Armadillo Sports

September’s Too……..is a good bar
1165 Central Avenue in Colonie, just west of Osborne Road

Wednesday- 25-cent wings; its a great deal……..
Thursday- Open Mike Night, 7:00
Friday- Karaoke at 8:00
Saturday- Live music at 8:00…….
Sunday- 25-cent wings; open at 4:00, NFL games on TV

You can order food from them via Door Dash
There’s a pool table, only 25 cents/game.

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Monday night NFL knowledge is posted

Monday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads for Week 5 games:
— Buccaneers @ Dallas (-10)
— Eagles vs Jaguars (-4.5) (@ London)
— Bengals (-7) @ Miami
— Browns @ NJ Jets (-2.5)
— Texans (-6.5) @ Tennessee
— Colts @ Pittsburgh (-2.5)

Quote of the Day
“His job is not in jeopardy. He’s a skilled coach, and we’re going to keep growing.”
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, on his offensive coordinator’s job status

Monday’s quiz
Where did Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees play his college football?

Sunday’s quiz
When the Dodgers played home games in Brooklyn, their home ballpark was Ebbets Field.  

Saturday’s quiz
Of the eight teams left in this year’s baseball playoffs, three have never won a World Series- Tampa Bay, San Diego and Milwaukee. 

Rams 24, Eagles 20
Eagles led this game 20-10 at halftime.
Philly’s two touchdown drives: 17 and 35 yards. Very short.
Eagles in second half: 28 plays, 62 yards, no points.
Rams were 7-16 on third down, Eagles were 0-12.

Rams’ last 2 drives: 10 plays, 98 yards, 1-yard TD with 3:59 left
10 plays, 79 yards, 7-yard TD with 1:10 left.
Rams outgained Philadelphia, 415-172.
QB Stafford threw for317 yards, 125 of those to WR Nukua.

Cowboys 34, Texans 30
Houston led 16-6 at halftime.
Dallas in 2nd half: 39 plays, 266 yards, 28 points.
Cowboys drove 74 yards, scored 12-yard TD with 0:40 left.
WR Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards and a TD.

Last two games, Dallas allowed 7 TD’s, 5 FG’s on 22 drives.
Texans QB Stroud threw for 247 yards, two TD’s.
Houston is 8-13 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Texans are 0-4, with losses by 5-14-2-4 points.

Colts 30, Commanders 13
RB Taylor ran ball 20 times for 95 yards, two TD’s.
Washington’s #2 QB Mariota (knee) left game in first half.
Washington’s #3 QB Kaliakmanis was 15-33/186 in relief.
Commanders are 6-9 ATS last 15 games as an underdog.

Colts’ first five drives: 20 plays, 37 yards, no points.
Colts rest of game: 46 plays, 245 yards, 30 points.
Washington converted only 2 of 15 third down plays.
Colts are 6-3 ATS last nine games coming off a win.

Giants 36, Cardinals 24
QB Winston threw for 250 yards, three TD’s.
DB Banks sealed the win with a 98-yard pick-6.
Giants were 7-15 on third down, Arizona 4-12.
Giants are 13-8-1 ATS in last 22 games coming off a win.

Both teams turned the ball over three times.
Cardinals are 5-9 ATS in last 14 games coming off a loss.
Cardinals lost last three games, going up 31-36-36 points.
Opponents scored nine TD’s on their last 19 drives.

Patriots 29, Bills 26
Patriots drove 73 yards, threw 23-yard TD pass with 1:50 left.
QB Maye threw for 269 yards, three TD’s.
Patriots are 6-2 ATS in their last eight visits to Buffalo.
Under Vrabel, NE is 5-0 ATS in games coming off a loss.

Buffalo led 17-14 at halftime.
Bills turned ball over seven times in their last two games (minus-4)
Bills are 17-20-1 ATS in last 38 games coming off a win.
Buffalo allowed 372.2 yards/game in their first four games.

Packers 17, Buccaneers 14
QB Love threw for 197 yards, two TD’s.
Trey Smack kicked a 58-yard at the end of first half.
Packers had 10 penalties for 68 yards, were 2-10 on third down.
Green Bay’s last three drives: 14 plays, 105 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.

QB Daniels was 19-27/148 with 2 INTs in his first NFL start.
Bucs lost their first four games, by 6-4-7-3 points.
Tampa Bay is 0-4 for the first time since 2013.
Bucs are 2-11 SU/0-13 ATS in their last thirteen games. 

Bears 23, Jets 12
Chicago’s first two drives: 26 plays, 151 yards, two TD’s.
Bears ran ball 54 times for 232 yards.
Chicago outgained the Jets, 492-157.
#2 QB Bagent was 25-34/268 passing, in his 5th NFL start. 

Jets lost last three games, running ball for only 67-58-59 yards
Jets are 7-13 ATS last 20 games as a road underdog
Jets are 12-22-1 ATS in last 35 games coming off a loss.
Jets are 7-23-1 ATS in their last 31 games vs NFC teams.

Famous birthdays, October 5th:
Rex Chapman, 59
Grant Hill, 54
Jesse Palmer, 48

Travis Kelce, 37
Zack Littell, 31
Lavish Shenault, 28

Jaguars 22, Bengals 17
Jaguars in first half: 28 plays, 69 yards, 13 points.
Jacksonville led 13-3 at halftime.
Jaguars held last 10 regular season foes to 20 or fewer points.
Liam Coen is 16-6 as an NFL head coach.

Jaguars are +6 in turnovers this season.
Bengals outgained Jacksonville, 437-323.
Joe Burrow threw for 428 yards; Bengals ran for only 23 yards.
Jaguars has 13 penalties for 125 yards, Bengals 11 for 108. 

Ravens 24, Titans 18
Ravens QB Jackson (ankle) didn’t play in second half.
Ravens in first half: 34 plays, 236 yards, 24 points.
Ravens in second half: 27 plays, 78 yards, no points.
Baltimore outscored their foes 86-39 in the first half.

Ravens had 13 penalties for 131 yards.
Baltimore outgained the Titans, 384-297.
Tennessee is 0-4, scoring 10-20-18 points.
Robert Saleh is 20-40 as an NFL head coach.

Vikings 15, Dolphins 10
Minnesota kicked 5 FG’s, didn’t score a TD on nine drives.
Vikings outgained the Dolphins, 336-198.
Vikings were 8-18 on third down, Miami 2-9.
Minnesota is 9-0 SU/7-1-1 ATS in its last nine games.

Minnesota TE Hockenson caught 13 passes for 119 yards.
Viking opponents have converted only 12 of 53 third down plays.
Miami lost its first four games, scoring 13-13-10-10 points.
Dolphins gained only 259-284-329-198 yards in those games. 

49ers 24, Broncos 14
Game was tied 3-3 at halftime.
Last three games, Denver was outscored 29-6 in first half.
Under is 6-2 in Denver’s last eight games.
Broncos are 8-12 ATS last 20 games as a road underdog.

49ers’ go-ahead TD came on a 28-yard drive after a fumbled punt.
49ers’ first seven drives: 42 plays, 194 yards, 3 points.
49ers’ last three drives: 23 plays, 176 yards, 21 points.
In their four games, SF has converted 23 of 38 third down plays.

Chiefs 30, Raiders 27
Raiders led 13-10 after three quarters.
Chiefs in 4th quarter: 14 plays, 178 yards, 20 points.
Chiefs won first four games, scoring 31-33-24-30 points.
Chiefs are 11-19-2 in ATS in last 32 games as a road favorite.

