NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Friday night for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat on Thursday night.
The hit came with 1:35 left in the Islanders' 4-1 home victory. Nazar was assessed a match penalty.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Nazar will forfeit $68,041.
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While the Knicks and their fans have spent much of the summer celebrating their first championship in 53 years, the upcoming contract situations of a few players have loomed over their heads. And if said players wanted to secure their futures before the start of the season, they were in for a good dose of bad news on Friday.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Miles McBride, and Tyler Kolek all are extension eligible. Hart was asked about his future at the start of training camp and left the door open to anything. Towns and his on going negotiation’s progress, or lack there of, have taken over the news lately. And for good reason.
Many still believe that the two sides will eventually come together for a deal. But the fact that they are reportedly not even close is a bit concerning. Towns, as was on full display during the team’s championship run, is an incredibly pivotal part of the Knicks’ success. Losing him would be devastating as his shooting gravity and playmaking would be extremely difficult to replace. As if not being able to extend Town wasn’t bad enough though, the Knicks don’t seem close at all to really extending any of the other players as well either. And according to the Knicks themselves, it will remain that way for the foreseeable future.
We’ve all seen players make statements about how they want to hold off contract talks when the season begins because they want to focus solely on the upcoming season. But in a rare move, the Knicks were the ones to get ahead of the news and release an official statement.
“As an organization, our entire focus is on preparing for the upcoming season and delivering another year for our fans to be proud of,” a spokesperson from the Knicks said. “As a result, we will not be negotiating contract extensions until later in the season and will remain solely focused on preparing for the start of the season.”
Again, it’s rare for a team to be the one to make this statement. And it’s a bit frightening for fans knowing that such important pieces of the core’s future remains largely unknown. One would like to believe that between Towns’, Hart’s, and McBride’s significance to the club and their desire to stay a Knick we’d have some clearer answers by now.
The second apron continues to loom large so it’s understandable, realistic, and arguably smarter to not extend all three. McBride, unfortunately, was likely playing his last season here regardless of how these extensions went. But to potentially have a future where all, or at least more than one of them, aren’t Knicks would quickly lower the ceiling of this team. The Knicks still would have a core of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby, along with Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet, and Mohamed Diawara. But the Knicks are a significantly worse team without Towns and to a lesser degree, without Hart and McBride.
It’s not time for full on panic. Things like this have happened in the past with other negotiations, with everything eventually working out. It could also just be a leverage move. And the most important part is, all parties involved want to extend the marriage.
All that being said, it is hard to deny just how ominous of a start this is for a franchise coming off it’s highest of highs and looking to become the first team to win back-to-back championships for the first time in 53 years.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.
Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.
Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout.
Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.
Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.
Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.
The Penguins blocked 20 shots.
Penguins: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Blue Jackets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
___
The Detroit Red Wings held a clear advantage in shots Friday night against the Seattle Kraken, but unfortunately, they couldn't turn that edge into the stat that matters most - goals.
Seattle made the most of their scoring chances while the Red Wings failed to do the same, with the Kraken scoring three times in a 3:05 span during a disastrous second period en route to a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena and chasing goaltender John Gibson in the process.
Final.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 10, 2026
On the road in Montreal tomorrow night. pic.twitter.com/MeKu9DjCRC
With the loss, the Red Wings have now dropped three of their first four games of the 2026-27 season, all on home ice, and are 1-3 and in last place in the Atlantic Division.
They were considerably shorthanded once again, as forwards J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper, and Mason Appleton were all unavailable due to injury; defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains in his native Sweden amidst his contract stalemate.
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The Red Wings had a strong start to the contest, taking a 12-3 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead thanks to Viktor Arvidsson; he buried a loose puck that got behind Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer of a Lucas Raymond shot midway through the period.
However, the Kraken responded later in the frame thanks to a backhand shot from Berkly Catton, which beat Gibson glove side.
Early in the second period, a shot from the point by rookie William Wallinder eluded Grubauer for the Swedish defenseman's first NHL goal. However, what followed was the stuff of nightmares for Detroit.
The Kraken scored three goals in just over three minutes, with Frederick Gaudreau finding the net twice and Mackie Samoskevich scoring in between.
After Ben Meyers increased Seattle's lead to 5-2, Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots; Daniil Tarasov, signed during the offseason, made his first appearance since joining the Red Wings.
