The Wallabies have emerged as contenders for next year’s Rugby World Cup as they look to extend a six-match unbeaten run when they face the All Blacks, with lock Jeremy Williams declaring Australia can end a 27-year wait and win the Webb Ellis Cup at home.
Australia are now sixth in the world rankings, three years after they dropped to their lowest of 10th after their elimination from the 2023 World Cup at the pool stage.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 06: Mauricio Dubón #14 of the Atlanta Braves bats during Game Three of the National League Division Series presented by Booking.com between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Friday marked a slow day for the Atlanta Braves on the news front as the club settles into the offseason. After another early exit, the Braves will determine which pending free agents should rejoin the club. From Ha-Seong Kim to Mauricio Dubón, let’s dive into the looming free agents and the value they could bring to the clubhouse.
More Braves News:
Isaiah Drake recorded a hit in the Arizona Fall League. More in the minor league recap.
MLB News:
Boston Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock was recently diagnosed with a fractured tibia. He is not expected to require surgery.
The New York Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday night was completely overshadowed by a scary lower-body injury suffered by Igor Shesterkin.
The injury occurred in the second period as Shesterkin went way out of his crease to challenge the puck carrier, Pierre-Luc Dubois. Upon sliding back into his crease, Shesterkin’s right skate made contact with the post, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, pounding the ice in pain.
The 30-year-old goaltender remained on the ice for a lengthy stretch of time before being helped to the bench by Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, unable to put any weight on his right leg.
Shesterkin was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the contest, and while Mike Sullivan said after the Rangers’ loss that he had no update on the severity of Shesterkin’s injury, the way in which he exited the game brought a wave of concern throughout the entire team.
“It’s concerning,” Sullivan said of Shesterkin’s injury. “He’s an elite goaltender. I mean, you don't ever want to see anybody get hurt, but obviously, he's an important player for us.”
Through his first four starts of the season, Shesterkin was playing at an extremely high level, posting a .926 save percentage heading into Washington.
Shesterkin’s stellar goaltending helped propel the Rangers to a 4-1 start to the season, but that newfound momentum came to a screeching halt when the Blueshirts’ franchise star crumbled to the ice.
“It’s awful, he’s a pillar of this team,” J.T. Miller said. “It stinks. We don't even know what's going on, but to see him leave the game is a shock to all of us, a shock to all of us.”
In relief of Shesterkin, Dylan Garand stepped in and saved 11 of 12 shots as the rookie goaltender was thrust into a difficult situation.
Despite not knowing the severity of Shesterkin’s injury just yet, it’s hard not to speculate about the long-term ramifications that could possibly be on the horizon for the Rangers.
If Shesterkin were to miss time, the Rangers would find themselves in a difficult situation given their current goaltending depth.
Joonas Korpisalo was placed on injured reserve following the Rangers’ season opener due to a lower-body injury, and he had not resumed skating as of Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hartford Wolf Pack goaltender Spencer Martin is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, which means the Rangers may be forced to call up Callum Tung from the American Hockey League, who has no NHL experience under his belt.
Garand, who was placed on waivers by the Rangers before the season began, is slated to take on the Rangers’ starting goaltending role if Shesterkin misses time.
The Rangers’ impressive start to the season brought forward so much hope and excitement for a team desperately looking to turn the page after a frustrating two-year span.
Now, the Rangers are facing down the barrel of potentially missing Shesterkin for a long period of time, which would almost certainly set back any progress the organization was hoping to make.
“We're not going to let (Igor's injury) take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said.
The only thing left for Rangers fans to do at this point is wait to find out more about Shesterkin’s status and hope he is OK, or at least that the injury was not as bad as it looked.
“Definitely not a good feeling for anyone seeing anyone on your team go down, especially a guy like that who’s kind of the pillar on the back end,” Adam Fox said. “It sucks. Obviously, we’re hoping for the best for him.”
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Rookie Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Anaheim Ducks beat Winnipeg 5-1 on Friday night for the Jets' first regulation loss of the season.
Tim Washe and Mikael Granlund each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko also scored to help the Ducks improve to 3-1-0.
Dostal stopped 15 shots or Anaheim, allowing only Kyle Conner's goal.
After the Jets trimmed it to 3-1 midway through the third period, Granlund sunk Winnipeg’s hopes with a goal with 5:54 remaining.
