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For the second straight season, the New York Yankees are heading to the playoffs. New York clinched a postseason berth Tuesday, with a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

It took a comeback to get there, with the Yankees entering the bottom of the ninth down 2-1. A wild pitch on a walk to Cody Bellinger tied the game, then José Caballero provided the walk-off hit.

While reaching the playoffs is cause for celebration, it’s far from the team’s ultimate goal. After falling in the World Series last year, the Yankees have their sights set on winning the franchise’s first championship since 2009.

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The team responded to its World Series loss by acquiring Cody Bellinger in a trade and signing ace Max Fried and veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Bellinger, Fried and Goldschmidt played a major role in the team’s success this season.

Bellinger bounced back after a down year with the Chicago Cubs to post his highest home-run total since 2019. Goldschmidt rediscovered his ability to hit for average in New York, and has been a menace against opposing lefties.

It helps that outfielder Aaron Judge is once again performing like the best hitter in the game. Judge’s slash line is reaching historical status and could make the outfielder the choice for American League MVP when the season ends.

Fried more than lived up to his lofty contract in Year 1 with the Yankees. The lefty posted a 2.92 ERA over a career-high 188 1/3 innings. He was joined by Carlos Rodón, who once again stayed healthy and delivered his finest season in New York.

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Those weapons will make the Yankees a threat in the AL, though the team might not wind up an overwhelming favorite to make it back to the World Series. Despite their excellence, the Yankees watched as the division rival Toronto Blue Jays clinched a postseason spot first. While the AL East has yet to be decided, the Blue Jays hold the edge there, which could push the Yankees into a wild-card series to kick off the playoffs.

Despite New York’s recent success, there’s urgency for the team to win a championship now. The Yankees aren’t the youngest team in the game, with Judge, Goldschmidt and Giancarlo Stanton all at least 33 or older. All three players are still capable of excellence, but are firmly outside their peaks.

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Goldschmidt could also walk in the offseason, as could Bellinger, who will almost certainly decline his player option to seek a long-term deal on the market.

Both Fried and Rodón have lengthy injury histories, making it even more important for the Yankees to capitalize after both players remained healthy in 2025.

Though his tenure at the helm has mostly been successful, manager Aaron Boone could find himself out of a job if the Yankees once again fall in the playoffs. Boone has been with the club since 2018, making the playoffs in all but one season. While Boone has a strong track record, the team’s inability to win it all has been a sore spot. A disappointing playoff performance in 2025 could be the end of Boone’s time with the franchise.

But those are issues for the future Yankees. In order to win the World Series, you need to reach the playoffs. With that first step complete, the Yankees can now focus on overcoming last year’s disappointment and finishing the year back on top.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Fresh off a history-making playoff run in their inaugural season, the Golden State Valkyries are already gearing up for much more in Year 2.

And so are their faithful fans.

President Jess Smith said Tuesday that more than 90% of season-ticketholders have re-committed for the 2026 season — and that’s some 10,000-plus fans. And the Valkyries know expectations will be even greater after such a successful first year, with Smith noting everybody is focused on “How can we do it better?”

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Golden State became the first franchise in WNBA history to reach the postseason in its inaugural year.

“We’re not satisfied,” Smith said at the team’s Oakland training facility. “This is the beginning of the beginning. This isn’t a movie premiere, this is a team that will be here forever and build legacy and to be a part of this great league. And so for us we’re constantly thinking of the things we did well, what we think we can make better and the things that we haven’t done yet that we want to.”

Smith referenced one woman from Fresno some four hours away who had season tickets this season, when Golden State sold out all 22 of its home games at 18,064-capacity Chase Center and another for the playoff game against Minnesota last week that was held at San Jose’s SAP Center given a conflict at the arena because of the previously scheduled Laver Cup tennis event.

Golden State established a raucous home-court atmosphere in “Ballhalla” as it became known inside Chase Center, the team’s play on Valhalla — which in Norse mythology is where Valkyries guide the souls of slain Warriors.

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The Valkyries’ season ended in a 75-74 loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx last Wednesday in Game 2 of their first-round series, with Cecilia Zandalasini missing a jumper just before the buzzer. Golden State squandered a 17-point third-quarter lead.

“And then you got to look up and you see everybody standing, 18,000 fans standing,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “After a loss some fans will boo but that’s not Ballhalla. They supported us, they were our sixth man, so the reflection for me has been proud and the fact that I built a new family here.”

Nakase told her players how thrilled she was that they nearly forced a deciding Game 3. Nakase was named WNBA Coach of the Year and AP Coach of the Year, while Veronica Burton earned the league’s most improved player award.

Owner Joe Lacob challenged Nakase to win a championship in the franchise’s first five years, and she plans to deliver it.

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The first-year coach also offered a lasting message for her team: “Everyone, go get some rest, go on vacation, go celebrate what you just did,” Nakase said, “because next year I told them we’re all going to do more. And that’s what I’m going to focus them on.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

LAS VEGAS — There’s no clearer illustration that the WNBA has leveled up to big sports business territory than the New York Liberty firing head coach Sandy Brondello. 

