Category World News

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who are heading home for three games and flying high following a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2, have the reigning champions’ script changed.

Will Smith drove in three runs, including a solo home run in the seventh inning that ended the Dodgers’ unearned run, while Yamamoto was outstanding while striking out eight batters and walking none.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described Yamamoto as “yes, he was just locked in tonight.” He said, “Losing is not an option, and he had that look tonight,” one of those things he said before the series.

The win put the star-studded Dodgers back on track to become Major League Baseball’s (MLB) first repeat champions in 25 years. The winning streak led the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Unsettled opponents

The team turned the ball over to their star pitcher in the hopes that he could make a big difference in the wake of their humiliating 11-4 defeat, which exposed the fragility of the Dodgers’ bullpen, and may have caused some doubt to enter their clubhouse.

Yamamoto, who made his first start since pitching a complete-game masterpiece in the National League Championship Series, once more went the distance and left Blue Jays hitters perplexed the day after allegedly hitting pitches at will.

Yamamoto described his signature pitch as “going into the game, the pregame bullpen, I was feeling really good with the splitter.”

“I’m very happy and proud that I made a significant contribution and gave the team a chance to win,” the team said.

Fast Start

Before Smith singled to give the visitors a 1-0 lead, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run double in the first inning for the Dodgers.

In the bottom of the inning, Toronto faced a threat, but Yamamoto retired the next three batters to escape the situation and stayed put.

The final 20 batters Yamamoto faced on the night were the only ones who could not recover from Yamamoto’s extraordinary run, which started with Alejandro Kirk getting hit on a sacrifice fly that gave George Springer the win.

Yamamoto’s performance was described as “making it difficult for us to make him work.” He was split between the zones, and he was in the zone. He gave a really strong performance.

“Pickers Duel”

The Dodgers broke through in the seventh inning with Max Muncy’s solo homerun two batters later after Kevin Gausman, a starter for Toronto, had a lot of luck.

After Smith grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles added two more runs in the eighth inning on a wild pitch.

After allowing three runs and striking out six batters in 6-2, 3 innings prior to Smith’s homer, Gausman took the loss.

“I thought Kev really matched [Yamamoto] pitch for pitch,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Both of them had low pitch counts. They made a few more swings than usual, which was a sort of classic pitchers’ duel.

Monday for Game 3 is.

As Matheus Cunha, Casemiro, and Bryan Mbeumo scored twice to give Brighton & Hove Albion a 4-2 victory on Saturday, their third successive Premier League victory, continued under manager Ruben Amorim.

Cunha scored the Brazilian’s first goal for United and his first since last weekend’s first victory at Liverpool, building on the incredible win from last weekend.

Ten minutes later, Casemiro’s second, which took a significant deflection before finding the net, was a success, but Mbeumo’s well-taken third just after the hour mark gave the hosts complete command.

A nervy finish at Old Trafford was ensured by Charalampos Kostoulas’ header in stoppage time after Danny Welbeck’s sublime free kick against his former club, club, and club brought one back for Brighton.

Mbeumo fired a fine strike into the top of the net to move Brighton, United, to fourth place in the standings after moving everyone forward in search of the equaliser. Bledton remained 12th.

Mbeumo told Sky Sports, “I really enjoy it here.” “It wasn’t easy at first,” he said. Although it’s a new place and a new expectation, I believe everything is progressing smoothly thanks to the team’s collaboration.

The key to success is “the work we put in, the togetherness we show on the pitch.” We want to fight for the best locations, and I like the challenges. I came here to a large club.

United’s biggest test at Brighton

Given that Brighton has won more league games than United since the start of the 2021-22 season, the visitors have put a lot of pressure on the improving United.

For the first time since Amorim took over the league after taking over from Liverpool 11 months ago, United won over Liverpool last weekend, but the manager insisted that if they lost to Brighton, the revival would be undone.

As Brighton began brightly, Welbeck had to make a fine save from Senne Lammens, United, and goalkeeper, but Cunha’s pinpoint finish settled home concerns. Cunha has scored more goals from outside the box than any other Premier League player in all competitions since the start of the campaign.

Casemiro’s deflected strike deservedly moved the hosts’ lead before the break to a dominant&nbsp, United&nbsp, with more chances coming and going.

With the third, Mbeumo put United in a seemingly unassailable position after scoring his goal at Liverpool with another.

However, there was some proof that they were far from the finished product as Welbeck and mistakes began to creep in.

When Kostoulas’ 3-2 lead was narrowed, Mbeumo’s 96th-minute strike gave United the lead, their third straight league victory since August 2024.

Welbeck said, “We put ourselves in a really difficult position.” Our group is fantastic. We scored two goals, and we were on the verge of a third. Although it didn’t occur, it’s a good sign that character was being shown.

Before the match was declared a no-contest, Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, the two fighters, were unable to survive the opening round of their heavyweight main event at UFC 321 inside Etihad Arena.

At the 4:35 mark of the first round, Aspinall (15-3-0) and Gane (12-2-0), both came out with a lot of energy before an unintentional double eye poke caused an official timeout.

At 4:15 into the end, the match was declared a no-contest because Aspinall (15-3-0) was unable to see out of his right eye during the allotted five-minute break.

Aspinall’s first defense as the undisputed heavyweight champion was in 2011.

What should I do in this situation? In response to the boo-boos rumblings that surrounded the arena, an disappointed Aspinall remarked, “I can’t see.” “This is]exhaustive,” you say. The conflict was just “going on.”

As the ring announcer made the official announcement, Gane sat down and was disappointed as well.

Gane expressed regret for her. “I’m so sorry about that,”

The champion wasted no time in launching a powerful attack on Gane, which Aspinall immediately got off to.

Gane, who is renowned for his elusive footwork, took command in the cage’s center by standing toe-toe. He displayed no intimidation.

Gane smacked the champ with a sharp jab. And Gane was able to defend it midway through the round when Aspinall attempted to take down the shot. Gane did a good job of circling out of the cage while landing jabs and low kicks when Aspinall attempted to cut it off.

Aspinall was still out until Gane’s eye-punch in the final minute of the round.

Down Jandiroba, then

Fifth-ranked contender Mackenzie Dern (16-5-0), who is 22-4-0), defeated top-ranked Virna Jandiroba (22-4-0), to take the vacant strawweight belt in a fierce co-main event where both women left the cage with battered right eyes.

Dern’s left hand was much more powerful and damaging than Dern’s, despite the two fighters’ impressive moments in some sparsely contested rounds.

The 32-year-old Brazilian cried as she heard the ring announcer announce her name as the new champion while having her belt tucked around her waist.

Dern remarked, “It feels amazing. “I need to see Moa,” he says. For Moa, this.

Dern’s six-year-old daughter Moa, who drew the UFC belt over her shoulder, joined her in the cage after that.

In a fight of the top-ranked bantamweights, No 2 Umar Nurmagomedov (19-1-0) and No 8 Mario Bautista (16-3-0) won unanimously.

Alexander Volkov, the second-ranked heavyweight champion, defeated No. 5 Jailton Almeida (22-4-0) in a split decision.

No 7 Aleksandar Rakic (14-6-0) made quick work of No 7 Azamat Murzakanov (16-0-0) in the light heavyweight division.

The division’s second-longest active UFC win streak was extended by Murzakanov’s first-round stoppage to six straight victories.