minded left back made one brief cameo as Antonee "Jedi"Robinson deputy at the World Cup. He could play a larger role under Poch this cycle given the 29-year-old Jedi’s history of knee problems. Arfsten, 25, is already gaining crucial experience in the rough and tumble Championship, having appeared in all three league games last month ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Burnley. Jack McGlynn: Houston Dynamo To Stoke City Although an untimely injury cost the sweet-footed lefty any real chance of competing for a place on the Americans' World Cup squad, McGlynn, 23, will be just entering his prime in 2030. Pochettino likes the Queens, New York product’s profile, having capped him 12 times in 2025 and getting two goals in return. Stoke needs the help, with the longtime Premier League team languishing in 21st place in the 24-strong Championship four games into the 2026-27 campaign. They got some by landing McGlynn on Deadline Day.