Chiefs drove 65 yards, scored 2-yard go-ahead TD with 3:21 left.
Kansas City ran ball 26 times for 189 yards.
Las Vegas QB Cousins threw for 365 yards, two TD’s.
Raiders are 7-4 ATS in last 11 AFC West home games.

Seahawks 30, Chargers 23
Seattle led 20-6 at halftime.
Chargers turned ball over 3 of their first 8 drives.
Seahawks had first half TD drives of 23-65-20 yards.
Bolts’ first three drives of 2nd half: 35 plays, 240 yards, 20 points.

Chargers lost first four games, scoring 14-14-16-23 points.
Overall, Bolts are 0-7 SU/0-6-1 ATS in their last seven games.
Chargers’ QB Herbert threw for 189 yards and a TD.
Seattle had 14 penalties for 150 yards, Chargers 16 for 130.

Panthers 32, Lions 26
Game was tied 16-16 at halftime.
Carolina’s first drive: six plays, four yards, punt
Carolina’s next six drives: 57 plays, 417 yards, 32 points.
Panthers missed two of their four PAT’s. 

Goff threw for 412 yards; Lions ran for only 46 yards.
Detroit gave up 469-446-335-445 yards in its first four games.
Detroit has scored 31-31-31-26 points in its 2-2 start.
All four Lion games went over the total. 

— Unusual NFL fact:
In 18 of their last 20 games, Indianapolis Colts scored the first touchdown of their game.

— USC 25, Washington 21
Huskies led 21-10 midway thru third quarter.
Go-ahead score for the Trojans was a defensive TD.
Washington had 10 penalties for 74 yards; they were 1-15 on 3rd down.

— Kentucky 35, South Carolina 34 OT
Down 34-27 in OT, Wildcats scored TD, then got the walk-off 2-point conversion.
Gamecocks led 20-10 at halftime.
South Carolina ran ball for 232 yards; they were minus-2 in turnovers.

— Purdue 24, Illinois 17
Boilermakers end a 19-game conference losing skid.
Freshman kicker Echeverria kicked three field goals.
Purdue QB Browne threw for 255 yards and a TD.

— Oregon State 56, Colorado State 26
Beavers threw for 427 yards, outgained CSU 650-371.
There’s a chance CSU fired its defensive coordinator during this game. Really.
In their last three games, Rams gave up 41-59-56 points.

— Minnesota 20, Michigan 14
Wolverines lose at Minnesota for first time since 1977.
Michigan ran ball 28 times for only 79 yards.
Total yards: Minnesota 262, Michigan 180

— Upsets of the Week:
Bowling Green (+13.5) 24, Miami OH 20
Purdue (+10) 24, Illinois 17
Temple (+6) 17, South Florida 13
Eastern Michigan (+6) 38, UMass 14
NC State (+5.5) 31, Louisville 28
Minnesota (+5.5) 20, Michigan 14
Missouri (+4.5) 45, Florida 17

— White Sox 3, Guardians 0
Murakami hit a two-run HR in fourth inning.
Five pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout.
Cleveland had bases loaded in third/fourth innings.

— Dodgers 5, Braves 3
Skubal allowed one run, two hits in 6 IP on a 100-degree day.
Hernandez/Tucker homered for the Dodgers.

— Rays 1, Bronx 0
Jonathan Aranda homered in third inning.
Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit, struck out 11 in 8 IP.
Austin Wells doubled in 8th inning, got thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple.

18th playoff game ever that ended 1-0, with only run coming on a home run.

— Brewers 3, Padres 2
William Contreras homered in bottom of the 7th for the go-ahead run.
Jacob Misiorowski threw 88 pitches, lasted only four innings.
San Diego fouled off 30 of his 88 pitches.
Last inning, Ty France hit a bomb that would’ve been a home run outdoors, but it hit the ceiling in the dome, and the LF caught it. Ground rule declares that as an out.  

— Famous birthdays, October 4th:
Tony La Russa, 82
Susan Sarandon, 80
John Wathan, 77
AC Green, 63

Liev Schrieber, 59
Kurt Thomas, 54
Kurt Suzuki, 43
Derrick Rose, 38

Dakota Johnson, 37
Sean Murphy, 32
Oneil Cruz, 28
Quinn Mathews, 26

— Air Force 14, Navy 9
Under is 16-6-1 in last 23 games in this rivalry.

— Alabama 56, Mississippi State 23
Miss State turned ball over on first two drives, trailed 14-0 6:30 into game.
Alabama’s last five drives: 33 plays, 325 yards, 35 points.

— Notre Dame 37, North Carolina 26
Bill Belichick with Tom Brady as his starting QB: 249-75

Belichick coaching Cleveland Browns: 37-45
Belichick coaching Patriots without Brady starting: 47-70
Belichick coaching North Carolina: 6-10

— NC State 31, Louisville 28
Wolfpack drove 76 yards, kicked 28-yard FG with 5:30 left.
NC State QB Bailey threw for 373 yards, two TDs.

— Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42
Cyclones drove 74 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:57 left.
Total yardage: Iowa State 577, West Virginia 518
RB Flora ran for 212 yards, 3 TD’s; he also threw 2 TD passes.

— Syracuse 42, UConn 41 OT
Syracuse led 28-14 at halftime.
Syracuse QB Odom threw for 335 yards, five TD’s.
Odom ran in for the walk-off 2-point play in OT.

— UNLV 39, California 31
UNLV QB Arnold threw for 177 yards, ran for 110 more.
He accounted for all five Rebel touchdowns.
UNLV blew a 24-7 lead, scored go-ahead TD with 9:31 left. 

— Pitt 35, Virginia Tech 33
Hokies led 14-0 five minutes into the game.
Tech QB Grunkemeyer threw for 434 yards, 3 TD’s.
Pitt was +4 in turnovers; they’re off to a 5-0 start.
Panther QB Heintschel got hurt in third quarter.

— Northwestern 34, Penn State 13
Wildcats led 24-7 at halftime.
Northwestern outgained Penn State, 505-291.
Wildcats ran ball 52 times for 415 yards.
Nittany Lions ran ball 22 times for 48 yards.

— Liberty 30, Delaware 14
4-1 Flames led 20-0 at halftime.
Liberty was 6-16 on third down, Blue Hens 2-13.
Liberty ran ball 47 times for 282 yards (6.0 yards/carry)

— North Texas 45, Tulsa 44 OT
Game ended very late Thursday night, around 1am.
Tulsa tied game on a 10-yard TD with 0:31 left in regulation.
North Texas QB Jackson threw for 332 yards, four TD’s.
Mean Green outgained Tulsa 559-332; they were minus-3 in turnovers.

— Since 2015, NFL teams who are 0-3 SU are 29-14 ATS in Week 4.

This week, those teams are:
Dolphins +11.5
Buccaneers +4.5
Texans -2.5
Chargers +7
Titans +11.5

— When backup QB Jalon Daniels starts at QB for the Buccaneers Sunday, he’ll be the first Kansas Jayhawk alum to start an NFL game at QB since Frank Seurer in 1987.

— Tony Romo/CBS have parted ways; JJ Watt is now the #1 NFL analyst for CBS. Apparently Romo was making $18M/year.

— Favorites to win the divisional round series in baseball:
Guardians -140
Bronx -120
Dodgers -230
Brewers -180

— Bronx Bombers lost 8 of their last 10 playoff series when they didn’t have the home field edge; they’ve won their last eight series when they had the home field advantage.

