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Orange County Register

Police officers take down street takeover near Temecula – with infant reportedly a passenger in 1 car

November 15, 2024

Law enforcement officers, responding to complaints from residents about illegal street takeovers in the community of De Luz west of Temecula, impounded four cars and wrote 11 citations after busting up a recent sideshow. An infant was a passenger in one of the cars, the California Highway Patrol said.

The residents said the reckless driving, including spinouts and cars doing doughnuts, has been happening for weeks, particularly on weekend nights, according to a CHP news release.

So the CHP and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department teamed up to conduct surveillance on Nov. 8. Around 11:15 p.m., they moved in when a large group of motorists arrived. The 12 drivers and spectators were detained, the release said.

All were ages 17 to 24 years old.

Citation charges included exhibition of speed, reckless driving, driving unlicensed, child endangerment – because of the infant in one car, being an underage person in possession of alcohol, having modified emissions systems and excessive exhaust noise.

“The CHP would like to remind the motoring public that sideshows — often involving street racing, car stunts,and large crowds — may seem exciting, but they pose serious risks to participants, bystanders, and communities. These events typically lack the safety precautions of regulated environments, leading toaccidents, injuries, and even fatalities,” the release said.

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Orange County Register

USC QB Jayden Maiava is an ‘inspiration for the people of Hawaii’

November 15, 2024

LOS ANGELES — On a dot of green in the middle of the North Pacific, 13-year-old Nehemiah Gavino-Veneri trains across the blooming fields of O’ahu, hoping one day for a shot on the mainland.

Since his son first threw a football at 3 years old, Mark Veneri said, all Nehemiah can talk about is becoming a quarterback. He is a product of this generation of Polynesian dreamers, same as USC’s Jayden Maiava. Young quarterbacks, suddenly, are blossoming in Hawaii, a region of islands once pigeonholed for line-of-scrimmage talent and galvanized by the stories of “Throwin’ Samoan” Jack Thompson and Tua Tagavailoa and Marcus Mariota.

When Nehemiah was 8, then-USC linebacker and O’ahu native Maninoa Tufono hosted the boy and his father in Southern California for a private tour of the Trojans’ facilities. He showed them around the practice field. He showed them around the locker room. It was a far-away fantasy, tucked amid rows of cardinal-and-gold uniforms.

Not five years later, Maiava was named USC’s starting quarterback. Mark told his son, in excitement, when he’d heard. This was a Polynesian kid. A kid who’d grown up in government housing in Palolo Valley in Honolulu.

“He’s just like, ‘That’s USC,’” Veneri remembered Nehemiah saying. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah. That’s it. That’s the goal.’”

The goal is a little more real now, because Nehemiah knows Maiava. He was the kid, back in group training sessions at Kailua District Park, who’d step to the front of the line in drills with local trainer Keli’i Tilton. He was the older mentor, then playing high school ball, who’d give 6-year-old Nehemiah pointers on his footwork. And word has spread across the coasts back home in O’ahu, as Maiava isn’t just set to start for USC but is set to play against another Polynesian quarterback in Dylan Raiola, the texts pinging across Tilton’s phone – “Coach, is that true? Jayden’s going to start?” – from young clients.

They all grew up idolizing Mariota, the Heisman Trophy winner whose No. 8 Oregon jersey hangs from Nehemiah’s bedroom wall in the town of Aiea. They grew up idolizing Tagovailoa, who first exploded onto the scene at Saint Louis School in Honolulu. Maiava was one of them, once. Now he’s the model, the first Polynesian starting quarterback in USC history, for a group of kids who have rarely seen their identities represented behind center.

“I think it inspires a lot of Polynesian kids to play QB,” USC safety Akili Arnold said, also of Polynesian descent, “and not shy away from being that guy.”

Maiava played on the same fields. He threw, for many, with the same coach. He grew from the same soil.

So the dreamers of O’ahu will follow Maiava.

“Jayden is a source of inspiration,” Veneri said, “for the people of Hawaii.”

In Tua’s footsteps

These days, as the 6-foot-4 Maiava prepares for his long-awaited shot in the limelight, his USC receivers gush over his physical tools. A playmaker, sophomore Duce Robinson called him. He’s “got an arm,” senior Kyle Ford said.