"It Was Fun": Red Wings Emmitt Finnie Looks Back On Unofficial 1st NHL Fight Detroit Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie dropped the gloves on Tuesday evening, though it won't officially go into the NHL record books. He would later be victimized on a 5-on-3 Kraken power play, as Vince Dunn ripped a shot past him.
Late in the third, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård would bury a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble for his own first NHL goal.
As time wound down in the third period, frustrated fans who hadn't already left early to beat traffic voiced their displeasure with loud boos.
Grubauer was solid in net for Seattle, stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced. Gibson, meanwhile, was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots, while Tarasov surrendered one goal on 10 shots in relief. Tarasov is slated to start Saturday's contest in Montreal.
The Red Wings will look to bounce back Saturday against the Canadiens at Bell Centre, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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WASHINGTON — It’s impossible to overstate the challenge that lies ahead for the Rangers should the apparent right leg injury Igor Shesterkin sustained during the second period of Friday night’s 3-1 loss to the Capitals sideline him for the foreseeable future.
The Blueshirts would lose more than just the best goaltender in the NHL, who was off to an electric start to the season. Removing Shesterkin from the equation would be the equivalent of taking the spark plug out of a car engine: no ignition; nothing can run smoothly.
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tRY IT NOWHe is, hands down, the most important part.
What makes the potential loss so devastating is how much of a turbocharged, well-oiled machine the Rangers looked to be in the previous four games.
“It’s awful,” captain J.T. Miller said. “He’s a pillar of this team.”
The injury occurred during a second-period Capitals power play, when Shesterkin ventured far out of the crease to challenge an unmarked Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The Capitals forward lost the puck while attempting to make a move around him, but Shesterkin scrambled to get back into the net and slid his right leg into the post hard. His leg appeared to awkwardly bend back during the sequence, prompting Shesterkin to immediately fall onto his back.
The 30-year-old slammed his glove on the ice in apparent pain as a Rangers trainer made his way onto the ice.
Without putting any weight on his right leg, Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice slowly.
“It’s concerning,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a big part of this team, without a doubt. I’ve said it on so many different occasions: He is amongst the best goalies in the world, if not the best. He’s that good.”
Backstopping the Rangers in three of the first four games, Shesterkin looked automatic in net with 88 saves on 95 shots for a .926 save percentage. He’s made an impact on the scoresheet with the Rangers’ historic first goalie goal and added an assist, while also acting as an extra facilitator on the back end in all situations — a skill of his he’s used more than usual this season.
Shesterkin helped provide the kind of start to the season that makes a team believe.
In one swift motion, the 2026-27 campaign was clouded with uncertainty.
The Rangers already have one goalie on injured reserve: Joonas Korpisalo, who has yet to play a game after suffering a lower-body injury sometime during the start of the season. Slated to serve as backup to Shesterkin before the injury, Korpisalo was labeled as week to week and has yet to resume skating.
As a result, rookie Dylan Garand was summoned back to New York less than a week after he was among the last round of cuts in training camp.
Garand stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced Friday night in relief. With just five games of NHL experience, the 24-year-old Garand would assume starting responsibilities after beginning the season as the Rangers’ third-stringer.
The Rangers also will need to make a call to Hartford should Shesterkin be out for any period of time. Spencer Martin is not an option due to a lower-body injury that has him classified as day to day.
Callum Tung, who at 22 has just 20 AHL games to his name, could be the Rangers’ backup goalie Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
“We’re not going to let [Igor’s injury] take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said. “We still competed our asses off today.”
The Rangers did not crater in the face of a potentially devastating injury to their star goalie.
With the game tied 1-1 and Garand in goal, the visitors bent but didn’t break for much of Washington’s push in the middle frame. It wasn’t until rookie Cole Beaudoin surrendered the puck up the middle of the Rangers zone that the Capitals broke through on a goal from Boone Jenner.
It was a particularly tough game for the 20-year-old Beaudoin, who was recalled and made his NHL debut Wednesday in the wake of Joe Veleno’s IR designation. In addition to his two giveaways, Beaudoin looked overwhelmed at times in the defensive zone.
“You see arguably your very best player [go down], that’s a tough loss for our team,” Sullivan said. “I thought we fought hard. We battled. Our third period was probably our best. I thought we had the right intentions out there, just trying to control play.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Boone Jenner's goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 3-1 on Friday night after New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin had to be helped from the ice after being injured.
Jenner scored on a wrist shot that made it a 2-1 game with 2:22 remaining in the second period. Tom Wilson and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.
Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers.
Dylan Garand made 11 saves for the Rangers after entering the game for the injured Shesterkin, who had 13 saves.
Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice after an awkward fall into his own net. He came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter and fell as he scrambled back to the net midway through the second period. The 30-year-old Russian caught his skate on the post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net.
Shesterkin lay on the ice for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month of last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers falling short of the playoffs.
Rangers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
Capitals: Host the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.
___
The Dodgers don’t believe the National League Championship Series rematch with the Brewers will be anything similar to what transpired in 2025.
LA swept the Brewers in four games on its quest to back-to-back World Series titles last year. Now, the Dodgers are looking to beat Milwaukee for a shot at a three-peat.
Mookie Betts said the Dodgers understand the Brewers are much improved team from last season.
“You got to keep them completely separate… they have more experience. They’re just better,” Betts said.
Betts is certainly accurate in his assessment of Milwaukee, who boasts the best record in baseball. Both the Dodgers and Brewers ended the regular season with a 100 wins, but it’s evident LA isn’t viewing the NLCS as a guaranteed win.
Both teams are incredibly deep in all facets so the series is bound to come down to the little things. Whichever team is nearest perfection will like be the group representing the NL in the 2026 Fall Classic.
The NLCS is not a David and Goliath situation. It’s two juggernaut baseball teams built completely differently, but both incredibly lethal.
The Chicago Blackhawks lost Frank Nazar for the final couple of minutes in regulation of their loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night. He was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head against forward Bo Horvat.
During the day on Friday, Frank Nazar was offered a phone hearing to determine supplemental discipline. Later on Friday, the verdict was announced. Nazar has been suspended for two games.
Chicago’s Frank Nazar has been suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head against NY Islanders’ Bo Horvat. https://t.co/2NbknT4yX8
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 10, 2026
The summary of the suspension comes down to the fact that the NHL's Department of Player Safety decided that the main point of contact was the head. Nazar's lack of a fine or suspension in his NHL career played into it being just two games, according to the official video that followed his suspension.
Nazar will now miss Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a tough set of games for the Blackhawks to be without Nazar, but it's the reality of the situation.
Now, the Hawks are without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. That's a large amount of offense out of their lineup. With Teuvo Teravainen likely out again as well, there is a lot of skill on the sideline.
This suspension may force the Blackhawks into a call-up. Dominic Toninato is already up, so Landon Slaggert may be on the next ride to Chicago from the Rockford IceHogs.
The morning skate on Saturday will be a greater hint at what lines look like without Nazar in the mix. What seems to be decent center depth is being tested early in the season, but they just have to tread water for a little while longer until Connor Bedard comes back.
One of Anton Frondell or Roman Kantserov is likely going to center the top line with Patrick Kane. These were going to be hard matchups anyway, and this verdict by the NHL's department of player safety just made them even harder.
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Artificial Intelligence has already infiltrated Major League Baseball.
In a recent appearance on Foul Territory, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy discussed how teams around the league are utilizing AI to their advantage.
“I think [AI] is becoming way more and more prevalent. I’ve heard of a couple of teams starting to use AI programs,” Muncy said.
“You plug in pitches and the AI program points differences on where the glove is and hand position. That’s what you have been beginning to see with first and third base coaches.”
The Dodgers don’t appear to be implementing AI into their game strategies, but as technology advances, it’s no surprise professional sports teams have begun to utilize new and improved methods.
Tipping pitches can be especially costly in the postseason, when a team’s season is on the line. The Brewers, who the Dodgers will face in the National League Championship Series starting Sunday, managed to deduce Mason Miller’s breaking ball in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Miller blew the save after Brewers’ Sal Frelick tapped his neck at second base before Jackson Chourio laid off a slider that would have resulted in a strikeout and a Padres win.
Did Milwaukee use AI? That’s the million dollar question.
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CLEVELAND — After coming out of the bullpen Thursday night to get the final three outs, Gavin Williams will start for the Cleveland Guardians in Saturday night’s winner-take-all Game 5 of their AL Division Series against Sean Burke and the Chicago White Sox.
“Gavin wants the ball. We want him to have the ball, and it’s his game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Friday.