Conner, who was playing in his 700th NHL game, pulled the Jets to 3-1 when Mark Scheifele sent him in alone on Lukas Dostal for his sixth goal of the season.
Clay Stevenson made 12 saves for Winnipeg. The Jets are 3-1-1.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cam Talbot became the first NHL goalie to win a game with nine different teams by stopping 20 shots in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
In his first season with Columbus, Talbot stopped all three of Chicago's shots in the shootout to surpass the previous record set by Curtis McElhinney, Sean Burke and Ron Tugnutt.
Talbot, in his 13th NHL season, has won games with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Calgary, Minnesota, Ottawa, Detroit and the Los Angeles Kings.
DENVER, CO - JUNE 24: Colorado Rockies outfielders Mickey Moniak (22), Cole Carrigg (16), and Jake McCarthy (31) celebrate the win after a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 24, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The offseason is in full swing and teams will be looking ahead to the moves they want to make. There can’t be any action until after the World Series has concluded, but that doesn’t mean teams can’t have discussions with players about their futures ahead of the potential lockout that is looming in early December.
One of the possible futures is a contract extension.
We saw the Rockies extend Mickey Moniak earlier this season, but there are a few others who might be candidates: Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, and/or Cole Carrigg.
Goodman is a two-time All-Star and became the first Rockie to hit 40+ home runs in a season since Nolan Arenado in 2019. He also set all sorts of records both for catchers, Rockies, and Rockies catchers.
McCarthy was traded for last offseason and immediately made an impact on the roster. He became a threat all over the basepaths and set a tone for what the Rockies are potentially looking for in players.
Carrigg is “Mr. Utility” and that was on display this year. The switch-hitting INF/OF’s “hair on fire” style of play was on full display in 2026. While he is merely a rookie, we’ve seen plenty of teams extend young players in their first or second year.
What do you think, Rowers? Which of these players are prime candidates for an extension, or might they all be? Let us know in the comments!
NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Friday night for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat on Thursday night.
The hit came with 1:35 left in the Islanders' 4-1 home victory. Nazar was assessed a match penalty.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Nazar will forfeit $68,041.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.
Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.
Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout.
Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.
Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.
Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.
The Penguins blocked 20 shots.
Up next
Penguins: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Blue Jackets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Detroit Red Wings held a clear advantage in shots Friday night against the Seattle Kraken, but unfortunately, they couldn't turn that edge into the stat that matters most - goals.
Seattle made the most of their scoring chances while the Red Wings failed to do the same, with the Kraken scoring three times in a 3:05 span during a disastrous second period en route to a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena and chasing goaltender John Gibson in the process.
With the loss, the Red Wings have now dropped three of their first four games of the 2026-27 season, all on home ice, and are 1-3 and in last place in the Atlantic Division.
They were considerably shorthanded once again, as forwards J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper, and Mason Appleton were all unavailable due to injury; defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains in his native Sweden amidst his contract stalemate.
The Red Wings had a strong start to the contest, taking a 12-3 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead thanks to Viktor Arvidsson; he buried a loose puck that got behind Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer of a Lucas Raymond shot midway through the period.
However, the Kraken responded later in the frame thanks to a backhand shot from Berkly Catton, which beat Gibson glove side.
Early in the second period, a shot from the point by rookie William Wallinder eluded Grubauer for the Swedish defenseman's first NHL goal. However, what followed was the stuff of nightmares for Detroit.
The Kraken scored three goals in just over three minutes, with Frederick Gaudreau finding the net twice and Mackie Samoskevich scoring in between.
After Ben Meyers increased Seattle's lead to 5-2, Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots; Daniil Tarasov, signed during the offseason, made his first appearance since joining the Red Wings.
He would later be victimized on a 5-on-3 Kraken power play, as Vince Dunn ripped a shot past him.
Late in the third, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård would bury a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble for his own first NHL goal.
As time wound down in the third period, frustrated fans who hadn't already left early to beat traffic voiced their displeasure with loud boos.
Grubauer was solid in net for Seattle, stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced. Gibson, meanwhile, was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots, while Tarasov surrendered one goal on 10 shots in relief. Tarasov is slated to start Saturday's contest in Montreal.
The Red Wings will look to bounce back Saturday against the Canadiens at Bell Centre, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Boone Jenner's goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 3-1 on Friday night after New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin had to be helped from the ice after being injured.