But the UNLV transfer, like so many Polynesian kids before him, didn’t start out a quarterback. Maiava started as a linebacker in flag and middle-school ball in O’ahu, before his father and uncle pushed him to try quarterback. He played some receiver, too, and was “unbelievable,” said Tagavailoa’s father Galu, who coached a young Maiava with his youth program Ewa Beach Sabers.

“At first, I didn’t even want to play the position,” Maiava reflected Tuesday, “because I was just – I didn’t think I had what it took to play the position, obviously.”

That simply hasn’t been the standard, for decades. Polynesians have become well represented in the NFL, but have long been known as linemen, as Polynesian Pro Football Hall of Fame founder Jesse Sapolu said.

“When I was playing, you play quarterback – people look at you like you’re crazy,” said Sapolu, who was a longtime offensive lineman with the San Francisco 49ers.

Even Tagavailoa didn’t start out as a quarterback. Galu hoped his son could emulate the late Junior Seau, the hard-hitting linebacker for USC and the San Diego Chargers. It was only until Tagavailoa’s third-grade year of flag football, when his team’s quarterback got hurt, that Galu began training his son as a quarterback out of necessity. And Tagavailoa’s rapid ascent quickly helped start the “birth of a lot of kids wanting to play quarterback here in Hawaii,” as Tilton recalled, premier 7-on-7 tournaments and a wealth of quarterback trainers quickly expanding to the islands.

Maiava was influenced, too, by Tagavailoa’s journey, even catching passes from him when the former Alabama standout would return home for some throwing sessions with the Sabers. Nebraska’s Railoa looked up to him, too, a former 5-star recruit who spent his youth flying back and forth between the mainland and school in O’ahu.

In 2020, Railoa’s father Dominic, a former center for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, they ran into Galu Tagavailoa.

“I’m gonna play quarterback,” Galu remembered a young Raiola telling him. “I want to be like Tua some day, and play in the national championship.”

Galu looked at the precocious youngster, now a highly touted freshman with the Cornhuskers.

“You can,” Galu told him.

Maiava and Railoa have followed in Tagavailoa’s footsteps. And both – Maiava calling it a “privilege” Tuesday to be the first Polynesian quarterback for USC – are well aware of Saturday’s significance to their community.

“Now you get to look across,” Railoa’s father Dominic told the Southern California News Group, “and the other quarterback is from the same speck on the map as you.”

‘Stepping stone for our community’

On Saturday, the watch parties will span oceans and paved roads, several island communities gathering for watch parties.

There’ll be a group of about 10 people in Kailua-Kona, tucked on the west coast of the Big Island of Hawai’i, one resident told the Southern California News Group. There’ll be a group of about 15-20 in Pearl City, O’ahu, too. And 10 to 15 more in Tagavailoa’s hometown of Ewa Beach.

“To me, it’s a stepping stone for our community to see this,” former 49er Sapolu said.

“We’re only going to get to this point more often,” he continued. “And I’m proud of Jayden and Raiola for pushing through, and making this possible for us.”

Hawaii, ultimately, is small, trainer Tilton affirmed. Everybody knows everybody. And everybody knows Maiava, the kid who grew up one of eight siblings in Palolo Valley, where Galu Tagavailoa once grew up with Maiava’s father. It was hard to survive, a rough stretch of housing projects where gangs were rampant, Galu reflected.

But Galu made it, and his son made it, too, from Ewa Beach. Maiava made it, from O’ahu to Vegas and back again and back again, all the way to USC. That meant something, Tilton reflected, to the kids who’d trained with him on the island and seen Maiava’s journey firsthand.

“It’s very inspirational,” 13-year-old Nehemiah said, “to push me, to be on the same level.”

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Veneri and Nehemiah live in a two-bedroom townhome in Aiea, a small town just down the road from Pearl City on O’ahu. They live comfortably. But opportunity in Hawaii doesn’t come often, as Veneri said. And Nehemiah’s dream lies across the ocean, back on the same USC turf he visited when he was 8 years old.

“Even though we’re on a tiny rock,” Veneri reflected, “the dreams and aspirations of athletes are out there to get.”

So Veneri has told his son the story of Tua Tagavailoa, the kid from Ewa Beach. He’s told his son the story of Mariota, the kid from Honolulu.

And he can tell him, now, the story of Maiava, the kid from Palolo Valley making history at USC.

