The Sports Mac: The Daily Fives for September 17th, 2010

Top Five Stories from Yesterday

1. The NFL and the Players' Union reach a settlement to reduce Vincent Jackson’s suspension to four games if he is traded by next Wednesday.

2. The Giants retake the lead in the NL West after defeating the Dodgers at home while the Padres lost on the road to the Cardinals.

3. The race for the AL Central has been pretty much decided as the Twins swept the White Sox and reduced their magic number to eight in the AL Central.

4. North Carolina State gets a big performance from QB Russell Wilson and beats Cincinnati in a non-conference Thursday night matchup.

5. The Seattle Storm win the 2010 WNBA title after defeating the Atlanta Dream and become the first professional sports team to sweep their respective postseason since 1976.

Top Five Games from Yesterday

1. Storm 87, Dream 84: Seattle goes a perfect 7-0 in the WNBA postseason to win their second league championship.

2. Cardinals 4, Padres 0: Jake Westbrook pitches a solid eight innings and gets help from Albert Pujols to drop San Diego out of first in the NL West.

3. Twins 8, White Sox 5: Minnesota cements themselves as AL Central champs after going ahead early and cruising to the sweep in the Windy City.

4. Giants 10, Dodgers 2: San Francisco gets a great performance from Jonathan Sanchez to retake the lead in the NL West.

5. North Carolina State 30, Cincinnati 19: Russell Wilson has a great game under center for the Wolf Pack, who are 3-0 for the first time in eight years.

Top Five Performances from Yesterday

1. Jonathan Sanchez, Giants SP: one run on four hits with 12 K’s over seven IP and the victory in SF’s 10-2 win over LAD

2. Russell Wilson, North Carolina State QB: 26 of 40 for 333 yards and three TDs in the Wolf Pack’s 30-19 win over Cincinnati

3. Delmon Young, Twins LF: 3-for-5 with a HR and two RBIs in MIN’s 8-5 win over CHW

4. Edgar Renteria, Giants SS: 4-for-5 with two runs scored in SF’s 10-2 win over LAD

5. Jake Westbrook, Cardinals SP: no runs on six hits with three K’s over eight IP in STL’s 4-0 win over SD

Five Performances that Weren’t So Good from Yesterday

1. Cincinnati running game: The Bearcats could only manage 75 yards on 31 carries and QB Zach Collaros led the way with just 32 yards for the game in the Bearcats 30-19 loss to North Carolina State.

2. Ted Lilly, Dodgers SP: six runs on seven hits in 3.1 IP in LAD’s 10-2 loss to SF

3. North Carolina State punter Jeff Ruiz: had 4 punts but only averaged 30.5 yard per kick in the Wolf Pack’s 30-19 win over Cincinnati

4. Mark Buerhle, White Sox SP: six runs on eight hits over five IP in CHW’s 8-5 loss to MIN

5. Chris Young, Diamondbacks CF: 0-for-4 with three K’s in ARI’s 3-1 win over CIN

Top Five Events to Follow Today

1. MLB: Braves (83-64) at Mets (74-73), 7:00 PM: Reeling Atlanta looks to right the ship in New York this weekend; Hanson (ATL) vs. Niese (NYM).

2. MLB: Padres (82-64) at Cardinals (75-70), 8:00 PM: San Diego looks to regain the lead in the NL West and Wild Card races; Latos (SD) vs. Lohse (STL).

3. NCAA FB: Kansas (1-1) at Southern Mississippi (1-1), 8:00 PM, ESPN: The Jayhawks are coming from the big win over Georgia Tech and take on the Golden Eagles in the deep South.

4. MLB: Rockies (80-66) at Dodgers (72-75), 10:00 PM: Colorado tries to close ground in the NL West and Wild Card races; Wolf (MIL) vs. Bumgarner (SF).

5. NCAA FB: California (2-0) at Nevada (2-0), 10:00 PM, ESPN2: A Pac-10 team makes a rare road trip to a WAC school in a match-up of undefeated teams.