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Rays stun Brewers with 2-run rally in 12th inning and force World Series Game 5 with 4-3 win

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jonny DeLuca and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson singled home runs in a stunning 12th-inning rally, and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off World Series elimination with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night that forced Game 5.

Cooper Pratt hit a tiebreaking home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th for his fourth hit of the game as Milwaukee neared a sweep and its first World Series title.

But the Rays, also seeking their first championship, rallied in the bottom half after a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz on Junior Caminero’s leadoff grounder against reliever Antonio Senzatela.

Liam Hicks singled off Shane Drohan, who relieved in his first appearance since Oct. 15, and DeLuca’s single to center drove in pinch-runner Cedric Mullins to tie the score at 3.

Chandler Simpson’s single loaded the bases and Milwaukee employed a five-man infield with the infield in.

Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, hit a chopper over first baseman Jake Bauers and into right field.

Game 5 will be Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost Game 5.

Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, the only one that rebounded to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.

Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were bidding to become only the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.

David Hamilton also homered for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and double, improving to 10 for 20 in the Series.

Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie whose go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour. Pratt had tied the score at 1 with an RBI double in the second.

Milwaukee players bounded out of the dugout to greet Pratt, who debuted in June and became the first rookie to hit an extra-inning homer in the World Series.

Seymour had allowed Frelick’s tying homer in Game 2.

Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State feel to Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks.

Simpson hit an RBI double off starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came around on Pratt’s double.

Caminero singled leading off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a hard grounder to Hamilton and Caminero twisted toward the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.

Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, drove an 0-2 fastball at the letters from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason — half his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.

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Kurtley Beale earns shock recall to Wallabies squad five years after last Test

  • Veteran could add to 95 caps as he returns aged 37

  • Ramm and Thomas to also join Australia’s spring tour

Veteran playmaker Kurtley Beale has been summoned for the Wallabies’ spring tour of the UK in a massive development ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Beale on Wednesday answered an SOS call from coach Les Kiss to join the squad for next month’s three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales before the inaugural Nations Championship finals in the UK from 21-23 November.

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Instant Analysis: Blues Get Fowler-ed By Canadiens Goalie, Get Shut Out For Second Straight Game 2-0

ST. LOUIS -- Let's just call Tuesday night what it was: a goalie win for Jacob Fowler.

The Montreal Canadiens goalie was in the St. Louis Blues' kitchen the entire night, particularly the second- and third-periods of the Canadiens' 2-0 win at Enterprise Center.

Fowler made a career-high 46 saves, including 24 in the third period when the Blues (5-6-1) outshot the Canadiens (7-3-2) 24-3.

"There was definitely a lot of good looks and sometimes you've got to tip your cap to their goalie," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. 'He made a lot of good saves; we've go to find a way to bear down a little bit more and put those in the net. There's a lot of things to like about tonight."

That was a hard thing to do even on a night where the Blues had shot volume (80-49), plenty of net front traffic and tons of O-zone time.

But in the end, it's the second straight shutout loss after a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, extending their shutout streak to 123:55.

"We had a lot of opportunities tonight, a lot of shots," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "... I thought we deserved a couple there, but credit to Fowler there in net. He was on fire tonight."

As a result, the Blues were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 17-19, 2019 (4-0 in a loss to the San Jose Sharks and 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings) in what turned out to be Mike Yeo's final game as Blues coach before they hired Craig Berube in the Stanley Cup-winning season.

It's the second-most shots on goal in a shutout loss since Jan. 25, 1986 in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers:

As for the game ... 

* Lots of shots, lots of chances, lots of traffic ... too much Fowler -- As was mentioned, sometimes you have to tip the cap to the other guy tending the net.

Fowler was exceptional. 

I think if the Blues play this game 10 times, they win nine of them.

They did everything but score. Pucks were loose in the crease and they had several bodies there, they got to several rebounds and Fowler was there on every one.

Jake Neighbours hit the post from the slot in the opening period, and Cam Fowler (no relation) hit the post on a seeing-eye shot from the left point.

When things are going well, even good fortune can be your best friend.

But make no mistake, the Blues just got goalie-d, and those nights happen.

"Fowler was too hard to beat tonight,“ Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "… Fowler, he was incredible tonight. Several spectacular second saves. I didn’t think we shot it in him. I thought he made the saves.

"We had plenty of both (volume and net front chances). Are we still a little too perimeter? Yeah, maybe at times, and that's something we can improve upon, but if we keep getting that many looks, there's going to be nights where you get seven, eight (goals)."

Fowler was simply masterful, and his team relied on him heavily, and I mean heavily in that third period. 

* Bolduc bites former mates -- Let's not forget Jordan Binnington, who didn't see the shot volume (20 shots) that Fowler did, but the Blues goalie also made some really good saves when the Canadiens had the jump in the early going, but in a 0-0 stalemate, there weren't going to be many opportunities to beat these goalies.

Former Blue Zack Bolduc did the honors three seconds after a Canadiens power play had expired with a rifle of a snipe from the bottom of the right circle, and it was going to take a shot like that to beat either one of these guys tonight:

I thought the call on Thomas for holding at the time was soft, and the Blues' kill, which technically was 3-for-3 in the game, suffered off it when Montreal was able to hold the zone and keep this play alive for the icebreaker at 8:37 of the second period.

Blues fans should know all too well about these types of shots from Bolduc having seen them in the past.

* Questionable second goal -- It came early in the third with Florian Xhekaj getting his first NHL goal on a tip, what appeared to be his second tip of a Mike Matheson wrister to the net.

It appeared Xhekaj directed the puck downward on the initial shot, it deflected off Binnington and behind him, and Xhekaj was able to poke it in for a 2-0 lead at 2:17 of the third period.

The play was reviewed and upheld, with the league's response being:

"It did look like it, but I don't know if he touched it there or not," Montgomery said. "But they get really good looks at it from Toronto. If they didn't think it was, we're not going to double down on it on a challenge. It's a hard thing to see but he does cross-check our defenseman down to the ice. If that doesn't happen, the defection never happens."

From there on, the Canadiens were able to sit back and defend and rely on their goalie, which they did, holding a two-goal advanatge despite the Blues throwing the kitchen sink at the Montreal goal.

* Puck movement was sloppy early -- The Blues were able to absorb the Canadiens' forecheck more times than not early, but their puck transition was not clean, and opportunities for odd-man rushes were thwarted because of it either with a bad puck touch or bad pass. 

A lot of it stemmed from puck movement through the neutral zone where things didn't look clean for this group.

