game

What began as banter between fans during a contentious playoff game took a darker turn when a woman threatened to call ICE on a Southern California man during Tuesday’s National League Championship game between the Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.

The exchange began when Dodgers fan Ricardo Fosado trash-talked nearby Brewers fans moments after third baseman Max Muncy clobbered a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning to give visiting Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Fosado repeatedly asked, “Why is everybody quiet?” to distraught Milwaukee fans in a social media clip that has since gone viral.

One fan, identified by Milwaukee media as an attorney named Shannon Kobylarczyk, responded by threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Fosado.

“You know what?” she asked a nearby fan. “Let’s call ICE.”

Fosado, a former Bellflower City Council candidate, told Kobylarczyk to “call ICE.”

“ICE is not going to do anything to me,” said Fosado, who noted he was a war veteran and a U.S. citizen. “Good luck.”

On the video, the woman then uses a derogatory term to question Fosado’s masculinity, remarking, “real men drink beer.” Fosado was instead enjoying a fruity alcoholic beverage.

Fosado then told Kobylarczyk one last time to call ICE before calling her an idiot, punctuating the remark with an expletive.

An email to Fosado was not immediately returned Thursday.

Fosado told Milwaukee television station WISN 12 News that the incident “just shows the level where a person’s heart is and how she really feels as a human being.”

The station also confirmed that Kobylarczyk’s employment with the Milwaukee-based staffing firm Manpower had ended.

Kobylarczyk also reportedly stepped down from the board of Wisconsin’s Make-a-Wish chapter.

Fosado did not escape unscathed, however. He said he and a friend were ejected from the game shortly after the exchange.

The Dodgers ended up winning the game 5-1 and led the best-of-seven series, 2-0. The series now shifts to Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch of Game 3 is scheduled for 3:08 p.m. Thursday.

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Somewhere in baseball heaven Fernando Valenzuela is saying to himself, “A complete game. What’s the big deal?”

The story of the postseason so far has been the starting pitching. Amazing. Let’s take a look at how the Dodgers’ starters have done:

NL wild-card series vs. Reds

Game 1: Blake Snell, 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 10-5
Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6.2 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 walks, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 8-4

NLDS vs. Phillies

Game 1: Shohei Ohtani, 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s, Dodgers win 5-3
Game 2: Blake Snell, 6 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 4 walks, 9 K’s, Dodgers win, 4-3
Game 3: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 2 K’s, Dodgers lose, 8-2
Game 4: Tyler Glasnow, 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 walks, 8 K’s, Dodgers win, 2-1

NLCS vs. Brewers

Game 1: Blake Snell, 8 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 walks, 10 K’s, Dodgers win, 2-1
Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 9 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 walk, 7 K’s, Dodgers win, 5-1

In eight games, starting pitchers have thrown 52.2 innings, giving up 24 hits and 13 walks while striking out 63 and posting a 1.54 ERA.

—It’s as if suddenly Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale are taking turns on the mound again. Of course, they always did it in the World Series, as there were no other rounds back then.

—In the 1963 World Series (a four-game sweep of the Yankees), Koufax, Drysdale and Johnny Podres combined to pitch 35.1 innings, giving up 21 hits and five walks while striking out 36 and posting a 1.02 ERA

—In the 1965 World Series, won in seven games against Minnesota, Koufax, Drysdale and Claude Osteen combined to pitch 49.2 innings, giving up 34 hits and 13 walks while striking out 48 and posting a 1.27 ERA.

—Pedro Martinez (can you believe he didn’t choose to wear a Dodger cap on his Hall of Fame plaque) had this to say on X about Snell: “I’ve been part of many postseason games, and I’ve done some great things, but in my career I haven’t seen someone do the amount of things he’s done. It gave me goosebumps to watch him. I think we can all learn from him. He deserves a lot of credit and respect.”

—That leadoff home run in Game 2 seemed to anger Yamamoto.

—Proving himself to be the master of the understatement, Yamamoto said this after the game: “I was able to pitch until the end. So I really felt a sense of accomplishment.”

—This has been like watching old-school baseball. Starting pitchers going deep into games. Dodgers bunting on occasion. Not every run coming on a home run. What is happening?

—Whatever it is, I like it.

—Let’s unpack that crazy Game 1 play. Bases loaded, one out, Max Muncy at the plate. He lifts a fly ball to deep center. Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick leaps, and the ball bounces off his glove and hits the fence on the yellow line before Frelick corrals it again. OK, let’s stop there:

In Milwaukee, the yellow line does not signify a home run. If a ball hits the yellow line, it means ball is in play. Visiting teams are reminded of this rule when they visit Milwaukee.

The left-field umpire immediately signals no catch, ball is in play. Unfortunately, it appears the only person paying attention to him is Brewers catcher William Contreras (also the only person on the field who is naturally facing the outfield to see all of this.)

As far as tagging up on a catch, the rule is you can run as soon as the ball hits the glove. Teoscar Hernández tagged up, started to run, saw the bobble, ran back, tagged up again, and by the time he made it home, the throw had beaten him. Because it wasn’t a catch and the bases were loaded, it was a force play at any base. Contreras, knowing it was a force play, didn’t even try to tag Hernández. He then ran to third to force Will Smith there. Smith, thinking the ball had been caught, had run back to second and told Tommy Edman, who had advanced to second, to go back to first. In the meantime, while Edman was doing that, Muncy passed him on the basepath. So really, the Brewers could have had a triple play, or even a quadruple play if such a thing were possible.

Third base coach Dino Ebel says he told Hernández to go. Hernández took full blame for the baserunning mistake the next day.

Hernández : “I just f— up. It’s that simple. It was one of those plays that if you would have asked me two days ago what would you do in this situation, I would say, as soon as the ball touched the glove, I would go. But in the moment, I got blocked, I think, and there’s not an explanation. I saw it when the ball hit the glove, I went. Then I saw it bounced off the glove. And I just reacted bad. Just one of those moments, you block your mind. But there’s nobody to blame but myself. And it happens.”

Smith also messed up by running back to second and telling Edman to run back to first. It was extremely loud in Milwaukee’s stadium, so apparently no one could hear Ebel.

Everyone on the field seemed confused (except Contreras). Both managers seemed confused at that moment. The TBS announcing crew was confused. People on social media were confused. We finally found something to unite us all: Confusion. It was crazy.

—In some years, the Dodgers would have fallen apart after that and lost the game.

—And then Snell marched out after that deflating half inning and mowed down the Brewers, 1-2-3 in the next half-inning. That’s what aces do.

—Who among you was screaming “Nooooooooooooooooooo!” when Blake Treinen came into Game 1? Roki Sasaki didn’t have it that night. But somehow Treinen got out of it.

—It seemed to make Dave Roberts think twice about pulling Yamamoto in Game 2 though.

—The offense isn’t quite clicking, but they are doing just enough to win. Baserunning gaffe aside, Teoscar continues to come up big in the postseason. As does Super Kiké.

—Now the baton passes back to Tyler Glasnow for Game 3.

—The last Dodger to pitch a postseason complete game was José Lima in 2004, when he shut out the Cardinals on five hits in Game 3 of the NLDS. It was the team’s first postseason win since Game 5 of the 1988 World Series. It was his only season with the Dodgers. He went 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA. His final season in the majors was 2006. He died of a heart attack in 2010. He was 37.

—To think, the Dodgers are doing this with basically a three-man bullpen.

—In Game 2, Muncy hit his 14th postseason home run, setting the all-time Dodgers record. It’s a little misleading, since guys such as Duke Snider only got one round of postseason play, and guys such as Steve Garvey usually got only two. But it’s still a nice accomplishment.

The most postseason homers in Dodger history:

14
Max Muncy (one every 16.1 at bats)

13
Corey Seager (17.9)
Justin Turner (24.2)

11
Duke Snider (12.1)

10
Steve Garvey (18.2)
Kiké Hernández (21)

9
Cody Bellinger (26.9)
Joc Pederson (16.8)
Chris Taylor (25.2)

—The Dodgers seem to have another gear they have shifted into this postseason, while the other teams don’t have that extra gear as of yet.

—The Dodgers have gone 22-6 in their last 28 games.

—But this series is far from over.

Dodgers in the postseason

How the Dodgers are doing this postseason:

Batters

Alex Call, .750 (3 for 4), 2 walks
Ben Rortvedt, .429 (3 for 7), 1 double, 1 RBI, 3 K’s
Kiké Hernández, .379 (11 for 29), 4 doubles, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 7 K’s
Miguel Rojas, .375 (3 for 8), 1 RBI
Mookie Betts, .303 (10 for 33), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBIs, 4 walks, 2 K’s
Tommy Edman, .296 (8 for 27), 1 double, 2 homers, 4 RBIs, 1 walk, 7 K’s
Teoscar Hernández, .295 (10 for 34), 1 double, 4 homers, 10 RBIs, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Max Muncy, .273 (6 for 22), 1 double, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 6 walks, 5 K’s
Freddie Freeman, .242 (8 for 33), 4 doubles, 1 homer, 1 RBI, 3 walks, 8 K’s
Will Smith, .238 (5 for 21), 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 7 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, .147 (5 for 34), 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 K’s
Andy Pages, .069 (2 for 29), 1 double, 1 RBI, 6 K’s
Dalton Rushing, .000 (0 for 1), 1 K

Note: Justin Dean has been in eight games but has not batted (he has scored one run); Hyeseong Kim has been in one game, has not batted and has scored a run

Pitching

Tyler Glasnow, 0.00 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 hits, 5 walks, 10 K’s
Jack Dreyer, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 2 walks, 1 K
Anthony Banda, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 K’s
Blake Snell, 3-0, 0.86 ERA, 21 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 5 walks, 28 K’s
Roki Sasaki, 1.50 ERA, 2 saves, 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 walks, 5 K’s
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2-1, 1.83 ERA, 19.2 IP, 13 hits, 4 ER, 4 walks, 18 K’s
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 1 walk, 9 K’s
Alex Vesia, 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 3 walks, 3 K’s
Blake Treinen, 6.75 ERA, 1 save, 2.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 3 K’s
Emmet Sheehan, 10.80 ERA, 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 walks, 2 K’s
Clayton Kershaw, 18.00 ERA, 2 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 walks, 1 K
Edgardo Henriquez, infinity, 0 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 2 walks

Poll results

What will be the outcome of the NLCS (poll closed one minute before the first pitch of Game 1)?

