Good morning! Two games, one run allowed: the Padres swept the Cubs and are headed to Milwaukee. The Aces survived a Game 3 at home and are in the semifinals. The Dodgers found out Thursday night that Atlanta is coming to Chavez Ravine. Saturday is the best baseball day of the year in Southern California, with both Division Series opening. Tonight is quieter: the Ducks visit the Golden Knights and the Wave play at Orlando. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ Sweep. Gavin Sheets homered and the bullpen allowed two hits as the Padres beat the Cubs 4-1 to finish the Wild Card Series — Fernando Ramirez at Petco Park.
⚾ Braves at Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers open the NLDS on Saturday with questions about Shohei Ohtani — Fredo Cervantes at Dodger Stadium.
🏀 Big 3. Wilson scored 36, Gray had 23 and the Aces beat the Fever 94-83 to reach the semifinals — Arion Armeniakos at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
🏈 Puka’s back; Donald sits. Nacua is set to return in Philadelphia, but Donald missed a second practice with a back injury — Timothy Parker at Rams Village.
🏒 Still from Day One. William Karlsson signed a two-year extension with the Golden Knights — Derek Hegna in Las Vegas.
🏀 A new voice. The Lakers named Derrin Horton to succeed the late Lawrence Tanter as PA announcer — Carlos Yakimowich in Los Angeles.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY
⚾ MLB Wild Card: Padres 4, Cubs 1 (Padres win series 2-0)
🏀 WNBA Playoffs: Aces 94, Fever 83 (Aces win series 2-1)
🏒 NHL: Avalanche 8, Kings 4 (Wed.)
⚾ SWEPT INTO SATURDAY
The Padres lost to the Cubs in the playoffs last year. This year they never gave Chicago a chance.
Fernando Ramirez calls Wednesday’s 4-1 win redemption. Ty France doubled in the second and Xander Bogaerts singled him in. Ethan Salas added a sacrifice fly. Gavin Sheets hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and that was it for the scoring. Nick Pivetta lasted 3⅓ innings. Then Bradgley Rodríguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller allowed two hits the rest of the way.
Over two games, Padres pitching allowed one run. Add Michael King’s one-hitter in Game 1 and Joe Musgrove’s return, and it was the most complete series San Diego could have played.
Next up is the Brewers. NLDS Game 1 is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Milwaukee. Manny Machado didn’t play it down.
“Another good team,” Machado said. “Best team in baseball right now.”
Also on Saturday, the Dodgers start their series at home against the Braves, who beat the Phillies in Game 3 of their Wild Card Series on Thursday night. Fredo Cervantes reports Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the logical Game 1 starter, followed by Blake Snell and then Tarik Skubal in Atlanta. The big question is Ohtani: he went 5-for-21 with eight strikeouts in his last five regular-season games, missed Thursday’s workout and simulated game, and said he will “most likely” not pitch again this season.
The two teams are on opposite sides of the bracket. If both win, they would meet in the NL Championship Series.
GO DEEPER
› Fernando Ramirez: Padres turn last year’s pain into playoff redemption against Cubs (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fernando Ramirez: Machado, Tatis power offense, King dominates as Padres win Game 1 (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fredo Cervantes: Dodgers host Braves in NLDS with Ohtani questions looming (The Sporting Tribune)
TOGETHER WITH BETONLINE
Today’s TST Best Bets are brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Join here — new players get a 50% welcome bonus and up to $250 in free bets.
🏀 THE BIG THREE DELIVER
Becky Hammon needed something specific from her stars in an elimination game.
“I needed them to be the big three that I’ve always known them to be,” she said. “They deliver in big moments.”
They did. Arion Armeniakos writes that A’ja Wilson scored 36 with 10 rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting, Chelsea Gray had 23 — 11 in the fourth quarter — and Jackie Young added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Gray and Young both played all 40 minutes. The Aces led 70-65 after three quarters and outscored Indiana 24-18 the rest of the way for a 94-83 win.
After Indiana outscored Las Vegas 58-26 in the paint in Game 2, the Aces held the Fever’s backcourt to 13-of-41 shooting and 6-of-23 from three. Caitlin Clark had 18 on 4-of-7 shooting.
Wilson also addressed the altercation from Game 2. “I didn’t want [it] to be a distraction, to myself or to my team,” she said.
The semifinal opponent is the winner of tonight’s Valkyries-Wings Game 3. Game 1 is Sunday.
GO DEEPER
› Arion Armeniakos: Aces Big 3 reigns supreme in win-or-go-home first round victory over the Fever (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: Aces defeat Fever, 94-83, to advance to semifinals (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.
🍔 New at Dodger Stadium this October. The postseason menu includes the Colossal Burger — a 24-ounce patty on a 10-inch brioche bun with fries — a 45-wing sampler, a Spam musubi dog in a tempura-fried rice bun, orange chicken fries, chicharrón and guacamole, and a churro waffle ice cream sandwich.
