The Los Angeles Dodgers fought back on Saturday, getting to San Francisco Giants starter Kevin Gausman early and knocking him out later in the game as the reigning World Series champions evened their National League Division Series (NLDS) with a 9-2 road victory.
The Dodgers got their offence back on track after being blanked by Giants starter Logan Webb in Game 1, pounding out 11 hits at Oracle Park before heading home for Monday's Game 3 in the MLB playoffs.
Oddly enough, it was Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias who got everything going with a run-scoring single in the second inning as Los Angeles earned a 2-0 lead that the Giants answered with one in the bottom of that inning.
Both teams' bats stayed quiet until the sixth, when the Dodgers drove Gausman from the game and broke it open with two-run doubles from Cody Bellinger and AJ Pollock.
They piled on three more against the Giants' bullpen in the eighth thanks to a Will Smith solo homer and RBI singles from Matt Beaty and Corey Seager.
Urias did his job on the mound, too, limiting NL West champions San Francisco to one run in his five innings of work before four Dodgers relievers finished it off.
Urias lowered his postseason ERA to 2.68 in 19 career appearances while improving his record to 7-2. The seven wins equal former Giants ace Madison Bumgarner for the most postseason victories by a pitcher aged 25 or younger.
In the other NLDS matchup, Max Fried was brilliant on the mound as the Atlanta Braves evened the series with a 3-0 defeat of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Fried allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter while striking out nine in his six innings of work before three Atlanta relievers finished off the shutout.
The Braves scored twice in the third inning on an RBI single by Freddie Freeman and a double by Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley added a home run in the sixth for insurance.
The series moves to Atlanta on Monday for Game 3.
Rays at Red Sox
After pounding out 20 hits in a 14-6 Game 2 rout to even the series, the Boston Red Sox will look to keep it going as they return to Fenway Park for Monday's Game 3, with Nathan Eovaldi set to start against the Tampa Bay Rays' Drew Rasmussen.
Chicago Cubs acquire All-Star Kyle Tucker
The Chicago Cubs have taken their biggest swing of the offseason thus far, as multiple outlets reported Friday that the team has agreed to acquire three-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros.
Chicago will send third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesnecki and well-regarded infield prospect Cam Smith to the Astros in exchange for Tucker, a major contributor to Houston's 2022 World Series champion team and the American League's leader with 112 runs batted in during the 2023 season. The deal is still pending physicals of the involved players.
Tucker added 29 home runs and a career-high 30 stolen bases while hitting .284 for that 2023 campaign to finish fifth in balloting for the AL's MVP award. A fractured shin limited the slugger to just 78 games last season, though he still posted a career-best .993 OPS while producing 23 homers, 49 RBIs, 11 steals and a .289 average.
Financial considerations, as well as Tucker's upcoming free agency, likely prompted the Astros to make the move. The 27-year-old is projected to receive a roughly $16 million salary in his final arbitration year before hitting the market after this season.
The trade could also signal Houston's intentions to move on from another core player, as Paredes could be viewed as a potential replacement for star third baseman Alex Bregman, one of the top remaining available free-agent hitters this offseason.
Paredes was also an AL All-Star last season while then with the Tampa Bay Rays, who dealt him to the Cubs in late July at the trade deadline. The 25-year-old finished the season with 19 homers, 80 RBIs and a .238 average in 153 games.
The native Mexican set career highs with 31 homers and 98 RBIs with the Rays in 2023.
Chicago may not be done dealing as well after adding Tucker to a corner outfield mix that also includes established players Cody Bellinger, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. Both Bellinger, the 2019 National League MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Suzuki have been mentioned in trade rumours this winter.
Smith, 21, was rated the Cubs' seventh-best prospect and No. 73 overall by MLB.com. Chicago selected the third baseman with the 14th overall pick of the 2024 draft out of Florida State, and he hit .313 with seven homers and 24 RBIs in 32 games between Single and Double A in his pro debut.
Wesneski, a Houston native, gives the Astros a versatile right-handed arm who can handle a variety of roles. The 27-year-old has made 22 starts and 46 relief appearances over three major league seasons while compiling a 9-13 record and a 3.93 earned run average.
Brewster sends Blades back to Championship summit as Watford deny Selles winning start
Sheffield United returned to the Championship summit after Rhian Brewster secured a 1-0 win over Millwall at The Den.
The former Liverpool striker scored his first goal in over two years, as the Blades leapfrogged Leeds United back to the top of the table.
Japhet Tanganga and George Saville both struck the woodwork for Millwall in what was Neil Harris' final home game in charge, but Brewster broke the deadlock just before the break.
Chris Wilder's side had to remain concentrated during the second half as the hosts pushed for the equaliser, but they held out for a crucial three points.
Elsewhere, Ruben Selles was unfortunate not to begin his tenure with bottom side Hull City in victorious fashion against Watford.
Chris Bedia broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 82nd minute, and it looked like it could be enough to give them their first win since early October.
However, Rocco Vata equalised for the visitors two minutes from time to prevent the Tigers from moving off the foot of the table and out of the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion moved back into the top six as goals from Alex Mowatt and Karlan Grant secured a 2-0 win over Frank Lampard's Coventry City.
Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End both pulled clear of the relegation zone following 2-0 victories over Oxford United and Cardiff City respectively, and the Bluebirds remain in the bottom three due to their inferior goal difference.
Feyenoord 4-2 Sparta Prague: Quick start eases hosts to win
Two early goals laid the foundation for Feyenoord to boost their Champions League hopes with a comfortable 4-2 win over Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
Two goals in 90 seconds from Gernot Trauner and Igor Paixao gave Feyenoord a dream start, with Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez adding the goals that keep them on course for a spot in the knockout stages.
The Dutch hosts needed only eight minutes to get on the scoresheet from a corner with Trauner's downward header wrong-footed Peter Vindahl.
The second came when Feyenoord's pressing stripped Kaan Kairinen of possession and Paixao ran from the halfway line before bending the ball wide of the goalkeeper.
Hadj Moussa scored a stunner 30 minutes in, cutting inside from the right to fire a left-footed shot into the top corner. Feyenoord then failed to clear a long throw that was flicked onto Albion Rrahmani at the back post to make it 3-1 in the 43rd minute.
Gimenez restored the comfortable margin when he took advantage of a defensive slip to bundle the ball over from close range just after the hour mark, while Sparta's second goal came from a cross in the 79th minute which was steered home by a sliding Thomas Beelen into his own net.
Feyenoord moved on to 10 points, while Slavia suffered a fourth defeat in six group games and have a tough task to avoid elimination.
Data Debrief: A happy reunion
The match saw Brian Priske reunited with the team he took to the double in the Czech Republic last season, with his former assistant Lars Friis now in charge at Sparta.
Only Barcelona (five) have scored three or more goals in more different Champions League games this season than Feyenoord (four), who netted three first-half goals and four goals overall for the first time in the competition.
Having led 2-0 after just 10 minutes, it is the quickest two-goal lead Feyenoord have held in a major European game since September 1972.
Meanwhile, Sparta have failed to win any of their last 15 away games in the Champions League (D3 L12), the joint-longest ongoing such winless streak in the competition (level with AEK Athens, whose last game was in 2018).
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