Major League Baseball has elected to punish Manny Machado for his actions during Tuesday night’s NLCS Game 4. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Machado has been fined an undisclosed amount for stepping on the foot of Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar while running out a ground ball. There had been some question as to whether MLB would come down on Machado in any way despite the widespread belief that his actions were both dirty and intentional. Though we don’t know details about how hefty the fine is, the answer turned out to be yes. It remains to be seen whether this issue is considered closed. It certainly is in the eyes of the league, but perhaps not the Brewers, whose vocal criticisms of Machado prompted a response from the Los Angeles shortstop.

The Houston Astros have been accused of cheating by the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, but after investigating both allegations MLB has concluded there were no rules violations. In a statement released by MLB about the issue, it concluded with “We consider the matter closed.” Essentially, MLB concluded that the person the Indians and Red Sox believed might have been spying was actually a counter-spy to make sure they weren’t cheating. The league has asked all teams remaining in the playoffs to abstain from this type of behavior going forward. This won’t stop people from continuing to assert some shady business was going on, but it’s clear the league is ready to move on.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara made headlines on Tuesday when he essentially told reporters he wished Odell Beckham Jr. would shut up and play. Granted, he was a bit more nuanced than that, but that was definitely the message that came across. “I wish he would create the headlines by his play on the field, as opposed to what he says and does off the field,” Mara said. “I think he needs to do a little more playing and a little less talking.” Beckham recently stirred up quite the hornet’s nest with comments about his team in an interview with ESPN. During that interview, he questioned the Giants’ heart and seemed to question whether Eli Manning has what it takes to make plays downfield, among other things. On Wednesday at the conclusion of the NFL’s fall meetings in New York, Mara threw his support behind OBJ and said he intends on having a conversation with the receiver. “I will [talk to Beckham] at some point,” Mara said, per Bob Glauber of Newsday. “I’ve had a number of those conversations with him in t

Peyton Manning opted to avoid more traditional avenues to enter into the world of broadcasting by declining to become a color commentator. However, the retired NFL icon will nevertheless join the ranks of the so-called talking heads by hosting a pro football version of Kobe Bryant’s ESPN program “Detail.” ESPN reports the Manning-hosted show, for which he’ll also receive writing credits, will be edited by NFL films. Manning will lend his legendary football acumen to the program by breaking down film and giving insights perhaps only those of his pedigree can provide. “I’ve always enjoyed talking football with coaches, players and passionate fans, and that’s at the core of this show,” Manning said in a statement, via ESPN . “I’m honored to help expand Kobe’s Detail to a football audience.” The first run of the series is slated for eight episodes and will air exclusively on ESPN+. The first installment will premiere Thursday, in which Manning will analyze Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Josh Rosen’s Week 6

Ryan Tannehill was unable to play in the Miami Dolphins’ game against the Chicago Bears last week due to a shoulder injury, and the NFL is now looking into whether or not the information that was shared about his injury was sufficient. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, the NFL plans to contact the Dolphins to investigate how the team reported Tannehill’s injury on its injury reports last week. Tannehill is said to have suffered the shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of Miami’s Week 5 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and head coach Adam Gase said it got progressively worse as the week went on. Gase said Tannehill was sore on Monday and Tuesday but felt better on Wednesday. He told reporters Brock Osweiler took some first-team reps in practice on Thursday after Tannehill began to feel worse, which may be the bit of information that the NFL is concerned about. The Dolphins reported that Tannehill practiced in full on Thursday, and Salguero notes that NFL rules state practicing in full means a

The move to Los Angeles was always about money for the Chargers organization, but they’ve having a bit of trouble actually finding that revenue. According to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, the team has struggled to sell personal seat licences and is expected to cut its revenue goals by nearly 65 percent. NFL owners and executives are privately growing concerned. From the beginning, it’s been clear a move to Los Angeles wasn’t a guaranteed success for the franchise. And that’s certainly the case. In their first season at StubHub Center, the Chargers needed to cover seats in a stadium with a capacity of 27,000. This year, San Francisco 49ers fans flooded the venue and seemed to have a strong majority of the seats. The Chargers simply aren’t a big draw in LA, and the shortage of PSLs being sold only reflects the initial worries. Greed is a powerful thing. Maybe San Diego will take the Chargers back.

Amari Cooper is the latest star player who is supposedly on the trade block in Oakland, and it sounds like he may be another person who is having trouble getting along with new head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden, who infamously traded pass-rusher Khalil Mack because he did not think he deserved a massive contract extension, said before the season that he expected Cooper to be the focal point of the Raiders’ offense. That hasn’t panned out, and Michael Lombardi of The Athletic says Oakland’s brass doesn’t think the wide receiver has “great passion for the sport.” Gruden has denied that he is shopping Cooper in trade talks, but reports have indicated the Raiders are looking for suitors and have attached a high price tag to him. Like Mack, Cooper is going to be looking for a big contract extension soon, so perhaps Gruden does not feel he is worth it. Through six games this season, Cooper has 280 receiving yards and just one touchdown. He was forced to leave last week’s game early after taking a monster hit, so that

Cody Bellinger delivered a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 13th inning on Tuesday night to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS after five hours and 15 minutes of play. Manny Machado singled with one out in the 13th against Junior Guerra and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then with two outs and a full count, Bellinger ripped a single to right field to score Machado and win the game. That was the Dodgers’ first run since the first inning. Milwaukee scored in the fifth and was held scoreless for the next eight frames. Bellinger entered the game as a pinch hitter and replaced Enrique Hernandez in center. He ended up going 2-for-4 with the biggest RBI of the game. What’s most important is how badly Bellinger needed the hit amid his slump; he had been 1-for-21 in the postseason prior to Tuesday night. The Dodgers will hope that hit will get Bellinger going.

Manny Machado’s dirty play at first base during the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 4 of the NLCS on Tuesday night led benches to clear between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers. Machado grounded out against Junior Guerra for the second out of the inning. As he was running to first, he headed towards the inside of the baseline and then dragged his left leg to clip Jesus Aguilar by the bag. Machado’s actions led to a strong response from Aguilar and the other players on the field: The Brewers already had strong feelings towards Machado after his slide to break up a double play the night before drew some attention. But make no mistake about it: this was a dirty play by Machado, and Milwaukee had every right to be upset. That’s a garbage, bush league play. Machado said earlier that he doesn’t like to hustle. Now we can see that he prefers to play dirty instead.

The Chicago Cubs chose to part ways with Chili Davis last week after the hitting coach spent just one season with the team, and it sounds like he was not surprised by the move. In fact, we might even venture to say Davis feels relieved. While reflecting on his brief tenure with the Cubs, Davis said Monday that he felt his message was lost on “millennial players” from the start. “I guess I need to make some adjustments in the way I deliver my message to the millennial players now,” he said, via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I need to make those adjustments for the next job I get, if there is one.” Davis added that he “learned a lot” in his one year in Chicago, but he said he needs to be sure he can connect with a team’s players before he accepts another position. “I hope that the next guy connects better with the players, because I felt that there were multiple players there I didn’t connect with,” Davis admitted. “It wasn’t that I didn’t try. It just wasn’t there.” There was an obvious differe

Odell Beckham Jr has not exactly shown traits of a franchise leader since he signed his massive contract extension with the New York Giants, and team owner John Mara clearly is not pleased with the way the star wide receiver has carried himself. Speaking at the NFL owners’ meetings on Tuesday, Mara shared some of his thoughts about his team’s 1-5 start and the drama that has come along with it. At one point, he made a comment about Beckham that translates to, “Shut up and play.” Mara also said the Giants’ 1-5 start is disappointing and he is “sick about it.” Like head coach Pat Shurmur before him, the owner defended Eli Manning and said the quarterback is not solely responsible for the team’s shortcomings. Manning has faced a great deal of criticism this season, and deservedly so. He appears incapable of getting the ball downfield and is clearly closing in on the end of his career. Even if Mara and the Giants’ brass know that, the last thing they want is Beckham making headlines for some of the remarks he ha

Josh Allen will miss time for the Bills, and after the rookie quarterback visited Dr. James Andrews, more clarity’s emerged on what the rookie quarterback’s battling. The damage to Allen’s elbow involves his UCL, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). This problem often leads to pitchers undergoing Tommy John surgery, but Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes that doesn’t appear to be necessary for Allen. This isn’t a full tear, per Pelissero. This said, the expectation for now is Allen will miss at least two games, perhaps three, Pelissero tweets. The Bills turned to embattled second-year passer Nathan Peterman after Allen went down on Sunday. They also have the recently signed Derek Anderson on their roster. Buffalo’s offense has submitted a historically woeful stretch, with Football Outsiders’ Aaron Schatz tweeting the Bills’ offensive DVOA through six games is second only to the 2004 Dolphins’ among the worst the website has graded since 1986. The Bills have won two games, though, with Allen starting. T

There was a concern that the Houston Astros might have cheated during their victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALCS. But those concerns appear to have been quelled. A man who said he was an Astros employee was caught without a credential in the media area outside of the Red Sox dugout at Fenway Park. That initially led to some suspicion that the Astros might have been cheating. But according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the league looked into this and the issue is not seen as a major one. In other words, one team used a spy to be sure that its opponent wasn’t using a spy. If you read this and think it resembles a Cold War-era spy novel, know that you’re not alone. The paranoia between these two teams has been an oft-discussed matter during this ALCS. Even if this incident is fairly minor and nothing significant comes from it, it’s certainly not going to do anything to halt the paranoia. It will be interesting to see what happens if this series gets to six or seven games.

Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa will not try to return to his team after rehabbing from a core muscle injury, the school announced on Tuesday. It’s a smart business decision from Bosa, who is widely projected as the top prospect in the 2019 NFL Draft. “I was hopeful that Nick would be able to return to play again for us,” head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement released by the school. “I know this was an extremely difficult and emotional decision for Nick and his family, and I wish him well as he moves on to get himself 100 percent healthy and ready for his next chapter. I want to thank Nick for the remarkable efforts he gave for this program. He is a first-class young man who we have been honored to coach.” Bosa suffered the injury on Sept. 15 and had surgery less than a week later. In three games this year, Bosa had four sacks, six tackles for a loss, and was leading the Buckeyes in tackles overall. Older brother Joey Bosa took a business-first stand with the Chargers as a rookie and wound up missing

Jackie Bradley Jr. blew open Game 3 of the ALCS on Tuesday with a grand slam off Houston Astros reliever Roberto Osuna. The Boston Red Sox entered the 8th inning with a 3-2 lead on Houston. Though JD Martinez flied out to lead off the inning, Boston quickly mounted a rally. They got a runner on with two outs and Rafael Devers got a hit to put runners on first and second. Osuna then hit two batters in a row to bring in a run. And with Boston up 4-2 and the bases loaded, Bradley said goodnight with a grand slam to right field on a 1-1 pitch. Bradley has been a monster with the bases loaded for Boston. He also had a 3-run double in Game 2 to give Boston the lead. Bradley now has 7 RBIs in the series.

The Houston Astros may have been caught cheating during Game 1 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Metro reported on Tuesday that security removed a man claiming to be an Astros employee from the media credentialed area next to the Red Sox dugout in Game 1. Metro says the man had a small camera and was texting frequently. Another Astros staffer reportedly intervened after the employee was removed from the section and tried to convince security the man was authorized to be in the credentialed area despite not having a media credential. The man was allowed to remain in the stadium but was not allowed back into the media area. Red Sox security reportedly was warned about the man due to suspicious activity in Houston’s ALDS against the Cleveland Indians. “We are aware of the matter and it will be handled internally,” an MLB spokesperson told Metro. The Red Sox, Indians and Astros either declined comment or said MLB was handling the matter. Sign-stealing has been an issue all series. ESPN’s Buster

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has spoken about the Jimmy Butler situation and finally weighed in. Taylor talked with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which he owns, for an interview. He told columnist Sid Hartman that it’s in the team’s best interest to trade Butler. “Yes I think that he’s made it very clear that he would not re-sign with us at the end of the year and therefore it is in our interest to get a trade so that we can get a player or two to replace him that helps our team,” Taylor told Hartman. Taylor told Hartman that Butler’s demand made a few weeks ago was the first time he’d heard about the All-Star wanting to be traded, even though Butler has said he told Minnesota that shortly after the team’s season ended. The owner also said that head coach Tom Thibodeau is not coaching for his job as many have speculated. Thibodeau is entering the third season of five-year deal for about $8 million per season. Thibodeau has been reluctant to trade Butler for two reasons. One, he knows the team wil

In what can’t be considered a shocking development, former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook will miss the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season opener against the defending champion Golden State Warriors Tuesday evening in Oakland. Westbrook missed all of training camp and the preseason after undergoing surgery on his right knee this past summer. The expectation this entire time was that Westbrook would miss at least the start of the regular season. The soon-to-be 30-year-old guard is coming off a 2017-18 season in which he averaged a triple-double for the second time. In doing so, he put up 25.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game. With Westbrook out Tuesday, the Thunder will be relying the recently re-signed Paul George to do damage against a Warriors squad that has won three of the past four NBA titles. Not an ideal situation. But there’s no reason to rush Russ back. The NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint.

A weekly journey through the vast landscape of college football, along with a few brief asides. Cliched storyline of the week Every year, a midseason, upset-laden Saturday in college football crashes ashore without warning and appears to tear the existing infrastructure asunder. Such was Week 7, 2018, in which four top-10 teams succumbed to seemingly inferior opponents, and another three top-10 teams eked out victories over seemingly less potent competition. The irony of such moments is that they often, at least temporarily, tend to allow us to assume that the chaff has been cleared away and the postseason picture now makes more sense. But does it? Here we are again, at roughly the halfway point of yet another season, and our instincts tell us to presume that the way is clear for the four remaining undefeated Power Five teams (less N.C. State, the inevitable outlier that if it somehow defeats Clemson this weekend will suddenly require us to take the Wolfpack seriously for the first since…well, pretty much ev

A month ago, following a victory over the New England Patriots to mark a 2-0 start, the Jacksonville Jaguars seemed to announce their staying power atop the AFC. Sure, 2017 brought them to the doorstep of the Super Bowl, but sometimes such runs can be flukes. Rebounding and taking one from the Pats, even in September, suggested a sustained fortitude. Plus, Blake Bortles throwing four touchdowns is shocking enough to seem important, even if it’s just one regular-season game. And yet here we are four weeks later, and suddenly the Jaguars are faltering. It’s one thing to have lost three of their last four. That’s bad enough. But the way they’ve lost the last two weeks has to be disconcerting for a team billed as — and proud of its status — a defensive powerhouse. One reason for the setback is the play of Bortles, which is something Jaguars fans have been conditioned to expect. In the last two weeks, however, it’s also been a surprisingly sieve-like defense that has added to their downfall. On Sunday, the Jaguar