The Evening Brief: Internationals on brink; Curry takes pay cut; Verlander's final bow

The Presidents Cup at Medinah enters its final day with the International team holding a 10-5-7.5 lead and needing five points from Sunday's 12 singles matches to secure their first title since 1998. The United States trails and must win 10.5 points to force a halved cup. The International team trailed in every match at one stage on day three but preserved their lead through a split of the afternoon foursomes, capped by Canada's Corey Conners saving par on the 18th to win the final match on the course.

In the NBA, Stephen Curry agreed to a 2-year, $116 million extension with the Golden State Warriors on Friday, taking more than $20 million below his maximum eligible salary to provide the franchise financial flexibility. The deal includes a player option for the 2028-29 season and brings Curry's guaranteed career earnings to roughly $650 million, making him the highest-paid player in league history by that measure. The extension leaves the Warriors with over $100 million in remaining cap space before the 2027 offseason, a margin that will test the front office's ability to assemble a contender. The Warriors have made the playoffs twice in four years and have not returned to the Western Conference Finals since winning the championship in 2022.

Justin Verlander's 21-year Hall of Fame career closed on Saturday at Comerica Park with his final start for the Detroit Tigers. The 43-year-old right-hander threw 91 pitches over 5⅔ innings against Pittsburgh, recording six strikeouts and finishing with 3,561 career strikeouts and 266 wins across 21 seasons. His daughter Genevieve, seven years old, removed him from the game in the sixth inning as part of an arranged ceremony. The Tigers won 4-3 on a walk-off home run by rookie Eduardo Valencia, giving Verlander his final decision as a win.

In world cycling, two championships crowned new titleholders on Saturday in Montreal. Demi Vollering, 29, won the women's road race championship in a dramatic sprint finish less than 200 meters from the line, defeating Kasia Niewiadoma. Vollering's victory caps a season in which she won two grand tours and multiple classics. The race was one of the longest editions ever contested, at four hours 45 minutes, and proved treacherous: defending champion Magdeleine Vallieres crashed and abandoned, as did four other riders on a steep descent that saw 15 riders crash in total. On Sunday, Brandon McNulty won the men's world road race championship, becoming the first American man to claim the title in 33 years since Lance Armstrong won in 1993. McNulty, a 28-year-old time-trialist and domestique, completed the 273.4-kilometer course in 6 hours 17 minutes, finishing 13 seconds clear of Michael Matthews of Australia in an upset that his pre-race standing did not forecast.

The Phillies clinched the National League wild card with a 7-1 victory over the Rays, holding off Arizona after nearly becoming the first team since 1903 to blow a four-game lead with five games remaining. The team had scored just three runs over their four-game losing streak, including a 21-inning scoreless drought. Zack Wheeler took the mound on short rest and allowed one run over six innings; the Phillies scored early and the Rays never threatened. The Astros clinched the AL West when the Rangers fell 6-4 to the Twins, completing the 12-team playoff field. The Rays earned the AL's No. 1 seed and bye, the Guardians the No. 2 seed. The Yankees and Red Sox face each other in an AL Wild Card matchup. The first Wild Card Series games begin Tuesday, September 29.

In the WNBA, Breanna Stewart scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the No. 8 seed New York Liberty defeated the No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx 91-75 in Game 1 of their first-round best-of-three series on September 27 at Target Center in Minneapolis. Stewart shot 11 of 18 from the field and posted her third career 30-point, 10-rebound playoff performance, second only to A'ja Wilson all time. One more Liberty victory would make them the first No. 8 seed ever to defeat a No. 1 seed in a playoff series. The Liberty host Game 2 on Tuesday.

In college football, USC suspended linebacker Desman Stephens II for one game following a targeting hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore during Saturday's game. Moore was diagnosed with a concussion but his MRI and CT scans came back clean. Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Moore is expected to return at some point this season, moving forward with an abundance of caution. Stephens apologized on Sunday for conduct the USC coach called unacceptable, specifically acknowledging that he smiled or celebrated while another player received medical attention. The Big Ten has not announced whether it will take separate action beyond USC's suspension.