Month: August 2025

— Florida State 31, Alabama 17
Seminoles ran ball for 230 yards, posted a big upset.
Kalen Deboer is 6-4 vs unranked teams at Alabama; Nick Saban was 124-4.
FSU’s offensive coordinator is Gus Malzahn (Auburn’s coach for 8 years)

— LSU 17, Clemson 10
Clemson led 10-3 at halftime, didn’t score in second half.
LSU stopped Clemson on the 15-yard line with 0:59 left.
Clemson ran the ball 20 times for only 31 yards.

— Ohio State 14, Texas 7
Longhorns lost despite outgaining Ohio State, 336-203.
Texas didn’t score until they got a TD with 3:28 left in the game.
Longhorns were stopped on two 4th downs inside the OSU 10-yard line.

— Tennessee 45, Syracuse 26
Vols’ new QB Joey Aguilar threw for 247 yards, three TD’s.
Aguilar transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA to Tennessee this year.
Tennessee had good balance; they ran for 246 yards, threw for 247 more.

— Tulane 23, Northwestern 3
Tulane’s QB last year got paid $4M to bolt to Duke.
BYU booted its QB Jake Retzlaff this spring, for off-field issues.
Retzlaff is now Tulane’s QB; he passed for 152, ran for 113 more.

— Kentucky 24, Toledo 16
Rockets threw a 20-yard TD pass with 1:55 left for the backdoor cover.
Toledo had 11 penalties for 93 yards, Kentucky 3 for 30.
Kentucky has 55 new players this year, 27 of them transfers.

— Texas A&M 42, Texas-San Antonio 24
Marcel Reed threw for 289 yards, four TD’s.
KC Conception ran a punt back 80 yards for a TD.
UTSA’s Robert Henry ran ball 16 times for 177 yards, two TD’s.

— Famous birthdays, August 31st:
Richard Gere, 76
Tom Candiotti, 69
Von Hayes, 67
Hideo Nomo, 57

Larry Fitzgerald, 42
Jalen Brunson, 29
Desmond Ridder, 26
Ahmad (Sauce) Gardner, 25

— Marlins 11, Mets 8
Marlins scored 5 runs in 1st inning, later blew an 8-2 lead.
Connor Norby knocked in three runs in the last three innings.
Mets are now six games behind the Phillies in NL East.

— Guardians 4, Mariners 3
Kyle Manzardo hit a 2-run HR for Cleveland.
Guardians are within three games of Seattle for last AL Wild Card spot.
Seattle has lost 7 in a row on the road, is 5-11 in last 16 games overall.

— Angels 4, Astros 1
Oswald Peraza had the game-winning hit in the 9th inning.
Game was tied 1-1 after eight innings.
Kenley Jansen got his 24th save for the Halos.

— Brewers 4, Blue Jays 1
Jackson Chourio/Christian Yelich hit back/back HR’s in 9th inning.
Game was scoreless after five innings.
Toronto’s lead in AL East is down to two games.

— Padres 12, Twins 3
Minnesota led 3-1 after five innings.
9th-place hitter Elias Diaz homered twice for San Diego.
Manny Machado got his 1,000th hit as a Padre.

— Royals 3, Tigers 1
Bobby Witt hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 8th.
Witt’s 20th home run extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
Kansas City moved within two games of the AL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Arizona 6, Dodgers 1
Game was scoreless after six innings.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed four hits in 6 shutout IP.
Dodgers’ lead in NL West is down to a game over San Diego.

— If the playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners

— Astros 2, Angels 0
Cristian Javier didn’t allow a hit in 6 IP (85 PT)
Carlos Correa had a game-winning single in 7th inning.
Angels have lost 8 of their last 10 games.

— Pirates 4, Red Sox 2
Paul Skenes threw 6 innings; he is now 9-9, 2.05 this year.
Red Sox led 2-0 after the fifth inning.
Andrew McCutchen knocked in the go-head run in the top of the 6th.

— Tarleton State 30, Army 27 OT
I-AA Tarleton was a 14.5 point underdog.
Army missed 43, 35 yard field goals at end of regulation, in overtime.
Army outgained Tarleton 411-344, but was minus-3 in turnovers.

— Auburn 38, Baylor 24
Auburn ran a kickoff back 98 yards for a TD.
Tigers ran ball for 307 yards (5.9 yards/carry).
QB Arnold, a transfer from Oklahoma, ran ball for 137 yards, scored 2 TD’s.

— Georgia Tech 27, Colorado 20
QB King ran 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:07 left.
Tech lost two fumbles, threw an INT on its first three drives.
Tech outgained Colorado, 463-305.

— Wake Forest 10, Kennesaw State 9
Jake Dickert gets a close win in his first game as Wake Forest’s coach.
Deacons’ only TD came in first quarter; they were an 18-point favorite.
Wake Forest outgained Kennesaw State of C-USA 348-307

— UNLV 38, Sam Houston State 21
Rebels led 24-7 at halftime, improved to 2-0.
QB Colandrea threw for 249 yards, two TD’s.
UNLV ran 56 plays, only 9 of them on third down. 

— Famous birthdays, August 30th:
Dave Chalk, 75
Robert Parish, 72
David Paymer, 71
Michael Michele, 59
Cameron Diaz, 53

Shaun Alexander, 48
Cliff Lee, 47
Adam Wainwright, 44
Mikal Bridges, 29
Drake Maye, 23

— Cardinals 7, Reds 5 (10)
Masyn Winn went 3-for-5, drove in three runs.
Game-winning run scored on a throwing error by Elly De La Cruz.
Reds have lost seven of their last eight games.

— Phillies 2, Braves 1
Eric Bohm’s 8th inning sac fly scored the game-winning run.
Braves had 12 hits, but were 2-12 with runners in scoring position.
Kyle Schwarber scored both runs for the Phillies.

— Mets 19, Marlins 9
Mets led 5-0 before they made an out; it was 12-0 after two innings.
Rookie Jonah Tong allowed four runs in 5 IP in his MLB debut.
Brandon Nimmo homered twice, scored 4 runs, had 4 RBI

— Brewers 7, Blue Jays 2
Freddy Peralta tossed six shutout IP.
Game was scoreless after five innings.
Toronto’s lead in AL East is down to three games.

— New York 10, White Sox 2
New York won its sixth consecutive game.
New York’s payroll: $295,660,655

Chicago lost its fourth game in a row.
White Sox’ payroll: $84,161,459

— Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 0
Zac Gallen allowed two hits in six shutout IP.
Dodgers still lead San Diego by two games in NL West.

— Guardians 5, Mariners 4
Seattle scored 4 runs in top of 1st, led 4-1 after six innings.
Steven Kwan had a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 9th inning.
Cleveland moves within four games of Seattle for the AL’s last Wild Card slot. 

— Dallas Cowboys traded 4-time Pro Bowl DE Micah Parsons to Green Bay Thursday; Dallas gets two #1 draft picks, and DT Kenny Clark, who has been in three Pro Bowls.

Parsons got a 4-year, $188M contract from Green Bay, with $136M of that guaranteed; he is now the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

— In Week 4, the Sunday night game has Green Bay visiting Dallas.

— Phillies 19, Braves 4
Kyle Schwarber hit four home runs, drove in nine runs.
In their previous three games, Phillies scored a total of eight runs.
Cal Quantrill gave up nine runs in 3.1 IP.

— Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Romy Gonzalez hit the game-winning single in the 8th inning.
Boston holds the #1 Wild Card slot in the American League.
Red Sox went 7-1 on their two-city road trip.

