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In the present day, wrestlers such as Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns are often credited as the faces of WWE. According to WWE star Natalya, however, the true heroes of WWE lie backstage in the form of producers.

“They’re really the unsung heroes, in my opinion, of WWE,” Natalya told “Toronto Sun.” “They’re the first ones at the building. They’re the last ones to leave. They’re in so many different meetings where they’re collaborating with upper management and they’re bringing ideas of talent. They’re like the liaison between talent and management, but a good portion of them are people that used to do this.

“In WWE, you have Jamie Noble, you have TJ [Wilson], you have Adam Pearce, Abyss, his real name is Chris Parks. You have Ken Doane, Petey Williams, Jason Jordan, and Shane Helms. The list goes on and on. Bobby Roode. They used to be wrestlers. What I love about the producers is that they know what it’s like to perform. They’re not just guys in suits that are telling people what to do. They’ve been in the trenches.”

In addition to communicating ideas and plans between WWE higher-ups and talent, producers also typically coordinate matches for the company, with TJ Wilson being a notable go-to for those in the women’s division. Elsewhere, Rhodes has described Chris Parks, better known as Abyss, as one of the best producers WWE has to offer, especially after helping him and Damian Priest put together their match for WWE Crown Jewel 2023.Â

Producers are on site for all of WWE’s televised, live, and premium live events. The most recent PLE was WWE Crown Jewel, which emanated from Perth, Australia on October 11.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Toronto Sun” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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Cummins was ruled out of Australia’s limited-overs series against New Zealand and India last month after scans revealed a lumbar bone stress in his back.

He has a history of back injuries, with flare-ups in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 causing him to miss three Australian summers in four years.

He said he would be “aggressive” and “take risks” in his recovery in order to play in the Ashes.

Bailey said he did not know if Cummins had begun bowling as part of his rehabilitation but that it was “getting tight” for him to be fit for the first Test.

Should Cummins not be fit in time for the opener in Perth, former captain Steve Smith will skipper the side.

All-rounder Cameron Green was recently pulled out of Australia’s squad for their one-day international series against India as a precaution because of soreness in his side.

Bailey described it as a “minor” injury and said Green will play in the Sheffield Shield, so will be “in a good place to be ready to bowl”.

“We put so much time and energy into building out the plan for him to be available for the first Test as an all-rounder,” Bailey said.

“He was only going to play the first two ODIs anyway. The way he swings the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, even if it just sets him back for 24 more hours, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively.”

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Football Manager 26 launches next month, with women’s football available on the game.

The integration was announced four whole years ago – in part because it would have been impossible to keep such a huge project quiet – but now, we’re on the cusp of seeing women’s players in the game for the very first time.

Football Manager 26 is out on November 4, 2025.

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Every tournament exit has led to questions about his future, but Djokovic said he had no plans to retire and took inspiration from stars in other sports who have defied age to play at the top.

Speaking at a conference at Joy Forum in Riyadh, Djokovic said: “Longevity is one of my biggest motivations.

“I really want to see how far I can go. If you see across all the global sports, Lebron James he is still going strong, he is 40, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady played until he was 40-something years old, it is unbelievable.

“They are inspiring me.

“In the next couple of years tennis is a sport that can be greatly transformed and I want to be part of that change.

“I want to be playing when we rejuvenate our sport and set the new platform that is going to go on for decades to come.”

Leading players are pushing the Grand Slams for a greater share of revenue, while the Professional Tennis Players Association – co-founded by Djokovic – launched lawsuits against tennis’ governing bodies earlier this year in an effort to force through changes.

Djokovic was speaking in Saudi Arabia for the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament, where he and six-time major champion Alcaraz have been given byes to the semi-finals.

There is a reported $4.5m (£3.4m) in prize money on offer, with some players also likely to have been paid seven-figure sums to appear.

Reports say the winner could take home up to $6m (£4.5m).

Djokovic faces Italy Sinner on Thursday night, with Alcaraz taking on American Taylor Fritz.

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At the 2025 Ryder Cup, World No. 2 Rory McIlroy was at the center of the chaos that unfolded at Bethpage Black, inside the ropes and out. And While McIlroy’s stellar play helped the European team to a dramatic away win, more attention has been paid to misbehaving fans who hurled insults at Rory, his wife and the Europeans all week on Long Island.

