Yankees on verge of being swept in World Series for 4th time

• October 29, 2024

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK — Instead of closing in on title No. 28, the New York Yankees are on the verge of getting swept in the World Series for just the fourth time.

Aaron Judge again looked lost at the plate, starting pitching faltered for the second straight game and the Yankees dropped into a 3-0 Series deficit with a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers on Monday night.

In the quiet Yankees clubhouse, players insisted they could spark an improbable turnaround. No team has overcome a 3-0 World Series deficit.

“All it takes is one,” Judge said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat, one play, everything changes for us.”

Judge is 1 for 12 (.083) with no RBIs and seven strikeouts in the Series and is hitting .140 with 20 strikeouts in this postseason.

“It’s definitely shocking,” Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes said. “Obviously, you’re talking about one of the best players in the world right now.”

Judge is down to a .196 average with 15 homers, 31 RBIs and 86 strikeouts in his postseason career.

“I’m not doing any good for the team,” he said, “so just got to step up, take my walks when I can, drive the baseball if I get something to hit.”

New York has nine hits in the last two games, just three for extra bases, and struck out 11 times on Monday – four looking.

Its bottom four hitters are a combined 6 for 43 with three RBIs, including Alex Verdugo’s two-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Michael Kopech. Yankees hitters are 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position.

“It stinks,” first baseman Anthony Rizzo said of the Yankees’ predicament. “It’s not going to be easy, for sure.”

Even New York’s bats are easy catches. When Anthony Volpe struck out against Daniel Hudson in the seventh inning, his lumber went flying over the Dodgers’ dugout. It hit the netting protecting fans in the prime seats, and Dodgers field coordinator Bob Geren snagged the lumber off the rebound.

“We’re playing kind of on the back foot a little bit,” Verdugo said.

In the Yankees’ first World Series home game since 2009, their best chance to rebound from an early deficit was when Giancarlo Stanton doubled in the fourth with the Dodgers ahead 3-0. Volpe hit a two-out single and Stanton was sent home by third base coach Luis Rojas. Teoscar Hernández made a perfect one-hop throw and Stanton, a slow runner, was tagged out by catcher Will Smith.

“In that situation, two outs, you gotta roll the dice on it,” Stanton said.

New York resembles the team that went 10-23 from mid-June through late July, not the one that started 50-22 and rebounded to win the American League East and its 41st pennant. In a Series with relatively little offense, the Yankees have been outscored 14-7, outhit .213 to .186 and outhomered 5-3.

The only team in big league history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven postseason series was the Boston Red Sox against the Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts helped spark that stunning Red Sox comeback with a pivotal stolen base.

“Hopefully we can go be this amazing story and shock the world,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But right now it’s about trying to get a lead, trying to grab a game, and force another one, and then on from there. But we’ve got to grab one first.”

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Since winning the first two games of the 1981 Series at home against the Dodgers, the Yankees have lost seven in a row to them in the Fall Classic.

One out from winning the opener 3-2 in 10 innings, the Yankees have been outscored 12-4 since in this Series. Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt lasted six innings combined in Games 2 and 3.

Schmidt walked Shohei Ohtani on four pitches starting the game and Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run homer.

“Ended up pulling the cutter across the zone,” Schmidt said.

New York has been swept just three times in the World Series, by the 1922 New York Giants (including a tie game), the 1963 Dodgers and the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.

“If that team wins three in a row, then why can’t we win three in a row?” Verdugo said.

​ Orange County Register 

Calvin Austin’s 2 TDs help Steelers hold off Giants

• October 29, 2024

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pulled Calvin Austin III aside before the undersized wide receiver took the field for a punt return in the third quarter of a somewhat lifeless game against the New York Giants.

The Steelers were scuffling. The offense was moving the ball, just not into the end zone. Tomlin knew the 5-foot-9, 162-pound Austin had come close to breaking a big return several times this season. And the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach had a feeling.

“I thought it was his time,” Tomlin said. “And he thought it was his time. And he delivered.”

Not once, but twice.

Austin – who texted his friends over the weekend that he was due to break a big one – sprinted across the field and raced 73 yards for a touchdown after Tomlin’s little pep talk. He later added a 29-yard, over-the-shoulder scoring grab to give the Steelers the boost they needed to beat the Giants, 26-18, on Monday night.

Pittsburgh (6-2) won its 22nd straight home game under the Monday night lights behind Austin’s playmaking and a pair of late turnovers. T.J. Watt strip-sacked Daniel Jones with less than three minutes to go to end one New York drive, and rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop intercepted a Jones pass with 42 seconds to play to end it.

“It wasn’t as fluid as we’d like but that’s football,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to guard against (caring about) style points.”

Good thing, because style points were in short supply on a night when three apparent touchdowns – two by Pittsburgh, one by New York – were nullified, the teams combined for 16 penalties, and drives regularly bogged down near the end zone.

The Steelers won their third straight and head into their bye week leading the AFC North by one game over Baltimore. After relying heavily on their defense over the opening month, the Steelers’ offense has found another gear since Wilson returned from a calf injury that forced him to miss the first six games.

The 35-year-old completed 20 of 28 passes for 278 yards in his second home start as a Steeler. His only real miscue was a fumble with 4:42 remaining that briefly opened the door for the Giants (2-6).

Watt closed it a few moments later after New York opted to not double-team him with the Giants driving for the potential tying score.

“He’s got a unique talent, a unique approach,” Tomlin said. “He gets unique results.”

Najee Harris ran for 114 yards, topping 100 for a third straight game for the first time in his career. Chris Boswell kicked four field goals to bail out an offense that bogged down regularly in New York territory.

Wilson also spread the ball around, connecting with eight players, a promising development for a team that has relied heavily – perhaps too heavily – on George Pickens to make something happen in the passing game.

Austin finished with three receptions for 54 yards. Van Jefferson added four receptions for 62 yards. Even third-string tight end MyCole Pruitt caught a pass.

“Guys are believers,” Wilson said.

Perhaps Austin the most. Before games, the third-year pro spends time reading notes he has stashed away on his phone from doubters he found online who felt he was too small to make it in the NFL. Yet there he was in the aftermath listening to fans chant his name after Pittsburgh put the finishing touches on a promising opening two months.

“We’re all competitors,” Austin said. “We are going to always bank on us, regardless.”

Giants rookie Tyrone Tracy ran for a season-high 145 yards, including a 45-yard sprint early in the fourth quarter that pulled New York within eight. The Giants tried a 2-point conversion, but the ill-conceived play to rookie receiver Malik Nabers behind the line of scrimmage was easily swatted away.

Jones, benched in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to Philadelphia last week, completed 24 of 38 passes for 264 yards and the late pick. Darius Slayton finished with four receptions for 108 yards and Nabers caught seven passes for 72 yards. Greg Joseph booted four field goals for the Giants, who were undone by 11 penalties for 65 yards and a defense that let the suddenly potent Wilson-led Steelers offense pile up 426 yards.

“There was a lot of good things, just not enough of them,” New York coach Brian Daboll said.

It’s been that way for a while for the Giants, who are 2-6 for a second straight season. Two years removed from a breakout season that ended with New York making the playoffs and the Giants lavishing Jones with a lucrative extension, the franchise appears to be adrift.

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There were flashes of progress against the Steelers, but the Giants were undone by the kind of miscues – flags, turnovers and blown assignments – that have become far to frequent during their freefall.

“We hurt ourselves a lot tonight,” Jones said. “That’s the most frustrating part about it. We’ve got to be more detailed, starting with me. The good stuff that happened was negated by the mistakes.”

INJURIES

Steelers: Justin Fields served as the emergency quarterback behind Wilson and Kyle Allen after tweaking a hamstring in practice on Saturday.

UP NEXT

The Giants host Washington on Sunday.

After a bye, the Steelers visit the Commanders on Nov. 10.

​ Orange County Register 

Freddie Freeman homers again, Dodgers stifle Yankees for 3-0 World Series lead

• October 29, 2024

NEW YORK — Rapper Fat Joe sang before Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

The fat lady could be up next.

The Dodgers got a two-run home run from Freddie Freeman in the first inning and never looked back, moving within one game of their first full-season championship since 1988 with a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Starting with Freeman’s 10th-inning walk-off grand slam in Game 1, the Dodgers have outscored the Yankees 12-4 while taking the first three games of this Series. They will go for the championship – and the first World Series sweep since 2012 (San Francisco Giants over Detroit Tigers) – in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. It would be only the second sweep in the 12 World Series meetings between these two rivals (the Dodgers also did it in 1963).

Shohei Ohtani has replaced Freeman as the wounded Dodger heroically playing on. Ohtani emerged for pregame introductions wearing a brace or heating pad on his injured left shoulder under his jacket and clutched his left arm close to his body when running the bases. He went 0 for 3 but reached base twice – on a walk and when he was hit in the foot by a pitch.

Freeman, meanwhile, has clearly recovered from the sprained ankle that hampered him so badly during the first two rounds of the postseason. He turned on an inside cutter from Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt in the first inning Monday night and lined it into the right-field seats for a two-run home run.

Freeman also homered in the third inning of Game 2, making him only the third player to homer in each of the first three games in a World Series (Barry Bonds in 2002, Hank Bauer in 1958). Freeman also homered for the Atlanta Braves in Games 5 and 6 of the 2021 World Series, giving him home runs in a record-tying five consecutive World Series Games. George Springer also did it for the Houston Astros in the 2017 and 2019 World Series.

“When you come into a road park, you want to try to strike early and quiet the crowd, and we were able to do that in the first inning,” Freeman said.

In perhaps his final game in a Dodgers uniform – he will be a free agent this winter – Walker Buehler recalled his own history. Pitching like the Buehler of old, he held the Yankees scoreless for five innings, allowing just two hits and two walks.

The 5.38 ERA of the regular season has been irrelevant in the postseason. Buehler allowed six runs in the second inning of Game 3 in the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres – then gave the Dodgers 12 consecutive scoreless innings through the rest of his postseason. He has allowed just one run in his 18 career World Series innings.

“Walker Buehler, he’s been doing this his whole career in big games, big moments,” Freeman said. “Steps up when you need him.”

That six-run inning in the NLDS was fueled by poor defense – so they owed him one. The only time Buehler ran into trouble against the Yankees, the defense stepped up around him.

Giancarlo Stanton doubled with one out in the fourth inning (the first hit off Buehler). Mookie Betts made a diving catch on Jazz Chisholm’s sinking liner for the second out before Anthony Volpe dropped a single into left field. Teoscar Hernandez came up throwing, firing a 93.9 mph bullet (his fastest throw of the season via Statcast) on one hop to catcher Will Smith who tagged Stanton out to keep the Yankees scoreless.

After the power burst by Freeman, the Dodgers took more pedestrian routes to tacking on single runs in the third and sixth.

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In the third, Tommy Edman drew a leadoff walk, went to second on Ohtani’s ground out and raced home on Betts’ bloop single to right field. In the sixth, Gavin Lux was hit by a pitch, stole second and just beat the throw home to score on Kiké Hernandez’s single to center field.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made his bullpen calls with one eye on Tuesday’s pitching plan – and continued to make all the right choices, as he has throughout this postseason run.

But he had to survive scares in the sixth and seventh innings. Most dangerously, the Yankees put two runners on with two outs in the seventh. With Juan Soto on deck, Anthony Banda struck out Gleyber Torres when home plate umpire Mark Carlson called a 2-and-2 fastball clearly above the zone strike three.

The Dodgers were one out away from their fifth shutout of this posteason (which would have tied Cleveland’s postseason record from 2016) when Alex Verdugo hit a two-run home run off Michael Kopech.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

A spooktacular night for the community in Westminster

• October 29, 2024

Westminster’s Halloween Spooktacular had plenty of treats for the community.

Children gathered candy, families enjoyed cultural performances and a movie, there were ofrendas on display for Dia de los Muertos and more during the Friday evening event hosted at the Civic Center.

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Monday, Oct. 28

• October 29, 2024

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Monday, Oct. 28

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

The deadline for submitting information is 10:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 p.m. Saturday.

MONDAY’S SCORES

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

DIVISION 7

Round 2

Laguna Beach def. Barstow, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22

​ Orange County Register 

Cheers and jeers at the Del Mar paddock as Breeders’ Cup draws are posted

• October 29, 2024

DEL MAR — There were some cheers but also plenty of moans and groans heard throughout the Del Mar paddock late Monday afternoon as post positions were drawn for this weekend’s 14 Breeders’ Cup races.

Most of the negative reaction came from the connections of multiple contenders who were presented with potentially unlucky spots in the starting gate.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Monday morning, “As long as we are in the gate, we’ve got a chance.”

No one would argue with O’Neill, but sometimes those chances can be influenced by starting position, and one of the loudest groans Monday was heard when his Raging Torrent drew the rail for the Sprint. The colt has speed, and he’ll need to show it from the break to avoid getting trapped behind horses from the outside that could cross in front of him.

Skippylongstocking, the second choice on the morning line for the Dirt Mile, can only wish he drew the rail. The horse has speed, but starting from the No. 14 spot he could be forced to use a lot of energy to avoid being caught very wide on the first turn, which comes up quickly.

Also stuck on the far outside in the 12-horse Mile is Carl Spackler, a top contender. At this summer’s Del Mar meeting, just two of 56 horses who started from gates 10 and out at a mile on turf won. Meanwhile, the inside three post positions captured nearly half the races (25 of 55), and the numbers here last fall were fairly similar (14 of 32).

That’s good news for Juvenile Fillies Turf favorite Lake Victoria, who will start from the rail in that one-mile race, but not so much for New Century, the morning-line choice in the Juvenile Turf who must break from No. 11.

On the dirt, two juvenile races will be run at 1 1/16 miles, and Juvenile Fillies favorite Scottish Lassie and Juvenile second choice Chancer McPatrick will be on the far outside. That probably won’t harm the latter nearly as much, though, since he prefers to drop back and should be able to save ground. Juvenile favorite East Avenue will be on the rail.