Orange County Register

Lakers begin quest for 2nd NBA Cup with matchup against Spurs

November 15, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Nearly one year after winning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament and the sluggish play that followed, it’s become common to question what the Lakers’ approach would be in their quest to win the NBA Cup again.

And if they would have similar motivations as last year.

So far, it appears they do.

“We want the money,” forward Rui Hachimura said after the team’s home win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. “Last year, we were very motivated. We have the big prize. This tournament did kind of motivate us to kind of get in [to a] different level.”

The “big prize” Hachimura is referring to is the $500,000 bonus each Lakers player took home as their monetary reward for winning the inaugural NBA Cup.

The prize money has increased to $514,971 for players on the team that wins the NBA Cup, with the runner-up, semifinal participants and quarterfinal participants also being rewarded financially.

The Lakers went undefeated in last season’s Tournament Group Play games before beating the Phoenix Suns in the quarterfinals, the New Orleans Pelicans in the semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the final.

They’ll play the first of their four Group Play games this year against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at Frost Bank Center. As part of West Group B, the Lakers will also host the Utah Jazz (Tuesday), play at the Suns (Nov. 26) and host the Oklahoma City Thunder (Nov. 29) in group-stage games.

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is coming off the first 50-point game of his career in Wednesday’s victory over the Washington Wizards.

“One game at a time,” Anthony Davis said. “I know it kind of was the hype around us last year, but we’re approaching each game – regular-season game or Cup game – as the same. I don’t think just because it’s a Cup game that we should change how we approach it. We should approach each game the same way and that’s how we’re going to approach it.”

Including last year’s NBA Cup final and the regular-season games sandwiched around the group-stage matchups, the Lakers went 12-4 during a month-long period when it was clear their focus was raised to a different level.

But the Lakers lost 10 of their next 13 games after winning the tournament – a stretch of disappointing play that was a factor in previous coach Darvin Ham being fired shortly after the regular season ended.

New coach JJ Redick doesn’t expect the Lakers’ approach to change for Cup games.

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“I expect our guys to be highly competitive,” Redick said. “Said this a number of times last year, you don’t need to give a reason to competitive people to compete. They wake up in the morning, they wanna compete. And the games count for the regular season. We all recognize how difficult the Western Conference is. And every game is gonna matter.”

LeBron James, who was last year’s tournament MVP, had Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on his mind before the team traveled to San Antonio on Thursday. The Spurs announced on Wednesday that Popovich suffered a mild stroke at their home arena on Nov. 2, adding that the Hall of Famer has already started a rehabilitation program and is expected to make a full recovery.

“There’s much bigger news out of San Antonio right now and that’s my dear friend Coach Pop,” James said. “I’ll be thinking heavily about him as I travel there. And I’m wishing him the best of health. And hopefully, I see him soon. It doesn’t even have to be on the sidelines. Hopefully I’ll just see him soon. That’s most important for me.”

LAKERS AT SPURS

When: Friday, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio

TV/radio: ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM

Orange County Register

Six Flags to spend $1 billion on 11 coasters over next 2 years

November 15, 2024

Six Flags is going on a billion-dollar spending spree to add new roller coasters, thrill rides and water slides to its playlands across North America that doesn’t even include the $1 billion being spent on a new Six Flags park in Saudi Arabia.

Six Flags plans to spend $1 billion on new rides, kids play areas, seasonal events and other amenities at its 42 amusement parks and water parks in North America over the next two years.

Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain plans 21st roller coaster for 2026

The new attractions coming to Six Flags parks in 2025 and 2026 include 11 roller coasters plus water rides, themed lands and water park upgrades.

Six Flags and Cedar Fair merged during the summer in an $8 billion deal that created a combined portfolio of 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks in the United States, Canada and Mexico that attract 48 million visitors a year.

ALSO SEE: How Disneyland’s $400 Premier Pass compares to other line-skipping perks

The Six Flags 2025 lineup includes seven coasters — at Illinois’ Six Flags Great America (Wrath of Rakshasa), Canada’s Wonderland (AlpenFury), Massachusetts’ Six Flags New England (Quantum Accelerator), Virginia’s Kings Dominion (Rapterra), North Carolina’s Carowinds (Snoopy’s Racing Railway), Six Flags Over Georgia (Georgia Surfer) and New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure (Flash: Vertical Velocity).

