CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has more weapons around him than at any point in his career. The 2015 NFL MVP and the offense won’t be limited because of Newton’s offseason shoulder surgery and a preseason ankle injury. The offense will be explosive.

These were things written and said coming out of training camp.

None have come to fruition, and because of that the Panthers’ season is on the brink of disaster after 20-14 prime-time loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and an 0-2 start.

The Bucs came out with a defensive formula other teams are sure to follow. Pressure Newton with blitzes, don’t worry about him as a threat to run out of the zone-read and gang up on running back Christian McCaffrey.

It worked beautifully. Newton was 0-for-10 under duress with three sacks and at one point in the fourth quarter the offense had a total of 30 yards on 19 plays inside Buccaneers territory, with 13 of those plays going for zero or negative yards.

"A lack of execution offensively," Newton said when asked what went wrong. "Through my lens, it’s hard to look defensive guys in the eyes after a game like this. Offensively, we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain."

McCaffrey, who had 53 total yards, was stopped a fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line with 1 minute, 21 seconds remaining, ending the Panthers' hopes. A week after looking like the best back in the league, he was a non-factor.

"That’s the things that’s most frustrating, having the talent and skill set we have and not putting up one touchdown," Newton said. “That’s just unfortunate. It starts with me. I’ve got to be better man. I’ve got to be better."

If this trend continues the Panthers won’t be a factor as a playoff contender.

Buy breakout performance: Kicker Joey Slye, nicknamed "Swole Tweeter" by Newton, was supposed to be a warm body to give Graham Gano’s sore plant leg a rest in training camp. He’s now the starting kicker and proving to be a good one. He had two field goals in the opener and connected on four against Tampa Bay, including a 54-yarder to end the first half. That the kicker is being written about here says a lot.

Troubling trend: Slow starts. The Panthers haven’t scored a touchdown in the first half of either game and have trailed in both. They have four field goals in the first two quarters and have been outscored 23-12. They’re fortunate it’s not worse.

QB breakdown: Newton said the deep ball was in his arsenal after attempting one pass (a 26-yard incompletion) and having no completions of longer than 17 yards in the opener. He proved that with a 44-yard completion to Curtis Samuel in the first quarter in which the ball traveled 38 yard. That was his longest since a completion to Devin Funchess in the last game of the 2017 season went 42 yards. But Newton, who finished 25-of-51 for 333 yards with no TDs and no INTs, wasn’t a part of the running game in the read-option, carrying twice for no yards a week after having a career-low minus two yards on three carries. Dreadful for the quarterback with more rushing yards than any other since 2011. This left McCaffrey a sitting duck and rendered the offense defenseless.

Silver lining: The last time the Panthers started 0-2 was 2013. They went on to a 1-3 start before reeling off eight straight wins to finish the regular season 12-4 and NFC South champs.

SEATTLE -- Mariners rookie Kyle Lewis has tied a major league record by hitting a home run in his first three games.

Lewis joined Trevor Story as the only players to accomplish the feat. Story connected in his first four games -- totaling six homers in that span -- for Colorado in 2016.

Lewis hit a solo drive in the fifth inning Thursday night against Cincinnati. He doubled and singled earlier in the game.

Called up Tuesday from Double-A Arkansas, Lewis got his first career hit that night when he homered in the fifth inning for Seattle's first hit against the Reds' Trevor Bauer. On Wednesday, he homered in the seventh to end Sonny Gray's no-hit bid.

Premier League referees' chief Mike Riley has accepted that there have been four clear errors with VAR since it was introduced at the start of the season.

Riley, who is the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and responsible for the implementation of VAR in England, told a Premier League stakeholders' meeting on Thursday that the system had enjoyed a positive start over the first four rounds of games -- but there was room for improvement.

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Three decisions should have been changed by the VAR, while a fourth was missed completely by the official at the Stockley Park hub.

Bournemouth vs. Manchester City
City should have been awarded a penalty when David Silva was caught in the area by Jefferson Lerma.

Leicester vs. Bournemouth
Youri Tielemans should have been shown a red card for a studs-up challenge on Callum Wilson.

Newcastle vs. Watford
Fabian Schar's equaliser for Newcastle against Watford should have been disallowed, with VAR official Craig Pawson missing an Isaac Hayden handball.

West Ham vs. Norwich
Tom Trybull's foul on Sebastian Haller should have been penalised and a penalty awarded to West Ham.

Other high-profile decisions not considered as mistakes were Harry Kane's penalty appeal for Tottenham against Newcastle, and Erik Lamela's alleged foul on Rodri in the area in Man City vs. Spurs.

