Armadillo Sports

— Vikings 27, Bears 24
Vikings’ first nine drives: 30 plays, 122 yards, 6 points (and a pick-6)
Vikings’ last four drives: 21 plays, 183 yards, 21 points
Vikings are 15-11-4 ATS in last 30 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Under O’Connell, Vikings are 27-9 SU in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Chicago led 17-6 when they got a pick-6 early in third quarter.
Bears in second half: 33 plays, 145 yards, 7 points
Vikings won nine of last ten series games.
Minnesota is 6-0 SU/5-0-1 ATS in last six visits to Chicago.

— Biggest questions for teams who draft a QB; when do you start him?

Titans. Giants. Saints. Browns.

Tennessee’s Cam Ward is the only one of the four who started this week; all four of these teams lost in Week 1. It is a fascinating decision as to when the rookie QB becomes a starter. 

— A quick look back:
Patrick Mahomes started one game (the last game) as a rookie
Jared Goff didn’t start until the 10th game his rookie year.
Jalen Hurts started four games as a rookie.
Justin Herbert started in Week 2 his rookie year.
Josh Allen started in Week 2 his rookie year.

Caleb Williams started every game last year.
Trevor Lawrence, Kyler Murray started every game when they were rookies.

— Week 1 of the NFL:
Home teams were 8-7 ATS
Favorites were 9-7 ATS
Under was 13-3.

— In college football so far:
AAC teams are 8-8 ATS out of conference; 5-1 as road dogs, 1-4 at home.
ACC 8-12 ATS; 3-7 as home favorite, 3-1 as road favorite, 2-4 as an underdog.
Big 18 11-15 ATS; 9-10 as a home favorite.

Big X 8-11 ATS; 3-5 as a home favorite, 1-4 as an underdog.
C-USA 7-4 ATS; 6-3 as a road underdog.
MAC 11-9 ATS; 9-6 as a road underdog.

Mountain West 12-5 ATS; 9-3 as an underdog.
SEC 11-10 ATS; 5-8 as home favorite, 3-1 as underdog.
Sun Belt 8-10 ATS; 2-4 at home.

— Since 2000, Cleveland Browns have started 20 different QB’s; Washington Commanders have started 17 QB’s.

— Russell Wilson is the ninth QB to start for the Giants in the last 5+ seasons. 

Sunday vs Washington, Giants ran seven plays inside the 3-yard line; they had a net minus-1 yard on those seven plays.

— Famous birthdays, September 9th:
Dick LeBeau, 88
Joe Theismann, 76
Hugh Grant, 65
Jack Trudeau, 63
Todd Zeile, 60

Adam Sandler, 59
Eric Stonestreet, 54
Mike Hampton, 53
Edwin Jackson, 42
Otto Kemp, 26

— Phillies put SS Trea Turner (hamstring), 3B Alec Bohm (shoulder) on the IL; playoffs start in three weeks, Phillies need Turner healthy by then.

— Phillies 1, Mets 0
Aaron Nola allowed only 5 baserunners in six IP.
Nick Castellanos knocked in only run with a 2nd inning single.
Phillies lead Mets by 8 games in NL East; their magic number is 11.

— Nationals 15, Marlins 7
Josh Bell went 4-6 with six RBI; he homered from both sides of plate.

— Giants 11, Diamondbacks 5
San Francisco hit five home runs; game was 4-4 after five innings.
Giants are within three games of Mets for NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Mariners 4, Cardinals 2
Seattle was down 2-0, scored four runs in bottom of 6th.
Bryan Woo improved to 13-7, 3.02 with the win.
Mariners lead Texas by 1.5 games for AL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Padres 4, Reds 3 (10)
Cincinnati led 3-0 in sixth inning.
Fernando Tatis had the walk-off sacrifice fly.
Reds are 5-12 in their last 17 games.

— Dodgers 3, Rockies 1
Dodgers lost a no-hitter in 9th inning for second time in three nights.
Tyler Glasnow struck out 11, didn’t allow a hit in his 7 IP.
Ryan Ritter had Colorado’s only hit. 

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

 

— Steelers 34, Jets 32
Steelers kicked a 60-yard FG with 1:03 left for the win.
Aaron Rodgers was 22-30/244 passing, with four TD’s.
Jets outgained Pittsburgh, 394-271, led 26-17 after three quarters..
Steelers’ last four drives: 20 plays, 115 yards, 17 points.

Jets’ first four drives: 31 plays, 212 yards, 19 points.
Jets rest of game: 33 plays, 162 yards, 13 points.
Jets were 0-2 on two-point conversions.
Justin Fields looked good; he threw for 218 yards, ran for 48 more.

— Bills 41, Ravens 40
Buffalo kicked a 32-yard field goal at the gun for a comeback win.
QB Allen was 33-46/394 passing, with two TD’s.
Buffalo is 20-5-1 ATS in last 26 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Bills’ last five drives: 36 plays, 264 yards, 22 points.

Ravens’ first five drives: 34 plays, 277 yards, 27 points.
Baltimore’s last three drives: 8 plays, 17 yards, no points.
Ravens led 34-19 after the third quarter.
Ravens ran ball 29 times for 238 yards, converted 6-11 on 3rd down.

— Bengals 17, Browns 16
Cleveland missed an extra point and a 36-yard field goal.
Cincy was 7-14 on third down, was +2 in turnovers.
Bengals won despite being outgained, 327-141.
Bengals gained only 7 yards the whole 2nd half, the fewest yards any winning team has scored in the 2nd half of a game over the last 25 years. 

Browns’ first four drives: 43 plays, 189 yards, 16 points.
Browns rest of the game: 30 plays, 129 yards, no points.
Last 2+ years, Browns are minus-35 in turnovers.
Last 3+ years, Cleveland is 7-2 ATS in AFC North home games.

— Buccaneers 23, Falcons 20
Mayfield threw a 25-yard TD pass to Egbuka with 0:59 left.
Falcons missed a 44-yard FG that would’ve forced an overtime.
Last 3+ years, Tampa Bay is 10-4 ATS on artificial turf.
Bucs won five of last seven visits to Atlanta.

