Good morning, and welcome to the best Saturday of the fall. Both Southern California baseball teams play a Division Series game today, starting with Braves-Dodgers at 1 on FOX and then Padres-Brewers at 5:30 on FS1. USC hosts Washington, San Diego State hosts Texas State, UNLV hosts Cal, the Kings are in San Jose and Hawaii closes the night against San Jose State. Last night the Ducks nearly gave back a four-goal lead in Vegas and the Wave clinched a playoff spot in Orlando. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ Skubal for Game 1. Roberts chose him over Yamamoto, Snell and Glasnow; Ohtani says his biceps and knee will need managing — Fredo Cervantes at Dodger Stadium.
🏒 “One of those where we survive.” The Ducks blew most of a 4-0 lead but beat Vegas 4-3 in their opener — Zach Cavanagh at T-Mobile Arena.
⚽ Playoff bound. Lia Godfrey and Gia Corley scored early and the Wave beat Orlando 2-1 to clinch a postseason spot — Sebastian Sanchez at Inter&Co Stadium.
🏒 “Never going to see this team quit.” Vegas scored three in the third and fell a goal short — Steve Carp at T-Mobile Arena.
🐎 Grade 1 at Santa Anita. Bob Baffert’s Hughes is the 4-5 favorite in today’s American Pharoah — Louie Rabaut at Del Mar.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — FRIDAY
🏒 NHL: Ducks 4, Golden Knights 3
⚽ NWSL: San Diego Wave 2, Orlando Pride 1
🏒 AHL: Ontario Reign 6, Coachella Valley Firebirds 5 (OT)
⚾ SKUBAL GETS THE BALL
The Dodgers have the reigning World Series MVP in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a two-time Cy Young winner in Blake Snell and an All-Star in Tyler Glasnow. For Game 1 against Atlanta, Dave Roberts picked none of them.
Tarik Skubal starts at 1 p.m. on FOX. Fredo Cervantes reports Roberts told him he had the job after pulling him at 75 pitches in his final regular-season start. Skubal has never pitched a home game in October, and he’s looking forward to it.
The bigger question is the hitter in the middle of the lineup. Shohei Ohtani says he feels good and thinks his swing got better while he was out, but he has biceps and knee problems that will need managing all postseason, and he doesn’t know the cause yet. He went 5-for-21 with eight strikeouts in his last five regular-season games and has said he will “most likely” not pitch again this year.
“Most players that are performing now are not at 100%,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers will carry 14 position players and 12 pitchers. Roberts hasn’t named starters for Games 2 and 3.
At 5:30, the Padres start their series in Milwaukee on FS1. They allowed one run in their two-game sweep of the Cubs, and Manny Machado called the Brewers the “best team in baseball right now.”
The Dodgers and Padres are on opposite sides of the bracket. If both win their series, they meet for the pennant.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Tarik Skubal named Game 1 starter as Ohtani provides health update (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fredo Cervantes: Dodgers host Braves in NLDS with Ohtani questions looming (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fernando Ramirez: Padres turn last year’s pain into playoff redemption against Cubs (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏒 SURVIVING VEGAS
For two periods, the Ducks’ opener couldn’t have gone better. Beckett Sennecke, Alex Killorn, Jeff Malott and Leo Carlsson scored, Lukas Dostál stopped all 17 shots he faced, and Anaheim led 4-0 on the road against the team that set the standard for this division.
Then Vegas pushed back. Zach Cavanagh writes that the Golden Knights scored twice in 1:29 early in the third. Shea Theodore’s goal held up on review, and Tomas Hertl scored on the power play that came from Anaheim’s failed offside challenge. Braeden Bowman made it 4-3 with 2:50 left, and the Ducks had to survive a 30-second scramble at the end.
“One of those where we survive,” Dostál said.
“A little bit tighter than we wanted at the end,” Carlsson said. “We expected a push, but we won the game, so it’s good.”
Steve Carp notes that the Golden Knights have never come back from four goals down in their history, and they came within a goal of doing it Friday. “You’re never going to see this team quit,” Mark Stone said. “But when you get down 4-0, you’re not going to come back very often.”
