LAS VEGAS — When the Dodgers and Cubs met at the beginning of August, it was notable that Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was even challenging Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani for National League most valuable player.
Ohtani was on a streak of three straight MVP seasons and working to return to the mound after what was expected to be a temporary shutdown around the All-Star break. So even as Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong traded leadoff home runs, it felt like a peak in a race that could tilt in Ohtani’s favor in the final months of the season.
Tilt it did — the other way.
Ohtani never did return to the mound, and his offense suffered as injuries mounted down the stretch. Crow-Armstrong never cooled off and ran away with the MVP, officially claiming the award Thursday in a unanimous vote. He was the 11th unanimous NL MVP in the history of the award. Ohtani finished second.
Ohtani’s two-way skill set is so unique that any time he pitches and hits for an entire season, he’s practically guaranteed the MVP — he won the award twice with the Angels in 2021 and 2023 before winning two with the Dodgers in 2024 and 2025. But the Dodgers’ first attempt at guiding him though a full two-way season crashed and burned in the wake of a lingering left knee injury and recurring right biceps issue.
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs.
(Isaac Wasserman / Getty Images)
The Dodgers are set on having Ohtani return to two-way duties in 2027. But now they’re left to diagnose what went wrong this year and figure out how to avoid the same pitfalls moving forward.
“The good thing is, it’s going to be a normal offseason,” general manager Brandon Gomes said, referring to Ohtani’s health status. “And as we get deeper into the offseason, understanding what our roster looks like, and then having those conversations of, ‘How do we best lay this out to set everybody up to be as good as they can come October?’
“And that’s always the goal. I know it’s so boring and we pound it into the ground. But I think for Sho in particular, it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s get back to feeling 100%, have the normal offseason, like you’re going to have, and then have that conversation based on what our team looks like and rotation and all of that.”
The Dodgers have made clear that plotting Ohtani’s pitching plan will be a collaborative effort that will involve conversations throughout the year. But they have plenty of options for how they could manage his workload.
They could pull him from the batting order on days he pitches, and/or build in more full recovery days after his starts on the mound. They add more days in between his pitching starts. They could have him lighten his pitching load midseason and then ramp up again for the postseason. They could delay his return to the mound.
“I think Shohei’s open to putting the team in the best position to win,” Gomes said. “And I think that is the number one thing that he’s shown over and over again, is that he cares deeply about the Dodgers winning and puts that at the forefront. So I think that’s why these conversations are really important.”
The Dodgers are missing one major piece of information that will affect their path forward: the length of the 2027 season.
Privately, baseball agents and executives’ estimates span a wide range of possibilities, from a sub-100-game season, to a late start but no games lost. It will remain ambiguous well into the lockout, which owners are expected to impose when the current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1.
So, pitchers across MLB will have the unenviable task of planning their offseason buildup without the clarity of an opening-day target.
In that kind of environment, it could be in Ohtani’s best interest to put off a pitching ramp-up at least until the lockout ends and the season schedule is set. But he and the Dodgers have a little over two weeks to talk through those decisions. Once the lockout begins, teams will be restricted from communicating with the players on their 40-man rosters.
Said Gomes: “I feel strongly that Sho will have himself prepared in the way that he feels is best to go out and dominate next year.”
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WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders are placing an early emphasis on healthcare as they discuss their immediate priorities upon the swearing-in of the new Congress on Jan. 3.
Early votes in the House next year are expected to focus on boosting Medicaid and restoring an enhanced tax subsidy that is designed to lower the cost of Affordable Care Act health plans for millions of enrollees.
Democrats are also promising swift action on legislation to stop the war with Iran and to reverse some of President Trump’s tariffs.
“We’re going to get out of the gate fast,” said New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who is in line to become the next House speaker.
The legislative flurry carries enormous stakes for Democrats as they seek to translate their sweeping victories in the midterms — their numbers will exceed 250 in the 435-member House — into achievements that deliver on their promises to lower the cost of living.
Passing those bills should not be a problem with such a large Democratic House majority. Getting them signed into law most certainly could be.
A 60-vote threshold in the Senate looms for the legislation, as does a potential presidential veto. Trump on election night posted a photo on his social media site of a red hat with a simple message on it: “Veto.”
Following those early votes, Jeffries said five working groups are developing plans to put forward bills that would lower costs in areas such as housing, energy, groceries and caregiving.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said Democrats will at some point take up legislation dealing with artificial intelligence and data centers. He is part of a group of lawmakers working on a document that will lay out some of the priorities for Jeffries to consider.
“House Republicans last year made a conscious decision to let the AI industry run wild, and that was a bad decision politically and a bad decision on policy,” Lieu said. “Two things will change next term. We will hold public hearings on AI. We will pass legislation, reasonable guardrails on AI, and specifically data centers.”
Democrats are trying to reverse Medicaid changes that are expected to cut more than $900 billion from the program over a decade. The Republican-approved cuts helped offset some of the costs of Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill that was signed into law last year. The Medicaid changes in the bill imposed new administrative requirements and added conditions for eligibility, including work requirements.
Some of the most substantial changes have yet to take effect. Still, enrollment in Medicaid has dropped by about 5 million, or about 7%, since July 2025, when the bill was signed into law, according to KFF, a health policy research and news organization.
Reversing those cuts would probably require Trump and the Republicans to abandon the hard-fought changes they made to cut entitlement spending in their signature tax bill. It’s an unlikely proposition.
The effort to extend enhanced tax subsidies for certain enrollees in ACA plans has also been debated and voted on in the current Congress. The measure passed the House with some Republican support but stalled in the Senate.
There also have been numerous war powers votes regarding Iran — 14 in the Senate and six in the House.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said going into the election that a Democratic majority in the next Congress would amount to “two years of paralysis.”
“I don’t think that’s good for anybody,” Thune said.
But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York is insisting that his party will push its agenda with or without the Republican president’s help.
“If he vetoes it, it will show the divisions. As much as we didn’t want to shut down, when we shut down the government for a month over healthcare, people knew we were on their side,” Schumer said in an interview with the New York Times’ podcast “The Daily.”
Schumer said he believes Democrats can gain some Republican votes on restoring the enhanced subsidies for ACA plans. When asked if he was hearing from Republicans expressing a willingness to work with him on legislation, he replied: “They’re never so definitive but, yes, I am getting initial signs that way on certain issues, not on every issue.”
While the prospects for getting any of the early priority bills over the finish line are uncertain, the votes in Congress will help frame the choices voters will face during a presidential election in 2028.
Progressive groups call the agenda outlined by Jeffries a good early start, but they have much greater expectations for Democrats this Congress.
