MLB – Major League Baseball – Wild Card Playoffs – Best of three
Yesterday
Texas Rangers 7, Tampa Bay Rays 1 (TEX wins 2-0)
Minnesota Twins 2, Toronto Blue Jays 0 (MIN wins 2-0)
Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Milwaukee Brewers 2 (ARI wins 2-0)
Philadelphia Phillies 7, Miami Marlins 1 (PHI wins 2-0)
Rangers 7, Rays 1 – Rangers beat Rays 7-1 for Wild Card Series sweep behind Garcia and Carter home runs
Adolis García and Evan Carter homered to back Nathan Eovaldi, and the Texas Rangers beat the punchless Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 to finish a two-game AL Wild Card Series sweep. Garcia and Carter, a 20-year-old rookie who became the second-youngest postseason player in franchise history, homered off 16-game winner Zach Eflin, who was unable to save Tampa Bay’s season. Texas advanced to a Division Series at AL East champion Baltimore starting Saturday.
Twins 2, Blue Jays 0 – Twins advance for 1st time in 21 years with 2-0 win to sweep Blue Jays behind Gray, Correa
The Minnesota Twins swept the Toronto Blue Jays in their AL Wild Card Series with a 2-0 win in Game 2. Sonny Gray pitched five effective innings and Carlos Correa contributed an RBI single and a quick-twitch tag off a pickoff throw from Gray that ended the fifth. The Twins advanced for the first time in 21 years. They will play the defending World Series champion Astros. Game 1 of the best-of-five AL Division Series is in Houston on Saturday. Twins relievers logged 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the series. The Blue Jays left nine runners on base each game.
Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 2 – Diamondbacks erase early deficit again and beat Brewers 5-2 to sweep NL Wild Card
Zac Gallen settled down after a shaky start and Arizona’s bullpen stepped up at the very end, helping the Diamondbacks sweep their NL Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-2 victory in Game 2. Just two years after suffering through a 110-loss season, Arizona moved into the franchise’s first NL Division Series since 2017. The Diamondbacks will take on the NL West champion Dodgers in the opener of their best-of-five series on Saturday in Los Angeles. The NL Central champion Brewers have dropped nine of their last 10 playoff games, a stretch that started with their Game 7 home loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
Phillies 7, Marlins 1 – Phillies sweep Marlins to earn NL Division Series rematch with MLB-best Braves
Bryson Stott crushed the second grand slam in Philadelphia Phillies postseason history and Aaron Nola tossed seven shutout innings in a performance worthy of a postseason ace that led to a 7-1 win and a two-game sweep over the Miami Marlins in their NL Wild Card Series. The Phillies advanced to an NL Division Series rematch against Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and the Braves. Game 1 in the best-of-five set is Saturday in Atlanta. J.T. Realmuto also homered for the Phillies.
NFL – National Football League – Week 5
Tonight
Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders, 8:15 p.m.
NFL – Mired in chaos off the field and winless on it, the Bears visit Washington
The Chicago Bears are mired in chaos off the field and winless on it this season. They visit the Washington Commanders on Thursday night hoping to avoid the franchise’s worst start in a quarter century. The latest twist is wide receiver Chase Claypool being told to stay away from the team for undisclosed reasons. The dysfunction is familiar to Ron Rivera and the Commanders. After so much instability in recent years they’re free from distractions and content to focus on football. It’s a welcome change in Washington as Sam Howell and Co. look to get back on track after back-to-back losses.
NFL – Travis Kelce says NFL TV coverage is ‘overdoing it’ with Swift during games
Travis Kelce agrees with the idea that NFL TV coverage is “overdoing it” with the amount of times Taylor Swift has been shown while attending his Kansas City Chiefs’ games the last two weekends. Swift was in a suite Sunday night at MetLife Stadium for the Chiefs’ victory over the New York Jets in prime time. Jason Kelce told his brother during their “New Heights” podcast that cameras showed live shots of the suite 17 times during the game. Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s senior vice president of social, influencer and content marketing, said in an interview with The Associated Press that “there’s always chatter around different celebrities and so on that are attending different games, but this took a life of its own."
NHL – National Hockey League Preseason
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Red Wings 2, Penguins 1 – Edvinsson and Sprong led Red Wings over Penguins
James Reimer made 21 saves for the Detroit Red Wings in their win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Simon Edvinsson and Daniel Sprong scored, and J.T. Compher had two assists for Detroit. Xavier Ouellet scored for Pittsburgh. Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves. Ouellet gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 17:38 of the first period, scoring with a backhand off an assist from Jansen Harkins. Sprong scored his third of the preseason on a slap shot near the blue line to tie it 1-1 at 5:32 of the second period. Edvinsson, who was the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 at 13:14 of the third period. He scored with a wrist shot from the left circle during a 4-on-4.
Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:00 p.m.
Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m
NCAAFB – No. 10 Notre Dame hopes to improve its struggling offense at No. 25 Louisville
Notre Dame and quarterback Sam Hartman must fix the offense quickly. Over the past two weeks, the Fighting Irish scored an average of 17.5 points over two ranked — and previously unbeaten — opponents. And while the defense has done its job by holding both Ohio State and Duke to 17 or fewer points, the poor offensive production has been problematic. Notre Dame was scoring 46.0 points and generating 508.8 yards of offense through its first four games. This week against another unbeaten, No. 25 Louisville, the Irish will need to put more points on the board against coach Jeff Brohm’s creative offense.
