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  • With Gausman and Yamamoto, the splitter is back in the spotlight for World Series Game 6

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    TORONTO — Mr. Splitty has returned.

    Showcased by World Series Game 6 starters Kevin Gausman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, split-finger fastballs have been used for 6.8% of postseason pitches this year, more than double last year’s 2.4% and up from 1.5% when pitch tracking started in 2008.

    “There’s so many good pitches in today’s game — there’s so many good sweepers and sliders and cutters,” Gausman said. “I think the split is almost kind of a just a little bit different of an animal. You can recognize the spin and you can still have a pretty ugly swing on it if the metrics are right.”

    Toronto used splitters a big league-high 9.3% of the time during the regular season, according to MLB Statcast. That was the highest percentage of any team since pitch tracking started in 2008, topping 7.8% by Minnesota in 2023 and Baltimore this year.

    Gausman has thrown his splitter 41.4% of the time in the postseason, followed on the Blue Jays by fellow starter Trey Yesavage (27.7%), closer Jeff Hoffman (25.9%) and relievers Seranthony Domínguez (16.7%) and Yariel Rodríguez (8.6%).

    Roki Sasaki, shifted from rotation to relief, tops the Dodgers at 45.9%, followed by Yamamoto at 24.7% and Shohei Ohtani at 7.4%.

    “Roger Craig is smiling somewhere,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, referring to the late pitching coach and manager, among the splitter’s most prominent proponents. “With all these cameras and technology and stuff, you’re really able to outfit guys with what they should be doing based on how their body moves.”

    Bruce Sutter, Jack Morris and John Smoltz utilized the splitter during careers that earned induction into the Hall of Fame.

    Splitters are throw with index and middle fingers spread wide, intended to have substantial downward break.

    Sutter credited his reaching the Hall to learning the splitter from Fred Martin, a big leaguer from 1946-50 who became a Chicago Cubs minor league instructor.

    “He told me to spread my fingers apart and throw it just like a fastball,” Sutter said during his Hall induction speech in 2006. “There were players throwing forkballs at the time and a few guys were using it for a changeup, but nobody was throwing what he called the split finger. It was a pitch that didn’t change how the game was played but developed a new way to get hitters out.”

    Craig taught the splitter to Morris as pitching coach of the Detroit Tigers and to Mike Scott when he was with the Houston Astros. Roger Clemens learned how to throw it from Scott at a charity golf event in 1986 and started calling the pitch “Mr. Splitty.”

    Usage dropped after the pitch gained a reputation for causing elbow injuries. Just 1.4% of regular-season pitches were splitters when tracking started. The percentage climbed to 2.2% in 2023, 3.1% in 2024 and 3.3% this year.

    “Going back a few years, I think certain people thought they couldn’t throw it, they couldn’t actually get their fingers wide enough,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Pitch design has changed, and I think guys have figured out different ways to grip it, like, Gaus’s is different than Trey’s, Trey’s is different than Seranthony’s, Yariel’s is different than — they all hold it a little bit differently. So I think pitchers have just gotten to the point where they understand that pitch works against certain swing types that are pretty prevalent in the league and they figured out ways to kind of manipulate to get the same action.”

    Gausman’s 37.6% splitter usage during the season was third behind Detroit’s Rafael Montero (46.9%) and Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran (39.7%) among those who threw at least 1,000 pitches.

    Among starting pitchers who threw at least 100 splitters, Yamamoto held batters to a .136 average, third behind Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (.119) and Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach (.132).

    Batters had a .181 average against Gausman’s splitter, down from .230 vs. his fastball and .342 against his slider.

    “One of the few pitches I thoroughly believe a hitter can know it’s coming and still get out,” Gausman said. “I’ve always felt like the changeup is the best pitch in the game because it looks like a fastball, and anything that looks like a fastball and isn’t is really good.”

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

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  • LSU athletic director Scott Woodward ousted, 4 days after the firing of football coach Brian Kelly

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    LSU athletic director Scott Woodward resigned under pressure from the post he’s held for six years on Thursday night, four days after the firing of football coach Brian Kelly and a day after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Woodward would not hire Kelly’s replacement.

    Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, was hired as athletic director at his alma mater in April 2019. Since then, LSU has won national championships in football, baseball (twice), women’s basketball and gymnastics.

    “We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard said. “He had a lot of success at LSU.

    “Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”

    Among the coaches hired by Woodward was Kim Mulkey, who led LSU to its first women’s basketball national title in 2023. Her team played an exhibition game on Thursday night, and Mulkey declined to attend a postgame news conference, sending assistant Bob Starkey instead.

    “She’s heartbroken,” Starkey told reporters.

    “In 40 years of coaching, I’ve worked with two phenomenal athletic directors,” Starkey added. “One was Skip Bertman (at LSU). The other one was Scott Woodward.”

    Verge Ausberry, LSU’s executive deputy athletic director, will replace Woodward on an interim basis and lead the search for a football coach, the university announced.

    In an open letter to LSU fans, Woodward said, “Our University will always hold a special place in my heart and I will never be too far from LSU.”

    “Others can recap or opine on my tenure and on my decisions over the last six years as Director of Athletics, but I will not,” Woodward said. “Rather, I will focus on the absolute joy that LSU Athletics brings to our state’s residents and to the Baton Rouge community.”

    When Woodward was hired in 2019, James Carville, a political pundit who graduated from LSU, taught there and was named to the university’s Manship School of Mass Communications’ Hall of Fame, hosted a welcome party for him at his house in New Orleans.

    In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday night, Carville, a Democrat, expressed disgust at the circumstances surrounding Woodward’s sudden departure.

    “The Louisiana governor and the LSU board has damaged the reputation of our university,” Carville said. “Landry’s IQ is the equivalent of the temperature of dishwater.

    “The LSU board is weak and pathetic,” Carville added. “This is not about my politics. It’s about my university.”

    According to Woodward’s contract, he is owed more than $5 million through 2029. LSU has not yet announced the financial terms of his separation agreement.

    Landry on Wednesday was hosting a news conference about government matters not concerning LSU when he was asked about the Tigers’ coaching situation and asserted that Woodward would not be involved in the selection of the next coach.

    Under Woodward, the football program bought out former coach Ed Orgeron for about $17 million in 2021. The buyout for Kelly, whom Woodward signed to a 10-year contract worth about $100 million in December 2021, is about $53 million, which is among the largest in the history of college sports.

    Texas A&M’s $77 million buyout of former coach Jimbo Fisher, who was fired in 2023, is the largest.

    Woodward was Texas A&M’s athletic director when Fisher was hired to coach the Aggies in December 2017. But Woodward already had been at LSU for two years when A&M, in 2021, gave Fisher a contract extension that effectively doubled the cost of his buyout.

    Still, Landry assigned blame for Fisher’s buyout to Woodward.

    “This is a pattern,” Landry said. “Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. … We are not doing that again.”

    Kelly’s firing on Sunday came a day after LSU lost at home to Texas A&M, 49-25 — the Tigers’ third defeat in four games.

    Kelly went 34-14 at LSU, never reaching the College Football Playoff, which was expanded from four to 12 teams in 2024.

    LSU does not currently have a president. Its most recent president, William F. Tate IV, left to become president of Rutgers in July. The next president will be hired by the Board of Supervisors, whose members are appointed by the governor to six-year staggered terms.

    Since Landry took office in January 2024, he has appointed nine of the 18 board members, and will have the chance to appoint four more in 2026.

    The board has announced that it expects to select the next president on Tuesday.

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  • LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward Resigns, 4 Days After the Firing of Football Coach Brian Kelly

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    LSU athletic director Scott Woodward resigned under pressure from the post he’s held for six years on Thursday night, four days after the firing of football coach Brian Kelly and a day after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said Woodward would not hire Kelly’s replacement.

    Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, was hired as athletic director at his alma mater in April 2019. Since then, LSU has won national championships in football, baseball (twice), women’s basketball and gymnastics.

    “We thank Scott for the last six years of service as athletic director,” LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard said. “He had a lot of success at LSU.

    “Our focus now is on moving the athletic department forward and best positioning LSU to achieve its full potential.”

    Verge Ausberry, LSU’s executive deputy athletic director, will replace Woodward on an interim basis and lead the search for a football coach, the university announced.

