It’s not often we get a cataclysmic sports gaffe on Capitol Hill, but Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) gave us something absolutely incredible on Tuesday morning. In what can only be described as “the Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes of attempted gotchas,” Schmitt confidently dropped what he believed would be a smoking gun in causing Jack Smith to perjure himself as part of the probe into Smith’s investigation of President Donald Trump.
Schmitt confidently (and cockily) claimed that he had evidence from a series of text messages that Jack Smith was in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024, watching the Atlanta Hawks play the Golden State Warriors. Just one problem: Smith was actually in Maryland, seeing the Iowa Hawkeyes play Maryland.
🤡 Eric Schmitt beclowns himself during Jack Smith hearing 🤡
Schmitt concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Smith traveled to Atlanta to go to a Hawks game and collude with Fani Willis, and briefly displayed his "evidence" on a poster board before accusing Smith of… pic.twitter.com/wDMiVrrKBF
“It … it was because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play. That’s why we went to the game,” Smith said. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) tried to hold back her laughter at the gaffe, before criticizing her fellow senator for insinuating Smith was a “dirtbag” over his incorrect “evidence,” while also taking a shot at his lack of hoops knowledge: “For a U.S. Senator to have false information, and imply, based on a confusion about the name of a team — which I knew, knowing my midwestern sports…”
Smith said that he was present at the game with members of the U.S. Marshall’s service, which was confirmed. He absolutely was not in Atlanta, when Schmitt said he was. But … should he have been?! Let’s compare the game he went to, with the one that Schmitt thought he was at.
Iowa Hakweyes 93, Maryland Terrapins 85
Caitlin Clark went off, scoring 38 points, dishing 12 assists, and adding 6 rebounds for good measure. It wasn’t her most efficient day from beyond the arc, as she shot 7-for-17 from three — but ultimately it was an astonishingly good game.
Atlanta Hawks 141, Golden State Warriors 134
It took overtime to settle the game between the Hawks and Warriors. Steph Curry was nuclear, scoring 60 points, including 10-of-23 from three, but it wasn’t enough to stop a barrage of Hawks’ offense led by Trae Young.
I don’t know if there was a right or wrong game to go to here, to be honest. I’m giving the edge to seeing the Hawkeyes in Maryland — only because you got to be a part of the Caitlin Clark experience and saw a game where she absolutely went off. Obviously, Steph had an amazing game as well, and it’s not every day you get to watch him drop 60, but it doesn’t have the same level of gravitas.
Minnesota Wild and U.S. Olympic defenseman Brock Faber is out indefinitely after having surgery for a fracture to his skull.
Faber suffered the injury on Friday, Sept. 25 when he was hit in the head by a puck during the team's preseason game. He played the remainder of the period but didn't play in the third period.
Faber had surgery on Sunday, general manager Bill Guerin told reporters.
He said that Faber is resting at home. There's no timetable for his return.
“The biggest thing is he's doing well," Guerin said. "Sometimes, you just have to put the hockey aside and worry about the human being, and that’s kind of what we’re doing here now.”
“Sometimes you just have to put the hockey aside and worry about the human being, and that’s kind of what we’re doing here now.”
🗣️ Bill Guerin shares that Brock Faber is doing well following successful surgery Sunday for a skull fracture.#mnwildpic.twitter.com/JyzMyVT7Zy
Faber is entering his fifth season in the NHL, all with the Wild. He averaged a little less than 25 minutes per game last season and set career highs with 15 goals and 51 points.
He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics and also played in the 2022 Olympics and the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
When the Warriors lost their play-in game to the Suns 111-96 last season, the year ended at 37-45 and Steve Kerr walked into the postgame presser sounding like a man drafting his own farewell. “These jobs all have an expiration date,” he said; his contract had already hit one.
I’m gonna defer to the legendary Anthony Slater at ESPN who described how for the next three weeks Kerr sat with owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy and talked about everything from how the team should play to who should be sitting next to him on the bench. Apparently the real sticking point was the roster as Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody were both rehabbing serious knee injuries that will keep them out into the new year, and the core was getting older by the month. There was belief that if management wanted to hit the eject button and rebuild, Kerr probably wasn’t the coach for that job.
