Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I was pretty annoyed to hear Joe Davis say during the Steelers-Vikings game in Dublin that Croke Park was used “primarily for soccer and Gaelic football.” If you read my story about the stadium, you’d know how messed up it is to say that it’s closely associated with soccer.
In today’s SI:AM:
⚾ MLB’s final day
🇺🇸 Another U.S. Ryder Cup disappointment
🏀 Fever still alive
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162 games in the books
When MLB started playing all games on the final day of the season simultaneously back in 2015, days like yesterday were just what it had in mind.
While only one playoff spot in either league was still up for grabs entering Sunday’s action, six out of the 15 games on the schedule had some sort of playoff implications. The Mets and Reds were fighting for the final wild-card spot in the NL, the Tigers and Guardians were battling for the AL Central crown (and home field advantage in the wild-card series between them) and the Yankees and Blue Jays were fighting for the AL East championship (and a first-round bye). Here’s how it all played out.
Reds sneak in as Mets blow it
Cincinnati and New York entered the final day with identical 83–78 records, but the Reds held the tiebreaker by virtue of having won the regular-season series 4–2. The Mets’ only hope of securing a postseason berth was beating the Marlins and having the Reds lose to the Brewers. The Reds, meanwhile, would be in with either a win or a Mets loss.
The Reds took an early 2–0 lead in their game in Milwaukee before the Brewers scored four unanswered runs to go up 4–2 through four innings. That gave the Mets a glimmer of hope, but they were unable to take advantage. New York fell flat in a 4–0 loss in Miami, leaving 10 runners on base and going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Reds game ended first, so the Mets entered the ninth inning knowing they needed a rally to save their season. They didn’t even manage a hit.
The loss marks the culmination of a total late-season collapse for the Mets. They went 20–30 since Aug. 3, including a 1–10 stretch in August and a 1–9 stretch in September. They had the second-highest payroll in MLB this season ($339 million) and only managed 83 wins. The Reds, meanwhile, will face the team with the sport’s biggest payroll, the Dodgers, in the wild-card series on Tuesday.
Blue Jays leave no doubt
The Yankees and Jays entered the weekend tied atop AL East, with Toronto holding the tiebreaker. Both teams won Friday and Saturday, meaning the Yankees needed a win and a Toronto loss to clinch the division and a first-round bye, while the Jays would clinch with either a win or a Yankees loss.
The Jays quickly extinguished any hopes of a Yankees division title when Alejandro Kirk hit a grand slam in the first inning of Toronto’s game against the Rays to make it 5–1. Tampa Bay managed to claw back and cut the deficit to 5–4 after three innings, but the Jays put the hammer down and scored eight unanswered en route to a 13–4 win. That made Ben Rice’s go-ahead homer in the eighth for the Yankees a lot less dramatic, although New York did hold on to win and match last season’s record of 94–68.
That means the Yankees will face the Red Sox in the wild-card round beginning Tuesday in the Bronx, with the winner of that series moving on to face Toronto.
Tigers complete collapse, but still back in
The biggest story of the final month of the season was the unexpectedly dramatic race for the AL Central. The Tigers had led the Guardians by 15 ½ games on July 8 and 12 ½ games on Aug. 25, but Detroit cratered down the stretch and set up a tense race to the finish.
The Tigers still could have won the division on Sunday with a win over the Red Sox and a Cleveland loss to the Rangers. It didn’t work out that way, though. Detroit lost to a Boston lineup consisting mostly of backups, but it didn’t matter anyway because the Guardians got a 10-inning walk-off win over Texas.
Those results give the Guardians a major advantage in their upcoming wild-card series against the Tigers. Not only is Cleveland the hotter team, but winning the division means the series will be played in the Guardians’ home park.
Statistical roundup
The standings were the main thing to watch on Sunday, but there were also a few stats worth keeping an eye on. Here are the most notable ones:
- 60 homers for Cal Raleigh: After hitting two homers on Wednesday to reach the vaunted milestone, Raleigh didn’t go deep in any of his final four games. Aaron Judge’s single-season AL record of 63 remains intact.
- Judge wins batting crown: Speaking of Judge, he went 1-for-4 in the Yankees’ finale to finish with an MLB-best .331 batting average. No one else even came close to matching him. Jacob Wilson and Bo Bichette tied for second in the AL with a .311 average, while Trea Turner’s .304 was best in the NL. Judge hit his 53rd homer of the season on Saturday, giving him the most homers in a season by a batting champ in MLB history. (Mickey Mantle hit 52 homers and batted .353 in 1956.)
- Paul Skenes’s minuscule ERA: Skenes made his final start of the season on Wednesday, throwing six scoreless innings against the Reds. That dropped his ERA to 1.97, making him the first qualified pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2022 to have a sub-2.00 ERA and the youngest pitcher to do so since 20-year-old Doc Gooden in 1985.
- Juan Soto ties for steals lead: First Shohei Ohtani decided to show off his wheels last season, now Soto has followed suit. Soto stole two bases on Friday, bringing his season total to 38, tied with the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz for the most in the NL. Soto had never stolen more than 12 bases in a season before. And it’s not like he suddenly got faster. He ranked in the 38th percentile in sprint speed last season but only the 13th percentile this season.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Albert Breer breaks down Week 4 with takeaways on the Chiefs’ resurgence, the Rams and Jaguars’ big wins and what’s next for the NFL’s International Series.
- Conor Orr writes that Jerry Jones has no reason to feel good after Sunday night’s tie with Micah Parsons and the Packers, no matter how he spins it.
- Michael Rosenberg argues that the U.S. lost this Ryder Cup long before Sunday’s rally, with the team’s fate sealed years in advance.
- Emma Baccellieri details how the Fever’s relentless desperation carried them past the Aces to force a decisive Game 5 in Las Vegas.
- SI tips off its men’s college basketball preseason Top 25 countdown today, starting with No. 25 and breaking down why this battle-tested squad has the pieces to make noise.
- After a chaotic weekend of ranked matchups, Alabama has re-entered the College Football Playoff conversation with a clear path to the SEC title game and a potential first-round bye.
The top five…
… things I saw yesterday:
5. Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton’s effort to break a bunch of tackles on a first-down run.
4. The Eagles’ fake Tush Push for an easy touchdown.
3. A beautiful backheel goal by the Spirit’s Sofia Cantore.
2. Khalil Shakir’s balance on a 43-yard touchdown for the Bills.
1. Braves pitcher Charlie Morton’s moment with his family after leaving what was likely his final MLB game.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | MLB Bracket Set After Dramatic Final Day.
