Good morning. The Dodgers are one loss from the end of their season. Blake Snell allowed a home run on his first pitch and his last pitch Wednesday night, Milwaukee won 6-2, and the Brewers are one win from their first World Series in 44 years. Game 4 is at 5 on FS1 The rest of the night went better for Southern California: the Galaxy shut out Portland, LAFC beat Austin and Son Heung-min tied a Carlos Vela record, and two Clippers rookies stood out in a preseason win. The Golden Knights host Calgary tonight. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ 0-3. Bauers and Mitchell homered in the seventh, and the Brewers beat the Dodgers 6-2 to move one win from the World Series — Fredo Cervantes at Dodger Stadium.
⚾ “English, not math.” Alex Rodriguez on baseball’s coming labor fight, team valuations and sports media — Arash Markazi in Los Angeles.
⚽ Back in control. Marco Reus and Justin Haak scored, and the Galaxy beat Portland 2-0 — Rob Jalon at Dignity Health Sports Park.
⚽ 15 assists. Bouanga scored twice and Son tied Vela’s club record as LAFC beat Austin 3-1 — The Sporting Tribune.
🏀 Rookies make their case. Keaton Wagler and Baba Miller led the Clippers past Denver 122-110 — Grant Mona at Intuit Dome.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — WEDNESDAY
⚾ NLCS Game 3: Brewers 6, Dodgers 2 (Brewers lead 3-0)
⚽ MLS: Galaxy 2, Timbers 0 · LAFC 3, Austin FC 1 · San Diego FC 3, Dynamo 3
🏀 NBA (preseason): Clippers 122, Nuggets 110
🏒 AHL: Reign 3, Gulls 2
⚾ ONE GAME FROM GONE
Jackson Chourio hit Blake Snell’s first pitch of the night over the wall. Garrett Mitchell hit his last one 428 feet. In between, Snell was dominant. Fredo Cervantes writes that Snell struck out nine and retired 13 or 14 straight hitters by Dave Roberts’ count, and he’s only the second pitcher to allow a home run on the first and last pitch of a postseason start, after John Smoltz in 1991.
Will Smith’s two-run double in the sixth gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. It lasted half an inning. Roberts sent Snell back out for the seventh, trying to get him “three more hitters.” Jake Bauers ended an 11-pitch at-bat with a two-run home run. Mitchell followed with a homer to make it 4-2, and Milwaukee added two more late.
“I didn’t give up one the whole year so to have three in a game is pretty frustrating,” Snell said.
The Dodgers had chances to answer. Max Muncy pinch-hit for Andy Pages and struck out. Kiké Hernández pinch-hit for Josue De Paula and struck out. Tommy Edman stayed in the game and kept struggling. The Dodgers have scored seven runs in three games.
Teams leading a best-of-seven 3-0 have won 41 of 42 times. The only comeback was the 2004 Red Sox, and the stolen base that started it in Game 4 belonged to Roberts. Game 4 is tonight at 5 p.m. on FS1 at Dodger Stadium.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Dodgers tried to ruin baseball as the Brewers said not this year (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fredo Cervantes: Dave Roberts’ bullpen decisions backfire, Dodgers trail 0-2 in NLCS (The Sporting Tribune)
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💼 A-ROD ON THE NEXT FIGHT
Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement runs out after this season, and the NLCS shows the gap at the center of the fight: the Dodgers’ payroll is about $338 million and the Brewers’ is about $143.5 million. Milwaukee is up 3-0.
Arash Markazi talked with Alex Rodriguez, who is back for the fourth season of Bloomberg’s “The Deal,” about the labor talks, rising team valuations and where sports media is going. Rodriguez thinks how the two sides talk will matter as much as the numbers. “The issue sometimes is English, not math,” he said.
On media rights: “If media is king, then baseball should be king.”
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: Alex Rodriguez discusses baseball’s looming labor battle, soaring team valuations and the future of sports media (The Sporting Tribune)
⚽ SEVEN GOALS, TWO WINS
The Galaxy bounced back. Three days after a 6-2 loss in St. Louis, Rob Jalon writes, Marco Reus scored in the 17th minute and Justin Haak added one in the 80th to beat Portland 2-0. JT Marcinkowski made three saves for his fourth clean sheet, and the Galaxy are back in control of their playoff spot and six games unbeaten at home. “We need to get over the win as fast as we get over the losses because now we need to focus on San Diego,” Robert Taylor said. San Diego FC visits Saturday.
LAFC took over in the second half. Denis Bouanga scored in the 52nd minute, Austin’s Brandon Vazquez tied it in the 66th, and Bouanga answered a minute later. Son Heung-min scored in the 72nd. Son’s two assists give him 15, the most in MLS and tied with Carlos Vela’s 2019 club record. LAFC is at NYCFC on Saturday.
San Diego FC and Houston traded six goals in a 3-3 draw at Snapdragon Stadium. SDFC is winless in seven and goes to the Galaxy on Saturday.
GO DEEPER
› Rob Jalon: LA Galaxy shut out Portland 2-0 at home (The Sporting Tribune)
› LAFC beats Austin FC 3-1 (The Sporting Tribune)
› SDFC’s six-goal clash with Houston Dynamo ends in 3-3 draw (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: Timbers at Galaxy (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: Austin FC at LAFC (The Sporting Tribune)
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🥤 Mountain Dew — triggered by Garrett Mitchell’s 428-foot home run at Dodger Stadium.
🏟️ TWO GAMES, ONE THURSDAY
NLCS Game 4: Brewers at Dodgers, 5 p.m. on FS1. Win or the season is over.
Flames at Golden Knights at 7 on ESPN+. Vegas (3-0-0 with Adin Hill in net) is coming off a 5-2 win in Nashville. Calgary got its first win of the season Tuesday in Anaheim.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
Two rookies make their case. Grant Mona writes that No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler started and had 12 points, four assists and three 3-pointers, and second-round pick Baba Miller had 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting off the bench as the Clippers beat Denver 122-110 in their preseason finale. The opener is Oct. 21 against the Kings.
USC’s defense finds its footing. The Trojans held Penn State to 68 rushing yards and have won two straight. A bye week comes before Wisconsin.
The Raiders’ run game ranks last in the league at about three yards per carry, and fixing it is the priority before Buffalo.
In the AHL, the Ontario Reign beat the San Diego Gulls 3-2.
GO DEEPER
› Grant Mona: Two Clippers rookies make their case in preseason finale win over Nuggets (The Sporting Tribune)
› Two straight W’s, a bye week and a defense finding its footing (The Sporting Tribune)
› Raiders placing emphasis on fixing early-season Achilles heel (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: Reign vs. Gulls (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15
⚾ NLCS Game 4: Brewers at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — 5:00 p.m. — FOX
🏒 NHL: Flames at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — 7:00 p.m. — ESPN+
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
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⚾ NLCS Game 4, Brewers at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — $71
🏒 Flames at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — $60
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Blake Snell allowed a home run on the first and last pitch of his Game 3 start. Who is the only other pitcher to do that in a postseason game?
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: John Smoltz, in Game 3 of the 1991 NLCS.
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