The Ryder Cup is Here and Team U.S.A is Ready to Roll

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

Finally, it’s here, every golf fan’s favorite time of every other year. Yes, ladies and gentleman, the Ryder Cup is here. The greatest team competition in golf is back again for its 42nd playing. This time taking Place at Le Golf National just outside of Paris, France. This American squad is setting out to do something that has not been done in over 25 years, win on foreign soil. The United States are the reigning champs, thanks to their fantastic performance in 2016 at Hazeltine.

The two squads are built very differently. The U.S. captain Jim Furyk going with more experience with his team having only 3 rookies in Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, and Bryson DeChambeau. The Europe captain Thomas Bjorn going with a much more inexperienced team with 5 rookies including Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olsen, Jon Rahm, and Tyrrell Hatton. These teams are loaded with talent on both sides with every player inside the top 50 of the official world golf rankings including the entire top 10. The U.S. does have the advantage ranking wise having the entire team in the top 25 and 6 of those players are in the top 10 of the world. The Europeans meanwhile only have 8 players inside the top 25 and 4 inside the top 10.

This week is going to be electric with many storylines. How will the European rookies perform, the return of Tiger to the Ryder Cup, how will Phil, Bubba, and Reed play after finishing as the bottom three at the tour championship, can the U.S. defend and break the streak, can Rory or Rose step up to lead the Europeans, and many more.

My prediction for the overall weekend is the U.S. winning by a score of 16-13. With Tiger being the top points scorer for the U.S. and Francesco Molinari for the Europeans. For top rookies, I have Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood.

As for the morning fourball matchups we I have Koepka and Finau halving with Rahm and Rose. Next, I have Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler defeating McIlroy and Olesen. In the third match, I have Spieth and Thomas beating Casey and Hatton. In the final morning match, I have Reed and Woods taking down Molinari and Fleetwood.

Also fun fact for all you local Massholes, the first Ryder Cup was hosted in Worcester, MA. So just another thing America can thank this great state for.

The Red Sox Split Their Double Header With Baltimore and Score 19 Runs in Game 1 But All the Talk is About Chris Sale

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

The Red Sox had game 2 of their series against the Orioles rained out tuesday night, so the Sox got to play their second double header against the Orioles this season. In game 1 the Red Sox absolutly pumbled the Orioles in a 19-3 route. David Price got the start and went 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits. A very average start but Cora has been limiting his guys to around 5 or 6 inning starts in an attempt to keep his guys rested and fresh for the ALDS. But enough with the pitching lets get to the 19 runs.

The Sox were swinging early and often scoring 5 in the first inning. Bogaerts started it off by doubling home J.D. Martinez and Andrew Benintendi. Later that inning with the bases load the red hot Rafael Devers hit a bases clearing double to score Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland, and Ian Kinsler. That would end up being it for Orioles starter Ryan Meisinger as he would only manage a third of an inning giving up 4 hits and 5 runs.

The Orioles got 3 runs back in the second thanks to a Trey Mancini solo homer and a Renato Nunez two run homer. But those were the only two mistakes Price made all day as he would proceed to quiet their bats for the rest of the day. Meanwhile the Red Sox would proceed to embaress the Orioles for the rest of the afternoon as many players would reach new career milestones. The milestones started when in the second inning Mookie Betts stole second base for his 30th of the season. Surprisingly becoming only the second Red Sox player to ever do it.

That would only be the begining of the afternoons highlights. The Sox opened the scoring again in the 4th thanks to a J.D. Martinez 3 run home run. That home run gave J.D. hist 42nd of the year and also raised his RBI total to 127. The homer tied Dick Stuart for most home runs in their first season with the Sox. J.D. also passed Manny Ramirez for 4th most RBI’s in their first Red Sox season. The homer also gave the Sox a 8-3 lead in the fourth inning.

In the 5th the Sox added two more runs thanks to Ian Kinsler doubling home Mitch and Devers then singling home Kinsler to make it 10-3. In the 6th the Sox added two more runs thanks to Xander Bogaerts setting two career milestones. With a homer to center Bogaerts set a new career high with 22 home runs and his first 100 RBI season. Most people when they look at the Red Sox always focus on the great success of Mookie and J.D. but Xander Bogaerts has had arguably the most improvement this season and has been a huge part of the Sox great success.