“It’s perfectly fine if the Senate and the House are unified and Donald Trump is standing in the way because that sets up another tidal wave election in 2028,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Democratic-aligned group that backs progressive candidates and policies.
At the same time, he said Schumer cannot be content to let bills die in the Senate because of the 60-vote threshold.
“It will require the Democrats to get rid of the filibuster,” Green said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
He said there’s a disparity because Republicans’ top priorities — tax cuts and Supreme Court justices — can get through with simple majorities. But the Democratic Party’s top priorities require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.
“The only question is will the American public trust Democrats enough to keep giving us more power or will this week’s gains whittle away because we do nothing? That’s why the filibuster is a threshold question,” Green said last week.
Schumer, in an interview with the Associated Press last week, would not say whether he would try to eliminate the filibuster.
“The focus has got to be on getting things done,” Schumer said. “That’s all I am saying.”
In a memo to fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said Democrats also need to target what he called “powerful forces outside of government.” Examples he cited were corporations using Americans’ private data to adjust their pricing based on a consumer’s personal data and AI companies that he says are putting jobs and lives at risk.
“By focusing not just on the Trump administration but also on big corporations and billionaires, we will show the American people we are not just anti-Trump but also pro-worker and pro-consumer,” Casar said.
Freking writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Robert Baloucoune, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Mack Hansen; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Tom O’Toole, Sam Illo, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ciaran Frawley or Jamie Benson, Bundee Aki.
Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia; Bautista Delguy, Justo Piccardo, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo, Carreras; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Boris Wegner, Julian Montoya (capt), Francisco Moreno; Guido Petti, Pefro Rubiolo; Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera.
Replacements: Leonel Oviedo, Mayco Vivas, Joel Sclavi, Efrain Elias, Juan Martin Scelzo, Simon Benitez Cruz, Geronimo Prisciantelli, Lucio Cinti
Polls to start closing in waves across the country, with the earliest closures at 23:00 GMT in Indiana and Kentucky.
Published On 3 Nov 20263 Nov 2026
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For much of Sunday’s game between the Rams and the Chargers, it was impossible to distinguish:
Which team had arrived at SoFi Stadium winless?
The Chargers, who had not won a game since last season, looked the part.
But so did the supposedly we’re-ready-to-make-a-run Rams.
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in a 24-9 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
The Rams showed life at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, and that ultimately proved enough for a 24-9 victory in front of 73,621.
Matthew Stafford passed for a touchdown and Blake Corum and Kyren Williams rushed for touchdowns as the Rams improved their record to 4-4.
Safety Quentin Lake and cornerback Trent McDuffie intercepted passes to foil a Justin Herbert-led offense that went into the game as the NFL’s lowest-scoring outfit and did little to foster reason for optimism.
For a mostly underperforming Rams team that began the season as an overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI, it has turned into a season of firsts.
Consider: For the first time this season, the Rams have won two games in a row.
They did it, for the first time, with two kickers — Joshua Karty and Brandon McManus — active for a game, though the kicking-game problems are far from resolved.
And yet the Rams found a way to win the kind of game they had previously lost. Who can forget their 18-15 defeat by the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, a loss in which the Cardinals — like the Chargers — did not score a touchdown?
“Our team is becoming battle tested and finding ways to win those games that maybe we didn’t earlier on in the year,” said Stafford, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.
McVay had bristled this week when asked if he feared a letdown by his team against a winless opponent.
“I couldn’t care less about what their record is,” McVay said. “I would hope that we’re mature and professional enough to know that we have to be able to have the right focus, concentration, level of urgency.”
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1. Rams safety Quentin Lake intercepts a pass in the first half. 2. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh walks on the sideline in the fourth quarter. 3. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert slides for a short gain against the Rams in the first half Sunday at SoFi Stadium. 4. Rams offensive linemen run onto the field before the start of the game. 5. Rams coach Sean McVay celebrates with Jordan Whittington and Matthew Stafford after a touchdown in the second half.
Message apparently not received.
The Rams, the NFL’s top offense in yards per game, generated only 24 yards in 15 plays during their first five possessions and were zero for five on third down.
“Couldn’t have started any worse offensively,” McVay said.
For a time, they looked in danger of repeating 2020, when they lost to the 0-13 New York Jets at SoFi Stadium.
“To even establish any sort of momentum or rhythm was nonexistent for us,” McVay said.
But the Rams’ defense stepped up.
“Our job is, ‘OK, if the offense can’t create momentum, how can we create that for them,’” Lake said. “We were able to do that.”
The hapless Chargers also lent a hand.
They fell to 0-7 for the first time 2000, when they finished 1-15.
It was the Chargers’ 10th straight loss dating to last season, and no doubt keeps offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel on the hot seat.
Herbert continued to struggle, increasing his league-leading interception total to 10. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 257 yards.
The Rams led 10-9 at halftime after Williams rushed for a short touchdown in the final minute to cap a five-play, 66-yard drive.
The Chargers’ frustration could be summed up in one play: Receiver Ladd McConkey hauled in Herbert’s desperation 54-yard pass on the final snap of the second quarter … at the one-yard line.
The Rams came out strong to start the second half, Corum breaking off a 23-yard touchdown run for a 17-9 lead. Late in the third quarter, McDuffie picked off a pass, setting up Puka Nacua’s 18-yard catch and run for a touchdown.
As they did in last week’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Corum and Williams proved a valuable combination. Corum rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown in 11 carries and Williams had 56 rushing yards and a touchdown in 16 carries.
The Rams play at Washington next Sunday and at Arizona the following week. They will have a short bye week before playing the Green Bay Packers the night before Thanksgiving.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua slips a tackle by Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart on his way to scoring a touchdown in the third quarter Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
So there is ample opportunity for the Rams to put together a win streak worthy of a star-studded team that was built to play in the Super Bowl in February.
McVay has indicated that the Rams would not be very active as next week’s NFL trade deadline approaches, saying that the team would count on the return of injured players.
But the injured list might continue to grow.
Cornerbacks McDuffie and Jaylen Watson both left against the Chargers because of back and shoulder injuries, respectively.
That did not keep the Rams from breathing a sigh of relief. They had avoided a loss to their winless neighbors.
“It’s not something that we can exhale from,” said Nacua, who caught 11 passes for 80 yards. “There’s still a lot of improvement.”
But for a day at least, they could cling to a hint of momentum.
Rams running back Blake Corum breaks a tackle from Chargers safety Elijah Molden on his way to scoring a touchdown Sunday.
On the face of it, Ulster are without a victory in their four United Rugby Championship outings this season.
