Of all the heroes in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in their National League Division Series opener Saturday at Dodger Stadium, none was more stunning than the shrugging, somnolent, underachieving right fielder whom Dodger fans have treated like an overpaid outcast.
Just listen to them now.
Booo…Yayyyyy!
Locked in a one-run game on a scorching 100-degree afternoon, Tucker drove an AJ Smith-Shawver fastball 408 feet over the right-field fence in the sixth inning for a two-run homer that essentially ended the Braves’ afternoon and set up the Dodgers for what appears to be a certain series sweep.
Yes, the Dodgers only lead one game to none in this best-of-five deal, but the Braves are clearly out of breath and out of pitching after enduring last week’s wild-card series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Braves dug deep in their bullpen for all eight innings Saturday. They may have to dig even deeper in Game 2 on Sunday or desperately start ace Chris Sale on short rest.
Their offense looks wasted, their bullpen is taxed, and they spent most of Saturday in one sweaty mess.
Of course, the Dodger bullpen almost handed the game back to them when Ozzie Albies hit a two-run homer off Tanner Scott in the ninth to close what seemed to be an insurmountable gap. But Scott was mercifully lifted for Evan Phillips, who recorded the final out of the game to save the Dodgers from disgrace.
And to etch Tucker into the rare role of hero.
“Obviously for us it’s about winning a championship,” said manager Dave Roberts when asked about Tucker afterward. “Our fans, they really remember what you do in the postseason. So this is certainly a way to change the story for a season in 2026.”
Indeed, except for the back end of the bullpen, Dodgers old and new rose to the championship occasion.
Skubal in his first Dodger postseason start after being traded here from Detroit on Aug. 2? Six innings of brilliance, 15 batters in a row retired at one point, only one three-ball count in the first five innings, two allowed hits, seven strikeouts, two walks and only nicked by a Sean Murphy homer.
Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal delivers during the first inning Saturday against the Braves.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Teoscar Hernández, almost benched during a rocky regular season? Same old Teo, the guy who leads the Dodgers with 27 RBIs over the last three postseasons, this time opening the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth.
Max Muncy, the forgotten stalwart who always seems to show up huge in October? Same old Max, blasting a ball over the right-field fence in the sixth to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.
But Kyle Tucker? This was not the same old Tucker. Nobody saw this coming. Certainly, he finished the regular season strong with a .969 OPS in September with six homers and 13 RBIs, but he was awful for most of the previous five months after joining the team this winter with baseball’s highest annual salary of $60 million.
Tucker batted .196 at home. He seemingly jogged after fly balls, wildly swung and missed at fastballs, and who would have thought he would take control with one out in the sixth and the Dodgers leading 2-1?
There was one out. This was a big moment. Skubal was out of the game and the Dodgers had lost all their early momentum when Hernández popped a single to center, bringing up Tucker.
On Smith-Shawver’s second pitch, he connected, and after Tucker trotted across home plate, the most amazing thing happened.
He smiled.
“I think that we all know — it’s been well talked about — the struggles he had this year,” said Roberts. “I give him a lot of credit for grinding through it, not running from it, always posting and kind of getting to the other side of it.”
It was an otherwise ordinary Dodger playoff win that began with a rare bit of Dodger second-guessing.
Many questioned the Dodgers choosing to pitch Skubal in Saturday’s opener while slotting Blake Snell into Sunday’s spot and leaving last season’s playoff hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the bench until Game 3.
The reasoning was that Skubal could get two starts in this series on full rest while Yamamoto, who requires an extra day’s rest, was only getting one start in the series regardless. Furthermore, by holding him back in this series, the Dodgers ensured that Yamamoto would get two starts in the National League Championship Series.
Still, you have to wonder, how do you take a guy with a 7-0 postseason record with a 2.25 ERA and put him third in the rotation?
Turns out, the Dodgers knew what they were doing, and before the game, even Andrew Friedman acknowledged this was their best pitching staff of this era.
“I feel like this is the best and deepest pitching staff we’ve ever had going into October,” said the Dodgers president of baseball operations. “I think we had some tough conversations in leaving some guys off the roster. That would have never happened before.”
There were also pregame question marks surrounding the health of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
Those questions remain, as the two future Hall of Famers went two-for-seven with two singles and not much power.
Ohtani, fighting arm and leg injuries, entered the game batting .157 since Aug. 18 with zero home runs during that time.
“As of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton.
Ohtani and Freeman are going to have to manage better than this for the Dodgers to three-peat.
Maybe they should take some advice from the Dodgers’ latest candidate to be christened Mr. October.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. A good Tommy Lasorda quote: “You have got to love what you’re doing. No matter what it is. Whatever you undertake in life, if you don’t love it, and you don’t enjoy it, you are making a big mistake. You have got to love what you are doing. You have to appreciate what you are getting, and you have to do it to the best of your ability.”
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It’s that time of year
The Dodgers will face the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS starting Saturday, with Game 1 set to start at 1 p.m. Pacific, with the temperature forecast to be around 100 degrees. So, bring a sweater. People have complained that the 1 p.m. start is unfair because it will be too hot, but unless it is going to be 75 degrees on the Braves side of the field, it will be even. Personally, I would have put Padres-Brewers at 1 p.m. and Dodgers-Braves at 5:30 p.m., but no sense crying over spilled milk (Editor’s note: How many clichés can this guy work into one paragraph?)
The Dodgers faced the Braves six times during the season and lost five.
May 8 at Dodgers 3, Atlanta 1 Emmet Sheehan and five relievers combined to outpitch Braves ace Chris Sale. Freddie Freeman homered.
May 9 Atlanta 7, at Dodgers 2 Blake Snell gave up five runs in three innings and the Braves got 12 hits overall, 11 of them singles. Snell went back on the IL after the game, staying there for three months. Spencer Strider started for the Braves. He is currently on the IL.
May 10 Atlanta 7, at Dodgers 2 Justin Wrobleski took one for the team, giving up all seven Braves runs in 8 2/3 innings. Bryce Elder started for the Braves, going 5 2/3 innings. Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson homered for Atlanta.
Aug. 25 at Atlanta 4, Dodgers 3 Tyler Glasnow gave up three runs in five innings and Tanner Scott gave up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Bryce Elder got the start for the Braves, giving up three runs in six innings. The teams combined for 19 hits, but only two extra-base hits.
Aug. 26 at Atlanta 6, Dodgers 5 Roki Sasaki gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings, but Tanner Scott got the loss when he gave up a walk-off single to Ha-Seong Kim in the bottom of the ninth. AJ Smith-Shawyer started for the Braves, giving up three runs in five innings. Matt Olson and Sean Murphy homered for Atlanta, Tommy Edman for the Dodgers.
Aug. 27 at Atlanta 1, Dodgers 0 The only run came in the first inning by Drake Baldwin, Atlanta’s leadoff hitter. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up the lone run and four hits while striking out eight. Chris Sale pitched a shutout, giving up five hits and striking out 11.
Dodgers against the Braves this season
Batting Hunter Feduccia, 3 for 5, 2 RBIs Mookie Betts, .333/.429/.417, 14 plate appearances, 1 double, 1 RBIs Teoscar Hernández, .333/.467/.333, 15 PA’s Ben Rortvedt, 1 for 3 Andy Pages, .300/.364/.600, 11 PA’s, 1 homer, 2 RBIs Tommy Edman, .273/.429/.636, 14 PA’s, 1 double, 1 homer, 3 RBIs Alex Call, .273/.429/.364, 14 PA’s, 1 double, 1 RBI Santiago Espinal, 1 for 5 Shohei Ohtani, .192/.192/.308, 26 PA’s, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 RBI Freddie Freeman, .174/.240/.348, 25 PA’s, 1 double, 1 homer, 1 RBI Will Smith, 1 for 7 Kyle Tucker, .133/.278/.200, 18 PA’s, 1 double, 1 RBI Alek Thomas, 1 for 8, 1 RBI Miguel Rojas, 1 for 8 Max Muncy, .118/.211/.294, 19 PA’s, 1 homer, 2 RBIs Hyeseong Kim, 0 for 6 Kiké Hernández, 0 for 3 Alex Freeland, 0 for 7 Dalton Rushing, 0 for 5 Team, .196/.281/.299, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 4 homers, 2.5 runs per game
Inherited runners who scored% Atlanta, 20.9%, 36 of 172 (1st) League average, 71 of 226, 31.4% Dodgers, 35.8%, 69 of 174 (23rd)
The two teams are pretty evenly matched.
So who’s going to win?
The last NL team to win the World Series before the Dodgers? The Braves in 2021. They were led by some guy named Freeman.
If the Dodgers go into one of their team-wide funks, they could get swept. But here’s guessing they won’t do that in the postseason. It will be a tough series, but I’m going with…… Prediction: Dodgers in 5.
