🏈 FSU Upset, ⚾️ Florida Takes Home LLWS Title & News from the Weekend

Good Morning, Blitzers!

Welcome back to the Morning Blitz! Hopefully, you had a weekend filled with sunshine and sports. We've got a little bit of everything in today's edition, from college football upsets and Little League World Series drama to MLB playoff races and Premier League action. So, start your week off right, and get caught up on all the top stories. Legggo.

WTF Stat: The game of football was changed forever by President Teddy Roosevelt. In the early 1900s, football looked much different than it does now. Comprised mostly of running plays and punts, it was a violent, brutal game that was becoming less and less popular. A number of schools started to ban the sport due to safety issues. In 1905, 18 people died while playing football. Roosevelt, seeing the sport’s potential, campaigned to make football safer. In response, the rules were revised, introducing the forward pass and the game of football would never be the same.

🏈 Georgia Tech pulled off a stunning upset against No. 10 Florida State, winning 24-21 in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. Aidan Birr secured the victory with a 44-yard field goal as time expired, marking Georgia Tech's first win over a top-10 opponent since 2015. Jamal Haynes led the Yellow Jackets with 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Haynes King added 146 passing yards and 54 rushing yards. Georgia Tech controlled the clock and the ground game, rushing for 190 yards.

• 🔥 Take: Love seeing an upset, love seeing a team keep receipts. (Note: The Blitz did have GT as underrated and FSU as overrated in our ACC preview). The silver lining for FSU is unlike past years, the season isn’t over, there are multiple spots to be had in the new college football playoff format and this game will be long forgotten if they can beat up on the rest of the ACC.

⚾️ Lake Mary, Florida, won the Little League World Series (LLWS) championship in dramatic fashion by defeating Chinese Taipei 2-1 in extra innings. This victory marks Florida's first-ever LLWS title after eight previous losses in championship games. The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Lake Mary's Hunter Alexander laid down a bunt, leading to a throwing error by Chinese Taipei. This error allowed Lathan Norton to score the winning run.

• 🔥 Take: There is something beautiful about a game winning bunt. Love me some good fundamental baseball. Now, had it been the US losing to a bunt, I would said it was cowardly and a cheap, but that’s neither here nor there.

⚾️ Shohei Ohtani joined the 40-40 club over the weekend, hitting his 41st home run of the season to go along with his 40 stolen bases. Adding to the excitement, Ohtani took a significant step in his pitching rehab by throwing off a mound for the first time since his elbow surgery last September. He is expected to make his first appearance pitching for the Dodgers next season.

• 🔥 Take: I think it’s funny when people debate the best player in baseball. Every one of those conversations should start with ‘outside of Ohtani’. He isn’t even pitching this year and is still the clear favorite to win the NL MVP. He excels at everything he does on the baseball field. I’m convinced that if he wanted to start batting right-handed or throwing left-handed, he could do it and be the best in the league with his opposite hands.

⚾️ Aaron Judge hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season on Sunday, becoming the fifth player in MLB history to achieve three 50-homer seasons. By hitting his 50th homer, Judge joined an elite group that includes Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Babe Ruth. Judge is on pace to hit 63 this season, potentially surpassing his own American League record of 62 homers set in 2022.

•  🔥 Take: Let me just copy and paste my previous note about Judge from Friday in case MLB managers missed it: Why is anyone pitching to Judge? Time to give him the Barry Bonds treatment, put him on first for the rest of the season.

MLB Playoff Picture

With around 30 games left in the season (depending on the team), here is a look at where things stand:

AL

Locks: Yankees (77-54), Orioles (76-56), Guardians (75-55), Twins (72-58)

Would Need to Collapse: Royals (72-58), Astros (70-60) - both have over a 80% chance of making the playoffs (according to fan graphs), the two teams that could catch them are :

So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance: Mariners (66-65) and Red Sox (67-62) - both are 4.5 games out of the playoff picture (Red Sox for wild card, Mariners for the AL West division). Both have been struggling as of late but have easier schedules ahead. Where they differ is that the Red Sox play significantly better on the road (38-27), while the Mariners play better in front of the home crowd (39-27).

Hardest Road: Royals, they have the 3rd hardest strength of schedule remaining with series against the Yankees, Guardians (2x), Braves, and Astros. They are 29-38 against teams with a winning record this year.

If I Were a Betting Man: Baltimore Orioles to win it all at +800 looks appetizing. Great value for a team that is still very young, but has played well all year long, and is 6-4 against the Yankees this season. There is still a good chance they win the AL East and don’t have to play in the wildcard round.

NL

Locks: Phillies (76-54), Brewers (75-55), Dodgers (78-53), Diamondbacks (75-56), Padres (74-58)

Would Need to Collapse: Braves (70-60), currently have a 83% chance of making the playoffs, and have a lot of tough series ahead but have played well against winning teams (43-34).

So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance: Mets (68-62) and Giants (66-66) - The Mets are 2.5 games out from the wild card but have a 20% chance of making it to the playoffs and have the 9th hardest schedule ahead. Tough loss yesterday, but they have been playing better of late (especially Francisco Lindor). They’ll need a lot more consistency from their pitching staff if they’re to beat out the Braves (who are 1st in the NL in ERA).

Hardest Road: San Francisco Giants, 2nd hardest strength of schedule ahead. With a -12 run differential on the season and a lineup that doesn’t draw a lot of fear from pitchers (Matt Chapman and Heliot Ramos are having nice seasons), it’d be hard to imagine the Giants making a run.