But head coach Richie Murphy is not ready to hit the panic button.
Despite a winless start, the Irish province are just one point outside the play-off places despite a struggle for results.
An opening defeat by Edinburgh was followed by two thrilling draws against Glasgow and Munster, and then a loss to the Bulls in the first of a South African double-header.
There has been a constant theme throughout: Ulster have allowed the opposition to build an early – and often significant – lead.
On each occasion they have fought back, but have yet to seal a comeback with victory.
Murphy admits his side have been “digging a bit of a hole” in each of their four matches this season.
“Obviously, we’re not quite getting the results that we wanted, but we’re in every game,” said Murphy, whose side defeated Zebre in their Challenge Cup opener.
“We’re playing against top-class opposition and we’re fighting for everything we can get.”
“It’s really important that we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We will stick to our process and stick to what we believe in, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Manchester City’s perfect record in the Women’s Super League is ended by rivals Manchester United after Elisabeth Terland scores a late equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw.
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In the most complimentary way, I ask: What the heck was that first half, UCLA?
Yes, really. With Saturday’s 28-10 victory over Michigan State, Bob Chesney has the Bruins football team 7-0 for the first time since 2005. Still undefeated and still the only team in the Big Ten — and SEC — conferences that can say so. Ranked No. 9 in the nation and moving on up.
And so I ask: Two lost fumbles before halftime? Two drops? Two holding penalties? A meager 84 yards through the air and a modest 14-7 halftime lead? Against a majorly depleted Michigan State team fielding a freshman third-stringer at quarterback — that also lost two more of its best players to injury in the first half?
These Bruins are too good to be letting the wounded Spartans (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten) hang with them for even a half.
And yet, for a hot moment, doubt started to creep back in: Was this the day Chesney’s chariot turned back into a pumpkin? Was the last petal from the enchanted rose about to fall, this beauty of a season due to turn ugly? Was the fairy tale almost over?
No. The nation’s best second-half team gathered itself — “at halftime in the locker room, guys coming over, ‘Let’s go, man. We got you!” quarterback Ty Dieffenbach said — exerted its will and outscored the Spartans 14-0 in the third quarter. They mercifully ran out the clock with a commanding 28-7 lead going into the fourth and improved to a tidy 5-0 in the Big Ten.
It’s what Chesney’s teams do.
Last season at James Madison, the Dukes led the nation in second-half scoring, averaging 20.9 points per game.
And this charmed season at UCLA, the Bruins came into Saturday’s game averaging the second-most second-half points in the nation (20.8).
Being able to bear down and wear down opponents is a sign of a good team.
Being able to jump on them at the outset would be the sign of a great one.
Let’s fast-forward a year. You’ve stopped pinching yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming and the Bruins — who were unranked and unheralded to start the season after so many years of ineptitude — really are in control of their own College Football Playoff destiny.
UCLA linebacker Donavyn Pellot celebrates with linebacker Sammy Omosigho, left, after a 67-yard interception return against Michigan State on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A year from now, you’ll have been conditioned to expect them to win these games, and you’ll no longer be worried about whether this was all a dream.
But you would be concerned about slow starts. You’d bemoan sluggish opening acts and fret about how that might bite the Bruins in the big games that are looming.
Chesney doesn’t have to make that imaginative leap into the future.
He’s worried about it now. And that’s why his Bruins are legitimately a team to contend with, because he’s coaching them to be that. He expects it: “When you walk on that field on Saturday, you walk out and know that you’ve done it the right way, and that’s how you treat something that’s important. Not special, but important.”
And so I ask: Why didn’t UCLA treat the first half like it was important Saturday?
“Two fumbles, two drops, two holding penalties? You can’t do it, you just can’t do it if you want to win really close games,” said Chesney, the first-year UCLA coach, who said he’d spend the week before the Bruins host Nevada in a nonconference Halloween game by emphasizing ball security at practice and that he’d watch the tape to determine what triggered the holding penalties.
“We’re taking three, four touchdowns off the board by doing that,” Chesney added. “Never going to let this happen again.”
UCLA can’t because it doesn’t have any room for error.
UCLA coach Bob Chesney works with players before a 28-10 win over Michigan State at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
If the Bruins win out, Chesney will have directed an underdog to a surprise CFP berth for the second consecutive season. But if the Bruins lose a game, it gets dicey.
Never mind the rows of recruits at Saturday’s victory, and forget for a moment about the fans who are slowly finding their way back to the Rose Bowl for Bruins football games. UCLA needs to continue to impress the computers and the pollsters and CFP committee members who could eventually determine UCLA’s fate if the Bruins don’t do it themselves.
And though no fault of Chesney’s, UCLA is playing a soft schedule. Per ESPN, the Bruins’ slate was the 51st easiest coming into the season and what remains of it is the 64th easiest.
And UCLA, which is winning behind a backup quarterback, which went 3-9 last season and which had so much ground to cover after starting the season outside of the top 25 — won’t likely get anyone’s benefit of the doubt if a first-half lull leads to a loss.
The Bruins are proving themselves probably the best team in the nation after halftime.
If they can do that, why not aim to be the best team in the nation?
Fours (quarters) up!?
Published On 24 Oct 202624 Oct 2026
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the beginning of the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak that started in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a social media post on Friday that participants in the trial were vaccinated with the Ervebo vaccine in Bunia, the capital of the DRC’s northeastern Ituri province, which is the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak.
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Ervebo, a vaccine approved for use against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, will be put through a full-scale human trial to see if it offers any cross-protection against the Bundibugyo species of Ebola that is behind the epidemic.
“This trial will help us understand whether any of the vaccine candidates designed for Bundibugyo virus work,” the WHO chief said on X.
“WHO is supporting this DRC-led effort to find answers and save lives,” he added.
The DRC declared its 17th and worst-ever Ebola outbreak in May and has since reported more than 9,700 cases, with the number of deaths exceeding 4,600.
The WHO, in response, triggered a public health emergency of international concern, its second-highest alert level.
The current outbreak has now been reported in four countries across eastern, central and western Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.
The so-called Tumaini trial is a single trial framework that can test the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of multiple vaccines.
The trial will use a ring vaccination approach: immunising contacts deemed to be at high risk of infection.
The trial is set to incorporate two Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccines, which are currently advancing through earlier-stage, smaller-scale clinical trials.
One is a ChAdOx1 adenoviral vector jab being developed by the University of Oxford; the other, by the US-based Moderna group, uses mRNA technology.
Both have received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and are expected to enter the trial “shortly”, CEPI said in a statement.
