🏈 Previewing TNF: Patriots & Jets, the Brewers Clinch + No Love or Yes Love?

Good Morning!

Big weekend ahead starts tonight! We have Thursday Night Football, more playoff deciding games in both the MLB and WNBA, and a full slate of college football and NFL are on the horizon. So take an extra long-break, it being Friday eve, and jump into the Morning Blitz below!

WTF Stat: Only 6 MLB players have multiple seasons with 53+ home runs: Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodríguez, and after this season Aaron Judge.

⚾️ The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their third National League Central title in four years, becoming the first MLB team to secure a division championship this season. Their title was confirmed after the Chicago Cubs lost to the Oakland Athletics. The Brewers celebrated in their clubhouse while awaiting their game against Philadelphia.

• 🔥 Take: Congrats to the Brewers! My question is did the player get some champagne and Miller Lites going before the game? Checking in on the scorecard … they won 2-1 in walk-off fashion, so whatever they did worked. Can you blame them for pouring a few back after clinching the division, they are the Brewers after all. Nothing wrong with getting a little “magic juice” before a game, it helped the 2004 Red Sox complete the best comeback ever.

🏈 Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love returned to practice twelve days after suffering a left knee injury, raising the possibility of playing against the Tennessee Titans. Initially expected to miss up to a month due to a sprained MCL, Love missed only one game, during which QB Malik Willis started.

• 🔥 Take: Pretty impressive recovery speed, which you just Love to see (sorry it was right there). Love is wearing a protective brace and is a guy that doesn’t run a ton but uses his mobility in the pocket well, so we’ll see how that impacts him. The Vegas line hasn’t moved much (Green Bay are underdogs and getting +1.5 to +2.5), so either Vegas thinks he’s still not going to play or going to be severely impacted. Only time will tell.

⚾️ Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals made history by becoming the first shortstop in MLB to achieve multiple 30-home run and 30-stolen base seasons. He recorded his 30th steal during a game against the Detroit Tigers, adding to his 31 home runs this season. Witt, at just 24 years old, also became the first player to have multiple 30/30 seasons within his first three years in the league.

• 🔥 Take: If you haven’t watched Witt Jr. play, you’re missing out. He’s absolutely electric and the true definition of a 5-tool player. He’s statistically the fastest player in baseball. He’s leading the majors in batting average, runs, hits, and has the 3rd highest OPS in the league. His only downfall is that he plays for the Royals, so doesn’t get nearly the same attention he deserves. He signed an 11-year, $289 million dollar deal this past off season with the Royals (which will end up being a huge bargain), so he’s there for the long haul.

Thursday Night Football Preview

Game: Patriots @ Jets (8:15 EST)

Why we’re watching: I’ll be honest with you this one could be a snooze fest. You have two good defenses an anemic Patriots offense and a Jets offense that is still trying to work out the kinks/find their identity. These two teams have always had a weird rivalry though (it’s been quite one-sided historically Jets are 2-18 against the Pats the last 20 games). But these games always seem to have some sort of drama. Their rivalry gave us Spygate, the Butt Fumble, “Can’t Wait”, Rex Ryan vs Bill Belichick (countless stories), Darrelle Revis against his former team, Bill Belichick final game as the Patriots coach… And those are just off the top of my head. So, I’m hoping for some more drama (guessing QB Aaron Rodgers will play a key role) and if nothing else at least a close game.

Key Matchup: Jets D-Line vs. Patriots O-Line. The Jets are tied for third in the NFL with 7 sacks. The Patriots are one of the least blitzed teams, yet QB Jacoby Brissett is one of the most knocked down and hurried QBs in the NFL. We know the Jets secondary is elite so if they can get pressure without blitzing, and sit back in coverage, it could be a long day for the Patriots gunslinger.

TNF Prop Bets: Jean (0-2) - under 38.5 points Keith (0-2) - Hunter Henry over 34.5 yards receiving.

D-Man’s Pick: Patriots +6.5 → I’m not very confident on any Thursday Night game, but Keith forced me to give him a pick, and he can be very persuasive. I’m taking the points.

• Yankees 2, Mariners 1: Another night, another weird ending to a game. In the bottom of the 10th, no outs runner of first and third, the Yankees completed a nontraditional strike 'em out, throw 'em out. As Randy Arozarena’s bat went flying on a strikeout, Julio Rodriguez got caught looking at the flying bat and was picked off third. The next batter Justin Turner would strikeout on 3 pitches and end the game.

• Guardians 5, Twins 4: Brayan Rocchio walked things off in the 10th to keep the Guardians 1 game back in the win column behind the #1 seeded Yankees. Josh Naylor hit two bombs, including this one to tie things up in the 7th.

• Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 4: The old Eduardo Rodriguez was back going 6 1/3 and striking out 11. Speaking of being back Corbin Carroll hit 2 HRs and drove in 3. The D-backs now share the same record as the 6 seeded New York Mets.

• Braves 7, Reds 1: The Braves ended their 3-game losing streak with a big win against the Reds. Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 4 hitting a HR and driving in his 100th RBI of the season. Rookie pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach had another solid start, he’s now 7-7 on the year with a 3.61 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.

• Padres 4, Astros 0: Dylan Cease was dominant in the win going 8 1/3 innings of 2-hit ball (0 walks). Manny Machado went yard twice in the win.

• Tigers 4, Royals 2: Tarik Skubal got his AL best 17th win on the year pitching 5 innings racking up 7 Ks and 1 earned run. They are now only a half game out of the Wild Card!

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

On this day in 1995, Colorado Rockies Andres Galarraga becomes 4th team member to hit 30 HRs in the season. This is really just to point out how stacked the Rockies lineups were in the 90s. They OPS’d .820 as a team in 1995. By comparison the Dodgers lineup which features 5 All-Stars (including Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts), is OPS’ing .770 on the season.

Yesterday’s Trivia Time Answer

Hughie Jennings is the career leader in hit by pitches. Which more modern era player is second on the list?

A. Craig Biggio - Biggio was hit 285 (2 less than Hughie Jennings). Apparently there is an art to getting hit by a pitch: the key to getting hit by a lot of pitches is the willingness to stand in the box and wear one for the team.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's trivia question and more info!

P.S. Have a good trivia question you want to share with us? Send them our way!