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Not Dead Yet: Rays 4, Brewers 3 in 12 Innings

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 27: Members of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate after Ben Williamson #15 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a walk off single in the 12th inning to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers during Game Four of the 2026 World Series presented by Capital One at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

In 2011, Dan Shaughnessy famously counted the Rays out when they were down 7-0 to New York in Game 162 while the Boston/Baltimore game was in a rain delay. Shortly thereafter, the magic happened propelling the Rays into the postseason. It took 12 innings and 4 hours and 15 minutes of baseball for the magic to happen as the Rays avoided being swept with a 4-3 comeback win.

Griffin Jax got the Rays through four innings, but the lift was a lot harder than the line score looked. Jax had nine batted ball events with exit velocity of at least 96 MPH and expected batting averages of at least .770, but early on, only an opposite field line drive single by Jackson Chourio with one out in the 3rd inning safely found the synthetic surface. That changed in the 4th when a two-out single by Sal Frelich, which was 104.4 off the bat, was quickly followed by a 98.9 MPH double by Cooper Pratt to tie up the game. The Brewers put nine balls in play off Jax and only a Brice Turang groundout had an exit velocity below 96.0 MPH. Their offense, overall, made outstanding contact despite the low-scoring affair:

By the bottom of the 4th, the Rays did something they could not do in Game 3, and that was plate a second run. It was more a bad process-good outcome type of play though as Junior Caminero should not have been moving on contact to the left side from second base, yet somehow avoided the tag and being called out the baseline to score on an errant throw by David Hamilton to get a hustling DeLuca. DeLuca would be eliminated on a fielder’s choice groundout by Chandler Simpson, who himself would soon be eliminated after getting picked off by JoJo Romero.

That 2-1 lead lasted all of three pitches when Jax’s final pitch of the evening came in at a game-low 93.4 MPH and Hamilton yanked that 0-2 pitch into the stands to tie the game and make up for his throwing error:

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The pen was once again asked to get 15 outs, which has not gone well in previous events this series, this month, and this season. Kevin Kelly got the first three while stranding a two-out walk to Christian Yelich in front of William Contreras. Jax’s outing overall was effective by the measures, but not the overall outcome. The PitcherList report card even says as much, and the results went from B+ to C+ with that last swing by Hamilton:

Nick Martinez came in of relief for Kevin Kelly and had a similar path of stranding a two-out baserunner. Martinez would go on to work two innings in relief before handing it off to Bryan Baker in the 8th. A well-rested Baker looked sharp with his changeups and threw a 95.7 MPH fastball to jam Brice Turang to record the final out of the 8th. The 9th inning was eventful with Pratt reaching base for a third time and attempted a steal of second base with Andrew Vaughn at the plate with two outs, but Pratt was nullified by a hairline tag by Palacios after receiving a perfectly placed throw from Liam Hicks. Tyler Wells came on in the 10th with a 1-2-3 inning while he and Cam Booser combined to the the Rays through 11 innings. Martinez, Kelly, Baker, Wells, and Booser did all they could to keep the Rays in this contest, but the offense once again, offered little support. Ian Seymour came in for the 12th inning and allowed the go-ahead home run to Cooper Pratt while stranding Jackson Chourio at second base to give the Rays one last chance in this contest. Seymour has now allowed 4 post-season home runs, but he did limit the damage in the 12th to give the team one final chance.

The Rays looked like they might mount a rally in the bottom of the 6th after a leadoff single by Yandy Diaz, but that was followed by a 108.1 MPH liner right to Brice Turang allowing him to double off Diaz at first. Aranda’s rocket had an .890 expected batting average, and the double play changed the complexion of the entire inning. Instead of Caminero coming to the plate with two on, he came up with the bases empty. He quickly got ahead 2-0, then chased a slider out of the zone, before Dan Bellino once again decided a Rays hitter fully swung despite questionable supporting media:

That was the last serious offensive threat mounted by the Rays over the first nine innings as they failed to get a runner to second base in any of the final three innings. In fact, neither team had a runner reach second base after the Hamilton home run in the 5th inning until Jorge Mateo stole second base in the 11th inning. Mateo would be stranded after Jonathan Aranda flew out to right field. Milwaukee went into the bottom of the 12th with a lead but had exhausted their best relievers to get to this point and left the ball in the hands of Anthony Senzatela to bring home the franchise’s first ever World Series.

Caminero started off the inning and reached on a throwing erorr by defensive wizard Joey Ortiz. Pat Murphy opted to bring in Florida native Shane Drohan for the first time in this series to force Liam Hicks to hit against a lefty or have a cold Nick Fortes step in for this game. Drohan allowed 14 regular season home runs, all to righties, but Kevin Cash opted to leave in Hicks and not bring in the righty Fortes. Hicks would single through the left side setting up first and third with nobody out. The extra base was costly though as Caminero left the game limping, but was also noticably limping after reaching first on the throwing error. The drawn-in infield allowed for a Johnny DeLuca groundball to sneak through the middle to tie the game at three. Simpson then came up with the job of bunting over the two baserunners but did not execute a bunt with two strikes but rather hit a two-strike single back through the middle to load the bases with nobody out. Ben Williamson was brought in to pinch hit for Victor Mesa Jr with nobody out and Milwaukee implementing a five-man infield to prevent another ball to sneak through the infield. The suspense would last one pitch as Williamson would hit the fourth consecutive single of the inning to plate Cedric Mullins with the winning run.

Both managers were forced to use young left-handed relievers in key moment because of how long the game went. Seymour has struggled throughout the month of October while Shane Drohan saw things snowball on him with four consective singles from Hicks, DeLuca, Simpson, and Williamson to allow the Rays to out-Brewer the Brewers for the first time in this series. The final inning of this game was the first time since the first inning of game two where the Rays had multiple positive events putting a crazy bow on a game which was extremely well-pitched through 11 innings.

Later today is a new day, and the Rays have a few hours to figure out how to piecemeal a pitching plan for Game 5. They will need to come up with an approach to limit the hard contact the Brewers made in this contest as they had 12 of the 13 hardest hit balls of the game:

If anything, it was refreshing to see the team hang around and come back just a night after getting embarrassed in front of the home town fans and national audience. Let’s hope the image of Junior Caminero limping off in the 12th inning was a Willis Reed moment and not him being too hurt to play in Game 5.

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Brewers can’t close out World Series in twelve-inning thriller

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 27: Jonny DeLuca #21 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits an RBI Single during the twelfth inning against Shane Drohan #55 of the Milwaukee Brewers in game four of the 2026 World Series at Tropicana Field on October 27, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Despite a 12th-inning home run from Cooper Pratt, Shane Drohan and the Brewers couldn’t hold off the Rays in the bottom half. The Rays won 4-3 on a walk-off single by Ben Williamson, cutting Milwaukee’s series lead to 3-1 and sending the World Series to Game 5.