VAR was not able to intervene and award Aston Villa a goal at Crystal Palace as referee Kevin Friend had already blown his whistle for a dive by Jack Grealish before the ball crossed the line, and as such play was already dead.

"Out of the four match rounds there's been some really good examples of where we've intervened," Riley told Sky Sports. "Six incidents where the VAR has advised the referee and we've got a better decision.

"What we've talked about this morning is the four instances where actually the VAR didn't intervene, and had we done I think it would have been a better understanding of the role the VAR plays in the game.

"They [the decisions] are all about the judgement of the VAR, the process we adopt, and us then discussing those with the clubs, with the players, with the managers to make sure that these are really examples where the VAR could have added benefit and intervened and helped the referee on the day."

Riley added that while the Premier League wants to ensure a "high bar so that we don't disrupt the flow of the game," there was a "clear and obvious error" in each of the cases. He insisted VAR remains a learning curve and that referees should have a better understanding over where the "high bar" is set in the future.

St Lucia Zouks 171 for 5 (Cornwall 75, Fletcher 47) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 170 for 5 (Phillips 58, Powell 44, Fawad 2-28) by five wickets

Chris Gayle and Andre Russell with the local side, Jamaica Tallawahs. What was the probability of St Lucia Zouks making a match of this in an away game? The odds may have been stacked against them, but Sabina Park rose to celebrate Rahkeem Cornwall's making as a T20 cricketer. The 28-year old biffed the season's second-fastest half-century, off 19 balls, that he converted to a 30-ball 75 as Zouks recorded their first win of the season on Thursday night, after a brief wobble.

Gayle zero, Phillips fifty

Left-arm seamer Obed McCoy struggled with no-ball issues, but managed to strike gold early when he had Gayle fending a lifter to the wicketkeeper off the fourth ball of the match to set the tone early. But the Zouks were under fire as Glenn Phillips, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, and Rovman Powell set the stage on fire with some exhilarating hitting.

Phillips likes to stay leg side and get besides the line, not behind. His stance resembles that of a baseball slogger, the bat moving behind his back in little arcs as he meets the ball with tremendous bat speed. His batting can at times border on the unorthodox, but when they come off, it looks mighty impressive like it did on Thursday. His 34-ball 58 courtesy eight fours and a six and a third-wicket stand of 87 with Powell that took just 43 balls set Tallawahs up for a mammoth total.

The Russell blow that tilted the scales

At the halfway mark, Tallawahs were superbly placed at 108 for 2. Zouks looked out of depth until the quick wickets of Powell and Phillips got them back into the game. Credit for that should go to Australia legspinner Fawad Ahmed, who cleverly varied his lengths and used his gentle drift to build pressure with dot balls that led to both of them falling to big strokes.

It also helped that the catching was top notch. Powell was out to a screamer when Colin de Grandhomme stuck his right hand upwards to get his hands on the ball at long-off and then lobbed it up as momentum took him beyond the ropes. Then he regained composure to nonchalantly come back into the field of play to complete the catch.

When they made 242 two nights ago against Patriots, Tallawahs raised their hundred in just 12 overs. Here, they got there in the 10th over. The stage was set for the Russell show, but it looked like Zouks had a plan, and that was to target him with short balls on the body, a tactic many IPL sides have tried with a fair degree of success. Hardus Viljoen bowled a heavy ball - back of length and into the body - as Russell looked to hook. In doing so, he took his eyes off the ball and was hit right below the right ear. A dazed Russell took a while to stand up and was stretchered off the field to hospital for CT scans, which later cleared him of serious injury.

This blow robbed the Tallawahs of momentum that came to grinding halt, as George Worker and Shamar Springer only managed a run-a-ball 33. They only managed 38 off the last six overs to give Zouks the momentum at the halfway mark.

Tallawahs' fielding shocker

The hosts didn't cover themselves in glory on the field. In the space of three deliveries, they dropped Cornwall and Andre Fletcher. First, Springer dropped a steepler running back from square leg to reprieve Cornwall on 18 after he mishit a Jerome Taylor slower delivery. Two balls later, in the fourth over, Oshane Thomas made a royal mess of a straightforward catch at third man with Fletcher on 15. In the next over, Chadwick Walton dropped a sitter at backward point to reprieve Cornwall for a second time, and then watched Fletcher club 10 off his next two deliveries in the over as the strike turned. By then, Zouks had raced to 64 for 0 in five overs.

