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LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts homered twice to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins in the second game on Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Betts had a two-run single to cap a three-run eighth inning as the Dodgers also won the first game 3-1.

After his solo home run in the third inning in the night game, Betts saluted Lakers star LeBron James, who was sitting in a suite with his family on his bobblehead night. When he hit his 34th homer of the season in the fifth, Betts also saluted James as he crossed home plate, and the NBA star tipped his cap.

“It was kind of a thank you and shoutout to him,” Betts said. “He’s done it during his game, so I returned the favor.”

James, on social media, responded: “Salute and (hat emoji) off to you my brother!!!”

Betts said they’ve met and talked a few times, and the salute was spur-of-the-moment.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts thought there was a bit more to it.

“I think that was intentional,” Roberts said of the salute. “Hitting a baseball is as hard as anything there is to do. I just think Mookie had another gear tonight to show out. We were all beneficiaries. It was fun to watch him and LeBron. Two great ones.”

Betts has five multihomer games this season and 28 in his career.

The NL West-leading Dodgers bounced back nicely from an 11-3 loss on Friday night that snapped an 11-game winning streak. They got back on track with two wins to improve to 17-2 in August.

Julio Urias (11-6) allowed just one run — a solo homer to Josh Bell in the first inning — and five hits in seven innings, striking out five.

“He was awesome,” Roberts said of Urias. “The energy tonight, he responded. The City Connect jerseys. LeBron in the house. Crowd really energetic and he just fed off it. Tonight it was the Mookie and Julio show.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Brewers sign veteran Canha to minor league deal

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Brewers sign veteran Canha to minor league deal

PHOENIX — Veteran outfielder Mark Canha signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers that includes an invitation to major league camp.

The move announced Monday continues attempts by the two-time defending NL Central champions to boost their depth after outfielder Blake Perkins fractured his right shin during batting practice, an injury that probably will sideline him for the first month of the season. Milwaukee already had signed Manuel Margot to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp.

Canha, 36, previously joined the Brewers at the 2023 trade deadline. He batted .287 with a .373 on-base percentage, five homers, 33 RBIs and four steals in 50 games with Milwaukee that season.

He spent 2024 with the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants. Canha batted .242 with a .344 on-base percentage, seven homers, 42 RBIs and seven steals in 125 games.

Canha is a career .249 batter with a .349 on-base percentage, 120 homers and 459 RBIs in 1,049 games with Oakland (2015-21), the New York Mets (2022-23), Milwaukee, Detroit and San Francisco.

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Giants’ Verlander pitches 2 innings in spring debut

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Giants' Verlander pitches 2 innings in spring debut

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Justin Verlander struck out one and allowed a solo home run while pitching two innings in his spring training debut for the San Francisco Giants on Monday.

Verlander’s first start of the spring came four days after the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s 42nd birthday.

After allowing the two-out homer to Colorado’s Michael Toglia in the first inning, Verlander walked the next batter before retiring the last four he faced. All three Rockies hitters in the second were retired on fly balls.

Verlander’s 262 career wins are the most among active pitchers. The right-hander is preparing for his 20th big league season and his first with San Francisco after an injury-plagued 2024 in Houston. He signed a $15 million, one-year contract with the Giants.

Shoulder inflammation and neck discomfort limited Verlander to 17 starts last season, when he went 5-6 with a 5.48 ERA — a single-season worst that was more than two runs higher than his 3.30 career ERA.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

LAKELAND, Fla. — Free agent reliever Andrew Chafin signed a minor league deal Monday to go to spring training with the Detroit Tigers, the team that traded the left-hander to Texas last summer.

Chafin has pitched in 105 games for the Tigers over two stints — 64 games in 2022 and 41 last year before being dealt to Texas for two minor leaguers in July. It was the fourth time in five seasons he was part of a deadline trade.

Texas in November declined a $6.5 million team option for Chafin, who instead got a $500,000 buyout. He had a 4.19 ERA while pitching 19⅓ innings in 21 appearances for the Rangers, after a 3.16 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 37 innings for the Tigers.

The 34-year-old Chafin has a 3.75 ERA in 601 big league appearances over 11 seasons for six teams. The only team he has pitched more for than Detroit is Arizona, the club that picked him 43rd overall in the 2011 amateur draft. He made 377 relief appearances and started three games for the Diamondbacks over parts of eight seasons.

Chafin made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2014, and they traded him to the Chicago Cubs in 2020. He returned to Arizona as a free agent in 2023 and was traded that summer to Milwaukee. He also pitched for Oakland during part of the 2021 season.

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