    In an open letter to LSU fans, Woodward said, “Our University will always hold a special place in my heart and I will never be too far from LSU.”

    “Others can recap or opine on my tenure and on my decisions over the last six years as Director of Athletics, but I will not,” Woodward said. “Rather, I will focus on the absolute joy that LSU Athletics brings to our state’s residents and to the Baton Rouge community.”

    When Woodward was hired in 2019, James Carville, a political pundit who graduated from LSU, taught there and was named to the university’s Manship School of Mass Communication’s Hall of Fame, hosted a welcome party for him at his house in New Orleans.

    In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday night, Carville, a Democrat, expressed disgust at the circumstances surrounding Woodward’s sudden departure.

    “The Louisiana governor and the LSU board has damaged the reputation of our university,” Carville said. “Landry’s IQ is the equivalent of the temperature of dishwater.

    “The LSU board is weak and pathetic,” Carville added. “This is not about my politics. It’s about my university.”

    Landry on Wednesday was hosting a news conference about government matters not concerning LSU when he was asked about the LSU coaching situation and asserted that Woodward would not be involved in the selection of the next coach.

    Under Woodward, the football program bought out former coach Ed Orgeron for about $17 million in 2021, and it now must pay Kelly’s buyout of about $53 million, which is among the largest in the history of college sports.

    Texas A&M’s $77 million buyout of former coach Jimbo Fisher, who was fired in 2023, is the largest.

    Woodward was Texas A&M’s athletic director when Fisher was hired to coach the Aggies in December 2017. But Woodward already had been at LSU for two years when A&M, in 2021, gave Fisher a contract extension that effectively doubled the cost of his buyout.

    Still, Landry assigned blame for Fisher’s buyout to Woodward.

    “This is a pattern,” Landry said. “Right now, we’ve got a $53 million liability. … We are not doing that again.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Shohei Ohtani could be used as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7

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    TORONTO — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will consider using Shohei Ohtani as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7 if Los Angeles forces the World Series against Toronto to the limit.

    The two-way star threw 93 pitches in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Game 4 and could be available as a reliever this weekend in Toronto.

    However, if Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting the game as a designated hitter, the Dodgers would lose their DH. He can remain in the game as a DH if he also is the starting pitcher.

    “I think we would consider everything,” Roberts said Thursday, a day ahead of Game 6. “It’s more of just kind of doing whatever we can to get through tomorrow and then pick up the pieces and then see what’s the best way to attack a potential Game 7. So everything should be on the table and will be, for sure.”

    Roberts said he planned to discuss options with Ohtani later Thursday.

    Ohtani has never pitched in relief during his Major League Baseball career. He made a handful of relief appearances in Japan for the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, mostly as a rookie in 2013. He closed out Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final against the United States, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out.

    Ohtani is batting .250 with eight homers, 14 RBIs and 14 walks in the postseason for a 1.109 OPS and is 2-1 on the mound with a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.

    If Ohtani entered as a reliever after starting as a DH, he would need to play a position to remain in the game once his mound appearance is over.

    He made seven outfield appearances with the Angels in 2021, the year before a rule was changed allowing starting pitchers to stay in games at DH after being removed from mound appearances.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

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  • Yesavage pitches Blue Jays past Dodgers 6-1 for 3-2 lead in World Series

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    Trey Yesavage set a World Series rookie record with 12 strikeouts, and the Toronto Blue Jays opened Game 5 with back-to-back homers in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday that moved them within one win of their first championship since 1993.Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on Blake Snell’s first and third pitches, the first consecutive homers to start a Series game.Yesavage, a precocious 22-year-old right-hander who began his season last April pitching before 327 fans in Class A, took over from there.With a sinking splitter, spinning slider and overpowering fastball that quieted LA bats and a crowd of 52,175, he broke the prior rookie record of 11 strikeouts set by Don Newcombe for the Dodgers in a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees in the 1949 opener. Getting six Ks each with his splitter and slider, Yesavage became the first Series pitcher with 12 strikeouts and no walks.“I’m kind of blown away by what he did,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.After losing a Game 3 heartbreaker in 18 innings Monday night, the resilient Blue Jays bounced right back with two comfortable wins.Toronto leads 3-2 in the best-of-seven matchup and can dethrone the defending champions back home when the Series resumes Friday night at Rogers Centre. No team has won consecutive titles since the Yankees took three in a row from 1998-2000.“We’ve got to kind of wipe the slate clean and find a way to win Game 6 and pick up the pieces and see where we’re at,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.Yesavage allowed three hits over seven innings and his only run when Kiké Hernández homered on a high fastball to trim the Dodgers’ deficit to 2-1 in the third.Seranthony Domínguez and Jeff Hoffman finished a four-hitter.“When three of my pitches are in the strike zone, or even two, like part of tonight, I mean, I’m in control,” Yesavage said. “Just stay in the strike zone and get ahead.”Yesavage debuted with the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, his fifth level of baseball this year. He went 1-0 in three regular-season starts and is 3-1 in five postseason outings.Yesavage induced 23 swings and misses — most in a Series game since pitch tracking started in 2008, one more than San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum in 2010 Game 5.“Obviously the stuff is incredible, but the maturity to go and handle these moments is unbelievable. It was a special thing to watch today,” teammate Bo Bichette said. “I think he’s ultra confident, but you never hear it in the clubhouse, which I think says something about him. He comes here to work and try to help us win. I can’t say enough good things about his performance.”Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, allowing five runs, six hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings.Roberts shook up his slumping batting order, dropping Mookie Betts as low as third for the first time since 2021 and benching outfielder Andy Pages in favor of Alex Call. It didn’t spark an offense that is hitting .202 in the Series and has solo shots on seven of its eight home runs. Los Angeles has scored just four runs in its last 29 innings.The Dodgers also threw four wild pitches in a span of two innings.“We’ve got to make some adjustments,” Roberts said. “We’ve been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we’ve got to find a way to win a game. That’s it.”Davis Schneider, batting first only because regular leadoff hitter George Springer got hurt in Game 3, sent Snell’s first pitch into the left-field bleachers. Guerrero hit the third into the Dodgers’ bullpen for his eighth home run of the postseason.Davis Schneider mimics different stances during the year, including Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Bobby Witt Jr. and even the Dodgers’ Will Smith during the World Series. The part-time outfielder and second baseman was in an old stance of his from the minor leagues against Snell.Snell started with three fastballs, then avoided another one for 22 consecutive pitches before striking out Andres Giménez with a heater to end the second.Ernie Clement added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead after right fielder Teoscar Hernández came up short on a sliding catch attempt as Daulton Varsho’s drive bounced into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple.Another run scored on a wild pitch in the seventh by Edgardo Henriquez, who then allowed Bichette’s RBI single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Anthony Banda.“I think we just want to be the toughest outs we can possibly be,” Bichette said. “We’re a team, man, and we’ll do anything we can to win.”

    LOS ANGELES —

    Trey Yesavage set a World Series rookie record with 12 strikeouts, and the Toronto Blue Jays opened Game 5 with back-to-back homers in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday that moved them within one win of their first championship since 1993.

    Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on Blake Snell’s first and third pitches, the first consecutive homers to start a Series game.

    Yesavage, a precocious 22-year-old right-hander who began his season last April pitching before 327 fans in Class A, took over from there.

    With a sinking splitter, spinning slider and overpowering fastball that quieted LA bats and a crowd of 52,175, he broke the prior rookie record of 11 strikeouts set by Don Newcombe for the Dodgers in a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees in the 1949 opener. Getting six Ks each with his splitter and slider, Yesavage became the first Series pitcher with 12 strikeouts and no walks.

    “I’m kind of blown away by what he did,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.

    After losing a Game 3 heartbreaker in 18 innings Monday night, the resilient Blue Jays bounced right back with two comfortable wins.

    Toronto leads 3-2 in the best-of-seven matchup and can dethrone the defending champions back home when the Series resumes Friday night at Rogers Centre. No team has won consecutive titles since the Yankees took three in a row from 1998-2000.

