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PHOENIX — Slugging and running their way to within one victory of a return trip to the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 on Saturday night in Game 5 of the NLCS to take a 3-2 series lead.

Game 6 is scheduled for Monday night in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are 6-0 this postseason.

“I think we’ll be in a good position,” Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, the winning pitcher Saturday, said after the game. “But we can’t think ahead too much. We have to play the game on Monday and get back to Philly, where we like to play.”

Slugger Bryce Harper set the tone for Game 5, stealing home in the first inning, then hitting a 444-foot home run in the sixth. He joined Randy Arozarena as the only players in postseason history to steal home and hit a home run in the same game.

“We’re going to be aggressive right here,” Harper said.” Bryson [Stott] had the green light. He went, and I just tried to make the best decision to get there and make it happen to score that run.”

It came after Kyle Schwarber had already crossed the plate with the game’s first run. Arizona starter Zac Gallen was more careful in the opening inning Saturday than he was in Game 1, when Schwarber and Harper homered off him. This time, Schwarber got to first on an infield single before Harper singled him to second and Stott’s single brought him home. That put runners on first and third with JT Realmuto at the plate.

That’s when Harper took off.

“I knew he was going to go,” Stott said of Harper. “It’s the postseason and Gallen is really good over there and you don’t know how many chances you’re going to get.”

Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno threw down to second as Harper took off for home. The throw back from shortstop Geraldo Perdomo short-hopped Moreno, who got barreled by Harper at the plate.

“Baseball play,” Harper said. “Big collision at the plate. I was making sure he was OK. Kind of the way he went down, I was making sure he was good and stable. Never want those moments or anybody to get hurt. But just a good position to put us in and be able to get up in that situation.”

Moreno stayed in the game after being attended to by the Diamondbacks’ training staff.

With the finesse part of their game over, the Phillies went to work on the slugging. Gallen kept them in the park until the sixth, when Schwarber destroyed a baseball, sending it 461 feet into the right-field stands. Two batters later, Harper left the yard as well, belting it 444 feet from home plate. The rout was on as Realmuto added a blast one inning later.

The homers helped trigger a bunch of milestones.

  • The Phillies are the sixth team all-time with at least 15 homers and 15 stolen bases in a single postseason.

  • With three home runs in Game 5, the Phillies have 23 home runs this postseason, the second-most all-time through 11 games of a postseason (24 by 2004 Astros).

  • Schwarber is just the fifth player ever to reach 20 career postseason home runs. He got there in 63 games, the fastest in history.

  • Harper and Schwarber have combined for 22 homers in the past two postseasons (11 each). That is the most combined homers by a duo over a two-year span in MLB playoff history.

The offense backed Wheeler, who once again dominated his postseason opposition. On a night when the Phillies’ bullpen wasn’t fully available, Wheeler pitched seven innings, giving up six hits while striking out eight and giving up one run — a solo shot by Alek Thomas.

Wheeler helped bring down the team’s starter ERA this postseason to 1.48, lowest all-time out of a rotation through the first 11 playoff games.

“I told him after the game, ‘You’re one of the best pitchers I’ve ever played with,'” Harper said of Wheeler. “I’ve played with a lot of good ones, and he’s easily top three.”

Wheeler appreciated the sentiment as well as the offensive support. Meanwhile, Schwarber downplayed his accomplishments, claiming he’ll “appreciate it” when he’s done playing baseball.

That doesn’t mean his teammates can’t enjoy his superhuman strength.

“He’s country strong,” Harper said. “It’s incredible. Just the way he goes and the way he swings. He uses that lower half so well. He drives through the ground. Whenever you’re able to put your feet in the ground and stay grounded, it’s incredible.”

Gallen was left wondering how exactly to shut down these Phillies. He challenged them early in Game 1, and that didn’t work out. On Saturday, he went more off-speed in the first inning and they still scored two runs. Later, he went back to the fastball, and two of them were blasted into the Chase Field crowd, who were subdued after two nights of exhilarating wins by the home team.

“The thing about Harper and Schwarber is, those guys are so intelligent,” Gallen said. “They’ve been around. You’ve got to hope you’re one step ahead of them. It’s hard. And them being able to leave the yard at any point is what makes it even harder.

“It’s wild. Solo homers don’t beat you, but a team that hits solo homers a lot, they tend to add up after a while.”

The Phillies have hit 10 home runs in this series alone and now return home with a one game cushion after getting a scare by the Diamondbacks in their building. Coming off losses in Games 3 and 4, Philadelphia got everything they wanted in a Game 5 win. Now they’re one game away from the Fall Classic.

“It was a great response,” Schwarber said.

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Wyshynski’s NHL trade deadline Big Board: From superstar shocks to pending free agents to glue guys

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Wyshynski's NHL trade deadline Big Board: From superstar shocks to pending free agents to glue guys

The rise of the salary cap changes everything in the NHL.

On Jan. 31, the league and the NHLPA announced an agreement to create “increased predictability” about the salary cap over the next three seasons, provided there’s a new collective bargaining agreement beyond the 2025-26 season. The upper limits for the cap are projected as:

  • 2025-26: $95.5 million

  • 2026-27: $104 million

  • 2027-28: $113.5 million

It’s a shrewd negotiating tactic, giving the players a sense of the league’s prosperity and their own future earning potential under a skyrocketing cap. But it also materially changed how teams could approach the March 7 NHL trade deadline.

“I think this is going to be an interesting deadline. Everybody’s like, ‘We’re going to have money next year.’ So I wonder if you might see some actual contracts move,” one NHL team executive said. “I think teams might be looking at free agency this summer and wondering what they’re actually going to get out of it. So maybe they’re willing to trade for Seth Jones or something at the deadline.”

With that salary cap bump on the horizon, here’s a look at the players who could move before the NHL trade deadline on March 7 at 3 p.m. ET, from the shocking possibilities to the pending free agents to the players with low-cost contracts who could be the difference in winning the Stanley Cup.

This list was compiled through conversations with league executives and other sources, as well as media reports. ESPN insiders Kevin Weekes and Emily Kaplan added their input in its creation. Salary figures are from Cap Wages and PuckPedia.

Let’s begin with the biggest names.

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Sources: Pac-12, MWC agree to mediate lawsuits

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Sources: Pac-12, MWC agree to mediate lawsuits

The Mountain West and Pac-12, along with Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State, have agreed to enter mediation related to the ongoing lawsuits related to school exit fees and a poaching penalty the Mountain West included in a scheduling agreement with the Pac-12, sources told ESPN.

It is a common step that could lead to settlements before the sides take their chances in court, however, a source told ESPN that, as of Wednesday evening, it was an informal agreement. The Mountain West initiated the talks, a source said.

In September, the Pac-12 filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the legality of a “poaching penalty” included in a football scheduling agreement it signed with the Mountain West in December 2023. As part of the agreement, the Mountain West included language that calls for the Pac-12 to pay a fee of $10 million if a school left the Mountain West for the Pac-12, with escalators of $500,000 for each additional school.

Five schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State — announced they were leaving the Mountain West for the Pac-12 in 2026, which the Mountain West believes should require a $55 million payout from the Pac-12.

In December, Colorado State and Utah State filed a separate lawsuit against the Mountain West, seeking to avoid having to pay exit fees that could range from $19 million to $38 million, with Boise State later joining the lawsuit. Neither Fresno State, nor San Diego State has challenged the Mountain West exit fees in court.

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Sources: Patriots exec Stewart to be Huskers’ GM

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Sources: Patriots exec Stewart to be Huskers' GM

Nebraska is hiring New England Patriots director of pro personnel Patrick Stewart as the football program’s new general manager, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Wednesday.

Current Nebraska general manager Sean Padden — who oversaw top recruiting classes in this cycle in high school recruiting and in the NCAA transfer portal — will move to a new role of assistant AD for strategic intelligence, sources told Thamel. Padden’s role will include ties to the salary cap, contract negotiations and analytics, while Stewart will run the personnel department.

Under second-year coach Matt Rhule, Nebraska finished 7-6 last season, capping its year with a 20-15 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Cornhuskers were 3-6 in the Big Ten.

In New England, Stewart’s departure comes at a time in which the Patriots are in transition under first-year coach Mike Vrabel. The hiring of Vrabel has had a ripple effect on the front office with the addition of vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who had worked with Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2018 to 2022).

The Patriots’ personnel department is still led by executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who had tapped Stewart as director of pro personnel last year. Sam Fioroni had served as the Patriots’ assistant director of pro personnel in 2024. Others on staff could also be eyed for a promotion or new role.

Stewart, who graduated from Ohio State, began his professional career in the college ranks with the Buckeyes (2000 to 2004), Western Carolina (2005) and Temple (2006) before breaking into the NFL with the Patriots in 2007 as a scouting assistant. He then split time between college and pro scouting with the organization over the next 10 seasons.

Stewart was a national scout for the Philadelphia Eagles (2018-19) before working for the Carolina Panthers as director of player personnel (2020) and then vice president of player personnel (2021-22). He returned to the Patriots in 2023 as a senior personnel adviser.

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