'God. Family. Football.': New season follows underdog team shaped by adversity and faith
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New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Walk-off loss to Rockies highlights Teoscar Hernández's defensive struggles for Dodgers
DENVER — One hundred and five feet in Coors Field's spacious outfield separated Teoscar Hernández from what should have been the second out of the ninth inning Monday night. Instead, what has become a festering problem for the Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder came up yet again. Hernández — playing deep — broke nearly 100 feet on Ezequiel Tovar's sky-high fly ball toward him and could not come up with the play. Tovar was just about to slide into second base when the ball kicked off Hernández's glove, putting the eventual winning run into scoring position. Two pitches later, Warming Bernabel singled up the middle, capping a 4-3 walk-off loss to a putrid Colorado Rockies team that once again shone a light on the Dodgers' outfield defense. Advertisement 'This was a hard one to kind of put into words,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. The Dodgers tempted fate by coming into the offensive haven of Coors Field and producing just three runs. They'd already largely spoiled what had been a strong night from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as the Japanese ace delivered seven strong innings with one regrettable two-seam fastball to Tovar being his lone mistake of the night. They'd already survived another questionable play from Hernández in the third inning, which helped the Rockies immediately answer the Dodgers' best offensive inning with two runs of their own. They still appeared to be one out away from pushing the night into extra innings. Until they weren't. Hernández, who started 319 feet away from home plate, wasn't able to make up enough ground in front of him. 'We were playing no-doubles,' Hernández said. 'It's a big outfield. I was playing pretty far (back). I tried to make the play. I didn't. It came off my glove. Unfortunately. Things happen. I just have to wash it.' SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS#Rockies x @denvermattress — Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 19, 2025 The Dodgers constructed this outfield with an understandable trade-off of offense for defense in mind. Signing Michael Conforto this winter pushed the newly re-signed Hernández to right field, where he had played two-thirds of his career major-league games, and was supposed to burnish an already-deep lineup. Conforto hasn't produced offensively. Hernández has been in an offensive funk that he's shown recent signs of getting out of, Monday's 0-for-4 notwithstanding. But the defensive results have not been great, especially for Hernández. 'He's got to get better out there,' Roberts said. 'There's just no way to put it. I know there's effort — it's not a lack of effort. But the thing is, we've just got to get better. We do. I don't know what else to say.' Advertisement Public defensive metrics warrant at least some level of scrutiny, but Hernández entered Monday ranking fourth-worst among right fielders with minus-8 Outs Above Average — and tied for worst at fielding balls in front of him, like Tovar's ball Monday night. Same for the shallow fly ball that Brenton Doyle hit in Hernández's general direction in the third inning, which Hernández had drop in front of him and got to only after Kyle Karros had broken to go from first to third base. Hernández called the ball 'a clear hit' — but Hernández gathering the ball and throwing it to third base resulted in runners on second and third. 'I don't know if he would've had a play on that one,' Roberts said. 'I know it shouldn't have been second and third. It shouldn't have ended up on second and third.' Ryan Ritter followed with a ground-ball single to the right side, bringing home both runners to tie the score at two apiece. Given the offense's quiet night, the extra run proved costly. 'We should have won that game,' Roberts said. There is no clean solution to the Dodgers' defensive issues. Roberts has been more willing in recent weeks to pull Hernández in favor of a defensive replacement late in games when his team has a lead. But given the tie score and that Hernández's spot would've been due up to hit third in the 10th inning, Roberts couldn't make the switch in the ninth. The current roster construction doesn't allow for much wiggle room. Justin Dean is on the roster almost exclusively as a defensive replacement and a pinch runner. While Hernández in left field would help boost the club's offensive production in that spot, it doesn't necessarily give the team a better defensive alignment (Hernández ranked second-worst among left fielders in 2024 with minus-8 Outs Above Average). The club's best overall defensive right fielder might be the team's shortstop, where Mookie Betts has filled in and played well defensively. Injuries to Kiké Hernández, Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim have taken away other potential outfield options that at least would give Roberts more options late in games. 'I mean, he's going to be in the lineup,' Roberts said. 'It's just one of those things that … defense is a big part of postseason baseball and winning baseball. So yeah, he's just got to continue to get better.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Rockies were once in danger of breaking MLB mark for losses. Now, they're piling up wins
