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After a humorous All-Star player draft on Thursday and a thrilling night of All-Star skills on Friday, it’s time for the final event of 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend: the game(s)!

It’s a simple format: two semifinals of 3-on-3 hockey, followed by the winners of those games squaring off in the final. First up will be Team MacKinnon vs. Team McDavid at 3 p.m. ET, then Team Hughes vs. Team Matthews at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the championship game at 5 p.m. ET. All three games will be broadcast on ABC, and simulcast on ESPN+.

Before the games begin, which line combinations are we most excited to see? Which draft selections were the most questionable? And who will win it all?

What lineup trio are you most excited to see?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: Any combination from Team Hughes that features some mix of Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, Kyle Connor, J.T. Miller, Brady Tkachuk or Frank Vatrano. That amounts to six elite American players, and any one of those three who are on the ice further justifies what makes the United States look extremely promising in the buildup to the 2025 4 Nations tournament and the Olympics in 2026.

Victoria Matiash, NHL analyst: If tossed together, give me Nikita Kucherov‘s vision and playmaking abilities in harmony with Kyle Connor’s knack for putting the puck in the net, along with everything Brady Tkachuk does superbly, when others on Team Hughes are resting on the bench.

Arda Öcal, NHL broadcaster: Nathan MacKinnonSidney Crosby gives us the Nova Scotia connection, buddies who party at each other’s Stanley Cup celebrations back home over the summer, and two of the best players in history. Add a human highlight reel in Kirill Kaprizov — yeah, that’s a heck of a trio right there.

Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: I’m feeling a David PastrnakConnor McDavidLeon Draisaitl situation. It seemed like Team McDavid was the quieter group in Thursday’s draft, but their squad is sneaky good. And given the history between Draisaitl and Pastrnak that has never (until now) translated into them being able to play together in an event of this magnitude — I think it would be pretty cool to see.

Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: You’ve got to give the people what they want. And by “people” I mean all those Leafs lovers in the arena who want to see their guys put on a show on home. Toss Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly‘s name in a hat, pull out a trio and watch them deliver a (glorified exhibition game overtime) championship to the Centre of the Hockey Universe.


What was the most questionable draft selection?

Clark: Sam Reinhart going in the fifth round to Team McDavid. For starters, they didn’t need more goals. They have the three players — McDavid, Draisaitl and Pastrnak — who finished first, second and third in points last season.

But beyond that, an argument can be made Reinhart should have gone higher. A perennial 20-goal scorer, he has already achieved a third straight 30-goal season and is on pace to finish with more than 60; he sits second in the goal-scoring race right now, with 37. We suppose a 27.6% shooting percentage helps.

Matiash: I’m not suggesting Tom Wilson doesn’t bring his own brand of panache to any roster, in any form of competition, but I’m also probably not picking the Capitals forward before Reinhart or Filip Forsberg or Vincent Trocheck, as Team MacKinnon did Thursday evening.

Öcal: Too much of the captains sticking to their NHL teammates for me overall. I get it, you want to play with your boys, but I would have loved some mix-and-match — we didn’t even get a trade! In terms of one specific selection, it was Alexandar Georgiev to Team MacKinnon. I would have loved the drama of seeing him selected by another team, then MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Tate McRae having to orchestrate a trade.

Shilton: Vincent Trocheck landing in the bottom four was crazy to me. He’s a point-per-game guy this season! And while all four teams had selected scoring talent to that stage of the night, it still felt like Trocheck should have been off the board well before Dave Keon came out and handed him his secret envelope. I’m looking at him to have a big game on Saturday just to show the other captains how badly they whiffed.

Wyshynski: I still think defense wins championships, so I still think that the right goaltenders can win the All-Star Game tournament. To the other three teams that allowed the squad with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to also have Connor Hellebuyck and Sergei Bobrovsky: What were you thinking?


Which team wins the championship?

Clark: Let’s go with Team MacKinnon. They have several players who can score and create for others. Having a goaltending tandem of Georgiev and Jeremy Swayman also helps. Yet the detail that could prove the most pivotal is that they have a number of players with two-way ability, which might give them an advantage in those late-game situations, trying to hold a lead.

Matiash: Team McDavid includes the best skater in the world, arguably the top goaltender in the game in Connor Hellebuyck, a Boston winger who could find himself an eventual Hart Trophy nominee, the player with the second-most goals to date, and one of the better two-way forwards in Boone Jenner (an underrated asset, in my opinion). Oh, and Leon Draisaitl. If Team Matthews doesn’t derive too much extra oomph from playing in front of the hometown crowd, I like this squad’s chances.

Öcal: Team Leafs … err, Matthews got the job done in front of the home crowd at the draft Thursday, and I say the good vibes continue Saturday. With the teams built how they are, we could hear the most booing we’ve heard ever at an All-Star Game. Team Matthews vs. Team Hughes in the opening round … Leafs vs. Canucks … Team Hughes will definitely be playing the role of the heel in Toronto for that one.

Shilton: I’ll also take Team Matthews. They’re got familiarity (with all four Maple Leafs together), their goaltenders (Jake Oettinger and Igor Shesterkin) are incredible, and they’ll just be having a lot of fun — which can translate into success! Plus, you know the hometown crowd will have their backs. Matthews’ crew might run away with this thing.

Wyshynski: The Can-Am Connection on Team Hughes. We have a team with the core five players from the first-place Vancouver Canucks along with American heroes Brady Tkachuk, Kyle Connor and general manager Jack Hughes. Oh, and some guy named Nikita Kucherov who’s leading the NHL in scoring at the break.

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MLB-best Brewers put SS Ortiz (hamstring) on IL

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MLB-best Brewers put SS Ortiz (hamstring) on IL

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz went on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring Friday, leaving the NL Central-leading Brewers without their starting shortstop.