Poll results
We asked, “Which two of these four players would you pick to be on the postseason roster?”
After 18,543 votes:
Josue DePaula, 94.3% Alex Call, 64.6% Hyeseong Kim, 35.1% Dalton Rushing, 6%
Up next
Saturday: Atlanta at Dodgers, 1 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020 Sunday: Atlanta at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1, AM 570, KTNQ 1020 Tuesday: Dodgers at Atlanta, 3 p.m., FS1, AM 570, KTNQ 1020 *Wednesday: Dodgers at Atlanta, 3 p.m., FS1, AM 570, KTNQ 1020 *Friday: Atlanta at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off home run in the 18th inning to win Game 3 of the 2025 World Series. 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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
When the Dodgers acquired left-hander Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, they expected him to be a big part of their postseason plans. But they didn’t necessarily pencil him in as their Game 1 starter.
After mulling over their options this week, the Dodgers are expected to announce Friday that Skubal will take the mound in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, confirmed a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Their plans for a sweltering 1 p.m. start Saturday against the Braves were first reported by the Athletic.
The rest of the Dodgers’ rotation order was not immediately clear, but right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who had seemed a strong option for Game 1 after his World Series heroics last year — pitched to batters during the Dodgers’ workout Wednesday. If he takes his usual five days of rest, that would line him up to pitch Game 3 in Atlanta on Tuesday. So, left-hander Blake Snell could pitch Game 2 Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat and run them out there,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday. “But I think there is going to be more thought behind it.”
Skubal, who the Dodgers acquired from the Tigers for three prospects, has posted a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts for Los Angeles. He finished his regular season with a gem against the Giants last week: seven three-hit innings on just 75 pitches.
PHOENIX — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Arizona’s eleventh-hour bid to block the upcoming start of a court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in its prisons after the state was found to have provided constitutionally inadequate care to incarcerated people and dragged its feet for over a decade in making required improvements. Justice Elena Kagan denied the state’s request Thursday, leaving an outside corrections professional set to take over healthcare management for 25,000 incarcerated people on Oct. 19.
Arizona had asked the courts to delay the takeover while it appealed that decision and the appointment of former Ohio corrections director Annette Chambers-Smith to lead the effort. The state sought the delay from the Supreme Court after lower courts rejected by the request.
Over the past 14 years, Arizona has been dogged by complaints that its prison healthcare system was run shoddily and callously and that it repeatedly failed to improve a system found to have exposed prisoners to harm and preventable deaths.
Under a 2014 settlement, the state pledged to overhaul medical and healthcare services for prisoners but was soon accused of failing to make promised improvements. That led to more than $2 million in contempt-of-court fines and the eventual revocation of the agreement by U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver, who said corrections officials had shown little interest in making required changes.
After a 2021 trial, Silver ruled against the state, issuing an injunction that required corrections authorities to address the constitutional violations. Earlier this year, she ordered the takeover after concluding the state hadn’t gotten a semblance of compliance with court-ordered changes and the U.S. Constitution after more than a decade of litigation. Silver found that prisoners remained exposed to grave threats of harm and suffering because of systematic deficiencies in their health care.
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Re-entry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s decision.
In a statement, Corene Kendrick, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represents prisoners in the lawsuit, applauded the court’s refusal to delay the takeover, also known as a receivership. She said Arizona fought accountability at every turn while prisoners suffered. “Today’s decision clears the way for a receiver to do what the state has failed to do for more than a decade,” Kendrick said.
In seeking a delay, Arizona’s attorneys said Silver adopted a drastic takeover remedy without first trying intermediate fixes to speed compliance. They also said the judge hadn’t given the corrections department enough time to continue making progress and argued that the official appointed to run healthcare operations wouldn’t be politically accountable. They said the agency is committed to improving health care in prisons, has made significant progress since 2023 and that the prisoners won’t suffer harm if the start of the takeover were delayed by a few months.
Lawyers for prisoners said the state was minimizing its noncompliance, disputed its claim it had not been given enough time to comply after 14 years of litigation and said Silver had already tried less-intrusive remedies. They also said the state’s proposal of a months-long delay in the takeover “grievously minimizes” the harm prisoners face from the state’s inability to provide adequate care.
Complaints about health care in Arizona’s prisons have spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations.
The lawsuit was filed in 2012 during Republican Gov. Jan Brewer’s administration and continued under Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, when both contempt fines against the state were issued. Under Ryan Thornell, the corrections director in Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs administration, the department has complained that its progress in overhauling health care operations in recent years hasn’t been acknowledged.
The lawsuit over healthcare for incarcerated people covers Arizona’s nine state-run prisons but not the nearly 10,000 Arizona inmates held in private prisons.
Fans have been discussing who they think might be named one of the three Traitors this evening.
One fan has picked out who they don’t trust, saying: “Miranda Hart is just too nice, so obviously it’s her. Michael Sheen could lie to me for ten episodes and I’d thank him for it. And Hannah Fry looks like she’s already done the maths on all of us.”
Another suggested: “The story about James Acaster having a panic attack or similar leading to the game being paused makes me think he’s probably not one.”
“I am really hoping for at least Bella and either James Acaster of Joe Lycett. Joanne, Miranda and James Blunt would also be cool and could pull it off,” a third wrote.
So who do you think will be given those coveted roles? I’d love to see Miranda Hart be named a Traitor but after last year and Alan’s success, Claudia may choose a different personality this time around…
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. A good Tommy Lasorda quote: “There are three types of people in the world. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder, ‘What happened?’ ”
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Some random questions
While we await the winner of the Braves-Phillies series, it’s time to get a different viewpoint. I reached out to Times columnists Mirjam Swanson and Bill Plaschke to get their answers to a few Dodgers questions.
Q. Which team is the one the Dodgers would rather avoid playing in the NL playoffs?
Swanson: The San Diego Padres, actually. Weird stuff happens with rivalries. Weird stuff has happened against the Padres. Add a rivalry to the high-stakes NLCS? Guaranteed weirdness.
So the Padres concern me more than the Brewers, a talented group headlined by ace Jacob Misiorowski that nonetheless does itself in with its poor-little-us talk. The Padres have swagger — and substance — and they just finished the season on a heater, going 41-18 to close the season.
I still like the Dodgers in that series, and then against whomever comes out of the American League too.
It’s the NLDS that’s of most concern — less for who the opponent will be and more for the fact that it’s a best-of-five series. That squeezes the already small sample size of a playoff series and makes it so there’s less room for error and more room for baseball to happen.
Plaschke: The one team the Dodgers should avoid playing is the Philadelphia Phillies. They have all those left-handed starters who can shut down the best Dodger hitters. They only lost the NLDS to the Dodgers last year because one of their relief pitchers lost his mind. They have a veteran lineup that is long overdue. Play them at your peril.
Q. Does Josue De Paula find a space on the postseason roster, and what do they do with him next year, with the positions he plays seemingly taken?
Swanson: Yes, absolutely, JDP will be on the roster in the postseason. For his incredible energy. For his incredible bat. Both much-needed.
Next year? Are they going to play professional baseball next year?
OK, let’s hope they do play ball. And as long as they do, I can see the Dodgers giving De Paula run in the outfield — so long as he puts in the work in the offseason (however long that is) to train and study and make himself a playable outfielder.
His hitting is so elite, he needs only to be a competent fielder to justify his regular presence in the lineup. He’s a great young athlete and if he understands and tackles the assignment with the gusto that he approaches hitting, I don’t see what could hold him back.
Plaschke: De Paula has to be on the roster this October and in a position to take some high-leverage at-bats. I think he’s potentially good enough that you trade Teo and put him in left.
Q. How would you rank the bullpen in terms of trust (top three)?
Swanson: Roki Sasaki and Edgardo Henriquez are both coming back from injuries and basically jumping right into the postseason fire so … fingers crossed. But let’s assume Sasaki’s blister is a thing of the past, as it appears to be, and that Henriquez’s back isn’t aching, I’ll pick them and make a call for Evan Phillips, who looks great and looks like he’s feeling great; I just saw him hit 100 mph for the first time this season, striking out the San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill looking in the Dodgers’ loss Thursday.
Plaschke: In the bullpen I trust, in order, Roki Sasaki, Alex Vesia, and Evan Phillips. I don’t trust Tanner Scott. Would you?
Q. The Dodgers won last year despite not getting a first-round bye. So was it really important for them to get the bye this year?
Swanson: Yes! This team is “old.” They know it, everyone knows it — and they know they’ll benefit from getting off their feet for a few days. To them, it’s a reward for a job well done. As a thankful Freddie Freeman chuckled Thursday night: “Rest for all of us is always nice. We’ve been grinding since February, getting ready for the season. Then you go through a 162-game schedule. It’s a lot. So we played really good baseball for six straight months and we get rewarded for that. So we’ll take it in, rest up and get ourselves ready to go for Saturday.”
Plaschke: The bye is hugely important. This is the oldest team in baseball. This is the most exhausted team in baseball. They desperately need those five days off.
Q. Finally, predictions. Who wins the World Series this year?
Swanson: The club that won the past two World Series.
Plaschke: Milwaukee wins the World Series. Nobody beats the Miz.
Who makes the roster?
We will predict the postseason roster after we know who the Dodgers are playing, but, it appears the final two spots among position players could come down to Josue De Paula, Alex Call, Dalton Rushing and Hyeseong Kim. Which two would you choose to make the team?
Every year around this time, this newsletter mentionsMakenna Martin, who holds an online bracket (much like the NCAA bracket) where people can fill out their choices for the best-looking Dodger. She added a charitable aspect to it, raising money for a charity for women who are the victim of domestic violence.
Martin, now a college graduate, has continued the bracket, and this year is using it to raise money for “Peace Over Violence,” another charity that helps victims of domestic abuse. You do not have to donate to take part in the bracket challenge. Whether you donate or not, it’s a lot of fun to do. There’s also a raffle to raise funds, with a lot of Dodgers prizes to win. A tip of the cap to Martin and to all young people who try to make the world just a little bit better.
Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off grand slam to win Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. 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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Then from Birmingham you’ll be able to head to Copenhagen, Rome Fiumicino in Italy and Marrakech in Morocco which is perfect for winter sun – with some of these flights costing as little as £14.99 per person, per-way.
And there are other lesser-known destinations where you won’t find the crowds experienced elsewhere in Europe such as Tirana in Albania and Warsaw Modlin in Poland.
The airline has also announced that it is increasing the amount of flights departing Manchester Airport to 26 destinations including Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid in Spain.
It comes as the airline’s boss Michael O’Leary also warned of flight prices rising next year.
At a press conference last week, he said: “Fares for Ryanair passengers and every other passenger into the summer of 2027 are going to rise materially, I believe, because of significantly higher oil prices.
And the flights start from as little as £14.99 per person, per wayCredit: EPA
“I have no doubt fares are rising next year. The question is by how much.”
The airline also announced recently that it was axing even more seats that are equal to around 13,000 flights.
In 2025, France lost 25 routes and some 750,000 seats last winter and in Brussels, Ryanair axed 20 routes and cut one million seats across Brussels-Zaventem and Brussels South Charleroi airports.
LA28 announced Tuesday it will begin the U.S. portion of the 2028 Olympic torch relay in Atlanta in a return to the city that hosted the United States’ last Summer Games and provided the Olympic movement with one of its most iconic torch relay moments. The city where Evans passed the Olympic flame to Muhammad Ali changed the swimming champion’s view on the Games and fueled her desire to bring the torch back as LA28 hopes to write an equally influential chapter of Olympic history.
“I realized when I carried that torch that the flame represents so much more than medals,” said Evans, now LA28’s chief athlete officer. “It certainly represents victory and all those attributes about the Olympics. But it also brings people together, and it’s a symbol of hope and what the Olympic movement really does for everyone.”
The torch relay, which begins in Olympia, Greece, will come to the United States in spring 2028, pass through all 50 states and culminate on July 14, 2028, with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony in L.A.
Three decades ago, the relay legs were reversed. Atlanta’s U.S. torch relay started in L.A., where Evans was one of the first people to run with it in 1996. She never thought she would carry it again during the opening ceremony.
Swimmers never attend opening ceremonies, Evans retorted when Billy Payne, president and chief executive of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, asked her to run the penultimate leg of the torch relay. She would be competing the next day and needed to rest her legs ahead of her final Olympic races. She didn’t believe him when he promised that carrying the torch in the opening ceremony would surpass any Olympic medal she could win.
Running past her fellow Olympians in Centennial Olympic Stadium made Evans finally understand. At the top of a large ramp, Ali emerged out of the dark night. Evans felt a deep rumble as the boxing champion came into view. The stadium felt like it would collapse.
Ali, trembling from the effects of Parkinson’s disease but with strength still evident, held the flaming torch aloft.
Payne was “worried to death” that Ali could drop the torch, he said, 30 years later. Payne instructed Evans that if that happened, she was to grab his arm, pick up the specially engineered torch that would never extinguish and light the fuse ball together.
Janet Evans passes the Olympic flame to Muhammad Ali during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on July 19, 1996.
(Associated Press)
When Evans faced Ali to pass the flame, she knew she wouldn’t need to resort to Plan B.
“I saw it in his eyes,” Evans said. “I still talk to people that were in the stadium, and they say it changed me. It made me realize that I can do great things just like him.”
The torch and the flame endure in an ever-changing Olympic movement. The Games are no longer just a sports competition. They’re the biggest sporting event in the world. They’re seen as a symbol of unity. For host cities, they can also be seen as a high-stakes burden that must bring economic, commercial and civic success. Anything short of perfection feels like disaster on the world stage.
Now less than two years until the Games open, LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman acknowledged there can be some “angst” around the process that is kicking into the delivery phase.
LA28 is still trying to secure millions of dollars in funding to ensure smooth transportation during the Olympics and Paralympics. The nightmare scenario of running over budget and saddling local taxpayers with debt hangs over the organizing committee.
With no permanent venues to build in advance, much of LA28’s spending will take place in the final stages. It’s almost that time to spend, Wasserman acknowledged. Getting to finalize major touchpoints such as the torch relay, the mascot and the medal designs while preparing to makeover existing venues signal excitement and confidence in the organization’s process.
“The part now [that] we are in is making sure all of our plans are clear, all of our difficult decisions are being made, so that when we go, we have as few changes and as few course corrections as possible,” Wasserman said. “Not that there won’t be any, but to limit those as much as possible, so that we operate towards the start line with as much certainty as possible, which is the only way to deliver a project of this scale.”
LA28 will announce the full torch relay route in 2027. The private organizing committee has a rough sketch of the path that will snake through all 50 states. The nationwide tour was one of Wasserman’s earliest plans for the relay. While he was intent to bring the Olympics back to L.A. for the third time, he has always wanted these to be “America’s Games.”
Payne is jealous that LA28’s torch relay will reach every corner of the United States when Atlanta only managed 42 states. LA28’s route promises to pass through iconic cities and landmarks, but Wasserman is most keen on carrying the torch through small towns, per advice he received from Payne.
“If you want to see the power and the impact of what you’re doing, that’s where you will feel it,” Wasserman said his Atlanta counterpart told him. “Because that city, that community, it will be the biggest thing in that town. That is the power of the Olympic movement.”
Payne calls it “the burden and the joy” of the torch. During his Olympic planning process, he was never more nervous than when he carried the flame through the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, where he met his wife, Martha, and played for legendary football coach Vince Dooley. Hampered by a hip injury, Payne limped through only a third of his allotted distance. He still cherished every painful step.
“The sense of the entire history of the Olympic world, the hopes and dreams of all the athletes, indeed, all the people of my community, my city, my country, they were all supporting us,” Payne said. “It was an amazing emotional time, and one I think [of] every single time we do the Olympic torch relay. It impacts people very similarly.”
The flame is lit during a ceremony at Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games, using a mirror and light from the sun. It will run through Greece before being transferred to the United States. Since the modern torch relay tradition began in 1936, the flame has burned underwater (Sydney 2000) and in space (Atlanta 1996) and traveled by plane, train, automobile, boat, pony and even camel.
To continue the tradition, LA28 will call upon thousands of torchbearers. LA28 will announce information on the torchbearer nomination process in the coming months.
The Olympic flame is passed to a torch during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece, in November 2025 prior to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
(Milos Bicanski / Getty Images)
Once it gets to the final 25 to 30 torchbearers, Wasserman said, each runner has to be “fundamentally important, connected and relevant to what we’re doing.” Runners could honor the Olympic movement’s past or future while celebrating L.A. and sports before passing the flame to the final torchbearer to light the cauldron.
The ultimate honor is typically reserved for sporting heroes from the host country, often with Olympic excellence on their resume. Since 1980, only two Summer Games have featured a cauldron lit by a non-Olympic or Paralympic athlete. Ali’s iconic moment set a high bar for the LA28 Games, but with 22 months left before the opening ceremony, the question of who will light L.A.’s cauldron remains a fun parlor game, Wasserman said.
He can make only one promise, which he first told Rafer Johnson. The legendary decathlete who climbed 99 steps to light the cauldron at the Coliseum in 1984 just begged Wasserman not to repeat the punishing path.
“Who lights it and how they get there, I don’t know,” Wasserman said, “but there won’t be however many stairs he ran up to get up to the bottom of the peristyle.”
Aston Villa manager Natalia Arroyo has been sacked following a disappointing start to the Women’s Super League season.