Jenner scored on a wrist shot that made it a 2-1 game with 2:22 remaining in the second period. Tom Wilson and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.
Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers.
Dylan Garand made 11 saves for the Rangers after entering the game for the injured Shesterkin, who had 13 saves.
Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice after an awkward fall into his own net. He came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter and fell as he scrambled back to the net midway through the second period. The 30-year-old Russian caught his skate on the post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net.
Shesterkin lay on the ice for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month of last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers falling short of the playoffs.
The Chicago Blackhawks lost Frank Nazar for the final couple of minutes in regulation of their loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night. He was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head against forward Bo Horvat.
During the day on Friday, Frank Nazar was offered a phone hearing to determine supplemental discipline. Later on Friday, the verdict was announced. Nazar has been suspended for two games.
Chicago’s Frank Nazar has been suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head against NY Islanders’ Bo Horvat. https://t.co/2NbknT4yX8
The summary of the suspension comes down to the fact that the NHL's Department of Player Safety decided that the main point of contact was the head. Nazar's lack of a fine or suspension in his NHL career played into it being just two games, according to the official video that followed his suspension.
Nazar will now miss Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a tough set of games for the Blackhawks to be without Nazar, but it's the reality of the situation.
Now, the Hawks are without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. That's a large amount of offense out of their lineup. With Teuvo Teravainen likely out again as well, there is a lot of skill on the sideline.
This suspension may force the Blackhawks into a call-up. Dominic Toninato is already up, so Landon Slaggert may be on the next ride to Chicago from the Rockford IceHogs.
The morning skate on Saturday will be a greater hint at what lines look like without Nazar in the mix. What seems to be decent center depth is being tested early in the season, but they just have to tread water for a little while longer until Connor Bedard comes back.
One of Anton Frondell or Roman Kantserov is likely going to center the top line with Patrick Kane. These were going to be hard matchups anyway, and this verdict by the NHL's department of player safety just made them even harder.
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CLEVELAND — After coming out of the bullpen Thursday night to get the final three outs, Gavin Williams will start for the Cleveland Guardians in Saturday night’s winner-take-all Game 5 of their AL Division Series against Sean Burke and the Chicago White Sox.
“Gavin wants the ball. We want him to have the ball, and it’s his game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Friday.
Williams was the eighth Cleveland pitcher used during a 9-5 win in Game 4 at Chicago. He made his first major league relief appearance after All-Star closer Cade Smith got into trouble in the ninth inning when Miguel Vargas homered and Munetaka Murakami drew a walk.
The right-hander threw 18 pitches, allowing one hit and striking out one batter, to nail down the victory and even the best-of-five series at two games apiece.
Williams said he walked by Vogt’s office after the game and told the third-year manager he was ready to go.
“The body feels good right now. I’ve been in the training room all morning, just figuring it out. But it’s just a normal day really,” said Williams, who went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA during the regular season and led the AL with 248 strikeouts. “I throw a ‘pen on those days and everybody knows it. So there’s nothing different. Just being able to feel the mound in a game situation is even better at that point.”
Williams struck out 11 over five-plus innings during Monday’s 4-3 loss in Game 2. He was the first pitcher in franchise history to whiff five straight batters in a postseason game. He also threw 16 pitches over 100 mph, the fourth-most by an AL pitcher in a playoff game since tracking started in 2008.
The 27-year-old Williams allowed two runs and four hits. He threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes, but got into trouble by allowing the leadoff hitter to get aboard in the fourth, fifth and sixth. The Guardians had a 2-0 lead before the White Sox rallied with three runs in the sixth to take the lead.
This will be Williams’ sixth start and seventh appearance against the White Sox this season. He is 0-1 with a 3.76 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 11 walks.
“They’re still a hard team to pitch to. There’s nothing really to learn at this point of the season. I know what they’ve got, and they know what I’ve got,” Williams said.
Burke will be making his fifth appearance and third start against Cleveland this year. He is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA.
The right-hander came in during the third inning of Monday’s game and earned the win. He retired 13 straight batters in one stretch while allowing one run and one hit with six strikeouts overall.
“I think I did a pretty good job of commanding all my stuff in the zone. I think that’s kind of the key with this team. You see the last couple games how they were able to piece together bigger innings when you’re not as sharp with command, or you get behind guys, you walk guys, and then this team kind of thrives,” Burke said.
It is the first time in seven games this postseason the White Sox will go with a traditional starter rather than an opener. Burke said manager Will Venable approached him on Wednesday about that scenario.
“Sean is someone that’s going to play a big role in tomorrow’s game as the bulk guy. As we kind of evaluated the set of guys that we have and that we’ll use tomorrow, it made sense to start him,” Venable said.
It will be all hands on deck for both teams, with the winner heading to Tampa Bay for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.
Chicago is 9-8 against the Guardians this year, but Cleveland was able to win its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox, which gave the Guardians home-field advantage for this series.
That hasn’t mattered much to this point, though, because the road team has won all four games.
“We would obviously have loved to win Game 3 or 4. There’s been a couple of times that Vogter and I have just looked at each other and laughed because this is just how it goes with these two clubs. And I think it’s a special thing,” Venable said. “If you look at just the story of the battle that we’ve had with these guys throughout this season coming down to that last weekend for the division and then here we are with a Game 5 for a chance to go to the CS, I think it’s fitting two really good clubs that are both just very competitive, really talented, and the heart and soul of the club and identity of the club comes through, and I think it’s been cool to watch that play out in competition throughout the year.”
Ken Griffey Jr. completes a double play in what remains the most exciting moment in White Sox do-or-die history.
The White Sox have played only one max-series playoff game ever: The 6-4 loss to Oakland in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in 2020. But there are at least three other do-or-die regular season games as well, all having a direct impact on the postseason.
As we head into a very rare beast in the White Sox universe — a do-or die game for the White Sox and their opponent as we’ll have in this year’s ALDS Game 5 — let’s look back on the others in club history.
October 6, 1908 Regular season finale Detroit Tigers 7, Chicago White Sox 0 The White Sox entered their final series of the season back at home, trailing first-place Detroit by 2 ½ games. So on the White Sox side, this was three straight do-or-die games (and, technically, their 3-2 win at Cleveland in their final road game of the year was do-or-die for the Pale Hose as well).
A 3-1 win in the Sunday opener of the series saw the White Sox strike for three in the first inning, and starter Doc White did the rest, holding Detroit to five hits in the complete-game win. The South Siders in fact struck just two hits in the game, but with no play-by-play data it’s hard to figure out how and why runs scored. Left fielder Patsy Daughterty had one of the team’s two hits, one of the two RBIs, and three steals to torment the Tigers. Despite the 15,000 capacity of the West Side Grounds, 26,000 fans were counted as in attendance for the game.
On Monday, the White Sox offense was much more robust, pounding out 11 hits in a 6-1 win that would make the season finale a nail biter for both teams. The 5-7 spots in the order (second baseman George Davis, shortstop Freddy Parent, catcher Billy Sullivan,) all had two hits apiece and drove home four of the team’s six runs. The Pale Hose staked Big Ed Walsh to a 5-0 lead by the fifth and the Chicago ace did the rest, striking out nine against one walk and four hits en route to his 40th win of the season. The White Sox were now just a half-game from a pennant and closer to first place than any day since June 24, with the title boiling down to the season’s final day.
On Tuesday, White was selected to go on two days’ rest and could face just four batters, touched for three hits and two runs with just a K to his name; next in was Walsh on one day’s rest, and he fared little better: five hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings. Coupled with that was the death of the Chicago bats, who mustered just two singles, and desiccation of its leather, piling up SIX errors in the game.
And yes, the Chicago Cubs had clinched the National League pennant, so the baseball world was one game from a second all-Chicago World Series in three years. Detroit went on to roll over to the Cubs in the Fall Classic in just five games.
September 30, 2008 Game 163 Tiebreaker Chicago White Sox 1, Minnesota Twins 0 Nearly a century later on the dot came the second time the White Sox saw their postseason hopes come down to the final day of the season, and just like the club of 1oo years previous it took a succession of wins to even reach a do-or-die game.
