From Jack Harris: He did not scream. He did not pump a fist. He showed hardly any of the emotions the moment seemed to call for, accomplishing something no major league pitcher had achieved in almost a decade.
Instead, after completing MLB’s first postseason complete game since 2017, and the first by a Dodgers pitcher since 2004, Yoshinobu Yamamoto simply walked around the mound, casually removed his glove, and didn’t break into a smile until he looked back at the center-field scoreboard.
“Wow,” he finally mouthed to himself, as the realization of his nine-inning, three-hit, one-run gem finally started to set in.
The reaction came after his old-school, matter-of-fact performance lifted the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
“I was able to pitch until the end,” Yamamoto said in Japanese afterward. “So I really felt a sense of accomplishment.”
This was a night almost no one saw coming. And not just because Yamamoto failed to complete even one inning in his last trip to American Family Field against the Brewers during the regular season.
In an era of strictly controlled pitch counts and a steadfast reliance on relievers come October, Yamamoto turned back the clock on a night reminiscent of a bygone generation.
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In this postseason, Dodgers’ offense starts from the bottom
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MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS
All times Pacific
NLCS
Dodgers vs. Milwaukee
Dodgers 2, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)
Dodgers 5, at Milwaukee 1 (box score)
Thursday: at Dodgers, 3 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
Friday: at Dodgers, 5:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Saturday: at Dodgers, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Monday: at Milwaukee, 2 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
*-Tuesday, Oct. 21: at Milwaukee, 5 p.m., TBS, truTV, HBO Max, AM 570, KTMZ 1220, ESPN radio
ALCS
Seattle vs. Toronto
Seattle 3, at Toronto 1 (box score)
Seattle 10, at Toronto 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Seattle, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday at Seattle, 5:30 p.m., FS1
*-Friday at Seattle, 3 p.m., FS1
*-Sunday at Toronto, 5 p.m., FS1
*-Monday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1
*-if necessary
From Ryan Kartje: His top two running backs had just been carted up the Coliseum tunnel, a nightmare scenario for a team that finally found its groove on the ground, when coach Lincoln Riley was asked at halftime how USC would move forward without the bulk of its backfield. He grinned.
“I might have to carry the ball some,” Riley quipped during NBC’s broadcast.
USC managed to make it through a win over Michigan without much in the way of reinforcements at running back. But with its backfield depth decimated — and the toughest stretch of the Trojans schedule ahead — Riley and his staff will have to figure out how proceed starting Saturday at Notre Dame.
USC will be without leading rusher Waymond Jordan for at least a month after he injured his ankle during the second quarter Saturday. Jordan, who’s currently third in the Big Ten in rushing, underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Christina Unkel was 10 when she became a certified soccer referee. And in all that time, she said she can remember just one instance in which she changed a call after being confronted by a group of angry players.
She was 14, working a youth game in Southwest Florida, when she awarded a throw-in. As the team which lost possession protested vehemently, an opposing player stepped into the scrum and sheepishly confessed to touching the ball last.
“I’m like, ‘OK, well thanks for admitting that. I guess we’ll throw it the other way, right?’” said Unkel who, as an attorney in addition to being an official, knows the value of a confession.
Without that admission, she said, the protesting team’s pleas would have necessarily fallen on deaf ears.
Referees know they don’t always get ‘em right, but imagine the chaos if they left every call up for debate. Yet that hasn’t stopped every soccer player who’s ever laced up a pair of cleats from arguing calls.
Soccer is the only major U.S. team sport in which that’s allowed.
LAKERS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: He whipped passes through a sea of outstretched arms. He lobbed up a sky-high alley-oop. He canned a step-back three.
Luka Doncic is so back.
The star guard had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his preseason debut Tuesday, but the Lakers crumbled in the second half of a 113-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Fresh off a quarterfinal finish in EuroBasket, where he led the tournament in scoring for Slovenia, Doncic wowed his teammates by zipping passes through microscopic lanes and chucking up one-legged three-pointers. After Doncic missed a free throw, he saved the rebound blindly over his head and the possession ended in a three-pointer from Nick Smith Jr.
LeBron out, Luka in: Where the Lakers stand one week from opening night
RAMS
From Gary Klein: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, is located a short walk from M&T Bank Stadium, where the Rams began an extended road trip on Sunday with a 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
For much of this week, the baseball stadium will serve as the Rams’ home away from home as they prepare for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.
This is not the first time that the Rams have played an away game and then remained in the city before traveling abroad.
In 2017, coach Sean McVay’s first season, the Rams defeated the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla., and then stayed in town before traveling to defeat the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium in London.
Several players said they would rely on the Rams’ training staff to help them modify weekly routines that include massage, acupuncture and other bodywork sessions with California providers outside of the organization.
DUCKS
Chris Kreider scored his second power-play goal in his home debut with 1:27 to play, and the Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night for its 10th consecutive victory in home openers.
Cutter Gauthier and Drew Helleson also scored and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves for the Ducks, who matched Boston and Toronto for the NHL’s longest active victory streak in home openers.
Kreider, who also had an assist, is off to an outstanding start with four goals in three games for the Ducks after the Rangers traded their longtime left winger last June to create cap space.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1933 — The Philadelphia Eagles play their first NFL game and suffers a 56-0 loss to the New York Giants.
1961 — Mickey Wright wins her third LPGA Championship with a rout, nine strokes ahead of Louise Suggs. Wright shoots a 3-over, 287 at the Stardust Country Club in Las Vegas for her third major title of the year and her tenth tour victory of the season.
1972 — Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks becomes the sixth NHL player with 1,000 career points. Mikita assists on Cliff Koroll’s goal in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Chicago Stadium.
1983 — The Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs score five goals in 1 minute, 24 seconds to set an NHL record for the fastest five goals by two teams. The Maple Leafs win, 10-8.
1988 — Oklahoma rushes for an NCAA-record 768 yards, including 123 by quarterback Charles Thompson. Thompson scores three touchdowns and passes for one in the first period of a 70-24 rout of Kansas State.
1988 — Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores eight points — two goals and six assists — in a 9-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
1989 — Wayne Gretzky of the Kings passes Gordie Howe as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer in a during a 5-4 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky flips a backhand shot past Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford with 53 seconds remaining to tie the score and pass Howe with 1,851st point. Gretzky wins the game in overtime.
1995 — The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Jets 26-15 for their first NFL victory.
2005 — Michigan gives up a touchdown to Penn State with 53 seconds left, then marches down the field to score on a TD pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham with no time remaining for a 27-25 win over the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions.
2005 — USC’s Matt Leinart pushes and spins his way into the end zone with 3 seconds left to cap a chaotic finish to the top-ranked Trojans’ 28th straight victory, a back-and-forth 34-31 win over No. 9 Notre Dame.
2008 — Fabian Brunnstrom scores three goals in his NHL debut to match the league record in Dallas’ 6-4 victory over Nashville.
2009 — Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the first European defenseman and eighth overall to reach 1,000 points, assisting on two goals in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Kings.
2012 — The Nets bring pro sports back to Brooklyn with a preseason victory, beating the Washington Wizards 98-88 in the first basketball game at the Barclays Center.
2015 — Carey Price makes 25 saves and the Montreal Canadiens make team history by starting a season with a five straight wins, the latest a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers.
2017 — New England quarterback Tom Brady passes for 257 yards with two touchdowns in the Patriots’ 24-17 win at the New York Jets. Brady, who has 187 regular-season victories, surpasses Hall of Famer Brett Favre (186) and Peyton Manning (186) for the most regular-season victories by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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