Sports
Bus rides, watch parties and a new mindset: The edge fueling the Dodgers' playoff run
On the darkest night of their season last week, the Dodgers didn’t linger in their hushed home clubhouse.
The team had just been blown out in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. They’d lost their cool (and watched their home crowd do the same) in a 10-2 rout to the San Diego Padres. But rather than dwell on the disaster, they quickly packed team-branded duffel bags and boarded a charter bus waiting out in the parking lot.
With their season on the line, they were headed to San Diego.
And, this time, they decided as a team to all travel together.
Dodgers Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández celebrate after the team beat the Padres and won the NLDS series on Friday at Dodger Stadium.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“For as long as I’ve been here, we’ve never taken a team bus to San Diego, ever,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said. “And that’s not a bad thing by any means. But us saying, ‘We’re all gonna ride a bus down there, no families, nothing else, just us on a bus,’ It was great.”
And as the Dodgers prepared to open their NL Championship Series against the New York Mets on Sunday, it served as one of the many little examples that ultimately helped them advance.
Entering the playoffs, the Dodgers tried to be different in their postseason process, with a player-driven emphasis on cliche traits like togetherness and team unity generating a more resilient, combative mindset.
During the past few seasons, the Dodgers have lacked such ingredients once they’ve reached October. In NLDS eliminations in 2022 and 2023, their inability to conjure a heightened level of intensity seemingly contributed to stunningly early exits.
“We haven’t had that edge,” Muncy said. “We haven’t had that attitude.”
So, as they embarked on a third-straight postseason that began with an awkward first-round bye week, players brainstormed ways to avoid that pitfall again.
The process started during the final week of the regular season, when Muncy, catcher Will Smith and shortstop Miguel Rojas concocted a plan to hold team watch parties at Dodger Stadium during the wild-card round; aiming to not only scout potential NLDS opponents as a group, but also spend more of their week off in one another’s presence.
“I think just talking with some of the other guys, the leaders, it was, ‘How can we stay in a rhythm?’ ” Smith said. “It’s hard to come out of a rhythm in baseball. We’re playing every day and all of a sudden we get a week off. So how can we stay in rhythm? Be at the field for a decent amount of time like we do in the season.”
It also bled into the way the Dodgers handled their team workouts during the five-day break, with players agreeing to stay at the ballpark until the end of each session.
“I think a lot of guys maybe got a little bit complacent with the bye week the last couple years,” Hudson said, using the word “informal” to describe the mood of their 2022 and 2023 preparation. “We came in this year and tried to make sure we didn’t do that again.”
Ideas for change, Muncy said, not only originated in the clubhouse, but were presented by players to front-office officials.
“What we did for the five days off, everything was constructed by the players,” Muncy said. “Instead of us saying, ‘What does the organization want us to do? What are we going to do for that?’ It was the players saying, ‘No, this is what we’re doing. This is how we’re going to do things as a team.’ That’s been 100% player-driven.”
The bus ride to San Diego became another prime example.
Typically, when the Dodgers head south for road games against the Padres, most players drive down Interstate 5 themselves with their families. While the team does offer a bus for those wary of battling traffic, “not a lot of people take it,” Kiké Hernández said.
But, in a postseason all about doing things differently, even something as small as a more unified travel schedule proved to have profound team-wide effects.
Rather than stew on the Game 2 loss individually, the Dodgers’ ride last week transformed into “a party bus for two hours,” Hernández recalled with a laugh.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (13) celebrates on second base after hitting a third inning double in Game 4 of the NLDS at Petco Park.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“Especially,” he added, “when the driver is hauling ass and we make it to San Diego in an hour, 40 [minutes].”
To Muncy, it became something of a turning point in the series.
“We needed that,” he said, “to help us get over that shellacking we took in Game 2.”
The Dodgers didn’t win Game 3, but their near-comeback from an early five-run deficit showcased some fight they’d been missing in the past.
Before Game 4, their new approach was summed up in a blunt rallying cry delivered by Hernández.
“F— them all,” the 33-year-old repeatedly told his teammates.
“That’s the attitude we’ve had here,” Muncy added. “It’s just kind of who we’ve been this year.”
Two shutout wins later, the Dodgers clinched their first NLCS appearance since 2021. And as the team celebrated with a Champagne shower in the clubhouse, their internally stoked fire was evident in a string of expletive-filled answers.
“We have a lot of ‘F U’ in us,” Hernández said. “We’re all here together for one reason and one thing and one thing only. And that’s to win the World Series.”
To do that, the Dodgers will need to keep those flames burning in their series against the Mets.
Unlike the NLDS, when the Padres were the popular pick among online and television pundits, the Dodgers are now the consensus — or, at least, betting — favorites to win the league championship series and advance to the Fall Classic.
In past years, it’s the kind of situation in which they’ve failed to meet the moment. This time, however, they’re hoping their newfound edge can combat a similar collapse.
“We remember the last two early exits,” Hudson said. “And we want to put that behind us.”