DENVER (AP) — This was a cool moment for Warming Bernabel — being doused with an icy bucket of water. Not that long ago, winning moments like this were few and far between for the Colorado Rockies. That winning feeling, though, has returned a little more often in the second half of the season. The Rockies rallied to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 on Monday night courtesy of Bernabel's walk-off single in the ninth inning. With that, the Rockies snapped a 10-game skid against the Dodgers. They also tied their season-high winning streak of four games. Even more, they're 14-15 since the All-Star break, while the NL West-leading Dodgers are 13-15. Colorado still trails the defending World Series champions by 35 games in the standings. No longer are the Rockies in imminent danger of setting a modern-era major league mark for losses, though. At 36-89, Colorado needs to win six of its final 37 games to steer clear of the dubious record set by the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who finished 41-121. 'We're at this stage right now where we're trying to get better as a team,' All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman said. 'We're trying to play the game the right way and do things to put us in a position in the future to get to the spot that some of these teams we're playing against are in.' Colorado has won five series since the All-Star break. That after winning just two series before the break. 'You definitely see flashes,' Goodman said. 'We're a super-young team. But getting that learning experience and figuring out how to win at this level and how to do it together as a team has been pretty cool to watch the last month or so.' The last time Colorado beat the Dodgers was Sept. 21. It's been a little longer since the Rockies last beat Los Angeles at Coors Field — June 19, 2024, to be precise. 'It's good to get a win. We're playing good baseball right now,' Goodman said. 'It's just going out and playing clean baseball and playing the way we've been playing.' The Dodgers entered the four-game series in the Mile High City fresh off a sweep of rival San Diego. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts insisted his team wouldn't overlook the Rockies. 'We're going to get their best. We're prepared for that,' Roberts said before the game. 'But yeah, absolutely, teams try to kind of use us as a marker. We see that.' In the ninth inning, the Dodgers were playing their outfielders deep to prevent a double. It ended up costing them one. Ezequiel Tovar started a one-out rally with a bloop double that a charging Teoscar Hernández couldn't haul in. 'It's a big outfield,' Hernández explained. 'I tried to make a play. I didn't.' Bernabel followed by sending a pitch from Justin Wrobleski (4-5) up the middle to bring home Tovar. 'There's no cooler way to win a game in baseball than a walk-off,' Goodman said. 'It's always fun when that happens.' ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Naeher scores first NWSL goal and Stars pull into 3-3 draw with Reign
SEATTLE (AP) — Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher scored her first National Women's Soccer League goal in the final moments of stoppage time as the Chicago Stars pulled into a 3-3 draw with the Seattle Reign on Monday night. The Stars scrambled for the equalizer after scoring a pair of late goals to pull to 3-2. Naeher, pushed forward to aid the attack and scored in the 99th minute in a crowd in front of the Reign's net. Naeher was making her 200th career start, becoming the first goalkeeper to reach the milestone in league history. She is the third goalkeeper to score a goal in the NWSL. A Women's World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist, Naeher retired from the U.S. national team last year. Jess Fishlock scored in her third straight game when she took a cross from Jordyn Huitema and guided it into the goal. Huitema scored on a bicycle kick in the 33rd minute to make it 2-0 for the Reign (7-5-4). Emeri Adames scored 10 seconds into the second half. Following the kickoff, Naeher was well out in front of her goal and Adames took advantage. Brazilian Ludmila scored for Chicago in the 73rd minute. Just five minutes later, Camryn Biegalski added another. Chicago (1-9-6) had to make two first-half substitutions because of injuries to Natalia Kuikka and Shea Groom. Dubbed the Queen's Match, the Reign honored the 1985 U.S. women's national team on the 40th anniversary of the team's first-ever international match. ___ AP soccer:
