NFL

Chiefs sign K Harrison Butker to four-year, $25.6 million contract extension

This extension makes Butker the highest-paid kicker in the NFL on a per-year basis — a fair deal considering the 29-year-old is one of the league’s top players at the position. Last season, Butker converted 94.3 percent of his field goal attempts, including a perfect 5-for-5 from 50-plus yards. Kansas City boasts a high-powered offense, so having a great kicker is even more valuable than normal to the back-to-back champions.

Grade: B+

Bengals EDGE Cam Sample out for season with torn Achilles

The Bengals have been building young depth at defensive end behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, drafting Sample, Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai in recent years. That depth will be tested, but Sample has just five career sacks in three seasons, so he’s not a huge loss.

The 24-year-old’s rookie deal expires after this season. I’d be surprised if the 2021 fourth-round pick played another down for Cincinnati.

MLB

Mets 6, Cardinals 0

Sean Manaea is giving the Mets good start after good start, and if New York is to grab a wild-card spot, the left-hander will need to continue his dominant ways. Yesterday was perhaps Manaea’s best outing of the season, as he turned in seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 Cardinals and dropping his ERA to 3.30.

Reality is setting in for the Cardinals. St. Louis ran a mid-season hot streak into postseason positioning, but the standings tend to even out, and that’s what’s taken place post-All-Star break. The 57-56 Cardinals are now three games back of a wild-card spot, and with a minus-42 run differential, the club doesn’t exactly have poor misfortune to blame.

Diamondbacks 7, Guardians 6

The NL MVP race is far from over. Shohei Ohtani has been the league’s best hitter, but Ketel Marte is closing fast and making up ground with his glovework at second base. Seeing time at the keystone and designated hitter in this win, Marte smashed his 28th homer, four shy of his career-high of 32 in 2019. Ohtani leads Marte in WAR, 6.1 to 5.8.

David Fry shouldn’t have been an All-Star, and the utility man continues to prove why. Last night, the 28-year-old finished 0-for-5, keeping his dry spell of power in tack. Fry has gone yard once since May.

Reds 10, Marlins 3

Cincinnati hasn’t had many successful free agent signings in recent seasons, but count Nick Martinez as one of them. Succeeding as a starter and reliever this year, the righty opened this game and pitched five scoreless innings. Martinez owns a 3.43 ERA.

Giants 4, Nationals 1

Tyler Fitzgerald will probably cool off at some point, but the 57-57 Giants will happily ride his bat as long as possible. After smashing his 12th home run in this win — his 11th in 17 games — the shortstop is slashing .314/.373/.650. A full season from Fitzgerald would surely have the 26-year-old in a stacked NL Rookie of the Year race with Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill, Masyn Winn, Shota Imanaga and Michael Busch.

All Patrick Corbin is doing at this juncture is eating innings. The 35-year-old, after lasting six frames in this loss, is 2-12 with a 5.88 ERA. Corbin isn’t helping the Nationals, short-term or long-term, in any way, shape or form.

Twins 3, Cubs 0

Nico Hoerner isn’t going to provide the Cubs with much power, and that’s alright — as long as the second baseman hits for average. This season, Hoerner hasn’t really done that, either. After going 0-for-4 in this contest, the 27-year-old is batting .254, solidly under his .274 career mark. Chicago has a strong farm system, especially at the Triple-A level, so Hoerner’s spot isn’t safe moving forward.

Rangers 4, Astros 3

Does anyone want to win the AL West? Few thought the division would be the weakest in MLB this season — most believed it would be the AL Central or NL Central — but the losses have piled up for its teams, with nobody proving capable of running away with it. At least not yet. Even with this loss, I’d still bet on the Astros taking home the division crown.