The trial will include pregnant women and children aged 12 years and older, generating evidence for populations that are often excluded from clinical trials.
WHO emergencies director Chikwe Ihekweazu said the trial was set up to generate the rigorous evidence needed to determine whether the participating vaccines could protect people at risk.
FANCY travelling through Europe in the comfort of your own private cabin rather than a cramped plane? This new sleeper train might be the answer.
Nox Mobility is launching next year as an alternative to short-haul flights – and they’re pretty cheap too.
The sleeper train will launch in March next year with its first journey between Hamburg and Munich with stops in Bremen and Augsburg.
The inaugural run will leave Hamburg at 9.22pm and arrive at 8.14am – there will go in each direction three times per week.
Tickets are affordable too with one-way fares starting from €65 (£55).
Rather than regular train carriages, inside will be Nox Suites – a private area for each passenger with a seat that opens into a lounge to work or unwind.
Inside is also a two-metre-long bed, storage, charging ports and a window to gaze out of.
There’s also no restaurant carriage on Nox Mobility, however you can pre-order meals to be served in your cabin and breakfast is available as an optional add-on.
On Nox, children under the age of four are allowed to travel for free with an adult passenger.
It also teased future rooms which are actually private cabins.
The Single Loft has a seat and desk for the day with a bed for during the night.
The Double Loft is the most spacious room with a 170cm wide bed, two seats and a panoramic window to take in the views.
The Double Vista has ‘two seats by day and two beds by night’ in a private room with a full window.
It also hopes to launch more journeys later on to cities like Stockholm, Vienna, Amsterdam, Toulouse, Barcelona all the way to Reggio di Calabria in Italy.
In fact by 2035 it aims to connect 100 European cities.
Thibault Constant, co-founder of Nox said: “Sleeping while a train gets you across Europe is a great concept. But today people have to share their cabins with strangers, beds are tight, and it’s often more expensive than air travel.
“We want to change that and make night trains an essential part of European travel.”
Match of the Day pundits Nedum Onuoha and Stephen Warnock analyse Manchester United’s performance after their 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como, and discuss midfielder Bruno Fernandes’ criticism of team tactics.
WATCH MORE: Champions League video on BBC Sport
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Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande score stunners as Real beat Leipzig to make it three from three in Champions League.
Published On 21 Oct 202621 Oct 2026
Real Madrid claimed a third Champions League victory in as many games, thrashing RB Leipzig 4-1 on Wednesday, with Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande among the goalscorers for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for Madrid from close range late in a tight first half, with Arda Guler doubling the advantage of the record 15-time European champions soon after the interval.
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Mbappe bent home a third before Tidiam Gomis pulled one back for the German side, and Diomande rammed a volley into the top corner late on to cap Madrid’s triumph.
Their fourth consecutive win across all competitions will boost Madrid’s morale ahead of Sunday’s La Liga Clasico against bitter rivals Barcelona.
Without a major trophy in two seasons and after a shaky domestic start, Madrid can at least boast a perfect record in Europe, unlike Barca after their defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Mourinho started Vinicius, serving a four-match ban in La Liga, on the left flank and benched former Leipzig winger Diomande, despite his improving form.
The coach also brought Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga into midfield and put midfielder Federico Valverde at right-back again, as he did in Sunday’s win at Sevilla.
Visitors Leipzig created the first big chance, with Madrid stopper Thibaut Courtois getting down low to make a superb save from Romulo Cardoso.
Vinicius, who improved on a poor showing at Roma last week without breaking out of his rut, drew a full-stretch save from Leipzig’s Maarten Vandevoordt.
Madrid carved out an advantage in the final stages of a low-key first half when Valverde cut the ball back for Guler, whose shot Vandevoordt saved. However, the goalkeeper could not clear it, and Silva darted in to prod over the line.
It was the former Manchester City midfielder’s first goal for the club after joining this summer.
Vandevoordt saved well from Valverde’s fierce effort before Guler put Madrid two goals ahead in the 52nd minute.
Jude Bellingham crossed to the back post and Mbappe nodded the ball across goal, with Guler able to hold off a defender and turn home.
Mbappe lashed a shot into the side netting after Bellingham teed it up, as Madrid looked to put the game out of sight.
Mourinho sent on Diomande for Vinicius with 20 minutes remaining, and the Brazilian looked disappointed on the bench, knowing he cannot play again until November 4, when Madrid visit AEK Athens.
Madrid’s record 140 million-euro ($157m) signing, Diomande, pulled the ball back to Mbappe on the edge of the box for Madrid’s third, and the French forward bent it home.
Leipzig quickly grabbed a consolation goal at the other end as Dean Huijsen switched off, with Gomis firing past Courtois.
Diomande ended proceedings with a bang, rattling an emphatic volley from Brahim Diaz’s cross into the top corner for his third goal in his last four appearances.
Manchester United manager’s troubles grow as seven players are out injured before a Champions League trip to Como.
Published On 21 Oct 202621 Oct 2026
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick says he needs no reassurances from the club’s hierarchy as he knows winning games is the only way to silence speculation over his future.
Before a Champions League trip to Italian side Como on Wednesday, United have won just two of their 10 games in all competitions this season.
The Red Devils are off to their worst start to an English top-flight campaign in 40 years, having been knocked out of the League Cup by Brighton last month and comfortably beaten by Atletico Madrid last week in the Champions League.
Carrick was appointed manager on a permanent basis in May only after an impressive spell as interim boss in the second half of last season.
But he has quickly become just the latest manager under pressure at Old Trafford at a club that has fallen from grace since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
“I know we’ve got to win football games for everything to flow and everything to fit into place. That’s the great thing about it; we can do something about it,” Carrick told his pre-match news conference in Italy.
“I don’t need any reassurance. It’s pretty clear.
“I know the role, I know the responsibilities. I don’t need anyone else to kind of tell me that or tell me when it’s going well or when it needs to be better. I know that myself.”
Carrick’s hopes of turning things around have not been aided by a growing injury list.
Lisandro Martinez started Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Leeds, despite his stinging criticism of the club’s lack of transfer activity following the defeat at Atletico, but had to be replaced at half time.
The Argentinian international will miss the trip to Como, as will Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko, Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven.
Gabriel Pirani scored the equalizer in a four-goal first half to help the Galaxy earn a 2-2 draw with San Diego FC on Saturday night.
The Galaxy (10-11-10) jumped in front in the fourth minute when Sergi Roberto set up João Klauss for his ninth goal in 14 appearances this season.
Anders Dreyer pulled San Diego (8-12-10) even in the 10th minute when he scored on a penalty kick. Dreyer’s 13th goal of the season came after Cédric Bakambu was fouled by Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.
The Galaxy regained the lead seven minutes later when Erik Thommy used assists from Harbor Miller and Marco Reus to score for the second time this season.
Pirani netted the equalizer in the 39th minute to cap the scoring. It was the midfielder’s fourth goal in 10 matches this season.
Marcinkowski finished with five saves for the Galaxy, who have gone 4-2-2 since the start of September.
Pablo Sisniega saved seven shots in his second start this season for San Diego, which beat the Galaxy 3-1 at home to close out August but hasn’t won since — going 0-4-4.
Up next for the Galaxy: at LAFC on Oct. 26.
Six weeks into the NFL season and Chargers versus the Kansas City Chiefs pits a winless team against an unbeaten one. Last season, when the Chargers swept the Chiefs, feels like a lifetime ago.
This game might not be as lopsided as it appears, considering these teams know each other so well. But these are rough times for the Chargers, who are still missing their two starting tackles and All-Pro safety Derwin James Jr. What’s more, it has been a terrible start for Justin Herbert, who has five touchdowns, seven interceptions, an anemic passer rating of 70.2 and has been sacked 17 times.
Conversely, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is on a roll despite returning from last season’s devastating knee injury. He has nine touchdowns, two interceptions, a 106.2 rating and six sacks — almost two-thirds fewer than Herbert.
A big battle for Los Angeles will be on defense, as the Chargers have done a good job against the run and are facing Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker III, who has rushed for 537 yards at an average of 6.2 yards per carry.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Game 4. What will happen? Let’s find out together.
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Pregame
—I’m interested to see how much energy and drive the Dodgers have in Game 4. Will they go down swinging (figuratively, not literally). Will they force the Brewers to rip the title from their hands?
—Fox did a great segment on Charley Steiner before Game 3. You can watch it here. There are things you can criticize the Dodgers for, but you also have to salute them for taking care of people like Steiner and Andrew Toles. They gave Steiner some hope during his cancer battle, and that’s very important.
—One thing about Shohei Ohtani before the game begins. It’s easy to pin the 3-0 deficit on him. He’s the most famous baseball player right now, and he’s not playing well. I wish there was a lot more clarity around his injuries. However, to pin the 3-0 deficit on him is unfair. Going into Game 4, here are the batting stats:
Miguel Rojas, 1 for 2
Mookie Betts, .250, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Kyle Tucker, .250, one double, no RBIs
Shohei Ohtani, .222, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Teoscar Hernández, .200, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Tommy Edman, .167, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Andy Pages, .125, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Max Muncy, .111, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Freddie Freeman, .091, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Will Smith, .091, one double, two RBIs
Kiké Hernández, 0 for 5
Team, .165, two doubles, five RBIs
Ohtani has hit better than most of the Dodgers this series.
First inning
—The one thing that bothers me about Tyler Glasnow: It seems he gets two quick strikes on a batter, then tries to get cute with the pitches.
—Holding the Brewers scoreless in the first is nice.
—First and second, one out. Really should score a run here.
—And a double play. This could be important later.
Second inning
—Hey, they got Jake Bauers out using only four pitches. Miracle!
—And the Brewers go down quietly.
—If you mute the TV and watch an ad, but can’t tell what the ad is for without the sound, then it’s a bad ad.
—Manny Machado was in an ad. Reminds me of the old Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody likes Manny Machado.”
—Kyle Tucker has been the star of the Dodger offense.
—Here comes Dustin May to pitch for the Brewers. The Dodgers used to have a pitcher named Dustin May. I wonder if they are related.
—First and third, nobody out. It would be advantageous to score here.
—Miguel Rojas, in what could be his final game, starts, but is pinch-hit for before getting a chance to bat. You can’t let Rojas end his career like that, so a win is in order.
—Max Muncy strikes out. The worst thing you can do in that situation.
—Now, a double play?
—Andy Pages singles! Another miracle! He’s the only Dodgers who can hit in the clutch this postseason. Dodgers 1, Brewers 0.
—Kiké flies to center. Now Ohtani.
—And a majestic home run! Ohtani let about two months of frustration out with that scream after the homer. Dodgers 4, Brewers 0.
—I feel like Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” after Geena Davis returns to the team. “We’re gonna win!”
—Now can the Dodgers stop the Brewers from responding?
Third inning
—Glasnow is pitching great.
—Max Muncy seemed to be anticipating that bunt.
—Now if Will Smith could just get going.
—The Dodgers go down quietly. But they have a four-run lead for the first time in forever.
Fourth inning
—”Buy one Subway footlong, get one free” sounds more like a punishment than a reward.
—”Meal of Horror” describes every meal at Jack in the Box, not just this special Krusty the Klown one.
—John Smoltz tried to explain why Glasnow can be dominant, but it made no sense whatsoever.
—Will Smith makes an ABS challenge and loses. Oh well, it happens.
—Brice Turang walks. Don’t walk people with a four-run lead.
—A ground-rule double. Let’s hold them to no more than one run here.
—Another ground-rule double. Uh oh. Dodgers 4, Brewers 2.
—And the Dodgers get out of it. But Glasnow will be on a short leash.
—The Dodgers can’t just rely on four runs to carry them.
—Max Muncy gets a much-needed hit for him.
—And that ends the fourth.
Fifth inning
—Please stop walking people with a lead.
—Frelick steals second. It’s not hard to steal off of Glasnow.
—And the Brewers immediately cash in. Dodgers 4, Brewers 3.
—Evan Phillips comes in. Still has never given up a run in the postseason.
—Brewers are like the Dodgers, making the pitcher work.
—Brewers load the bases with two out. And that’s it for Phillips.
—Can Alex Vesia escape the jam against the pesky Jake Bauers?
—He cannot. Bauers walked on four pitches. Remember all the little things the Dodgers did right the last two years to win the World Series? They are doing none of those things this year. Dodgers 4, Brewers 4.
—The Dodgers go down quietly. This is beginning to feel like the first three games.
Sixth inning
—And just like that, the Brewers lead. Team of destiny. Brewers 5, Dodgers 4. Some people don’t like that I’m named Houston. Will they hate that I’m named Mitchell too? Do I have to change my whole name?
—You certainly can’t blame any of the losses on Tucker. Another hit for him.
—But the Dodgers can’t cash in. This could be important later.
Seventh inning
—It’s so funny that Edwin Díaz is the steadying presence out of the bullpen after the season he had.
—But he will remain unusable, regular season or postseason in Strat-o-matic or APBA.
—Leadoff double by Pages. Can they cash in?
