Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have another trophy, along with home-field advantage throughout the Major League Soccer playoffs.

Messi scored twice in the final minutes of the first half, goalie Drake Callender stopped a penalty kick in the 84th minute and Inter Miami beat the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew 3-2 on Wednesday night, wrapping up the Supporters Shield given annually to the team with the best regular-season record.

It was Messi’s 46th major trophy won for club or country, extending his record for the most by any men’s soccer player in history. And it is the second he has won with Inter Miami, this Supporters Shield being added to the Leagues Cup trophy the Herons claimed shortly after Messi joined the club in 2023.

Luis Suarez also scored for Inter Miami, which will open a best-of-three first-round playoff series in the final weekend of October. If the team wins that series, it would have the right to host every match it plays the rest of the season — an Eastern Conference semifinal (scheduled for Nov. 23 or 24), the East final (Nov. 30 or Dec. 1) and the MLS Cup final on Dec. 7.

Also still within reach for Inter Miami: the best MLS regular-season mark ever. Wednesday’s win pushed Inter Miami’s record to 20-4-8 this season, giving it 68 points. If the club wins its final two matches — Saturday at Toronto and Oct. 19 at home against New England — it would finish with 74 points.

New England has the single-season points record, finishing with 73 in 2021.

WNBA

Dream fire Wright

after three seasons

The Atlanta Dream have fired coach Tanisha Wright after three seasons, the franchise announced Wednesday.

Wright took over the team in 2022 and helped them reach the playoffs the last two seasons. The Dream lost both years in the opening round of the postseason, including to New York last month. They were swept in two games both years.

Atlanta went 15-25 this year and had to win its last few games to qualify for the playoffs. There’s a strong young nucleus with Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray leading the way along with veteran center Tina Charles. The Dream haven’t had a winning record since the 2018 season.

Wright is the third WNBA coach to be fired in the past few weeks. Curt Miller was let go in Los Angeles and Teresa Weatherspoon parted ways with Chicago.

MLB

Another fan claims Ohtani’s 50th homer ball

The claim to Shohei Ohtani’s potentially lucrative 50th home run ball grew more complicated this week, with a second fan filing a lawsuit asserting he had possession of the historic baseball.

According to online records, the latest suit was filed by Joseph Davidov in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court, and the defendants are Chris Belanski, Kelvin Ramirez, Max Matus and Goldin Auctions. Belanski is the man who left the stadium with the baseball. Matus — who filed the first lawsuit last week — and Ramirez have also claimed ownership of the ball.

Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases, reaching the mark on Sept. 19 with his homer in Miami against the Marlins. The bidding for the baseball through Goldin Auctions is currently at $1.464 million.

Because of a ruling related to Matus’ lawsuit, the ball can’t be formally sold until a hearing that is scheduled for Oct. 10.

Davidov claims in his suit that he was able to “firmly and completely grab the ball in his left hand while it was on the ground, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball.”

NBA

Doncic injures hamstring in practice

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic injured a calf during preseason practice and will be re-evaluated in a week.

The Mavericks are in Las Vegas for training camp, and the club didn’t indicate if Doncic was with the team or stayed in Dallas.

The injury to Doncic comes after fellow star guard Kyrie Irving broke a thumb while working out in the offseason following Dallas’ five-game loss to Boston in the NBA Finals.

NHL

Blackhawks send ’22 draft picks to minors

The Chicago Blackhawks assigned forward Frank Nazar and defenseman Kevin Korchinski to their top minor league affiliate.

Defenseman Louis Crevier also was assigned to Rockford of the American Hockey League. Forward AJ Spellacy, 18, who had an impressive training camp after he was selected in the third round of this year’s NHL draft, was sent to Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League. The 20-year-old Nazar was selected by Chicago in the first round of the 2022 draft. He scored in his NHL debut on April 14 against Carolina.

NFL

With Richardson sore, Flacco may start

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson’s injured hip was too sore for him to do much at Wednesday’s practice.

So 39-year-old backup Joe Flacco took snaps with the starting offense and could be in line to replace Richardson on Sunday in Jacksonville.

Flacco replaced Richardson in last weekend’s 27-24 victory over previously unbeaten Pittsburgh, completing 16 of 26 throws for 168 yards and two touchdowns — and he promises he’ll be ready to play.

“Being a backup quarterback, it’s probably different than what you’d think it is,” he said before practice. “One of the things is just calling the plays on a daily basis, like we just did in a walk-through and I got to call the plays. When you get to call the plays, you’re just that much more familiar with the game plan.”

49ers hold off on Pearsall’s return

The San Francisco 49ers got some needed reinforcements for the defensive interior but will wait at least another week to get first-round rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall back at practice.

This was the first week that players placed on injury lists before the season opener could be brought back to practice and the 49ers opened the practice window for defensive tackle Kalia Davis on Wednesday but are holding off on Pearsall’s return after he was shot in the chest during a robbery attempt in San Francisco on Aug. 31.

BRIEFLY

NBA >> The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard Terance Mann to a contract extension.

MLB >> The Toronto Blue Jays are moving Don Mattingly back to the position of full-time bench coach after the six-time All-Star also spent the 2024 season as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Sailling >> Britain’s INEOS Britannia has twice defeated Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to move one win away from taking on defending America’s Cup champion Team Emirates New Zealand.

— From news services