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PHILADELPHIA — Bo Horvat had a new look in his first game with his new team. Yes, of course, the Islanders jersey took some getting used to — Horvat said he was “really nervous” ahead of his debut — but so did New York’s ban on facial hair.

So he made sure to pack his gear — and his razor. Horvat had to say goodbye to his scruff.

“My face looks like a little boy right now,” he said.

The Islanders just hope he continues to look like an All-Star.

Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders in their first game since they acquired Horvat in a trade, leading them to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Horvat made his debut a day after the Islanders signed the center to an eight-year contract worth $68 million. The 27-year-old Horvat was chosen as an All-Star and played for the Pacific Division on Saturday. Horvat had already tied his career high with 31 goals this season in 49 games with Vancouver.

“The guys made me feel really comfortable and they were great,” Horvat said. “It feels even better to get that win and get my legs under me.”

Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello, a three-time Stanley Cup winner leading the New Jersey Devils, has long carried with him a no-facial hair policy. Somewhere in between Vancouver, South Florida for the All-Star game and Philadelphia, Horvat made sure he complied.

Coach Lane Lambert said Horvat can only help as the Islanders make a playoff push in a crowded bottom half of the Eastern Conference. The Islanders now have 57 points and matched the idle Pittsburgh Penguins for eighth in the East.

“In terms of how it changes moving forward, it gives us more options,” Lambert said. “We know what we have to do as a group. We’ve got to string together some wins. That’s the focus right now.”

Horvat was a nonfactor in New York’s goals. Palmieri scored his seventh on a wrist shot in the first that snapped the Islanders’ 0-for-26 power-play drought. Barzal beat Carter Hart for his 13th goal and a 2-0 lead in the second.

Noah Dobson earned his 18th assist on Barzal’s goal and collected his 100th career point. He expected Horvat to make an immediate impact.

“Obviously the caliber of player and person he is going to fit in well with this locker room,” Dobson said.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 25 shots for the Islanders.

Nicolas Deslauriers scored his third goal for the Flyers.

The Flyers are out of the playoff picture but, perhaps even worse to some fans, are falling out of the race to earn the No. 1 pick and a shot at drafting a projected generational talent in Connor Bedard.

The Flyers won seven of eight games after Christmas and tacked on another three-game winning streak later in January to earn some needed confidence in coach John Tortorella’s first season.

There is a no-tank ethos in the no-nonsense Tortorella.

“I think there’s a right type of camaraderie going on with this club right now,” Tortorella said. “I thought we played our best month of hockey in January. I think it builds the belief. Belief is a very powerful thing if you get it to go from one guy to another and then you get it to a group. I’m hoping that’s the way they feel.”

The Flyers released a letter Monday that was signed by Tortorella and sent to season-ticket holders. His mission statement: to effectively let fans know the path toward a Stanley Cup could take some time. Then again, Flyers fans are used to waiting. The franchise has only won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.

“I’m not going to lie to you — and I want to be clear about this — we’re not there yet,” Tortorella wrote. “This year was the first step in building the future of the Flyers and restoring our reputation as one of the most respected teams in hockey. We’re in the thick of the season right now, and we’re going to see how our group responds to the challenges that lay ahead with a grueling schedule.”

Horvat will make his home debut Tuesday, when the Islanders meet the Seattle Kraken. The veteran said he’ll “probably have the same amount of nerves and butterflies playing in front of the home crowd for the first time.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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