[Posted Sunday p.m. …prior to late sports action…]
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.
MLB Playoffs Quiz:
Name the 14 hitters to have 18 or more career home runs in the playoffs. Answer below.
MLB
As we entered the final weekend, kind of out of nowhere we had ties in two divisions and a fraught battle for the final wild card slot in both leagues.
So let’s take it one at a time…standings through Thursday.
A.L. East
Toronto 91-68 (holds tiebreaker)
Yankees 91-68
Friday, the Yankees beat the Orioles at the Stadium, 8-4, as Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs and drove in 5, while Aaron Judge hit No. 52.
But the Blue Jays beat the Rays in Toronto, 4-2.
A.L. Central
Cleveland 86-73 (holds tiebreaker)
Detroit 86-73
Friday, the Tigers lost to the Red Sox 4-3 in Fenway, while the Guardians fell at home to the Rangers, 7-3.
[Earlier in the week, Detroit lost the first two of their critical 3-game series at Cleveland, before finally snapping an 8-game losing streak on Thursday, 4-2.]
A.L. Wild Card
Yankees 91-69…+5
Boston 87-72…+1
Detroit 86-73 (as well as Cleveland)…–
Houston 85-74…1
Friday night, the Astros fell to the Angels in Anaheim 4-3; Mike Trout with two home runs, including the tiebreaking homer in the bottom of the eighth. As in the standings remained the same with Detroit’s loss.
N.L. Wild Card
Chicago 89-70…+7
San Diego 87-72…+5
Mets 82-77…–
Cincinnati 81-78…1
Arizona 80-79…2
Friday night, the Mets were in Miami and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first against the Marlins, rookie Brandon Sproat on the mound for New York.
But the Mets blew countless opportunities with runners in scoring position the first three innings, going 1-for-8, they let the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara off the hook, the former Cy Young Award winner then got in a groove, the Mets grounding into outs 12 consecutive batters, and they wouldn’t get a hit after the third inning, falling 6-2, Miami scoring all six in the fifth.
The Mets made countless miscues in the field, including of the mental variety, and the Mets’ announcers, like the fan base, were appalled.
“The Mets lack of attention to detail, which has popped up repeatedly during this slow-motion, backwards march over the last three-and-a-half months, comes up to bite them again,” play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen said.
“I mean, you might take your whole travel ball squad off the field if something like that happens,” analyst Ron Darling added. “Here’s a team that is fighting to get to October. What are you going to do in October with an inning like that?”
Meanwhile, the Reds beat the Brewers in Milwaukee, 3-1. Cincy holds the tiebreaker.
Arizona was eliminated, falling to the Padres 7-4.
Reminder, the Mets had the best record in baseball on June 12 (45-24). They are 37-53 since. Us fans have had to watch this train wreck, night after night.
Saturday….the Mets came through, defeating the Marlins 5-0 as Clay Holmes and three relievers combined on a one-hitter, Holmes coming up big with six innings and the lone hit, as he finishes his first full season as a starter at 12-8, 3.53 ERA. Not awful. Pete Alonso supplied all the offense the Mets would need with a homer and run-scoring double.
But the Reds beat the Brewers again, 7-4. So the Mets and Reds remain tied. Mets must win Sunday and get help from a Milwaukee team that has zero to play for, having clinched home-field advantage for the playoffs.
In the A.L., the Yankees beat the Orioles, 6-1, Stanton and Judge homering again, but the Blue Jays defeated the Rays, 5-1, as the two remain tied atop the A.L. East, Toronto with the tiebreaker.
The Tigers beat the Red Sox 2-1, while the Guardians defeated the Rangers 3-2, so these two are still tied in the A.L. Central, Cleveland with the tiebreaker.
The Astros beat the Angels 6-1, but were eliminated from the playoffs with Detroit’s win; thus snapping Houston’s consecutive playoff appearances streak at eight, a run including World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.
And then today, Sunday, as Mets announcer Gary Cohen put it, they completed “one of the most disappointing years the Mets have ever suffered in their history,” Gary also saying immediately after the final out was made in a 4-0 loss to the Marlins, that it was “unfathomable.” Of course, the Metsies were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, because that’s what they’ve done all f’n season. They finish 83-79…the team with the best payroll in baseball that actually got huge seasons from their top four…Lindor, Soto, Alonso and Nimmo.
