Category: Sports News

Imagine a nurse asking the Dodgers: “Any allergies?”

And the Dodgers responding: “Oh, just RISP.”

“Just RISP?” the nurse would ask, incredulously. “Just hitting with runners in scoring position? Fellas, that’s serious. That could be season-ending.”

“Oh, it’s OK,” the Dodgers would say, “because we can always slug to counteract it. And we have incredible starting pitching, so we can get away with it.”

That would not make the nurse — or any Dodgers fan sweating out this postseason — feel better.

Especially not after watching how consequential the Dodgers’ lack of timely hitting was Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Read more:Brewers get just enough off Tarik Skubal, draw first blood in NLCS Game 1 win

The Dodgers left nine runners on base and went one for six with runners in scoring position.

Thus far, Andy Pages appears to be the only one on the team somewhat immune to the inopportune blues, because while in five postseason games the Dodgers are collectively two for 22 with runners in scoring position, he has both of those hits. But he also struck out with runners on the corners in the sixth inning Sunday.

Continuing to squander so many opportunities is bound to come with a price.

Squandering so many competitive at-bats against the Brewers’ flamethrowing Jacob Misiorowski is going to cost the Dodgers.

Squandering slumping Shohei Ohtani’s single — a Sho-poke to left-center field that was just his third hit in these playoffs — is going to haunt them.

The Dodgers are going to squander the grandest opportunity of all — the possibility of the three-peat, something only two other MLB franchises have pulled off, and none in the National League.

They know this.

“The offense has to find a way to get some more timely hits,” said Mookie Betts, who got a pitch in the middle of the zone but flew out to center field to end the game with two runners aboard. “We do have to keep applying pressure, but we’ve got to find a way to break through.”

That’s L.A. traffic for you.

It stinks if you get stuck in it, but it’s also a sign of a desirable situation, of good weather and lively culture and plentiful entertainment options that include, typically, winning baseball.

The Dodgers left 7.19 runners on base per game this 100-win season, more than all but four teams, and they ranked 16th with 3.5 runners left in scoring position. That they regularly got so many runners on is a good thing; leaving so many of them stranded isn’t.

Read more:Shaikin: Is there a law that says the Dodgers can't play small ball?

“It depends on your perspective,” Betts said Sunday. “For us, obviously it sucks. But it’s encouraging just because we keep applying pressure. That’s all you can really do and hope that somebody gets that hit. They got it, they got their hit. At some point we’ve got to get ours.”

The Brewers left seven runners on base Sunday and went two for seven with runners in scoring position. That one extra hit — not only getting something brewing, but following through, manufacturing a second run with a sacrifice bunt and a timely single — was the difference.

“Some of it is just baseball,” Betts added. “We hit into a couple double plays and just didn’t really get to build any innings.”

The Dodgers actually hit into three double plays Sunday — an entirely characteristic plot point for an older, slower team that hit into a league-leading 128 double plays this season.

“Just didn’t get the hit with guys in scoring position,” said Teoscar Hernández, who singled twice and was stranded each time. “We need to be better in that situation.”

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers could be in big trouble if Brewers steal their October swagger

How? What’s the prescription? Is there a reliable antihistamine for these chronic RISP woes?

“Just keep grinding,” Hernández said. “Get a good pitch and don’t miss it. They’re not going to miss a lot, so when you get one you just have to put a good swing on it.”

It isn’t only the NBA that’s a make-or-miss league, turns out.

And Kobe Bryant’s famous “job’s not finished” postseason credo really is about taking it one step at a time, all the way across the finish line.

The Dodgers need to finish the job, need to bring home some baserunners — or they won’t be bringing home a third consecutive World Series championship.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers executed their game plan and lost. The Milwaukee Brewers executed their game plan and won.

Back in California, Dodgers fans screamed at their television sets. This is postseason baseball, where the best pitchers take center stage and runs are at a premium.

Why don’t the Dodgers at least try to mimic the Brewers? Would a stolen base or a sacrifice bunt every so often kill the Dodgers?

“I think we should play Dodger baseball,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “So, whatever Dodger baseball is, that’s what we should do. We should not try and play Milwaukee Brewers baseball.”

Read more:Brewers get just enough off Tarik Skubal, draw first blood in NLCS Game 1 win

And what is Dodger baseball?

“It’s a very complex thing,” Betts said. “We pitch. We play defense. We hit. We’ve got to figure out a way to get some timely hits. If we’ve got to steal a base, we’ll steal a base. But we don’t need to change our identity.”

In the big picture, no need to overreact to the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss in the National League Championship Series opener.