Famous birthdays, October 3rd:
Dave Winfield, 75
Dennis Eckersley, 72
Janel Moloney, 57
Anquan Boldin, 46

Courtney Lee, 41
Mike Gesicki, 31
CJ Abrams, 26
CJ Stroud, 25

Our first look at the West Coast basketball conference:
— Saint Mary’s
Coach Bennett is off to Arizona State after 25 years in Moraga.
Gaels made the NCAA’s the last five years, going 3-5.
Saint Mary’s won’t be on TV as much without Gonzaga as a rival.

— Santa Clara
Last five years, Broncos were 58-25 in WCC games
Santa Clara made NCAA’s LY for first time since 1996 (lost to Kentucky in OT)
Three double digit scorers graduated from last year’s team.

— San Francisco
Dons are 39-29 in WCC play since Todd Golden bolted to Florida.
Dons brought in a 6-8 guy from Denmark, a point guard from Israel.
USF doesn’t return anyone who play more than 6 minutes/game LY.

— Pacific
Tigers were 18-15 LY, their second winning season in 12 years.
Pacific poached a point guard who started 93 games at Manhattan.
Only one guy who played a lot last year is still on the team.

— Denver
Junior G Johnson (20.1 ppg LY) is the only returning starter. 
This is the Pioneers’ first season in the WCC.
Denver’s last winning season in Summit League play was in 2013.

— Seattle
Seattle was 8-10 in WCC last year, after bolting from the WAC.
Seattle lost four starters, need to identify where their points will come from.
Last two years, Redhawks were a top 25 team in forcing turnovers.

— Loyola Marymount
Last three years, Lions were 19-33 in WCC games.
LMU hasn’t made NCAAs since their famous 1990 run to the Elite 8
Lions need a starting point guard to emerge.

— Pepperdine
Last five years, Waves were 16-68 in WCC games.
New coach Aldrich made NCAAs twice at Longwood.
6-3 G McClendon’s last three years: played for UCLA, San Jose State, North Texas

— Portland
Portland hasn’t had winning year in WCC play since 2010.
Pilots were 15-19 LY but did upset Gonzaga at home.
3 of last 4 years, Pilots were #276 or worse in 3FG% defense.

— San Diego
Toreros haven’t had winning year in WCC play since 2008.
New coach Blount was an assistant coach at Iowa State.
Opponents shot 58.5% inside arc LY; they need much better defense. 

— Braves 6, Phillies 2
Michael Harris hit a three run-homer in the first inning.
Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies also homered for Atlanta.
Seldom-used P Ray Kerr got the first 10 outs for the Braves.
Braves advance to play the Dodgers, starting Saturday.

— Browns 27, Steelers 24
Browns kicked a 56-yard FG with 0:10 left for the win.
Cleveland led 21-10 at halftime.
Browns’ first five drives: 26 plays, 233 yards, 21 points.
Browns in second half: 35 plays, 151 yards, 6 points.

Cleveland won its last two games, by 4-3-3 points.
Last 4+ years, Browns are 13-6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 299 yards, with 3 TDs, 2 INTs
DJ Metcalf caught five passes for 115 yards.

— New Mexico State 34, Western Kentucky 13
RB Jones ran ball 20 times for 155 yards and a TD.
Aggies grabbed a 13-3 lead with a 45-yard pick-6 in 2nd quarter.
WKU QB Tisdale threw for 314 yards, but also had that INT.
1-4 Hilltoppers had 11 penalties for 84 yards.

— San Diego State’s football team has a medical issue; they have as many as 14 players who’ve come down with the mumps. Aztecs are scheduled to play Texas State at home Saturday.

— Arizona Diamondbacks gave manager Torey Lovullo a two-year contract after his team went 86-76 this season. Arizona finished over .500 three of the last four years, but they haven’t made the playoffs since winning the NL pennant in 2023.

— Houston Astros have lost their last nine home playoff games.

— With the NCAA basketball tournament increasing to 76 teams this season, the NIT will shrink from 32 to 24 teams. 

Famous birthdays, October 2nd:
Lorraaine Bracco, 72
Dave Beard, 67
Mark Rypien, 64
Steve McLaughlin, 55

Aaron McKie, 54
Tyson Chandler, 44
Joe Ingles, 39
Lance McCullers Jr., 33

Our first look at the Mountain West basketball conference:
— Grand Canyon
Antelopes have won 20+ games the last five years.
Grand Canyon missed NCAAs LY, for first time in four years.
Antelopes added 6-1 G Darling, a transfer from St John’s.

— UNLV
Rebels haven’t made the NCAAs since 2013.
UNLV had six coaches the last 12 years; Pastner was 18-17/11-9 in his first year LY.
Rebels added good players, but they’ve got only two guys back from last year.

— Nevada
Coach Alford is retiring after this year; he haas 646 career wins.
Nevada missed NCAAs seven of last nine years; their last NCAA win? 2018.
Key addition for Wolf Pack: PG Styles Phipps, a PG from Pepperdine.

— New Mexico
New Mexico went 26-11 LY, with an entirely new roster.
Lobos have 101 wins the last four years, going 48-28 in the MW.
Frosh G Jake Hall shot 43.2% behind the arc LY, making 112 3-pointers.

— Wyoming
Last four years, Cowboys are 26-50 in conference games.
This year, Wyoming returns four of its top six scorers from LY.
Cowboys need to shoot better; they shot 33% behind arc LY.

— Hawaii
Rainbows were 24-9 LY, making NCAAs in their last year in the Big West.
Hawaii added 10 new players this year, as they jump up in class.
Last year, Hawaii had the #19 eFG% defense in the country.

— San Jose State
Last three years, Spartans are 12-46 in Mountain West games.
Last spring, donors formed a NIL fund with $4M in it.
For third year in row, San Jose will have an entirely new starting 5.
With increased NIL $$$, San Jose coaches think players will stick around.

— Cal-Davis
Last 4 years, Cal-Davis went 45-34 in Big West, but only 2-4 in Big West tourney.
Aggies haven’t made NCAA Tournament since 2017.
Cal-Davis added four transfers and three international recruits.

— Texas-El Paso
Last four years, Miners went 28-46 in Conference USA.
UTEP hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2010.
Miners want to play faster; they have almost an entirely new roster.

— Air Force
Former Penn State assistant Joe Crispin is the new coach here.
Air Force is apparently going to press and play a faster pace.
Falcons have all five starters and 98% of its scoring back from LY.

— Not a whole lot of drama Thursday in the Wild Card round of the playoffs; Phillies-Braves is the only series that has a Game 3.

By the way, in the playoffs, there are no ghost runners in extra innings- they play real baseball.

— Phillies 4, Braves 3 (10)
Alec Bohm hit a home run in the 10th inning.
Schwarber/Harper hit back/back HR’s to tie game in 8th inning.
Tyler Mahle allowed one run in 7 IP for the Braves.

— White Sox 6, Astros 3
Chicago got four runs off Hunter Brown in first inning.
Chase Meidroth homered, had three RBI.
White Sox-Guardians are the matchup in the next round.

Last three years, White Sox were 61-101/41-121/60-102, just a tremendous job by manager Will Venable and the White Sox front office.

— New York 9, Red Sox 0
9-0/9-2 losses to their rival; rough end to the season for Boston.
Cody Bellinger homered, had four RBI.
New York-Tampa Bay is the matchup in the next round.

