Shohei Ohtani started his sixth game of the season on Monday night, striking out three batters in three innings pitched. Ohtani surrendered a season-high four hits and allowed his first earned run since his first start back in the middle of June as he allowed a lead-off home run to Byron Buxton.

While he did not earn a decision, the Los Angeles Dodgers did beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2, thanks it part to Shohei Ohtani who hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 1st.

Facing a 2-1 count with lead-off man Mookie Betts on first, Ohtani crushed a home run to centerfield to give the Dodgers a lead they would never relinquish.

Ohtani also threw in a casual, but effective bat flip to celebrate giving himself some early run support.

Ohtani has now homered in three straight games to raise his season total to 35. He's fourth in MLB in home runs and just three behind Cal Raleigh who has not hit a home run since the Derby.

The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to make moves in the MLB offseason.

The Dodgers have reportedly agreed to a minor-league contract with former NLCS MVP and 2021 World Series winner Eddie Rosario, according to MLB insider Ari Alexander.

Rosario, 33, is the latest in a laundry list of additions L.A. has made in the offseason, and he comes with some valuable postseason experience as the team aims to repeat as World Series champions.

The Guayama, Puerto Rico native has struggled in recent seasons, but he's less than four years removed from winning a championship with the Atlanta Braves, during which he recorded a 1.073 OPS with three home runs and 11 RBI across 16 postseason games. The Braves beat the Dodgers in the 2021 NLCS, a series in which Rosario was named MVP.

In 2024, Rosario featured for both the Washington Nationals and Atlanta, appearing in a total of 91 games. He struggled at the plate, recording a -1.6 WAR while logging a .531 OPS with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs.

The Dodgers have been MLB's busiest team during the offseason, and they're making another low-risk move by bringing Rosario aboard on a minor-league deal. Both sides will be hoping he can turn back the clock and shake off some of his recent woes at the plate.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his new haircut were back in a familiar place Monday night, sitting courtside in Lubbock for the Texas Tech-Houston men's basketball game. Mahomes, who fell short in the Super Bowl earlier this month, saw a good one, too, but his Red Raiders fell short in the upset bid, losing to the No. 4 Cougars, 69-61.

Mahomes was fired up all night rooting on his alma mater and also celebrating with a fan who drained a long putt during a time out.

There was one moment with the QB that frustrated fans, but it wasn't his fault. With just over a minute left in a three-point game, the ESPN broadcast showed Mahomes reacting to a key play instead of showing the key play, which wasn't ideal for viewers.

Texas Tech came very close to getting a huge turnover here, but you wouldn't know it because, well, ESPN's cameras were on Mahomes.

Fans didn't love that:

Vic Schaefer led the Texas women's basketball team to their first Final Four since 2003 on Monday after the Longhorns beat TCU 58–47 in the Elite Eight.

Schaefer was understandably emotional after his team's win, and he gave quite the tearjerking interview on the court after having confetti thrown on him by the Longhorns.

"I know I'm not their world, but they are my world," Schaefer said. "They say 'It's not who you are, it's what you do'—this is who I am. This is what I've done all my life. … You invest so much. You invest your heart and soul into these kids, you want it so badly for them. But, sometimes it's hard to show them."

Schaefer is just the fifth head coach in women's college basketball to take at least two teams to the Final Four in their careers. Schaefer previously led Mississippi State to the Final Four in 2017 and '18, in which the Bulldogs were runners-up both times. He will be seeking his first career national title with the Longhorns, against the winner of UConn vs. USC.

