Can the Guardians pull off the biggest comeback in MLB history?

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🚨 Headlines

🏀 Pearl steps down: Longtime Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl announced his retirement roughly six weeks before the season begins. “I’ve been a part of college basketball for almost 50 years,” he said. “And the truth is, it’s time.” His son, Steven, will take over for the Tigers.

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⚽️ Ballon d’Or winners: French forward Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain) won his first Ballon d’Or, while Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona) took home her third straight, becoming the first woman to win the honor three times.

⚾️ Padres clinch: The Padres walked off the Brewers in the 11th inning to clinch a playoff spot, marking the first time in two decades they’ve reached the postseason in consecutive years.

🚑 Injury report: 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa will miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in Sunday’s win. Rockets guard Fred VanVleet also tore his ACL at a team minicamp, and will likely miss most, if not all, of the upcoming NBA season.

🏀 Nash joining Suns: Franchise legend Steve Nash is returning to the Suns as a senior adviser as they rebuild in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant trade.

⚾️ Cleveland is on the brink of history

Two months ago, the Guardians were barreling towards a rare sub-.500 season for one of MLB’s most consistent organizations. Now, they’re six days away from pulling off the biggest comeback ever.

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• That was then: On the morning of July 9, the Guardians trailed the Tigers by 15.5 games in the AL Central. Cleveland had the fourth-worst record in the AL (42-48) while Detroit had the best record in all of baseball (59-34).

• This is now: The Guardians (84-72) are currently just one game back of the Tigers (85-71) as they prepare to host Detroit in a three-game series starting tonight (6:40pm ET, MLB.TV) that could make or break both of their seasons.

Chasing history: If Cleveland completes the comeback, it will be the largest deficit ever overcome to win a division (since 1969) or league (pre-1969). The current record is held by the 1914 Boston Braves, who erased a 15-game deficit to win the NL pennant by a whopping 10.5 games.

The other side: Cleveland being red hot (42-24 since July 9) has coincided with Detroit going ice cold (26-37 in that same time). That discrepancy has been even more lopsided recently, with the Guardians winning 15 of 17 and the Tigers losing nine of 10 to put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.

• Cleveland’s ERA since the turnaround began has been an MLB-best 3.32 while Detroit’s has cratered to 4.82 — the sixth-worst mark in baseball.

• Consider this: The Guardians have allowed a microscopic 34 runs in their last 19 games. The next-fewest in that time? The Cubs, with 66.

Looking ahead: The stakes of this week’s three-game series couldn’t be bigger, with Cleveland trailing by one game and needing just one win to clinch the season series (and thus the tiebreaker). Then it’s Guardians vs. Rangers and Tigers at Red Sox to close out the regular season.

Other races to watch:

• AL West: The Mariners (87-69) swept the Astros (84-72) over the weekend to take a three-game lead as they seek their first division title since 2001.

• AL East: The Blue Jays (90-66) lead the Yankees (88-68) by two games as they seek their first division title since 2015.

• AL Wild Card: The AL East loser should take the top spot, while the losers of the AL Central and AL West battle the Red Sox (85-71) for the other two.

• NL West: The Dodgers (88-68) lead the Padres (86-71) by 2.5 games as they seek their 12th division title in 13 years.

• NL Wild Card: The Cubs and NL West loser are safe, while the Reds (80-76), Mets (80-76) and Diamondbacks (79-77) compete for the final spot.

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🎧 Fresh pod: Breaking down the playoff race (Baseball Bar-B-Cast)

🏈 Lions 38, Ravens 30

The Lions earned an impressive win on Monday night in Baltimore, racking up 426 yards of offense and limiting the Ravens’ potent rushing attack to just 85 yards.

• Detroit improves to 2-1 on the season with wins over the Bears and Ravens, while Baltimore falls to 1-2 with losses to the Bills and Lions.

Historic trio: This was the 10th game in which Lions teammates Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown each scored at least one scrimmage TD. That’s the most such games by any trio in NFL history.

⚽️ The KC Current are a juggernaut

The Kansas City Current are hurtling towards the best season in NWSL history, lapping the field by a comical margin in one of the most singularly dominant campaigns in recent sports memory.

