The senior season being put together by quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo High can be described as nothing less than sensational.
In his latest performance on Thursday night against Los Alamitos, the Ohio State commit passed for a school-record 570 yards in a 76-49 victory. According to Mission Viejo’s official statistics, he completed 24 of 31 passes for 569 yards and five touchdowns with one interception.
He has led Mission Viejo (9-1) to wins over six teams that have been ranked in the state‘s top 25 going into the release of Sunday’s Southern Section playoff pairings. Mission Viejo will be part of the Division 1 playoffs that are expected to have an eight-team field.
Receiver Jack Junker was Fahey’s favorite target on Thursday, catching 10 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
On the season after 10 games, Fahey has completed 75% of his passes for 3,108 yards and 25 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He has turned in MVP performances for much of the 2025 season.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Having arrived with Genoa 17th in the Italian top flight, Vieira won eight and drew nine of his 26 games last season to guide them to safety and a 13th-place finish.
However, his only two wins this campaign have come in the Coppa Italia, with six defeats in nine games – including five in the past six – in Serie A.
“The club would like to thank the coach and his staff for the dedication and professionalism they have shown throughout their work and wishes them all the best for their future careers,” Genoa’s statement read.
During his playing career, midfielder Vieira won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups at Arsenal, as well as silverware with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Manchester City.
He helped France win the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
Vieira retired in 2011 and became the manager of New York City in 2016.
He returned to Europe with Nice and led them to seventh in Ligue 1 in his first season but was sacked in December 2020.
Vieira became Crystal Palace manager in 2021 and guided them to the FA Cup semi-finals.
He was sacked in 2023 after a 12-game winless run, before joining RC Strasbourg as their first appointment following a takeover by BlueCo, the company which owns Chelsea. He left Strasbourg by mutual consent in July 2024.
TORONTO — Tyler Glasnow threw seven, maybe eight, pitches in the bullpen. There was no more time to wait. The red emergency light was flashing.
For 14 years, Glasnow has made a nice living as a pitcher. He has thrown hard, if not always durably or effectively.
There is one thing he had not done. In 320 games, from the minors to the majors, from the Arizona Fall League to the World Series, he never had earned a save.
Until Friday, that is, and only after the Dodgers presented him with this opportunity out of equal parts confidence and desperation: Please save us. The winning run is at the plate with no one out. If you fail, we lose the World Series.
No pressure, kid.
He is not one of the more intense personalities on the roster, which makes him a good fit in a situation in which someone else might think twice, or more, at the magnitude of the moment.
“I honestly didn’t have time to think about it,” Glasnow said.
In Game 6 on Friday, the Dodgers in order used a starter to start, a reliever to relieve, the closer of the moment, and then Glasnow to close. In Game 7 on Saturday, the Dodgers plan to start Shohei Ohtani, likely followed by a parade of starters.
Glasnow, who said he could not recall ever pitching on back-to-back days, could be one of them.
“I threw three pitches,” he said. “I’m ready to go.”
The Dodgers had asked him to be ready to go in relief on Friday, so he moseyed on down to the bullpen in the second inning. He didn’t really believe he would pitch. After all, Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto had thrown consecutive complete games. If Yamamoto could not throw another, Glasnow did not believe he would be the first guy called.
He was not. Justin Wrobleski was, protecting a 3-1 lead, and he delivered a scoreless seventh inning. Closer Roki Sasaki was next, and the Dodgers planned for him to work the eighth and ninth.
Glasnow said bullpen coach Josh Bard warned him to be on alert. Sasaki walked two in the eighth but escaped. He hit a batter and gave up a double to lead off the ninth, and the Dodgers rushed in Glasnow.
“I warmed up very little, got out there,” Glasnow said. “It was like no thinking at all.”
The Dodgers’ scouting reports gave Glasnow and catcher Will Smith reason to believe Ernie Clement would try to jump on the first pitch, so Glasnow said he threw a two-seam fastball that he seldom throws to right-handed batters. Clement popped up.
The next batter, Andrés Giménez, hit a sinking fly ball to left fielder Kiké Hernández. Off the bat, Glasnow said he feared a hit.
If the ball falls in, Giménez has a single and the Dodgers’ lead shrinks to one run. If the ball skips past Hernández, the Blue Jays tie the score.
Glasnow said he had three brief thoughts, in order:
1: “Please don’t be a hit.”
Hernández charged hard and made the running catch.
2: “Sweet, it’s not a hit.”
Hernández threw to second base for the game-ending double play.
3: “Nice, a double play.”
Wrobleski tipped his cap to his new bullpen mate.