Aged 36, fast bowler cements place at the top of the ICC World Rankings with match haul of 9 for 43

Andrew Miller at Lord's13-Aug-20181:35

‘So much fun’ bowling in those conditions – Anderson

James Anderson could keep on bowling at his best in Test cricket until he is 40, according to England’s head coach Trevor Bayliss, in the wake of Anderson’s starring role in the second Test win over India at Lord’s on Sunday.Anderson, 36, cemented his place at the top of the ICC World Rankings with a match haul of 9 for 43, and in attaining a career-high points total of 903, he became the first England bowler since Ian Botham in 1980 to cross the 900 mark.In so doing, he helped carry England to their third Test win in a row this summer, and a 2-0 lead over an Indian team whose highest score of the match was R Ashwin’s second-innings 33 not out.None of Anderson’s opponents looked remotely comfortable against his relentless combination of high-class swing and seam and probing line and length, and asked if he was surprised that England’s attack leader was maintaining such high standards even after his 36th birthday, Bayliss admitted that yes, he had been somewhat taken aback.”If you compare him with other bowlers around the world, yeah,” he said. “A lot of other bowlers do start to drop off in their mid-thirties or so. It’s only the very, very best that are able to keep it going. I think he’s showing that he is the very, very best.”He’s not just good when the conditions suit him, but in these conditions he’s the best in the world. It’s a test for any batsman in the world to try to face him in these conditions.”Anderson was already 33 when Bayliss took charge of England’s fortunes in the summer of 2015, and he might therefore have expected to be overseeing a changing of the guard among England’s new-ball bowlers. But in Anderson’s case in particular, the economy of his approach to the wicket, coupled with the careful management of a bowler who has not played in white-ball cricket since the 2015 World Cup, has given the impression that he could go on forever.James Anderson was in menacing form•Getty Images

“I don’t think there’s any age [when he’s too old],” said Bayliss. “He’s fit and keeps himself fit. As long as he keeps his body fit there’s no reason why he can’t go on for three or four years.”Let’s wait and see! He keeps surprising everyone. At the moment, the last 12-18 months, he has had a shoulder problem, but at the moment he seems to have got over that pretty well and he just bowls and bowls and bowls. Hopefully that continues for a few years yet.”It wasn’t just Anderson among England’s bowlers who thrived in the swinging conditions at Lord’s, however. Stuart Broad enjoyed a four-wicket burst to break open India’s second innings, while Chris Woakes was named Man of the Match after capping a superb performance with the ball with his maiden Test hundred.For a man not given to overt shows of emotion, Bayliss’s reaction to Woakes’ hundred was notably effusive, and he admitted afterwards that he had been particularly pleased for one of the genuine nice guys of world cricket.”Woakesy is one of those guys who is very well respected in the team,” Bayliss said. “He has done a lot of hard yards, not just with the ball but with the bat over the last few years too. He’s a lovely bloke, and one of those guys who everyone genuinely wants to do well, so to see him go out there and do so well when we thought we were in a bit of trouble, to go and play the way he did with Jonny [Bairstow] was fantastic, and the boys were very happy for him.”Woakes had only stepped into the starting XI due to Ben Stokes’ ongoing court case in Bristol, and Bayliss admitted that the manner in which he had taken his chance in the side could prove to be the making of him as a Test cricketer.”After Anderson and Broad, who put so much pressure on the opposition, there could be a bit of relaxation, ‘awh good, they’re off’, but the other guy who comes on is just as good in these conditions. He might catch a few off guard, but I thought he bowled beautifully in this game. His command of line and length with some away swing was fantastic.”However, Bayliss also cautioned that the real challenge for Woakes – as with many of England’s players – would come overseas.”There’s no reason why he can’t [succeed],” he said. “Lord’s would have to be his favourite ground, and the challenge for him is away from home, as it is for a lot of the boys, being able to do that away from home. At the moment we are playing at home and we look forward to some more success.”When the ball is swinging around [India] have some difficulties, as it is when it’s spinning and we go to the subcontinent. It’s a challenge for any team to play in conditions you’re not used to and some of them are struggling a little bit. They have some extremely good players so our job is to try and stay on top.”

