MLB  – Major League Baseball Playoffs – Divisional Series – Best of Five
Yesterday

  Philadelphia  Phillies 7, Atlanta Braves 6                                    (PHI Leads 1-0)

  Houston  Astros 8, Seattle Mariners 7                                       (HOU Leads 1-0) 

  New  York Yankees 4, Cleveland Guardians 1                               (NYY Leads 1-0) 

Los  Angeles Dodgers 5, San Diego Padres 3                                (LAD Leads 1-0) 

Phillies 7, Braves 6 – Castellanos’ bat, glove help  Phillies top Braves 7-6 in NLDS

  Nick  Castellanos drove in three runs and made a potentially game-saving catch in the  ninth inning, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies over the reigning World Series  champion Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the opener of their NL Division Series. The  Phillies have won three straight games to begin these playoffs, hardly looking  like a team making its first postseason appearance since 2011. They followed up  their wild-card sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a victory over the team  that finished 14 games ahead of them in the NL East. It wasn’t easy. Matt Olson  hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Zach Eflin to bring the Braves within a  run.

Astros 8, Mariners 7 – Alvarez hits 3-run HR vs Ray in  9th, Astros jolt M’s in ALDS

  Yordan  Alvarez smashed a game-ending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth  inning off Robbie Ray, wrecking Seattle’s strategy of using a Cy Young Award  winner in a rare relief role and vaulting the Houston Astros over the Mariners  8-7 in their playoff opener. Trailing all game after a poor start by Justin  Verlander, the AL West champion Astros overtook rookie star Julio Rodríguez and  the wild-card Mariners at the end to begin their best-of-five Division Series.  Houston was down 7-5 when rookie pinch-hitter David Hensley was hit by a pitch  from Seattle closer Paul Sewald and Jeremy Peña singled with two outs. Mariners  manager Scott Servais then made the bold move to bring in Ray. Alvarez homered  on Ray’s second pitch.

Yankees 4, Guardians 1 – Cole cruises, Bader, Rizzo  bash, Yanks beat Guardians 4-1

  Gerrit  Cole cruised for most of the night, Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo homered  and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 in their AL Division  Series opener. Not even another Josh Donaldson baserunning blunder could slow  the Yankees, who have won six straight postseason games against Cleveland  dating to a comeback from a two games to none deficit in the 2017 Division  Series

Dodgers 5, Padres 3 – Turner, Dodgers start fast, hold  off Padres in NLDS opener

  Trea  Turner homered and doubled as the Los Angeles Dodgers started fast and held off  the San Diego Padres 5-3 in their NL Division Series opener. The Dodgers raced  to an early 5-0 lead and appeared to be on their way to another blowout of the  Padres. Los Angeles dominated in the regular season, owning a 14-5 advantage  and outscoring San Diego 109-47. The 111-win Dodgers claimed the NL West and  the Padres finished second, 22 games back. With Sandy Koufax watching from the  owners’ box, 17-game winner Julio Urías retired the first eight batters. Chris  Martin, who had two saves this season, pitched a perfect ninth. Struggling  closer Craig Kimbrel was left off the Dodgers’ roster for this best-of-five  matchup. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Today

  Philadelphia  (Wheeler 12-7) at Atlanta (Wright 21-5), 4:37 p.m.                    (PHI Leads 1-0) 

  San  Diego (Darvish 16-8) at Los Angeles (Kershaw 12-3), 8:37 p.m.               (LAD Leads 1-0) 

NHL – National Hockey League – Regular Season Start
Last Night

  New  York Rangers 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 1

  Vegas  Golden Knights 4, Los Angeles Kings 3

Tonight

  Chicago  Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. 

NBA – National Basketball Association – Preseason
Last Night

  Oklahoma  City Thunder 115, Detroit Pistons 99 

  Chicago  Bulls 127, Milwaukee Bucks 104

Tonight

  New  York Knicks at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.

NBA  – Draymond Green fined but not suspended, set to rejoin team

  Draymond  Green has been fined but won’t be suspended by the Golden State Warriors for a  violent punch to the face of teammate Jordan Poole last week. Coach Steve Kerr  said after a preseason win against Portland that Green would return to practice  Thursday then play for the defending NBA champions against the Nuggets on  Friday night and again in the season opener Tuesday against the Lakers. Kerr,  general manager Bob Myers and players have met to decide how to best proceed,  including Green and Poole talking to each other.

NFL  – Raiders’ Adams could be suspended for shove

  Las  Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams could face a possible suspension or fine  for shoving a photographer to the ground as he ran off the field following a  loss at Kansas City. A person familiar with the process tells The Associated  Press that the NFL is reviewing Adams’ actions. The person spoke on condition  of anonymity because the league hadn’t made the review public. Detectives from  the Kansas City Police Department’s assault unit are investigating the  incident. NFL Network was the first to report that Adams could face discipline.

NFL  – NFL to discuss roughing calls, no change imminent

  A  person with directly knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press that the  NFL did not give officials a directive to emphasize roughing-the-passer  penalties following Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion, but the  topic will be discussed next week when NFL owners meet in New York. The person  spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations are internal. The  person said the league isn’t planning to make any rule changes amid outrage  over two disputed calls in Week 5. Roughing-the-passer penalties are down 45%  from this point last year. Through Week 5 in 2021, 51 were called. Only 28 have  been called this season, according to league stats.

NCAAFB  – Penn St QB Clifford healthy, content ahead of Michigan game

  Penn  State quarterback Sean Clifford is feeling good ahead of tenth-ranked Penn  State’s game against No. 4 Michigan this weekend. The Nittany Lions are coming  off of a bye week, and Clifford was able to relax and prepared. The Wolverines  currently have the country’s fifth-best scoring defense and are fueled by their  pass rush. Penn State coach James Franklin says the sixth-year quarterback has  been building up to moments and opportunities like Saturday’s Big Ten East  showdown.

Hockey  – Hockey Canada CEO Smith out, board of directors resigns

  Hockey  Canada has ousted CEO Scott Smith. Its board of directors has also resigned  over a series of scandals that have rocked the sport’s national federation to  its core. Smith spent nearly three decades climbing the ladder at Hockey Canada  and lasted just three months at the top. The organization is dealing with  fallout related to how it handled sexual assault allegations and how the  organization paid out settlements. Former board chair Michael Brind’Amour  resigned in August and interim chair Andrea Skinner stepped down Saturday.

Golf  – PGA – Nicklaus worried big purses will minimize other tournaments

  Jack  Nicklaus is curious to see how the rich, new PGA Tour schedule goes next year.  Nicklaus has The Memorial. That’s one of the elevated events that will offer a  $20 million purse. He also is involved as a charitable beneficiary at the Honda  Classic. That is not one of the big-money events. Worst yet, it’s squeezed  between two $20 million events — Riviera the week before, Bay Hill the week  after. Nicklaus says he’s worried it will create a two-tier PGA Tour. He says  he’s met with the PGA Tour to try to find a solution for the Honda.

NASCAR  – NASCAR fines Stewart-Haas Racing $200K for race manipulation

  NASCAR  hit Stewart-Haas Racing with an additional $200,000 in fines after ruling Cole  Custer and the No. 41 team manipulated the final lap of the playoff elimination  race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That brings SHR’s monetary fines to $300,000  over the last week. Kevin Harvick was penalized along with his crew chief when  his Ford failed a post-Talladega inspection. Custer appeared to deliberately  hold up a line of traffic as teammate Chase Briscoe stormed past in a desperate  effort to avoid playoff elimination. Briscoe bumped reigning NASCAR champion  Kyle Larson from the playoffs as the field was trimmed to eight drivers.

USA  Soccer – Spain blanks US; Americans hadn’t lost 2 straight since ’17

  Spain  has beaten the U.S. women’s national team 2-0. It was the first time since  March 2017 that the U.S. lost two games in a row. Laia Codina had the first  goal for Spain in the 39th minute. Esther González added a goal in the 72nd.  Both teams are preparing for next summer’s World Cup, and the United States has  won the last two World Cups. Both teams also have been rocked by scandals, with  Spain missing some of their best players because of it.

