The Lead

Guerrero's Four Hits Push Jays Past Orioles

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 4-for-4 with a solo home run, his first at Rogers Centre all season, as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 8-1 on Sunday. George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto also connected, giving Toronto three homers in a lopsided finish.

Holding serve matters more than the scoreline here. Cleveland won its own game Sunday, so the wild card gap that mattered heading into the weekend is exactly the gap that matters this morning.

That is the actual value of a night this comfortable: no ground was gained, but none was lost either. In a race decided in fractions, an unchanged margin after an 8-1 win is still a good outcome.

The Rest of the Slate

Formula 1

Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid's new Madring circuit, capitalizing on late trouble for Lando Norris, who finished third behind Max Verstappen. Antonelli's win extends his lead in the drivers' standings, and the gap is starting to look less like a hot streak and more like a season-defining trend.

NFL

The Detroit Lions escaped with a 31-30 overtime win over New Orleans on Sunday, needing a defensive stand on a two-point conversion to close it out. A margin that thin against a rebuilding opponent is not the profile of a team with much room for error later in the schedule.

World Athletics

Marco Arop took silver in the 800 metres at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, clocking 1:42.28 after opening a gap on the final lap. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati ran him down for gold, leaving Arop's closing speed as the one variable still standing between him and a global title.

The Number

Canada women's wheelchair basketball unbeaten run at the Worlds in Ottawa An 80-37 win over Brazil pushed the streak to four games, and the margin points to genuine separation rather than a soft schedule. Group play winds down soon, and how Canada handles a ranked opponent in the next round will tell us whether this is medal-contender form or simply pool-stage padding.

What's On Today

            Blue Jays at Washington Nationals
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
          

Top Dog — Betting Angle

The pick: lay the points with Kansas City at home. Denver's offensive identity is still the bigger question mark in this matchup, and Arrowhead under the lights is a tough building to solve on the road.

“Wild card races reward quiet Mondays more than loud Sundays”