If I Were a Betting Man: Arizona Diamondbacks to win NL West +650. Another value play here, the Diamondbacks are getting hot at the right time, and have a 4 game series coming up against the Dodgers this weekend, they can make things awfully interesting if they’re able to win that series.

English Premier League

Chuffed

1. Brighton - João Pedro’s 95th-minute stunner pushed the Gulls to its second straight win, this one coming against Manchester United.

2. Chelsea - Avenged its opening loss with an offensive masterclass vs. Wolves, 6-2.

3. Tottenham - After a disappointing draw in the opener, Spurs bounced back in a big way with a 4-0 drubbing of Everton.

Gutted

1. Everton - The nightmare start continued, the Toffees have given up seven goals in two games and have yet to tickle the twine themselves.

2. Manchester United - Two goals overturned by offsides and a late goal toppled the Red Devils.

3. Leicester - All vim and vigor after an opening draw vs. Spurs…followed up by a 2-1 loss to Fulham.

Five Stars

1. Erling Haaland (Man City) - Hat trick in 4-1 win over Ipswich Town, 7th EPL hat trick. Another reason Haaland tops this list is because he was giving off Ivan Drago/Wolf Stansson vibes in his postgame interview.

2. Noni Madueke (Chelsea) - 3 goals in under 15 minutes of play in the 2nd half

3. Cole Palmer (Chelsea) - 1 goal, 3 assists

4. Son Heung-Min (Spurs) - 2 goals vs. Everton

5. Nottingham Forest backline - Only allowed 1 shot on goal despite almost 30-percent difference in possession

The Mint Matches of the Week

Saturday

Arsenal vs. Brighton - 7:30 AM EST

West Ham vs. Manchester City - 12:30 PM EST

Sunday

Manchester United vs. Liverpool - 11:00 AM EST

MLB - Top Games

• San Diego Padres 3, New York Mets 2: Rookie Jackson Merrill delivered in the clutch once again. This time it was a walk-off home run off Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning. The Padres, trailed 2-0 after homers by J.D. Martinez and Mark Vientos, but they tied the game in the eighth inning with a two-run shot by Jurickson Profar. Merrill’s homer, his 19th of the season, sealed the win for San Diego. The Padres are currently holding the NL’s second wild-card spot, while the Mets continue to chase a playoff position. Robert Suarez earned the win, improving to 8-1.

Key Highlight: Electric call from Don Orsillo:

• Houston Astros 6, Baltimore Orioles 3: The Astros defeated the Orioles 6-3 on Sunday night, thanks to back-to-back solo home runs by Alex Bregman and Yainer Diaz in the seventh inning. The Orioles had tied the game 3-3 in the fifth with a three-run homer by Ramón Urías, but the Astros regained the lead with the homers off Burch Smith. Mauricio Dubón made a spectacular catch but injured himself crashing into the wall; he was replaced by Jake Meyers, who contributed a sacrifice fly to extend Houston's lead. The Astros maintained their 4.5-game lead in the AL West, while the Orioles fell 1.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Key Highlight: I know they lost, but it’s going to be fun to see the Orioles back in the playoffs with this atmosphere:

• Arizona Diamondbacks 7 Boston Red Sox 5: Eugenio Suárez powered the Diamondbacks to a 7-5 win over the Red Sox with a go-ahead three-run homer over the Green Monster. The D-Backs completed the three-game sweep of the Red Sox. Suárez had a great series driving in 10 RBIs over the weekend, including a grand slam on Friday. The Diamondbacks, holding the NL’s top wild-card spot, have now won six straight games. Rafael Devers hit his 200th career home run for Boston, but the Red Sox struggled, losing Tanner Houck's seventh consecutive start.

Key Highlight: The Diamondbacks social team adding insult to injury:

• Cleveland Guardians 4, Texas Rangers 2: Jhonkensy Noel homered for the second consecutive game, helping the Guardians secure a 4-2. Noel's solo shot in the second inning was his 12th home run since debuting in June, tying a franchise record for the most homers in a player's first 41 games. Matthew Boyd earned his first win in over a year, allowing just one run in six innings in his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery. David Fry added a solo homer in the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase closed out the game with his AL-high 38th save.

Key Highlight: Jhonkensy is entering Wily Mo Peña territory, where every home run he hits looks like it travels 500 feet:

• LA Dodgers 3, Tampa Bay Rays 1: Mookie Betts hit a decisive two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory. After Shohei Ohtani was hit on the wrist by a pitch, Betts responded by launching the next pitch over the left-center field wall. Kiké Hernández also contributed with a solo homer in the fifth inning and made a key defensive play. Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone struck out seven over seven innings, allowing just one run on a solo shot by Jonny DeLuca.

Key Highlight: It was Kobe Bryant day in LA, cool way to end it with fans chanting:

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

On this day in 1971, Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr signed the first NHL contract worth one million dollars. Orr signed the five-year deal after seeing prolific success in his first five seasons. The iconic photo above was from his first championship in 1970. The Hall of Famer would win his second championship in 1972 after signing the largest NHL deal at the time.

Friday’s Trivia Time Answer

Which current member of the Big 12 have the most all-time NFL draft picks?

B. Colorado - Colorado has seen the most draft picks with 276 in total. Top potential picks, QB Shedeur Sanders and CB/WR Travis Hunter should add to that total if they elect to enter the draft this year. Arizona State is second with 255 and Baylor is 3rd with 249. Full list here.

Check back in tomorrow for today’s trivia answer and more info!