World Series silver lining | Sports Daily Newsletter
The rainout gives the Phillies' arms a chance to rest.
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OK, so the rainout ruined an awesome opportunity for us to witness Game 3 of the World Series at a rocking Citizens Bank Park on Halloween — and plenty of fans showed up dressed for the occasion. (Did not see any cheetahs in Astros uniforms, though.)
But look on the bright side, as the Phillies certainly are: The extra day of rest could be a blessing for their pitching staff. The postponement allows them to start Ranger Suárez in Game 3 on Tuesday and gives fatigued ace Zack Wheeler another day of rest before his next start in Game 6.
Noah Syndergaard, originally scheduled to start Game 3, will start Game 5 instead, manager Rob Thomson said. There’s a chance, though, that Thomson will use Thor out of the bullpen before then, and the Phillies skipper has become known to make daring postseason moves. If that happens, little-used Kyle Gibson will start Game 5. In this wild Phillies postseason run, anything is possible.
— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
The rainout pushes the World Series schedule back a day, with Games 3, 4, and 5 set for Tuesday through Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. And on that Thursday night, the unbeaten Eagles will play the Texans in Houston, which will pit the World Series against the NFL in both markets. How can viewers possibly watch both games at once?
The postponement delayed by one day the Citizens Bank Park debut of Chas McCormick, a West Chester native who plays center field for the Astros.
The Astros do not plan any rotation shuffling of their own. Dusty Baker will stick with his scheduled starters Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3 and Cristian Javier in Game 4.
The reprieve allowed Phillies manager Rob Thomson to move up Aaron Nola’s start from Game 5 to Game 4. Now, David Murphy writes, Nola will be available for a potential Game 7 on three days’ rest instead of two.
And how’s this for a twist? Forgotten man Kyle Gibson has a chance to start Game 5 for the Phillies.
One pitcher on the rebound for Thomson’s team: reliever Connor Brogdon.
Next: Let’s try again for World Series Game 3, Astros at Phillies, Tuesday at 8:03 p.m. (Fox29).
The 76ers had quite the offseason, receiving rave reviews for their acquisitions of P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and De’Anthony Melton. Well, the means by which they acquired two of those players, Tucker and House, soon came under fire as the NBA decided to investigate the team for tampering.
On Monday, the league announced it found that the Sixers “engaged in free agency involving two players prior to the date when such discussions were permitted.” As a result, the league rescinded two second-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024.
The news was better on the court, as the Sixers overcame the absence of Joel Embiid to beat the Washington Wizards, 118-111.
Next: The Sixers take on the Washington Wizards in the second half of a home-and-home series, with this one coming at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
There were a lot of takeaways from the Eagles’ comprehensive 35-13 win over the Steelers on Sunday, but the biggest might have been the play of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts threw four touchdown passes, three to his buddy A.J. Brown, again showing just how far he has come as a passer. Jeff McLane has more on Hurts and everything we learned from the Eagles’ performance on Sunday.
The one negative from Sunday’s victory was the injury to defensive tackle Jordan Davis. While there is speculation that Davis could miss a month with a high ankle sprain, Nick Sirianni was coy about Davis at his media availability on Monday.
Next: The Eagles have a short week and will head to Houston to take on the Texans on Thursday (8 p.m., Amazon Prime Video, Fox29).
Defenseman Ivan Provorov has been an easy target to point the finger at the last two years for the Flyers’ struggles. But this season, playing under new coach John Tortorella and with a new partner in Tony DeAngelo, Provorov has been one of the biggest reasons for the Flyers’ surprising 5-2-1 start.
Olivia Reiner details the defenseman’s revitalized play.
Next: The Flyers face Metro rivals the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m. Tuesday (NBCSP).
Somewhere in England, Brenden Aaronson is smiling. In Belgium, Mark McKenzie likely is as well. They’re with other clubs now, but they both started their soccer careers with the Union. The club that exists partly because local supporters fought hard for an MLS team is now playing for the league championship for the first time.
For Union manager Jim Curtin, who has been a part of the organization since the launch in 2010 (he coached in their academy at the time), all the steps and contributions of many have added up to this moment, which means just a little bit more to those who remember the early days.
Next: The Union will play the MLS Cup final against LAFC at 4 p.m. Saturday in Los Angeles.
Worth a look
Unhappy Valley: Penn State’s loss to Ohio State on Saturday cut deep, particularly among the team’s upperclassmen, who understood that any hope of winning the Big Ten or reaching the College Football Playoff died with that defeat. But, as Sam Cohn writes, there still are goals for Penn State to achieve.
Twin transfers: Brothers Hassan and Fousseyni Drame aim to lift La Salle to new heights in men’s basketball.
Family business: La Salle guard Jaye Haynes is the daughter of former Villanova point guard Jonathan Haynes.
Back in action: Temple football coach Stan Drayton returned to the Owls after missing a game with a viral infection. South Florida is up next.
Best of the Buckeyes: Marvin Harrison Jr. continues to dazzle for Ohio State.
Trivia Tuesday
Who is the last Phillie to win the Cy Young Award?
A) Steve Bedrosian
B) John Denny
C) Steve Carlton
D) Roy Halladay
What you’re saying about the next champ
We asked you: Which team will bring Philadelphia its next championship? Among your responses:
Whichever team plays first for the title. These are all champion caliber teams. — Diane N.
Union will win it all !!!
Eagles next!
Phillies next year!
Sixers three years
Flyers never
Villanova 25 years
Temple haha
Best fans anywhere — John H.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Marcus Hayes, David Murphy, Josh Tolentino, Gina Mizell, Olivia Reiner, Mike Jensen, Jonathan Tannenwald, Sam Cohn, Bridget Reilly, Javon Edmonds, and Devin Jackson.