Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree meet in the light heavyweight championship main event this Saturday at UFC 307, a fight that very few in the MMA community saw coming.
Watch MMA Fighting’s UFC 307 Timeline video for an in-depth look at how both headliners got to this weekend’s pay-per-view in Salt Lake City.
“Poatan” became the UFC middleweight champion in short order after stopping long-standing rival Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 in November 2022. After Adesanya exacted revenge five months later at UFC 287, Pereira’s journey led to the light heavyweight division, where he captured his second divisional title two fights later. His reign extended into an unforgettable 2024 campaign, where he saved the UFC to earn knockout wins on the massive UFC 300 and UFC 303 events.
Rountree gets his first shot at UFC gold, doing so as a sizable underdog. The 34-year-old has had a rollercoaster ride from season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, to an opportunity to pull off one of the most stunning upsets in UFC history.
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Will the incredible rise of Pereira continue, or does the era of Rountree begin?
Brandon Royval knows what it’s like to be a hungry challenger.
The flyweight veteran scraped and clawed his way to a UFC title shot, falling just short of the gold with a decision loss to Alexandre Pantoja this past December. A razor-thin win over two-time champion Brandon Moreno nudged Royval closer to a rematch, but there’s still work to be done if he wants another crack at it and that means beating the undefeated Tatsuro Taira this Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 98.
In this “what have you done for me lately?” business, Taira has the opportunity to steal Royval’s spot—currently tied for No. 2 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, well ahead of Taira at No. 8—and leap right into the title picture. Which is not to say Taira won’t have earned it as he’s currently 16-0 with six wins in the UFC. Oh, and he doesn’t turn 25 until January.
Pantoja should watch this headliner closely because he could be scouting his next challenger.
When: Saturday, Oct. 12. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by a five-fight main card at 7 p.m. ET also on ESPN+.
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Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira
It’s scary the rate at which Tatsuro Taira is evolving and that’s why I like his chances against Brandon Royval.
Make no mistake, this is the biggest test for Taira yet. The Japanese wunderkind looked good against Alex Perez before a grappling exchange that Taira controlled resulted in Perez blowing out his knee, but outside of that he’s yet to perform against the best that flyweight has to offer. He’s clearly the class of his tier, but how will that translate against an opponent that just went 25 minutes in a title fight eight months ago?
When Royval fights to his potential, he’s as good as anyone at 125 pounds. What he struggles with is finding the right balance between his natural aggression and employing a more technical gameplan, which can lead to mixed results. He’s far more battle-tested than Taira though, an important factor to consider when a young fighter is being asked to take a step up in competition.
The name of the game for Taira should be working for takedowns, and rinsing and repeating that strategy until he’s frustrated Royval into submission. Taira has shown he can strike, but he won’t want to mess with Royval’s unpredictable power if he can help it. It’s time for Taira to show his all-around skills are worthy of a title opportunity.
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We’re swinging big here and picking Taira to beat Royval via submission in Round 2.
Pick: Taira
Brad Tavares vs. Jun Yong Park
It’s the middleweight division’s Iron Man vs. “The Iron Turtle.”
No middleweight has made more UFC appearances than Brad Tavares, who has been with the organization since 2010. He’s the ultimate gamer, having lost to several elite names while still stringing together enough wins to keep himself employed. He won’t be intimidated in the slightest by Jun Yong Park.
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This will be a back-and-forth battle for three rounds, neither fighter likely to connect with a telling blow that lets the judges toss their scorecards. Park has shown flashes of a spot in the rankings, but hasn’t done enough to cross that threshold just yet. To beat Tavares, he has to top the output of a veteran known for his non-stop activity.
When it comes to battles of attrition, Tavares often finds a way to do just enough to sway the scoring in his favor and I expect that to be the case Saturday as well. He times his entries to counter Park’s effective jab game, stuffs any takedown attempts, and outpoints Park to take a unanimous decision.
