Only as hot as your last hit, baby
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
It’s a new week!
And it’s another busy one: With the puck dropping on a new NHL season tomorrow, look out for our special edition preview sliding into your inbox. That’s the life of a show sports girl — now let’s get into today’s lovely bouquet of sports news.
— ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, who was accidentally knocked down on the sidelines during No. 3 Miami football’s 28–22 Saturday win over No. 18 Florida State. Never going to keep this friend of The GIST down.
MLB
⚾ They want it all
The GIST: The Toronto Blue Jays are officially one win away from their first American League Championship Series (ALCS) since 2016 after an explosive first two divisional series games vs. the NY Yankees. Feeling oh so savage with Game 3 and the chance to advance on deck tomorrow.
🔥 Jays put up 23 runs in two games, starting pitching dominates: Toronto’s bats didn’t look rusty after their first-round bye — they notched a whopping 29 total hits, eight of them home runs, as they topped NY 10–1 in Game 1 and 13–7 in Game 2.
- Perhaps no hit was bigger than Canada’s own Vladimir Guerrero Jr. belting the first-ever Jays postseason grand slam yesterday. Chills.
- And it wasn’t just the offense that wowed. Pitcher Kevin Gausman and the bullpen kept the Yanks at bay in Game 1 before rookie Trey Yesavage struck out a postseason franchise-record 11 in just over five innings of work yesterday, all in his fourth career MLB start no less.
👀 Blue birds can clinch ALCS tomorrow at 8:08 p.m. ET: This series now shifts to the Bronx, where trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber will take the mound to try and close this thing out. Toronto notably went 2-4 on the road vs. the Yankees this season, but these bats know no cross-border limitations. Keep on soaring.
WNBA Finals
🏀 Calling on the megaphone
The GIST: The Las Vegas Aces boast a commanding 2-0 lead in the WNBA’s first-ever best-of-seven Finals following yesterday’s 91–78 win over the Phoenix Mercury. The series now shifts from Vegas to Phoenix ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3…but not before we discuss the latest from the hardwood.
🃏 Aces firing on all cylinders: From Dana Evans’ record-breaking Game 1 performance to Jackie Young’s historically spectacular 21-point third quarter, the Aces’ offense has been, ahem, all in so far this series. But what happened in Vegas was also a result of some hard-nosed defense.
- With nine steals and six blocks, the Aces’ D was stifling in Game 2 — particularly in the second quarter, when they outscored the Mercury 22–10 to take a nine-point lead at the half.
🪐 Mercury can’t capitalize on strong starts: While Phoenix jumped out to early leads in both Games 1 and 2, their scoring noticeably tapered as the games progressed. All-Stars Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally put up a combined 45 points yesterday, but that’s where the standout scoring ended.
- Perennial MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas has struggled this series, managing just 10 points in Game 2 while dealing with foul trouble. The bench, which includes six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner, added just eight points combined. Room for improvement.
☝️ One more thing: Elsewhere in the W, amid ever-growing tensions between the league office and its players, Minnesota Lynx star (and WNBPA vice president) Napheesa Collier reportedly canceled a meeting with league commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who wanted to “clear the air” after Collier’s mic drop exit interview last week.
- Why did Collier cancel? Engelbert’s remarks in her annual pre-Finals news conference ahead of Game 1 reportedly “pushed the relationship beyond repair.” *gulps*
Together With Proline
👀 Take a chance on this
🏒 It feels like Christmas Eve because there’s just one more sleep until the NHL is officially back. But thanks to PROLINE, you don’t have to wait to start unwrapping presents placing fun wagers on this week’s slate, including…
- The winner of Wednesday’s contest between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens,
- How many goals either team may score,
- And the total number of genos in the game. He shoots, you could win.
The time is now: Build your wager in the PROLINE app, then place it in store before puck drop. Icy and spicy.
*Must be 18+ to bet in-store with PROLINE.NFL
🏈 Only as hot as your last hit, baby
The GIST: From acrobatic grabs to running backs (RBs) tossing touchdowns (TDs), this NFL weekend had a little bit of everything. Let’s dig into the digits that have defined Week 5 with tonight’s 8:15 p.m. ET Monday Night Football tilt between the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars still to come.
‼️ Zero: No undefeated teams remain after the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills both suffered their first Ls this weekend.
- The Birds allowed the Denver Broncos to score 18 unanswered points in a 21–17 loss, while the Bills couldn’t stop New England Patriots wide receiver (WR) and forever frenemy Stefon Diggs in Buffalo’s 23–20 primetime defeat.
📉 No. 32: The 1-4 Baltimore Ravens’ scoring defense (aka last in the league) after surrendering 30 or more points in four of their five games, including yesterday’s 44–10 loss to the Houston Texans. The injury bug isn’t helping, but this definitely isn’t your parents’ Ravens D.
👏 Four: The number of game-winning drives Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback (QB) Baker Mayfield has led through five games this season after capitalizing on a late interception from Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold to lift the Bucs to a 38–35 dub. Clutch.
🐙 Eight: How many points Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor scored on a single drive (a TD and the two-point conversion) in Indy’s 40–6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders to complete the rare, but ink-worthy octopus.
💨 21.72 mph: The top speed New Orleans Saints WR Rashid Shaheed hit while running in an 87-yard TD during the Saints’ 26–14 W over the NY Giants, their first dub of the season. Vroom, vroom.
🏎️ McLaren wins second straight constructors’ championship, but team tension persists
Both McLaren drivers — Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri — added to the team’s dominance over the weekend, finishing third and fourth, respectively, at the Singapore Grand Prix to win the constructors’ championship, awarded to the team with the most points.
- Six races remain in the Formula 1 season, and with the team title clinched, attention turns to the driver’s championship. Piastri and Norris remain at the top of the standings, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is (literally) picking up speed, finishing second yesterday.
🎓🏈 Preseason No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Penn State collapse in upset-heavy NCAA football Week 6
The Longhorns and Nittany Lions suffered stunning losses to unranked Florida and UCLA, respectively, dropping the preseason national title favorites out of the AP Poll entirely. Penn State’s 42–37 upset in LA was especially devastating: One week after losing a heartbreaker at home to No. 3 Oregon, last year’s semifinalists fell to a UCLA team many thought would go winless this season.
⚽ Racing Louisville inches closer to first NWSL playoff berth
Louisville cast a lavender haze over the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, winning 3–1 to leapfrog into playoff contention. The top eight teams advance to the postseason, so if the current standings hold, the five-year-old club will make its first playoff appearance next month.
- Elsewhere, Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie celebrated her former captain Christine Sinclair’s jersey retirement by notching a brace in Saturday’s 2–1 win over Bay FC.
- And in the Northern Super League (NSL), Montréal Roses FC battled the already-eliminated Halifax Tides FC to a 2–2 Thursday draw, earning a crucial point as they fight for a favorable playoff position.
Together With The GIST
Sick of the internet feeling like a haunted house of sexist comments and internet trolls? Same here. That’s why we decided to do something about it. We’re rewriting the internet, and we want to bring you with us.
Enough is enough. Keep an eye on your inbox, and ditch the horror show that is modern-day social media with us. Talk soon.
Here’s what passed The GIST squad’s vibe check this week:
🎉 How to fully immerse yourself in women’s sports
With DoorDash’s new platform. BRING IT IN is changing the face of the game by unifying the WNBA, NSL, and PWHL in an unofficial powerhouse women’s sports alliance. Right now take up to 30% off during the WNBA finals to celebrate and look out for more goodness from DoorDash in the upcoming NSL postseason and for PWHL puck drop!*
⚾ Who to know
Seventeen-year-old Yedlimar de Jesús. She's making history as the first Puerto Rican woman to play on a men’s college baseball team in the U.S., where she's expected to pitch for Monroe University this fall.
⚽ What to check out
Mary Fowler on the runway. The Man City and Matildas star became the first women’s footballer to walk the runway at Paris Fashion Week, joining global names like Kendall Jenner and Helen Mirren as part of a collaboration with L’Oréal Paris.
*P.S. This is a sponsored post. So good.Question of the Day
Are you not entertained? After a thrilling first weekend of October, which of the following moments was the most highlight-worthy in your book?
⚾ Toronto Blue Jays dominate first two games of ALDS
🏀 Las Vegas Aces’ Jackie Young scores 21 in the third quarter of WNBA Finals Game 2
🏈 New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed zooms to an 87-yard touchdown reception
🏎️ McLaren clinches back-to-back Constructors’ World Championships at Singapore GP
⚽ Portland Thorns induct Christine Sinclair into their Hall of Fame
⚾ LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani strikes out nine in pitching playoff debut
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