“He’s a beast, man,” Wrobleski said. “To be able to come in in that spot, it takes a lot of mental strength and toughness. He did it. I didn’t expect anything less out of him, but it was awesome.”
Wrobleski was pretty good himself. The Dodgers optioned him the maximum five times last year and four times this year. He did not pitch in the first three rounds of the playoffs, and his previous two World Series appearances came in a mop-up role and during an 18-inning game.
Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski reacts after striking out Toronto’s Andrés Giménez to end the seventh inning in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
On Friday, they entrusted him with helping to keep their season alive. They got three critical outs from Wrobleski, who is not even making $1 million this season, and three more from Glasnow, who is making $30 million.
“We got a lot of guys that aren’t making what everybody thinks they’re making, especially down in that bullpen,” Wrobleski said. ”We were talking about it the other day. There’s a spot for everybody. If you keep grinding, you can wedge yourself in.”
He did. He was recruited by Clemson out of high school, then basically cut from the team.
“They told me to leave,” he said.
Did a new coach come in?
“No, I was just bad,” he said. “I had like a 10.3 ERA.”
Glasnow signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Hart High in Santa Clarita. In the majors, the Pirates tried him in relief without offering him a chance to close. Did they fail to recognize a budding bullpen star? “I never threw strikes,” he said. “I just wasn’t that good.”
We’ve all heard stories about the kid who goes into his backyard with a wiffle ball, taking a swing and pretending to be the batter who hits the home run in the World Series.
Glasnow doesn’t hit.
“I’ve had all sorts of daydreams about every pitching thing possible as a kid — relieving, closing out a game, starting in the World Series,” he said. “I thought about it all the time. So it’s pretty wild. I haven’t really processed it, either. I think going out to be able to get a save in the World Series is pretty wild.”
The game-ending double play was reviewed by instant replay, so Glasnow missed out on the trademark closer experience: the last out, immediately followed by the handshake line. Instead, everyone looked to the giant video board and waited.
Eventually, an informal line formed.
“I got some dap-ups,” he said. He smiled broadly, then walked out into the Toronto night, the proud owner of his first professional save. For his team, and for Los Angeles, he had kept the hope of a parade alive.
Chris McLaughlinScotland sports news correspondent
SNS
Celtic and Rangers will face off at Hampden on Sunday under different managers from when the teams last met at Ibrox in September
When Glasgow’s two main football clubs meet at Hampden Park, winning means everything.
But rarely has there been such a curious build-up to a fixture that hardly needs a sideshow.
In Scotland, when chaos comes knocking at the doors of Celtic and Rangers, it’s headline news.
And, lately, neither Old Firm club has been short of turmoil.
That might sound overstated to the casual observer or those outside Scotland’s central belt, but in few UK cities is football so deeply woven into the social fabric as it is in Glasgow.
This time, though, there’s an unusual symmetry: both clubs are struggling, on and off the pitch, at the same time.
Indeed both dugouts will feature different managers from when the rivals last met and played out a goalless draw at Ibrox on 31 August.
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Brendan Rodgers won 11 major trophies in two spells as Celtic manager
In Glasgow it is rare for both clubs to be in what some would describe as a state of “crisis” at the same time.
For over a decade, Rangers’ turbulence has provided their rivals with a steady diet of schadenfreude, but ahead of Sunday’s League Cup semi-final, both clubs have been fighting for the negative headlines.
In the east end, Celtic fans have spent weeks protesting against a board they see as out of touch.
Many feel they’ve endured enough. But in Glasgow, football isn’t a pastime. It’s an inheritance.
That’s something the club’s new American owners are discovering fast.
When he was appointed head coach in the summer fans warned that Russell Martin wasn’t the right fit.
But the consortium stood firm, keen to project authority.
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Russell Martin was sacked as Rangers head coach after 17 games
Seven games and a torrent of venomous protests later, Martin was gone.
The owners admitted they had underestimated the intensity of Glasgow football.
They’re not the first, and they won’t be the last.
Unlike O’Neill, who managed Celtic from 2000 to 2005, new Rangers head coach Danny Rohl will experience his first Old Firm match on Sunday.
The appointment of the former Sheffield Wednesday manager ended a protracted search for Martin’s replacement.
For once, both sets of supporters share a common cause: a desire for change in the boardroom. History suggests they often get what they want.
But this isn’t just a Celtic and Rangers story. Both clubs are now glancing along the M8 with unease, toward a challenger that dares to dream.
Heart of Midlothian sit top of the table and have the backing of Brighton owner Tony Bloom, the data-driven investor who helped transform the Premier League club.
When Bloom promised Hearts fans an end to Old Firm dominance within a decade, many dismissed it as hubris.
Given it hasn’t happened in 40 years, you can understand why.
Yet Bloom’s methods – and the unity around Tynecastle – are making people wonder if this could be the season the Glasgow duopoly is finally broken.
Whatever happens come May, unity is something Celtic and Rangers would pay good money for right now as they prepare to do battle once again.
Mater Dei trailed 24-3. The Trinity League title appeared destined to belong to St. John Bosco, another win to cap an undefeated for the consensus No. 1 team in the nation.
Until Chris Henry Jr. emerged for two touchdowns and 214 yards on five receptions.
“He could be a track star,” said Mater Dei coach Raul Lara, referencing Henry’s 70-yard touchdown catch near the end of the second quarter.
Until Kayden Dixon-Wyatt took over alongside his teammate — both Ohio State commits — and turned on the burners for three second-half scores.
“I wish I could be the quarterback,” Lara joked about his senior wide receivers.
Testing the wide receiver corps of Mater Dei — who outpowered the Braves’ impressive trio of Division I-committed receivers — left St. John Bosco hapless on Friday night in Bellflower. Mater Dei (7-2, 4-1) finished on a 33-7 run, Ryan Hopkins tossing five touchdowns in that span to help the Monarchs defeat St. John Bosco 36-31 in comeback fashion.
Mater Dei High’s CJ Lavender Jr. leaps high to make an interception during the game against St. John Bosco on Friday night.
(Craig Weston)
Hopkins finished 13-of-21 passing for 295 yards and the five touchdowns.
All of the doubts over the Monarchs’ regular-season campaign could be close to washed away as the second-half domination confirmed another year when Mater Dei at least owns a share of the Trinity League title.
Since Santa Margarita (7-3, 4-1) also won Friday — defeating JSerra 41-14 — the Eagles, along with Mater Dei and St. John Bosco (9-1, 4-1) earned a share of the Trinity League crown.
Defensive stands set up plays such as Henry’s 70-yard touchdown grab to cut the Braves’ lead to seven with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter. Mater Dei defensive back CJ Lavender Jr. forced and recovered a fumble in the first quarter to set up the Monarchs’ first points: a field goal.
Lavender then intercepted St. John Bosco sophomore quarterback Koa Malau’ulu twice more.
One pick created a silver-platter touchdown for Dixon-Wyatt, who finished with four receptions for 46 yards and three touchdowns, while the other turnover allowed Mater Dei to seal the game on fourth and 10 from its own 10-yard line.
“Anything he threw, I was going to go get it,” said Lavender, who now has a team-high seven interceptions on the season.
Mater Dei receiver Chris Henry Jr. hauls in a pass over his shoulder ahead of two St. John Bosco defenders on Friday night.
(Craig Weston)
Before the final interception — which came with 1:34 remaining in the game — St. John Bosco was driving. An unsportsmanlike penalty even provided the Braves at first and inches from the goal line.
But a bad snap to Malau’ulu pushed the Braves backward to the seven-yard line. A run for a loss brought St. John Bosco to the 10-yard line that then led to an interception.
Henry, who hadn’t played since Oct. 10 against Orange Lutheran, said he was itching to get back out on the field to play St. John Bosco.
“It was really difficult,” Henry said of his time off the field. “But I was ready for a game like this.”
Henry will have plenty more opportunities upcoming in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, starting next week.
The trio of Trinity League teams likely will see Sierra Canyon (10-0) — which finished its Mission League-winning campaign with a 52-3 victory over Loyola — among the teams they could face off against in the playoffs.
The next generation of football stars will showcase their talent on the biggest stage when the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 kicks off in Qatar on Monday.
With an expanded field of 48 teams, the tournament is set to deliver a spectacle unlike any before.
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Here’s everything you need to know about the showpiece event:
What are the key dates?
The FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 3, with two matches – South Africa vs Bolivia and Costa Rica vs the United Arab Emirates – kicking off the tournament.
The final will be played on November 27, marking the conclusion of the 104-match tournament.
Group stage: November 3 to 11
Round of 32: November 14 and 15
Round of 16: November 18
Quarterfinals: November 21
Semifinals: November 24
Third-place playoff: November 27
Final: November 27
Where is the tournament being held?
Qatar will host five consecutive U-17 World Cups, starting this year.
At the 2025 edition, all matches up until the final will take place across eight pitches at the Aspire Zone complex in Al Rayyan, about 9km (5.6 miles) from the centre of the capital, Doha.
The final will be played at Khalifa International Stadium, the 45,857-capacity venue that hosted six matches during the men’s FIFA 2022 World Cup. Built in 1976, it is one of Qatar’s oldest stadiums.
