Happy Friday 👋
Welcome to October. The busiest month in sports is officially here. MLB, WNBA and NASCAR Playoffs pick up steam while the NBA, NHL and more soccer return. Football isn’t going anywhere either. If you love sports, October has your back.
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MLB Clinch Club: Braves & Astros Win Divisions 
Photo: Adam Hagy / Getty Images Braves Sweep Phillies to Nab NL East Crown; Astros Claim AL West Again
As the MLB season winds down, two more teams have clinched their respective divisions. The Braves completed the sweep of the Phillies (5-3) to secure their fourth straight NL East title. Out west, the Astros topped the Rays on Thursday (2-1) to win their fourth AL West title in the last five seasons.
Braves Clinch (Read) | Astros Clinch (Read)
What It Means: The Braves’ win means the NL playoff picture is complete (see below). The Astros’ win means they’ll play the White Sox in the NLDS.
MLB Playoff Picture
National League (Playoff Picture Set) NL East: Braves (86-72) NL Central: Brewers (95-64) NL West: Giants (104-54) Wild Card: Dodgers (103-56) Wild Card: Cardinals (89-70)
American League (Wild Card TBD) AL East: Rays (98-61) AL Central: White Sox (91-68) AL West: Astros (93-66) Wild Card Race: Yankees (91-68), Red Sox (89-70), Mariners (89-70), Blue Jays (88-71)
AL Wild Card Series to Watch This Weekend Rays—Yankees Series Orioles—Blue Jays Series Red Sox—Nationals Series Angels—Mariners Series
Additional Storylines MLB: Yankees On Postseason Doorstep After 5-1 Road Trip ESPN: Playoff Tracker: AL Wild Card Scenarios, Key Games & Who Has Clinched a Postseason Spot
NFL TNF: Bengals at the Buzzer 
Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images Burrow Shines as Bengals Come From Behind to Beat Jags on Last Second FG (24-21)
Thursday Night Football pitted two quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall in the last two drafts, and Joe Burrow got the best of Trevor Lawrence on the stat sheet and the scoreboard. Burrow and the Bengals pulled a 14-point second-half comeback and capped it with a fourth quarter drive to set up the game-winning 35-yard field goal from Evan McPherson as time expired. Burrow has already won more games in 2021 (3) than he did in ten games played as a rookie (2).
Fun Fact: The Jaguars have now lost 19 straight games since starting the 2020 season 1-0, and QB Trevor Lawrence (0-4) has lost more games this season than his entire college and high school careers, combined.
QB Comparison J. Burrow (CIN): 25/32, 348 yards, 2 TDs T. Lawrence (JAX): 17/24, 204 yards, 0 TDs
Other Top Performers RB J. Robinson (JAX): 18 carries, 78 yards, 2 TDs RB J. Mixon (CIN): 16 carries, 67 yards, 1 TD WR C.J. Uzomah (CIN): 5 catches, 95 yards, 2 TDs
Watch: Bengals Beat Jags on Last-Second Field Goal
Additional Storylines USA Today: Joe Burrow Wins Showdown of Previous No. 1 Picks CBS Sports: Burrow, Bengals Manage to Kick Aside Jaguars With Comeback NBC Sports: Jaguars WR D.J. Chark Carted Off With Fractured Ankle
WNBA Taurasi Takes Over 
Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images Diana Taurasi (37 Points) Knocks Down Eight 3s as Mercury Rout Aces
The WNBA semifinals continued with Game 2s on Thursday night, but Diana Taurasi stole the show with an epic shooting performance. Both matchups are tied at 1-1 after two games in the best-of-five series. The Game 3 swings are slated for Sunday afternoon, and we’ll find the WNBA finals pairings by next week.
#5 Mercury def. #2 Aces (117-91) Phoenix handled Las Vegas in Game 2 behind Diana Taurasi’s 37 points. Taurasi buried eight 3s (8-for-11) in an unconscious shooting night that saw the Mercury shred the Aces from the opening tip. Brittney Griner added 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. (Series Tied 1-1)
#1 Sun def. #6 Sky (79-68) The top-seed Sun got back in the semifinals thanks to a fourth-quarter defensive showcase. Connecticut outscored Chicago 21-9 in the final period to avoid the 0-2 deficit in the series. Five Sun players tallied double figures, including DeWanna Bonner (15 points, 8 rebounds) and a double-double off the bench from Alyssa Thomas (15 points, 11 rebounds). (Series Tied 1-1)
WNBA Semifinals: Game 3s (Sunday) Sun at Sky (1:00 pm ET) Aces at Mercury (3:00 pm ET)
Additional Storylines WNBA: Record Night for Taurasi, Mercury in Game 2 Rout Over Aces Yahoo! Sports: Aces’ Kelsey Plum Wins Sixth Player of the Year Award
THE STORYLINES 🏈 Can Tom Brady Win the Reunion? The narrative scoreboard is firmly in Brady’s favor more than a year after his New England departure. Beating his former team on his return to Foxborough would only reinforce how much he’s thriving away from Bill Belichick. (The Ringer)
Every spring training, fans look at how the 30 MLB rosters stack up and form a picture of how the season will play out. Everyone knows you can’t predict baseball, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try. We can’t help it! (FOX Sports)
⛳️ Two Hole-in-Ones in the Same Round? Most golfers go their whole lives without making an ace. So this should make all you weekend hackers feel just great: 11-year-old Jake Martinez of Tucson, Arizona, recently made two holes-in-one. In one round. Seven holes apart. (USA Today)
📰 THE HEADLINES 6-Time Pro Bowl Running Back LeSean McCoy Officially Retires After 12 Seasons (USA Today)
NWSL Players Union Accuse Coach Paul Riley of Sexual Coercion (CBS Sports)
Former Olympian Klete Keller Faces Felony Charges for Capitol Riots (Yahoo! Sports)
NFL Announces Halftime Show Performers for Super Bowl 56 (Bleacher Report)
Bryson DeChambeau Advances to Final Group at Long Drive World Championships (ESPN)
🗓️ WEEKEND SCHEDULE The Must-Watch List Baseball’s last few games of the season will determine playoff seeding, and we’ve still got five teams vying for both Wild Card spots in the American League. A bunch of must-see NFL games take over the late starts on Sunday. We’ll turn the page to October next week — the busiest month in the sports calendar. Enjoy!
MLB Wild Card Races to Watch Rays—Yankees Series Orioles—Blue Jays Series Red Sox—Nationals Series Athletics—Astros Series Angels—Mariners Series
NFL Week 4 (Sunday) Panthers at Cowboys (1:00 pm) Seahawks at 49ers (4:05 pm) Cardinals at Rams (4:05 pm) Steelers at Packers (4:25 pm) Ravens at Broncos (4:25 pm) Bucs at Patriots (8:20 pm)
College Football (Saturday) #8 Arkansas at #2 Georgia (12:00 pm) #14 Michigan at Wisconsin (12:00 pm) #7 Cincinnati at #9 Notre Dame (2:30 pm) #12 Ole Miss at #1 Alabama (3:30 pm) #3 Oregon at Stanford (3:30 pm) #21 Baylor at #19 Oklahoma State (7:00 pm)
Soccer SPA: Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona (Sat. 3:00 pm) EPL: Liverpool vs. Manchester City (Sun. 11:30 am) MLS: LA Galaxy vs. LAFC (Sun. 8:00 pm)
WNBA Playoffs (Sunday) Sun at Sky (1:00 pm) Aces at Mercury (3:00 pm)
NASCAR Playoffs Talladega Superspeedway (Sun. 2:00 pm)
*All Times Eastern
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