— Giants 4, Cubs 3
Jung Hoo Lee had a walk-off single for the Giants.
Willie Adames homered twice, knocked in the other three runs.
San Francisco has won five in a row; this was their 10th walk-off win.

— Astros 4, Rockies 3
Christian Walker homered twice, including the 8th inning game-winner.
It was Walker’s 15th multi-home run game of his career.
Jose Altuve also homered for the Astros.

— Marlins 7, Mets 4
Marlins scored three runs in 7th inning
Mets made three errors, 5 of Miami’s runs were unearned.
Mets have a four-game lead for the NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Famous birthdays, August 29th:
Elliott Gould, 87
Doug DeCinces, 75
Eddie Murray, 69 (Lions’ kicker)

Rebecca DeMornay, 66
Vai Sikahema, 63
Carla Gugino, 54

David West, 45
Noah Syndergaard, 33
Hunter Brown, 27

— Rutgers 34, Ohio U 31
Scarlet Knights led 31-14 in the 2nd quarter.
Ohio tied game in 3rd quarter, but didn’t score in 4th quarter.
Bobcats were 5-10 on third down, Rutgers 1-9

— South Florida 34, Boise State 7
Bulls’ first win over a top 25 team since 2016.
USF scored a 45-yard touchdown on a fake punt.
Boise State led 7-0 after first quarter, didn’t score again. 

— NC State 24, East Carolina 17
NC State stopped the Pirates on 10-yard line in the last minute.
Wolfpack led 17-7 at halftime.
ECU QB Houser threw for 366 yards.

— Minnesota 23, Buffalo 10
Buffalo covered, but was outgained 443-151.
MAC teams were 0-4 SU vs I-A teams Thursday, but 3-1 ATS
Gophers were 9-16 on 3rd down, Buffalo 1-11.

— Wisconsin 17, Miami OH 0
Badgers lead at halftime was only 3-0.
Wisconsin outgained Miami, 353-117
Badgers were 8-16 on third down, Miami 0-9

— Wyoming 10, Akron 0
Wyoming QB Anderson threw for 260 yards and a TD.
Cowboys outgained Akron, 426-228
Game was 3-0 until Wyoming scored a TD with 4:26 left.

— Nebraska 20, Cincinnati 17
Game was played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Nebraska picked off a pass in end zone with 0:34 left.
Cincinnati ran ball for 202 yards, but threw for only 69.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

— New Jersey Giants are only 8th team since 2009 to outscore their preseason opponents by 60+ points.

Of the other seven teams……..
— 6 of 7 made the playoffs
— 2 won the Super Bowl
— 7 teams averaged 11.1 regular season wins
— Russell Wilson was QB for 2 of the other 7 teams.

— College/Minor League football’s highest paid quarterbacks this year:
$4M- Darian Mensah, Duke (poached from Tulane)
$3.1M- Carson Beck, Miami (poached from Georgia)
$3M- Bryce Underwood, Michigan (freshman)
$3M- Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
$3M- Drew Allar, Penn State

Last year, Duke had their QB (Riley Leonard) poached by Notre Dame, so they returned the favor to Tulane this year.

— Middle Tennessee’s football team will wear one helmet and only two jerseys this year, instead of having alternative uniforms. The move saves the program $668,000 and helps find their NIL and overall football program.

— USC is out of college football’s preseason top 25 for the first time since 2019; Trojans went 8-5/7-6 the last two years.

— New England Patriots signed QB Tommy DeVito to be their #2 QB; he joins Drake Maye, Joshua Dobbs in the Patriots’ QB room.

— Kansas City Chiefs’ WR Rashee Rice is suspended for the first six games of the season, for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

In July, Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years’ probation for his role in a multi-car crash in Dallas that left multiple people injured during the 2024 offseason.

— Minnesota Vikings re-acquired veteran WR Adam Thielen from Carolina; teams exchanged 5th round draft picks, Carolina got a 4th round pick, Vikings got a 7th round pick.

Thielen played nine of his first 11 NFL seasons with Minnesota; he’s caught 534 passes for the Vikings, 55 of them for touchdowns.

— Highest-paid QB’s in the NFL:
(based on three-year average)
$61.6M- Dak Prescott, Cowboys
$61.3M- Joe Burrow, Bengals
$58.3M- Jordan Love, Packers
$56.9M- Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

— Famous birthdays, August 28th:
Lou Piniella, 82
Mike Torrez, 79
Ron Guidry, 75

Joel Youngblood, 74
Darren Lewis, 58
Anthony Weaver, 45

— Mets 6, Phillies 0
Mets sweep the Phillies, trail them by 4 games in NL East.
Rookie Nolan MacLean is 3-0, 0.89 in his first three starts.
Phillies have lost their last ten games at Citi Field.

— Mariners 4, Padres 3
Eugenio Suarez hit a 3-run homer for Seattle.
Andres Munoz got his 31st save for the Mariners.
Seattle is AL’s #3 Wild Card; Padres hold NL’s #2 Wild Card.

— Guardians 4, Rays 3 (10)
Nolan Jones tied the game with a 9th inning home run.
Kyle Manzardo had his third walk-off hit of the season.
Manzardo is the first Guardian with 3+ walk-offs since Jim Thome in 2001.

— Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Ceddanne Rafaela hit a 2-run homer in ninth inning.
Aroldis Chapman got his 26th save of the season.
Boston holds the top Wild Card slot in the AL. 

— New York 11, Nationals 2
New York scored nine runs in the third inning; Washington pitchers threw 77 pitches in the third inning alone, the most any team has thrown in one inning since 2003.

— Blue Jays 9, Twins 8
Addison Barger hit the game-winning double in the 8th inning.
Davis Schneider homered twice for the Blue Jays.
Toronto is 58-4 when they score 5+ runs.

— A’s 7, Tigers 0
Rookie Luis Morales allowed two hits in 7 IP.
2B Zack Gelof hit his first homer of the season.
A’s are 30-22 in their last 52 games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

— Tuesday was Cutdown Day in the NFL; teams get down to 53-man rosters, then sign guys for their 16-man practice squad.

Tough day; NFL goes from 2,880 players down to 1,696 pretty quickly, then back up to 2,208 when you count the practice squad guys. Lot of people lose their jobs. Lot of shuffling between cities. Cruddy teams sign guys the better teams cut.

— Practice squad players with two years of service or less will receive $13,000 a week.

Players with 2+ years of service will receive $17,500 minimum weekly salary ($22,000 maximum).

— New Orleans Saints named Spencer Rattler their starting QB; they host the Cardinals next week. Saints were 0-6 when Rattler started last year; he threw 4 TD’s, 5 INT’s.

— Philadelphia Eagles traded for QB Sam Howell; their #2 QB Tanner McKee has injured finger, so Howell serves as insurance. 

With Kenny Pickett traded to Las Vegas, Howell/Pickett become the only two NFL players ever to be traded three times in their first four years in the league.

— Atlanta Falcons’ RT Kaleb McGary is out for the year (leg); he’s been Atlanta’s starter at RT since 2019. McGary’s backup is out 6-8 weeks with an ankle injury. Falcons acquired OT Michael Jerrell in a trade Tuesday.

— Not sure if you heard or not, but Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ TE, got engaged to be married this week; apparently he’s been dating a famous singer (Taylor Swift). Big news Tuesday.

Long time ago, back in 2000, Taylor Swift was in an episode of CSI, when she was a kid; her character died in that episode. Now she is very much alive and is really, really rich.

— They released the 2026 baseball schedule Tuesday, seven months before the season starts; A’s are going to host two series in Las Vegas, against Brewers/Rockies, two years before they’re scheduled to move into their new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.