— Padres 4, Cubs 1
Gavin Sheets pinch-hit a 2-run homer in 4th inning.
Five San Diego pitchers did the job; Nick Pivetta got 10 outs.
San Diego has won 19 of its last 22 games.
Padres-Brewers is the matchup in the next round.

Was pretty cool Tuesday night when Joe Musgrove pitched the 9th inning, his first appearance in a big league game in two years.

— Dallas Cowboys traded a 2nd round and a 6th round draft pick to the Steelers in exchange for CB Joey Porter, as they try to fortify a defense that has given up 82 points in three games.

— Wednesday was the last day until December 1st without an NFL or Division I college football game. 61 straight days, and college hoop starts in the middle of that stretch. 

Famous birthdays, October 1st:
Julie Andrews, 91
Rod Carew, 81
Alton Lister, 68
Mark McGwire, 63
Zach Galifianakis, 57

Brie Larson, 37
Robbie Ray, 35
Xander Bogaerts, 34
Otto Lopez, 28
Jordan Whittington, 26

Our first look at the re-structured Pac-9 basketball conference:
— Gonzaga
Going to miss the Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s games late at night.
Last five years, Zags are 9-5 in NCAA Tournament.
This year’s Gonzaga team isn’t as deep as usual.

— San Diego State
Aztecs-Gonzaga should become an excellent rivalry.
Six of their players bolted to bigger $$$ teams.
San Diego State missed NCAAs last year for first time since 2019.

— Utah State
Ben Jacobson is Utah State’s 6th head coach in 13 years.
All this despite fact that Aggies’ last losing season was 2017.
Last four years, Utah State was 109-31, 57-19 in league games.

— Oregon State
Beavers were 19-17 in the WCC the last two years; now they’ve got a new coach, Justin Joyner who was an assistant coach on Michigan’s national title team.

Oregon State has only one returning starter from LY’s 17-16 team. New coach, new roster makes for a lot of questions to answer.

Beavers have four players between 6-11 and 7-2 tall.

— Colorado State
Rams went 10-8/16-4/11-9 in Mountain West the last three years.
Rams are only Pac-9 team bringing back three starters from last year.
Problem is, the two starters who are gone were their best two players.

— Boise State
Went 26-14 in Mountain West last 2 years, but missed NCAAs both times.
Broncos lost three starters, but added six transfers from smaller leagues.
Leon Rice has made five NCAAs coaching Boise, but he’s 0-5 in tourney games.

— Washington State
Wazzu lost just about its whole roster; they were 12-20, so no big deal.
Coogs were 4-9 last year, in games decided by 7 or fewer points.
Wazzu gave up 77.5 ppg last year; that needs to improve. 

— Fresno State
Fresno doesn’t have any players who played a minute for Fresno last year.
Fresno slowed tempo LY from #32 to #136; they’ve got lot of international players.
Last four years, Bulldogs are 19-57 in conference games.

— Texas State
Bobcats are in Pac-9 because of football; their last NCAA Tournament was 1997.
Texas State was in bottom 5 in country last year on defensive boards.
Bobcats kept their best two guys, added transfers; they may have a good NIL program.

— NCAA Tournament will have 76 teams this year, which will be weird.

— Braves 5, Phillies 3
Austin Riley hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 8th.
Phillies had taken a 3-2 lead on JT Realmuto’s 2-run triple in the 7th.
Jesus Luzardo gave up a run and three hits in his five IP.

— White Sox 6, Astros 3
Chicago led 3-0 in the second inning.
#7-9 hitters for White Sox were 5 for 11, scoring 3 runs with 2 RBI.
Astros used 8 pitchers; no one threw more than 37 pitches.

— New York 9, Red Sox 0
This game was 2-0 in the seventh inning.
Cam Schlittler got 19 outs, threw 117 pitches, gave up two hits.
Ben Rice homered twice, drove in six runs.

— Padres 8, Cubs 0
Michael King didn’t give up a hit until the 7th inning.
Fernando Tatis Jr homered, scored three runs.
San Diego has won 18 of its last 21 games. 

— San Diego RF Fernando Tatis Jr hit 25 home runs this season; he didn’t hit his first one until the Padres’ 55th game. He was on quite a heater the second half of the year.

— Miami P Sandy Alcantara pitched 214 innings this year, starting 36 games while also getting three saves late in the season. 

He is the first pitcher since Jerry Reuss in 1980 to get 3+ saves in a season, while also pitching 200+ innings that year.

— Giancarlo Stanton is on New York’s active roster this week; he hasn’t played in a game since April 24th.

— There is a guy who hosts a fantasy baseball podcast on YouTube who was saying Monday night that he was in 17 fantasy baseball leagues this season. 17!!!!

I’m in one fantasy league and I probably spend too much time on it, but it is fun. Can’t even imagine keeping track of 17 different leagues every day for six months. 

Famous birthdays, September 30th:
Angie Dickinson, 95
Brad Oates, 73
Eric Stoltz, 65

Dave Magadan, 64
Eric Piatkowski, 56
Kenley Jansen, 39

Aaron Holiday, 30
Jesus Luzardo, 29
Sam Ehlinger, 28

Our first look this season at some college basketball knowledge…….

— Last November, USC beat Arizona State in the final of the Maui Classic; neither team made the NCAA Tournament last season, making it the first time this century that neither team in the Maui final made the NCAA’s. 

Since 2000, eight Maui champs made the Final Four that year; only two teams who lost the Maui final made the Final Four that year (Kentucky 2010/Kansas 2011).

— Last four years, UConn is 18-2 in NCAA tournamkents, making the title game three times, winning two of those. Huskies are less experienced this year, but they usually figure things out.

— Michael Malone is the new coach at North Carolina; he won an NBA title coaching the Denver Nuggets four years ago. Very unusual for the Tar Heels to go outside their alumni for a coach.

— Last two years, Rick Pitino’s St John’s team is 61-12, 36-4 in Big East games, but only 2-3 in NCAA Tournament games. Red Storm was a #2/#5 seed those two seasons.

— In four years coaching Duke, Jon Scheyer is 124-25, 65-13 in ACC games, 11-4 in NCAA Tourney games, but only 1-2 in Elite 8 games. Duke hasn’t won the NCAA Tournament since 2015; they were the #312 experience team last year.

— Villanova/Kevin Willard added five transfers this year, all of who averaged 13+ points/game this past season.

— Boston College hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2009; their new coach is former UConn assistant Luke Murray, son of the great comedian/actor Bill Murray. 

— Bears 27, Eagles 7
Starting for first time in 3 years, QB Keenum was 24-34/247 passing
WR Raymond caught six passes for 90 yards and a TD.
RB Swift carried ball 20 times for 84 yards.
Bears were +3 in turnovers.

Eagles turned ball over on two of first three drives.
QB Hurts got banged up; backup Dalton threw INT in end zone.
Eagles in second half: 20 plays, 42 yards, no points.
Chicago outgained the Eagles, 375-248

— If the baseball playoffs started Tuesday (they do):
Phillies @ Braves (NBC)
White Sox @ Astros (NBC Sports Network/Peacock)
Red Sox @ Bronx (NBC)
Cubs @ San Diego (NBC Sports Network/Peacock)

YouTube TV has NBC Sports Network.

— Minnesota Vikings traded QB JJ McCarthy to the Giants for a 5th round draft pick; with Jaxson Dart out for the year, Giants need a QB. McCarthy was drafted in 2024 but was hurt and didn’t play; he was 6-4 in ten starts for Minnesota last year.