Falcons outgained Tampa Bay, 358-260.
Atlanta had an 18-play TD drive that covered 91 yards, took 8:46.
Since 2019, Atlanta is 7-12 ATS in NFC South home games.
Last two years, Falcons are 7-17 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

— Rams 14, Texans 9
Rams improved to 7-2 in season openers under Sean McVay.
Puka Nukua caught 10 passes for 130 yards.
Last 2+ years, Rams are 7-3-1 ATS vs AFC teams.
Last 2+ years, Rams are 8-4-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Rams were 7-13 on third down, Houston 2-9.
Matthew Stafford went over 60,000 career passing yards (#10 all-time)
Texans in first half: 34 plays, 119 yards, 9 points.
Texans rest of the game: 26 plays, 121 yards, no points.

— 49ers 17, Seahawks 13
49ers drove 68 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:34 left.
San Francisco outgained the Seahawks, 384-230
49ers won/covered last four visits to Seattle.
Last 3+ years, 49ers are 6-2-1 ATS in NFC West road games.

Seahawks led 10-7 after the third quarter.
49ers turned ball over on three of first four 2nd half drives.
Last 3+ years, Seahawks are 8-16-1 ATS at home.
Last 4+ years, Seattle is 4-9 ATS in NFC West home games.

— Packers 27, Lions 13
Green Bay’s first 3 drives: 21 plays, 184 yards, 17 points.
Packers led 17-3 at halftime.
QB Love was 16-22/188 passing, with two TD’s.
Packers won their 13th straight home opener, NFL’s longest streak since 1988. 

Lions in first half: 32 plays, 69 yards, 3 points.
Total yardage in game: 266-246, Green Bay.
Detroit ran ball 22 times for only 46 yards.
Lions didn’t score a TD until a garbage time score with 0:55 left. 

— Commanders 21, Giants 6
Giants scored only 3 points on two trips inside Washington’s 5-yard line.
Last three years, Giants were outscored 89-12 in their Week 1 games.
Last nine years, Giants are 1-8 SU/ATS in Week 1 games.
Washington outgained the Giants, 432-231. 

Commanders ran ball 32 times for 220 yards.
Washington scored twice on first four drives, led 14-3 at halftime.
QB Daniels is 15-6 as an NFL starter.
Deebo Samuel caught 7 passes for 77 yards, also had a 19-yard run.

— Cardinals 20, Saints 13
Arizona’s first five drives: 39 plays, 229 yards, 20 points.
Cardinals led 17-10 at halftime.
Saints were in Arizona red zone on last drive, but couldn’t score.
Under Gannon, Cardinals are 4-3 ATS as a favorite.

QB Rattler is 0-7 as an NFL starter; they need to play rookie QB Shough.
Saints in second half: 48 plays, 171 yards, 3 points.
New Orleans had 13 penalties for 89 yards.
Last 4+ years, Saints are 7-12 ATS as a home underdog.

— Colts 33, Dolphins 8
Colts win a season opener for first time since 2013.
Indy scored on all of their seven drives: 70 plays, 418 yards.
Colts outgained Miami, 418-211, 211-43 in first half.
Under Steichen, Indy is 13-6 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Colts QB Jones was 22-29/272 passing, also ran for 26 yards.
Dolphins’ first five drives: 28 plays, 123 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.
Miami was minus-3 in turnovers; they ran only 46 plays.
Since 2021, Miami is 11-16-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

— Raiders 20, Patriots 13
Geno Smith was 24-34/362 passing, with a TD.
Since 2019, Las Vegas is 22-16 ATS as a road underdog.
Raiders are 8-3 ATS in last 11 road openers.
Last 2+ years, Raiders are 11-5-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

New England led 10-7 at halftime.
Patriots lost four of last five season openers.
NE is 8-17-3 ATS last 28 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
QB Maye is 3-10 as an NFL starter. 

— Jaguars 26, Panthers 10
Liam Coen wins his first game as an NFL head coach.
Jaguars’ first five drives: plays, 129 yards, no points.
Jacksonville ran ball 32 times for 200 yards.
There was a 76-minute lightning delay in the 2nd quarter.

Carolina was 8-15 on third down, but had 3 turnovers on 9 drives.
Panthers are 7-14 ATS last 21 games vs AFC opponents.
Last 4+ years, Panthers are 11-21-1 ATS as a road underdog.
QB Young is 6-23 as an NFL starter.

— Broncos 20, Titans 12
Titans kicked 4 FG’s, but 3 of those drives started in Denver territory.
Tennessee 133 yards of total offense, 131 penalty yards.
Last 2+ years, Tennessee is 4-12 ATS as a road underdog.
Titans’ defense had four takeaways (+2).

Denver outgained the Titans, 317-133.
Broncos ran ball 30 times for 151 yards.
Broncos led only 13-12 after the third quarter.
Denver has covered nine games in a row when favored.

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

— South Florida 18, Florida 16
You pay a team $500,000 to show up and play you, you’re not supposed to lose to that team.

South Florida not only upset the Florida Gators, they banked a half-million bucks.

USF kicked a 20-yard field goal at the gun for the win.
Bulls have started season with upsets over Boise State/Florida.
Florida committed 11 penalties for 103 yards.

— Iowa State 16, Iowa 13
Cyclones kicked a 54-yard field goal with 1:54 left for the win.
Iowa had won the previous six series games played in Ames.
Total yardage was only 238-214, in State’s favor.

— Baylor 48, SMU 45 OT
Baylor QB Robertson was 34-50/440 passing, for 440 yards, 4 TD’s.
SMU led 38-24 with 6:00 left in the game.
Baylor outgained the Mustangs, 601-458.

— NC State 35, Virginia 31
State QB Bailey was 16-23/200 passing, with a TD pass.
Cavaliers led 24-14 at halftime.
Virginia was 13-19 on third down, NC State 1-7

— Michigan State 42, Boston College 40 OT
Spartans’ QB Chiles threw for 231 yards, 4 TD’s.
BC led 21-14 at halftime.
Eagles threw for 390 yards, outgained Michigan State 457-380.

— Upsets of the Day:
South Florida (+17.5) 18, Florida 16
Army (+17.5) 24, Kansas State 21
Missouri State (+8.5) 21, Marshall 20
Jacksonville State (+7.5) 34, Liberty 24
Texas State (+3.5) 43, Tex-San Antonio 36

— Fresno State 36, Oregon State 27
Fresno drove 44 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 0:04 left.
Bulldogs scored on a pick-6 on the last play for the final margin.
Beavers’ QB Murphy was 31-48/371 passing (4 TD’s, 2 INT)

— Oklahoma 24, Michigan 13
Oklahoma outgained the Wolverines, 408-288.
Sooners led 14-0 at halftime.
Michigan QB Underwood completed only 9 of 24 passes, for 142 yards.

