The San Diego Padres were one strike away from padding their lead atop the NL wild-card standings.

The Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows changed that with one swing of the bat.

Down 3-0 with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning, Meadows hit a grand slam to stun the Padres and send the Tigers to a thrilling 4-3 win on Thursday.

Parker hit a 101 mph four-seam fastball off Robert Suarez that travelled 361 feet and landed just over the short left-field fence in San Diego.

San Diego (80-62) lost for the first time in four games and its lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks shrunk to just one-half game for the NL's top wild-card spot.

Jurickson Profar and Xander Bogaerts each homered for the Padres, who end the regular season with a three-game series at Arizona.

Meadows' homer was just his sixth of the season and lifted the Tigers (71-70) back over .500 and within five games of the Royals for the AL's final wild-card spot.

Braves lose, now tied for final NL wild card spot

The Atlanta Braves suffered a 3-1 loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies to drop into a tie for the league's final wild-card berth with the idle New York Mets.

Atlanta and New York have identical 76-64 records with 22 games remaining.

The Braves, who got their lone run on Ramón Laureano's RBI single in the first inning, managed just five hits with Orlando Arcia's second inning-double the only one going for extra bases in the finale with the Rockies (52-89).

Colorado's Michael Toglia and Ezequiel Tovar each hit solo homers off Atlanta starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez, who gave up three other hits while striking out 11 without a walk in his six innings of work.

Rockies starter Austin Gomber went eight innings, yielding a run and five hits without issuing a walk while striking out six.

Phillies push winning streak to five

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 to extend their winning streak to five games and increase their lead atop the NL East to eight games.

Bryson Stott hit an RBI single in the first inning and a long solo homer during Philadelphia's four-run sixth inning.

Kody Clemens knocked in a pair of runs with a double in the sixth and later came around to score on a wild pitch.

Ranger Suarez gave up three hits over five scoreless innings for the Phillies (84-56), who have won 10 of 12.

The Marlins (52-88) scored their first run in the seventh on an RBI single by Jesús Sánchez and plated their final run an inning later on a throwing error by Clemens.

The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs opened the 2024 NFL season with an exhilarating 27-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday.

The Chiefs' first step toward an unprecedented three-peat came down to a toe.

On the game's final play, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw a 10-yard pass to Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone that was initially ruled a touchdown to make the score 27-26 and bring the Ravens within a point.

The touchdown was reviewed, and it was determined Likely's toe was out of bounds, making it an incomplete pass and ending the game.

The Chiefs took a 27-17 lead on Patrick Mahomes' 35-yard touchdown pass to rookie Xavier Worthy in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Ravens then pulled within seven points on Justin Tucker's 32-yard field goal with 4:54 to go and Baltimore later got the ball back at its own 13-yard line with 1:50 remaining.

Jackson drove the Ravens down to the Kansas City 10-yard line in the closing seconds, but after missing open receivers on first and second down, it appeared the reigning league MVP connected with Likely to make it a one-point game. Replay then clearly showed Likely's toe crossing the endline.

Jackson finished with 273 passing yards and another 122 yards rushing. He had 49-yard TD pass to Likely, who finished with 111 receiving yards.

Derrick Henry rushed for 46 yards in his Baltimore debut and scored the first touchdown of the season on the Ravens' first drive.

Worthy had Kansas City's first TD, scoring on a 21-yard run in the first quarter, and Isiah Pacheco later scored on a one-yard TD run.

Mahomes finished with 291 yards passing, while Rashee Rice led the Chiefs with seven receptions for 103 yards, with Travis Kelce adding three catches for 34 yards.

Scotland are falling short in big matches due to the finer details, said Scott McTominay after a "self-inflicted" defeat to Poland.

McTominay scored a 76th-minute equaliser at Hampden Park on Thursday, as Scotland looked all set to take a 2-2 draw from their Nations League opener.