In case you haven’t noticed, the latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series is wrapping soon and that means a little fall house-cleaning, as it were. So the last thing you want to be doing is messing around on the scale, especially when you don’t have the most spotless record.
Gooden is 1-1 in his second UFC stint (2-4 overall) and given this is the third time he’s missed weight in the promotion, there’s no nice way to put it: he’s fighting to stay on the roster here. That worst-case scenario could motivate him to a career-best performance when the bell rings, but the fact he missed weight in the first place should raise concerns as to his level of preparation.
His opponent Chidi Njokuani was once known for his inability to cut down to 170 pounds, but he made that weight for his most recent fight with Rhys McKee and following that split decision win he’s looking to prove he deserves bigger fights. His speed and striking have always made him an intriguing talent and as he approaches his 36th birthday, it’s now or never for him.
For now, he should handily out-strike Gooden and foil his attempts to take the fight to the ground. A focused Njokuani should end this via knockout in the first or second round.
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Pick: Njokuani
Grant Dawson vs. Rafa Garcia
Listed generously at 5-foot-7, Rafa Garcia is used to being the low man whenever he enters the octagon, so I’m curious to see how he deals with the brawny Grant Dawson.
Garcia is strong as an ox and loves to throw looping hooks en route takedown attempts. He’s in tough against Dawson, a fellow grappler that will be tough to outwrestle. It’s entirely possible they neutralize each other’s wrestling, resulting in a standup battle I think Dawson wins.
True, we haven’t seen much of Dawson on the feet and what he have seen has been a work in progress, but he strikes me as someone who is still developing his striking, not someone who is incapable of it. His size and strength—and the harsh lessons learned in his loss to Bobby Green—should give him the advantage here. If Dawson can sprinkle in a few takedowns, all the better.
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Garcia will make him work for it, but Dawson by decision.
Pick: Dawson
Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono
As mentioned above, the UFC is in a cutting mood, so let’s hope that doesn’t spell doom for the loser of Daniel Rodriguez vs. Alex Morono. Even though neither fighter is ever likely to compete for a world title, they still have a lot to offer.
They’ll get to show it in this matchup of two strikers, Rodriguez better known for his crafty and technical style, and Morono more prone to timely bursts of action. Neither man is likely to come out guns blazing, so expect this to come off as a high-level sparring match with a little blood sprinkled in. That’s the best you can ask for with these APEX cards, sometimes.
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When he’s on, Rodriguez looks like a top-15 welterweight. I like his chances of channeling some of his prime form against Morono. It’s Rodriguez’s fight to lose and I see him winning the majority of exchanges over the course of three rounds to take a comfortable, if uneventful decision.
Every now and then, boxing makes its way into the headlines of the MMA news cycle. The past month, MMA saw plenty of crossover, with most headlines surrounding arguably the most powerful man in the sport – UFC CEO Dana White.
With plenty to digest, MMA Junkie’s Brian Garcia, Nolan King, Mike Bohn, and host Gorgeous George discussed the latest boxing headlines in MMA with guest Alan Dawson.
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Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel at noon ET. You can also find each episode on your favorite podcast platforms – including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more – on Tuesday mornings.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Former Liverpool defender Joel Matip has announced his retirement from football aged 33.
The defender joined the Reds in 2016 from German side Schalke and went on to make 201 appearances for Liverpool, winning five major trophies.
Matip provided an assist in the 2019 Champions League final for Divock Origi’s goal in the 2-0 victory against Tottenham in Madrid, helping Liverpool win their sixth European Cup.
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Injuries limited the defender to just nine appearances in Liverpool’s 2019-20 Premier League-winning side, which ended the club’s 30-year wait for a league title.
Matip left Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, having sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury which curtailed his final season at the club.
He earned 27 caps for his country and retires as a free agent, having failed to join another club following his departure from Liverpool.
In hopes of trying to increase the revenues and influence of NASCAR Cup Series teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and Chairman Jim France.