Three other parks — Valencia’s Six Flags Magic Mountain, Ohio’s Kings Island and Six Flags Over Texas — will get water park upgrades in 2025.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags has no plans to close any theme parks

The 2026 lineup includes four more coasters — at Valencia’s Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Mexico.

Great Adventure will get a launch coaster and Over Texas will get a dive coaster — both record breakers. Magic Mountain’s new coaster will be a first-of-its-kind ride in North America. Six Flags Mexico will get a family thrill boomerang coaster.

ALSO SEE: Knott’s and Magic Mountain to offer season pass combo in 2025

The rest of the new 2026 attraction lineup includes water rides at Carowinds and Canada’s Wonderland, a family thrill ride at Kings Island, a themed kids area at Six Flags Great America and water park upgrades at Buena Park’s Knott’s Berry Farm.

None of those tallies include the eight roller coasters coming in 2025 to the new $1 billion Six Flags Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia — including Falcon’s Flight, which will become the fastest (155 mph) and tallest (640 feet) coaster in the world.

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Orange County Register

Knott’s Soak City will get a little TLC in 2026

November 15, 2024

Knott’s Soak City will get a little TLC when the 15-acre water park with two dozen slides, a lazy river and wave pool undergoes a major refurbishment for the first time in nearly a decade.

Knott’s Soak City water park in Buena Park will be refreshed and enhanced in 2026, according to Knott’s Berry Farm officials.

Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags Magic Mountain plans 21st roller coaster for 2026

The Soak City refurbishment is part of Six Flags’ plan to spend $1 billion on new rides, themed areas, seasonal events and other amenities at its 42 amusement parks and water parks over the next two years.

Additional details about the Knott’s Soak City upgrade will be announced in summer 2025.

ALSO SEE: Knott’s and Magic Mountain to offer season pass combo in 2025

Knott’s Soak City has made minor upgrades over the past few years to the areas around the wave pool, lazy river and a few food and beverage locations.

The last major refurbishment of Knott’s Soak City was in 2017.

Back then, Soak City got the Shore Break six-slide tower and the Wedge family raft slide along with a remodel of Longboard’s Grill and cabana seating areas.

ALSO SEE: Six Flags has no plans to close any theme parks

Don’t expect anything quite as elaborate for 2026. Water park enhancements tend to involve fresh paint, new landscaping and more shade.

Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags Magic Mountain will undergo a major refurbishment in 2025 that will upgrade food and beverage options, expand shaded seating and cabana areas and install new landscaping.

Other Six Flags parks are getting bigger water park upgrades in 2025 — including a new water coaster and kids play area at Ohio’s Kings Island and a kids slide tower and splash play area at Six Flags Over Texas.

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Orange County Register

Lakers fall to Suns for 1st loss of season

October 29, 2024

PHOENIX — Despite strong performances from Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers dropped their first game of the season to the Suns, falling 109-105 on Monday night at Footprint Center to kick off their five-game trip.

Davis’ 30-point streak to start the season ended at three games. He finished with 29 points (12-of-24 shooting), 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.

Hachimura finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Reaves scored 23 points (8-for-15 shooting), including 17 in the second half, to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

But with the Lakers trailing 107-104 with 37 seconds left after Davis blocked a Devin Booker jumper that would have put the Suns ahead by five, Reaves missed a potential game-tying open 3-pointer out of a timeout with Booker (game-high 33 points) grabbing the rebound.

“It was a great look, it just didn’t go,” Reaves said. “You wish you could have those back. I’ve been thinking about it ever since the game ended. If I make that shot, a tie game, maybe we get a stop and we get a bucket.

“But, [there are] many possessions in the game where could have [done] something better. Execution was really good. Got the look that we wanted. I just didn’t make the shot. But, I’m going to shoot that every time and live with the results.”

The Lakers got another stop while still down 107-104 with eight seconds left, but the Suns intentionally fouled LeBron James, who struggled offensively for most of the game, to prevent him from attempting a potential game-tying 3-point shot.

James made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second. But the Lakers didn’t grab the offensive rebound and Bradley Beal (15 points) sealed the game with a pair of free throws, putting the Lakers at 3-1 on the season.

“I missed it on purpose to try to get the offensive rebound,” said James, who was noticeably under the weather and had been since Friday. “We had no more timeouts and didn’t come away with it.”

