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NEW YORK — Yankees rookie Jasson Dominguez has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow and needs Tommy John surgery, interrupting an impressive start to his major league career that included four home runs in his first seven games.

The prized 20-year-old center fielder was scheduled to bat third for New York in Sunday’s series finale against Milwaukee but was scratched about 15 minutes before the first pitch.

“Definitely very shocking news. You’re never expecting for this to be the result,” Dominguez said through an interpreter.

Manager Aaron Boone said Dominguez’s recovery will likely take nine to 10 months.

“Crushed for him,” Boone said. “At the same time, he’s a young man and these things resolve themselves, so it’s a moment in time in the grand scheme of things in what we feel like has a chance to be a long, excellent career. So, it’s about taking care of it now.”

Signed for a $5.1 million bonus as a 16-year-old, Dominguez made his big league debut on Sept. 1 in Houston and was hitting .258 with four homers and seven RBIs in eight games.

Dominguez’s right elbow limited him during batting practice Sunday, causing concern.

“He couldn’t pop the ball or really hit it hard,” Boone said, “so we brought him up and he went and got testing during the game.”

Dominguez said he first felt pain on Sept. 3 in Houston but couldn’t recall a specific throw or swing that caused the injury.

“I felt like something wasn’t right, but not preventing me to play,” he said. “We had a day off on Monday, so Tuesday felt about the same. But warming up and getting loose for the game, that’s the point where I could play. And then Wednesday, that’s when I told the trainers that I was feeling some kind of discomfort that wasn’t going away. And since Wednesday it has gotten progressively worse.”

While pitchers usually need 12 to 18 months to recover from Tommy John surgery, the projection for position players is nine to 10 months, Boone said. Philadelphia star Bryce Harper returned this May after 160 days.

“The plan is to go through surgery as soon as possible and try to recuperate as soon as possible,” Dominguez said.

The switch-hitter launched a two-run homer Friday, becoming the youngest player since at least 1901 to homer four times in his first seven games.

Dominguez reached base in each of his first seven games before going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Saturday’s 9-2 loss to the Brewers.

“A really good experience,” he said. “Fortunate to be here, to be able to play these eight games and really see how it is inside this clubhouse in the big leagues,” he said.

New York placed Gold Glove center fielder Harrison Bader on waivers last month, opening center field for Dominguez when Bader was claimed by Cincinnati. With Dominguez sidelined, the Yankees must evaluate a free agent center fielder market this offseason that includes Cody Bellinger.

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Ohtani’s blast caps 6-run 9th in wild Dodgers rally

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Ohtani's blast caps 6-run 9th in wild Dodgers rally

PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer to cap a six-run ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a wild 14-11 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.

The Dodgers trailed 11-8 entering the ninth inning after blowing an early five-run lead.

Andy Pages and Enrique Hernandez hit consecutive run-scoring doubles to open the ninth inning against Kevin Ginkel (0-1). Max Muncy tied it at 11-11 with a run-scoring single and Ryan Thompson replaced Ginkel to face Ohtani.

It didn’t go well for Arizona.

Ohtani, who doubled twice, fell into a 1-2 hole before launching his 12th homer near the pool deck in right to put the Dodgers up 14-11. He finished with four RBIs.

Tanner Scott worked a perfect ninth save in 11 chances.

The Dodgers roughed up Eduardo Rodriguez to take an 8-3 lead through three innings, but couldn’t hold it.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tying grand slam in the fifth inning, then Ketel Marte and Randal Grichuk hit solo shots off Alex Vesia (1-0) in the eighth to put Arizona up 11-8.

Pages finished with three RBIs and Hernández extended the Dodgers’ homer streak to 13 straight games with a solo shot in the second inning.

Marte homered twice for the Diamondbacks. Rodriguez allowed eight runs on nine hits in 2⅔ innings.

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Marchand’s OT score cuts Panthers’ deficit to 2-1

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Marchand's OT score cuts Panthers' deficit to 2-1

SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand scored on a deflected shot at 15:27 of overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Friday night to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 2-1.

Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich scored for Florida, which got 27 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Evan Rodrigues had two assists for the Panthers. They 13-2 in their last 15 playoff overtime games.

John Tavares scored twice, and Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also scored for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots.

Game 4 will be in Sunrise on Sunday night.

Florida erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-1, and that’s been almost impossible to do against Toronto this season.

By the numbers, it was all looking good for the Maple Leafs.

  • They were 30-3-0 when leading after the first period, including playoffs, the second-best record in the league.

  • They were 38-8-2, the league’s third-best record when scoring first.

  • They had blown only 11 leads all season, none in the playoffs.

  • They were 44-3-1 in games where they led by two goals or more.

Combine all that with Toronto having won all 11 of its previous best-of-seven series when taking a 2-0 lead at home, Florida being 0-5 in series where it dropped both Games 1 and 2, and leaguewide, teams facing 0-2 deficits come back to win those series only about 14% of the time.

But Marchand — a longtime Toronto playoff nemesis from his days in Boston — got the biggest goal of Florida’s season, rendering all those numbers moot for now.

The Leafs got two goals that deflected in off of Panthers defensemen: Tavares’ second goal nicked the glove of Gustav Forsling on its way past Bobrovsky for a 3-1 lead, and Rielly’s goal redirected off Seth Jones’ leg to tie it with 9:04 left in the third.

Knies scored 23 seconds into the game, the second time Toronto had a 1-0 lead in the first minute of this series. Tavares made it 2-0 at 5:57 and just like that, the Panthers were in trouble.

A diving Barkov threw the puck at the night and saw it carom in off a Toronto stick to get Florida on the board — only for Tavares to score again early in the second for a 3-1 Leafs lead.

Florida needed a break. It came.

Reinhart was credited with a goal after Woll thought he covered up the puck following a scrum in front of the net. But after review, it was determined the puck had crossed the line. Florida had life, the building was loud again and about a minute later, Verhaeghe tied it at 3-3.

Gadjovich made it 4-3 late in the second, before Rielly tied it midway through the third.

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Vegas’ Roy dodges suspension for G2 cross-check

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Vegas' Roy dodges suspension for G2 cross-check

NEW YORK — Vegas Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy was fined but not suspended Friday for cross-checking the Edmonton OilersTrent Frederic in the face in overtime of Game 2 of the teams’ second-round playoff series.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced the fine of $7,813, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, after a disciplinary hearing with him.

Roy attempted to play the puck while it was airborne but made contact with Frederic’s head instead, resulting in a laceration for the Oilers forward.

Frederic briefly exited the game before making a quick return to the ice. Edmonton, however, failed to capitalize on the ensuing five-minute power play but won not long after on a goal by Leon Draisaitl from Connor McDavid.

Vegas trails the best-of-seven series 2-0 with Game 3 on Saturday night at Edmonton.

Information from The Associated Press and Field Level Media was used in this report.

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