The Sox would continue the onslot in the 7th scoring another 3 runs. This time it was the young kids going deep as Devers and Blake Swihart both homered. Devers hit a solo shot to dead center for his 20th of the season and Blake then followed up by going back to back Devers for his 3rd of the season. That would also now give Devers a homer and 5 RBI’s on the day. Later in the inning Benintendi doubled home Tzu-Wei Lin with his 40th double of the season making it 15-3 in the 7th inning.

Did the scoring stop there, of course not. The Orioles, who are already terrible to start with, are trotting all these young guys out of the bullpen to get them experience and Buck Showalter could not even deal watching that anymore. So with a roster that has plenty of pitching thanks to September call ups and the expanded roster Buck Showalter brought in Jace Peterson, a second basemen, to pitch the 8th. The Sox got the 8th started right with Devers hitting anbsolute nuke that would have made Kim Jong-Un jealous. Devers second home run of the day was a 447 foot solo shot to right field to make it 16-3 and give Devers 2 homers and 6 RBI’s on the day.

Tzu-Wei Lin then doubled home doubled to center scoring Swihart and Sandy Leon making it 18-3. Benintendi later singled home Lin to finally get us to our final score of 19-3. The offense was the big focus of the afternoon but don’t forget about the bullpen as Steven Wright, Heath Hembree, and Brandon Workman combined for 4 innings of shut out ball. This game would also increase the Sox franchise season wins record to 107. Would this offense carry over to the night cap game,…uh no.

Yes, sadly the Sox would lose game two but its not as bad as it looks. The Sox wanted to make the night game more compdeitive, so Cora put out a line up of equal skill level with the Orioles that consited of Jackie Bradley Jr., Steve Pearce, and Devers being the three best hitters in the line up. With that line up and Chris Sale still on a pitch count/ innings limit it was pretty much a spring training game for the Sox. Sale threw 92 pitches over 4.2 innings giving up 4 hits, 3 runs, and striking out 8.

Most fans and analyst were very concered about Sale’s performance last night. He wasn’t throwing that high 90’s gas that we had seen him recently dominate with and with his next start being game 1 of the ALDS it is a concern that we didn’t see his dominate stuff in his tune up start. I believe Sale knows that when needed he can go to that gas and that he did not want to exert himself more than nessicary today. His slider was filthy and seemed like he wanted to make sure he had that ready for the postseason. Also, Sale probably thought that it was better to play it safe and not overexert his shoulder and not risk reinjuring his sholder in a meaningless game before the ALDS. I believe Sale will be fine being fully rested and charged up for game 1.

Now for the rest of the game the Sox was not good. The offense did struggle only scoring 3 runs, granted half the line up was in Pawtucket last month. The main concern in this game was the bullpen. After Sale came out Eduardo Rodriguez came in and threw 1.1 innings, giving up no runs. This was a very promising sign and preview for what E Rod’s postseason role could be.

But then the bullpen struggles can when Matt Barnes, who is recently back from injury, only threw a third of an inning giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. For a guy who is trying to secure his 8th inning role back this outing was not helpful for him. Hector Velazquez then got out of the 7th inning limiting the damage to 3 runs in the inning. Ryan Braiser then came in and thurled a perfect 8th inning, which really helped his case to be the 8th inning set up man in the postseason. Cora then brought on Kimbrel in the 9th to get him some work after not pitching in 5 days. The 5 days definetly showed as Craig just did not have it giving up 4 runs while walking 3. Kimbrel could only get through a third of an inning of work before he gave way to Robbie Scott who finished the 9th inning.

The Sox would fall by a score of 10-3. Putting the Sox at 107-52 for the season with 3 games remaining. If the Sox can sweep their 3 game series to end the season they could become the first Red Sox team to ever reach the 110 win milestone. Also if the boys out in Oakland can stay hot a sweep of the Yankees might mean a Wild Card game in Oakland. On a side note it was also great to see the Rem Dawg, Jerry Remy make a stop in the NESN booth during the night game as he recovers from another battle with cancer. We miss you Rem Dawg and are keep you in our prayers.

