Watch: Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman deliver back-to-back HRs in World Series Game 2
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The baseball was flying out of Dodger Stadium early in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night.
After Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Tommy Edman and New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto exchanged solo home runs to tie the game going into the bottom of the third inning, the Dodgers put together a two-out rally that featured back-to-back home runs.
The first home run in the inning came from outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, hitting a two-run home run off Yankees starter Carlos Rodon to score Mookie Betts.
That set the stage for Game 1 hero Freddie Freeman to also homer off of Rodon in the very next at-bat, sending a 3-2 pitch into right field.
Freeman ended Game 1 with the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history and continued his surge here in Game 2 with his second home run in as many games.
Freeman is one of three MVPs at the top of the Dodgers lineup (joining Shohei Ohtani and Betts) and he is playing like one so far in the World Series. It is even more impressive when you consider he is dealing with an ankle injury and is not quite 100% at the moment.
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MLBNew Reds manager Terry Francona turns to familiar face for team’s hitting coach
The Reds announced that Chris Valaika has been hired as director of hitting and major league hitting coach. He had previously been with the Guardians as that club’s hitting coach but will now move to the other side of Ohio. Valaika, 39, was originally a third-round draft pick of the Reds in 2006. He played in the majors from 2010-14, for the Reds, Marlins and Cubs, and then pivoted to coaching after his playing days. He started in the minor league system of the Cubs, eventually working his way up to the major league staff with that club. He was hired by the Guardians going into 2022, working under then-manager Terry Francona. Francona stepped away after 2023 to focus on his health, with Stephen Vogt taking over as Cleveland’s skipper. Francona will leading the Reds starting with the 2025 season, replacing David Bell. A few days after Francona’s hiring became public, it was reported that Cincinnati was moving on from hitting coach Joel McKeithan as well as assistant hitting coaches Terry Bradshaw and Tim LaMonte. One of those positions has now been filled with a familiar face for Francona. In 2022, the Guardians hit .254/.316/.383 for a wRC+ of 100. That indicates they were exactly league average, though their 18.2% strikeout rate was the lowest in the majors by a notable margin, with the Astros second at 19.5%. The Cleveland offense dipped a bit in 2023, with a .250/.313/.381 line and 91 wRC+, but again with the best strikeout rate in the league. Here in 2024, they dropped to fifth-lowest in terms of strikeout rate but added some more power, getting to a .238/.307/.395 line and 100 wRC+ as they pushed as far as the ALCS. It’s always difficult to separate the contributions of a coach from the performances of the players, but Francona presumably had a good relationship with Valaika during their two years together, as he has now plucked him away and brought him to Cincinnati.
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NHLSt. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs on the Verge of Making a Trade? GM Spotted…
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues may be working on a potential trade, as Blues GM Doug Armstrong was spotted at the Leafs/Bruins game on Saturday. After whomping the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 on Thursday night, it seems that St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong wants to get another look at the Maple Leafs roster. Toronto has a few players waiting to return and not a lot of money to work with, so it looks like Armstrong could be thinking of fixing some holes in his team. He must have been impressed with some of the Maple Leafs, as the long-time St. Louis executive was seen spotted at the Maple Leafs/Bruins game in Boston on Saturday night: Toronto has a few options they could use as trade pieces in order to clear up some cap space. David Kampf is a popular choice, as Toronto has Connor Dewar, Jani Hakanpaa, and Fraser Minten close to a return and either Dewar or Minten easily slot in where Kampf was. Timothy Liljegren is also an attractive option for the Blues, and with his name circulating through trade rumors in the past few weeks, and could slide in either in Justin Faulk or Scott Perunovich’s position, and with Jani Hakanpaa’s return inevitable; he’s probably the first one out. Either man would save Toronto over $2M in cap as well as open up future money and get their unmanageable contracts off the books. It seems like things are starting to pick up for the Maple Leafs, at least in terms of trade talks. Jim Nill, GM of the Dallas Stars and Conference rivals of the Blues has already been scouting Maple Leafs players, and Toronto has recently also been linked to the Utah Hockey Club; so it seems teams are kicking the wheels to see if they can start a discussion. Toronto needs to make a decision though, as head coach Craig Berube only has a few roster spots he can play with, and paying two players over $5M combined for a lack of production is not productive. Trade talks are going to start picking up even more for the Toronto Maple Leafs and GM Brad Treliving needs to make a move soon, especially if Toronto doesn’t turn things around. This first and foremost is a business, and if the Maple Leafs don’t get themselves out of the red, it could spell disaster for the future.
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College BasketballGonzaga Bulldogs vs. USC Trojans: Live scoring updates, highlights from charity…
The Gonzaga Bulldogs meet the USC Trojans down in Palm Desert, California, for a charity exhibition game to unofficially tip off the 2024-25 college basketball season. The Zags, who debuted at No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, brought back seven of their top eight scorers from last season’s Sweet 16 run. Mark Few and the coaching staff added a handful of newcomers who figure to make an impact from the get-go, such as Michael Ajayi (Pepperdine), Khalif Battle (Arkansas) and Emmanuel Innocenti (Tarleton State). Ajayi was named to the preseason All-WCC team along with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike. After battling each other in practice for months on end, Gonzaga’s first test of the season against someone other than themselves is a new-look Trojans squad led by head coach Eric Musselman, who returns to his home of sunny California after guiding the Razorbacks to three Sweet 16 appearances in his five seasons in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Musselman, who grew up in San Diego and played basketball at the University of San Diego, used some of his hometown connections to help rebuild USC’s roster from essentially scratch this offseason. USC brought in San Diego transfer Kevin Patton Jr, a 6-foot-8 forward who was named to the All-WCC Freshman Team after putting up 9.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game with the Toreros. Musselman also snagged Chibuzo Agbo, a 6-foot-7 forward who graduated high school from St. Augustine before attending Boise State, as well as 6-foot-5 grad transfer Bryce Pope, a native of the area and a transfer from UC San Diego. In total, the Trojans added 12 transfers to join the lone returner from last season, 6-foot-10 senior Harrison Hornery. A pair of double-digit scorers from power conferences in Terrance Williams (Michigan) and Desmond Claude (Xavier) headline the group of newcomers. Pope and Clark Slajchert (Penn) are two high-volume scorers who feature in the backcourt. Saturday’s exhibition is the first of two friendlies on Gonzaga’s schedule this season. The Bulldogs return home to take on NAIA-foe Warner Pacific on Oct. 30 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Here are the live updates for Gonzaga’s exhibition game against USC: FIRST HALF: