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Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam gives Dodgers Game 1 World Series win vs. Yankees

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Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam gives Dodgers Game 1 World Series win vs. Yankees

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning on of Game 1 of the World Series on Friday to give his team a 1-0 series lead over the the New York Yankees. 

Freeman came to the plate after Mookie Betts was intentionally walked to load the bases. And against Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes, who hadn’t pitched in weeks, Freeman cranked the first pitch he saw into deep right field to win the game. 

It marked a climactic ending to one of the most highly-anticipated MLB games in recent years. 

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, center, left, celebrates at home plate after hitting a game-winning grand slam against the New York Yankees during the 10th inning in Game 1 of the baseball World Series, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

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Both starters, Gerrit Cole of the Yankees and Jack Flaherty of the Dodgers, pitched four scoreless innings to start the game. Flaherty put on some baserunners, and Cole had so deep fly balls to the track, but it was all zeroes through the first four frames. 

Cole was the first to crack, giving up an RBI on a sac fly to Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who scored Kike Hernandez to put LA up 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth. 

Then came Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees veteran slugger, who has taken the lead in MLB’s all-time list of most home runs per at-bat this postseason, hit his fifth homer of the playoffs. A towering two-run shot that arched majestically into left field put New York up 2-1 in the sixth. 

Giancarlo Stanton reacts

New York Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton celebrates his two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of the baseball World Series, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

From there, both team’s bullpens kept the bats at bay until Shohei Ohtani came up with a booming one-out double in the eighth inning. Then he snuck over to third base when the throw back in got away from the Yankees infielders. 

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So, the Yankees turned to their de-facto closer Luke Weaver to come in for a potential five-out save. Weaver, a 31-year-old journeyman who was unexpectedly thrust into New York’s closer role ahead of the playoffs, became one of MLB’s biggest stories of the postseason, recording four of five saves and pitching two innings for the win in Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series. 

But with Ohtani already at third, Weaver gave up a fly ball to Mookie Betts, allowing Ohtani to score and tie the game at two. 

SHOHEI OHTANI’S 50/50 BALL AUCTIONED OFF FOR ALL-TIME RECORD $4.39M

Kiké Hernández scores

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kiké Hernández (8) celebrates in the dugout after scoring against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning in Game 1 of the baseball World Series, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

In the top of the ninth, a fan caught a Gleyber Torres fly ball to left center, to put Torres at second base on fan interference. Then Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to intentionally walk Juan Soto to bring Aaron Judge to the plate with two on and two out. 

And Judge, who has struggled in the playoffs so far, came up empty in what was arguably the biggest at-bat of his career to that point, with a routine pop-up. 

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Then, Weaver came back on for the Yankees in the ninth and finished off a 1-2-3 inning to send the game to extras.

Jazz Chisholm got on base, stole second, stole third, then came home on an Anthony Volpe ground ball to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. 

Then came the bottom of the 10th and Freeman’s home run.

It was the first World Series game between the storied franchises since Oct. 28, 1981, when the Dodgers won 9-2 to clinch the series at Yankee Stadium. It was the first postseason game between them in Los Angeles October 25 of that year, when the Dodgers won 2-1, which shifted the momentum of that series.

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The two teams will meet again at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night for Game 2. The game can be seen on FOX.

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Meet Armando Villarreal, the man behind college football’s coolest helmets

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Meet Armando Villarreal, the man behind college football’s coolest helmets

Armando Villarreal was hanging onto the back of a garbage truck in his hometown of Imperial, Neb., when his phone rang. He quickly hollered to the driver to hit the brakes. Villarreal hopped off and answered the incoming call from Brad Haley, business manager of Schutt Sports, a company that manufactures football equipment. That conversation, which took place six years ago, altered both the trajectory of Villarreal’s life and his artistic career.

If that call goes to voicemail and Villarreal forgets about it, he likely never leaves his municipal job working for Imperial — a tiny city with a population of less than 2,000 in rural southwest Nebraska.

Luckily, he did pick up and listened to Haley’s unusual pitch: to airbrush a specialty helmet for Mississippi State in honor of alum Sonny Montgomery, a World War II veteran and former Mississippi state politician. Villarreal and Haley first met at a retail summit in Las Vegas years earlier, when Villarreal was working for a California-based art production company contracted by professional teams and leagues.

Since then, Villarreal has become a leader in this specialized field. Illinois’ leather helmets honoring legend Red Grange in last month’s game against Michigan were arguably his finest work.

Villarreal has done individually airbrushed helmets for 12 programs since 2018, including Utah, UCF, Maryland, BYU, Michigan and Tennessee. A former member of the U.S. Army Reserve who was deployed both to Kosovo and Iraq in the early 2000s, Villarreal did his best to balance his city job with airbrushing hundreds of helmets each year — until 2022 when the demand for his artistry became overwhelming.

Typically, equipment staffers at various programs will reach out to Schutt Sports, which then contacts Villarreal with the school’s pitch. Schutt handles the orders of however many helmets are needed, and they’re eventually shipped to Villareal’s home in Imperial.

“I just have to make sure it looks good on TV,” he said.

Schools will have their own graphic designers send mock-ups to Villarreal. The tricky part is wrapping an image around the entirety of the helmet. Some ideas are simple and easier to apply, such as UCF’s moon design honoring the university’s historical ties to the U.S. space program, or Tennessee’s helmet honoring the Smoky Mountains.

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There was one project so intimidating that he initially turned it down multiple times. In 2021, Utah’s director of equipment, Cody Heidbreder, asked Villarreal if he could paint helmets commemorating the passing of Utah players Ty Jordan in 2020 and Aaron Lowe in 2021.

(Video courtesy of Greg Gosse)

“I think I told them four times I couldn’t do it,” Villarreal said. “Cody just kept on me and kept on me. Finally, I said we’ll do it. That was the year I quit my day job because it was so much. It was about six hours per helmet.”

Programs usually come to Schutt and Villarreal with ideas in November and December to prepare for the following season. Right now, he’s finishing Utah’s speciality helmet for its Nov. 23 matchup against Iowa State in Salt Lake City.

“As soon as that’s done, we’ll start working on designs for next year,” Villarreal said.

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Helmets sent to Imperial from Schutt will arrive anywhere from May to June each spring.

Villareal receives just the “shell” of the helmet — sans facemask and chin strap — and immediately works on sanding each one down, with the help of his wife and three children. In order for the paint and design to stick properly, the texture of the helmet needs to be much rougher, without as much gloss.

A typical order generally consists of around 150 helmets per team. Some schools order more because they plan on selling or auctioning them off as collectible items. Illinois, Villarreal said, has received such fanfare over the leather helmet that the athletic department is considering a special order after the season.

It takes a minimum of two months to complete an entire order and have it shipped back to the school. The Illinois order took an estimated two hours per helmet, while the Utah helmets that will debut against Iowa State later this month took about four hours each.

“When you’re doing 155 helmets, the 32nd one has to look like the 76th one and the 120th one,” Villarreal said. “They all have to be pretty similar.”

Villarreal occupies space in an old shop his dad uses, and he also relies on his father-in-law, who owns a welding and fabrication shop in town. That’s where Villarreal spends hours with a paint respirator meticulously applying the airbrush design on helmet after helmet.

The business is gaining so much popularity that he and his wife, Lora, are thinking about building their own studio and adding additional manpower if demand keeps climbing. Once upon a time, after returning from his tours of duty, Villarreal was in Florida airbrushing motorcycles. Now he’s at the forefront of college football uniform ingenuity.

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“I’ve got to figure out how many we actually do, because ultimately it depends on the design,” he said. “The trouble is, the players don’t report until spring. And then they’ve got to get their helmets fitted. So there’s a tight window in there where I think, how can we do this? How many can we get done?

“This leather helmet for Illinois just exploded. I don’t know what the future holds. There’s going to be a pretty big learning curve in the next year or two.”

Maybe, but that doesn’t mean he can’t take a break and enjoy it. Recently EA Sports College Football 25 updated its video game options to include Illinois’ throwback leather helmets.

“The little kid in me is freaking out,” he recently posted on X. “I’m freaking out!”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; All photos courtesy of Armando Villarreal)

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Jalen Milroe rushes for 4 touchdowns, nearly 200 yards as No. 11 Alabama dominates No. 15 LSU

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Jalen Milroe rushes for 4 touchdowns, nearly 200 yards as No. 11 Alabama dominates No. 15 LSU

Jalen Milroe owns property in Death Valley after his dominance in Baton Rouge.

The Alabama quarterback rushed for four touchdowns as No. 11 Alabama walloped the 15th-seeded LSU Tigers, 42-13, on Saturday Night.