— Giants’ LB Brian Burns suffered a torn ACL Sunday and is out for the year; he had a career-high 16.5 sacks for the Giants last year.

— Interesting matchup in Minnesota this week; 0-3 Dolphins visit 3-0 Vikings.

Brian Flores is Minnesota’s defensive coordinator; he was Miami’s head coach from 2019-21, going 24-25, never making the playoffs. He sued the Dolphins, the NFL and two other teams, claiming racial discrimination in hiring practices.

— Sunday in Tampa, Cubs’ 3B Alex Bregman homered twice, while playing with multiple fractures to his cheekbones. Bregman wound up the season with 28 home runs, 93 RBI in his first year with the Cubs.

— In his career, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez has batted 38 times with the bases loaded:
He walked three three times.
He hit three sacrifice flies.
In the other 32 at-bats, he is 2 for 32. Not good.

Famous birthdays, September 29th:
Ian McShane, 84
Steve Busby, 77
Warren Cromartie, 73
Tim Flannery, 69

Craig Lefferts, 69
Andrew Dice Clay, 69
John Paxson, 66
Erika Eleniak, 57

Zachary Levi, 46
Calvin Johnson, 41
Kevin Durant, 38
Luis Campusano, 28

— Nebraska’s football team is 4-0 for the first time since 2016.

— UMass football team is 4-0 this year, with a win at Rutgers; last year, they were 0-12, very impressive turnaround engineered by coach Joe Harasymiak. It must be noted that two of their wins were against I-AA teams.

— NFL division ATS trends, in non-divisional games:

NFC East 2-4 ATS
NFC North 4-4 ATS
NFC South 3-7 ATS, 0-4 at home
NFC West 3-2-1 ATS

AFC East 6-5-1 ATS, 4-1 at home
AFC North 5-4 ATS, 3-1 at home
AFC South 5-6 ATS
AFC West 5-3 ATS

— In college football……
Home teams are 7-0 ATS AAC conference games.
Home teams are 1-9 ATS in Big 18 conference games.
SEC home favorites are 5-3 ATS in conference games. 

— College football non-conference trends:
AAC underdogs are 15-7 ATS
AAC favorites are 3-7 ATS

ACC home favorites are 6-8 ATS

Big X favorites are 8-13 ATS

C-USA teams are 20-9 ATS

MAC teams are 8-22 ATS

Mountain West underdogs are 4-7 ATS

Pac-8 favorites are 7-2 ATS

SEC favorites are 17-12 ATS

Sun Belt home favorites are 3-5 ATS

Commanders 33, Seahawks 31
Seattle’s 12-game winning streak comes to an end.
Backup QB Mariota threw for 183 yards, three TD’s.
Washington won despite getting outgained, 437-258.
Commanders scored on pick-6 with 3:57 left to go up 33-24. 

Washington’s three TD drives were only 21-60-43 yards.
Seattle ran ball 18 times for only 44 yards.
Washington led 17-10 at halftime.
Seahawks are 2-5 ATS in last seven visits to Washington.

Steelers 30, Bengals 27
First three Pittsburgh drives: 21 plays, 214 yards, 17 points.
Rodgers threw for 292 yards, three TD’s.
Steelers were 7-12 on 3rd down (5-25 first two games)
Pittsburgh ran ball 23 times for 138 yards.

Steelers drove 77 yards, kicked 33-yard FG with 2:15 left for winning score.
Burrow threw for 282 yards, three TD’s.
Last 3+ years, Cincinnati is 1-7 ATS as road favorites.
Bengals are 2-7 ATS in last nine visits to Pittsburgh.

Lions 31, Jets 24
Lions drove 65 yards, scored game-winning TD with 2:25 left.
RB Gibbs had 164 yards from scrimmage, scored three TD’s.
Lions are 13-3 ATS last 16 games coming off a loss.
First three games, Detroit scored 31-31-31 points. 

QB Smith was 31-37/321 passing with three TD’s.
Detroit led 24-10 early in fourth quarter.
Jets first three drives: 15 plays, 45 yards, three punts.
Jets next five drives: 54 plays, 266 yards, three points.  

Browns 21, Panthers 18
Cleveland drove 65 yards, threw 14-yard TD pass with 1:48 left
Browns are 2-1 for the fifth time in the last seven years.
Last four years, Browns are 12-6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
QB Watson is 40-37 as an NFL starter (11-11 with Cleveland)

Panthers’ first four drives: 21 plays, 84 yards, four punts.
Panthers’ last eight drives: 57 plays, 276 yards, 18 points.
Carolina is 8-13 ATS in last 21 games coming off a win.
Carolina is 7-14 ATS in last 21 games vs AFC teams.

Colts 19, Texans 17
Colts drove 29 yards, kicked 53-yard FG with 0:16 left for the win.
Schrader kicked four field goals, including a 58-yarder.
Loss snaps Indianapolis’ nine-game losing skid.
Colts are 7-4 ATS last 11 games as a home underdog.

Colts led 13-7 at halftime.
Houston ran the ball 21 times for only 70 yards.
Last two games, Texans scored two TD’s on 21 drives.
Texans are 13-18-1 ATS last 32 games as a favorite.

Chiefs 24, Dolphins 10
Mahomes was 20-24/246 passing, with two TD’s.
Chiefs’ first two drives: 14 plays, 127 yards, two TD’s.
Chiefs outscored Miami 10-0 in fourth quarter.
Kansas City is 3-0, scoring 31-33-24 points.

Miami’s opening drive: 17 plays, 91 yards, TD
Miami rest of first half: 16 plays, 80 yards, no points.
Dolphins were 8-16 on third down, Chiefs 3-7.
Dolphins are 16-20-1 ATS in last 37 games coming off a loss.

Bills 24, Chargers 16
Buffalo won despite turning ball five times (minus-4)
Bills’ first four drives: 13 plays, 21 yards, 3 turnovers, one punt
Bills ran the ball 33 times for 176 yards.
Buffalo is 10-5 ATS in their last 15 home openers.

Chargers led 13-10 after the third quarter.
Chargers are 0-3 for the first time since 2017.
First three games, Chargers scored 14-14-16 points.
Overall, Bolts are 0-6 SU/ATS in their last five games.

Famous birthdays, September 28th:
Mel Gray, 78
Steve Largent, 72
Irving Fryar, 64
Johnny Dawkins, 63
Janeane Garofalo, 62

Mira Sorvino, 59
Emeka Okafor, 44
Ryan Zimmerman, 42
Tyler Shough, 27
Riley Greene, 26

Giants 12, Titans 7
Giants kicked a field goal on four of their first eight drives.
Last two games, Big Blue has no TD’s, six FG’s on 20 drives.
Giants were outgained 262-238, but were +2 in turnovers.
Giants are 13-7-1 ATS last 21 games vs AFC teams.

Titans in first half on a rainy day: 20 plays, 54 yards, trailed 9-0.
Tennessee is 10-18-1 ATS in last 29 games as an underdog.
QB Ward is 3-17 as an NFL starter.
Titans had a 91-yard TD drive in 4th quarter, but Ward threw INT in end zone in the last minute. 

Jaguars 35, Patriots 6
QB Lawrence was 19-29/182 passing, with three TD’s.
Jaguars were 8-12 on third down, New England 4-12.
Jaguars first three drives of 2nd half: 24 plays, 133 yards, 21 points.
In two road games, Patriots scored one TD on 18 drives. 

