Wild Card Walk-Off
10/07/2021By: Jeff Yoder
Good Morning,
If you went to bed and missed it, a wild walk-off finish in the NL Wild Card game was one to remember. After 106 wins, the Dodgers’ season came down to one final out. Destiny called.
Letter Rip!
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MLB
Dodger Destiny: A Wild Card Walk-Off
Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Getty Images
NL Wild Card: Chris Taylor Smashes Walk-Off HR With 2 Outs in Bottom of the 9th to Lift Dodgers Over Cardinals (3-1)
How ‘bout that?! Last night’s NL Wild Card game between the Dodgers and Cardinals looked like it might need extras to decide who would face the Giants in the NLDS. Instead, one man delivered on the final out.
The Walk-Off Moment: In a 1-1 game, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th and Cody Bellinger on 2nd base, Dodgers’ LF Chris Taylor crushed a two-run, walk-off homer to send Dodger stadium into pure euphoria.
The First 9 Innings: It was the Cardinals who took a 1-0 lead off the bat in the 1st inning, but Justin Turner’s solo shot in the 4th evened things up. Five straight innings of scoreless baseball culminated in a blissful moment for the home team.
Watch: Dodgers Beat Cardinals (3-1) on Taylor’s Walk-Off in NL Wild Card
Pitcher Comparisons
M. Scherzer (LAD): 4.1 IP, 3H, 1ER, 4Ks
A. Wainwright (STL): 5.1 IP, 4H, 1ER, 5Ks
Next Up? The NLDS
The Dodgers are heading up the California coast for a date with their NL West rivals in San Francisco. Both the Giants (107-55) and Dodgers (106-56) boast the most wins across the majors, and they’ll square off early in the playoffs.
MLB Playoff Schedule (Tonight)
ALDS Gm 1: White Sox at Astros (4:00 pm ET)
ALDS Gm 1: Red Sox at Rays (8:00 pm ET)
Additional Storylines
USA Today: Defending World Series Champs Survive NL Wild-Card With Walk-Off
MLB: Joe Kelly Comes in Clutch for Dodgers After Pulling Max Scherzer in 5th
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NFL
A New QB1 in Chicago
Photo: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images
Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy Says Rookie QB Justin Fields Will Be Team Starter Moving Forward
Buckle up, Bears fans! It only took two weeks before rookie quarterback Justin Fields got on the field, and he’s now the official starter heading into Week 5. Chicago head coach Matt Nagy made the announcement on Wednesday that Fields would start regardless of Andy Dalton’s ongoing knee injury.
Justin Fields (Season Stats)
Passing: 25/52, 347 Yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing: 17 Carries, 55 Yards, 1 TD
Bears on the Battleground
The news of Fields’ takeover isn’t surprising despite his somewhat mediocre stats and a 1-1 record in two starts, but the road ahead is rough for Chicago. The Bears face the Raiders (3-1), Packers (3-1), Bucs (3-1) and 49ers (2-2) during the month of October.
The Justin Fields era in Chicago has officially begun.
Additional Storylines
ESPN: Justin Fields is QB1 for the Bears? Let’s Celebrate! Nah, Let’s Watch Some Film
USA Today: Bears Fans Convinced Someone Intervened to Name Justin Fields Permanent Starter
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WNBA
Sky Upset Sun to Reach Finals
Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images
Chicago Knocks Off Top-Seeded Connecticut; Await Winner of Aces-Mercury
Down goes the No. 1 seed! The 6th-seeded Chicago Sky took down the Connecticut Sun in Game 4 (79-69) to win the WNBA semifinals series (3-1). The Sky used a full-team effort as Courtney Vandersloot (19), Kahleah Copper (18) and Candace Parker (17) combined for 54 points. Vandersloot was deadly from deep (5-for-6). League MVP Jonquel Jones (25 points, 11 rebounds) did all she could for the Sun, but she got little help from the supporting cast.
When the Sun Goes Down…
Connecticut had a league-best 26-6 record in the regular season, including a 14-game win streak to end the year. Three losses in four games against a Chicago team with a .500 regular-season record spells the end of the Sun.
Watch: Sky Send Sun Home, Reach WNBA Finals
Other WNBA Semifinal
Game 4: Aces def. Mercury (93-76)
The Aces bounced back in Game 4 after dropping two straight to the Mercury. Las Vegas evened the series thanks to an absolute blitz in the third quarter, outscoring Phoenix 29-11. Aces’ guard Chelsea Gray gets the game-ball with a 22-point, 6-assist night. The series heads back to the desert for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday night (9:00 pm ET). (Series Tied 2-2)
Additional Storylines
ESPN: Candace Parker Plays Hometown Hero as Sky Head to WNBA Finals
The Athletic: Aces Use 24-0 Run Against Mercury to Force Game 5
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THE STORYLINES
10 Tiers, 30 Teams: Ranking Every NBA Team
It’s time for our 12th annual NBA tiers, my alternative to power rankings. Grouping teams helps clarify the league’s big-picture anatomy: who is where on the team-building spectrum, and which teams have mortgaged too much of their futures — or sacrificed too much of their recent pasts — to end up there. (ESPN+)
The third edition of the captivating Wilder-Fury saga is coming soon to a television screen near you. Tyson Fury (30-0-1), the current WBC heavyweight champion, and Deontay Wilder (42-1-1) will square off at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, in a bout billed as “Once and For All.” (FOX Sports)
️ Premier League Power Rankings
Our seventh player Power Rankings of the 2021-22 season have arrived, as plenty of superstars have got off to a flying start in the campaign. Simply put: it was incredibly tough to put 20 players in this list based on the crazy results across the Premier League in recent days. (NBC Sports)
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THE HEADLINES
New England Patriots Trade 4-Time Pro Bowl CB Stephon Gilmore to Carolina Panthers
(ESPN)
San Diego Padres Officially Fire Manager Jayce Tingler After 79-83 Season
(Bleacher Report)
NWSL’s Washington Spirit Players Ask Owner to Sell Team
(SI)
Kanye West Launches Donda Academy for High School Basketball Recruits
(Yahoo! Sports)
Green Bay Packers Finalizing Details for LB Jaylon Smith
(NBC Sports)
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