LAS VEGAS (AP) — Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson apologized to his teammates after being ejected from Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders for spitting on an opponent just before halftime.
“I got to be a better player. Got to be a better vet,” Gardner-Johnson said after Buffalo's 33-30 victory. “Let my emotions get above me, and I hurt my team. They brought me here to play big games like this, so I got to do better.”
Officials ejected Gardner-Johnson for unsportsmanlike conduct following an exchange with a group of Raiders players, including tight end Brock Bowers.
“We had two players jawing back and forth and then our umpire witnessed him spitting on the opponent,” referee Shawn Smith told a pool reporter.
Smith said the NFL’s officiating department in New York confirmed the disqualification.
Bills coach Joe Brady said the incident reflected poorly on his team.
“The discipline of our football team has to improve and that sure as hell can’t happen,” Brady said. “The team is bigger than that, the situation is bigger than that, everything is bigger. It can’t happen, and it definitely has to be addressed.”
Brady said he hadn’t reviewed video of the incident but that officials told him the violation was clear.
“At the end of the day, if it shows up like that, like that can’t happen,” Brady said. “It’s uncalled for. It can’t happen. It is going to be addressed, and the team is way more important.”
Gardner-Johnson said he was emotional during a heated exchange and insisted he had nothing personal against Bowers or the Raiders.
“He never did nothing to me,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s just in the heat of the game, arguing and talking (expletive), and that gesture wasn’t warranted.”
Gardner-Johnson, 28, said he had spoken with coaches and apologized to his teammates, adding that he would accept whatever punishment followed. He could face a fine or suspension from the league.
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak praised his players for not retaliating, saying they had been warned about potential confrontations.
“That’s the expectation,” Kubiak said. “We knew going in there are certain guys that are going to try to do that to us, and the players knew before the game that if they got into it, they’d be standing by me on the sideline.”
The ejection also prompted a reaction from San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who alleged on social media that Gardner-Johnson had spit on him previously.
“This is the least surprising thing ever,” Juszczyk posted, adding that Gardner-Johnson “spit on me last year when we beat Chicago.”
Gardner-Johnson was ejected in 2024 while playing for Philadelphia and has been fined numerous times during his NFL career, though he has never been suspended.
Buffalo is his sixth NFL team in eight seasons. He previously played for New Orleans, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston and Chicago before signing a one-year contract with the Bills.
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Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer (87) makes a catch in front of Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (22) during an NFL football game in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David Becker)
CLEVELAND (AP) — Drew Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings for his second postseason win, Tampa Bay’s offense kept on constant pressure and the Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series.
The Rays have won the last two games and will try to capture their third AL pennant and first since 2020 on Monday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“Momentum is big in this sport and we have it -- and we’re going to keep it," outfielder Jonny DeLuca said.
Since the ALCS expanded to seven games in 1985, road teams winning Game 5 for a 3-2 lead have won the series four of five times.
Game 7 if needed would be Tuesday, and the World Series starts Friday at NL champion Milwaukee.
Rasmussen gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six.
“The way he limited anything was really, really impressive," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He got in rhythm with the fastball. A lot of power to everything. Then the depth on the changeup throughout the outing was a big pitch for him.”
Tampa Bay scored single runs in each of the first three innings, the first two off Parker Messick and the third against Tim Herrin. The Guardians scored in the seventh but stranded runners in the eighth and ninth innings.
Cleveland has not won an ALCS when trailing 3-2 while the Rays are 58-27 at home this year, including the postseason.
The Guardians are seeking their first World Series title since 1948.
“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a really good team and a really good team when they play at home, especially," Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. "@e know this is going to be tough but if there’s a group I’m betting on to get this done, it’s our guys.”
Rasmussen had given up two runs over six innings in the opener. After Chase DeLauter’s two-out single in the first, the 31-year-old right-hander retired nine straight batters and allowed only one other baserunner through the sixth.
“Ras has done it all year, shutting them down like he did tonight," shortstop Taylor Walls said. "Sometimes it’s a little boring when he’s mowing guys down, but it was fun tonight because Cleveland was putting the ball in play. Credit to them for doing that and giving us the chance to make plays.”
Rasmussen said the biggest change was he was able to command his changeup better. He used it only 12 times in Game 1, but threw it 27 times on Sunday, includng 21 for strikes.
“We were able to attack with the change-up a lot more tonight than we did, like I said, in Game 1. The ability to drive the cutter to the top I thought was also another strength,” said Rasmussen, who is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three postseason starts, striking out 23 and walking three.
Cam Booser and Tyler Wells worked the eighth, with Wells striking out José Ramírez to strand a runner.
Bryan Baker came in for the ninth and converted his 35th straight save chance, his fifth of this postseason. Jo Adell was on second base when Travis Bazzana hit a game-ending groundout.
Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter reached base in the first four innings — scoring in the first three frames — and six times overall. Rays' leadoff batters have reached in 10 of 14 innings dating to Saturday.
Yandy Díaz had three hits while Aranda and Liam Hicks both had two hits and drove in a run.
Díaz scored on a bases-loaded walk by Messick to Jonny DeLuca in the first inning. Díaz led off with a line-drive double over center fielder Petey Halpin that rolled to the wall.
Aranda’s single drove in Ben Williamson for a 2-0 lead in the second, and Hicks looped a curveball from Herrin to center to score Chandler Simpson in the third.
“I think we took advantage of getting ourselves in some favorable counts and getting some big hits,” Cash said. “We probably left some opportunities out there, and then they go to the bullpen, and it’s really challenging to piece together big innings when they’re mixing and matching from the third or fourth inning, whatever it was, on.”
Steven Kwan had two of Cleveland’s five hits and made two fine defensive plays: He threw out Walls trying to score from second base on Jonathan Aranda’s fourth-inning single to left and made a leaping catch at the center-field wall on Victor Mesa Jr.’s eighth-inning drive, saving a run.
Cleveland finally threatened in the seventh when Kwan and Ramírez singled to put runners at the corners and DeLauter grounded an RBI single between first and second.
Messick had the shortest outing of his big league career and didn’t make it past the third inning for the second time in four postseason starts. The 25-year-old left-hander went two innings and allowed two runs, five hits and three walks over two innings, throwing just 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.
Tampa Bay will go with right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA), who will make his third appearance of the series. He started Game 2 and threw six scoreless innings before pitching two-thirds of an inning on Saturday. Cleveland has not named a starter, but Vogt ruled out using right-hander Gavin Williams.
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Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez throws out Tampa Bay Rays' Chandler Simpson at first during the eighth inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tampa Bay Rays' Liam Hicks watches his RBI-single against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Parker Messick reacts after walking in a run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tampa Bay Rays' Ben Williamson scores past Cleveland Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey during the second inning in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen celebrates the end of the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of an American League Championship Series baseball game in Cleveland, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