This year’s tournament marks the third time the U-17 World Cup has been held in the Arab world, after Egypt hosted in 1997 and the United Arab Emirates in 2013.
The Khalifa International Stadium is the home of Qatar’s national football team. Having hosted major events like the Qatar 2022 World Cup and AFC Asian Cup, it will now host the final of the Under-17 World Cup [Lintao Zhang/Getty Images]
How many teams are taking part?
The 2025 U-17 World Cup is the first to be played in the 48-team format instead of the previous biennial 24-team tournaments.
The participating nations, from six confederations, have been divided into 12 groups, as follows:
⚽ Group A: Qatar, Italy, South Africa, Bolivia ⚽ Group B: Japan, Morocco, New Caledonia, Portugal ⚽ Group C: Senegal, Croatia, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates ⚽ Group D: Argentina, Belgium, Tunisia, Fiji ⚽ Group E: England, Venezuela, Haiti, Egypt ⚽ Group F: Mexico, South Korea, Ivory Coast, Switzerland ⚽ Group G: Germany, Colombia, North Korea, El Salvador ⚽ Group H: Brazil, Honduras, Indonesia, Zambia ⚽ Group I: US, Burkina Faso, Tajikistan, Czechia ⚽ Group J: Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Panama, Republic of Ireland ⚽ Group K: France, Chile, Canada, Uganda ⚽ Group L: Mali, New Zealand, Austria, Saudi Arabia
What is the tournament format?
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed sides, will qualify for the round of 32.
From there on, the tournament will be played in a knockout format, featuring the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.
Why is the U-17 World Cup important?
Youth World Cups are exciting to watch as they offer a glimpse into football’s future, showcasing young talents before they make their mark on the biggest professional stages.
The U-17 World Cup holds special significance as it often serves as a launchpad for the stars of tomorrow.
Retired and current players like Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos, and Phil Foden — who went on to shine in the world’s top football leagues — first caught global attention at the U-17 World Cup, each winning the tournament’s Golden Ball award for the best player.
Phil Foden, who currently plays for English Premier League side Manchester City, won the Golden Ball award for the best player at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, which England won by beating Spain in the final [Anupam Nath/AP]
Who are the favourites to win?
Brazil, aiming for a record-equalling fifth U-17 World Cup, will be the frontrunners in Qatar. Heading into the tournament as the reigning South American champions, Brazil are arguably the best team from the region, having held that crown for a record 14 times.
Nigeria’s failure to qualify for this World Cup means the Brazilians are the most successful team at the 2025 edition.
Other contenders for the title are Portugal, who sealed their third U-17 Euro title in June, and France, who often enjoy a deep run at major tournaments.
Although Germany are the defending World Cup winners from 2023, expectations are low this year after they failed to get past the group stage at the Euros.
Twice World Cup winners Mexico are also the title favourites as they make their eighth successive appearance at the finals, while Asian champions Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia could be the dark horses.
Who are the top players to watch?
Italy’s attacking midfielder Samuele Inacio, the top scorer at the Euros finals with five goals, is one to watch at the tournament. Inacio, who plays for the Borussia Dortmund youth academy, is a constant goal threat thanks to his sublime creativity in the forward line.
France forward Djylian N’Guessan, who scored nine times during the Euro qualifying and finals, is another key player from the region, known for his link-up play, calm finishing and excellent technique. N’Guessan, 17, also played for his nation in the recent U-20 World Cup in Chile.
During the U-17 Euro in Albania this year, Italy’s Samuele Inacio stole the limelight with his five goals [Ben McShane – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images]
Although Argentina failed to reach the semifinals at the South American U-17 Championship, striker Thomas de Martis finished as the top scorer with six goals. Clinical in the box and great at finishing, de Martis also possesses excellent aerial ability.
Sadriddin Khasanov, named the most valuable player (MVP) in Uzbekistan’s U-17 Asian Cup triumph for his goal-scoring abilities and impressive skills, is also on the list of must-watch players, alongside Morocco’s midfield maestro Abdellah Ouazane, the player of the tournament during their maiden U-17 Africa Cup of Nations title run.
Where to buy tickets and watch the tournament?
Tickets for the U-17 World Cup are on general sale and can be purchased on FIFA’s official platform. Five types of tickets are available, including a day pass, a dedicated ticket for all of host nation Qatar’s matches, and a standalone final ticket.
A day pass, which provides access to six selected pitches, costs approximately $5.50, while the tickets for the final start at about $4.
Broadcasters for selected territories – including Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States – have been announced.