But zero, essentially, from everyone else…at least when it mattered. And starters David Peterson, Sean Manaea, and Kodai Senga were total no-shows down the stretch.
What a disgrace!!! My brother and I agree…fire manager Carlos Mendoza!
What also sucks is that the Brewers actually showed up today and beat the Reds, 4-2.
In the A.L., the Yankees and Blue Jays both won, so the Yankees are in the wild card, while the Guardians took the A.L. Central, beating the Rangers, as the Tigers lost to the Red Sox…which means they face the Guardians, in Cleveland, in the WC!
I’ll cover a lot of other stuff in my Add-on.
—Among the statistical highlights since my early Tuesday Add-on….
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh hit home runs No. 59 and 60, just the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 homers in a season, and the only catcher to do so.
His A.L. MVP competition, Aaron Judge, became just the fourth player in MLB history to have four seasons of at least 50 homers; the others Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. No player has five.
Francisco Lindor joined Juan Soto in the 30-homer, 30-stolen base club with a monstrous shot during Thursday’s 8-5 win over the Cubs.
Lindor and Soto became just the third pair of teammates in MLB history to go 30-30 in the same season, joining former Mets Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry in 1987, and Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks of the 1996 Rockies.
–In the race for the A.L. Cy Young Award, it was assumed Detroit’s Tarik Skubal would win his second straight. At least that was the feeling until recently. Skubal took the loss Tuesday in Detroit’s 5-2 loss at Cleveland, allowing 3 runs (just one earned) in six innings to fall to 13-6, 2.21.
But Wednesday, in Boston’s 7-1 win over the Blue Jays, also a big game, Garrett Crochet threw 8 innings of shutout ball and is 18-5, 2.59. Crochet and Skubal are 1-2 in baseball in strikeouts with 259 and 241, respectively.
I’d give it to Crochet.
—MLB announced it was implementing the long-discussed ABS (automated balls and strikes) system, in the form of a challenge system by which batters, pitchers and catchers can challenge ball and strike calls in real time.
Each team will start the game with two challenges. If a player successfully challenges a call, after signaling his request with a tap of the hat or helmet, his team retains the challenge. If the call stands, his team loses it. Each team will be awarded a new challenge in each extra inning if they do not have one remaining.
Ryder Cup
There is no pressure like that experienced by the players in the Ryder Cup, which aside from wanting to be on the winning side, it’s also about increasing one’s Q-rating for the likes of Madison Ave. Just look at Justin Rose and his myriad of commercials, helped by all his Ryder Cup success.
And the casual golf fan remembers who played great and who didn’t when they attend a PGA Tour event later on.
The recent history of the competition was that fans of the sport were spoiled when in 2010 and 2012, we had 14 ½-13 ½ results, Europe winning both.
But the last five coming into Bethpage were all won by the home squad, and by at least five points.
So, on Friday, the opening foursomes (alternate shot) and four-ball matches, the European side whipped the U.S. 3-1 and 2 ½-1 ½, for a 5 ½-2 ½ lead.
Scottie Scheffler came up very small, losing both of his matches, ditto Bryson DeChambeau, while the Euros, returning 11 of the 12 who were on the winning team in Rome in 2023 (16 ½-11 ½), once again just seemingly didn’t miss a clutch putt. Something would have to change Saturday, the U.S. desperately needing to take the sessions 4 ½-3 ½ at the very least to make Sunday’s singles competitive.
In the first foursome, Cameron Young and Bryson whipped Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick 4&2…now 5 ½-3 ½.
But the U.S. lost the next two and in the finale, Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley were just one down, two holes to go, when Henley missed a makeable birdie putt to even the match, allowing Viktor Hovland to sink a clutch par putt to tie the hole, and then on 18, Scheffler inexplicably muffed a wedge from the fairway, easily one of the worst golf shots of his career, which allowed Team Europe to win it, 1up, and finish the morning session with an almost insurmountable 8 ½-3 ½ lead before they even played in the afternoon.