After 11,709 votes:

Dodgers in six, 43.3%
Dodgers in five, 25.6%
Dodgers in seven, 19.6%
Brewers in six, 4.7%
Brewers in seven, 3.2%
Dodgers in four, 1.8%
Brewers in five, 1.3%
Brewers in four, 0.5%

Up next

Game 1: Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)
Game 2: Dodgers 5, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Thursday: Milwaukee at Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 4-3, 3.19 ERA), 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Friday: Milwaukee at Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 2.87 ERA), 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Saturday: Milwaukee at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Monday: Dodgers at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-Tuesday: Dodgers at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

x-if necessary

In case you missed it

Shohei Ohtani takes rare on-field BP amid playoff slump, downplays impact of two-way role

Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers

In this postseason, Dodgers’ offense starts from the bottom

Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a complete game to NLCS Game 2 | Dodgers Debate

Hernández: The Dodgers’ latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor

Just how much are the Dodgers charging for World Series tickets?

Kiké Hernández and Will Smith talk NLCS Game 2 win, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s big night

Shaikin: Blake Snell replicating what Sandy Koufax achieved 60 Octobers ago

It took some luck, but good things finally happen to Dodgers’ Blake Treinen

Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández avoids Milwaukee’s allegedly haunted hotel at wife’s insistence

And finally

Highlights from Game 1 of the NLCS. Watch and listen here. Highlights from Game 2. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Jack Harris: At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday night, Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 hours away from resuming their National League Championship Series against the Brewers. For any other player, it would have been a routine affair.

Ohtani, however, is not just any other player.

And among the many things that make him unique, his habit of almost never taking batting practice on the field is one of the small but notable ones.

Which made his decision to do so Wednesday a telling development.

Over the last two weeks, Ohtani has been in a slump. Since the start of the NL Division Series, he is just two-for-25 with a whopping 12 strikeouts. He has been smothered by left-handed pitching. He has made poor swing decisions and failed to slug the ball.

Continue reading here

Hernández: The Dodgers’ latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor

Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández avoids Milwaukee’s allegedly haunted hotel at wife’s insistence

Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers

ANGELS

From Steve Henson: Witness testimony began Wednesday with an accusation of negligent supervision in the high stakes trial against the Angels by the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

Tim Mead, an Angels employee of 40 years, was portrayed by the plaintiffs lawyer, Rusty Hardin, during four hours of direct examination as a well-meaning boss who repeatedly ignored company policy by failing to report the improper conduct of Eric Kay, the team communications director who gave Skaggs the fentanyl pills that killed him.

Hardin brought up a litany of instances where Kay likely violated Angels rules that could have resulted in discipline and even termination long before the July 2019 road trip to Texas during which Skaggs died in his hotel room after chopping up and snorting the illicit drugs provided by Kay.

Mead acknowledged that he knew of Kay’s years-long episodes of bizarre behavior, an extramarital affair with an intern, and problems with prescription medication, but that he never reported any of it to human resources.

Continue reading here

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

NLCS
Dodgers vs. Milwaukee

Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Dodgers 5, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Thursday: at Dodgers, 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Friday: at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Saturday: at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Monday: at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Tuesday: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

ALCS
Seattle vs. Toronto
Seattle 3, at Toronto 1 (box score)
Seattle 10, at Toronto 3 (box score)
Toronto 13, at Seattle 4 (box score)
Thursday at Seattle, 5:30 p.m., FS1
Friday at Seattle, 3 p.m., FS1
*-Sunday at Toronto, 5 p.m., FS1
*-Monday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1

*-if necessary

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: Gabe Vincent pulled up for a three-pointer and nailed it. And then Vincent nailed his next three and his next three and his next, giving him four straight made treys.

Vincent was on fire to start the game for the Lakers during their exhibition game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Before Vincent could even think about getting off his fifth three-pointer, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg smothered him. Vincent stumbled and fell, scrambling to keep control of the ball. He did and passed it to a teammate.

Continue reading here

KINGS

The Kings have reacquired veteran goalie Pheonix Copley to provide depth while Darcy Kuemper is slowed by a lower-body injury.

The Kings acquired the 33-year-old Copley from Tampa Bay in a trade Wednesday for future considerations.

Copley spent the previous three years in the Kings’ organization, including 42 games last season for the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The former Washington netminder started 35 games for the Kings during the 2022-23 season before missing most of the 2023-24 season because of a knee surgery.

Continue reading here

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1897 — Michigan beats Ohio State 34-0 at Ann Arbor, the first meeting between theses storied rivals.

1909 — In his 4th title defense Jack Johnson KOs Stanley Ketchel in the 12th round at Mission St Arena, Colma, California to retain his heavyweight boxing crown.

1932 — After a 0-0 tie earlier in the season, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 2-0.

1946 — Detroit’s Gordie Howe scores a goal and gets into two fights in his first NHL game. The Red Wings tie the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-3.

1964 — Babe Parilli of the Boston Patriots passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns in a 43-43 tie with the Oakland Raiders.

1968 — Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos give black power salutes during the medal ceremonies of the 200-meter race and are later banned for life from all Olympic competition by the IOC.

1971 — Norm Ullman of the Toronto Maple Leafs records his 1,000th point in a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers. Ullman gets two assists to become the fourth NHL player to reach the milestone.

1976 — Tony Franklin of Texas A&M kicks two field goals over 60 yards for an NCAA record. The distances are 65 and 64 yards as the Aggies beat Baylor 24-0.

1977 — The Denver Broncos intercept seven passes off Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders in a 30-7 victory.

1977 — The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 16-10 in overtime with the only successful fake field goal in NFL overtime.

1987 — Mike Tyson retains his undisputed heavyweight title with a seven-round knockout of Tyrell Biggs in Atlantic City, N.J.

1999 — Fourth-ranked Virginia Tech hangs a record-setting 62-0 loss on No. 16 Syracuse. It’s the worst shutout loss by a ranked team in the history of The Associated Press poll.

1999 — Mount Union beats Otterbein 44-20 for its 48th consecutive victory, surpassing Oklahoma’s 42-year-old all-division mark of 47 in a row.

2004 — 17-year-old Lionel Messi makes his league debut for FC Barcelona in a 1-0 win against cross-town rivals Espanyol.

2004 — Mount Union beats Marietta 57-0 for its 100th consecutive regular-season victory. The Purple Raiders’ last regular-season loss was on Oct. 15, 1994, at home against Baldwin-Wallace.

2011 — Danell Leyva becomes the first American man gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Championships since 2003. Leyva wins the parallel bars title to become the first gold medalist for the U.S. since Paul Hamm claimed the floor exercise and all-around titles in 2003.

2011 — Dan Wheldon, 33, dies in a fiery 15-car wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his car flew over another on Lap 13 and smashes into the wall just outside turn 2.

2017 — Louisville’s Athletic Assn. officially fires coach Rick Pitino nearly three weeks after the school acknowledged that its men’s basketball program is being investigated as part of a federal corruption probe. The association, which oversees Louisville’s sports programs and is composed of trustees, faculty, students and administrators, vote unanimously to oust the longtime Cardinals coach after a board meeting.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

MILWAUKEE — He did not scream. He did not pump a fist. He showed hardly any of the emotions the moment seemed to call for, accomplishing something no major league pitcher had achieved in almost a decade.

Instead, after completing MLB’s first postseason complete game since 2017, and the first by a Dodgers pitcher since 2004, Yoshinobu Yamamoto simply walked around the mound, casually removed his glove, and didn’t break into a smile until he looked back at the center-field scoreboard.

“Wow,” he finally mouthed to himself, as the realization of his nine-inning, three-hit, one-run gem finally started to set in.

The reaction came after his old-school, matter-of-fact performance lifted the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

“I was able to pitch until the end,” Yamamoto said in Japanese afterward. “So I really felt a sense of accomplishment.”

This was a night almost no one saw coming. And not just because Yamamoto failed to complete even one inning in his last trip to American Family Field against the Brewers during the regular season.

In an era of strictly controlled pitch counts and a steadfast reliance on relievers come October, Yamamoto turned back the clock on a night reminiscent of a bygone generation.

He dominated the Brewers with ruthlessness and efficiency. He controlled the game with a steady rhythm and confident demeanor. He gave up a home run on his first pitch, a fastball that Jackson Chourio launched to right field, then barely looked stressed for the 110 throws that followed.

He struck out seven batters. He walked only one. And he left manager Dave Roberts with an easy ninth-inning decision, going back to the mound to finish what he started.