— Syracuse 27, UConn 20 OT
UConn led 14-6 at halftime.
UConn tied the game on a 41-yard FG with 0:01 left.
Syracuse QB Angeli was 33-53/417 passing, tin two TD’s.

— Clemson 27, Troy 16
Trojans led 16-3 at halftime on a rainy day in South Carolina.
Clemson was favored by 31 points; they ran ball for 103 yards in 2nd half.
Troy committed 10 penalties for 97 yards.

— UNLV 30, UCLA 23
Rebels outgained UCLA 250-110 in the first half, led 23-3 at half.
Bruins were on UNLV’s 25-yard line in last minute, but threw an INT
Lot of flags: UCLA had 14 penalties for 129 yards, UNLV 13 for 130.

— Famous birthdays, September 7th:
Joe Rudi, 79
Susan Blakely, 76
Bert Jones, 74
Corbin Bernsen, 71
Bill Schroeder, 67

Jason Isringhausen, 53
Kevin Love, 37
Sandy Alcantara, 30
Donovan Mitchell, 29
Heliot Ramos, 26

— Orioles 4, Dodgers 3
Yamamoto had a no-hitter going, led 3-0 with two outs in last inning.
Jackson Holliday homered, then Baltimore scored three more runs for an unlikely win.
Dodgers are 22-32 since the 4th of July.

— Astros 11, Rangers 0
Hunter Brown allowed four hits in 6 shutout IP.
Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-5 with a home run.
Astros lead AL West by 3.5 games over Seattle, 5 games over Texas.

— Cardinals 3, Giants 2
Jordan Walker’s walk-off 2-run double was the game-winner.
Justin Verlander allowed three hits in 6 scoreless IP.
Game ended the Giants’ streak of 18 straight games with a home run.

— Padres 10, Rockies 8
San Diego scored six runs in 2nd inning, cruised to an easy win.
Luis Arraez was 3-6 with two RBI for the Padres.
San Diego moves within a game of the Dodgers in the NL West.

— Diamondbacks 5, Red Sox 1
Brandon Pfaadt pitched six strong innings for Arizona.
Boston trails Toronto by 4.5 games in AL East.
Arizona has won six games in a row against the Red Sox.

— RIP to former player/manager Davey Johnson, who passed away at age 82.

Johnson played 13 years in the majors, had a .744 OPS; he hit 43 home runs for the Braves in 1973. He then managed five teams in the major leagues for 17 years, winning the ’86 World Series with the Mets.

He is an integral part of Mets’ history, on both sides; as an Oriole, he made the last out of the 1969 World Series.

RIP, sir.

— Most popular picks in Circa Casino’s survivor pool:
Broncos 7,173 entries
Cardinals 4,171
Eagles 1,811 (already won)
Jaguars 1,636
Bengals 1,231

— Chargers 27, Chiefs 21
Loss snaps Chiefs’ 11-game win streak in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Chiefs’ first three drives: 12 plays, 28 yards, three punts.
Last 5+ years, Chiefs are 10-21 ATS vs AFC West rivals.
Over last 23 years, team that lost the Super Bowl is 6-17 ATS in its season opener the next year.

Chargers in first half: 31 plays, 181 yards, 13 points.
Bolts were 7-13 on third down, Chiefs 5-14.
Just 4th win for the Chargers in last 23 games vs Kansas City.
Last seven years, Chargers started season 1-0 six times.

— Louisville 28, James Madison 14
Game was tied 14-all after the third quarter.
Louisville’s winning TD was scored by their defense with 13:05 left.
JMU had 12 penalties for 95 yards, Cardinals 5-49.

— Maryland 20, Northern Illinois 9
Maryland won its 17th consecutive non-conference game.
Malik Washington threw for 254 yards, two TD’s.
NIU ran ball for 180 yards, but averaged only 4.1 yards/pass attempt.

— Three NFL teams have two #1 picks in next year’s draft:

Rams, Cowboys, Browns

— August 30, 1990, the Astros traded 37-year old reliever Larry Andersen to the Red Sox, for a young 1B who was playing AA ball.

Andersen helped the Red Sox win the AL East that season, making 15 relief appearances and posting a 1.23 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 22 IP, but the young player wound up in the freakin’ Hall of Fame.

You may have heard of Jeff Bagwell; he hit 449 home runs, with an OPS of .948, while playing his whole 15-year career for Houston. Pretty good deal for the Astros.

— St Louis 1B Willson Contreras had his six-game suspension reduced to four games; he started serving it Friday night, won’t be back until Tuesday’s game.

— Still strikes me as weird when I see a pitcher with a single-digit uniform number; not sure why, but it does. Jack Flaherty, MacKenzie Gore, Blake Snell come to mind.

— Famous birthdays, September 6th:
Ron Boone, 79
Jane Curtin, 78
Kevin Willis, 63
Rosie Perez, 61

Idris Elba, 53
Eric Zeier, 53
Derrek Lee, 50
Jerry Blevins, 42

Mitch Moreland, 40
Sam Acho, 37
John Wall, 35
Dustin May, 28

— AL Wild Card race:
as of now, the three Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
0.5 games behind- Rangers
1 game behind- Royals
2 games behind- Rays
2.5 games behind- Guardians

— White Sox 7, Tigers 5
Not for nothing, but the White Sox are 5-0 this week.
Colson Montgomery homered, had four RBI.
Detroit still leads AL Central by 8.5 games.

— Mets 5, Reds 4
Cincinnati had bases loaded, no one out in 9th inning, but didn’t score.
Mets now lead the fading Reds by six games in the NL Wild Card race.
Mets are 7-4 in last 11 games, Cincinnati 3-11 in its last 14.

— Orioles 2, Dodgers 1
Samuel Basallo hit a walk-off homer for Baltimore.
Dodgers have lost six of their last seven games.

— Blue Jays 7, New York 1
Kevin Gausman allowed four hits in 8 IP.
Toronto extends its AL East lead to four games.
Blue Jays are 8-3 vs New York this season.

— Giants 8, Cardinals 2
San Francisco has won 11 of its last 12 games.
Rafael Devers has homered four times in his last five games.
Giants trail the Mets by four games for the NL’s last Wild Card spot.

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

— Eagles 24, Cowboys 20
There was an hour-long lightning delay in the third quarter.
Eagles’ DL Jalen Carter got ejected before the first play; he spit on Dallas QB Prescott, while standing right next to an official.

There were 7 possessions in first half: 5 TD’s, 2 field goals. Eagles led 21-20 at half.