NBC was thinking, ‘this is a nightmare.’ The odds of the Sunday singles being much-watch TV out the window.
They really went out the window when in the Saturday four-ball matches, the U.S. was waxed again, 3-1, so the score after the first two days was 11 ½-4 ½.
Brendon Elliott / Athlon Sports
“The narrative is already being written. Social media is ablaze with hot takes about the United States’ ‘collapse’ at Bethpage Black. Local news outlets are cherry-picking heated moments instead of showcasing the extraordinary golf being played. But as someone who has spent nearly three decades in the golf industry, 17 years as a PGA member and coach, and 45 years playing this beautiful, maddening game, I need to set the record straight: The U.S. team doesn’t suck. They’re simply witnessing – and falling victim to – what may be the most remarkable European Ryder Cup performance since the format changed in 1979. Scratch that – possibly the greatest performance in the event’s entire history.
“Let’s start with the facts that should be leading every conversation about this Ryder Cup. Europe leads 11 ½-4 ½ heading into Sunday singles – the largest European lead after two days in Ryder Cup history. It has won each of the first four sessions, something only accomplished once before under the current format (Europe in 2006). It is the first team since 1979 to amass at least 11.5 points prior to singles play.
But here’s the kicker that perfectly encapsulates what we’re witnessing: In Saturday afternoon’s four-ball match between Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose and Scottie Scheffler/Bryson DeChambeau, the Americans shot 9-under through 16 holes. They lost 3-and-2. Why? Because Fleetwood and Rose were 11-under through 16.
“Read that again. The world’s No. 1 player and one of the game’s most dynamic talents combined to shoot 9-under par in match play and got beaten by two shots. That’s not American failure – that’s European excellence at a level we may never see again.”
Meanwhile, Scheffler is 0-4, the first American player ever to lose a match in each of the first four sessions of a Ryder Cup. He is 2-0 all-time in singles play at the Ryder Cup. No American has ever lost five matches.
Europe’s lead bests the Americans’ 11-5 advantage after two days at Whistling Straits four years ago, and the largest in the history of the modern Ryder Cup format (since 1979).
Keegan Bradley is being second-guessed for deciding to bring back Collin Morikawa and Harris English for Saturday’s foursomes sessions, who got kicked in the teeth a second time.
The pairings of McIlroy and Fleetwood, as well as Rahm and Hatton, both improved to 5-0-0 in foursomes play, trailing only Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros (6-1-1) for the most all-time points in the format.
McIlroy improved to 8-1-1 in last 10 Ryder Cup matches, while Rahm and Fleetwood each improved to 7-0-0 in foursomes.
Fleetwood also now has the highest career Ryder Cup win percentage (11-3-2) of any European with at least 10 matches.
Overnight Saturday, we then learned Viktor Hovland couldn’t play due to a neck injury (which an MRI showed was a bulging disc), and per previous agreement, that counts as a ‘halve,’ so the Euros lead heading into the final matches was 12-5.
And on to Sunday, and the U.S. showed up in a big way, Cameron Young with a dramatic 18th hole putt to defeat Justin Rose in the leadoff match, and Justin Thomas doing the same in the second…on 18…to take down Tommy Fleetwood.
Xander Schauffele waxed Jon Rahm, 4&3, 12-8 Europe. The plot thickened.
Bryson DeChambeau, in the third match, came back from 5 down after just 7 holes to capture a dramatic halve…
But Europe’s Ludvig Aberg beat Patrick Cantlay…the lead 13 ½-8 ½.
Scottie Scheffler beat McIlroy…13 ½-9 ½.
JJ Spaun got a win over Sepp Straka…13 ½-10 ½.
But Russell Henley missed a makeable birdie putt, again, though he played well today, to allow Shane Lowry to get a ½-point on 18…14-11…and Europe officially retained the Cup, needing just to tie to do it.
Ben Griffin would get a point, 14-12, but Tyrrell Hatton got the draw against Collin Morikawa to officially give the Euros the 14 ½ points needed for a full-blown win.