“Usually, when people are in it together,” Hernández added, “good things tend to happen.”
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Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.
The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.
Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.
A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.
Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.
The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.
From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.
“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.
Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE
Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.
The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.
Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.
The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.
Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.
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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL
CITY SECTION FINALS
FRIDAY
At Birmingham
DIVISION I
#1 Taft d. #3 Cleveland, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21
DIVISION IV
#7 Maywood CES d. #4 Math & Science College Prep, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23
At Venice
DIVISION II
#4 Marquez d. #6 Narbonne, 23-25, 25-19, 29-27, 25-16
DIVISION III
#13 Birmingham d. #2 Legacy, 25-20, 17-25, 31-33, 25-21, 15-10
SATURDAY
At Birmingham
OPEN DIVISION
#3 Chatsworth d. #1 Granada Hills, 24-26, 25-21, 25-14, 25-18
DIVISION V
314 Franklin d. #13 Rancho Dominguez, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16
SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS
THURSDAY
At Home Sites
DIVISION 9
Vasquez d. Tarbut V’ Torah, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10
FRIDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 1
#1 Mira Costa d. #3 Loyola, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22
DIVISION 4
Sunny Hills d. Royal, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23
At Home Sites
DIVISION 5
Bishop Diego d. St. Anthony, 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23
DIVISION 8
Temescal Canyon d. West Valley, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23
SATURDAY
At Cerritos College
DIVISION 2
Orange Lutheran d. Edison, 3-1
DIVISION 3
Windward d. St, John Bosco, 24-26, 25–21, 25-22, 25-20
DIVISION 6
Culver City d. Garden Grove, 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-9
Sports
It’s Game 7, and we have a bet locked in as the Cavaliers and legacies are on the line against the Pistons
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The NBA takes a lot of flak for having meaningless games, and I can definitely understand it, watching on a random Wednesday in January. However, the playoffs have delivered over and over to viewers and rewarded us for putting up with garbage regular-season games.
This will be the fourth Game 7 of the playoffs. Three series have been sweeps, and the other three have been six games. That shows competitive hoops. Now, how do we bet this Game 7 in the Eastern Conference?
The Cleveland Cavaliers blew it. After not winning a road game all postseason, they took Game 5 in surprising fashion. It looked like they were going to win in six games. After all, they hadn’t lost a game at home in the postseason.
Instead, Detroit came out and blitzed the Cavs, never giving them a chance to get their footing. They lost in an ugly fashion and now have to figure out a way to win a game on the road.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden drives to the basket against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of Game 5 in the second-round NBA playoffs in Detroit on May 13, 2026. (Duane Burleson/AP)
It isn’t just the Cavs’ fate that rests in this game. It is also the legacy of James Harden and, to a lesser extent, Donovan Mitchell.
We know that Mitchell is a very good player, but he isn’t regarded as one of the best players ever. Harden is. Unfortunately, Harden has struggled in Game 7s. He’s averaged 19.1 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds. That’s not terrible, but looking at his shooting percentages, he is at 35.3% and 22.2% in those games. He actually is 4-4 overall in the games, but in his past three, he has scored a combined 34 points over 113 minutes.
The Detroit Pistons seem to like playing with their backs against the wall. They are a gritty team, so I suppose it makes sense.
Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren reacts after allowing a pass to go out of bounds in the second half of Game 4 of the second-round NBA playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland on May 11, 2026. (Sue Ogrocki/AP)
Cade Cunningham continues to deliver for the team, and he finally got some help in Game 6 from Jalen Duren. This was never going to be an easy series for Duren, but it feels like he is taking more time to mature than others. He definitely improved this year, but the consistency they need from him just isn’t there yet.
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Now as the team goes home they will need Duren to be a beast on the glass. If he can keep the Pistons in the rebounding battle, they should win this game with ease. They won Game 6 by just three rebounds, but that takes away a big dimension of what Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley do for the Cavs. It isn’t everything, though, as the Pistons won the rebounding battle in both losses in Cleveland.
I don’t see this being a runaway game for the Pistons. Mitchell and Cunningham likely will cancel each other out with scoring. Harden needs to establish himself as the third-best player on the floor. I haven’t seen him do that in the postseason, yet.
Cleveland Cavaliers All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and James Harden talk during Game 2 in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs vs. the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Ohio. (David Dermer/Imagn Images)
This is the second Game 7 of the playoffs for both of the clubs, so it isn’t like either will be caught off guard about what this entails.
If I look at it objectively, I think the Cavs have the better players. However, the Pistons have looked significantly better this season, and definitely in the playoffs overall. Both are prone to issues and slipping. The Cavs shouldn’t be as they are a veteran team.
This game has to be won by Cleveland, though. There is too much riding on the franchise and legacies of guys for them to not prepare properly for it. Maybe that’s weak analysis, but I’m taking the Cavs with the points and I do think they win outright. I expect a monster game from Mitchell, and Harden should get 10+ assists.
Either way, whoever wins will lose to the New York Knicks.
For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
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