Cal Raleigh made MLB history to end the Seattle Mariners' 21-year playoff drought in fitting fashion – circumstances scarcely believable to manager Scott Servais.

The Mariners entered Friday knowing either defeat for the Baltimore Orioles or a victory of their own at home to the Oakland Athletics would clinch a Wild Card place.

Seattle were enduring the longest active postseason absence in any of the four major American sports.

And a surprise win for the Orioles at the New York Yankees kept Mariners fans waiting just a little longer, with their team very rarely doing things the easy way even in this hugely successful season.

But Raleigh, pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens, homered on a 3-2 pitch from Domingo Acevedo at the bottom of the ninth to clinch a sensational 2-1 walk-off win and a playoff series next weekend.

Raleigh became the first player in MLB history to secure a postseason berth with a pinch-hit, walk-off home run.

After only two as a rookie in 2021, this was also Raleigh's 26th homer of the year – a new single-season record for Mariners catchers.

That it happened at T-Mobile Park put the icing on the cake for Servais, who had already been talking up his team's World Series chances after beating the Texas Rangers the previous night. 

"The fact that we're in our ballpark and there's 40,000 people here tonight, it's better than maybe what you can even dream it could be," Servais said.

"We have a lot of baseball yet ahead of us. We did end the drought tonight, which is a very special feeling.

"There's so many kids that grew up in the Pacific Northwest that don't know anything about the Mariners being in the playoffs, and now we get to show them."

Servais is not alone in outlining title ambitions in Seattle, where the Mariners remain the only MLB team never to have been to a World Series, let alone won one.

But president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto believes the adversity has only made the franchise stronger.

"It wasn’t fluid. It wasn't a linear road for us," he said. "We stumbled, and we fell, and I think that made us stronger.

"And along the way, we found stars, we found leaders, and we found we found a team that came together.

"I think what you see out there right now is a group of guys who believe that they can beat anybody."

The wait is finally over: the Seattle Mariners are returning to the MLB playoffs after 21 years in the wilderness.

The Mariners had been enduring the worst active postseason drought not just in baseball, but in any of the four major sports in the United States.

So desperate had this sequence of failure been, all but one of Seattle's MLB rivals – the Cincinnati Reds – had also won a playoff series since the Mariners' 2001 run.

It would have been difficult to imagine at the end of that 2001 season the Mariners would not be back in the postseason until 2022; Seattle finished with a 116-46 record, setting a new American League benchmark for wins in a single season and matching the all-time MLB high.

But now, after a late-season wobble prompted fears of a repeat of last year's agony when the M's finished two games back in the Wild Card race, the drought is over.

Seattle had lost eight of their previous 11 games before beating the Texas Rangers on both Wednesday and Thursday – results that, combined with back-to-back defeats for the Baltimore Orioles, left the Mariners only one game away heading into Friday.

Either defeat for the Orioles at the New York Yankees or victory for the Mariners over the Oakland Athletics would do, and after the Orioles briefly kept their season alive, the Mariners got the job done in the most storybook fashion imaginable.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Cal Raleigh hit a walk-off home run to win 2-1 and send the Seattle fans into raptures as a 21-year weight was lifted off their shoulders.

Seattle happily fell well short of the all-time record for most consecutive seasons missing the playoffs, held by the St Louis Browns between 1903 and 1943 – but there are still several miserable streaks for the Mariners to snap.

They remain the only team in the major leagues never to have been to a World Series, with this their 45th season, while the Houston Astros' dominance in the AL West means Seattle's wait for a first division title since 2001 will go on.

That is the worst run in the AL, but three NL teams – the Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates – will this year see their division droughts reach 29 years.

Jacob deGrom's 11 strikeouts were not enough to deliver a result for the New York Mets, going down 5-2 on the road to the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

DeGrom, arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, made it through six full innings while allowing five hits and no walks. Unfortunately for him, three of those hits travelled at least 422 feet each for a trio of monster home runs.

After Luis Guillorme gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Braves' top power bat responded instantly, with Austin Riley sending a solo home run 422 feet to center-field later in the frame. The Braves then took the lead before the second inning ended with a 430-foot bomb from Matt Olson to center-field.

Atlanta's pitching dominated the middle portion of the game, holding the Mets scoreless between the second and eighth innings, and Dansby Swanson took the opportunity to give his side a couple of runs of breathing room when he smoked a ball 441 feet to make it 3-1 in the sixth frame.

An eighth-inning Tomas Nido home run proved to be just a consolation as the Braves closed things out with Kenley Jansen's 38th save of the season.

After this result, the Braves and the Mets are now tied for the second-best record in the National League at 98-59, and they have two games remaining in the series.

Pujols hits number 701

The baseball world stopped and applauded Albert Pujols for his 700th home run earlier this week, and he added one more to his tally in the St Louis Cardinals' 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pujols' big swing came in the fourth inning with his side trailing 1-0, hooking a ball 398 feet over the left-field wall to tie the game. Nolan Arenado then delivered what ended up being the winning run with an RBI single in the fifth.

The 42-year-old future Hall-of-Famer trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) for the most home runs in history.

Guerrero, Springer homer in Blue Jays win

Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer treated the Toronto Blue Jays fans to some big hitting in their 9-0 home win against the Boston Red Sox.

With the Red Sox eliminated from the playoff hunt and the Blue Jays marching towards a big October, the two sides played to their records as Alek Manoah and Yusei Kikuchi combined to pitch a shutout.

Guerrero hit one of the longest home runs of the week with his 447-foot nuke to left-field, and Springer was not much shorter, launching his shot 431 feet.

Inter Miami are now occupying the seventh and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after their 1-0 victory against Toronto FC on Friday.

In front of their home fans, it was almost Toronto who took the lead in the 38th minute when Federico Bernadeschi's shot from outside the box took a heavy deflection, but Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender was able to adjust and make the save.

Toronto created more chances in the first half, but only had 38 per cent of the possession, and Miami's control of the ball began to pay dividends after the break.

Miami held Toronto without a shot on target in the second 45, and with time running down, they were able to find the decisive breakthrough.

A move from the right wing found its way to Robert Taylor on the edge of the box, and his slick little flick found its way through a maze of legs and into the path of Higuain, who made no mistake from right on the penalty spot.

The win means Miami will spend the night in the playoff positions, although the eighth-placed Columbus Crew have a superior goal difference and a game in-hand.

The Atlanta Braves are bringing back Charlie Morton for 2023, reaching a one-year, $20million contract extension with the veteran right-hander.

The deal was announced Friday and includes a $20million club option for 2024 and does not include a buyout.

One of the most reliable starters in the Braves’ rotation this season, the 38-year-old Morton has made a team-high 30 starts while going 9-6 with a 4.29 ERA and 200 strikeouts – fifth most in the NL.

A two-time All-Star, Morton helped the Braves to last year’s World Series championship, going 14-6 with a 3.34 ERA and 216 strikeouts. In four starts in the playoffs, he posted a 3.24 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 16 2/3 innings.

Drafted by Atlanta in 2002, Morton made his major league debut for the Braves in 2008 before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the 2009 season.

After seven seasons with the Pirates, he was with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016 before spending the next two with Houston, where he was a member of the 2017 World Series champion Astros.

The next two seasons were spent with the Tampa Bay Rays, before he re-joined the Braves prior to last season.

Mackenzie Hughes and Thomas Detry share the lead through two rounds at the Sanderson Farm Championships, making their way to 10 under in two very different ways.

Canada's Hughes got off to a disappointing start when he opened his tournament with a one-under 71 on Thursday, but followed it up with Friday's round of the day, shooting a nine-under 63 on his second trip around The Country Club of Jackson.

He birdied his first three holes of the day on his way to a bogey-free round, finishing up with birdies on 15, 17 and 18.

Meanwhile, while Hughes has been up and down, Belgium's Detry has been remarkably consistent through 36 holes, posting back-to-back 67s.

Detry was even par through his first five holes on Friday before rattling off five birdies from his next seven.

Alone in third place at nine under is Sepp Straka, who took advantage of a hot run where he birdied five out of six holes to follow up his opening 69 with a strong 66.

Scott Stallings, Garrick Higgo and Mark Hubbard are tied for fourth at eight under, with Davis Riley, Nick Hardy and Stephan Jaeger rounding out the top-10 in a tie for seventh at seven under.

The only two players to shoot better than 66 in their second round were Hughes, and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo, who posted a six-under 65 to salvage a one-over Thursday and jump up to a tie for 10th heading into the weekend.

Fresh off his debut Presidents Cup appearance, defending champion Sam Burns is five strokes off the pace at five under.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion during Thursday night’s game, the team confirmed Friday, leaving him prone on the field for more than seven minutes before he was carted off the field on a stretcher.  

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said that Tagovailoa had a headache Thursday night and Friday morning. He will undergo an MRI as an "extra precaution," McDaniel said, in addition to the X-rays and CT scan performed Thursday.  

While there is no timetable for Tagovailoa to return to the field, the third-year quarterback released a message on Twitter Friday saying that he was feeling "much better." 

"I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers and support since the game last night," Tagovailoa’s statement said. "It was difficult to not be able to finish the game and be there with my teammates, but I am grateful for the support and care I’ve received from the Dolphins, my friends, and all the people who have reached out.  

"I’m feeling much better and focused on recovering so I can get back out on the field with my teammates."

Tagovailoa’s injury occurred in the second quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, when he was sacked by Josh Tupou.  

After being strapped to a stretcher, Tagovailoa was taken off the field and driven to the hospital for evaluation. He was released late Thursday night and flew back to Miami with his teammates.  

Tagovailoa’s injury was a startling one for players and spectators alike, made more concerning by his injury last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.  

Tagovailoa took a hit from Bills linebacker Matt Milano in that game and appeared to hit his head on the ground. He stumbled when he got up and was immediately taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion.  

He returned to the game shortly thereafter and was not in the concussion protocol the following week, despite questions about why he was allowed to return to the game after displaying motor impairment.   

McDaniel reiterated Friday that Tagovailoa was cleared by several doctors and trainers during that game and said he did not have a head injury. 

The NFL Players Association was already investigating how Tagovailoa’s injury was handled last Sunday and released a statement Thursday night after he took what appeared to be jarring contact to his head for the second time in five days.  

"Player health and safety is at the core of the union’s mission," the NFLPA tweeted Thursday night. "Our concern tonight is for Tua and we hope for a full and speedy recovery. Our investigation into the potential protocol violation is ongoing."

Kevin Durant said he’s looking forward to another season with the Brooklyn Nets, instead of looking back on a tumultuous offseason that saw the NBA superstar request a trade and reportedly ask for his coach and general manager’s dismissal.

"Can we move on past that at some point?" Durant told reporters following Friday’s practice. "I know it’s an interesting story. I know that it took up most of the offseason and drama sells. I get that, but I didn’t miss any games, I didn’t miss any practices.

"I’m still here, so hopefully we can move past that."

Durant is back for a third season in Brooklyn after eventually rescinding the trade demand that created a firestorm around NBA circles for much of the summer. The 2013-14 league MVP and two-time NBA Finals MVP acknowledged during Monday’s media day that he’s no longer at odds with the organisation after ironing out his differences in a lengthy discussion with team owner Joe Tsai in August.

"I was upset," Durant stated. "And as a family, they understood that I was upset, some of the stuff they agreed with. So we talked about it, and it was over a couple of months, a couple of weeks, towards the end of that where we talked about it.

"We came out and we voiced all our concerns about how we can all be better. And it just worked out from there, and I’m glad I’m here now."

Durant refused to expound on the rumours that he also requested the firings of head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks following the Nets’ disappointing and injury-plagued 2021-22 season.

"There’s a lot of (stuff) that was inaccurate," he said. "But it’s like I don’t want to go through it right now."

Nash also said earlier this week that he didn’t entirely believe the reports that Durant had asked for his ousting.

"I never thought that was 100 per cent," he said. "It’s not black and white like that, so there was a lot of factors. A lot of things behind the scenes. A lot of things that are reported are not 100 per cent accurate. So you get fragmented bits of truth. You get things that are flat out not true. It happens. So I never really got caught up in all that stuff.”

With his differences behind him, Durant said he’s eagerly awaiting the new season and the chance for the Nets to erase the memory of a turbulent 2021-22 campaign that saw the franchise trade disgruntled All-Star James Harden midseason and had Kyrie Irving limited to just 29 games, in large part due to New York City’s vaccination requirement that prevented the star point guard from playing most of the team’s home games.

The Nets also head into 2022-23 with a healthy Ben Simmons, the key player Brooklyn received from the Philadelphia 76ers in the Harden trade. The three-time All-Star has yet to appear in a game with the Nets and missed all of last season due to a lingering feud with his former team and a back injury that later required surgery.

"When you look at the grand scheme of things, we haven’t been healthy at all for two years," Durant said. "Each playoffs we didn’t have major guys, (they) miss minutes. Not just role players, but guys that make a lot of money.

"When you got $50 million dollars on your bench this last playoffs with Joe [Harris] and Ben and then the playoffs before that, I want to see what our team looks like in full, with guys being healthy, with us having a little bit of continuity. So we’ll see what happens."

Anett Kontaveit secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Tallinn Open after overcoming Ysaline Bonaventure 6-3 3-6 6-3.

On home soil, the top seed won 80 per cent of total service points in the opening set but Bonaventure fought back in the second to send the match to a deciding set.

A valiant effort from Kontaveit in the third set secured a spot in the final four, where she will face compatriot Kaia Kanepi after her 6-2 3-6 7-6 (8-6) victory over Karolina Muchova in the final match of the day.

Earlier on Friday, second seed Belinda Bencic defeated Donna Vekic to set up a semi-final clash against Barbora Krejcikova, who defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets.

At the Parma Ladies Open, the scheduled semi-finals were postponed due to rain and will instead be played on Saturday, with the final to follow later in the day.

Top seed Maria Sakkari faces Danka Kovinic, with play to begin at 10:30 local time, and will be followed by Ana Bogdan against Mayar Sherif.

Red Bull chief Christian Horner has described claims of the team breaking Formula One's $145million (£114m) budget cap as "speculation", though Ferrari and Mercedes state the situation is an "open secret".

Two teams have reportedly breached F1's spending regulations, one of which is by a "significant amount", and Red Bull have swiftly been attributed with guilt – although there is no proof.

Horner told BBC Sport that it was "purely speculation" and added to Sky Sports he was "not aware" of any breach.

"We are certainly not aware of any [breaches]. The accounts were all submitted way back in March, so it's been a long process with the FIA going through, and we are in that process as we speak," he said.

The FIA will issue certificates of compliance on October 5, or announce any breaches, but both Mercedes and Ferrari suggested there was an understanding on the grid that two teams are at risk of punishment.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claimed one such party was "fundamentally massively over". 

"There's a team in minor breach, which is more procedural, and another team that is fundamentally massively over and that is still being looked at," he said. "That's an open secret in the paddock."

And there was a similar view from Ferrari, with racing director Laurent Mekies saying: "It's now no secret that two teams broke the 2021 budget cap regulations, one by a significant amount, the other less so."

The situation creates a significant headache for the FIA, with the 2021 season already shrouded in controversy after Max Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton to the title in the final race in Abu Dhabi, with race director Michael Masi failing to implement the rules correctly after a late safety car.

Emergence of further controversy will not be welcomed, and questions will be asked as to why the results are so delayed, with F1 now in the back end of the 2022 season and Verstappen waltzing to a second title in a row.