“He’s got true confidence from me that [even the] third time through, at pitch 90, he feels that he’s the best option,” Roberts said. “For me, that just gives me that confidence. … The way he was throwing, I felt really good about him starting the ninth.”

Yamamoto’s outing wasn’t quite like what Blake Snell did in Game 1 of this series, when the team’s other co-ace dazzled with virtually unhittable stuff in a scoreless eight-inning, one-hit, 10-strikeout gem — a start in which he probably could have also gone the distance, had Roberts not turned to his shaky bullpen in the ninth.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during Game 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Rather, Yamamoto collected outs much in a more industrious manner — giving the Brewers plenty to hit, with the confidence they wouldn’t punish him.

“From the start, I felt they were being very aggressive,” Yamamoto said. “And I threw pitches that took advantage of that.”

Early on, it did take time for the 27-year-old right-hander to find his footing. After Chourio’s homer, he had to work around baserunners in each of the next four innings.

But eventually, Yamamoto dialed in his trademark splitter, found a groove while sharing pitch-calling duties with catcher Will Smith, and finished the night by retiring the final 14 batters.

He made it all seem so easy and simple, the way modern postseason pitching is no longer supposed to be.

“What he did tonight,” Smith said, “that was just domination.”

So much so, Kiké Hernández joked he got “bored” playing left field.

It had been eight years to the day since Justin Verlander tossed the majors’ last complete game in the playoffs. Not since José Lima’s shutout in the 2004 NL Division Series had a Dodgers starter accomplished the feat.

Of the 23 postseason complete games in the club’s Los Angeles history, Yamamoto’s three hits given up were tied for the fewest. His four baserunners allowed were fewer than Sandy Koufax or Orel Hershiser or Fernando Valenzuela had ever yielded in such an outing.

“Good pitching beats good hitting any day of the week,” said future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who has never thrown a complete game in the playoffs. “And you’re seeing that right now.”

It helped that the Dodgers had plenty of good hitting themselves, staking Yamamoto to a lead by the time he returned to work in the second.

Teoscar Hernández hits a solo home run for the Dodgers in the second inning against the Brewers on Tuesday in Game 2 of the NLCS.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

After Chourio’s home run, Teoscar Hernández tied the score with a solo home run in the second inning. Andy Pages added a two-out RBI double three batters later, putting Brewers ace Freddy Peralta in a hole he wouldn’t dig out of.

Peralta’s final pitch led to another run in the sixth, with Max Muncy taking him deep with what was his 14th career postseason homer, setting a franchise high.

In the seventh and eighth, the Dodgers added on again, including an RBI single from Shohei Ohtani that snapped his one-for-23 drought since the start of the NLDS.

“Right now, our entire team is playing the best baseball we’ve played all year,” Roberts said. “We’re peaking at the right time.”

Still, all the Dodgers really needed on Tuesday was the brilliance they got from Yamamoto.

After working around an error from Muncy in the second, then third- and fourth-inning singles before a walk in the fifth, the pitcher was in total control by the night’s end.

From the fifth inning on, the Brewers only hit two balls out of the infield as Yamamoto mixed curveballs, cutters and sinkers to go along with his late-biting splitter and high-riding fastball. The Brewers’ plan was to be aggressive, but all it did was allow Yamamoto — who never threw 20 pitches in a single inning, and needed just 46 total for the final four — to stay on the mound.

“Sometimes,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “great pitching brings out the worst in you.”

“Just super efficient tonight,” Smith added. “That was really special.”

Highlights from the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS.

The outcome has the Dodgers in total command of this series, leading 2-0 and having hardly even exposed their bullpen.

Tyler Glasnow is set to start Game 3 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday. Ohtani will follow him in Game 4. Even if things go sideways, Snell and Yamamoto will be back on deck for the two games after that.

Technically, this remains a battle for a pennant. But really, it has become a showcase for a Dodgers rotation that has a 1.54 ERA in the playoffs — and the first complete game in recent postseason memory.

“All of them are throwing the ball amazing, but we kind of knew that,” Kershaw said, describing this starting staff as the best he’s ever seen in his 18 years with the Dodgers. “Snell did it, and you can’t pitch much better than that. And then what Yama did today was amazing.”

MILWAUKEE — Technically, Roki Sasaki was available to pitch in relief for the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

Realistically, he wasn’t.

“I wouldn’t say unavailable,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “But it is unlikely that we will use him.”

Without the most electric arm in their unreliable bullpen, how could the Dodgers record the final outs required to win Game 2 of the National League Championship Series?

Here’s how: By making their bullpen a non-factor.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a complete game, becoming the first Japanese pitcher to do so in a postseason game. The offense spared Roberts another late-inning scare by tacking on insurance runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

The result was a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field that extended the Dodgers’ lead in the NLCS to two games to none.

Two more wins and the Dodgers will advance to the World Series for the third time in six seasons. Two more wins and they will be positioned to become baseball’s first repeat champions in 25 years.

Ninety-three teams have taken a two-games-to-none lead in a best-of-seven postseason series. Seventy-nine of them have advanced.

In other words, this series is over.

If the Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t overturn a 2-0 deficit against the Dodgers, these overmatched tryhards in Milwaukee certainly won’t.

With the next three games at Dodger Stadium and Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell scheduled to start those games, the most pressing question about this NLCS is whether it will return to baseball’s smallest market for Game 6.

Don’t count on it.

The Brewers’ bullpen was supposed to be superior to the Dodgers’, but that advantage has been negated by the Dodgers’ superior starting pitching.

Reaching this stage of October has forced the Brewers to exhaust their relievers, so much so that by the time closer Abner Uribe entered Game 2 in a sixth-inning emergency, he might as well have been Tanner Scott.

“We’re more depleted than the Dodgers are,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

The workload made the Brewers’ bullpen as rickety as the Dodgers’, and that was with Sasaki just spectating.

What decided the game was that Murphy had to rely on his bullpen and Roberts didn’t.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta pitched 5 ⅔ innings. A day after Snell faced the minimum number of batters over eight innings, Yamamoto registered every one of the 27 outs required to win a game.

Roberts said he didn’t hesitate to send back Yamamoto to the mound for the ninth inning. The night before, he called on Sasaki to close, and the decision to remove Snell nearly cost the Dodgers the game.

“Obviously,” Roberts said as diplomatically as he could, “there’s been things with the bullpen.”

Things now include Sasaki, whose ability to shoulder an October workload has come into question after he failed to complete the ninth inning in Game 1. In the game in question, Sasaki gave up a run and had to be replaced by Blake Treinen.

Sasaki’s form in Game 1 sounded alarm bells, and rightfully so. The converted starter still looked exhausted from his three-inning relief appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NL Division Series. His fastball velocity has gradually declined over the postseason, and he’s not the type of pitcher who can be as effective throwing 96 mph as he is when he’s throwing 100 mph.

Sasaki has never pitched as a reliever in the United States or Japan. He spent 4 ½ months on the injured list this year with a shoulder impingement. Just as the Dodgers didn’t know what they could expect from him when they first deployed him out of the bullpen, they don’t know what they can expect from him now moving forward.

“It’s one of those things that we’re still in sort of uncharted territory with him,” Roberts said.

At various stages of the season, the Dodgers have asked themselves the same questions about their downtrodden bullpen: How could they survive when their firemen on their roster were also arsonists? How could they win a World Series with such an untrustworthy group of late-inning options?

In this NLCS, the Dodgers have shown how. They will use them as infrequently as possible.

LAS VEGAS — Gabe Vincent pulled up for a three-pointer and nailed it. And then Vincent nailed his next three and his next three and his next, giving him four straight made treys.

Vincent was on fire to start the game for the Lakers during their exhibition game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Before Vincent could even think about getting off his fifth three-pointer, Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg smothered him. Vincent stumbled and fell, scrambling to keep control of the ball. He did and passed it to a teammate.

When Vincent got to his feet and got the ball back, the fans began to shout, “Shooot it!” So, Vincent did, nailing his fifth three-pointer over the outstretched hand of the 6-9 Flagg, drawing more cheers from the pro-Lakers crowd.

Vincent was fouled on his sixth three-point attempt, sending him to the free-throw line for three free throws, all of which he made. That gave Vincent 18 points in what seemed like a flash in the first quarter.

He missed his next two three attempts, but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd. Vincent had put on a show.

Vincent finished the game with 22 points on six-for-15 shooting and six-for-11 on three-pointers during the Lakers’ 121-94 loss to the Mavericks that saw L.A. get outscored 37-8 in the fourth quarter.

He was part of a Lakers’ starting group of Rui Hachimura (19 points), Jaxson Hayes (12 points, 10 rebounds), Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht. None of them played in the game Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Vanderbilt was having an all-around game until he was forced to leave late in the second quarter with a left quad contusion after banging his left knee with a Mavericks defender. He limped up and down the court, but was still able to score on a dunk after he was injured and he drilled a three-pointer.

But with five minutes and 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Vanderbilt limped back to the Lakers’ locker room and never returned to play. He had five points, seven rebounds and four assists in 13 minutes.

The starting five Lakers who did play against the Suns — Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia — didn’t play in the back-to-back game against the Mavericks, Doncic’s former team that traded him to the Lakers in February. Lakers coach JJ Redick said Bronny James didn’t play because of a sprained ankle.

The Lakers finish their preseason against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, and from the sounds of things, Doncic and those who didn’t play against the Mavericks will play against the Suns.