Milwaukee immediately threatened, putting runners on the corners in the top of the first thanks to two walks by Rays starter Griffin Jax and a throwing error by catcher Liam Hicks. Brice Turang had a chance to give the Brewers an early lead, but he grounded out to short to strand both runners.

Tampa Bay couldn’t get anything going against Dustin May in the bottom half of the frame, as he capped off a 1-2-3 first by striking out Junior Caminero looking. The second inning went less smoothly. Hicks led off with a single, and Jonny DeLuca followed with a grounder to Turang at second that nearly became a double play, but the speedy DeLuca beat the relay to first.

That brought up Chandler Simpson, who took a strike, fouled off a couple more pitches, then laced a double down the right-field line to score DeLuca from first.

With Simpson, one of the fastest players in the game, standing on second, the inning looked like it might snowball, but May bore down. He got Ryan Vilade to ground out to second, then got Richie Palacios to wave at a high fastball for the third out.

Simpson’s double gave the Rays a quick lead, but they wouldn’t hold it for long. With two outs in the fourth, Sal Frelick grounded a single through the right side, and Cooper Pratt followed with a double down the left-field line and into the corner. Frelick scored without a throw (though he slid headfirst anyway) to tie the game 1-1.

After a wild pitch from Jax moved Pratt to third, Garrett Mitchell had a chance to give the Brewers the lead, but he chased a high fastball for strike three.

Dustin May allowed a leadoff single to Caminero to start the bottom of the fourth, at which point Pat Murphy went to lefty JoJo Romero to face the left-handed Hicks. Hicks grounded out but moved Caminero to second. Jonny DeLuca then hit a grounder to third baseman David Hamilton, who tried to tag Caminero, but Caminero swerved onto the infield grass to avoid him. Hamilton nearly fell lunging for the tag, then threw the ball away trying to get DeLuca at first, and Caminero scored to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.

Whether a runner left the base path isn’t reviewable, so Milwaukee instead challenged whether Hamilton had tagged Caminero… and lost. Luckily for the Brewers, Romero escaped without further damage, getting Chandler Simpson to ground into a force-out for the second out, then picking him off first for the third.

Hamilton, due up first in the top of the fifth, immediately made up for his error: crushing a home run into the right field stands to tie the game back up.

And then, after runs in three straight half-innings, the game slowly settled back into a stalemate. Abner Uribe kept the Rays scoreless through the fifth and sixth innings, with some help from a beautiful play by Turang at second:

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay brought out Game 1 starter Nick Martinez to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, and he delivered with two scoreless frames before Bryan Baker pitched a scoreless top of the eighth.

DL Hall relieved Uribe and pitched a shutout seventh, then got two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth. With with the right-handed Diaz coming up, Pat Murphy went to his closer, Trevor Megill, who delivered with a strikeout to send the tie to the ninth inning.

With one out in the top of the ninth, Pratt grounded a single through the left side to put the go-ahead run on base. Mitchell then lofted a high fly ball to right field that didn’t quite have the legs to leave the ballpark, and Chandler Simpson ran it down with a leaping catch up against the wall.

With two outs and Pratt still on first, Murphy called on Andrew Vaughn to pinch-hit for Hamilton. Vaughn took a strike on the first pitch, and Pratt took off for second on the next one. He slid in ahead of the throw and was initially ruled safe, but Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the call. Replays showed second baseman Richie Palacios’ tag may have grazed the back of Pratt’s hand as he slid in, and although none of the angles seemed conclusive, the call was overturned, ending the inning.

Instead of Megill, Aaron Ashby came out for the ninth and retired the heart of the Rays’ order — Jonathan Aranda, Caminero, and Hicks — in order to send the game to extra innings.

n the top of the tenth, Tyler Wells replaced Baker and retired the side in order, although Jake Bauers made things interesting with a seven-pitch at-bat before striking out. Ashby again set down the Rays in order in the bottom half, finishing the inning off it with a strikeout of Victor Mesa Jr.

Wells got Christian Yelich to pop up to third and William Contreras to fly out to open the eleventh. With lefties Turang and Frelick due up, Cash went to his bullpen for Cam Booser, who gave up four hits and four earned runs without recording an out in last night’s game. Booser walked Turang on four pitches, the last coming after time was called and the grounds crew came out to repack the mound.

Up next was Frelick, who quickly fell behind 0-2 before time was called again, this time because Booser was having issues with his PitchCom device. Frelick took ball one, then fouled a pitch off his knee as Turang took off for second. Turang went again on the next pitch, which bounced in the dirt, but Frelick couldn’t check his swing, sending the game to the bottom of the eleventh.

Ashby came out for a third inning and kept rolling, striking out Palacios on five pitches. But with Ashby at 31 pitches, Murphy pulled him in favor of Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela struck out Taylor Walls for the second out, then lost the strike zone against Díaz, walking him on four pitches to put the winning run on base. Jorge Mateo came in to run for Díaz.

Aranda quickly fell behind two strikes, and Mateo took off for second on the third pitch of the at-bat. Senzatela pitched out, but Contreras didn’t transfer the ball cleanly and didn’t attempt a throw. With the winning run now in scoring position, Aranda flew out to Frelick to end the eleventh.

Cooper Pratt, who was already 3-for-4 on the night, led off the bottom of the twelfth. Pratt worked the count to 2-2, then demolished a sweeper up in the zone for a go-ahead home run. No moment is too big for this kid:

Despite a Jackson Chourio double with two outs, the Brewers weren’t able to add to their lead any further. With only Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, and Brandon Woodruff left in the bullpen, Senzatela came back out for the top of the twelfth with a one-run lead.

Junior Caminero led off with a soft ground ball to third, but Joey Ortiz, who’d come in to play third after Vaughn’s pinch-hit at-bat, bounced the throw to first, and Bauers couldn’t dig it out. Caminero pulled up limping, but stayed in the game.

With the left-handed Hicks coming up, Murphy went to Drohan for his first appearance of the series. Hicks worked the count to 2-2, then grounded a single through the left side. Caminero got on his horse and made it to third without a throw, then limped off the field in favor of pinch-runner Cedric Mullins.

The next batter for the Rays was Jonny DeLuca, who grounded a single up the middle to score Mullins and give the Rays runners on first and second with nobody out and Chandler Simpson coming to the plate. Simpson smoked a line drive up the middle for a single, but Nick Fortes — who had come in for Hicks — stayed at third.

Ben Williamson, pinch-hitting for Mesa Jr., bounced the next pitch through the right side for a single to send this series to Game 5.

With Nick Martinez having pitched tonight, tomorrow’s pitching matchup is presumably Jacob Misiorowski against Drew Rasmussen. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.

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Rays survive in World Series with wild walk-off comeback vs Brewers

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The champagne was ready for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The plastic lining was getting unrolled.

