The MLB playoff field narrows and Shedeur Sanders shines

New York Times

a day ago

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Good morning! We have preseason football all day today. But first, baseball:
To be frank, the chaos of the MLB trade deadline — hello, Minnesota and San Diego — left us dazed for a bit on the baseball front. Even as we sort through who's even on the Twins' 25-man roster, our focus must shift. The MLB stretch run is here, and it is juicy.
A quick rundown of the MLB races still in play with just under 50 games left in the season, with some predictions from The Windup's Levi Weaver … woven in (sorry):
The AL East is tight. Toronto has a three-game lead on the surging Red Sox, with the fading Yankees 6 1/2 games back. The latter two teams still hold on to AL wild-card spots, though there are four teams (Guardians, Rangers, Royals and Rays) within five games of the final slot.
The AL West is, too. The interminable Astros, with Carlos Correa back in the fold, hold a slight (1 1/2-game) lead over the Mariners, who forever seem like the team picked to win this division that somehow never does. The Rangers are also just 5 1/2 games back.
Over in the NL, all three divisions are very much up for grabs:
Levi predicts the Reds (3 1/2 games back of the final wild-card spot) make it in: 'I'm sorry, it's just that between the Cubs, Mets and Padres, I feel like one apocalyptic collapse is inevitable.'
Watching such a collapse is always entertaining. And remember that with baseball's expanded playoff structure, six teams from each league make the playoffs, which means a lot of franchises are very much in contention right now.
See the full standings here. Let's keep moving.
Sanders shines in debut
One thing is for certain: Shedeur Sanders is already the best fourth-string QB in the NFL. Thanks to some injuries in the Browns' QB room, the fifth-round rookie was given a golden opportunity in his preseason debut against the Panthers last night. And, for the most part, Sanders looked really good. He took the lion's share of the Browns' snaps under center, played mistake-free football and threw a pair of touchdowns. Talk about hitting a tight window:
Lions-Falcons game suspended after injury
The second of three NFL preseason games last night was suspended in the fourth quarter after Lions safety Morice Norris was taken off the field in an ambulance. Norris was attempting a tackle when his head snapped back upon colliding with Falcons running back Nathan Carter's leg. Both teams agreed to snap the ball and let the clock run out before officials eventually halted play. Thankfully, the team announced Norris is in stable condition.
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More news:
The Patriots unveiled a Tom Brady statue outside Gillette Stadium ahead of their preseason game last night. It's gigantic.
The Indiana Fever, still without the injured Caitlin Clark, lost two other guards to season-ending injuries in the same game Thursday. Absolutely brutal.
Stefano Vukov, former coach of the No. 10-ranked tennis player Elena Rybakina, had his one-year ban for abuse lifted after an appeal. More details here.
📺 NWSL: Washington Spirit at Gotham FC
Noon ET on ESPN
We're going for the full day here as fall kicks into gear. We have NFL football (more on that below), but this is a good start. Washington sits third in the NWSL standings and has only lost one time since May.
📺 NFL: Texans at Vikings
4 p.m. ET on NFL Network
All eyes on Minnesota QB J.J. McCarthy here, who could be the most intriguing player in the NFL going into the season. We shouldn't base too much on preseason performance — this is still practice, really — but his readiness will be highly scrutinized nonetheless. See today's full NFL slate here.
📺 MLB: Phillies at Rangers
7:15 p.m. ET on Fox
As we mentioned above, these MLB games are so important at this juncture. Both of these teams need this one. Makes for good baseball.
A Little League coach went viral for a fantastic dad joke. Rustin Dodd says it taught a bigger lesson.
Life gets busy, so schedule one night a week for a random activity — maybe it becomes a date night, fantasy football draft or a trip to the movies to see 'The Naked Gun.' I never regret carving the time out of the calendar. — Jacob Robinson
On the latest 'No Offseason' podcast, Sabreena Merchant says WNBA players have become 'dehumanized' and 'the butt of the joke' amid the recent run of sex-toy incidents, and wonders why they were even the target of these 'bad actors' in the first place. Watch it here.
This one's for the pen-heads out there. You know those Precise V5s — the ones with the flat lids that are so good for writing, but are a ticking time bomb because you know one day you're gonna look down and see they've leaked all over your hand? They have a click-pen version now. — Levi Weaver
I loved Mike Jones' conversation with Shilo Sanders, who's just trying to make the roster in Tampa. He's impressively self-aware of, well, everything.
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I'm here for the resurgence of self-serve fro-yo, as detailed in this NYT piece. — Torrey Hart
Wet Hot American Summer,' one of my favorite movies ever, still holds up. Unmatched cast, nonstop laughs, absurdly silly. If you've never seen it, now's the time. It's on Netflix. — Alex Iniguez
We're thrilled to have Andy Behrens at The Athletic now, and his first fantasy football column is full of useful nuggets as you plan your draft strategy. Must read.
I've never been much of an Aperol guy (sorry, mixologists), but I had a cocktail recently here in New Orleans that maybe changed that: bourbon, Aperol, honey and lemon. A perfectly balanced drink. Try it with a fancy ice cube and thank me. — Chris Branch
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Joe Burrow's nice preseason performance.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The dad joke on the mound.
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