Yet deep in stoppage time, Nicola Zalewski put away Poland's second penalty of the night to condemn Steve Clarke's team to defeat.

Scotland, who crashed out of Euro 2024 with a whimper, are now winless in their last five home games, their longest such run in 16 years.

"It's a difficult one to be honest," McTominay, who has now scored nine in his last 16 appearances for Scotland, told ITV Sport.

"I thought we were good in the game, I felt like at half-time when we were 2-0 down it was unjustified. That's football, it's cruel at times.

"We had a lot of box entries from our sides. It's disappointing but we showed great character to get back into the game and we can take belief from that. We really came back well and didn't give up.

"The goals are self-inflicted from the collective, we all know that. It's those little details that are making us fall short in bigger games. We can go back and look at little tweaks to hopefully improve.

"Every single game of football has mistakes and sometimes you get punished and sometimes you don't. It's something we as a group need to take ownership of.

"You can't do anything but do your best on the pitch and hopefully score the next goal and against Portugal [on Sunday] we can be the ones who come out winning."

Scotland went 2-0 down in the first half, with Robert Lewandowski teeing up Sebastian Szymanski's early opener before netting from the penalty spot.

Lewandowski has been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 starts for Poland (six goals, four assists), while the Barcelona forward has scored each of his last four penalties since failing to do so against Mexico at the 2022 World Cup.

Poland, meanwhile, converted two spot-kicks in a game for the first time since June 2017 in a World Cup qualifier against Romania. Though with Lewandowski off the pitch late on, the responsibility for the second fell to Zalewski.

Billy Gilmour, who, like McTominay, joined Napoli last week, got Scotland back into it just after half-time, though the comeback efforts ultimately proved fruitless.

"We're disappointed. We felt we were the better team," the midfielder said. "In the second half we felt we showed that and went for it.

"Getting two goals back and then to concede another penalty was tough. We'll go back and look at it and make it right.

"There was good stuff there as well, but ultimately the final result wasn't good.

"It's a tough one, we really felt like we should have got the win. We leave it out there all the time, we're a group of boys proud to represent our country."

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 900th career goal, but the Portugal captain claimed he is "haunted" by records.

Ronaldo scored his landmark goal in the 34th minute of Thursday's Nations League contest between Portugal and Croatia in Lisbon.

The 39-year-old's close-range finish, his 131st goal for Portugal, was enough to secure a 2-1 win for Roberto Martinez's team, who went ahead through Diogo Dalot, although the full-back then scored an own goal that dragged Croatia back into proceedings.

Ronaldo was taken off late on to a standing ovation, and speaking to Portuguese media, he said: "It was an exciting goal for me. It's a round number.

"Only I know how hard it is to work every day to score your 900th goal.

"It's a unique milestone in my career. I don't break records… they haunt me!"

Ronaldo let the emotions out after scoring, and seemed to be in tears of joy while celebrating.

"As you know, I'm already 39 and a half years old and so you have to be very focused for things to go well," he explained. "To be at this level requires a lot of dedication.

"So, when these little records happen, small, big, I get emotional because I know and value what I do, and my teammates, because obviously without my team-mates this would be unthinkable."

Ronaldo endured a difficult Euro 2024 campaign, failing to score from 24 shots, including a penalty that was saved by Jan Oblak.

Portugal eventually crashed out to France on penalties, and Ronaldo stressed the importance of getting off to a good start, and complimented Martinez's change in approach.

"After what happened in the European Championship, we had to give a good response and that's what happened," he said.

"We played well. Croatia fought really well and I think it was a spectacular game.

"I felt freer than usual in this game. The coach also gave me that opportunity and we also played, in my opinion, a little differently to how we played in the European Championship.

"We made a lot of changes, the players were freer on the pitch and when that happens, it's better for me, I'll be honest.

"I feel better, I feel more involved in the game and I can enjoy football more. It's not that I didn't enjoy it at the Euros, but I like being a free player, I like to make space for my team-mates too and today was a performance that the team performed very well."