At the end, Sam Burns blew it against Robert MacIntyre and the final was 15-13.
Nonetheless, kudos to captain Keegan Bradley…he rallied the troops to make it fun today, the U.S. taking the singles 8 ½- 3 ½.
–By the way, in case you were wondering. The PGA of America has been “paying” Ryder Cup players since 1999 – from the millions of dollars of revenue they generate…think $750 single-day tickets, for example – by providing a $200,000 for them to direct to a charity of their choosing.
The change this year was to $300,000 for a charity and a $200,000 stipend to use however the players want.
Keegan Bradley said he was donating all $500,000, and his players have said they are doing the same without providing details.
“I’ve never been one to announce what we do,” Scottie Scheffler said Tuesday. “I don’t like to give charitable dollars for some kind of recognition. We have something planned for the money that we’ll be receiving. I think it’s a really cool thing that the PGA of America has empowered us to do.”
College Football
–The weekend started out with a bang…as Virginia (4-1) shocked 8 Florida State (3-1) in Charlottesville Friday night, 46-38 in double overtime; the first victory over a top-10 team for the Cavaliers since beating FSU in 2005 and kicking off a wild celebration.
Virginia QB Chandler Morris had an eventful evening, 26/35, 229, 2-3, with three touchdowns rushing, including the game-winning 4-yard run in the second OT.
Next up for the Seminoles, caught looking ahead, is No. 6 Miami.
–And also Friday, 24 TCU (3-1) suffered its first loss, 27-24 at Arizona State (4-1), the Sun Devils coming back from an early 17-0 deficit to rally late for the win.
—In Saturday’s action….
No. 1 Ohio State (4-0) defeated Washington (3-1) 24-6. No. 2 Miami was idle.
In a biggie, 3 Penn State (3-1) lost to 6 Oregon (5-0) in Unhappy Valley, 30-24 in overtime.
The Nittany Lions were down 17-3 in the fourth quarter, but Drew Allar led them on two touchdown drives to tie the score at 17-17 as they headed into OT, after both teams had scored just a field goal in the first half.
After the teams exchanged touchdowns on the first possession of OT, the Ducks scored but failed to convert the automatic two-point try before intercepting Allar on the first play of the Nittany Lions’ ensuing possession.
PSU coach James Franklin is now 4-21 in his career against top-10 opponents. That .160 winning percentage against AP top10 ranked teams is tied for the third-worst record by a coach (minimum 25 games) at a single school since the poll era began in 1936
4 LSU (4-1) suffered its first loss at 13 Ole Miss (5-0), 24-19 in Oxford.
5 Georgia (3-1) lost its first at home to 17 Alabama (3-1) 42-21, as Bama quarterback Ty Simpson continued his solid play, 24/38, 276, 2-0, plus a touchdown rushing. Simpson in his first four games as starter has 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. Alabama is just fine.
[Georgia coach Kirby Smart is 107-13 against non-Alabama teams and 1-7 against Alabama.]
9 Texas A&M (4-0) beat Auburn (3-2) 16-10.
11 Indiana (5-0) defeated Iowa (3-2) 20-15, needing a late touchdown to rename unblemished.
14 Iowa State (5-0) whipped Arizona (3-1) 39-14.
15 Tennessee (4-1) was taken to OT by Mississippi State (4-1) before prevailing 41-34 in Starkville.
18 Vanderbilt is now 5-0, 55-35 over Utah State (3-2), as Diego Pavia threw for 321 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 79 yards and another TD.
21 USC (4-1) fell at 23 Illinois (4-1) 34-32 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired. USC had taken a 32-31 late fourth-quarter lead with two TDs and a two-point conversion, before Luke Altmyer drove the Illini 51 yards to set up the winning kick.
22 Notre Dame (2-2) destroyed Arkansas (2-3) on the road, 56-13. This one was over at the half, 42-13, CJ Carr with 294 passing and four TDs at the intermission, while running backs Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love had combined for over 200 yards of offense.
[Arkansas fired coach Sam Pittman, Sunday, after a 32-34 record at the school, replacing him with former coach Bobby Petrino on an interim basis.]
