Sweeps sweep the MLB Wild Card Series. Plus, major NFL stars may be nearing returns

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🎉 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE MINNESOTA TWINS, TEXAS RANGERS, ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS AND PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

For the first time in MLB history, there have been four sweeps in a single round of the playoffs. The Wild Card Series came and went in a flash. Tuesday, the Twins won their first playoff game since 2004. They wasted no time winning their first playoff series since 2002. Minnesota finished off the Blue Jays with a 2-0 Game 2 win.

Sonny Gray threw five scoreless innings.
The Minnesota staff got out of a couple key situations unscathed: In the fifth inning with two on and two out, Gray and Carlos Correa combined on a savvy pickoff of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. In the sixth, with the bases loaded and one out, Caleb Thielbar got Matt Chapman to ground into a double play.
All the scoring came in the fourth inning: Carlos Correa delivered an RBI single, and Willi Castro drove in a run on a double play.

Correa (and the rest of his team) will now face his former club: the Astros.

In the other AL series, the Rangers finished off their domination of the Rays with a 7-1 win. Nathan Eovaldi shook off late-season struggles to throw 6 2/3 innings of one-fun ball, striking out eight and walking none. He has a career 2.21 playoff ERA on the road. It's the Rangers' first series win since 2011, and they'll meet the Orioles next.

Over in the NL, the Diamondbacks -- for the second straight game -- found themselves in an early hole and slithered out of it, beating the Brewers, 5-2. After giving up two runs in the first inning, Zac Gallen allowed none over the next five. The offense was hitless for four innings against Freddy Peralta but broke through for a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Paul Sewald got William Contreras -- the tying run -- swinging to end the game. The Diamondbacks will get the Dodgers next.

Finally, the Phillies needed no dramatics: Aaron Nola went seven scoreless, and Bryson Stott broke things open with a grand slam in the sixth inning in a 7-1 win over the Marlins. Philadelphia faces the Braves next.

The Divisional Series begins Saturday. Here are the updated bracket and schedule, and here's what we learned from the Wild Card Series.

😌 Honorable mentions

James Harden is at 76ers training camp and not causing a scene ... yet.
Joe Burrow says his calf is feeling better.
The Jets will no longer limit Breece Hall's workload.
Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the 2030 World Cup. Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host opening games.
The Diamondbacks extended GM Mike Hazen.
Lexi Thompson will become the seventh woman to play on the PGA Tour.

😞 And not such a good morning for ...

THE TAMPA BAY RAYS

It's hard to win if you can't score. And the Rays' inability to score reached near-record levels. After being shut out in Game 1, it took until the seventh inning Wednesday before Tampa Bay scratched across its first run of this postseason. Add that to their scoring woes in last year's playoffs, and the Rays went 33 consecutive playoff innings without a run, one short of the all-time record.

This is a team that averaged 5.31 runs this season, fourth in the majors. That was nowhere to be found in their short postseason stay.

The pitching wasn't good enough, either. Tyler Glasnow was solid in Game 1 but received no help from his offense or defense. That wasn't the case for Wednesday's starter as Zach Eflin surrendered five runs over five sluggish innings.

The Rays started this season 13-0. They looked like world beaters. They ended it without even a single playoff win -- a team that couldn't beat opposing pitching and too often beat itself.

😬 Not so honorable mentions

Travis Kelce says the NFL is "overdoing" its coverage of Taylor Swift.
Evan Neal lashed out at Giants fans.
Jamal Adams could face discipline for his outburst directed at the independent concussion doctor from Monday.
Mariners executive Jerry Dipoto asked for patience from the fans.

🏈 NFL: Two big names dumped, two headed back

Two of the biggest-named and highest-paid defensive acquisitions of the 2022 offseason are already on the move. The Chargers traded cornerback J.C. Jackson to the Patriots in a late-round pick swap, and the Broncos released edge rusher Randy Gregory.

Let's start with Jackson.