Management didn’t hit the button though! On May 9 Kerr agreed to a two-year deal that keeps him the highest-paid coach in the league after he made $17.5 million the season before. Kerr brings stability, championship know-how, and the comforting voice that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have been hearing for most of their careers.
The question from Dub Nation is whether Kerr can develop some young frontcourt talent while the Warriors are still trying to win. The narrative is that he has relied on squeezing all the juice he can out of trusty veterans while recent top lottery picks like James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga never realized their potential in Warriors’ uniforms.
Steve Kerr to the fans who say he doesn’t develop young players
"Grownups win championships… Any frustration from our fans is probably coming from this idea that young players should get it right away. It just doesn't work that way."
That brings us to this past summer, when Golden State’s No. 11 pick was their most valuable chip, and for a while it looked like it might get packaged for a star.
Then Giannis went to Miami, and the Warriors kept the pick. A couple days before the draft, the front office asked Kerr what the roster needed most. Dunleavy told NBC Sports Bay Area that Kerr’s answer was, “There’s a huge gap in the middle of it with our forward position.” He wanted a connector, somebody who could fill that hole by sliding into the Steph and Draymond machine and keeping it moving. Dunleavy said he sat there wondering whether Kerr was steering them toward Yaxel Lendeborg on purpose. Then they took Lendeborg at 11, and on paper you can see what Kerr saw.
Lendeborg was the best player on a Michigan team that won the national title, averaging 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists while stuffing the defensive box score too. He’s 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, and took the long road through junior college and UAB before Michigan, where he evolved from a bruising power forward into a wing. He’ll be 24 when the season starts. Then he went out and led the Warriors to a Summer League title, just in case anybody needed some more data before the season starts that this young man is a hot prospect.
The 2026 NBA Summer League MVP is… Yaxel Lendeborg of the Warriors!
Lendeborg, the 11th overall pick, averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 4.0 APG en route to Golden State becoming NBA Summer League Champions. pic.twitter.com/IKeQ4fykzm
Yaxel Lendeborg on his early conversations with Steve Kerr: “He doesn’t normally play rookies as much. He has a history of that. But the way the team is looking right now, I’m going to have a really good chance to play, maybe even start.” pic.twitter.com/Vm1DXhkjUO
The opening for Big Yax is real. Butler’s knee has him targeting early 2027, Kuminga is in Minnesota, and besides Draymond Green the other options at the four are Gui Santos, Georges Niang and Malevy Leons (unless you go super big with Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford). None bring Lendeborg’s combination of size, athleticism, and spacing. Here’s every frontcourt player the Warriors have drafted in the Kerr era since 2019, plus Trayce Jackson-Davis, whose rights they traded for, with their rookie-season numbers:
The best rookie line on the board belongs to Paschall, the 41st pick in 2019. He got a ton of playing time with the Splash Bros out and was a genuine bright spot in a dismal pandemic season. I loved that year for him…and I also remember the rest of the roster, because 2019-20 was the 15-50 year. Paschall got those minutes because somebody had to play them. When the roster got reformed around Curry, Paschall’s fit suddenly started disappearing. Remember his quote:
“Steph and them came back, and Dray was hurt early in the season,” Paschall explained. “But I couldn’t play with Steph early in the season. I’m still going to do me — y’all saw what I did last year. That’s what I’m thinking. But I can’t do that because I’m on the floor with Steph all the time. I ended up asking to come off the bench. I was not wired to set a screen, pass up an open shot — like if I’m open, I’m shooting it. It gave me a false reality of how the NBA works.”
The Dubs traded Paschall before the 2021-2022 season and won a championship, while Paschall was out of the league the next year. So the one frontcourt player the Dubs drafted who really put up numbers with serious playing time suddenly had trouble fitting the minute the basketball started revolving around Curry again. Hmmm.