MCCAA  – Junior College Athletics
Last Night
Women’s Volleyball

  Lake  Michigan College 3, Glen Oaks Community College 2

Tonight
Women’s Soccer

  Lake  Michigan College at Muskegon Community College, 4:00 p.m.         at Orchard View HS

Men’s Soccer

  Lake  Michigan College at Muskegon Community College, 4:00 p.m.         at Muskegon Catholic Central HS 

MHSAA  – High School Sports
Last Night
Volleyball

  Watervliet  3, Coloma 0 – Watervliet wins SAC-Lakeshore division championship

  Centreville  3, Hartford 0

  Paw  Paw 3, Comstock 1

  Allegan  3, Fennville 0

Today
Boys  Soccer – Districts – 1st Round
Division  2 at St. Joseph (first round at local sites)

  Lakeshore  at Edwardsburg, 4:30 p.m.

  Sturgis  at Niles, 5:00 p.m.

Division  3 at South Haven (first round at local sites)

  Hopkins  at Fennville, 6:00 p.m.

  Parchment  at Delton-Kellogg, 6:00 p.m.

Division  3 at Paw Paw (first round at local sites)

  Three  Rivers at Berrien Springs, 6:00 p.m.

  Constantine  at Watervliet, 7:00 p.m.

  Dowagiac  at Buchanan, 5:00 p.m.

Division  4 at Hartford (first round at local sites)

  Coloma  at Holland Black River, 5:00 p.m.

  Lawton at Bloomingdale, 6:00 p.m.

Division  4 at Kalamazoo Christian (first round at local sites)

  Battle  Creek Academy at Bellevue, 6:00 p.m.

  Kalamazoo  Heritage at Schoolcraft, 7:00 p.m.

Volleyball

  Our  Lady of the Lake at Michigan Lutheran, 6:00 p.m.

  Benton  Harbor at New Buffalo, 6:30 p.m.

  Kalamazoo  Central at St. Joseph, 6:30 p.m.

  Kalamazoo  Loy Norrix at Lakeshore, 6:30 p.m.

  Battle  Creek Lakeview at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.

  Gull  Lake at Portage Central, 6:30 p.m.