 

The 2018 Boston Red Sox are Now the Winningest Red Sox Team Ever

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

The 2018 Boston Red Sox just set the franchise record with 106 wins and how appropriate to do it in Fenway Park. This team is truly incredible. The Sox were finally able to clinch that honors against the Baltimore Orioles, some would argue the Norfolk Tides plus Adam Jones, by winning 6-2.

Nathan Eovaldi continued his campaign to make the postseason rotation with a dominant start going 5 innings 4 hits 1 run and a career-high 10 strikeouts. Plus the one run scored against Nate was on a wild pitch in the 5th. Eovaldi was bringing it all night touching 99-100 mph numerous times and just making the Orioles look like the triple a team they really are.

His teammates did not wait long to give Nate some run support in the 2nd. Brock Holt ], whose bat should literally be on fire at this point, doubled home Steve Pearce to open the scoring Vazquez proceded to drive in Holt with a single. To cap off the four-run 2nd inning, Mookie Betts might have just sealed up his MVP with home run number 32, launching it into the stratosphere onto the Green Monster. Mookie also stole his 29th base tonight leaving him one shy of a 30-30 season.

The Red Sox would tack on two more in the 4th inning. Benintendi hit a screaming line drive at the Orioles second basemen, Steve Wilkerson, that deflected off him which allowed Jackie Bradley Jr to score. Xander Bogaerts came up later that inning and drove in Mookie Betts for his 96th RBI.

Once Eovaldi left the Eduardo Rodriguez would pitch 2 innings of 1 hit ball out of the bullpen as Alex Cora is preparing E Rod for a potential postseason bullpen role. Joe Kelly struggled in his outing tonight and was charged with the only run given up by the bullpen tonight. Ryan Braiser would come in for the rest of the 8th and get out of Kelly’s jam, ending the inning by picking off Jonathan Villar at first base. Matt Barnes would then come in and close it out in the 9th to clinch the Red Sox franchise record 106th win and clinched the best record in baseball, giving the Red Sox home field advantage throughout the postseason.

It’s truly incredible to see that this young Red Sox team can set the franchise record for wins with all the injuries to key guys like Sale, Devers, Vazquez, Pedroia, and a shaky bullpen at times and dealing with all of it, a rookie manager in Alex Cora. People knew the Sox would be good. That they would be in a fight with the Yankees for the division and the loser would probably be the first wild card. That all happened, but no one saw the Sox beating the Yankees out by 9.5 games for the division and being the best team in baseball by 6.5 games over the reigning world series champion Houston Astros. It has been an incredible season so far for this team, but the work is not done yet for these guys as Cora has preached “we’ve got 11 games to win in October.”

The Red Sox Fall to the Indians in Extras Again in Game 3

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

The Sox fall again in a tough loss to the Indians in 11 innings. The Sox named Hector Velazquez the starter for game 3 going with the bullpen approach. Velazquez would end up going only 3.1 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 runs before giving way to the bullpen in a tie ball game. The Sox had scored earlier thanks to an Adam Plutko wild pitch that allowed Mookie Betts to score in the 1st and later Devers would drive in Vazquez in the 3rd.

Steven Wright would give up an unearned run after relieving Velazquez in the 4th to make it a 3-2 Indians lead. The Sox would not go quietly though as Mookie Betts would homer to dead center in the top of the 5th to tie the game back up at 3.

That would be the last run that Plutko would give up as he would go 6 innings giving up 5 hits and 3 runs. After the home run, it became a battle of the bullpens. Bobby Poyner came in and threw a shutout 5th inning and then William Cuevas would come on to throw the next 5.1 innings. For the Indians Dan Otero, Jon Edwards, Neil Ramirez, and Adam Cimber would keep the Sox bats quiet for the 7th 8th and 9th innings.

The teams then headed to extras for the second night in a row. The Indians brought in Josh Tomlin in the 10th and he kept the Sox bats quiet again during the 10th and 11th. But he was not able to silence Brock Holt’s incredible air drumming to the beat of the fans drums.