The teams filed the lawsuit Oct. 2 in federal court in Charlotte, claiming NASCAR’s actions violate antitrust laws.
This story will be updated with the latest developments and analysis in the case. Information comes from documents filed in the case and through conversations with those knowledgeable on antitrust issues and NASCAR racing.
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What is the latest happening in the suit?
23XI and Front Row filed a motion Oct. 9 for a preliminary injunction to allow them to race in 2025 as chartered teams — they have refused to sign the charter agreement, which was signed Sept. 6 by the 13 other Cup organizations — while the lawsuit proceeds.
To get a preliminary injunction, 23XI and Front Row primarily must show a likelihood of success on the merits of the case and irreparable harm if the injunction is not issued. They also must show that a preliminary injunction is in the public interest.
The teams claim that the guaranteed spot in every race (which a charter team gets) is critical to their business. The Daytona 500 alone is worth about 15% of the entire season’s purse, according to the teams’ court filings, and “there is a risk that irreplaceable sponsors and drivers could abandon [the teams] if they have to compete as open teams and do not qualify for all their races.”
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Front Row owner Bob Jenkins in court filings stated: “Because of our love for the sport and our determination to maintain the race team we have built, we are determined to race next year even if we have to do so on an ‘open’ basis, but at some point, the losses may become so severe that we simply cannot continue — causing irreparable harm to our business, our employees, and the communities and fans we are associated with.”
NASCAR indicated in an Oct. 9 court filing on the scheduling for the hearing on the injunction request, why it opposes the motion. NASCAR says the case is more a contract case and not an antitrust case and the teams’ motion doesn’t meet the criteria for a preliminary injunction.
NASCAR argues that an injunction is not a necessary measure because if it ultimately loses the case, the court could determine monetary damages that would compensate the teams.
What is next?
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NASCAR must file a response to that preliminary injunction motion by Oct. 16. The judge initially scheduled the hearing for Oct. 16 but NASCAR, with its offices in Daytona Beach, asked for it to be postponed because their offices were shut down for at least a couple of days because of Hurricane Milton. The hearing was moved to Nov. 4 with each side getting 30 minutes. The judge wouldn’t necessarily have to rule on the day of the hearing but typically would in the days following.
The teams also have asked for limited discovery to obtain documents and files from NASCAR that they believe could help them prove they will succeed on the merits of the case. The judge has asked for NASCAR to respond to that motion by Oct. 16 and then for any reply from the teams to be submitted by Oct. 23.
Who are the parties of the suit?
The 23XI Racing team is owned by driver Denny Hamlin (who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing), basketball icon Michael Jordan and Jordan business associate Curtis Polk. They field cars for Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, and plan to add a third car next year regardless of the lawsuit status.
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The Front Row Motorsports team is owned by restaurant franchisee Bob Jenkins. It fields cars for Michael McDowell (who will be replaced by Noah Gragson next year) and Todd Gilliland. It plans to add a third car next year regardless of the lawsuit status.
NASCAR is owned by the France family, primarily Jim France and France’s niece, Lesa France Kennedy. Jim’s grandfather, Bill France Sr., founded NASCAR in 1948.
What are the basics of the suit?
The teams say that a premier stock-car racing series must have premier stock-car racing teams to have a premier stock-car racing product. They argue that because NASCAR owns the series and the majority of the tracks while also requiring the teams to purchase parts and pieces for their cars from a NASCAR-approved supplier, as well as prohibiting teams and tracks from participating in other racing (primarily stock-car racing) series without NASCAR’s approval, that they violate antitrust law by controlling the market where premier stock-car racing teams can compete. They view the new 2025 charter agreement as unfair when it comes to revenue distribution to the teams in combination with the restrictions.
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What is the charter agreement?