The Brewers were all set to celebrate their first World Series championship in 57 years on Tuesday night.

Instead, the Tampa Bay Rays broke the Brewers’ hearts.

The Rays, down to their final three outs, pulled off a zany 4-3, 12-inning comeback over the Brewers to stay alive.

The Rays are still in deep trouble, trailing the Brewers 3-games-to-1 in the best-of-seven series.

But, oh, they are alive.

The Brewers, leading 3-2 after 22-year-old rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt’s homer, opened the floodgates when third baseman Joey Ortiz, known for his defense, threw Junior Caminero’s routine ground ball by first baseman Jake Bauers. Then, the bullpen, which had pitched eight consecutive scoreless innings, melted down.

Catcher Liam Hicks slapped a single to left field off reliever Shane Drohan, with pinch-runner Cedric Mullins scampering to third base. Jonny DeLuca followed with a single up the middle past a drawn-in infield, tying the game. Chandler Simpson, after trying to bunt, then slapped a single to center, loading the bases.

And pinch-hitter Ben Williamson became the hero slapping ball to right field for the game-winner, with the majority of Brewers’ fans that filled Tropicana Field groaning.

It was the fourth game in World Series history that a team staved off elimination with an extra-inning victory.

“These are the two best teams left in baseball,” Game 4 starter Griffin Jax said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been playing the cleanest baseball for the last three games. No secret there. You can tell by the three losses we have that we’ve been giving them a lot of extra chances, and you can’t do that against the Brewers. They’ve taken advantage of everything.

“There’s no rewriting the script. No changes in who we are."

But this time, they re-wrote the script.

They now are only the fifth team in World Series history who trailed 3-0 in a Series to even force a Game 5, which will be played Wednesday night, possibly with ace Drew Rasmussen on the mound.

“Obviously, we want to play well. Everybody in this clubhouse wants to play well,” Caminero said. “I don’t even think it’s been a matter of necessarily playing bad. I think a lot of credit goes to Milwaukee. They’ve just been playing exceptionally well.

“Earlier, I told (Brewers catcher William) Contreras, you know, you have my blessing. You know, I wish you the best in this series. But now, it’s kind of like, well you’ve played a little too well. Things are what they are now. Credit to Milwaukee. Things just haven’t unfolded our way necessarily.”

Well, up until this night, ruining the Brewers’ party.

There were a horde of Brewers’ fans that into town for the game, staying everywhere from Tampa to Clearwater to Sarasota, and seen everywhere from bars to restaurants to coffee shops, certainly made their presence known. They actually drank popular Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, located just outside Tropicana Field, dry.

Jake Ferguson, owner of the bar, said they actually had to call in an emergency shipment of beer after selling 1,000 cases of Miller Lite and Coors Lite in one day, the normal supply for an entire month.

Now, for at least a night, they’ll be drinking in their sorrows, while the wait for a World Series title continues for at least another day.

“That's a really talented group," said Rasmussen, who was beaten in Game 2. “In all honesty, they've outperformed us in all three facets of the game.

“I think they've pitched better than us. I think they've done better offensively. And I think they've played better defense than we have. It’s a really talented group. Their decision-making is off the charts.’’

But not this night.

It belonged to the Rays, in the unforeseen way imaginable.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rays survive in World Series with wild walk-off comeback vs Brewers

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Kaprizov scores his NHL-leading 14th goal as the Wild beat the Mammoth 3-1

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Utah Mammoth 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

Utah's Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt's shutout bid.

Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.

Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.

Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.

Up next

Wild: Return home to face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Mammoth: Open a six-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

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Spurs rout shorthanded Kings for second consecutive win

SAN ANTONIO, TX -OCTOBER 27: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs grabs a rebound over a host of Sacramento Kings players in the first half at Frost Bank Center on October 27, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images

After the San Antonio Spurs’ road win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, head coach Mitch Johnson was less than pleased with his team’s performance through the first week of the season. He challenged them and pushed them to be better and play like he knows they are capable of.

Tuesday night saw the Spurs answer the call.

A 41-point second quarter effectively put the game away as the Spurs rolled to the 130-107 victory over the shorthanded Sacramento Kings at the Frost Bank Center, securing their second consecutive win.

“Every game has gotten a little bit better,” Johnson said after the game. “We made a few more shots tonight… commitment to the process is real and I thought they came to play tonight.”

Victor Wembanyama had 29 points and 10 rebounds, his best numbers of the young season so far. Julian Champagnie added 26 points on 8-for-13 3-point shooting, while Dylan Harper added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

San Antonio’s offense was better, hitting their shots on a 54 percent clip, while hitting 17-of-37 shots from beyond the arc for a season-best 46 percent.

“We felt today what we were supposed to do and what we weren’t,” Wembanyama said. “And we actually showed progress through the game. So, I think, I hope, we can stick to the good stuff we did.”

All five Spurs starters were in double figures in their highest offensive output of the season. San Antonio’s bench had 40 points as San Antonio finished with seven players in double figures.

Sacramento was shorthanded, but led by Domantas Sabonis, who posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort. De’Andre Hunter added 24 points and Zach LaVine had 22 points for the Kings, who remain winless on the season (0-4).

“Whether the ball goes through the hoop or not, our standard stays the same,” Champagnie told reporters after the game. We came out and did exact what we’re supposed to do and played how we want to play. Hopefully we can continue to build on this.“

Games Notes

  • With so many injuries around the NBA a week into the season, no one give the Spurs ojo. Light some candles for these guys!
  • In all seriousness, San Antonio has a golden chance to get to the top of the standings thanks to a lighter schedule and teams dealing with huge injuries. As Shams Charania reported, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be without Anthony Edwards when the Wolves visit San Antonio on Saturday.
  • I didn’t think Harrison Barnes could still get up like that. What a dunk!
  • Devin Vassell had his best outing of the season with 14 points and eight assists.
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Cubs BCB After Dark: Could the Cubs trade for Steven Kwan?

CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a Single during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game four of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 17, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It’s Tuesday here at BCB After Dark: the boppin’ home base for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the fall air. There’s no cover charge. If you’ve got a coat, we can check that. There are still a couple tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night, I asked you if the Cubs should make a change to the pitching coaches. I think Tommy Hottovy and Casey Jacobson are glad you’re not running the team, because 42 percent said “yes” and 38 percent of you said “no.” The other twenty percent said it didn’t make a difference either way.

On Tuesday nights, I don’t do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz and that time is now.

So I sort of lied when I said there would be no movies tonight, because I do have a clip from the 1936 film Pennies from Heaven. The film starred Bing Crosby, but the clip we have here is Louis Armstrong and his band performing “Skeletons in the Closet.”

