The Los Angeles Dodgers, chasing a rare World Series three-peat, on Saturday opened their MLB playoff campaign with a 5-3 win over Atlanta as the Tampa Bay Rays rode a one-hit gem from pitcher Drew Rasmussen to score a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees.
Six strong innings from pitcher Tarik Skubal, and home runs from Teoscar Hernandez, Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy propelled the Dodgers over the Braves.
Skubal, the reigning two-time Cy Young Award-winner acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline in August, delivered in his first post-season start for the Dodgers, settling down after surrendering an opening single to retire 15 straight batters.
Photo: AP
In sizzling, 38°C temperatures at Dodger Stadium, Skubal gave up just two hits, including a solo homer to Sean Murphy in the sixth, and had ample support from the Dodgers offense as Los Angeles seized a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five National League division series.
“I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there,” said Skubal, whose fastball hit 163kph in the second inning. “It was a hot one.”
Hernandez gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with a 431-foot fourth inning blast off Atlanta relief pitcher Victor Mederos.
Tucker doubled the lead with a two-run shot in the sixth inning with Muncy adding a solo homer two batters later.
Ozzie Albies belted a two-run homer for the Braves to slice the deficit to 5-3 in the ninth inning before the Dodgers closed it out.
The game was one of four second-round series openers on Saturday.
In Florida, Rasmussen held the Yankees without a hit through eight and two-thirds innings.
Yankees catcher Austin Wells broke up his bid for just the fourth no-hitter in MLB post-season history with a double down the first-base line with two out in the eighth.
However, Wells’ inexplicable attempt to reach third saw him thrown out on a perfect relay from Victor Mesa Jr to shortstop Taylor Walls to third baseman Junior Caminero.
“Just obviously not a good decision there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But [the] biggest issue is just Rasmussen shutting us down.”
Rasmussen struck out 10 and walked two over eight innings in front of a raucous 40,000-strong crowd at Tropicana Field to make Jonathan Aranda’s third-inning home run off Gerrit Cole stand up.
The Chicago White Sox, fueled by a two-run home run from Munetaka Murakami, beat the Guardians 3-0 in Cleveland for a 1-0 lead in their American League division series.
After three straight seasons with 100 or more defeats the White Sox finished the regular season with an 84-74 record, snagging the sixth seed in the American League and ousting the Houston Astros in two games in the Wild Card round.
In the late game, National League top seeds the Milwaukee Brewers came from behind to dig out a nail-biting 3-2 victory over the in-form San Diego Padres.
The Padres, who arrived in the playoffs in blistering form, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning after Luis Campusano drove in a run for Xander Bogaerts before Ethan Salas crossed home plate on a fielder’s choice.
However, Jackson Chourio’s two-run home run knotted it at 2-2 in the bottom of the third before William Contreras’s solo shot in the seventh gave the Brewers the lead.
There was controversy in the ninth inning though when Ty France launched what looked destined to be a home run — giving the Padres a 4-3 lead — into the right field.
France’s mammoth blast cannoned off the closed roof of Milwaukee’s home stadium and was caught by Chourio, and the Brewers then got the final out to wrap up victory.
Reigning champions South Korea yesterday struck with eight minutes left to seal a 2-1 win over a “proud” China to reach the Asian Games men’s soccer final. The South Koreans are to face either hosts Japan or Uzbekistan for gold on Saturday as they pursue a fourth consecutive title. Uzbekistan and Japan were tied 1-1 as of press time last night. Bae Jun-ho was their hero, ghosting in at the back post to head in a dramatic 82nd-minute winner at Nagai Stadium. Men’s soccer at the Asian Games consists of under-23 squads with three overage players. “We were expecting a challenging match but we persevered,”
China’s Wang Xiyu, fresh from conquering top seed Alexandra Eala, toppled Zhang Shuai to win Asian Games women’s tennis singles gold yesterday — and a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympics. The 25-year-old Wang breezed past her compatriot 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya. Tennis is one of seven sports at the Games where the winners receive an Olympic qualification place. Wang paid tribute to the 37-year-old Zhang, who has won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles and has now added a second Asian Games singles silver medal to the one she won in 2018 in
COURT STARS: Taiwan tennis sensations Hsieh Su-wei and Liang En-shuo advanced to the women’s doubles quarter-finals, along with Chan Hao-ching and Wu Fang-hsien Taiwan yesterday picked up two more bronze medals at the Asian Games in Japan, bringing their medal total to 39, including three golds and 10 silvers, to rank 14th in the overall standings. Lin Yu-ting guaranteed herself at least a silver medal in boxing after she outclassed Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova 5-0 in their women’s 60kg semi-final at the Nishio Gymnasium, putting the Taiwanese Olympic champion just one win from a second Asian Games gold. Lin is tomorrow to face China’s Yang Chengyu in the gold-medal showdown. The 30-year-old thanked the medical team afterwards for treating the cut to her nose she sustained in
Hong Kong’s men’s rugby sevens team romped to a third consecutive Asian Games gold with a dominant display in a 26-0 victory over China yesterday. Wing Harry Sayers scored a pair of first-half tries, added to by Dafydd Phillips to put Hong Kong in charge 21-0 at the break. When flying wing Juan Esono Mba Oyana scored Hong Kong’s fourth try straight from the second-half kick-off the result was beyond doubt. “Amazing, amazing. The Asian Games has been a dream of mine for so long now,” said Sayers. Hong Kong’s success was built not only on scoring prowess but also a defense that conceded
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