The 2021 NL Cy Young race has been one of the best in recent memory, with aces jockeying for position all year, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

The favorites...

Max Scherzer, WSH/LAD: Mad Max quietly put together an excellent first half in D.C. Since landing in L.A., there's been nothing quiet about his hunt for a fourth Cy Young.

• By the numbers: Since his Dodgers debut, he's 7-0 with a 79:7 K:BB ratio and just five earned runs, lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 2.08. One of the best deadline pickups ever.
• Chasing history: Scherzer's 0.81 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) ranks third since the mound was lowered in 1969.
• Next start: Thursday at Rockies

Corbin Burnes, MIL: The 26-year-old broke out in 2020 with a 2.11 ERA and sixth-place Cy Young finish, and his superb 2021 proves that was no fluke.

• Wild stat: Burnes has allowed just six home runs in 158 innings pitched this season (0.3 per nine innings).
• Chasing history: Burnes currently leads the league in K/9, BB/9 and HR/9 — a "sabermetric Triple Crown" that no pitcher has ever achieved.
• Next start: Friday vs. Mets

The contenders…

• Zack Wheeler, PHI: The Phillies workhorse leads the league in WAR (7.1), IP (200.1) and strikeouts (231), and would have won this award if the season ended in June.
• Walker Buehler, LAD: He's faltered a bit down the stretch, but still ranks third in ERA (2.39) and WHIP (0.96), and second in WAR (6.0).
• Kevin Gausman, SF: The ace for MLB's best team is another early-season stud whose ERA was below 2.00 not too long ago.
• Brandon Woodruff, MIL: Overshadowed by Burnes, Woodruff's ERA (2.55) and WHIP (0.96) are both top-four marks.

The pick: Scherzer.

Go deeper: Is this the golden age of the old(er) starting pitcher? (The Athletic)

The Packers beat the Lions, 35-17, on Monday to avoid starting 0-2 for the first time since 2006 — two years before Aaron Rodgers' first start.

Stars of the night: Rodgers passed John Elway for 10th on the all-time pass yards list, while Jones tied a Lambeau Field record with 4 TD scored.

• Rodgers: 22/26, 255 yds, 4 TD
• Jones: 17 car, 67 yds, TD; 6 rec, 48 yds, 3 TD

Quote of the night: "My teammate [Cameron] Brate asked me the other day, 'Rob ... Do you ever watch film?'" said Rob Gronkowski on the Manning MegaCast. "And I said, 'No, I don't. I just run by guys."

Peyton's setup in Denver...

Source: Giphy

Seven years after Hawaiian Marcus Mariota won the Heisman, the Aloha State is producing more top FBS QBs per capita than any other state.

By the numbers: Four of the top 100 current FBS QBs by passer rating hail from Hawaii, per SI's Pat Forde (subscription). That's one for every 352,000 Hawaiians.

• Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland
• Dillon Gabriel, UCF
• Jayden de Laura, Washington State
• Chevan Cordeiro, Hawaii

The rest of the top five states, per capita: Arkansas (one per 1.01 million); Georgia (one per 1.2 million); North Carolina (one per 1.34 million); and Kansas (one per 1.46 million).

💔 676,000 deaths: The recorded number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has now surpassed the known number of American fatalities from the 1918 flu pandemic. Travel back in time.

🏀 Scheyer on fire: Dereck Lively, the No. 2 prospect in 2022, committed to Duke on Monday. That gives incoming coach Jon Scheyer three top-8 recruits, and likely the No. 1 overall class, in his first cycle.

📺 Media news: Malika Andrews will host ESPN's new "NBA Today" show, replacing Rachel Nichols. Plus, Al Michaels is expected to end up on Amazon Prime for its exclusive Thursday Night Football package.

💬 Tweeting through it: The 2021 Mets season as told through 15 Steve Cohen tweets (NY Mag)

Ironman triathlons took place across the globe this past weekend, generating some breathtaking photographs.

