Sports

Matt Sauer saves the Dodgers' bullpen in rout of Marlins

Published

8 months ago

April 30, 2025

Matt Sauer saves the Dodgers' bullpen in rout of Marlins

The Dodgers’ early season bullpen usage had become so much of a concern, even minor-league pitcher Matt Sauer was keeping tabs on it from the team’s triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate.

Which is why when he took the mound following a call-up to the majors Tuesday night, he was determined to give the Dodgers some badly needed innings.

“Even when we’re down in OKC, you still follow the big league club,” Sauer said. “And I knew the bullpen has been used a lot.”

Indeed, entering Tuesday, no other team had relied upon its relievers more heavily than the Dodgers. Thanks to injuries and ineffectiveness from the starting rotation, their bullpen’s 126 innings were far and away the most in the majors.

Despite that the Dodgers had no choice but to deploy their second bullpen game of the opening month. Only this time they were able to stay away from their most important arms.

Instead, in a 15-2 win over the Miami Marlins, Sauer came to the rescue with five innings of relief, providing the type of length that too often has eluded Dodgers starters.

“I had a goal of at least five innings,” said Sauer, a 26-year-old right-hander who earned his first major league victory. “[To] help the boys down in the ‘pen a little bit.”

Shohei Ohtani reacts toward the bullpen after homering in the first inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

As pitching injuries have piled up, the bullpen has been strained in order to compensate.

Entering Tuesday only 10 teams had topped 110 innings from relievers The Dodgers had six relievers with more than 13 innings pitched. No other club had more than four.

“The thing that’s probably most disconcerting is the bullpen leading Major League Baseball in bullpen innings,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday, after Tyler Glasnow became the latest member of the starting staff to land on the injured list.

“That’s where my head is at,” Roberts added, “as far as making sure we don’t red-line these guys.”

That will be no easy task over the next couple of weeks. Starting Friday the Dodgers will play 19 games in 20 days. And with Glasnow and Blake Snell on the IL, they will begin it with just four healthy starters on their active roster.

“We thought our starters would be a position of strength for us from a workload standpoint, and unfortunately we lead all of baseball in innings for relievers,” pitching coach Mark Prior said Tuesday. “Sometimes that’s a good thing. But this early in the year, it’s probably not.”

Especially not after what the relievers did last October, combining for 82 innings in a grueling World Series run.

“Guys did some really heavy lifting,” Prior said.

And a short offseason only gave them so much time to recover. Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech both started the season on the IL, nursing injuries they sustained in the playoffs. While Phillips has returned, another key reliever, Blake Treinen, has gone down because of a forearm strain.

It made Tuesday a seemingly daunting task, with the Dodgers opting for the type of bullpen-game strategy they used so often last October.

But then in an unexpected twist, Sauer was able to provide a well-timed reprieve.

After rookie left-hander Jack Dreyer took down the first two innings, giving up a lone run after Teoscar Hernández misplayed a ball in right field, Sauer found a groove in his 78-pitch outing. He gave up just one run on five hits. He recorded four strikeouts. And most importantly, he achieved his goal of five innings.

“I can’t say enough about his performance,” Roberts said. “We needed every bit of it, considering where our ‘pen is at.”

It also allowed the Dodgers (20-10) to go to work at the plate, where they set season highs in runs, hits (18) and walks (eight) en route to their most lopsided victory.

Shohei Ohtani led off with a home run, his seventh of the season and first since returning from the paternity list last week.

Hernández atoned for his defensive miscue with two run-scoring doubles, tying the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the most RBIs in the majors with 29.

Mookie Betts had a two-run single as part of a two-hit performance, raising his batting average to .240 as he continues to try to snap out of his opening-month slump.

And Cy Young-winning Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara never found his footing, exiting in the third inning with the Dodgers ahead 7-1.

“Recently it just seems like team-wise we’re beating a starter, creating stressful innings, taking walks, [and] situationally we’ve been good,” Roberts said. “This is what we potentially can do. You just give yourself a fighting chance when you can kind of take those at-bats.”

The game got so out of hand, the Dodgers didn’t even need to use a real pitcher in the ninth inning. Instead, after low-leverage right-hander Luis García pitched the eighth, utility man Kiké Hernández took the mound for the final three outs, a plastic “pitching helmet” covering his cap.

“To stay away from some other leverage guys was big,” Roberts said, “and puts us in a good spot.”

Not only for Wednesday’s series finale but also the taxing stretch of schedule to follow.

Sports

Oregon outlasts JMU in first round of College Football Playoff

Published

4 hours ago

December 21, 2025

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Oregon outlasts JMU in first round of College Football Playoff

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Oregon defeated James Madison 51-34 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.

The score looked like it would be more lopsided during the first three quarters, as Oregon held a 48-13 lead over JMU halfway through the third quarter.

JMU managed to lessen the deficit toward the end by outscoring the Ducks 20-3 in the final quarter and a half.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore passes for a 20-yard touchdown during the College Football Playoff game against James Madison Dukes on Dec. 20, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Ducks (12-1) advanced to face Texas Tech in a quarterfinal game at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. Oregon won a playoff game for the first time since 2014, when the Ducks beat Florida State in the Rose Bowl semifinal before losing to Ohio State.

James Madison (12-2) dropped Group of Five teams to 0-4 in CFP games following No. 17 Tulane’s 41-10 loss at No. 6 Mississippi on Saturday.

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson less than two minutes into the game to give Oregon a lead it would not relinquish. Johnson hauled in Moore’s pass with his right hand, and romped into the end zone while dragging a pair of defenders.

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Oregon Ducks running back Jordon Davison runs the ball against the James Madison Dukes during the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

James Madison responded with a 30-yard field goal from Morgan Suarez on its next drive, one which required 15 plays and burned 8:03 off the clock. The Ducks took over from there, rattling off four straight touchdowns before the Dukes snuck in another field goal from Suarez ahead of halftime, which brought the score to 34-6.

In falling behind by such a wide margin, James Madison went away from its rushing attack, which ranked fifth in the nation in average yards per game entering the evening. Sun Belt Player of the Year, Alonza Barnett III, completed 23 of 48 passes, including a 47-yard touchdown pass to Nick DeGennaro on James Madison’s first drive of the third quarter.

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Oregon Ducks running back Dierre Hill Jr. scores a touchdown on a 56-yard run against the James Madison Dukes on Dec. 20, 2025, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Oregon promptly responded with two touchdowns, including wide receiver Malik Benson’s second TD and a blocked punt that Jayden Limar scooped and returned 15 yards for a score. James Madison scored the last three touchdowns.

The victory was the Ducks’ seventh straight since losing to No. 1 Indiana 30-20 on Oct. 11. James Madison had won 11 in a row.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

Sports

Lakers ask officials for consistency as technical fouls pile up in Clippers loss

Published

5 hours ago

December 21, 2025

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Lakers ask officials for consistency as technical fouls pile up in Clippers loss

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Clipper Kris Dunn grabs Laker Maxi Kleber ‘s jersey in front of a ref Saturday at the Intuit Dome.

(Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

The Lakers have been assessed five technical fouls in the last two games because of conduct with officials as frustration over inconsistent calls is starting to boil over. After Doncic, Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart were all given technical fouls in the third quarter of Thursday’s win over Utah, Doncic and Smart were T’ed up again Saturday in the first and third quarters, respectively.

“I think if any coach, any player, what we ask for is consistency,” Redick said. “And that’s not to single any official out or any crew out, it’s not about that. We need to know what it is night to night.”

Smart also drew a technical foul against Utah after attempting to talk to an official at halftime. When Smart walked away frustrated, he raised his middle finger toward the official, a gesture that got him fined $35,000 Saturday, the NBA announced.

“Sometimes you got to take the hit to get your point across,” Smart said Saturday.

Redick expressed additional frustration with the lack of transparency in the replay system and murky communication with officials. He said he has not received any feedback when he requests it and the distinction between plays that can and can’t be challenged appears to change every night.

The lack of communication has been frustrating for players as well, Smart said, who met with referees before the Utah game as a team captain, but still had his questions dismissed.

“The captain should be able to come talk to them,” Smart said. “They still don’t want to hear it. So control what you can control. They don’t want to talk, you know, you try and you move on. But it definitely is frustrating when you pour your heart out to this game and the feedback is literally waving you off, telling you to get out your face, and then giving you a tech because you’re asking a simple question.”

Sports

Multiple players ejected after brawl breaks out during Eagles-Commanders game

Published

17 hours ago

December 20, 2025

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Multiple players ejected after brawl breaks out during Eagles-Commanders game

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An intense brawl broke out during the Eagles-Commanders game in the fourth quarter Saturday night, resulting in three ejections.

The fight began after Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley scored on a 2-point conversion to boost his team’s lead to 19 points with less than five minutes left.

Washington’s Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin and Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen were disqualified after being flagged for unnecessary roughness.

There was some pushing and shoving and a lot of jawing, and officials threw six flags as the chaos ensued.

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Tyler Steen (56) of the Philadelphia Eagles and Mike Sainristil (0) of the Washington Commanders fight in the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Eventually, order was restored, and Barkley, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke to each other.

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The Eagles won the game, 29-18, to clinch their second straight division title, becoming the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles since the 2004 Eagles did it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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