Perfect day | Sports Daily Newsletter
It was an ideal Philadelphia sports day.
Against the Steelers, the 7-0 Eagles were better than ever, avoiding the second-half slump that had afflicted them in previous games.
The Phillies, meanwhile, had a day off to contemplate how a split result was still a successful spot to be in, especially with the World Series moving back to the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park.
Then the Union bid farewell to their faithful fans at Subaru Park in the greatest of style during the Eastern Conference final. The team stayed perfectly unbeaten in their home stadium all season long and through the playoffs, and now will play for the MLS Cup championship against LAFC in Los Angeles.
All in all, a perfect sports Sunday for Philly fans. And there’s hopefully more sporting bliss to come in the week ahead.
— Andrea Canales, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.
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Entering Game 3 of the World Series at a raucous CItizens Bank Park, here is where we are:
Aces Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler appear to be gassed after giving up 10 runs to the Houston Astros in the first two games. Noah Syndergaard will be on the mound Monday night, with Nola and Wheeler out of the picture until Wednesday at the earliest.
There’s only one thing to do: Turn on the power. The Phillies collected sluggers Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, and J.T. Realmuto so they could slug their way past any deficiencies.
Scott Lauber writes that if the Phillies are going to win this deadlocked World Series, they’ll have to ride their big bats.
It also would help if they got a clutch start out of Syndergaard, who’ll face Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3.
Wheeler did not have his best stuff in Game 2, but the Phillies are still confident in both of their aces.
Some light rain could pester the fans and players at Citizens Bank Park, but the meteorologists say the teams should be able to play without interruption.
Next: The Astros visit the Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday at 8:03 p.m. (Fox29).
Now they’re 7-0. Wide receiver A.J. Brown had six catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns on a career day for Jalen Hurts as the Eagles dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 35-13. Hurts finished 19-for-28 for 285 yards and had career highs of four touchdown passes and a 140.6 quarterback rating.
It’s becoming more difficult to remember any doubts we had about Hurts going into the season, Mike Sielski writes.
Brown revealed that every time he has a 100-yard receiving game, he attached a $100 bill to the back of his shoulder pads with scotch tape. Thursday night he’ll have $600 underneath his jersey.
Perhaps the only downer coming out of this convincing Eagles win: Rookie defensive tackle Jordan Davis went down with a high ankle sprain.
Next: The Eagles visit the Houston Texans on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime Video).
Vengeance is ours, said the Union, emphatically defeating NYCFC, the team that denied them a chance at the MLS Cup last season.
The MLS Cup final will be played in Los Angeles. LAFC made sure of that by soundly beating Austin FC, 3-0, in the Western Conference final.
For their part, the Union made sure they’d be there as well.
All season long, LAFC and the Union have, despite the other 26 teams in the league, stood out as the top teams in MLS. Now they battle for the official title of champion in the final.
Next: The Union will play the MLS Cup final against LAFC in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 5 at 4 p.m.
After a tough start to the 2022-23 season, the Sixers, who sit at 3-4, finally have some semblance of a winning streak. That made for an interesting week on the road for Inquirer beat writer Gina Mizell, who took Sixers fans inside the best tidbits from the locker — and will continue to do so for the rest of the season.
With the tide slightly turning, new story lines and experiences emerged in Toronto and Chicago, as Doc Rivers had a Hustle reconnection with Juancho Hernangomez, Tyrese Maxey asked for a stat sheet after his 44-point outburst in Toronto and James Harden lamented his 33-year quest for six-pack. We’ve got that and more as we take you inside the Sixers.
Next: The Sixers travel to play against the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. Monday, finishing a four-game road trip (NBCSP).
Saturday marked the final game of the first month of the John Tortorella era in Philadelphia. While the new coach and the Flyers will be quite happy with the team’s 5-2-1 record, October certainly had its fair share of ups and downs.
Giana Han recaps both the good and bad from the team’s ”roller coaster” opening month.
Next: The Flyers hit the road Tuesday to take on Metropolitan rivals the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m., NBCSP).
Worth a look
Losing ground: Penn State dropped to No. 16 in the Associated Press college football poll.
On this date
Yep, more than a few Phillies fans remember Oct. 31 in 2008 and can tell exactly where they were located for the celebration parade of the last Phillies championship.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from E.J. Smith, Josh Tolentino, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Scott Lauber, Giana Han, Matt Breen, David Murphy, Mike Jensen, Jonathan Tannenwald, and Anthony R. Wood.