    “We’ve got to kind of wipe the slate clean and find a way to win Game 6 and pick up the pieces and see where we’re at,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

    Yesavage allowed three hits over seven innings and his only run when Kiké Hernández homered on a high fastball to trim the Dodgers’ deficit to 2-1 in the third.

    Seranthony Domínguez and Jeff Hoffman finished a four-hitter.

    “When three of my pitches are in the strike zone, or even two, like part of tonight, I mean, I’m in control,” Yesavage said. “Just stay in the strike zone and get ahead.”

    Yesavage debuted with the Blue Jays on Sept. 15, his fifth level of baseball this year. He went 1-0 in three regular-season starts and is 3-1 in five postseason outings.

    Yesavage induced 23 swings and misses — most in a Series game since pitch tracking started in 2008, one more than San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum in 2010 Game 5.

    “Obviously the stuff is incredible, but the maturity to go and handle these moments is unbelievable. It was a special thing to watch today,” teammate Bo Bichette said. “I think he’s ultra confident, but you never hear it in the clubhouse, which I think says something about him. He comes here to work and try to help us win. I can’t say enough good things about his performance.”

    Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, dropped to 0-2 in the Series, allowing five runs, six hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings.

    Roberts shook up his slumping batting order, dropping Mookie Betts as low as third for the first time since 2021 and benching outfielder Andy Pages in favor of Alex Call. It didn’t spark an offense that is hitting .202 in the Series and has solo shots on seven of its eight home runs. Los Angeles has scored just four runs in its last 29 innings.

    The Dodgers also threw four wild pitches in a span of two innings.

    “We’ve got to make some adjustments,” Roberts said. “We’ve been in elimination games, a core group of these guys, and we’ve got to find a way to win a game. That’s it.”

    Davis Schneider, batting first only because regular leadoff hitter George Springer got hurt in Game 3, sent Snell’s first pitch into the left-field bleachers. Guerrero hit the third into the Dodgers’ bullpen for his eighth home run of the postseason.

    Davis Schneider mimics different stances during the year, including Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Bobby Witt Jr. and even the Dodgers’ Will Smith during the World Series. The part-time outfielder and second baseman was in an old stance of his from the minor leagues against Snell.

    Snell started with three fastballs, then avoided another one for 22 consecutive pitches before striking out Andres Giménez with a heater to end the second.

    Ernie Clement added a fourth-inning sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead after right fielder Teoscar Hernández came up short on a sliding catch attempt as Daulton Varsho’s drive bounced into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple.

    Another run scored on a wild pitch in the seventh by Edgardo Henriquez, who then allowed Bichette’s RBI single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Anthony Banda.

    “I think we just want to be the toughest outs we can possibly be,” Bichette said. “We’re a team, man, and we’ll do anything we can to win.”

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  • Blake Snell’s Latest World Series Letdown Puts Dodgers on Brink of Defeat

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Snell came into the World Series on a dominant roll. That ended abruptly against the Toronto Blue Jays.

    The two-time Cy Young Award winner gave up two home runs on his first three pitches in Game 5, then faltered again late in a 6-1 loss Wednesday night that put the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers on the brink of a Fall Classic defeat.

    The Blue Jays took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can steal the title away from LA with a win Friday in Game 6 in Toronto.

    Snell recovered after allowing back-to-back homers to Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but then couldn’t finish the seventh inning. He left runners on first and third after a walk, a single and two wild pitches, and the Blue Jays leading 3-1. Still, the sellout crowd of 52,175 stood to applaud.

    Edgardo Henriquez replaced Snell and walked Guerrero. Addison Barger, who singled and moved up on Snell’s pair of wild pitches, scored on Henriquez’s wild pitch, making it 4-1.

    Schneider sent Snell’s first pitch of the game into left field. Guerrero followed two pitches later with a 394-foot shot to left, too, giving the Blue Jays a lead they never surrendered. Each of the first three pitches were fastballs, and Snell’s next 22 pitches after that were offspeed.

    Snell gave up five runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out seven and walked four.

    He began strongly in his first postseason with the Dodgers, who signed him to a $182 million, five-year deal last winter. Snell had an 0.86 ERA in his first three starts.

    In the NL Division Series, Snell allowed one hit in six shutout innings and struck out nine as the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 to take a 2-0 series lead.

    The left-hander nicknamed “Snellzilla” was stellar in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed one baserunner in eight shutout innings and struck out 10 while facing the minimum, something no one had done in the postseason since Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game in 1956.

    The Dodgers went on to sweep the Brewers in four games and go into the World Series with a shot of momentum.

    Then Snell got shelled in Game 1, losing 11-4. He gave up five home runs, including three of the nine Toronto had in the sixth inning. Before that, Snell had allowed just two runs in 21 innings and struck out 27 batters.

    On Wednesday, Snell got no help from a stone-cold Dodgers’ offense that managed just one run and four hits. Shohei Ohtani was hitless with a strikeout. Will Smith and Mookie Betts struck out twice, while Freddie Freeman had three strikeouts.

    The defense let him down, too.

    Betts and Tommy Edman faltered in the first couple innings on potential ground-ball double plays, forcing Snell to work longer. He threw a total of 116 pitches, 69 for strikes.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Twins Hire Former Coach and Ex-Pirates Skipper Derek Shelton as Next Manager, AP Source Says

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    MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins have picked former bench coach Derek Shelton as their next manager, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed Wednesday night.

    The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the hire. Major League Baseball encourages clubs to avoid spotlighting big moves during the World Series.

    Shelton served as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for five-plus years before he was fired on May 8, just 40 games into this season. The 55-year-old was the bench coach for the Twins in 2018 and 2019 under two different managers, Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli.

    Baldelli was fired the day after the regular season ended with a 527-505 record over seven years, plus 3-8 in the postseason.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2-run HR off Shohei Ohtani helps Blue Jays even World Series at 2-2 against Dodgers

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    (CNN) — The Toronto Blue Jays bounced back from a tough Game 3 loss to even the World Series at two games apiece following a 6-2 Game 4 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

    Down 1-0 in the third inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drilled a go-ahead two-run home run off Dodgers two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani to give the road team a 2-1 lead. It was Guerrero Jr.’s seventh homer this postseason.

    “I get that it’s easy to write Ohtani versus Guerrero. To us, it’s Toronto versus Los Angeles. But that swing was huge,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters after the game. “After last night and kind of all the recognition that went into Shohei individually and he’s on the mound today, it’s a huge swing from Vlad. It’s a huge swing to get us going.”

    Guerrero Jr. said he never lost faith in the Blue Jays despite the Game 3 defeat.

    “Yesterday was a tough (loss) but we flushed it right away, to us it’s one game at a time, one pitch at a time and thank God we come in with a ‘W’ today,” Guerrero Jr. said after the game on the FOX broadcast. “I believe in this team and this team is something special.”

    Fresh off a historic Game 3 performance, Ohtani made his first career World Series start on the mound. In six-plus innings, the Japanese pitcher gave up four runs on six hits while striking out six batters and walking one.

    Shohei Ohtani is the first-ever starting pitcher to bat leadoff in the World Series. Credit: Harry How / Getty Images via CNN Newsource

    Ohtani was lifted in the seventh inning. Toronto would score four runs in the inning as Ohtani took the loss.

    Ohtani had reached base safely a World Series-record 11 consecutive times after walking in the first inning, but Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber struck him out in the third inning, ending the impressive streak. Ohtani went hitless in three at-bats and struck out twice.

    Bieber picked up the victory for Toronto after tossing five-and-a-third innings and giving up just one run on four hits.

    After what he described as “the biggest start of my career,” Bieber spoke to broadcaster FOX about the Blue Jays’ fortitude.

    “We have so many guys that are capable of impacting the game in a positive way, and since I got traded over here, that’s exactly who we’ve been,” the mid-season acquisition said.

    “It’s just a pleasure to be a part of this group.”

    Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement, who was 2-for-4 in Game 4 and is riding a 10-game postseason hitting streak, echoed his teammate’s sentiments.

    “That’s what we do – we bounce back,” Clement told FOX. “We got a resilient group, and it’s a testament to the character in our clubhouse.”

    The winner of Game 4 of the Fall Classic has won the title 72% of the time.

    Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at Dodger Stadium in a rematch between Game 1 starters Trey Yesavage for Toronto and Blake Snell for Los Angeles.

