Yahoo Sports AM: Jonathan Taylor stays put, Padres lose again and more

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Let's sports…

HEADLINES

🏐 Huskers eye record: Nebraska will play volleyball in its football stadium today, aiming to set a new world record for attendance at a women's sporting event (the current record is 91,648 fans).

⚾️ One out away: Giants starter Alex Cobb was one out away from throwing the fifth no-hitter of the season but the Reds got a double to spoil his bid.

🏒 PWHL revealed: The new Professional Women's Hockey League was revealed on Tuesday with six teams and a 24-game regular season starting in January 2024.

🏈 JT stays put: The Colts failed to find a trade partner for disgruntled RB Jonathan Taylor, who is now expected to miss the first four games of the season while on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

See what else is trending on Yahoo Sports.

THE PADRES LOSE IN EXTRAS ... AGAIN

The Padres' dismal season continued on Tuesday night in St. Louis, as they fell to 62-71 thanks to an all-too-familiar result: an extra-innings loss.

This is insane: San Diego is now an unfathomable 0-11 in extra innings this season, which is the second-worst mark in MLB history. Only the 1969 Expos, who went 0-12, were worse.

• How bad is that? If you assume a 50/50 chance of winning in extras, the odds of losing 11 straight is greater than 1 in 2,000.

• San Diego is now 6-21 in one-run games, which explains how a superteam with a +55 run differential (11th-best in MLB) is tied with the rebuilding Nationals for the NL's fifth-worst record.

• One of the strangest parts about the Padres' futility in one-run games is that they employ all-world closer Josh Hader, who's pitched to a 0.78 ERA and hasn't allowed an earned run since May. Just bizarre.

Speaking of talented teams underachieving… The Angels' once-promising playoff push officially ended on Tuesday when they waived five players in hopes of falling under the luxury tax. This comes just a month after deciding to keep Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline rather than move him for a historic haul. Bad times in Anaheim!

TEAM USA FINALIZES ROSTER

The USA Ryder Cup team was finalized on Tuesday when captain Zach Johnson named his six picks for the match play competition against Europe next month in Rome.

The team: The captain's picks* join the six golfers who'd already automatically qualified for the squad by topping the Ryder Cup standings, a points system determined by money earned at PGA Tour events and majors over the past two years.

1. Scottie Scheffler (1st place; 27,618 points)

2. Wyndham Clark (2nd place; 13,739)

3. Brian Harman (3rd place; 11,101)

4. Patrick Cantlay (4th place; 10,947)

5. Max Homa (5th place; 9,639)

6. Xander Schauffele (6th place; 9,450)

7. *Brooks Koepka (7th place; 9,421)

8. *Jordan Spieth (8th place; 8,188)

9. *Collin Morikawa (10th place; 7,683)

10. *Sam Burns (12th place; 7,335)

11. *Rickie Fowler (13th place; 7,116)

12. *Justin Thomas (15th place; 6,539)

Team notes:

• Scottie's dominance: I mean, just look at those point totals. Scheffler scored more than twice as many points as anyone else after leading the PGA Tour in basically every key stat.

• LIV gets in: Some will be upset that Koepka, a LIV defector, earned one of the coveted captain's picks. But he was so good in the few events he was eligible to play in (two pre-LIV events in 2022 plus all the majors) that he nearly qualified automatically anyway.

• Surprise pick: Thomas struggled this year, failing to even qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. But he has an excellent match play record, and as Yahoo's Jay Busbee writes, "The decision boils down to a simple question: Do you pick the best player, or the best teammate?"

• The snubs: Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover and Cameron Young were the most notable names left off the squad. Bradley was particularly "bummed out."

What's next: European captain Luke Donald will announce his six picks next week. They'll join Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and two more automatic qualifiers who've yet to be determined.

BEHIND THE LENS

Each week, we'll be going "Behind the Lens" with Getty Images to get the backstory on the most spectacular photographs in sports.‌

This week's photo: Australian surfer Olivia Ottaway dives under a wave in Teahupo'o, French Polynesia. Teahupo'o has been hosting the World Surf League Tahiti Pro event for over two decades and will next year host the surfing event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

• Photographer: Ryan Pierse

• Date: August 19

📸 Behind the lens: We asked Ryan to take us behind of the scenes of this incredible photo. What was the setting? How did he get the shot? What equipment did he use?

Ryan Pierse:The surf break in the small Tahitian village of Teahupo’o is a thing of beauty but also demands a high level of respect. The sharp coral reef sitting just feet below the surface ensures surfers (and photographers) are extra aware of their positioning.

The wave doesn’t always break on the same part of the reef, so you need to think quick if you happen to be caught in the break zone. To get below the surfer, I had to time my dive down to a few meters below the surface, turn around and capture the duck dive under the wave.

Equipment: The image was taken with a Canon 1DX Mark 3 camera with a 15mm fisheye lens inside Aquatech underwater housing fitted with a wide-angle dome port.

Technique: I set my shutter speed and aperture around 2000th f4 for the underwater shot but selected the Auto ISO option because the light can change very quickly under the surface.

VIDEO REVIEW FAILS IN DEBUT

The US Open's new video review system debuted on Tuesday — and completely failed.

What happened: Corentin Moutet challenged a crucial call during the third set of his match against Andy Murray, arguing that he had hit the ball before it bounced twice (the call was that he had not).

• Per protocol, the next step was for the chair umpire to watch video footage delivered to her tablet and either confirm or overturn the call.