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Tale of the tape: KC clinched the NWSL Shield (best record) on Saturday with five games to spare, becoming the fastest team in league history to achieve that feat.

• At 17-2-2, they sit atop the table with 53 points, and their lead over second-place Washington (37 points) is nearly as big as Washington’s lead over 12th-place Bay FC (19 points).

• They’ve allowed just 10 goals in 21 games, eight fewer than anyone else. They’ve also recorded nine straight clean sheets. Nine shutouts in a row!

• They’re not just winning on defense, either, with a league-best 40 goals scored — seven more than any other team. Add it all up and they have an absurd +30 goal differential. The next-best mark? +10!

Chasing Orlando: KC looks poised to break the single-season records for both wins (18) and points (60), set last year by the Orlando Pride. And they’re heavy favorites to win their first championship, much like Orlando did last year.

Recipe for success: The Current were founded just five years ago when the Utah Royals, embroiled in scandal, were sold to a group that included Patrick and Brittany Mahomes. Since then, ownership has invested heavily up and down the organization.

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• Last spring they opened CPKC Stadium, a privately-funded $120 million venue that was the first stadium ever built specifically for a women’s professional sports team. And earlier this year they became the first NWSL team to launch a fully-formed developmental team.

• They’ve invested plenty of money in talent, too, including paying a then-record intraleague transfer fee of $600,000 back in August for last year’s No. 1 pick, Ally Sentnor.

• No signing has been more important Malawian striker Temwa Chaŵinga, who won MVP in her debut season last year while setting the NWSL’s single-season goals record (21). She looks likely to repeat as MVP this fall.

What to watch: The Current next play this Friday night in Kansas City, where they haven’t lost since July… of last year.

⛳️ Ryder Cup Week: Setting the stage

Welcome to Ryder Cup Week. Three days from now, a dozen of the best American golfers will square off against their European counterparts at Bethpage Black (Farmingdale, New York) in the 45th edition of the iconic match play competition.

Matchup history: The U.S. holds a 27-15-2 advantage in the all-time series, but Europe has won 10 of the past 14 events.

How it works: There will be two sessions of foursomes (pairs alternate shots) and four-ball (lower score among each pair wins) matches on Friday and Saturday, then every golfer will square off in a singles match on Sunday.

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Scoring system: Each match is worth a single point. If a match is tied, or halved, each team will receive half a point. The first team to 14.5 points wins. If the match ends in a 14-14 tie, the last team to win the Ryder Cup (Europe) will retain the title.

The home team: Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young. Captain: Keegan Bradley.

The away team: Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Højgaard, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka. Captain: Luke Donald.

Betting odds: The United States are currently -145 favorites at BetMGM. Not surprisingly, the majority of bets (58%) and dollars wagered (68%) are on the Red, White and Blue to win.

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What Vegas is saying: “We’re seeing about 70% of action come in on the USA to win the Ryder Cup,” Halvor Egeland, a BetMGM trader manager, told Yahoo Sports. “I’d love to be patriotic, but it looks like the book will be cheering for Europe. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are taking the most action on top points scorer, to no surprise.”

📺 Watchlist: Tuesday, Sept. 23

⚾️ Mets at Cubs | 7:40pm ET, TBS

New York no longer controls its playoff destiny after losing 11 of its last 15 games. All the Mets can do now is hope they win more games the rest of the way than the Reds, who have the same record but own the tiebreaker.

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🏀 WNBA Semifinals | ESPN

The top-seeded Lynx look to go up 2-0 at home against the fourth-seeded Mercury (7:30pm), while the second-seeded Aces hope to even the series at home against the sixth-seeded Fever (9:30pm).

More to watch:

• ⚽️ La Liga: Levante vs. Real Madrid (3pm, ESPN2) … Los Blancos look to continue their perfect start (5-0-0).

• 🏒 NHL Preseason: Bruins at Rangers (7pm, NHL); Kings at Golden Knights (10pm, NHL) … The regular season begins in exactly two weeks.

Today’s full slate.

⚽️ Soccer trivia

Ousmane Dembélé joins Karim Benzema (2022) as the only Frenchmen to win the Ballon d’Or this century.

Question: Who was France’s most recent winner before them?

Hint: 1998.

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

Full speed ahead.

Trivia answer: Zinedine Zidane

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