NHL Highlights: Blues 4, Stars 0

DODGER STADIUM (Los Angeles) – Before they took the field on Opening Day, Dodgers players had a gift waiting in their lockers, courtesy of their best player. Next to a brand-new Seiko watch was a note. "From Shohei Ohtani. Let’s three-peat." The goal has existed on the periphery all season, usually unspoken yet omnipresent as the Dodgers attempt to accomplish what no team has done since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. No National League team has ever won three consecutive World Series championships. The Dodgers understand the opportunity ahead, even if it’s not something their manager chooses to bring up often. When they clinched the division for a fifth straight year on Sept. 17, manager Dave Roberts instead focused on his team’s toughness and hunger and the sacrifices it would take, including time away from family, to make sure this October would be another to remember. "You never know who is going to be the guy, who that moment is going to fall to," Roberts told his team. "Many people have lived it in this clubhouse. My ask is, be ready to be that guy." He did not mention the phrase "three-peat." He didn’t need to. Ohtani's veteran team knows what’s at stake, especially as the club’s aging core gets a year older and labor strife invites uncertainty about the future. What the Dodgers have built, and the chance in front of them, is not guaranteed forever. "We’re all aware we have a chance to do something that’s never been done in the National League and what it would mean for this franchise, this fanbase," Roberts said. "But it just makes life more difficult when you don’t focus on the job, that’s winning this next series. I think our guys are pretty focused on that." They’re also equipped for it. In 2024, the Dodgers’ talented bullpen arms made up for a patchwork rotation on their triumphant postseason run. Last year, their surplus of starters gave them extra relief options to manage an unstable bullpen. In Game 7 of the World Series, all six pitchers who entered the game for the Dodgers began the year as starters. This year, the Dodgers anticipate a more reliable mix of arms. Everything is set up smoothly for them to make history. They are the least-flawed group in the playoff field — Do the Brewers have enough power to win? Do the Braves or Padres have enough reliable starting pitching? Will any American League team have a chance against the National League winner? — with a rotation that could go down as one of the best October units ever assembled. Tarik Skubal, the reigning American League back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, will take the mound for Game 1 against the Braves in the National League Division Series. Roberts delivered the news to Skubal right after their star deadline acquisition exited his final start of the season in San Francisco, where he needed just 75 pitches to strike out 10 batters in seven innings. "I thought in the moment I was going to be able to finish the game," Skubal recalled. "And he’s like, 'Get ready for Game 1.’ That’s how I was told, and obviously excited and fired up and ready to go." The Dodgers have another two-time Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell, and the reigning World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, ready to follow in some order for the ensuing games. Tyler Glasnow, who struck out 21 batters over his final two starts of the season, would be the top arm on some playoff teams. He is the Dodgers’ fourth starter. "In my opinion," Freeman said, "we’ve got four No. 1s rolling out there." Contrast that with their National League Division Series foes. While Tyler Mahle has stepped up in a significant way to give Atlanta more pitching depth, Chris Sale is the lone ace of the group. The Braves used Sale twice in their wild-card series, once to start Game 1 and again two days later to secure the final five outs of the series — a decision that now yields significant consequences. The Braves will likely use a bullpen game against Skubal on Saturday in Los Angeles, and Sale’s status for Sunday’s Game 2 is up in the air. The Braves should have the bullpen advantage, but there are reasons for October optimism — certainly more than a year ago — once the Dodgers’ full stable of arms gets narrowed down to those in Roberts’ trust tree. In August and September, Dodgers relievers combined for a 3.20 ERA, which ranked fourth in MLB. In September, Alex Vesia was 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA while Evan Phillips had a 2.16 ERA with 12 strikeouts and one walk in nine appearances. Most notably, after a miserable season for Edwin Díaz, the Dodgers’ $69 million offseason signing started to resemble the player they expected to get. After returning from the injured list, Díaz made five scoreless appearances in which he struck out nine batters and allowed just two baserunners to finish the year. Lefty Tanner Scott has enjoyed a bounce-back season in the second year of a four-year, $72 million deal and is the likeliest option to pitch the ninth to begin the postseason, though that role is not set in stone. If Díaz continues to look more like the player the Dodgers expected, he gives the club another closing option. They also have starter Roki Sasaki ready to make his annual postseason pilgrimage to the Dodgers’ bullpen, only now with a much more consistent season under his belt. Roberts said he feels comfortable with any of Scott, Phillips, Díaz or Sasaki closing games. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ struggling hitters have finally caught fire. Entering September, Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández were the only hitters on the team who had received at least 300 plate appearances and produced below league-average results. Then, in the season’s final month, Betts had a 1.112 OPS, Hernández hit .341 and Tucker homered six times. In addition, catcher Will Smith returned from a nearly three-month hiatus with a neck issue to slash .290/.400/.548 with four home runs over his last 21 games. All-Star center fielder Andy Pages, meanwhile, returned from a fractured hand for the final six games of the regular season and proceeded to go 6-for-18 with two home runs. That doesn't mean that the Dodgers enter October are without any concerns. Snell left his start early on Sept. 16 with a groin issue, though he returned to deliver four innings of work on Sept. 26. A sore right knee sapped much of Freddie Freeman’s power in the second half. Meanwhile, the team’s biggest October question mark centers on the player who delivered that Opening Day gift. Lingering left knee and right biceps issues impacted Ohtani’s production in the season’s second half and forced him to the injured list in September. Neither Freeman nor Ohtani are expected to be 100% on this postseason run. That’s why the first-round bye the Dodgers secured was so vital, giving the club’s ailing veterans adequate time to rest. Snell, Freeman and Ohtani are all expected to be ready to go. Freeman, in particular, has already shown that he can take his game up a notch in October even when he’s not feeling right physically. "A couple Octobers ago was probably 100 times worse, ailment-wise," Freeman said. "I truly feel good right now physically, so it’s on me now to figure out the mechanics of the swing." Thursday provided a promising sign when Freeman laced a double in an intrasquad scrimmage. "I feel very confident that once we get to Saturday, we’re going to see the best version of Freddie," Roberts said. Earlier this week, Ohtani took batting practice on the field, a rare occurrence for him. Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates said he launched a couple of baseballs off the scoreboard. "It was as good as we’ve seen it this year, as far as the way the ball was coming off and the way he was getting his move off," Bates said. In live at-bats Friday against Emmet Sheehan — another pitching depth option for the Dodgers this postseason — Ohtani struck out once and then lined a hard hit to right field. Roberts is hopeful that the bright lights of October will bring the best out of his superstar designated hitter, even in a compromised form. "I expect good things," Roberts said. "I really do. We just haven’t seen it enough for me to forecast it." Since 2024, after getting knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in back-to-back seasons, the Dodgers have used the downtime between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason to spend more time together as a team, including hosting playoff watch parties and participating in intrasquad games, to stay close and avoid rust. It worked the last two years for more-flawed clubs than this one, yielding back-to-back World Series titles. Given the way everything seems to be coming together, there’s no reason it won’t again. "This team knows when to turn the switch and go," Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas told me. "We all understand the task that’s ahead of us, and we’ve got the motivation that’s winning three in a row."

Through three weeks, six quarterbacks who began the season as backups have since started and won their games. The group includes Vikings' Carson Wentz (Week 2 win), Seahawks' Drew Lock (Week 2 win), Falcons' Michael Penix Jr. (Week 3 win), Giants' Jameis Winston (Week 3 win), Washington's Marcus Mariota (Week 6 win), and Bears' Case Keenum (Week 3 win). hiddenlangkawi.club

In Week 4, two more backup quarterbacks are expected to make their first starts: Bears' Tyson Bagent vs. Jets and Buccaneers' Jalon Daniels vs. Packers. This trend highlights the increasing importance of having multiple capable quarterbacks ready to step in and perform well when needed.