“And then Friday, yes, the plan is to do another dress rehearsal and likely play most of our guys,” Redick said before the game. “I don’t know the minutes total, but that’s the plan.”

The Lakers open the regular season Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors at home.

At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good” blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 hours away from resuming their National League Championship Series against the Brewers. For any other player, it would have been a routine affair.

Ohtani, however, is not just any player.

And among the many things that make him unique, his habit of almost never taking batting practice on the field is one of the small but notable ones.

Which made his decision to do so Wednesday a telling development.

Over the last two weeks, Ohtani has been in a slump. Since the start of the NL Division Series, he is just two-for-25 with a whopping 12 strikeouts. He has been smothered by left-handed pitching. He has made poor swing decisions and failed to slug the ball.

Last week, manager Dave Roberts went so far as to say the Dodgers were “not gonna win the World Series with that sort of performance” from their $700-million slugger.

Thus, out Ohtani came for batting practice on Wednesday in the most visible sign yet of his urgency for a turnaround.

“The other way to say it is that, if I hit, we will win,” Ohtani said in Japanese when asked about Roberts’ World Series quote earlier Wednesday afternoon. “I think he thinks that if I hit, we will win. I’d like to do my best to do that.”

In Roberts’ view, Ohtani has already started improving from his woeful NLDS, when he struck out nine times in 18 trips to the plate against a left-handed-heavy Philadelphia Phillies staff that, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman emphatically put it, had “the most impressive execution against a hitter I’ve ever seen.”

In Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, Ohtani was 0-for-two but walked three times; twice intentionally but another on a more disciplined five-pitch at-bat to lead off the game against left-handed opener Aaron Ashby.

The following night, he went only one-for-five with three more strikeouts, giving him 15 this postseason, second-most in the playoffs. But he did have an RBI single, marking his first run driven in since Game 2 of the NLDS. He followed that with a steal, swiping his first bag of the playoffs. And earlier in the game, he scorched a lineout to right at 115.2 mph, the hardest he’d hit a ball since taking Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene deep in the team’s postseason opener.

“The first two games in Milwaukee, his at-bats have been fantastic,” Roberts said Wednesday, before heading out to the field and watching Ohtani’s impromptu BP session.

“That’s what I’ve been looking for. That’s what I’m counting on,” he added, while noting the careful approach the Brewers have also taken with the soon-to-be four-time MVP. “You can only take what they give you. So for me, I think he’s in a good spot right now.”

Shohei Ohtani puts the ball in play in the third inning during Game 4 of the NLDS.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Ohtani’s overall numbers, of course, continue to suggest otherwise. His .147 postseason batting average is second-worst on the team, ahead of only Andy Pages. His seven-game drought without an extra-base hit is longer than any he endured in the regular season.

“The first thing I have to do is increase the level of my at-bats,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “Swing at strikes and not swing at balls.”

On Wednesday, Ohtani’s slump also led to questions about his role as a two-way player, and whether his return to pitching this season (and, this October, doing it for the first time in the playoffs) has contributed to his sudden struggles at the plate.

After all, on days Ohtani pitched this season, he hit .222 with four home runs but 21 strikeouts. On the days immediately following an outing, he batted .147 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.

His current slump began with a hitless, four-strikeout dud in Game 1 of the NLDS, when he also made a six-inning, three-run start on the mound.

And in days since, Roberts has acknowledged some likely correlation between Ohtani’s two roles.

“[His offense] hasn’t been good when he’s pitched,” Roberts said following the NLDS. “We’ve got to think through this and come up with a better game plan.”

Ohtani, on the other hand, pushed back somewhat on that narrative during Wednesday’s workout, in which he also threw a bullpen session in preparation for his next start in Game 4 of the NLCS on Friday.

While it is “more physically strenuous” to handle both roles, he conceded, he countered that “I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation.”

“Physically,” he added, “I don’t feel like there’s a connection.”

Instead, Ohtani on Wednesday went about fixing his swing the way any other normal hitter would. He went out on the field for his rare session of batting practice. Of his 32 swings, he sent 14 over the fence, including one that clanked off the roof of the right-field pavilion.

“Certainly, there’s frustration,” Roberts said of how he’s seen Ohtani handle his uncharacteristic lack of performance.

But, he added, “that’s expected. I don’t mind it. I like the edge.”

“He’s obviously a very, very talented player, and we’re counting on him,” Roberts continued. “He’s just a great competitor. He’s very prepared. And there’s still a lot of baseball left.”

The Kings have reacquired veteran goalie Pheonix Copley to provide depth while Darcy Kuemper is slowed by a lower-body injury.

The Kings acquired the 33-year-old Copley from Tampa Bay in a trade Wednesday for future considerations.

Copley spent the previous three years in the Kings’ organization, including 42 games last season for the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The former Washington netminder started 35 games for the Kings during the 2022-23 season before missing most of the 2023-24 season because of a knee surgery.

The Lightning claimed Copley off waivers earlier this month while they were worried about the status of starter Andrei Vasilevskiy, who struggled with an injury in training camp. Vasilevskiy ultimately was healthy enough to play in Tampa Bay’s season opener.

Anton Forsberg is the primary backup to Kuemper, who was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season along with Vasilevskiy.

Forsberg started the only victory in four games this season for the Kings (1-2-1).

Kuemper missed practice Wednesday along with captain Anze Kopitar due to lower-body injuries. Forsberg seems likely to start when the Kings host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Teoscar Hernández doesn’t believe in ghosts.

But just the same, the Dodgers outfielder declined to stay with the team at the historic — and allegedly haunted — Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee during the first two games of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers this week.

Hernández told reporters before Game 2 on Tuesday that his wife, Jennifer, was the one who insisted on finding somewhere to stay other than the 137-year-old hotel that has been the source of spooky tales from MLB players for decades.

“I don’t believe in ghosts. I have stayed there before. I never see anything or hear anything,” Hernández said. “But my wife is on this trip, and she says she doesn’t want to stay in there. So we have to find another hotel.”

Hernández added, however, that his wife told him that she has heard from other players and their wives that there had been “something happening” over at the team hotel.

Asked to elaborate, Hernández said he had been told that in “some of the rooms, the lights, goes off and on, and the doors — there are noises, footsteps. … I’m not the guy that I’m gonna be here saying, ‘Oh yeah, I experienced that before,’ because I’m not, and I don’t think I’m gonna experience that.’”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked during his pregame media availability Tuesday if he had any ghost stories to share from the team’s stay at the Pfister.

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“I don’t,” Roberts said. “Those stories went away when I was about 10 years old. So, no, not anymore. I’m OK to go to bed now.”

Over the years, not everyone has been as at ease about staying at the creepy old digs. In 2005, then-Dodgers closer Eric Gagne told The Times’ Steve Henson that the place freaked him out.

“It’s old, weird and scary,” Gagne said. “It’s very creepy. I don’t sleep well there.”

Henson also noted at the time that former Dodgers third baseman Adrián Beltré had “reported a ghostly presence turning on lights and tickling his toes” during a 2001 stay at the Pfister. Fellow Times staff writer Kevin Baxter reported in 2007 that Beltre Beltronce insisted on sleeping with a bat for protection after he had a brush with a ghost” at the hotel.

One-time Dodgers infielder Michael Young told ESPN that he once heard loud stomping noises in his room while he was trying to sleep.

“So I yelled out, ‘Hey! Make yourself at home. Hang out, have a seat, but do not wake me up, OK?’” Young said. “After that, I didn’t hear a thing for the rest of the night.”

Current Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts decided a couple of years ago he doesn’t want to take any chances at the spooky spot.

“I don’t know if they’re real or not, nor do I care,” Betts said of the hotel’s alleged ghosts after a 2023 game against the Brewers in Milwaukee. “My boys are here, so we just got an Airbnb. That’s really it.”

Betts admitted to the Orange County Register that the Airbnb rental was “just in case” the scary stories were true and “it was a good excuse” not to stay at the creepy old building.

Last, during another series in Milwaukee, Betts appeared to confirm that he will continue to find alternative lodging for road games against the Brewers.

“You don’t want to mess with them,” Betts said of the Pfister’s alleged ghosts. “I’m staying at an Airbnb again. That part is not gonna change.”

The Dodgers more than survived their two games in Milwaukee this week, riding dominant performances by starting pitchers Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to take a 2-0 National League Championship Series lead over the Brewers.

The Dodgers who checked in to the Pfister Hotel also appear to have survived another stay in downtown Milwaukee. And with the next three games (if that many are necessary) taking place at Dodger Stadium, they have the chance to make sure they avoid returning to the (allegedly) haunted haunt this postseason.

MILWAUKEE — First things first: The fans in an outdoor stadium in Philadelphia are louder than the fans in an indoor stadium in Milwaukee. No contest.

They are respectful and truly nice here. They booed Shohei Ohtani, but half-heartedly, almost out of obligation. In Philadelphia, they booed Ohtani relentlessly, and with hostility.

Here’s the thing, though: It didn’t matter, because the Dodgers have silenced the enemy crowd wherever they go this October. The Dodgers are undefeated on the road in this postseason: 2-0 in Philadelphia, and now 2-0 in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers have deployed four silencers. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani.

“It’s amazing,” Tyler Glasnow said. “It’s like a show every time you’re out there.”

The Dodgers won the World Series last year with home runs and bullpen games and New York Yankees foibles, but not with starting pitching. In 16 games last October, the Dodgers had more bullpen games (four) than quality starts (two), and the starters posted a 5.25 earned-run average.

In eight games this October, the Dodgers have seven quality starts, and not coincidentally they are 7-1. The starters have posted a 1.54 ERA, the lowest of any team in National League history to play at least eight postseason games.

“Our starting pitching this entire postseason has been incredible,” said Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations. “We knew it would be a strength, but this is beyond what we could have reasonably expected.

“There are a lot of different ways to win in the postseason, but this is certainly a better-quality-of-life way to do it.”

The elders of the sport say that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. In a sport in which most teams struggle to identify even one ace, the Dodgers boast four.

In the past three games — the clincher against the Phillies and the two here against the Brewers — the Dodgers have not even trailed for a full inning.

In the division series clincher, the Phillies scored one run in the top of an inning, but the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the inning.

On Monday, the Brewers never led. On Tuesday, the Brewers had a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the second.

On Monday, as Blake Snell spun eight shutout innings, the Brewers went 0 for 1 with men in scoring position — and that at-bat was the last out of the game. On Tuesday, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game, the Brewers did not get a runner into scoring position.

That is momentum. That is also how you shut up an opposing crowd: limit the momentum for their team.

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Brewers in the fifth inning Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I do think, with what we’ve done in Philly and in coming here, it doesn’t seem like there is much momentum,” Glasnow said.

Of the four aces, Glasnow and Ohtani were not available to pitch last fall as they rehabilitated injuries, and Snell was pitching for the San Francisco Giants.

In the 2021 NLCS, the Dodgers started Walker Buehler twice and Julio Urías, Max Scherzer and openers Joe Kelly and Corey Knebel once each. Scherzer could not make his second scheduled start because of injury.

Said infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernández: “We’ve had some really good starting pitchers in the past, but at some point we’ve hit a roadblock through the postseason. To be this consistent for seven, eight games now, it’s been pretty impressive. In a way, it’s made things a little easier on the lineup.”

In the wild-card round, the Dodgers scored 18 runs in two games against the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, they have 20 runs in six games.

“We said before this postseason started, our starting pitching was going to be what carried us,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “And so far, it’s been exactly that.”

The starters started their roll in the final weeks of the regular season — their ERA is 1.49 over the past 30 games — not that Hernández much cared about that now.

“Regular season doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can win 300 games in the regular season.

“If we don’t win the World Series, it doesn’t matter.”

The Dodgers are two wins from a return trip to the World Series. If they can get those two wins within the next three games, they won’t have to return to Milwaukee, the land of the great sausage race, and of the polka dancers atop the dugout.

There may not be another game here this season. They are kind and spirited fans, even if they are not nearly as loud as the Philly Phanatics.

“That,” Glasnow said, “is the loudest place I’ve ever been.”

From Jack Harris: He did not scream. He did not pump a fist. He showed hardly any of the emotions the moment seemed to call for, accomplishing something no major league pitcher had achieved in almost a decade.

Instead, after completing MLB’s first postseason complete game since 2017, and the first by a Dodgers pitcher since 2004, Yoshinobu Yamamoto simply walked around the mound, casually removed his glove, and didn’t break into a smile until he looked back at the center-field scoreboard.

“Wow,” he finally mouthed to himself, as the realization of his nine-inning, three-hit, one-run gem finally started to set in.

The reaction came after his old-school, matter-of-fact performance lifted the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

“I was able to pitch until the end,” Yamamoto said in Japanese afterward. “So I really felt a sense of accomplishment.”

This was a night almost no one saw coming. And not just because Yamamoto failed to complete even one inning in his last trip to American Family Field against the Brewers during the regular season.

In an era of strictly controlled pitch counts and a steadfast reliance on relievers come October, Yamamoto turned back the clock on a night reminiscent of a bygone generation.

Continue reading here

Hernández: The Dodgers’ latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor

In this postseason, Dodgers’ offense starts from the bottom

Just how much are the Dodgers charging for World Series tickets?

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

NLCS
Dodgers vs. Milwaukee

Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Dodgers 5, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Thursday: at Dodgers, 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Friday: at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Saturday: at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Monday: at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Tuesday, Oct. 21: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

ALCS
Seattle vs. Toronto
Seattle 3, at Toronto 1 (box score)
Seattle 10, at Toronto 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Seattle, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday at Seattle, 5:30 p.m., FS1
*-Friday at Seattle, 3 p.m., FS1
*-Sunday at Toronto, 5 p.m., FS1
*-Monday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1

*-if necessary

From Ryan Kartje: His top two running backs had just been carted up the Coliseum tunnel, a nightmare scenario for a team that finally found its groove on the ground, when coach Lincoln Riley was asked at halftime how USC would move forward without the bulk of its backfield. He grinned.

“I might have to carry the ball some,” Riley quipped during NBC’s broadcast.

USC managed to make it through a win over Michigan without much in the way of reinforcements at running back. But with its backfield depth decimated — and the toughest stretch of the Trojans schedule ahead — Riley and his staff will have to figure out how proceed starting Saturday at Notre Dame.

USC will be without leading rusher Waymond Jordan for at least a month after he injured his ankle during the second quarter Saturday. Jordan, who’s currently third in the Big Ten in rushing, underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Continue reading here

SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: Christina Unkel was 10 when she became a certified soccer referee. And in all that time, she said she can remember just one instance in which she changed a call after being confronted by a group of angry players.

She was 14, working a youth game in Southwest Florida, when she awarded a throw-in. As the team which lost possession protested vehemently, an opposing player stepped into the scrum and sheepishly confessed to touching the ball last.

“I’m like, ‘OK, well thanks for admitting that. I guess we’ll throw it the other way, right?’” said Unkel who, as an attorney in addition to being an official, knows the value of a confession.

Without that admission, she said, the protesting team’s pleas would have necessarily fallen on deaf ears.

Referees know they don’t always get ‘em right, but imagine the chaos if they left every call up for debate. Yet that hasn’t stopped every soccer player who’s ever laced up a pair of cleats from arguing calls.

Soccer is the only major U.S. team sport in which that’s allowed.

Continue reading here

LAKERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: He whipped passes through a sea of outstretched arms. He lobbed up a sky-high alley-oop. He canned a step-back three.

Luka Doncic is so back.

The star guard had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his preseason debut Tuesday, but the Lakers crumbled in the second half of a 113-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Fresh off a quarterfinal finish in EuroBasket, where he led the tournament in scoring for Slovenia, Doncic wowed his teammates by zipping passes through microscopic lanes and chucking up one-legged three-pointers. After Doncic missed a free throw, he saved the rebound blindly over his head and the possession ended in a three-pointer from Nick Smith Jr.

Continue reading here

LeBron out, Luka in: Where the Lakers stand one week from opening night

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, is located a short walk from M&T Bank Stadium, where the Rams began an extended road trip on Sunday with a 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

For much of this week, the baseball stadium will serve as the Rams’ home away from home as they prepare for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

This is not the first time that the Rams have played an away game and then remained in the city before traveling abroad.

In 2017, coach Sean McVay’s first season, the Rams defeated the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., and then stayed in town before traveling to defeat the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium in London.

Several players said they would rely on the Rams’ training staff to help them modify weekly routines that include massage, acupuncture and other bodywork sessions with California providers outside of the organization.

Continue reading here

DUCKS

Chris Kreider scored his second power-play goal in his home debut with 1:27 to play, and the Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night for its 10th consecutive victory in home openers.

Cutter Gauthier and Drew Helleson also scored and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves for the Ducks, who matched Boston and Toronto for the NHL’s longest active victory streak in home openers.

Kreider, who also had an assist, is off to an outstanding start with four goals in three games for the Ducks after the Rangers traded their longtime left winger last June to create cap space.

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1933 — The Philadelphia Eagles play their first NFL game and suffers a 56-0 loss to the New York Giants.

1961 — Mickey Wright wins her third LPGA Championship with a rout, nine strokes ahead of Louise Suggs. Wright shoots a 3-over, 287 at the Stardust Country Club in Las Vegas for her third major title of the year and her tenth tour victory of the season.

1972 — Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks becomes the sixth NHL player with 1,000 career points. Mikita assists on Cliff Koroll’s goal in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Chicago Stadium.

1983 — The Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs score five goals in 1 minute, 24 seconds to set an NHL record for the fastest five goals by two teams. The Maple Leafs win, 10-8.

1988 — Oklahoma rushes for an NCAA-record 768 yards, including 123 by quarterback Charles Thompson. Thompson scores three touchdowns and passes for one in the first period of a 70-24 rout of Kansas State.

1988 — Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores eight points — two goals and six assists — in a 9-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

1989 — Wayne Gretzky of the Kings passes Gordie Howe as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer in a during a 5-4 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky flips a backhand shot past Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford with 53 seconds remaining to tie the score and pass Howe with 1,851st point. Gretzky wins the game in overtime.

1995 — The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Jets 26-15 for their first NFL victory.

2005 — Michigan gives up a touchdown to Penn State with 53 seconds left, then marches down the field to score on a TD pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham with no time remaining for a 27-25 win over the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions.

2005 — USC’s Matt Leinart pushes and spins his way into the end zone with 3 seconds left to cap a chaotic finish to the top-ranked Trojans’ 28th straight victory, a back-and-forth 34-31 win over No. 9 Notre Dame.

2008 — Fabian Brunnstrom scores three goals in his NHL debut to match the league record in Dallas’ 6-4 victory over Nashville.

2009 — Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the first European defenseman and eighth overall to reach 1,000 points, assisting on two goals in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Kings.

2012 — The Nets bring pro sports back to Brooklyn with a preseason victory, beating the Washington Wizards 98-88 in the first basketball game at the Barclays Center.

2015 — Carey Price makes 25 saves and the Montreal Canadiens make team history by starting a season with a five straight wins, the latest a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers.

2017 — New England quarterback Tom Brady passes for 257 yards with two touchdowns in the Patriots’ 24-17 win at the New York Jets. Brady, who has 187 regular-season victories, surpasses Hall of Famer Brett Favre (186) and Peyton Manning (186) for the most regular-season victories by a starting quarterback in NFL history.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Chris Kreider scored his second power-play goal in his home debut with 1:27 to play, and the Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night for its 10th consecutive victory in home openers.

Cutter Gauthier and Drew Helleson also scored and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves for the Ducks, who matched Boston and Toronto for the NHL’s longest active victory streak in home openers.

Kreider, who also had an assist, is off to an outstanding start with four goals in three games for the Ducks after the Rangers traded their longtime left winger last June to create cap space.

Kreider scored the Ducks’ first goal off a slick pass from Leo Carlsson in the first period, and he won it for the Ducks just seven seconds after Parker Wotherspoon went to the penalty box for shooting the puck over the glass.

Justin Brazeau, Rickard Rakell and Anthony Mantha scored and Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots as Pittsburgh opened a three-game California trip.

Sidney Crosby had two assists to pass Steve Yzerman, one of his boyhood idols, for the ninth-most in NHL history.

The Ducks had the largest crowd in franchise history for the home debut of coach Joel Quenneville, who got loud cheers when introduced. The second-winningest coach in NHL history opened his Ducks tenure with a loss and a win on the road last week.

Brazeau extended his impressive start to his Penguins tenure just 63 seconds after the opening faceoff, redirecting Ryan Shea’s point shot for his fourth goal in four games. Evgeni Malkin also got his sixth assist of the season.

Rakell redirected another shot by Shea for his first career goal against the Ducks, who drafted him in 2011. He spent parts of 10 NHL seasons in Anaheim.

Gauthier tied it late in the first with a one-timer set up by Pavel Mintyukov.

Up next

Penguins: Visit Kings on Thursday.

Ducks: Host Hurricanes on Thursday.

BALTIMORE — Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, is located a short walk from M&T Bank Stadium, where the Rams began an extended road trip on Sunday with a 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

For much of this week, the baseball stadium will serve as the Rams’ home away from home as they prepare for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

This is not the first time that the Rams have played an away game and then remained in the city before traveling abroad.

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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens as they prepare to play the Jaguars in London on Sunday.

In 2017, coach Sean McVay’s first season, the Rams defeated the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., and then stayed in town before traveling to defeat the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium in London.

Two years later, the Rams beat the Falcons in Atlanta, and then remained there for a few days before traveling to London and defeating the Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley Stadium.

Several players said they would rely on the Rams’ training staff to help them modify weekly routines that include massage, acupuncture and other bodywork sessions with California providers outside of the organization.

Rams safety Quentin Lake noted that last season, the Rams stayed in Arizona for a few days before they played the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC wild-card game that was moved from SoFi Stadium because of wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

“You’re in an unfamiliar environment and … it’s just the team and staff,” Lake said Sunday, adding, “Nothing truly is going to change in terms of our routine. … Honestly I love it because it’s fun.

“It’s fun for us to be in a different environment and really just lock in on football and focus on the task at hand.”

Last week, McVay and several players said that while adjustments were necessary for a long trip, none were too onerous.

The Rams are practicing this week at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore before heading to London.

(Terrance Williams / Associated Press)

During the Rams’ first two trips abroad, McVay was neither married nor a father. This time, McVay said that his wife, Veronika, who has roots in the region, and son, Jordan, would make the trip to Baltimore.

“I’ll keep it as normal as possible,” McVay said. “What I like about these things is you get a chance to be around the guys a little bit more because of the nature of what this trip entails. … I try to keep a normal rhythm and routine.

“You just might be in a different location, but we have the film, we have the field and most importantly, we have the players. We’ll be in good shape.”

For quarterback Matthew Stafford “the biggest thing is not being in your own house, not having your family around, all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“I won’t be sleeping in my own bed and I won’t be doing some of the things that I’m accustomed to doing,” he said. “I just change location, really. What I would do maybe at home I’ll do wherever our setup is when we stay there.”

Receiver Davante Adams, a 12th-year pro in his first season with the Rams, said that he once was part of an extended trip that included a game in New Orleans and then a stay in Sarasota, Fla., before playing in Jacksonville. But this will be the first time Adams will be on an extended trip that includes a game in London.

It will be different, Adams said, because he has “a lot of different checkpoints and things throughout the week that I do locally. It’s going to be different for me for sure.”

Especially being away from family.

“The main thing for me is just being away from my kids, honestly more than anything,” he said. “That’s a big part of my healing process and mentally throughout the week just resetting, going home, spending time with them and my wife. Not having that element. … I mean, we’ll get through it.”

This will be the first extended trip that will end in London for defensive lineman Kobie Turner and other young players. Turner said he and his wife grew up about an hour outside Baltimore, so they were looking forward to spending time this week with his wife’s family.

“It will be interesting to see how it all plays out,” he said.

PHOENIX — Marcus Smart estimated he’ll be limited to about 20 to 25 minutes in his Lakers preseason debut Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns as he returns from Achilles tendinopathy.

Speaking after the team’s shootaround Tuesday, the 31-year-old guard said the rash of Achilles injuries suffered by NBA stars recently — including three during the playoffs last season — made his initial diagnosis frightening, but he took a cautious approach with the Lakers staff to ensure he was ready for the season.

“It wasn’t scary in the fact of understanding that tendinopathy, we all kind of have it playing over the time,” said Smart, who is entering his 12th NBA season. “Just making sure you do everything you need to do, to make sure that you can get back out here, or to be able to say, ‘No, I can’t.’ So you got to test it, unfortunately, and you got to see where you’re at. So we’ve done all the tests on the court, off the court and we’re feeling fast, feeling good so we want to give it a shot.”

Guard Luka Doncic is also expected to make his preseason debut after he was on a modified training schedule following a busy summer spent with the Slovenian national team. Coach JJ Redick said Monday after practice that Doncic and the team’s training staff had yet to determine a minutes restriction on Doncic, but expects that the five-time All-Star will see an increased workload by the time he suits up again for his second preseason game.

The Lakers will follow Tuesday’s game in Phoenix with a game against Doncic’s former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Because of the back-to-back schedule, it’s likely Doncic will play again Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings.

Since they are playing four games in six days, the Lakers ruled out guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt and center Jaxson Hayes for Tuesday’s preseason game.

Rookie guard Adou Thiero [knee] has progressed to on-court activities, the team announced Tuesday, after the second-round draft pick was battling swelling in a knee. He will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.

Bijan Robinson is the best player in football.

That’s what Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said about his star running back Monday night after a 24-14 win over reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

While Morris may be somewhat biased toward his own player, national TV viewers might have trouble arguing with him after what they witnessed Robinson accomplish on this week’s “Monday Night Football.”

The third-year player tied his career high with 170 rushing yards (the most for a Falcons player during a prime time TV game) in 19 carries. That included a spectacular 81-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that was the longest run of his career as well the longest in the NFL this season. It’s also tied for the second-longest rushing touchdown in Falcons history.

Robinson now has three plays from scrimmage of 50 yards or more this season after having only one longer than 30 yards last year.

“IIt’s just a thing of my game where I want to get better at and continue to get better at every single day,” Robinson said after the game. “And you know, if I can get better at that and breaking those long runs, it’s only helping the team.”

Robinson also caught six passes from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. for 68 yards for a total of 238 yards from scrimmage, the most ever for a Falcons running back.

“There are some people who are just born to be a certain athlete,” Falcons receiver Drake London said after the game. “Like you have certain people who are born to be basketball players, such as LeBron [James]. You have people who are born to be football players, like they have the perfect body shape for it. Now, [Robinson] goes out there, and it’s like art. It’s amazing to see.”

Speaking of James, the Lakers superstar also took notice of Robinson’s performance.

“Bijan so COLD!!!!!!!!!” James posted on X during the game.

A first-round draft pick in 2023 and a Pro Bowl selection last year, Robinson leads the league with 822 yards from scrimmage this season (484 rushing and 338 receiving), and it’s not even all that close.

The Falcons are one of only six teams that have had their bye weeks already, meaning Robinson has compiled his total in five games. The next 11 players on the list — starting with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey at No. 2 with 780 yards — have all played in six games.

If he keeps this pace, Robinson will finish the season with 2,797 yards from scrimmage, which would break the current record of 2,509 yards set by Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson in 2009. Johnson’s record was set during a 16-game season; Robinson is on pace to have 2,630 yards after his 16th game of the 17-game season.

So maybe Morris wasn’t being all that biased in his post-game comments about Robinson after all.

“He’s the best player in football,” Morris told reporters. “I’ve said it multiple times, I can’t say it enough. You can always have your pick, you can always go out there and figure out who you want to vote for, but in my opinion, he’s the best player in football.”

Spotify video podcasts are coming to Netflix, further diversifying the types of content on the Los Gatos, Calif.-based streaming service beyond movies, TV shows and games.

The move reflects how many people are consuming their podcasts not just by listening, but by watching the podcasters conduct their discussions on video.

Roughly 70% of podcast listeners prefer their shows with video, according to a Cumulus Media study. Netflix and Spotify said the partnership will bring podcasts to Netflix that complement the streamer’s “existing programming and unlocks new audiences and wider distribution for the shows.”

There will be 16 Spotify video podcasts initially on Netflix in the U.S. in early 2026, with plans to include other markets, the companies said. Those video podcasts include sports programs like “The Bill Simmons Podcast” and “The Ringer Fantasy Football Show,” culture/lifestyle podcasts like “The Dave Chang Show” and “The Recipe Club” as well as true-crime programs like “Serial Killers.”

“At Netflix, we’re always looking for new ways to entertain our members, wherever and however they want to watch,” said Lauren Smith, the streamer’s vice president of content licensing and programming strategy.

Roman Wasenmüller, vice president and head of podcasts at Spotify, said this partnership helps creators reach new audiences and unlocks “a completely new distribution opportunity.”

Spotify began offering video podcasts on its platform about five years ago, offering an option to its podcasters who had previously been posting videos of their audio programs on YouTube.

Last year, the Swedish audio company unveiled new features that make it easier for creators to earn money from their video content and track their performance on the streaming service.

Netflix has also been diversifying the types of content it offers on its streaming service. Last week, Netflix unveiled a slate of games, such as versions of Boggle and Pictionary, that can be played on TV and are included with its streaming subscription.

From Jack Harris: The reason the Milwaukee Brewers are in the National League Championship Series is because of plays like the one that ended the fourth inning Monday night.

A strange, one-in-a-million, 400-foot double play in which one Brewers fielder made a spectacular defensive effort, and another never lost awareness of a wacky situation — highlighting the sound fundamentals that made them baseball’s winningest team this season.

The reason the Dodgers are here, however, is because of how they can respond to adversity — settling the panic with their dominant starting pitching, rallying at the plate with their star-studded lineup and suffocating an opponent with a record $415-million payroll’s worth of talent.

In their 2-1 win in Game 1 of the NLCS at American Family Field, that was ultimately what made the difference.

The evening’s most memorable moment might have been that fourth-inning cluster, when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out, only to come up empty when Max Muncy had a potential grand slam robbed (but, crucially, not caught cleanly) and two Dodgers runners were retired on forceouts at home plate and third base.

But, the most important contributions were what came after that, with Freddie Freeman’s home run in the sixth inning giving the Dodgers the lead, and Blake Snell’s scoreless eight-inning, one-hit, 10-strikeout master class ensuring they wouldn’t relinquish it — even with some heartburn from the bullpen at the end.

“Obviously, there were some crazy things that happened,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not going to come easy.”

Continue reading here

Hernández: Dodgers’ Game 1 NLCS win shows financial might can make things right

It took some luck, but good things finally happen to Dodgers’ Blake Treinen

Dodgers add pitcher Ben Casparius to NLCS roster, drop catcher Dalton Rushing

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

NLCS
Dodgers vs. Milwaukee

Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)

Tuesday: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Thursday: at Dodgers, 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

Friday: at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Saturday: at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Monday: at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

*-Tuesday, Oct. 21: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio

ALCS
Seattle vs. Toronto
Seattle 3, at Toronto 1 (box score)
Seattle 10, at Toronto 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Seattle, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday at Seattle, 5:30 p.m., FS1
*-Friday at Seattle, 3 p.m., FS1
*-Sunday at Toronto, 5 p.m., FS1
*-Monday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1

*-if necessary

From Ben Bolch: Fox College Football tweeted that “The Jerry Neuheisel Era has begun with the Bruins.”

ESPN personality Pat McAfee added to the chorus of adoration for UCLA’s new playcaller, tweeting that Neuheisel “just might be a football wizard.”

Other media and sports betting sites tweeting about the Bruins’ turnaround from 0-4 to darlings of the college football world prominently featured pictures of the blond-haired assistant coach.

It was enough to prompt the sports media website Awful Announcing to ask: “Does anyone know that Tim Skipper is actually UCLA’s interim head coach, not Jerry Neuheisel?”

Having been preoccupied with saving a season, Skipper acknowledged being blissfully unaware of any narratives about who’s done what to spark his team’s turnabout.

Continue reading here

From Ryan Kartje: USC was down to two walk-ons in its battered backfield, when Trojans coach Lincoln Riley decided to dress injured sophomore running back Bryan Jackson for the second half of Saturday’s win over Michigan, despite the fact Jackson was listed by the team as out on the Big Ten’s pregame availability report.

Riley explained the decision to play Jackson after the game, describing it as “a unique situation” and “a wellness issue.” But on Monday, the Big Ten chose to slap USC with a fine of $5,000 for violating conference rules regarding its availability reports.

“Although these circumstances were unfortunate, it is critical for availability reports to be accurate,” a Big Ten spokesperson said. “Consequently, the conference is imposing a $5,000 fine and admonishes all institutions to use the “out” designation only if there are no circumstances under which a student-athlete could participate in a game. The conference considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

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LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: When Luka Doncic plays in his first exhibition game of the season for the Lakers against the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night, Coach JJ Redick said the plan with his star is pretty simple.

“Give him the ball,” Redick said, laughing.

Redick paused for a second.

“You talking about minutes?” he asked.

Redick said they are “still working through what that looks like” with the Lakers’ staff and Doncic’s team.

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KINGS

Marco Rossi scored in the fourth round of the shootout and the Minnesota Wild beat the Kings 4-3 on Monday night after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period.

Power-play goals by Jared Spurgeon, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead late in the first period.

The score remained until the third period when Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield scored early and Adrain Kempe late to send the game to overtime.

Continue reading here

Kings summary

NHL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1945 — The Chicago Cardinals snap the longest losing streak in NFL history at 29 games with a 16-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.

1949 — Ezzard Charles TKOs Pat Valentino in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.

1951 — Detroit’s Jack Christiansen returns two punts for touchdowns, but the Lions still lose, 27-21, to the Los Angeles Rams.

1962 — Houston’s George Blanda throws six touchdown passes to lead the Oilers to a 56-17 rout of the New York Titans.

1967 — The Kings, led by Brain Kilrea, beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their NHL debut. The game is held at Long Beach (Calif.) Arena. Kilrea scores two goals, including the first one in Kings history.

1978 — Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets seven assists in a 10-7 victory over the New York Islanders.

1979 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal in a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky beats goaltender Glen Hanlon with the tying power-play goal with 1:09 remaining in the third period.

1990 — Joe Montana passes for career highs of 476 yards and six touchdowns and Jerry Rice ties an NFL record with five scoring receptions as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 45-35.

1991 — New York Rangers right wing Mike Gartner scores his 500th career goal in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

2005 — Ryan Newman sets a NASCAR record by winning his fifth consecutive Busch Series race, the Charlotte 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

2006 — Mats Sundin scores his 500th career goal, completing a hat trick with a short-handed overtime game-winner and giving Toronto a 5-4 victory over Calgary. The third goal is Sundin’s 15th in overtime — the most in NHL history.

2007 — Tom Brady of New England passes for 388 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a 48-27 win over previously unbeaten Dallas. The five TDs gives Brady the NFL mark with at least three in each of the first six games of the season.

2011 — Japan’s Kohei Uchimura becomes the first man to win three titles at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo. Uchimura finishes with 93.631 points in the men’s all-around, more than three points ahead of Germany’s Philipp Boy.

2012 — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers sets a career high and ties a franchise record with six touchdown passes, three to Jordy Nelson, and the Packers rout the Houston Texans 42-24. Rodgers completes 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards and ties Matt Flynn’s single-game record for TD passes, set in last year’s regular-season finale against Detroit.

2015 — Sylvia Fowles has 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx capture their third WNBA title in five years with a 69-52 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 5.

2018 — Stephen Gostkowski hit a 28-yard field goal as time expires, and the New England Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 43-40 after blowing a big halftime lead. Tom Brady passes for 340 yards and a touchdown and runs for another score in his 200th victory as a starting quarterback, tops in NFL history. With New England leading 24-9 at halftime, Patrick Mahomes directs an impressive rally by Kansas City in the second half. He finishes 23 of 36 for 352 yards in his first loss as a starting quarterback, with three of his four TD passes going to Tyreek Hill.

2020 — The NFL cancels the Pro Bowl scheduled for January, 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compiled by the Associated Press

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1973 — 42-year-old future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays′ last MLB career hit, as the NY Mets beat A’s, 10-7 in World Series Game 2 in Oakland.

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

I am standing on what looks like a cramped, dark city street. A tavern is around a corner, a police department in front of me. And I’m lost.

That’s when I hear a whisper. “Psst.” I turn, and see a puppet peeping his head out of a secret opening of a door. Over here,” he says, and I find myself leaning in to listen to this furry, oval-faced creature in the shadows. He’ll help me, he says — that is if I can clear his name. See, another puppet has been murdered, and everyone right now is a suspect.

Campaign posters for puppet candidates for mayor inside Appleseed Avenue. “Election Day” is a tale of political espionage with puppet-on-puppet violence.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

I am playing a gamed called “Election Day” at Appleseed Avenue, a relatively new escape room in a multi-story strip mall in Newhall. The puppet world is in the midst of a crisis, torn over whether humans should be allowed to wander the fictional street of Appleseed Avenue. My role is that of a detective, and throughout this game of fatal political espionage, I encounter multiple puppet characters — electricians, would-be-mayors, gangsters, dead puppets.

Drama ensues, and that’s where we humans come in, helping the puppets crack the case before we’re banned from their world once and for all. One needn’t be up on the state of puppet politics to participate — and don’t worry, the domestic affairs of Appleseed Avenue are relatively divorced from those of our own. Only a penchant for silly absurdity, and a stomach for puppet-on-puppet violence, is required.

While the look of the puppets may be inspired by, say, “Sesame Street,” with characters that are all big mouths and large eyes, the tone of “Election Day” leans a bit more adult. Recommended for ages 13 and older, “Election Day” will feature puppets in perilous conditions. And if you’re playing as a medical examiner, be prepared to get a glimpse at a mini puppet morgue.

Guests will play as detectives or medical examiners in Appleseed Avenue’s “Election Day.”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“Sometimes people do think, ‘Oh, this is for little kids.’ Not quite,” says Patrick Fye, who created the experience with Matt Tye. “We call it PG-13.”

“We wanted that dichotomy,” says Tye. “Really silly puppet-y characters in a gritty world.”

Fye and Tye are veterans of the local escape room scene — Fye the creator of Evil Genius Escape Rooms and Tye the developer of Arcane Escape Rooms. “Election Day,” however, while a timed experience, isn’t a pure escape room. Think of it more as a story that unfolds and needs solving. We’re not trapped. In fact, one puzzle actually utilizes the waiting room, as “Election Day” toys with the idea of traversing the human world and a puppet universe.

Patrick Fye and Matthew Tye, founders of Appleseed Avenue, along with their lookalike puppets.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Puppets weren’t necessarily the driving idea behind their joint venture in Appleseed Avenue. Creating a so-called escape room that was more narrative based was the objective. They wanted a room, for instance, where puzzles felt natural rather than forced. “Election Day” isn’t a space, say, with complex cipher codes to untangle. I was reminded of old-fashioned adventure video games, where one is prompted to look at objects, combine them or go on scavenger hunts, like the one prompted by the puppet I met in an alley.

Puppets were simply a means to an end.

“How can we make something that feels like you’re actually in the story and has more video game-y elements, as opposed to, ‘I’m in an Egyptian tomb. Here’s a padlock,’ ” says Fye. “We were trying to figure out how to mix the diegetics with the overall design. We stumbled on crimes and puppets because we thought it was fun and funny.”

One problem: Neither had created puppets or puppeteered before. Enter online classes, where Tye learned how to craft arm-rod puppets.

“We thought it was the coolest idea we had,” Tye says. When we both look at something and go, ‘We don’t know how to do all of this yet,’ we don’t let that stop us.”

Appleseed Avenue is home to an escape room featuring puppets. It doubles as the street name in which the game, “Election Day,” takes place.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“Election Day” does unfold like a live-in video game. At times, we’re interacting with a screen, as puppets will relay us messages and quests. Often, we’ll explore the space, as the two have created an elaborate set. Teams are split. Half work as detectives, and half as medical examiners. We can communicate via an inter-room conference system, or simply run back and forth.

But listening to everything the puppets say is paramount, as clues are often hidden in dialogue. Both say they have done too many escape rooms where the story felt too divorced from the actions they were being asked to complete.

“We even say at the beginning of the game, ‘The story really matters.’ You have to pay attention to it,” Fye says. “There’s a moment I’ll never forget. We were doing a Titanic room, and we were in the engine room shoveling coal. But isn’t the ship sinking? What is happening? A lot of times a story is just set dressing.”

The initial response to “Election Day” has been positive, so much so that the two are set to debut a second game in 2026, a sci-fi room titled “Shadow Puppet.” The latter will utilize the same Appleseed Avenue set, although additional spaces will be built out. They’re also looking at some more kid-friendly options. Planned for 2027 is a game titled “Puppet Town Day,” in which little ones will receive passports that prompt them to interact with the puppet characters.

Wanted posters for puppets. Many are a suspect in Appleseed Avenue’s “Election Day.”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

For now, however, think of Appleseed Avenue as part of greater Los Angeles escape room trend. Whether it’s Hatch Escapes with its corporate time-jumping game “The Ladder” or Ministry of Peculiarities with its spooky haunted house, creators here are emphasizing story. Appleseed Avenue is no different, introducing us to a wacky cast of puppet characters.

It also achieves a rare feat: It makes murder feel ridiculous.

Says Tye: “When there’s a guy named Alby Dunfer who’s getting it from a blowdart from a hitman, it’s like, ‘OK, this is fun.’ ”

MILWAUKEE — The disparity in the payrolls was the focus of the series before the first pitch ever delivered, the handiwork of the manager in charge of the small-market franchise that won more regular season games than any team in baseball.

“I’m sure that most Dodgers players can’t name eight guys on our roster,” joked Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers.

If the preceding six months were a testament to how a team can win without superstars, the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series was a display of the firepower that can be purchased with a record-breaking $415-million payroll.

The Dodgers won a game in which a confusing play at the center-field wall resulted in an inning-ending double play that cost them a run — and very likely more.

They won a game in which they stranded 11 runners.

They won a game in which the Brewers emptied their top-flight bullpen to secure as many favorable matchups as possible.

The Dodgers won because they had a $162-million first baseman in Freddie Freeman, whose sixth-inning solo home run pushed them in front. They won because they had a $182-million starting pitcher in Blake Snell, who pitched eight scoreless innings. They won because they had a $365-million outfielder-turned-shortstop in Mookie Betts, who drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning.

Talent wins.

The Dodgers can buy as much of it as they want.

The visions of the Brewers’ small-ball offense overcoming the absence of a Freeman or a Betts or a Shohei Ohtani?

In retrospect, how cute.

The thinking of how the Brewers’ pitching depth could triumph over the Dodgers’ individual superiority?

In retrospect, how delusional.

The Dodgers absorbed the Brewers’ best collective shot, and they emerged with a victory that won them control of the best-of-seven series.

Their $325-million co-ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will start Game 2 on Tuesday. Ohtani, their $700-million two-way player, and their $136.5-million No. 4 starter Tyler Glasnow will pitch Games 3 and 4 at Dodger Stadium in some order.

How can the Brewers match that?

Bring on the Seattle Mariners.

Bring on the World Series.

The Brewers’ futile effort to stop the Dodgers on Monday night consisted of them deploying six pitchers in a so-called bullpen game. The assembly line of arms was solid, but Snell was exceptional.

Snell yielded only one baserunner over eighth innings — Caleb Durbin, who singled to lead off the third inning.

Snell picked him off.

Against the team with the lowest chase rate baseball, Snell finished with 10 punchouts.

“This,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “was pretty special.”

Only when the Dodgers turned to their bullpen in the ninth inning were they in any sort of danger, with Roki Sasaki looking gassed after his three-inning relief appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NL Division Series.

Also of concern was the effect the previous series had on the Dodgers’ most valuable property, Ohtani. In the four games against the Phillies, Ohtani was one for 18 with nine strikeouts.

There was no way of knowing whether Ohtani was out of his mini-slump, as the Brewers elected to challenge him as infrequently as possible.

Facing opener Aaron Ashby, Ohtani drew a walk to start the game. He was walked two other times, both intentionally.

He was hitless in his two other plate appearances, as he flied out to left field in the third inning and grounded out to first base in the seventh. His plate discipline was improved, and his third-inning at-bat against Quinn Priester lasted eight pitches.

“I thought Shohei’s at-bats were great tonight,” Roberts said.

Before the game, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pushed back against the perceptionthat Ohtani was even slumping, describing how the Phillies pitched to him in borderline historic terms.

“I think it was the most impressive execution against a hitter I’ve ever seen,” Friedman said.

Perhaps not wanting to create any bulletin-board material for Ohtani, Murphy also described the mini-slump as a reflection of the excellence of Phillies pitchers Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Ranger Suarez.

“Those guys are really, really good,” Murphy said. “So I don’t consider Ohtani struggling. I don’t.”

Murphy behaved like it, his fear of Ohtani healthy enough to where he walked him intentionally to load the bases in the ninth inning.

The move backfired when Betts walked to push in an insurance run.

Ohtani wasn’t the only big-money player on the team.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marco Rossi scored in the fourth round of the shootout and the Minnesota Wild beat the Kings 4-3 on Monday night after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period.

Power-play goals by Jared Spurgeon, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead late in the first period.

The score remained until the third period when Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield scored early and Adrain Kempe late to send the game to overtime.

Fiala banked a rebound off the back of Jesper Wallstedt early in the third and Byfield added a power-play goal less than three minutes later to get the Kings to 3-2.

With an extra attacker, Kempe scored on a rebound with 44.4 seconds left in regulation for the Kings.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 shots for the Kings, who again struggled to stay out of the penalty box. Whistled for six infractions Monday, the Kings have been shorthanded 22 times in four games.

Making his season debut and first start since Dec. 21, 2024, Wallstedt made 31 saves for Minnesota. Vladimir Tarasenko had two assists.

Spurgeon scored 14:04 into the game with a shot from the right circle that went through a screen by Vinnie Hinostroza for a 1-0 Wild lead.

With a two-man advantage, Kaprizov scored from the slot just over two minutes later and Boldy skated in from below the right circle and his shot went off the glove of Kuemper at the post to make 3-0 at 16:33.

The Wild are converting on an NHL-best 47.1% of their power-play opportunities. Minnesota has scored eight times in 17 chances, including four goals in Saturday’s 7-4 loss to Columbus.

Kaprizov and Boldy each have a team-high three goals and seven points. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas have a league-best eight points apiece.