Real Madrid centre-back Eder Militao has left Brazil's training camp ahead of World Cup qualifiers versus Ecuador and Paraguay due to a leg injury.

Brazil have made a dismal start to their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign and sit sixth in the 10-team CONMEBOL group after six games, with two wins, one draw and three defeats.

Dorival Junior's side will have to cope without key defender Militao for the first international break of the season, after the Brazilian FA (CBF) confirmed he had suffered an injury.

"Defender Eder Militao complained of muscle pain in his right thigh after training on Wednesday and after medical exams carried out on Thursday, it was identified a small muscle injury in his right thigh," the CBF said in a statement.

"The player has been ruled out of Brazil's next two qualifying matches and the CBF expresses its solidarity with the player at this time and wishes him a speedy recovery."

Militao, who missed most of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, is the latest Madrid player to suffer injury problems at the start of this season.

Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and left-back Ferland Mendy both left France's camp ahead of their Nations League clashes against Italy and Belgium due to injuries sustained in Los Blancos' 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Jude Bellingham have also suffered from injuries in the last few weeks, while David Alaba is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered last term.

San Marino clinched their first-ever competitive win, and their first victory in over 20 years, by beating Liechtenstein 1-0 in their Nations League opener on Thursday.

San Marino, whose only previous victory came in a friendly against the same opponents in April 2004, sealed the historic result courtesy of Nicko Sensoli's 53rd-minute strike.

Sensoli pounced on a defensive mix-up to prod into an unguarded net and spark wild celebrations in Serravalle, then the hosts held on through seven anxious minutes of second-half stoppage time to go top of Nations League Group D1.

The team, who sit 210th in the FIFA World Rankings, had previously won just one of 205 full internationals, and the full-time whistle sparked joyous celebrations as coach Roberto Cevoli and his staff ran onto the pitch.

San Marino are next in action in a friendly on Tuesday, when they visit Moldova.

Spain were frustrated on their first outing as European Champions as their Nations League Group A4 campaign began with a goalless draw with Serbia in Belgrade.

Luis de la Fuente's side, who also won the last edition of the Nations League in 2022-23, dominated for long spells and twice saw Lamine Yamal go close in the second half, but were unable to find a way past Al-Ittihad goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.

Playing in the top tier of the Nations League for the first time after clinching promotion two years ago, Serbia made a solid start and should have gone ahead after 34 minutes. 

Andrija Zivkovic slipped a delightful ball in behind the Spanish backline for former Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic, but he somehow blasted his effort wide of the left-hand post with only David Raya to beat.

Dani Carvajal volleyed over as Spain upped the ante after the break, but still the Serbian clean sheet remained intact, with Rajkovic called upon to claw Alejandro Grimaldo's dipping free-kick away from the top-right corner.

Yamal curled an effort agonisingly wide just seconds later, and the Barcelona winger would have one final chance to win it with 15 minutes left, jinking into the area and firing goalwards only to see Rajkovic push his effort to safety.

Data Debrief: Serbia stand firm

It was all hands on deck for Serbia at times on Thursday, as every single Spain outfield starter – with the exception of Ayoze Perez – created at least one chance.

Given La Roja racked up 21 shots, however, they will be disappointed with their total expected goals (xG) figure of 1.37, compared to 1.16 from just eight shots for Serbia.

Spain's failure to add penetration to their patient build-up play ensured their nine-match winning run (including one extra-time triumph over Germany at Euro 2024) came to a halt.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal as Portugal edged Croatia 2-1 in Thursday's Nations League clash at Estadio da Luz.

Ronaldo's 34th-minute goal proved the winner, as the Portugal captain turned in Nuno Mendes' cross for his milestone goal.

Roberto Martinez's side led inside seven minutes through Diogo Dalot, and 39-year-old Ronaldo forced a brilliant reflex save out of Dominik Livakovic 15 minutes later.