  Battle  Creek Central at Portage Northern, 6:30 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs – Divisional Series – Best of Five 
 Yesterday 
 Philadelphia Phillies 7, Atlanta Braves 6                                    (PHI Leads 1-0) 
 Houston Astros 8, Seattle Mariners 7                                       (HOU Leads 1-0) 
 New York Yankees 4, Cleveland Guardians 1                               (NYY Leads 1-0) 
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, San Diego Padres 3                                (LAD Leads 1-0) 
Phillies 7, Braves 6 – Castellanos&#8217; bat, glove help Phillies top Braves 7-6 in NLDS 
 Nick Castellanos drove in three runs and made a potentially game-saving catch in the ninth inning, lifting the Philadelphia Phillies over the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves 7-6 in the opener of their NL Division Series. The Phillies have won three straight games to begin these playoffs, hardly looking like a team making its first postseason appearance since 2011. They followed up their wild-card sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a victory over the team that finished 14 games ahead of them in the NL East. It wasn&rsquo;t easy. Matt Olson hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Zach Eflin to bring the Braves within a run.
Astros 8, Mariners 7 – Alvarez hits 3-run HR vs Ray in 9th, Astros jolt M&#8217;s in ALDS 
 Yordan Alvarez smashed a game-ending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Robbie Ray, wrecking Seattle&rsquo;s strategy of using a Cy Young Award winner in a rare relief role and vaulting the Houston Astros over the Mariners 8-7 in their playoff opener. Trailing all game after a poor start by Justin Verlander, the AL West champion Astros overtook rookie star Julio Rodríguez and the wild-card Mariners at the end to begin their best-of-five Division Series. Houston was down 7-5 when rookie pinch-hitter David Hensley was hit by a pitch from Seattle closer Paul Sewald and Jeremy Peña singled with two outs. Mariners manager Scott Servais then made the bold move to bring in Ray. Alvarez homered on Ray&#8217;s second pitch.
Yankees 4, Guardians 1 – Cole cruises, Bader, Rizzo bash, Yanks beat Guardians 4-1 
 Gerrit Cole cruised for most of the night, Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo homered and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 in their AL Division Series opener. Not even another Josh Donaldson baserunning blunder could slow the Yankees, who have won six straight postseason games against Cleveland dating to a comeback from a two games to none deficit in the 2017 Division Series
Dodgers 5, Padres 3 – Turner, Dodgers start fast, hold off Padres in NLDS opener 
 Trea Turner homered and doubled as the Los Angeles Dodgers started fast and held off the San Diego Padres 5-3 in their NL Division Series opener. The Dodgers raced to an early 5-0 lead and appeared to be on their way to another blowout of the Padres. Los Angeles dominated in the regular season, owning a 14-5 advantage and outscoring San Diego 109-47. The 111-win Dodgers claimed the NL West and the Padres finished second, 22 games back. With Sandy Koufax watching from the owners&rsquo; box, 17-game winner Julio Urías retired the first eight batters. Chris Martin, who had two saves this season, pitched a perfect ninth. Struggling closer Craig Kimbrel was left off the Dodgers&rsquo; roster for this best-of-five matchup. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Today 
 Philadelphia (Wheeler 12-7) at Atlanta (Wright 21-5), 4:37 p.m.                    (PHI Leads 1-0) 
 San Diego (Darvish 16-8) at Los Angeles (Kershaw 12-3), 8:37 p.m.               (LAD Leads 1-0) 
NHL – National Hockey League – Regular Season Start 
 Last Night 
 New York Rangers 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 1 
 Vegas Golden Knights 4, Los Angeles Kings 3
Tonight 
 Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. 
NBA – National Basketball Association &#8211; Preseason 
 Last Night 
 Oklahoma City Thunder 115, Detroit Pistons 99 
 Chicago Bulls 127, Milwaukee Bucks 104
Tonight 
 New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.
 NBA – Draymond Green fined but not suspended, set to rejoin team 
 Draymond Green has been fined but won&rsquo;t be suspended by the Golden State Warriors for a violent punch to the face of teammate Jordan Poole last week. Coach Steve Kerr said after a preseason win against Portland that Green would return to practice Thursday then play for the defending NBA champions against the Nuggets on Friday night and again in the season opener Tuesday against the Lakers. Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and players have met to decide how to best proceed, including Green and Poole talking to each other.
NFL – Raiders&#8217; Adams could be suspended for shove 
 Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams could face a possible suspension or fine for shoving a photographer to the ground as he ran off the field following a loss at Kansas City. A person familiar with the process tells The Associated Press that the NFL is reviewing Adams&rsquo; actions. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league hadn&rsquo;t made the review public. Detectives from the Kansas City Police Department&rsquo;s assault unit are investigating the incident. NFL Network was the first to report that Adams could face discipline.
NFL – NFL to discuss roughing calls, no change imminent 
