Sports: Tigers Out; Lions lose to Bears

The Detroit Tigers were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday, losing 1-0 in Atlanta.   They won’t need to play a makeup game from Thursday’s rainout with Cleveland.   Justin Verlander started for Detroit, and had a great game, but one run was all the Braves would need to win the game. Verlander went 7 innings and struck out 8.  The Tigers’ ace finishes with a 16-9 record, 254 strikeouts, and a 3.04 earned run average.  But Verlander was outpitched Sunday by the Braves’ Julio Teheran, who matched a career high with 12 strikeouts.  The Tigers finish the season 86-75, eight games behind first place Cleveland, and 2 ½ out of a wild card spot.

Baseball Playoffs

The Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants won the remaining three major league wild-card berths yesterday, while the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers fell short.  The Blue Jays will host the Orioles in the AL wild-card game on Tuesday, with the winner heading to Texas to play the Rangers starting Thursday in the division series. Cleveland will host the Red Sox on Thursday.

The Giants will take on the Mets in New York on Wednesday as the two wild-card teams battle for the right to face the Chicago Cubs on Friday in the National League Division Series.   The Dodgers will be at Washington on Friday.

Chicago White Sox Manager Robin Ventura has resigned after four seasons at the helm.

Lions Football

Former MSU Spartan Brian Hoyer threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears earned their first win of the season with a 17-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.  The Bears stopped a six-game home losing streak as well as a six-game slide against the Lions.  Chicago was leading 17-6 when Andre Roberts returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown.  Golden Tate then caught a 2-point conversion pass from Matthew Stafford to cut it to 17-14 with 1:52 left, but the Bears recovered the onside kick.   Matthew Stafford was held to 213 yards passing, with two interceptions.  Marvin Jones Jr. had 74 yards receiving after setting a career-high with 205 yards against Green Bay the previous week.  The Lions managed just 66 yards running the ball, and were nearly outgained by a man in a gorilla suit who ran on the field sporting a shirt that read “all lives matter.”

Pats Lose Without Brady

The New England Patriots are 3-1 following their first shutout loss ever at Gillette Stadium, and their final game before Tom Brady returns from a four-game suspension. The Bills earned a 16-0 win over the Patriots

Monday Night Football

The 3-0 Vikings host the 2-1 Giants tonight on Monday Night Football.

Red Wings

The Red Wings are 3-0-1 in pre-season, after a 6-3 win over Chicago at the Joe.

Petr Mrazek played the entire game in goal for Detroit, and made 11 saves on 14 shots.

The Wings head to Chicago for a pre-season game tomorrow with the Blackhawks.

College Football

Alabama remained No. 1 and had 53 first-place votes and Ohio State held on to No. 2. Clemson, from the ACC, moved up two spots to No. 3 after a dramatic victory against Louisville, which slipped four spots to No. 7.  Michigan remained No. 4, and No. 5 Washington moved up five spots after a dominant victory against Stanford on Friday night.

Ryder Cup

Ryan Moore won the Ryder Cup-clinching match as the United States beat Europe 17-11 to reclaim the trophy. Other U.S. winners yesterday were Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedecker, Brooks Koepka and Zach Johnson. The best match of the day finished in a tie as Phil Mickelson had 10 birdies and Sergio Garcia carded nine.

NASCAR 

Martin Truex Jr. dominated at Dover International Speedway for his second victory in the first three Chase races. Austin Dillon finished eighth to stay in the championship hunt after entering the race outside the top-12 in the Chase standings. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano are still in the running for the Sprint Cup title, as are Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch.