Weekend Sports Recap

Baseball’s regular season ended on Sunday and the playoffs begin on Tuesday. Here’s a quick look at how that stacks up:

In the American League, your division winners (from east to west) are the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros. The Minnesota Twins play the New York Yankees on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) in the AL wild-card game, with the winner advancing to play the Indians.

In the National League, your division winners (same directional bias): The Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. Your Wednesday wild-card is the Colorado Rockies-Arizona Diamondbacks at 8 p.m. ET. The winner draws the Dodgers.

Get ready for a long postseason haul. The World Series begins Oct. 24 and a Game 7 would be Nov. 1. Pitchers and catchers report for spring training 10 weeks later.

NFL: Rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson threw four TD passes and ran for another score as the Houston Texans destroyed the Tennessee Titans 57-14, setting a franchise scoring record. … Last-second field goals were unkind to the New England Patriots and New York Giants. The Carolina Panthers beat the Pats at home 33-30 on Graham Gano’s 48-yard field goal; the Giants dropped to 0-4 when Nick Folk hit a 34-yard kick to lift the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 25-23 win. … Minnesota Vikings rookie running back Dalvin Cook likely suffered a torn ACL and that should put him out for the season.

NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. will be the No. 1 seed in the round of 12 in the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs after Sunday’s race at Dover cut the field from 16. Kyle Busch won the race.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The top five has a new look. Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Penn State hold their places from first to fourth but Georgia, by virtue of a 41-0 beating of Tennessee, moved up from seventh to fifth. Washington, Michigan, TCU, Wisconsin and Ohio State fill out the top 10.

GOLF: The U.S. won its seventh straight Presidents Cup, beating the Internationals 19-11. Dustin Johnson (4-0-1) went undefeated for the U.S.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman