September 2006 in Sports - 25 September 2006 (Monday)

25 September 2006 (Monday)

• Major League Baseball playoff races:
  • American League:
    • Cleveland Indians 14, Chicago White Sox 1: The defending World Series champs are eliminated, assuring Major League Baseball of a new champion for the sixth year in a row.
    • Minnesota Twins 8, Kansas City Royals 1: The win, plus the White Sox loss, punches the Twins' playoff ticket. They are now 1 game behind the idle Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
    • Los Angeles Angels 8, Texas Rangers 3: The Angels stay mathematically alive in the AL West race.
    • Seattle Mariners 10, Oakland Athletics 9: The A's end the night as they started it, needing a win and an Angels loss to clinch the AL West.
  • National League:
    • Cincinnati Reds 5, Chicago Cubs 4: In his first appearance since a September 4 toe injury, Ken Griffey, Jr. hits a three-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth to give the Reds their winning margin, tying Reggie Jackson for 10th on the all-time home run list.
    • Houston Astros 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4: In a makeup of a September 5 rainout, the Astros win their sixth straight game and drop the Phils into a tie with the idle Los Angeles Dodgers for the wild-card lead.
    • 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.

• NFL Monday Night Football: New Orleans Saints 23, Atlanta Falcons 3
  • 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.