Take Paschall’s outlier season out and the rookie frontcourt pattern gets loud. In any year the Warriors were trying to win something, no rookie frontcourt player averaged more than Wiseman’s 21.4 minutes. Kuminga played 70 games as a teenager on a championship roster and stayed under 17 minutes a night, which was the right call for a team hanging a banner. Baldwin, a first-rounder, barely got off the bench. Jackson-Davis and Post, picked 57th and 52nd, both had promising stretches before eventually being overshadowed by the vets.
There’s one common denominator with those guys: all of them are gone! The Warriors have been swinging at frontcourt prospects for over half a decade, and nothing has stuck.
"We don't practice anymore. So we have to develop these 19 year old kids who are coming into the league without much practice time…Frankly, I'm not great — I'm an older coach…So I lean on the young [coaches]."
The good news is Kerr isn’t being asked to teach another teenager how to play NBA basketball. Wiseman and Kuminga were 19 and learning the league in real time. Lendeborg has already played the highest level of college ball and Kerr’s checklist of dribble, pass, shoot and process is something that the rookie apparently aced. The Curry era is running on borrowed time, and the franchise has been desperately trying to find the next wave of quality players that show up while the old ones are still here. If Lendeborg develops into the big, jack-of-all-trades connector Kerr envisioned, then Golden State’s coach has something he hasn’t had since the dynasty’s prime: a young frontcourt player he can close games with.
If he doesn’t, a coach who nearly walked away in April will be staring at the same roster problem that almost ended his run, with fewer years left to solve it.
The Yankees are stacking their righties against left-hander Payton Tolle, which means Jazz Chisholm Jr. being out of the lineup for Game 1 of the AL wild-card series.
Anthony Volpe is starting at second base against Tolle, with Amed Rosario at third base, with the Yankees turning to both righty bats to give them a boost to begin the series against the Red Sox.
Chisholm said on Monday he expected to be in the lineup and indicated he would not be happy if he was out of it, which was the same case as last year when he did not start against lefty Garrett Crochet in Game 1.
New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) hits a two-run RBI ground-rule double during the sixth inning of game two of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Aaron Boone, though, hinted at this happening as he said playing the platoon game at second base was in play, after Volpe had looked the part at his new position after being called up earlier this month to replace the injured Chisholm (right thumb sprain).
Chisholm, a pending free agent who has had a mostly rough season despite getting hot before he got hurt, only played three games after coming off the IL.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are banking on Rosario’s track record crushing lefties compared to his numbers this season, when he hit just .208 with a .606 OPS in 160 plate appearances against them. They could have started José Caballero at third base, but they seem to prefer him as a 10th man off the bench to pinch run as needed and offer defensive versatility.
New York Yankees third baseman Amed Rosario (14) hits a single during the eighth inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Yankees lineup
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B Ben Rice, DH Heliot Ramos, RF Cody Bellinger, LF George Lombard, SS Amed Rosario, 3B Anthony Volpe, 2B Spencer Jones, CF Austin Wells, C
DETROIT — Athletics outfielder Zack Gelof has filed a lawsuit against the Detroit Tigers, Ilitch Holdings and the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority for damages after his right knee slammed into a Comerica Park fence during a game last summer.
“We are aware of the lawsuit and do not comment on pending litigation,” the Tigers said in a statement on Tuesday.
Gelof was hurt in the third inning of a 4-1 loss to the Tigers on July 9 while making a sliding catch in foul territory and colliding with a metal fence. The 26-year-old infielder immediately grabbed his knee in obvious pain, a tear in his uniform pants showed where his leg made contact with the fence. He was left with a deep cut under his right knee cap, just missing the tendon, and didn’t play again until Aug. 10.
“This injury could have easily prevented through the most basic and inexpensive design,” said Gelof’s attorney, Jon Marko. “It doesn’t take a stadium design expert to realize that sharp metal fencing in an area where players are required to slide and play around is a recipe for disaster like the one that occurred here.
“All they had to do was put cheap padding up like they did after Zack was injured and this entire incident could have been avoided. My son’s little league diamond is safer.”