Villa are yet to win this season, drawing two and losing two of their opening four matches and BBC Sport is told that led to the club’s decision.
They suffered a 4-0 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday in the WSL and are due to play Newcastle in the Women’s League Cup on Wednesday (19:30 BST).
Spaniard Arroyo joined Villa in January 2025 and had another two years remaining on her contract.
She becomes the first managerial departure this season, though former Manchester United boss Marc Skinner and ex-Brighton head coach Dario Vidosic both stepped down earlier this year.
The club informed Arroyo of their decision on Monday evening and players were told on Tuesday morning.
Former Everton manager Brian Sorensen, who is now Villa’s women’s technical advisor, has been placed in interim charge.
Since Arroyo’s arrival, Villa have shown flashes of potential and she initially steadied the ship as they toyed with relegation in her first six months at the club.
But despite investment in the transfer window, Villa lacked consistency and were underwhelming last season.
There was pressure on them to perform in 2026-27 and while they earned a draw on the opening weekend against Chelsea, they have looked dangerously open at the back and chaotic out of possession.
Their latest defeat by Spurs was a worrying display and appears to have been enough to lead to Arroyo’s sacking.
Chances were at a premium at Windsor Park as both defences came out on top.
Patrick Kelly hit the crossbar in the first half for Northern Ireland, and Isaac Price had an effort beaten away by Balazs Toth.
After Dan Ballard controversially conceded a penalty in Georgia, Shea Charles also had a penalty appeal waved away in the lead-up to the Kelly chance for a similar incident.
While O’Neill said he had yet to see it back, he did quip that “the referee never seems to make the walk for us to the side of the pitch. It never seems to happen for us.”
The threat of Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was largely nullified throughout the game as Hungary, like Northern Ireland, struggled to create any clear-cut chances.
The only save that Pierce Charles had to make in goal was when a lethargic clearance led to Alex Toth shooting towards goal in the closing stages, but the QPR stopper was otherwise untroubled.
After a 5,000-mile trip from Georgia in their opening game, Northern Ireland had to quickly reset and O’Neill admitted he saw “two tired teams” at the end of the game.
“I think our preparation, our first game in terms of being away from home and everything, was more difficult.
“I felt like Hungary got a little bit stronger towards the end.”
ANDY Burnham is set to nationalise Avanti West Coast next year as Labour pledges to start “delivering for passengers”.
The Government will take control of the private operator from March 7 as the PM said passengers had been failed “time and time again”.
Avanti West Coast is set to be nationalised from next year, the government has announcedCredit: Getty
An extra £10million is set to be invested in power and signalling maintenance in addition to £840million earmarked for infrastructure on the West Coast Main Line, reports ITV.
The government hopes timetable changes will also improve services for passengers as well as boosted WiFi connectivity.
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It was also announced that Euston station in London will receive a £50million upgrade.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander said: “For years, we’ve heard stories of Avanti underperforming, with passengers left paying the price. Enough is enough.
“That is why we will bring Avanti into public ownership at the earliest opportunity, in March next year.
“This Labour Government is committed to putting essential services back in public hands, connecting people to opportunity and delivering growth in every postcode and this move reflects that commitment.
“We will also introduce a comprehensive improvement plan, focused on delivering for passengers, not shareholders.”
Avanti West Coast’s contract is due to come to an end on March 7, 2027.
That will leave East Midlands Railway and Cross Country as the only train operators yet to be nationalised.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham blasted Avanti, saying they had failed passengers “time and time again”.
In a post on X he said: “We’re putting essential services back in public hands and building a railway that actually works for the people who use it.”
It comes as Avanti West Coast recorded the highest number of cancellations in the UK this summer, according to analysis by The Times.
That is double the national average as they made 1.4million delay repay claims in the year to March – around a million more than in 2019, according to the outlet.
Andy Mellors, managing director at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved over the last six years – from refurbishing our Pendolino fleet and introducing our new Evero trains to running more services than ever before.
“Together, these improvements have given customers greater choice, more capacity and better connectivity, while we’ve continued to innovate to shape the future of the West Coast and wider rail industry.
“Over the coming months, we’ll work closely with the government to ensure a seamless transition into public ownership while remaining focused on delivering for our customers and communities.”
A reduced timetable will also continue between Christmas and the new year due to engineering works, with the scheduled change aiming to “save taxpayers money“.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I was reading my Bible, and baseball was mentioned almost immediately. “In the big inning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
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The postseason awaits
There are still three games left in the season, but let’s jump ahead and talk about the postseason a bit. We will have more in the run-up to the NLDS next week. The good news is the Dodgers have clinched a first-round bye and will open the postseason on Saturday, Oct. 3. The NLDS is best-of-five on a 2-2-1 format, so the Dodgers will host Games 1 and 2, and if necessary, Game 5.
Who will they play? The winner of the series between the No. 3 seed (Atlanta) and the No. 6 seed, which has yet to be determined. There are four teams vying for the three wild-card spots.
Should the Dodgers fear any one team more than the others this postseason? Let’s see how they have fared against all the other potential postseason teams. In fact, let’s see how all the postseason teams have fared against each other.
Dodgers vs. Arizona, 6-7 (-5 run differential) vs. Atlanta, 1-5 (-11) vs. Chicago, 2-4 (+2) vs. Milwaukee, 3-4 (+2) vs. Philadelphia. 4-2 (+11) vs. San Diego, 8-5 (+19) Total, 23-27, (+18)
Arizona vs. Dodgers, 7-5 (+5) vs. Atlanta, 4-3 (-8) vs. Chicago, 2-4 (-11) vs. Milwaukee, 2-4 (-22) vs. Philadelphia. 3-3 (-5) vs. San Diego, 5-5 (+5) Total, 18-19, (+25)
Atlanta vs. Dodgers, 5-1 (+11) vs. Arizona, 3-4 (+8) vs. Chicago, 3-3 (-1) vs. Milwaukee, 3-3 (-5) vs. Philadelphia. 9-4 (+23) vs. San Diego, 3-4 (-7) Total, 26-19 (+29)
Chicago vs. Dodgers, 4-2 (-2) vs. Arizona, 4-2 (+11) vs. Atlanta, 3-3 (+1) vs. Milwaukee, 4-9 (-9) vs. Philadelphia. 6-1 (+22) vs. San Diego, 5-1 (+27) Total, 26-18, (+50)
Milwaukee vs. Dodgers, 4-3 (-2) vs. Arizona, 4-2 (+22) vs. Atlanta, 3-3 (+5) vs. Chicago, 9-4 (+9) vs. Philadelphia, 4-2 (+14) vs. San Diego, 2-4 (-5) Total, 25-18, (+43)
Philadelphia vs. Dodgers, 2-4 (-11) vs. Arizona, 3-3 (+5) vs. Atlanta, 4-9 (-23) vs. Chicago, 1-6 (-22) vs. Milwaukee, 2-4 (-14) vs. San Diego, 6-0 (+11) Total, 18-26, (-54)
San Diego vs. Dodgers, 5-8 (-19) vs. Arizona, 5-5 (-5) vs. Atlanta, 4-3 (+7) vs. Chicago, 1-5 (-27) vs. Milwaukee, 4-2 (+5) vs. Philadelphia, 0-6 (-11) Total, 19-29, (-50)
This serves as a basic guideline for you. We would really have to dig deep to find hidden meanings here, since a lot depends on who started for each team. Philadelphia started the season poorly, fired their manager, named Don Mattingly manager and turned things around. So, when did these teams face the Phillies? I could do that for every team, but I can just hear people closing the newsletter and deleting it if I get too far into the weeds. Just as an example, San Diego is 0-6 against the Phillies, but were outscored by only 11 runs, while the Dodgers have losing records against Chicago and Milwaukee, but outscored both teams. And every Dodger fan from that era can tell you that the Mets were 10-1 against the Dodgers in the regular season in 1988, but lost to them in the playoffs.
But, stuff like this is fun. And remember when stats were sometimes just for fun, and not every stat had to look at launch angles and elevation rates?
The postseason roster?
The final position player spot on the postseason roster will be very interesting. Does it go to Josue De Paula, who hit .323/.500/.581 with three doubles, one triple, one homer and seven RBIs in 42 plate appearances. He also walked an impressive 11 times while striking out only five times.
He is back in the minors now, but the Dodgers can bring him back for the postseason, as long as he is replacing an injured player, such as Dalton Rushing. They would need to petition the Commissioner’s Office to allow it, but that kind of petition has never been denied in the past.
Of course, De Paula is blocked at DH, left field and right field now that Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández are hitting better. But he did seem to bring a shot of energy to the team, as if he reminded them “Hey, this is supposed to be fun.”
Does the final spot go to Rushing? I don’t see how, because he can’t play in the field right now because of his elbow injury.
