Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz and left guard Quenton Nelson are trending toward being ready to play Week 1, according to a report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Both had surgery last week for the same foot injury, and were expected to be sidelined between five to 12 weeks. Indianapolis opens the regular season at home against the Seattle Seahawks September 12th. First round draft pick Kwity Paye left practice with an injured ankle. The Colts welcome the Carolina Panthers to Grand Park Thursday and Friday for joint practices ahead of Sunday’s preseason opener at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Indianapolis Colts announced Wednesday morning they have signed head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard to contract extensions through the 2026 season. Team owner Jim Irsay said in a statement he believes the Colts are on the doorstep of great things, and Irsay credited that to the culture that Reich and Ballard have cultivated in their time with the team. Ballard joined the Colts in early 2017, with Reich hired the next year. In Reich’s three seasons, the Colts are 28-20.
The NTT IndyCar Series could be heading back to the Iowa Speedway in 2022. Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal reported that IndyCar is in advanced talks with track owner NASCAR to return to the 7/8ths of a mile oval. Grocery store chain HyVee would likely serve as the title sponsor, and IndyCar declined to comment to Stern. The series raced at Iowa every year since the track’s opening in 2007 through 2020 before disappearing from the schedule this season.
Milwaukee pitcher Corbin Burnes tied an MLB record with 10 consecutive strikeouts, and the Brewers dominated the Chicago Cubs 10-0 at Wrigley Field. Burnes ended with 15 punchouts and four hits allowed in eight innings. Ozzie Albies hit a walk-off three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the 11th to give the Atlanta Braves an 8-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Joey Votto had two two-run home runs, and sent the game to extra innings with a homer in the top of the ninth. Adam Wainwright pitched a complete-game two-hit shutout and the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Pirates 4-0 in Pittsburgh.
Jorge Polanco connected on a solo home run in the sixth inning, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 Wednesday afternoon to take two out of three from the AL Central leader. The White Sox head to Dyersville, Iowa to take on the Yankees in Thursday night’s Field of Dreams game. Brownsburg native Lance Lynn will toe the rubber for Chicago in what will be the first MLB game played in Iowa. Chicago’s lead in the division stayed at 10.5 games after Oakland defeated Cleveland 6-3. Miguel Cabrera hit his 499th career home run and the Detroit Tigers won 5-2 over Baltimore.