NCAA – NCAA approves smaller transfer portal; removes caps on yearly football signings
The NCAA Division I Council approved a smaller window during which football and basketball players can enter their names into the transfer portal and retain immediate eligibility for the following season The transfer windows will decrease from 60 to 45 days. The council also voted to eliminate the caps on how many players Division I football teams can sign in a year. Overall scholarship limits will remain in place. The council recommended changes to penalties related to gambling violations and the NCAA announced it would advocate for states to provide more protections for college athletes in their gambling laws.
NBA – Harden returns to 76ers’ training camp despite his trade request
James Harden returned to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, with the disgruntled guard who had been seeking a trade back at training camp as an active participant. The 10-time All-Star arrived on the Colorado State campus for practice in spite of a fractured relationship with the Sixers’ front office. He skipped the team’s media day in New Jersey on Monday and the first day of camp in Colorado on Tuesday. Harden in June picked up his $35.6 million contract option for this season with the belief the team would try to trade him. He blasted team president Daryl Morey at a promotional event in China when no trade materialized. Harden didn’t speak to reporters Wednesday but he did go through drills.
MCCAA – Michigan Community College Athletic Association
Last Night
Women’s Soccer
Schoolcraft College 2, Lake Michigan College 1
Men’s Soccer
Schoolcraft College 18, Lake Michigan College 0
Today
Women’s Volleyball
Lake Michigan College at Olivet, 6:30 p.m.
Glen Oaks Community College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Boys Soccer
Bangor 4, Our Lady of the Lake 1
New Buffalo 0, Michigan Lutheran 0 – TIE
Sturgis 4, Edwardsburg 1
Paw Paw 5, Niles 0
Plainwell 4, Vicksburg 0
Otsego 5, Three Rivers 3
Buchanan 3, Berrien Springs 3 – TIE
Brandywine 3, Dowagiac 1
Holland Black River 2, Allegan 1
Harper Creek 5, Delton-Kellogg 0
Fennville 1, Kalamazoo Christian 0
Kalamazoo Hackett 8, Watervliet 0
Saugatuck 6, Schoolcraft 0
Quincy 7, Comstock 6
Volleyball
Kalamazoo Central 3, St. Joseph 1
Portage Northern 3, Lakeshore 0
Our Lady of the Lake 3, Watervliet Grace Christian 0
Michigan Lutheran 3, River Valley 1
Dowagiac 3, Constantine 1
Centreville 3, Lawrence 0
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 3, Battle Creek Central 0
Cross Country
SMAC West at Portage Northern
Boys Team Scores
- Portage Central 19
- Portage Northern 59
- St. Joseph 71
- Mattawan 110
- Lakeshore 141
Girls Team Scores
- St. Joseph 35
- Portage Central 69
- Lakeshore 72
- Portage Northern 81
- Mattawan 108
Boys Top 10 Individuals
- Logan Begeman PC 16:50.11
- Shay White SJ 16:53.23
- Logan Westgate PC 17:29.13
- Spencer Parker PC 17:34.83
- Matthew Long PC 17:36.77
- Abrar Hossen PC 17:36.78
- Bruno Cabrera PC 17:41.49
- Owen Gifford PC 17:44.79
- Aeson Gonzalez PN 17:45.81
- Eli Johansen SJ 17:50.92
Girls Top 10 Individuals
- Gail Vaikutis SJ 19:27.91
- Elena Figueroa SJ 19:28.70
- Preslee Perkins LKSH 20:28.50
- Roxanne Jorgensen PN 20:47.57
- Olivia Stacy PN 20:51.68
- Cecilia Ruchti SJ 20:53.38
- Rhea Mouw PC 21:03.57
- Olivia Storteboom PC 21:08.07
- Ella Harlow PN 21:09.73
- 10. Kate Ort LKSH 21:16.37
Tonight
Boys Soccer
SMAC Tournament
Portage Central at Gull Lake, 6:30 p.m. Championship
Kal. Loy Norrix at BC Lakeview, 6:30 p.m. 3rd place game
Mattawan at St. Joseph, 6:30 p.m. 5th place game
Lakeshore at Portage Northern, 6:30 p.m. 7th place game
Kalamazoo Central 9th place
Battle Creek Central 10th place
Other games
Michigan Lutheran at Lawton, 6:00 p.m.
Howardsville Chr. at Our Lady of the Lake, 5:00 p.m.
Coldwater at Edwardsburg, 5:30 p.m.
South Haven at Otsego, 6:00 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Comstock, 4:30 p.m.
Parchment at Brandywine, 5:00 p.m.
Fennville at Bloomingdale, 6:30 p.m.
Schoolcraft at Cassopolis, 5:00 p.m.
Bridgman at Constantine, 5:00 p.m.
Saugatuck at Fruitport Calvary, 5:30 p.m.
Andrews Academy at Kalamazoo Home School, 5:30 p.m.
Volleyball
Edwardsburg at Niles, 6:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Otsego, 6:00 p.m.
Three Rivers at Paw Paw, 6:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Vicksburg, 6:00 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Dowagiac, 6:00 p.m.
Watervliet at Buchanan, 6:30 p.m.
Hartford at Cassopolis, 7:00 p.m.
South Haven at Holland, 6:15 p.m.
Lawrence at Decatur, 6:00 p.m.
Bangor at Marcellus, 7:00 p.m.
Covert at Howardsville Christian, 5:30 p.m.
