MLB
The Philadelphia Phillies lost 4-2 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and will not make a second straight trip to the World Series. Trea Turner and Bryce Harper never got going once the NLCS returned to Philadelphia. Nick Castellanos finished hitless in his last 23 series at-bats. The Phillies' bullpen failed them when the series was in Arizona. Manager Rob Thomson was even second-guessed for a series of decisions that went wrong in Game 7.
Corbin Carroll went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and the Arizona Diamondbacks advanced to the World Series for the first time in 22 years by stunning the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series. Arizona plays the Texas Rangers in the World Series, with Game 1 set for 8:03 Friday night at Globe Life Field in Phoenix. In their only other trip to the Fall Classic, the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees in a seven-game thriller in 2001. The young Diamondbacks, who at 84-78 squeezed into the playoffs as the final National League wild card, completed their comeback from an 0-2 hole in the NLCS by taking early leads in Games 6 and 7 to win the final two in Philadelphia.
The Arizona Diamondbacks meet the Texas Rangers in a longshot World Series, a matchup that had 1,750 to 1 odds when wagering opened last fall. But in an era when 12 teams make the playoffs, sustained excellence over the six-month regular season has become a boarding pass, not the journey. The World Series opens Friday night at Globe Life Field. Major League Baseball has its third all-wild card meeting, a Grand Canyon vs. Lone Star finale of second-place teams played in air-conditioned ballparks under retractable roofs — potentially the first all-indoor World Series.
The Texas Rangers are back in the World Series for the first time since twice being within one strike of winning the 2011 title. They entered this season with a franchise-long streak of six consecutive losing seasons, including 102 losses just two years ago. The Rangers wrapped up a seven-game AL Championship Series with an 11-4 win Monday against the Houston Astros, last year's world champs. Texas now hosts Game 1 of the Word Series against Arizona on Friday night. That will be 12 years to the date after Game 6 when the Cardinals were twice down to their final strike. St. Louis beat Texas in 11 innings, then finished off the World series the next night.
The Red Sox have a new leader of baseball operations. According to multiple industry sources, the team offered the job to Cubs assistant GM and former Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow. He has accepted the offer and will succeed Chaim Bloom as the Red Sox’ next chief baseball officer. The 42-year old Breslow pitched professionally for 17 seasons, including 12 in the big leagues, from 2002-18. That playing career included a pair of stints with the Red Sox, including a World Series win in 2013.
Three people with direct knowledge of the situation say the San Francisco Giants have hired manager Bob Melvin away from the division rival San Diego Padres. Melvin will be returning to the Bay Area where he grew up, played for the Giants and then managed the Oakland Athletics from 2011-21. He leaves San Diego with a year on his contract amid reports of friction with general manager A.J. Preller.
NBA
Nikola Jokic recorded a triple-double and the Denver Nuggets began defense of their first NBA title with a 119-107 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Jokic had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the NBA's season opener. Both teams had all five starters score in double figures. LeBron James led the Lakers with 21 points in 29 minutes. Taurean Prince chipped in 18 points in his Lakers debut.
Devin Booker scored a go-ahead layup with 4:51 remaining followed by a 3-pointer on the way to 32 points, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Golden State Warriors 108-104 on in a back-and-forth season opener for the Pacific Division powerhouses. Stephen Curry scored 27 points to former shooting partner Kevin Durant’s 18 on a night the Warriors welcomed KD back for his first game in front of fans in the Bay Area since leaving after the 2019 NBA Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to make sure his contract status didn’t distract the Milwaukee Bucks as they made a run at another championship. That’s one reason the two-time MVP changed his mind and signed a three-year, $186 million extension now rather than waiting until next summer to make his future plans known. Antetokounmpo explained his decision one day after announcing on social media he had agreed to the extension. He says he wants all the talk surrounding the Bucks to be about basketball. He also says “there's no secret” he wanted to stay in Milwaukee.