The seamer became the third South Africa women’s bowler to claim 100 wickets in ODIs. She finished with figures of 9-2-14-3 as West Indies were bowled out for 161 while chasing 202

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2018ICC/Getty Images

Marizanne Kapp’s economy and potency with the ball led South Africa’s defence of 201 in the first ODI in Bridgetown, where West Indies slumped to a 40-run defeat. The seamer finished with figures of 9-2-14-3 as West Indies were bowled out with four overs still to play.The win was South Africa’s third in seven Women’s Championship matches; they are now second from bottom on the table, but have played two games fewer than Sri Lanka, India, England and table-toppers New Zealand.Kapp dealt an early blow to West Indies’ hopes when she had Hayley Matthews caught behind off the second ball of the chase. In doing so she became the third South Africa women’s bowler – after Dane van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail – to claim 100 wickets in ODIs. By the end of the 15th over, West Indies were three down for 45 with the debutant medium-pacer Tumi Sekhukhune sending back Stafanie Taylor and Chedean Nation.West Indies had recovered somewhat to 84 for 4 when the legspinner Sune Luus ended a cameo from Deandra Dottin (19 off 21) in the 24th over. Kapp took two in three balls in the next over, effectively ending the contest, which was only prolonged by a 71-ball 46 from Shemaine Campbelle, who was last out to Zintle Mali, who finished with 2 for 11 from three overs.Sent in to bat, South Africa seemed set for a big score at 104 for 1, as Laura Wolvaardt and Luus added 99 for the second wicket. Both fell in quick succession, however – Luus for 58 off 86 balls, her seventh ODI fifty – and the innings never recovered. Wickets fell steadily at one end, Taylor picking up 3 for 37 with her offspin, but captain Dane van Niekerk scored an unbeaten 46 off 77 balls to ensure South Africa batted through their 50 overs, finishing nine down.

Spinner Kirstie Gordon impressed by dismissing all three of Storm’s most potent batsmen, including the top scorer in the competition, Smriti Mandhana

ECB Reporters Network15-Aug-2018
ScorecardLoughborough Lightning established themselves as firm favourites for the 2018 Women’s Kia Super League with a crushing victory over defending champions Western Storm at Edgbaston.Chasing 125 to win, Lightning eased home with seven and a half overs to spare, a humbling margin for Storm, who had beaten Lightning at Taunton in a rain-reduced five-over thrash earlier in the campaign but this time were no match for their impressive opponents.Australian opener Rachael Haynes led the way with her third half-century of the tournament, finishing on 66 not out from 40 deliveries including 10 fours and a six.New Zealand allrounder Sophie Devine weighed in with 38 off 30 balls and picked up two wickets as Lightning displaced Storm at the top of the KSL table with one match remaining, the bonus point giving them a three-point lead into their final fixture, away to Yorkshire Diamonds on Saturday evening.Storm take on Surrey Stars at The Oval. The team that finishes top of the table goes straight into the KSL Final at Hove on Monday week, which is preceded by a semi-final between second and third in the chart.Lightning’s tightly disciplined bowling attack had vindicated skipper Georgia Elwiss’s decision to bowl first by restricting Storm to 124 for 6 in their 20 overs, the defending champions’ lowest score in the tournament.Spinner Kirstie Gordon had been the star of the show, dismissing all three of Storm’s most potent batters, including the top scorer in the competition, Smriti Mandhana, who came into this match with an average of 77.40 and a strike rate but this time fell for 29.An eventful Powerplay saw Mandhana riding her luck from the start on a day when she could never quite muster the destructive powers that had brought her the tournament’s only hundred so far.Unable to play with her usual freedom, the KSL’s most prolific scorer escaped a stumping chance before she had got off the mark in Jenny Gunn’s opening over, although the replay showed Lightning’s appeal to be a little optimistic. That was followed by a genuine let-off in the sixth over when, on 17 and beginning to find her timing, she was put down at extra cover, where a stretching Elwiss had a good hand on the ball but could not hold on.It looked like it might be a costly miss when Mandhana repeated the shot a couple of balls later, hitting seamer Devine over the head of the Lightning captain for her third boundary as Storm reached the end of the Powerplay at 43 for 1. They had lost opener Rachel Priest when the New Zealand batter sliced Devine to short third man, but there was plenty of batting to come.England and Storm captain Heather Knight punished Sarah Glenn’s legspin with a couple of boundaries but then a brilliant over from the left-arm spinner Gordon, one of the break-out players of the tournament, changed the complexion of the innings.Called into the attack in the ninth over with Storm 60 for 1, Gordon claimed the major scalps of Mandhana and Knight with consecutive balls, the former failing as she tried to clear Elyse Villani on the long-off boundary. Gordon then came up with a beauty that turned past the outside edge to clip Knight’s off stump.Thereafter, Storm were never able to regain any consistent momentum as Gordon and fellow left-armer Linsey Smith combined with Elwiss’s medium pace to produce a near-perfect bowling performance on a slow surface, seldom giving away any easy runs.Gordon picked up a third success – her 14th of the tournament – and a third of Storm’s batting trump cards when Stefanie Taylor hit her into the safe hands of Georgia Adams on the long-off boundary, giving her figures of 3 for 19 as the leading spin bowler in the competition.Elwiss got in on the act with a deserved wicket when Villani grabbed a second catch in the deep, before doing well to hold on to a low chance at wide extra cover as Naomi Dattani became Devine’s second victim in the final over of the innings.

