Captain Shreyas Iyer struck his maiden T20 international century to lead India to a convincing eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the opening match on Tuesday.
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It's Only October, But Things Are Already Getting Ugly In Detroit
The Senators couldn't have asked for much more from the first two games of their season... except maybe a little better luck on the injury front.
The Senators will take a 2-0 record into Detroit on Tuesday night after an extremely efficient 4-1 road victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday. Tim Stützle led the way with two goals and an assist, but for the second straight game, the Sens win came with an injury concern involving one of their most important players.
This time it was Linus Ullmark.
For a good portion of Tuesday, it appeared Ullmark might be available to back up Samuel Ersson against the Red Wings. However, at approximately 2 p.m., the Senators announced they had recalled goaltender Jonas Johansson from Belleville and defenseman Jorian Donovan had been returned to the AHL.
That doesn't necessarily mean Ullmark's injury is more serious than initially believed. With Ersson already expected to start the second half of the back-to-back, recalling Johansson also ensures recovery time for Ullmark in that they don't even have the option to use him off the bench on Tuesday.
Ullmark left Monday's game after the second period following a collision in his crease. Sens captain Thomas Chabot tackled J.J. Peterka as the Boston forward drove toward the net, sending Peterka sliding hard into Ullmark.
Ersson replaced Ullmark for the third period.
As for the rest of the lineup on Tuesday, the Sens didn't have a morning skate, but we know that winger Ridly Greig will return from his two game suspension. In all likelihood, Hayden Hodgson will come out.
The least disruptive strategy would be Greig taking Foegele's spot while Foegele takes Hodgson's spot. But Travis Green will meet with the media before game time and his strategy is the only one that matters.
Sens Lineup (from Monday night)
William Eklund -- Dylan Cozens -- Fabian Zetterlund
Warren Foegele -- Tim Stutzle -- Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio -- Shane Pinto -- Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins -- Stephen Halliday -- Hayden Hodgson
Thomas Chabot -- Jordan Spence
Tyler Kleven -- Carter Yakemchuk
Cameron Crotty -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Samuel Ersson
Jonas Johansson
Along with Ullmark, Sens will remain without two of their top three defencemen in Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub.
Stalled in Motor City
While the Sens arrive in Detroit undefeated, things have become uncomfortable very quickly for the Red Wings.
Detroit, which holds the copyright to name Hockeytown, also holds the record for longest active NHL playoff drought at 10 years. They opened the season with consecutive losses and scoring just two goals. The good news for the Wings is that former captain Dylan Larkin appears poised to make his season debut Tuesday.
“It looks that way right now,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “He’s got one more hurdle to cross. Still on IR, so the doctor will look at him here, and if he’s clear, he’s playing, and if he isn’t, then he won’t.”
Larkin centred a line with Lucas Raymond and Viktor Arvidsson at Tuesday's morning skate and also worked on Detroit's first power-play unit.
The Red Wings could certainly use the offence, but Larkin's return also brings one of Detroit's biggest offseason storylines back to centre stage.
Larkin requested a trade during the offseason, and the Red Wings subsequently stripped him of the captaincy. During player introductions before Detroit's home opener, Larkin was greeted by why widespread boos from the home crowd.
That wasn't the only message Red Wings fans delivered.
“Sell the team” chants could also be heard during the game as frustration surrounding the club spilled into the stands.
And Larkin isn't the only major player involved in an uncomfortable situation with the team.
Defenceman Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned and won't be in the lineup again on Tuesday. The restricted free agent has returned home to Sweden after requesting a trade, reportedly unhappy with how contract negotiations have unfolded. Detroit still hopes to sign him to a long-term contract.
Wings Lineup
Viktor Arvidsson -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard -- Emmitt Finnie -- Alex DeBrincat
Michael Rasmussen -- Andrew Copp -- Keegan Kolesar
Nate Danielson -- Carter Mazur
Albert Johansson -- Moritz Seider
Anton Johansson -- Justin Faulk
Ben Chiarot -- Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Andreas Englund
John Gibson
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: William Wallinder
Injured: Jacob Bernard-Docker (upper body), Marco Kasper (upper body), J.T. Compher (undisclosed), Mason Appleton (undisclosed)
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. For more articles like this click one of the THN.com/Ottawa headlines below:
Senators Beat Bruins, But Now Face Another Key Injury Concern
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How the Sixers can add another backup center after Ariel Hukporti’s Achilles injury
The Sixers’ preseason opener was the textbook definition of a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty night.