The White Sox had spent the vast majority of the season in first place, although never by more than six games. Over the course of the season the rival Twins had caught them, and even passed, several times over the course of the year. But just as the White Sox were enjoying their longest stranglehold on first of the year, three weeks comprising almost all of September, the Pirhañas struck back one last time — and perhaps with a fatal blow: A 7-6 win in 10 innings at the Twinkiedome had put Minny back in first with just three games to play (the White Sox had four remaining). Making matters worse, the White Sox dropped their next two contests, at home, vs. Cleveland. In what was becoming a race to the bottom, the Twins had also lost their next two games, keeping their lead wafer-thin, at a half-game.
Minnesota had one game left to play, a Sunday finale hosting Kansas City, an easy 6-0 win. The White Sox countered with a 5-1 win over Cleveland behind Mark Buehrle, forcing a makeup of a rain-postponed game from September 13, hosting Detroit. Game 162 for the White Sox was a hairy one, as former hero Freddy García faced his former mates and largely shut them down on two hits and one walk over a scoreless five innings. But the White Sox opened the sixth with a walk and stolen base from DeWayne Wise, running García from the game. Armando Galarraga wild-pitched Wise to third, and then to home, slicing Detroit’s lead in half, at 2-1. Three straight walks had packed the sacks, and on the first pitch from reliever Gary Glover, Alexei Ramírez did this:
It was a rookie record fourth grand slam for Ramírez, who also tied Albert Belle for the most grand slams in a season by a White Sox player. It was a fatal blow for the Tigers, and the White Sox pocketed win No. 88 on the season, 8-2.
Minnesota, forced into a tiebreaker game by the pesky White Sox, came to Sox Park for a do-or-die game for both teams, and it was a classic — the very first Blackout Game. John Danks was masterful over eight innings, yielding two hits and helped by an all-time great White Sox moment, as Ken Griffey Jr. gunned down Michael Cuddyer at home plate to end the fifth inning a scoreless tie:
Two innings later, Jim Thome led off the seventh inning with one of the best combinations of high-leverage and long distance in White Sox history:
The 1-0 lead held up, and the White Sox were postseason-bound after becoming the first and only team in major league history to win three straight games against three different opponents, regardless of the time of season or circumstance.
Michael Kenny recounted the game in 2018 in his 2008 White Sox retrospective for South Side Sox. The Cheat had the in-the-moment coverage for us in 2008, but sadly those stories (written in html code boxes?) are now just comprised of a few photographs.
October 1, 2020 Game 3, AL Wild Card Series Oakland A’s 6, Chicago White Sox 4 On the heels of a late collapse during the pandemic season that saw the White Sox drop from first place to a first-round road assignment in the space of five days thanks to four losses in five games, the White Sox had rebounded nicely with a 4-1 win in Game at Oakland thanks to Lucas Giolito going six perfect innings to start the game, and seven strong. The A’s jumped on Dallas Keuchel early in Game 2 and held on for a 5-3 win, which forced the only do-or-die playoff game for both teams over the first 120 years of White Sox baseball.
In a game that saw the White Sox use nine pitchers and Oakland eight, the A’s advanced, 6-4, rallying from down 3-0 in the third.
The resulting outrage over Renteria’s pitching deployment in the game, punctuated by his hunched posture in the dugout during the game, was said to be the cause of his firing; I have long suspected Renteria was dismissed because he wasn’t willing to be demoted to bench coach to allow Tony La Russa to cosplay as a big-league manager one more time.
With only one postseason do-or-die in 126 years of White Sox baseball, a win on Saturday in Cleveland will even the ledger at 1-1. It’s a tall order, and the similarities to 2020 (relative collapse down the stretch, completely taxed arms) are daunting. But Game 5 will be played, and the game starts 0-0 and runs nine innings. Let’s see how it plays out.
(Photo illustration by Tate Rudisill / Los Angeles Times; photos by Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times, Meg Oliphant / Getty Images, Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers entered the postseason with the best rotation of any team on paper, led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who proved to be practically superhuman in the World Series last year.
However, with Blake Snell tweaking his right groin muscle in his penultimate regular-season start, Tyler Glasnow pitching better after a rough patch in early September and Tarik Skubal experiencing his first Dodgers playoff run, some questions remained unanswered.
Then the group gave up just four runs, one from each pitcher, during their National League Division Series win over the Atlanta Braves. Their collective 1.69 ERA was second in the postseason to only the Tampa Bay Rays (1.65 ERA), who swept the Yankees in the American League Division Series.
“We locked in and did a pretty good job,” Glasnow said Friday. “All of us together are so close. We root each other on, we help each other throughout the week.”