Punishments for budget cap breaches can be severe, with potential points deductions for minor violations, while the heaviest punishment for a larger breach includes banning a team or driver.

A breach last year would also have a knock-on effect into the current campaign as the cap includes development of the car for the following season.

Novak Djokovic sealed his place in the final four at the Tel Aviv Open after beating one of his "best friends" Vasek Pospisil on Friday.

The Serbian was made to work hard by his Canadian opponent, particularly in the first set, but eventually won 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Djokovic was particularly impressive on his second serve, winning 70 per cent of them, only four per cent less than his first serve success rate, and he hit just eight unforced errors compared to Pospisil's 21.

"It was a great, positive win," Djokovic said afterwards. "Vasek is one of my best friends on the Tour. We have known each other for many years. It is never easy playing someone you respect so much and like so much, but we are both professionals and wanted to win the match and you can see that.

"I think the level of tennis was really high. Especially towards the end of the first set and the second set. Credit to him for fighting. It's great to see him back."

The number one seed will play Roman Safiullin in the semi-finals after the Russian beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-4 6-1.

Constant Lestienne came through a tight contest with Maxime Cressy, winning 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3), and will face number two seed Marin Cilic in the other semi after the Croatian was handed a bye following Liam Broady's withdrawal prior to their match.

At the Sofia Open, Jannik Sinner remains on course for a third successive title at the tournament, setting up a final-four encounter with Holger Rune after easing past Aleksandar Vukic 6-2 6-3, with Rune eventually dispatching Ilya Ivashka 6-2 5-7 6-4.

The other semi-final in Bulgaria will see Lorenzo Musetti take on Marc-Andrea Huesler after both won their respective quarter-finals against Jan-Lennard Struff and Kamil Majchrzak.

The Boston Celtics and veteran forward Blake Griffin have agreed to a one-year contract, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday.

Griffin, 33, will add depth for a team that has endured a series of injuries in the frontcourt before the 2022-23 season has even begun.

Danilo Gallinari, Boston's top free agent acquisition of the offseason, suffered a torn ACL in August, while starting center Robert Williams III underwent knee surgery last week, keeping him away from basketball activities for at least two months.

A six-time All-Star selection, Griffin averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 56 games with the Brooklyn Nets last season.

Griffin's signing comes in the wake of coach Ime Udoka's year-long suspension for an inappropriate workplace relationship that is still clouded in mystery.

The Celtics tip off their season on October 18 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Golden State Warriors began their pre-season with a 96-87 win against the Washington Wizards in Saitama, Japan thanks to an impressive showing from James Wiseman.

A sold-out Saitama Super Arena watched on as Wiseman top-scored with 20 points from almost 24 minutes on the court.

However, it was understandably Japan's own Rui Hachimura who garnered the most noise from an adoring crowd, registering 13 points for the Wizards and, like Wiseman, a game-high nine rebounds.

After the game, coach of the defending NBA champion Warriors Steve Kerr conceded it had not been the highest-quality contest due to it being so early in pre-season, but told reporters how pleased he was with Wiseman's performance.

"James has had a really good few days of practice," he said of the 21-year-old. "His understanding of spacing and defensive communication, being in the right place, he just has a much better sense of the NBA game now than he did a couple of years ago.

"He's been putting a ton of work in, last year despite injury, he was studying and watching tape and learning from our older guys, so I couldn't be happier for James."

Kerr referenced the "really good atmosphere" and also spoke about the adulation received by Washington's Hachimura, and the potential benefits for the NBA's global appeal as a result.

"You see how popular he is," he said. "When he spoke to the crowd they went crazy, and it was a great moment.

"The game has been a global one for a long time but the more international stars we can get, the more popular the game becomes in that particular player's country, so hopefully we'll have more and more players coming from Japan to the NBA.

"You can see it's a basketball-crazed country, people love it here and it's fun to be a part of."

A second game between the two teams in Saitama will be played on Sunday.