Gelof hit .256 with 22 homers and 55 RBIs — both career highs — in 111 games during his fourth season. The A’s finished the season 64-98, putting them ahead of only the Los Angeles Angels and the Colorado Rockies in the majors.
El Segundo, CA, - September 28, 2026: Los Angeles Lakers center Walker Kessler takes part in a press conference during the team's media day at the UCLA Health Training Center on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 in El Segundo, CA. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Through five games last year, Walker Kessler was off to the best start of his career as he averaged 14.4 points (78.6 percent true shooting), 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 blocks. But his quick success was immediately derailed as he suffered a labral tear in his left shoulder and underwent season-ending surgery shortly afterward.
Despite that, the Los Angeles Lakers were willing to dole out two unprotected first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps and a four-year, $130 million contract for Kessler’s services to land their center of the future. The organization seems optimistic about both his recovery and how he fits with the roster. During Monday’s media day, Kessler addressed the injury and told reporters he’s entirely past the problem, with full confidence from both Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick in his health.
“I’ll speak to the health. I feel 110%. My shoulder feels better than it’s ever felt,” Kessler said. “To have that confidence in playing is going to be really important. As far as my injury, speaking to [President of Basketball Operations] Rob [Pelinka] and then [head coach] JJ [Redick], we haven’t really talked about it because they believe in it. It’s back to better than what it was. So there’s no question in my mind about it.”
Kessler didn’t have much injury trouble through the first three seasons of his career. While a handful of minor issues kept him out of games once the new year began in 2023-24 and 2024-25, he still averaged ~65 games per season from 20223-23 to 2024-25. If the Lakers organization is confident in his availability, fans likely should be, too.
Kessler is critical to the Lakers’ success this season. I’m fascinated to see how he’s deployed on both ends and whether he forms more chemistry offensively with Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves, which I assume will impact how Redick opts to stagger his starters throughout the rotation.
BOSTON, MA - JULY 10: Manager Terry Francona #47 of the Boston Red Sox talks with the umpires after pitcher Kyle Weiland was thrown out of the game against the Baltimore Orioles on July 10, 2011 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was almost exactly one year ago that the Cincinnati Reds embarked upon a fruitless foray into the MLB Playoffs for the first time (in a full season) in twelve years. They showed up in Los Angeles on September 30th, 2025 and promptly got shut out, their season ending for good a day later at the hands of the Dodgers.
At least they held our interests until the playoffs began that time. This year, they chucked fans to the curb with months to spare, so you may have overlooked that the good teams are actually starting up the important games today.
The Philadelphia Phillies are in Atlanta taking on the Braves in matinee action this afternoon, with veteran ace Chris Sale on the mound for the home team. Later at 5:00 PM ET, the surprising Chicago White Sox make their own return to postseason play after a trio of 100+ loss seasons as they travel to Houston to take on an Astros club that is hosting a postseason series a month after firing their own GM.
The baseball bigwigs will celebrate at 8:00 PM ET as the marquee series of this round commences in the Bronx as the Yankees play host to their age-old rivals from Boston. Then, out west, the all-hit no-pitch Chicago Cubs will take on the surging San Diego Padres at 10:00 PM ET, and that makes Red Reporter officially a San Diego Padres bar for the next few days.
The baseball will be good. If your only exposure to the sport this season was watching the Reds, well, you’ll be in for a treat – up until the point where you realize just how much the Reds need to add to their roster to even approach making it to this stage in 2027.
This is, as you all know, a rematch of last year’s Wild Card Series, won two games to one by the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The Padres had one of the best home records in MLB this year at 51-30. That included going 10-2 at home in September, although six of those wins were against the Nationals and Marlins. And the Cubs did win two of three from the Padres in San Diego in April.
Then there’s the Cubs’ record in postseason games in San Diego — no wins in three tries, though that was two generations ago in a different ballpark. It would be nice to erase some of those bad memories this week.
Here is the Cubs wild card roster. They are carrying 12 pitchers and 14 position players.