But take a close look at the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Brewers scored the decisive run. With the score tied 1-1, Garrett Mitchell walked to start the inning, and Cooper Pratt sacrificed him to second. Luis Lara singled him home, scoring a runner in scoring position.

Joey Ortiz then grounded into what would have been a double play, had the Brewers not started Lara from first base. That was huge: Ortiz was out at first but, by staying out of the double play, the Brewers forced Dodgers starter Tarik Skubal to throw an additional 15 pitches to secure that third out.

That forced the Dodgers to remove Skubal from the game after he made 26 pitches in the fifth inning, and 81 overall.

“They’re willing to give up an out to get a guy in scoring position to get a hit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers have not dropped a sacrifice bunt this postseason. In their World Series championship run last year, they dropped five sacrifice bunts: two by outfielder Andy Pages, who wasn’t hitting; two by light-hitting backup catcher Ben Rortvedt; and one by infielder Miguel Rojas.

This is Dodger baseball: The Dodgers hit 50 more home runs this season than the Brewers, who finished last in the NL in homers.

The Brewers had more than twice as many stolen bases as the Dodgers and more than twice as many sacrifice bunts. The Dodgers’ NLCS roster accounted for six sacrifices this season, including three by infielder-outfielder Tommy Edman.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers could be in big trouble if Brewers steal their October swagger

Brice Turang, who bats second for Milwaukee, homered off Skubal in the fourth inning Sunday and sacrificed in the eighth.

If you want to say the Dodgers should slug away and play for the big inning, fine. If you want to say the Dodgers should be reluctant to bunt in October with players not asked to bunt during the regular season, Edman isn’t buying that.

“It’s definitely tough,” Edman said. “But it’s definitely something that we should all be able to do. If you’re a big leaguer, you should be able to do everything on the field that you’re asked to do. If that’s what the situation of the game calls for, we should be able to do it.”

The Brewers have played five postseason games, scoring 15 runs. They have won four games, three of them by one run. If the Dodgers can take a few big swings, they could get mighty comfortable.

The Dodgers also have played five postseason games, scoring 15 runs. But here’s a defining difference: In each of their five games, the Brewers have two hits with runners in scoring position.

In their five games, the Dodgers have a total of two hits with runners in scoring position.

This is the place where you, gentle reader, remind me that I said the Dodgers executed their game plan. What the heck?

They did, actually: They thought their best chance to win was to run up the pitch count on Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski and get him out of the game early.

Seven of the first nine batters did not swing at the first pitch. More than half the at-bats off Misiorowski took at least four pitches.

They fouled off 20 pitches and got him out of the game after 4⅓ innings, so the Milwaukee bullpen would have to cover more innings than he would.

Read more:Will Smith is in a slump, but benching him isn't an option for Dodgers

“We lost, so it didn’t really work,” Betts said. “But we did a good job with some good at-bats and fouled off some pitches and made him work. That’s really all you can do.”

The Brewers have scored five of their 15 runs via the home run, the Dodgers 11 of 15. Do the Dodgers need to mix in some small ball and change their approach at bat?

“I don’t think guys are going up there trying to hit home runs,” Betts said. “Guys are going up there just trying to have good at-bats. Sometimes, you get ‘em. Sometimes you don’t. But we are playing against a really good team. We just have to put it behind us and just come out and play Dodger baseball.”

It’s time for Dodger baseball. Lose Game 2, and the Dodgers will be two defeats from a bitter winter.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: We’d all like to forget the ALDS ever happened. However, as is often the case in life, the lowest points contain the best lessons. Phillips opines that the Yankees’ personnel choices and performances in Game 3 should inform their offseason decisions about Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, and Trent Grisham. Letting Jazz and Grisham walk in free agency would be simple enough, but McMahon is still under contract for 2027, and cutting ties with him now would mean eating $16 million — though DJ LeMahieu’s contract is now at least off the books. Now, it’s not my money, and my opinion is that the Yankees should cut bait with him regardless, but we’ll have to see what happens.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Speaking of the offseason, Miller has identified four free agents that, in his words, would enable the Yankees to “play like Rays” and “win like Rays”. They are: Luis Arraez, Mauricio Dubón, Carson Kelly, and Tyrone Taylor. The Arraez suggestion is predictable but makes sense, but one has to wonder how well his defensive gains this year will carry over to 2027 without Ron Washington coaching him. Although the righty-hitting, lefty-mashing Kelly could make sense as a platoon partner for Austin Wells, I don’t see him accepting anything less than a starting role. As for Dubón and Taylor, they’re nice role players, but I fail to see how they move the needle. (And Dubón made an error in the NLDS against the Dodgers that certainly felt Boone Era Yankeelike.)

