MLB  – Major League Baseball Playoffs
Last Night
ALDS – Best of 5

New  York Yankees 5, Cleveland Guardians 1                              (NYY wins 3-2)

Yankees 5, Guardians 1 – Stanton, Judge HR, Yankees  beat Guards, into ALCS vs Astros 

  Giancarlo  Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York  Yankees rocked past the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL  Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant. Yankees  manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor Cortes on three days’  rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night’s rainout.  Cleveland starter Aaron Civale struggled. With two on and two outs in the ninth  and ace Gerrit Cole warming up in case, Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres  stepped on the bag to end it, then mimicked rocking a baby with the ball — a  jab at Guardians slugger Josh Naylor, who made the motion rounding the bases  after a homer off Cole in Game 4.

NLCS – Best of 7

  Philadelphia  Phillies 2, San Diego Padres 0                                       (PHI leads 1-0)

Phillies 2, Padres 0 – Harper, Schwarber HR as  Wheeler, Phils top Pads to open NLCS

  Bryce  Harper homered again, Kyle Schwarber hit a jaw-dropping, 488-foot drive and  Zack Wheeler was brilliant in throwing one-hit ball for seven innings to lead  the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Diego Padres 2-0 in the opening game of  the all-wild card NL Championship Series. Wheeler and two relievers combined on  a one-hitter for the Phillies, who will try to take a 2-0 lead when they send  Aaron Nola to mound to oppose Blake Snell on Wednesday afternoon. Harper  homered in his third straight playoff game.

Today
League Championship Series – Best of 7

  Philadelphia  (Nola 11-13) at San Diego (Snell 8-10), 4:35 p.m.             (PHI  leads 1-0) 

  New  York (Taillon 14-5) at Houston (Verlander 18-4), 7:37 p.m.           (Game 1) 

NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season  Openers
Last Night

  Boston  Celtics 126, Philadelphia 76ers 117

  Golden  State Warriors 123, Los Angeles Lakers 109

Celtics 126, Sixers 117 – Tatum, Brown each score 35,  Celtics beat 76ers 126-117 

  Jayson  Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 35 points and the Boston Celtics beat the  Philadelphia 76ers 126-117 in the opening game of the NBA regular season.  Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points and Grant Williams finished with 15 as the  defending Eastern Conference champions gave interim coach Joe Mazzulla a  victory in his debut. James Harden had 35 points — his most since joining the  76ers last season — including 12 of 12 from the free throw line. He also had  five 3s. Joel Embiid added 26 points and 15 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey finished  with 21 points.

Warriors 123, Lakers 109 – Stephen Curry, Warriors  celebrate championship, beat Lakers

  Stephen  Curry opened the season with 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and the  Golden State Warriors beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 123-109 after  receiving their championship rings in a pregame ceremony. Jordan Poole made a  pretty bounce pass assist to a driving Draymond Green for a layup and all  seemed perfectly well with the defending champions almost two weeks after Green  punched Poole at practice Oct. 5 then took a brief leave of absence from the  team to work on his emotions. Poole wound up with 12 points and seven assists.

Tonight

  Orlando  Magic at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.

  Washington  Wizards at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m.

  Chicago  Bulls at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m.

NBA/WNBA  – Stephen Curry offers Warriors’ support of Brittney Griner

  Stephen  Curry took the microphone in the middle of Golden State’s championship ring  ceremony Tuesday night to make an impassioned plea in support of Brittney  Griner as the WNBA star spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison. The  Warriors, long committed to social issues far beyond basketball, celebrated  their fourth championship in eight years. Griner is awaiting a hearing in  Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug  possession.

NFL  – Colts owner Irsay says there’s "merit to remove" Snyder

  Colts  owner Jim Irsay says there’s “merit to remove” Dan Snyder as owner of the  Washington Commanders. Irsay is the first NFL owner to publicly state that his  controversial counterpart should go. Snyder’s status has been widely debated  for years amid several scandals and investigations into workplace conduct in  Washington. The league has been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct  and financial impropriety, a probe conducted by attorney Mary Jo White that is  ongoing. Removing Snyder would requires 24 votes from the other owners.

NFL  – NFL says it’s not backing down on protecting quarterbacks

  The  NFL isn’t backing down on protecting quarterbacks. League executive Troy  Vincent said there was a healthy and spirited conversation with owners about  roughing-the-passer penalties at the league’s fall meeting. A pair of disputed  roughing penalties in Week 5 frustrated defensive players and had players,  coaches and fans questioning what constitutes a legal hit. NFL competition  committee chairman Rich McKay said the conversation on making  roughing-the-passer calls reviewable lasted about 30 seconds and needs more  discussion. 