— Famous birthdays, August 27th:
GW Bailey, 81
Buddy Bell, 74
Scott Studwell, 71
Mike Maddux, 64

Jim Thome, 55
Patrick J Adams, 44
Darren McFadden, 38
Kevin Huerter, 27

— Mets 6, Phillies 5
Mets blew a 5-2 lead; Brandon Nimmo had a walk-off single.
Mets beat Philly last two nights; they still trail the Phils by 5 games in NL East.
Phillies have lost their last nine games at Citi Field.

— Padres 7, Mariners 6
San Diego scored five runs in first inning; Ramor Laureano hit a grand slam.
Mariners scored six runs in fifth inning to briefly take a 6-5 lead.
Padres currently hold the NL’s #2 Wild Card slot.

— Twins 7, Blue Jays 5
Minnesota scored four times in the top of the 9th inning.
Mickey Gasper’s first MLB homer tied the game in the ninth.
Matt Wallner had the game-winning HR, his third tater in two nights,

— Brewers 9, Arizona 8
Milwaukee led 6-0 after the third inning.
Gabriel Moreno hit a 3-run homer for the Diamondbacks.
Brewers 2B Brice Turang had 63 total bases this month, most in the NL.

— Braves 11, Marlins 2
This game was 2-2 after the 8th inning.
Ozzie Albies homered twice, doubled for the Braves.
Marlins are surprisingly two games ahead of Atlanta in the standings.

— Royals 5, White Sox 4
White Sox led 4-0 after the 7th inning.
Martin Perez allowed only one hit in 7 scoreless IP.
Kyle Isbel had the game-winning single.

— A’s 7, Tigers 6
Darell Hernaiz drew a bases loaded walk that ended the game.
A’s led 5-4 after the third inning.
A’s are 29-22 in their last 51 games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

Trends for major league teams
(thru Monday’s games)

— Arizona (64-68)
Arizona won seven of its last nine home games.
Diamondbacks are 17-24 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in 14 of last 17 home games.
Arizona is 14-28 in last 42 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (59-72)
Braves are 11-5 in their last 16 games.
Atlanta is 33-33 at home, 26-39 on the road.
Braves are 21-18 vs NL East rivals, 38-54 vs everyone else.
Under is 3-0 in their last three games.

— Cubs (76-55)
Chicago is 8-2 in its last ten games.
Cubs are holding #1 Wild Card slot in NL
Under is 19-3-1 in their last 23 games.
Cubs are 59-37 vs righty starters, 17-18 vs lefties.

— Reds (68-64)
Cincinnati lost four of its last five games.
Reds are 50-44 vs righty starters, 18-20 vs lefties.
Under is 13-5-1 in their last 19 road games.
Reds scored in first inning in 10 of last 19 home games.

— Rockies (37-94)
Colorado lost five of its last six games.
Under is 9-5 in Rockies’ last 14 games.
Rockies are 5-30 vs lefty starters, 32-64 vs righties. 
Colorado hasn’t scored a first inning run in its last 27 road games.

— Dodgers (75-57)
Dodgers are 6-1 in last seven home games.
LA leads San Diego by a game in NL West.
Dodgers are 56-38 vs righty starters, 19-19 vs lefties.
Under is 7-4 in their last 11 home games.

— Marlins (62-69)                                                                      
Marlins are 5-11 in their last 16 games.
Miami is 31-35 at home, 31-34 on the road.
Under is 14-7 in Marlins’ last 21 road games.
Last three weeks, Marlins are 1-5 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (82-50)
Brewers are 3-5 in their last eight games.
Milwaukee is 44-22 at home, 38-28 on the road.
Over is 13-5-1 in their last nineteen home games. 
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 5.5 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (70-61)
Mets are 6-3 in their last nine games.
Mets are 42-24 at home, 28-37 on the road.
Over is 10-3-2 in their last 15 games.
Mets leads the Reds by 2.5 games for last NL Wild Card slot.

— Phillies (76-55)
Phillies are 14-7 in their last 21 games.
Phillies are 58-35 vs righty starters, 18-20 vs lefties.
Over is 6-1-1 in their last eight games.
Phillies lead the Mets by six games in NL East.

— Pirates (57-75)
Pirates won five of their last seven games.
Pittsburgh is 39-30 at home, 18-45 on the road.
Under is 10-5-3 in their last 18 games.
Pirates are 17-12 in last 29 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— St Louis (65-67)
St Louis is 4-8 in its last dozen games.
Cardinals are 17-6 in home series openers.
St Louis is 36-30 at home, 29-37 on the road.
Over is 7-1-1 in their last nine games.

— Padres (74-58)
San Diego won 16 of its last 21 home games.
Padres are 43-22 at home, 31-36 on the road.
Padres are 52-38 vs righty starters, 22-20 vs lefties.
San Diego is 24-18 vs NL West rivals, 50-40 vs everyone else.

— Giants (63-68)
Giants are 4-11 in their last 15 games, 2-15 in last 17 at home.
Giants are 50-45 vs righty pitchers, 13-23 vs lefties.
Over is 15-8-2 in their last 25 road games.
SF lost 10 of last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (53-78)
Nationals lost their last three games.
Washington is 11-24 in its last 35 home games.
Over is 7-3-4 in their last 14 games.
Washington is 22-10 last 32 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, August 26th:
Brett Cullen, 69
Rick Partridge, 68
Melissa McCarthy, 55
David Price, 40
Elvis Andrus, 37

James Harden, 36
Maikel Franco, 33
Ranger Suarez, 30
Spencer Torkelson, 26
Kyren Williams, 25

— Orioles (60-71)
Baltimore lost four of its last five games.
Over is 5-3 in their last eight games.
Orioles are 31-34 at home, 29-37 on the road.
Orioles are 19-17 vs AL East rivals, 41-54 vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (72-60)
Red Sox are 4-1 in their last five games.
Boston is 1-8 in extra-inning road games.
Over is 13-6 in their last 19 games.
Right now, Red Sox hold the 1st AL Wild Card slot.

— White Sox (48-83)
Chicago won its last three games, scoring 22 runs.
White Sox are 29-37 at home, 19-46 on the road.
Under is 7-4 in their last 11 games.
Chicago is 34-65 vs righty starters, 14-18 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (64-66)
Cleveland lost its last six games, outscored 37-10.
Guardians got shut out in their last three games.
Guardians are 49-43 vs righty starters, 15-23 vs lefties.
Over is 15-6 in their last 21 home games.

— Detroit (78-55)
Detroit is 18-9 in its last 27 games.
Tigers are 26-14 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 10.5 games.
Detroit is 18-4 in home series openers.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— Houston (72-59)
Astros are 13-16 in their last 29 games overall
Astros are 6-13 in their last 19 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by 1.5 games in AL West.
Over is 12-5-1 in their last 18 games.

— Royals (67-65)
Royals lost four of their last five road games.
Kansas City is 52-56 vs righty starters, 15-9 vs lefties.
Over is 4-2 in Royals’ last six games.
Royals scored in first inning in 10 of last 14 home games.

— Angels (62-69)
Angels lost seven of their last 10 games.
Halos are 8.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 51-57 vs righty starters, 11-12 vs lefties.
Angels are 30-17 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (59-72)
Twins lost 11 of their last 15 games.
Minnesota is 33-31 at home, 26-41 on the road.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.
Twins haven’t scored in first inning in their last 11 games.

— New York (71-60)
New York is 9-4 in its last 13 games.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine games.
New York is 58-46 vs righty starters, 13-14 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has the #2 Wild Card slot in AL.

