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NEW ORLEANS (12-5) at MINNESOTA (13-3)

Sunday [url=http://www.officialislanders.com/authentic-adidas-josh-bailey-jersey]Josh Bailey Jersey[/url] , 4:40 p.m. EST, Fox

OPENING LINE – Vikings by 4

RECORD VS. SPREAD -New Orleans 8-8, Minnesota 11-4-1

SERIES RECORD – Vikings lead 21-11

LAST MEETING – Vikings beat Saints 29-19, Sept. 11, 2017

LAST WEEK – Saints beat Panthers 31-26; Vikings had first-round bye

AP PRO32 RANKING -Saints No. 6, Vikings No. 2

SAINTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (2), RUSH (5), PASS (5)

SAINTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (17), RUSH (16), PASS (15)

VIKINGS OFFENSE – OVERALL (11), RUSH (7), PASS (11)

VIKINGS DEFENSE – OVERALL (1), RUSH (2), PASS (2)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Vikings have won two of three postseason matchups with Saints, 1987 wild-card game in New Orleans and 2000 divisional-round game in Minnesota. Saints won 2009 NFC championship game at home. … Vikings are 13-3 at home in history against Saints, including the one playoff victory. … Saints are 7-4 in six appearances in playoffs under coach Sean Payton. They’re 1-4 on road [url=http://www.officialislanders.com/authentic-adidas-mathew-barzal-jersey]Mathew Barzal Jersey[/url] , excluding neutral-site win in Super Bowl 44. … Saints QB Drew Brees passed for 376 yards against Panthers, his second-highest total of season. … Saints rookie Alvin Kamara, who had second-most receptions (81) in league by RB in regular season, had only one catch against Panthers. … Saints FB Zach Line, who spent four seasons with Vikings, had TD run last week. … Saints, who ranked third in NFL in regular season with 20 interceptions and tied for ninth in league with 25 total takeaways, did not force turnover vs. Panthers. … Saints’ defense ranked eighth in NFL in sacks per pass attempt in regular season and sacked Panthers’ Cam Newton four times last week, including one by team leader Cameron Jordan. … Jordan had only sack for Saints in season-opening loss at Minnesota, when Sam Bradford was Vikings QB and passed for 346 yards and three TDs without turnover on 27 of 32 completions for career-high 143.0 rating. …. Vikings allowed 27 sacks in regular season, seventh fewest in league. … Jordan, who had career-high 13 sacks in regular season, is son of former Vikings TE Steve Jordan, who was six-time Pro Bowl pick and caught TD pass in 1987 win in playoffs against Saints. … Vikings’ record against spread in regular season was best in NFL. … Vikings had first-round bye for fourth time under current playoff format. They reached NFC championship game each of three previous instances. … Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is 0-1 in playoffs. … Payton and Zimmer were assistants on Cowboys staff together between 2003-05, with Payton running offense and Zimmer running defense. … This is Vikings QB Case Keenum’s first career start in playoffs and first playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened in 2016 and is site of next month’s Super Bowl. … Vikings WR Stefon Diggs had TD catch in each of last three games. He had two TDs and 93 yards in opener against Saints. … RB Latavius Murray had 745 yards and eight TDs in last 10 games of regular season. He had TD run last season in playoffs for Raiders against Texans. … Vikings FS Harrison Smith tied career high with five interceptions and was one of two players in league with 70 or more tackles, five or more interceptions and one or more sacks. … Vikings allowed only 20 runs of 10-plus yards in regular season [url=http://www.officialislanders.com/authentic-adidas-nick-leddy-jersey]http://www.officialislanders.com/authentic-adidas-nick-leddy-jersey[/url] , fewest in NFL since 49ers in 1995.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays, routinely using relievers as starters to deal with a rash of injuries, are pitching their way to victories.

The Rays (37-40) go into a two-game interleague series against the Washington Nationals with the momentum of a three-game sweep of the American League East-leading Yankees. New York hadn’t lost three games in a row at any point all season, but the Rays pulled it off, capped with a 7-6 win in 12 innings on Sunday at Tropicana Field.

“That’s the best team in the league right now, them and the Astros … I think coming home from that we had confidence and it all carried over into that series,” said Rays rookie first baseman Jake Bauers, who won the game in the 12th inning.

Since beginning their experimental use of relievers as “openers” to start games, the Rays have a 3.07 ERA, and entering Sunday’s game, that edged the Yankees for the best ERA in baseball since May 19. They’ve won five of seven games to again challenge .500, and Sunday’s walkoff home run by Bauers was their second this season, after totaling one in three seasons from 2015 to 2017.

The Nationals (41-35) had gone 3-9 in their last 12 games before Sunday night’s rain-delayed game against the Phillies, dropping into third place in the National League East. They’ll send out Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.08 ERA), who has no wins in his last four starts and his ERA has risen from a sterling 2.10 to 3.08.

Gonzalez lasted only four innings in his last outing [url=http://www.officialhockeyrangersshop.com/authentic-adidas-brady-skjei-jersey]Brady Skjei Jersey[/url] , giving up five hits and two runs against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. For his career against the Rays, he’s 2-2 with a 5.54 ERA, though he’s only faced Tampa Bay once since 2012. That was a rough 2015 start at Tropicana Field, lasting 3 1/3 innings and giving up five earned runs on eight hits, walking more batters than he struck out. For his career at Tropicana, he has an 11.25 ERA.

The Rays will have an actual starter on the mound in Blake Snell (9-4, 2.48), who is in line for an All-Star appearance after the first three months of his season. He has just one loss in his last seven starts, and while he has never faced the Nationals, he has generally fared well in interleague play, going 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA in eight career starts.

Tampa Bay, hoping to build on its current momentum, has a tough week ahead, with two games against Washingto, then another four against Houston to close out the homestand.

Washington goes from St. Petersburg to a weekend four-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies before returning home for a week.

The Rays got a head start with a Sunday afternoon game and the Nationals saw their prime-time game delayed by rain, keeping them on the field beyond midnight and still needing to fly to Florida for the two-game stopover.