Eagles in first half: 30 plays, 216 yards, 21 points.
Eagles in second half: 34 plays, 83 yards, 3 points.
Cowboys lost five of their last six visits to Philadelphia.
Last seven years, Eagles are 4-3 SU/1-6 ATS in home openers.

Dallas in first half: 32 plays, 177 yards, 20 points.
Dallas in second half: 26 plays, 136 yards, no points.
Cowboys have covered their last five road openers.
Under is 7-3 in Cowboys’ last ten season openers.

— Buffalo Bills signed K Matt Prater to their practice squad; their regular kicker, Tyler Bass, has been banged-up with a hip injury. This would be Prater’s 20th year in the NFL.

— Bill Belichick has banned New England Patriots’ staff from watching his North Carolina team practice; his disdain towards the Patriots’ organization after his departure from the team two years ago apparently hasn’t lessened any.

Scouts from other teams are limited to watching just three sessions of UNC practice, but three sessions are better than none; not sure how this will help his recruiting going forward.

— Obscure Stat of the Day:
Milwaukee P Jose Quintana faced three batters in an inning Wednesday; all three guys hit a ground ball back to Quintana, the first time that happened in a 1-2-3 inning since 2017.

— New York Mets are going all-in on young starting pitchers; they’re calling up Brandon Sproat to start Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. Sproat is 8-6, 4.24 in 25 AAA starts this season.

— Detroit Lions signed QB CJ Beathard to their practice squad, to be their #3 QB, behind Jared Goff and Kyle Allen. Beathard has started 13 NFL games, for the 49ers/Jaguars.

— 20-year-old Kendall George, the 36th overall pick in the 2023 baseball draft, has stolen 97 bases in 110 games this year- he is hitting .290 with a .406 on-base percentage. George is one of the LA Dodgers’ top minor league prospects.

— Washington Nationals VP of Amateur Scouting Danny Haas has bolted Washington for the Baltimore Orioles.

— Famous birthdays, September 5th:
William Devane, 86
Billy Kilmer, 86
Michael Keaton, 74
Willie Gault, 65

Jeff Brantley, 62
Brad Hopkins, 55
Ryan Spilborghs, 46
Colt McCoy, 39

TJ Warren, 32
Jarren Duran, 29
Steven Kwan, 28
Mac Jones, 27

William Devane is a great actor who grew up here in Albany; his father was Franklin D Roosevelt’s chauffeur when FDR was governor of New York.

— Phillies 2, Brewers 0
Game was scoreless after six innings.
Trea Turner had the go-ahead hit in the 7th.
Jhoan Duran got his 26th save this season.

— Pirates 5, Dodgers 3
Paul Skenes threw six shutout innings.
Dodgers got swept three straight in Pittsburgh.
Pirates are 42-30 at home, 22-47 on the road.

— Rays 4, Guardians 2
Tampa Bay has won seven games in a row.
Ryan Pepiot threw five no-hit IP (90 PT), got the win.
Rays are only two games out of the last AL playoff spot.

— Royals 4, Angels 3
Bobby Witt’s 8th inning home run was a game-winner.
Adam Frazier got his 1,000th career hit.
Royals are only two games out of the last AL playoff spot.

— New York 8, Astros 4
Trent Grisham hit his career-high 30th home run.
New York holds the AL’s #1 Wild Card slot.
Astros still lead AL West by 3.5 games.

— White Sox 11, Twins 8
Minnesota led 7-4 after six innings.
Kyle Teel was 3-4 with three runs scored, four RBI
White Sox sweep the four game series in the Twin Cities. 

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

— There are five teams within three games of the AL’s last Wild Card spot
New York
Red Sox
Mariners
1.5 games behind- Texas
2.5 games behind- Royals, Rays
3 games behind- Guardians

— Red Sox OF Roman Anthony has an oblique injury, might miss the rest of the regular season; Boston is tied with New York for the AL’s top two Wild Card slots. 

Cleveland OF Steven Kwan has hit .355 (22-62) in his 13 career games at Fenway Park.

— A week ago Monday, Cardinals’ 1B Willson Contreras got thrown out of a game for bitching at the home plate ump; he tossed his bat in disgust, hitting one of his own coaches. MLB gave him a six-game suspension, which he appealed. 

10 days later, still no appeal; WHY?!?!?! St Louis only has 21 games left this season. What is taking so long? Have they ever heard of Zoom? Hear the damn appeal, make a decision and move on. 

— Giants 10, Rockies 8
Matt Chapman also got suspended, for one game, for his part in Tuesday’s fracas at Coors Field, he also appealed, and he hit two home runs in this game, as the Giants won for the 4th time in a row- they’re 10-1 in last 11 games, are within four games of the NL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Braves 5, Cubs 1
Cubs rookie P Cade Horton didn’t allow a hit in his 5 IP.
Chicago bullpen then allowed five runs in four innings.

— Orioles 7, Padres 5
Baltimore hit back-back-back homers in the 3rd inning.
Mason Miller had an immaculate inning in 8th inning, only the second one in Padres’ history.
San Diego is 2-8 in its last 10 games; they’re three games behind the Dodgers.

— Arizona 2, Rangers 0
Zac Gallen allowed four hits in six shutout IP.
Rangers are two games out of the AL’s last Wild Card spot.
Diamondbacks are 5.5 games out of the NL’s last Wild Card spot.

— Famous birthdays, September 4th:
Wendell Tucker, 82
Doyle Alexander, 75
Khandi Alexander, 68
Mike Piazza, 57
Ione Skye, 55

Beyonce Knowles, 44
Scott Tolzien, 38
Adam Duvall, 37
Andrelton Simmons, 36
Andres Giminez, 27

— LA Clippers may be in hot water with the NBA; there are reports that Kawhi Leonard was given a no-show, $28M job, to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap.

— The format for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game is likely to be a round-robin tournament with three eight-player teams — two USA teams and one World team. The two USA teams and one World squad would play each other in 12:00 quarter games.

— Gonzaga’s basketball team is going to have a hard schedule before Christmas:
November 8th- Oklahoma
November 11th- Creighton
November 24th- Alabama
November 25th- Maryland
December 5th- Kentucky
December 13th- UCLA
December 21st- Oregon

— Want to win a bar bet? 

Which major league team has hit the most first inning home runs in MLB history?