Livakovic was helpless to prevent Ronaldo putting Portugal ahead, though Dalot's own goal four minutes before half-time set up an exciting second period in the League A Group 1 contest.

Yet despite shading the expected goals (xG) value in the second half, with 0.44 to Portugal's 0.36, Croatia found no way through, with Ronaldo going off to a standing ovation when he was substituted late on.

Portugal, the 2019 Nations League winners, will remain in Lisbon to welcome Scotland on Sunday while Zlatko Dalic's Croatia side will look to bounce back against Poland in Osijek on the second matchday. 

Data Debrief: Nine hundred not out 

Ronaldo was already the top scorer in the history of the game, and international football's record goalscorer added another to his remarkable tally to hit the 900 mark.

It was his 131st for his country, on a night he had a joint team-high four shots, along with Bruno Fernandes.

The rest of his goals have been split across his clubs: 450 for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United, 131 at Juventus, 68 for Al-Nassr, and five when he played for Sporting CP at the start of his career.

Kevin De Bruyne has stressed he remains committed to Belgium, ending speculation over his international future following their underwhelming Euro 2024 campaign.

Belgium were beaten 1-0 by France in the last 16 at the European Championships in Germany, having barely scraped through a group containing Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine.

That was De Bruyne's sixth tournament with the Red Devils, who came closest to glory when they made the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, only to again lose to France.

Many believed the Manchester City star might retire from international football following yet another failure to deliver silverware, but he was included in Domenico Tedesco's squad for their opening Nations League fixtures versus Israel and France.

Speaking at a press conference to preview Friday's meeting with Israel – to be played behind closed doors in Hungary – the 33-year-old reiterated his commitment to the Red Devils.

"I want to continue with the Red Devils and that's why I'm here," De Bruyne told reporters at Thursday's pre-match press conference.

"The season has started well for me. It's going to be a tough season. If there comes a time when it becomes too much, then I'll talk to the coach.

"I'm mainly looking ahead. I was a bit disappointed after the European Championships, but that was for a few days and then a new season starts again."

Tedesco left fellow Belgium stalwart Romelu Lukaku out of his latest squad, and De Bruyne believes it is right the coach looks to blood young players in the next cycle.

"As always, we want to play the best football possible. There are some new guys and the coach wants to give them the chance to grow," De Bruyne said.

"We are not the favourites for the Nations League in this group with France."

Marc-Andre ter Stegen dismissed the suggestion he could soon join Bayern Munich after he replaced Manuel Neuer as Germany's first-choice goalkeeper.

Neuer retired from international football over the summer, meaning long-time back-up Ter Stegen, who has been one of Europe's best-performing shot-stoppers over the past decade, finally gets his shot.

Julian Nagelsmann confirmed on Monday that the 32-year-old, who made his Germany debut in 2012, would now be his number one between the sticks, starting with Friday's Nations League contest against Hungary.

But when asked if he could possibly follow up replacing Neuer in the national team by also replacing him at club level, Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen said: "I still have a long contract with my club and am very happy with my family in Catalonia."

He is delighted to finally get the chance to show what he can do for his country, though.

"It is a different feeling altogether," Ter Stegen said. "My aim has always been to be number one.

"I am happy that the spell of waiting is now over. I am happy about the new task, about what is to come.

"To be honest, there were always these moments when you say: 'Wow, that was another blow.' The decision mostly went in Manu's favour.

"It was disappointing, of course, but you have to live with it. You should have this experience and accept it. In the end, it was worth it."

Excluding own goals, Ter Stegen has conceded 30 goals from 30.3 expected goals on target (xGoT) since the start of last season in LaLiga, from 110 shots on target faced.

That means Ter Stegen has prevented 0.3 goals, suggesting he has performed about on track based on the quality of attempts that he has gone up against.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson was a limited participant in Thursday's practice session, just three days out from his potential debut with the team.

Wilson joined the Steelers after cutting short a largely unsuccessful two-season spell with the Denver Broncos in March.

