Good Morning! Today is Monday, October 7th. Here’s what happened over the weekend in the world of sports.

MLB

We’ve got six playoff baseball games leading off this fine Monday morning, so let’s get right to it:

YANKEES-ROYALS

Three things to know from New York’s 6-5 win in game one of the ALDS:

• This game swung back and forth, with multiple home runs and five lead changes. One thing is certain– these young Royals aren’t scared of a big moment.

• Was Jazz Chisholm really safe? Chisholm scored the winning run on Alex Verdugo’s single in the 7th inning, but replays show he may have been out stealing second base. Kansas City fans are pretty positive this was a missed call, but you can judge for yourself.

• Luke Weaver is a very likable postseason hero. The Yankee closer was once a highly-regarded prospect, became a journeyman starting pitcher, and just last season was claimed by New York on waivers. Now, he’s recording four-out saves for the pinstripes. That’s a pretty cool story.

TIGERS-GUARDIANS

This is the quickest and easiest recap– Cleveland got off to a dream start, scoring five runs in the first inning. The home-team Guardians controlled every moment of their 7-0 victory in game one. Let’s see how they do against Tarik Skubal tonight in game two.

PHILLIES-METS

I probably need 1,000 words to really capture the first two games of this series. Seriously, this is fantastic playoff baseball, and I recommend tuning in:

• Kyle Schwarber began the series with a patented lead-off home run. The Phillies DH ranks fourth all-time with 21 career postseason home runs.

• Once Philly starter Zack Wheeler left the game, however, New York took over. The OMG Mets put up five runs in the 8th inning on their way to a startling 6-2 victory. I cannot emphasize enough how dominant Wheeler was, and how impressive the Mets lineup performed in this late-inning comeback.

• How can you follow that, right? Well, game two was one for the history books. The Mets got the scoring started on a two-run homer from Mark Vientos. And New York starter Luis Severino was cruising until Bryce Harper smashed a two-run home run of his own in the 6th inning. Philly was right back in the game. But this one was just getting started…

• The Mets took a 4-3 lead on a Brandon Nimmo home run in the 7th. Almost immediately, birthday boy Bryson Stott answered with a two-run triple in the bottom of the 8th. Could the Phillies close this one out?

• Mark Vientos hit his second two-run home run of the game to tie this one 6-6 in the ninth inning– once again, the Mets had pulled off a miraculous victory. But Philly got runners on base in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Castellanos stepped up to the plate with two outs. And he delivered:

DODGERS-PADRES

Shohei. Rivalry. Fans. Tatis. That’s the four-word summary of this series so far. This one is also tied at one game apiece, but here’s the short version on how we got there:

• Behind a majestic Manny Machado home run, San Diego jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in game one. You could hear the groans across LA– “not again… we can’t lose this early again!” Well Dodger fans, Shohei Ohtani is on your team now. And he can do stuff like this:

• To San Diego’s credit, they answered right back and reclaimed a lead. But Teoscar Hernandez drove in two runs on a two-out single in the fourth inning and the Dodgers bullpen pitched just well enough to put a few key zeroes in the box score. LA won game one 7-5.

• Game two was an interesting one. Fernando Tatis crushed a home run off Jack Flaherty in the first inning to give the Padres a 1-0 lead. It looked like Mookie Betts had answered for LA in the bottom of the first, but Jurickson Profar had other ideas:

• From there, this one was all San Diego. Yu Darvish spun a gem on the mound, giving up just one run and three hits over seven innings. The Padres hit a total of six homers– including another by Tatis– on their way to a dominant 10-2 victory.

• Besides the Padres win, the story of this game was the escalation of the rivalry. There was a 10-minute stoppage of play because fans threw objects at the San Diego outfielders. Flaherty and Machado exchanged words after a strikeout. And we still have at least two more games to go!

NFL

It’s time for another Remix Six (does anyone care about the name? just me?) as we get into the heart of the NFL season:

• We begin across the pond in London, where Minnesota continued their strong start to the season. The Vikings defense picked off Aaron Rodgers twice in a 23-17 victory. It was obvious which team enjoyed their trip to England more–Minnesota celebrated big plays with the Parent Trap handshake, while the Jets just… well, they lost again.