McIlroy is tuned in to this reality and explained the “unfortunate thing” about it on Wednesday ahead of the 2025 DP World India Championship.

Rory says he’s been watching Ryder Cup highlights

McIlroy is teeing it up India for the first time this week, in one of the final events of the DP World Tour season. He currently dominates the DP World Tour’s season-long standings, as he eyes his fourth-straight Race to Dubai title and seventh overall.

It’s also his first time competing since the Ryder Cup, which was an emotional whirlwind for the five-time major champion.

The Bethpage Ryder Cup has lingered for all the wrong reasons

By:

Michael Bamberger

With the exception of much of Sunday’s singles matches, the story on the scorecard at the Ryder Cup was one of European domination. That much was clear for anyone watching the action on TV Friday or Saturday.

But as a primary character in the drama, McIlroy was not able to watch it on TV live. He was busy trying to win his matches.

“Obviously as I’m playing my matches, I’m focused on trying to win my point. You know, you see that the other guys are winning their matches or they are doing well but you don’t realize how well they are playing,” McIlroy said.

However, since the Ryder Cup ended, McIlroy has been able to re-watch the highlights and get a full sense of just how great his team played over the first two days at Bethpage.

“So just over the last two weeks, being able to watch the highlights and just see, especially those first two days, in the foursomes and the four-balls how good European team were,” he revealed on Wednesday. “The Americans would hit it close; we hit it closer. The Americans hole a putt and we hole a putt on top it and it happened every single time.”

But the reigning Masters champion also identified one problem that has been bothering him since the Ryder Cup came to an end.

‘I’d rather play with Ryder Cup mates than against them” Rory at DP World India Championship

McIlroy laments what was lost in post-Ryder Cup coverage

The inexcusable abuse McIlroy and company faced during the three days of competition at Bethpage Black is well known. McIlroy’s emotional reactions in the most heated moments, as well as his and his teammates’ comments in the Ryder Cup winner’s press conference spoke volumes.

And partially because of that, spectators’ bad behavior has dominated Ryder Cup coverage after the event, much like the European team did on the course.

On Wednesday, McIlroy acknowledged as much without directly mentioning the volatile atmosphere at the Ryder Cup.

Viral Rory McIlroy video isn’t what you think it is — and that’s a problem

By:

Sean Zak

“I’ve been following the sort of narrative coming out of the Ryder Cup just like everyone else,” he said.

Then he began to explain the downside of that prevailing narrative.

“But unfortunately, I think it takes away from what we focused on which is what an incredible performance it was by the European team.”

He continued by lamenting that people are remembering this year’s Ryder Cup for the “wrong reason,” and that he hopes to change that,

“The unfortunate thing is people aren’t remembering that and they are remembering the week for the wrong reason,” McIlroy explained. “I would like to shift the narrative and focus on how good the European team were and how proud I was to be part of that team to win an away Ryder Cup.”

And win they did. Despite a furious comeback by the U.S. on Sunday, Rory and the Europeans edged out a 15-13 victory, their second in a row. It was also Europe’s sixth win in the last eight Ryder Cups, and ninth win in the last 12.

As for McIlroy, who won the Irish Open in his last pro start, he’ll begin his opening round at the 2025 DP World India Championship on Wednesday night at 9:55 p.m. ET alongside Ryder Cup teammate Viktor Hovland and U.S. Ryder Cupper Ben Griffin.

Amid the Philadelphia Eagles’ two-game skid, some reportedly are wondering if tensions will boil over for star receiver A.J. Brown.

The start of the 2025 season hasn’t been very productive for Brown, and he hasn’t been shy about expressing his frustrations. However, Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer reported that while other teams are monitoring the situation in case Brown becomes available for a trade, the Eagles “view this as part of the deal with their mercurial receiver.”

Brown caught six catches for 80 yards in Thursday night’s 34-17 loss to the New York Giants, marking the fifth time in six games this season that he fell short of the 100-yard mark and failed to score a touchdown. He has just 25 catches for 274 yards and one score this year.

After the loss, Brown inexplicably denied having a meeting with teammates Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley, both of whom had previously confirmed that the meeting had taken place following Philadelphia’s first loss of the season against the Denver Broncos. However, these situations are reportedly seen as par for the course when it comes to Brown.

“He’s always been different, and how that manifests itself can be a little unpredictable,” Breer wrote, pointing to an instance where Brown was seen reading the book Inner Excellence on the sideline during the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers in last year’s playoffs.

While Philadelphia doesn’t seem to mind dealing with Brown’s antics, his name has still been floated in trade rumors recently. A high-end executive for an AFC contender texted Breer that he expects Brown’s name to come up in trade talks before the deadline, saying, “His production is down, and the offense/quarterback are what they are. He doesn’t seem happy.”

Still, Breer suggested that the Eagles would be content to ride it out and hold on to Brown as they chase a second straight Super Bowl title, calling the situation “manageable.” Also, Brown’s $29 million fully guaranteed salary for the 2026 season and his chronic knee condition could affect what Philadelphia would receive in return for the three-time Pro Bowler.

Brown and the Eagles will try to return to their winning ways when they meet the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7.

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As we begin the 2025-26 regular season, some things in the NHL arenâ€t changing – namely, the Chicago Blackhawks are still a win-challenged team, as theyâ€ve gone 0-2-1 in their first three games.

The Blackhawks have kept the scores close, as all three games were one-goal games. So, having only one standings point to show for it has to be disappointing to Hawks fans, players and executives.

That said, one of the bright lights of Chicagoâ€s first three games is the performance of blossoming star center Frank Nazar. The 21-year-old is currently tied for third place in NHL scoring, with four assists and five points. Itâ€s unfair to expect the second-year NHLer to sustain his current point pace, but after Nazar posted 12 goals and 26 points in 53 games with the Hawks last season, heâ€s now got the opportunity of a lifetime this season.

It was always going to be a tremendous long shot for the Blackhawks to be even in the conversation for a playoff berth, so the winless three-game start to the season canâ€t be a surprise. This is still a franchise with serious holes in the lineup, and thereâ€s going to be pain ahead for Chicago, no matter what Nazar does.

But for Hawks fans whoâ€ve suffered through the bad part of the competitive cycle virtually all teams go through from generation to generation, having another legitimate star player to invest their time, money and emotion into is no small step forward. Nazar is blossoming before their eyes, and Blackhawks fans are stoked to see it.

With a continued strong start, Nazar has the potential to open up even more opportunities for himself. Namely, weâ€re talking about him making Team Americaâ€s 2026 Olympic roster. With the U.S.â€s center spots basically taken up by Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel, New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, and New York Rangers star J.T. Miller, thereâ€s not an opening for Nazar. But maybe Nazar gets on the roster to fill one of the two extra forwards spots. Thatâ€s not unreasonable for him to aim for.

So, having Nazar continue his hot streak helps the Blackhawks on numerous levels. If he plays well, he takes some heat off of Bedard, who has had to bear the brunt of the spotlight as Chicagoâ€s foundational player. Nazar isnâ€t at Bedardâ€s stage right now, and he may never be.  But as long as he continues to grow his game, thereâ€s every chance he can establish himself as a fixture in the Windy City for many years to come.

Nazarâ€s usage has skyrocketed in the three games heâ€s played this year. After averaging just 15:52 of ice time last season, Nazar has played more than 20 minutes in two of his three games, and heâ€s averaging 19:53 of ice time in total. Thatâ€s a huge step forward, and new Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill is going to be hitching his wagon to Chicagoâ€s young core of players. That core now clearly includes Nazar, as he has been prominent at 5-on-5, the power play and the penalty kill.

Chicago still needs to stock up on as many elite young players as possible, so when the Hawks do as expected and finish at the bottom of the league again this season, there will be a payoff consolation from the draft system. The Blackhawks are going to wobble and fall over often in the next few years as they put parts in place for a sustained playoff push, but given how rare it is to find legitimate difference-makers, it has to be a thrill for Hawks management and coaching to know they have an emerging gem in Nazar.