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: ($) Finally, Kuty took to the interwebs to gather reactions from Yankees fans about their season ending. Surprise: they aren’t too happy about it. Neither the selected tweets nor Kuty’s “analysis” of them tell you anything you didn’t already know, but if you’re down in the dumps, hopefully this venting session can offer you some vicarious relief.

Important dates to know as Phillies enter uncertain offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Major League Baseball will enter an unorthodox offseason with an expected work stoppage that could very well impact the 2027 season.

That will directly impact the Phillies.

The organization enters the winter without a permanent manager, with several prominent players reaching free agency and with an expensive roster that needs more than a few alterations after its fifth consecutive postseason run ended without a championship.

The most significant date on the calendar is Dec. 1, when the collective bargaining agreement expires. If Major League Baseball and the Players Association do not reach a new agreement, the owners are expected to initiate a lockout.

Before then, the Phillies will have opportunities to change their roster. They will also face several deadlines that could shape what they are able to accomplish before transactions potentially come to a halt.

Here are the important dates to know:

TBD (October): Phillies’ end of season press conference

The Phillies have not announced when they will hold their end-of-season press conference.

Philadelphia could make a decision on Don Mattingly before the press conference takes place. Either way, it should provide insight into their managerial direction and how aggressively the organization intends to reshape its roster before the CBA expires.

Oct. 23-31: World Series

The World Series is scheduled to begin Oct. 23. A potential Game 7 would be played Oct. 31.

Its conclusion will officially begin the offseason transaction calendar. Several deadlines are determined by the number of days following the final game rather than a fixed date.

Day after the World Series: Free agency begins

Players with expiring contracts become free agents the day after the World Series, although they cannot sign with another organization until five days after the series ends. Teams are permitted to begin making trades immediately.

The Phillies’ impending free agents include Alec Bohm, Luis Arraez, Adolis García, Edmundo Sosa, José Alvarado, Brooks Raley and Tim Mayza.

Nestor Cortes is also set to become a free agent after signing a major-league contract with the Phillies in August.

That group represents a considerable portion of the lineup, bench and bullpen. The Phillies will have an exclusive five-day window to negotiate with them before they can sign elsewhere.

Unlike several other clubs, the Phillies do not currently have a major-league contract option to exercise or decline.

Fifth day after the World Series: Open free agency and qualifying offers

Free agents can begin signing with all 30 teams five days after the World Series ends.

This is also the deadline for clubs to extend qualifying offers to eligible free agents. Players who receive one will have 10 additional days to accept or reject it.

The Phillies will have to determine whether any of their eligible free agents warrant an offer. If a player rejects it and signs elsewhere, Philadelphia would receive draft-pick compensation. Depending on the signing club’s revenue-sharing and competitive-balance-tax status, it could forfeit draft selections and international bonus-pool money.

Players on the 60-day injured list must also be reinstated by this date, which can create an immediate 40-man roster crunch.

Nov. 1-Dec. 5: Japanese posting window

Players under contract with Nippon Professional Baseball clubs can be posted for major-league teams during this window.

Once a player is posted, teams have 45 days to negotiate a contract. If no agreement is reached, the player returns to his Japanese club.

That window carries additional interest after the Phillies’ previous attempts to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The organization has never signed a Japanese-born player to a major-league contract, but Japan could provide the Phillies with an opportunity to alter the identity of their roster.

Third baseman Teruaki Sato is among the Japanese players expected to attract major-league interest if he is posted.

Nov. 9-12: BBWAA awards announced

The major Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards will be revealed over four consecutive nights.

Rookie of the Year will be announced Nov. 9, Manager of the Year on Nov. 10, Cy Young on Nov. 11 and Most Valuable Player on Nov. 12.

The Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, All-MLB, Hank Aaron, Comeback Player of the Year and Reliever of the Year awards will also be announced during the offseason.

Nov. 14: Arizona Fall League championship

The Arizona Fall League championship will be played Nov. 14.

Ten Phillies prospects are participating in the league, including Aidan Miller, Aroon Escobar and Dante Nori. Their performances can be followed throughout the season in the Phillies’ Arizona Fall League tracker.

The Fall League gives Miller an opportunity to make up for time lost to back surgery. It also gives the Phillies a longer evaluation period for several prospects before they make their Rule 5 decisions.

Nov. 17: Rule 5 protection deadline

The Phillies must add eligible prospects to their 40-man roster by Nov. 17 to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Among their eligible prospects are Bryan Rincon, Aroon Escobar, Pan Wen-hui, Mavis Graves and Kehden Hettiger.