Under Coen, Jaguars are 6-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Under Coen, Jaguars are +17 in turnovers.
Jaguars are 12-5-1 ATS in their last 18 home games.
Opponents have converted only 9 of 31 third down plays.

49ers 36, Cardinals 30
49ers led 17-6 at halftime.
49ers’ first two drives: 13 plays, 173 yards, 21 points.
San Francisco missed two PATs later on in the game.
49ers are 1-9 ATS in last ten NFC West home games.

Brissett was 38-52/280 passing, with two TD’s.
Arizona is 11-5 ATS last 16 games as a road underdog. 
Cardinals were 9-19 on 3rd down; 49ers were 5-8.
Cardinals are 6-2-1 ATS in last nine visits to Santa Clara.

Vikings 23, Buccaneers 16
Dating back to LY, Minnesota has won eight games in a row.
Myles Price returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown.
Vikings are 18-9-3 ATS in last 30 games coming off a win.
Minnesota was 2-15 on 3rd down; they had 9 penalties fr 95 yards.

QB Mayfield dislocated his right thumb, will miss some time.
Bucs are 2-9 SU/0-11 ATS in their last dozen games.
Total yardage in this game: Bucs 243, Vikings 230
Bucs are 2-10 SU/0-12 ATS in their last dozen games.

Ravens 34, Cowboys 31
Tyler Loop kicked a 56-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Dallas had tied game on a field goal with 0:07 left.
Baltimore ran ball 38 times for 192 yards.
Ravens are 6-10 ATS last 16 games as a favorite.

First two Dallas drives: 16 plays, 87 yards, 10 points.
Total yardage: Cowboys 415, Ravens 378
QB Prescott is 86-62-1 as an NFL starter.
Brian Schottenheimer is 8-11-1 as a head coach.

Raiders 35, Saints 27
Raiders outscored Saints 13-0 in fourth quarter.
Las Vegas is 3-0, scoring 27-26-35 points.
All three games were played in a different dome.
QB Cousins is 92-80-2 as an NFL starter.

Saints scored a TD on four of their first six drives.
New Orleans turned ball over four times (minus-3)
Saints are 15-19-2 ATS in last 36 games coming off a win.
New Orleans is 2-10 ATS last 12 home openers.

Broncos 30, Rams 26
Denver in first half: 22 plays, 77 yards, no points.
Denver in second half: 39 plays, 194 yards, 30 points.
Broncos drove 65 yards, scored winning TD with 0:47 left.
Denver scored on a pick-6 with 4:49 left. 

Rams outgained Denver, 482-257.
Rams were 8-17 on third down, Broncos 7-13.
Payton is 196-119 as an NFL head coach, 35-22 with Denver.
QB Nix is 27-12 as an NFL starter.

If the baseball playoffs started Tuesday (they do):
Phillies @ Braves
White Sox @ Astros
Red Sox @ Bronx
Cubs @ San Diego

— Oregon 41, USC 27
Backup QB Raiola threw a tie-breaking 29-yard TD pass with 8:35 left.
Oregon’s starting QB was knocked out of the game in 2nd quarter.
Last three games, USC gave up 30-35-41 points.
Total yardage in this game: Oregon 504, USC 446

— Iowa 20, Michigan 19
Iowa threw a 16-yard TD pass as time expired to post the upset.
Michigan led 13-7 after the third quarter.
Wolverines outgained Iowa, 429-285

— Wisconsin 24, Penn State 20
Badgers scored two touchdowns in the last 3:31 to post the upset
Jacob Harris caught a 72-yard TD pass with 1:13 left for winning score.
Penn State led 20-10 after the third quarter.
Badgers outgained Penn State, 355-233

— Oklahoma State 41, West Virginia 24
West Virginia led 21-20 with 3:00 left in 3rd quarter.
OSU QB Mestemaker threw for 389 yards, three TD’s.
Cowboys outgained West Virginia, 609-467.
Mountaineers ran ball for 335 yards, still lost by 17.

— Guardians 11, Royals 5
Cleveland clinches its third straight AL Central title.
Cleveland’s #8/#9 hitters both hit two homers in this game.
Guardians are the AL’s #2 seed, get a first-round bye.

— Rays 12, Phillies 1
Yandy Diaz had three hits, scored three runs.
Victor Mesa had four hits, drove in two runs, also scored three times.
Phillies have lost 4 in a row, haven’t clinched a playoff spot yet.
Phillies are 9-14 in September.

— Padres 10, Diamondbacks 7
Manny Machado homered, knocked in three runs.
Jackson Merrill had two hits, scored two runs.
Padres will host the Cubs in the Wild Card round.
Arizona is one game behind the Phillies, with one day left to play.

— Upsets of the Week:
Wake Forest (+12) 30, Louisville 27
Wisconsin (+10) 24, Penn State 20
Cincinnati (+6.5) 31, Kansas State 26
UAB (+6.5) 24, Navy 20
Iowa (+5.5) 20, Michigan 19
Central Florida (+3) 21, TCU 13

— Famous birthdays, September 27th:
Mike Schmidt, 77
Monte Towe, 73
Steve Kerr, 61
Sofia Milos, 57

Gwyneth Paltrow, 54
Chris Herren, 51
Jon Garland, 47
Christian Wood, 31

— Texas 20, Tennessee 17
Texas sacked Tennessee’s QB ten times.
Total yardage: Texas 262, Tennessee 221.
Longhorns survived committing 11 penalties for 115 yards.

— Wake Forest 30, Louisville 27
WR Hernandez caught nine passes for 194 yards.
Deacons ran ball 42 times for 177 yards.
Louisville gave up 30+ points in all three of its I-A games.

— Arizona 34, Washington State 24
Wazzu led 17-14 at halftime.
Arizona QB Fifita threw for 297 yards, four TD’s.
Arizona outgained the Coogs, 447-335

— Tulane 24, Southern Miss 21
Green Wave outscored Southern Miss 10-0 in 4th quarter.
Maurice Turner ran 74 yards for the game-winning TD with 5:26 left.
Total yardage: Tulane 445, Southern Miss 401

— Florida 52, Ole Miss 28
Gators outscored Ole Miss 35-22 in second half.
At one point, Florida scored TD’s on five consecutive drives.
Gators ran ball 53 times for 302 yards.
Florida is 4-0 for first time since 2019.

— LSU 35, Texas A&M 6
LSU led this game 14-3 at halftime.
Tigers averaged 11.1 yards per pass attempt.
LSU outgained A&M 506-197.
Aggies lost last two games, giving up 31-35 points. 

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres, Cubs, Phillies

— There is going to be cruddy weather in the northeast on Sunday, the last day of baseball’s regular season; Cubs-Red Sox are playing their game in Sunday at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, instead of Fenway Park.

— Red Sox 4-2, Cubs 3-0
Cubs will be a lower seed in the Wild Card round next week.
NBC will be happy; Bronx-Boston is a Wild Card matchup.
Alex Bregman was DH in the opener, playing with broken bones in his face.
Nightcap was scoreless until Wilyer Abreu’s two-run double in 8th inning.

— Guardians 12, Royals 9
Cleveland scored five runs in top of the ninth.
Angel Martinez had two hits, knocked in four runs.
Carter Jensen homered twice, had five RBI for Kansas City.
Guardians lead the White Sox by a game in AL Central with two days left.