• Joe Flacco turned back the clock yesterday, galloping for first downs and throwing a few beautiful long touchdown passes. It wasn’t enough for Indianapolis– the Colts fell 37-34 to the Jaguars, who now have their first win of the season.

• The game of the day may have been in Cincinnati, as Joe Burrow dueled Lamar Jackson. Burrow connected with star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for 193 yards and two touchdowns… but the Ravens got the last laugh. Evan McPherson missed a field and Baltimore took down the Bengals 41-38 in overtime. Before we move to the next game, let’s take a moment to appreciate what may be the greatest six-yard touchdown pass of all-time:

• The only matchup of 3-1 teams yesterday was in Houston, and this contest lived up to the expectations. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills came back from an early deficit to tie the game at 20, but after some very odd clock management, they set up their opponents for a game-winning field goal as time expired. CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans won this battle of top teams 23-20.

• After a lengthy thunderstorm delayed the start of Sunday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys played a defensive-minded football game. After an impressive drive gave Pittsburgh a late lead, Dak Prescott connected with Jalen Tolbert on a touchdown pass with 20 seconds remaining to give Dallas a 20-17 victory.

• How about the New York Giants! I thought the highlight from this game would be a 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but no. Seattle set up for a game-tying field goal with a minute remaining in the fourth quarter– that’s when the Giants special teams stepped up and made the ultimate winning play:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

You know it’s been a crazy weekend of sports when this set of college football games is the third section… settle in, some of these results are startling:

• Seven AP top-25 teams lost over the weekend… (t-25) Texas A&M absolutely walloped (9) Mizzou, (t-25) undefeated UNLV lost a thrilling overtime game against Syracuse, (22) Louisville was upset at home against new ACC rival SMU, Minnesota held on to beat new Big 10 program (11) USC, Washington took down (10) Michigan, and Arkansas pulled off a win against (4) Tennessee. You’ll notice that’s only six, because one underdog stands out from the rest…

• Unranked Vanderbilt stunned the number one team in the country on Saturday, taking down the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide 40-35. One week after winning the craziest game of the year against top-ranked Georgia, Alabama fell to Vanderbilt for the first time in their last 23 meetings. No matter how many insane plays Bama wide receiver Ryan Williams made, Vandy and QB Diego Pavia had an answer. There are so many amazing stats and records from this game– you can read all the best ones here. As for the students at Vanderbilt? They’ll just remember how Nashville celebrated, with the goalposts from the field making their way down Broadway street. 

• The upsets were the story of the weekend, but everyone should know about Ashton Jeanty. The Boise State running back is the new favorite to win the Heisman this season because of plays like this one:

WNBA

Both WNBA playoff series went to game four on Sunday, but only one team was able to clinch a spot in the final. The New York Liberty outscored the Las Vegas Aces 23-11 in the fourth quarter on their way to a resounding 76-62 victory. The best team all summer long, New York is the favorite to win their first ever WNBA title. Their opponent will be the winner of Tuesday night’s game between the Connecticut Sun and Minnesota Lynx, who play a winner-take-all game five after splitting their two contests over the weekend.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

We knew it had to happen before the season started tomorrow, but the Boston Bruins have finally signed goalie Jeremy Swayman to a new contract. This also serves as your official warning– hockey season starts tomorrow!

San Diego Padres starter Joe Musgrove will undergo Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the remainder of the postseason. Musgrove will likely be out all of next season, too. It’s a tough break for the team and their popular starting pitcher.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

MLB PLAYOFFS: Two game twos in the ALDS tonight, and it’s a similar story in each series. The visiting teams are down 1-0, but turn the ball to their impressive left-handed aces:

• Tigers (Tarik Skubal) @ Guardians (Matthew Boyd), 4:08 PM on TBS/Max

• Royals (Cole Ragans) @ Yankees (Carlos Rodon), 7:38 PM on TBS/Max

NFL: Saints @ Chiefs, 8:15 PM on ESPN

• New Orleans needs a big game from Alvin Kamara tonight if they’re going to pull off the upset on the road against the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs.

And that’s a Remix. Thanks for reading!