Does it go to Hyeseong Kim? His name was brought up this week by Dave Roberts, because Kim brings speed, versatility and good defense. He could be this season’s Justin Dean, appearing in almost every game and never hitting.
And the bullpen? If you have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell in the rotation, that means Roki Sasaki goes to the bullpen. Does Justin Wrobleski get a bullpen spot? What about Emmet Sheehan, who has pitched great in his return (one earned run in 17 innings, giving up six hits and walking three while striking out 24)? Do you need all three of them in the bullpen in anticipation of the inevitable injury to Snell and Glasnow? We’ll know more about Snell when he starts Saturday.
Can Yamamoto pitch in every postseason game?
A lot of questions, no answers yet.
Forgotten Dodger: Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford, 17, who hit .444 for Fremont High, signs a $100,000 deal with the Dodgers in 1964 as Al Campanis watches.
(Associated Press)
We won’t go quite as far back in time for this one as the previous ones.
Willie Crawford is one of those guys who was good at a lot of things but not great at anything, and those types of players tend to be overlooked. But you need players like that every year in order to win.
Crawford first played for L.A. as a 17-year-old in 1964 and had his best season in 1973, when he hit .295/.396/.453 with 14 homers and 66 RBIs. He was solid defensively, playing more shallow than most right fielders to cut down on bloop singles and relying on his speed to catch any balls hit over him.
“He was big and powerful, and he could hit a ball as far as anybody. Boy, was he something,” Tommy Lasorda once said of Crawford, who the Dodgers signed out of Fremont High. Crawford was signed out of high school for $100,000, and the rules at the time said if you signed for at least that much, you had to stay on the major league roster for a season, which hampered his development. In 1965, the 19-year-old Crawford got a World Series ring for being on the Dodgers roster, but he batted only 27 times in the regular season. He had a pinch-hit single in Game 1 of that series.
In his first four seasons as a Dodger, he played in 72 games.
He was a productive player for many years and retired after the 1977 season. Crawford died of kidney disease at age 57 in 2004. You can read more about him here.
The postseason race
Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. Milwaukee and the Dodgers have clinched division titles and first-round byes.
Mikwaukee has clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The Dodgers have clinched the No. 2 seed and the Braves the No. 3 seed.
The Padres and Cubs have clinched wild-card spots. If the season ended today, Atlanta would host Philadelphia in one best-of-three wild-card round, with the winner taking on the Dodgers. The Padres would host the Cubs in the other wild-card round, with the winner playing Milwaukee.
In their final three games of the season, the Padres host the Diamondbacks, Philadelphia hosts Tampa Bay and Chicago plays at Boston.
Five of the six teams in the AL have been decided, with Tampa Bay and Cleveland clinching the top two seedings and the first-round bye. The third seed will be the AL West champion, either Texas or Houston (no relation), who are both 79-80. The Astros have the tiebreaker advantage. The three wild-card teams are the Yankees, Boston and the Chicago White Sox, in that order.
The Cat Man is back
Reports of the demise of Tony Gonsolin were greatly exaggerated. He’s back in the majors.
Gonsolin was an All-Star with the Dodgers in 2022, finishing the season 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA. He was having a mediocre 2023 before he was shut down and had Tommy John surgery. After missing the 2024 season, he came back in 2025, made seven starts and had internal brace surgery on his elbow. The Dodgers let him go. He was busy rehabbing his arm for the last year, and finally the Kansas City Royals decided to give him a chance. They sent him to the minors in August, and called him up to the majors this week.
He came in for a relief appearance on Tuesday and, after pitching two scoreless innings, gave up five runs and four hits, with two walks, ending the outing on a sour note.
“Essentially, I’m trying out for next year,” Gonsolin told reporters before the game. “It has been a while since I’ve thrown before this many fans. Just looking forward to the excitement and the adrenaline.”
These names seem familiar
This will be the final time this feature runs this season. It will be back next season. How many names will have joined it then? How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last few seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:
Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season
Friday: Dodgers (*Tarik Skubal, 11-7, 2.85 ERA [4-2, 2.95 ERA with Dodgers]) at San Francisco (Yunior Marte, 0-1, 4.66 ERA), 7:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Saturday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 4-1, 1.86 ERA) at San Francisco (*Matt Wilkinson, 1-3, 3.65 ERA), 7:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Sunday: Dodgers (TBD) at San Francisco (TBD), 12:05 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Rhode Island struck down a Trump administration directive that would have barred some immigrants from accessing certain federal programs, including Head Start preschools, community health clinics and adult education initiatives.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by President Trump in 2019, temporarily barred his administration from moving forward with the rule last year, so it never was implemented. On Monday, she made the injunction permanent.
Officials from the Republican administration had said the directive would stop “illegal aliens” from accessing federal benefits by reclassifying broad swaths of social services programs under a Clinton-era law, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.
But the rule also would have swept up many immigrants in the U.S. legally, including work and student visa holders. It also would have barred services from Temporary Protected Status holders, who are granted work permits if the U.S. government determines conditions in their home country are too dangerous to return, along with recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, who were brought to the country illegally as children and receive temporary protection from deportation and work authorization.
Those groups, which are considered “nonqualified aliens” under the law, already are unable to access full Medicaid benefits and federally funded food aid and cash assistance.
The Trump administration issued its directive in July 2025. Democratic attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia sued.
They said the change upended three decades of policy allowing people to access community health clinics, domestic violence shelters and Head Start centers without proving their immigration status. They warned the harms could spread, deterring any immigrant from seeking services and throwing up barriers even for U.S. citizens unable to document their legal status. The new rules also would have put administrative burdens on underfunded social service agencies, including Head Start operators, which might have been forced to close if they were unable to comply with the directive’s new requirements, the lawsuit said.
In her ruling, McElroy declared the directive “unlawful” and said the Trump administration did not follow the proper avenues to rewrite the rules. She called the administration’s actions “procedurally invalid.” She added that the administration still could pursue rule changes through the federal notice-and-comment process, which officials bypassed when they issued the directive last year.
Requests for comment were sent to the departments named as defendants in the wide-ranging lawsuit. The Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees Head Start, said it does not comment on ongoing litigation. The Labor Department referred inquiries to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James, who was among those who sued, hailed the judge’s ruling.
“From cancer screenings to food banks to early childhood education, the federal government’s attempts to decimate the social safety net would have been catastrophic for working families,” James said.
When USC and Oregon meet Saturday at the Coliseum, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. A win could catapult USC into serious contention for the College Football Playoff. A loss could send its season into a sudden spiral. And looming over it all are questions about the coach’s future — questions that could be answered, at least in part, by the Trojans’ performance this week.
“It’s definitely an important game,” Riley said Tuesday. “There’s no question about it.”
But ask his star quarterback if there’s any extra motivation this week to beat Oregon, and you won’t exactly get the same sentiment.
“Eh, not really,” Jayden Maiava said. “We’re just kind of attacking it the same every single week.”
Or what about the Trojans starting left tackle?
“It’s the exact same [this week],” senior Elijah Paige said. “We treat every opponent the exact same.”
At the start of arguably the most consequential week of their season, the Trojans certainly gave their best efforts not to make a big deal out of the big game with Oregon. Cliches were wielded like shields Tuesday, protecting against the imminent threat of social clips construed as bulletin board material.
But there’s no hiding from the significance of Saturday’s meeting for USC. Not when the messaging all off-season, like the billboards all around town, suggest that “the time is now.”
That’s definitely true right now for the Trojans, who face a gauntlet of a schedule in the coming weeks after Oregon. Three of their next five opponents after Oregon are ranked in the top 13, with two of those games on the road.
“This game should have a lot riding on it,” Riley said. “You kind of look forward and look ahead, it feels like a game that’s going to be relevant for a long time. I think it’s good for college football. It’s good for the West Coast.”
The rivalry between the two teams has grown especially heated in recent years. But on the football field, it hasn’t really been much of a matchup over the past two decades. USC has beat Oregon just twice in their last 10 meetings. And while USC has yet to play in the College Football Playoff, Oregon has already made three appearances and finished once as runner-up.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning has bested Riley in both of their head-to-head meetings, too. But the Ducks have not been at their best so far this season. After barely squeaking by Boise State in the season opener, they were upset on the road by Oklahoma State, which had previously lost 12 in a row.
Plus, they haven’t played at the Coliseum since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when they beat USC in L.A. for the Pac-12 title.
“It’s certainly not just another game,” Lanning said of the matchup with USC. “It’s as intense as it gets, when you talk about two teams that are competitive, that want to be really good, that have great talent. It means a ton to the fanbase. It means a lot to our team.”
The same is true at USC, even if no Trojan players are willing to admit it at the moment.
Though Paige did seem to let some enthusiasm slip Tuesday, when asked what it would be like to beat Oregon in his final opportunity to do so.
“It’d be awesome,” Paige said, before snapping back to attention.
“It’s an awesome game,” he continued. “We play a lot of awesome games.”
Injured DL Jahkeem Stewart still ‘touch and go’
Standout sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart was dressed and looking ready to return at the start of USC’s Week 2 win over Louisiana. But after being a late scratch in that game, Stewart was ruled out early of USC’s Big Ten opener against Rutgers.
So what exactly changed in between?
Riley assured Tuesday that there was “no setback” with Stewart’s foot injury, which has held him out since the start of the season, but that USC “made the decision to pull him back a little bit” after seeing him warm up during Week 2.
Stewart is “hopefully not too far away,” Riley said. But his status for this Saturday certainly doesn’t sound optimistic.
“He’s continuing to rest, continuing to get healthier,” Riley said. “We do feel like we’re going to have him here at some point. But it’s a little bit kind of touch-and-go as that goes on, trying to manage … the time to rest without being too conservative with it. And so we’re definitely making progress. He’s definitely getting better and better each week.”
There is now a three-week international break with no Premier League games until 10 October.
We are five matches into the league season and there is a long way to go in the campaign, but which teams have impressed so far and who have disappointed?
You can have your say in the comments at the bottom of the page.
Arsenal: Solid start to their title defence until they were ripped apart by Brighton having survived a penalty scare at Sunderland. 7
Aston Villa: Signs they are beginning to move in the right direction after losing so many key players during the transfer window. 6
Bournemouth: If games lasted 80 minutes the Cherries would be near the top of the table. Need to cut out conceding so late. 6
Brentford: Demolished Spurs and Chelsea without fuss during a highly impressive unbeaten start. Can they keep it up and challenge for Europe? 8
Brighton: Kings of entertainment after hitting 16 goals in five top-flight games, including three against champions Arsenal. A joy to watch. 9
Chelsea: After a strong start under Xabi Alonso, the Blues have lost two of their past three – and were picked apart by Brentford. Are they really moving in the right direction? 6
Coventry City: You could hear the sighs of relief in the away end at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Will Frank Lampard’s side kick on after that win? 6
Crystal Palace: Room for improvement after one win and three defeats. 5
Everton: Despite a transfer window to forget, David Moyes has made the Toffees hard to beat. 6
Fulham: Decent draws against Liverpool and Manchester United but need a win. Ipswich (away) followed by Hull (home), Coventry (away) and Crystal Palace (home) offer hope when they return from the international break. 5
Ipswich Town: Defensively vulnerable but two late winners, against Sunderland and Crystal Palace, have earned them six points and shown their fighting spirit. 5
Leeds United: Fifth in the league, unbeaten and with the joint-best defensive record. They showed what they are capable of with a superb 4-1 win over Newcastle. 7
Liverpool: Unbeaten but have been far from their best. Three clean sheets in their past three games, but more is expected from Andoni Iraola’s side. 6
Manchester City: Five league games, five victories. Managed to win at Manchester United despite going down to 10 men midway through the first half. With Erling Haaland already top scorer, City fans will expect a real push to win the league. 9
Manchester United: Disappointing performances to lose at Hull and draw at a Fulham side who were bottom of the league. Their only win so far came against Ipswich and they were denied a victory at Everton by a late equaliser. 4
Newcastle United: A mixed bag under new manager Matthias Jaissle. They impressed in a draw against Liverpool, won comfortably at Tottenham, but were also terrible in a loss at Leeds, although they responded well to beat Hull. 6
Nottingham Forest: Their best results have come away, drawing at Liverpool and winning at Aston Villa. But their home form will be a huge worry – yet to score a goal and with only one point from three matches at the City Ground. 5
Sunderland: After coming seventh in 2025-26, Sunderland fans will have wanted a better start to this season. The Black Cats gave good accounts of themselves against Arsenal and Manchester City, but lost both matches. 5
Tottenham Hotspur: After spending more than £300m in the summer, Spurs have been poor, failing to score in their opening four league matches. Supporters will be demanding an instant improvement after the international break. 2
Alan Roden hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high four runs, and Dean Kremer yielded one hit over six stellar innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 8-0 victory over the Angels on Sunday.
Josh Bell had three hits and two RBIs for the Twins (73-83), who have won three of five overall after splitting four games at Angel Stadium with two shutout victories. Brooks Lee added three hits and scored three runs.
Roden had three hits in his first major league game this month, punctuated by a shot to right in the seventh for his third career homer, his first since Aug. 6, 2025.
Kremer (3-1) shut down the Angels in the third consecutive strong start by Minnesota’s deadline acquisition. He walked three, but struck out eight for his most in a start since April.
Minnesota allowed just two singles by the Angels, with Bailey Ober pitching the final three innings to earn his first career save.
Ryan Johnson (5-9) yielded three runs on seven hits and couldn’t get out of the fifth inning despite striking out six for the AL-worst Angels (60-96) in the home finale of their 11th consecutive losing season and their 12th straight non-playoff campaign, both the longest active streaks in the majors.
Bell and Roden singled in runs with two outs in the third, and Bell added another two-out RBI single in the fifth to chase Johnson.
Emmanuel Rodriguez got credit for a double in the sixth even though Jose Siri dropped his catchable fly ball to the warning track in center. Rodriguez beat Siri’s throw to score on a single by Ben Ross, who then stole second and scored when Zach Neto let the throw trickle into center.
Up next for the Angels: Yusei Kikuchi (1-6, 5.02 ERA) makes the 13th start of his injury-plagued season in West Sacramento against the Athletics on Tuesday night.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Thirteen division titles in 14 seasons, and in the year they didn’t win, they had 106 victories. We don’t have a lot to complain about.
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Division titles and Ryan Ward
—The Dodgers won the division title again, clinching it Thursday with their win over the Reds. Remember the olden days of yesteryear when winning the division was a huge deal? Now it is blasé. Dodgers fans live in a time where they have an embarrassment of riches,
Let’s look at how many NL West titles each team has won since divisional play began in 1969:
Dodgers, 24 San Francisco, 9 Cincinnati, 7 Arizona, 5 Atlanta, 5 San Diego, 5 Houston, 2
There was no official winner in 1994, which was ended by a labor dispute.
I guess I’m feeling extra nostalgic today, but I remember growing up the Dodgers’ biggest divisional rival was the Cincinnati Reds, who moved to the Central division in 1994 and have since won a grand total of zero division titles.
If we narrow NL West titles since 2000, we get:
Dodgers, 16 San Francisco, 5 Arizona, 4 San Diego, 2
Poor Colorado.
—The Dodgers made room for pitcher Kris Bubic on the 40-man roster by designating outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment. Ward has been a favorite of newsletter readers for a couple of seasons now, but he really had no place on the team anymore. He’s too old (28) to really be a prospect and his best triple-A season came in his third season at that level. His numbers declined in triple-A this season (you can see his numbers here).
He’s not great defensively, and the team already has corner outfielders who aren’t great defensively. They passed him over for Josue De Paula when they needed someone to fill in for Shohei Ohtani, and there are several outfielders in the system who are considered better than Ward.
In all likelihood, another team will pick him up and give him more playing time in the majors, something he wasn’t going to get with the Dodgers. Hopefully we see him next season in the “There names seem familiar” section of this newsletter.
Evidence of Dave Roberts’ growth
One of the knocks on Dave Roberts has always been his poor postseason managing. But his postseason managing has dramatically improved the last few seasons, and I’m not just saying that because they won the last two World Series. His decisions appear to not always be guided by analytics, like they are during the regular season. And it appears Roberts has indeed learned some things during his tenure. He recently appeared on the 6-1-1 podcast, hosted by former major leaguers Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, and had this to say:
“When you’re talking about winning 11 games in October, I couldn’t believe more that it’s about people, and players you can bet on,” Roberts said. “The heartbeat that the analytics doesn’t line up with. I think that early on, my mistake was I continued to use that same method of the regular season in the postseason….
He also had high praise for two of his players.
“Mookie has said to me, ‘Doc, we wouldn’t have won the World Series if it wasn’t for Shohei and Yamamoto. And his point was, the discipline that they had every single day, how they worked with intention every single day … it raised the level even higher for our guys.”
Forgotten Dodger: Pete Reiser
Pete Reiser in 1941.
(Associated Press)
Pete Reiser never met an outfield fence he didn’t like crashing into and it may have cost him a Hall of Fame career.
Harold Patrick Reiser was born on March 17, 1919, in St. Louis. He loved westerns and as a child often walked around wearing a cowboy hat and carrying toy guns, so people started calling him Pistol Pete, which stuck with him throughout his baseball career.