Williams was the eighth Cleveland pitcher used during a 9-5 win in Game 4 at Chicago. He made his first major league relief appearance after All-Star closer Cade Smith got into trouble in the ninth inning when Miguel Vargas homered and Munetaka Murakami drew a walk.
The right-hander threw 18 pitches, allowing one hit and striking out one batter, to nail down the victory and even the best-of-five series at two games apiece.
Williams said he walked by Vogt’s office after the game and told the third-year manager he was ready to go.
“The body feels good right now. I’ve been in the training room all morning, just figuring it out. But it’s just a normal day really,” said Williams, who went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA during the regular season and led the AL with 248 strikeouts. “I throw a ‘pen on those days and everybody knows it. So there’s nothing different. Just being able to feel the mound in a game situation is even better at that point.”
Williams struck out 11 over five-plus innings during Monday’s 4-3 loss in Game 2. He was the first pitcher in franchise history to whiff five straight batters in a postseason game. He also threw 16 pitches over 100 mph, the fourth-most by an AL pitcher in a playoff game since tracking started in 2008.
The 27-year-old Williams allowed two runs and four hits. He threw 98 pitches, 59 for strikes, but got into trouble by allowing the leadoff hitter to get aboard in the fourth, fifth and sixth. The Guardians had a 2-0 lead before the White Sox rallied with three runs in the sixth to take the lead.
This will be Williams’ sixth start and seventh appearance against the White Sox this season. He is 0-1 with a 3.76 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 11 walks.
“They’re still a hard team to pitch to. There’s nothing really to learn at this point of the season. I know what they’ve got, and they know what I’ve got,” Williams said.
Burke will be making his fifth appearance and third start against Cleveland this year. He is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA.
The right-hander came in during the third inning of Monday’s game and earned the win. He retired 13 straight batters in one stretch while allowing one run and one hit with six strikeouts overall.
“I think I did a pretty good job of commanding all my stuff in the zone. I think that’s kind of the key with this team. You see the last couple games how they were able to piece together bigger innings when you’re not as sharp with command, or you get behind guys, you walk guys, and then this team kind of thrives,” Burke said.
It is the first time in seven games this postseason the White Sox will go with a traditional starter rather than an opener. Burke said manager Will Venable approached him on Wednesday about that scenario.
“Sean is someone that’s going to play a big role in tomorrow’s game as the bulk guy. As we kind of evaluated the set of guys that we have and that we’ll use tomorrow, it made sense to start him,” Venable said.
It will be all hands on deck for both teams, with the winner heading to Tampa Bay for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.
Chicago is 9-8 against the Guardians this year, but Cleveland was able to win its third straight AL Central title by one game over the White Sox, which gave the Guardians home-field advantage for this series.
That hasn’t mattered much to this point, though, because the road team has won all four games.
“We would obviously have loved to win Game 3 or 4. There’s been a couple of times that Vogter and I have just looked at each other and laughed because this is just how it goes with these two clubs. And I think it’s a special thing,” Venable said. “If you look at just the story of the battle that we’ve had with these guys throughout this season coming down to that last weekend for the division and then here we are with a Game 5 for a chance to go to the CS, I think it’s fitting two really good clubs that are both just very competitive, really talented, and the heart and soul of the club and identity of the club comes through, and I think it’s been cool to watch that play out in competition throughout the year.”
The White Sox have played only one max-series playoff game ever: The 6-4 loss to Oakland in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series in 2020. But there are at least three other do-or-die regular season games as well, all having a direct impact on the postseason.
As we head into a very rare beast in the White Sox universe — a do-or die game for the White Sox and their opponent as we’ll have in this year’s ALDS Game 5 — let’s look back on the others in club history.
October 6, 1908
Regular season finale
Detroit Tigers 7, Chicago White Sox 0
The White Sox entered their final series of the season back at home, trailing first-place Detroit by 2 ½ games. So on the White Sox side, this was three straight do-or-die games (and, technically, their 3-2 win at Cleveland in their final road game of the year was do-or-die for the Pale Hose as well).
A 3-1 win in the Sunday opener of the series saw the White Sox strike for three in the first inning, and starter Doc White did the rest, holding Detroit to five hits in the complete-game win. The South Siders in fact struck just two hits in the game, but with no play-by-play data it’s hard to figure out how and why runs scored. Left fielder Patsy Daughterty had one of the team’s two hits, one of the two RBIs, and three steals to torment the Tigers. Despite the 15,000 capacity of the West Side Grounds, 26,000 fans were counted as in attendance for the game.
