Liberty stun Lynx as WNBA playoffs open; Astros clinch AL West at 81-81
The WNBA postseason began with a road upset, the Houston Astros won a division title despite a .500 record, and five NFL teams stayed unbeaten as the season's third week closed.
What we know
- The New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx 91-75 on the road in Game 1 of their WNBA first-round series, with Breanna Stewart cited for a clutch performance. [1]
- The Las Vegas Aces (A'ja Wilson), Atlanta Dream (Rhyne Howard, Angel Reese) and Golden State Valkyries (Cecilia Zandalasini, Gabby Williams) also won their WNBA first-round openers. [1]
- The Houston Astros clinched the AL West title with a 9-0 win over the Athletics, finishing the regular season 81-81 — the worst record ever for a first-place team, according to the recap. [3]
- The Los Angeles Dodgers closed the regular season with their 100th win, beating the San Francisco Giants 5-1 in 10 innings. [3]
- Not yet confirmed: The sources do not give full playoff seeding or bracket details beyond the four WNBA first-round results listed, and do not specify every MLB team's final postseason positioning.
The WNBA playoffs opened Sunday night with an upset: the New York Liberty (26-18) beat the Minnesota Lynx (33-11) 91-75 in Minnesota to take Game 1 of their first-round series. Breanna Stewart was credited with another clutch performance in the win. [1]
Elsewhere in the WNBA first round, A'ja Wilson played like someone with multiple MVP awards as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever 102-85. Rhyne Howard scored 26 points and Angel Reese added 13 points and 12 rebounds in her first career playoff game as the Atlanta Dream beat the Washington Mystics 92-77. The second-seeded Golden State Valkyries pulled away from the Dallas Wings 104-80 behind 22 points from Cecilia Zandalasini and 20 from Gabby Williams. [1]
Major League Baseball closed its regular season Sunday. The Houston Astros beat the Athletics 9-0 to finish 81-81 and clinch the AL West — a record described in the recap as the worst ever for a division-winning team. The Los Angeles Dodgers ended the season with their 100th victory, 5-1 over the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings, on a go-ahead double from Alex Call and a three-run homer from Andy Pages. [3]
Other postseason-bound teams closed out their regular seasons Sunday: the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 behind home runs from Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa, the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2. The Milwaukee Brewers finished 103-59 after Jacob Misiorowski threw 5 1/3 shutout innings in a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Max Scherzer struck out seven over seven-plus innings for his 225th career win as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1. [3]
In the NFL, five teams remained unbeaten through three weeks: the Buffalo Bills (24-16 over the Los Angeles Chargers), Kansas City Chiefs (24-10 over the Miami Dolphins), Minnesota Vikings (23-16 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Las Vegas Raiders (35-27 over the New Orleans Saints) and San Francisco 49ers (36-30 over the Arizona Cardinals behind quarterback Brock Purdy). The Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 in Sunday's game in Rio de Janeiro on what the recap called one of the shortest, most memorable drives in franchise history led by Lamar Jackson. [2]
Also in the NFL, Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns beat the Carolina Panthers 21-18. [2]