September 2008 in Sports - 26 September 2008 (Friday)

26 September 2008 (Friday)

• Auto racing:
  • Actor Paul Newman, who was a driver and also an owner of an Indy Car team, dies from complications of cancer at his Westport, Connecticut farm home at the age of 83.

• Cycling:
  • 2008 UCI Road World Championships:
    • Men's Under-23 Road Race:
      (1) Fabio Duarte (2) Simone Ponzi (3) John Degenkolb

• Rugby league:
  • Super League playoffs :
    • Leeds Rhinos 18–14 Wigan Warriors in Leeds
  • NRL Finals series:
    • Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0 – 28 Melbourne Storm in Sydney

• Baseball:
  • Major League Baseball Pennant Races:
    • American League:
      • Detroit Tigers 6, Tampa Bay Rays 4
        • The Rays' loss assures the Los Angeles Angels the best record in the American League, and with it home advantage throughout the entire postseason, including the World Series.
      • New York Yankees 19, Boston Red Sox 8
        • Nonetheless, the Yankees' win hands the AL East title to the Rays in their 11th season, completing the "worst-to-first" scenario, and also locking in the AL Division Series matchups, with the Angels playing the Red Sox and the Rays playing the Twins or White Sox, with the Angels and Rays holding home field advantage for a possible fifth game. The Angels opted to open their series October 1 as they had the better record.
      • Kansas City Royals 8, Minnesota Twins 1
      • Cleveland Indians 11, Chicago White Sox 8
    • National League:
      • Philadelphia Phillies 8, Washington Nationals 4
      • Florida Marlins 6, New York Mets 1
        • The Phils clinch a tie for the NL East crown.
      • Milwaukee Brewers 5, Chicago Cubs 1
        • The Brew Crew take a 1-game lead over the Mets for the wild card.
      • Houston Astros 5, Atlanta Braves 4
        • The Astros win, but are eliminated from the wild card race with the Brewers' win.