The glass-half-full: Jaylen Brown scored 22 points in 15 minutes. VJ Edgecombe couldn’t buy a bucket from deep, but he chipped in a well-rounded 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds in only 20 minutes of action. Even Jabari Walker shined with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
The glass-half-empty: The Sixers’ depth at backup center behind Joel Embiid, which already looked flimsy with Adem Bona nursing a foot injury, took another major hit when Ariel Hukporti went down with a torn Achilles only five minutes into the game.
The Sixers spent part of their bi-annual exception to sign Hukporti to a one-year, $3.4 million contract this offseason. Losing him is a blow on multiple fronts, particularly since they don’t have an easy way to replace him.
The Sixers do still have one open standard roster spot, but they’re hard-capped at the $209.0 million first apron. They’re only $1.8 million below that line at the moment, which means they don’t have enough room under the first apron for a veteran-minimum contract for anyone with even a single year of NBA experience. If they wanted to sign someone now, it would have to be an undrafted rookie free agent. That’s not exactly what the doctor ordered for the win-now Sixers.
Minimum contracts begin to prorate downward once the regular season begins, so the Sixers will be able to fill that last roster spot with a free-agent signing starting on Dec. 3. However, they might prefer to keep that spot open until the trade deadline to give themselves some additional flexibility for an in-season addition.
If so, they’ll need to explore alternate ways to replace Hukporti for now.
The easiest would be a two-way contract. The Sixers still have one open two-way spot, and they have 7’6″ center Tacko Fall in training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal. However, Fall is currently nursing a hip strain and is not expected to be reevaluated until mid-October, so he might not be ready for opening night, either.
As other teams begin to trim down their rosters to the 15-man regular-season limit, the Sixers could look to poach someone who gets waived. Their pro scouting department should be working overtime for the next few weeks as they figure out how best to fill that open two-way spot heading into the season.
The Sixers could also explore a trade for a backup big, although their options are fairly limited in that regard for now. Anyone whom they signed this summer is not eligible to be traded until at least Dec. 15 (including Hukporti), so their best options would be moving Dominick Barlow ($3.4 million), Walker ($2.6 million) or Justin Edwards ($2.4 million). They can take more salary than they send out in a trade since they’re under the first apron, but they can’t exceed the first apron under any circumstance. (What are the odds they could pry Jay Huff’s $2.7 million contract away from the Indiana Pacers…?)
If Hukporti is confirmed to be out for the season, the Sixers could apply for a Disabled Player Exception, although it wouldn’t do them much good. It would be worth 50% of Hukporti’s contract, or $1.7 million, which means they could only use it to sign an undrafted rookie free agent or a prorated veteran-minimum deal. If they wanted to use it as a trade exception instead, they couldn’t take back more than $1.8 million (the value of the Disabled Player Exception plus $100,000).
Lastly, they could waive Walker, who has only $250,000 of his $2.6 million contract guaranteed until Jan. 10. If they waive him and sign someone else to a one-year, veteran-minimum deal in his place, they’d add about $100,000 to their books in total, but they’d still be $1.7 million below the first apron. That would leave them enough flexibility to still add someone else mid-season on a prorated minimum contract, although they’d have to wait until roughly mid-December to do so.
To put it lightly, the Sixers don’t have a ton of great options to replace Hukporti right now. If Bona hasn’t recovered from his foot injury by opening night, the Sixers will not have a single healthy backup center behind Embiid. Perhaps they plug the gap with a two-way signee, but they’ll otherwise have to experiment with small-ball 5 looks until Bona returns.