So here’s a good classic to get you in the holiday mood. There’s a little Bing Crosby in here too.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.

So I was going to wait until the World Series was over to post tonight, but I don’t think this Brewers/Rays game is never going to end. I guess it doesn’t make much difference because even with a Rays win, the Brewers are overwhelming favorites to win it all.

So I thought I’d ask you about a trade candidate. The Cubs are looking at losing both of their corner outfielders to free agency, so they need to pick someone up to play right and left field if Ian Happ and/or Seiya Suzuki don’t return. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of good free agent outfielders out there and the Cubs may prefer to stay away from making a major commitment to one anyways as Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley are two of their best prospects and both may be knocking on the door for a major league job in 2028. Behind them are Caden Sorrell and Ethan Conrad, both of whom could also be good starting outfielders soon enough.

So maybe the trade market is the way to go. I found this article by Mark Feinsand on MLB dot com from last month and one name struck me as intriguing—the Guardians Steven Kwan. Kwan doesn’t have much power. He had 14 and 11 home runs in 2024 and 2025, but he managed just three home runs last year and a .349 slugging percentage. However, Kwan does a lot of other things well. He makes a ton of contact and gets on base. Last year he had a career-high on-base percentage of .382. His strikeout percentage last year was a ridiculously low eight percent. He’s an excellent defensive left fielder. He runs the bases OK, stealing ten bases in 13 attempts last year.

Looking at Kwan’s Statcast page, you can see it’s a matter of extremes.

Terrible bat speed, slugging and exit velocity. Elite launch angle, chase, whiff and walk rates. Elite defender.

So why would the Guardians want to trade Kwan? Simple. He’s a free agent after this upcoming season. With this upcoming season in doubt, it makes sense for Cleveland to get something for Kwan rather than lose him to free agency. For the Cubs, that works out as Kwan wouldn’t be blocking any of the Cubs outfield prospects.

It’s hard to say what it would take for the Cubs to trade for Kwan. They definitely want someone cheap with years of control. Would it be worth it for the Cubs to trade Matt Shaw for him? Shaw has been disappointing, but he’s still young and he still has room to grow. He’s also very versatile and that’s pretty valuable. But with the emergence of Pedro Ramírez, maybe the Cubs can afford to part with him more than a prospect like Harsthorn or Owen Ayers.

So if there was a proposed trade of Matt Shaw for Steven Kwan, who says no?

If you think Shaw is too much for Kwan, then propose your own deal in the comments.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. Let’s hope we have more baseball soon. Get home safely. If you checked anything, let us get it for you now. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.

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Watch rookie Cooper Pratt's go-ahead World Series home run for Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt launched a solo homer to right field off Tampa Bay Rays reliever Ian Seymour to break the tie and give the Brewers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th inning.

Pratt's homer was his fourth hit in Game 4 of the World Series.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch rookie Cooper Pratt's go-ahead World Series home run for Brewers

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Houston Rockets vs. Milwaukee Bucks game preview

HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 01: Ousmane Dieng #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks drives to the basket against Tari Eason #17 of the Houston Rockets in the first half at Toyota Center on April 01, 2026 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Houston Rockets are 4-0 for the first time in over a decade.

The NBA got rid of the “four games in five nights” thing that everyone hated, but the Rockets are about to get the next-best thing: three games in four nights! It’s already the second time Houston is getting this fun treat after opening the season with the same setup. Another quirk? Houston doesn’t play a game on Thursday until January. That’s usually a day reserved for national television games, but it’s still odd.

Anyway, time to move on to the opponents. The Milwaukee Bucks are 1-3 after picking up their first win of the season against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Amen Thompson’s nemesis Tyler Herro scored 23 points and had seven assists to lead the way while Myles Turner added four blocks against his former squad.

Of course, Herro is now with the Bucks after Milwaukee traded Giannis Antetokounmpo after two years of Giannis whispering that he wanted to be traded because he didn’t want to be hated by the fans for demanding a trade. Eventually, everyone moved on and Giannis is with the Heat. With the Heat 0-4 to start the season, many are already declaring Milwaukee the winners of the trade, which is a bit silly. The Bucks did get back a decent haul, but not necessarily anything that will anchor a contender in the near future. Along with Herro, the Bucks received Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jaucionis, the 13th pick in the 2026 draft (Nate Ament), first round picks in 2031 and 2033, a first round swap in 2030, and a second round pick in 2033. Again, it’s a great haul, but it’s the picks that loom largest.

Each of the players mentioned are contributing to the Bucks at the moment. Herro and Jaquez Jr. are starting, and Ament, Ware, and Jakucionis are coming off the bench. The Bucks also drafted Brayden Burries out of Arizona, who is also getting minutes early in the season.

Tip-off

7pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network

Injury Report

Rockets

Alperen Sengun: OUT

Steven Adams: OUT

Marcus Smart: GTD

Bucks

None

The Line (as of this post)

N/A

Check here for updates

Schedule Advantage Counter

Rockets: 0

Opponents: 1

Looking ahead because we can

Friday night in Dallas against the Mavericks

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Nets let first win slip away in heartbreaking fashion to Celtics, lose in OT, 125-124

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 27: Mikel Brown Jr. #0 of the Brooklyn Nets makes the game tying shot against the Boston Celtics on October 27, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

The Brooklyn Nets got about as close you can get to your first win of the season without actually getting it tonight. It was as encouraging and heartbreaking as it sounds.

Adding to the bittersweet sentiment, Brooklyn’s prized rookie was in the driver’s seat for this one’s most pivotal moments. He took us up, down, side to side, and deeper into the night than we originally anticipated. Here’s how we got there…

The Nets began tonight’s contest with a different starting five for the first time all season, making a change at the point guard spot. No, I’m not talking about Mikel Brown Jr. As Bane harrowingly said in the opening sequence of The Dark Knight Rises, that comes later.

It was actually Nolan Traoré who made his first start of the season this evening against the Boston Celtics. And, the Frenchman looked confident and collected early on, with little-to-no hesitation attacking inside after coming around screens. He made his first four shots to put up nine first quarter points, and even left Jayson Tatum in the dust on one of his drives…

Brooklyn also got a lift from an energized Day’Ron Sharpe in the first, who’s active hands helped the Nets mount a stingy first quarter defense for a second straight game. It wasn’t another seven steal opening frame, but Boston possessions that didn’t involve Brooklyn deflections were difficult to come by.

Speaking of the Celtics, for them, this was the second half of a back-to-back, and they didn’t do much to hide it. Boston, the best 3-point shooting team coming into tonight, began the contest just 2-of-15 from deep, more often than not missing short on their attempts.