Cuevas was able to keep the Indians off the board in the 10th inning but ran into some trouble in the 11th and gave way to Robby Scott who ended up giving up the walk-off hit to Greg Allen to end the game. Another tough loss for the Sox as they could not set the clubs single-season record for wins for the second night in a row. Again we can’t be too disappointed because of the fact that maybe only one of the guys who pitched last night will probably be on the postseason roster in Steven Wright and yet the Sox only lost by 1 in extras again. Also seeing Mookie Betts getting back in the field and homering was a great sign for his health.

The Sox will now come home to finish up the season with 3 games against the Orioles and 3 against the Yankees. Tonight the Sox are going with Nate Eovaldi who is 5-7 with a 3.98 ERA on the season as he tries to make a push to make the postseason rotation. The Orioles will be sending out Dylan Bundy who has had a season to forget going 8-15 with an ERA of 5.37. Let’s hope tonight is the night the Sox set the franchise record of 106 regular season wins.

The Pats Struggle on Both Sides of the Ball in an Embarrassing Loss to the Detroit Lions

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

After taking a tough loss on the road to the Jacksonville Jaguars most people penciled in this Sunday night game against Detroit as a bounce-back game for the Pats. It ended up being the furthest thing from a bounce back but rather an embarrassing loss. The Pats defense could not stop the Lions offense all night and the offense struggled all night long still lacking any threats other than Gronk in the passing game.

The offense showed why they need Josh Gordon active and Julian Edelman’s suspension to end asap. Hogan, Patterson, and Dorsett again lacked the ability to get open downfield as they combined for only 4 receptions and 43 yards. The Pats also couldn’t establish a run game as the rookie back Sony Michel led the team with 14 carries for just 50 yards. With the receivers unable to get free and a weak run game, Brady’s only real weapon on offense was Gronk who had only 4 receptions for 51 yards and was constantly double-teamed downfield and on third downs. Brady was only able to go 14 for 26 for 133 yards 1 TD and 1 Int. The offense barely got over the 200 total yard mark which made the defense’s job even harder.

The defense did look a little better than it did against the Jags but they still struggled to stop Matt Stafford and the Lions offense. The Lions ran the ball down the Pats throat all night with Kerryon Johnson leading the way with 16 carries and 101 yards. The Lions offensive line dominated all night helping the Lions run for a combined 158 yards and only giving up 1 sack all night. They gave Stafford a clean pocket to work with all night which lead to him throwing for 262 yards and 2 TDs. The killer for the Pats defense was that they could not get off the field on third down as the Lions went 7 for 14 on third down conversion.

The Patriots also had numerous injuries on the defensive side of the ball that did not help them.

Starters Patrick Chung, Trey Flowers, and Eric Rowe were all inactive last night which hurt the Patriots pass rush and thinned out the Patriots secondary depth. The offense was also lacking with Jacob Hollister and Josh Gordon inactive. With all these injuries and both sides of the ball already struggling it made for a nightmare scenario for the Pats as the would end up losing by a score of 26-10. I still have faith in this team. It’s almost a classic cycle that the Pats will look average in September losing one or two games and then righting the ship and looking like the team we all know and love. With Chung, Gordon, Flowers, and Rowe all looking like they’ll be back next week the Pats can gain 3 key defensive starters back and finally gain a big play receiver that can at least draw attention away from Gronk if not make some plays himself. If the Pats can get a big win against the Dolphins in week 4 they then will head into October 2-2 and also be gaining Julian Edelman back from suspension. The Pats then start a stretch of hosting the Colts and the Chiefs then heading to the Bears and the Bills. Realistically the Pats could 5-3 at the worst heading into November. Now if these struggles still show up in October that is where I would start to worry but I trust Brady and Belichick to fix the issues this team has and get this team rolling the way they always do.