In the games that Embiid sits out, the Sixers’ center rotation is even more of a question mark moving forward. Bona and Hukporti figured to split a majority of the minutes on those nights, but that’s no longer on the table. Head coach Nick Nurse will need to break out his mad-scientist cap and figure out a way to patch a center rotation together. Barlow, Walker and Dean Wade all might wind up playing some minutes at the 5.
Hukporti’s injury is by no means a death knell to the Sixers’ title chances this year, but it shouldn’t be downplayed, either. Until the Sixers figure out a way to patch that hole in their rotation, they’ll be vulnerable in the frontcourt, particularly given Embiid’s lengthy injury history.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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Former Penguins Forward Placed On Waivers By New Team
A former Pittsburgh Penguins forward is available for the taking.
According to PuckPedia, former Penguins forward Jansen Harkins has been placed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Harkins has appeared in one game this season with the Lightning, where he has recorded five hits and a minus-1 rating. This is after he had three goals, eight points, and 113 hits in 44 games with the Anaheim Ducks during this past season.
The Penguins claimed Harkins off waivers ahead of the 2023-24 season from the Winnipeg Jets. From there, he played in 45 games with the Penguins during the 2023-24 campaign, where he posted zero goals, four assists, 74 hits, and a minus-4 rating.
Harkins also played in 14 AHL games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2023-24 season. During them, he recorded five goals, seven assists, 12 points, and a minus-1 rating.
Harkins' time with the Penguins ended during the 2024 NHL off-season when he signed a two-year contract with the Ducks in free agency.
It will now be interesting to see if another team claims the former Penguins forward off waivers from here. Teams looking for more forward depth and grit could consider taking a chance on him.
Dodgers can borrow blueprint to beat Braves' Sale from unlikely source
The Los Angeles Dodgers might have to borrow the blueprint for beating Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale from an unlikely source.
The lowly Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels finished the regular season with the second-worst record in baseball but also humbled Sale, the 10-time All-Star, at Anaheim Stadium April 6 in what remains Sale's worst outing of the 2026 season. It's what the Dodgers need as they prepare to face the 6-foot-6 left-hander in Game 3 of the best-of-five NLDS tied one game apiece with Atlanta Tuesday, Oct. 6.
The blueprint starts with aggression: April 6 at Anaheim Stadium, Angels shortstop Zach Neto hit the first pitch he saw, a 95-mph four-seam fastball, for a 400-foot home run.
The blueprint shifts to patience: Sale retired nine batters in a row heading into the bottom of the fourth when he hit Angels outfielder Jorge Soler. It was an opening, a piece of string from Sale’s ball of yarn beginning to unravel.
Then the Angels pulled that loose piece of yarn. With a base hit. Two consecutive walks. Another hit batter. When the inning ended, the Angels led 4-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Angels went back to aggression: Joe Adell jumped on a first-pitch fastball, blasting a 411-foot home run and giving the Angels a 6-1 lead. Suddenly Sale gave way to a reliever in a game the Angels won 6-2.
Beyond the Dodgers offense
The offense is only part of the blueprint, of course. That night at Anaheim Stadium, when the Angels roughed up the Sale, Angels ace Jose Soriano muffled the Braves' bats.
He pitched eight innings, allowed only one earned run and struck out 10 batters. Basically, he outsale-d Sale, who gave up six earned runs in four innings – statistically, his worst outing of the year.
Dodgers vs. Chris Sale: a tale of two teams
So how can the Dodgers use the blueprint?
Aggression at the outset would make perfect sense. Mookie Betts, likely to bat leadoff, has as much success against Sale as any current Dodger.
Betts is 7-for-16 (.389) with two doubles and a home run.
Freddie Freeman should have the confidence to swing with aggression, too. Against Sale, Freeman is 5-16 (.313.) with two doubles and two home runs.
Teoscar Hernandez should be afraid to take his thunderous swings. Though he’s struck out 10 times in 24 plate appearances against Sale, Hernandez also has homered and doubled twice against the Braves star pitcher.
It’s unlikely Shohei Ohtani will break out of his slump against Sale. He is 3-for-15 (.200) with a double and five strikeouts and is struggling at the plate.
