Hello, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get straight to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: Bats have swung, balls have flown, runners have sprinted and still…

No one can score on the Dodgers!

The New York Mets came to town on Sunday as the hottest team in baseball, worked all their magic and unleashed all their wonders and still…

No one can score on the Dodgers!

Thirty-three innings, four games, a load of potential rallies in October’s most crucial moments and still…

Can’t anyone score on the Dodgers?

Believe it because the Mets believe it, just like the San Diego Padres were forced to believe it, even though it refutes history and defies description.

A Dodger pitching staff that was considered the team’s biggest weakness entering the postseason has erupted into its greatest strength: Jack Flaherty and two relievers combined for a third straight shutout Sunday to match a Major League postseason record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings as they swept the Mets. 9-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.

The streak dates back to Game 3 of the divisional series against the Padres, includes 10 different Dodger pitchers and looks something like this:

000000000000000000000000000000000

Read more here

Dodgers box score

Dodgers waste no time extending their dominance in NLCS Game 1 win

Small-bat strategy pays off: Why Dodgers embrace sacrifice bunts vs. Mets

The Dodgers shutout innings streak looks very different from the ’66 original

Jack Flaherty’s immortalizing Game 1 has special meaning for the LA-raised pitcher

Bus rides, party viewing and a new mindset: the edge driving the Dodgers’ playoff run

MLB POST SEASON SCHEDULE

Always Pacific

NLCS
No. 1 Dodgers vs. No. 6 NY Mets
at Dodgers 9, New York 0. (box score)
Monday: New York at Dodgers, 1 p.m., Fox
Wednesday: Dodgers at New York, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday: Dodgers at New York, 5 p.m., FS1
*Friday: Dodgers at New York, 2 p.m., FS1
*Sunday: New York at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1
*Monday, October 21: New York at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1/Fox

ALCS
No. 1 NY Yankees vs. #2 Cleveland
Monday in New York, 4:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Tuesday in New York, 4:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Thursday in Cleveland, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Friday in Cleveland, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Saturday in Cleveland, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Monday, October 21 in New York, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Tuesday, October 22 in New York, 4:30 PM, TBS/truTV/MAX

*-if necessary

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Flanked by team medical personnel, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh shuffled to the locker room while his team was still on the field against the Denver Broncos.

Midway through the first quarter, he strode back to the sideline, unnoticed by players who had no idea their coach had an irregular heartbeat. After quarterback Justin Herbert laced a perfect third-down throw to Joshua Palmer to extend a Chargers drive, Harbaugh pointed downfield and pumped his fist.

It was as if nothing had happened.

As his coaches and teammates cycled in and out of the locker room, Herbert was the mainstay of the Chargers’ 23-16 victory over the Broncos on Sunday.

The quarterback who was off to the slowest passing start of his career led the offense with 237 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-34 passing as the Chargers (3-2) held off Denver’s 16-point fourth quarter to win in the Mile High City for the first time since 2018.

Read more here

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has had this heart problem before, but what are the next steps?

Chargers box score

NFL Scores

NFL Rankings

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: On April 1, around 9:15 a.m., Michael Cooper’s phone rang with the news that he had finally been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He sat next to his wife Yvonne and both listened. But when he heard the words about one of basketball’s highest honors, Cooper had his doubts.

His former Lakers teammate Magic Johnson had lobbied for years to get Cooper in the Hall of Fame, but that never happened. When he first heard the news, Cooper thought, why should he believe it was true this time?

“First of all, I got the call on April 1, and I thought it was a joke at first,” Cooper said with a laugh. “I was sitting next to my wife and I got a call on speaker phone and I thought, ‘Right. OK. This is a cruel April Fool’s joke.’ They said, ‘No, Coop, you got in.’ I stared a little and my wife said, “Honey, they said you came in.” So yeah, I didn’t really expect it because the time they called before I came in, I didn’t get in. But they said I was there. I was delighted. I stood up and started yelling, ‘I’m in the Hall of Fame!’”

Read more here

LAFC

Mateusz Bogusz scored 35 seconds into the match, Ilie Sánchez found the net during second-half stoppage time and LAFC recorded a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday night.

LAFC comes within three points of the Galaxy in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference and can’t finish worse than second. LAFC posted a 3-0 home win over the Whitecaps in May and leads the all-time series 10-6-4.

Bogusz used assists from David Martínez and Olivier Giroud to score his fifteenth goal of the season for LAFC (18-8-7). Martínez recorded his fourth assist in his 16th career appearance and Giroud picked up his third in his ninth career appearance.

Read more here

LAFC Summary

MLS Rankings

DUCKS

Brett Howden, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev each scored a goal and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Ducks 3-1 on Sunday night.

Ilya Samsonov had 22 saves for Vegas.

Troy Terry scored the lone goal for the Ducks and James Reimer made 29 saves.

Vegas improved to 3-0-0 through its first three games for the fifth time since joining the NHL in 2017. The Knights also improved to 24-7-1 all-time against the Ducks, including a 14-3-0 mark. in Vegas.

Read more here

Duck summary

NHL scores

NHL standings

WNBA FINAL

Always Pacific

No. 1 New York vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Minnesota 95, New York 93 (OT)
at New York 80, Minnesota 66
Wed. in Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
Friday in Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, October 21 in New York, TBD

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

(1945-The Chicago Cardinals break the longest losing streak in NFL history with 29 games with a 16-7 victory over the Chicago Bears

1949 – Ezzard Charles TKO’s Pat Valentino in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.

1967 – The Kings, led by Brain Kilrea, beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their NHL debut. The match will be held at the Long Beach (California) Arena. Kilrea scores two goals, including the first in Kings history.

1973 – 42-year-old future baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays’ last MLB career hit, as NY Mets defeated A’s 10-7 in World Series Game 2 in Oakland.

1978 — Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets seven assists in a 10-7 win over the New York Islanders.

1979 – Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal in a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky beat goaltender Glen Hanlon on the tying power-play goal with 1:09 left in the third period.

1990 – Joe Montana passes for a career-high 476 yards and six touchdowns and Jerry Rice ties an NFL record with five scoring receptions as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 45-35.

1991 – New York Rangers right wing Mike Gartner scores his 500th career goal in the first period of a 5–3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

2005 – Ryan Newman sets a NASCAR record by winning his fifth consecutive Busch Series race, the Charlotte 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

2006 – Mats Sundin scores his 500th career goal, completing a hat trick with a short-handed overtime play to give Toronto a 5–4 win over Calgary. The third goal is Sundin’s 15th in overtime – the most in NHL history.

2011 — Japan’s Kohei Uchimura becomes the first man to win three titles at the World Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo. Uchimura finished with 93.631 points in the men’s all-round, more than three points ahead of German Philipp Boy.

2012 – Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers sets a career high, tying a franchise record with six touchdown passes, three to Jordy Nelson, and the Packers beat the Houston Texans 42-24. Rodgers completed 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards and tied Matt Flynn’s single-game record for TD passes, set in last year’s regular-season finale against Detroit.

2015 – Sylvia Fowles has 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx capture their third WNBA title in five years with a 69-52 win over the Indiana Fever in Game 5.

2020 — The NFL cancels the Pro Bowl scheduled for January 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compiled by the Associated Press