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From Jack Harris: In the run-up to this week’s National League Division Series, it was the quietest player on the Dodgers roster who delivered the most profound speech.
This series, soft-spoken veteran Chris Taylor told his teammates in a hitter’s meeting before Game 1 on Saturday, would be all about intensity.
“Every time we play these guys,” Taylor said of the San Diego Padres, “they always have high intensity and a lot of energy.”
So, he implored the club, “We need to match that.”
Three games in, it isn’t happening.
Following a 48-hour news cycle in which the emotional scales of this series shifted dramatically — beginning when Dodgers fans hurled baseballs and beer bottles at the Padres during their Game 2 win, then escalating amid the fallout of Manny Machado’s throw at the Dodgers dugout that same night — the Padres won Game 3 of the series 6-5 on Tuesday night.
And they did so by channeling their hubristic team personality, out-executing the Dodgers in the game’s defining second-inning sequence.
“We can’t look at the mountain,” outfielder Mookie Betts said, with the Dodgers one loss from adding another NLDS elimination to their recent postseason failures. “We have to just look at the task at hand, and that’s one pitch at a time.”
“They’re going to be trying to eliminate us tomorrow,” added catcher Will Smith. “So we have to go out there and fight.”
Plaschke: It’s happening again. Dodgers on verge of another ugly October encore
Hernández: Dodgers’ miscalculations with starting pitching have put their season in peril
Shohei Ohtani was supposed to fix the Dodgers’ postseason woes. So why hasn’t he?
Bullpen will be tasked with saving battered and bruised Dodgers in Game 4
Shaikin: How ‘Beat L.A.’ became entrenched in the Dodgers-Padres rivalry lexicon
Dodgers’ Walker Buehler robbed of luxury watch at Santa Anita Park, 10 days before Game 3 start
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MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE
Division Series
All times Pacific
National League
No. 1 Dodgers vs. No. 4 San Diego
at Dodgers 7, San Diego 5 (box score)
San Diego 10, at Dodgers 2 (box score)
at San Diego 6, Dodgers 5 (box score)
Wed. at San Diego, 6 p.m., FS1
*Friday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox
No. 2 Philadelphia vs. No. 6 NY Mets
New York 6, at Philadelphia 2
at Philadelphia 7, New York 6
at New York 7, Philadelphia 2
Wed. at New York, 2 p.m., FS1
*Friday at Philadelphia, 1 p.m., FS1
American League
No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Detroit
at Cleveland 7, Detroit 0
Detroit 3, at Cleveland 0
Wed. at Detroit, noon, TBS
Thursday at Detroit, 3 p.m., TNT
*Saturday at Cleveland, 1:30 p.m., TBS
No. 1 NY Yankees vs. No. 5 Kansas City
at New York 6, Kansas City 5
Kansas City 4, at New York 2
Wed. at Kansas City, 4 p.m., TBS
Thursday at Kansas City, 5 p.m., TBS
*Saturday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS
*-if necessary
LAKERS
From Broderick Turner: As coach JJ Redick began to extol the virtues of Austin Reaves’ game and how the Lakers have asked for a little more out of the guard, Redick also mentioned the word defense.
No, Reaves is not a lock-down defender, but he has shown Redick during training camp and the first two preseason games that he knows how to guard.
“I never thought he was a chump defensively, but he competes his ass off on that end,” Redick said after the Lakers’ practice Tuesday. “He knows what he’s supposed to do. He’s in the right spots. If he’s supposed to veer, he veers. If he’s supposed to be the low man, he’s the low man. If he’s supposed to be at the nail, he’s at the nail. He just does a lot of really good things on the basketball floor.”
When Reaves talked to the media, he was told about Redick’s comments. Reaves raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“So, he said I was playing good defense, or no?” Reaves asked.
In a sense, yes, Reaves was told.
From Ryan Kartje: Three days and one phone call with the Big Ten later and Lincoln Riley still doesn’t understand how officials reversed USC’s decisive fourth-down, goal-line stop and instead gave Minnesota the go-ahead touchdown that changed the complexion of the conference title race.
The USC coach said Tuesday that there “were a number of misses there at the end” by officials during the Trojans’ 24-17 loss that he sought clarification about with the Big Ten, including two pass interference calls and the intentional grounding that killed a critical fourth-quarter drive for USC. But none was more consequential than the final keeper from Minnesota’s Max Brosmer, which was initially deemed short of the goal line on the field.
The call, upon further review, was overturned by officials. NCAA rules state the officials had to determine “indisputable video evidence” in order to reverse the call made on the field.
