Good morning. Monday was rough for Los Angeles. The Dodgers lost 7-4 in Milwaukee and trail the NLCS 0-2. Then the Rams tied Buffalo with five seconds left, recovered a fumble in overtime, drove into field-goal range and had the kick blocked. By Tuesday morning the Rams had cut kicker Harrison Mevis, and the betting markets had made Milwaukee the World Series favorite and San Francisco the Super Bowl favorite. Tonight is hockey and the Lakers: the Ducks and Kings are both home, the Golden Knights are in Nashville, and the Lakers play the Warriors in Las Vegas. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ 0-2. Yamamoto lasted 2⅔ innings and William Contreras drove in three as the Brewers beat the Dodgers 7-4 — Fredo Cervantes at American Family Field.
🏈 Blocked. Greg Rousseau blocked Harrison Mevis’ 48-yard try in overtime, and Buffalo beat the Rams 37-34 — Mykell Mathieu at SoFi Stadium.
🏈 Grupe in, Mevis out. The Rams released their kicker and signed Blake Grupe off the Jets’ practice squad — The Sporting Tribune.
⚾ New favorites. Milwaukee is now +110 to win the World Series; the Dodgers are +360 — The Sporting Tribune.
🏒 Two firsts, one loss. William Karlsson scored his first goal of the season, but the Wild beat Vegas 4-2 — Derek Hegna.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — MONDAY
⚾ NLCS Game 2: Brewers 7, Dodgers 4 (Brewers lead 2-0)
🏈 NFL: Bills 37, Rams 34 (OT)
🏒 NHL: Wild 4, Golden Knights 2
⚾ DODGERS ON THE ROPES
Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw 36 pitches in the third inning. Christian Yelich’s two-run single put Milwaukee ahead 3-2, and Dave Roberts took him out with two outs. Yamamoto’s line: 2⅔ innings, four hits, three runs, two walks, 75 pitches.
“Wasn’t sharp,” Roberts said. “That Contreras at-bat really stressed him.”
The Dodgers came back to take a 4-3 lead, and then Roberts’ bullpen choices went wrong. Fredo Cervantes lays it out. In the fifth, Roberts didn’t send Roki Sasaki back out for a second inning and brought in Kris Bubic against a mostly left-handed group. William Contreras homered to tie it 4-4. In the sixth, Roberts intentionally walked Brice Turang to get to Contreras, and Contreras lined an RBI single for a 5-4 lead. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Milwaukee added two in the eighth.
The Dodgers’ four runs came on two sacrifice flies and two Brewers errors. The middle of the order went 0-for-20 with eight strikeouts, and nobody reached base after the fifth inning.
“I don’t have an answer,” Roberts said. “They have good arms.”
That’s five runs in two games. The series moves to Dodger Stadium for Games 3, 4 and 5 starting Wednesday, with Blake Snell expected to start Game 3. The Dodgers need to win four of the next five. BetOnline now has Milwaukee at -270 to win the series.
“There’s still a lot of series left,” Max Muncy said.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Dave Roberts’ bullpen decisions backfire, Dodgers trail 0-2 in NLCS (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fredo Cervantes: Dodgers drop Game 1 of NLCS to Brewers in Milwaukee (The Sporting Tribune)
› Brewers replace Dodgers as World Series favorites after taking 2-0 NLCS lead (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏈 BLOCKED
The Rams did nearly everything they needed to. Matthew Stafford went 40-for-54 for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Puka Nacua caught a career-high 17 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. Davante Adams caught two touchdowns. Kyren Williams scored from a yard out with five seconds left to tie it 34-34.
In overtime, Nate Landman forced a James Cook fumble, and Aaron Donald recovered it. Stafford hit Davis Allen for 21 yards and Nacua for 21 more, and the Rams lined up for a 48-yard field goal to win.
Greg Rousseau got through and blocked it. Buffalo kicked a 45-yard field goal on its next possession. Bills 37, Rams 34. Mykell Mathieu notes Harrison Mevis had also missed a 50-yarder on the first possession of the game, and Josh Allen ran for 121 yards as Buffalo rushed for 234.
Sean McVay blamed himself, too. “I wish I would have had a better play call and gone for it,” he said. “I’m sick right now with myself.” On the kicking: “Not even close to good enough. It cost us the game tonight.”
By Tuesday morning, Mevis (5-for-9 on field goals this season) was released, and Blake Grupe, signed off the Jets’ practice squad, is the new kicker. The Rams are 2-3, three games behind the unbeaten 49ers in the NFC West, and San Francisco has replaced them as BetOnline’s Super Bowl favorite.
GO DEEPER
› Mykell Mathieu: Rams’ kicking woes cost them in 37-34 overtime loss to Bills (The Sporting Tribune)
› Rams replacing Harrison Mevis with Blake Grupe after costly blocked kick against Bills (The Sporting Tribune)
› Unbeaten 49ers replace Rams as Super Bowl favorites after Los Angeles falls to 2-3 (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: Bills defeat Rams, 37-34, in Los Angeles (The Sporting Tribune)
🏟️ FOUR GAMES, ONE TUESDAY
Golden Knights at Predators at 5:45 on ESPN+, part of the league’s Frozen Frenzy night, after Monday’s 4-2 loss in St. Paul.
Flames at Ducks at 6:45 on Prime Video. The Ducks (4-1-0) beat Calgary 4-2 on Saturday but lost Cutter Gauthier and Ryan Poehling to injuries in that game.
Warriors vs. Lakers at 7 on Spectrum SportsNet, a preseason game in Las Vegas. Walker Kessler is back at practice, and JJ Redick hasn’t decided whether he’ll play.
Oilers at Kings at 7:30 on ABTV. The Kings are 0-2-2 and still looking for their first win.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
A pair of firsts. Derek Hegna writes that the Golden Knights fell behind 3-0 in about five minutes at Grand Casino Arena. Raphael Lavoie got his first NHL point on Rasmus Andersson’s goal, and William Karlsson scored his first of the season, but Minnesota won 4-2.
The odds board. BetOnline has Milwaukee at +110 to win the World Series, with the Dodgers at +360. The Brewers were 20-1 at the start of the season. For the Super Bowl, the 5-0 49ers are 7-1, the Rams 15-2, the Raiders 100-1 and the Chargers 300-1.
GO DEEPER
› Derek Hegna: Golden Knights achieve a pair of firsts, but fall short of comeback to Wild (The Sporting Tribune)
› Zach Cavanagh: Ducks Notebook: Injury waiting room, Klepov stays humble, Warren shines (The Sporting Tribune)
› Carlos Yakimowich: Sunday Lakers Report: Kessler returns to full practice, starting lineup still unsettled (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13
🏒 NHL: Golden Knights at Predators — Bridgestone Arena — 5:45 p.m. — ESPN+
🏒 NHL: Flames at Ducks — Honda Center — 6:45 p.m. — Prime Video
🏀 NBA (preseason): Warriors vs. Lakers — T-Mobile Arena — 7:00 p.m. — Spectrum SportsNet
🏒 NHL: Oilers at Kings — Crypto.com Arena — 7:30 p.m. — ABTV
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚾ NLCS Game 3, Brewers at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium (Wednesday) — $88
🏒 Oilers at Kings — Crypto.com Arena — $40
🏒 Flames at Ducks — Honda Center — $69
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Puka Nacua set a career high in receptions against Buffalo. How many catches did he have?
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: 17, for 138 yards.
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