Kevin Durant had 30 points for the Suns.

“We said we wanted to be a process team – I liked our process,” coach JJ Redick said. “I liked the way we started the game. I liked our level of competition to compete on the defensive end. They put you in a lot of tough spots. I have to go watch it, but it felt like, in some ways, we lost to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker’s ability to make tough 2s.”

Booker scored nine fourth-quarter points while Durant scored eight in the quarter, which the Suns won 33-22. All of Durant’s fourth-quarter points came within two minutes in the fourth: a fadeaway jumper over Reaves to put Phoenix up 99-98 with 4:04 left; a pair of free throws to give the Suns a 101-100 lead; a 16-footer over Gabe Vincent after drawing the switch to put the Suns ahead 103-101 with three minutes left; and a seven-footer over Vincent and Hachimurua to give the Suns a 105-101 lead with 2:17 left.

“If there’s one thing to nitpick, it’s probably me,” Redick said. “I probably should have gone to the ‘fire’ [blitzing on defense] a possession or two earlier against KD. But I liked that group that we had out there defensively. I trust those guys.”

James was held to 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting, extending his record streak of double-digit scoring performances to 1,226 games but not doing so until late in the fourth when he knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 105-104 with 1:58 left in the game.

“I would say for him and our group, we missed a lot of paint 2s,” Redick said.

The Lakers shot just 21 of 50 inside the paint, with James, who shot 67.3% inside the paint last season, going 0 of 5.

Redick added: “For [James], those are shots that he makes. In the fourth, he had that miss on the lefty lay. Missed a couple of those one-leggers that were right there in the paint. We gave him the space. They were very intentional about flooding when he was on that iso on either wing. So it’s something we probably need to talk about about how we want to combat that against teams that do that.”

In a reversal from their game Friday night in Los Angeles, which the Lakers won 123-116 after erasing a 22-point, second-quarter deficit, the Lakers took a significant lead early.

The Lakers opened an 18-point advantage (26-8) midway through the first quarter and had a 31-15 advantage later in the period behind strong offensive play from Davis, hustle and taking advantage of the Suns’ slow offensive start.

Davis had 16 first-quarter points in nine minutes, with the Lakers also scoring seven second-chance points and getting easy baskets in transition.

But the Suns turned up their defensive intensity.

And the Lakers’ start-of-second and start-of-fourth quarter lineups, which have been an early bright spot, struggled in their minutes without Davis on the floor.

The Suns outscored the Lakers 17-4 in the seven minutes Davis sat between the first and second quarters, helping Phoenix take a 50-48 lead into halftime. The Suns outscored the Lakers 25-14 in the second, a quarter in which the Lakers only shot 27.3% (6 of 22) from the field.

“We should never have a 14-point quarter,” Redick said. “That’s on me as well. Part of that is me. I gotta make sure we’re running good offense. I felt like it was a little random. We got stalled out. We talked about it at halftime: for us to be a high-level offense, we gotta move bodies and we gotta move the ball. They gotta screen. They just kinda took us out of what we were doing initially and we were great in the second half. We executed great in the second half. It’s just that second quarter really hurt us.”

Reaves, Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell (14 points, eight assists) each scored eight third-quarter points, helping the Lakers win the quarter 35-26 and take an 83-76 lead into the fourth.

The Lakers’ start-of-fourth lineup struggled, allowing the Suns to open the quarter on a 14-3 run to take a 90-86 lead and helping them come away with the win.

The Lakers will continue their trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

“Got to go in and try to not lose two in a row,” Davis said. “The mentality for us all year is to never lose two in a row.”

Orange County Register

Alexander: Dodgers are now one victory away from a World Series parade

October 29, 2024

NEW YORK — So close. So very, very close.

The Dodgers are now 27 outs away from the promised land, from winning a full-season championship for the first time since 1988 – and shutting up all the doubters and haters who criticize their 2020 title – and giving their fans the parade they missed out on four years ago.

And if the Dodgers do go on to win their eighth World Series championship, give a huge share of the credit to Walker Buehler. Heck, lavish it on the three starting pitchers that most observers – guilty as charged – and, if we’re being perfectly candid, much of the fan base doubted going into this postseason.