After playing in 58 games with the Dodgers in 1940, Reiser came into his own in 1941 when he hit a league-leading .343 to go with 117 runs, 39 doubles, 17 triples, 14 homers and 76 RBIs. He also played great defense in center. That got him second place in NL MVP voting behind teammate Dolph Camilli (Reiser should have won). Reiser led the league in nine categories.
He followed that by hitting .310 with 33 doubles and 10 homers in 1942, leading the league with 20 steals and making his second straight All-Star team. However, on July 18 of that year, he crashed full speed into the center-field fence, which was made of concrete, while chasing a fly ball. He ended up with a separated shoulder and fractured skull. In those days though, you didn’t let little things like a fractured skull slow you down. He returned to the lineup a week later, but he wasn’t the same. He hit .244 the rest of the season.
He then enlisted in the Army and spent three years there. In 1944, after a long march in below-zero weather, Reiser was diagnosed with pneumonia. The Army decided to put him in Fort Riley, Kan., so he could play for the camp’s baseball team. With Reiser on the team, they were virtually unbeatable and Reiser was given his own room and excused from all other duties.
Reiser returned to the majors in 1946 and broke his leg while stealing second. He crashed into the fence in St. Louis and missed some time. But he still led the league with 34 steals, though his batting average dropped to .277.
In 1947, he was chasing another fly ball when he crashed into the wall face first. This caused another fractured skull. He was given the Last Rites by a priest in the hospital before making a miraculous recovery. He ended up playing 110 games that season.
He was a bench player the following season, as he had put on a little weight and had been slowed tremendously by his numerous injuries. The Dodgers traded him to the Boston Braves after the season for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick.
By unofficial count, Reiser’s injuries over the years included four fracture skulls, multiple dislocated shoulders, two broken ankles, torn ligaments in both knees and and two beanings. He was carried off the field on a stretcher eleven times—five times when he was unconscious.
He retired after the 1952 season and came back to the Dodger organization as a roving minor-league hitting instructor. He joined Walter Alston’s coaching staff in L.A. in 1960 and helped tutor Maury Wills on how to steal bases. In an interview with this newsletter a few years ago, Wills made sure to give praise to Reiser as being a big part of his 104-steal season.
Reiser had a heart attack in 1965, went on to coach for other teams. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day throughout his adult life and died of emphysema in Palm Springs in 1981. He was only 62.
The postseason race
Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. Milwaukee and the Dodgers have clinched division titles.
Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.
These names seem familiar
How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Wednesday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:
Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.46 ERA, 2 saves, 34.1 IP, 31 hits, 15 walks, 33 K’s, 95 ERA+, out for the season
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
It is now 11 years since the Cherries were first promoted to the Premier League, meaning there is now a generation of supporters who will view top-flight football as the norm.
From that perspective then, qualifying and playing in Europe might simply appear the next logical step for a well-run and ambitious club.
“It’s a brilliant win in our first European game. It’s brilliant for the club and the 2,000 fans from Bournemouth,” manager Marco Rose told TNT Sports.
Yet for the vast majority of fans celebrating a famous victory on Thursday, the whole thing still seems surreal.
Just 18 years ago, the club was on the brink. A 10-point deduction for entering administration resulted in their relegation to League Two.
To even stay in the Football League for the 2008-09 season, they had to accept a 17-point deduction and agree not to appeal against the decision after it was ruled that, as they had been unable to agree a Company Voluntary Arrangement, they had not met their terms for exiting administration.
Thoughts of a £100m-rated midfielder picking out a Brazil winger to head Bournemouth to victory in Europe was the stuff of fantasy as the Dorset club battled for survival.
But that now is Bournemouth’s reality with Alex Scott swaggering around San Sebastian, showing why there is such a clammer for his signature among top Premier League clubs, and Rayan providing another example of why the Cherries will demand every penny of a reported £130m release clause to let him go.
Bournemouth have nothing to compare it to but this was a proper European away performance.
Up against a Real Sociedad side led by a World Cup-winning forward in Mikel Oyarzabal and who beat Atletico Madrid to win the Copa del Rey last season, they were dominant for 45 minutes.
They suffocated Sociedad with their relentlessness off the ball, winning the ball back high up the pitch time and again and showing the quality on the ball to create chances – even when the defence was set.
But there is an edge to the Basque side and, poor as they had been, that they came out fighting after the break was no surprise.
The adrenaline-fueled exuberance of Rose’s side in the first half appeared to catch up with them in the second, but their desire to compete never wavered.
Bournemouth are not known for their defensive resilience and, as Sociedad ramped up the pressure as the game wore on, thoughts might have turned to leads surrendered in each of their first four Premier League games.
But the Cherries, aided by the sharp reflexes of Djordje Petrovic in goal, held on to secure a famous win.
“It was very intense and tough,” Rose told TNT Sports.
“Brilliant first half in everything. The way we won balls and the possession high up. In the second half, we needed to suffer because we were not so sharp.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Solent, former Cherries full-back Charlie Daniels added: “It is a big occasion. A big moment for the club, and they should be applauded for it.”
CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.
Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.
Snell threw 19 pitches. Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.
Wednesday marked Snell’s eighth start of the season. His 2026 debut was delayed by shoulder fatigue. After one start, he landed back on the injured list to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow.
Since returning, he hasn’t given up more than one run in a start. Through Wednesday’s abbreviated outing, Snell has a 1.86 ERA.
Snell has a history of left groin and adductor strains. He spent time on the IL in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for such injuries.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. There are only 13 games remaining in the regular season. Time flies when you are having fun.
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A different opinion
Throughout the season, I like to occasionally reach out to others to see what they think of the Dodgers so the readers are not exposed to just my viewpoint. This time I reached out to two of my favorite sports people.
I have listened to sports talk radio for about 50 years. Bud Furillo, Superfan, Rick Talley, Joe McDonnell, Steve Edwards, Fred Wallin, Steve Somers and many, many others. For me, “The Mason and Ireland Show,” hosted by Steve Mason and John Ireland and currently on ESPN Radio, surpasses them all. They can talk knowledgeably about any of our local teams, and the Dodgers are no exception. They were kind enough to answer a few questions.
Q. With the postseason rapidly approaching, how would you assess the Dodgers’ season so far?
Ireland: Surprising, in this sense: the Dodgers are heavy favorites to win it all, but they rarely beat good teams. Since the All Star break, they are 6-16 against teams with winning records. That’s obviously not good, and doesn’t bode well for the postseason. But having said that, for the Dodgers, the regular season is basically a dress rehearsal for the playoffs. I’m not sure they’re motivated until October. Maybe they’ll “flip a switch” and turn it on when it counts. We’ll see.
Mason: The Dodgers seem to be in a good groove right now. Mookie is starting to look like Mookie. Teo has come around. But hard to judge this team without a healthy Andy Pages and with Ohtani on the IL. I worry that as an organization, they didn’t get Shohei off his feet sooner. He has wrestled with injury for the last couple of months, and his biggest at bats are coming in October. They still have a chance to win 100 games, and they’re in position to three-peat, but with the playoffs, it’s a crapshoot. It’s a historically good rotation, but will those bats be clicking at the right time?
Q. The Dodgers have won two World Series in a row. Winning a third would be great, but if they don’t, does winning two in a row make up for it?
Ireland: Absolutely. Let’s face it, most teams want to be the Dodgers. A seemingly unlimited payroll, best manager in baseball, best front office. It’s incredibly hard to win two World Series in a row, and almost impossible to win three straight. No National League team has ever done it. So if they pull it off, it’s icing on the cake. But the cake has been great.
Mason: When the Yankees clinched their three-peat in 2000, they only won 87 games and lost 15 of their final 18. That shows you how hard it is. Honestly, the odds are strongly stacked against anybody winning three in a row, but if they fail, it is not a waste of a season. When you go back-to-back, you’ve got to show a lot of gratitude to the organization and to those players. A lot has to go right to win it all.
Q. Do you think Shohei Ohtani should just stop pitching altogether and focus on hitting the rest of his career?
Ireland: Selfishly, I hope he does both. That’s what makes him the best baseball player I’ve ever seen in person. But it’s obviously hard, and he’s had to shut down pitching at least three times since he came over from Japan. This year, it seemed to me that he was going for the Cy Young Award, while trying to keep up his offensive numbers, and it didn’t work. So maybe they do just let him hit moving forward, but I hope not. One thing that complicates things is that at least so far, the Dodgers have let Shohei do what he wants. And my sense is that he wants to continue to pitch and hit, so that figures into this too. It may not be a Dodgers decision — it might be Shohei.
Mason: I really want Shohei to do both, but in a specific way. He’s never going to give you 25 starts, and as good as he is, I cannot imagine him winning the Cy Young. He started 14 games to start the season this year — I say, instead, put those 14 starts at the end of the season. Ramp him up after the All-Star break, and have him ready to contribute on the mound in October. I was there for the magical night in the playoffs last year, when he hit three home runs and struck out 10. As a baseball fan, I really want to see him do both.
