Cause girls is players too

The GIST: Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s trophy collection keeps growing with more WNBA end-of-season hardware being dished out, but only one member of the recently announced and absolutely stacked All-Rookie Team remains in contention for the championship title. Here’s what’s at stake in tonight’s crucial Game 3s.

No. 2 Minnesota Lynx and No. 3 Connecticut Sun fighting for edge in scrappy 1-1 series: The first two games of this thrilling matchup have been downright physical and full of trash talk, largely a result of both teams’ top-notch defense.

• Two of the W’s best — 2024 Defensive Player of the Year and Lynx living legend, Napheesa Collier, and the Sun’s do-it-all queen Alyssa Thomas — have been guarding each other throughout the series.

• The result? Collier, who scored a combined 80 points in the first two round one playoff games, has only registered 28 across two games vs. the Sun.

• And while Thomas’ penchant for double-doubles has remained largely unchanged against the Lynx, the rest of her squad will need to step up as this series shifts to Connecticut tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. Can’t wait.

No. 1 NY Liberty need just one win to clinch a second-consecutive Finals appearance: The hungry and vengeful Libs are up 2-0 on the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces, putting the No. 4 seed on the brink of elimination as the series shifts to Sin City tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET.

• Far from breezing to a three-peat, the Aces have an uphill battle ahead — no WNBA team has ever overcome a two-game deficit to win a best-of-five series.

• But this one is far from over. Games 1 and 2 were nailbiters thanks to strong fourth-quarter performances from NY’s Sabrina Ionescu and Vegas’ reigning MVP A’ja Wilson. Plus, Las Vegas has home-court advantage on their side and no choice but to go all in.

The GIST: Blink and you’ll miss it — with the dust officially settled on the four best-of-three Wild Card (WC) series, it’s on to the best-of-five Division Series (DS), featuring the four remaining American League (AL) and four remaining National League (NL) squads.

• It all tees off with tomorrow’s quadruple header, serving up three divisional matchups. Yes, please.

AL No. 6 Detroit Tigers face No. 2 Cleveland Guardians in AL Central battle: The never-say-die Tigers stunned the perennial contender Houston Astros in two raucous games, setting up this spicy divisional clash. Power hitter José Ramírez–led Cleveland went 7-6 against Detroit in the regular-season, which means anything can happen when the fun begins tomorrow at 1:08 p.m. ET.

NL No. 6 Mets rally in the ninth inning, will face No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies: “It’s not over ’til it’s over,” the Mets, apparently. Down to their last two outs, first baseman Pete Alonso blasted a clutch three-run homer to help bounce the Milwaukee Brewers last night and send his squad through to face their bitter and stacked NL East rivals tomorrow at 4:08 p.m. ET. This is going to be good.

AL No. 5 Kansas City Royals look to power up vs. No. 1 NY Yankees at 6:38 p.m. ET: KC already eliminated one AL East foe, needing just three runs in two games to oust the Baltimore Orioles. That said, it’ll take a lot more run production to contend with the Bronx Bombers, who have the best offense in baseball, powered by home run hitter Aaron Judge and slugger Juan Soto.

NL No. 4 San Diego Padres advance for rematch vs. No. 1 LA Dodgers: Come for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s playoff debut, stay for what promises to be an electric NL West showdown. The Dodgers won the division, but the Dads — who took down the Atlanta Braves in the WC — owned the regular-season battle, going 8-5 against LA this year.

• Can Ohtani help the Dodgers overcome their early-round postseason woes, or will Fernando Tatís Jr. and San Diego upend their in-state rivals once again? We’ll find out when Game 1 goes down tomorrow at 8:38 p.m. ET.

The only thing better than watching the WNBA Finals from your couch with your DoorDash delivery in-hand? Watching them in-person. That's right, DoorDash and the WNBA are sending one lucky fan (and their plus-one) to the grand finale of the league’s biggest season yet.

• Enter the sweepstakes for your chance to cop the hottest ticket in hoops — and do it now, because the contest closes on October 6th. Don’t wait until the final buzzer.

Teamwork makes the dream work, which is why DoorDash has stepped up as the ultimate teammate for the WNBA — and why they’re making sure some of the league’s biggest fans have a chance to experience the magic live. Dreams, delivered.

🇨🇿🏒 NHL: New Jersey Devils vs. Buffalo Sabres — Today at 1 p.m. ET — NHL Network

• Believe it or not, the puck drops on a brand new NHL season today from the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia. We’ll have full details on the season ahead in our preview Sunday Scroll, but until then, take a long lunch and let’s do that hockey.

🇬🇧🏈 NFL: NY Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings — Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET — TSN+

• It’s time to touchdown in London town for the second international NFL game of the season. Quarterback (QB) Aaron Rodgers and the Jets look to get back in the win column, but they’ll have to contend with the undefeated Minnesota Vikings, led by the surprising play of journeyman QB Sam Darnold.

⚽ NWSL: Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit — Sunday at 5 p.m. ET — TSN2

• The undefeated Pride have their eyes on a shiny prize: the NWSL Shield. Orlando can clinch the best regular-season record with a win, but the second-place Spirit can certainly spoil that party, even if they’re without star striker Trinity Rodman.

Adrenaline rush, loading. Spice up your weekend with the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup, which begins tomorrow in Barcelona featuring Team Canada sailing for the historic trophy.

• For the first time in 173 years, women will compete at the Super Bowl of sailing, making the Puig Women’s America’s Cup a must-see moment for anyone who loves to watch iconic women doing iconic things.

• Support Team Canada — sponsored by Concord Pacific, Royal Bank of Canada, TELUS, and Dilawri — by following the team on Instagram or watching via TSN, TELUS Optik TV or AmericasCup.com.