25 BYU (4-0) beat Colorado (2-3) 24-21.
And then there was 16 Georgia Tech (5-0) at Wake Forest (2-2), the Deacs valiantly falling 30-29 in overtime as first-year coach Jake Dickert opted in OT to go for two after a tying touchdown, rather than take the game into a second session…and came up short. No problem from this fan.
Wake had taken a rather shocking 20-3 lead early in the second half, but we all knew Haynes King would rally his team, and he did.
As I’ve said before, King is just a classic College All-American…maybe not an NFL player, but he’s a winner and Saturday he threw for 243 yards and a touchdown, while carrying it 21 times for 106 yards and two scores.
Wake had some nice moments on offense, with our star RB, Demond Claiborne, rushing for 119 yards and two touchdowns, but he hurt his shoulder late in the contest and that impacted the result. Fingers crossed for the rest of the season.
[There was also an egregious missed offsides call that cost the Deacs dearly in the fourth quarter.]
In other games of note….
Duke (3-2) picked up a nice win at Syracuse (3-2) 38-3, freshman running back Nate Sheppard with 168 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries for the Blue Devils.
Rutgers (3-2) lost on the road at Minnesota (3-1) 31-28. For once, the Scarlet Knights have an offense, but this year the defense is coming up way short.
And Cal (4-1) beat Boston College (1-3) 28-24.
–Four days after Oklahoma State fell to Tulsa, 19-12, at home, the school decided to make a change, firing longtime coach Mike Gundy, ending his 21-year tenure.
“College football has changed drastically in the last few years, and the investment needed to compete at the highest level has never been more important,” athletic director Chad Weiberg said in a news release. “As we search for the next head coach of Cowboy Football, we are looking for someone who can lead our program in this new era.”
Gundy, a former OSU quarterback who played with 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders, was 170-90 at his alma mater. As head coach, he won one Big 12 title and had just two losing seasons – his first (2005) and last (2024) full year in charge.
—No. 7 Oklahoma, idle this week, lost new star QB John Mateer to a hand injury that required surgery on Wednesday to repair an injury suffered in last Saturday’s win over Auburn. He is expected to miss significant time; but will return this season.
—And now…the new AP Poll!
- Ohio State (46) 4-0
2. Oregon (16) 5-0
3. Miami (4) 4-0)
4. Ole Miss (5-0)…up 9, highest ranking since 2015.
5. Oklahoma 4-0
6. Texas A&M 4-0
7. Penn State 3-1
8. Indiana 5-0
9. Texas 3-1
10. Alabama 3-1
11. Texas Tech 4-0
12. Georgia 3-1
13. LSU 4-1
14. Iowa State 5-0
15. Tennessee 4-1
16. Vanderbilt 5-0
17. Georgia Tech 5-0
18. Florida State 3-1…down 10…
19. Missouri 5-0
20. Michigan 3-1
21. Notre Dame 2-2
22. Illinois 4-1
23. BYU 4-0
24. Virginia 4-1
25. Arizona State 4-1
NFL
—Thursday night, the Seahawks (3-1) beat the Cardinals (2-2) in Glendale in a thriller 23-20, as Jason Myers hit a 52-yard field goal as time expired to Seattle.
Sam Darnold was very solid for the Seahawks (18/26, 242, 1-0, 111.4), while Arizona’s Kyler Murray threw two picks, though one wasn’t his fault. And to Murray’s credit, with the Cardinals down 20-6 in the fourth, he engineered two touchdown drives to tie it.
—Sunday from Dublin, Ireland, the Steelers brought their fans across the pond for a win, 24-21 over the Vikings (2-2). Aaron Rodgers had a nice game for Pittsburgh (3-1), 18/22, 200, 1-0, 119.7, though outside of an 80-yard hookup with DK Metcalf, Rodgers’ completions were for short yardage. Kenneth Gainwell rushed for 99 yards and two scores for the Steelers.
Carson Wentz, subbing for the injured J.J. McCarthy a second consecutive week, threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns, but he was picked off twice.
–Also Sunday, the eyes of New York football fans were on MetLife Stadium and the debut of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who head coach Brian Daboll tabbed to replace Russell Wilson after the Giants’ 0-3 start.