The Ducks’ home opener is Sunday against Florida.
GO DEEPER
› Zach Cavanagh: Ducks ‘survive’ season opener in Vegas as 4-goal lead into 1-goal win (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: Knights unable to come all the way back against Ducks (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
Active today across Southern California — brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches, home of the world famous Arash Markazi sandwich, which has fried chicken, purple slaw, wasabi mayo, honey mustard, and cheddar on a Dutch Crunch roll. Just ask for the 500 at any Ike’s location.
🌮 El Portal, Pasadena — $12 combination plates and $7 house margaritas. Order online for pickup.
🍔 If you’re going to Game 1: the new Dodger Stadium postseason menu has the 24-ounce Colossal Burger, a 45-wing sampler and the Spam musubi dog.
🏟️ SEVEN GAMES, ONE SATURDAY
Baseball, twice. Braves at Dodgers at 1 on FOX, Skubal on the mound. Padres at Brewers at 5:30 on FS1.
College football, four times. Cal at UNLV starts the day at 12:30 on CBSSN. Washington comes to the Coliseum at 4:30 on NBC. USC is coming off its first loss, and Lincoln Riley is 5-15 against ranked opponents there; Washington is 3-1 and allowing fewer than 17 points a game. Texas State is at San Diego State at 7 on the CW, and San Jose State plays at Hawaii at 9 on the Mountain West Network.
Kings at Sharks at 7 on ABTV. It’s the Kings’ first game since the 8-4 opening loss in Denver.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
Chasing the Shield. Sebastian Sanchez writes that the Wave clinched their fourth playoff berth in five seasons and have won four straight and six of their last seven. At 16-3-8, they are three points behind Gotham for the NWSL Shield with three matches left. Rookie Lia Godfrey’s goal in the fourth minute was her sixth of the season. Kennedy Wesley and Trinity Byars were called up to the U.S. women’s national team, and the Wave play next on Oct. 17 at North Carolina.
Baffert’s pair. Louie Rabaut previews today’s Grade 1 American Pharoah at Santa Anita: $300,000, 8½ furlongs, 2-year-olds. Hughes, unbeaten in three starts under Juan Hernandez, is the 4-5 favorite. Stablemate Imperial Honor is 9-5.
Same doubts. Before the Kings play in San Jose tonight, read my column from Denver on what the 8-4 opener said about a team that hasn’t won a playoff series in 12 years.
Reign win a wild one. Ontario beat Coachella Valley 6-5 in overtime at Acrisure Arena.
GO DEEPER
› Sebastian Sanchez: San Diego Wave clinches playoff berth with win over Orlando (The Sporting Tribune)
› Louie Rabaut: Santa Anita Saturday: Grade 1 American Pharoah the feature (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: New season, same doubts for Kings after opening night rout (The Sporting Tribune)
› Holdenn Graff: USC’s offense looks to steady itself after first loss (The Sporting Tribune)
› Ernesto Madrigal-Rodriguez: Firebirds fall 6-5 in OT against Ontario Reign (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3
🏈 College: Cal at UNLV — Allegiant Stadium — 12:30 p.m. — CBSSN
⚾ NLDS Game 1: Braves at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — 1:00 p.m. — FOX
🏈 College: Washington at USC — Coliseum — 4:30 p.m. — NBC
⚾ NLDS Game 1: Padres at Brewers — American Family Field — 5:30 p.m. — FS1
🏈 College: Texas State at San Diego State — Snapdragon Stadium — 7:00 p.m. — CW
🏒 NHL: Kings at Sharks — SAP Center — 7:00 p.m. — ABTV
🏈 College: San Jose State at Hawaii — 9:00 p.m. — Mountain West Network
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California and Las Vegas — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚾ Braves at Dodgers, NLDS Game 1 — Dodger Stadium — $61
🏈 Washington at USC — Coliseum — $17
🏒 Panthers at Ducks, home opener — Honda Center (Sunday) — $107
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Dave Roberts picked Tarik Skubal to start Game 1 over the reigning World Series MVP. Who is it?
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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