Between that, Traoré‘s aggressiveness, and impactful contributions from Mo Wagner and Chaney Johnson, who combined for 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the first two periods, Brooklyn controlled almost the entire first half. The only Celtic they couldn’t keep under wraps was Jayson Tatum. Shocker, right? He had a game high 16 points at half while dishing four assists, but the Celtics still trailed going into the break by five.

We’d hear more from him later, but the second half’s opening minutes were our last chance to applaud Traoré, who again came out on the attack. He had arguably his strongest take of his career only a few minutes into the third, seemingly setting the tone for another strong half…

But unfortunately, “seemingly” is the key word in that sentence. Even in Boston, a city known its historical defiance of legislation, the law of averages had to be obeyed. After their dreadful first half, the Celtics shot 8-of-14 from deep in the third, eventually retaking the lead with 1:07 to go in the period. Their second-to-last make in that frame came off the hands of a well-covered Tatum from the top of the key, which just ate you up inside.

As Boston made its run at the lead, the YES broadcast reported that Traoré asked for a sub while indicating that he had been cramping, which Fernández confirmed to be true postgame. Traoré did play a little over a minute in the fourth, but no further, and with little impact on the game. He finished with 15 points and three assists while shooting 6-9 from the field and 1-of-2 from deep.

Day’Ron Sharpe picking up his fourth foul around the time of Traoré’s exit didn’t help either. Brooklyn had found some defensive success earlier with Mo Wagner in drop coverage, although that largely just helped them take care of the defensive glass, and Boston had simply stopped missing. The Nets’ six turnovers in the period also didn’t help.

But in the fourth, The Juniors did. Michael Porter Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr. combined for 25 points in the final frame while shooting 7-11 from downtown. Some of their haves looked like they came all the way from Dorchester. They found the bottom of the net regardless…

After trailing by as many as eight in the quarter, the Nets tied things six separate times, and even snagged the lead for themselves twice, as both groups went back and forth down the stretch.

However, as time ticked away, the game slowed, and that favored the more experienced team, the home team. After Brown Jr. snuck in a high, lefty finish that knotted up the game with under a minute to play, White got free on the next possession for an and-one finish that gave his team the lead back, now with only 33 seconds to go. Then, it was time to play the foul game, and Boston didn’t seem to know the rules.

After another string of misses from Brooklyn, Tatum went to the stripe to put his team up five with three seconds to go. He made the first free throw, but then missed the second as Neemias Queta committed a loose ball foul on Randle. That put Randle at the line, needing to make one shot to pull within three, and then miss in the hope someone would coral the rebound and hit a game-tying three.

Off the miss, the ball instead found Mitchell Robinson’s hands, but that wasn’t so bad either. The career 50.7% free throw shooter proceeded to miss both of his shots at he stripe, giving the Nets the ball back and the chance to hit a game-tying three with three seconds to play. Mikel Brown Jr. did that…

And, to overtime we went. With a new lease on life, the Nets came out swinging in the extra period. Randle pitched in a quick four points to establish an early lead while Porter Jr. registered two blocked shots to help defend it. Brown Jr. kept firing away as well, hitting one triple but missing three others.

Those blanks, however, left the door open for Boston. After Brown Jr.’s next miss, Randle, again going for an offensive rebound, fouled Paul George, who sank both of the free throws from it and made it a one point game with under a minute to go.

After Brown Jr. and Tatum traded misses, the Nets still possessed a one point lead and the ball, but with 28 seconds to go. Brown Jr. drove, hoping to ice it, but missed. Day’Ron Sharpe was originally called for an offensive foul after bumping into Luka Garza while going for the rebound, but a Jordi Fernández challenge overturned it.

So, with a fresh shot clock, a lead, and only six seconds remaining, the Nets just needed to inbound the ball and run out the clock to win.

Well, they did one of those things. After getting the ball into Brown Jr., he quickly found himself under the basket, and put up a shot. He missed. The Celtics then secured the rebound, called a timeout, and let Tatum work for his own look in isolation. He did not miss…

“Obviously on that layup, Mikel, you want to dribble it out because you want to take more time out of the clock and then they’ll foul you,” Fernández said postgame. “Good intentions, but if you go for the layup, you got to make it. But even if you make it, it’s still a one possession game. But he’ll learn from it. I just told him that he was not happy with himself and it’s a lot. But the kid also was a reason why we were there. He got it going and he showed that when the big lights are bright and they’re on, he can perform. So a lot of good things, a lot of the good things as a unit, and got to move on to the next one. I know it’s tough, but I take the positives.”

MBJ put it more succinctly in a tweet…

His father and childhood coach, Chris Brown Sr. praised his son for taking accountability for the losss…

After the game, Fernández also said that Brooklyn switched onto Tatum when they weren’t supposed to, leading to a better look than what they had hoped to give up.

“We’re not supposed to switch there because we wanted to keep a bigger body on him,” Fernández said. “We did switch. He bumped. Keon tried to contest and he got a shot that he can make… We wanted to maintain the matchup on Tatum with Noah Clowney because he’s big… And then he bumped and then he shot over. And then Keon, who was on the ball, was supposed to track and contest that or help a little bit because we knew that most likely the shot was for him.”

For Tatum, it was one of his biggest moments since coming back from his torn achilles late last year. He finished with 40 points, eight assists, and five rebounds while shooting 10-20 from the field. He also made 18-22 free throws.

For Brown Jr., who finished with 17/5/5 while shooting 5-17 from the field and 4-11 from three, it was the epitome of a “rookie moment.”

For the Nets, though, it’s just another loss.

Final: Boston Celtics 125, Brooklyn Nets 124 (OT)

Injury Update

Egor Dëmin exited this one in the second quarter and was later ruled out with a right leg contusion. He appeared to bump into Paul George, which may have caused it. However, he brushed it off postgame, telling Erik Slater of ClutchPoints it’s nothing serious and he’d be good to go in a couple of days.

As mentioned, Fernández also confirmed postgame that Traoré had been cramping.

“Yeah, he was cramping and then I felt like he was not moving well,” Fernández said. “And as you guys know, Nolan is a guy that has great energy, can touch the pain anytime. And just for that reason, I felt like I didn’t want to change anything. And I know he wanted to because he wanted to battle through it, but I almost just felt like I had to save him for myself.”

Traoré dealt with muscle cramps that last year as well. If there’s anything more to related to his health, we’ll update this report.

Next Up

Do you care about the NBA Cup yet? Either way, it’s coming to a TV or arena near you soon. Brooklyn will play its first Cup game of the year at home on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons. The Nets went 1-4 against Cade Cunningham and company last year. Brooklyn is 5-7 all-time in NBA Cup play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.