The Cat is Back and in Big Fashion

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

5 years, 1,876 days, 4 back surgeries later and Tiger Woods is finally back in the winner’s circle. Finishing the weekend at -11 winning by 2 shots over Billy Horschel and Tiger was finally able to capture PGA tour win number 80 and how appropriate for it to be at the Tour Championship. Tiger started the day in the final group for the third consecutive day as this time he teed it up with world number 6 Rory McIlroy. Tiger entered the day at -12 with a three-shot lead over Rory and Justin Rose who both entered at -9. Rory ended up at -5 at the end of the day after shooting a +4 74 mostly because of his struggles off the tee hitting only 21% of his fairways today which led to 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey on the front 9.

Rose would finish tied for fourth finishing at -6 after shooting +3 73. Rose also struggled off the tee hitting 29% of his fairways which lead to 5 bogeys on the day. But despite not winning the tournament Rose still had a great day. After claiming the world number 1 ranking last week at the BMW Championship, where he lost to Keegan Bradley in a playoff, Rose needed a birdie or better at 18 to claim the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus. He ended up almost sinking his 30-foot eagle putt and left himself a tap-in for $10 million.

For most of the day, it seemed like Tiger had it all in control maintaining a 4 or 5 shot lead for most of the afternoon. But late in the day, Billy Horschel made a charge on the back 9 birdieing 3 of his last 7 holes to shoot -4 on the day and finish in solo second at -9. Tiger had a 4 shot lead over Horschel going into 15 but then bogeyed 15 and 16 trimming his lead to just 2 shots with 2 holes to play. Tiger then pulled his tee shot on 17 into the left rough and it started to look a little shakey if he could seal the deal. He then flew his second over the green and needed an up and down for par. People wondered did Tiger still have that clutch gene to close out tournaments and then he chipped it to 3 and a half feet, leaving himself a testy but makeable downhill putt and he drained it. He went to the par 5 18th with a 2 shot lead looking to seal the deal. He stepped up to the tee on 18 and piped a drive 347 yards right down the middle. His second shot came up just short of the green landing in the bunker. But Tiger blasted it out to 15 feet and then snuggled it up close to leave himself a tap in to seal up his 80th career PGA tour win. This was also Tigers 3rd career Tour Championship win and 2nd at East Lake. He ended the day finishing -11 shooting a +1 71 but it didn’t matter it was enough he finally did it, and almost a year after he was cleared by doctors to start chipping.

It is honestly one of the greatest comeback stories in sports. 4 separate back surgeries and trying to remake his swing over those 5 years. Some wondering not if he’d ever win again or compete again but rather if he’d ever play again. A year and a half removed from his spinal fusion surgery and here we are. The Tour Champion and finishing 2nd in the FedEx Cup, not to mention a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup. Not matter if you hate him or love him you can’t argue that Tiger is back and can win on tour and that its better for golf when he is playing well. The crowds today were absolutely electric, almost 4 or 5 rows deep and then seeing the fans run up the fairway behind Tiger and surround the green was something surreal reminding people of the days of old when Tiger was in his prime. This win may have completed the comeback but it surely won’t be the last.

The Red Sox Battle Back to Force Extras Only to Lose Becasue Drew Pomeranz Stinks

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

It was another windy and brisk fall night in Cleveland as the Sox looked to take game 2 of their series with potential ALCS foe, the Indians. Rick Porcello took the mound for the Sox tonight and it was not pretty for Ricky tonight but he was still able to grind through 5 innings of work giving up 4 runs, 3 earned, over 8 hits. Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger also had a not so pretty outing going 5 innings over giving up 2 runs with 3 hits and 5 walks. Both runs coming via solo bombs by Rafael Devers and Blake Swihart.

Both bullpens looked strong tonight giving up just 3 total runs over the last 6 innings. For the Red Sox, Robby Scott was able to work out of another big jam and try and showcase why he should make the postseason roster as the Sox main lefty matchup man. But not to be outdone by Scott’s one inning of work Brian Johnson would come in and throw 3 scoreless innings to make his case for the postseason roster. Also, an extremely promising sign tonight for the Sox was Joe Kelly coming in for the bottom of the 10th inning and getting out of runners on first and second with no outs jam by striking out Josh Donaldson and Yonder Alonso and getting Melky Cabrera to ground out. An appearance that looked much like the Joe Kelly of the first half of the season and if the Sox can get him dealing like that again he may be able to stabilize the bridge to Kimbrel in the 8th.

Brad Hand would end up giving up the tying runs in the 8th as he inherited one of Andrew Miller’s runners. Benintendi would drive home Brock Holt and Blake Swihart on a liner to left to get the sox back in it.

In the end, though it wouldn’t be enough because Drew Pomeranz came on to pitch in the 11th which all Sox fans know is Cora’s way of saying let’s just go back to the hotel and get some rest for tomorrows game. Drew wouldn’t record a single out giving up 2 singles and a walk to load the bases and then Michael Brantly hit a liner to left to end it. I really do not understand why Drew is still even on the roster he’s got an ERA over 6 this year and just straight up stinks. Like would any major league hitter actually be afraid to face this guy?

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The Sox offense did again struggle tonight leaving 10 men on and going 1 for 8 with men in scoring position. It may have looked like a pitchers duel on paper but Porcello and Clevinger really grinded to get through their 5 innings. It could have easily been much worse for either pitcher if either team actually took advantage of the struggling starters.

On the bright side, we may see Mookie back in right field according to Alex Cora depending on how his injured left side feels before the game. As for the pitching matchup, the Sox have not named a starter yet so we could be seeing another bullpen game while Cleveland is going with Adam Plutko who has a 4-5 record with a 5.27 ERA. Hopefully, the Sox can get the bats going again tomorrow and take the series to boost the team’s confidence going into the playoffs. Also if the Red Sox win tomorrow it will be a franchise single-season record of 106 wins under first-year manager Alex Cora.

McGregor Officially Signs a New 6 Fight Deal With the UFC

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

Yesterday afternoon ESPN’s Darren Rovell confirmed the rumors that Conor McGregor had signed a new deal with the UFC. It was originally reported that Conor’s new deal was for 8 fights but Rovell later confirmed with UFC President Dana White that the new deal is for 6 fights. As many UFC fans know McGregor will be fighting in UFC 229 on October 6 against the current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who has a 26-0 record in the UFC.

Many are wondering what the multi-weight class champ has left to prove with his 21-3 UFC record and making a reported $70 million for fighting Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Some analysts think if McGregor beats Khabib at UFC 229 they could try and make this rivalry a trilogy which would still leave at least 3 more fights available. So people have said that Tony Ferguson could be a possible opponent after not getting his chance to fight Conor for the lightweight belt before the Mayweather fight. Others think Conor may jump back down to the featherweight class and fight Max Holloway and try and reclaim his featherweight belt. There have also been some rumors that Conor may jump up a weight class and go for the welterweight belt title against Tyron Woodly or Colby Covington. If he does jump up to welterweight Conor could potentially win his third belt at three different weights.

Some other potential fights for Conor could be a Jose Aldo rematch, Frankie Edgar, Dustin Poirier, Brian Ortega, or Darren Till. If McGregor Khabib does not become a trilogy or if there isn’t even a rematch some of these more unlikely fights could actually happen. Whatever the case we all know McGregor will always provide a ton of pre-fight hype and trash talk that UFC and McGregor fans eat up. This is also a great deal for the UFC if he stays committed to that six-fight number because for those 6 fights they know that the pay per view streams will be up just because McGregor is on the card. Pair any of those fights with another belt fight or high ranking fight and they could do record numbers on PPV for that night. It was a great deal for both sides that have made all UFC fans very happy today.

Week 4 College Football Spotlight

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

Its week four of the college football season and from now until the end of the season we will be breaking down a couple of the notable matchups each week including the Boston College game. This week we have two top twenty-five matchups. The first kicking off at 3:30 pm is number 22 Texas A&M traveling to Tuscolusa to face top-ranked Alabama. Later on two Pac 12 rivals will go at it at 8 pm when number 7 Stanford will face number 20 Oregon. Also, your number 23 BC Eagles will be traveling to Purdue this week.

The first game has will have a huge impact on the college football playoff and the SEC West. Alabama through their first three games has looked unstoppable on offense and dominate on defense. Averaging almost 57 points a game while giving up only 9 some have already accepted that Alabama will be the national champions again in 2018. Bama has also played some good opponents already playing a tough Louisville team, a well-coached Arkansas St team and stymied a red-hot Ole Miss team. Led by Heisman front-runner Tua Tagovailoa who has already thrown for 646 yards and 8 TDs while also rushing for 93 yards and a TD. Tua has made this Alabama offense a juggernaut along with backs Najee and Damien Harris, who both have over 150 yards rushing on the season, and receivers Jerry Jeudy and DeVonta Smith, who both have over 200 receiving yards. And of course, Alabama is led by a star-studded defense filled with potential NFL talent that has only allowed 28 total points over 3 games.

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But Texas A&M under new head coach Jimbo Fisher has looked solid so far going 2-1 with dominant wins over Northwestern St and Louisiana Monroe and a 2 point loss to number 3 Clemson. Jimbo’s boys aren’t looking too far behind Alabama scoring 44 points a game while giving up 15 points. Led by sophomore QB Kellen Mond who has had an impressive season himself throwing for 824 yards and 6 TD’s along with rushing for 103 yards and 3 TD’s, A&M’s offense has been red-hot as well with having four 100 yard rushers, led by Trayveon Williams with 399 yards and 4 TD’s, and four 100 yard receivers, led by Jhamon Ausbon with 13 receptions for 201 yards. The A&M defense has also been solid and was already put to the test against a tough offense in Clemson.

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The spread on this game right now is -21 for Alabama, which is actually the smallest margin this season. Despite only losing by 2 to Clemson I believe A&M needs to bring it to another level against Bama especially because Clemson was still giving Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence time under center. Alabama has decided on their QB and he’s arguably the best in the country and that’s why their offense will be hard to stop, Tua has them firering on all cylinders and being at home will definitely help him go up against the toughest defense they’ve faced yet. A&M’s offense should be able to hold their own especially with already facing Clemson’s loaded defense and performing well in the second half comeback attempt. I think Bama will still win comfortably strictly because they just have more pure talent than A&M, I say Bama wins by 14 by a score 41-27.

The next big matchup of the weekend is taking place in Eugue, Oregon where the number 20 Ducks play host to the number 7 Cardinal. Oregon is off to a 3-0 start under first-year head coach Mario Cristobal. The Ducks offense is looking potent like it was during the days of Chip Kelly scoring almost 52 points a game and the defense is looking above average giving up just 20 a game. The Ducks offense is led by junior QB Justin Herbert who in 3 games already has 840 yards passing and 12 TDs. The Ducks also have a loaded backfield led by CJ Verdell with 199 rush yards and a TD. The receivers are led by Johnny Johnson III with 6 receptions 134 yards and 4 TDs. The Ducks offense has been all about the home run ball, six Oregreceiversers have their longest repection this year over 30 yards and four of those six are for touchdowns. The only issue with the Ducks is that their toughest opponent so far this year was San Jose St who they beat 35-22 in week 3. The defense has also been solid but again against much lesser talent.

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The Cardinal are also off to a 3-0 start under coach David Shaw. This team is almost the complete opposite of Oregon with a ground and pound, wear you down, offense and a tremendous shutdown defense. Stanford is only averaging 26 points a game on offense but the defense has been dominating averaging giving up just under 8 a game. The Stanford offense is led by last years Heisman finalist running back Bryce Love. Love was held out of their week 3 matchup for precautionary reasons after getting hurt week 2 against USC. Over about a game and a half Love already has 165 rush yards and a TD. The Stanford QB is junior KJ Costello who has thrown for 729 yards and 7 TDs. The Cardinal are led at receiver by JJ Arcega-Whiteside with 13 receptions, 324 yards, and 5 TDs. The Cardinal defense has been dominating only giving up one 100 yard rusher and zero 300-yard passers through three games. Plus Stanford has played better competion beating both San Deigo St and number 17 USC.

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The spread on this game is -3 Stanford and I do expect it to be close. After last weeks struggles against San Jose St I think Oregon will come back to earth playing that Stanford defense. Stanford may have also struggled last week against UC Davis but this week they get a fresh and well rested Bryce Love back. I think Stanford wins by a score of 28-23.