The 2025 charter agreement is designed to be an extension of the charter system that was formed in 2016 as NASCAR attempted to address the team business model by defining the guaranteed revenues teams would get and guaranteeing a spot in every Cup race. It in many ways acts as a franchise but differs from other sports leagues in that the teams do not have ownership in the league itself. The teams and NASCAR had been negotiating a new agreement for a couple of years to replace the one that expires at the end of the 2024 season. On the late afternoon/early evening of Sept. 6, the teams were sent a final NASCAR proposed agreement and given until midnight to sign it.
What are the teams asking for?
The lawsuit isn’t too specific about what the teams are asking for. They are asking for any relief necessary to restore competition and unspecified monetary damages.
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What does Michael Jordan say?
The basketball icon told FOX Sports on Oct. 6 prior to the Talladega race: “I did it for the smaller teams as well. It’s not just me. I think everybody should have an opportunity to be successful in any business. My voice is saying that it hasn’t been happening. … Hopefully we [at both sides] can come to our senses and figure out something that can make sense for everybody.”
Michael Jordan says he hopes for a quick resolution to the lawsuit with NASCAR
What does NASCAR say?
Jim France and NASCAR President Steve Phelps, when approached by FOX Sports during the Talladega race weekend on Oct. 6, declined comment on the lawsuit. The sanctioning body has yet to issue a statement other than what is in public court filings.
In a Sept. 18 letter to 23XI Racing, an exhibit in the court filings, Phelps wrote: “It appears after 2+ years of negotiations with Teams, both collectively and individually, compromise and concession on both sides up until the last minute, we firmly believe that we have come up with a document that is fair and equitable to the industry. … You suggest that NASCAR somehow has ‘monopoly power’ and that 23XI and other Teams ‘depend on [NASCAR] for a competitive opportunity’ and have been presented with a ‘take-it-or-leave-it offer.’ We feel — and our attorneys have confirmed — that this contention is misplaced — and similar types of claims have already been rejected by courts.”
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What do other team owners say?
RCR owner Richard Childress: “I didn’t have a choice. We had to sign. I have over 400 employees, OEM [manufacturer] contracts, contracts with sponsors. I’ve got to take care of my team.”
Trackhouse owner Justin Marks: “It’s a wait-and-see game. It’s going to take a long time to take to get to any sort of point where we know what the future looks like. … For us, we just have to focus on Trackhouse. Ultimately, we got to a place where I was comfortable signing the contract. We did a great job the last couple of years building a viable business under the current arrangement and the new one will continue that in our standpoint.”
RFK Racing owner (and driver) Brad Keselowski: “We’re always going to be fighting over a piece of the pie. … I just want peace. I want our entire industry to become laser-focused on growing the sport and creating incentives where we all win when that happens.”
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What do drivers say?
Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports): “We’re probably one of the only sports, if not the only sport, that athlete salary has gone down in the last couple of decades. Where you look at, clearly, most athletes’ salaries are going up — not just athletes but coaches, staff members, everybody. Obviously we would love to see it trend upward instead of the opposite, which it’s been, but I think with that, the teams probably have to make a lot more money to make it viable to pay the people that are working for the organizations.”
Joey Logano (Team Penske): “Does it affect me? I’m sure someway, somehow, someday, it probably will. But at the moment, there’s nothing I can do either way. So I’m just kind of letting it roll and see how the cards fall and see what happens.”
Michael McDowell (Front Row): “Bob Jenkins is so dedicated to this sport. … He has spent millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of his own dollars to be in this sport and to be competitive. Nobody does that unless they’re insane or super passionate. Bob is very passionate.”
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Kevin Harvick says Kyle Larson is a better all-around driver than Max Verstappen!
Who are the lawyers?
The teams’ main attorney is Jeffrey Kessler, who is known for representing NCAA athletes in their quest to earn money from their name, image and likeness. He also has represented U.S. women’s national team players in their quest for equal pay. He also represented Tom Brady during “Deflategate.”
NASCAR is represented by Chris Yates, a noted attorney who has represented the U.S. Soccer Federation, the UFC, World Aquatics, Fanatics, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Who is the judge?
The judge is Frank Whitney, who was appointed to the bench in 2006. He is a former Army reservist, a military intelligence officer, and spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor in North Carolina. As far as racing cases, he currently is the judge in a Video Privacy Protection Act class action lawsuit against NASCAR. He also has presided over BK Racing owner Ron Devine’s lawsuit against the bankruptcy trustee over whether he owes money to the former team’s bankruptcy estate. Magistrate judge Susan Rodriguez, who would handle certain motions in the case, is the magistrate for the data privacy case and also recently presided over a breach of contract trial between Front Row owner Bob Jenkins and Devine and BK Racing co-owner Michael DiSeveria over who was responsible to pay for liens on a charter FRM bought from BK.
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How long could this take?
This case could settle at any time. But it could take two years or more if it went to trial. And then any appeal could take a year or more. And if there are decisions that could merit an appeal before the case continues toward trial, it could take even longer.
Will the teams win?
There is no question NASCAR controls many aspects of the sport. It has faced antitrust actions twice over the last 25 years, but those complaints came from racetracks that wanted Cup races (NASCAR prevailed in one, settled the other). The key for the teams is to get past what most likely will be a motion to dismiss (where NASCAR would ask the judge to rule that it didn’t violate the law even if everything the race teams allege is true) before discovery occurs. If NASCAR fails to persuade the judge to throw out the case, the teams would get to look at NASCAR’s books and emails, which would then give them the opportunity to find any egregious acts that discourage competition. It is possible that alone would push NASCAR to settle.
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Will NASCAR win?
NASCAR leadership could argue that they gave teams a charter agreement to help them and were under no obligation to do so — and that there could be more competition if there was no charter agreement whatsoever because no one would be guaranteed a spot in the field. They could argue that they don’t stifle competition because there are other stock-car series, albeit on a smaller scale (such as the CARS tour), or other racing series that teams could compete in. And they could argue against the premise that they are legally required to have premier racing teams competing in their events.
And what would be the potential outcomes?
That is the biggest question. The teams appear to want their preferred terms of the charter deal — they would like to see permanent charters, more of a say in the governance of the sport and more control of their intellectual property than what is in the 2025 charter agreement. But there could be other/different changes that address the antitrust issues. Could NASCAR be required to sell the tracks, and if so, who would buy them, and how would that address the teams’ issues? Could NASCAR change clauses in the charter agreement that don’t necessarily deal with revenue awarded to the teams but which satisfy the legal issues and would then force the teams to potentially see if another major stock-car series could be developed? That is what gives this case the potential to have a major impact on the future of the sport.
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Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts walked into the postgame press conference Friday night with a cigar clutched between his fingers, his voice hoarse from the revelry. As a player in 2004, his series-flipping steal helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series en route to winning a World Series. As a manager in the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, his Dodgers overcame a 3-1 deficit in the National League Championship Series against the Braves en route to snapping the franchise’s 32-year title drought.
And yet he put this National League Division Series comeback against the Padres, which included consecutive shutout wins in elimination games and 24 consecutive scoreless innings from the Dodgers’ embattled pitching staff, in the same conversation as those successes. After losing to a lower-seeded division rival in the first round the previous two seasons, it would not happen a third time as Los Angeles knocked out San Diego 2-0 on Friday to advance to the NLCS versus the New York Mets.
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“This is right there with it,” Roberts said. “To kind of win this series how we did, to kind of fall behind — and those guys coming into the postseason had a lot of momentum — speaks to the character of our guys. This is right up there.”
Before Game 5, Roberts told his players that he believed in this team more than any team he’d ever coached.
“I just think that there’s a relentlessness, a refusal to lose,” Roberts said.
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Their first baseman, Freddie Freeman, was playing on one leg. Their shortstop, Miguel Rojas, left Game 3 early and never returned to the series, hindered by the torn adductor he had attempted to play through. Injuries had ravaged their starting pitching, enough that they only had one member of their Opening Day rotation still available in October.