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  • US World Series viewers drop 14% for first two games of Dodgers-Blue Jays matchup

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    U.S. viewers for the first two games of the World Series between the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays dropped 14% from last year’s matchup between Los Angeles and the New York Yankees, but Canadian and Japanese audiences set records

    LOS ANGELES — U.S. viewers for the first two games of the World Series between the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays dropped 14% from last year’s matchup between Los Angeles and the New York Yankees, but Canadian and Japanese audiences set records.

    Last year’s first two games averaged 14.55 million and this year’s first two averaged 12.5 million on Fox, Fox Deportes, Fox One streaming, the Fox Sports app and Univision, Major League Baseball said Tuesday.

    MLB said the combined 32.6 million viewers for the opener in the U.S., Canada and Japan were its highest since the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year title drought by beating Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 Series.

    Toronto’s 11-4 win in Game 1 averaged 13,305,000 and Los Angeles’ 5-1 victory in Game 2, which did not include Univision coverage, averaged 11.63 million, Fox said.

    Los Angeles’ 6-3, 10-inning win in last year’s opener that ended with Freddie Freeman’s grand slam was seen by 15.2 million, the most-watched Series game since 2019. The Dodgers’ 4-2 victory in Game 2 last year was viewed by 13.44 million.

    Game 1 this year drew 7 million viewers in Canada and Game 2 was watched by 6.6 million, the two most-watched Blue Jays games on Sportsnet. The network is owned by Rogers Communications Inc., the parent company of the Blue Jays.

    The opener also was broadcast with French-language commentary on TVA Sports and drew 502,000, that network’s most-watched game.

    This year’s opener averaged 11.8 million on NHK-G, the most-viewed World Series game in Japan televised by a single network, and Game 2 averaged 9.5 million on NHK-BS for a two-game Japanese average of 10.7 million.

    The two-game average in the U.S., Canada and Japan was 30.5 million.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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  • Back From Tommy John Surgery, Shane Bieber Elbows Shohei Ohtani Right Out of the Spotlight

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shane Bieber elbowed Shohei Ohtani right out of the spotlight.

    A former Cy Young Award winner who returned from Tommy John surgery just two months ago, Bieber outpitched the celebrated two-way star and struck him out twice in winning his World Series debut.

    “Yeah, it was awesome,” Bieber said with a wide smile after pitching Toronto over the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Tuesday night to tie the World Series at two games apiece.

    Bieber nearly made his first Fall Classic appearance in the 19th inning Monday, but the Dodgers won 6-5 on Freddie Freeman’s 18th-inning home run. Max Scherzer had approached Bieber in the 11th or 12th inning about getting ready to relieve.

    “Max is always one step ahead,” Bieber explained. “He was like, ‘Biebs, if this gets squirrely’ — you could tell the wheels were turning — ‘and he’s like, ’Can you pitch?’”

    So Bieber told manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker he was available, and Bieber warmed up in the 18th.

    “I was definitely amped up,” he said. “Potentially, I was thinking about my first big league save, and in the World Series. That would have been very cool.”

    Bieber got back to the team hotel at 1 a.m. and dozed off about 45-60 minutes later. But not for long.

    “I didn’t sleep very well,” he said.

    His first batter was Ohtani, who reached nine times on Monday with two homers, two doubles and five walks.

    Bieber walked him on a full count with an outside corner changeup that could have been strike three. He struck out Ohtani in the third on a changeup at the outside corner and froze him with a knuckle curve for a called third strike in the fifth, a three-pitch at-bat that left Ohtani shaking his head.

    “He attacked really at the edge and was able to execute location-wise,” Ohtani said through a translator.

    A 30-year-old right-hander who went to high school in nearby Laguna Hills, Bieber was drafted by Cleveland in 2016. He made it to the majors two years later and became an All-Star in 2019. He was a unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he led the major leagues with a 1.68 ERA.

    He missed more than two months in 2023 with elbow issues, pitched 12 scoreless innings while striking out 20 in his first two outings in 2024, then had Tommy John surgery in April 2024 with Dr. Keith Meister.

    Bieber felt he was making steady improvement and threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his first minor league outing, for the Arizona Complex League Guardians on May 31. Then he experienced soreness during a bullpen session three days later and didn’t pitch in a game again until July 15.

    “In speaking with the medical staff in Cleveland and most specifically Dr. Keith Meister in Texas, he’s like, ‘Hey, it’s very rare for anybody to not have any sort of hiccup, so this was probably always going to happen, and your body’s just telling you it needs a couple days off,’” Bieber recounted. “I was able to get back on track after that.”

    Bieber made three more minor league starts, then was dealt to the Blue Jays at the July 31 trade deadline for minor league right-hander Khal Stephen.

    After three starts at Triple-A Buffalo, he returned to the major leagues for the first time in 16 1/2 months, allowing one run and two hits over six innings at Miami on Aug. 22. He made seven outings down the stretch, going 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in helping boost Toronto to its first AL East title since 2015.

    As the banged-up Blue Jays pieced together a postseason rotation without injured José Berríos, they slotted Kevin Gausman first, followed by rookie Trey Yesavage, Scherzer and Bieber, shifting Chris Bassitt to the bullpen.

    Bieber is 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA in four postseason starts, the last three Blue Jays wins that included victories in Games 3 and 7 of the American League Championship Series against Seattle. His stay with Toronto might be a short one, since he’s likely to turn down a player option for 2026 and become a free agent.

    “These are the spots that we acquired him for,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “It’s asking a lot of him, based on what he’s been through with the recovery from the surgery and stuff. But he’s enjoying it and he’s embracing it and he’s been a huge part of us getting here.”

    Bieber allowed one run and four hits in 5 1/3 innings against LA, giving up Kiké Hernández’s second-inning sacrifice fly after Max Muncy’s walk and Tommy Edman’s single put runners at the corners.

    “Used the cutter, spun us, minimized damage, limited traffic, and we really didn’t get a whole lot of good swings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

    Justin Bieber, the Canadian singer and songwriter, sat in the front row behind the Blue Jays dugout at Dodger Stadium. Shane says they’re not related, as far as he knows.

    “I used to tell people: second cousin, twice removed,” Shane said with a smirk.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Longest World Series game in years ends in the 18th inning on Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run

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    (CNN) — The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday in 18 innings, which matched the longest World Series game ever, to take a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series.

    In a thrilling back-and-forth extra innings battle, the Dodgers needed a history-making night from their two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who had three RBIs and three runs scored in an incredible four-hit, two-homer performance that saw the three-time MVP reach base safely an astonishing nine times.

    In the end, it was an 18th-inning, walk-off home run from 2024 World Series MVP Freddie Freeman that delivered the win for the Dodgers.

    Toronto’s 41-year-old starting pitcher Max Scherzer put his name in the MLB history books in the opening inning Monday night, becoming the first pitcher ever to appear in the World Series with four different teams. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was greeted rudely by a Shohei Ohtani lead-off double, but Scherzer managed to escape the inning unscathed.

    Los Angeles right fielder Teoscar Hernández would get the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with a solo home run off Scherzer for a 1-0 lead.

    Ohtani would double the Dodgers’ lead in the third inning, turning on a Scherzer fastball and sending it 389 feet into the Blue Jays’ bullpen.

    Los Angeles was poised to add another run, but a perfect throw from Toronto right fielder Addison Barger cut Freeman down at the plate after a single from Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

    The crucial outfield assist from Barger swung the momentum of the game in Toronto’s favor.

    The Blue Jays got two runners on base with no one out in the fourth inning after Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman made a fielding error on a possible double play ball off the bat of Toronto’s Bo Bichette. Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk then turned the game on its head with a three-run homer off Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow to put the Jays in front 3-2. Toronto would tack on another run on a Andrés Giménez sacrifice fly.

    The Dodgers bounced back with a two-run fifth inning to tie it up. Ohtani collected his third extra-base hit of the game with a double to plate Kiké Hernández. Freeman then drove in Ohtani with a single down the first base line to knot the game at 4-4.

    Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays narrowly beats the tag by Los Angeles Dodgers Will Smith. Credit: Luke Hales / Getty Images via CNN Newsource

    Toronto reclaimed the lead 5-4 in the seventh inning on a spectacular play. Bichette laced a double down the first base line that sent Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. racing around the bases, slapping his right hand down on the plate just ahead of a diving tag attempt from Smith.

    Ohtani once again came to the rescue, belting his second home run of the game in the seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5. The reigning National League MVP’s fourth extra base hit of the game tied a World Series record set by Frank Isbell of the Chicago White Sox in 1906. Ohtani also established his own MLB record with his third multi-homer game in a single postseason.

    Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting his second home run of World Series Game 3 in Los Angeles. Credit: Luke Hales / Getty Images via CNN Newsource

    The game would remain tied into the bottom of the ninth inning, when Toronto manager John Schneider made the decision to intentionally walk Ohtani rather than give him a chance to do more damage at the plate. Ohtani was promptly caught stealing when he slid past the base and was tagged out by second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to snuff out the rally.

    As the game progressed to extra innings, the Blue Jays threatened to score in the top of the 10th inning, but a great throw from Teoscar Hernandez in right field and a perfect relay from Edman had Blue Jays baserunner Davis Schneider dead to rights at the plate as the game remained all square.

    With neither team able to score, the contest dragged on into the 18th inning and passed the six-hour mark. It tied the record for longest World Series game ever, matching 2018’s Game 3 between the Boston Red Sox and Dodgers, also at Dodger Stadium.

    The Dodgers got heroic efforts from a couple unlikely relievers – two shutout innings from Edgardo Henriquez and four from Will Klein, who picked up the win in a career-long outing.

    With Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched a complete game for Los Angeles in Game 2, warming up to take the mound if the game went to a 19th inning, Freeman made sure that wasn’t the case with a towering walk-off home run to center field off Toronto reliever Brendon Little.

    After six hours and 39 minutes of nerve-racking agony, more than 50,000 fans in Dodger Stadium erupted into celebration as Freeman rounded the bases to the familiar tune of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” to put an end to one of the most epic games in MLB history.

    The Dodgers team mobbed Freeman at home plate as the Blue Jays retreated to their clubhouse to lick their wounds with roughly 17 hours until the teams will do it all again in Game 4 Tuesday night.

    Freeman described his emotions rounding the bases to broadcaster FOX after the game.

    “Just pure excitement,” Freeman said. “When you grind and fight, and our bullpen and our pitching staff did what they did, to have that go six hours and 40 minutes or so, that’s as good as it gets.”

    Ohtani, who will have limited time to rest as he is the Los Angeles’ scheduled starting pitcher for Game 4, made another bit of MLB postseason history by becoming the first player to reach base nine times in a playoff game. Prior to Monday, no player had reached base more than six times in a postseason game. After his 4-for-4 start to the game, the three-time MVP was the recipient of four intentional walks and one traditional walk.

    Ohtani was asked after the game how he felt following his historic night.

    “I want to go to sleep as soon as possible so I can get ready (for Game 4),” a grinning Ohtani told FOX through an interpreter.

    Los Angeles will enter Game 4 with a decided advantage – historically when the teams split the first two games of the World Series, the winner of Game 3 has won the championship 67% of the time.

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Another big Sho: Ohtani hits 2 homers, ties record with 4 extra-base hits in World Series Game 3

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    Shohei Ohtani homered twice and tied a 119-year-old major league record with four extra-base hits in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night, putting on yet another historic postseason show at Dodger Stadium.Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a ground-rule double to right field. He followed with a solo homer to right in the third inning off Toronto starter Max Scherzer and added an RBI double in the fifth off reliever Mason Fluharty during a tying rally for Los Angeles.Ohtani then hit a tying solo homer off Seranthony Domínguez with one out in the seventh. It was his sixth homer in the Dodgers’ last four games, and he tied Corey Seager’s eight homers in 2020 for the most by a Dodgers player in a single postseason.After becoming the first player in MLB history with three multihomer games in one postseason, Ohtani is two shy of Randy Arozarena’s record for homers in a postseason.Only one other player in baseball history got four extra-base hits in a World Series game: Frank Isbell had four doubles for the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 in 1906 against the Chicago Cubs.Ohtani also became the first hitter to have multiple games with at least 12 total bases in a single postseason. The only other player to have two such postseason games in his career was Babe Ruth.The Blue Jays had seen enough of Ohtani by the ninth: Manager John Schneider intentionally walked him with the bases empty and then did the same in the 11th, and the gambit worked both times.Ohtani quickly attempted to steal second after being walked in the ninth, but he was tagged out when he popped up and came off the base for an instant.Ohtani advanced to second on Mookie Betts’ two-out single in the 11th, although he pulled up gingerly at the bag due to cramping. He stayed in the game, however, and Freddie Freeman flied out to end the inning.Once again, Ohtani put on a spectacular show for the Los Angeles fans who definitely “need” him, posting his first four-hit game of the postseason in his first game back at Dodger Stadium since he hit three homers and struck out 10 Milwaukee Brewers in his sensational two-way effort during a clinching victory in the National League Championship Series 10 days ago.Ohtani has six hits and five RBIs in the first three games of the World Series against Toronto, the city where fans chanted “We don’t need you!” at Ohtani while the Blue Jays won Game 1. Ohtani also homered late in that blowout loss.Ohtani will make his first World Series start on the mound when he pitches for the Dodgers in Game 4 on Tuesday night.Ohtani hit two homers in the Dodgers’ first game of the postseason against Cincinnati, but he hadn’t homered again until his historic performance in the NLCS. All three of those homers were solo shots, and he hit a pair of solo homers in Game 3.He first connected for a 389-foot drive inside the right-field pole in the third inning.After struggling Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen allowed the Blue Jays to go back ahead 5-4 in the seventh, Ohtani tied it with a 401-foot homer to left-center.Ohtani now trails only Arozarena, who set the major league record with 10 postseason homers in 2020 before Tampa Bay lost the World Series to Seager and the Dodgers.Ohtani doubled on Scherzer’s second pitch of Game 3, although his teammates couldn’t bring him home.Ohtani keyed a tying rally when he doubled to left-center in the fifth, muscling an inside sweeper from Fluharty into the gap for his first opposite-field hit since Sept. 20, a span of 77 at-bats.Following that double, Ohtani scored the tying run on Freddie Freeman’s single.The Blue Jays pulled Scherzer right before Ohtani came up and replaced the veteran right-hander with Fluharty, who memorably struck out Ohtani with the bases loaded while escaping a big jam to secure a 5-4 win for Toronto at Dodger Stadium in August.

    LOS ANGELES —

    Shohei Ohtani homered twice and tied a 119-year-old major league record with four extra-base hits in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night, putting on yet another historic postseason show at Dodger Stadium.

    Ohtani led off the bottom of the first inning with a ground-rule double to right field. He followed with a solo homer to right in the third inning off Toronto starter Max Scherzer and added an RBI double in the fifth off reliever Mason Fluharty during a tying rally for Los Angeles.

    Ohtani then hit a tying solo homer off Seranthony Domínguez with one out in the seventh. It was his sixth homer in the Dodgers’ last four games, and he tied Corey Seager’s eight homers in 2020 for the most by a Dodgers player in a single postseason.

    After becoming the first player in MLB history with three multihomer games in one postseason, Ohtani is two shy of Randy Arozarena’s record for homers in a postseason.

    Only one other player in baseball history got four extra-base hits in a World Series game: Frank Isbell had four doubles for the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 in 1906 against the Chicago Cubs.

    Brynn Anderson

    Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the dugout after scoring against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning in Game 3 of baseball’s World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles.

    Ohtani also became the first hitter to have multiple games with at least 12 total bases in a single postseason. The only other player to have two such postseason games in his career was Babe Ruth.

    The Blue Jays had seen enough of Ohtani by the ninth: Manager John Schneider intentionally walked him with the bases empty and then did the same in the 11th, and the gambit worked both times.

    Ohtani quickly attempted to steal second after being walked in the ninth, but he was tagged out when he popped up and came off the base for an instant.

    Ohtani advanced to second on Mookie Betts’ two-out single in the 11th, although he pulled up gingerly at the bag due to cramping. He stayed in the game, however, and Freddie Freeman flied out to end the inning.

    Once again, Ohtani put on a spectacular show for the Los Angeles fans who definitely “need” him, posting his first four-hit game of the postseason in his first game back at Dodger Stadium since he hit three homers and struck out 10 Milwaukee Brewers in his sensational two-way effort during a clinching victory in the National League Championship Series 10 days ago.

    Ohtani has six hits and five RBIs in the first three games of the World Series against Toronto, the city where fans chanted “We don’t need you!” at Ohtani while the Blue Jays won Game 1. Ohtani also homered late in that blowout loss.

    Ohtani will make his first World Series start on the mound when he pitches for the Dodgers in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

    Ohtani hit two homers in the Dodgers’ first game of the postseason against Cincinnati, but he hadn’t homered again until his historic performance in the NLCS. All three of those homers were solo shots, and he hit a pair of solo homers in Game 3.

    He first connected for a 389-foot drive inside the right-field pole in the third inning.

    After struggling Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen allowed the Blue Jays to go back ahead 5-4 in the seventh, Ohtani tied it with a 401-foot homer to left-center.

    Ohtani now trails only Arozarena, who set the major league record with 10 postseason homers in 2020 before Tampa Bay lost the World Series to Seager and the Dodgers.

    Ohtani doubled on Scherzer’s second pitch of Game 3, although his teammates couldn’t bring him home.

    Ohtani keyed a tying rally when he doubled to left-center in the fifth, muscling an inside sweeper from Fluharty into the gap for his first opposite-field hit since Sept. 20, a span of 77 at-bats.

    Following that double, Ohtani scored the tying run on Freddie Freeman’s single.

    The Blue Jays pulled Scherzer right before Ohtani came up and replaced the veteran right-hander with Fluharty, who memorably struck out Ohtani with the bases loaded while escaping a big jam to secure a 5-4 win for Toronto at Dodger Stadium in August.

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  • That Trump Tweet About the World Series Being ‘Rigged’ Is Fake

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    Have you seen a tweet from President Donald Trump saying he’ll refuse to invite whoever wins the World Series to the White House? Trump appears to say that it’s because he believes the game is rigged, either by the mafia or the Democrats. But the tweet isn’t real. The post has gone viral across just about every major social media platform, but it’s completely fake.

    The post is made to look like it’s coming from President Trump’s official Truth Social account, the platform he owns and the first place where he posts all his most unhinged messages.

    “NO MATTER WHO WINS I WILL REFUSE TO INVITE EITHER BASEBALL TEAM TO MY BALL ROOM AS THEY ARE BOTH RUN BY HIGHLY INEPT OFFICIALS FROM CALIFORNIA AND ONTARIO CANADA,” the fake tweet reads.

    “I DON’T HOST LOSERS. WE ARE ACTIVELY INVESTIGATING MLB. THIS WORLD SERIES IS RIGGED, PROBABLY BY THE DEMS & THE MAFIA,” the fake tweet continues.

    The screenshot spread far and wide over the weekend, showing up on Threads, X, Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook. But Trump never wrote this one.

    Fake tweet made to look like it’s from President Donald Trump about the World Series. Screenshot: Facebook

    The reaction to the viral post was about what you’d expect, especially among fans of the Toronto Blue Jays, the team that’s currently playing the Los Angeles Dodgers for the World Series championship. The series is tied 1-1 and Game 3 will be played tonight.

    Many Canadians made fun of the fake Trump tweet, since they didn’t think a Canadian team would even be invited to the White House in the first place. Trump slapped an additional 10% tariff on Canada over the weekend because he got mad about an ad that highlighted Ronald Reagan’s opposition to tariffs. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the ad a “psy-op” by the Canadian government on Sunday. Trump has claimed the ad is fake, even falsely insisting it’s AI. But it’s real.

    Things are different for the American team, which could very well get an invitation to the White House if they win. The Dodgers won the World Series last year and did indeed show up in April to snap pictures. Trump also received a “47” jersey from the team, since he’s kind of the 47th president. We say “kind of” because he’s only 47th if you don’t count by the number of people to hold the office, but by the number of consecutive terms that make up a single era. And even then, it’s not quite right since Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as well.

    There are many red flags in the fake post from Trump, but the reference to the ballroom might be one of the most glaring. The president has demolished the East Wing of the White House, and he’s building a ballroom with “donations” from private companies and individuals who have given him millions. But even on the most ambitious timeline, the ballroom won’t be completed by the time a White House visit by the 2025 World Series champions might take place. Trump hasn’t announced a completion date for his ridiculous monstrosity, but the administration has said it will be done before his second term is up in Jan. 2029.

    Another fake post that’s gotten less traction, but is still popping up here and there on social media, specifically calls out the Blue Jays.

    “WE WILL BE INVESTIGATING THE UN AMERICAN BLUE JAYS WHO ARE ATTEMPTING TO STEAL OUR BELOVED WORLD SERIES,” the fake tweet reads. “THEY WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.”

    Interestingly, author Stephen King seemed to fall for the first tweet in this article, poking fun at him on X, but the Community Notes that have attempted to fact-check King are referring to the second tweet about the Blue Jays. That’s how many fake Trump tweets seem to be doing the rounds these days. Nobody can keep any of this stuff straight.

    The reason these fake tweets go viral is that it’s simply impossible to tell which screeds from President Trump are authentic. Trump has always been off his rocker, but he’s gotten increasingly unhinged during his second term, posting some of the weirdest things that a president has ever expressed in public.

    As just one recent example, Trump posted an AI video of himself last month talking about “medbeds,” a bizarre conspiracy theory that claims there are real beds being hidden from the public that can heal all diseases. The video even includes a fake Trump touting these miracle cures and insisting they were going to be available soon to “restore every citizen to full health.”

    In a world where the president is posting about medbeds—to say nothing of the Department of Homeland Security posting Nazi propaganda—it can be extremely difficult to tell what’s real. And that’s not going to change as long as the Trump regime remains in power. In fact, it’s likely to get much, much worse.

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  • Blue Jays manager to Shohei Ohtani: We want our hat back — and your dog’s jacket

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    TORONTO (AP) — While most of baseball is saying hats off to Shohei Ohtani, Toronto manager John Schneider wants a cap back from the two-way star.

    Before signing a $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-way star met with Blue Jays officials on Dec. 4, 2023, at the team’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida.

    Ohtani will be the opening batter of the World Series, leading off for the defending champion Dodgers against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday night after his unprecedented performance in the NL Championship Series.

    “I hope he brought his hat, the Blue Jay hat that he took from us in our meeting. I hope he brought it back, finally,” Schneider said Thursday.

    “And the jacket for Decoy,” he added, a reference to Ohtani’s dog, a Nederlanse kooikerhondje. “It’s like, give us our stuff back already.”

    Ohtani smiled when asked about the headgear.

    “It’s in my garage,” he said through a translator.

    Ohtani helped lead the Dodgers to last year’s title, hitting .310 with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases.

    Back to pitching in a limited role this season as he returned from elbow surgery, he batted .282 with 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 steals while going 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 62 in 47 innings.

    Last Friday, he homered three times while pitching six shutout innings and striking 10 against Milwaukee as the Dodgers completed a four-game sweep of the NL Championship Series.

    Absent Ohtani, the Blue Jays had the finances to give first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500 million, 14-year contract that starts next year, and he helped Toronto reach the World Series for the first time since 1993.

    “He’s a great player,” Schneider said. “But that aside, I think that we have a great team and just an unbelievable cast of characters and players. I think things worked out the way they’re meant to work out.”

    Schneider isn’t sure how close the Blue Jays came to signing Ohtani.

    “When we met with him, you felt good about it, and you felt good about the feedback he was giving about our organization and opportunity here,” he said. “But you never really know what a player’s feeling in free agency, and there’s a lot of things that have to line up for them personally, too, so you can’t really think about what if. You think about the 26 (players) that we have.”

    Ohtani praised the Blue Jays.

    “It’s an unfortunate reality as a free agent that you get to really pick one team,” he said. “The decision had to be made, but again, this organization has been superb. They have a lot of awesome people.”

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

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  • Sports Daily: A Different Kind of World Series History

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    Editor’s note: This is a preview of Sports Daily, Newsweek’s newsletter where sports lead Joe Kozlowski highlights what you might have missed from the wide world of sports.

