Tuesday's Sports In Brief

HURRICANE HARVEY

FRISCO, Texas (AP) While J.J. Watt still thinks the Houston-Dallas preseason game shouldn't be played because of catastrophic flooding in Houston, the star defensive end for the Texans is getting his wish that money generated by the exhibition finale will go to Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

Watt, who started a fundraising page that reached $4 million in donations in barely more than two days, reiterated his stance that the game originally scheduled for Houston on Thursday night should have been scrapped instead of moved to the home of the Cowboys.

The Texans, who are in charge of the game since they are technically the home team, said that tickets and parking will be $25 apiece. Tickets were available online starting Tuesday night.

Watt almost didn't know to react to the stunning growth of his effort, which started with a web page and a selfie video Sunday. Since then, he's been offering video updates as the total climbed. The original goal was $200,000.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - A.J. Hinch conceded it was difficult to concentrate on baseball.

Like the rest of the Astros and Rangers who traveled halfway across the country to play a three-game series relocated to Florida because of Hurricane Harvey, the Houston manager had mixed emotions about being at Tropicana Field.

The intrastate rivals settled on meeting in St. Petersburg - home of the Tampa Bay Rays - after the Rangers refused to swap home series and stick themselves with a longer road trip next month.

''It's hard to imagine playing. It's hard to imagine not playing,'' Hinch said.

Texas won the opener of the series 12-2.

BASEBALL

WASHINGTON (AP) - Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton tied the major league record with his 18th home run in August, bashing his 51st of the season in the first inning of a game against the Washington Nationals.

Stanton matched the mark set by Rudy York with the Detroit Tigers in August 1937. Stanton's drive Tuesday night off Edwin Jackson landed deep in the left-field stands and came after a 26-minute rain delay. He extended the Marlins' franchise record for most homers in a month.

Stanton is two shy of tying Sammy Sosa for the most homers in any month. Sosa had 20 in June 1998 and finished with 66 that season.

Stanton entered Tuesday batting .381 with 35 RBIs in August. He's won a pair of NL Player of the Week awards this month.

On Sunday, Stanton became the first NL player since Prince Fielder in 2007 to hit at least 50 home runs in a season.

TENNIS

NEW YORK (AP) - It's too loud under the U.S. Open roof for Rafael Nadal.

Even though the U.S. Tennis Association tried to lessen the noise in Arthur Ashe Stadium after the retractable cover's debut during last year's tournament, there was still quite a bit of ambient sound when the top was shut because of rain.

''Too much noise, no?'' the No. 1-seeded Nadal said after beating Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. ''I was not able to hear the ball when you are hitting, no?''

Nadal, who counts two U.S. Open championships among his 15 Grand Slam titles, actually participated in the first match contested under the shut roof at the 2016 U.S. Open, when the $150 million sliding cover made its debut atop the event's main arena. Back then, he called it an ''unbelievable improvement,'' because it finally allowed for play when it rains in New York. The man he beat that day, Andreas Seppi, was the one who made a point of saying, ''There really was a lot of noise.''

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

DELAND, Fla. (AP) - A sophomore from Georgia collapsed and died during football practice at a Florida university.

Stetson University officials said in a statement that 19-year-old Nicholas Adam Blakely collapsed during a Monday evening practice. The accounting major from Lawrenceville, Georgia, was on the sidelines when he complained of not feeling well. He collapsed and was taken to Florida Hospital Deland, where he died.

The statement said Coach Roger Hughes broke the news to his team and counselors are on hand to help them deal with their loss.

Blakely was a defensive back who was redshirted last season and never played in a college football game. The team was preparing for its season opener at Sacred Heart University on Saturday in Connecticut.

He attended Archer High School, which is northeast of Atlanta.