And of course a special breakdown for your BC Eagles who are off to a 3-0 start this year and are now ranked 23 in the country. Head coach Steve Addazio has these boys rolling with wins over UMass, Holy Cross, and Wake Forest. Led by running back AJ Dillion, who already has 432 rush yards and 4 TDs, this offense is looking explosive. A big part of the offense’s jump this season is the return of sophomore QB Anthony Brown who got injured during the middle of last season. Brown has 626 passing yards and 9 TDs already this year. Brown has two big playmakers on the outside in Jeff Smith and Kobay White who have 168 and 163 receiving yards respectively. All these weapons have BC averaging just under 53 points a game. The defense has also played well giving up 23 points a game. The defense did underperform at Wake Forest but the game was on a short week and was moved up due to hurricane Florence, so I expect with a full week of practice and film the defense will look much better.

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Purdue has had a rough start to their season losing 3 straight out of the gate. This team has been in all those games losing by 4 or less in all of them. The consistency of the Boilermakers has been their issue so far this year. They lost a tight game to Northwestern week 1 then were upset by Eastern Michigan at home week 2 and then took 3-0 Missouri to the wire eventually losing by 3. The offense has been productive scoring almost 28 points a game. Led by electric freshman Rondale Moore who already has 262 receiving yards and 128 rushing yards the Purdue offense can be productive if they just find a QB. Right now the two QB’s they’ve used is David Blough and Elijah Sindelar who have combined for 977 passing yards 5 TDs and 4 Int. Until one of the two emerges as Purdue’s guy they rely heavily on running back DJ Knox who already has 252 rushing yards and 2 TDs. Purdue’s main issue has been the defense which has been giving up points a game. The defense needs to improve if the Boilermakers want to turn things around because esspecially with the uncertainty at QB Purdue can not afford to get into high scoring shot outs.

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Right now BC is favored by 7 and I think that’s a pretty good line but with how Purdue has played I would take Purdue +7 just because of how they’re able to stay in games. In the end, I think BC’s run game will just wear down the Purdue defense and set up their play action passing. I think BC pulls this one out on the road by a score of 31-28 to move to 4-0 on the season.

In His First Season as Manager Alex Cora Has Tied the Franchise Record in Wins

Posted on by Patrick Whalen

By Patrick Whalen

In a potential ALCS preview, the Red Sox gave some key players an off day after celebrating their A.L. clinching win in New York. Chris Sale got the start tonight but was on a 75 pitch count. Sale went 3.1 innings with 7 K’s giving up 2 runs on a Josh Donaldson home run in the fourth making it 2-1. Sam Travis opened the Sox scoring but hitting his first major league ding dong on a bomb to right field.

Heath Hembree and Bobby Poyner would each give up 1 run out of the pen making it 4-1. Rafael Devers then hit a solo bomb in the sixth inning for his 18th of the year to make it 4-2. In the seventh inning, Sam Travis would drive in another 2 runs to tie the game up at 4 a piece and Tzu-Wei Lin would drive in the go-ahead run later that inning and Devers would drive in one more to make it 6-4. Drew Pomeranz then gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh to make to make it 6-5. The Indians had a threat to score in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded and 1 out and Robby Scott was able to get out of Hector Velazquez mess. Of course in the top of the ninth just to give the Sox a cushion Tzu-Wei Lin hit his first major league bomb out to right center to make it 7-5.

Kimbrel then came in and shut the door in the ninth to get win number 105 and tie the 1912 Red Sox for the franchise win record. This game honestly should have been a loss on paper, so to come out with a win against a potential ALCS opponent is a great confidence boost for the Sox especially with Mookie, Benny, JBJ, Mitch and Kinsler all getting an off day and Sale only going 3.1 innings. Also with this win, the Red Sox can now clinch home field in the playoffs and set the franchise record for wins with a win tomorrow against Cleveland. The Sox magic number to clinch home field is now down to 1 over the Houston Astros. All pretty impressive for this team to be doing this under first-year manager Alex Cora. For tomorrow nights matchup we will be seeing Rick Porcello who is 17-7 with a 4.30 ERA go up against Mike Clevinger who is 12-8 with a 3.08 ERA.