The Brewers also reinstated first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers from the injured list and sent outfielder Jackson Chourio to a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Nashville.

Ortiz left a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday after hurting himself while grounding out in the fifth inning. Manager Pat Murphy said he has been told it’s a low-grade strain, an indication that Ortiz’s stay on the IL might not be too long.

Ortiz, 27, is hitting .233 with seven homers, 43 RBIs and 11 steals in 125 games. He has batted .343 with an .830 OPS in August.

“I felt like I was finally kind of getting a groove going, especially offensively, that I was starting to swing the bat as I feel I can,” Ortiz said. “Things happen. It’s baseball. It’s going to happen. I’ve just got to do what I can to get back.”

Murphy said Andruw Monasterio will be the Brewers’ primary shortstop while Ortiz is out. Monasterio, 28, has hit .254 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 43 games.

Bauers, 29, was dealing with a left shoulder impingement and last played in the majors on July 18. Bauers is hitting .197 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 59 games. He had gone just 2-for-23 in July while dealing with the shoulder issue before finally going on the injured list.

“Since April, May, I’ve been dealing with it,” Bauers said.

Chourio, 21, hasn’t played since straining his right hamstring while running out a triple in a 9-3 victory over the Cubs on July 29.

“He’s got to be able to get comfortable standing on the diamond back-to-back days,” Murphy said. “He’s got to be comfortable playing all nine (innings) in the outfield back-to-back days, because you can’t bring him back here and then just [go] zero to 100.”

Chourio is hitting .276 with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and 18 steals in 106 games.

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Red Sox move Buehler to pen as RHP eyes ‘reset’

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Red Sox move Buehler to pen as RHP eyes 'reset'

NEW YORK — The Boston Red Sox are pulling Walker Buehler from their rotation and sending the struggling right-hander to the bullpen.

“It’s going to be his new role,” manager Alex Cora said Friday before the Red Sox continued a four-game series with the Yankees. “We’ll figure out how it goes, maybe one inning, multiple innings. Whatever it is, we don’t know yet.”

Buehler’s next scheduled start would have been the opener of a four-game series in Baltimore on Monday. The Red Sox did not immediately announce who would take his turn. Right-hander Richard Fitts, currently with the Red Sox, and left-hander Kyle Harrison, who is at Triple A after being acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, are options.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” Buehler said. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been in a situation like that, but at the end of the day, the organization and, to a lesser extent, myself, kind of think it’s probably the right thing for our group and it gives me an opportunity to kind of reset in some ways.”

In his first season with the Red Sox after seven seasons with the Dodgers, Buehler is 7-7 with a 5.40 ERA in 22 starts and has allowed a career-worst 21 homers. He was 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA in his first six starts but is 3-6 with a 6.37 ERA over his past 16 outings. He also missed two weeks in May because of bursitis in his pitching shoulder.

“He’s been very frustrated with the way he has pitched,” Cora said. “I still believe in him. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Buehler last started in Wednesday’s 11-inning loss to the Orioles and allowed two runs in four innings while throwing 75 pitches. It was the ninth time this season he did not complete five innings.

After the game, he didn’t fault Cora for the quick hook.

“At some point, the leash I’m given has been earned,” he told reporters. “I think they did the right thing in coming to get me before the [Gunnar] Henderson at-bat. Our bullpen has been great. For me, personally, I think everything went according to plan until the fifth. You go double, four-pitch walk. The way I’ve been throwing it, it all kind of makes sense.”

Buehler also issued 54 walks in 110 innings this season for a career-high 4.4 walks per nine innings.

The Red Sox signed Buehler to a one-year, $21.05 million contract in December. The deal contains an additional $2.5 million in performance bonuses. The Red Sox also gave Buehler a $3.05 million signing bonus and includes a $25 million mutual option for 2026 with a $3 million buyout.

Buehler was 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and pitched 75⅓ innings in the 2024 regular season for the Dodgers after missing all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He helped the Dodgers win their second championship since 1988 by going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and pitched a perfect ninth for the save in Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees.

Buehler’s only previous relief experience was eight appearances as a rookie in 2017. His last relief appearance was June 28, 2018, when he allowed a run in five innings after missing time because of a rib injury.

A two-time All Star in 2019 and 2021, Buehler is 54-29 in 153 appearances. He finished fourth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award in 2021 after going 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA in 33 starts when he threw 207⅔ innings.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Bronzed Beltré: Rangers honor HOFer with statue

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Bronzed Beltré: Rangers honor HOFer with statue

ARLINGTON, Texas — Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré now has a statue in Arlington to go with his bust in Cooperstown.

The Texas Rangers unveiled a life-sized bronze statue of the first-ballot Hall of Famer on Friday, one with him posed hitting a home run with his knee on the ground like he did so often in his career. Beltré is the third player to have a statue outside the team’s stadium, joining two other Hall of Famers, strikeout king Nolan Ryan and 14-time All-Star catcher Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez.

Beltré spent the last eight of his 21 big league seasons with Texas, the team he played with the longest. He retired after the 2018 season, had his No. 29 jersey retired by the Rangers the following year and was enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame last summer.

The statue is situated where it appears that Beltré is glancing toward the old ballpark that still stands across the street. It was there that he became the first player from the Dominican Republic to reach 3,000 career hits on July 30, 2017, two years after hitting his 400th homer. That is also where he had all three of his MLB record-tying three career cycles, one as a visitor with Seattle in 2008, and two more with the Rangers, on Aug. 24, 2012, and Aug. 3, 2015.

The dedication came before the opener of a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians. The Rangers on Saturday will present Beltré with a smaller version of his bronze statue and he will catch a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Mike Tabor, the Texas artist who sculpted it, and the first 20,000 fans entering the ballpark before that game will get replica versions.

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