The 2020 MLB postseason is underway.

It was nearly a clean sweep Tuesday for the betting favourites in the first game of the American League wild card best-of-three as they went 3-1.

The Tampa Bay Rays (-185), New York Yankees (-120) and Chicago White Sox (-115) each won their respective series openers.

The Houston Astros (+145) pulled off the lone upset with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020.

 

MLB Playoffs Day 1

The Yankees took matters into their own hands and made sure the final playoff game of the night was out of hand in time for the first U.S. presidential debate.

The pinstripes got to American League “Triple Crown” winner Shane Bieber early and often, as they tagged him for seven earned runs on nine hits in just 4.2 innings of work.

After each of the first three games went under the total with a combined 14 runs, the Yankees and Cleveland scored 14 runs between them in a game started by Bieber and Gerrit Cole.

For his part, Cole tossed 13 strikeouts and gave up just two earned runs over seven innings of work, becoming the first pitcher in postseason history with three career 12-strikeout games.

Hopefully, if you’re reading this, you didn’t bet the Twins ahead of their MLB record 17th-straight playoff loss.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays had no answer for Blake Snell in a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay in their AL wild-card opener.

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips explained what stood out to him about Toronto’s lack of offence in the loss, as well as the club’s surprising decision to pull Matt Shoemaker after just 35 pitches over three scoreless innings.

 

Aces Advance To WNBA Finals

The Las Vegas Aces advanced to the WNBA Finals with a 66-63 win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 5 of their semifinal series on Tuesday.

A’ja Wilson led the way with 23 points, 11 boards and four assists as Las Vegas rallied from down 16 points in the first half to win and clinch a berth in the Finals.

The Aces will face the Seattle Storm in the best-of-five WNBA Finals series.

Despite losing both regular season meetings to Las Vegas, Seattle is the consensus WNBA Finals favourite at -450 odds, which translates to an 81.8 per cent implied win probability.

 

NFL Waiver Wire Week 4

Week 3 of the 2020 NFL season wasn’t nearly as bad as the injury-plagued days of the previous week, but there were still enough knocks and standout performances worth noting as we head to the waiver wire in fantasy football leagues.

If you haven’t yet, make sure you ready Chris Amberley’s Scanning The Wire column for Week 4.

Here are my top five waiver wire options for this week:

WR Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

Jefferson went off with seven catches for 175 yards and a touchdown in last week’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. With opposing defences focused on Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook, it should open up some space for the rookie first-round pick to operate. Minnesota has a terrific upcoming schedule for fantasy purposes, with games against the Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons over the next three weeks. Jefferson is owned in just 38 per cent of TSN fantasy football leagues.

RB Myles Gaskin, Miami Dolphins

Sure, it was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but Gaskin went for 95 scrimmage yards including five receptions for 29 yards on 27 touches in Week 3. He’s clearly the top option out of the Dolphins backfield with an intriguing matchup on deck against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4. He’s rostered in just 45.8 per cent of leagues.

WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers

Five catches for 70 yards in a Week 3 win over the New York Giants is pretty decent. Add three carries for 31 yards and a touchdown, and it’s downright impressive. Fellow 49ers’ receiver Deebo Samuel could return for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but tight end Jordan Reed was injured in Week 3. With so many holes on offence, San Francisco should continue to lean on its rookie receiver again this week. He’s owned in 21.3 per cent of leagues.

TE Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts

After putting up a combined 32.6 fantasy points over the last two weeks, Alie-Cox is still rostered in just 13.3 per cent of fantasy leagues. The former VCU basketball standout has eight catches for 161 yards and a touchdown over the last two weeks. If you need help at tight end, you might want to grab him ahead of this week’s matchup with the Chicago Bears.

RB Carlos Hyde, Seattle Seahawks

The fact that Chris Carson might actually play and the Seahawks have ‘Left Russ Cook’ to a degree are the only things preventing Hyde from being higher on this list. If Carson can’t go, Hyde’s stock goes up for a Week 4 matchup against the Dolphins. He’s owned in 14.4 per cent of leagues.