Five nations will make history in Qatar by making their debut at the FIFA U-17 World Cup this year 🙌
Salford City forward Fabio Borini says playing football is “like an addiction” as he discusses the reasons behind his move to the League Two side following his departure from Sampdoria.
And Shohei Ohtani is expected to be their starting pitcher.
In what will be just four days removed from his six-plus-inning, 93-pitch start in Game 4 of this World Series, Ohtani will likely serve as the team’s opener in Saturday’s winner-take-all contest, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
While Ohtani almost certainly won’t make a full-length start, he should be able to get through at least two or three innings (depending on how laborious his outing is). Four or five innings might not be out of the question, either, even in what will be only his second career MLB outing pitching on three days’ rest.
The only time Ohtani did so was in 2023, when he followed a rain-shortened two-inning start at Fenway Park against the Red Sox with a seven-inning outing four days later.
Saturday, of course, will come under entirely different circumstances, in what will be the first seventh game in a World Series since 2019.
By starting Ohtani, the Dodgers would ensure they wouldn’t lose his bat for the rest of the game, thanks to MLB’s two-way rules. If he were to enter in relief during the game, the only way he could stay in afterward is if he shifted to the outfield (since MLB’s rules stipulate that a team would lose the DH spot under such circumstances). Starting him also eliminates any complications that would come with trying to find him time to warm up if his spot in the batting order arose the inning prior — something that would have made it potentially more difficult for him to be able to close out the game.
Ohtani has completed six innings in each of his three previous pitching appearances this postseason, with a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.
The Dodgers should have options behind Ohtani. Tyler Glasnow will likely be available after needing just three pitches to get the save in Friday’s wild finish. Blake Snell also said he would be available after his Game 5 start on Wednesday.
In the bullpen, Roki Sasaki figures to be at manager Dave Roberts’ disposal, as well, despite throwing 33 pitches in one-plus inning of work on Friday.
Roberts said everyone short of Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be available.
Los Angeles Dodgers send the World Series to a decisive seventh game after defeating Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.
Published On 1 Nov 20251 Nov 2025
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The Los Angeles Dodgers kept alive on Friday their hopes of becoming Major League Baseball’s (MLB) first repeat champion in 25 years, with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays that pushed the World Series to a decisive seventh game.
With their backs against the wall and facing elimination for the first time this postseason, a Dodgers team that had no room for error got six solid innings from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto while Mookie Betts and Will Smith provided the offence.
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Toronto thought they tied the game on an inside-the-park homerun in the ninth on a bizarre play, when the ball was lodged at the bottom of the outfield fence where Dodgers outfielder Justin Dean immediately raised his hands to rule the play dead.
A video review went the Dodgers’ way and determined it was a ground rule double, which left Toronto with runners on second and third with not outs.
Ernie Clement then hit an infield pop and Andres Gimenez lined out to left before Kike Hernandez turned the double play when he fired the ball to second base to get Addison Barger out and end the game.
The Dodgers victory put on hold, for one day at least, a coast-to-coast party in Canada, where fans of the lone MLB club are desperate to celebrate the Blue Jays’ first World Series triumph in 32 years.
Toronto Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette is hit by a pitch by Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (not pictured) during the sixth inning in Game 6 [Ashley Landis/AP]
Dodgers’ season on the line in Game 6
As they were at the start of the season, the Dodgers came into the World Series as an overwhelming favourite and with few expecting the Blue Jays to produce much of a challenge and even fewer calling for it to go the distance.
With their season on the line, Los Angeles opened the scoring in the third on a run-scoring double by Smith, before Betts singled in a pair of runs to put Los Angeles ahead 3-0.
Barger led off the bottom half of the third with a double before scoring on a George Springer single to get the Blue Jays within two.
The Dodgers’ starting rotation had been the team’s strength this postseason, but the Blue Jays picked it apart en route to grabbing a 3-2 lead in the World Series before Yamamoto once again took matters into his own hands.
The Japanese ace, who threw complete-game gems in his previous two starts, struck out six batters and allowed one run on five hits across six innings before the Dodgers turned to a bullpen that has been their weak link all season.
The Blue Jays threatened in the eighth when they got runners on first and second with one out before Roki Sasaki retired Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho grounded out to end the inning, before once again getting close in the ninth.
Play was temporarily disrupted in the sixth inning when a spectator scaled the outfield wall and stormed the field with a United States flag before he was promptly taken down by security guards and escorted away.
Game 7 will be played on Saturday in Toronto.
Yamamoto and the Dodgers will try to retain their MLB World Series title on the road in the deciding Game 7 in Toronto against the Blue Jays [Brynn Anderson/AP]
The Blue Jays will feel aggrieved after a controversial umpiring call prevented them from levelling the score in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk was hit by a pitch from reliever Roki Sasaki and replaced by speedy pinch-runner Myles Straw, before Addison Barger’s line drive wedged under the wall in left centre field.
But instead of allowing Straw and Barger to score, the play was ruled to be a ground rule double,, external putting the runners on second and third.
A ground rule double is typically signalled when a ball hit fair is deemed to be impossible to field in the layout of a particular stadium, such as when it becomes trapped under a tarpaulin, and runners are allowed to advance by two bases.
The hosts challenged the call, arguing that a fielder could easily have retrieved the ball, but the on-field decision was upheld by video review.
And with the tying run in scoring position, Andres Gimenez drove into a double play to end the game.
Earlier, the Dodgers drew first blood on Halloween night as Tommy Edman doubled, Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked, and Smith’s double to left field sent Edman home.
Freddie Freeman drew a walk to load the bases, and Betts’ two-run single gave the visitors what proved to be a decisive lead to force a decider.
Game seven takes place on Saturday evening, again at the Rogers Centre.
The listless team of the previous two games was gone. The inspired team of the previous month was back.
Earlier this week fans were asking, who are those guys? On Friday they emphatically answered that question by finally, forcefully, being themselves.
Faced with elimination in Game 6 of the World Series, the Dodgers rose from the presumed dead to haunt the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre with a 3-1 victory to knot the duel at three games apiece.
And they did with the most unlikely of saves, a game-ending double play on a lineout that Kiké Hernández caught in left field and threw to Miguel Rojas at second base.
How do the Blue Jays come back from that? How can the Dodgers not gain all the momentum from that?
The quest to become the first team in 25 years to win consecutive World Series championships lives.
The stage is set for all sorts of dramatics after a night when the Dodgers took an early three-run lead on the back of slump-busting Betts and then cruised to victory on the back of another brilliant pitching performance by Yamamoto and a surprising three-inning shutdown from the Dodger bullpen.
It didn’t end smoothly, but it ended splendidly, after reliever Roki Sasaki began the ninth by hitting Alejandro Kirk in the hand with a two-strike pitch, then Addison Barger hit a ball to center field that lodged under the outfield tarp for a ground-rule double.
With runners on second and third and no out, Tyler Glasnow made an emergency appearance and recorded that memorable save, retiring Ernie Clement on a first pitch popout and ending the game by inducing Andrés Giménez into a lineout that Hernandez perfectly threw to Rojas.
The Dodgers have been here before. It was just last year, in fact, when they needed consecutive wins against the San Diego Padres in the division series to save their season.
They calmly won both and rolled to a championship. A similar path could end in a similar destination this weekend after the Dodgers rebounded from two lifeless losses at Dodger Stadium to weather the loud Game 6 storm with calm and cohesion.
“Yeah, I mean, we all know that everything has to go perfect for us to be able to pull this off,” said Teoscar Hernández before the game.
So far, so good, beginning Friday with the much-maligned Betts, who smacked a two-out, two-run single in the third inning to give the Dodgers a lead they never lost. Next up, Yamamoto, who followed consecutive complete games by giving up one run on five hits in six innings.
Enter the bullpen, which had given up nine runs in the Dodgers three losses in this series. But the sense of dread lightened when Justin Wrobleski worked around a two-out double by Clement to end the seventh with a strikeout of Giménez.
On came Sasaki, who immediately found trouble in the eighth inning by yielding a single to George Springer and walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But the rookie remained calm, and retired Bo Bichette on a foul popout and Daulton Varsho on a grounder.
This set up the breathtaking ninth, the inspired Dodger tone actually set by manager Dave Roberts a day earlier. Roberts did his best Tommy Lasorda imitation by literally leaving it all on the field during Thursday’s day off when he challenged speedster Hyeseong Kim to a race around the bases. Roberts gave himself a generous head start, but as Kim was passing him up around second base, Roberts tripped and fell flat on his face.
The moment was caught on a video that quickly spread over social media and actually led the FOX broadcast before Friday’s game.
Roberts looked silly. But Roberts also looked brilliant, as his pratfall injected some necessary lightness into the darkening team mood.
“I clearly wasn’t thinking,” said Roberts. “I was trying to add a little levity, that’s for sure. I wasn’t trying to do a face-plant at shortstop, and yeah, the legs just gave way. That will be the last full sprint I ever do in my life.”
He lost, but he won.
“Of course it makes you smile and it makes you have a good time,” said Rojas. “When the head of the group is…loose like that, and he’s willing to do anything, that’s what it tells everybody, that he will do anything for the team.”