    The thing about history is that every team has it. And when you think you might be channeling something from the past, the parallels might actually be unfolding in the opposite dugout. 

    Take Game 2 of the 2025 World Series as an example of that. 

    Ahead of the context, Joe Carter, the hero of the Toronto Blue Jays’ last Fall Classic appearance, met with the media before he threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He drew plenty of parallels between the 2025 team and the squads that captured back-to-back titles in the early 1990s. 

    “Very much. A lot of similarities,” he explained when asked to about the current Blue Jays and those of his era. “One thing that we had in ’92 and ’93 it was the cohesiveness of the team playing together. And even though we had great players, everybody pulled for one another. So we had the great chemistry in the clubhouse, on the field, and every day it was somebody different. It wasn’t just one guy you could focus on.” 

    And what this 2025 Blue Jays team has — I mean, you got from 1 through 9 everybody coming through. When you have nine guys — and not just nine guys, but you got the bench players too, for them it’s a lot of fun to come to the ballpark, it’s a lot of fun for them to cheer for one another, and those are things that’s going to propel you to a championship.” 

    Those good vibes didn’t last for very long, though. Toronto didn’t play poorly, but they did run into a buzz saw in the form of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw a dominant complete game capped off by retiring the final 20 batters he faced. 

    “He was that good. It kind of started that way. Got his 23, 24 pitches in the first, I think. That was probably our best chance. First and third and nobody out. After that, it was kind of few and far between,” Toronto manager John Schneider explained. 

    “Second complete game in a row in the postseason, that’s pretty impressive, with a layoff in between. I think he made it hard for us to make him work. He was in the zone, split was in and out of the zone. It was a really good performance by him.” 

    Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept things even simpler. “Outstanding, uber competitive, special,” he said. “He was just locked in tonight.” 

    And in a parallel to Carter’s historic comparisons, Yamamoto’s second-straight postseason complete game raised comparisons to legendary LA pitchers like Sandy Kofax and Orel Herschiser. 

    “I think that you look at Yamamoto, it’s kind of the throw back in the sense of, when he starts a game, he expects to finish it. And he’ll go as long as I let him. But that’s his intent,” Roberts said. 

    The pitcher, however, had a slightly different view. 

    “To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,” he admitted. 

    So, where does that leave us? 

    The dueling histories and differing vibes are a good reminder that, at this point of the season, both teams are stacked with talent. Both teams have players with interesting stories and unique journeys to the Fall Classic. There are emotional and narrative reasons to support any possible outcome; historical trends and footnotes everwhere you look. Everyone is worth paying attention to in their own way. 

    But, at the same time, sports are based on winning. And those stories get pushed into the background when you lose. After Game 2, for example, no one cares about Addison Barger sleeping on a pullout couch or how the Blue Jays trust each other to come through in the big moments. And we can’t put too much stock in those good vibes carrying one team to victory over the other. 

    Is that exactly fair? Probably not, since every team bar one is going to end the season by coming up short of the ultimate prize. (And I do think we can have a bit more nuance about judging those non-championship seasons. An ALCS-winning team, for example, can still be successful, if you ask me.) 

    Right now, though, we’re in the thick of a World Series. And it will be decided by the incredible talent on the field, not based on vibes, historical parallels, or anything else. 

    Ultimately, that’s how it should be. 

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  • Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts Doesn’t Think Slugger Shohei Ohtani Heard Toronto Fans’ Taunts

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    TORONTO (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t think Shohei Ohtani heard fans in Toronto taunting him during Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night, and he doesn’t think the Japanese two-way sensation is bothered much by boos anyway.

    Upset that Ohtani spurned the Blue Jays to sign a $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023, fans in Toronto chanted “We don’t need you!” when he came to the plate in the ninth inning with his team trailing by seven runs.

    Fans also booed Ohtani during pregame introductions. Ohtani appeared to smile at those jeers, but Roberts doesn’t think he caught the late barbs.

    “I don’t think he understood the chants,” Roberts said before Saturday’s Game 2. “As far as being booed, I think that he understands why he was booed. I don’t think he minds it. I don’t think it necessarily fuels his fire. I’ve used this word with Shohei a lot: he’s just a really good compartmentalizer, so I don’t think it really affects him, and he’s just there to just do his job.”

    Roberts later said Ohtani was too focused on batting to pay attention to the chants in the ninth.

    “He was hitting and it was muddled,” Roberts said. “I heard it, but I wasn’t hitting. My point being is that I understand he understands the language, but he’s still hitting in the box. I don’t think his focus was on a chant.”

    Ohtani hit his first World Series homer Friday but also grounded out with the bases loaded in the second inning. His lone hit was the soaring two-run shot to right field off Braydon Fisher in the seventh, but it came with LA trailing 11-2.

    Ohtani faced four different pitchers, two right-handers and two left-handers, in his five plate appearances. He finished 1 for 4 with a walk and struck out twice.

    “That’s what we’re trying to do,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the different looks. “It’s a seven-game series. You never know how it unfolds, but I’m sure at some point there’ll be some familiarity.”

    Ohtani was booed and met with the same chant — but not from the entire crowd — leading off Game 2, when he flied out to left field.

    As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred noted on the field before Game 2, Ohtani has sparked record viewership in Japan by helping the Dodgers reach the Series in consecutive years.

    “Shohei, it just absolutely has been the greatest benefit to the game that you can imagine throughout the year,” Manfred said. “In the LCS he had probably the greatest game of all time and we’re fortunate to have him here in the World Series.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Rob Manfred Increasingly Confident Major Leaguers Will Play in 2028 LA Olympics

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    TORONTO (AP) — Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is increasingly confident big league players will participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

    MLB has discussed creating an extended All-Star break to allow participation in the 2028 Games, to be held from July 14-30. An agreement with the players’ association is necessary and sponsor deals could be impacted.

    “I am positive about it. I think that the owners have kind of crossed the line in terms of, we’d like to do it if we can possibly make it work,” Manfred said Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series. “There are logistical issues that still need to be worked on.”

    At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the baseball tournament took place over 11 days, including a four-day group stage followed by knockout rounds and culminating in gold and bronze medal games.

    Baseball at the LA Games is likely to have a more compressed format.

    “We have made a lot of progress with LA 2028 in terms of the calendar,” Manfred said. “Right now we’re in discussions with the players’ association about that set of issues.”

    Participation in 2028 is likely to be a one-off. The 2032 Olympics are scheduled for Brisbane, Australia.

    “The logistics of LA as evidenced by how long we’ve been talking about it are difficult,” Manfred said. “The chances that we’re playing in Brisbane — difficult, right? Even way more difficult than being in LA.”


    Labor negotiations and a possible salary cap proposal

    There has been focus on postseason payroll disparity and whether a second straight World Series championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers would increase the likelihood of management proposing a salary cap in talks for a labor contract to succeed the current deal with players, which expires in 2026.

    Los Angeles entered as baseball’s top spender this year, projected at $509 million in payroll and luxury tax, more than seven times the $69 million of the major league-low Miami Marlins. The Blue Jays are No. 5 at $266 million.

    “I don’t think who wins this World Series is any more relevant than who won the last five or six,” Manfred said.


    No timetable for resolving Clase and Ortiz investigations

    Manfred said MLB is moving “as fast as we can” in investigations that led to Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz being placed on paid leave.

    Ortiz didn’t pitch after June 27 and Clase after July 26 as part of an MLB probe into sports betting.

    “Obviously, our No. 1 priority is to protect the integrity of the game. We think we have great systems in place that allow us to do that,” Manfred said. “We’ve worked really hard to provide resources to players to make sure that they are comfortable and have an outlet when they have a problem with respect to issues related to sports betting.”

    “The most important thing that we can do is make sure that we have systems in place that give us access to data which puts you in a position to determine if there’s something aberrational going on,” Manfred said. “When you get that, you need to conduct a thorough investigation, make sure that you understand exactly what caused that aberration and then you need to discipline.”

    Manfred sounded content with 12 of 30 teams making the playoffs. The size was expanded from 10 as part of the 2022 labor agreement after the players’ association rejected MLB’s 14-club plan.