 A person with directly knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press that the NFL did not give officials a directive to emphasize roughing-the-passer penalties following Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa&rsquo;s concussion, but the topic will be discussed next week when NFL owners meet in New York. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the conversations are internal. The person said the league isn&rsquo;t planning to make any rule changes amid outrage over two disputed calls in Week 5. Roughing-the-passer penalties are down 45% from this point last year. Through Week 5 in 2021, 51 were called. Only 28 have been called this season, according to league stats.
NCAAFB – Penn St QB Clifford healthy, content ahead of Michigan game 
 Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford is feeling good ahead of tenth-ranked Penn State&#8217;s game against No. 4 Michigan this weekend. The Nittany Lions are coming off of a bye week, and Clifford was able to relax and prepared. The Wolverines currently have the country&rsquo;s fifth-best scoring defense and are fueled by their pass rush. Penn State coach James Franklin says the sixth-year quarterback has been building up to moments and opportunities like Saturday&#8217;s Big Ten East showdown.
Hockey – Hockey Canada CEO Smith out, board of directors resigns 
 Hockey Canada has ousted CEO Scott Smith. Its board of directors has also resigned over a series of scandals that have rocked the sport&rsquo;s national federation to its core. Smith spent nearly three decades climbing the ladder at Hockey Canada and lasted just three months at the top. The organization is dealing with fallout related to how it handled sexual assault allegations and how the organization paid out settlements. Former board chair Michael Brind&rsquo;Amour resigned in August and interim chair Andrea Skinner stepped down Saturday.
Golf – PGA – Nicklaus worried big purses will minimize other tournaments 
 Jack Nicklaus is curious to see how the rich, new PGA Tour schedule goes next year. Nicklaus has The Memorial. That&#8217;s one of the elevated events that will offer a $20 million purse. He also is involved as a charitable beneficiary at the Honda Classic. That is not one of the big-money events. Worst yet, it&#8217;s squeezed between two $20 million events — Riviera the week before, Bay Hill the week after. Nicklaus says he&#8217;s worried it will create a two-tier PGA Tour. He says he&#8217;s met with the PGA Tour to try to find a solution for the Honda.
NASCAR – NASCAR fines Stewart-Haas Racing $200K for race manipulation 
 NASCAR hit Stewart-Haas Racing with an additional $200,000 in fines after ruling Cole Custer and the No. 41 team manipulated the final lap of the playoff elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That brings SHR&rsquo;s monetary fines to $300,000 over the last week. Kevin Harvick was penalized along with his crew chief when his Ford failed a post-Talladega inspection. Custer appeared to deliberately hold up a line of traffic as teammate Chase Briscoe stormed past in a desperate effort to avoid playoff elimination. Briscoe bumped reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson from the playoffs as the field was trimmed to eight drivers.
USA Soccer – Spain blanks US; Americans hadn&#8217;t lost 2 straight since &#8217;17 
 Spain has beaten the U.S. women&#8217;s national team 2-0. It was the first time since March 2017 that the U.S. lost two games in a row. Laia Codina had the first goal for Spain in the 39th minute. Esther González added a goal in the 72nd. Both teams are preparing for next summer&rsquo;s World Cup, and the United States has won the last two World Cups. Both teams also have been rocked by scandals, with Spain missing some of their best players because of it.
MCCAA – Junior College Athletics 
 Last Night 
 Women&rsquo;s Volleyball 
 Lake Michigan College 3, Glen Oaks Community College 2
Tonight 
 Women&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Lake Michigan College at Muskegon Community College, 4:00 p.m.         at Orchard View HS
Men&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Lake Michigan College at Muskegon Community College, 4:00 p.m.         at Muskegon Catholic Central HS 
MHSAA – High School Sports 
 Last Night 
 Volleyball 
 Watervliet 3, Coloma 0 – Watervliet wins SAC-Lakeshore division championship 
 Centreville 3, Hartford 0 
 Paw Paw 3, Comstock 1 
 Allegan 3, Fennville 0
Today 
 Boys Soccer – Districts – 1st Round 
 Division 2 at St. Joseph (first round at local sites) 
 Lakeshore at Edwardsburg, 4:30 p.m. 
 Sturgis at Niles, 5:00 p.m.
Division 3 at South Haven (first round at local sites) 
 Hopkins at Fennville, 6:00 p.m. 
 Parchment at Delton-Kellogg, 6:00 p.m.
Division 3 at Paw Paw (first round at local sites) 
 Three Rivers at Berrien Springs, 6:00 p.m. 
 Constantine at Watervliet, 7:00 p.m. 
 Dowagiac at Buchanan, 5:00 p.m.
Division 4 at Hartford (first round at local sites) 
 Coloma at Holland Black River, 5:00 p.m. 
 Lawton at Bloomingdale, 6:00 p.m.
Division 4 at Kalamazoo Christian (first round at local sites) 
 Battle Creek Academy at Bellevue, 6:00 p.m. 
 Kalamazoo Heritage at Schoolcraft, 7:00 p.m.
Volleyball 
 Our Lady of the Lake at Michigan Lutheran, 6:00 p.m. 
 Benton Harbor at New Buffalo, 6:30 p.m. 
 Kalamazoo Central at St. Joseph, 6:30 p.m. 
 Kalamazoo Loy Norrix at Lakeshore, 6:30 p.m. 
 Battle Creek Lakeview at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m. 
 Gull Lake at Portage Central, 6:30 p.m. 
 Battle Creek Central at Portage Northern, 6:30 p.m.

Southwest Michigan's Sports Leader

WSJM Sports

MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs – Divisional Series – Best of Five Yesterday Philadelphia Phillies 7, Atlanta Braves 6                                    (PHI Leads 1-0) Houston Astros 8, Seattle Mariners 7                                       (H...