The spark was lit in the third inning Friday after Blue Jay starter Kevin Gausman had struck out six of the first seven batters.
Tommy Edman, one of last fall’s postseason heroes, ripped a one-out double down the right-field line. One out later, after Ohtani had been intentionally walked, Will Smith ripped an RBI double off the left-field wall.
It was the Dodgers first hit with runners in scoring position since the fifth inning of Game 3, but the surprise was just beginning.
After Freddie Freeman walked, the bases were loaded for Betts, who was the biggest villain of the Dodgers hitting drought with a .130 World Series average while stranding 25 consecutive baserunners. He had been dropped to third in the batting order in Game 5, and then dropped again to fourth for Game 6, and it finally worked, as he knocked a two-strike fastball into left field to drive in two runs and give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.
The Blue Jays came back with an heroic run in the bottom of the third when, after Addison Barger doubled down the left-field line, wincing George Springer fought off a painful side injury to drive a ball into right-center field to score Barger.
Inter Milan join race for defender Marc Guehi, Everton monitoring striker Nicolas Jackson, and Manchester United face competition for Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Inter Milan want to sign England centre-back Marc Guehi, 25, when his Crystal Palace contract expires next summer, but face competition from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Liverpool. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external
Everton are monitoring Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson, 24, as Bayern Munich are increasingly unlikely to trigger a £70m move for the on-loan Chelsea forward. (Football Insider), external
Manchester United are keen on Chelsea’s Brazil midfielder Andrey Santos, 21, as they bid to strengthen their midfield in January. (Football Insider), external
Manchester United have had internal discussions over signing Lille’s French midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, 18. (Caught Offside), external
Arsenal and Liverpool are also in the mix to sign talented teenager Bouaddi. (TBR Football), external
Bournemouth and Ghana winger Antoine Semenyo, 25, says he is not oblivious to speculation around his future, but glad he remained with the Cherries in the summer. (Sky Sports), external
PSV Eindhoven’s Ismael Saibari is emerging as a January target for a host of Premier League clubs, with Aston Villa and Leeds among those interested in the 24-year-old Morocco midfielder. (TBR Football), external
Real Madrid have joined Manchester United and Chelsea in tracking Red Bull Salzburg’s Bosnia-Herzegovina winger Kerim Alajbegovic, 18. (Defensa Central – in Spanish), external
DEL MAR — Sometimes the toughest part of owning a horse is deciding what to name it. If you own a bunch of horses, you run out of logical names pretty quickly. You can only do a play on the sire’s name so many times. And if you name it after a living person, you need permission from that person.
But every once in a while happenstance is your guide.
Ned Toffey has been the general manager of Spendthrift Farm for 21 years. Spendthrift saw an Into Mischief colt it liked and bought the yet unnamed colt as a yearling for $650,000. Now the tough part, naming him.
Toffey had just completed an interview with a publication and it was trying to promote it on social media. The only problem is they got a couple of first letters transposed and sent out posted a message on X calling the longtime Spendthrift executive Ted Noffey. Innocent mistake. Once notified it was corrected but not before a few screenshots were taken.
John Velazquez smiles after riding Ted Noffey to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile horse race in Del Mar on Friday.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Noffey went with the joke.
Now people will remember that colt as the winner of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, pushing his name to the top of Kentucky Derby future pools.
His win wasn’t a surprise as he has won all four of his races, but none this prestigious on the first day of the two-day Breeders’ Cup held at Del Mar. All five of the races on Friday were worth no less than $1 million with nine more on Saturday.
Ted Noffey, the horse, was the favorite and was within a length of the lead all the way around the 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-old males, winning by a length.
“It pretty much unfolded like we thought it would,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “I’m just glad that he was able to keep finding more.”
Brant, the $3 million purchase for trainer Bob Baffert, went to the lead and was in front until the top of the stretch when Ted Noffey inched past and then kept going. He ended up winning by a length over Mr. A.P.
“I was happy with the trip, [Brant] just got tired,” Baffert said. “The lack of two turns caught up with him. He was beat by a real good horse, and they ran really fast. I think he will move up off this race.”
Brant finished third and Baffert’s other horse, Litmus Test, finished fourth. Ted Noffey was the favorite and paid $3.60 to win .
The other $2 million race, the Juvenile Fillies, was won by Super Corredora ($19.60 to win), whose last race was a maiden win, the only time this has happened in this race.
Southern California based John Sadler had to go 42 races before he won his first Breeders’ Cup race in 2018 when he won the Classic with Accelerate.