On Monday, the White Sox offense was much more robust, pounding out 11 hits in a 6-1 win that would make the season finale a nail biter for both teams. The 5-7 spots in the order (second baseman George Davis, shortstop Freddy Parent, catcher Billy Sullivan,) all had two hits apiece and drove home four of the team’s six runs. The Pale Hose staked Big Ed Walsh to a 5-0 lead by the fifth and the Chicago ace did the rest, striking out nine against one walk and four hits en route to his 40th win of the season. The White Sox were now just a half-game from a pennant and closer to first place than any day since June 24, with the title boiling down to the season’s final day.
On Tuesday, White was selected to go on two days’ rest and could face just four batters, touched for three hits and two runs with just a K to his name; next in was Walsh on one day’s rest, and he fared little better: five hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings. Coupled with that was the death of the Chicago bats, who mustered just two singles, and desiccation of its leather, piling up SIX errors in the game.
And yes, the Chicago Cubs had clinched the National League pennant, so the baseball world was one game from a second all-Chicago World Series in three years. Detroit went on to roll over to the Cubs in the Fall Classic in just five games.
September 30, 2008
Game 163 Tiebreaker
Chicago White Sox 1, Minnesota Twins 0
Nearly a century later on the dot came the second time the White Sox saw their postseason hopes come down to the final day of the season, and just like the club of 1oo years previous it took a succession of wins to even reach a do-or-die game.
The White Sox had spent the vast majority of the season in first place, although never by more than six games. Over the course of the season the rival Twins had caught them, and even passed, several times over the course of the year. But just as the White Sox were enjoying their longest stranglehold on first of the year, three weeks comprising almost all of September, the Pirhañas struck back one last time — and perhaps with a fatal blow: A 7-6 win in 10 innings at the Twinkiedome had put Minny back in first with just three games to play (the White Sox had four remaining). Making matters worse, the White Sox dropped their next two contests, at home, vs. Cleveland. In what was becoming a race to the bottom, the Twins had also lost their next two games, keeping their lead wafer-thin, at a half-game.
Minnesota had one game left to play, a Sunday finale hosting Kansas City, an easy 6-0 win. The White Sox countered with a 5-1 win over Cleveland behind Mark Buehrle, forcing a makeup of a rain-postponed game from September 13, hosting Detroit. Game 162 for the White Sox was a hairy one, as former hero Freddy García faced his former mates and largely shut them down on two hits and one walk over a scoreless five innings. But the White Sox opened the sixth with a walk and stolen base from DeWayne Wise, running García from the game. Armando Galarraga wild-pitched Wise to third, and then to home, slicing Detroit’s lead in half, at 2-1. Three straight walks had packed the sacks, and on the first pitch from reliever Gary Glover, Alexei Ramírez did this:
It was a rookie record fourth grand slam for Ramírez, who also tied Albert Belle for the most grand slams in a season by a White Sox player. It was a fatal blow for the Tigers, and the White Sox pocketed win No. 88 on the season, 8-2.
Minnesota, forced into a tiebreaker game by the pesky White Sox, came to Sox Park for a do-or-die game for both teams, and it was a classic — the very first Blackout Game. John Danks was masterful over eight innings, yielding two hits and helped by an all-time great White Sox moment, as Ken Griffey Jr. gunned down Michael Cuddyer at home plate to end the fifth inning a scoreless tie:
Two innings later, Jim Thome led off the seventh inning with one of the best combinations of high-leverage and long distance in White Sox history:
The 1-0 lead held up, and the White Sox were postseason-bound after becoming the first and only team in major league history to win three straight games against three different opponents, regardless of the time of season or circumstance.
Michael Kenny recounted the game in 2018 in his 2008 White Sox retrospective for South Side Sox. The Cheat had the in-the-moment coverage for us in 2008, but sadly those stories (written in html code boxes?) are now just comprised of a few photographs.
October 1, 2020
Game 3, AL Wild Card Series
Oakland A’s 6, Chicago White Sox 4
On the heels of a late collapse during the pandemic season that saw the White Sox drop from first place to a first-round road assignment in the space of five days thanks to four losses in five games, the White Sox had rebounded nicely with a 4-1 win in Game at Oakland thanks to Lucas Giolito going six perfect innings to start the game, and seven strong. The A’s jumped on Dallas Keuchel early in Game 2 and held on for a 5-3 win, which forced the only do-or-die playoff game for both teams over the first 120 years of White Sox baseball.
In a game that saw the White Sox use nine pitchers and Oakland eight, the A’s advanced, 6-4, rallying from down 3-0 in the third.
The resulting outrage over Renteria’s pitching deployment in the game, punctuated by his hunched posture in the dugout during the game, was said to be the cause of his firing; I have long suspected Renteria was dismissed because he wasn’t willing to be demoted to bench coach to allow Tony La Russa to cosplay as a big-league manager one more time.
Leigh Allan had our recap coverage, with Joe Kiang-Resis providing the Six Pack.
With only one postseason do-or-die in 126 years of White Sox baseball, a win on Saturday in Cleveland will even the ledger at 1-1. It’s a tall order, and the similarities to 2020 (relative collapse down the stretch, completely taxed arms) are daunting. But Game 5 will be played, and the game starts 0-0 and runs nine innings. Let’s see how it plays out.
The Dodgers entered the postseason with the best rotation of any team on paper, led by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who proved to be practically superhuman in the World Series last year.
However, with Blake Snell tweaking his right groin muscle in his penultimate regular-season start, Tyler Glasnow pitching better after a rough patch in early September and Tarik Skubal experiencing his first Dodgers playoff run, some questions remained unanswered.
Then the group gave up just four runs, one from each pitcher, during their National League Division Series win over the Atlanta Braves. Their collective 1.69 ERA was second in the postseason to only the Tampa Bay Rays (1.65 ERA), who swept the Yankees in the American League Division Series.
“We locked in and did a pretty good job,” Glasnow said Friday. “All of us together are so close. We root each other on, we help each other throughout the week.”
Read more:'I just want chaos.' Don't expect Dodgers to sweep Brewers again in NLCS
In the Dodgers’ quest for a third straight World Series title, the rotation is going to have to serve as the backbone.
“It certainly makes life easier for the team, the bullpen, if the starters are good,” said manager Dave Roberts during a conference call. “I think we’ve got the best rotation top to bottom in baseball, and it’s nice to be able to reset the rotation and get these guys going. And obviously, it gives a chance to also minimize certain looks from our guys out of the ‘pen.”
Skubal is set to start Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. By ending the NLDS in four games, the Dodgers avoided having to pitch Skubal in a Game 5, making it simpler to line up the rotation. Skubal should be available for a potential Game 5, on regular rest.
The Dodgers were thinking about the NLCS when they decided to pitch Yamamoto in Game 3 against the Braves instead of Game 1. So, he’s lined up to pitch in Game 2 and 6 of the NLCS.
“From there, we’re just going to keep talking through it,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers have shown promising signs in other areas. They hit two home runs off Braves ace Chris Sale and forced him to hand the ball over after five innings in Game 3. The back end of the bullpen settled into a rhythm with Tanner Scott serving as the setup man and Edwin Díaz reestablishing himself as the closer.
The success, however, started with the rotation.
“They did what they had to do,” Kiké Hernández said. “They kept us in games when we weren’t scoring. Not surprised.”
The Dodgers lost Game 2 after Snell exited with two outs in the fourth inning. It was the shortest outing of any of the Dodgers’ starters, but he still held the Braves to one run.
Snell, however, was coming off a disjointed pitching schedule because of the injury. With his postseason experience, he could settle into a better rhythm as the playoffs continue.
Glasnow didn’t quite make it through the fifth inning in Game 4, exiting with two outs. But with runs at a premium, and more off days built into the postseason, shorter starts are common. Glasnow’s five walks drove up his pitch count, but he gave up only one hit.
In Game 1, Skubal gave the Dodgers exactly what they hoped for when they acquired him at the trade deadline. He limited the Braves to two hits over six innings.
“I’ve executed every pitch that I throw thousands of times,” Skubal said after his start. “So just trust that, trust the work that you put in. It sounds simple to try and live one pitch at a time, but I think it’s pretty difficult given [the] circumstances.”
Yamamoto raised the bar even higher: seven innings of one-run ball. His 10 strikeouts were a playoff career high.