2023 Atlanta Braves hit 47 first inning home runs, 2019 Reds hit 46.

— North Carolina’s backup QB, Max Johnson broke his leg last year; he had five surgeries on the leg— at one point, there was concern as to whether part of the leg might need to be amputated, but he is healthy now and played a lot for the Tar Heels Monday night. He threw a TD pass to his brother in that game, so good for him.

— Current starting QB’s in the NFL who have started the most games:
262- Aaron Rodgers
232- Matthew Stafford
216- Russell Wilson
207- Joe Flacco
143- Jared Goff
133- Patrick Mahomes

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

This is our Week 1 NFL article; you can find it every week on the NFL page. As the season goes on and more games are played, the information gets better.

Week 1
Thursday
Cowboys vs Eagles (-7)
Dallas won its last three road openers, covered the last four.
Since 2020, Cowboys are 10-13 ATS as a road underdog.
Last five years, Dallas is 7-8 ATS in NFC East road games.
QB Prescott is 78-51 as an NFL starter. 

This is Brian Schottenheimer’s first game as a head coach.
Under is 6-3 in Cowboys’ last nine season openers. 

Last four years, Eagles are 15-11-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Eagles are 7-5 ATS in NFC East home games.
Last four years, Philly is 4-0 SU/3-1 ATS in Week 1 games.
Last six years, Eagles are 3-3 SU/1-5 ATS in home openers.
QB Hurts is 51-23 as an NFL starter, 5-3 in playoff games.
Sirianni is 53-23 as an NFL coach, 5-3 in playoff games.
Over is 5-1 in Philly’s last six season openers.
Over the last 17 years, the Super Bowl champ is 19-6-2 ATS in its Week 1 game the next year.

Eagles beat Dallas twice last year: 34-6/41-7.
Cowboys are 1-4 SU/ATS in last five visits to Philadelphia.
Home teams covered five of last six series games.
Over is 6-2 in last eight series games

Friday
Chargers vs Chiefs  (-2.5) (@ Brazil)
Last six years, Chargers started season 1-0 five times.
Chargers are 4-2 SU/6-0 ATS vs AFC West rivals last year.
Last year, Bolts were 3-2 ATS as an underdog. Last eight years, 

QB Herbert is 41-40 as an NFL starter, 0-2 in playoff games.
Jim Harbaugh is as an NFL head coach.

Last eight years, Chiefs are 7-1 SU/6-2 ATS in Week 1
Kansas City is 13-6-1 ATS in last 20 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Last five years, Chiefs are 10-20 ATS vs AFC West rivals.
QB Mahomes is 106-26 as an NFL starter, 17-3 in playoff games.

Andy Reid is 301-163-1 as an NFL head coach
Over the last 22 years, the team that lost the Super Bowl is 6-16 ATS in its season opener the next year.

Chiefs won six in row, 19 of last 22 series games.
KC beat Chargers twice last year, 19-17/17-10.
Under is 4-1 in last five meetings.

Giants @ Commanders (-7.5)
Last eight years, Giants are 1-7 SU/ATS in Week 1 games.
QB Wilson is 130-85-1 as an NFL starter, 23-32 last four years.
Daboll is 19-33-1 as an NFL head coach, 1-1 in playoffs.
Under Daboll, Giants are 12-10 ATS as a road underdog
Under Daboll, Giants are 5-4 ATS on road vs NFC East rivals.

Washington was 12-5 LY, its first winning year since 2016.
QB Daniels is 14-6 as an NFL starter.
Quinn is 60-50 as an NFL coach, 5-3 in playoffs.
Last four years, Commanders are 4-7-1 ATS at home vs NFC East rivals.
Last 20 years, Washington is 1-5-1 ATS as a favorite in Week 1 games.
Last 12 years, Commanders are 4-8 ATS in Week 1 games.

Washington beat Giants twice LY, 21-18/27-22.
Previous five years, Giants were 7-2-1 SU/ATS vs Washington.
Giants are 5-2 SU/6-1 ATS in last seven visits here. 

Cardinals (-4.5) @ Saints
Last three years, Arizona is 0-2 ATS as a road favorite.
Under Gannon, Cardinals are 3-3 ATS as a favorite.
Murray is 36-46-1 as an NFL starter.
Gannon is 12-22 in two years as a head coach.
Cardinals lost last three season openers, giving up 44-20-38 points.
This is first time since 2018 that Arizona is favored in Week 1.

Saints won their last six season openers SU.
Last four years, Saints are 7-11 ATS as a home underdog.
This is Kellen Moore’s first game as a head coach.
This is rookie QB Shough’s first NFL game- he’ll be 26 in a few weeks.

Teams split last six series games.
Over is 7-2 in last nine meetings.

Dolphins @ Colts (-1)
Dolphins won four of last five season openers.
Miami is 7-3 ATS in its last ten road openers.
QB Tagovailoa is 38-25 as an NFL starter.
McDaniel is 28-25 as a head coach, 0-2 in playoffs.
Since 2021, Miami is 11-15-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Dolphins are 12-8 ATS in last 20 games on artificial turf.

Since 2014, Colts are 0-10-1 SU in season openers.
Colts have split their last six home openers.
QB Jones 25-45-1 is as an NFL starter, with the Giants.
Steichen is 17-17 SU in two years as a head coach
Under Steichen, Indy is 12-6 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Colts won eight of last ten series games.
Teams split last six meetings played in Indy.

Raiders @ Patriots (-2)
Since 2019, Las Vegas is 21-16 ATS as a road underdog.
Raiders are 7-3 ATS in last ten road openers.
Last 2 years, Raiders are 10-5-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
QB Geno Smith is 40-44 as an NFL starter.
Carroll is 181-131-1 as an NFL head coach, 11-11 in playoffs.
Carroll was 28-23 coaching New England from 1997-99.

Patriots lost three of last four season openers.
NE is 0-4 SU/0-3-1 ATS last four home openers.
NE is 8-16-3 ATS last 27 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
QB Maye is 3-9 as an NFL starter.
Vrabel was 56-48 as head coach of the Titans.

Raiders won last two series games, after losing previous six.
Raiders are 0-4 SU/1-3 ATS in last four visits to Foxboro.
Tom Brady is now a part-owner of the Raiders.

Steelers (-2.5) @ Jets
Pittsburgh opens on road for 10th time in last 11 years.
Steelers won/covered four of their last five season openers.
Last four years, Pittsburgh is 4-3 ATS as a road favorite.
QB Rodgers is 164-97-1 as an NFL starter.
He played for the Jets the last two years (6-12).

