— Pete Alonso hit his 300th home run Tuesday against his old team, the Mets; after the game, he met up up with the fan who wound up with the home run ball.
The fan and his friends got:
signed bats
signed baseballs
their jerseys autographed by Alonso
free beers
ticket offers for Oriole games in Baltimore.
— Bills 41, Lions 31
Bills’ first four drives: 31 plays, 289 yards, 27 points.
Buffalo missed the PAT after their fourth TD.
Bills won their first two games, 36-31/34-24.
Last eight years, Bills are 12-3-1 ATS in Weeks 1-2.
This was the first game in Buffalo’s new stadium.
Detroit split its first two games, giving up 30-41 points.
Lions’ first two drives: 7 plays, minus-1 yard, two punts.
Jared Goff wound up 26-38/327 passing, with 4 TD passes.
— Pitt 27, Syracuse 13
Panthers led 17-10 at halftime.
Pitt ran the ball 37 times for 245 yards.
Syracuse had two turnovers, also 10 penalties for 94 yards.
— Dodgers 8, Reds 2
Dodgers clinch their 13th NL West title in 14 years.
Kyle Tucker was 4-for-5, with a homer, two doubles.
Dodgers led this game 8-0 in the fourth inning.
— Padres 9, Rockies 2
San Diego scored seven runs in the 7th inning.
Xander Bogaerts hit a home run/triple in that inning.
Padres have a four-game lead for the NL’s last Wild Card spot.
— Rays 10, A’s 1
Tampa Bay scored six runs in the fourth inning.
Chandler Simpson was 2-for-5, scored twice, had two RBI
Rays lead AL East by five games with 10 games left.
— Phillies 3, Mets 0
Aaron Nola allowed three hits in 7 IP.
In his last 10 starts, Nola is 4-2, 2.07.
Phillies/Cubs are tied for the NL’s #1 Wild Card slot
— Famous birthdays, September 18th:
Billy Gambrell, 85
Toni Kukoc, 58
Aisha Tyler, 56
Jason Sudeikis, 51
Serge Ibaka, 37
Kevin Dotson, 30
Andre Pallante, 28
Ceddanne Rafaela, 26
— Pirates 7, Brewers 4
Pittsburgh scored five runs in the second inning.
Brewers are 95-58, have two-game lead to be the NL’s #1-seed.
Pirates are 76-77; their last winning season was in 2018.
— Seattle Mariners have scored 2 or fewer runs in 34 games this year; this will be the first time since 2019 they’ve had a losing season in a 162-game schedule.
— Wednesday in Denver, Padres’ rookie C Ethan Salas hit two home runs in his fifth major league start; he is expected to be a good one for San Diego.
— Coming into Thursday’s game, Mets P Nolan McLean had 69 strikeouts this year on called third strikes, more than any other MLB pitcher.
— North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick quit after there was an investigation into the football program’s culture. UNC’s general manager Mike Lombardi resigned earlier this season.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, White Sox, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Guardians
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