—Kiké bunts! Pages to third.
—And look who’s coming up.
—And Ohtani strikes out, and looks bad doing so.
—And the Dodgers waste another chance.
Eighth inning
—Well, at least it looks like the Dodgers have a closer for next season.
—Quick inning for the Brewers. Do the Dodgers have a run in them?
—Will Smith comes through. Man on third, one out. If they don’t score here, it’s over.
—And Tucker pops out.
—And Teoscar strikes out.
—Two innings in a row, the Dodgers have a runner on third and one out and fail to score.
Ninth inning
—Maybe Díaz should have pitched earlier in this series.
—Brewers add an insurance run. Brewers 6, Dodgers 4.
—Again, the Brewers are playing like the Dodgers did the last two postseasons.
—Dodgers have been out-homered 7-1 in this series.
—Bottom of the ninth. Do the Dodgers go quietly?
—Tommy Edman grounds out.
—Pages struck out.
—Kiké lines to left.
—That’s it. Remember that Tom Hanks quote from earlier? They lost that game.
—Remember what Joe Davis said at the end of last year’s World Series? “To beat the champ, you’ve got to knock them out.” And that’s exactly what the Brewers did.
—As Max Muncy said after the game, “They were relentless with everything that they did. They just strung together good at-bat after good at-bat. That’s usually what we do. We didn’t do it this series and they did.”
—The three teams with a shot to win the World Series: The Brewers, who have never won. The Rays, who have never won. The Guardians, who haven’t won since 1948. It will be fun to see who wins.
That was indeed the final game of Rojas’ career.
“This is it, guys,” he said, announcing his retirement after Game 4. “It’s been a lot, the last four years of my life here. And obviously making my debut here in 2014 changed my life, not just for me but for my whole family. They took care of my son, my daughter, my wife, and everybody in my family. It’s really amazing what I can think about, what happened to me and to my family the last few years.
“I just wanted to say thank you to all the veteran guys for allowing me to be myself when I got here, even though I didn’t play one game for the Los Angeles Dodgers for the last eight or nine years before I came here. They allowed me to be the leader that I wanted to be, the person that I wanted to change the culture and kind of give a little bit more of a culture, chemistry to the clubhouse. I feel like that is going to be a legacy that I wanted to leave here, other than my performance on the field. … I want them to remember me as a guy who always did everything possible to help my teammates win and to help the team get better every single day.”
I had a reader email me in the ninth inning that he felt ill watching the Dodgers play. Really? The team won the last two World Series and reached the NLCS in the third year. To feel ill or angry over this team is just the wrong way to look at it. Disappointed? Sure. Sad? Sure.
But if those feeling linger into Friday, remember that this team has given you many memorable moments over the last three seasons. They were outplayed by a better team here. Tip your cap to the Brewers. And, after the disappointment ends, thank the Dodgers for three incredible seasons. In fact, here are the Dodgers since 2016:
2016, Lost in NLCS
2017, Lost in World Series*
2018, Lost in World Series
2019, Lost in NLDS
2020, Won World Series
2021, Lost in NLCS
2022, Lost in NLDS
2023, Lost in NLDS
2024, Won World Series
2025, Won World Series
2026, Lost in NLCS
*-Astros cheated to win.
An embarrassment of riches.
That concludes the 12th season of Dodgers Dugout. We’ll be back in the next couple of weeks to discuss the offseason and whether there will even be a 2027 season.
In the meantime, today’s a new day. Look at the sunshine. Look at your family and loved ones. Everything is OK.
Dodgers’ three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to Brewers
Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed
Miguel Rojas announces his retirement after Dodgers’ NLCS loss
Dave Roberts on Dodgers losing the NLCS and having no regrets
The Dodgers win the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.
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.
India host West Indies in the final match of the tour on Saturday with an all-time classic T20 series level at 2-2.
Who: India vs West Indies
What: Twenty20 International cricket series
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India
When: Saturday, October 17, at 7pm (13:30 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have all the build-up from 11:30 GMT before our live text commentary stream
India host West Indies in the decisive T20 International series finale on Saturday after one of the most compelling white-ball tours in recent memory.
list of 4 itemsend of list
The five-game series is level at 2-2 before the match in Bengaluru after record-breaking feats by the tourists that have pushed the T20 World Cup holders to the limit.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at what has become a must-not-miss showdown.
The teams played a three-match One-Day International to begin the white-ball tour, which saw India take an unassailable lead after opening eight-wicket wins in Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.
After posting a mammoth 351-7 off their 50 overs – thanks largely to KL Rahul’s 129 off 87 balls – in New Chandigarh, India would have felt they had enough on the board to claim the third match, too.
Enter West Indies captain Shai Hope. The opener hit 162 off 143 balls in an unbeaten knock that led his side to a five-wicket win.
It was the West Indies highest ODI run chase.
India put the disappointment of the closing defeat in the ODI series behind them by claiming an eight-win win, with 5.2 overs to spare, in the first T20 of the series.
Despite fifties from Hope and Sherfane Rutherford, West Indies were bowled out for 171, with Naman Dhir taking three wickets for the hosts.
Hope then hit an unbeaten 102 off only 45 balls in the second match to lead West Indies to their highest successful Twenty20 run chase.
Hope hit nine sixes and six boundaries as the West Indies finished with 252-4 in reply to India’s 249-5.
India restored their series lead in the third match, but only via a narrow 14-run victory.
After being bowled out off the last ball of their innings, India posted 223 – led by Abhishek Sharma’s 69 off 30 balls.
Arshdeep Singh claimed three wickets as West Indies were restricted to 209-7.
It was time for the Hope show again in the fourth game of the T20 tour, as the wicketkeeper-batter hit his second century of the series.
The tourists struck 247-3, having been put in, with Hope hitting an unbeaten 102.
His nine sixes and four fours were a record tally for a West Indies batter in a T20 International.
The total was the second-highest first innings score in T20s against India, trailing England’s 257-3 in Southampton this year.
Opener Sanju Samson’s 56 off 23 balls set India off to a good start, but Keemo Paul’s five-wicket haul led West Indies to a 24-run series levelling win.
Hope joked after the fourth T20 that he was worried he may have to fork out excess baggage fees after picking up his third Player of the Match award on their tour of India.
“To be honest, they are a bit heavy, and we have got to look at the luggage weight,” he quipped after the win.
“I think we are going to have some problems going back home.”
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
Shai Hope (c and w), Jewel Andrew, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Shamar Springer, Keemo Paul, Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie
Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel didn’t shy away from discussing his job security Thursday amid a frustrating 0-5 start to the season.
