Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Wednesday, October 16.

MLB

A pivotal game three in Queens last night between the Dodgers and Mets. Here’s what went down:

• The Dodgers opened the scoring in the second inning without the ball leaving the infield. Sometimes in the postseason, all you need is a swinging bunt and a ground ball off the pitcher to get things going. LA’s rally would have been greater, but Tyrone Taylor made a truly spectacular diving catch in centerfield, holding the Dodgers to two runs.

• The Mets had a chance to answer back that very same inning, but they failed to capitalize on their opportunity. Walker Buehler struck out Francisco Lindor to end the second inning with the bases loaded– New York had just two hits the rest of the way, as the LA bullpen stymied any chance of OMG late-inning heroics.

• And in the late innings, the Dodgers poured it on. Kiké Hernandez continued to dominate October with another home run, Max Muncy crushed a homer of his own to the upper deck, and LA cruised to an 8-0 victory. For the fifth time in four games, the Dodgers shut out their opponent. Muncy, by the way, has reached base in eight straight plate appearances. Oh, and I almost forgot: Shohei Ohtani hit a baseball so well that I’m giving you two different angles to watch it:

WNBA

This series continues to be unbelievable, and after a riveting game three, the New York Liberty are one win away from their first WNBA championship. Down 15 to the Minnesota Lynx, New York staged an improbable late-game comeback. It was a reverse of game one, where the visiting Lynx overcame a large deficit to stun New York. Breanna Stewart scored 13 straight points for the Liberty as part of their second half comeback. She finished the game with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks. But it was a different New York superstar who won this game in the final moments. 77-77, Liberty inbounding the ball. Sabrina Ionescu, the floor is yours:

NHL

Let’s take a moment to celebrate Sidney Crosby, shall we? The Pittsburgh Penguin superstar had quite a night last night:

• With an assist in the first period, Crosby became the 10th player in NHL history to reach 1,600 points. He’s the fifth-fastest player to reach that benchmark– TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name the four guys who were faster? Or if you really know hockey, the other nine to reach 1,600? Answer at the bottom

• In the third period, Crosby assisted on Evgeny Malkin’s 500th career goal. Malkin is the 48th player in NHL history to reach 500 goals, and the second Russian (Alex Ovechkin).

• Pittsburgh was down 5-4 before tying the Sabres with less than a minute remaining. And to add to this game of historic benchmarks, Sid the Kid scored the game-winning goal in overtime. What a fantastic night for the Penguins:

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Less than a week after Oregon exploited a loophole in the too many men on the field penalty, the NCAA has made a rule change. Now, if a team is called for too many men in the final two minutes of a game, the opposition will have the ability to reset the game clock. Does this rule change make sense? Most definitely. More importantly, kudos to head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks– not just on a great win against Ohio State, but for pushing the boundaries of the game and staying one step ahead.

As promised in yesterday’s Big Games section, Lonzo Ball played in his first game since 2022 last night. The Bulls point guard scored 10 points in 15 minutes of action. “I felt like I was moving great. So now it’s just about building. Just continue to do it night in and night out,” Ball said afterwards.

After suffering major damage from Hurricane Milton, Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay will not be ready for the baseball season next spring. No plan has been announced yet for where the Rays will play their home games.

Sources have revealed that longtime Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling the team. Reinsdorf has owned the White Sox since 1981, the second-longest tenure in Major League Baseball. So if last week’s announcement about the Twins didn’t excite you, maybe this new listing is a better fit– although you’ll need to act fast, as a group led by former big-leaguer Dave Stewart is believed to already be in talks with Reinsdorf about purchasing the team.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

NHL: Looking for a hockey game to watch today? Good news, there are 11 to choose from. If I had to pick, I’d check out one of these three:

• Vegas Golden Knights @ Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 PM

• Dallas Stars @ Washington Capitals, 7 PM

• Edmonton Oilers @ Nashville Predators, 8 PM

NFL: Broncos @ Saints, 8:15 PM on Amazon Prime

• Sean Payton returns to New Orleans for a matchup of rookie quarterbacks. Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler in prime time? This could be a fun one.

MLB: description

• Yankees @ Guardians, 5:08 PM on TBS/Max

  • Cleveland and starting pitcher Matthew Boyd need a win to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole against New York and Clarke Schmidt

• Dodgers @ Mets, 8:08 PM on FS1

  • Yoshinobu Yamamoto and LA look to take command of the series against Jose Quintana and New York

TRIVIA ANSWER: The 10 players in NHL history to reach 1,600 points (in order of least games to get there): Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Marcel Dionne, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Mark Messier, Ron Francis, and Gordie Howe

“I trusted my preparation… I’m built for this moment.” –Sabrina Ionescu