TORONTO (AP) — George Springer put Toronto ahead with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Blue Jays advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1993 by beating the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays will host Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 on Friday night when the World Series comes to Canada for the third time. The defending champion Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS. Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez each hit a solo home run for Seattle in the team’s first postseason Game 7, but the Mariners squandered a 3-1 lead in the seventh and remain the only major league team without a pennant.
NEW YORK (AP) — Danila Yurov scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Rangers 3-1. Jonas Brodin and Kirill Kaprizov also scored for Minnesota, which had a 32-23 advantage on shots. Filip Gustavsson had 22 saves as the Wild snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Artemi Panarin scored for the Rangers, who fell to 0-4-0 at home this season. Igor Shesterkin finished with 29 saves, In the third period, after Shesterkin made a save on Marcus Johansson’s wraparound try, Yurov knocked in the loose puck at 8:16 for the rookie’s first NHL goal to put the Wild ahead 2-1. Kaprizov added an empty-netter for his fifth of the season with 1:39 remaining to seal the win.
(Milwaukee, WI) — A community activist is demanding an apology and more for the Dodgers fan treated poorly during playoff game in Milwaukee. Another fan is accused of making a racially-charged comment aimed at Ricardo Fosado, a US Navy veteran and Mexican-American. A video shows the interaction between Fosado and Brewers fan Shannon Kobylarczyk last week. Chicago activist Raul Montes is speaking up for Fosado, saying the Milwaukee baseball teams needs to apologize. He also wants some form of compensation.
(Madison, WI) — University of Wisconsin athletics director Chris McIntosh is giving his public support to football coach Luke Fickell for a second time. TMJ4 reports that McIntosh says he still has confidence in Fickell and repeats the football program’s long-term investment in him. A letter was sent to fans Monday. Wisconsin has lost five games in a row, hasn’t scored a point since October 4th, and still faces five difficult games remaining on the 2025 schedule. Fans have called for Fickell to be fired but that would require a contract buyout of about 25 million dollars.
(Milwaukee, WI) — Bucks veteran sixth man Bobby Portis says the team shouldn’t have cut Chris Livingston, who played well during training camp. Portis tells the NBA Analysis Network: “He should have made the roster,” calling Livingston “a great, great talent.” Livingston was a second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He’s been playing in the NBA G-League.
(Green Bay, WI) — Which kicker do the Packers keep? The guy who just doesn’t miss a kick, or the fellow who just booted the longest field goal in franchise history? Brandon McManus is out with an injury right now and Lucas Havrisik kicked that 61-yard field goal in Arizona Sunday. ACME Packing Company reports that Green Bay could save a lot of money making the switch to the player with the big leg, but Kavrisik has only made four field goals. One solution to avoid more of a cap hit would be to trade the ultra-reliable McManus to another team when he is healthy.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur knows he and his players will get plenty of questions this week about facing Aaron Rodgers for the first time since the four-time MVP quarterback left Green Bay. LaFleur is trying his best to deflect them. LaFleur said that “we’re playing the Pittsburgh Steelers, who happen to have Aaron Rodgers” when he was asked about preparing to face the quarterback who led the Packers to their most recent Super Bowl title.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings under coach Kevin O’Connell have focused and prided themselves on situational mastery from third downs to special teams to the red zone. They’re not consistently finding that success this season. The Vikings dropped to 3-3 after they scored only one touchdown in six trips inside the 20-yard line in a 28-22 loss to Philadelphia. They rank 22nd in the NFL with a 52% red-zone touchdown rate. Time to fix these issues is tight this week with a Thursday night road game looming against the Los Angeles Chargers.