— White Sox 6, Rockies 1
Sean Burke got 16 outs, allowed one run on five hits.
Munetaka Murakami homered twice, had three RBI.
Murakami is only hitting .209, but has 35 RBI, 92 walks and an .834 OPS

— A’s 6, Astros 5
A’s scored six runs in the sixth inning.
Michael Stefanic’s two-run single was the go-ahead hit.
Astros/Rangers are tied with two days left; Houston holds the tie breaker.

— Twins 10, Rangers 2
Luke Keaschall went 4-for-5, with 3 runs scored, 3 RBI.
Kody Clemens was 3-for-4, with three RBI
Jacob deGrom gave up eight runs in four IP.

— Rays 2, Phillies 0
Phillies have lost three in row, still haven’t clinched a playoff spot.
Freddy Peralta got 16 outs, gave up only four hits.
Bryan Baker got his 41st save.

— Diamondbacks 11, Padres 4
Arizona led 6-2 in the third inning.
Geraldo Perdomo had two hits, drove in four runs.
Lars Nootbaar scored three runs out of the leadoff spot. 

— Famous birthdays, September 26th:
Dave Duncan, 81
Mike Bragg, 80
Lucius Allen, 79
John Roche, 77
Linda Hamilton, 70

Rich Gedman, 67
Steve Buechele, 65
Melissa Sue Anderson, 64
Dave Martinez, 62
Sean Doolittle, 40

— Steph Curry re-signed with Golden State for two years, $116M; this coming season will be his 19th with the Warriors. Curry has scored 26,528 points in the regular season, 4,147 more in the playoffs during his Hall of Fame career.

In case you were wondering, $116M for two years works out to $707,317.07 per regular season game. Not bad for a guy who is 38 years old.

— This made me feel old; Steve Alford is retiring from coaching after the coming season; he is 61 years old, has been a college coach for 31 years, the last seven years at Nevada. He was a really good college player at Indiana, played four years in the NBA.

— Clemson 24, California 10
Bryant Wesco had Clemson’s first punt return TD in eight years.
Cal’s only touchdown was scored by its defense.
Total yardage: Clemson 363, California 231
Tigers have won three in a row, since an opening loss at LSU

Why are these teams in the same league? Seriously…….

— Indiana 29, Northwestern 23
Lee Beebe ran the ball 24 times for 203 yards and a TD.
Northwestern QB Chiles was 22-29/293 passing, with two TD’s.
Hoosiers outgained Wildcats 472-325; they improve to 4-0.

— Army 21, Temple 17
Army QB Hellums ran ball for 104 yards, three TDs.
Army ran ball 57 times for 279 yards.
Temple lost despite outgaining the Cadets, 459-315.

— UAB 24, Navy 20
Blazers had a 48-yard TD run with 10:36 left for the winning score.
Navy ran ball 58 times for 249 yards, but lost two fumbles.
UAB improves to 2-2; they averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Hst/Tex. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

Falcons 35, Packers 14
Bijan Robinson ran ball 29 times for 194 yards.
Drake London caught nine passes for 194 yards.
Falcons covered their last six games as a road underdog.
Atlanta scored four TD’s, after scoring only one in first two games.

Atlanta led 17-7 at halftime.
Falcons’ first three drives of second half: 25 plays, 224 yards, 18 points.
Falcons outgained Green Bay, 498-328.
In three games, Packers have run for 66-63-17 yards. 

— Liberty 34, Coastal Carolina 17
Liberty outscored the Chanticleers 24-0 in second half.
Flames outgained Coastal, 485-292
Liberty ran the ball 45 times for 263 yards.

— Cubs’ CF Pete Crow-Armstrong became the 7th player ever to record a 40/40 season when he stole his 40th base Thursday.

— Mets named Derek Falvey senior adviser for baseball operations, as they try to bolster their front office after missing the playoffs the last two seasons.

Falvey was an executive vice president and chief baseball officer for the Twins from 2016-19, then became president of baseball operations in 2019. Minnesota made the playoffs four times during his tenure.

— RBI leaders in the major leagues:
113- Burleson, StL
110- Alonso Balt/Stewart Cin
107- Crow-Armstrong, Chi
103- Abrams, Wash
102- Alvarez, Hous
100- Walker, StL

— Runs scored leaders in the major leagues:
119- Crow-Armstrong, Chi
109- Arozarena, Sea
104- Vargas CWS/Wood Wash/Rice NYY
101- Alvarez Hous/Reynolds Pitt
100- Turner Phil/Neto LAA

— Famous birthdays, September 25th:
Michael Douglas, 82
Glenn Hubbard, 69
Geno Petralli, 67
Heather Locklear, 65

Scottie Pippen, 61
Will Smith, 58
Catherine Zeta-Jones, 57
Matt Hasselbeck, 51

Chauncey Billups, 50
Rocco Baldelli, 45
Alec Ogletree, 35
Brandin Cooks, 33

— White Sox 9, Royals 1
White Sox clinch a playoff spot, their first since 2021.
Last three years, White Sox lost 101-121-102 games.
Chicago led 8-0 in the fourth inning. 

— Guardians 1, Red Sox 0
Angel Martinez homered for the game’s only run.
Joey Cantillo allowed one hit in five IP of bulk relief.
Cleveland is in the playoffs for third year in a row.

— Cubs 2, Marlins 1
Nico Hoerner had the game-winning single in 6th inning.
Cubs clinch a playoff spot for second year in a row.
Matthew Boyd gave up a run, five hits in 7 IP.

— Padres 4, Dodgers 2
San Diego is in playoffs for 3rd year in row, fifth time in seven years.
Game was scoreless after five innings.
Mason Miller recorded his 38th save.

— Astros 7, A’s 5
Lucas Spence hit three home runs for Houston.
Those were the first three homers of his career.
Astros are 79-80, tied for first in AL West.

— Rangers 3, Mets 1
Corey Seager/Josh Jung homered for Texas.
Rangers are 79-80, tied for first in AL West.
If teams end up tied, Houston wins the division. 

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Hst/Tex. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

— Mariners 6, Astros 5 (10)
Josh Naylor had the walk-off hit for Seattle.
Josh Hader threw 44 pitches, walked the guys in 10th inning.
Astros are 78-80, but they’re tied for first in AL West.

— Mets 7, Rangers 2
Marcus Semien hit a tie-breaking HR in 8th inning.
Brett Baty hit a pinch-hit grand slam in 9th inning
Rangers are 78-80, but they’re tied for first in AL West.

— Royals 5, White Sox 4
Maikel Garcia had three hits, three RBI
Royals snapped a five-game losing skid.
White Sox are a game behind Cleveland in AL Central.

— Red Sox 1, Guardians 0
There were 17 hits in this game, all singles.
Andruw Monasterio drove in the game’s only run.
Guardians are still a game ahead of Chicago in AL Central.

— Orioles 4-4, Blue Jays 2-2
Orioles move ahead of Toronto in AL East standings.
Christian Encarnacion Strand drove in three runs in the nightcap.
Pete Alonso hit his 41st home run in the first game of the day.

— Marlins 3, Cubs 2
Kyle Stowers homered for the Marlins, his 21st.
Dansby Swanson drove in both of Chicago’s runs.
Cubs still haven’t clinched a playoff spot.

— Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3
Arizona scored four runs in the first inning.
Merrill Kelly is 6-0 in his last nine starts at Coors Field.
Arizona is 84-74, three games out of the last playoff spot. 

