missed his fourth consecutive game with a

We have about a quarter of the season remaining, and I cant remember being this late into a season where the MVP and Cy Young Awards in both leagues remain not just wide-open, but wide-open with so many candidates across all four awards.Check out Dan Szymborskis current MVP and Cy Young prediction percentages, which are based on stat lines, player position and team standing, and then run through a rest-of-the-season simulation. For example, we know whether a team makes the playoffs is an important factor in MVP voting, so Mookie Betts MVP odds go up if the Red Sox are viewed in Dans system as having a better chance at making the postseason. Note that these predictors do not involve using WAR, beyond its relationship to traditional stats.Lets see where the four awards stand right now.NL MVPThe injury to Clayton Kershaw?-- the clear front-runner for Cy Young and MVP until he went down in late June -- has opened up this race a bit, although it seems like it has settled into a four-player showdown. Kris Bryant has the significant edge in Baseball-Reference WAR (5.5 to Anthony Rizzos 4.6 among position players), but is tied with Corey Seager at 5.9 in FanGraphs WAR. Daniel Murphy is the intriguing guy here because he leads the NL in batting average and OPS and ranks second in RBIs while playing a premium defensive position, all things voters will love. His WAR numbers (3.9 and 4.6) lag behind because hes a below-average defender and he has missed some games with nagging injuries. He has 62 fewer plate appearances than Bryant, for example. Buccaneers Jerseys China . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 at 7pm et. The Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons, Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes. Wholesale Custom Buccaneers Shirts . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. http://www.custombuccaneersjersey.com/ . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Cheap Custom Buccaneers Jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Wholesale Custom Buccaneers Shirts . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. DENVER -- ?? Sharp-shooting rookie Jamal Murray showed why he could one day become Denvers go-to guy late in games.Murray scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Nuggets closed out the Utah Jazz 105-91 on Sunday night in a matchup of struggling Western Conference teams.It certainly was a welcome sight for a Denver squad that is 1-4 in games decided by three points or fewer.Great to see Jamal Murray go off in the fourth quarter and make big shots, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. Jamal, he continues to grow up in front of our eyes. When he gets confident and puts the ball up, I think its going in every time he shoots it.Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help Denver improve to 2-4 at home. Wilson Chandler added 17 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists.Gordon Hayward had 25 points for Utah, and Dante Exum, Rodney Hood and Joe Johnson each scored 10. The Jazz have lost four straight.Its been a long two weeks, but thats no excuse, Hood said. Offensively, we started out real sluggish. Were not getting stops, thats the biggest thing. They played at a really good pace tonight and it had us on our heels.Will Barton started for the banged-up Nuggets after missing his previous nine games with an ankle injury. He made a 3-pointer on his teams first attempt from the field and finished with seven points.The Nuggets led by double digits most of the night and trailed only once, 2-0. Utah stayed within striking distance until the fourth quarter thanks to Denvers 13-for-30 free throw shooting.Murray got going late, making five of his six shots in the fourth. He finished 3 for 4 from 3-point range and has hit 11 of 20 from long distance in his last four games.I love playing with a shooter, said Nuggets point guard Emmanuuel Mudiay, who finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.dddddddddddd Hes playing with a lot more confidence. I think hes figuring out himself and things are slowing down for him as well.The Jazz struggled early and often in their fourth back-to-back of the season, shooting just 5 of 22 in the opening quarter. They trailed by 19 in the second before finding any consistency.TIP-INSJazz: PF Derrick Favors missed his third straight game with a bruised left knee, while PG George Hill missed his eighth consecutive game with a sprained thumb. Hopefully the band will be back, coach Quin Snyder said of his teams early-season injuries. We havent really established a band, so I dont even know what that sounds like. ... Veteran C Boris Diaw (rest) came off the bench after sitting out Saturday against Houston. He had two points.Nuggets: G Gary Harris missed his fourth consecutive game with a right foot injury and is not expected to return until mid-December.NO OFFENSEHappy about the win, Malone said he still addressed his teams season-low 43.3 percent free throw shooting after the game.I said, Great game, but no offense, we were like team Shaq tonight, Malone said. We got there a lot but I couldnt believe we were missing as many as we were missing.TIES THAT BINDA plethora of injuries have hindered early expectations for the Nuggets and Jazz, two teams looking to get back to the postseason. Snyder said he hopes injuries wont link the Northwest Division rivals for long.We dont really want to be cousins in that one, he said.UP NEXTJazz: Host the Nuggets on Wednesday night.Nuggets: End their four-game homestand Tuesday night against Chicago. ' ' '