Baltimore Orioles Manny Machado
The Globe's Robert MacLeod curates the best of sports on the web Monday to Friday
Injuries are part of baseball; just check with the Toronto Blue Jays.
It is egregious when a rising star on a team still clinging to hopes of a playoff spot goes down with a knee injury that has brought his year to an unceremonious conclusion.
Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado was actually slowing up heading into first base in Baltimore's game against the Tampa Bay Rays when disaster struck.
He appeared to catch a cleat on the inside of the bag, his left knee buckling awkwardly, sending the 21-year-old to the field, writhing in pain.
The Orioles do not yet know the extent of the injury but, with only six games left Machado will not be back. That much is evident.
The concern, writes Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, is that the injury to Machado could potentially affect a career that was among the brightest in baseball.
The Rays would come back to inflict a 5-4 victory over the Orioles on a walk-off home run blast by James Loney in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Loney's shot completed a four-game sweep of the Orioles and pushed the Rays a full game in front of idle Cleveland in the American League wild card standing while almost burying Baltimore's chances.
The playoff picture also became clearer in the National League, where the Pittsburgh Pirates, with an enticing 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs, coupled with Washington's loss in St. Louis, confirmed their post-season reservation for the first time since 1992.
After Russell Martin blocked the plate to tag out Nate Schierholtz's path for the game's final out, it afforded Pittsburgh play-by-play man Greg Brown to dust off his signature "Raise the Jolly Roger call."
St. Louis maintains a two-game lead in the NL Central over the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, who also clinched a playoff spot on Monday.
Former Blue Jay Alex Rios hit for the cycle to help the Texas Rangers keep their A.L. playoff hopes on life support with a 12-0 rout over the Houston Astros.
Peyton Manning unstoppable
Peyton Manning continues his impressive play in the National Football League, picking apart the Oakland Raiders for a 37-21 victory.
On the evening, Manning hit on 32 of his 37 passing attempts for 374 yards and three touchdowns prompting Mike Klis, writing in the Denver Post, to note that Manning is making things look ridiculously easy so far this season.
For those of you wondering how some NFL players conduct themselves while on injury rehab, here is an update.
As first reported by TMZ, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones was clubbed over the head with a gigantic Ace of Spades bottle swung by a stripper named Sweet Pea during some sort of a party on a bus.
Mural torn down in Boston by Leaf fans
The sting of the Toronto Maple Leafs folding act against the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League playoffs last May is still resonating deep in the hearts of some fans.
According to a report in the Boston Globe, a mural depicting the Bruins triumph over the Leafs that was displayed in a Boston pub was unceremoniously ripped from the wall by a group of Toronto men celebrating a bachelor party.
"I don't know what it is about Toronto, but I certainly wouldn't want to visit," the bar's owner is quoted as saying.