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Bucks likely to benefit from Kawhi Leonard injury

TORONTO, CANADA - OCTOBER 21: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Chicago Bulls during the second half in the game at Scotiabank Arena on October 21, 2026 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Per Shams Charania, Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard will miss “a period of weeks” with left knee swelling.

“An MRI on Leonard’s knee showed no structural damage, but both sides will use the time to ramp up Leonard. The 35-year-old had an uncommon offseason, as he could not join the Raptors until after a resolution was reached in the NBA’s investigation into the LA Clippers’ salary cap circumvention case.”

The Bucks play the Raptors in their first NBA Cup game (see here for their full NBA Cup schedule) on November 6, which, if the multi-week recovery timeline holds up, means Leonard will miss it. Of course, the Raptors are still a formidable outfit without Leonard, but you’d still rather play them with the seven-time All-Star in street clothes. The Bucks need every advantage they can get!

Notably, the swelling is in Leonard’s left knee, which is not the knee he has previously had issues with; the 35-year-old has had multiple surgeries on the meniscus and ACL in his right knee.

Leonard issued a statement on Twitter, writing “it’s always frustrating missing time.”

“I came back to compete with this team and I’m focused on getting back to 100. Toronto, I’ve appreciated the love since I’ve been back. Returning soon.”

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Knicks get first win of season with convincing victory over Pistons

NEW YORK – Maybe there is such a thing as a championship hangover.

At least for one night and three quarters of nearly flawless execution, the New York Knicks avoided an embarrassing history, and it might signal that the NBA champions are not ready for an extended stint in basketball rehab.

Over the first three games of this new season, the Knicks looked nothing like the team that earned adulation and praise after snapping a 53-year title drought.

After a 111-97 win at Madison Square Garden over the Detroit Pistons, handing them their first loss, the 1969-70 Boston Celtics remain the last defending champs to start the season by losing each of their first four games. That team went 34-48 in its first season after legend Bill Russell retired.

New York, which snapped a six-game regular-season losing streak to Detroit, entered the game with the league’s least efficient offense, with a 40.8 field-goal percentage ranked only ahead of the Chicago Bulls.

“Close to 48 minutes of basketball the way we know we can play and like to play," Knicks head coach Mike Brown said after the game. "We had some lulls where we weren't as physical as we should've been, during the course of the game, but we had some really good moments. We had more good moments in this game than we did in the totality of the first three games, and that's why we got the win."

In the first quarter, those bad trends held true to form as Detroit, with victories already over fellow Eastern Conference contenders the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers, raced out to a 38-25 first quarter lead, doing the things that they lacked in getting them bounced from the second round of the playoffs last season despite having the conference’s best record.

The Pistons relied on a balanced attack, with three different leading scorers in those three games, plus finding long-distance shooting, hitting 42% from downtown and scoring 118 points a game.

Their shooting abandoned Detroit after the first 12 minutes, as an 18-5 run by the Knicks in the second quarter tied the score at 43, led by reserve Landry Shamet, who scored 10 points during that stretch, as the Pistons only scored a combined 25 points in the second and third quarters and found themselves down by 25 entering the final quarter.  

The Knicks scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and took their biggest lead, as part of a 15-4 stretch that essentially put the game away as the home team ran its lead up to 27, and finished the road-weary Pistons off with a 12-2 flurry, as they missed 15 of their 19 shots coming out after halftime.

Karl-Anthony Towns led six Knicks in double figures with 27 points and 20 rebounds, his fifth 20-20 game as a member of the Knicks. Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, who went 1-for-10 in the first half, finished with 23 points (13-16 FT) and seven assists.

Almost like laying bricks for a new foundation at the World’s Most Famous Arena, New York shot 35% in the first quarter; then the bench came on, the Knicks heated up, and they started forcing the issue on both ends of the floor as Detroit went cold. Both teams finished shooting 43%, as the game got bogged down with a flurry of fouls and free-throw misses, especially by the Pistons.

Knicks coach Mike Brown called out his team for their lack of effort early in the season, saying they looked lethargic and were slow to get upcourt in transition, which contributed to their next-to-last pace in the league. Brown was singing a different tune after a thorough victory.

Brown said he challenged Towns at halftime and told him that Paul Reed, who replaced the injured Duren in the starting lineup, was getting the best of him in their matchup.

"KAT's a grown man, he's obviously a perennial All-Star. I just told him the truth." Brown added. "The guy is killing us in the paint. Anything he gets, he's putting it back. Catch him on the perimeter, guard him. And he did those things. I gotta take my hat off. I thought his shift in mindset was really big for us in the second half."

Detroit again played without All-NBA center Jalen Duren, who sat out with a hamstring injury, as Cade Cunningham had 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Reed led the Pistons with 22 points, but they hit a pitiful 9-for-37 (23%) from the 3-point line.

While their shooting woes continue, New York turned it on, especially defensively, when they needed to much like their championship series against the San Antonio Spurs, when they were down at least double digits at some point in each of the five games.

“This is a long season and we can have hiccups, but that’s what the season’s for: so they can correct it come playoff time so we can do what we need to do," Brown said.

Even Brunson joked during his television interview following the victory when asked, "You said the first few weeks of the season, you'll learn who you guys are. Who are you?"

Brunson calmed stated, "Uh, we're the Knicks, actually. But most importantly, we got to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day. This is a new year, new team. Adversity started early, and so we just got to fight back."

The NBA champions, indeed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Knicks get first win of season with convincing victory over Pistons

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Devils beat Stars 5-1 as Connor Hellebuyck wins his New Jersey debut

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to win his New Jersey debut, Nico Hischier scored two goals, and the Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Hellebuyck, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner, started four days after being traded by the Winnipeg Jets following his suspension for failing to report to training camp. It was his first win since April 9 at St. Louis, 3-2.

The Hughes brothers, Jack and Luke, and Jesper Boqvist, also scored for the Devils, who have won four consecutive games.

Justin Hryckowian scored for the Stars, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Casey DeSmith, making his third start of the season, made 22 saves after allowing only two goals in each of his previous outings.

The five goals are the season high against Dallas, which went into play leading the NHL with a 1.68 goals-against average.

Hischier, the team captain in his 10th season with New Jersey, provided a 2-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period and 38 seconds into the second. Dallas’ challenge for goaltender interference against Timo Meier on the first goal was denied. Hischier has a team-high seven goals and two two-goal games.

Boqvist made it 3-0 midway through the second. After Hryckowian’s deflection pulled Dallas back within two goals at 16:08 of the second, Luke Hughes answered 28 seconds later.

BLUE JACKETS 4, FLYERS 3, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kent Johnson scored his second goal of the game 2:22 into overtime and Columbus beat Philadelphia after coughing up a three-goal lead.

Columbus scored three goals in a 2:46 span of the first period to lead 3-0 after one.