Tomlin is 191-118-2 as an NFL head coach.
Tomlin won a Super Bowl, but it was in 2008.
Rodgers won a Super Bowl, but it was in 2010.
Steelers are 25-12-1 ATS last 38 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Under is 11-1 in their last 12 road openers.

Jets are 9-15 ATS as a home underdog.
Jets are 1-5 SU/ATS in last six season openers.
Under is 7-1 in their last eight home openers.
QB Fields is 14-30 as an NFL starter.
Fields played for the Steelers last year (4-2 in six starts).

This is Aaron Glenn’s first game as a head coach.
Last four years, Jets are minus-28 in turnovers.
Jets are 7-15-1 ATS in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Teams split the last ten series games.
Steelers lost four of last five visits to the Garden State.
Under is 5-2 in last seven meetings. 

Panthers @ Jaguars (-2.5)
Last 4 years, Panthers are 11-20-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Carolina is 1-5 SU/ATS in last six season openers.
Panthers are 7-13 ATS last 20 games vs AFC opponents.
QB Young is 6-22 as an NFL starter,
Canales is 5-12 as a head coach.
Last 3 years, Carolina is 5-5-2 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Last 5 years, Jaguars are 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.
Last 2 years, Jaguars are 6-4 ATS vs NFC opponents.
Jaguars are 6-5-1 ATS in last 12 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2012, Jacksonville is 3-10 ATS in its home opener. 

Jaguars’ last four home openers stayed under the total.
QB Lawrence is 23-39 as an NFL starter.
This is Liam Coan’s first game as a head coach.

Carolina won four of six series games.
Three of last four meetings stayed under the total.
These two head coaches were the last two OC’s for the Buccaneers.

Bengals (-5) @ Browns
Since 2021, Bengals are 14-7 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2021, Bengals are 13-8-1 ATS on natural grass.
Last six years, Cincinnati started 0-1 five times.
QB Burrow is 43-32-1 as an NFL starter.
Taylor is 51-54-1 as a head coach.
Under Taylor, Bengals are 8-9-1 ATS in AFC North road games,
Last three years, Cincinnati is +19 in turnovers. 

Last four years, Browns are 7-6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Last three years, Cleveland is 7-2 ATS in AFC North home games.
Browns are 3-2 SU in their last five home openers.
QB Flacco is 115-92 as an NFL starter (7-14 since 2020)
Last two years, Browns were -22/-11 in turnovers.
Stefanski is 41-46 as a head coach.
Over is 5-1 in Cleveland’s last six home openers.

Cincinnati won four of last six series games.
Bengals are 1-6 SU/3-3-1 ATS in last seven visits to Cleveland.
Under is 3-1-1 in last five meetings.

Buccaneers (-1.5) @ Falcons
Since 2021, Tampa Bay is 7-11 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2020, Bucs are 12-10-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2021, Bucs are 7-5 ATS in NFC South road games.
Last three years, Tampa Bay is 9-4 ATS on artificial turf.
Bucs won/covered five of last seven road openers. 
Mayfield is 52-56 as an NFL starter, 20-17 with the Bucs.
Bowles is 54-68 as a head coach, 28-27 with Tampa Bay.

Last three years, Falcons are 4-2-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2019, Atlanta is 7-11 ATS in NFC South home games.
Last two years, Falcons are 7-16 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
QB Penix was 1-2 as a starter as a rookie last year.
Morris is 29-47 as a head coach.
He was 17-31 as coach of Tampa Bay, from 2009-11.
This is 6th year in a row Falcons are at home in Week 1.
Last five years, Atlanta is 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS in home openers.

Falcons won last three series games, by 3-6-5 points.
Bucs won four of last six visits to Atlanta.
Over is 9-3 in last 12 meetings.

49ers (-1.5) @ Seahawks
Since 2020, 49ers are 16-14-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last 3 years, 49ers are 5-2-1 ATS in NFC West road games.
Since 2020, 49ers are 10-12 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
QB Purdy is 27-15 as an NFL starter.
Shanahan is 78-66 as an NFL head coach
Under is 6-2 in San Francisco’s last eight road openers.

Last three years, Seahawks are 8-15-1 ATS at home.
Last four years, Seattle is 4-8 ATS in NFC West home games.
Since 2021, Seattle is 11-13-2 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Darnold is 35-39 as an NFL starter.
Seahawks are his 4th team the last four years.
MacDonald was 10-7 LY, in his first year as a head coach.

San Francisco won six of last seven series games.
49ers won/covered last three visits to Seattle.
Under is 4-1-1 in last six meetings.

Titans @ Broncos (-7)
Last two years, Tennessee was 4-11 ATS as a road underdog.
Last year, Titans were 2-9 ATS as an underdog.
Titans were minus-16 in turnovers last year.
Last four years, Tennessee is 0-4 SU/1-3 ATS in Week 1.
Rookie QB Ward is making his first NFL start.
Callahan was 3-14 LY, his first year as an NFL head coach

Last year, Denver was 8-0 ATS as a favorite, 6-0 at home.
From 2015-23, Broncos were only 13-26-4 ATS as a home favorite.
QB Nix was 10-8 as a starter in his rookie season.
Payton is 179-114 as an NFL head coach, 18-17 with Denver.
Broncos lost four of last six home openers.
Under is 6-0 in their last six home openers.

Tennessee won three of last four series games.
Last four meetings stayed under the total.

Texans @ Rams (-2.5)
Last 2 years, Texans were 10-7/10-7, 1-1 in playoffs both years.
Last 2 years, Houston was +11/+12 in turnovers.
QB Stroud is 21-15 as an NFL starter. 

Ryans is 22-16 in two years as an NFL head coach.
Under Ryans, Texans are 6-3 ATS as a road underdog.
Under Ryans, Texans are 5-4-1 ATS vs NFC teams.
Under Ryans, Houston is 9-8 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Last two years, Rams went 10-7/11-6 (1-2 in playoffs).
QB Stafford is 39-25 as the Rams’ starter (113-118-1 overall).
McVay is 88-57 as an NFL head coach.
Last four years, Rams are 8-12 ATS as a home favorite.
Last two years, Rams were 6-3-1 ATS vs AFC teams.
Last two years, Rams were 7-4-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Rams have won four of five games vs Houston (5-0 ATS)

Lions (-1.5) @ Packers
Last two years, Lions were 27-7 SU/24-10 ATS.
QB Goff is 85-57-1 as an NFL starter, 43-30-1 with Detroit.
Campbell is 46-37-1 as an NFL head coach.
Detroit has two new coordinators this season.
Last two years, Lions were 11-2 ATS as a road favorite.
Last 3 years, Detroit is 8-1 ATS in road games vs NFC North rivals.
Lions are 18-6 ATS in last 24 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Green Bay has had winning seasons 5 of last 6 years.
QB Love is as an NFL starter
LaFleur is as an NFL head coach.
Since 2018, Packers are 6-3 ATS as a home underdog.
Last 2 years, Green Bay was 1-5 ATS in home games vs NFC North rivals.
Packers are 12-12-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Detroit won five of last six series games.
Lions won/covered last three visits to Lambeau.
Over is 6-3 in last nine meetings.