Q. If you were put in charge of the Dodgers and could make three immediate changes to the organization, be it on field, the stadium, whatever, what would you choose?
Ireland: For starters, I would address affordability. Most Dodgers fans have been priced out. They lead the league in attendance every year, so they have a business model that works. But I would take two or three sections in the upper deck and make those $5 tickets. They can afford it, and I think the gesture alone would score major points with fans.
On the field, they need to get younger. Freddie Freeman is 36, and so is Max Muncy. Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, and Blake Snell are all 33. Andrew Friedman has been great at roster building, so they have the right guy. But it isn’t easy to say goodbye to great players as they age out, and he’s facing that now.
Finally, everybody I know thinks there’s a lockout coming. To me, that would ruin all of the progress baseball has made over the last five years. The game has never been better. All of the rule changes have worked, and the pitch clock has been brilliant. Most people feel the Dodgers are the main reason for the lockout. They outspend everybody, have a sweetheart TV deal, and most small market teams can’t keep up. The Dodgers need to lead the charge to avoid this lockout. I’m against a salary cap, but everything should be on the table. I would lock both sides in a room and tell them not to come out until they have a deal. It’s a huge story that we probably don’t talk about enough.
Mason: First I would expand the number of retired jerseys. It would be great to see guys like Maury Wills, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes, Orel Hershiser and other Dodger greats receive that honor.
Andrew Friedman is a genius, but he has overspent on guys like Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz. I’d like to see them consider more of their minor league talent employed. Love that Rushing and Freeland have had strong moments this year, but instead of signing Tucker, why not find a way to use De Paula or Tibbs or Sirota. I know they are unproven, but once upon a time, so was Andy Pages.
Pet peeve of mind, but I don’t like the brand of Dodger Dogs being served. Farmer John hot dogs had a better taste and texture than the ones they are using now. Plus, Dodger Dogs are much better when grilled, so why are there so many boiled hot dogs at the stadium?
Q. Favorite Dodger of all time?
Ireland: Can I say Vin Scully, or is that cheating? I say all the time that I grew up going to Sportscasters School, but I just didn’t know it. For years, I listened to Vin call the Dodgers, Chick Hearn call the Lakers, Dick Enberg call the Angels and Bob Miller call the Kings. FOUR Hall of Fame announcers — I didn’t know what a bad announcer sounded like until I moved out of L.A. But I had this exchange with my Dad before he died in 2017:
Dad: “If you want to be a sports announcer, you better study more than just the sports page.”
Me: “Not necessary — I just need to call the games.”
Dad: “Listen to Vin Scully — he talks about EVERYTHING.”
Of course, my Dad was right. Listening to Vin was a history lesson every time he did a game. I learned more from him than I did from a lot of my professors at UCLA.
Mason: Back in the day, I would have said Sandy Koufax, who I had the pleasure of meeting at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, but nobody, in the history of the game has awed me the way that Shohei Ohtani has. His performance in NLCS Game 4 last year is the greatest I have ever witnessed in person. Better than any athlete in any sport. I have been a baseball fan all my life, and I could never have even imagined that was possible. I also love Ohtani’s Harada chart, basically his goals in life and career. One of his goals has been to “be someone people root for.” Hard to find anybody who is not amazed by both his talent and his humility.
Q. I have long said that the Mason and Ireland show is the best sports talk show of all time. Do you guys remember when you first met? First impressions? And remind the readers where they can listen to you now.
Ireland: Mason and I were kind of a weird shotgun wedding in the beginning. In the early ‘90s, he moved to XTRA in San Diego from Toledo, Ohio, to do mornings. After a few months, the station decided they didn’t like him. So they moved him to nights in an effort to try and get him to quit.
I was a TV guy in San Diego, who filled in on the radio station when they needed somebody. They called me and said, “We’re going to put you on at night with Steve Mason, but he’s not happy with us. Anything could happen.” On the first night, I walked in and Mason was working on a screenplay on his computer and he told me, “Just have fun and say anything you want — I won’t be here for long anyway.” So we just started goofing around, and I asked Mase on the air why he thought mornings didn’t work. He started making fun of himself, then me, and we just clicked.
After it was over, I called the program director and said, “You guys are idiots — Mason is fantastic. If you can’t build a show around him, you don’t get it.” The more Mason stopped caring, the better he got. They came back to him and said, “That’s the guy we thought we were getting from Ohio.” They told him they wanted him to stay, and told him he could pick his partner. He picked me, and we were off and running. The first week was pretty bad, but we were following a failed show, so they let us work through it, and we’ve been at it ever since.
We’re on every day from noon to 3 p.m. on ESPN LA, and we post a podcast of every show as soon as it ends. You can also listen live on the ESPN LA app from anywhere in the world, which is a free app that works great. Also, you can find Mason’s podcast, “Mason Plus,” on that app, which has some great deep dives with a lot of cool people in and out of sports.
Mason: Thank you for the kind words. John’s story of our meeting and partnership is right on. In radio, there is this idea that you can throw any two people in a studio and they will automatically do great radio. It just doesn’t work like that. John and I clicked immediately. The show has always been good because John and I are so different. He’s Corona del Mar, and I am a kid from Toledo. Even now, he’s very Manhattan Beach, and I’m very Venice. We see the world differently, which leads to healthy debate, but we have a deep respect for each other and for what we have built.
The postseason race
The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the NL West is four. Here are the postseason seedings as of Thursday’s games. The three division winners get the top three seeds, followed by the three teams with the best records. The top two division winners get a first-round bye. The division winner with the worst record plays the wild-card team with the worst record, and the other wild-card teams play each other in the best-of-three wild-card round that begins Tuesday, Sept. 29.
Remember, there are no extra games to break ties anymore. It all comes down to tiebreakers. Atlanta and Milwaukee have the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. For the wild card, the Cubs have the advantage over the Phillies, having won six of seven games against each other. The Diamondbacks and Padres have split 10 games, but their final three games this season are against each other, so that very well could determine the final wild-card spot.
The Dodgers won it all last season without a first-round bye, but with all the injuries, it would be nice to get that bye this season. They have only three games remaining against a team with a winning record, so they really have no one to blame but themselves if they don’t get it.
Up next
Monday: Dodgers (*Tarik Skubal, 9-7, 2.84 ERA [2-2, 2.93 ERA with Dodgers]) at Cincinnati (*Nick Lodolo, 3-4, 5.12 ERA), 3:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Vin Scully is interviewed by the Braves announcers during his final season. 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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
For Cami, a content creator and podcast host from Northampton, September spells the end of summer spontaneity and a time to restore order.
“If you’ve been away for the summer you’ve probably not had a massive routine,” she says. “And if you’re a parent, then you’ve got kids at home and it’s just a bit more chaotic,” she says.
September feels like “back to school…getting back into your own rhythm”, she adds.
It is the perfect time to “get everything sorted”, she says “So when you get to January you’re not trying to do everything at once.
For Bas Verplanken, professor emeritus of social psychology at the University of Bath, September is a chance to “reorient yourself”.
He says his research suggests people who experienced a big change such as moving house “were more responsive to an intervention aimed at promoting sustainable behaviours” than comparable people who had not moved house.
“It’s really an exciting way of looking at disruption,” he told Chris and Xand van Tulleken on their What’s Up Docs? podcast.
If your daily commute or school run works for you then relax back into them.
“But if there are alternative ways of doing things, explore it, this is the time to do it, and to make those changes,” says Verplanken.
Jim Harbaugh wants his teams to finish seasons the way they start them.
If the Chargers do that, they’re going all the way.
Counting his four seasons with San Francisco, Harbaugh is 6-0 in NFL season debuts as a head coach. That’s tied for the most opening victories without a loss in league history.
“It’s September. It’s time to play our first game,” Harbaugh told reporters this week. “And I support no cause, foreign or domestic, other than the greatness of the Los Angeles Chargers.”
His team plays host to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and oddsmakers see a blowout in the making. The Chargers are favored by 9½ points, the biggest spread of Week 1.
Despite a 2-0 start last season, the Cardinals lost 14 of the next 15 and wound up with the third overall pick in the NFL draft, which they used on Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. The rookie is questionable for this game because of an ankle injury.
Their quarterback is no longer Kyler Murray, now in Minnesota, but Jacoby Brissett, who is on his sixth franchise — and seventh if you count two stops in New England.
This game is the “Mike” drop, if you will, with Mike LaFleur coaching his first game for Arizona, and Mike McDaniel making his debut as Chargers offensive coordinator.
LaFleur and McDaniel have history. They were young offensive assistants in Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco and both represent branches of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree.
There’s a link too between Harbaugh and LaFleur. Both are younger brothers of other current NFL head coaches: Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers and John Harbaugh of the New York Giants.