For more on the Padres, please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball.
Fun facts
The Cubs are 135-130 in regular-season games at San Diego and 0-3 in postseason games. In night games, they are 96-100, all in the regular season. They are 37-38 at Petco Park, including 27-29 at night. ….. This is the first time that the Cubs have played at San Diego immediately after having played at Tampa. They are 45-51 in first game of series at San Diego and have lost the opener in each of their last three visits. Before that, from 2016-2023, they were 5-2 in first games. ….. The Cubs are 10-12 this year in games following a day off, including 5-5 in road games after resting. ….. The Cubs were 42-36 against teams that had a winning record going into a game. They were 17-22 in such games on the road.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
2026 regular season records in parentheses.
Tuesday, Game 1: Matthew Boyd, LHP (10-5, 3.91 ERA, 1.208 WHIP, 4.21 FIP) vs. Michael King, RHP (12-10, 3.21 ERA, 1.178 WHIP, 4.13 FIP)
For the Padres, Nick Pivetta and Walker Buehler are the likely starters after King, although Robbie Ray could also be a starting option.
As always, we await developments.
Times & TV channels
Tuesday, Game 1: 9 p.m. CT, Peacock/NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, Game 2: 9 p.m. CT, Peacock/NBC Sports Network
Thursday, Game 3 (if necessary): TBD
NBC announcers for this series: Dave Flemming, Jim Deshaies, Mark Grant and Clayton Kershaw.
Flemming is the Giants radio play-by-play announcer.
NOTE: In the Chicago market, if you have Comcast/Xfinity or YouTube TV, you should have access to NBC Sports Network. NBCSN might also be on YouTube TV in other markets. I have been told by some FUBO subscribers that they have NBCSN. “Check local listings.”
Here are the umpires for this series:
Prediction
You didn’t really think I wouldn’t pick the Cubs to win this series, did you?
Cubs in three.
Up next
If the Cubs win this series, they will face the Brewers in a division series beginning Saturday, Oct. 3 in Milwaukee. Otherwise, it’s on to 2027 and uncertainty due to a likely owners’ lockout.
Aug 10, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) follows through on a pitch against the Athletics in the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta has been named American League (AL) Pitcher of the Month for September. This marks the second time a Rays pitcher has won the award this season, joining Drew Rasmussen’s award in June. It is also the third time in Peralta’s career he has been named Pitcher of the Month, winning two NL Pitcher of the Month awards with the Milwaukee Brewers in August 2025 and August 2023.
Peralta, 30, went 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA (28.0 IP, 3 ER), 23 strikeouts, nine walks, one home run, a 0.89 WHIP, and two quality starts while holding opponents to a .165/.243/.216 (16-for-97) slash line over five starts in September. He paced AL pitchers in ERA, tied for the league lead in wins, ranked second in opponent slugging percentage, third in opponent batting average, fourth in opponent OPS, sixth in WHIP, and tied for ninth in innings pitched. The Rays won all five of his September starts.
Along with Chris Archer in July 2013, Peralta is the second pitcher in team history to win four games or more with a sub-1.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP in a calendar month. He was one of four AL pitchers this season to toss 28.0 innings in a month with a sub-1.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP, joining Toronto’s Dylan Cease (July), Rasmussen (June), and Los Angeles-AL’s José Soriano (March/April).
He became one of four Rays pitchers in franchise history to post a sub-0.90 WHIP with 28.0 innings or more across a month in an age-30-or-older season, joining Rasmussen (June 2026 and March/April 2026), Rich Hill (May 2021), and James Shields (September/October 2012 and August 2012). Throughout September, Peralta allowed three extra-base hits (two doubles, one home run), becoming the ninth Rays traditional starter (10x) to make five starts or more in a month and permit three extra-base hits or fewer, and the first since Griffin Jax in May 2026 (5 GS, 1 XBH).
This marks the 13th time in franchise history a Rays hurler has won AL Pitcher of the Month. The Moca, Dominican Republic native is one of 10 Rays pitchers to earn a monthly award, joining Rasmussen (June 2026 and August 2022), Taj Bradley (July 2024), Tyler Glasnow (July 2023 and April 2019), Hill (May 2021), Blake Snell (August and September 2018), Archer (July 2013), Jeremy Hellickson (May 2011), David Price (September 2010), and Scott Kazmir (May 2008).
After being acquired from the New York Mets on Aug. 2 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Gary Gill Hill, infielder Émilien Pitre, and outfielder Aidan Smith, the right-hander went 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA (55.1 IP, 20 ER), 43 strikeouts, a .208 (41-for-197) opponent batting average, and a 1.01 WHIP in 10 starts with the Rays compared to a 5-9 record, a 4.99 ERA (113.2 IP, 63 ER), 113 strikeouts, a .264 (120-for-455) opponent batting average, and a 1.48 WHIP in 22 starts to begin the season with New York-NL.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 18: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his two run home run with Josue de Paula #95, his second home run of the game and third Dodger home run of the inning, to take a 7-2 lead over the San Francisco Giants, during the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers were mostly without Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, and Roki Sasaki over the last month until the final week of the season. But they also saw an exciting debut by Josue De Paula and more excellent pitching en route to a strong September.
18-7 record 131 runs scored (5.24 per game, 5th in MLB) 83 runs allowed (3.32 per game, 2nd in MLB) .697 pythagorean win percentage (17-8)
Mookie comes alive
During a second straight down year offensively, relative to his lofty career standards, started to find his way in mid-August. In September his bat was one of the best in baseball, hitting .337/.438/.674 with seven home runs and nine doubles, with 20 runs scored and 22 RBI. His 16 extra-base hits were his most since a sublime August 2023 during which Betts won National League player of the month.
Betts in September was second to Reds star shortstop Elly De La Cruz in FanGraphs WAR (1.9, to 2.0), and Betts ranked fourth in the majors during the month in OPS (1.112) and wRC+ (202).
Betts wasn’t the only one with a late-season turnaround. After getting near-replacement-level production from both corner outfielders for nearly five months, Teoscar Hernández (166 wRC+, 18 RBI) and Kyle Tucker (140 wRC+, six home runs) were among the Dodgers’ best hitters in September. If there’s a concern with Tucker, he had only five singles in 21 at-bats after fouling a ball off his right knee on September 19.
The team also got Will Smith back after nearly three months on the injured list, and the catcher was back to his All-Star self, hitting .290/.400/.548 with a 160 wRC+.
Alex Freeland in limited duty had a 133 wRC+, hitting .250/.413/.389.
Blowout wins
In that mediocre stretch in July and August, the Dodgers stopped blowing teams out, winning just four games by at least five runs during that 51-game stretch, two in each month. But in September the Dodgers had five blowout wins, one shy of most in the majors.
First baseman Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run on September 2, part of a two-hit game in which he reached base five times. But after that, Freeman did not have another extra-base hit in 18 games and 77 plate appearances, hitting a feeble .167/.208/.167.
That home run on September 2 snapped a string of 47 full games and 196 plate appearances without a long ball, the longest drought of Freeman’s career. During that homerless stretch, Freeman was still reasonably productive, hitting .318/.362/.374 with 10 doubles. But that power disappeared over the last nearly four weeks, with Freeman also working through a knee injury and he sat four games and was designated hitter for another. That had Freeman looking forward to the five days the Dodgers have off between the regular season and Game 1 of the NLDS.
“I think we all know why it’s important,” Freeman last week said of the bye. “There’s a lot of guys limping toward the end, a lot of aches and pains this year.”
Welcome aboard
With Ohtani on the injured list, Dodgers top prospect Josue De Paula had a runway to play and impressed in his major league debut. His command of the strike zone was evident with 11 walks against only five strikeouts in 11 games, and he hit .323/.500/.581 with three doubles, a home run, and a triple.
De Paula the first Dodgers player to reach base at least half the time in a month of at least 40 plate appearances since Betts in August 2023. Those are the only two Dodgers to do so in the 2020s.
“Josue has been awesome. Injected some life and energy into our team as we got into September,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday. “He handled himself and did as well as he could possibly do.”
The big four
The Dodgers’ biggest strength going into October is its starting rotation, and while there was a brief concern with Blake Snell leaving his September 16 start after only one inning as a precaution with left groin discomfort, the quartet of Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell, and Glasnow combined for a 2.76 ERA with 117 strikeouts and a, 30.3-percent strikeout rate in 98 innings in their 17 starts.
Emmet Sheehan was also great in his three appearances after getting called back up from Triple-A, allowing only one run in 17 innings, with 24 strikeouts and three walks.
Among the relievers, Alex Vesia allowed only one run in his 11 games and 10 1/3 innings with 15 strikeouts. And while posting his highest walk rate (13.5 percent) in a season since 2021, Vesia in September only walked one of his 35 batters faced.
Soriano: the case is based on ‘a single false accusation’
Club to appeal after verdict on more than 100 charges
Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has said the guilty verdicts against the club for breaches of financial rules are based on “a single false accusation” and a “Premier League conspiracy theory”, as he maintained City’s innocence.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that City, according to an independent panel, had artificially inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900m over a nine-year period through “sham” sponsorship deals, which were mainly funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. In a video sent to City staff after confirmation of the guilty verdict on more than 100 charges, Soriano said the club would appeal and fight the case.
We still have a couple of days before the San Jose Sharks take the ice for their season opener against the Florida Panthers on Thursday, but the NHL's regular season kicks off tonight with five games. For Sharks fans, it may be difficult to decide which game to watch, so let's see which teams have former members of Team Teal in their lineup.
Florida Panthers vs Carolina Hurricanes:
The Panthers have one former Shark on their roster, Jonah Gadjovich, but he's currently out indefinitely with an injury. As a result, there are no former Sharks participating in this game, but the Sharks open the season against Florida in two days, so could be a good scouting opportunity for Sharks fans.
Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs:
No former Sharks.
New York Rangers vs Boston Bruins:
Vincent Iorio is technically a member of the Rangers organization, but he's currently on the injured reserve and was placed on waivers earlier this morning. The Bruins do have one former Shark as well though, Michael Eyssimont, who will likely be a healthy scratch.
Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers:
There are three former Sharks on the Oilers blue line: Jake Walman, Ty Emberson, and the newly acquired Shakir Mukhamadullin. Walman and Mukhamadullin are expected to play against Vancouver, while Emberson is likely going to be a healthy scratch.
Chicago Blackhawks vs Vegas Golden Knights:
The final game of the night will feature the only battle of former Sharks. The Chicago Blackhawks have Ryan Donato, while the Vegas Golden Knights have Tomas Hertl and Adin Hill on their roster. Both of the former Sharks forwards are expected to play, while Hill likely won't be between the pipes for Vegas.
Utah’s plans for its blue line have taken a significant hit before the regular season even begins.
Maveric Lamoureux is expected to miss the next four to six months after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, the Utah Mammoth announced Monday.
The 22-year-old defenseman suffered a shoulder dislocation during training camp and underwent a procedure to repair the injury Monday, according to general manager Bill Armstrong. The recovery timeline puts Lamoureux on track to potentially return around the All-Star break.
Lamoureux had been competing for a full-time NHL role and was viewed as one of the young defensemen pushing for a spot on Utah’s opening-night roster. Instead, he’ll begin the season on injured reserve.
The 6-foot-6, 196-pound right-shot defenseman was originally selected No. 29 overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL Draft. He was the third first-round selection made by Arizona that year, joining Logan Cooley and Conor Geekie.
Lamoureux turned professional shortly after the Coyotes relocated to Utah, making his NHL debut during the 2024-25 season. He has spent much of his development with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, where he appeared in 65 games last season and recorded five goals and 20 points.
He also appeared in five NHL games for Utah in 2025-26, registering one assist.
