Blue Jays clinch home playoff series

The Toronto Blue Jays did their job and got the help they needed from both the Detroit Tigers and Mother Nature to nail down home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. 

At Camden Yards, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. hit his 32nd home run of the season as the Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 in a game that was called by rain in the eighth inning. Out west, the Tigers edged the Seattle Mariners 4-3 to help the Jays earn the right to host all three games in the wild card series. 

Game one of that series will be at Rogers Centre on Friday against either the Mariners or the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Jays will play their second-last game of the regular season against the O’s tonight with Mitch White on the mound. 

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Phillies became the 12th and final team to earn a spot in the postseason after a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros. The Phillies are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, which was the longest active playoff drought in the majors after the Mariners broke their 20-year skid this season. The longest active MLB playoff drought now belongs to the Los Angeles Angels, who haven’t been in the playoffs since 2015.

Holloway nets hat trick as Oilers rout Canucks

Dylan Holloway’s hat trick helped lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 7-2 rout of the Vancouver Canucks in NHL pre-season action. Zach Hyman, Warren Foegele and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 4-and-2 in pre-season play. The Canucks are winless in five games so far. 

Meanwhile, Chris Tanev scored in his pre-season debut as the Calgary Flames beat Seattle 4-1 to hand the Kraken their first exhibition loss, and William Nylander had two goals and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs routed Montreal 5-1.

The Habs host the Ottawa Senators in pre-season action tonight.

There’s just one game on a quiet WHL schedule tonight as the Saskatoon Blades host the Lethbridge Hurricanes at SaskTel Centre. The Blades are coming off an 8-3 win over the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday. The Broncos’ next game is on Friday when they host the Prince Albert Raiders. 

In minor hockey, the Abbey Resources U18 AA Broncos play host to the Notre Dame Hounds tonight. The Broncos tied the Prairie Storm 3-3 in their season opener on Sunday. Face-off is at 7:15 from S3 Arenas.

49ers run away with win over Rams

Deebo Samuel took a short Jimmy Garoppolo pass 57 yards for a touchdown as the San Francisco 49ers hammered the LA Rams 24-9 in the NFL Monday Nighter. 

Talanoa Hufanga ran back an interception 52 yards for another TD as the Niners picked up their seventh-straight regular season victory over the Rams.

Linebacker Bobby Wagner did lay out a big tackle for the Rams, but it was on a protester that invaded the field at Levi's Stadium carrying a flare emitting pink smoke late in the second quarter. The protestor was taken off the field by security personnel and play resumed.

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