Cornwall's game isn't conventional by any means. But it also isn't true that his game is only about wild slogging. Amid the occasional backing away to biff the ball, there's plenty of cricket sense and an air of disdain about his batting. The leg-side boundary was his favoured area as he cleared the ropes quite comfortably playing the pull shot. Up early against late swing, he struggled a touch but Taylor erred in length by trying to bowl into his body, only to see Cornwall back away and flick or pull. Against Worker's left-arm spin, Cornwall used his reach to hit straight and clear the ground, a sequence of 6,6,1 getting him to his third CPL fifty.

At the other end, Fletcher was in the mood for destruction. The flicks for six over deep square off Taylor having an air of disdain - looking straight on, head down and simply allowing his hand-eye coordination to twirl his wrists and pick the ball for six. He started like a bullet train, but quickly slipped into the role of a second fiddle as Cornwall unleashed himself in the 111-run opening stand off just 8.4 overs.

Zouks collapse but Fletcher sees them home

Thomas returned after his shocker in the field to pick up three quick wickets after a blazing start - Zouks slipped from 146 for 2 to 157 for 5, but the early damage that skyrocketed their run rate meant there was little hassle in getting home despite the wobble. Fletcher remained unbeaten on 47 when Thisara Perera muscled a six and four in his 5-ball 11 to hit the winning runs and give them their first win.

Georgia's school colors might be red and black, but many fans cheering for the No. 3 Bulldogs in Saturday's game against Arkansas State at Sanford Stadium are planning to wear pink.

A "pink out" is scheduled for Saturday's game (12 p.m. ET, ESPN2) to bring awareness to breast cancer research and to honor Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson's late wife, Wendy, who died Aug. 19 after a two-year battle with the disease.

Anderson thanked the Georgia fans for their support earlier this week.

Beyond grateful... thank you ? https://t.co/lfqZr48ZhJ

— Blake Anderson (@CHbanderson) September 10, 2019

"It's a completely genuine, classy gesture from people that don't know you. Very surprising and obviously very much appreciated," Anderson told reporters in Jonesboro, Arkansas. "Just caught me off guard, to be honest with you. Teared me up. I wasn't expecting it, and extremely flattered and thankful for those folks and so many others that have stepped up in so many different ways."

After taking a leave of absence following his wife's death, Anderson unexpectedly returned to the sideline for the Red Wolves' 43-17 win at UNLV last week.

A group called Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer, which was founded by Jay and Teresa Abbott of Douglasville, Georgia, is planning the "pink out." Their son, Chris, was playing football at Georgia when Teresa was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer in October 2003.

"After Teresa's clean bill of health, the entire Abbott family decided they wanted to do something to help fight this horrible disease and give back for all the blessing and support they received during the previous 18 months," the group's website says.

The charity has raised more than $750,000 for breast health imaging programs at local hospitals, according to its website.

Former first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick has received permission from the Miami Dolphins to seek a trade, according to multiple league sources.

Joel Segal, the agent for the defensive back, has been in contact with a number of teams. Fitzpatrick, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, is a defensive back who is unhappy with playing multiple positions, sources said.

Teams initially have been resistant to the Dolphins' apparent asking price that includes a first-round pick, sources said.

Dolphins GM Chris Grier was unavailable for comment late Thursday night, as was Segal.

A Dolphins official told ESPN they are not actively shopping Fitzpatrick, but did not deny that they have given permission to Segal to discuss a trade with teams.

Fitzpatrick is still expected to play Sunday for Dolphins at home against the New England Patriots.

Fitzpatrick was part of a Dolphins defense that was exposed Sunday by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who threw for 324 yards and five touchdowns in a 59-10 Baltimore rout.

Fitzpatrick, who was projected as a cornerback/safety out of Alabama, played three or four different positions against Baltimore. He has been uncomfortable with his constantly fluctuating role on the Dolphins' defense throughout the offseason.

During Miami's joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in August, Fitzpatrick's mom, Melissa, mentioned on Twitter that he was being incorrectly used at strong safety to suit other players' skill sets.

Fitzpatrick confirmed that he agreed with his mother's thoughts after that practice, saying, "She feels very strongly. She's not wrong. Coach has asked me to do something right now. I got to do what they ask me to do. If we have to have some discussions in the future, we'll have those discussions.

"I'm not 215 pounds, 220 pounds. So playing in the box isn't best suited for me, but that's what Coach is asking me to do."

A personnel man for one team had praise for Fitzpatrick as the "ideal slot corner who can cover, blitz off the edge, [is] intelligent, a good tackler and a good special teams player," but doubted that teams would be willing to part with a first-round draft choice in 2020.