And as Soriano did for the Angels, it’ll be up to Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to help hold the Braves’ offense in check.
Dodgers make big adjustments to lineup
The Dodgers have made adjustments to their lineup for Game 3. The most notable is Ohtani's move to fifth in the batting order, the lowest he's hit since 2020. Ohtani batted leadoff for the Dodgers before injuries left him on the injured list in September. He is 2-for-8 with two strikeouts in the first two games of the NLDS.
Freeman will bat second, moving up from fourth, and Teoscar Hernandez will bat third, moving up from fifth.
Enrique Hernández will get the start at third base ahead of Max Muncy and bat ninth.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers can borrow blueprint to beat Braves' Sale from unlikely source
Where is Joe Davis? Why Kenny Albert is filling in on Dodgers-Braves Fox telecast
Joe Davis, the play-by-play voice of both the Los Angeles Dodgers' TV broadcasts and the lead voice on Fox Sports' Major League Baseball coverage, will miss Game 3 of the National League Division Series because of voice issues, The Athletic first reported.
Davis, 38, will be replaced by veteran broadcasting staple Kenny Albert for the Tuesday, Oct. 6 game.
The NLDS between the Dodgers and Braves is tied, 1-1, entering Game 3, with both teams' aces − Atlanta left-hander Chris Sale and Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto − scheduled to pitch. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday at Atlanta's Truist Park.
Keep up with Dodgers-Braves Game 3 with our live blog, here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Joe Davis? Why Kenny Albert is filling in on Dodgers-Braves Fox telecast
The one angle where the Cincinnati Reds offense excelled
The struggles of the Cincinnati Reds offense as a whole during the 2026 regular season has been documented well – here, there, and everywhere. The top-heavy nature of the lineup featured a back-beat that was mostly non-existent for months at a time, and overall the latter outweighed the former by season’s end.
They ranked dead last in team wRC+ at 91, after all (and we’ll have more on that on Friday).
Along the way, though, they did manage to jump to the top of the team leaderboards in a rather unique way, whether by distinct coaching towards a particular test or by sheer luck. And given which other teams (and their potent bats) rank right next to them, it might be the one thing on which they can offensively hang their hat when looking back at this otherwise dismal year.
No team – not a single one – posted a higher collective launch angle than the Cincinnati Reds. Their 16.2 degree figure was the best in the sport, with the high-octane Chicago Cubs up in 3rd at 15.9 degrees and the mighty New York Yankees tied for 4th at 15.4 degrees. Innocence by association isn’t everything, obviously, but it’s hard not to notice when some of the best put-together lineups also excel at something the Reds did (and it’s worth pointing out the Los Angeles Dodgers ranked just past that tie for 4th in 7th at 15.1 degrees). Those team don’t operate on hunches, they actively seek to rank well where they end up ranking well, and in this particular category it was somehow the Reds ranking on top.
Launch angle is not an end-all, be-all metric, however. Sometimes it could reflect that you pop the ball up too much, and if you strike out so much that you don’t feature enough batted ball events it doesn’t matter that you do smack line drives when you actually make your one contact for the game. Batted Ball Events (BBE) is notable here particularly since no team in the sport had fewer than the Reds did, their 3,893 mark nearly 500 fewer than the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays. The Cubs, for reference, again ranked well here at 4th.
Launch Angle Sweet-Spot % tends to to help narrow the focus of all of this. It tracks how often players (or teams, in this instance) hit a ball between 8 degrees and 32 degrees, effectively reducing how often a pop-fly would help skew an overall launch angle. The Reds, to their credit, ranked 4th in the game here, trailing only the likes of the Detroit Tigers, Dodgers, and Coors-leaning Colorado Rockies. Pair that with ranking 4th in average exit velocity, and it’s clear the Reds did a better-than-expected job of hitting line drives and hitting them hard relative to their peers.
Again, though, these two stats come with their quirks. Strikeouts don’t factor into the denominator when calculating LA SwSp%, and the Reds struck out a lot. Average exit velocity doesn’t factor in the zero mph velocity of striking out, either, and if it did the Reds number would sink by a large margin.
The lone concern here – aside from the striking out profusely part – is that two of the Reds who ranked best in terms of launch angle and LA SwSp% were Tyler Stephenson and Eugenio Suarez, the latter of whom got hot just as the Reds were falling out of the race for good and actually finished is overall disappointing 2026 rather well. Both of them, of course, will almost certainly reach free agency within days of the end of this year’s World Series, taking their launch angle talents to another team that seeks them. JJ Bleday found the sweet spot pretty often while Matt McLain’s 20.7 degree launch angle ranked 14th among qualified batters, but a large chunk of the one decent stat where the Reds ranked well in 2026 is still about to walk to another team, with no clear launch angle darlings in the upper minors ready to step in and replace them.
And before you flush this topic down the toilet, it’s worth pointing out some of the names that rank among the Top 20 on these particular lists. Cal Raleigh, Isaac Paredes, Zach Neto, PCA, and Mickey Moniak all rank among the Top 10 in launch angle, with Byron Buxton (20th), Kyle Schwarber (21st), and Kevin McGonigle (23rd) and featuring prominently, too. Yordan Alvarez, and Riley Green sandwich Stephenson in the Top 10 in LA SwSp%, with Mookie Betts and Steven Kwan both in the Top 10, too. Two of the Brewers best hitters (Brice Turang and Jake Bauers) just missed the Top 20, as did Freddie Freeman (22nd) – Nick Kurtz of the A’s ranked 19th.
It didn’t all pan out in the end, of course. Too many holes in swings, too many streaks, too little overall contact. But at least there may be a methodology underlying all of this if the Reds could just find a few more bats competent enough to make it happen.
Shohei Ohtani dropped in the batting order for NLDS Game 3 vs. Chris Sale, Braves
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani took the news that he was hitting fifth in Game 3 of the National League Division Series so well that he responded with a joke.
As manager Dave Roberts tells it, when he laid out his thoughts on the lineup against Braves ace Chris Sale, Ohtani said, “In all honesty, I was going to come to you in September and say, why don’t you hit me seventh?”
Regardless of how poorly Ohtani has hit lately, the news came as a shock on Tuesday. And it reflected the aggressive read-and-react approach Roberts is going to take with the best-of-five series tied through two games.
Fifth is the lowest Ohtani has ever hit in the Dodgers’ starting lineup. He hasn’t hit fifth or lower in a starting lineup since 2020 with the Angels.
Read more:Dodgers vs. Braves Game 3 live updates: L.A. leads in eighth inning
For most of the season, through ups, downs and injuries, Ohtani has led off. When he returned from the injured list with five games left in the season, Roberts started batting him second against left-handed pitchers, with right-handed hitting Mookie Betts batting ahead of him.
But in eight postseason at-bats so far, Ohtani has recorded just two hits, both singles.
“This is just a Sale thing, and also who I feel is going to come out of the bullpen tonight,” Roberts said, making clear that he doesn’t plan to bat Ohtani fifth against all left-handed pitchers in the postseason. “So [Wednesday] versus [right-hander Tyler] Mahle, it will look different.”
Against Mahle, however, Roberts said Ohtani won’t necessarily lead off, citing Mahle’s neutral-to-reverse platoon splits. But Ohtani won’t hit fifth, Roberts said. Sale is a special case.
The last time the Dodgers faced Sale, he shut them out for nine innings. All time, Ohtani has a .517 OPS against Sale in the regular season, and he went one for seven against him this year.
“It might give him a different look, let the game come to him a little bit later,” Roberts said. “I don’t think it’s a pressure thing. I do think it’s something where he wants to do more. But in that same breath, I do think that there’s going to be a couple big spots today where he’s going to be at bat.”
In the Dodgers’ first two postseason games, Ohtani’s plate discipline has wavered, making it difficult to pinpoint the root of his struggles. Does it all come down to approach? Could his nagging left knee and right biceps problems be contributing to his poor performance?
The Dodgers aren’t looking for him to be the hero every game, and trying to do so could even exacerbate his problems at the plate. For the lineup to click, however, he does need to be more productive.