— A’s (61-72)
A’s are 28-22 in their last 50 games.
Over is 6-2 in their last eight home games.
A’s are 15-18 in one-run games, 8-4 in extra innings.
Last 10 weeks, A’s are 9-4 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on..

— Seattle (71-61)
Mariners lost six of their last nine games.
Seattle is 25-9 in its last 34 home games.
Over is 6-2 in their last eight games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #3 Wild Card in AL, by four games.

— Tampa Bay (64-67)
Tampa Bay won its last three games, scoring 26 runs.
Rays are 34-33 at home, 30-34 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 6.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 5-10 in last 15 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (66-67)
Rangers lost 12 of their last 18 games.
Texas is 54-45 vs righty starters, 12-22 vs lefties
Rangers are 40-27 at home, 26-40 on road.
Texas is 5.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (77-55)
Blue Jays are 14-9 in their last 23 games overall.
Blue Jays won 18 of their last 23 home games.
Over is 9-5-1 in their last 15 home games.
Toronto leads Red Sox by five games in AL East.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

— Minnesota Vikings signed free agent QB Carson Wentz, then traded QB Sam Howell to the Eagles. Wentz is now on his sixth NFL team; this is his 10th season:

2016-20- Eagles
2021- Colts
2022- Commanders
2023- Rams
2024- Chiefs
2025- Vikings

— Eagles got Howell and a 6th round draft pick; Vikings got a 5th and a 7th-round pick.

Howell went 5-13 as Washington’s QB in 2022-23; he threw 14 passes off the bench for the Seahawks last season. He was a 5th round draft pick in 2022.

— Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell broke his wrist in this weekend, expected to be out 6-8 weeks. O’Connell was 7-10 as a starter for the Raiders the last two years, was expected to back up Geno Smith this year. Right now, rookie Cam Miller is Smith’s only backup; Raiders are going to have at least one, maybe two QB’s for their practice squad.

— Michigan Wolverines are going to start freshman QB Bryce Underwood in their first game, against New Mexico- they play Oklahoma the week after that.

— Phillies pitching ace Zack Wheeler had shoulder surgery, is out for the year and is expected to miss 6-8 months.

— Rangers’ SS Marcus Semien, who played in at least 159 games in each of the last four years, has a foot injury and is likely out for the season.

— Cincinnati Reds are only major league team that hasn’t been swept in a series this year.

— Famous birthdays, August 25th:
Tom Skerritt, 92
Rollie Fingers, 79
Bob Lacey, 72
Ashley Crow, 65

Blair Underwood, 61
Albert Belle, 59
Robert Horry, 55
Doug Glanville, 55

Marvin Harrison, 53
Max Muncy, 35
Caris LaVert, 31
Jared Butler, 25

— Dodgers 8, San Diego 2
Dalton Rushing’s 3-run homer was a game-winner.
Freddie Freeman homered twice for the Dodgers
These teams are tied atop the NL West, with 31 games left.

— Orioles 3, Astros 2
Trevor Rogers threw 7 IP; he is 7-2, 1.40 this year.
Luis Vazquez hit his first major league home run.
Gunnar Handerson hit his 16th home run.

— Royals 10, Tigers 8
Kansas City is 28-14 in series finales this season.
Vinnie Pasquantino has six home runs in his last seven games.
Royals are three games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Marlins 5, Blue Jays 3
Jakob Marsee hit a double and a bases-loaded triple.
Eric Wagaman homered, scored twice.
Eury Perez allowed only three hits in six IP, got the win.

— Reds 6, Diamondbacks 1
Reds broke open a close game with five runs in the 8th inning.
Noelvi Marte had two hits, scored twice for Cincinnati.
Brady Singer/Zac Gallen had a good pitching duel for six inning.

— Giants 4, Brewers 3
Heliot Ramos hit a 2-run single in 9th inning for the win.
Giants OF Luis Matos is 8-for-15 in his last four games.

— New York 7, Red Sox 2
Chisholm/Grisham both homered twice for New York.
New York ended an 8-game losing streak against the Red Sox.
These teams are the top two clubs in the AL Wild Card chase.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, LA/SD. Wild Cards: Cubs, LA/SD, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

— Iowa State 24, Kansas State 21
This game, played in Ireland, was 7-7 at halftime.
Iowa State QB Becht passed for 183 yards, 2 TDs and ran for a score.
K-State outgained the Cyclones, 383-313; both teams had two turnovers.

— Hawai’i 23, Stanford 20
Hawai’i K Matsuzawa made a 38-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Matsuzawa is a Japanese kid who taught himself to kick by watching videos on YouTube.
Stanford was 8-17 on third down, Rainbows were 3-10.

— Western Kentucky 41, Sam Houston State 24
Bearkats led 24-20 with 11:58 left in third quarter.
Hilltoppers were 11-19 on third down, Sam Houston 2-14
WKU’s QB McIvor was 33-51/401 passing, with 3 TD’s.

— Kansas 31, Fresno State 7
Jayhawks outgained Fresno, 383-216- they ran ball for 207 yards.
Kansas led 24-7 at halftime and coasted home from there.
EJ Warner (Kurt Warner’s son) was 18-29/179 passing for the Bulldogs.

— UNLV 38, Idaho State 31
Rebels were a 30-point favorite in Dan Mullen’s first game as coach.
Idaho State led 31-24 with 12:00 to play.
Bengals outgained UNLV 555-532, but turned ball over four times.

— Broncos 28, Saints 19
Sean Payton wins in his return to the Superdome.
Denver outgained the Saints 396-236.
New Orleans still hasn’t decided who their starting QB will be.

— Bills 23, Buccaneers 19
#3 QB Buechele threw for 278 yards and one TD.
Tampa Bay averaged 38 yards per kick return in this game.
This was first time in his career that Josh Allen sat out the whole pre-season.

— NFL preseason scores don’t mean so much; cutdown day is Tuesday. Teams will be getting their rosters in order with no games on the schedule next weekend.

— Famous birthdays, August 24th
Anne Archer, 78
Kevin Dunn, 70
Steve Guttenberg, 67
Cal Ripken Jr., 65
Reggie Miller, 60

Marlee Matlin, 60
Tim Salmon, 57
Dave Chapelle, 52
Michael Redd, 46
Mason Miller, 27

— Padres 5, Dodgers 1
Nestor Cortes allowed one hit in six scoreless IP.
Padres won their last five games.
San Diego leads NL West by a game, with 32 games left.

— Astros 9, Orioles 8
Christian Walker homered for the third game in a row.
Astros led 7-5 after the third inning.
Colton Cowser homered, had 3 RBI for the Orioles.

— Mets 9, Braves 2
Mets hit six home runs; McNeil/Vientos homered twice each.
Clay Holmes allowed three hits in 6.1 IP.
Cal Quantrill was Atlanta’s 17th starting pitcher this season.

— Red Sox 12, New York 1
Red Sox have won eight games in a row against New York.
Trevor Story was 3-5, with a homer, 3 RBI
Guys batting 7-9th in Boston’s order were 8-14 with six runs scored.

— Blue Jays 7, Marlins 6 (12)
Toronto led 4-0 in the 7th inning.
George Springer was 3-6, with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored.
Blue Jays lead AL East by five games.

— Giants 7, Brewers 1
Freddy Peralta threw 5 shutout IP, Brewers led 1-0 after five.
Milwaukee’s bullpen gave up three runs in the sixth inning.
Logan Webb pitched six innings, got his 12th win.