NHL
Defenseman Erik Gustafsson scored once and added an assist on Tuesday night as the New York Rangers scored three times in the second period en route to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Calgary Flames. Chris Kreider, with his team-leading fifth goal, and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for New York. Filip Chytil chipped in with a pair of assists. Blake Coleman scored the lone goal for Calgary, which has lost three in a row. After giving up a goal on the second shot of the game, New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin shut the door the rest of the way. He finished the night with 24 stops. Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves for Calgary.
Mikko Rantanen scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and had three assists as the Colorado Avalanche beat the New York Islanders 7-4 for their NHL-record 15th straight road win. Ryan Johansen scored twice, Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, and Bowen Byram, Nathan MacKinnon and Ross Colton also scored for Colorado, which won its sixth straight to open the season. Valeri Nichushkin had two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27 shots. Cal Clutterbuck had a goal and an assist, Kyle Palmieri and Simon Holmstron also scored, and Noah Dobson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each had two assists for the Islanders.
Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson each scored twice and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Tuesday night. A furious rally by the Senators narrowed the deficit to 5-4 with 35 seconds remaining, but Thompson got an empty-netter for his second goal of the night and locked down a wild win. Zemgus Girgensons and Alex Tuch also added goals for the Sabres. Jakob Chychrun, Vladimir Tarasenko, Josh Norris and Mathieu Joseph scored for Ottawa. Senators starter Anton Forsberg was chased from the net after allowing five goals on 18 shots through two periods. Joonas Korpisalo made five saves in the third. Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got the win for Buffalo with 34 saves.
Matthew Poitras and Trent Frederic scored 56 seconds apart in the third period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 to match the best start in franchise history. Pavel Zacha also scored for Boston, and Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves in his 10th career shutout. The Bruins moved to 6-0 by closing out a perfect four-game trip in the franchise’s centennial season. Boston also won its first six games of the 1937-38 season. Petr Mrazek made 40 stops for Chicago in its third consecutive loss. The Blackhawks also lost to the Bruins on Oct. 11, falling 3-1 in Boston.
Tyler Toffoli had a hat trick against his former team, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Alexander Holtz and Nico Hischier also scored for New Jersey, and Jack Hughes added four assists. Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots. Justin Barron and Mike Matheson scored for Montreal. Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau made 29 saves in his first start of the season.
Shea Theodore blasted a shot from the left circle with 32.5 seconds left to give Vegas a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers and extend the Golden Knights’ winning streak to seven games to open the season. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter also scored for the Knights and Jack Eichel had two assists. Logan Thompson made 26 saves. Noah Cates and Cam Atkinson each scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart stopped 25 shots. The Knights’ 7-0 start ties seven other teams for ninth best in NHL history.
Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston scored third-period goals and the Dallas Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday. Bryan Rust scored the first goal for Pittsburgh, but Dallas had the next four, as the Stars haven’t lost in regulation yet this season. Jason Robertson, who scored 46 goals last season, scored his first on Tuesday, as did Evgenii Dadonov before third-period goals from Harley and Johnston. Jake Oettinger stopped 38 shots for the Stars, who won their third straight. Penguins John Ludvig, who was making his NHL debut, left in the second period after being briefly knocked unconscious following a collision at center ice. Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves.
NHL players will be allowed to use Pride tape this season after all. The league, players union and a committee on inclusion agreed to give players the option to represent social causes with stick tape during warmups, practices and games. It's a change from guidance provided to teams earlier this season that banned players from using rainbow-colored Pride tape. That drew backlash including LGBTQ+ advocates and players, some of whom said they would use it anyway. Pride nights have been a hot-button issue in hockey since six players chose not to participate in pregame warmups last year.
NCAA
Tickets for the last two Southeastern Conference championship games were purchased in the name of a suspended Michigan football staffer who is the focus of an NCAA investigation into an alleged sign-stealing scheme. That's according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to speak publicly about an open NCAA investigation. The person says electronic records revealed Connor Stalions bought tickets to the games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Records also show Stalions purchased tickets to games involving multiple Big Ten schools.
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