Ravens @ Bills (-1.5)
Last 2 years, Ravens were 25-9 SU/22-12 ATS
QB Jackson is 73-29 as an NFL starter
John Harbaugh is 185-115 as an NFL head coach.
Since 2017, Baltimore is 14-5-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Ravens are 20-6 ATS in last 26 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Buffalo has had six straight winning years (71-28 SU/55-42-3 ATS)
Last year, Bills were +24 in turnovers (32-8)
QB Allen is 83-40 as an NFL starter.
McDermott is 93-52 as an NFL head coach.
Last five years, Bills are 22-17-1 ATS at home.
Buffalo is 19-5-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Ravens won four of last six series games.
Ravens lost 27-25 here in last year’s playoffs.
Under is 3-1-1 in last five meetings.

Vikings @ Bears (-1)
Vikings were 14-3 last year, dumped QB Darnold anyway.
2nd year QB McCarthy is making his first NFL start; he was hurt last year.
O’Connell is 34-19 as an NFL head coach.
Last two years, Vikings were 11-5-2 ATS on the road.
Under O’Connell, Minnesota is  4-4-1 ATS on road vs NFC North rivals.
Vikings are 14-11-4 ATS in last 29 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Under O’Connell, Vikings are 26-9 SU in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Bears have had four straight losing years; they have a new coach now.
This is Ben Johnson’s first game as an NFL head coach.
QB Williams was 5-12 as a starter in his rookie year LY.
Last two years, Chicago was 10-5-1 ATS at home.
Last five years, Bears were 3-11-1 ATS at home vs NFC North rivals.
Chicago is 6-11-2 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Vikings won eight of last nine series games.
Minnesota is 5-0 SU/4-0-1 ATS in last five visits to Chicago.
Under is 5-2 in last seven meetings.

— TCU 48, North Carolina 14
First drive, UNC drove 83 yards on 7 plays, scored a TD.
Rest of game, Tar Heels ran 42 plays for 139 yards.
Horned Frogs led 20-7 at halftime.
Total yardage: TCU 541, North Carolina 222

North Carolina has 70 new players this season; 70!!!! 

— South Carolina 24, Virginia Tech 11
Gamecocks ran a punt back 80 yards for a touchdown.
South Carolina QB Sellers was 12-19/209 passing, with a TD.
Hokies kicked three field goals, including a 56-yarder.

— Miami 27, Notre Dame 24
Miami kicked a 47-yard FG with 1:04 left for the winning score.
Hurricanes led 14-7 at half; they were +2 in turnovers.
Total yardage was 332-315, Miami

— First week of college football, here is how leagues did against the spread:

AAC- 5-2 ATS, 2-0 as a favorite.
ACC- 4-6 ATS, 1-3 as a home favorite.
Big 10- 3-10 ATS, 3-8 as a favorite. 

Big X- 5-2 ATS, 4-0 as a favorite.
C-USA- 2-2 ATS
MAC- 5-4 ATS, 5-2 as a road underdog.

Mountain West- 7-4 ATS, 5-2 as an underdog.
SEC- 5-5 ATS, 1-3 as a home favorite.
Sun Belt- 4-5 ATS

— Duke’s QB Darian Mensah got paid $4M to bolt Tulane to play for the Blue Devils; on September 13, Duke visits the Green Wave on Bourbon Street- that should be interesting.

— Big 10 Network is now 18 years old; when it started in 2007, the league had 11 teams, now it has 18 teams— once the season gets rolling, we refer to the league here as the Big 18.

— Tennessee Vols have lost two starting defensive backs to injury; Vols play a I-AA team this week, but they play Georgia next week. Big early season game. 

— Dabo Swinney is Clemson’s football coach; for the last eight years, one of his sons has been the holder when Clemson tries extra points/field goals.

— Famous birthdays, September 2nd:
Terry Bradshaw, 77
Nate Archibald, 77
Mark Harmon, 74
Rick Manning, 71
Eric Dickerson, 65

Rex Hudler, 65
Keanu Reeves, 61
Tommy Maddox, 54
Willie Adames, 30
Kerry Carpenter, 28

— Every team should play on these days:
Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day.

Four teams had Monday off. No bueno.

— Reds 5, Blue Jays 4
Noelvi Marte had the walk-off single for Cincinnati.
Both teams scored three runs in the ninth inning.
Bo Bichette was 4-for-4 with a homer for Toronto.

— Phillies 10, Brewers 8
Milwaukee led 5-1 after the 4th inning.
Brewers had won 47 games in a row when they led by 4+ runs.
Brice Turang has 11 HR’s, 25 RBI since August 1st.

— Mets 10, Tigers 8
Juan Soto hit a grand slam and a two-run triple.
Edwin Diaz got his 25th save in 27 chances this season.
Mets lead Cincinnati by four games for NL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Astros 8, Angels 3
Jose Altuve homered, knocked in three runs.
Luis Garcia allowed three hits in 6 IP, in his first start since 2023.
Astros are 18-9 when one of their lefty P’s starts, 58-53 when a righty starts.

— A’s 11, Cardinals 3
JJ Bleday homered twice, knocked in three runs.
Zack Gelof went 3-for-5 with a home run.
Sonny Gray gave up seven runs in 6 IP against his old team.

— Cubs 7, Braves 6 (10)
Atlanta led 6-1 in the fifth inning.
Carson Kelly tied the game with an 8th inning home run.
Ian Happ went 3-for-5 with a home run.

— Red Sox 6, Guardians 4
Trevor Story went 3-for-4 with a home run.
Red Sox are 35-18 since July 1st.
Cleveland is 7-13 in its last 20 games. 