It’s an interesting choice…many believing the Giants would wait a bit longer before inserting Dart.
And the Giants played inspired ball, picking up their first win (1-3), upsetting the Chargers (3-1), 21-18, as Dart was OK, far from great, but mistake free…13/20, 111, 1-0, 96.0, plus 54 yards rushing and a TD; Justin Herbert picked off twice. But New York star receiver Malik Nabors was carted off with a knee injury.
The Eagles are 4-0, 31-25 over the Bucs, handing Tampa Bay (3-1) their first loss, 31-25, but getting outgained 376-200!
Detroit (3-1) beat the Browns (1-3) 34-10, while the Bills (4-0) held off the Saints (1-3), 31-19.
Atlanta (2-2) beat Washington (2-2) 34-27.
I was totally focused on the Ryder Cup and the baseball…I’ll catch up, as needed, in my Add-on re NFL action.
Premier League
—In Saturday’s action….
Brentford beat Manchester United 3-1; Chelsea lost at home to Brighton 3-1; Manchester City whipped Burnley 5-1; Tottenham managed only a draw at home against dreadful Wolverhampton, 1-1, the Wolves first point of the season; and Crystal Palace, shockingly in second place*, handed Liverpool its first loss, 2-1, as Palace’s Eddie Nketiah struck with virtually the last kick of the game at Selhurst Park.
CP finished 12th last season.
Today, Arsenal defeated Newcastle, 2-1, to retake second place in the table.
–To go back to last week, I forgot to note that Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d’Or as the best male footballer, Dembele, 28, winning for the first time after playing an important role as PSG won their maiden Champions League title during the 2024-2025 campaign, in addition to defending the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France.
The France international provided a career-high 35 goals and 16 assists across 53 appearance in all competitions.
Stuff
—Sister Jean, the106-year-old Catholic num, campus minister and the official chaplain of the Loyola Chicago Ramblers men’s basketball team, is stepping away from her duties due to health concerns.
It was 2018 when Sister Jean became a viral sensation by cheering on Loyola during its epic Final Four run as an 11-seed.
Sister Jean had served in her roles at Loyola since 1991.
–I forgot to give a shout out last time to singer Harry Styles, who ran last weekend’s Berlin Marathon on Sunday in under three hours, and under a false name.
Organizers confirmed to a German newspaper that the former One Direction member was among the 55,000 people who participated in the event in Germany’s capital city. Styles reportedly competed under the name “Sted Sarandos” and finished with a time of 2:59.13, besting his 3:24.07 finish at the 2025 Tokyo Marathon in March.
There is a great photo of Styles at the finish line with two-time Paralympic 200-meter dash gold medalist Richard Whitehead, who finished just ahead of him and set a goal to complete 20 marathons in 2025.
The Berlin course is notoriously flat and it was won by Sabastian Sawe of Kenya in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 16 seconds.
Top 3 songs for the week 9/29/79: #1 “My Sharona” (The Knack) #2 “Sad Eyes” (Robert John) #3 “Rise” (Herb Alpert)…and…#4 “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (Michael Jackson) #5 “After The Love Has Gone” (Earth, Wind & Fire…great tune…) #6 “Lonesome Loser” (Little River Band) #7 “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” (Dionne Warwick) #8 “Sail On” (Commodores) #9 “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” (The Charlie Daniels Band) #10 “Don’t Bring Me Down” (Electric Light Orchestra…B week…)
MLB Playoff Quiz Answer: Fourteen with 18 or more career home runs in the playoffs….
- Manny Ramirez 29…493 plate appearances
2. Jose Altuve 27…484
3. Bernie Williams 22…545
4. Kyle Schwarber 21…278
5. Derek Jeter 20…734
6. Alex Bregman 19…434
Albert Pulos 19…360
Corey Seager 19…346
George Springer 19…309
10. Carlos Correa 18…358
Reggie Jackson 18…318
Mickey Mantle 18…273
Nelson Cruz 18…207
Giancarlo Stanton 18…172
Stanton has a .994 OPS in the playoffs.
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.