— Diamondbacks 10, Reds 1
Arizona led 7-0 in the fourth inning, against Reds’ ace Andrew Abbott.
Geraldo Perdomo leads major league shortstops with 84 RBI.
Cincinnati trails the Mets by games for the last Wild Card slot.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Padres. Wild Cards: Cubs, Dodgers, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners

Trends for major league teams
(thru Friday’s games)

— Arizona (63-66)
Arizona won six of its last seven home games.
Diamondbacks are 17-24 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in 12 of last 15 home games.
Arizona is 14-27 in last 41 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (58-70)
Braves are 10-3 in their last 13 games.
Atlanta is 32-32 at home, 26-38 on the road.
Braves are 20-16 vs NL East rivals, 38-54 vs everyone else.
Over is 7-3 in their last ten games.

— Cubs (74-55)
Chicago is 6-2 in its last eight games.
Cubs are seven games behind Milwaukee in NL Central.
Under is 18-2-1 in their last 21 games.
Cubs are 57-37 vs righty starters, 17-18 vs lefties.

— Reds (67-62)
Cincinnati is 15-12 in its last 27 games.
Reds are 49-43 vs righty starters, 18-19 vs lefties.
Under is 11-4-1 in their last 16 road games.
Reds scored in first inning in 10 of last 19 home games.

— Rockies (37-92)
Colorado is 7-4 in its last eleven games.
Over is 8-5 in Rockies’ last 13 road games.
Rockies are 5-30 vs lefty starters, 32-62 vs righties. 
Colorado hasn’t scored a first inning run in its last 25 road games.

— Dodgers (73-56)
Dodgers are 15-17 since All-Star break.
LA/San Diego are tied for first in NL West.
Dodgers are 54-38 vs righty starters, 19-18 vs lefties.
Under is 5-3 in their last eight games.

— Marlins (60-68)                                                                      
Marlins are 5-12 in their last 17  games.
Miami is 29-34 at home, 31-34 on the road.
Under is 14-7 in Marlins’ last 21 road games.
Last three weeks, Marlins are 1-4 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (81-48)
Brewers are 32-7 in their last 39 games.
Milwaukee is 43-20 at home, 38-28 on the road.
Over is 11-4-1 in their last sixteen home games. 
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 7 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (68-60)
Mets are 6-16 in their last 22 games, 4-2 in last six.
Mets are 41-24 at home, 27-36 on the road.
Over is 8-2-2 in their last 12 games.
Mets trail Philly by six games in NL East.
Mets leads the Reds by 1.5 games for last NL Wild Card slot.

— Phillies (74-54)
Phillies are 12-6 in their last 18 games.
Phillies are 57-34 vs righty starters, 17-20 vs lefties.
Over is 4-0-1 in their last five games.
Phillies lead the Mets by six games in NL East.

— Pirates (55-74)
Pirates won three of their last four games.
Pittsburgh is 37-30 at home, 18-44 on the road.
Under is 8-4-3 in their last 15 games.
Pirates are 17-11 in last 28 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— St Louis (64-66)
St Louis is 3-7 in its last ten games.
Cardinals are 16-6 in home series openers.
St Louis is 35-30 at home, 29-36 on the road.
Under is 11-4-1 in their last sixteen home games.

— Padres (73-56)
San Diego won 15 of its last 19 home games.
Padres are 42-21 at home, 31-35 on the road.
Padres are 51-36 vs righty starters, 22-20 vs lefties.
San Diego is 23-17 vs NL West rivals, 50-39 vs everyone else.

— Giants (61-68)
Giants are 9-25 in their last 34 games, 2-15 in last 17 at home.
Giants are 48-45 vs righty pitchers, 13-23 vs lefties.
Over is 14-7-2 in their last 23 road games.
SF lost 10 of last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (53-75)
Nationals are 6-3 in their last nine games.
Washington is 11-24 in its last 35 home games.
Over is 5-2-4 in their last 11 games.
Washington is 22-10 last 32 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, August 23rd:
Barbara Eden, 94
Richard Sanders, 85
Shelley Long, 76
Mike Boddicker, 68

Julio Franco, 67
Mark Ingram, 60
Mark Bellhorn, 51
Scott Caan, 49

Rex Grossman, 45
Miles Mikolas, 37
Mike Yastrzemski, 35
Tyler Glasnow, 32

— Orioles (59-69)
Baltimore won six of its last nine games.
Over is 4-1 in their last five games.
Orioles are 30-32 at home, 29-37 on the road.
Orioles are 19-16 vs AL East rivals, 40-53 vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (70-59)
Red Sox are 5-7 in their last 12 games.
Boston is 1-8 in extra-inning road games.
Over is 11-5 in their last 16 games.
Right now, Red Sox hold the 1st AL Wild Card slot.

— White Sox (45-83)
Chicago lost 14 of its last 17 games.
White Sox are 26-37 at home, 19-46 on the road.
Over is 3-1 in their last four games.
Chicago is 32-65 vs righty starters, 13-18 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (64-63)
Cleveland is 1-6 in its last seven games.
Guardians are 4 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Guardians are 49-41 vs righty starters, 15-22 vs lefties.
Over is 14-6 in their last 20 home games.

— Detroit (77-53)
Detroit is 17-7 in its last 24 games.
Tigers are 25-13 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 10.5 games.
Detroit is 18-4 in home series openers.
Under is 13-7 in their last 20 road games.

— Houston (71-58)
Astros are 12-15 in their last 27 games overall
Astros are 6-13 in their last 19 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by 2.5 games in AL West.
Over is 11-4-1 in their last 16 games.

— Royals (66-63)
Royals are 10-5 in their last fifteen games.
Kansas City is 51-54 vs righty starters, 15-9 vs lefties.
Over is 11-7 in Royals’ last 18 games.
Royals scored in first inning in 10 of last 14 home games.

— Angels (61-67)
Angels lost 11 of their last 15 road games.
Halos are 7.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 50-55 vs righty starters, 11-12 vs lefties.
Angels are 30-17 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (59-69)
Twins lost 8 of their last 12 games.
Minnesota is 33-31 at home, 26-38 on the road.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.
Twins haven’t scored in first inning in their last eight games.

— New York (69-59)
New York is 9-5 in its last 14 games.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.
New York is 56-46 vs righty starters, 13-13 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has the #2 Wild Card slot in AL.

— A’s (59-71)
A’s are 26-21 in their last 47 games.
Under is 6-3 in their last nine road games.
A’s are 14-18 in one-run games, 7-4 in extra innings.
Last 10 weeks, A’s are 8-3 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on..

— Seattle (69-60)
Mariners lost five of their last six games.
Seattle is 23-8 in its last 31 home games.
Over is 5-2 in their last seven games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #3 Wild Card in AL, by three games.

— Tampa Bay (62-67)
Tampa Bay is 15-31 in its last 46 games.
Rays are 33-33 at home, 29-34 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 7 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 5-10 in last 15 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (64-66)
Rangers lost 11 of their last 15 games.
Texas is 53-44 vs righty starters, 11-22 vs lefties
Rangers are 38-26 at home, 26-40 on road.
Texas is 5.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (75-54)
Blue Jays are 12-8 in their last 20 games overall.
Blue Jays won 17 of their last 22 home games.
Over is 8-5-1 in their last 14 home games.
Toronto leads Red Sox by five games in AL East.

— SEC football is moving to a nine-game conference schedule next year, which should help get more of its teams into the College Football Playoff.

Under the new format, each team will face every other SEC program at least once every two years and every opponent home and away over four years. Each school will play three of its rivals every year.

— Over/under bet for this season:

Vikings’ QB JJ McCarthy, who was hurt last year and didn’t play, his over/under for passing yards this season is 3,600.5 yards.

Last year, Sam Darnold threw for 4,319 yards for Minnesota in their 14-3 season.

