The National League Championship Series could end as soon as Tuesday evening. The Nationals have grabbed a three-games-to-none lead with another stifling pitching performance in an 8-1 thrashing of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Stephen Strasburg provided the latest gem by a Nats starter, striking out 12 and allowing an unearned run and seven hits over seven innings. Strasburg’s performance leaves Washington starters with an ERA of zero over 21 2/3 innings in the series. He also lowered his career postseason ERA to 1.10 over 41 innings. Howie Kendrick doubled three times and had three RBIs for the Nationals, who are one win away from the first National League pennant in franchise history. Kendrick doubled home a pair to cap a four-run third and added an RBI double in the fifth. Ryan Zimmerman added to the Nationals’ 11-hit attack with an RBI double and a run-scoring single. Victor Robles homered in the sixth inning after missing Washington’s previous five games with a hamstring injury. The Cardinals’ lone run came when outfielder Juan Soto misplayed Paul DeJong’s single, allowing Jose Martinez to score from second. Losing pitcher Jack Flaherty was tagged for four runs and five hits over five innings. The Nationals have more runs in the series than the Cardinals have hits. Washington has outscored St. Louis, 13-2 while limiting the Redbirds to 11 hits. Patrick Corbin will try to close out the pennant for the Nationals Tuesday against Dakota Hudson.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is trying to heal up a strained right quad that kept him out of the starting lineup for Game 2 of the AL Championship Series in Houston. The teams are tied 1-all, and manager Aaron Boone is hopeful Stanton can recover in time to start Game 3 Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Stanton was injured running out an infield single in the second inning of Game 1 but remained in the game and homered off Zack Greinke in a 7-0 victory. Meanwhile, the Yankees and Astros plan all-bullpen games from the start in Game 4. Houston manager AJ Hinch anticipates rookie right-hander José Urquidy will pitch at some point in Game 4 but preferred to call it "a bullpen day." Yanks skipper Aaron Boone says he can see regular-season starter J.A. Happ in his mix of Wednesday hurlers.
NFL
The Green Bay Packers remain atop the NFC North after engineering a pair of scoring drives over the last 9 ½ minutes against Detroit on Monday. Mason Crosby capped the Packers’ comeback from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit by drilling a 23-yard field goal as time expired to give his team a 23-22 win over the Lions. Green Bay was able to march toward the Detroit goal in the final two minutes after Lions lineman Trey Flowers was called for a questionable hands-to-the-face penalty for the second time in the half. Replays showed Flowers' hands on the neck or shoulder of a Packers lineman. The Lions led 22-13 until Aaron Rodgers hit Allen Lazard for a 35-yard scoring pass with 8:03 remaining. Rodgers was 24 of 39 for 283 yards and two touchdowns as the 5-1 Packers dropped the Lions to 2-2-1. Jamaal Williams finished with 104 yards on 14 carries for Green Bay, which captured its first win in five tries against its NFC North rival. Matt Prater nailed five field goals for Detroit, including kicks of 54, 51 and 41 yards. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was sacked three times while completing 18 of his 32 throws for 265 yards.
In NFL news, the Patriots have placed fullback Jakob Johnson on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Johnson was injured during New England's 35-14 win over the Giants on Thursday. The 24-year-old appeared in four games with three starts.
All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard has completed his first full practice in nearly three weeks and is expected to play Sunday against Houston. Leonard missed Indy's previous two games with a concussion and used social media to announce last Wednesday he had been cleared through the concussion protocol. The Colts (3-2) had a bye last weekend.
Bears guard Kyle Long has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season, his fourth straight year on IR. Coach Matt Nagy says defensive end Akiem Hicks will be out for an indefinite period and could also wind up on IR. Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw for the first time since injuring his left shoulder on Sept. 29.
NHL
The Boston Bruins are 5-1-0 after David Pastrnak set a career high for goals in a game. Pastrnak provided the Bruins goals in a 4-2 win over the Ducks. He completed his fifth career hat trick early in the third period before netting his fourth of the afternoon 2:14 later. Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots and Brad Marchand added two assists for the defending Eastern Conference champs.
Meanwhile, the defending Stanley Cup champs suffered a stunning loss as the Islanders erased a 2-0 deficit in the last 5 ½ minutes of regulation before beating the Blues, 3-2 on a goal by Devon Toews 1:13 into overtime. Mat Barzal tied the score with 26.5 seconds left in the third period before setting up the game-winner. Brock Nelson began New York’s comeback after Vladimir Tarasenko put St. Louis ahead, 2-0 early in the third.
Carter Hutton turned back 25 shots in his first shutout of the season as the Sabres downed the Stars, 4-0 to improve to 5-0-1. Buffalo rookie forward Victor Olofsson set an NHL record by becoming the first player to score his first seven career goals on the power play. Sam Reinhart, Jeff Skinner and Marcus Johansson had the other goals for the Sabres, who have earned points in their opening six games for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
The Devils fell to 0-4-2 by wasting a three-goal lead in a 6-4 loss to the Panthers. Mackenzie Weegar scored the tying goal and set up Noel Acciari for the go-ahead tally. Brett Connolly scored twice to help Florida halt a three-game losing streak.
Nazem Kadri collected a goal and two assists while the Avalanche scored four times in the first 9 ½ minutes of a 6-3 rout of the Capitals. Mikko Rantanen also finished with a goal and two assists as Colorado improved to 5-0. Washington netminder Braden Holtby was pulled after allowing goals on the first three shots he faced.
The Oilers had opened the season with five straight comeback wins before Patrick Kane and Alexander Nylander beat Mike Smith in the Blackhawks’ 3-1 victory against Edmonton. Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots and blanked the high-scoring Oilers until James Neal notched his league-leading eighth goal on a power-play with 2:11 remaining. Brandon Saad added an empty-netter with 32.7 seconds left to secure Chicago’s first win of the season.
The Wild picked up their first win of the season as Alex Stalock made 26 saves in a 2-0 shutout of the Senators. Neither team scored until Victor Rask beat Craig Anderson midway through the third period. Zach Parise added an empty-net goal to seal the win after the Senators failed to take advantage of their fifth power play.
In NHL news, Detroit Red Wings senior vice president Jim Devellano underwent surgery Monday to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor. The Red Wings say the surgery was successful, adding Devellano is resting comfortably is expected to have a full and speedy recovery. The 76-year-old executive is in his 38th season with the franchise and 53rd season in the NHL. Devellano was an original scout with the St. Louis Blues and was the Islanders’ assistant GM when the team began a string of four straight Stanley Cups. The Wings have captured four Stanley Cups since Devellano joined the team as general manager in 1982.
NASCAR
Ryan Blaney has become the second driver to secure a spot on the third round of NASCAR’s Cup playoffs by holding off Ryan Newman at Talladega Superspeedway. Blaney earned his first win of the season by beating Newman in a door-to-door race to the finish line. Blaney was the leader on a restart with two laps remaining, but he fell behind Newman before receiving a push from fellow Ford driver Aric Almirola. It was the sixth-smallest margin of victory ever at the 50-year-old track. Blaney joins Kyle Larson in the round of eight, with six spots sill available. Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Almirola and Michael McDowell as Ford took four of the top five spots.
TENNIS
Roger Federer says he plans to play at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The four-time Olympian says, "at the end of the day my heart decided I would love to play at the Olympic Games again." Federer will turn 39 shortly after the Olympic tournament. He had previously planned his schedule up to Wimbledon, which ends two weeks before the Tokyo Games. He will need a wild-card exemption because he has not played Davis Cup games to be eligible.
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