COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just three weeks ago, Ohio State dominated Iowa with a physical performance against one of the country’s premier run defenses. The Buckeyes looked like they were hitting their stride up front and could win games in the trenches. Things can change fast in college football. Now, after a 21-17 win over Nebraska,…

LOS ANGELES – It’s too soon to panic, too soon to form any opinion, really. If the initial diagnosis the Los Angeles Dodgers offered on Shohei Ohtani proves correct, he could very well be in the lineup Monday night for Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Still, the injury Ohtani suffered to…

Yankees starter Carlos Rodón is about to take the mound for World Series Game 2, and we happen to be joined tonight by a big league hitter who’s faced Rodón 15 times with quite a bit of success. Rob Refsnyder is 4-for-12 with two doubles, a homer and three walks against Rodón, so we had…

It’s that time of year again — and I’m not talking about the trade deadline (though we’ll get to the hot names on the trade block in a minute). I’m talking about “vote of confidence” season. Three days after New York Giants co-owner John Mara watched his former star running back and current Philadelphia Eagles…

The Baltimore Ravens have seen all sorts of defensive approaches since quarterback Lamar Jackson became their full-time starting quarterback in the second half of the 2018 season, and the most successful ones typically had a common goal: take the fight to Jackson rather than giving him time and space. Blitzes were not necessarily Jackson’s kryptonite,…

LOS ANGELES — The pattern started to emerge again. So many USC games have followed the same script: The offense stalls a bit in the third quarter, the defense gives up a score and suddenly, the opponent has some life. On Friday night, USC’s offense went four-and-out on its first third-quarter series. Then, the defense…

Jim Donovan, the Cleveland Browns’ longtime radio play-by-play man, died Saturday after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 68. Donovan became the full-time voice of the Browns upon the team’s return to the NFL in 1999 and held the job until the start of this season when he retired to focus on his health.…

LOS ANGELES — Carlton Fisk … Kirby Puckett … Derek Jeter … David Freese. As he smoothed the dirt in the batter’s box in the 10th inning Friday night, Freddie Freeman never could have envisioned he’d be spending the rest of his life hanging out with those October legends. But then walk-off magic happened. Before…

It’s a compelling slate of games this weekend, including five ranked matchups, four of which feature double-digit spreads. (Any chance the favorites cover — or even win — all of those?) Plus a Friday night bout that could determine the Group of 5 team in the College Football Playoff, as well as an undefeated team…

LOS ANGELES – He had felt the lonely, humbling sensation before. It happened three years ago, on a Thursday night in May before 2,135 witnesses in Rochester, N.Y.  You better believe Nestor Cortes remembered the last time he’d walked off the field after somebody beat him with a home run. “Of course – Luis García…