Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Wednesday, September 18.

MLB

Wednesday, September 18th was a great day to watch Major League Baseball. Settle in for some top-tier highlights:

• We begin with the Milwaukee Brewers, who are the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot. The Brewers have been in first place in the NL Central for practically the entire year, and they finished the season strong, celebrating the clinching with a walk-off win over the Phillies. This is back-to-back NL Central titles for Milwaukee, and three in the last four years. Now it’s time to see if they can make some noise in October.

• There’s been a sweep in KC! The Detroit Tigers won another crucial game against the Royals, and are now just half a game out of a playoff spot. Detroit is 25-10 since August 11, good for the best record in baseball during that stretch. Talk about getting hot at the right time! And they’re winning games with exciting plays like this one:

• Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado, and Donovan Solano hit back-to-back-to-back home runs last night in a Padres win over the Astros. Life is good in San Diego right now: they control the NL wild card race, and each win applies a little bit of pressure on the Dodgers in the NL West.

• The two worst teams in the American League played a 13-inning thriller yesterday in Anaheim. It was the home team who came out on top, as the Angels took down the White Sox 4-3. Chicago now has 117 losses on the year, with nine games remaining. Remember, 120 losses would tie the record.

• Luisangel Acuna hit his first career home run on Tuesday. He followed that up with another homer last night. All is well in Queens, where the Mets walloped the Nationals 10-0.

• A few hours after the Brewers, the New York Yankees beat the Mariners and clinched the first playoff spot in the American League. They have not yet clinched the AL East– Baltimore is five games behind them– but it was a celebratory night for the Yankees nonetheless. The Yankees also gave us the moment of the night. Down 2-1 in the 10th inning, Seattle had runners on first and third with no one out. Then… well, you have to watch to really understand:

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

The WNBA announced a new expansion team based in Portland will join the league in 2026. Portland will be the 15th WNBA franchise, as the Golden State Valkyries and a newly announced team in Toronto will join the current 12 in the coming years.

After a rough start of the year snowballed into one of the worst seasons of his career, the Baltimore Orioles have released closer Craig Kimbrel. We’ll see how much longer the 36-year old pitches in the big leagues.

Coco Gauff has split with her coach Brad Gilbert. Gauff began working with Gilbert just before the best run of her career last summer, where she won multiple top tournaments including the US Open. Recent results, however, have not been as great.

Breaking news from Adrian Wojnarowski… is no longer an alert that you will be receiving. The famed NBA Insider has retired from reporting and left his post at ESPN. Woj is taking on a new role as the general manager of the St. Bonaventure basketball team, where his vast network of connections and baseball intel will help guide the Bonnies through the complex college sports landscape. You can read his official statement below:

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: Another day, another look at the wild card race… adding Boston to the list, just in case:

WNBA: Every team is in action on the final day of the regular season! Three teams are playing for the 8th and final playoff spot, plus Caitlin Clark and the Fever need a win to finish the season with a winning record:

• Chicago Sky @ Connecticut Sun, 7 PM

• Atlanta Dream @ New York Liberty, 7 PM on NBA TV

• Indiana Fever @ Washington Mystics, 7 PM on Prime Video

NFL: Patriots @ Jets, 8:15 PM on Amazon Prime

• An AFC East rivalry starts off week three of the football season. The Patriots are 15-1 in their last 16 games against the Jets, with that sole New York victory occurring the last week of the 2023 season. Can Aaron Rodgers and the Jets build some positive momentum and move to 2-1? Or will New England once again to be their kryptonite?

And that’s a Remix! We’ll end today with a little history about home, as told by the great Vin Scully: