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⚾ Good morning to all, but especially to ...
THE HOUSTON ASTROS, THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES AND THE SAN DIEGO PADRES
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Astros are AL West champions for the fourth straight year and the seventh time in the last eight years after a 4-3 win over the Mariners.
This one was far from a foregone conclusion. The Mariners came out of the gates fast while the Astros started slow. Houston was 12 games under .500 in early May and 10 games back of Seattle in mid-June. Since that 10-game deficit, though, Houston is an AL-best 53-32. That'd be a 101-win pace for an entire season.
This year's Astros have faced plenty of twists and turns, especially from a health standpoint, but many of the foundational elements of this dynasty continue to get it done, Matt Snyder notes.
Going from a team that's been dominant to a team trying to get there, the Orioles also punched their postseason ticket with a 5-3 win over the Yankees and a Twins loss to the Marlins. Baltimore will likely be the AL's top wild card team.
The Orioles have lots of young talent (Jackson Holliday, 20, had his own postgame celebration), but they've played sub-.500 baseball since the All-Star break due to a variety of factors. Still, the lineup has plenty of pop, and perhaps last year's postseason experience can help stars Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander and Adley Rutschman. Baltimore hasn't won a playoff game since 2014.
Finally, the Padres locked up a playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Dodgers that featured a game-ending triple play. The win not only guarantees postseason baseball for the Padres, but it moves them to within two games of the Dodgers in the NL West. They also have the tiebreaker over Los Angeles should one be needed.
Similar to the Astros, the Padres started slow but have been blazing hot since the All-Star break with an incredible 40-17 record -- a 117-win pace for a whole season. The Friars have gotten remarkable contributions from Jackson Merrill, Jurickson Profar, Dylan Cease and Michael King, and Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. are star-level anchors. San Diego has MLB's best batting average and strikeout rate.
👍 Honorable mentions
- Kristaps Porzingis is pushing for a sooner-than-expected comeback.
- Here are our top 25 Eastern Conference players and our top 25 Western Conference players.
- The Grizzlies are retiring Tony Allen's jersey.
- The White Sox don't have the worst season in MLB history ... yet!
- Could there be a new oldest active player in the NFL?
- Brandon Marcello spoke to Jimbo Fisher about returning to coaching and more.
- Olivier Giroud explained why Christian Pulisic is thriving.
- We have updated USMNT striker rankings.
- These are the most interesting teams this NHL season.
👎 Not so honorable mentions
- Micah Parsons and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are in a war of words.
- Trent Brown (torn patellar tendon) is done for the season.
- Austin Ekeler (concussion, ear laceration) didn't travel with the Commanders to Arizona.
- Are big changes coming for the Jaguars?
- Austin Riley's season is over (broken hand).
- Kawhi Leonard reportedly had another knee procedure this offseason.
- Mack Brown spoke about his jarring postgame locker room speech.
- Hugh Freeze had some not smart comments on Auburn's loss to Arkansas, and Razorbacks AD Hunter Yurachek hit back.
- The Pac-12 is suing the Mountain West over its "poaching penalty."
- The Sparks parted ways with Curt Miller.
🏀 WNBA playoffs: Liberty, Aces earn sweeps to set up semifinal matchup
We're getting a WNBA Finals rematch, this year just one round earlier. The Liberty will face the Aces in the semifinals after the teams finished two-game sweeps of the Dream and Storm, respectively, on Tuesday.
New York trailed early in the second half, but Sabrina Ionescu didn't let things go any further. The Liberty superstar notched a franchise postseason record-tying 36 points to fuel the No. 1 seed's 91-82 win. Ionescu added nine assists and was terrific all night, Jack Maloney writes.
Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and the supporting cast will face plenty of star power against Las Vegas, which beat Seattle, 83-76. Though it hasn't been a typical dominant year for the Aces, they're looking for a three-peat, and with unanimous MVP A'ja Wilson (24 points, 13 rebounds), Kelsey Plum (29 points), Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young leading the way, they'll be a tough out. The Liberty know that all too well.
🏈 NFL Power Rankings: Eagles surge, Raiders flop
The top five of Pete Prisco's NFL Power Rankings feature, unsurprisingly, the five remaining undefeated teams.
- Chiefs (previous: 1)
- Bills (2)
- Vikings (5)
- Seahawks (7)
- Steelers (10)
I totally get the Chiefs being No. 1. They're the reigning champs ... twice over. They're undefeated. If I had to pick a team to win it all, I'd be hard-pressed to stray from Kansas City.
But if this is about the best team right now, I think the Bills or Vikings should be No. 1. Buffalo has the NFL's best point differential (+64) and best points per drive (3.5), while Minnesota has two of the league's best wins so far, over the 49ers and the Texans.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, snuck by the Ravens by a few inches, survived a fourth and 16 via penalty to beat the Bengals and snuck out a win over the Falcons thanks to an uncalled pass interference. DVOA -- an all-encompassing measure -- ranks the Chiefs 13th this season with an expected 1.7 wins. Instead, they have three wins. But hey, they certainly know how to win, and until they don't, it's hard to move them off that perch. And, as Pete says, "I still think the best is yet to come."
The Eagles were huge movers from 18th to seventh after beating the Saints, but they didn't have the biggest improvement in the league, much less in their own division. The Commanders jumped from 29th to 17th after beating the Bengals. I enjoyed Jordan Dajani's "A star is born" piece on Jayden Daniels, and Daniels easily tops Chris Trapasso's young quarterback grades.
The Raiders, meanwhile, fell from 14th to 30th after a blowout loss to the Panthers, representing the biggest fall off.
🏈 CBS Sports 134, projected College Football Playoff and much more
New quarterback, same ranking. Texas remained atop the CBS Sports 134 after cruising by ULM in Arch Manning's first career start, and there's a case to be made Manning should remain the starter this week for the Longhorns' SEC debut against Mississippi State as Quinn Ewers recovers from his abdominal injury.
But there is a shift right behind Texas: Ohio State is up to No. 2, jumping Georgia, which dropped to No. 3 during its bye week. Tennessee and Alabama round out the top five.
While we love talking powerhouses, remember there is a Group of Five spot in the College Football Playoff. Two Group of Five teams were our biggest risers this week: James Madison is up from 79th to 35th, and Navy jumped from 78th to 49th.
Speaking of the CFP, in Brad Crawford's latest projected field, there's a new favorite for Big 12 champion ... and the No. 4 seed.
- Crawford: "For the first time, BYU is the projected Big 12 champion after making an emphatic statement at home against previously unbeaten Kansas State. Over a six-minute stretch of game time ... the Cougars turned a 6-point deficit into a 25-point lead. ... The Big 12 is wide open and we've had a fun time spotlighting different teams in this slot through the last few weeks -- Iowa State, Utah and Kansas State most recently. Long way to go out there."
We also have Brandon Marcello's Power Rankings and an updated Bottom 25.
Brett Favre reveals he has Parkinson's disease
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed Tuesday that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, an incurable degenerative disorder. Favre made the announcement while speaking before the House Ways and Means Committee as part of an ongoing investigation into potential misuse of taxpayer money.
Favre, 54, has been accused of using personal connections to redirect money meant for the Mississippi welfare fund to his alma mater, Southern Miss.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who coached Favre with the Packers, reacted to the news Tuesday.
📺 What we're watching Wednesday
🏀 Game 2: Fever at Sun, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Game 2: Mercury at Lynx, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN