MONTREAL - When they were 1-7 in August, it was far-fetched even to think about the Montreal Alouettes making the playoffs.But a 17-14 win over the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday afternoon lifted the Alouettes to 9-8 to clinch a home playoff date. They have a chance to finish first in the CFL East Division with a regular season-ending win on Saturday in Hamilton.Its going to be a great Grey Cup documentary, said receiver Duran Carter, who had career highs of 11 catches and 181 yards. Highlights, low lights, all of it.We feel pretty much unstoppable. Weve got one more week in the regular season and were not going to take our foot off the gas.Carter scored the game-winning touchdown on a 23-yard toss from Jonathan Crompton at 5:41 of the fourth quarter. A relentless Alouettes defence did the rest, holding an opponent to 17 or fewer points for a sixth game in a row, all wins.They will be the first CFL team ever to finish at or above .500 after being six games below .500.A win in Hamilton would give Montreal first place and a bye to the East final, while a loss may drop them to second and see them host the East semifinal against a crossover team from the West Division.The loss pushed Toronto (7-10) to the brink of elimination. They must win their finale against Ottawa and hope Montreal beats the Tiger-Cats (8-9) to stay alive.We werent good on second and medium, said Argonauts coach Scott Milanovich. Coming up a yard short, not getting to the sticks. That is why we werent able to score more points.Too many times in the second half we werent able to get enough to keep the drive moving.Tyrell Sutton ran in a TD for Montreal and Sean Whyte had a field goal, although his string of 21 in a row ended with a 45-yard attempt against a stiff wind.Mike Bradwell caught a one-yard TD pass from third string quarterback Mitchell Gale and Swayze Waters had two boots for the Argonauts.Starting quarterback Ricky Ray, who completed 26 of 35 passes for 209 yards and was sacked three times, left with 2:29 to go in the game after he was slammed into the turf by John Bowman to end Torontos comeback hopes. Milanovich had no update on his condition.As the game ended, the crowd of 22,013 at Percival Molson Stadium stood and cheered the Alouettes, as much for what theyve done over the last three months as for winning the game.Coach Tom Higgins said the turnaround came on a road trip to Regina and Winnipeg in August. While they didnt win those games, they felt were playing better and vowed to try for an 8-2 record over the final 10 games to make the playoffs. They are 8-1 since then.I feel good for the organization, said Higgins. Its an organization thats used to winning and wrapping up a playoff spot a lot earlier.It just took us a little while and we got it done. But its a neat story thats being written by this football team. They just dont give up. Thats the sign of a champion.The turnaround coincided with Crompton taking over as the starting quarterback. While he isnt the slickest QB in the league, he has managed to move the ball enough and put up enough points to win, thanks largely to the defence.He completed 13 of 26 passes for 251 yards, nearly all of them to Carter. There was one completion each to Eric Deslauriers and S.J. Green, and third stringer Tanner Marsh completed one to Green.But Crompton overthrew a wide open Carter on what would have been a sure touchdown, and a trick play saw Green fire a 50-yard pass that went off a wide open Carters fingertips.Weve been waiting to run that forever and they finally call it and I just misjudged it, said Carter, who also had a fumble on his record. I thought it was coming right in my hands and it was little bit far.Its terrible. I owe receiver money for that. If you ask me, I had a bad game. Im just fortunate they trust me with the ball.Crompton said he was looking for whoever Toronto left open and that happened to be Carter most of the time.That says a lot about him and about our receiving corps not to staying anything, said Crompton. They knew that if were getting one on one, no matter who it is, were going to take a shot. The guys did a good job running their routes, and especially blocking on the run game.Sutton carried 23 times for 135 yards.Wind was a factor and Toronto got the only points of a flag-free first quarter on Waterss 21-yard kick.The Alouettes used the wind on a six-play 69 yard drive capped by Suttons 17-yard TD run up the middle 4:02 into the second.A punt single off Carters fumble and a 56 yard drive into the wind led to Bradwells one-yard TD catch at the end of the second quarter gave the Argonauts an 11-7 half time lead.Waters added a 25-yard boot 12:09 into the third after the Alouettes lost a gamble on third and 3, when ball carrier J.C. Beaulieu came up a yard short.Montreal got three back to open the fourth, and then Crompton led a four-play drive topped by a toss over the middle to Carter.Toronto got a last chance with the ball when Waters got to his own punt for an extra set of downs, but backup QB Trevor Harris was unable to move the ball.At the beginning of the year, everybody wasnt on the same page, said Alouettes defensive tackle Alan-Michael Cash. We were missing too many tackles, blowing assignments. But as the year went on, we came together. I think we are the best defence in the CFL.Montreal defensive back Geoff Tisdale left late in the first half with a concussion after a kick in the head while defending a pass. Higgins said holding him out was a precaution and Tisdale may be ready to return against Hamilton.The Argos lost defensive tackle Marcus Thomas (foot) and defensive back Vincent Agnew (left leg) to injuries. In the fourth, linebacker Matt Ware was helped off. Dirk Nowitzki Jersey . - Mathew Barzal scored 3:47 into overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds downed the visiting Everett Silvertips 4-3 on Tuesday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Dwight Powell Jersey . David Perron had a career high four-point night with two goals and two assists as the Oilers experienced an offensive explosion, blasting the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-0 to record a rare home win for their second victory in a row. http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/we...vericks-jersey/. Off-Season Game Plan looks at the Capitals possible summer plans, with the understanding that its tough to plot a direction without a general manager or head coach around which to set those expectations. Kostas Antetokounmpo Jersey . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team. Luka Doncic Jersey .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders.MIAMI -- Henderson Alvarez has pitched well against a number of teams, especially the Philadelphia Phillies. Alvarez pitched into the eighth inning to outduel Cole Hamels and the Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 Tuesday night. "This is the second time Ive faced him and hes gone on to pitch good games and it kind of helps me go along as well," Alvarez said. Alvarez (12-6) gave up five hits and struck out two over 7 2-3 innings to lower his ERA to 2.70. Jeff Baker and Casey McGehee had RBIs for the Marlins in the 2-hour, 20-minute contest. "When he gets into a rhythm, he gets quick outs and he was able to do that, which allowed him to stay in the game and he did exactly what we needed him to," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "We got him his two runs and we were able to hang on." Alvarez is 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA in six starts against the Phillies this season. "Id say for the most part hes given us a tough time this year," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Hes good with his live fastball. Hes got some body action out there that has some deception to it, but Id say overall hes pitched good against us." Hamels (9-8) allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings. He struck out four and walked one. Alvarez issued a two-out walk to Carlos Ruiz in the top of the eighth inning, ending his night after 97 pitches as he was replaced by left-hander Mike Dunn. After Chase Utley singled, Dunn struck out Ryan Howard with runners on first and second to end the inning. Steve Cishek pitched the ninth for his 38th save in 42 chances to preserve the Marlins 16th shutout of the season. Hamels got into trouble in the fourth inning when he allowed consecutive singles to Jeff Baker, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Lucas -- who drove in Baker with his base hit to centre. "I thought they were good pitches too, thats what stinks," Hamels said. "They were at least the right pitches I wanted to throw at the right time, they missed by just a hair." The Marlins extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth after Christian Yelich doubled and eventually scoreed on a sacrifice fly by McGehee.dddddddddddd Only two Phillies runners advanced to scoring position against Alvarez, who calmly retired the next batter each time to end the second and fifth innings. Alvarez was just four outs away from his fourth shutout of the season. "No doubt hes had some adversity along the way, but at the end of it, hes doing a great job and logged a ton of innings and pitched some really big games for us and hes won," Redmond said. Hamels will look to reach the 200-inning plateau for the fifth consecutive season when he makes his final start of the year on Sunday against Atlanta. Alvarez plans on starting the season finale at Washington and hopes to duplicate last years performance when he tossed a no-hitter against Detroit. "Im just trying to go out and have a strong end to the season," Alvarez said. "If it ends like last year, that would be perfect." TRAINERS ROOM Marlins: CF Marcell Ozuna suffered a high ankle sprain on his right ankle during Sundays game against Washington after running into second base. "Well see how he comes in today as far as if theres even a possibility of him playing any more this season," Redmond said before the game. UP NEXT: Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (9-13, 4.73) will face Marlins LHP Brad Hand (3-8, 4.59) on Wednesday. Kendrick is 13-3 with a 3.57 ERA in his career against the Marlins. WINS HARD TO COME BY FOR HAMELS Hamels is on pace to establish a new career-best in ERA, but currently only has nine wins in 29 starts. "Yeah (its hard to believe), because sometimes when youre looking at guys that have (low) ERAs, most of them have 18-20 wins," Hamels said. "Its just going out there trying to plug away and work towards something the next year -- I think thats something that I can kind of control. When you start a season and make personal goals, what can you control, and ERA and innings are what you can really control." MARLINS ASSURED OF WINNING RECORD AT HOME With the win, the Marlins improved to 41-38 at home, which assured them of a winning record at Marlins Park for the first time since the stadium opened in 2012. ' ' '