    Best-of-three Wild Card Series started as part of the larger postseason, all played at the ballpark of the higher-seeded team.

    “I really like the way 12 has played out,” Manfred said. “I think the wild-card round, playing a series like we’d normally play baseball, was a big improvement.”

    Manfred has said he hopes MLB can select two expansion teams before his term expires in January 2029, but he won’t more forward until the Tampa Bay Rays and the team’s new owners have a deal for a new ballpark.

    “We’re not going to be on the field, obviously, but I’d like to have the teams picked,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable with the idea that something good is going to happen in the Tampa Bay region.”

    Montreal has discussed bidding for an expansion team to replace the Expos, who became the Washington Nationals for the 2005 season.

    “There’s certainly other cities in Canada that would be viable expansion candidates,” Manfred said.


    National television contracts

    MLB’s contracts remain in the legal drafting phase with Comcast’s NBCUniversal for the Wild Card Series and Sunday night regular-season games, with Netflix for the All-Star Home Run Derby, and with The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN for a regular-season package plus in-market rights for Arizona, Cleveland, Colorado, Minnesota and San Diego.

    “We have agreements. We’re just working on long forms and as I have learned over the years, long-form broadcasting agreements take a long time to get done,” Manfred said.


    Rays returning to Tropicana Field

    “We’re hopeful that it will be ready for the opening home set,” Manfred said. “It’s certainly going to be open very early in the year.”


    Ohtani’s impact on increasing international attention for baseball

    Shohei Ohtani has helped the Dodgers reach the World Series in consecutive years, sparking record viewership in Japan.

    “Shohei, it just absolutely has been the greatest benefit to the game that you can imagine throughout the year. In the LCS he had probably the greatest game of all time and we’re fortunate to have him here in the World Series,” Manfred said.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Blue Jays Infielder Bo Bichette Not in Starting Lineup for Game 2 of World Series Against Dodgers

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    TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette is not in the starting lineup for Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

    A two-time All-Star shortstop and two-time AL hits leader, Bichette went 1 for 2 with a walk in his return to the lineup in Friday’s 11-4 Game 1 win. It was his first action since spraining his left knee in a Sept. 6 collision with New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells.

    Isiah Kiner-Falefa was expected to start at second base and bat eighth against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. Kiner-Falefa replaced Bichette as a pinch-runner in Toronto’s nine-run sixth inning on Friday.

    Catcher Alejandro Kirk, who capped the nine-run frame with a two-run homer, took over for Bichette in the cleanup spot in Game 2.

    “I don’t want to say it was part of the plan,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of taking Bichette out of the lineup. “Just kind of gauging how he’s feeling. He’ll be ready to play today, for sure. This is stuff we talked about, even leading up to the decision to put him on the roster. I thought he was good yesterday and just want to watch him physically, but he’ll be ready to hit and play whenever.”

    Friday’s series opener was Bichette’s first game at second base in six years. He saved a run when he ranged to the shortstop side of second to glove Teoscar Hernández’s third-inning grounder and throw him out at first. Will Smith, who had been on second base, had to stop at third.

    Bichette finished second in the major leagues to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge with a .311 batting average this season, hitting 18 homers with 94 RBIs in 139 games. The 27-year-old is eligible for free agency following the World Series.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • NBA Insider Arrests Highlight Risks of Leagues Embracing Sports Betting

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    By Amy Tennery and Rory Carroll

    NEW YORK (Reuters) -The high-profile arrest of NBA insiders this week has highlighted the potential risks posed by the close relationship the four major North American men’s sports leagues have cultivated with legalized betting in the United States.

    Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones were among more than 30 people charged in connection with two separate but related federal gambling investigations.

    Rozier and Jones were alleged to have provided non-public information about upcoming games to allow criminal partners to set up bets on the outcome of games or performances of individual players.

    Billups was charged in a separate case involving alleged rigging of high-stakes poker games. The indictment in the other insider information case describes an unnamed co-conspirator, but makes no mention of him.

    “Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the league,” his attorney said in a statement.

    Rozier’s attorney said that he was previously cleared by the National Basketball Association, and accused prosecutors of reviving a “non-case.” Reuters was unable to reach legal representation for Jones.

    Regardless, the charges will surely bring fresh scrutiny on the relationship between online sports books and professional leagues, worth millions of dollars to both sides.

    For the leagues, their involvement risks undermining the integrity of their sports.

    Leigh Steinberg, a veteran sports agent, said the latest revelations could represent an existential threat to professional sports.

    “Part of the reason that we have the massive television contracts, massive crowds in stadiums, fantasy sports and the rest of it, is the feeling these are true contests without outside influence,” he told Reuters.

    “If, all of a sudden, these incidents keep occurring, it undercuts the public confidence in the validity of athletic contests,” he said.

    FROM RELUCTANCE TO EMBRACE

    The Supreme Court in 2018 paved the way for states to legalize sports betting. The NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League had long opposed legalization, fearing it would compromise the integrity of their games.

    Seven years later, professional sports and online betting platforms are enmeshed in a tight embrace, with ads blanketing television broadcasts and sports books available to fans on their phones and inside arenas and stadiums. With instant accessibility, and big money, the temptation for cheating can explode.

    The “Big Four” all have official betting partners. The NBA linked up with MGM Resorts International less than three months after the Supreme Court ruling in a three-year deal worth $25 million, according to ESPN.

    Three years later, the National Football League signed its first U.S. partnership with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel in five-year deals that Sportico estimated was worth $1 billion.

    “This was gold rush to a new revenue source,” said Steinberg.

    Since the Supreme Court ruling, the Big Four have all suspended players for running afoul of betting rules.

    The NBA banned Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life last year after he was found to have limited his own in-game participation to influence the outcome of bets on his performance.

    Joe Maloney, an American Gaming Association official, said legal online betting platforms do not promote bad behavior among players but rather help leagues and authorities identify it.

    “We now have gambling policies that are enshrined in most instances in agreements between legal sports books and the leagues, but also in agreements with the leagues and their players unions,” he said.

    Each league has its own rules governing player behavior related to gambling, and online platforms allow for sophisticated tracking of possible infractions.

    DraftKings said in a statement on Thursday that online sports betting was the best way to monitor suspicious behavior.

    After the NFL suspended five players in 2023 for violating gambling policy, the players’ association warned agents that the mobile platforms can track their clients’ activity. The league also launched a robust education effort. Since 2023, it has not suspended any players for gambling.

    “Something’s working with the NFL, and the other leagues have to similarly make investments in education,” said Maloney.

    A former U.S. federal prosecutor who brought gambling cases in the past said the arrests this week should prompt pro sports to overhaul compliance from “top to bottom” and reassess deepening ties with wagering platforms.

    “If I was a team or one of the leagues themselves, I would be freaking out,” said the former prosecutor, who requested anonymity because his firm could work on cases related to the arrests.

    The broader risk lies in the structure of today’s wagering markets, particularly in player-specific bets, a type of “prop bet” related to events or statistics within a game, he said. It’s much more difficult to manipulate the outcome of a game.

    “A player can go down with an injury, or take himself out of the game, or miss a shot. It’s not the same as traditional point-shaving,” he said, referring to when a player intentionally misses shots to throw a game or manipulate a point spread.

    NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on ESPN earlier this week that the league had asked some betting partners to limit these prop bets for more marginal players.

    (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Rory Carrol in San Francisco; Editing by Frank McGurty and Bill Berkrot)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Blue Jays’ Addison Barger Hits First Pinch-Hit Grand Slam in World Series History

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    TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

    Batting for Davis Schneider against left-hander Anthony Banda, Barger drilled a 2-1 slider 413 feet to right-center, his third home run of these playoffs.

    Barger’s homer was the first postseason grand slam in Blue Jays history, and the big blow in a nine-run, six-hit frame that gave Toronto an 11-2 lead over the defending World Series champions.

    Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer later in the inning for the Blue Jays.

    It marked the third-highest run total in a single inning in World Series history. The Athletics had 10 runs in the seventh against the Cubs in Game 4 in 1929, and the Tigers matched that in the third inning of Game 6 against the Cardinals in 1968.

    Toronto is in the World Series for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 1993.

    Barger hit 21 home runs in the regular season, his second in the majors.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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