Read more:Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Brewers in the NLCS
Yamamoto also made it clear that, like last year, he would be willing to pitch out of the bullpen or on short rest if needed.
“I’m going to get myself ready for any situation,” he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda this week. “If they want me to go out, then I go out. But for me, just those are key things for me. Postseason is just focusing on the game right in front of me.”
The Dodgers, planning on a deep run, didn’t tax their starting pitchers heavily in their first round. That gives them the option to lean on the rotation even more against the Brewers.
“We’re all kind of in the prime of our careers, and we’re all evolving and continuing to get better and grow,” Snell said last weekend. “I think the coolest part about the whole group that no one gets to see is really how much we talk about pitching. It’s very unique. It doesn’t happen everywhere. For all of us to kind of be pushing for each other to be great, it’s a really cool starting staff to be a part of.”
The Dodgers plan to carry a roster of 13 pitchers and 13 position players in the NLCS, Roberts said, one more pitcher and one fewer position player than last round.
In the NLDS, the Dodgers left left-handed relievers Justin Wrobleski and Jack Dreyer off the roster. They carried rookie pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and pinch-runner/utility player Hyeseong Kim.
It remains to be seen if Miguel Rojas will be part of the roster. Rojas tweaked his back in Game 3 when his feet slid out from under him in the slick grass in shallow right field as he made an on-target throw to first base. He left the game in the middle of his next at-bat, aggravating the injury on a swing. He did not play in Game 4.
“Today was encouraging,” Roberts said. “He had imaging, and a lot of it was kind of stuff that he has had prior history. So, we’ve still got a flight to get on. See how he comes in tomorrow for the workout there. So there’s nothing definitive. But I will say today was a step in the right direction. He took ground balls and took a couple rounds of [batting practice]. So that was good to see.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Rangers’ season flashed before everyone’s eyes in one swift motion.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin fell flat on the ice after scrambling to get back in the crease while the Rangers defended the Capitals’ power play during the second period Friday night at Capital One Arena.
The star Russian netminder, who has been electric to start the season, slammed his right leg against the post while skating back into the crease to defend the play in front of him.
His leg appeared to bend back awkwardly during the sequence.
Without putting any weight on his right leg, Shesterkin had to be assisted off the ice.
The Rangers were tied 1-1 with the Capitals at the time of the incident.
Rookie Dylan Garand replaced Shesterkin in goal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was helped off the ice with a right leg injury Friday night after an awkward fall into his own net against the Washington Capitals.
Shesterkin came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter midway through the second period and fell as he scrambled back to the net. The 30-year-old Russian jammed his right skate into the right post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net in pain.
Shesterkin stayed down for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.
“It's awful, you know? He's a pillar of this team. It stinks," Rangers captain J.T. Miller said following a 3-1 loss to the Capitals. "Obviously, it's young. We don't even know what's going on. But to see him leave the game is a shock to all of us. But at the same time it means we've got to step up to a man to try to get the job done.”
The team didn't provide any specific details about Shesterkin's condition.
"It's concerning, obviously," coach Mike Sullivan said after his team's four-game winning streak was snapped. “He's an elite goaltender and you never want to see anyone get hurt. Obviously, he's an important player for us.”
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers finishing last in the Eastern Conference.
Shesterkin was off to a strong start this season with a 3-1 record and 1.76 goals-against average. Last week, he became the first Rangers goalie to score a goal when he lofted the puck the length of the ice into an empty net late in New York’s home opener against Tampa Bay at Madison Square Garden.
“We're not going to let that take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said about Shesterkin's injury. “We love the way we're playing most of the time.”
Shesterkin stopped 13 of 14 shots and left with the score tied 1-all. He was replaced by 24-year-old backup Dylan Garand, who gave up the go-ahead goal late in the second but finished with 11 saves on 12 shots.
It was the fifth NHL appearance and second this season for Garand, recalled last week from Hartford of the American Hockey League after clearing waivers. Garand made 22 saves in a 2-0 shutout at Detroit last Friday with the Rangers playing their second game in two nights.
Garand went 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in three starts for the Rangers last season.
New York acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins last summer to be Shesterkin’s backup. But the 32-year-old Finn was placed on injured reserve last week and was week to week with a lower-body injury.
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There was a silver lining to Australia’s shock decision to recall Nic Maddinson and promote him to the top of the order for the first Test against South Africa.