Another GM felt that the Dolphins were unrealistic about their expectations on compensation for Fitzpatrick after "they got an arm and a leg for [Laremy] Tunsil from the Texans" before Week 1.

ESPN's Cameron Wolfe contributed to this report.

BALTIMORE -- Now that Rich Hill finally got past an arm injury, he's got a knee problem that might ruin his bid to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason.

Hill struggled with his control during his first start since June 19 and hurt his left knee in the process, a development that took the edge off a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

"It was an MCL strain, something that he dealt with initially early in spring training," manager Dave Roberts said. "He missed some time with that. We hadn't had any signs of that leading up to this outing."

After spending 12 weeks on the injured list with a strained left forearm, Hill was supposed to go two innings in his first step toward becoming a postseason contributor for the National League West champions. Instead, the 39-year-old failed to make it out of the first.

Hill opened by striking out Hanser Alberto with a 75 mph curveball and getting Jonathan Villar to swing through a third strike.

From there, the outing turned sour.

The lefty hit Trey Mancini in the foot with a pitch, issued a four-pitch walk to Anthony Santander, hit Renato Nunez with a pitch and forced in a run by walking rookie Austin Hays with the count full. That ended Hill's outing after 27 pitches, 13 of which missed the strike zone.

"You could see sometime after that second hitter, it just started to go down as far as velocity, command," Roberts said. "You could see him compensating a little bit, so had to get him out of there."

The frustration showed on Hill's face on the mound, in the dugout and in the clubhouse.

"After the last curveball on the second hitter there, I felt my knee and then I stupidly tried to pitch through it," he said. "I worked hard to get back and felt great."

And then he didn't.

"Unfortunately, it's another bump in the road," Hill said. "Hopefully, it's not too major."

The Dodgers trailed 2-1 in the sixth before Cody Bellinger knotted the score with a single for his 107th RBI. Los Angeles subsequently used a walk and an error to load the bases with two outs for No. 9 hitter Russell Martin. With the count full, Dylan Bundy (6-14) fired a high fastball that Martin swung at and missed. The ball glanced off the mitt of catcher Pedro Severino and traveled to the backstop.

Instead of having an inning-ending strikeout, Bundy watched in disgust from in front of the mound -- neglecting to cover the plate -- while Bellinger scored from the third base and Corey Seager followed for a 4-2 lead.

"I thought it was a strikeout," Bundy said. "From where I was, I couldn't really see where the ball was."

Roberts said, "Obviously, Bundy threw the ball well, got frustrated and, to be quite honest, quit on the play. For us to take advantage of it was big."

Tony Gonsolin (3-2) worked three innings of relief and Kenley Jansen got three straight outs for his 29th save.

Severino homered for the Orioles, who have lost 10 of 12.

INCENTIVE TO WIN

The Orioles long ago dropped out of the playoff chase, but they have no intention of coasting to the finish.

"I care. It matters a lot how we play," manager Brandon Hyde said. "I want to see us compete to the last inning of the last game. The message has been sent to our players, and I think they're going to do that."

Baltimore (47-99) is poised to lose 100 games for the second year in a row. Hyde, a rookie manager, was not here for the 47-115 embarrassment in 2018 that initiated an overhaul of the organization.

"It's a different team, it's a different year," he said.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: An MRI exam on 3B Justin Turner revealed a mild ankle sprain. Roberts said Turner was unavailable Thursday and his status would be revisited Friday. "There's less concern now that we know it's a mild sprain," Roberts said. "With the sprain, time heals it. What that timeline is, is to be determined." Turner has missed four straight games. ... To make room on the roster for Hill, Los Angeles designated RHP Jaime Schultz for assignment.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (13-5, 3.06 ERA), who is 9-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 14 career starts against the New York Mets, gets the nod Friday night when Los Angeles opens a three-game series at Citi Field.

Orioles: In the opener of a four-game series Friday night in Detroit, Aaron Brooks (4-8, 6.21) tries to bounce back from his previous start, when he gave up six runs before getting an out against Texas.

SAN DIEGO -- The games are getting more and more important for the Chicago Cubs, which means one thing on a team whose starting rotation features pennant race stalwarts Jon Lester, Cole Hamels and Kyle Hendricks:

Give the ball to Yu Darvish.

In what might be the biggest surprise in a year of them for the up-and-down Cubs, their go-to guy on the mound is the starter who was their least accomplished a year ago -- as well as the least liked by the fan base. If Chicago is going to get anywhere this month -- or next -- it's going to need Darvish to lead the way. That was unthinkable just a few months ago.