Six races drew full fields, and two others were one short of capacity. The morning-line favorites, in the order in which the races will be run (the first five are Friday, the other nine Saturday):

Juvenile Turf Sprint: Ecoro Sieg (7-2), unbeaten in two starts in Japan.

Juvenile Fillies: Scottish Lassie (5-2), winner of the Frizette at Aqueduct in her last start.

Juvenile Fillies Turf: Lake Victoria (8-5), an Irish-bred unbeaten in four starts for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Juvenile: East Avenue (5-2), who has won two starts in Kentucky by a total of 13 ¼ lengths.

Juvenile Turf: New Century (5-2), an English-bred who won a stakes race at Woodbine last month in a fast time.

Filly & Mare Sprint: Ways and Means (5-2), a 3-year-old who has won three straight.

Turf Sprint: Cogburn (7-5), who did the unthinkable two starts back, breaking one minute for 5 ½ furlongs on the turf.

Distaff: Thorpedo Anna (4-5), the Kentucky Oaks winner and the heaviest early favorite on the card.

Turf: Rebel’s Romance (5-2), who won this race in 2022, skipped it last year and has won five of six starts this year.

Classic: City of Troy (5-2), a 3-year-old son of Justify who has won all but one of his seven starts but has never raced on dirt. Travers winner Fierceness (3-1) is the second choice.

Filly & Mare Turf: War Like Goddess (5-2), starting in a Breeders’ Cup race for the fourth straight year but still looking for her first win.

Sprint: Federal Judge (3-1), who dominated the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland four weeks ago.

Mile: Notable Speech (7-2), out of the money in two of his last three but trained by Charlie Appleby, who has won this race the last three years.

Dirt Mile: Domestic Product (7-2), a 3-year-old who has not faced older.

​ Orange County Register 

Motorist fatally shot at park-and-ride near 57 Freeway in Diamond Bar

• October 29, 2024

DIAMOND BAR — A man in his 20s was fatally shot Monday in the Diamond Bar area of Los Angeles County, and an investigation was underway.

Officers were dispatched to Pathfinder Road, near the Orange (57) Freeway, around 6 a.m. Monday following reports of a shooting, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol.

Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Walnut Station also arrived to assist CHP officials, where they found an Apple Valley man located inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound.

CHP officials said the shooting occurred at a park-and-ride.

Although details leading up to the shooting remain limited, CHP officials said they believe the victim to into a verbal altercation with the suspect, possibly motivating the shooting.

The victim fled the scene heading westbound on Pathfinder Road but lost control of his vehicle due to his injuries and crashed into a concrete wall over the 57 Freeway.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.

A passenger in the vehicle during the shooting was unharmed.

CHP Baldwin Park Area Special Enforcement Team personnel, along with Southern Division Major Crimes Unit officials, were continuing to investigate Monday evening, searching a home in the 2600 block of Second Street in La Verne. It was unclear if any suspects were arrested.

Fox11 reported, citing information from authorities, that the suspect drove away from the shooting scene in a white SUV.

Traffic was routed away from the area during the investigation, but all lanes have since reopened.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to contact the CHP Southern Division at 323-259-3200.

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​ Orange County Register 

Costa Mesa man accused of strangling girlfriend, slitting her wrist, stuffing her into trash can

• October 29, 2024

A Costa Mesa man accused of strangling his girlfriend, slitting her wrist and leaving her body in a trash can outside his home following a drunken argument has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced on Monday, Oct. 28.

Daniel Allen Aldrich, 49, is also facing a felony enhancement for the personal use of a weapon related to the death of 38-year-old Julie Anne Sanetra, whose body was found on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Aldrich’s home on the 1900 block of Maple Avenue, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

Prosecutors allege that following a night of drinking on Sunday, Oct. 20, Aldrich got into an argument with Sanetra, an Irvine resident. Aldrich is accused of strangling Sanetra, prosecutors said, then slitting her wrist with a folding knife.

According to prosecutors, Aldrich left Sanetra’s body on his couch while he watched television and as he went to bed.

The next day, prosecutors say, Aldrich dragged Sanetra’s body outside his home and stuffed it into a trash can on the side of his house. He then went back inside the home, packed a bag and drove to his mother’s house in Glendale, prosecutors added.

A day later, landscapers who had been hired to mow the lawn at Aldrich’s property discovered Sanetra’s body, which prosecutors say at that point was partially outside the trash can.

Costa Mesa police arrested Aldrich later that day at his mother’s house.

“Julie Sanetra did not deserve to be strangled and stuffed into a trash can like a piece of garbage,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “The callousness of this crime shocks the conscience, and we will do everything to get justice for Julie and her loved ones.”

Aldrich, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Nov. 19. If convicted as charged, Aldrich faces up to 26 years to life in prison.

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​ Orange County Register