Read more:Fred Claire, former Dodgers GM whose team won the '88 World Series, dies
“He’s a very good self-evaluator, a very extremely high competitor and expects a lot from himself,” Roberts said. “I still think he’s very confident. But Sale’s a different monster. He’s tough, certainly against lefties.
“But I still think [Ohtani’s] confident. So now with that, just getting him back in the zone — and that’s easier said than done, I understand that.”
On Tuesday, Roberts also inserted right-handed hitting Kiké Hernández into the lineup, batting ninth and playing third base. And he kept right-handed hitter Miguel Rojas in the lineup, moving him from third to second and starting utility player Tommy Edman on the bench. Left-handed hitting third baseman Max Muncy will also be available off the bench.
“Tommy, he’s been going through it in the last couple of months, and it’s been a grind for him on both sides of the plate,” Roberts said. “Hasn’t had a whole lot of success against Sale — the heater up, the ball down below, with a flat swing. … Getting Kiké involved right now, I think it’s added intensity, urgency. I just think he’s going to put forth some good at-bats, and you’re not giving up anything on the defensive side.”
Today's #NLDS Game 3 Dodgers lineup at Braves: pic.twitter.com/aYZ2IfRsZV
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 6, 2026
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Zucker, Lyon Practice, Sabres Take On Wild’s Buffalo Brothers
The Buffalo Sabres continue their five-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild at KeyBank Center on Tuesday, coming off a 4-3 comeback victory over the struggling Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild are without one of their best defensemen, Brock Faber, but have started the season 2-0 with wins over Boston and Nashville.
The Sabres held an optional morning skate on Tuesday morning, and had a couple injured players on the ice for the first time. Winger Jason Zucker, still recovering from off-season core muscle surgery and is a couple weeks away, and goalie Alex Lyon, who suffered a shoulder injury against Detroit during the preseason, took part wearing gray non-contact jerseys.
"(It was) kind of one of those situations where you don't really know, and then it's obviously disappointing to miss any amount of time." Lyon said. yeah, "We've got a lot of games, a lot of good teams coming up, and this early in the season, your mindset's so fresh that not even thinking about the amount of games or who the opponent is, you're just excited to play. "
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Colten Ellis was once again in the starter’s net and will make his first start of the season on the one-year anniversary of being claimed off of waivers from St. Louis, and the only lineup change that appears to be in the offing is veteran Justin Danforth starting in place of Sam Carrick.
The Wild’s visit marks the return of the Foligno brothers, Nick and Marcus, to their birthplace. Marcus is playing his 10th season in Minnesota after starting his career and playing six years in Buffalo. Nick has played nearly 1300 games for six clubs, and joined the Wild at the trade deadline after spending three seasons in Chicago.
"I coached Marcus. I think it was my last year or my second-to-last year here." Ruff said. family. "For those two guys to come back and play in the building, and their dad played a good part of his career here. It's just a great hockey family."
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Shohei Ohtani plummets in Dodgers lineup for Chris Sale showdown in NLDS Game 3
ATLANTA — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t bluffing.
As he had hinted during the team’s off day on Monday, the Dodgers made significant lineup changes for Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday, reconfiguring their batting order and inserting a couple extra right-handed bats into their lineup ahead of a daunting matchup with Braves left-handed ace Chris Sale at Truist Park.
The biggest change: Two-way star Shohei Ohtani being dropped from the two-hole down to the No. 5 spot — the lowest he has hit since the 2020 season with the Angels.
“I had a good conversation with him last night, told him my thoughts,” Roberts said. “And he completely understood.”
Indeed, the move wasn’t unexpected, after the physically diminished slugger opened this series with just two singles in a two-game split back in Los Angeles.
By moving Ohtani down, the Dodgers were trying to limit the number of times he potentially faces Sale (who has held him to a 3-for-15 mark in their previous head-to-head matchups). The club is also hoping to see a better approach from the four-time MVP, after he struck out twice on Sunday while repeatedly chasing pitches outside the strike zone.