“My journey has been, there was a time when they’d say, he’s the best trainer that hasn’t won a Breeders’ Cup,” Sadler said. “They stopped asking that after Accelerate. So we’ve won quite a few of them now. So, I’m very pleased with that.
“And as you’re an older trainer, which I am at this point (he’s 69), these are the races you want to win. I think I hold most of the categories here at Del Mar, right behind Baffert—number of wins, number of stakes wins and money earned. The big days are especially rewarding.”
The 2-year-old filly led the entire 1 1/16 mile race and was the front half of a Southern California exacta with Baffert’s Explora finishing second. Hector Barrios was the jockey and it was his first Breeders’ Cup win with a three-quarters of a length victory.
The first race of the day, the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint, was won by Cy Fair ($12.00), a horse named after a high school in Texas and trained by George Weaver. Everyone gave Aidan O’Brien a good shot to win the five-furlong race since he had three horses in the race and his next win would give him 21, the most ever, breaking a tie with the late Wayne Lukas.
O’Brien had to wait for the last race of the day, the $1 million Juvenile Turf over one mile to pick up No. 21. Gstaad ($4.40) was the favorite and didn’t disappoint coming off the pace at the top of the stretch and winning by three-quarters of a length.
The other Breeders’ Cup race of the day, the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf, was won by Balantina ($43.20) by 1 ¼ lengths, the largest margin of the day. She came from well off the pace in the one mile race with a strong stretch drive for trainer Donnacha O’Brien, Aidan’s son.
The first day of the Breeders’ Cup is all 2-year-old races, but Saturday is where all the money is, $23 million in purses to be exact. It’s headed by the $7-million Classic, a 1¼ mile race for horses of any age or sex. The race, and the whole event, took a major blow when Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner and top-ranked horse in the country, was scratched after he spiked a fever early in the week. He was the 6-5 morning line favorite.
Everyone was looking forward to the rematch of Sovereignty and Journalism (5-1 adjusted odds), who finished one-two in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. McCarthy, who trains Journalism and owner Aron Wellman replaced jockey Umberto Rispoli after they didn’t like his ride in the Pacific Classic. Jose Ortiz picked up the mount.
“I think it’s unfortunate that Sovereignty is not in there but this is probably one of the best Classics we’ve seen in about 20 years,” McCarthy said. “We’ll bounce out of there and try and be tactical and try to be within four or five lengths of the lead.”
There should also be some interest in Fierceness (5-2), who won the Pacific Classic after a terrible break when he ducked near the rail breaking from the one. He drew the one for this race too.
“He’s got to break straight and establish the position he wants and run his race,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “His best race gives him a big chance, if he can deliver that.”
Among others in the race are Santa Anita-based Baeza (10-1), who won the Pennsylvania Derby; Japanese horse Forever Young (7-2), winner of the Saudi Cup; last year’s winner Sierra Leone (7-2); and Nevada Beach (20-1) for Baffert and winner of the Los Alamitos Derby and the Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita.
Another race to watch on Saturday is the $5-million Turf in which Rebel’s Romance is trying to become the first three-time winner of this race and the third horse to ever win three Breeders’ Cup races, joining Goldikova and Beholder.
Luton Town reach the FA Cup second round with an injury-time winner after Forest Green Rovers stage a remarkable comeback from three goals down in a thrilling first-round encounter.
Long Beach Poly, a 12-time Southern Section football champion, announced on Friday it will not participate in this season’s football playoffs despite finishing second in the Moore League. The school earlier this season had six transfer students declared ineligible for providing false information on paperwork to the Southern Section, a violation of CIF bylaw 202.
Here’s the statement from the Long Beach Unified School District:
“Long Beach Poly High School acknowledges the recent CIF ruling related to violations of CIF Bylaw 202 within its football program. In accordance with that ruling, and as part of an ongoing internal investigation, Poly will withdraw from postseason play.
“The school is fully cooperating with CIF and the District, as a thorough review of our processes and systems is conducted to ensure full compliance with CIF rules and District policy. While student and employee matters are confidential, our commitment remains to support our students while upholding the integrity of our athletic programs.”
San Juan Hills became the latest school to announce forfeits on Friday for using ineligible players. Two transfer students had been in the transfer portal listed as “under review.” The school will forfeit nine games and is now 1-9. Both players were held out of a game on Thursday.
This crackdown by the Southern Section against students providing false information started during the summer when schools began submitting transfer paperwork. The Southern Section is using new technological tools to verify information. Bishop Montgomery received the harshest punishment, with 24 players declared ineligible, forcing the school to cancel its football season.
Other schools found to have ineligible players this season include Long Beach Millikan, Compton, Bellflower, Victor Valley and Orange Lutheran.