NFL  – Prime Video will add Black Friday game to NFL package in ’23

  The  NFL has announced that Amazon Prime Video will stream a game on Black Friday  beginning next season. The game will take place on Nov. 24, 2023, and will kick  off at 3 p.m. ET. The teams will be announced in early May when the  regular-season schedule is expected to be released. Prime Video is in its first  season as the exclusive carrier of “Thursday Night Football” and will expand to  16 games next season. The package goes through the 2033 season.

NFL  – Bears waive backup receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette

  The  Chicago Bears have waived receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Smith-Marsette got his  first significant playing time in the offense in Chicago’s 29-22 loss at  Minnesota two weeks ago and committed two costly mistakes. He had the ball  taken away from behind by Cameron Dantzler at the Vikings 39 following a  reception on the Bears’ final drive to decide the game. He also got flagged for  an illegal block from behind on a 52-yard scramble by quarterback Justin  Fields, negating a TD.  

NHL  – Bettman: NHL salary cap may get nice bump for ’23-24 season

  The  NHL salary cap could be going up more than expected sooner than expected.  Commissioner Gary Bettman says there’s a chance players could be finished  paying off what they owe owners from pandemic revenue losses as soon as this  season. That would mean the cap going up $4 million or more next summer after  being mostly flat for several years. Bettman expects the players’ debt to  certainly be paid off next season, allowing for a significant cap increase  going into 2023-24. The cap has only gone up $1 million to $82.5 million since the  pandemic began.  

NHL  – NHL, its workforce 84% white, sets baseline to up diversity

  The  NHL for the first time has done an internal demographic study of its staff and  all 32 teams. The results suggest hockey has a lot of work to do to increase  diversity. It found that 83.6% of the NHL’s workforce is white and that men  make up nearly 62% of the total. That mirrors the situation on the ice. More  than 90% of players and nearly all coaches and officials are white. NHL  executive Kim Davis called the study a good start and a baseline from which the  league can improve.

NCAAFB  – Big Ten – Ohio State, Michigan making Big Ten look like Big Two

  Ohio  State and Michigan are making the Big Ten look like the Big Two, rekindling  memories or some of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler turning the chase for a  conference championship into a two-team race. The second-ranked Buckeyes and  fourth-ranked Wolverines are the Big Ten’s only undefeated teams. No other team  in the conference is ranked among the top 15. Penn State can potentially be a  factor in the because it hosts Ohio State on Oct. 29. The 16th-ranked Nittany  Lions will have to play much better than they did while getting pummeled at  Michigan.

NCAAWBKB  – South Carolina women unanimous No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25

  South  Carolina is the unanimous No. 1 team in the preseason AP Top 25 women’s  basketball poll. The defending national champions went wire-to-wire as the No.  1 team last year and have been the top team for 20 straight weeks. Stanford,  Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five. UConn is sixth, the first  time since 2006 that the Huskies aren’t in the first five in the preseason  poll. Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame and N.C. State is the rest of the top  10.


NASCAR  – NASCAR suspends Bubba Wallace 1 race for Las Vegas crash

  NASCAR  has suspended driver Bubba Wallace for one race following his fracas at Las  Vegas Motor Speedway over the weekend. NASCAR determined that Wallace  deliberately spun reigning champion Kyle Larson in a dangerous move of  retaliation. Wallace will miss Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 

Golf  – PGA – Elevated events show a divide among PGA Tour events for ’23

  A  person with direct knowledge of the plans says the PGA Tour is announcing that  four tournaments will have elevated status and $20 million purses next year.  The four additions are the WM Phoenix Open, the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head,  the Wells Fargo Championship and the Travelers Championship. That leads to an  incredibly crowded schedule. Texas-born Jordan Spieth figures to play five  straight weeks in May and seven out of eight weeks. And that includes two  majors. Two of the events are the week after a major. Not since Tiger Woods in  2006 has someone won a tournament the week after winning a major.

AHL  – American Hockey League
Tonight

  Milwaukee  Admirals at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m. 

MCCAA  – Junior College Athletics
Yesterday
Women’s Volleyball

  Kalamazoo  Valley Community College 3, Southwestern Michigan College 0 

Today
Women’s Soccer

  Jackson  College at Lake Michigan College, 2:00 p.m.

