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MLB Playoffs Takeaways: Padres’ attempted coup runs out of gas – Sportsnet.ca

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What started as a 16-team MLB playoff field is already down to just five.

Thursday’s action saw three teams punch their tickets to their respective League Championship Series, while another three packed their bags and said goodbye to a 2020 season that will go down in history.

Villains or not, the Houston Astros finished off the Oakland Athletics in Game 4 and are back in the ALCS for the fourth year in a row. They await the winner of the New York YankeesTampa Bay Rays series after the former staved off elimination and forced a decisive Game 5.

The National League side of the bracket saw the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers sweep aside the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres, respectively.

It was an action-packed day of baseball, so let’s get to the takeaways…

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Padres’ attempted coup runs out of steam

The young Padres looked well ahead of schedule all season in their quest to overthrow the Dodgers for NL West supremacy. It was an admirable effort, but they’ll have to wait at least another year after the Dodgers put the finishing touches on the sweep with a dominant 12-3 win in Game 3, highlighted by catcher Will Smith’s historic five-hit performance.

With Dinelson Lamet unavailable for the series and fellow ace Mike Clevinger removed from the NLDS roster after re-aggravating his elbow issue in Game 1, the Padres were forced to lean heavily on their bullpen. Their effort was admirable but it was clear the stable of relievers just didn’t have anything left in the tank in Game 3. All told, San Diego played six playoff games and used at least eight different pitchers in five of them. That’s probably going to catch up with you at some point in October.

Perhaps the series plays out differently with a healthy Lamet and Clevinger, but Los Angeles looked like the more complete team in all facets of the game — the Dodgers even out-celebrated Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Co. Even though this series ended in lopsided fashion, the rivalry between these juggernaut squads should only continue to get more intense in the years to come.

This season, Dan picks an issue, trend, news item or story from around MLB, and digs in on it with a guest. And he does it five times a week for about 15 minutes a day. Enough time to inform and entertain, but also get fans back to all the sports going on.

Montgomery dances around trouble, Yankees’ bullpen shuts the door

Jordan Montgomery drew the start for the Yankees with their season on the line, and he was able to tiptoe his way out of a couple sticky situations. Tampa Bay opened the third inning by putting runners on second and third with no outs, but Montgomery limited the damage to a single run. He stranded two more Rays runners in the fourth before passing the baton to the bullpen.

Those relievers never gave the Rays any glimmer of hope. New York manager Aaron Boone didn’t mix and match to fill the remaining five innings, he simply rolled out his three-headed monster of Chad Green, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman one after another. None of them surrendered so much as a hit, with the only baserunner reaching on a walk.

Now the Yankees hand the ball to ace Gerrit Cole on short rest in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday — a scenario that is exactly why they forked over $324 million for him last winter.

Rays need Lowe to step up

Brandon Lowe was the Rays’ most productive hitter in 2020, finishing the season with a .916 OPS and a team-leading 14 home runs. He’s been MIA against the Yankees, and Tampa is really missing his bat out of the two-hole in its lineup. Lowe drove in the Rays’ only run of the 5-1 loss on a fielder’s choice, but he remains hitless for the series.

With the way the Yankees can score, Tampa Bay needs its best offensive player to rise to the occasion. Breakout playoff star Randy Arozarena can only do so much on his own.

Correa leads charge in record-setting Astros clincher

If it seemed like baseballs were flying out of Dodger Stadium at a record pace throughout the Astros-Athletics series, your mind wasn’t playing tricks on you. The two AL West clubs combined to hit 24 home runs over their four games, besting the previous LDS mark of 22 set in 1995 courtesy of the Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

Carlos Correa did most of the damage in the series-clinching 11-6 victory, connecting for a go-ahead three-run shot in the fourth inning that put Houston up for good as part of his five-RBI day. That long ball was Correa’s third of the series, as he finished the ALDS with a .500 batting average and 11 RBIs.

The first-overall pick of the 2012 draft had a quiet season, posting a .709 OPS with five homers in 58 games, but has come alive in October. He’s battled a slew of injuries over his career, but when he’s healthy and playing to his potential he undoubtedly belongs in the same breath as the other top shortstops around MLB. It feels like he’s been around forever, but the Puerto Rico native is still only 26 years old.

Marlins’ bizarre, impressive streak finally ends

The Marlins entered the NLDS with a perfect 7-0 record in playoff series, with the franchise’s only two post-season appearances prior to this one resulting in World Series titles. That strange, impressive run has finally come to an end.

Atlanta jumped all over Miami early in Game 3, grabbing a 4-0 lead in the third inning and never looking back, ultimately completing their second consecutive sweep with a 7-0 win. The Braves remain perfect this season when leading by four runs or more and look like a force to be reckoned with, especially with the way they’re pitching. Thursday’s contest was Atlanta’s fourth shutout in five playoff games.

Despite their series loss, the Marlins deserve a ton of credit for their 2020 campaign. After posting by far the worst record in the National League last year, Miami surprised the baseball world by not only reaching the playoffs, but upsetting the Chicago Cubs in the first round.

Even though the expanded playoff field helped their cause, the Marlins had to navigate a COVID-19 outbreak early in the season that left them scrambling to field a competitive roster. Now equipped with some valuable experience, the future looks bright for these young Marlins.

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

AP NBA:

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Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

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TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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