"He has total command of what he's doing out there right now," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said after his team's 4-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday. "He wants to be out there."

That last thought from Maddon might be the most important. Darvish isn't shying away from the challenge ahead. His 14 strikeouts against the Padres were his most in a game since 2013 and put him over the 200 strikeout mark for the season. He wanted the ball to start the second half of the season -- about the time his game started to come together -- and he wants it in the big games to come.

The Cubs are fighting for their playoff lives -- they currently are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild-card position in the National League -- and can count on few things to go right for them on a nightly basis. But Darvish is one of them. Despite some recent forearm stiffness, he hasn't missed a beat. On Thursday, he threw 18 curveballs against the Padres, seven of them to end at-bats. San Diego went 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts in those at-bats. The curve is a pitch he's revisited since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015 and he credits teammate Craig Kimbrel for showing him a new way to throw it.

"His uncanny command of his breaking ball is ridiculously good, especially against left-handers," Maddon said. "There's nothing to say negative about his performance. It was great."

With Lester and Hamels, as well as a few other veterans, struggling, Darvish can't afford to stop now. He's set the bar so high for himself that when he walked two batters in the same inning Thursday, it was almost stunning. In fact, it was the first time he had done that since May 31. Of course, he got out of the jam, going six shutout innings and throwing 110 pitches.

"He's in a good spot right now," teammate Anthony Rizzo said.

In fact, Darvish is in a better spot than his team as the Cubs still can't get out of their own way on the road. They went 3-5 on their just-completed eight-game trip, while opening the door for the Brewers to re-enter the playoff picture. The Darvish gem on Thursday prevented an unthinkable series loss to the Padres, but did it merely delay a collapse that some fans feel is inevitable? Darvish and Rizzo are not by any means ready to concede that point.

"I know the last 10 days was tough, but we still have to compete each and every day," Darvish said.

Meanwhile, Rizzo might have a new place in the batting order as the Cubs continue to struggle with the leadoff spot. He returned to the top of the order Thursday, walking and scoring a run in the first inning while providing the spark all leadoff men strive for. Is he all-in for hitting leadoff?

"I'm all-in on winning," Rizzo responded. "We have to win. Whatever it takes. ... I've had a good amount of at-bats in this league to know what pitchers are doing. Batting first or ninth doesn't matter."

There's a desperation in Rizzo's voice that you don't hear very often. The calming, "we have time" mantra has been replaced by a win-at-all-costs narrative. The somber locker room after a shutout loss Wednesday morphed into a positive vibe after Darvish's performance on Thursday. Add in the fact that the Cubs begin a 10-game homestand Friday, and the team has one last opportunity to put themselves in the right position for the final days of the season -- and the final road trip.

For Maddon, it means directing everything with a steady hand. "Everyone likes anger at these moments or being upset," Maddon said of the Cubs' tenuous position. "It's just not the right way to do things. For me, it's continuing of the same process. A different method is not going to extrapolate what you're looking for."

Of course, that doesn't apply to Darvish, who set out to change the narrative after a dismal 2018 season. Fitting in as one of the pieces this year seemingly would have been just fine, but instead, he's taken over the role of ace. Over his last 11 starts, including Thursday, Darvish has a 2.44 ERA while giving up just 46 hits in 66⅓ innings. He has struck out 93 while walking six -- and had the gall to say this about Thursday's outing: "Not good enough, but I threw the right pitch in the right situation."

It was more than good enough for the Cubs, who are desperately seeking sparks of life wherever they can find them. And what was unthinkable at one time has become almost a sure thing: If the Cubs have the luxury of lining up their rotation, Darvish is now the man at the top, be it for a wild-card game, Game 1 of a division series or even a tiebreaking Game No. 163.

Asked if he would want the ball in such a situation, Darvish gave a nod, but kept his thoughts close to the vest. "I don't want to think too much [ahead]," he answered. "I want to focus on each pitch."

Maddon wouldn't go there either, not with such a precarious hold on a playoff spot.

"That's something you think about when you get closer to the finish line," he stated.

But anyone who's followed the Cubs knows the situation at hand. Veterans who had been considered sure things are no longer reliable. And what was once considered a bad free agent signing has now produced the Cubs' savior on the mound.

Rizzo was asked how he would prepare to face Darvish, who's at the top of his game.

"I'd probably just hit right-handed," he said with a smile.

Smiles have been hard to come by for the Cubs on the road this season, but watching Darvish perform provided a needed lift. Now he just has to do it again. And again. And perhaps again.