Men’s Soccer

  Jackson  College at Lake Michigan College, 4:00 p.m.

MHSAA  – High School Sports
Yesterday
Boys  Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division  2 (St. Joseph)

  Edwardsburg  vs. Sturgis, PPD      at St. Joseph

  St.  Joseph vs. Vicksburg, PPD       at St. Joseph

Division  3 (South Haven)

  Holland  Christian 5, Allegan 0

  Fennville  2, Delton-Kellogg 1

Division  4 (Our Lady of the Lake)

  Howardsville  Christian 1, Cassopolis 0 

  Bridgman  2, Brandywine 1

Division  4 (Hartford)

  Hartford  8, Bangor 2

  Holland  Black River 2, Bloomingdale 1

Division  4 (Kalamazoo Christian)

  Kalamazoo  Hackett 3, Battle Creek Academy 1

  Calhoun  Christian at Schoolcraft, PPD

Division  1 (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix)

  Portage  Central 3, Portage Northern 1

  Battle  Creek Lakeview 3, Kalamazoo Central 1

Volleyball

  Our  Lady of the Lake 3, Howardsville Christian 1

  Mendon  3, Decatur 0

Girls  Swimming and Diving

  Portage  Central 109, St. Joseph 72

Today
Boys  Soccer – Districts (Semifinals)
Division  2 (St. Joseph)

  Edwardsburg  vs. Sturgis, 5:00 p.m.          at St. Joseph

  St.  Joseph vs. Vicksburg, 7:00 p.m.           at St. Joseph

Division  4 (Kalamazoo Christian)

  Battle  Creek Calhoun Christian at Schoolcraft, 7:00 p.m.

Boys  Soccer – Districts (Championship)
Division  2 (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg)

  Gull  Lake vs. Parma Western, 6:30 p.m.

Volleyball

  Lakeshore  at Battle Creek Central, 6:30 p.m.

  St.  Joseph at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 6:30 p.m.

  Michigan  Lutheran at Grace Christian, 6:00 p.m.

  Brandywine  at Niles, 6:00 p.m.

  New  Buffalo at River Valley, 6:00 p.m.

MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs 
 Last Night 
 ALDS – Best of 5 
New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Guardians 1                              (NYY wins 3-2)
Yankees 5, Guardians 1 – Stanton, Judge HR, Yankees beat Guards, into ALCS vs Astros 
 Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York Yankees rocked past the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant. Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor Cortes on three days&rsquo; rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night&rsquo;s rainout. Cleveland starter Aaron Civale struggled. With two on and two outs in the ninth and ace Gerrit Cole warming up in case, Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres stepped on the bag to end it, then mimicked rocking a baby with the ball &#8212; a jab at Guardians slugger Josh Naylor, who made the motion rounding the bases after a homer off Cole in Game 4.
NLCS – Best of 7 
 Philadelphia Phillies 2, San Diego Padres 0                                       (PHI leads 1-0)
Phillies 2, Padres 0 – Harper, Schwarber HR as Wheeler, Phils top Pads to open NLCS 
 Bryce Harper homered again, Kyle Schwarber hit a jaw-dropping, 488-foot drive and Zack Wheeler was brilliant in throwing one-hit ball for seven innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Diego Padres 2-0 in the opening game of the all-wild card NL Championship Series. Wheeler and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for the Phillies, who will try to take a 2-0 lead when they send Aaron Nola to mound to oppose Blake Snell on Wednesday afternoon. Harper homered in his third straight playoff game.
Today 
 League Championship Series – Best of 7 
 Philadelphia (Nola 11-13) at San Diego (Snell 8-10), 4:35 p.m.             (PHI leads 1-0) 
 New York (Taillon 14-5) at Houston (Verlander 18-4), 7:37 p.m.           (Game 1) 
NBA – National Basketball Association – Regular Season Openers 
 Last Night 
 Boston Celtics 126, Philadelphia 76ers 117 
 Golden State Warriors 123, Los Angeles Lakers 109
Celtics 126, Sixers 117 – Tatum, Brown each score 35, Celtics beat 76ers 126-117 
 Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 35 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-117 in the opening game of the NBA regular season. Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points and Grant Williams finished with 15 as the defending Eastern Conference champions gave interim coach Joe Mazzulla a victory in his debut. James Harden had 35 points — his most since joining the 76ers last season — including 12 of 12 from the free throw line. He also had five 3s. Joel Embiid added 26 points and 15 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey finished with 21 points.
Warriors 123, Lakers 109 – Stephen Curry, Warriors celebrate championship, beat Lakers 
 Stephen Curry opened the season with 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 123-109 after receiving their championship rings in a pregame ceremony. Jordan Poole made a pretty bounce pass assist to a driving Draymond Green for a layup and all seemed perfectly well with the defending champions almost two weeks after Green punched Poole at practice Oct. 5 then took a brief leave of absence from the team to work on his emotions. Poole wound up with 12 points and seven assists.
Tonight 
 Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m. 
 Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers, 7:00 p.m. 
 Chicago Bulls at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m.
NBA/WNBA – Stephen Curry offers Warriors&#8217; support of Brittney Griner 
 Stephen Curry took the microphone in the middle of Golden State&rsquo;s championship ring ceremony Tuesday night to make an impassioned plea in support of Brittney Griner as the WNBA star spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison. The Warriors, long committed to social issues far beyond basketball, celebrated their fourth championship in eight years. Griner is awaiting a hearing in Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession.
NFL – Colts owner Irsay says there&#8217;s &quot;merit to remove&quot; Snyder 
 Colts owner Jim Irsay says there&rsquo;s &ldquo;merit to remove&rdquo; Dan Snyder as owner of the Washington Commanders. Irsay is the first NFL owner to publicly state that his controversial counterpart should go. Snyder&rsquo;s status has been widely debated for years amid several scandals and investigations into workplace conduct in Washington. The league has been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and financial impropriety, a probe conducted by attorney Mary Jo White that is ongoing. Removing Snyder would requires 24 votes from the other owners.
NFL – NFL says it&#8217;s not backing down on protecting quarterbacks 
 The NFL isn&rsquo;t backing down on protecting quarterbacks. League executive Troy Vincent said there was a healthy and spirited conversation with owners about roughing-the-passer penalties at the league&#8217;s fall meeting. A pair of disputed roughing penalties in Week 5 frustrated defensive players and had players, coaches and fans questioning what constitutes a legal hit. NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay said the conversation on making roughing-the-passer calls reviewable lasted about 30 seconds and needs more discussion. 
NFL – Prime Video will add Black Friday game to NFL package in &#8217;23 
 The NFL has announced that Amazon Prime Video will stream a game on Black Friday beginning next season. The game will take place on Nov. 24, 2023, and will kick off at 3 p.m. ET. The teams will be announced in early May when the regular-season schedule is expected to be released. Prime Video is in its first season as the exclusive carrier of &ldquo;Thursday Night Football&rdquo; and will expand to 16 games next season. The package goes through the 2033 season.
NFL – Bears waive backup receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette 
 The Chicago Bears have waived receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Smith-Marsette got his first significant playing time in the offense in Chicago&rsquo;s 29-22 loss at Minnesota two weeks ago and committed two costly mistakes. He had the ball taken away from behind by Cameron Dantzler at the Vikings 39 following a reception on the Bears&rsquo; final drive to decide the game. He also got flagged for an illegal block from behind on a 52-yard scramble by quarterback Justin Fields, negating a TD.  
NHL – Bettman: NHL salary cap may get nice bump for &#8217;23-24 season 
 The NHL salary cap could be going up more than expected sooner than expected. Commissioner Gary Bettman says there&#8217;s a chance players could be finished paying off what they owe owners from pandemic revenue losses as soon as this season. That would mean the cap going up $4 million or more next summer after being mostly flat for several years. Bettman expects the players&#8217; debt to certainly be paid off next season, allowing for a significant cap increase going into 2023-24. The cap has only gone up $1 million to $82.5 million since the pandemic began.  
NHL – NHL, its workforce 84% white, sets baseline to up diversity 
 The NHL for the first time has done an internal demographic study of its staff and all 32 teams. The results suggest hockey has a lot of work to do to increase diversity. It found that 83.6% of the NHL&rsquo;s workforce is white and that men make up nearly 62% of the total. That mirrors the situation on the ice. More than 90% of players and nearly all coaches and officials are white. NHL executive Kim Davis called the study a good start and a baseline from which the league can improve.
NCAAFB – Big Ten – Ohio State, Michigan making Big Ten look like Big Two 
 Ohio State and Michigan are making the Big Ten look like the Big Two, rekindling memories or some of Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler turning the chase for a conference championship into a two-team race. The second-ranked Buckeyes and fourth-ranked Wolverines are the Big Ten&rsquo;s only undefeated teams. No other team in the conference is ranked among the top 15. Penn State can potentially be a factor in the because it hosts Ohio State on Oct. 29. The 16th-ranked Nittany Lions will have to play much better than they did while getting pummeled at Michigan.
NCAAWBKB – South Carolina women unanimous No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 
 South Carolina is the unanimous No. 1 team in the preseason AP Top 25 women&#8217;s basketball poll. The defending national champions went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team last year and have been the top team for 20 straight weeks. Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee round out the top five. UConn is sixth, the first time since 2006 that the Huskies aren&rsquo;t in the first five in the preseason poll. Louisville, Iowa State, Notre Dame and N.C. State is the rest of the top 10. 
 