— Jacksonville Jaguars hired Liam Coen as its new head coach; he is seen as an offensive guru and QB Trevor Lawrence needs one of those.

Lawrence’s salary cap hit in 2026 is $39M, in 2027 it is $29M; Jaguars really need him to be the leader they expect him to be.

— Speaking of salary cap hits, Baltimore Ravens’ front office has some accounting to do; in 2026, Lamar Jackson’s cap hit is $74.5M, then in 2027, it will also be $74.5M, a huge amount of $$$. At some point, they need to spread that money out somehow.

— Steelers 19, Panthers 10
Game was tied 10-10 at halftime.
Steelers averaged 7.2 yards per play, Carolina 4.0.
Rookie K Ben Sauls kicked four field goals. 

— GM of the Panthers Dan Morgan was in the TV booth during this game; he was saying how these practices against other teams during the week are really valuable. He said he wished they had them back when he played.

To an extent, it makes the actual exhibition games a little less relevant, but it helps the teams get better with less injury risk for the star players.

— Giants 42, Patriots 10
Giants led 14-10 at halftime.
QB DeVito was 17-20/198 passing, with three TD’s.
Undrafted QB Ben Woolridge played the whole game for New England.

— Famous birthdays, August 22nd:
Carl Yastrzemski, 86
Paul Molitor, 69
Wes Chandler, 69

Ty Burrell, 58
James Corden, 47
Adam Thielen, 35

Randall Cobb, 35
Maxx Crosby, 28
LaMelo Ball, 24

— Cincinnati Reds’ C Tyler Stephenson broke his thumb, is out for the year.

— Nationals 9, Mets 3
Mets led this game 3-0 in fourth inning.
James Wood hit his 26th home run, just his 2nd since the All-Star break.
New York is 5-16 in its last 21 games; they lead the Reds by half a game for the last Wild Card in the National League.

— Brewers 4, Cubs 1
Brice Turang homered, his 8th home run in 18 games.
Brewers’ bullpen got 13 outs, didn’t allow a run.
Cubs went 3-2 in this series, they trail Milwaukee by 7 games in NL Central.

— Red Sox 6, New York 3
Roman Anthony homered, knocked in three runs.
New York made four errors, gave up three unearned runs.
Red Sox are 6-1 against New York this season.

— Astros 7, Orioles 2
Jesus Sanchez went 5-for-5; he entered the game on an 0-for-29 skid.
Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz homered for the Astros.
Dylan Beavers hit his first MLB home run for the Orioles.

— A’s 8, Twins 3
Tyler Soderstrom went 4-for-4, has a 19-game hitting streak.
Minnesota is 2-7 in its last nine games.
A’s are 17-8 in their last 25 games.

— Royals 6, Rangers 4
Vinnie Pasquantino has homered in four straight games.
Royals have won six of their last seven games.
Royals trail Seattle by two games for the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Padres 8, Giants 4
Manny Machado drove in three runs for San Diego.
Padres trail the Dodgers by a game in the NL West.
Justin Verlander is 1-10, 4.64 this season. 

— Disturbing report in the news tonight; on May 4, 2024, a shot was fired from outside the Chiefs’ facility in Kansas City, went through the glass of Andy Reid’s office and lodged into a wall about 15 feet from where Reid was sitting shortly after midnight local time.

Reid now has bulletproof glass protecting him in the office.

— New Orleans Saints are only NFL team that hasn’t named its starting QB for Week 1; Spencer Rattler (0-6 as a starter LY) and 25-year old rookie Tyler Shough are the candidates. Kellen Moore is in his first year as a head coach; he’s taking his time with this decision.

— Atlanta Falcons aren’t expected to use QB’s Michael Penix/Kirk Cousins in their preseason finale in Dallas Friday; #3 QB Emory Jones is in concussion protocol, so Atlanta signed Ben DiNucci to play this week’s game, and maybe more.

DiNucci played in three games with the Cowboys in 2020; since then, he played in the XFL in 2023, has been on practice squads for the Falcons, Saints and Buffalo.

— Cincinnati Bengals are spending 39% of their salary cap this year on QB’s/WR’s, more than any other NFL team. 

— Chicago Bears signed backup QB Tyson Bagent for two years, $10M; Agent was 2-2 as a starter for the Bears in 2023— he played college ball at Shepherd College in West Virginia.

— Mets’ OF Juan Soto has 30 home runs, 20 stolen bases this season; before this year, the most bases he ever stole in one season was 12, in 2019/2023.

— Congrats to Jimmy Vaccaro, who has retired after 50 years as a Las Vegas bookmaker; most recently, he was working at South Point in Las Vegas. He turns 80 years old in October.

I met Jimmy Vaccaro at South Point a few years ago; good guy, he was cleaning up papers on the sportsbook floor at South Point. We talked for a few minutes; his sportsbook was a fun place to hang out and watch games. We wish him well.

— Famous birthdays, August 21st:
Willie Lanier, 80
Archie Griffin, 71
Gary Hogeboom, 67
Jim McMahon, 66

Craig Counsell, 55
Jesse Chavez, 42
BJ Upton, 41
JD Martinez, 38

Brandon Drury, 33
Mike Evans, 32
Ryan Pepiot, 28
Corbin Carroll, 25

Today would’ve been the great Wilt Chamberlain’s 89th birthday.

— Tigers 7, Astros 2
Detroit scored six runs in the first inning.
Tigers are 9-2 in their last eleven games.
Astros scored total of two runs in their last four games.

— Braves 1, White Sox 0
Atlanta won 11-10 Tuesday, then won this game in a totally opposite way.
Huston Waldrep struck out seven guys in 7 IP.
Both teams had four hits; the only run scored on an error. 

— Nationals 5, Mets 4
Josh Bell hit his 16th home run for the Nationals.
Brandon Nimmo left the game with a stiff neck.
Washington’s bullpen got the last 11 outs, allowing only two baserunners.

— Angels 2, Reds 1
Luis Rengifo had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.
Yusei Kikuchi tossed seven IP, allowed only seven baserunners.
Cincinnati remains a game behind the Mets for the NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Phillies 11, Mariners 2
Trey Turner went 5-for-6, scored three runs.
Kyle Schwarber went 3-for-5, drove in five runs.
Mariners have lost seven of their last eight games.

— New York 6, Tampa Bay 4 (10)
Giancarlo Stanton hit a pinch-hit home run in the 10th inning.
New York hit five home runs, has hit 14 the last two games.
Rays had tied the game with two runs in ninth inning.

— A’s 4, Twins 2 (10)
Shea Langeliers hit a 2-run homer in the 10th inning.
Langeliers has hit 16 of his 28 home runs since the All-Star break.
A’s are 16-8 in their last 24 games overall.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres.
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Mariners, Red Sox

— TV recommendation: ESPN has a Hard Knocks-type show about last year’s Chiefs, The Kingdom; watched the first two episodes Monday night, it is very good, more in-depth than what is usually in Hard Knocks. NFL Films always does quality stuff, but with ESPN starting its new stand-alone service this week, this seems a little better than usual.

First episode dealt mostly with Patrick Mahomes and the Hunt family, which owns the Chiefs. Second episode was all about Andy Reid and his career.

If you like the NFL and history and don’t dislike the Chiefs, it is worth your time- there has even been a little Hank Stram footage in there (“65 toss power trap, boys. Could break wide open”).

— Trade deadline in Major League Baseball is July 31st; I’m wondering if it would be better for the sport if the deadline was August 31st, the way it used to be? 

Trades/trade rumors equal publicity, contenders trying to get better, more people talking about the sport, which is good for everyone involved. MLB does a terrible job of promoting the game, which is a great game, but they have to work at promoting it, the way the NFL does.