• Unfortunately, the tablet malfunctioned and wouldn't play the video, forcing the original call (point for Murray) to stand.

How it works: The video review system, which is separate from the electronic line-calling used for ruling balls in or out, is a first in Grand Slam tennis.

• Players get three challenges per set for things like double bounces, a ball touching a player's body or a player's body touching the net.

• The US Open is often at the forefront of technology. It was also the first Grand Slam to use electronic line-calling (2006) and a serve clock (2018).

Of note: The video review system is set up for five of the 17 US Open courts, including the three main stadiums (Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong, Grandstand).

53 LEFT STANDING

Football is a game, but the NFL is a business, and yesterday was employees’ least favorite day of the year: Cutdown day.‌

How it works: All 32 teams were required to trim their rosters to 53 players by 4pm ET. Cuts have been slowly happening for weeks, but most took place on Tuesday.

• There's no universal rulebook teams follow when delivering the bad news, but there is an oft-repeated line that’s become part of NFL lore: "Coach wants to see you. And bring your playbook."

• "It's the [expletive] worst day. I hate that [expletive] day," Commanders running backs coach Randy Jordan told WashPost.

What comes next: For some, cut day marks the end of the road. But for many others, the NFL journey continues. Those with less than four years of service are waived, while those with more than four become free agents.

• Perhaps the best outcome, other than signing with another team, is landing on a team's practice squad, which can have up to 16 players.

• Practice squad players earn decent money ($12,000-$20,600 per week) and are first in line to get called up on game day when a rostered player is inactive.

Tracker...Roster cuts for every team (Yahoo Sports)

BIG 12 NICKNAMES, RANKED

Rankings are a big part of sports, whether they're objective (stat leaders) or subjective (best sports movies). So naturally, each edition of Yahoo Sports AM will include a "Daily Ranking."

To celebrate college football's return, we're ranking the nicknames of each team by Power Five conference. Monday and Tuesday were the SEC and Big Ten. Today, we've got the Big 12.

Big 12 nicknames, ranked:

1. Longhorns (Texas)

2. Jayhawks (Kansas)

3. Horned Frogs (TCU)

4. Cyclones (Iowa State)

5. Sooners (Oklahoma)

6. Mountaineers (West Virginia)

7. Red Raiders (Texas Tech)

8. Cowboys (Oklahoma State)

9. Bearcats (Cincinnati)

10. Cougars (BYU, Houston)

11. Knights (UCF)

12. Bears (Baylor)

13. Wildcats (Kansas State)

Coming up: We'll hit the Pac-12 tomorrow and ACC on Friday.

AUG. 30, 1997: THE WNBA'S FIRST DYNASTY

26 years ago today, the Comets beat the Liberty to win the inaugural WNBA championship, the first of four straight titles for Houston.

Burned bright, faded fast: After those first four championship seasons during which they went 98-24, Houston never reached another WNBA Finals and the franchise ultimately dissolved in 2008.

More on this day:

• ⚾️ 1905: Ty Cobb made his MLB debut for the Tigers at just 18 years old, beginning a Hall of Fame career that ended with the highest career batting average in MLB history (.366).

• ⚾️ 1988: Orel Hershiser began his MLB-record 59-inning scoreless streak, which culminated in the Dodgers' righty winning his lone Cy Young award.

• 🏈 2001: Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin became the first woman to play and score in an NCAA D-I football game, nailing three extra points in their 72-10 victory.

🎥 Worth a watch...The greatest shot in WNBA history (YouTube)

WATCHLIST: THE MESSI SHOW

The Lionel Messi show returns to South Florida tonight when red-hot Inter Miami hosts Nashville (7:30 p.m. ET, free on Apple TV) in the GOAT's regular-season home match.

By the numbers: Miami has won all nine games since Messi's arrival last month — after winning just five of their previous 22. Messi's numbers in those nine games: 11 goals and three assists.

More to watch:

• 🎾 U.S. Open: Day 3 (11 a.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+) … The four remaining seeded American men (No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 10 Frances Tiafoe, No. 14 Tommy Paul, No. 28 Chris Eubanks) all take the court today.

• ⚾️ MLB: 15 games … All 30 teams are in action today before most have the day off tomorrow.

• 🏀 FIBA World Cup: Final day of Round 1 (8 a.m., ESPN+)

Quick link...Yahoo Sportsbook

TENNIS TRIVIA

Andy Murray on Tuesday became the eighth man in the Open Era to win 200 career Grand Slam matches.

• Question: How many of the other seven can you name?

• Hint: Four Europeans, three Americans.

Answer at the bottom.

GOOD READS

🏒 The Athletic: Before he was a star, Steve Carell was a college hockey goalie (Peter Baugh)

The star of "The Office" was also a star on the Denison University club hockey team.

🏈 Yahoo Sports: Deion Sanders is Prime'd and ready (Ross Dellenger)

Colorado-TCU, chock full of storylines, has drawn enough attention to garner Fox's traveling pregame show, "Big Noon Kickoff."

⛰️ New York Times: "The mountain will make cowards out of all of us" (Anna Katherine Clemons)

"Two former pro football players entered the Leadville Trail 100-mile race, a grueling slog over Colorado peaks. They were used to challenges, but this was a new kind of pain."

- - -

Trivia answer: Roger Federer (369 major wins), Novak Djokovic (355), Rafael Nadal (314), Jimmy Connors (233), Andre Agassi (224), Ivan Lendl (222), Pete Sampras (203)

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