 NASCAR – NASCAR suspends Bubba Wallace 1 race for Las Vegas crash 
 NASCAR has suspended driver Bubba Wallace for one race following his fracas at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the weekend. NASCAR determined that Wallace deliberately spun reigning champion Kyle Larson in a dangerous move of retaliation. Wallace will miss Sunday&rsquo;s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 
Golf – PGA – Elevated events show a divide among PGA Tour events for &#8217;23 
 A person with direct knowledge of the plans says the PGA Tour is announcing that four tournaments will have elevated status and $20 million purses next year. The four additions are the WM Phoenix Open, the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Travelers Championship. That leads to an incredibly crowded schedule. Texas-born Jordan Spieth figures to play five straight weeks in May and seven out of eight weeks. And that includes two majors. Two of the events are the week after a major. Not since Tiger Woods in 2006 has someone won a tournament the week after winning a major.
AHL – American Hockey League 
 Tonight 
 Milwaukee Admirals at Grand Rapids Griffins, 7:00 p.m. 
MCCAA – Junior College Athletics 
 Yesterday 
 Women&rsquo;s Volleyball 
 Kalamazoo Valley Community College 3, Southwestern Michigan College 0 
Today 
 Women&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Jackson College at Lake Michigan College, 2:00 p.m.
Men&rsquo;s Soccer 
 Jackson College at Lake Michigan College, 4:00 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports 
 Yesterday 
 Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals) 
 Division 2 (St. Joseph) 
 Edwardsburg vs. Sturgis, PPD      at St. Joseph 
 St. Joseph vs. Vicksburg, PPD       at St. Joseph
Division 3 (South Haven) 
 Holland Christian 5, Allegan 0 
 Fennville 2, Delton-Kellogg 1
Division 4 (Our Lady of the Lake) 
 Howardsville Christian 1, Cassopolis 0 
 Bridgman 2, Brandywine 1
Division 4 (Hartford) 
 Hartford 8, Bangor 2 
 Holland Black River 2, Bloomingdale 1
Division 4 (Kalamazoo Christian) 
 Kalamazoo Hackett 3, Battle Creek Academy 1 
 Calhoun Christian at Schoolcraft, PPD
Division 1 (Kalamazoo Loy Norrix) 
 Portage Central 3, Portage Northern 1 
 Battle Creek Lakeview 3, Kalamazoo Central 1
Volleyball 
 Our Lady of the Lake 3, Howardsville Christian 1 
 Mendon 3, Decatur 0
 Girls Swimming and Diving 
 Portage Central 109, St. Joseph 72
Today 
 Boys Soccer – Districts (Semifinals) 
 Division 2 (St. Joseph) 
 Edwardsburg vs. Sturgis, 5:00 p.m.          at St. Joseph 
 St. Joseph vs. Vicksburg, 7:00 p.m.           at St. Joseph
Division 4 (Kalamazoo Christian) 
 Battle Creek Calhoun Christian at Schoolcraft, 7:00 p.m.
Boys Soccer – Districts (Championship) 
 Division 2 (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg) 
 Gull Lake vs. Parma Western, 6:30 p.m.
Volleyball 
 Lakeshore at Battle Creek Central, 6:30 p.m. 
 St. Joseph at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 6:30 p.m. 
 Michigan Lutheran at Grace Christian, 6:00 p.m. 
 Brandywine at Niles, 6:00 p.m. 
 New Buffalo at River Valley, 6:00 p.m.

Southwest Michigan's Sports Leader

WSJM Sports

MLB – Major League Baseball Playoffs Last Night ALDS – Best of 5 New York Yankees 5, Cleveland Guardians 1                              (NYY wins 3-2) Yankees 5, Guardians 1 – Stanton, Judge HR, Yankees beat Guards, into