— Famous birthdays, September 24th:
Joe Greene, 80
Joe Washington, 73
Hubie Brooks, 70

Rafael Palmeiro, 62
Kevin Millar, 55
Eddie George, 53

Drew Gooden, 45
Randy Foye, 43
Keith Null, 41

— Sunday is supposed to be a cruddy weather day in the northeast; Sunday’s Red Sox-Cub game has already been moved up to Friday, creating a day/night doubleheader at Fenway.

— Justin Verlander will make the last start of his Hall of Fame career Saturday when the Tigers host Pittsburgh. Verlander is 266-159 in his major league career.

— Phillies P Zack Wheeler became the 96th big league pitcher with 2,000+ career strikeouts when he struck out 11 Brewers Tuesday night. 8 of those 96 pitchers are still active. 

— Arizona P Merrill Kelly’s career stats against the Dodgers:
18 starts, no wins, 11 losses, 5.32 ERA
Kelly’s career stats: 74-67, 3.93 in 200 starts.

— This season, Colorado Rockies have been outscored 2r4-146 in the first two innings of games.

— Freddy Peralta’s last five starts for Tampa Bay: 28.2 IP, 14 hits allowed, 6 walks, 3 runs. 

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Hst/Tex. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

— Of last 59 NFL teams to start a season 0-2, only eight of them made the playoffs that year.

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-11 ATS in their last eleven games.

— Minnesota Vikings are the first NFL team EVER to win four consecutive games, with four different starting quarterbacks.

Max Brosmer
JJ McCarthy
Kyler Murray
Carson Wentz

— Giants’ QB Jaxson Dart’s knee injury was worse than initially thought; he may to have surgery on the knee, which would end his season after only seven plays.

— Green Bay Packers have injury issues on their offensive line; RT Zach Bewele tore his patellar tendon against the Jets Sunday, is out for the year.

— Mets named interim manager Andy Green their full-time skipper moving forward, giving him a three-year contract. Mets are 37-38 under Green this season.

— Red Sox gave interim manager Chad Tracy a three-year contract, and extended head of the front office Craig Breslow’s contract thru 2030. Red Sox are 74-55 under Tracy this year; they are in the playoffs for second year in a row, sixth time in 10 years.. 

— Famous birthdays, September 23rd:
Jason Alexander, 67
Larry Krystkowiak, 62
Pete Harnisch, 60
Tony Mandarich, 60
Ricky Davis, 47
Matt Kemp, 42

— Rays 0-6, New York 2-1
Rays win nightcap, clinch their 5th AL East title.
Tampa Bay is also the #1-seed in AL playoffs.
Drew Rasmussen got 20 outs, gave up 1 hit, struck out 11.
Yandy Diaz had two hits, drove in four runs.

— White Sox 14, Royals 11
Randal Grichuk scored four runs, had three RBI
Chase Meidroth had three hits, drove in five runs.
Vinny Pasqualino scored three runs, had five RBI.

— Guardians 3, Red Sox 2
Nathaniel Lowe hit game-winning sac fly in ninth inning.
Cleveland has won six games in a row.
Guardians lead White Sox by a game in AL Central.
Red Sox have lost eight of their last 12 games.

— Mets 6, Rangers 3
Texas is 78-79, tied for first in AL West
Francisco Alvarez scored twice, had two RBI
Sean Manaea gave up three hits, struck out nine in 6 IP.

— Astros 7, Mariners 0
Houston is 78-79, tied for first in AL West.
Five Astro pitchers allowed a total of four hits.
Yordan Alvarez hit his 41st home run, hit the 100 RBI plateau.

— A’s 9, Angels 7
Angels led 6-0 in the sixth inning.
Carlos Cortes came off bench, scored twice, had three RBI
Alika Williams had two hits, scored two runs.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Hst/Tex. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

— Rams 28, Giants 6
Rams outgained the Giants 481-182.
Future Hall of Fame QB Stafford was 22-31/327 passing, with 4 TDs.
WR Adams caught eight passes for 195 yards, two TD’s.
LA had TD drives of 80-78-86-64 yards.

Giants lost QB Dart after the first series (knee injury).
Giants were 3-14 on third down (9-11 last week).
Rams are 11-6-1 ATS in last 18 games as a home favorite.
Under McVay, Rams are 30-17-2 ATS in games coming off a loss.

— Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3
Pete Alonso homered twice; he has 40 HR’s this year.
His second homer was a 2-run shot in 8th inning.
Toronto is 3.5 games behind Chicago for the last Wild Card slot.

— Tigers 9, Nationals 2
Ben Malgeri homered, had three RBI
River Ryan threw 3 shutout IP in his first start in two years.
Next year, Detroit’s ballpark will be known as Fifth Third Park.

— Giants 5, Twins 2
Giants led 4-0 in the second inning.
Drew Gilbert was 3-for-4, scored twice, had 3 RBI
Brett Harris had two hits, two RBI.

— Last week of baseball season, only three games Monday. Maybe they left this day open for any makeup games that needed to be played.

— Baseball needs to enforce the rule about the on deck hitter staying in the on deck circle; guys tend to creep closer to home plate, to get a better look at the pitches, but Sunday in Cincinnati, Cubs’ 3B Alex Bregman got drilled in the face with a checked swing/foul ball, now he probably won’t play in any more games this season. 

Multiple fractures in his left cheekbone, his left eye is swollen, he’ll be lucky if the eye isn’t messed up going forward. 

— Chicago White Sox have 64 home runs from rookies this year, the most of any team.

— Famous birthdays, September 22nd:
Larry Dierker, 80
Harold Carmichael, 77
Jeffrey Leonard, 71
Vince Coleman, 65
Bonnie Hunt, 65

Mark Guthrie, 61
Mike Matheny, 56
Alexei Ramirez, 45
Carlos Correa, 32
Jeremy Pena, 29

— NFL divisions against the spread in non-divisional games:
Home favorites are 9-7 ATS in non-divisional games.
Road favorites are 3-2 ATS in non-divisional games.

NFC West teams are 3-0-1 ATS in non-divisional games.
NFC South teams are 2-4 ATS in non-divisional games.
NFC North teams are 1-3 ATS in non-divisional games.

AFC East teams are 5-2-1 ATS in non-divisional games.
AFC North teams are 4-3 ATS in non-divisional games.
AAFC South teams are 4-5 ATS in non-divisional games.

— College conferences against the spread in non-conference games:

AAC 17-11 ATS, 15-6 as an underdog
ACC 9-12 ATS, 5-7 as a favorite
Big 18- 20-18 ATS, 14-12 as a home favorite.

Big X 12-14 ATS, 7-11 as a favorite.
C-USA 17-7 ATS, 13-5 as an underdog
MAC 6-19 ATS, 4-16 as a road underdog

Mountain West 8-8 ATS, 4-0 as a home favorite
Pac-8 9-9 ATS, 3-6 as a road underdog
SEC 15-12 ATS, 11-8 as a home favorite
Sun Belt 12-13 ATS, 9-9 as a road underdog

— MAC teams get paid a lot of $$$ to play Big 18 teams, but they don’t do very well on the field in these games.

So far this season, MAC teams are 1-10 SU against the Big 18 (Mass upset Rutgers)
MAC teams are 2-8-1 ATS against the Big 18

— Atlanta Falcons announced that Michael Penix Jr will start at QB Thursday night at Green Bay. Falcons lost their first two games 20-13/34-3, with 3rd stringer Cooper Rush playing QB.

— Kansas City Chiefs have won their last eight overtime games.