“I feel like it’s core to my job to always feel that way,” McDaniel said when asked if he’s coaching for his job. “I need to do the very best I possibly can, all the time, because [of] the players, the organization, the fans.
“So, that’s second nature. … I think it’s disrespectful to all those that choose to invest in our game and our team to not look at things that way. The second you get comfortable in this league, it’s a wrap; it’s too good. I will be doing my very best, because from an integrity standpoint, I think it’s really insulting to do anything else. And that won’t change.”
McDaniel says his determination is unwavering. His place in the Chargers’ organization, however, might not be if things don’t change soon.
The Chargers, who rank 10th in total yards allowed per game on defense (311.6), enter Sunday’s road game against the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs averaging just 16.8 points per game, the third-lowest mark in the NFL above just the also-winless Miami Dolphins (14.0) and Tennessee Titans (11.6). Quarterback Justin Herbert ranks 22nd in passing (937 passing yards) and is last in the NFL in total quarterback rating (26.6).
Injuries have played a significant role in the Chargers’ offensive struggles. Eight offensive players either didn’t practice or were limited in practice because of injuries on Wednesday. Four rookies started on the offensive line in Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos and wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston and Brenen Thompson, didn’t play.
McDaniel insists that he’s been giving the franchise all he has.
“I would be so embarrassed if I told you, ‘Well, now I’m going to try harder,’” McDaniel said. “Like, what? What have you been doing? I’m confident in the players that we have. The improvement that I see before the results generally lead to good things. But talk is cheap. We got to do.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Game 3. What will happen? Let’s find out together.
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—Well, Shohei Ohtani is in the lineup and batting sixth. How will he do tonight? Who knows. My feeling has always been this: Great players always want to play. It’s the job of the front office and manager to protect the player from himself. If Ohtani was just in a normal slump, I’d play him. But if he’s injured so badly it is hurting his swing, which appears to be the case, he needs to sit. No player, even as great as Ohtani, is bigger than the team.
—Will Smith is batting seventh. He’s in a worse slump than Ohtani.
—Many people are calling this a must-win game. The only must-win game is an elimination game.
First inning
—That is not the start the Dodgers were looking for. Brewers 1, Dodgers 0.
—Home run, then three straight strikeouts. Did the homer make Snell angry?
—Never thought I would see a Corey Seager hair ad.
—The Dodgers have solid warning-track power in this series so far.
Second inning
—First and second, one out. This is not the start the Dodgers were looking for.
—Someone needs to tell Will Smith that’s it’s OK to use an ABS challenge early in the game occasionally.
—And Snell gets out of it.
—Some of these TV ads make no sense at all.
—Kyle Tucker batting cleanup in the postseason. Who would have believed it?
—”Shohei was adamant that he could play!” That doesn’t mean that he should.
—Ohtani and Smith are now a combined four for 45 in this postseason.
Third inning
—Snell seems locked in now. It’s time for the Dodgers to make the Brewers pitchers feel unlocked in.
—That’s the kind of sterling analysis that you only get here.
—I was just getting ready to wonder why Miguel Rojas is starting over playoff Kiké when Rojas singled. Never mind.
—First and second, one out. Really need to score a run here. Especially with Freddie Freeman and Teoscar coming up.
—Every overhead shot shows a bunch of empty seats. This happens when you outprice the regular fan.
—And the Dodgers don’t score.
Fourth inning
—Will Smith made an early ABS challenge and won! Stop the presses! Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land!
—Ohtani got on base!
—Smith challenged another call! What’s going on?
—And then he struck out anyway, taking all of the joy out of the successful challenge.
Fifth inning
—Just think if Snell could stay healthy a full season. He’d probably have six Cy Youngs.
—Somewhere in America, a child to his father during the Megan Fox ad: “Hey dad?” “Yes son?” “What’s Viagra? And why does that woman have red skin and make me feel all tingly inside?”
—Our version of Front Row Amy, Mary Hart, is in her traditional spot, looking bored as ever.
—Rojas walks. Dodgers really need to score a couple of runs.
—Tommy Edman swings at the first pitch after the previous batter drew a walk. Things that make you go hmmmm.
—The Brewers outfielders dive for a lot of catches that they don’t need to dive for.
—And the Dodgers strand another leadoff runner.
Sixth inning
—Ad begins “You never know how many days there are in October.” Well, yes I do. 31.
—You really have to score when the first two batters walk.
—They pitched Ohtani like he was MVP Ohtani.
—I probably wouldn’t have hit for Pages, the only guy with a hit with runners in scoring position this series.
—The Dodgers finally get a clutch hit. And it’s Will Smith. He’s on a roll! Dodgers 2, Brewers 1.
—Abner Uribe was struggling. You had to foresee them going with Hall, the left-hander, next. Wasted Josue De Paula, who is on the roster only for his bat. Better to see Rojas or Kiké against a struggling Uribe. And then, if they bring in Chad Patrick to face Rojas or Kiké, then you go with De Paula.
—But they should have scored at least one more. This may become important later.
Seventh inning
—Snell still in the game. Good.
—Leadoff walk. Bad.
—Dodgers only have one bench player left, Hunter Feduccia.
—Jake Bauers is pesky. Every team needs a guy like Bauers.
—Snell up to 97 pitches, Bauers could be his last batter.
—And Bauers homers. Brewers 3, Dodgers 2.
—See, if Dave Roberts had taken Snell out, people would have said “Why didn’t they leave him in? He was doing so well.” And now people are saying “They should have gone to the bullpen!”
—And there’s another home run. Brewers 4, Dodgers 2.
—It might be time to remove Snell now.
—Here comes Evan Phillips, who has pitched 17 scoreless innings in his postseason career. Yet he has been relegated to mop-up duty.
—And the Dodgers go down quietly. In this series, the Brewers always answer back when the Dodgers score. The Dodgers don’t answer back when the Brewers score.
Eighth inning
—Brewers feel like the Team of Destiny right now.
—The other thing that needs to be remembered: It’s easy to say “Dodgers hitters are just terrible, they are slumping at the worst time.” But sometimes you just tip your cap to the other team and say “Your pitchers beat us.” The Brewers look like the Dodgers of the last two seasons.
—Max Muncy made a nice play on that ball, even if it turned into an infield single. And Muncy was named a finalist today at third base for the Gold Glove award. I would have never thought that possible as little as two years ago.
—Justin Wrobleski now in the game. Where’s Jack Dreyer?
—Wild pitch. Brewers 5, Dodgers 2.
—Oh no, it’s Bauers again. I wonder if he knows Brian Doyle.
—Hey, Ohtani hit the ball hard!
—I’m picking on Ohtani far too much. They don’t win two World Series without him. He gave them the swagger they were missing. That shouldn’t be forgotten. And as I’ve mentioned, it’s the team’s job to bench the player, not the player’s job. What great player would say “I don’t want to play?”
—And the Dodgers go down quietly. I have that phrase saved so I just have to paste it in. Saves me a lot of time.
Ninth inning
—Why do people get seats behind home plate and then spend most of the game on their phone?
—And the Brewers add on an insurance run. Brewers 6, Dodgers 2.
—And the Dodgers go down quietly.
—So the Dodgers are down 3-0. Only once in postseason history has a team rallied from a 3-0 deficit, the 2004 Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. Dave Roberts had an important stolen base in that series.
—It’s not impossible for the Dodgers to come back from this, but it is improbable. They have been outplayed in every aspect of the game. Offense, pitching, managing, energy, clutch ability, the list goes on.
—We’ll just have to wait and see what Game 4 brings us. Remember, game time changed from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m. In the meantime, enjoy life.
Thursday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1/Fox Deportes/Fox One
*Friday at Dodgers, 6 p.m., FS1/Fox Deportes/Fox One
*Sunday at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., FS1/Fox Deportes/Fox One
*Monday at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes/Fox One
All times Pacific
*-if necessary
Shaikin: Here’s how Dave Roberts explained all the Dodgers’ moves that backfired
‘We just need to win tomorrow’s game.’ Dodgers remain optimistic despite 3-0 hole
Dodgers Debate NLCS GAME 3: Dodgers stare down a sweep
Plaschke: The Dodgers are done. After putting up a fight, the champs are out of gas
‘How do we bounce back?’ Dodgers collapse and fall into 3-0 NLCS hole vs. surging Brewers
Shaikin: Dodgers should have taken Shohei Ohtani off the postseason roster
Shohei Ohtani talks playing in the NLCS through injuries
Dave Roberts says Shohei Ohtani is adamant he feels good enough, will remain in lineup
Shaikin: Dodgers send SOS to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow: Save our season
Vin Scully receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Watch and listen here.
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.
If you’re one of the (very rare) people who haven’t seen the first few episodes of the Celebrity Traitors, here’s what happened at the end of the last episode…
(Image: BBC)
The three Traitors – James Acaster, Maya Jama and Hannah Fry – had a big decision to make. They chose to play a fatal game of Hide and Seek with four of the Faithfuls. They were allowed to put themselves amongst the four but chose not to, hoping suspicion might fall on one of their chosen Faithfuls and they can safely slip under the radar…
They chose four stars – Leigh-Anne, Ross, Rob and Romesh – and will ‘kill’ one. However, they don’t know that Leigh-Anne has a special key which protects her from being murdered…
The Dodgers have two pitchers who have won multiple Cy Young Awards in Blake Snell and Tarik Skubal. Another starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is the reigning World Series most valuable player.
None of them will be on the mound Thursday when the season will be on the line. Instead, manager Dave Roberts will put the ball — and his team’s future — in the massive right hand of Tyler Glasnow, who will have no margin for error.
“It’s win or go home,” Skubal said. “Our backs are against the wall.”
That’s not how Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, saw things playing out when he traded three prospects to Detroit for Skubal in August. Or when he spent $182 million to sign Snell before last season. Or when he committed $325 million to sign Yamamoto the season before that.
The Milwaukee Brewers have bested all three in the National League Championship Series, reaching Snell for the only three home runs he’s given up this season in a 6-2 win in Game 3 on Wednesday. Now Glasnow is the only thing standing between the Dodgers and a long, cold winter.
And while that may not be the way the Dodgers wanted things to play out, they say they like their chances — for one night, at least.
“Everybody in the team is very confident in his ability and the stuff that’s coming out of his hand and doing his job,” Skubal said of Glasnow.
“I feel great about Glas,” utility man Kiké Hernández added. “He’s got some of the best stuff in the game. I feel like our pitchers have given us a chance every day to win a game, and we just haven’t hit. So we just got to hit.”
Glasnow started the season as the No. 3 starter, but before the Dodgers had gotten six weeks into their schedule, he was on the injured list because of lower back spasms. He spent most of the season there, pitching more innings in minor-league rehab starts than he did for the Dodgers between May and September.
He returned to make six starts down the stretch, striking out 49 in 34-1/3 innings to finish the season 5-2 with a 3.53 earned-run average in 13 starts, then held Atlanta to one hit over 4-2/3 innings in the deciding game of the division series.
“He’s fresh,” Roberts said of Glasnow. “He’s got a lot of arm talent. He’s got experience certainly in the postseason. We’ve got a lot of guys behind him” in the bullpen.
“I think he’s going to pitch well.”
The Dodgers’ season is depending on that. Glasnow, however, is just approaching it as another start.
“When I was younger maybe I’d feel it and get excited, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I can throw 105 if I try hard,’” he said. “Now it’s more about trying to settle in and go back to as close of a normal feeling as possible, not trying to chase it and be any different or any more or any less. Just try to stay with it and what I’ve done all week, my preparation, how I feel on the mound, and just keep it consistent.”
Glasnow, 33, has pitched in 17 postseason games for Tampa Bay and the Dodgers, going 2-6 with a 4.27 ERA. Only Snell, among Dodgers starters, has more playoff appearances. But Glasnow hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2020 division series when he was pitching for the Rays.
If he can give the Dodgers a boost Thursday, however, if he can extend their season just one more day, it could give the team new life.
Only one team has come back from a three-game deficit to win a best-of-seven League Championship Series and that was the 2004 Boston Red Sox team Roberts played for — a team that also gave the ball to its fourth-best starting pitcher with its season on the line.
On the afternoon of Game 4, with the New York Yankees looking to beat Derek Lowe and sweep the Sox, Boston’s Kevin Millar stepped on the field at Fenway Park and issued a warning.
Dave Roberts of Boston steals second past Derek Jeter of the Yankees in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. Roberts and the Red Sox became the only team to come back from down 3-0 to win an LCS.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)
“Don’t let us win tonight,” he shouted. “If we win today, we’ve got Pedro [Martínez] coming back and then [Curt] Schilling will pitch Game 6 and anything can happen in a Game 7.”
The series played out exactly as Millar predicted. And if Glasnow can rescue the Dodgers, they would have their three high-paid aces — Skubal, Yamamoto and Snell — lined up for the next three elimination games.
But none of that matters if they lose Thursday.
“We just need to win tomorrow’s game,” Skubal said.