🏒 NEW SEASON, SAME DOUBTS
It has been 12 years since the Kings last won a playoff series. Every season now gets measured against that, and opening night in Denver didn’t help.
They came in with a new coach in Peter Laviolette, a new captain in Drew Doughty, Erik Haula and Mats Zuccarello added to the roster, and a whole summer to think about Colorado sweeping them out of the playoffs. They lost 8-4.
The Kings did plenty right. Brian Dumoulin and Artemi Panarin scored, and Joel Armia and Trevor Moore each scored shorthanded, the first time in franchise history the Kings have had two shorthanded goals in a season opener. They outshot Colorado 30-29 and won nearly 64% of the faceoffs. None of it mattered: the Avalanche went 4-for-5 on the power play, and the Kings went 0-for-4.
“When you give up eight, it’s just not good enough,” Haula said. He wasn’t going to blame the new system. “We’re not going to use that as an excuse.”
Laviolette has taken three franchises to the Stanley Cup Final and won one with Carolina. When I asked him about those teams, he said the work starts long before anyone takes them seriously.
“None of those teams were expected to be the team,” Laviolette told The Sporting Tribune. “Nobody put the rally cap on for those teams early in the season, but I think when you build something inside the room that can become a really tough team to play against … we’re at day one right now and we gotta build that inside.”
He deserves time to do that. Kings fans have been waiting since 2014, though. Doughty started his 19th season with the team Wednesday, passing Dustin Brown for second-most in franchise history behind Anze Kopitar. He has now spent most of his career waiting for another playoff series win. A new season has started, and the burden of proof is right where it was when the last one ended.
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: New season, same doubts for Kings after opening night rout (The Sporting Tribune)
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
Puka in, Donald out of practice. Timothy Parker reports Puka Nacua practiced fully for the first time and is expected back Sunday after missing two games with a hip injury. “I’m getting my feet under me, hearing all the play calls,” he said. Aaron Donald sat out a second straight day with a back injury, and Myles Garrett is still on injured reserve. “We’re lucky where if those guys are out, that we have a lot of depth,” Chris Shula said.
The ultimate test. Derek Hegna writes that the 3-0 Raiders lead the NFL with nine takeaways and five forced fumbles. Kansas City has given the ball away twice all season. “Just know for a fact that pretty much any given ball is my ball,” cornerback Eric Stokes said.
One of the originals stays. The Golden Knights signed William Karlsson, one of three players left from the 2017 expansion roster, to a two-year extension at $6.75 million a year. He is second in franchise history in goals (165) and points (403).
After Tanter. Derrin Horton, a seven-time Emmy winner, becomes the Lakers’ PA announcer, following the late Lawrence Tanter, who held the job for 43 seasons. Horton debuts Oct. 8 in a preseason game against Sacramento at Crypto.com Arena.
GO DEEPER
› Timothy Parker: Puka Nacua is ready for Eagles, while Aaron Donald sits out practice again (The Sporting Tribune)
› Derek Hegna: The Raiders’ defensive philosophy is about to be put to the ultimate test (The Sporting Tribune)
› Derek Hegna: Still from Day One: William Karlsson staying in Vegas (The Sporting Tribune)
› Carlos Yakimowich: Lakers name Derrin Horton as PA announcer, succeeding late great Lawrence Tanter (The Sporting Tribune)
› Dodger Stadium unveils postseason menu featuring colossal burgers, Spam musubi dogs (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2
⚽ NWSL: Wave at Orlando Pride — Inter&Co Stadium — 5:00 p.m. — Prime Video
🏒 NHL: Ducks at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — 7:00 p.m. — Prime Video
🎟️ 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.
⚾ Braves at Dodgers, NLDS Game 1 — Dodger Stadium (Saturday) — $56
🏒 Ducks at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — $65
🏈 Chiefs at Raiders — Allegiant Stadium (Sunday) — $305
🌴 TST TRIVIA
William Karlsson holds the Golden Knights’ franchise record for shorthanded goals. How many does he have?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
The Sporting Tribune Today airs weekdays at 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET on SportsGrid, hosted by Grant Mona and John Browner and built on reporting from our staff across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawai’i.
📺 Watch on television. SportsGrid TV is available on DIRECTV and MyFree DIRECTV (Channel 4105 HD), Samsung TV Plus (2362), Local Now (2024), Vizio WatchFree (640), LG Channels (469) and The Roku Channel (250). You can also search “SportsGrid” on YouTube TV, FuboTV, Sling TV, Plex and Amazon Prime Video.
📻 Listen on radio and podcast. The show airs on SportsGrid Radio, distributed through Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, iHeartRadio and TuneIn — and continues across our regional partners through Westwood One Sports.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: 15.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on X and Instagram, or drop us a line at tips@thesportingtribune.com.