— Arizona (68-70)
Arizona won seven of its last nine home games.
Diamondbacks are 18-26 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in 14 of last 17 home games.
Arizona is 15-30 in last 45 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (62-75)
Braves are 14-8 in their last 22 games.
Atlanta is 33-33 at home, 29-42 on the road.
Braves are 24-21 vs NL East rivals, 38-54 vs everyone else.
Under is 3-0 in their last three games.

— Cubs (78-59)
Chicago is 2-4 in its last six games.
Cubs are holding #1 Wild Card slot in NL
Under is 22-5-2 in their last 29 games.
Cubs are 61-40 vs righty starters, 17-19 vs lefties.

— Reds (69-68)
Cincinnati lost eight of its last ten games.
Reds are 51-46 vs righty starters, 18-22 vs lefties.
Under is 14-6-1 in their last 21 road games.
Reds scored in first inning in 12 of last 22 home games.

— Rockies (39-98)
Colorado lost seven of its last ten games.
Under is 6-1-1 in Rockies’ last eight games.
Rockies are 6-31 vs lefty starters, 33-67 vs righties.
Colorado hasn’t scored a first inning run in its last 30 road games.

— Dodgers (78-59)
Dodgers are 9-3 in last dozen home games.
LA leads San Diego by two games in NL West.
Dodgers are 58-39 vs righty starters, 20-20 vs lefties.
Under is 10-5-1 in their last 16 home games.

— Marlins (65-72)
Marlins are 8-14 in their last 22 games.
Miami is 31-37 at home, 34-35 on the road.
Over is 5-1 in Marlins’ last six games.
Last four weeks, Marlins are 3-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (85-53)
Brewers are 6-8 in their last 14 games.
Milwaukee is 45-24 at home, 40-29 on the road.
Over is 15-6-2 in their last 22 home games.
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 6.5 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (73-64)
Mets are 9-6 in their last 15 games.
Mets are 45-27 at home, 28-37 on the road.
Over is 14-5-2 in their last 21 games.
Mets lead the Reds by four games for last NL Wild Card slot.

— Phillies (79-58)
Phillies are 17-10 in their last 27 games.
Phillies are 60-37 vs righty starters, 19-21 vs lefties.
Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
Phillies lead the Mets by six games in NL East.

— Pirates (61-77)
Pirates are 9-4 in their last 13 games.
Pittsburgh is 39-30 at home, 22-47 on the road.
Under is 14-7-3 in their last 24 games.
Pirates scored in first inning in six of last 11 games.

— St Louis (68-70)
St Louis is 7-11 in its last 18 games.
Cardinals are 17-6 in home series openers.
St Louis is 37-32 at home, 31-38 on the road.
Over is 10-4-1 in their last 15 games.

— Padres (76-61)
San Diego won 16 of its last 21 home games.
Padres are 43-22 at home, 33-39 on the road.
Padres are 54-41 vs righty starters, 22-20 vs lefties.
San Diego is 24-18 vs NL West rivals, 52-43 vs everyone else.

— Giants (68-69)
Giants won seven of their last eight games.
Giants are 53-45 vs righty pitchers, 15-24 vs lefties.
Over is 15-8-2 in their last 25 road games.
SF lost 10 of last 13 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (53-83)
Nationals lost their last eight games.
Washington is 11-27 in its last 38 home games.
Over is 9-6-4 in their last 19 games.
Washington is 22-10 last 32 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, September 1st:
Lily Tomlin, 86
Ed Podolak, 78
Garry Maddox, 76
Pat Thomas, 71
Vinnie Johnson, 69

Karl Mecklenburg, 65
Tim Hardaway, 59
Jason Taylor, 51
Calais Campbell, 39
Shota Imanaga, 32

— Orioles (61-76)
Baltimore lost nine of its last 11 games.
Over is 5-1 in their last nine road games.
Under is 5-0 in their last five home games.
Orioles are 19-20 vs AL East rivals, 42-56 vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (76-62)
Red Sox are 8-3 in their last 11 games.
Boston is 1-8 in extra-inning road games.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven games.
Right now, Red Sox hold the 2nd AL Wild Card slot.

— White Sox (49-88)
Chicago lost five of its last six games.
White Sox are 30-42 at home, 19-46 on the road.
Over is 8-5 in their last 13 games.
Chicago is 35-69 vs righty starters, 14-19 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (68-67)
Cleveland won four of its last five games.
Guardians are four games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.
Guardians are 53-44 vs righty starters, 15-23 vs lefties.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven games.

— Detroit (80-58)
Detroit is 20-12 in its last 32 games.
Tigers are 28-15 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 9.5 games.
Detroit is 18-4 in home series openers.
Under is 4-0 in their last four games.

— Houston (75-62)
Astros are 16-19 in their last 35 games overall
Astros are 9-16 in their last 25 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by two games in AL West.
Under is 7-0 in their last seven games.

— Royals (70-67)
Royals split their last 12 games.
Kansas City is 54-57 vs righty starters, 16-10 vs lefties.
Under is 8-2 in Royals’ last 10 home games.
Royals scored in first inning in 12 of last 17 home games.

— Angels (64-72)
Angels lost 10 of their last 15 games.
Halos are 8.5 games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 53-58 vs righty starters, 11-14 vs lefties.
Angels are 31-18 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (62-74)
Twins lost 11 of their last 18 games.
Minnesota is 35-32 at home, 27-42 on the road.
Over is 12-2 in their last 14 games.
Twins scored in first inning in one of their last 16 games.

— New York (76-61)
New York is 14-5 in its last 19 games.
Over is 11-4 in their last 15 games.
New York is 62-46 vs righty starters, 14-15 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has the #1 Wild Card slot in AL.

— A’s (63-75)
A’s are 12-9 in their last 21 games.
Over is 9-4 in their last 13 home games.
A’s scored in first inning in six of last nine home games.
Last 11 weeks, A’s are 10-4 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Seattle (73-64)
Mariners lost nine of their last 14 games.
Seattle is 26-10 in its last 36 home games.
Over is 8-5 in their last 13 games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #3 Wild Card in AL, by 2.5 games.

— Tampa Bay (67-69)
Tampa Bay won six of its last eight games.
Rays are 34-33 at home, 33-36 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 5-11 in last 16 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (71-67)
Rangers won their last five games.
Texas is 57-45 vs righty starters, 14-22 vs lefties
Rangers are 42-27 at home, 29-40 on road.
Texas is 2.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (79-58)
Blue Jays are 7-7 in their last 14 games overall.
Blue Jays won 20 of their last 28 home games.
Over is 13-6-1 in their last 20 home games.
Toronto leads New York by threee 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

— 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