In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

There were plenty of predictions to go around yesterday across the NFL, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 0-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 1-0

Over/Under Predictions: 0-1

Spread Predictions: 1-0

Featured Matchup: 0-1

🤕 Tre’Davious White’s season ends after torn achilles. Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White's season-ending injury was confirmed by an MRI, with head coach Sean McDermott announcing that White tore his right Achilles during a game against the Miami Dolphins. White sustained the injury while covering wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the third quarter, recording three tackles before exiting the game. This injury comes less than two years after he tore his left ACL, marking another setback for a great defender.

👏 Taylor set to return to Colts’ practice. All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts, who became eligible to return from the physically unable to perform list on Monday, will start practicing with the team on Wednesday. Taylor has been on the reserve-PUP list since Week 1, which prevented him from participating in practices and games for the first four weeks of the season. Despite a prior dispute with the team regarding a contract extension and trade request, Taylor is eager to rejoin his teammates, and Steichen expressed optimism about his return.

🙌 Justin Herbert not expected to miss time after fracturing finger. Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert sustained a significant finger injury during Sunday's win over the Raiders. However, Herbert managed to play through the injury and is anticipated to remain available for future games, including their Week Six Monday night matchup against the Cowboys, following a bye week in Week Five. During the game, Herbert wore a splint on the injured finger and delivered a mixed performance, throwing for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception while also rushing for two touchdowns on 12 carries.

The MLB postseason officially begins today, with four games taking place throughout this afternoon and evening. You can see our model’s predictions for all four matchups below.

Toronto Blue Jays @ Minnesota Twins

Model Predicts- Blue Jays ML, OVER 7.5, Twins +1.5

The Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota twins will kickoff the AL Wild Card round today in Minnesota.

Toronto enters this matchup off a regular season that saw the Blue Jays win 89 games, just enough to beat out the Mariners for the final playoff spot in the American League. Minnesota managed to put together 87 wins this season, but won its division by nine games and was never in doubt of missing the postseason.

We have two great pitchers on the mound today in Kevin Gausman and Pablo López, and our model believes Gausman and the Blue Jays have a minuscule advantage in Game 1. Let’s dive into why that is and see our model’s best bet for this matchup.

Toronto Blue Jays

Entering the postseason in a slight slump

• Finished 4-6 across last ten games

• However, went 16-12 from September 1st to October 1st

Offense was one of the best in MLB over the last ten games despite not picking up many wins

• Ranked 7th in wRC+ (107), 10th in OPS (.751), and 9th in home runs (13), per FanGraphs

• Seeing ball well- 20.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate in that time

Kevin Gausman (12-9 record, 3.16 ERA) will get start on mound

• Vulnerable to barrel and hard contact

  • Ranks in bottom 20% of MLB in Hard Hit rate (43.3%) and Barrel rate (9.9%)

• Struggled against Minnesota in regular season

  • 6.30 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 10.0 innings

  • Walked nine batters in those matchups

• 3.82 xERA indicates regression is on its way

Minnesota Twins

Red hot over last ten games

• 7-3 overall

• Rank 2nd in wRC+ (133), 3rd in OPS (.814), and 11th in BABIP (.316)

• Showing off power- 16 home runs

• 12.4% walk rate is highest in MLB during that stretch

Split season series with Toronto

• 3-3 overall, +2 run differential

• However, went 1-2 against Blue Jays while playing at home

Pablo López (11-8 record, 3.67 ERA) will get start on mound

• Generates tons of swings and misses (29.2% strikeout rate, 30.3% whiff rate)

• Hard contact is rare off López- ranks in top 22% in Hard Hit rate and average exit velocity

• However, has posted 6.56 ERA and 1.70 HR/9 innings in last three starts

• Struggled against Toronto in regular season- 5.2 innings, four earned runs

What’s the Play?

The MLB playoffs present an entirely new battle on the betting front, especially when it comes to betting totals. However, we agree with our model that Toronto and Minnesota can combine to score at least eight runs today.

Both of these offenses are entering the postseason hot at the plate, which presents a problem for both pitchers. Gausman has walked 11 batters over his last 17.2 innings, and as previously mentioned walked nine batters in ten innings while pitching against the Twins in the regular season. Combine that with his vulnerability to the barrel and the Twins recent power surge, and you get a recipe for runs.

López, although he has great season-long numbers, has seen his production decline over the last three weeks, and his lone start against Toronto in the regular season doesn’t give us much confidence heading into this game.

Our model gives the over a 53.20% chance to hit at 7.5 runs, so we’ll take the over at that total with the current odds of +100.

