The Sports Report: Another postseason game, another shutout for Dodgers

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: Bats have flailed, balls have soared, runners have sprinted, and still…

Nobody can score off the Dodgers!

The New York Mets came to town Sunday as the hottest team in baseball, unfurling all their magic and unleashing all their miracles and still…

Nobody can score off the Dodgers!

Thirty-three innings, four games, a boatload of potential rallies in the most crucial of October moments and still…

Nobody can score off the Dodgers?

Believe it, because the Mets believe it, just like the San Diego Padres were forced into believing it, even though it refutes history and defies description.

A Dodger pitching staff that was considered the team’s biggest weakness entering the postseason has erupted into its biggest strength, Jack Flaherty and two relievers combining on a third straight shutout Sunday to tie a major league postseason record with 33 consecutive scoreless innings while wiping out the Mets 9-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium.

The streak dates to Game 3 of the division series against the Padres, involves 10 different Dodger pitchers, and looks something like this:

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Dodgers box score

Dodgers waste no time extending their dominance in NLCS Game 1 win

Small-bat strategy pays off: Why Dodgers are embracing sacrifice bunts vs. Mets

Dodgers shutout innings streak looks much different than the ’66 original

Jack Flaherty’s immortalizing Game 1 holds special meaning for L.A.-raised pitcher

Bus rides, watch parties and a new mindset: The edge fueling the Dodgers’ playoff run

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

NLCS
No. 1 Dodgers vs. No. 6 NY Mets
at Dodgers 9, New York 0. (box score)
Monday: New York at Dodgers, 1 p.m., Fox
Wednesday: Dodgers at New York, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday: Dodgers at New York, 5 p.m., FS1
*Friday: Dodgers at New York, 2 p.m., FS1
*Sunday: New York at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1
*Monday, Oct. 21: New York at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1/Fox

ALCS
No. 1 NY Yankees vs. No. 2 Cleveland
Monday at New York, 4:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Tuesday at New York, 4:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Thursday at Cleveland, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
Friday at Cleveland, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Saturday at Cleveland, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Monday, Oct. 21 at New York, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX
*Tuesday, Oct. 22 at New York, 4:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/MAX

*-if necessary

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Flanked by team medical personnel, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh shuffled to the locker room with his team still on the field against the Denver Broncos.

He strode back onto the sideline midway through the first quarter unnoticed by players who had no idea their coach had been experiencing an irregular heartbeat. After quarterback Justin Herbert laced a perfect third-down throw to Joshua Palmer to extend a Chargers drive, Harbaugh pointed to the field and pumped his fist.

It was as if nothing had happened.

With his coaches and teammates cycling in and out of the locker room, Herbert was the steady force of the Chargers’ 23-16 win over the Broncos on Sunday.

The quarterback who had been off to the slowest passing start of his career sparked the offense with 237 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-34 passing as the Chargers (3-2) held off Denver’s 16-point fourth quarter to win in the Mile High City for the first time since 2018.

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Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has had this heart issue before, but what are next steps?

Chargers box score

NFL scores

NFL standings

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: On April 1, around 9:15 a.m., Michael Cooper’s phone rang with the news that he finally had been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He was sitting next to his wife, Yvonne, both of them listening. Yet as he heard the words being delivered about one of the highest honors in basketball, Cooper had his doubts.

His former Lakers teammate Magic Johnson had been lobbying for years to get Cooper into the Hall of Fame and it had never happened. When he first heard the news, Cooper thought why should he believe it was true this time?

“First of all, I got the call on April Fool’s Day, April 1st, and I thought it was a joke at first,” Cooper said, laughing. “I was sitting next to my wife and I had the call on speakerphone and I was like, ‘Right. OK. This is a cruel April Fool’s joke.’ They said, ‘No, Coop, you got in.’ I was kind of staring and my wife said, ‘Babe, they said you got in.’ So, yeah, I didn’t really expect it because the time they called before I didn’t get in. But they said I was in. I was elated. I got up and started yelling, ‘I’m in the Hall of Fame!’”

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LAFC

Mateusz Bogusz scored 35 seconds into the match, Ilie Sánchez found the net during second-half stoppage time, and LAFC pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday night.

LAFC pulls within three points of the Galaxy in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference and can finish no worse than second. LAFC posted a 3-0 home win over the Whitecaps in May and leads the all-time series 10-6-4.

Bogusz used assists from David Martínez and Olivier Giroud to score his career-high 15th goal of the season for LAFC (18-8-7). Martínez notched his fourth assist in his 16th career appearance and Giroud picked up his third in his ninth career appearance.

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LAFC summary

MLS standings

DUCKS

Brett Howden, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev each scored a goal and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Ducks 3-1 on Sunday night.

Ilya Samsonov had 22 saves for Vegas.

Troy Terry scored the lone goal for the Ducks and James Reimer made 29 saves.

Vegas improved to 3-0-0 in its first three games for the fifth time since it joined the NHL in 2017. The Knights also improved to 24-7-1 all-time against the Ducks, including a 14-3-0 mark in Vegas.

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Ducks summary

NHL scores

NHL standings

WNBA FINALS

All times Pacific

No. 1 New York vs. No. 2 Minnesota
Minnesota 95, at New York 93 (OT)
at New York 80, Minnesota 66
Wed. at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Minnesota, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, Oct. 21 at New York, TBD

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1945 — The Chicago Cardinals snap the longest losing streak in NFL history at 29 games with a 16-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.

1949 — Ezzard Charles TKOs Pat Valentino in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.

1967 — The Kings, led by Brain Kilrea, beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 in their NHL debut. The game is held at Long Beach (Calif.) Arena. Kilrea scores two goals, including the first one in Kings history.

1973 — 42-year-old future Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder Willie Mays′ last MLB career hit, as NY Mets beat A’s, 10-7 in World Series Game 2 in Oakland.

1978 — Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets seven assists in a 10-7 victory over the New York Islanders.

1979 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores his first NHL goal in a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky beats goaltender Glen Hanlon with the tying power-play goal with 1:09 remaining in the third period.

1990 — Joe Montana passes for career highs of 476 yards and six touchdowns and Jerry Rice ties an NFL record with five scoring receptions as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons 45-35.

1991 — New York Rangers right wing Mike Gartner scores his 500th career goal in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

2005 — Ryan Newman sets a NASCAR record by winning his fifth consecutive Busch Series race, the Charlotte 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

2006 — Mats Sundin scores his 500th career goal, completing a hat trick with a short-handed overtime game-winner and giving Toronto a 5-4 victory over Calgary. The third goal is Sundin’s 15th in overtime — the most in NHL history.

2011 — Japan’s Kohei Uchimura becomes the first man to win three titles at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo. Uchimura finishes with 93.631 points in the men’s all-around, more than three points ahead of Germany’s Philipp Boy.

2012 — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers sets a career high and ties a franchise record with six touchdown passes, three to Jordy Nelson, and the Packers rout the Houston Texans 42-24. Rodgers completes 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards and ties Matt Flynn’s single-game record for TD passes, set in last year’s regular-season finale against Detroit.

2015 — Sylvia Fowles has 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx capture their third WNBA title in five years with a 69-52 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 5.

2020 — The NFL cancels the Pro Bowl scheduled for January, 31, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compiled by the Associated Press