Philadelphia Phillies 4, Florida Marlins 3: The Phillies win, but are eliminated from the wild-card race later in the day as a result of victories by both the Dodgers and Padres.
Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Cincinnati Reds 0: The Reds are eliminated from the Central race before their game starts as a result of the Cardinals win earlier in the day.
(25) Missouri 28, Colorado 13: Mizzou goes 5–0, their best start since 1981, while the Buffaloes lose their ninth straight, their worst streak in over 40 years.
Other significant games:
SMU 33, Tulane 28: The Mustangs spoil the Green Wave's first game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
Men's Finals: (3) UST Growling Tigers 87, (1) Ateneo Blue Eagles 71 – UST held off an Ateneo rally at the middle of the first quarter and built a comfortable cushion to prevent the Eagles from catching up. Santo Tomas forces a deciding third game for the championship.
Women's Finals: (1) UST Tigresses 67, (2) FEU Lady Tamaraws 59 – the Tigresses win their 11th championship, and their first in 11 years.
Juniors' Finals: (1) Ateneo Blue Eaglets 69, (2) FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws 61 – the Eaglets win their 15th championship as they repulsed the Baby Tamaraws in the deciding game.
New York Yankees 7, Toronto Blue Jays 2: The Yankees' win, combined with the losses by Detroit and Minnesota, guarantees them home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
A dispute leads to Vladimir Kramnik refusing to play the 5th game. The game is awarded to Veselin Topalov. Kramnik now leads 3 – 2, but the future of the match is now in doubt.
(23) Rutgers 22, South Florida 20: The Scarlet Knights' first stay in the national rankings since 1976 nearly ended here, as they had to overcome a halftime deficit and stop a Bulls two-point conversion attempt with 15 seconds left that would have tied the game.
Joe Mauer ties the game with a home run in the ninth inning, then Jason Bartlett singles home the winning run in the 10th. The Twins pull even with the Tigers in the AL Central.
Washington Nationals 3, Philadelphia Phillies 1: Game starts over 4 hours late in front of a near empty stadium as they try to get the game in with little opportunity to reschedule this late in the season.
St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Diego Padres 2: Cardinals snap 7-game losing streak, maintaining 1½ game lead over Astros in the Central. Padres lead over Dodgers reduced to one game in the West.
Oakland Athletics 12, Seattle Mariners 3: The A's clinch the AL West. The AL playoff teams are now determined, with the Tigers and Twins still battling for the AL Central crown.
San Diego Padres 7, St. Louis Cardinals 5: In this matchup between the leaders of the NL West and Central, the Padres maintain their two-game lead over the Dodgers while sending the Redbirds to their seventh straight loss.
Houston Astros 7, Pittsburgh Pirates 4: The Astros meanwhile win their seventh straight, closing to within 1½ games of the Cardinals.
Cincinnati Reds 5, Florida Marlins 3: Florida is mathematically eliminated from the NL wild card race, while the Reds stay 1 game behind the Astros.
Los Angeles Dodgers 11, Colorado Rockies 4: The Dodgers take a one-game lead over Philly for the NL wild card. Greg Maddux throws only 76 pitches in six innings of work, prompting Dodgers manager Grady Little to announce that Maddux can start if needed against the San Francisco Giants in their season-closing weekend series.
San Diego Padres 6, St. Louis Cardinals 5: In the meantime, the Redbirds lose their sixth straight game, reducing their lead over the Astros in the NL Central to 2½ games. The Padres stretch their AL West lead to two games over the Dodgers.
In the first NFL game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, which saw a pregame show featuring Green Day and U2 and a coin toss conducted by former President George H. W. Bush, the Saints score a touchdown on a blocked punt 90 seconds in, and never look back. Drew Brees goes 20-for-28 passing with 180 yards and a TD, while the Saints defense holds the Falcons to 229 total yards.
Colorado Rockies 9, Atlanta Braves 8: This loss, combined with the Phillies' win, mathematically eliminates the Braves from the NL wild card race. This will be the first time since 1990 that the Braves will have missed the postseason.
Team Europe retains the Ryder Cup by an 18½–9½ margin over Team United States. The victory, by the same margin as in 2004, also makes this European team the first to win three straight Ryder Cups outright.
Seattle Seahawks 42, New York Giants 30: Seattle takes a 35–0 lead in the second quarter and withstands a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt. Matt Hasselbeck ties a career-high with five touchdown passes.
St. Louis Rams 16, Arizona Cardinals 14: Kurt Warner throws three interceptions, then fumbles a snap in Rams territory with less than two minutes left after the Rams fumble inside their 20-yard line.
Men's Finals: (1) Ateneo Blue Eagles 73, (3) UST Growling Tigers 72 – a tightly contested game all throughout, the Tigers converted a fadeaway jumper with a second remaining in the final period to put them up, 72–71. After a time out, the Eagles had an open man in the paint, in which they capitalized, escaping with a 73–72 finish.
Women's Finals: (2) FEU Lady Tamaraws 75, (3) UST Tigresses 67 – the Lady Tamaraws avenged their last-second loss in Game 1 to set up a deciding third game in their series against the Tigresses.
Juniors' Finals: (1) Ateneo Blue Eaglets 73, (2) FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws 65 – the Eaglets shook off rust and lead practically from start to finish as they extend the series to a deciding third game.
(12) Notre Dame 40, Michigan State 37: On the 40th anniversary of "The Game of the Century", The Irish come back from a 17-point deficit to beat the Spartans in East Lansing.
In the deciding Game 3 of the Championship series between San Beda and Philippine Christian, the Dolphins had a better start; although the Red Lions caught up with them and blew the game wide open, leading by as much as twenty points. Down by fifteen points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins mounted a furious comeback, cutting the lead into one point with 24.8 seconds remaining. After a San Beda turnover, PCU had a crack on winning the game – and the championship. The Dolphins play set up took too long, and with time running out, the Dolphins shot the ball; it bounced off the rim, leading into a San Beda rebound. San Beda wins their first seniors basketball title in 28 years. Red Lion Yousif Aljamal was named Finals Most Valuable Player.
Only nine months after undergoing surgery to have his entire colon removed, former NBA standout Dajuan Wagner signs a two-year deal with the Golden State Warriors.
Title favorite UE succumbed to pressure and was eliminated in the title hunt; the Tigers converted a three-point play with 55 seconds remaining to lead 82–79. Despite a two-point field goal by the Warriors, they weren't able to capitalize in the UST turnover as they missed two field goal attempts to end their season.
Women's Finals: (1) UST Tigresses 52, (2) FEU Lady Tamaraws 49 – a buzzer-beating three-pointer from UST puts them up 1–0 in the best of three series.
Juniors' Finals: (2) FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws 67, (1) Ateneo Blue Eaglets 55 – the undefeated Ateneo squad absorbed its first setback in the season as they trail 0–1 in the best of three series.
With their backs against the wall, the PCU Dolphins overcame the San Beda Red Lions, blowing out the felines at the second game of their best-of-three series at the Araneta Coliseum. The third game will decide this year's seniors' championship.
After trailing 0–6, the Staglets evened the score at 6-all and ultimately took a commanding lead – 28 points at one point – to win their second consecutive juniors' championship.
The New York Mets defeat the Florida Marlins, 4–0, to clinch their first National League East title since 1988, and the first not to be claimed by the Atlanta Braves since the 1994 realignment. The last team other than the Braves to win the NL East were the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993.
The Los Angeles Dodgers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to tie the San Diego Padres, then win, 11–10, on Nomar Garciaparra's two-run homer in the 10th inning. It is the fourth time in major-league history, and the first time since 1964, that a team hits four consecutive home runs. (AP via Boston Globe)
With the Dolphins keeping the game close at the first two quarters, the Red Lions charged ahead at the third period, scoring twenty points as opposed to PCU's five. San Beda pulled away at the final quarter to draw first blood in the best-of-three championship series. San Beda's Nigerian student Samuel Ekwe was named Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and member of the all-NCAA team.
The Baby Dolphins posted leads at the first three quarters. With San Sebastian's shooters converting outside shots, the Staglets turned the tables and captured the lead at the dying seconds. The Baby Dolphins had two chances to tie but they missed their attempts, giving the Staglets the 1–0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Atlanta Falcons 14, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3: For the third time in NFL history, a quarterback (Michael Vick) and a running back (Warrick Dunn) each get 100 yards rushing. The Philadelphia Eagles turned the trick twice before in 1990 and 2002.
Tennis: The second day of the 2006 Fed Cup Final takes place in Charleroi, with the score 1–1 after the previous day. The game is decided in the fifth and final match, the doubles, when Justine Henin-Hardenne is forced to retire through injury making Italy the 2006 Fed Cup winners.
Five players at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are shot on campus early today after they tried to calm a disturbed man at a dance. Three of the five are hospitalized, with one in critical condition. (ESPN)
The Black Ferns of New Zealand defeat England in the final to win their third title in a row. France defeats hosts Canada in the third/fourth place playoff.
Tennis: In Charleroi, the 2006 Fed Cup Final between Belgium and Italy takes place during the weekend, with on the opening day the first two singles matches. With Belgian Kim Clijsters absent through injury, Italy has an opportunity to win its first ever Fed Cup.
UEFA has lifted its month-long ban on matches in Israel, effective immediately. The recent UEFA policy of restricting home matches involving Israeli club teams or the Israel national team to the Tel Aviv area is restored. (UEFA)
The Tigers seized the 3rd seed in this classification game. UST will meet second seed UE Red Warriors while the Falcons will face first seed Ateneo Blue Eagles in the semifinals.
The Dolphins came out with all cylinders firing as they held off Letran from defending their title in the Finals. The Dolphins are in their third straight Finals appearance.
National Football League: One day after acquiring rights to wide receiverDeion Branch from the New England Patriots in exchange for a first-round draft pick, the Seattle Seahawks sign him to a $39-million contract. Also, Boston newspapers report the Patriots have filed a tampering charge against the New York Jets, accusing the Jets of discussing a trade with Branch while he was still under contract with New England. (AP via Canoe.ca)
Minnesota Vikings 19, Washington Redskins 16: Ryan Longwell kicks a 31-yard field goal with 1 minute remaining to give Minnesota the lead. Forty-eight seconds later, John Hall misses a 48-yard field goal that would have tied the game.
San Diego Chargers 27, Oakland Raiders 0: LaDainian Tomlinson rushes for 131 yards and a touchdown, outgaining the Raiders offense (129 yards) by himself. Chargers QB Philip Rivers only attempts 11 passes in the game but completes eight, including a TD. The Chargers defense collects nine sacks, three by Shawne Merriman.
Ice hockey: New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro signs a 15-year contract with the club, the second-longest contract in league history behind Wayne Gretzky's uncompleted 20-year contract in 1979. Controversial owner Charles Wang was directly involved in negotiations, and had several seasons ago signed centre Alexei Yashin to a similar super-long-term contract. (TSN)
Seattle Seahawks 9, Detroit Lions 6: The defending NFC champs need a last-second Josh Brown field goal to beat the Lions. Detroit blocked two field goals in a game for the first time since 2001.
Indianapolis Colts 26, New York Giants 21: Peyton Manning outduels brother Eli in their first meeting, throwing for 276 yards and a touchdown to Dallas Clark that puts Indianapolis up 13–0 in the second quarter. Eli completes two touchdown passes to keep the game close, but is charged with a costly fumble and interception in the second half.
The Springboks end the Tri Nations with the wooden spoon but on a high note, defeating the Wallabies in a mistake-riddled match behind tries by Fourie du Preez and Breyton Paulse.
Calgary Stampeders 44, Edmonton Eskimos 23 – Eskies QB Ricky Ray was sacked five times in the Edmonton loss, while Calgary QB Henry Burris connected on three touchdown passes and rushed for one more in the Stamps victory. Edmonton is in danger of missing the CFL playoffs for the first time since 1971.
Toronto Argonauts 40, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 6 – Argos quarterback Damon Allen threw 207 passing yards, eclipsing Warren Moon to become the all-time leading passer in either Canadian or American football. The record-breaking play was a 29-yard touchdown pass to Arland Bruce III in the third quarter, one of Allen's two touchdowns of the day. Meanwhile, Hamilton's offensive woes continue, having not scored a touchdown in the past four games.
Association football: The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announces the venues for three future African Cup of Nations competitions. The 2010 ACN will be held in Angola, the 2012 ACN will be shared by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and the 2014 ACN will be held in Libya. Nigeria will be held in reserve should any of the awarded countries prove unable to stage the competitions. CAF are also supporting Nigeria's bid for the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which FIFA has already awarded to Africa. (CAFonline)
Louisville star running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Bush suffers a broken leg in the third quarter, after rushing for three touchdowns and 128 yards.
Saskatchewan Roughriders 39, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12: Riders QB Kerry Joseph runs for two touchdowns in the first quarter and two passing touchdowns in the second quarter to give the Green Riders the victory. The Blue Bombers have lost four straight, and will meet the Riders again in the Banjo Bowl next week.
BC Lions 48, Montreal Alouettes 13 – Montreal loses four consecutive games for the first time under head coach Don Matthews, thanks to a dominant first half by the Lions. However, BC quarterback Dave Dickenson is injured in the second quarter, and is replaced by backup Buck Pierce.