Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Tuesday, September 17.

MLB

Baseball! Baseball! Read all about it:

• Another thriller last in Kansas City– chasing the Royals in the wild card race, Detroit scored two runs in the 10th to win the ballgame 3-1. The Tigers are just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

• It’s been a few days since we’ve had a Shohei Ohtani update– well, with a home run last night, the best player in baseball now has 48. Ohtani is just two steals and two homers away from the first ever 50-50 season… although the Dodgers did drop their game to the Marlins 11-9.

• Another day, another crazy Mets victory! New York thumped the Nationals 10-1 last night, and after the Braves lost to the Reds, the Mets increased their lead to two games for the last NL wild card spot.

• Not sure how else to say this: the Astros-Padres game was strange. First, Houston second baseman Jose Altuve was ejected for taking off a shoe and sock in an attempt to prove a ball hit him (image below). A few innings later, the Padres challenged the call that their own batter Jurickson Profar was hit by a pitch, because they wanted him to finish his at-bat with runners in scoring position. It was a rare no-win decision for the umps, who angered both teams by awarding Profar first base. Houston won the game 4-3 on the next at-bat , thanks to an impressive diving stop by second baseman Grae Kessinger (filling in for Altuve).

• Finally, in honor of his 200th career home run last night, here are some fun Juan Soto stats that will impress your friends: First, Soto is now the sixth active player with a home run at all 30 stadiums. The 25-year old slugger and Aaron Judge are the first pair of teammates in MLB history with 40 home runs and 120 walks each in the same season. And today’s TRIVIA QUESTION: Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are the third pair of Yankees to each hit 40 home runs in a season. Can you name the other duos? Find the answer at the bottom! Oh, and the Yankees beat the Mariners 11-2. 

SOCCER

The Champions League is off and running with some spectacular goals on the first day of competition. Plus there are a couple of Americans who are making a big impact on Europe’s most prestigious sporting competition. Weston McKennie scored in a 3-1 win for Juventus, while Christian Pulisic opened the scoring with a stunner for AC Milan (although Liverpool came back to win):

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

On a quest for their first ever championship, the New York Liberty have clinched the number one seed in the WNBA playoffs. Just one game remains in the regular season- all 12 teams in the W are in action tomorrow.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: If you’ve been following this section all week, you’ll notice the wild card race just keeps getting closer. Could we end up with a four or five-way tie?

TRIVIA ANSWER: In addition to Soto and Judge (2024), the Yankee duos to hit 40 home runs in a season are Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (1961) and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931).

“Have fun storming the castle!” –The Princess Bride