The Chargers signed Jackson, at the time coming off a Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro season with the Patriots, to a five-year, $82.5-million deal.
Jackson missed the start of his first season with Los Angeles recovering from ankle surgery and then suffered a season-ending knee injury in October.
This year, after a lengthy recovery that stretched into training camp, Jackson struggled on the field. He was a healthy scratch in Week 3 and became the subject of an arrest warrant one day later.
Overall, Jackson played just seven games with Los Angeles. The Chargers earned a "D" in Cody Benjamin's trade grades. New England, meanwhile, got a "B+" as it searches for help for their banged-up secondary. Christian Gonzalez is likely done for the year.

At least the Chargers got something back. The Broncos signed Gregory to a five-year, $70 million deal after Gregory backed out of a deal with the Cowboys. But Gregory, like Jackson, struggled with injuries (10 games played for Denver) and poor production (three sacks). The Broncos are looking to go with younger options, and Gregory, 30, isn't part of that.

It wasn't all bad news for big names Wednesday: The Rams designated Cooper Kupp (hamstring) to return from the IR, and the Colts activated Jonathan Taylor from the PUP list. Both teams have 21 days to put them on the active roster.

Of course, injury isn't the only thing keeping the Colts and Taylor at odds. Taylor, who practiced fully Wednesday, still has his trade request on the table. Former NFL agent Joel Corry explains what to expect next.

⚽ UEFA Champions League Matchday 2: Newcastle crushes PSG

Newcastle United FC v Paris Saint-Germain: Group F - UEFA Champions League 2023/24 — Getty Images

We're through Matchday 2 of UEFA Champions League group play. Here were Wednesday's scores:

Atletico Madrid 3, Feyenoord 2
Antwerp 2, Shakhtar Donetsk 3
Newcastle 4, Paris Saint-Germain 1
Borussia Dortmund 0, AC Milan 0
RB Leipzig 1, Manchester City 3
Porto 0, Barcelona 1
Crvena zvezda 2, Young Boys 2
Celtic 1, Lazio 2

That Newcastle-PSG scoreline is a stunner: The Magpies went ahead in the 17th minute through Miguel Almirón and never looked back. While Newcastle deserves massive credit for a spectacular performance, it was a disaster from PSG. Now, pressure is mounting on manager Luis Enrique, writes Jonathan Johnson.

Chuck Booth has updated his Champions League Power Rankings, and there are some fresh faces in the top five.

Manchester City (previous: 1)
Bayern Munich (2)
Barcelona (4)
Real Madrid (6)
Inter (9)

Here are Pardeep Cattry's takeaways, and here's James Benge's team of the week.

😅 NCAA Council shrinks transfer window to 45 days

Getty Images

"Wild West."

"No rules."

"Free-for-all."

We've heard it all when it comes to the transfer portal. Now, changes are coming. The NCAA Division I Council approved shrinking the transfer portal window from 60 days to 45 for all sports, and the changes go into effect this academic year.

For football, instead of 45 days to enter the portal after the regular season ends, players will have 30. The other 15 days come in April's spring window.
Players can communicate with other schools and transfer at any time without penalty once they're in the portal if they haven't used their one-time transfer waiver.
Graduate students remain eligible to enter their name in the portal at any time and transfer without penalty.

The changes to the men's college basketball calendar are even more drastic, as Matt Norlander explains. Among the biggest:

Because of the huge transfer numbers, April will no longer include an evaluation period for scouting high schoolers.
In May, there will be one non-scholastic recruiting weekend and an elongated dead period in which coaches and recruits cannot see each other.
August will feature a two-week-long dead period.

The 45-day transfer portal window still starts the day after Selection Sunday, a controversial decision, Matt notes.

Norlander: "Critics of the date say it comes at a time when attention should be on the sport's biggest event — and not diverted by hundreds of players hopping into the portal as people are filling out brackets and gearing up for March Madness. ... One source said the proposal and hope was for college basketball to have a 30-day window that opened the Monday after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. ... The issue is expected to be debated again in the summer and fall of 2024."