— Commissioner Manfred had an interesting suggestion at the Little League Classic Sunday night on ESPN; when the sport expands to 32 teams in the next few years, and they will, could be that there will be geographic re-alignment, and no more American/National Leagues. 

Less travel for the teams, more games between geographic rivals, better TV ratings, more $$$ made for the teams, which is what everyone wants.

We posted that idea in this space 15 years ago, still think it is a good idea.

By the way, Salt Lake City/Nashville seem like frontrunners to get an expansion team.

— Indianapolis Colts named Daniel Jones their starting QB; Jones was 25-45-1 as a starter for the Giants, splitting two playoff games three years ago.

— Random stat: Chicago White Sox have lost their last 14 games in Kansas City.

— Cincinnati Reds DFA’d OF Jake Fraley, and Atlanta scooped him up. Reds are contending, Braves aren’t. Fraley hit .232 for the Reds this year with a .719 OPS; his career OPS is .736.

— Long time ago, when I was a kid, seemed like no one ever swung at a 3-0 pitch, batters just took it, except for the very best hitters. Nowadays, do hitters swing at more 3-0 pitches?

In 2022, there were 7,197 pitches thrown in 3-0 counts across MLB and 6,838 of them, or 95%, were fastballs. Compare that to 2-0 counts, where out of 23,542 pitches, only 17,134 of them, or 72%, were fastballs.

In 2022, Atlanta saw 231 pitches in a 3-0 count and swung at 50 of them, for a 22% swing rate. Only the Texas Rangers at 24% swung at a higher percentage.

— Baseball players need to slide feet-first more, especially into home plate; guys are hurting their hands/fingers sliding head-first into bases.

— Famous birthdays, August 20th:
Peter Horton, 72
Quinn Buckner, 71
Mark Langston, 65

Andy Benes, 58
Todd Helton, 52
Amy Adams, 51

Jerryd Bayless, 37
Mitch Trubisky, 31
Jung Hoo Lee, 27

— Tigers 1, Astros 0 (10)
Hunter Brown/Tarik Skubal had a pretty good pitchers’ duel here.
Astros were shut out for third day in a row, and fourth time in five games.
Game ended on a bases loaded walk to Gleyber Torres.

— Cubs 6-4, Brewers 4-1
Chicago sweeps a pair, moves within 7 games of Milwaukee in the NL Central.

— Braves 11, White Sox 10
Chicago led 10-4 after the sixth inning.
Matt Olson went 4-for-5, scored three runs.
White Sox have scored 10+ runs in 6 of 29 games since the All-Star break.

— Reds 6, Angels 4
Reds blew a 4-1 lead, but scored twice in ninth inning for the win.
Noelvi Marte homered, doubled for Cincinnati.
Jo Adell homered twice for the Angels.

— A’s 6, Twins 3
Nick Kurtz went 3-for-3, with two walks.
A’s are 11-5 when Jacob Lopez starts on the mound.
A’s are 15-8 in their last 23 games overall.

— Orioles 4, Red Sox 3 (11)
Rookie C Basallo knocked in winning run in top of the 11th.
Newly-acquired Nathaniel Lowe tied game in the 9th inning for Boston.
Red Sox are 4-8 in their last dozen games.

— Royals 5, Rangers 2
Bobby Witt Jr hit his 100th career home run.
Royals have won five games in a row.
Rangers lost 10 of their last 12 games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres.
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Mariners, Red Sox

— Over the last 22 years, the team that lost the Super Bowl is 6-16 ATS in its season opener the next year.

Over the last 17 years, the Super Bowl champ is 19-6-2 ATS in its Week 1 game the next year.

— Cleveland Browns named 40-year old Joe Flacco as its starting QB; Flacco started a total of only 20 games the last five years- he was 2-4 as a starter for the Colts last year— he was 4-1 as a starter for the Browns two years ago.

— Flacco/Ryan Fitzpatrick share an NFL record; they’ve both started a game for five different teams. Rams’ backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo has started a game for three teams.

— Texas Longhorns are #1 in the pre-season top 25 college football poll, but they’re an underdog in their season opener (+2.5 @ Ohio State). Longhorns are the only preseason #1 team in the last 45 years that is an underdog in their season opener.

— Defensive coordinators in college football who are making the most money:

$3.1M/year- Jim Knowles, Penn State
$2.7M- DJ Durkin, Auburn
$2.65M- D’Anton Lynn
$2.61M- Pete Golding, Ole Miss

— Alabama named junior QB Ty Simpson its starting QB; he’s been a backup QB the last two years, throwing 25 passes for the Crimson Tide last season. Alabama’s two backups have no college experience, something to keep an eye on.

— Over the last 100 years, the longest winning streak in the major leagues was when the 2017 Cleveland Indians won 22 games in a row. The longest winning streak by a National League team was in 2021, when the Cardinals won 17 in a row.

— Famous birthdays, August 19th:
Jill St John, 85
Gerald McRaney, 78
Anthony Munoz, 67
Gary Gaetti, 67

Michael Harney, 67
Ricky Pierce, 66
Ron Darling, 65
Bobby Hebert, 65

Morten Andersen, 65
Nate Burleson, 44
JJ Hardy, 43
Kirk Cousins, 37

— Bengals 31, Commanders 17
Joe Burrow played into the 2nd quarter, was 9-14/62 passing.
WR Michael Tinsley caught 5 passes for 73 yards, 2 TD’s; he’ll find a job somewhere in the NFL.
Takes guts to play so Burrow so much on August 18th; if he gets hurt, the season is over.

— Brewers 7, Cubs 0
Freddy Peralta allowed one hit in six shutout IP.
Milwaukee has won 15 of its last 16 games.
Brewers lead the Cubs by 8 games in NL Central.

Game 2 of the twinbill was rained out; they’ll play a pair Tuesday.

— Reds 4, Angels 1
Brady Singer allowed one run in 6 IP, got his 11th win.
Gavin Lux hit a 2-run homer in the first inning.
Reds are a game behind the Mets for the last NL Wild Card spot.

— Rockies 4, Dodgers 3
Warming Bernabel had a walk-off single for the Rockies.
Colorado has won six of its last seven games.
Rockies snapped a 10-game losing skid against the Dodgers.

— Tigers 10, Astros 0
Houston has been shut out in 3 of last 4 games, first time since 2005.
Good news is that the Astros got to the World Series in 2005.
Jack Flaherty allowed three hits in 7 shutout IP.

— Phillies 12, Mariners 7
Phillies scored six runs in the second inning, had 21 hits overall.
Bryce Harper hit two home runs, Trea Turner had four hits, five RBI.
Turner hit a home run, the 1,500th hit of his career.

— Orioles 6, Red Sox 3
Trevor Rogers threw 7 IP, is now 6-2, 1.41 this season.
Gunnar Henderson had two RBI, scored three runs.
Red Sox are in a 3-way tie with New York/Seattle for the three AL Wild Card spots.

— Cardinals 8, Marlins 3
Alec Burleson went 3-for-4, including the go-ahead single in 7th inning.
Marlins’ defense was lousy behind Eury Perez in a 3-run fifth inning.
St Louis’ win snaps a five-game losing skid. 

— Reds 3, Brewers 2 (10)
Game was scoreless after six innings.
William Contreras put Milwaukee ahead with a 9th inning HR.
Reds tied it in 9th inning; Austin Hays had the walk-off single.
Loss ends Milwaukee’s 14-game win streak; they trailed in 8 of 14 games.

— Mets 7, Mariners 3
Mark Vientos hit a 3-run HR as the Mets won the Little League classic.
Tough night for George Kirby, who gave up 7 runs in 4.2 IP.
Mariners trail Houston by 1.5 games in the AL West

— AL Wild Card race:
Wild Cards: Red Sox, Mariners, New York
3.5 games behind- Cleveland
4- Kansas City
5.5- Texas
6.5- Tampa Bay
7- LA Angels

— NL Wild Card race:
Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
1.5 games behind- Cincinnati
5.5- St Louis
6- San Francisco
6.5- Arizona
7- Marlins

— Marlins 5, Red Sox 3
Jakob Marsee hit a 2-run HR in the 9th for the comeback win.
Red Sox led 3-1 after seven innings.
Boston/Seattle are tied for the AL’s top Wild Card slot.

— Washington Nationals DFA’d 1B Nathaniel Lowe, who hit .216 in 119 games for them, and the Red Sox scooped him up to play 1B in Boston. Lowe has hit at least .262 the last four years, helping Texas win a World Series two years ago.

— Dodgers 5, Padres 4
Dodgers sweep San Diego, lead the NL West by two games.

— Famous birthdays, August 18th:
Robert Redford, 89
Greg Pruitt, 74
Bruce Benedict, 70
Denis Leary, 68

Lafayette Lever, 65
Jim Les, 62
Edward Norton, 56
Christian Slater, 56

Jeremy Shockey, 45
Dan Orlovsky, 42
Austin Hedges, 33
Seiya Suzuki, 31

— Bears 38, Bills 0- Chicago played their starters, Buffalo didn’t, but this was one of the worst NFL games I’ve ever seen, totally uncompetitive. I get that this was Caleb Williams’ first game action under Ben Johnson, but the Bills’ subs made backup QB Tyson Bagent look like the second coming of Dan Marino.

Total yardage: 528-180. I’m guessing the Bills won’t have a preseason game on national TV for a few years.

— Jaguars 17, Saints 17- Third tie game this preseason; they don’t play overtime in exhibition games. Jacksonville led this one 17-3 at halftime.

Spencer Rattler was 18-24/199 passing in the second half; it is unclear who the Saints are going to start at QB, Rattler or 26-year old rookie Tyler Shough.

— Indianapolis Colts haven’t won their season opener since 2013; they tied their Week 1 game in 2022 (as a 7-point favorite) but the last ten years, Colts are 2-8 ATS in Week 1.

— Last two years, Pittsburgh Steelers were 10-7/10-7, but didn’t win a playoff game; you’d think they’d get more out of two seasons where their turnover ratios were +16/+10, which are really good. They’ve upgraded at QB to Aaron Rodgers from Russell Wilson/Justin Fields and they play the Jets, Rodgers’ old team, in Week 1, so this should be interesting.

Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2017.

— Steelers’ OC Arthur Smith used to be the head coach in Atlanta; he went 7-10 in all three years with the Falcons. Atlanta lost the Super Bowl in 2016, blowing a 28-3 lead; they went 10-6 the next year, and haven’t had a winning season since then.

Maybe it wasn’t Dan Quinn’s fault after all; Atlanta fired Quinn during the 2020 pandemic year; he wound up as head coach in Washington LY and led the Commanders to a 12-5 season, their first winning season in nine years. Pretty good coach.

— In college football, Tennessee Vols named transfer Joey Aguilar their new starting QB; he had transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA, but when Vols’ QB Nico Iamaleava bolted to the Bruins, Aguilar saw the handwriting on the wall, and took Iamaleava’s spot in Knoxville.

— Kent State went 1-23 SU the last two years, going a dismal 4-16-2 ATS as an underdog; the interim coach this year was an All-American I-AA QB at Fordham and was OC at Kent State last year.

— Western Michigan has had three straight losing seasons, despite having a +16 turnover ratio in those years; last two years, Broncos were 6-1 ATS as a home favorite, but 4-9 as an underdog.

— Mid-American Conference has six new football coaches this fall; UMass is new to the league, and Northern Illinois is on its way out, headed to the Mountain West, for football only.

— Browns 22, Eagles 13
Rookie QB Gabriel was 13-18/143 passing in his NFL debut; he threw a pick-6, which might’ve been the receiver’s fault more than Gabriel’s.

Does it help Gabriel that he played in 64 games for three different schools in his college career?

26 games at Central Florida
24 games at Oklahoma
14 games at Oregon

Lot of college experience, different offenses; it helped Bo Nix last year.

— Giants 31, Jets 12
Russell Wilson had an 80-yard completion in his brief stint in the game.
Rookie Jaxson Dart was 14-16/137 passing; he’s looked good this summer.

— Rams 23, Chargers 22
Stetson Bennett threw an 8-yard TD pass with 0:05 left for the win.
Bennett was 28-40/324 passing, with 3 TD’s. He’s played a lot in Rams’ first two games.
Brennan Presley caught six passes for 102 yards for the Rams.

— 49ers 22, Raiders 19
Jake Moody kicked a 59-yard FG at the gun to give the 49ers the win.
There were six scores in second half of this game, all field goals.
Both starting QB’s played a little bit; Raiders led 13-10 at halftime.

— Dolphins 24, Lions 17
3rd-string QB Quinn Ewers threw two second half TD’s for Miami.
Lions’ backup QB Kyle Allen was 14-17/124 yards and two T’D’s.
Dolphins outgained Detroit, 356-274.

— Buccaneers 17, Steelers 14
Teddy Bridgewater threw two TD passes for Tampa Bay.
Last year, Bridgewater was a high school football coach in Florida.
Neither starting QB played in this game.

— Ravens 31, Cowboys 13
Former Cowboy Cooper Rush threw a TD pass and a pick-6 in this game.
Tyler Loop kicked five FG’s, two of them longer than 50 yards.
John Harbaugh doesn’t often lose exhibition games.

— Famous birthdays, August 17th:
Boog Powell, 84
Robert DeNiro, 82
Sean Penn, 65

Donnie Wahlberg, 56
Christian Laettner, 56
Ernie Conwell, 53

Antwaan Randle El, 46
Dustin Pedroia, 42
Rudy Gay, 39

Victor Caratini, 32
Jesse Winker, 32
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 27

— Brewers 6, Reds 5 (11)
Milwaukee won its 14th game in a row.
Reds led 2-1 after eight innings.
Andrew Monasterio hit a 3-run homer in the 11th inning.

— Astros 5, Orioles 4 (12)
Jackson Holliday’s 2-run HR tied game 4-4 in 8th inning.
Cade Povich struck out 10 guys in 5 IP as a bulk reliever.
Astros lead Seattle by 1.5 games in AL West.

— Dodgers 6, Padres 0
Blake Snell allowed five hits in his six shutout IP.
Dodgers led 5-0 in 2nd inning against Dylan Cease.
Dodgers now lead San Diego by a game in NL West.

— Rays 2, Giants 1
Justin Verlander threw 7 shutout IP, left with a 1-0 lead.
Diaz/Lowe had RBI singles in 8th inning for the Rays.
Giants have lost 15 of their last 16 home games.

— Nationals 2, Phillies 0
Cade Cavalli threw seven IP, got his first MLB win.
James Wood had a 2-run single in the fifth inning.
Phillies’ lead in NL East is now 5 games over the Mets.

— Mets 3, Mariners 1
Rookie P Nolan McLean got 16 outs and a win in his MLB debut.
Pete Alonso got his 100th RBI of the season.
Mets won for only third time in their last 17 games.

— Red Sox 7, Marlins 5
Trevor Story hit a 3-run HR, Boston led 7-0 in 4th inning.
Red Sox are 41-22 at Fenway Park this season.
Marlins have lost seven of their last eight games.