Wilson, a Super Bowl XLVIII champion with the Seattle Seahawks, played 30 games through his two seasons in Denver but only managed 11 victories as the team twice missed out on the playoffs.

Having joined the Steelers on a one-year deal on the veteran's minimum salary of $1.2million for 2024, Wilson beat out fellow new arrival Justin Fields for the starting job during preseason.

However, coach Mike Tomlin confirmed on Thursday the 35-year-old had self-reported tightness in his right calf and would undergo further examination.

The Steelers open their 2024 campaign against the Atlanta Falcons, who also have two new quarterbacks on their roster in Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr., on Sunday. 

Another match, another landmark for Cristiano Ronaldo.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner insisted he still has more to offer at the international level this week, and he brought up 900 career goals by netting in Portugal's Nations League Nations League opener versus Croatia.

It was a typical poacher's finish that brought up Ronaldo's latest landmark, the forward beating his marker to Nuno Mendes' left-wing cross to sidefoot home and put Portugal 2-0 up inside the first half.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Ronaldo will now surely be targeting the big 1,000, though Pele's FIFA-recognised figure of 1,281 goals will surely prove beyond the 39-year-old.

As Ronaldo plots a route to four figures, we dive into the Opta data to look at how he reached his current total, highlighting the most interesting facts and figures.

Ronaldo's 900th career goal was also his 131st in 213 appearances for Portugal, with both of those figures being all-time records both for the Selecao and for any male player on the international stage.

The ultimate goal poacher, he has scored 109 of those from inside the penalty area, though only 20 have come from the penalty spot – he memorably missed his last spot-kick for the Selecao, versus Slovenia in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.

Ronaldo struggled at this year's tournament in Germany, where he had 23 shots but failed to find the net – the first time he has not scored at a major international competition. Only fellow Portugal great Deco has ever had more efforts at a single edition of the Euros without scoring, firing off 24 shots without success at the 2004 tournament.

However, Ronaldo does boast 22 goals at the World Cup/Euros for Portugal overall, winning the Golden Boot with five strikes at Euro 2020, five years on from captaining the Selecao to their maiden trophy. Only two of those, though, have come in knockout matches – versus the Netherlands at Euro 2004 and Wales at Euro 2016.

Still, Ronaldo's international legacy speaks for itself, and his achievements on the club stage are even more impressive.

Ronaldo scored five times for boyhood club Sporting CP before leaving for Manchester United, for whom he plundered 145 goals across two separate spells.

He has broken three figures with all but two of his clubs, netting 101 times for Juventus and being well on the way to doing so with Al-Nassr, for whom he has 68 goals. 

It was at Real Madrid, however, where Ronaldo earned his goal machine tag, scoring exactly half his career goals (450) for Los Blancos and helping them win the Champions League four times.

He is the leading goalscorer in Madrid's illustrious history, some 96 clear of former team-mate Karim Benzema (354), who represented the club 648 times, compared to Ronaldo's 438 appearances.

Overall, Ronaldo has scored 573 of his goals with his favoured right foot, with 173 coming via his left and almost as many – 152 – coming via headers, with his aerial prowess becoming increasingly notable throughout his career.  

What about dead balls? Ronaldo has converted 164 penalties for club and country, including a spot-kick in the 2014 Champions League final versus Atletico Madrid.

Ronaldo's free-kick taking has been an area targeted by those looking to do down on his achievements at times, but he has scored 64 direct free-kick goals throughout his career, the latest coming in a 4-1 win over Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League before the turn of the month.

Where, then, do Ronaldo's achievements rank versus those of his peers? Drum roll please... Ronaldo is currently some 62 goals ahead of his great rival Lionel Messi, who has 838 career strikes for Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina.  

With Ronaldo firing on all cylinders in Saudi Arabia and looking unlikely to give up the ghost at international level any time soon, few would bet against him extending that advantage before the two greats hang up their boots.