Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Tuesday, October 1st.

MLB

Playoff baseball never disappoints! And on day one, we had a little bit of everything. Let’s get into it:

AL Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal continued his dominance on the mound, striking out six and giving up just four hits over six scoreless innings for the Tigers. And the bottom of the Detroit lineup rallied for three runs in the 2nd inning against Astros starter Framber Valdez, including this surprising RBI single on a 3-0 pitch by catcher Jake Rogers. After some nervy moments in the ninth, the Gritty Tigs won game one in Houston 3-1.

Game two was a pitcher’s duel in Baltimore, as Corbin Burnes and Cole Ragans delivered shutdown performances on the mound. Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. drove in the only run of this game, lining a single to left to give Kansas City a 1-0 victory and a 1-0 series lead.

Just as they have all season, the Mets played a crazy baseball game. Despite giving up two runs to Milwaukee in the first inning, New York clawed back and trailed 4-3 in the fifth. That’s when they broke the game wide open. With two outs and two runners on base, OMG singer Jose Iglesias hustled for an infield single to tie the score. Four batters later, the Mets had the lead. Mark Vientos drove in two runs and J.D. Martinez added two more as part of a five-run 5th inning. New York shut down the Brewers the rest of the way, winning the ballgame 8-4.

The final game of the evening was a one-sided affair. Leading off the first inning, on-base machine Luis Arraez singled and Fernando Tatis Jr. smashed the first home run of the postseason to give San Diego a 2-0 lead. Padres starter Michael King was practically unhittable, striking out 12 Braves, walking none, and allowing just five hits over seven innings. San Diego was the only home team to win yesterday, as they took down the Braves 4-0.

WNBA

The New York Liberty are one win away from the WNBA finals. Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points and New York won game two 88-84 at home against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. No team in WNBA history has come back to win a best-of-five series from a 2-0 deficit. If anyone can do it though, I’d bet on A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces.

Minnesota evened their series 1-1 against the Sun, taking game two 77-70. The Lynx won behind a strong defensive performance, holding Connecticut’s star forward Napheesa Collier to just nine points. With two evenly matched, highly competitive teams, this series may go the distance.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Another week, another update on conference realignment! Gonzaga has announced they will be joining the Pac-12 as a non-football member. It could turn out to be a great move for the basketball powerhouse, but it also means there are more programs moving west in the near future. Also yesterday, UTEP revealed they are leaving Conference USA for the Mountain West. And so the chairs keep shuffling…

…even though one day, none of this may matter. A group of high-ranking administrators, executives, and wealthy football people have released a proposed “College Football Super League” that, in my humble opinion, makes a lot of sense. Under their proposal, D-I football would be separated from the NCAA structure and organized under one central umbrella. The top 72 programs (basically the schools that made up the Power 5) would play in the first division, while the remaining 64 programs would play in tier two. There would be opportunities for promotion for teams in the lower divisions, too. Players would be paid, loopholes would be closed, and all the other college sports would have the ability to return to their historic and geographic conferences. Despite all the positives and the support from prominent figures, however, it’s unlikely this proposal takes hold anytime soon.

The Diamondbacks just barely missed the postseason, and their owner is wasting no time talking about their failures. Ken Kendrick says he pushed hard for Arizona to sign starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery late in spring training… “And looking back, in hindsight, a horrible decision to invest that money in a guy who performed as poorly as he did. It's our biggest mistake this season from a talent standpoint.” Ouch! Do you think Montgomery is going to use his player option and remain in Arizona next season? Is $22.5 million enough to stick around in that environment?

NHL opening night is in one week, and the Boston Bruins have yet to agree to a contract with their starting goalie Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins front office made some questionable statements and Swayman’s camp shot back, turning the negotiations public and making a mess of the situation. All I know is that if Boston wants to compete for another Stanley Cup, they’re probably gonna have to pay the man.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: It’s win or go home for four playoff teams– that’s the quick and somewhat brutal structure of the wild card round:

• Tigers @ Astros, 1:30 PM on ABC

  • Tyler Holton (DET) vs Hunter Brown (HOU)

• Royals @ Orioles, 4:38 PM on ESPN

  • Seth Lugo (KC) vs Zach Eflin (BAL)

• Mets @ Brewers, 7:38 PM on ESPN

  • Sean Manaea (NYM) vs Frankie Montas (MIL)

• Braves @ Padres, 8:38 PM on ESPN2

  • Max Fried (ATL) vs Joe Musgrove (SD)

“In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to dispel the gloom.”– John Burroughs