A lot can still happen to Nazar as teams scout him and figure out his weaknesses, but Nazar can continue to stay one step ahead of his opponents and thrive in hockeyâ€s top league. His start to this season is very encouraging for the Blackhawks and for Nazar himself, and itâ€s a good idea to keep your eyes on Nazar as he negotiates the ascent up the competitive mountain and carves out a great legacy in Chicago.

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NEW YORK — Statistically speaking, Aaron Judge had a nice day.

In Game 4 of the ALDS, he went 2-for-4 with an intentional walk. His two outs were a strikeout and a 112-mph liner smoked right at the second baseman. He made a few nice plays in the field. Judge did not send one flying to the heavens — not every day is Christmas — but it was a productive trip to the office.

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Yet he finished the evening in the same scattered fashion he has finished every year of his career. Disappointed, downtrodden, his eyes puffy and distant with the remnants of tears, his words low and tired. Once more, Judgeâ€s Yankees did not win the World Series. The “October in the Bronx†dream is dead yet again.

[Get more New York news: Yankees team feed]

And as the current face of this institution, as the living emblem of all that Yankeedom represents, as the captain forced to shoulder the 16-year championship drought, Judge was once again left to explain his clubâ€s failures on Wednesday, after a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays ended the Yankees’ season.

“It’s tough to say right now,†Judge replied when asked whether there’s anything the Yankees were missing to get them over the hump. “I gotta review this season, kind of go through it. I might have a better answer for you.â€

The scene around Judge in the Yankees†locker room featured all the typical sights and sounds of a group understanding it will never be together again. Hugs, thank-yous, handshakes, make-sure-you-text-mes. There were fewer tears than a November goodbye but more than a September goodbye. The weepiest person in the room was Paul Goldschmidtâ€s 10-year-old son, Jake, who received consolations from what seemed like the entire Yankees roster.

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At one point, Andy Pettite strolled in, making him the only one in the room who’d won a World Series in pinstripes. Meanwhile, clubhouse attendants unfolded scores of cardboard boxes, filling them with the various bric-a-brac one finds in a clubhouse. The loud screeches of packing tape being unspooled were often louder than the humbled mumbles of Yankees players conducting postmortems with the media.

“Very disappointed,†second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “Everyone in here believed that we had such a great team, and we were the team to beat. We believe so much in each other. It’s heartbreaking.”

“We didn’t do our job, didn’t finish the goal,†Judge lamented. “Had a special group in here. Lotta special players that made this year fun. But didn’t get the ultimate prize.”

That ultimate prize, a World Series championship, continues to elude and define Judge. Even though he ended all doubts about his postseason fortitude with that unforgettable swing in Game 3, he knows the expectations that come with wearing the pinstripes. He is already, far and away, the greatest Yankee of all time without a ring.

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He did his best Wednesday, delivering a commendable performance that also served to reinforce baseballâ€s limitations in legacy creation. This sport, more than any other, restricts the myth of the lone hero. Itâ€s in the gameâ€s DNA, both frustrating and beautiful. One player can dominate, inspire, ignite, but he cannot do it all alone. Every at-bat is a solitary experience, but the end result is a collaboration.

And while the outcome of Game 4 was compelling, the game itself was not, especially compared to the thrill ride that transpired the night before. This contest was much quieter, a slow burning away of the Yankees†season, a gradual realization in the Jays dugout that the Bronx dragon would be slayed. But while the evening was light on drama, this result will linger sourly in New York and stand the test of time in Toronto.

“The ending’s the worst, right?†Yankees manager Aaron Boone commiserated afterward.

Aaron Judge did his part, but the Yankees came up short in the ALDS against the Blue Jays. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

(Al Bello via Getty Images)

The beginning wasnâ€t so good, either. The game started with the Jays striking quickly against Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler, fresh off that magnificent wild-card performance last week against Boston. Toronto plated a single run in the top of the first courtesy of — who else? — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. With a runner on second, Torontoâ€s top bat sliced a liner over the first-base bag for an RBI knock. New York punched back in the third with a solo home run from nine-hole hitter Ryan McMahon, a glove-first veteran acquired at the deadline from the baseball backwater that is Denver.

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The Jays retook a one-run lead in the fifth on a pair of singles and a sac fly. Meanwhile, a carousel of Toronto relievers continued to silence the Yankees†bats. Then Toronto broke it open in the seventh, the crucial moment a brutal error from Chisholm. A soft one-hopper that wouldâ€ve been a double play caromed off the heel of his glove and trickled into the outfield. A few batters later, outfielder Nathan Lukes shot an elevated Devin Williams fastball into center for a two-RBI single.

That was, effectively, the ballgame. The Jays added a run in the eighth to stretch their lead to four. New York threatened in the bottom of that frame, loading the bases with two outs to bring the tying run to the dish in Austin Wells. He flew out weakly on the first pitch of his at-bat to end the threat. Judge clobbered one off the wall in the ninth, an RBI single that trimmed the lead to three, but the game never seriously felt within reach for the Yankees.

“I’m confident we’ll break through,†Boone asserted afterward. “I have been every year, and I believe in so many of the people in that room. That hasn’t changed. The fire hasn’t changed. It’s hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life.â€

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And as Boone well knows, he canâ€t do it alone. Nobody can, not even the greatest hitter on the planet. Both Aarons are likely to be back next season — Boone, when asked, stated that heâ€s under contract and expects to return as manager — to do it all over again. Theyâ€ll have as good a shot as anybody else. The Yankees wield enormous financial might and boast a formidable pitching rotation. They also have Judge, a player so brilliant he makes anything seem possible.

Even winning a World Series.

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In the soaking Yankee clubhouse, Cam Schlittler stood talking to reporters, dripping wet — Champagne was his postgame eau de parfum, considering all the celebrating that was going on around him. The championship wrestling belt given by teammates to the Player of the Game was slung over one shoulder and Schlittler was still wearing the high socks he had pitched with, though he had swapped his spikes for flip-flops.

It was a compelling postgame tableau only minutes after Schlittler’s compelling performance led the Yankees past the Boston Red Sox in their AL Wild Card series. Schlittler, a 24-year-old rookie, threw eight shutout innings in the Yankees’ 4-0 victory Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, sealing the best-of-three affair with the best performance of his life.

So far, anyway. Considering his immense talent, which includes a 100 mile-per-hour fastball, that’s an important disclaimer.

Seeing Schlittler soar in such an enormous win also might serve notice to the rest of baseball — the Yankees were banking on their starting pitching going into the playoffs and felt they had a powerful 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation with Max Fried and Carlos Rodón. After Schlittler’s outing, perhaps they have a terrifying trio.

Rodón was not great in Game 2 (six innings, three runs), but both Fried and Schlittler delivered gems. Overall, the Yankee rotation threw 20.1 innings against Boston and allowed only the runs Rodón surrendered. That’s a 1.33 ERA, the kind of pitching that can move a team through playoff rounds.

So if you can’t wait to see what Schlittler can do against the Toronto Blue Jays in the next round, who could blame you after what he did to Boston, the team the Walpole, Mass. native grew up adoring. Schlittler struck out 12 and walked none and allowed only five hits. The Red Sox had exactly one at-bat against him with a runner in scoring position and it ended, perhaps predictably, now that you know his final line, with a K.

The 12 strikeouts are the most ever by a Yankee rookie in a postseason game — he broke Dave Righetti’s 1981 record of 10 — and he was only the second Yankee ever to throw eight scoreless innings in his postseason debut, joining Waite Hoyt, who did it in the 1921 World Series.

Schlittler is also the first pitcher in MLB history to throw at least eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks in a postseason game.

“I mean,” said Aaron Boone, “what a performance.”

“We needed to be perfect tonight because he was perfect,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I mean, the stuff is outstanding. It was under control.

“He was electric.”

Perhaps unbelievably, Schlittler had never had a double-digit strikeout game as a pro.

“That’s something I did in college,” said Schlittler, who was a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of Northeastern, which is in, um, Boston. “But my professional career, it’s not something I’ve gotten. I get nine a lot. I didn’t always throw 100, so once I got up here, that’s something that I was able to make an adjustment on…Obviously, (double-digit strikeouts) is not the goal, but that’s a good feeling, being able to go out there and dominate a lot.”