The Play: Over 7.5 (+100)

Money Line Trends💰

• Tampa Bay Rays- 99-63 overall this season, 53-28 as the home team

• Philadelphia Phillies- 90-72 overall this season, 49-32 as the home team

Over/Under Trends⬆️⬇️

• Tampa Bay Rays- Over was 89-68-5 in regular season, 51-28-2 as the home team

Run Line Trends➕➖

• Texas Rangers- Run line was 26-15 as a road underdog during the regular season

• Arizona Diamondbacks- Run line was 86-76 in the regular season, 27-20 as a road underdog

Various injuries around the league. See full injury report at MLB.com.

🤕 Brandon Woodruff out for wild card series. The Milwaukee Brewers' strong pitching staff has suffered a setback as right-hander Brandon Woodruff has been ruled out for the National League Wild Card Series due to a right shoulder injury. Manager Craig Counsell mentioned that Woodruff's availability for potential future series is uncertain as he seeks a second opinion for what appears to be a capsular injury. Woodruff, who previously dealt with shoulder inflammation in April and returned in August, had an impressive season with a 5-1 record, a 2.28 ERA, and a 0.821 WHIP in 11 starts.

🤝 Trevor Bauer reaches settlement in assault case. Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer and the woman who accused him of assault and sexual misconduct in 2021 have reached a settlement in their legal dispute. Bauer's attorneys confirmed that both parties have withdrawn their claims with prejudice following a nearly two-year battle. This development comes after Bauer was suspended and released by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Cy Young Award winning pitcher may receive another chance in the MLB.

🏟MLB reaches highest attendance since 2017. Major League Baseball has seen its highest attendance figures in six years, with a total of 70.75 million fans attending games in the 2023 season, marking a 9.6% increase from the previous year. The average attendance per game also rose by 9.1% to 29,295 from 26,843 in the previous season. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred attributed this increase to factors such as the pitch clock, balanced schedules, and expanded postseason, marking the largest attendance boost in a season since expansion in 1993.

🦆 Ducks lock up Zegras for three more years. The Anaheim Ducks resolved a contract standoff by signing top scorer Trevor Zegras to a three-year deal just a week before the season's start. Negotiations were challenging, but both sides came to an agreement on average annual salary of $5.75 million. Zegras, who led the Ducks in scoring last season, gained recognition for his remarkable stick skills, including executing a "Michigan goal" and earning a spot as the cover athlete for the EA NHL 2023 video game.

💰Devin Vassell lands MASSIVE extension from Spurs. San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell has agreed to a substantial five-year, $146 million contract extension. This extension solidifies his status as a cornerstone player from the 2020 NBA draft class, joining the likes of Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and Tyrese Haliburton. Vassell, the 11th overall pick in the 2020 draft, showed significant improvement in his scoring and became proficient in catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, ranking in the top 15 among players attempting at least 150 of these shots.

🏆Boston wins WNBA Rookie of the Year. Aliyah Boston, who was selected as the No. 1 draft pick by the Indiana Fever in April, has been named the franchise's second WNBA Rookie of the Year. Boston received unanimous support, making her the fifth player to achieve this feat. She joins an esteemed group of rookies from South Carolina to earn the league's top rookie honors and led the WNBA's all-rookie team in her debut season with the Fever, where she averaged 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and set a rookie record with a 57.8% shooting percentage from the field.

Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- How many NBA players have won the MVP award at least two times in the league’s history?

Question #2- Before being selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFL Draft, Randy Moss played college football at what school?

Question #3- Which MLB team has won the World Series four times since 2000, the most of any team in that time?

Anyone know what has happened on October 3rd throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On October 3rd…

1992- The Atlanta Braves end the regular season with a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres, the club’s 98th win of the season. The 98 wins were a new franchise record, beating out the previous record of 95 set in 1957. Atlanta’s best single-season win total came in 1998, when the team won 106 games.

2001- Former MLB slugger Barry Bonds is walked for the 171st time, breaking Babe Ruth’s record of 170 set in 1923. Bonds’ new record wouldn’t last very long though, as he broke it himself in 2002 when he was walked 198 times. Bonds still holds the record to this day, which was set again in 2004 by being walked 232 times in 617 plate appearances.

2012- Miguel Cabrera goes 0-2 in the Tigers’ final game of the MLB season, ending the year as a Triple Crown Winner. Cabrera led to the MLB in batting average, home runs, and RBIs in 2012, hitting .330 with 43 home runs and 139 RBIs. He became the first player to win the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski did in 1967.

1. 10

2. Marshall University

3. Boston Red Sox