ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves got a little ahead of themselves.
Now they’ll have to wait at least another day for the franchise’s first World Series in 20 years.
Ozuna left early on what would have been a sacrifice fly with his team leading in the third inning, and the game soon turned in Los Angeles’ favour as the Dodgers stayed alive in the NL Championship Series with a 7-3 victory in Game 5 on Friday night.
The Braves still have a 3-2 series lead after a bullpen game that started well but went awry, with their top two starters lined up for the final two games. Left-hander Max Fried pitches for the NL East champions on Saturday.
“Hopefully he can go seven innings tomorrow, eight innings,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Our team right now, this is the guy who we want.”
A night after hitting two homers in a 10-2 win, Ozuna started off the bag at third base when Dansby Swanson hit a liner to right field with Atlanta already off to a 2-0 lead.
Realizing Mookie Betts had a chance to make the catch, Ozuna retreated to the base, but still pulled his foot off too soon as Betts made a running, lunging catch just above his shoe tops.
Betts struggled to get the ball out of his glove as he was running toward the plate, and his off-balance throw was late as Ozuna slid headfirst at home. But third baseman Justin Turner was already standing at third waving his arms, and several Dodgers in the dugout had noticed as well.
Los Angeles didn’t have to appeal because the play went to review, and the ruling of a sacrifice fly and 3-0 Atlanta lead was changed to an inning-ending double play.
“That didn’t help,” Snitker said. “We had a couple of opportunities. Couldn’t kind of keep things rolling offensively.”
Los Angeles got rolling offensively, with Corey Seager leading off the fourth with a home run. The Dodgers went ahead for good in the sixth on Will Smith‘s three-run shot off the Atlanta reliever of the same name.
Atlanta’s A.J. Minter became the first pitcher to make his first career start in the post-season, and now is the only starter or reliever in post-season history with seven strikeouts in three or fewer innings. The left-hander allowed one hit.
Minter was replaced by Tyler Matzek, who two years ago was pitching for an independent league team in a nearly empty stadium just a few miles from Globe Life Field, where the first-ever neutral-site NLCS is being played at the home of the Texas Rangers.
This crowd wasn’t what it could have been, with another pandemic-reduced total of about 11,000 in the first setting with fans this season. They ended up getting a pumpkin instead of a fairy tale October story.
Matzek surrendered Seager’s homer, and two innings later Atlanta’s Smith walked the first hitter he faced, Max Muncy, with two outs, forcing the lefty and losing pitcher to face LA’s Smith, a right-handed hitter. The Dodgers catcher hit a 3-2 fastball 404 feet into the seats in left.
The three-batter minimum wasn’t a factor for Snitker with his Smith, who didn’t allow a hit or walk in his first five appearances this post-season but has walked three and allowed three runs in the last two games in this series.
“I’ve got every confidence in him,” Snitker said. “He has been so good and he’s so reliable. He wants the ball. It happens. We’ll give him the ball probably in the same situation tomorrow.”
Jacob Webb gave up Seager’s second homer of the game and fourth of the series, a two-run shot after Mookie Betts‘ RBI single in the seventh.
Fried struck out nine in six innings in a no-decision in Game 1, when the Braves scored four times in the ninth in a 5-1 win.
“It’s going to be all about execution,” said Fried, who pitched seven innings in another no-decision in Atlanta’s playoff opener, a 1-0 win over Cincinnati in 13 innings. “It’s kind of more of the same, not trying to overdo too much, not trying to overthink.”
Ian Anderson, a 22-year-old right-hander and likely Game 7 starter if needed, hasn’t allowed a run in 15 2/3 innings in these playoffs, covering the first three post-season starts of the rookie’s career.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