Through 107 career AHL games, Lamoureux has seven goals, 33 points and 123 penalty minutes. He has added four points — one goal and three assists — in 20 NHL appearances, along with 44 penalty minutes.
With Lamoureux now sidelined for a large portion of the season, Utah will have another opening to fill on defense.
Andrew Peeke and Nick DeSimone could see increased opportunities, while 2023 first-round pick Dmitri Simashev will have another chance to establish himself. Prospects Tomas Lavoie, Artem Duda and Gregor Biber are also looking to make the jump from Tucson to Salt Lake City.
The Mammoth open their 2026-27 season Oct. 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Andre Drummond drew interest from several other clubs around the league during the offseason, but after talking things over with his agent, he decided that joining the Knicks made the most sense.
“This was the best option,” he said Tuesday. “Being born in Mount Vernon and then moving to Connecticut very young, I’ve always been a Knicks fan -- from Amar’e [Stoudemire] to PatrickEwing, the list of greats in this organization, it’s a true honor to put the jersey on.”
Bruce Brown is Drummond's only new teammate whom he's played with before, but he does have plenty of experience competing against the majority of this roster over the years.
The most recent time, of course, was when the Knicks sent him and the 76ers packing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year en route to their drought-snapping championship berth.
One thing Drummond remembers from that series: New York fans completely taking over Xfinity Arena.
“It was crazy,” he said with a smile. “It felt like a road game the whole series, you guys came down and took over the Philadelphia arena, it was crazy even seeing some of the fans from there wearing Knicks jerseys too -- the Knicks fanbase is far-and-wide, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, definitely the basketball Mecca.”
Now, the 33-year-old will get to experience what it’s like being on the other side of that passionate fanbase.
Drummond is expected to play a pretty significant role in his first year with the team, too, helping make up for the loss of beloved big man Mitchell Robinson to the rival Boston Celtics in free agency.
The Knicks know replacing Robinson's production is an awfully tall task to ask of anyone, though, so they are simply looking for the veteran center to go out and play his game.
"The best part of the situation Andre is in," captain Jalen Brunson explained. "He’s not coming in to be Mitch, he’s coming in to be himself -- we have to give him the confidence to be himself -- this is a new team and a new journey, we’re going to attack it every day.”
Though he's seen his production drop off a bit as his career has progressed, Drummond was able to pull in 8.4 boards while averaging just under 20 minutes per night across 63 games with Philly last season.
On Monday night, X user @Eggorian posted a selfie and a POV shot from where his Padres season tickets are with the caption, “Do you want to go to the #Padres / Cubs playoff game on Wednesday night with me? This is me. I sit here….dugout club section 4. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I no longer have a date for the game and want to fix that.
X user @Eggorian posting a selfie while trying to find a date to the San Diego Padres game.
“Are you: 1) Female / 2) Single / 3) Age 30-55 / 4) A Padres fanatic / If so, you qualify!,” the post continued,
“I am: 53 6’0” 180 lbs Almost divorced (4.5 years and counting. Final November hearing) 2 grown kids Business owner 25% season ticket holder If you’re interested, send me a DM. I’m dreading the trip back to Bumble/Hinge next week and hopeful this helps avoid that! #forthefaithful”.
Do you want to go to the #Padres / Cubs playoff game on Wednesday night with me? This is me. I sit here….dugout club section 4. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I no longer have a date for the game and want to fix that. Are you: 1) Female 2) Single 3) Age 30-55 4) A… pic.twitter.com/ByF3z7MdUF
This post has gone viral, amassing over 900,000 views in about 16 hours. Some of the reaction is fans being upset about how specific these dating requirements are, as if this person should not be so picky when trying to fing a date on such short notice.
A San Diego Padres fan holds up a placard after the Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies in a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Others either find it hilarious or sad that a man is taking to social media to find a date for this Padres game.
Regardless, you can’t fault the guy for trying. Perhaps he’ll end up with a date after all.
San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. walks on the field during the fourth inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park in San Diego, California, Sept. 27, 2026. Wally Skalij for CA Post
