MLB PLAYOFFS
Royals and A’s kick things off
KANSAS CITY (AP) β Baseball’s second-season, the playoffs, gets started tonight with the American League Wild Card game. This evening’s matchup has Oakland playing the Royals in Kansas City. For the A’s, this is their third straight trip to the post season while for the Royals, tonight’s game marks their first trip to the playoffs in 29 years. Record-wise the A’s finished the regular season with 88 wins and 74 defeats to finish second in the AL West, while the Royals were second to the Tigers in the AL Central with 89 wins and 73 defeats.
As you would expect, the pitching matchup is a good one with Jon Lester going for the visitors against James Shields. Lester was 16-11 with a 2.46 earned run average this season while Shields was 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA. Against the Royals, Lester is 9-3 lifetime with a 1.84 ERA.
The A’s and Royals met seven times during the season with the Royals coming out on top in five of the games.
The winner of tonight’s game faces the Los Angeles Angels in the AL Divisional playoffs.
Coming up tomorrow, the Giants will send 18-game winner Madison Bumgarner to the mound against Edinson Volquez (VOHL’-kehz) and the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The winner of that NL Wild Card game will get the right to face the Washington Nationals in an NL Divisional Series.
Later this week, the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on St. Louis in an NL division series and Baltimore will play Detroit in an AL division series.
NFL-RAIDERS
Allen fired as Oakland coach
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) β The firing of Dennis Allen as head coach of the Oakland Raiders was announced Monday night. He was in his third year as coach and leaves the team with an 0-4 record this season.
The decision was announced soon after the Raiders returned from London, where they lost their 10th straight game dating to last season, 34-14 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. His final record was 8-28.
The Raiders have had 11 straight seasons without a winning record or a playoff berth. Oakland will now have its eighth coach since 2003.
NFL-PENALTY
League says refs blew it
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) β The NFL says Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah (ab-DEWL’-uh) should not have been penalized for dropping to his knees in prayer in the end zone after an interception in last night’s game. NFL spokesman Michael Signora writes in an email to The Associated Press that “the officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression.
Signora says “there should have been no penalty on the play.”
The flag thrown in the fourth quarter of Kansas City’s 41-14 victory over New England on Monday night touched off a firestorm on social media, with many wondering how it was different from players dropping to one knee in Christian prayer.
