BRONCOS IMPROVE TO 4 AND O
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch made his NFL debut sooner than expected Sunday, stepping in for injured starter Trevor Siemian to help the Denver Broncos remain unbeaten with a 27-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Siemian left the game with two minutes remaining in the first half with what the defending Super Bowl champions described as an injury to his left (non-throwing) shoulder. He remained in uniform and watched the second half from the sideline, wearing a baseball cap while Lynch – the 26th pick in this year’s draft- finished the Broncos’ ninth consecutive win. Siemien threw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas, capitalizing on Aqib Talib’s interception and 25-yard return to the Bucs 11 on Tampa Bay’s opening possession. The ex-Buc cornerback also set up another first-half TD with a second interception that led to C.J. Anderson’s 1-yard run for a 14-7 lead. Jameis Winston scrambled 7 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, but had limited success against the Denver defense the rest of the way. In addition to throwing two interceptions, the second-year quarterback was sacked five times while going 17 of 35 for 179 yards. Siemian was 5 of 7 for 68 yards, including an 11-yard TD pass to Sanders on Denver’s first offensive play. Lynch finished 14 of 24 for 170 yards, one TD and no interceptions.
NFL SCORES
Final Jacksonville 30 Indianapolis 27
Final Buffalo 16 New England 0
Final Atlanta 48 Carolina 33
Final Oakland 28 Baltimore 27
Final Chicago 17 Detroit 14
Final Washington 31 Cleveland 20
Final Seattle 27 N-Y Jets 17
Final Houston 27 Tennessee 20
Final Dallas 24 San Francisco 17
Final New Orleans 35 San Diego 34
Final Los Angeles 17 Arizona 13
Final Pittsburgh 43 Kansas City 14
MLB
DENVER (AP) – Andrew Susac hit his first homer of the season, a two-run drive in the 10th inning that lifted the Milwaukee Brewers over the Colorado Rockies 6-4 in Sunday’s season finale.
After Orlando Arcia hustled for a two-out double, Susac followed with a liner to left off Chris Rusin (3-5). It was Susac’s first homer since July 12 last year while with San Francisco.
Reliever Tyler Thornburg (8-5) won after blowing a lead for a second straight day. Corey Knebel pitched a perfect 10th for his second save, striking out Charlie Blackmon to end the season.
There was plenty of intrigue with Chris Carter and Arenado dueling for the NL home run title. Both were kept in the park and finished tied with 41.
DJ LeMahieu sat out Sunday to protect his lead in the batting title race. It worked as LeMahieu edged Washington’s Daniel Murphy by percentage points – .3478 to .3465.
ROCKIES-NL BATTING TITLE
LeMahieu, Altuve win batting titles; Trumbo tops in homers
DENVER (AP) – Colorado’s DJ LeMahieu won his first National League batting title Sunday, sitting out his second straight game to protect his lead over Washington’s Daniel Murphy. LeMahieu hit a major league-leading .348 and finished one point ahead of Murphy with the NL’s highest average since Atlanta’s Chipper Jones batted .364 in 2008. LeMahieu’s season ended after three innings and two hitless at-bats Friday. Murphy pinch hit Sunday in his first appearance since Sept. 20 and flied out. Houston’s Jose Altuve hit .338 won his second AL batting title in three years. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia was a distant second at .318. Mark Trumbo led the major leagues with 47 home runs, the fourth straight Baltimore player to hit the most in the big leagues.
SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 1 Detroit 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Baltimore 5 N-Y Yankees 2
Final L.A. Angels 8 Houston 1
Final Tampa Bay 6 Texas 4, 10 Innings
Final Toronto 2 Boston 1
Final Oakland 3 Seattle 2
Final Minnesota 6 Chi White Sox 3
Final Cleveland 3 Kansas City 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 5 N-Y Mets 2
Final San Francisco 7 L.A. Dodgers 1
Final Washington 10 Miami 7
Final Arizona 3 San Diego 2
Final Chi Cubs 7 Cincinnati 4
Final Milwaukee 6 Colorado 4, 10 Innings
Final St. Louis 10 Pittsburgh 4