Alabama came to play from the jump, as Milroe ran for a 39-yard score on their first drive of the night. After allowing a field goal, it was Justice Haynes who pushed through a pile for a one-yard touchdown. The Tigers would only add another field goal before the half, but Milroe would find the end zone again and take a 21-6 lead into the locker room.

Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball as Jardin Gilbert #2 of the LSU Tigers defends during the first half at Tiger Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

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LSU’s first drive of the second half was almost flawless, as they got inside the opposing five-yard line – but Garrett Nussmeier threw a costly interception in the end zone, and the Crimson Tide did not let the opportunity go to waste. An LSU facemask penalty gave Bama even more help than they already did, and Milroe eventually scampered for a 19-yard touchdown to make it a 28-6 lead.

After forcing a punt, Bama got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, and that is where Milroe’s biggest blow came. He found some holes and took off for a 72-yard touchdown, making it a 35-6 Crimson Tide lead.

To put a cherry on top of it all, the Alabama defense didn’t allow a touchdown until there were just 11 seconds in the game.

Jalen Milroe avoiding defender

Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball as Paris Shand #0 of the LSU Tigers defends during the first half at Tiger Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

OLE MISS FANS STORM FIELD WITH TIME REMAINING ON CLOCK, PROMPTING DELAY TO GAME’S END

In all, Milroe rushed for 185 yards on his 12 carries – 33% of his carries found the end zone.

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The loss is a crusher for LSU, who had entered the game ranked 15th in the country. Thus, they will now need a lot of help to even think about the College Football Playoff.

Bama, meanwhile, has now won two straight after losing two of their previous three – they had even squandered a 28-point lead to Georgia before that losing stretch, and the fraud alert was on. 

However, Saturday’s dominance against their longtime SEC rival was a decent reminder that they are not going away lightly. – with losses by No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Miami, they should find themselves in the top-10 in next week’s rankings.

Jalen Milroe hurdling defender

Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball as Jardin Gilbert #2 of the LSU Tigers defends during the first half at Tiger Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

The Crimson Tide (7-2, 4-2) will host Mercer next week, while LSU (6-3, 3-2) will head to Gainesville for a date with Florida.

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Clippers hold off late surge by Toronto to pick up fourth consecutive win

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Clippers hold off late surge by Toronto to pick up fourth consecutive win

The Clippers have played four games in seven days. In 10 games this season, they’ve played three sets of back-to-backs.

Before Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told his players they can’t afford to buy into their circumstances.

Despite blowing a 14-point lead, the Clippers put Lue’s words into action and overcame James Harden and Norman Powell missing key free throws down the stretch in a 105-103 victory at the Intuit Dome that extended their winning streak to four games.

Harden had 24 points but missed a free throw with 28.7 seconds left, forcing the Clippers to cling to a two-point lead.

Powell had 24 points but missed a free throw with 35.5 seconds left. He then missed another one with 8.1 seconds left that kept it a one-possession game.

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But the Clippers hung on after Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl missed a nine-foot tip shot with 4.1 seconds left.

Before the game, Lue encouraged his players to continue playing stellar defense and to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.

“Just being mentally tough,” Lue said. “Can’t give into fatigue. You can’t give into the schedule. Just take it one game at a time.”

Clippers guard Kris Dunn celebrates after dunking against the Raptors in the first half Saturday.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

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Though the Clippers are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, Lue said they would be better if they did not allow transition points off turnovers.

Entering Saturday, the Clippers have allowed an average of 106.7 points per game, the second-best mark in the NBA. The Clippers rank fourth in defensive rating (107.9).

But the Clippers also are giving up 16.3 turnovers per game, tied with Toronto for the second-worst mark in the league entering Saturday.

“If we just take care of the basketball, I think a lot of nights we’ll be able to win games because we’re getting shots on goals,” Lue said. “But if you are having 19, 20 turnovers every night, it’s hard to win those games because your defense has to be elite, which it has been so far. But we can’t continue to lay our hat on our defense every single night and turn the ball over, letting teams get out, get easy points in transition. … If we get to that 10, 12 range, I mean, we are a different team.”

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The Clippers turned the ball over 12 times against the Raptors.

And they built a double-digit lead for the 10th straight game — and once again, the Clippers let that lead slip.

Etc: Lue was asked if Kawhi Leonard, who hasn’t played this season because of inflammation in his right knee, would travel with the Clippers on their three-game trip that opens Monday against Oklahoma City. He was short with his answer.

“Uh, no,” Lue said.

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