Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 10/21/20
21 October 2020 Sports
The Dodgers opened the World Series with an 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger provided offensive support behind starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers’ Game 1 win was sparked by Bellinger’s two-run blast off Tyler Glasnow in the fourth, just two days after his right shoulder popped out of its socket on an emphatic elbow bump in celebration of his go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. The win was supported by the Cooperstown-bound but October-tormented Kershaw, who was at his best in six strong innings in which he allowed a Kevin Kiermaier solo homer in the fifth inning and little else. But game one really turned out to be the Mookie Betts show. In the fifth, Betts became the first player since Babe Ruth, when he was with the Red Sox, to walk and steal two bases in the same inning of a World Series game, keying the four-run frame that broke open the ballgame. After a Corey Seager walk, Betts swiped third as part of a double steal. That forced the Rays to draw their infield in. When Max Muncy grounded a ball to first, Betts’ secondary lead was so strong and his feet so fleet that he was able to slide in ahead of Yandy Díaz’s throw home to make it 3-1. Rays starter Tyler Glasnow wasn’t lifted until after the next batter, Will Smith, singled Seager home to make it 4-1. Manager Kevin Cash surprisingly turned to Ryan Yarbrough, the Rays’ potential Game 4 starter, but the runs kept coming with well-placed RBI singles from Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández to push the lead to 6-1. Betts added to his epic performance by taking Josh Fleming deep with a solo shot in the sixth and Muncy had an RBI double three batters later. The Rays’ picked up two runs in the seventh but it was too little, too late. Kershaw went six innings, giving up one run on two hits while striking out eight and walking one. Rays starter Tyler Glasnow lasted just 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on just three hits while striking out eight and walking six. Game two is tonight as the Rays send left-hander Blake Snell (2-2) in the playoffs against Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin (0-1). First pitch is at 7:08 CDT.
The Packers return to the practice field today after their off-day on Tuesday. Green Bay (4-1) suffered its first loss of the season Sunday at Tampa Bay 38-10. This Sunday the Packers travel to Houston to take on the Texans (1-5) Houston is coming off an overtime loss at Tennessee Sunday.
In other team news, the Packers placed CB Parry Nickerson on injured reserve and released WR Kalija (kuh-lie-juh) Lipscomb from the practice squad. The transactions were announced Tuesday by General Manager Brian Gutekunst.
After a disappointing home loss to the Cardinals on Monday night, reportedly some Dallas Cowboys players are expressing their discontent with new head coach Mike McCarthy and his staff. McCarthy faced reports via NFL Network’s Jane Slater that his players had expressed unhappiness with the coaching staff, tabbing the coaches as “unprepared” and that they plainly “just aren’t good at their jobs.”
With a disastrous 38-10 loss not yet 24-hours-old, McCarthy indicated he needs to keep apprised of his team’s mindset and outlook, but that his door is open and the preferred approach — certainly in tough times such as these — would be talking directly to him. Though the Cowboys are in first place in the NFC East at 2-4, the struggles in every facet are abundant. Despite an offense that leads the league in yards and is fourth in total points, Dallas tops the league with 15 turnovers and its defense has allowed an NFL-high 218 points — 26 more than anyone else.
McCarthy expressed conviction in his staff’s ability to reverse course, however.
“I have great confidence in the men that I work with,” McCarthy said. “This is something that we work on every single day. We understand that there’s still has been a learning curve for all of us involved. As a head coach you have to make sure that you’re touching each and every player. I’ll just say it as buzz words, but we need to coach better. Our job responsibility is simple, it’s to teach and demand. And the players understand that they’re responsibility is simple also. Their job is to prepare and perform.”
Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones is joining forces with his twin brother and former Baltimore Ravens player, Alvin Jones, to launch the A&A All the Way Foundation. The duo will use the platform to impact the nation’s youth through charitable giving, and events will be held to inspire, educate and promote unity and diversity in communities. Upcoming events for the next few months currently listed on the foundation’s website include a turkey, bike, and Adidas shoe giveaway.
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