Johnson set up Adam Fantilli for the first goal at 10:58 of the first period, and then deflected Zach Werenski’s shot past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar at 12:54. Denton Mateychuk scored for Columbus 50 seconds later. Cam Talbot made 28 saves for his third win this season.

Johnson scored the overtime winner on a two-on-none breakaway, following a give-and-go with Fantilli. It was Johnson’s sixth goal of the season.

Philadelphia forced overtime by outshooting Columbus 28-6 over the final two periods.

Noah Cates scored his first goal of the season by poking a loose puck past Talbot, while Trevor Zegras cut the deficit to 3-2 with just under five minutes left in regulation. Zegras slid a pass to Tyson Foerster, who fired a shot on Talbot that Jamie Drysdale tipped into the net with 11 seconds remaining.

Vladar made 11 saves.

BLACKHAWKS 2, KINGS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and Chicago beat Los Angeles.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.

Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Anton Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.

Samuel Helenius scored for Los Angeles in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. Forsberg stopped 25 shots.

Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

CANADIENS 2, BLUES 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jacob Fowler made a career-high 46 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Zachary Bolduc and Florian Xhekaj scored as Montreal defeated St. Louis.

Mike Matheson had two assists as the Canadiens (7-3-2) improved to 4-1-1 on the road this season with their third straight away victory. Fowler’s shutout was his third in 24 career starts.

The Blues (5-6-1) fell to 3-2-1 at home as they were shut out for the second straight game. They lost 4-0 to visiting Carolina on Saturday.

Bolduc put the Canadiens ahead with 11:23 left in the second period, slapping a one-timer from the right circle for his fifth goal of the season. Bolduc’s first goal against his former team was assisted by Matheson and Alexandre Texier.

A first-round draft pick in 2021 by St. Louis, Bolduc scored 19 goals for the Blues during the 2024-25 season before being traded to the Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux. The 23-year-old right winger had 12 goals and 30 points for Montreal in 78 games last season.

HURRICANES 2, BRUINS 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho’s third-period goal gave Carolina a win over Boston in a matchup of early leaders in the Eastern Conference.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 14 saves to improve his record to 8-0-0, matching the longest season-opening winning streak by a goalie in franchise history. He tied former teammate Frederik Andersen, who set the mark five years ago.

Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes, who were in their first home game in two weeks following a 3-1-1 road trip.

Carolina killed two power plays in the final five minutes, helping it halt Boston’s eight-game points streak.

Pavel Zacha scored for the Bruins, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves.

Aho’s eighth goal of the season came with 9:41 remaining shortly after Boston’s Matthew Poitras hit the post with a backhanded attempt on an open net. Aho has a team-high 19 points for the team with the best record in the league.

Zacha scored 1:31 into the game on a power play, but the Bruins failed to convert the rest of the game.

ISLANDERS 4, PREDATORS 3, SO

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat scored in a shootout to lead New York to a victory over Nashville.

Horvat, Anthony Duclair and Brayden Schenn scored in regulation for New York. Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves and denied both Nashville attempts in the shootout to record his first win since Nov. 14, 2024.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville, which fell to 0-5 in games that have extended beyond regulation this season.

The Islanders led 3-0 early in the second before the Predators drew even.

Duclair scored at 3:07 of the opening period and Schenn followed at 8:07 of the first. The goal was the 300th of Schenn’s career.

Horvat’s goal at 1:08 of the second came on a one-timer off of a cross-ice pass from Matthew Schaefer, who has points in five straight games.

The Islanders had lost their previous seven games at Nashville, with their last victory coming on Oct. 28, 2017.

PANTHERS 5, JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk had four assists and Florida extended Winnipeg's slide to six games.

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Niko Mikkola had a goal and assist, and Sam Reinhart rounded out the scoring for Florida, which scored three times on the power play. The Panthers salvaged their four-game trip with a pair of wins after opening with back-to-back defeats. Seth Jones had three assists.

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his fourth victory in five starts.

Adam Lowry scored for Winnipeg, his second of the season and first short-handed. The Jets haven’t won since opening the season 4-1-1.

Clay Stevenson stopped 19 shots.

The Jets’ power play has gone stale at 0 for 14 over their last five games and 2 for 18 at home this season.

Florida scored three times by the 10:18 mark of the first period. The Tkachuk brothers have combined for 35 points in the first 13 games this season.

WILD 3, MAMMOTH 1

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and Minnesota beat Utah.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

Utah’s Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt’s shutout bid.

Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.

Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.

Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, SENATORS 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Raphael Lavoie scored his first career goal, a tap-in eight minutes into the third period to put Vegas ahead for good in its victory over Ottawa, ending the Golden Knights’ three-game losing streak.

Braeden Bowman scored a power-play goal for the Golden Knights, and William Karlsson and Jack Eichel each added an empty-netter. Nic Dowd got his 200th career point with a secondary assist on Lavoie’s goal.

Adin Hill stopped 25 shots, including a daring charge out of the net. Fellow goalie Carter Hart did not play after sustaining an undisclosed injury at the morning skate.

Shane Pinto scored on a power play for the Senators, who opened a five-game trip. Jonas Johansson made 25 saves.

CANUCKS 6, DUCKS 5, OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Filip Hronek scored a power-play goal with 11 seconds to go in overtime to cap a run of four consecutive goals by Vancouver, who snapped a 10-game losing streak with a comeback win over Anaheim.

The Canucks, who won for just the third time all season, trailed 5-2 after Anaheim’s A.J. Greer scored his second goal of the game with 7:37 to play in regulation.

But Jamie Oleksiak pulled Vancouver within 5-3 just 31 seconds later.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki then scored twice less than a minute apart — the second with 1:57 left in regulation — to send the game into overtime.

In addition to his winning goal, Hronek also had an assist. Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser also had goals for Vancouver, while Elias Pettersson added a pair of assists. Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves.

The Ducks jumped to a 4-1 lead after two periods. Greer scored in the first period, then Jeff Malott, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson added second-period goals. Sennecke’s came on the power play.

Jackson LaCombe had three assists for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.

SABRES 2, SHARKS 0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Colten Ellis made 23 saves in his first appearance in more than two weeks to lead Buffalo to a victory over San Jose.

Olen Zellweger scored in the second period and Ellis did the rest to earn his second career shutout, robbing Kiefer Sherwood from point-blank range with 4:01 left in the game. Ellis had gotten pulled in the second period of his last start for Buffalo on Oct. 12 against Florida.

Zach Benson added an empty-net goal for the Sabres.

The Sabres beat the Sharks for the eighth time in the last nine meetings between the teams, including a shutout win last March in San Jose.

Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for San Jose in the first game back from a six-game road trip. The Sharks have only one regulation win in 13 games this season.