Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Thursday, September 19.

SHOHEI OHTANI

That’s right, he gets his own section. You deserve it when you have one of the single greatest days in MLB history:

• We’ll start with the headline: Shohei Ohtani is the first baseball player ever with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season. He’s not just the first player with a 50-50 season, Shohei is one of just three players ever to have a season of 50 home runs and another season of 50 steals– Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson are the others. The guy is writing new chapters in the history books.

• He didn’t stop at 50: Ohtani went 6-6 yesterday with three home runs, 10 RBIs, and two stolen bases. That statline is nothing we’ve ever seen before. Even without the history-breaking 50-50 (or the 51-51 he currently sits at), it would have been a historic day at the plate. As Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said after the game, “Good day for baseball, a bad day for the Marlins."

• 51 home runs in a season is a Dodgers franchise record. 10 RBIs in a game is a Dodgers record, too. Shohei isn’t messing around in his first year with his new club.

• No active player in Major League Baseball has played more games without appearing in the postseason than Ohtani. Well, that ends in 2024, as the Dodgers victory clinched a playoff berth.

• I can keep listing stats and telling you how unbelievable this was, but really, you should see it for yourself. I recommend turning up the sound, so you can take a listen to Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis:

NFL

Thursday Night Football was fun for Jets fans, but not too entertaining for everyone else. New York dominated all aspects of this one, stomping the Patriots 24-3. Two notes from the game:

• Aaron Rodgers looked like vintage, MVP Rodgers last night. The coolest stat from his performance? Rodgers threw his 480th career touchdown pass, connecting with Garrett Wilson. It’s the first touchdown of his career where Rodgers threw a TD to a wide receiver drafted in the first round.

• Twas a rough night for New England, who managed just 139 yards of total offense. Rookie QB Drake Maye came in for his debut at the end of the game and had a few nice scrambles, but otherwise the only bright spot was the punter, Bryce Baringer. Too bad you can’t draft him to your fantasty team!

MLB

Right, there were other baseball games played yesterday…

• Cleveland clinched a playoff spot with a walk-off win against the Twins. The Guardians have a 6.5 game lead in the AL Central, which they will likely secure in the coming days. And with the Twins loss, Detroit is now even with Minnesota for the third AL wild card spot.

• Anthony Santander hit a walk-off homer for the Orioles and Baltimore beat San Francisco 5-3. The O’s lead the AL wild card race and are just four games back of the Yankees in the AL East.

WNBA

The WNBA regular season has come to an end– it’s time for the playoffs. Round one is a best-of-three series, while the semifinals and finals are best-of-five. Not sure who’s going to win? The Remix has a few picks:

• (1) New York Liberty vs (8) Atlanta Dream

  • No one is beating the Liberty, especially not a team that finished the season 15-25. New York sweeps 2-0

• (2) Minnesota Lynx vs (7) Pheonix Mercury

  • The Mercury have all the names you know, headlined by Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. But again, it’s hard to pick a team to win a playoff series on the road when they finished the year under .500. Minnesota wins 2-1

• (3) Connecticut Sun vs (6) Indiana Fever

  • Upset alert! Of course I’m taking Caitlin Clark and the Fever, are you kidding? It was a brutal start to the season, but this young team has really figured things out. Plus they have a home-court advantage even on the road. Indiana wins 2-1

• (4) Las Vegas Aces vs (5) Seattle Storm

  • Tough draw here for Seattle, a very good team that gets stuck playing the two-time defending champs and best player in the world A’ja Wilson. Vegas has coasted all season– get ready for the Aces to turn it up a level. Las Vegas sweeps 2-0

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

The PGA announced that all golfers– including those on the LIV Tour– are now eligible to play in the PGA Championship and qualify for the Ryder Cup. This is big news for top players like Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, who had been shunned from PGA events since leaving the tour.

Not really news, but I simply had to include this behind-the-back shot from Corentin Moutet. How does someone even think of trying this?

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB: The penultimate weekend of the regular season is here, with games all day every day– you’ll notice some particularly interesting matchups in the American League:

TENNIS: Lavar Cup, Friday-Sunday in Berlin, on Tennis Channel

• The Lavar Cup is a super fun, high-stakes exhibition tennis team event. It’s Europe vs the Rest of the World, with the biggest stars in men’s tennis taking center stage.

NCAA FOOTBALL: (24) Illinois @ (22) Nebraska, 8 PM on Fox

• Who could have predicted this? A huge Friday meeting between ranked Big 10 teams takes place tonight in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are favored by just over a touchdown.

SATURDAY’S BIG GAMES

NCAA FOOTBALL: As we move into conference play, the potential playoff teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack:

• (11) USC @ (18) Michigan, 3:30 PM on CBS

• Georgia Tech @ (19) Louisville, 3:30 PM on ESPN2

• (12) Utah @ (14) Oklahoma State, 4 PM on Fox

• (6) Tennessee @ (15) Oklahoma, 7:30 on ABC

• UL-Monroe @ (1) Texas, 8 PM on ESPN+

  • Arch Manning’s first college start, and it’s against General Booty and ULM!

• (13) Kansas State @ BYU, 10:30 PM on ESPN

SUNDAY’S BIG GAMES

WNBA: It’s a quick turnaround from the end of the regular season, as game one in each best-of-three playoff series begins this weekend:

• Dream @ Liberty, 1 PM on ESPN

• Fever @ Sun, 3 PM on ABC

• Mercury @ Lynx, 5 PM on ESPN

• Storm @ Aces, 10 PM on ESPN

SOCCER: Arsenal @ Manchester City, 11:30 AM on USA/Peacock

• Two of the favorites for the Premier League title clash this Sunday in Manchester.

NFL: We’ve arrived at week three of the football season– here are the must-see matchups scheduled for Sunday:

• Texans @ Vikings, 1 PM on CBS

• Eagles @ Saints, 1 PM on Fox

• Ravens @ Cowboys, 4:25 PM on Fox

• Chiefs @ Falcons, 8:20 PM on NBC

Thanks for another great week of the Remix! Have a fantastic weekend- see you on Monday!