For many of those reasons, the Padres, who had lost the division but finished with the best second-half record in baseball, were viewed by many as the better club. Within the Dodgers’ clubhouse, a mantra began to form, stemming from a message Kiké Hernández delivered when the team was down 2-1. It continued to be spread throughout the clubhouse as Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” blasted through the speakers Friday night.
The one starter still standing, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, missed nearly three months with a rotator cuff strain and had thrown five innings just one time in his four regular-season starts back from injury. He got walloped by the Padres in his major-league debut in March and then again this past Saturday in Game 1 of the NLDS, enough that the Dodgers thought he might have been tipping his pitches. They attempted to clean up the issues before Game 5, when they decided to go with Yamamoto again.
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“In talking to him, you could get the sense that he wanted the ball,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.
But the choice was not a given and was not announced until 9:31 p.m. PT the night before Game 5. They could have tabbed Jack Flaherty, their prized deadline acquisition. Or they could have used another bullpen game after it worked masterfully against the Padres two nights prior. All of their relievers were available again in another elimination game.
But not giving Yamamoto the ball with the season on the line would have sent a bad message to the player they had just made the highest-paid pitcher in the sport.
“At the end of the day,” Roberts said, “we’re making a bet on a guy to pitch the game of his life tonight.”
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Yamamoto had big-game experience in the past, both from earlier this year and his career internationally. His best outing as a major-leaguer came in the Bronx, when he held the Yankees scoreless through seven innings on June 7. The 26-year-old also pitched in the World Baseball Classic. Roberts considered pitching for Japan, and a player’s country, “the highest stakes that you can have.”
In addition to winning the Nippon Pacific League MVP and triple crown three straight years, Yamamoto also led the Orix Buffaloes to the Japan Series three straight seasons. Last year, he faltered in a Game 1 loss in which he surrendered seven runs. He got the ball again in Game 6, with the Buffaloes down 3-2 in the series, and struck out 14 batters in a 138-pitch complete game.
He would not need to throw nearly that many pitches to give the Dodgers exactly what they needed.
“Yoshinobu is here to be a top-end starter,” Robertse said, “and this is his time.”
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Before Yamamoto reached the top step on his final walk off the mound Friday, Roberts slapped his hand and gave him a hug. A parade of high-fives awaited in the dugout. Shohei Ohtani rubbed Yamamoto’s head and laughed. The Dodgers had made it to this point without needing a starter to step up, but at some point that had to change. They gave Yamamoto 12 years and $325 million to deliver in these situations. With the relievers behind him, they did not need eight scoreless. If he could give them even three solid innings, the Dodgers figured they could cover at least six with their bullpen.
Instead, he provided five spotless innings of work.
“He has a little Walker Buehler in him,” Gavin Lux said. “The bigger the game, the bigger the moment, he’s going to give it his best stuff.”
Two years ago, the Dodgers never got this chance.
In 2022, the Padres took care of Game 4 before the series could go back to Los Angeles. Some questionable pitching decisions doomed the Dodgers that night. Tyler Anderson was cruising when the bullpen took over. Their best reliever at the time, Evan Phillips, watched from the sideline as disaster ensued in a five-run seventh that decided the series. At one point, Yency Almonte missed a pickoff sign from the dugout in an effort to allow Alex Vesia more time to warm up. Instead, he threw a ball. Vesia, who afterward said he was already warm, then entered in the middle of the at-bat and surrendered the eventual game-winning hit. By the time Phillips pitched in the eighth and struck out the side, it was too late. Roberts got crushed for the moves, as he did in 2018 for pulling Rich Hill in the World Series and in 2019 for putting Clayton Kershaw in relief against the Nationals.
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This was both redemption and relief.
Roberts delivered a masterclass throughout the 2024 NLDS as the Dodgers outpitched, outhit and outmanaged their opponent.
