— Guardians 5, Tigers 1
George Valera had the go-ahead home run for Cleveland.
Guardians now lead AL Central by a game, with four games left.
Detroit has lost 8 in a row, is out of first place for first time since April 22.
— A’s 6, Astros 0
Shea Langeliers went 4-for-4 with a home run.
Luis Severino got 19 outs, allowed only three hits.
Astros have lost 5 in a row, trail Detroit by a game for last Wild Card slot.
— Cubs 10, Mets 3
Cubs scored 5 runs in third inning, snapped a five-game losing skid.
Matthew Boyd got 16 outs, allowed only two hits.
Juan Soto hit his 43rd home run for the Mets
— Pirates 4, Reds 3 (11)
Spencer Horwitz had the game-winning double for Pittsburgh.
Reds remain a game behind the Mets for the last NL’s Wild Card slot.
Noelvi Marte hit an inside-the-park home run for the Reds.
— Mariners 9, Rockies 2
Seattle clinches its first AL West title since 2001.
Cal Raleigh hit two home runs, now has 60 this season.
Luis Castillo got 22 outs, allowed only one baserunner.
— Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 1
Garrett Crochet tossed 8 shutout innings.
Red Sox lead Detroit by two games for the AL’s second Wild Card.
Toronto/New York are now tied for first in AL East.
— Famous birthdays, September 25th:
Michael Douglas, 81
Bob McAdoo, 74
Glenn Hubbard, 68
Geno Petralli, 66
Heather Locklear, 64
Scottie Pippen, 60
Will Smith, 56
Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55
Matt Hasselbeck, 50
Rocco Baldelli, 44
Alec Ogletree, 34
Brandin Cooks, 32
— College football conference trends:
Home favorites in conference games are 12-10 ATS
Home underdogs in conference games are 11-7 ATS
American
Home underdogs 1-5 ATS in non-conference games
Road underdogs 8-4 ATS in non-conference games
ACC
Home favorites 6-10 ATS in non-conference games
Road underdogs 1-5 ATS in non-conference games
Big 10
Favorites 14-16 ATS in non-conference games
Big X
Favorites 13-9 ATS in non-conference games
Underdogs 3-4 ATS in non-conference games
Conference USA
14-9 ATS in non-conference games, 6-3 at home.
Mid American
Underdogs 18-15 ATS in non-conference games
Mountain West
Underdogs 12-6 ATS in non-conference games
SEC
19-16 ATS in non-conference games, 4-2 as underdogs
Sun Belt
Underdogs 10-13 ATS in non-conference games
— Tampa Bay Rays were sold for $1.7B this week, are expected to stay in the Tampa/St Pete area of western Florida. Stuart Sternberg had owned the team since 2004; back then, he bought the team for $200M, so a tidy profit right there.
— Was watching the Brewers-Padres game Monday night; Roberto Ortiz was the home plate umpire and boy, did the Milwaukee TV guys shred his performance.
Don’t think I’ve ever heard TV guys rip an umpire like that, especially considering that the Brewers are already locked in to a really good seed in the playoffs, not like it was a huge game for them, but hitters/pitchers looked confused by several of his calls.
— Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl stepped down this week; he takes an ambassador’s role in the athletic department, while his son Steven Pearl got a 5-year contract to take over for his father.
He went 246-125 at Auburn, leading the Tigers to two Final Fours.
— Oklahoma State fired longtime football coach Mike Gundy, who was 170-90 in 21 years coaching the Cowboys, 12-6 in bowl games. He gets paid $15M to go away; would like to hear him on TV, think he’d be an interesting voice in today’s NIL-dominated world.
— Atlanta Falcons fired their WR coach Ike Hilliard after Sunday’s 30-0 loss at Carolina; Passing game coordinator T.J. Yates is going to take over Hilliard’s duties, and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will be on the sideline during games, instead of in the press box.
— Playoff picture with 4 days left in the regular season:
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Tigers