Rincon and Escobar spent the season with Double-A Reading. Both are ranked among the top prospects in the Phillies’ system and would be at risk of being selected if left unprotected.

A player selected in the major-league phase of the Rule 5 draft must remain on his new team’s active roster for the entire following season or be offered back to his original organization.

Nov. 20: Non-tender deadline

The Phillies must tender contracts to every unsigned player on their 40-man roster by Nov. 20. Any player who is not tendered a contract immediately becomes a free agent.

Philadelphia has nine players eligible for salary arbitration: Garrett Stubbs, Brandon Marsh, Jhoan Duran, Bryson Stott, Tanner Banks, Derek Hill, Rafael Marchán, Bryan De La Cruz and Orion Kerkering.

Tendering a contract does not finalize a player’s salary. It allows the Phillies to retain his rights and continue negotiating before arbitration figures are exchanged.

The deadline could create additional movement. The Phillies can trade an arbitration-eligible player before Nov. 20 or non-tender him if they do not believe his projected salary fits their plans.

Dec. 1: Collective bargaining agreement expires

The current CBA expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1.

If the league and union do not reach a new agreement, MLB’s owners are expected to lock out the players. Transactions involving major-league players would stop, and team officials would be prohibited from communicating with players on the 40-man roster.

That possibility adds another layer to the Phillies’ managerial decision. A new manager could have a limited period to speak with his players and establish relationships before communication is cut off.

The uncertainty also complicates long-term planning. Salary arbitration, the competitive-balance tax, free agency, revenue sharing and other roster rules could change under the next agreement. The Phillies have already committed significant money beyond 2026, while players such as Stott, Duran and Marsh are approaching increasingly expensive arbitration seasons.

It is also why early extension decisions involving Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller have become more complicated.

Dec. 7-9: Winter Meetings

The Winter Meetings are scheduled to take place in San Diego from Dec. 7-9.

Those meetings would ordinarily represent one of the busiest periods of the offseason, but they are expected to be canceled if the owners initiate a lockout.

The MLB draft lottery is scheduled for Dec. 8, followed by the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 9. The lottery would be delayed until a new agreement is reached if there is a lockout. The Rule 5 draft could be postponed or canceled entirely.

January: Arbitration and international signing period

Under a normal offseason calendar, teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary figures in January. Players who do not reach agreements with their clubs proceed to hearings later in the winter.

Those dates could be delayed or replaced depending on the next CBA. The Phillies’ arbitration class is especially significant because Stott, Marsh and Duran are each due sizable raises.

The international amateur signing period is also expected to open in January. The Phillies made their largest international investment in franchise history when they signed Francisco Renteria in 2025, and he has quickly developed into one of the top prospects in the organization.

That portion of the calendar could also be changed by a new agreement.

The Baseball Hall of Fame voting results will be announced in January. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels and Bobby Abreu are expected to return to the ballot. Utley received 59.1 percent of the vote last winter, leaving him within striking distance of the 75-percent threshold in his fourth year of eligibility.

Feb. 19: Phillies begin Grapefruit League play

The Phillies are scheduled to open their spring training schedule against the Tigers in Lakeland on Feb. 19. Their first home game in Clearwater is scheduled for the following day against the Blue Jays.

Those games remain on the calendar, but their status will depend on whether MLB and the union can complete a new agreement in time.

The previous lockout lasted 99 days and delayed the beginning of spring training in 2022.

March 25: Opening Day

The Phillies are scheduled to open the 2027 regular season against the Nationals in Washington on March 25.

Their home opener is scheduled for April 1, also against Washington.

Those dates provide the endpoint for an offseason unlike any the Phillies have faced during their current competitive window. How much business they complete before Dec. 1 could determine how prepared they are whenever baseball resumes.

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers knew the magnitude of this one.

It was just Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night at American Family Field, but they had their ace, Jacob Misiorowski on the mound. They had a fresh bullpen. They had momentum.

They also had the bitter memory of a year ago that needed to be erased.

You see, the Brewers were in this same position a year ago, facing the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, with home field advantage.

The Dodgers embarrassed them.

It was humiliating, really.

MLB PAYROLLS 2026 Dodgers spend more than other three LCS teams combined

The Brewers not only were swept, but they didn’t lead a single inning, and set a dubious postseason record hitting just .118.

So now, after winning Game 1, 2-1, with their vaunted bullpen picking up Misiorowski and shutting down the Dodgers’ powerful offense, just what did this game mean to their psyche?

“Well," said Brewers closer Trevor Megill, “we ain’t getting swept now. We can relax a little bit."