In the Dodgers’ quest for a third straight World Series title, the rotation is going to have to serve as the backbone.
“It certainly makes life easier for the team, the bullpen, if the starters are good,” said manager Dave Roberts during a conference call. “I think we’ve got the best rotation top to bottom in baseball, and it’s nice to be able to reset the rotation and get these guys going. And obviously, it gives a chance to also minimize certain looks from our guys out of the ‘pen.”
Skubal is set to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. By ending the NLDS in four games, the Dodgers avoided having to pitch Skubal in a Game 5, making it simpler to line up the rotation. Skubal should be available for a potential Game 5, on regular rest.
The Dodgers were thinking about the NLCS when they decided to pitch Yamamoto in Game 3 against the Braves instead of Game 1. So, he’s lined up to pitch in Game 2 and 6 of the NLCS.
“From there, we’re just going to keep talking through it,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers have shown promising signs in other areas. They hit two home runs off Braves ace Chris Sale and forced him to hand the ball over after five innings in Game 3. The back end of the bullpen settled into a rhythm with Tanner Scott serving as the setup man and Edwin Díaz reestablishing himself as the closer.
The success, however, started with the rotation.
“They did what they had to do,” Kiké Hernández said. “They kept us in games when we weren’t scoring. Not surprised.”
The Dodgers lost Game 2 after Snell exited with two outs in the fourth inning. It was the shortest outing of any of the Dodgers’ starters, but he still held the Braves to one run.
Snell, however, was coming off a disjointed pitching schedule because of the injury. With his postseason experience, he could settle into a better rhythm as the playoffs continue.
Blake Snell delivers for the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves on Oct. 4 at Dodger Stadium. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Glasnow didn’t quite make it through the fifth inning in Game 4, exiting with two outs. But with runs at a premium, and more off days built into the postseason, shorter starts are common. Glasnow’s five walks drove up his pitch count, but he gave up only one hit.
In Game 1, Skubal gave the Dodgers exactly what they hoped for when they acquired him at the trade deadline. He limited the Braves to two hits over six innings.
“I’ve executed every pitch that I throw thousands of times,” Skubal said after his start. “So just trust that, trust the work that you put in. It sounds simple to try and live one pitch at a time, but I think it’s pretty difficult given [the] circumstances.”
Yamamoto raised the bar even higher: seven innings of one-run ball. His 10 strikeouts were a playoff career high.
Yamamoto also made it clear that, like last year, he would be willing to pitch out of the bullpen or on short rest if needed.
“I’m going to get myself ready for any situation,” he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda this week. “If they want me to go out, then I go out. But for me, just those are key things for me. Postseason is just focusing on the game right in front of me.”
The Dodgers, planning on a deep run, didn’t tax their starting pitchers heavily in their first round. That gives them the option to lean on the rotation even more against the Brewers.
“We’re all kind of in the prime of our careers, and we’re all evolving and continuing to get better and grow,” Snell said last weekend. “I think the coolest part about the whole group that no one gets to see is really how much we talk about pitching. It’s very unique. It doesn’t happen everywhere. For all of us to kind of be pushing for each other to be great, it’s a really cool starting staff to be a part of.”
Roster decision
The Dodgers plan to carry a roster of 13 pitchers and 13 position players in the NLCS, Roberts said, one more pitcher and one fewer position player than last round.
In the NLDS, the Dodgers left left-handed relievers Justin Wrobleski and Jack Dreyer off the roster. They carried rookie pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and pinch-runner/utility player Hyeseong Kim.
It remains to be seen if Miguel Rojas will be part of the roster. Rojas tweaked his back in Game 3 when his feet slid out from under him in the slick grass in shallow right field as he made an on-target throw to first base. He left the game in the middle of his next at-bat, aggravating the injury on a swing. He did not play in Game 4.
“Today was encouraging,” Roberts said. “He had imaging, and a lot of it was kind of stuff that he has had prior history. So, we’ve still got a flight to get on. See how he comes in tomorrow for the workout there. So there’s nothing definitive. But I will say today was a step in the right direction. He took ground balls and took a couple rounds of [batting practice]. So that was good to see.”
There was a silver lining to Australia’s shock decision to recall Nic Maddinson and promote him to the top of the order for the first Test against South Africa.
