The Houston Astros won their division with exactly as many losses as wins

On the final day of baseball's regular season, the Houston Astros clinched their division, a group of five teams, when the Texas Rangers lost to Minnesota. Houston then beat the Athletics 9-0 to finish 81-81, the first team in history to win a division without a winning record. Philadelphia took the last playoff place with a 7-3 win, after losing four straight earlier in the week.

The Astros lost as often as they won for six months and were rewarded with a banner, a standard the department intends to cite at its next performance review.

PHOTO: JEFFREY HAYES / CC BY 2.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The United States came back from three points down on the last day to win the Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is a team golf event between the United States and an International side drawn from everywhere except Europe. Trailing 10.5-7.5 before Sunday's twelve one-on-one matches at Medinah, Illinois, the Americans won 9.5 of the 12 points and the Cup 17-13. It was the largest final-day comeback in the event's history and an eleventh straight American win.

The International team led from Friday until Sunday afternoon, the classic arc of carrying the whole project and then letting someone else do the presentation.

PHOTO: BRYAN BERLIN / CC BY-SA 4.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Brandon McNulty became the first American man to win cycling's world road race since 1993

The men's road race at the cycling world championships in Montreal, Canada is about six hours of laps around the city. Brandon McNulty of the United States, 28, not among the favorites, rode away alone with 32 kilometers left and won by 13 seconds. He is the first American man to win it in 33 years, and gets to wear a rainbow-striped jersey for the next twelve months.

McNulty rode the last 32 kilometers alone while the favorites behind him discussed whose job it was to catch him, a meeting that ran long.

PHOTO: FILIP BOSSUYT / CC BY 2.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Europe beat the rest of the world at tennis, 13-5

The Laver Cup is an annual exhibition in which six of Europe's best male players face six from everywhere else, scoring points match by match. Team Europe won 13-5 at The O2 arena in London on Sunday when Alexander Zverev of Germany beat Learner Tien of the United States 7-6, 6-3. The rest of the world had won last year in San Francisco.

The Laver Cup counts for nothing in the rankings, so the players spent three days in London competing ferociously for a trophy the rest of the tennis calendar insists does not exist.

PHOTO: SI. ROBI / CC BY-SA 2.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The New York Liberty beat the league's best team by 16 to open the WNBA playoffs

The playoffs of the WNBA, the American women's professional basketball league, opened Sunday with best-of-three first-round series. The New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx, the best team of the regular season, 91-75 in Minneapolis; Breanna Stewart scored 34 points. A'ja Wilson scored 38 as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever 102-85. Two evening games ended after filing.

Minnesota spent five months earning the right to play at home and then lost by sixteen in front of its own fans, which is a lot of work to host a party for someone else.

PHOTO: JOHN MAC / CC BY-SA 2.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Buffalo gave the ball away five times and won anyway, and two ranked college teams lost at home

The Buffalo Bills gave the ball to the Los Angeles Chargers five times on Sunday and still won 24-16 in Buffalo, New York, taking the lead late on the second of Josh Allen's two touchdown runs. Buffalo is 3-0; Los Angeles is 0-3. In college football on Saturday, 13th-ranked Penn State and 16th-ranked Louisville both lost at home to unranked teams. Sunday's late games ended after filing.

Two ranked teams lost at home to teams nobody had bothered to rank, which is what happens when a sport decides who is good by holding a vote every week before anyone has finished playing.

PHOTO: ALL-PRO REELS / CC BY-SA 2.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

George Russell won in Azerbaijan by 0.196 seconds

George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday, 0.196 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, after two safety-car periods in which the whole field slows behind a pace car. Six cars did not finish. Russell is now 66 points behind the championship leader, his own Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, with eight races left.

The closest challenger to the championship leader works for the same company and shares his garage, so the title race is now effectively a performance review.

PHOTO: LUKAS RAICH / CC BY-SA 4.0 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Nothing happened. You're welcome.

The Premier League, England's top division, stopped for an international break, when players leave their clubs to play for their countries. No league games were played. The department used the time to reorganize the filing cabinet.

The Sportsball newsletter is issued every Monday by the Sportsball Dept. of Morale,
a division of didyoucatchthegame.com.
You are receiving it because you filed a subscription. That was brave.
Rescind your subscription at any time. No exit interview required.