Don’t let the Brewers fool you. They know how important this game meant for their chances to go where no Brewer team has gone since 1982 with a World Series berth.

“I think that was huge," Brewers left-handed reliever DL Hall said. “Momentum plays a big part in the postseason."

The series wouldn’t have been over with a loss, but with World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamto taking the mound Monday in Game 2 for the Dodgers, the Brewers simply couldn’t afford to head to Los Angeles down 2-0 and still be confident of a return trip to Milwaukee for a potential Game 6.

Now, for the first time since 2021, the Dodgers are trailing in the NLCS, while the Brewers are not only surviving, but embracing their heart-stopping close games.

“You can't go into a long series against a team that has the best record in baseball," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “and expect to just win four. It's going to be a long series. We knew it coming in. We had our chances, but they made plays, pitches when they needed to. We've just got to reset."

The Brewers certainly are developing a knack for these tense moments. They are only the third team in postseason history not to lead or trail by more than two runs in a game, joining the 1915 Red Sox and Phillies. And they are only the fourth club in the last 110 teams to have each of their first five games decided by two or fewer runs.

“Hey," said Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell, “it’s Brewer baseball. We never give up, man."

The Dodgers have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it’s not Shohei Ohtani.

If anything, Ohtani has reemerged as an offensive force in the cleanup spot, singling, walking and scoring the Dodgers’ only run Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

The problem is with the guy hitting in front of Ohtani.

Will Smith walked in four plate appearances, marking just the second time he’s reached base in the postseason. In the four division series games against the Atlanta Braves, he had a single in 16 at-bats, striking out seven times. He’s hitting .053 in the playoffs — only Cleveland’s Ángel Martínez has a lower average among players with at least nine at-bats.

But there’s not much the Dodgers can do about it. They are built to win with pitching and Smith, the catcher, is the guy they rely on to guide those pitchers through games.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers could be in big trouble if Brewers steal their October swagger

Dalton Rushing, who started just three fewer games behind the plate than Smith this season, is injured and not on the roster. Hunter Feduccia, who did make the team, caught just 15 complete games this season and isn’t an option to start in the playoffs.

“I’m not going to put Feduccia in place of Will Smith,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just not going to happen.”

So Roberts and the Dodgers are left to muddle on with Smith regardless of how much he struggles offensively. That’s because he’s far more valuable crouching behind the plate than standing next to it.

“I don’t even know how he’s performing offensively,” said Tarik Skubal, who took the loss Sunday. “Catchers, I think it’s the most important position on the field. They’re the ones calling pitches, dictating game flow, rhythm, all that type of stuff. I’m going to trust those guys always.”

Smith appears to be executing his catching duties very well, since opponents have scored just 10 runs and are hitting .160 against the Dodgers this postseason. Only Tampa Bay, which has played two fewer games, has done better.

As for what Smith thinks, that’s unknown because the Dodgers did not make him available to the media Sunday. But since he’s not coming out of the lineup, the next-best solution might be moving him to another spot in the order.

That worked with Ohtani, who had as many strikeouts as hits in the first two games of the division series, when he batted second. Since being dropped in the order, he has reached base four times in three games, stolen a base and scored twice.

“There’s always lineup construction. I can think it through. He’s not swinging the bat well,” Roberts said of Smith. “It’s hard because of the body of work, he just has that knack to get a hit, to get a big hit.”

That’s exactly what happened last fall when Smith’s two-out, 11th-inning home run in Game 7 of the World Series helped the Dodgers win a second straight title.

Smith was on the injured list for 86 days this summer because of neck disk inflammation, returning for the final month when he slashed .290/.400/.548. He has cooled off considerably in October, just as he did last year, when he returned from a right hand contusion three games into the playoffs and got just two hits in his first 14 at-bats.

Read more:Brewers get just enough off Tarik Skubal, draw first blood in NLCS Game 1 win

He recovered to bat .400 in last year’s NLCS win over Milwaukee, then broke a 4-4 tie with his winning homer against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just as important, though, Smith caught all but 11 innings in the Dodgers’ final 15 postseason games — including two 11-inning games and another that lasted 18 innings.

Smith rarely has hit well in the postseason, batting just .206 in 18 series, which may explain Roberts’ lack of panic. Plus, Roberts knows his All-Star catcher has helped him win three World Series rings, and if the Dodgers are to get another, it will be on the strength of their pitching, not their hitting.

And that side of Smith’s game is as strong as ever.

“To be honest, that’s not where my focus is with Will,” Skubal said of his catcher’s hitting. “My focus is what he’s doing behind the dish and he’s very important. He’s very important to the entire pitching staff.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.