In the first inning, Schlittler got three outs on 14 pitches. Six of those pitches were 100 mph or faster. As the night went on, he worked efficiently. He threw his 100th pitch to finish the seventh inning and thought he was finished — seven frames was his season-high in his 14 starts during the regular season. But Boone had other ideas.

Usually, the manager goes down the dugout steps with a pitcher nearing the end of his outing to either have a conversation about the upcoming inning or to tell the pitcher his work is done. Instead, Boone just asked, “You good?” Schlittler was. Boone thought he’d go hitter-to-hitter with Schlittler in the eighth, but Schlittler breezed through on seven pitches, allowing himself a low-key fist pump as he came off the mound after retiring Trevor Storyon a grounder.

“I trust his ability to go fill up the (strike) zone,” Boone said.

“To be able to go out there and put the team on his back, it’s extremely impressive,” Fried added. “I don’t think anyone’s expecting it, but to say that he wasn’t capable of it definitely would be selling him short. He’s got unbelievable stuff and he’s really put it together.”

Schlittler admitted he probably hadn’t fully grasped what he’d just accomplished. He did seem to enjoy it, though. When he came into the post-game interview room — toting towels because he was still drenched from the clubhouse celebration — he brought the wrestling belt and the goggles he had used to protect his eyes as teammates were spraying each other and set them up on the table. He cracked open a Gatorade before addressing questions.

“Sorry,” he said to the room as the can whooshed when he opened it.

Then he started detailing his night. He had felt great all along, he said, because he had gotten great sleep the previous two nights and he quoted some recovery metrics to back up his snooze claim. In his bullpen warmup, his stuff crackled, which made him optimistic about his night. He controlled his breathing well, which is a particular focus because it helps him conserve energy.

When he got to the dugout after the eighth, he knew he was finished and joined raucous teammates in the dugout. “I couldn’t really hear anything going on,” Schlittler said. “But they’re all pumped up and excited for me and that’s just a great feeling.”

This season in the majors, Schlittler got to 100 pitches exactly once. He threw 107 Thursday night and 75 of those were strikes, backing up Boone on his ability to fill up the zone.

“When you throw 100 and command the baseball and land your secondary pitches, you can be a problem for the opposition,” Boone said. “That’s what he’s capable of.”

And if Schlittler can continue this kind of excellence in these playoffs, the Yankees, with their starters, can be a problem for the rest of the teams still playing.

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LOS ANGELES — October baseball isnâ€t always a crapshoot.

Sometimes, the sportâ€s deepest-pocketed, most talent-rich juggernaut swats away an 83-win, small-market opponent like a pesky fly.

A Los Angeles Dodgers team that had hoped to be resting up for the division series this week played its way out of the wild-card round as quickly as possible Wednesday. They swept a Cincinnati Reds team that slipped into the postseason with the second-fewest regular-season wins of any playoff team in the wild-card era, clinching the best-of-three series with an 8-4 victory in Game 2.

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For two straight days, the Dodgers mostly looked like the team hailed as the preseason favorites to be World Series champs for a second straight year, the team with three league MVPs at the top of its lineup, the team with a starting rotation so deep that Clayton Kershaw was left off the wild-card roster. The Dodgers†offense and starting pitching were more than strong enough to overcome a tenuous bullpen, one that twice took breezy victories and needlessly injected moments of late-game tension.

But this was the Reds. This was the easy part. For the advancing Dodgers, much tougher challenges await.

[Get more Los Angeles news: Dodgers team feed]

Up next come the talented, rested, playoff-tested Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers†opponent for a best-of-five division series beginning Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies piled up 96 wins this season, won four of six against the Dodgers and edged them in the race for home-field advantage and a first-round bye.

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On Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described the Phillies as a “very talented ball club†but insisted that he thinks the Dodgers “match up very well against those guys.†He contended that his squad could be the sharper team early in the series, having played two wild-card games while the Phillies had the week off.

“Getting through the wild-card series kind of seamlessly like we did, I think weâ€re in a great spot,†he said.