Yet when Riley inquired further about that review this week, he says the Big Ten only told him they “believed” Minnesota had scored — but not that the evidence of that score was indisputable.
“They agree that it’s not indisputable,” Riley said. “I mean, they agree, which is unfortunate because that’s part of the rules. But listen — I get it’s a close play. I get it. Did he score? Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I don’t know. But that’s the problem, nobody knows, and you’re going to have to go back with what the officials call on the field.”
From Ben Bolch: Ethan Garbers returned to practice Monday evening after a weeklong absence, though the UCLA quarterback showed lingering effects from the injury that kept him out of the Bruins’ loss to Penn State last weekend.
His right foot was heavily taped and his movements were not completely fluid as he dropped back during the portion of drills open to reporters. Garbers showed plenty of zip on his passes, but his mobility would be the big question if he played for the Bruins (1-4 overall, 0-3) against Minnesota (3-3, 1-2) on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA coach DeShaun Foster suggested after the Penn State game that Garbers would be the starter if he was available, calling it his team, while adding that he needed to rewatch footage of backup Justyn Martin’s admirable performance against the Nittany Lions.
Clarity was not forthcoming when Foster was asked what he saw from the film and what the plan would be against the Golden Gophers.
“Justyn played a good game,” Foster said, “and we’re going to go into this week and see who can play.”
WNBA PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
All times Pacific
No. 1 New York (32-8) vs. No. 4 Las Vegas (27-13)
at New York 87, Las Vegas 77
at New York 88, Las Vegas 84
at Las Vegas 95, New York 81
New York 76, at Las Vegas 62
No. 2 Minnesota (30-10) vs. No. 3 Connecticut (28-12)
Connecticut 73, at Minnesota 70
at Minnesota 77, Connecticut 70
Minnesota 90, at Connecticut 81
at Connecticut 92, Minnesota 82
at Minnesota 88, Connecticut 77
WNBA Finals
No 1 New York vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at New York, noon, ABC
Wed. at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Friday, Oct. 18 at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, Oct. 21 at New York, TBD
*-if necessary
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1928 — NY Yankees beat St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Sportsman’s Park to become first to sweep consecutive World Series; Babe Ruth hits smashes 3 HRs for Yanks.
1934 — World Series: St Louis Cardinals rout Detroit Tigers, 11-0 at Navin Field to clinch 4 games to 3 series victory and 3rd championship.
1943 — Bob Hoernschemeyer throws six touchdown passes, an NCAA record for a freshman, to lead Indiana past Nebraska 54-13.
1965 — The United States wins the Ryder Cup 19½-12½ at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Arnold Palmer clinches the title, beating Peter Butler 2 up. It’s the 13th victory for the Americans in this event, which began in 1927. Britain, a three-time winner, last won in 1957.
1966 — World Series: Baltimore Orioles claim first championship in franchise history; edge Dodgers, 1-0 at Memorial Stadium for 4-0 sweep; MVP: Orioles outfielder Frank Robinson.
1974 — The Washington Capitals lose their first NHL game, 6-3 to the Rangers at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
1991 — The San Jose Sharks gain their first NHL victory, defeating the Calgary Flames 4-3.
1993 — Minnesota’s Scott Eckers passes for 402 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in his first college start, sending the Gophers past Purdue 59-56.
1993 — Carey Bender rushes 33 times for 417 yards, setting an NCAA all-division single-game rushing record, in Coe’s 69-7 Division III victory over Grinnell.
2004 — Texas Tech beats Nebraska 70-10, the worst lost in the Cornhuskers’ storied 114-year history.
2004 — Texas loses to Oklahoma 12-0, getting shut out for the first time in 282 games and ending the longest streak in the country.
2005 — Chris Burke hits a home run in the bottom of the 18th inning and Roger Clemens pitches three scoreless innings of relief in Houston’s 7-6, series-ending victory over Atlanta in the NLDS. The longest postseason game in history takes 5 hours, 50 minutes.
2010 — Derek Stepan becomes the fourth player to score three times in his NHL debut to lead the New York Rangers to a season-opening 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
2011 — The NHL returns to Winnipeg, but Carey Price stops 30 shots and the Montreal Canadiens dampen a city celebration with a 5-1 victory over the Jets.
2016 — Tom Brady returns from his four-game “Deflategate” suspension, passing for 406 yards and three touchdowns to Martellus Bennett in the New England Patriots’ 33-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
2022 — Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secures his second consecutive World F1 Drivers title after finishing in front of Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc in the Japanese GP at Suzuka.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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