Urias to make history tonight
Dodgers rookie, 20, will be youngest postseason starter.
Julio Urias finally is getting to start for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason.
The 20-year-old rookie from Mexico came on in relief in a decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series, helping the Dodgers beat Washington to advance.
Tonight he’ll take the mound in Game 4 of the Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs to become the youngest starting pitcher in major league postseason history.
“I felt the adrenaline when I was on the bench,” Urias said through a translator. “I felt it in Washington, but then I knew that it was something that I could handle and something I could do. I know that I can do it again.”
Since the All-Star break, Urias is 5-0 with a 1.90 ERA.
■ Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda was at Dodger Stadium for Game 3 of the NLCS, a day after being released from a hospital. The former Dodgers manager, 89, who is a senior adviser to chairman Mark Walter, had a 10-day stay for back and shoulder issues.
Athletics: Chip Hale, who was fired as Arizona’s manager Oct. 3, is returning to Oakland as third base coach. Hale replaces Ron Washington, who took the same position with the Braves.
Noteworthy: Under Armour will outfit all MLB players beginning in 2020 under an agreement reached with the league — the brand’s first such partnership with a major American professional league. The owners have approved the switch from Majestic Athletic to Under Armour, the Baltimore Sun reported. Under Armour had been looking to make inroads with MLB, which partners with many sporting goods and apparel companies. Rawlings makes the baseballs used in games, Majestic Athletic makes the uniforms, New Era Cap Co. makes the caps and Schutt Sports makes the bases. Nike is MLB’s supplier of the baseball undershirts known as base layers. our guys are in a good place, our guys are healthy. From what I’ve seen in practice, I’m not concerned by the enormity (of the game).”
Even if A&M plays its best game, do the Aggies stand a chance against Bama?
They’ve at least tried to build a team worthy of the SEC, with a solid defense and an offense that can dictate play with its running game.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide have won 19 games in a row, with a staggering margin of victory of 25 points. Alabama toyed with the Aggies a year ago in College Station, using three pick-six interception returns for a 41-23 victory. The last time the two teams played in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama humiliated A&M 59-0.
Oddsmakers have established the Tide as a 17-point favorite to extend their victory streak to 20 games.
Yet Alabama coach Nick Saban looks at the Aggies and says they “probably present as many issues as any team we’ve faced all year.”
What’s different about this year’s A&M team than in seasons past, when the Aggies started like gangbusters only to fade as the weather turned cooler?
The Aggies have a solid senior quarterback in Trevor Knight. He’s one of only two active college quarterbacks to have beat the Crimson Tide, albeit when he played for Oklahoma. Mississippi’s Chad Kelly is the other QB with a Bama win on his competitive résumé.
The A&M running game is capable of dominating teams and leads the SEC with an average of 274.3 yards per contest. Freshman Trayveon Williams tops the SEC in rushing with 117.3 yards per game, and Saban called Williams the best back Alabama has faced this season. And that might not be pregame hyperbole. Plus, Knight is good for nearly 84 yards rushing per game. That’s ninth-best in the SEC, making Knight is the only quarterback in the top 10.
“We run the football,” said A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. “If they stop us, they stop us. … The question, if we’re going to run the football, they may stuff our butt, sure, but we’re not going to know until Saturday when we kick this thing off.”
The Aggies’ defense also is better, although A&M’s national ranking took a beating after the team’s 45-38 double-overtime victory over Tennessee. The Volunteers amassed 684 yards, the most ever against A&M. It’s why the Aggies now are 98th in total defense nationally, allowing 437.5 yards per game. The defense is only 12th-best in the SEC, ahead of Missouri (438) and Mississippi (446).
“We’ve played, let me put it in this term, we have played extremely hard,” said A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis. “We have played some good football teams. We have not played our best yet. That’s where we are.”