Sports
MLB Playoff Picture 2022: Complete AL, NL Standings, Bracket and Wild-Card Race
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The 2022 MLB season is winding down, and the playoff picture continues to grow clearer.
Through Sunday’s action, most of the division races moved closer to being already decided, while it appears there are a couple that will come down to the wire.
With less than a month left in the regular season, the teams still hunting for a playoff spot will need a strong finish to turn their fortunes around.
Here’s a look at the postseason picture as of Sept. 4, along with the latest standings.
Current Playoff Picture
American League
No. 1 seed: Houston Astros (86-48), first-round bye
No. 2 seed: New York Yankees (80-54), first-round bye
No. 3 seed: Cleveland Guardians (68-64) vs. No. 6 seed: Toronto Blue Jays (73-59)
No. 4 seed: Seattle Mariners (76-58) vs. No. 5 seed: Tampa Bay Rays (74-58)
National League
No. 1 seed: Los Angeles Dodgers (92-41), first-round bye
No. 2 seed: New York Mets (85-50), first-round bye
No. 3 seed: St. Louis Cardinals (79-55) vs. No. 6 seed: Philadelphia Phillies (73-61)
No. 4 seed: Atlanta Braves (84-51) vs. No. 5 seed: San Diego Padres (74-61)
Full Standings
AL East
- New York Yankees: 80-54
- Tampa Bay Rays: 74-58, 5.0 GB
- Toronto Blue Jays: 73-59, 6.0 GB
- Baltimore Orioles: 71-62, 8.5 GB
- Boston Red Sox: 67-68, 13.5 GB
AL Central
- Cleveland Guardians: 68-64*
- Minnesota Twins: 68-64*
- Chicago White Sox: 67-67, 2.0 GB
- Kansas City Royals: 55-80, 14.5 GB
- Detroit Tigers: 51-83, 18 GB
*Cleveland currently owns the tiebreaker, as it is 6-5 against Minnesota this season.
AL West
- Houston Astros: 86-48
- Seattle Mariners: 76-58, 10 GB
- Texas Rangers: 58-75, 27.5 GB
- Los Angeles Angels: 58-76, 28 GB
- Oakland Athletics: 50-85, 36.5 GB
NL East
- New York Mets: 85-50
- Atlanta Braves: 84-51, 1.0 GB
- Philadelphia Phillies: 73-61, 11.5 GB
- Miami Marlins: 55-78, 29.0 GB
- Washington Nationals: 47-87, 37.5 GB
NL Central
- St. Louis Cardinals: 79-55
- Milwaukee Brewers: 70-63, 8.5 GB
- Chicago Cubs: 56-78, 23.0 GB
- Cincinnati Reds: 53-79, 25.0 GB
- Pittsburgh Pirates: 49-84, 29.5 GB
NL West
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 92-41
- San Diego Padres: 74-61, 19.0 GB
- San Francisco Giants: 64-68, 27.5 GB
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 64-69, 28 GB
- Colorado Rockies: 57-78, 36 GB
When it comes to division races, the National League East and American League Central are providing the most intrigue in the home stretch of the season.
The New York Mets have led the NL East for much of the season, but back-to-back losses to the last-place Washington Nationals have them clinging to a one-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, who are on a five-game win streak.
The defending World Series champs are playing some of their best baseball at the perfect time, which is creating some increased pressure in New York. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the division is decided in the penultimate series of the season when the Braves host the Mets from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.
The Cleveland Guardians once looked to be cruising to an AL Central title, but five straight losses this week allowed the Minnesota Twins to pull even. The Chicago White Sox are not too far behind, as well.
The Twins and Guardians will play a three-game series beginning Friday, which could go a long way toward deciding the division. Winning the AL Central would be a drastic change in fortune for Minnesota, which faces an uphill climb in the wild-card race and currently sits five games out of the final spot.
The New York Yankees are clinging to a five-game lead in the AL East after holding on to win Sunday’s series finale over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees had lost six of their last seven games prior to Sunday’s victory as their disappointing late-season performance continued.
New York has to hope to build some momentum, as it will welcome a hungry Minnesota squad for a four-game series beginning Monday. The Yankees were once believed to be the top contender in the AL, but that is clearly no longer the case.
That distinction belongs to the Houston Astros, who topped the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday for their fifth win in their last six games. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in the majors and are favored to represent the NL in the World Series.
In the wild-card races, the Philadelphia Phillies hold a 2.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL, while the Baltimore Orioles are 2.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final spot in the AL.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
Should the NFL end up paying damages, it could cost each of the 32 teams approximately $449.6 million.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
The trial lasted three weeks and featured testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.
During his closing remarks, Carmody showed an April, 2017, NFL memo that showed the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, where cable channels would air Sunday afternoon out-of-market games not shown on Fox or CBS.
The jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request to have him rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the ways the NFL carries its Sunday afternoon games would be stayed until all appeals have been concluded.
The league maintained it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
Other professional sports leagues were also keeping an eye on this case since they also offer out-of-market packages. A major difference though is that MLB, the NBA and the NHL market their packages on multiple distributors and share in the revenue per subscriber instead of receiving an outright rights fee.
DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year the case could proceed as a class action.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.
Olympic organizers have touted plans to cool rooms in the Athletes Village, which will house more than 15,000 Olympians and sports officials over the course of the games, using a system of cooling pipes underneath the floors.
The average high in Paris on Aug. 1 is 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). The objective is to keep the rooms between 23-26 degrees (73-79 degrees Fahrenheit). The rooms will also be equipped with fans.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has said about the plans for the Olympics.
According to the International Energy Agency, fewer than 1 in 10 households in Europe has air conditioning, and the numbers in Paris are lower than that. The study said that of the 1.6 billion AC units in use across the globe in 2016, more than half were in China (570 million) and the United States (375 million). The entire European Union had around 100 million.
The Olympics mark the most important stop on the athletic careers of the 10,500-plus athletes who will descend on Paris, which has led some high-profile countries to undercut environmental efforts for the sake of comfort.
“It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers seemed determined to keep playing. And playing. And playing.
The teams opened their Eastern Conference final playoff series with Florida’s 3-2 victory in four overtimes early Friday, with the game ranking as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal came at the 19:47 mark of the fourth OT to end this one, which marked the 15th four-overtime game in NHL history and the longest game in franchise history for each team.
The longest game in NHL history came on March 24, 1936, when the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Maroons 1-0 in the sixth overtime on Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 116 minutes, 30 seconds of extra play.
Florida’s previous record for longest game was 104:31 in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup final against Colorado. Carolina’s previous record was 114:47 for Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final.
The only good news for the teams is they had an extended break before this series began. Carolina closed out New Jersey exactly a week earlier, while Florida eliminated Toronto a day later.
But this game ended roughly six hours after Thursday night’s puck drop, and the teams have a Game 2 in less than 48 hours.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