“He wants to do whatever will help the team,” Roberts said, noting that Ohtani joked he almost came to Roberts during his injury-hampered slump in September to say, “Why don’t you hit me seventh?”
That, of course, was tongue-in-cheek.
But Ohtani’s acceptance of Tuesday’s lineup move –– which Roberts emphasized was just a one-day adjustment to the matchup with Sale –– felt genuine to the veteran manager.
“I just feel this gives us the best chance to beat the Braves today,” Roberts said. “To combat Sale, to combat what they’re going to throw after Sale. And I feel good about it.”
The Dodgers took other measures for their showdown with Sale — who topped even his 2024 Cy Young Award-winning performance this season by going 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA, including a five-hit shutout of the Dodgers when he last faced them in August at Truist Park.
At third base, the left-handed-hitting Max Muncy was replaced for a second straight game by veteran Miguel Rojas, who was batting sixth.
At second base, slumping switch-hitter Tommy Edman was swapped out for veteran playoff performer Kiké Hernández, who will get his first start of this year’s postseason as the No. 9 hitter.
“Today, we know we’re in for a battle,” Rojas said. “We know what he’s going to feature. We know his stuff. It comes down to execution on the day … We are going to have to fight every pitch, every out. And that’s what we’re in for.”
Naji Marshall is already choosing violence in Macao
If Naji Marshall doesn’t watch himself, the Dallas Mavericks are going to have an international incident on their hands.
“I’m too strong, and I got too much bounce,” Marshall said with a flex to the camera in a video the team posted to social media on Tuesday. “I’m sorry, Macao. I’ll buy you another one.”
It came after a practice session in Southern China as the team prepares for two preseason games against the Houston Rockets. The two teams will play on both Friday and Sunday.
Marshall apparently brought down a rim during the Mavs’ first practice session in China. He was proud of his work, taking time to snap some photos with his trophy before teammate Dereck Lively II slung it over his shoulder and carted it back toward the locker room like a felled piece of game in the wild.
But Marshall’s violent streak didn’t stop there. I mean, you can’t take this guy anywhere, apparently.
He broke a folding chair in the arena after the fact.
“No disrespect — I think I’m took big for China,” Marshall said in the video.
Mavs fans are hoping he brings the same destructive mindset to the court this year as he did last season, when he averaged a career-high mark of 15.2 points on 51% shooting from the field in 29.5 minutes per game, which is also a new career-high.
This season, Marshall will reunite with Willie Green, who was named the lead assistant on Mavericks head coach Dusty May’s staff in July.
“Now that Willie, we linked up again, I feel like I’m comfortable. Going into the season, it makes it much more easier,” Marshall told Dallas Sports Journal during training camp. “I feel like easier communication, understanding that we really know each other and he knows how to get to me, I know how to talk to him. So I think it’s beautiful. … He just helped me be more of a dog. Worry less about things I couldn’t control, control what I can. Just worrying about what helps the team and stop worrying so much about myself. For real, a lot of different things, life outside of basketball, he taught me some stuff.”
The Mavericks’ preseason schedule begins on Friday, with a pair of preseason games this weekend at Macao’s Venetian Arena. Tipoff on Friday is scheduled for 7 a.m., and tipoff on Sunday is at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., which will be an early measuring stick for your status as a Mavs sicko.
Both games will be televised on NBA TV, and for those who don’t get that channel, the Mavericks have you covered, with a stream of both games available here.
Cameron Carr admitted he was nervous before his preseason debut
In his first career NBA preseason game, Cameron Carr tallied 19 points (7-of-13 shooting, 3-of-7 from deep), three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He flashed impressive range and a smooth stroke beyond the arc and an ability to take tight routes around screens for space, and looked incredibly fluid covering ground with his 6-foot-5 frame and 7-foot-1 wingspan.
Despite the encouraging preseason opener, Carr conceded postgame there were some jitters flowing through his body.
“I was definitely nervous. It’s real. It’s human so I was definitely nervous,” he told reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-103 victory. “But it’s basketball. I enjoy it and have fun, so got to go out there with another opportunity to play basketball and now at the highest level. It’s fun to get to compete with my guys.”