If the performance of the starting rotation the past two nights is any indication, the Dodgers will arrive in Philadelphia fists bared, ready for a fight. In the wild-card round, the Reds were unable to make Roberts pay for the decision to save Ohtani to start Game 1 against the Phillies.

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In their outings against Cincinnati, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto both secured 20-plus outs, struck out nine-plus batters and surrendered five or fewer hits. Thatâ€s the first time in MLB postseason history, per OptaSTATS, that a team’s starters have done that in back-to-back games.

Yamamoto was especially resilient Wednesday after the Reds loaded the bases with nobody out and the Dodgers leading by a single run in the top of the sixth. He caught a break when Austin Hays†one-hop liner found Mookie Betts†glove at shortstop and Betts astutely threw home to force out the third-base runner. Then Yamamoto locked in and struck out both Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz on sharp curveballs below the zone.

Through an interpreter, Yamamoto said postgame that he worried he was “throwing too many curveballs†during that sequence, but he said he trusted catcher Ben Rortvedt. Only after De La Cruz checked his swing but could not hold up at strike three did Yamamoto concede, “That was a good call.â€

And as deep as the Dodgers†starting rotation is, so is their lineup.

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Just two games into this postseason, October heroes of the past are heating up, most notably Kiké Hernandez. After the Dodgers fell behind in the first inning on two unearned runs made possible by a Teoscar Hernandez error, Kiké helped his team recover. In the fourth, he drove in the tying run with a ringing double in the gap, then scored the go-ahead run on a Miguel Rojas single, pumping his fist as he stepped on home plate.

The Dodgers star who struggled most over the course of the regular season has also caught fire at the ideal time. Betts had four hits Wednesday, including three doubles, which tied a Dodgers single-game postseason record dating to 1953.

“Better late than never,†he said afterward with a smile. “I went through arguably one of the worst years of my career. But I think it really made me mentally tough. So now there’s just a different level of focus. And it’s not really on myself. It’s more on winning the game.â€

In the Game 2 victory, nearly everyone in the lineup contributed. Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run double. Rojas and Rortvedt had two hits apiece. Itâ€s no wonder that before the game, Reds manager Terry Francona scoffed at the idea of intentionally walking Ohtani, who singled and scored a run.

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“Youâ€re kidding, right?†he said. “Have you heard of Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman? … You start walking people in that lineup, and youâ€re asking for trouble.â€

But if thereâ€s one reason for concern heading into the Philadelphia series, itâ€s the same one that plagued the Dodgers throughout the second half. Their relievers canâ€t be trusted to protect big leads, let alone small ones in high-leverage situations.

On Tuesday in Game 1, relievers Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer frittered away much of an eight-run lead over the course of a 59-pitch top of the eighth inning. Boos rained down from the Dodger Stadium crowd after Dreyer walked in a run, the Reds†third of the frame, to allow Cincinnati to send the tying run to the on-deck circle.

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A pattern emerged in Game 2, when Roberts called starter Emmet Sheehan in the top of the eighth with the Dodgers leading 8-2. Sheehan walked the bases loaded, then yielded a base hit and a sacrifice fly.

When Sheehan nearly hit Will Benson with a pitch on an 0-2 count, Roberts had seen enough. He pulled Sheehan in the middle of the at-bat and brought on Vesia, who sandwiched two strikeouts around a walk to wriggle out of the inning with an 8-4 lead intact.

Why didnâ€t Roberts allow Sheehan to finish pitching to Benson? The skipper conceded postgame that Sheehan “wasnâ€t sharp†and said he felt better about Vesia against the right-handed hitters on deck. Would Roberts hesitate before turning to Sheehan in future postseason games? No, the manager gave Sheehan his vote of confidence.

“I believe in him,†he said. “I really do.â€

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The one pitcher who earned Roberts†trust in this wild-card sweep was starter-turned-reliever Roki Sasaki, who finished off the Reds with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth inning Wednesday. Asked if Sasaki would be the Dodgers†postseason closer moving forward, Roberts gave a non-answer but acknowledged, “I donâ€t think the moment is going to be too big for Roki.â€

With the Phillies looming, Sasaki will need to be ready for bigger moments as October rolls on. For the Dodgers, the Reds were a speed bump.

Now comes the hard part.

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