Buehler pitched five two-hit innings on Monday night, and probably could have gone out for the sixth as well, since the big game adrenalin that fuels him seemed to be pumping hard. But Dave Roberts was not inclined to let him face the top of the Yankees’ lineup a third time. Given the results posted by six Dodger relievers – on the eve of a bullpen game, no less – it turned out to be a wise move.

And through the first three games, starters Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Buehler posted a 1.65 ERA, giving up three runs in 16⅓ innings before turning things over to the bullpen.

“Certainly, there was a lot said about the rotation given the injuries we accrued coming into the postseason,” he said. “But I think that we just kind of came together collectively, feeling the 13 guys on our roster as far as pitchers were going to do a good job of preventing runs. Obviously, it doesn’t matter how you get them, and we’re doing a nice job of kind of piecing it together.”

Buehler made a little bit of history with his five shutout innings Monday night. He’s just the fourth pitcher, and the first Dodger, to throw at least five shutout innings while allowing two or fewer hits in two World Series games, last night joining his seven-inning effort in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series.

(Or, as we now remember that 18-inning classic, the Max Muncy game.)

And so, regardless of the inconsistency he’s shown over the course of this season in his return from Tommy John surgery (and a hip injury that derailed him in the middle of the season), it is not wise to bet against Buehler in big games.

“I’ve told you guys that’s kind of all I care about,” he said. “But … it makes kind of the regular season work it for me.

“As kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenalin and stuff to kind of really get me going mentally. I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I’m excited to pitch every single game I’ve ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs.”

His first outing in these playoffs, in Game 3 of the Division Series against San Diego, was not stellar, thanks to a five-run second inning in a 6-5 loss, but he wound up getting through five innings with no additional damage. His second outing, four shutout innings but 90 pitches in an 8-0 win over the Mets in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series, was better.

Maybe he’s just built for Game 3. The more glaring the spotlight, the better he is.

Getting through this postseason and developing some momentum along the way, he said, is “really encouraging for me personally because I know it’s in there and I’ve just got to unlock it a little bit. But that feeling of there’s an organization relying on me today to win a playoff game, I think it’s kind of the weight that I like feeling and kind of gets me in a certain place mentally that it’s kind of hard to replicate (in the regular season).”

The Yankees in general have been flaccid offensively. They had four hits Monday night, had a runner thrown out at the plate when the lumbering Giancarlo Stanton tried to score on a single to left but was gunned down by Teoscar Hernández, and had only three other men reach second base.

That might not have mattered anyway. Even after Alex Verdugo’s two-run homer in the ninth off of Michael Kopech made it close, the Yankees are hitting .186 in the series overall and are 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position in the first three games.

And the heart of their lineup still has a hole in it: Aaron Judge did reach base twice Monday night, grounding into a force play and drawing a walk, but the presumptive American League MVP is 1 for 12 with seven strikeouts.

It was noted here that under similar circumstances, when Dave Winfield went 1 for 22 against the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series, the late George Steinbrenner started calling him “Mr. May,” a biting reference to Reggie Jackson’s “Mr. October” nickname. Given that history, would Judge be considered Mr. March right now, or maybe Mr. February?

But maybe the conversation should be less about the Yankees’ offensive failures and more about the Dodgers’ pitching accomplishments.They’ve now posted four shutouts in 14 postseason games, two each against the Padres and the Mets.

One of those, of course, was a bullpen game in San Diego, which turned out to be an 8-0 win in an elimination game.

And guess who starts for the Dodgers on Tuesday night: Good old TBA. Johnny Wholestaff gets a chance to put a seal on this championship Tuesday night, and of the leverage relievers only Blake Treinen wasn’t used in Game 3.

I don’t think anyone imagined the Dodgers would be playing with house money by this point – definitely not at the start of October, and not going into this series, either. But maybe it’s time to reevaluate.

The Dodgers won more games than anyone in the regular season, even with an injury list that kept expanding. The three MVPs at the top of their lineup have outplayed the Yankees’ Judge, Stanton and Juan Soto, and Game 3 gave not much more evidence than Games 1 and 2 that the bottom of the New York lineup can be productive.

Maybe the secret weapon was the five days off they received after closing out the Mets in six games in the NL Championship Series two Sundays ago. That gave Freddie Freeman time to rest and get treatment on his injured ankle, and look at the results. He’s 4 for 12 with seven RBIs and three very impactful home runs, including a two-run shot into the right field stands Monday night to get them off and running.

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