At Baylor a season ago, Carr shot 60.2% on 2-pointers and 37.4% from 3-point range on 6.1 attempts per game. Monday night, he appeared confident as a long-range shooter with seven attempts in 23 minutes and really did seem to read space well inside the arc (4-of-6 shooting on 2s), whether it was efficiently curling around screens to shoot or running in the open floor.
The Lakers’ wing room is crowded — even if not among the roster’s standout areas — with guys like Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Jake LaRavia (not to mention, Austin Reaves), so it’ll be interesting to see how much serious burn Carr could garner this season. Presumably, he’ll spend a good bit of time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, receiving plenty of playing time to refine his game, improve his physicality and add strength.
Regardless of how seriously he factors into the Lakers’ rotation this year, his outing Monday night was a positive showing during his first taste of real NBA basketball. Based on his own assessment, it sounds as though he’s ready to keep building on that performance and help the Lakers whenever his number is called.
“Every chance I get to step on the court,” he said, “[I’m] just growing in areas and just getting more comfortable with just playing in the offense and being more efficient.”
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
Ariel Hukporti to miss 2026-27 with torn Achilles
When Ariel Hukporti went down in the opening minutes of the Sixers’ preseason opener, it didn’t look good.
Now we know Hukporti suffered a torn Achilles in his right leg, which will sideline the center for the entire 2026-27 season. The team announced he will have surgery “later today.”
Early in the first quarter, Hukporti was looking good against his former team, the New York Knicks, getting the start for the resting Joel Embiid. Then, while guarding former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, Hukporti went down — there was no contact and Hukporti seemed to know the severity immediately, staying on the ground while grabbing his right leg.
The 24-year-old center, who was born in Germany, began his professional career overseas. During the 2022 preseason, he ruptured his left Achilles while playing for Melborne United of the NBL in Australia. He was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Knicks in 2024 and spent the first two seasons of his career in New York.
It’s an injury you hate to see for any player, but especially one in Hukporti’s situation. He served as the Knicks’ third-string center last season and came to the Sixers in free agency this offseason. He was set to compete with the incumbent Adem Bona to be the team’s primary backup five. With Bona sidelined with a foot sprain, Hukporti seemed to be taking advantage of the opportunity. Now, he’ll spend this upcoming season rehabbing.
It puts the Sixers in a tough spot. Backup center is an evergreen position of need here given Embiid’s injury history. With Hukporti going down, Bona is the only true center on the roster, with guys like Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow capable of providing the team a small-ball five look. Even Exhibit 10 signee Tacko Fall is on the shelf with a hip strain and might not return to action in time to earn the Sixers’ final two-way spot.
Part of the issue for the Sixers is that final two-way spot is all that’s available to them to make an addition at the moment. Remember, the Sixers are hard-capped at the first apron since they accessed the full non-taxpayer MLE. They have an open roster spot, but not enough space below the first apron to make a minimum signing until December.
It’s a real test for Mike Gansey’s front office after a sensational offseason.
Game Preview: Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets
After a solid preseason opener, the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets shift to Salt Lake City for part 2. One talking point which will undoubtedly be repeated hundreds of times over the course of the season will be this: The tank has been parked, hopefully forever. The Jazz are trying to win and it’s apparent even during preseason.
All eyes are on Jazz rookie Darryn Petersen, who had a rather pedestrian 3/6/2 in 19 forgettable minutes. This is not a cause for panic. Rookies do rookie things. This man has all the tools he needs to be a special player and is in the perfect system to succeed now and continue development. The thing to watch as Will Hardy and the Jazz iron out their wrinkles is whether or how Petersen and Keyonte George share the floor. How does Coach Hardy balance his attack so both guards get their shots? Keyonte had a solid game last night. It appears that he is going to earn every bit of his new contract and then some:
Both guards started game 1, but don’t be surprised to see Ace Bailey or even Svi Mykhailiuk slide into the 2 spot tonight for evaluation. A Keyonte/Ace/Lauri/JJJ/Nurkić lineup would boast a whopping average height of 6’9″ and presents interesting problems for opposing defenses.