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been let go by Lancashire

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2018

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been released by Lancashire. Kerrigan made the decision earlier this year to put his playing career on hold and help out with coaching at the club.He did not play at all during the 2018 season and has now been allowed to leave Lancashire at the end of his contract, along with two other homegrown players, batsman Karl Brown and allrounder Arron Lilley.It marks a sad decline for Kerrigan, 29, who played a key role in Lancashire’s 2011 title win – his 9 for 51 sealed a last-gasp victory over Hampshire at Aigburth – and was then handed a Test cap two years later. His appearance at The Oval was wrecked by nerves, however, as his eight wicketless overs went for 53 runs, Shane Watson mercilessly cashing in.Kerrigan’s career seemingly never fully recovered. Having taken 58 wickets at 21.98 in 2013, his returns fell away steadily, and he spent the end of the 2017 season on loan at Northamptonshire. In April this year, he decided to take a break from playing.”My form hasn’t been at the level that it needs to be for a while now and after discussions with head coach Glen Chapple and the cricket management team at the club, we have all agreed that I will remain part of the playing squad and assist with coaching across all areas of Lancashire cricket for the time being,” Kerrigan said at the time.Brown was also a member of the 2011 title-winning team – Lancashire’s first outright for 77 years – contributing 997 runs at 35.60, but he was never able to match those returns in first-class cricket. He did continue to feature regularly as a white-ball batsman, and alongside Lilley helped Lancashire to lift the T20 Blast trophy in 2015.Lilley made his debut in 2013 and featured regularly in the T20 side – 70 of his 96 appearances were in the shortest format. This season, he played in all 15 of Lancashire’s Vitality Blast matches, helping them to Finals Day, but only bowled 13 overs, taking one wicket at 105.00.Lancashire’s director of cricket, Paul Allott, said: “Karl, Simon and Arron have given their absolute all for the club over the years, having come through the age-group and Academy system. The club would like to thank them for their contributions both on and off the field, and we wish them all the best for their futures in whatever paths they take.”

Arron Lilley has joined Leicestershire on a two-year-contract. Lilley, an offspinning allrounder, was released by Lancashire at the end of the season and joins seamers Chris Wright, from Warwickshire, and Will Davis, from Derbyshire, in signing for Leicestershire.Lilley developed through the Lancashire system and has a decent record in all forms of the game. Due to Lancashire’s strength in spin bowling, however, he struggled for opportunities – he has played only one first-class and one List A match in the previous two seasons – and saw most of his appearances come in T20 cricket, where he has batted in the top-order and sometimes opened the bowling.He was a member of the Lancashire side that won the T20 Blast in 2015 and will join left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson, who also developed through the Lancashire Academy, at Leicestershire.The club hopes the signing of Lilley will go some way to filling the chasm left by the departure of Ben Raine, who has returned to Durham. Zak Chappell has also left, signing for Nottinghamshire, while Ned Eckersley, Richard Jones, Tom Wells, Mark Pettini and Rob Sayer were released at the end of the season. The club have also been in a long-running dispute with Michael Carberry, who has not played since he was deposed as captain in May. It seems most unlikely he will return.Leicestershire also confirmed last week that Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas, who had an outstanding 2018 season, will be returning next year.”Arron will add great value to our side,” Leicestershire’s head coach, Paul Nixon, said. “He is a three-dimensional cricketer who will be valuable in all formats. Lancashire are renowned for producing high-class spinners, and he wants to compete for a place in all three competitions.”Arron also has a very good white-ball record and will add to our plans nicely. Arron is a hard-hitting batsman, fine off-spinner and tremendous fielder, and we’re delighted to have him on board for the 2019 season.”Lilley said: “I am delighted to be joining up with Paul Nixon and the squad. I am keen to develop my game in all three formats and am confident that Grace Road is the best place for me to do that. I can’t wait to get started.”

The former India batsman said at the Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture that the only way to preserve Test cricket was to serve it to viewers at their convenience

Ankur Dhawan in Mumbai01-Oct-2018Test cricket needs saving and the players can be its saviours by embracing day-night Tests, Sanjay Manjrekar said at the Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture. Manjrekar felt that cricket’s “cocky” attitude towards fans and archaic traditions in dissension with the changing times were impeding the format’s popularity. He expressed a need for the five-day game to be offered to fans “as per their convenience”, as they were no longer inclined to flock to cricket grounds during work hours.”The world is ever-changing and with it the taste of people. Don’t be fooled by the crowds at Test matches in England, that’s an aberration. I travel the world and see countries struggle to pull crowds to Test cricket,” Manjrekar said at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Monday.”It’s not that there’s zero interest in Test cricket, just that people can’t come to the stadium or watch on TV. That’s because we are cocky. We have kept the timings such that they are working hours. Gone are the days when people would bunk office and fill up every seat at the Eden Gardens. It’s time to be humble and offer Test cricket to fans as per their convenience.”The only way to increase viewership, popularity and thereby its quality is day-night Test matches. Why aren’t we playing more day-night Tests? It’s a no-brainer. It would draw more viewership.”The game’s biggest crowd puller, India, declined to play a day-night Test proposed by Cricket Australia as part of the four-Test series later this year. They were entitled to do so under ICC’s current regulations for bilateral series, which state that hosting a day-night Test requires the consent of the visiting team. However, they are likely to be stripped off that choice once the Test Championship starts, as member boards have recommended it should only be the prerogative of the host nation.It is understood that senior Indian cricketers were wary of being thrown into a pink-ball contest without having trialled it convincingly at home. While the pink ball has been tried in the Duleep Trophy – with mixed reactions from the players – most of India’s Test regulars did not participate. Manjrekar felt that it was paramount that administrators prioritised the greater good of the game as the players, subsumed by the desire to win, are prone to a myopic attitude during their playing days.”The players are wary of it – the pink ball, the dew factor, etc. But I’ve always believed that conditions are never unfair if they are the same for both sides. What is happening is that we want to give perfect conditions for players to play, even if it means nobody is watching. There was a time when the relationship between players and boards, especially in India, was uneasy. They were always at loggerheads. But we must be careful that we don’t go to the other extreme and make players happy, come what may. Not at the cost of the game. Take the bull by the horns. Do what’s best for the game, for its long-term health. And make the players join, even if they are reluctant. They will thank us later. As a player I, too, had a narrower vision of the game than I do now.”