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Athletes ride through Snow Canyon State Park.

CAMBRIDGE, Md. — An athlete bikes through Cambridge, one of the oldest colonial towns in Maryland.

CERVIA, Italy — An athlete prepares for the swim portion in Cervia, a seaside resort town near Bologna.

THUN, Switzerland — An athlete bikes through Thun, the gateway to the mountains of the Bernese Oberland.

The 9th FIFA Futsal World Cup is underway in Lithuania after a one-year delay, with the knockout stage starting tomorrow, Jeff writes.

Details: 24 nations from six continents qualified for the tournament, which has been whittled to 16 after the group stage concluded Monday.

• Still alive: Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Russia, Uzbekistan, Portugal, Morocco, Brazil, Czech Republic, Spain, Paraguay, Argentina, Iran, Thailand, Vietnam, Serbia and Japan.
• Notable eliminations: Host nation Lithuania went winless in its debut, and the U.S. laid an egg with a brutal -20 goal differential.

How it works: Futsal is essentially five-a-side indoor soccer on a hard surface. The goals, balls and field are smaller, kick-ins replace throw-ins and substitutions are unlimited and on-the-fly.

• It was developed in 1930 by a teacher trying to capitalize on soccer's exploding popularity in his home nation of Uruguay.
• He devised a game that could be played indoors and was inspired by basketball (five-a-side) and handball (goal and field size).

Past winners: Since the inaugural World Cup in 1989, just three countries have won: Brazil (5x), Spain (2x) and defending champ Argentina.

Go deeper: Futsal world rankings

Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena, opening next month in time for the Kraken's NHL debut, will be the world's first zero-carbon certified arena.

What that means: The arena will be powered entirely by renewable energy, single-use plastics will be eliminated by 2024, and rainwater from the roof will be used to make the rink's ice.

The backdrop: The multipurpose arena opened in 1962 in conjunction with the World's Fair, and has since hosted the SuperSonics, Storm and others.

• It closed in 2018 to begin renovations, and last June Amazon bought the naming rights, making the arena the poster child for its bold Climate Pledge.
• What is the Climate Pledge? In 2019, Amazon pledged to become a zero-carbon business by 2040 — 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. Since then, more than 100 companies have signed up alongside them.

📆 Coming up: We'll dive deeper on Thursday (12–1pm ET) during a virtual event in partnership with the Aspen Institute. Register here.

13 years ago today, the Yankees beat the Orioles, 7-3, in the final game at the original Yankee Stadium.

The backdrop: The Yankees were founded in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles, joining the newly-minted AL. They'd hoped to be in New York, but the NL's Giants nixed the idea.

• In 1903, once the NL and AL were on friendlier terms, the Orioles moved to New York and became the Highlanders, playing at Hilltop Park in Manhattan.
• In 1913, the Highlanders began sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants and adopted the Yankees moniker. In 1923, Yankee Stadium opened.

The big picture: The Yankees won their first championship that inaugural season in the Bronx, which doubled as Babe Ruth's lone MVP campaign and Lou Gehrig's debut season.

• In the ensuing eight decades, they won a record 25 more World Series. Yankee Stadium became iconic not only for baseball, but as the site of countless other sporting and cultural events.
• In 2009, the Yanks' first season at their new ballpark a block away, they won their 27th title. They're still searching for No. 28, and currently sit outside the playoff picture.

Go deeper: 20 greatest moments in Yankee Stadium history (NY Post)

Jon Lester notched his 200th win Monday, as the Cardinals won their ninth straight game.

• Question: Who are the other two active pitchers with 200 wins?
• Hint: One has won a World Series, one has not.

Answer at the bottom.

The Stanley Cup made a stop at ESPN's campus ahead of opening night three weeks from now.

Looking ahead: ESPN will begin its first season of a new NHL TV contract with an Oct. 12 doubleheader:

• Penguins at Lightning, 7:30pm ET
• Kraken at Golden Knights, 10pm