The team announced it would not renew Brondello’s contract on Tuesday morning, less than four full days after the defending champions lost in a first-round winner-take-all Game 3, ended a season rife with injuries and absences. Brondello leaves New York as the winningest coach in franchise history and the only coach to lead the original franchise to a WNBA championship. 

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She accomplished all of that in only four seasons. Cut throat? Absolutely. Welcome to the big leagues of massive money and overwhelming expectations. 

“Sports is a cruel world,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon, who played for Brondello when she was an assistant in San Antonio, said after shootaround on Tuesday ahead of Game 2. “You see it in the NBA a lot. I mean, what she was dealing with this year injury-wise, that’s tough.” 

No matter the circumstances — and the injuries to their big three were a major one — Brondello fell short of the goal. The Liberty came into the year greedy and possessed the roster to fulfill that. All five playoff starters returned in an attempt to join the pantheon of rare repeat WNBA champions. They signed the most coveted midseason free agent by returning EuroLeague champion Emma Meesseman to the WNBA. Their depth dazzled in the background against any other in the league. 

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The lasting image of their season will be Breanna Stewart scoring all 14 of New York’s fourth-quarter points while playing on a sprained MCL in the first-round playoff loss. It showcased how little any of that promise worked out. 

“It is professional sports,” Hammon said. “It’s always, what have you done for me lately?”

Hammon is one of three head coaches in the 13-team league who have held their jobs for at least two seasons after Seattle parted ways with Noelle Quinn earlier this week. (Golden State is a notable exception, having just completed its first season in existence.) The others are squaring off in the semifinals. Phoenix hired Nate Tibbetts in 2024 and Cheryl Reeve has helmed the Minnesota Lynx since 2010. 

The turnover is a sign of WNBA ownership taking winning seriously. No longer is it acceptable to carry on and hope for the best. No more, ‘maybe we’ll win the Draft Lottery when a generational talent arrives.’ As free agency has blossomed, so, too, has the coaching carousel, even when players state publicly their support. Stewart was aggrieved after their Game 3 loss when asked, while sitting next to Brondello, if the coach should lose her job. A terse Natasha Cloud was more direct later with a small group of reporters. 

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“Sandy is one of the winningest coaches in this f****** league,” Cloud said. “She just won a championship last year. I think there should be a lot more respect hung on Sandy’s head, and that can be said to our fans, too. She just brought you the first championship ever, changed this s*** around in the last few years. Y’all should put some f****** respect on her name.” 

The decision was made anyway. Yet, splitting with a coach is merely half the equation. There’s an easy case to be made that the Liberty underperformed even with their starters available. They lost to Hammon’s Aces in the 2023 Finals despite Las Vegas losing two starters due to injury in the days prior to Game 4. Las Vegas came back from double digits in the final minutes to upset New York on its home court. Even in the championship year, the Liberty never reached full octane and nearly lost the trophy in a nailbiter Game 5. 

Brondello didn’t do enough for the Liberty lately, but now, who can come in and do more? This isn’t an organization in rebuild mode, content with growing alongside a young, inexperienced head coach. That’s the lane of the Washington Mystics or Dallas Wings. 

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New York is a championship contender that wants to hold onto its key pieces, beginning with their first No. 1 draft pick, Sabrina Ionescu, and carrying into the names general manager Jonathan Kolb wrote on a whiteboard all those years ago. Stewart didn’t create a “Stew York” brand identity to question whether she wants to be in New York. She said unequivocally she would be back next season when asked after Game 3.

The Liberty will begin the coaching search immediately and should do so with urgency. There is a two-team expansion draft upcoming and a bonanza of a free agency that includes 75% of the league, with the current CBA expiring at the end of October. They’re in reset mode, making an already tenuous offseason more difficult at a critical juncture.

“Every time you bring in new leadership, you have to create a new foundation,” Hammon said. “And a lot of times, I think organizations are quick to pull up their whole foundation that they’ve been laying. It takes time. It takes patience.”

Hammon said she “didn’t love it” for Brondello, who also won a championship as the head coach in Phoenix and has the “rare” coaching qualities of being a solid coach and person. 

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“You don’t win every year,” said Hammon, who missed the Finals for the first time in her head coaching career last season. “But if you got a good coach, you keep them, and you ride it out.” 

There are no better examples than the ones Hammon used in a five-minute conversation about the short leash of coaches: Reeve, and retired San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, whom Hammon worked for in the NBA. Hammon pointed out Popovich won five championships in 20 years. 

“That means he missed 15,” she made clear. 

Reeve won four WNBA championships in her first eight seasons in Minnesota, creating the most recent true dynasty in the league. Minnesota cratered to barely above .500 in 2018 and didn’t reach a .700 winning percentage until a year ago. The No. 1-seeded Lynx are on the crest of a second consecutive Finals appearance after taking the Liberty to a full five games in 2024. 

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Those are outliers of a bygone era. Now it’s looking more like the norm in professional organizations that are impatient for trophies and the cash haul that comes with that. Is it a smart move? The jury is still out, and may be for a while. 

In a back-and-forth offensive affair, Lamar Jackson and the entire offensive line went the distance in Week 3, playing all 57 snaps. Not surprising also was Zay Flowers (49) and Mark Andrews (46) once again leading the way in snaps amongst pass-catchers. Andrews finally broke out with a team-high six catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns, while Flowers had a quiet performance with only two catches on three targets.

Like Andrews, Rashod Bateman had his best game of the year as well, catching five passes for 63 yards and a score in 34 snaps (60%). Bateman was the most productive wide receiver for the Ravens on the night. Tylan Wallace played an expanded role again with 32 snaps, ranking third amongst all wideouts. Deandre Hopkins and Devontez Walker combined for 21 snaps total with one catch each.

Derrick Henry was out-snapped narrowly by Justice Hill (29 to 28). After success early in the first quarter, the Ravens’ run game was largely stifled. Henry fumbled late in the game and Hill took the bulk of snaps with the Ravens playing from behind in the fourth quarter in hurry-up mode.

Backup offensive lineman Ben Cleveland and Joseph Noteboom each played one snap as extra blockers in jumbo packages.

The Ravens had a forgettable performance defensively, surrendering a 234 rushing yards. The defensive line minus Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy had a difficult time stopping the run and generating pressure on Jared Goff. In their absence, the snap counts up front varied.

Tavius Robinson led all edge rushers with 54 snaps (79%), followed by rookie Mike Green who again saw his playing time increase with 52 snaps. Odafe Oweh was surprisingly a distant third, playing just 28 snaps, while David Ojabo saw only six defensive plays in his season debut. The Ravens did not record a sack in the game and had only a few quarterback hits.

Travis Jones played 35 snaps as the primary force in Madbuike’s absence, but he exited the game late with an injury. That led to John Jenkins stepping in for a season-high 33 snaps (49%) and Brent Urban seeing a 37% snap share in his first action of the season. Broderick Washington played 42 snaps in his usual starting spot and rookie Aeneas Peebles played 14 snaps.

Linebacker Teddye Buchanan, whose playing time increased from Week 1 to Week 2, fully supplanted Trenton Simpson as the starter opposite Smith. Buchanan played 64 snaps (94%), tied for fifth among all defenders, while Simpson saw zero defensive action. Smith was one of two players to play every defensive snap, joining rookie safety Malaki Starks.

Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, and Chidobe Awuzie once again led the way for playing time at cornerback, followed by T.J. Tampa and Keyon Martin with eight snaps combined. Jaire Alexander was a healthy scratch for the second straight game.

The San Francisco 49ers are turning over all the stones to make sure they’ve got the best roster possible.

On Tuesday, that included giving a look to Shilo Sanders.

The ‘Niners worked out Sanders, according to the NFL’s transaction report. No signing has been reported, but Sanders has now showed the 49ers’ brass what he can do.

Sanders, the son of the Hall of Famer Deion, finished his college career at Colorado last year and went undrafted in April.

MORE: Patriots’ Rhamondre Stevenson made the worst kind of Tom Brady history for New England

He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent and was eventually cut following the final preseason game.

Early in the summer, he had head coach Todd Bowles saying positive things about the safety who starred in college for the Buffaloes.

But things went downhill. Sanders was ejected from the Bucs’ preseason finale for throwing a punch.

MORE: What’s next for Russell Wilson after Giants benched him for Jaxson Dart

A few days later, Sanders was waived rather than make the 53-man roster.

Sanders cleared waivers, and he didn’t get put onto Tampa Bay’s practice squad, either.

Rumors have floated Shilo’s name in a number of directions, but this is his first reported workout with an NFL team since being cut.

Sanders was a solid college player but not a star. He also has 4.5 40-yard dash speed, not quite up to the level his father had.

He’ll have to work to overcome the hurt that punch and ejection may have done to his reputation. Teams don’t often sign fringe players who have been involved in controversy (or who might attract as much attention as a Sanders).

But the 49ers at least gave Shilo a look, and that could lead to more down the road.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans traded starting cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 draft to the New York Jets on Tuesday for a sixth-round selection next April.

The Titans announced the trade hours after coach Brian Callahan said he was handing over play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree.

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Acquiring Brownlee, a fifth-round pick out of Louisville in 2024, helps the Jets (0-3) add some depth in a struggling secondary behind starters Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens and nickel cornerback Michael Carter II.

It also reunites Brownlee with defensive back coach/pass game coordinator Chris Harris, who was Tennessee’s defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach last season. The Jets play Miami on Monday night.

As a rookie, the 5-foot-10, 194-pound Brownlee started 14 games and ranked third on the Tennessee defense with 75 tackles. He also ranked fifth among AFC rookies with nine passes defended and led all rookie defensive backs with seven tackles for loss.

Brownlee started the first two games and had two tackles for loss this season. He missed last week’s loss to Indianapolis with an injured ankle and was seen at the stadium pregame with his foot in a walking boot.

The Titans also signed running back Raheem Blackshear to the practice squad.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl