Yahoo Sports AM: Playoffs on the line in Atlanta

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 KAT to New York: Karl-Anthony Towns is reportedly headed to the Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick. The trade has yet to be finalized.

⚾️ Third straight batting title: Padres 1B/DH Luis Arraez (.314 AVG) became the first player in MLB history to win three straight batting titles for three different teams (Padres, Marlins, Twins).

⚽️ Club World Cup venues: New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will host the 2025 Club World Cup Final, and venues in 10 other U.S. cities will host matches in the expanded 32-team tournament.

🏀 Lynx duo snag awards: Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier and head coach Cheryl Reeve were named the WNBA’s Defensive Player and Coach of the Year after leading Minnesota to 30 wins and the No. 2 seed.

💔 Tragedy in Zurich: Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer died on Friday after sustaining a head injury in a crash during the Cycling Road World Championships. She was 18.

⚾️ Playoffs on the line in Atlanta

The MLB regular season concluded on Sunday — for 28 of 30 teams. The American League bracket is set, while the National League will be finalized today.

Who’s in?

• AL: The Yankees (94-68) and Guardians (92-69) earned byes, with the Astros (88-73), Orioles (91-71), Royals (86-76) and Tigers (86-76) slotting in behind them.

• NL: The Dodgers (98-64) and Phillies (95-67) earned byes, with the Brewers (93-69) and Padres (93-69) behind them. The final two spots will be determined today.

Three teams, two spots: The Braves host the Mets today in a doubleheader (1:10pm ET and 4:40pm, ESPN2) to determine not only their postseason fates but also the fate of the Diamondbacks, notes Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz…

How did we get here?

Mother Nature is the simple answer. Rain in Georgia last week left Truist Park unplayable. The league could’ve forced the Braves and Mets to play at a neutral site but opted not to do so. Surely the league was hoping the results over the final weekend of games would make playing today’s doubleheader unnecessary.
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Had the Diamondbacks not stormed back for 11 runs on Sunday after going down early against the Padres, MLB would’ve gotten its wish. Arizona would’ve been eliminated with a loss, propelling New York and Atlanta into the October tournament.
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A Braves win Sunday would have activated perhaps the most unsavory scenario, in which Atlanta would’ve clinched a wild-card spot but still would’ve had to play New York twice today because the Mets would’ve needed to win both to clinch and eliminate the D-backs. Thankfully, that’s not how it went down. We’re left with ample mayhem nonetheless.

Scenarios: If the Mets or Braves win both games, they’re in the playoffs alongside the Diamondbacks. If they split the doubleheader, they’re both in and the Diamondbacks are out. To break it down a bit further…

• Atlanta gets in with a win. The Braves can be only the No. 5 seed.

• New York gets in with a win. If the Mets win one Monday, they are the No. 6 seed. If they win both, they are the No. 5 seed.

• Arizona gets in if either Atlanta or New York sweeps the doubleheader. The D-backs can be only the No. 6 seed.

Doesn’t that create a bizarre set of incentives?

Yes. The winner of Game 1 today clinches a playoff spot with that victory, making Game 2 irrelevant for that team. Conversely, whichever team loses Game 1 faces a win-or-go-home situation in Game 2.

That means it would behoove the winner of Game 1 to (1) lose Game 2 as quickly as possible and (2) do so while relying on the least important group of players available. And that’s understandable, given the outrageous travel involved in all of this and the zero days off between this doubleheader and the start of the playoffs on Tuesday.

For instance, if the Mets win Game 1, it would be pointless for them to deploy flame-throwing closer Edwin Díaz in Game 2. Doing so would leave him more taxed for a Tuesday playoff game. And similar to what can happen on a getaway day during the regular season, there’s a chance that the Game 1 winner’s hitters will swing early and often to make Game 2 skedaddle along.

Projected starters (per MLB.com): The Mets plan to start Tylor Megill (4-5, 3.98 ERA) and Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91 ERA), while the Braves plan to start Spencer Schwellenbach (8-7, 3.47 ERA) and NL Triple Crown winner Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38 ERA).

🏈 NFL Sunday: By the numbers

43: The Bills’ NFL-record streak of 43 consecutive regular-season games without a loss by six or more points came to an end with their 35-10 loss to Derrick Henry (199 rushing yards), Lamar Jackson (3 TD) and the Ravens.

4-0: The Vikings beat the Packers, 31-29, to move to 4-0 for the first time since 2016, and Sam Darnold (three more passing TDs to give him an NFL-best 11) kept his surprise MVP candidacy alive.

82.1: Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels was superb once again in a 42-14 beatdown of the Cardinals. No QB has ever had a higher completion rate (82.1%) through the first four games of a season (min. 75 attempts).

58: The Falcons beat the Saints, 26-24, on Younghoe Koo’s career-long 58-yard field goal with two seconds left. He’s now a perfect 15-15 on all kicks this season.

60: Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix set the NFL record for fewest passing yards in a win (min. 20 pass attempts), finishing with just 60 yards on 25 attempts in a 10-9 victory over the Jets.

2-2: The Eagles went 6-0 across the last two Septembers, but fell to 2-2 this year following their 33-16 loss to the Buccaneers.

39: Joe Flacco led the Colts past the Steelers after replacing an injured Anthony Richardson, whose mom is eight days older than the 39-year-old QB.

0-4: The Jaguars lost to the Texans to become the league’s only 0-4 team. The Titans, also in the AFC South, can join them tonight.

Scoreboard:

• Favorite won: Ravens 35, Bills 10 // Bears 24, Rams 18 // Texans 24, Jaguars 20 // Bengals 34, Panthers 24 // Falcons 26, Saints 24 // 49ers 30, Patriots 13 // Chiefs 17, Chargers 10

• Underdog won: Colts 27, Steelers 24 // Buccaneers 33, Eagles 16 // Broncos 10, Jets 9 // Vikings 31, Packers 29 // Commanders 42, Cardinals 14 // Raiders 20, Browns 16

Fantasy recap: Booms and busts

🏈 Alabama beats Georgia: Freshmen save the day

Alabama beat Georgia, 41-34, on Saturday in an instant classic at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide moved up to No. 1 in this week’s AP poll as a result, while the Bulldogs fell to No. 5.

From Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger…

Ryan Williams gathered the Alabama receivers Friday night for a bit of video-game playing. He battled teammates in EA Sports College Football 25, a way to relax a day before kickoff of college football’s biggest game of the season so far.

As is often the case, Williams, the Tide’s star 17-year-old receiver, played the video game with his own team. While engrossed in a tight battle with a teammate, Williams furiously moved the pieces on the virtual field using his controller until one of his defensive backs, fellow freshman Zabien Brown, snatched a ball out of the air for a game-sealing interception.

Williams celebrated the victory, and the next day, hours before Alabama played the real game against Georgia, he delivered a message to Brown: “You’re gonna get the game-winning pick!” Nailed it.

ICYMI: The Tide blew a 28-0 lead but came out on top thanks to an acrobatic 75-yard TD catch from one freshman (Williams) and a last-second interception from another (Brown) to avoid what would have been a disaster.

On the national stage, in a top-five duel, the Tide’s two rookies had their coming-out party. Their QB, Jalen Milroe, put together a Heisman Trophy-worthy day. And their coach, Kalen DeBoer, grabbed not only his first SEC victory but a win over a two-time national championship coach.

It was exhilarating. Exciting. Explosive. Emotional. A bit exhausting, too. DeBoer offered this description while beginning his postgame news conference: “A lot happening there.” A ton happening, in fact.

By the numbers: Georgia is 45-3 since 2021, with all three losses coming against Alabama, and Kirby Smart is now 1-6 against the Crimson Tide … DeBoer is 109-12 as a head coach and improves to 6-0 against Smart, Steve Sarkisian and Dan Lanning.

📸 The world in photos

Montreal — The U.S. beat the International Team, 18.5-11.5, to win the Presidents Cup for the 10th consecutive time (and 13th time in 15 tries). Keegan Bradley, the 2025 Ryder Cup captain, clinched the winning point.

Brooklyn — Breanna Stewart (34 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (21) led the Liberty to an 87-77 win over the Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals. The Sun beat the Lynx, 73-70, to take a 1-0 lead in the other semifinal.

London — Chelsea’s Cole Palmer became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before halftime, singlehandedly powering the Blues to a 4-2 win over Brighton on Saturday.

New York — Athlos, a new women’s-only track meet with lucrative prizes, debuted this weekend at Icahn Stadium. The winner of each race earned $60,000, which is double what Diamond League winners receive after an entire season.

📆 Sept. 30, 1939: Football on TV

85 years ago today, Fordham University — a national power at the time — hosted tiny Waynesburg College (now University) in the first football game ever televised.

That was then… TV was a sensation at that year’s World’s Fair in Queens, but it was still very much an experiment. Only about 500 people tuned in to see Fordham win 34-7 in a game that took place on Randall’s Island in New York City.

“When I returned to my home in Youngstown, Ohio, I told my wife about it. She was all excited, asking me what television was and how did it work. Of course, I did not know.”

— Game official Jack McPhee

This is now… Football is the most popular TV show in America — by a ridiculous margin. Of the 100 most-watched broadcasts of 2023, 96 were football games (93 NFL, three NCAA).

⚾️ MLB trivia

Chris Sale is the second player in MLB history to lead his league in strikeouts with three different teams (Braves, Red Sox, White Sox).

Question: Who does he join?

Hint: California and Texas.

Answer at the bottom.

🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top plays of the weekend

1. 🏈 Ryan Williams!!!

2. 🏈 How’d he catch that?

3. ⛳️ Homa holes out

4. 🏈 Josh Allen is insane

5. 🏈 Purdy to Kittle

6. ⚽️ One of Cole’s four goals

7. 🏈 Cam freakin’ Ward

8. 🎾 Monfils wins epic point

9. 🏈 Jeremiah Smith! Twice!

10. 🏈 Caullin Lacy!

11. 🏈 Pick-Six

12. ⚾️ Clemens at the wall

13. 🏈 Henry to the house

Watch all 13.

Trivia answer: Nolan Ryan (Angels, Astros, Rangers)

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