In Game 4, the Padres’ decision to use Dylan Cease on short rest for the first time in Game 4 backfired, while Roberts’ expert precision in deploying eight relievers resulted in the biggest shutout win in Dodgers postseason history.
In Game 5, San Diego manager Mike Shildt decided to let starter Yu Darvish keep going into the seventh in a one-run game a third time through the Dodgers’ lineup, instead of turning to one of the scariest back-end bullpens in the sport. The move proved costly. Teoscar Hernández delivered in the clutch as he has all season in Los Angeles after signing a one-year deal with the club, depositing a no-doubt shot into the left-field pavilion and giving the procession of Dodgers relievers a little breathing room.
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The first matchup between two Japanese starting pitchers in MLB playoff history did not disappoint. Through six innings, the only damage for either team came off the bat of Kiké Hernández. Roberts played the versatile position player with the season on the line because of his penchant to deliver in October.
“It’s kind of the person, that particular moment,” Roberts said, “and you’ve got to make a bet.”
The night before the deciding Game 5 of the 2017 NLCS against the Cubs, Hernández decided to start visualizing his success. He envisioned how the next day would go, the pitchers he would face, and how he’d deliver in the clutch. He proceeded to swat three home runs the next day to send the Dodgers to the World Series. He has continued that visualization technique and is hitting .394 with six home runs in the playoffs since the start of the 2021 postseason.
“There’s anxiety and things like that, that we go through as athletes, especially in big situations, big games, especially in October,” he said before Game 5. “And whenever you feel that little anxiety or whatever it is creep in, you just go back to visualizing yourself having success.”
On Friday, he wore a shirt before the game that read “Good Vibes Only.” Then he delivered a solo shot in the second inning, which ultimately provided Yamamoto with the only cushion he needed.
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Roberts could have let Yamamoto keep going at 63 pitches through five frames. The starter was holding his velocity and hadn’t allowed a run, while getting away with some fastballs that leaked over the plate. But he had done his job. Instead, Roberts prudently turned to Phillips, who recorded the next five outs. Vesia followed with another, as the duo struck out the side against the heart of the Padres’ order in the seventh.
Vesia was expected to stay out for the eighth, but an injury to his side forced him out during warm-ups. No panic. Roberts turned to Michael Kopech for that frame, then Blake Treinen for the next. The bullpen did not permit a single baserunner.
With his team on the brink, Roberts said Game 5 was as stressed as he’d been “in quite some time.” He didn’t show it, pushing all the right buttons.
Roberts has now won six of his eight winner-take-all matchups.
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“I thought he was surgical in Game 4 and in Game 5,” Friedman said. “I thought he had the right feel and pulse for when to make a move and who to go to.”
The result was the Dodgers’ first postseason series clinch at Dodger Stadium since 2013, not including wild-card games. In 2020, their run to the World Series came in a bubble in Texas. While they won it all that year, many of their players have expressed a desire to win a full-season championship so they can celebrate it with fans.
On Friday, facing a division rival that had been the hottest team in baseball for the past four months, the Dodgers’ clutch supporting players, along with their maligned pitching staff and manager, got them one step closer.
“We know who we are,” Muncy said. “We’re the f—ing best team in baseball, and we’re out there to prove it.”
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Wales striker Kieffer Moore believes the first half against Iceland on Friday showed everything they are trying to achieve under new manager Craig Bellamy.
Goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson capped a dominant opening period for Wales in the Nations League game in Reykjavik.
The second half was in stark contrast, as Wales crumbled to allow the hosts to come back to make it 2-2 and were perhaps fortunate to escape with a draw after Iceland hit the post late on.
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“First half it showed what we’re about and what we’re working on. Everything came off and that was our identity – that’s how we should play,” said Moore, who led the line in Reykjavik.
“Second half we just lost a little bit of it. Iceland are no mugs. They’re a good team and when you give a team like that a foothold in the game they can take advantage, which is obviously what they did.
“But a point away from home is still a good result and we remain unbeaten.”
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