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ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs were struggling to get anything going against Texas, and there was little reason to be hopeful of a turnaround with their quarterback crumpled on the turf. Enter a guy who had barely played in his college career.

Little-used backup Gunner Stockton came off the bench in the second half after an injury to Carson Beck and led No. 5 Georgia to an improbable 22-19 overtime victory over the No. 2 Longhorns in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday.

The Bulldogs (11-2) won their third SEC title under coach Kirby Smart, but the trophy comes with an even bigger prize — a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Georgia came into the game ranked fifth by the CFP, but now it is assured of playing in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game on New Year’s Day in pursuit of its third national title in four seasons.

“This team never, ever says no,” a jubilant Smart said amid the falling confetti at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Texas (11-2, No. 2 CFP) was denied an SEC title capper to its first season in the league and will host a first-round game on either Dec. 20 or 21. Both of its losses have been to the Bulldogs, who prevailed 30-15 when the powerhouse programs met in Austin during the regular season.

“This stings,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “But we get a chance to regroup in a couple weeks and get into the College Football Playoff and go compete for a national championship. I think we’re plenty good enough to go win that.”

The big question for Georgia amid the celebration was the health of Beck, the two-year starter who went down on the final play of the first half with an injured throwing arm. Smart would only call it an “upper extremity” injury and said an MRI would determine the extent of the damage.

Stockton, a third-year sophomore, had played only six games in his college career — all of them mere mop-ups of blowout wins. He guided the Bulldogs to a touchdown and two field goals before taking a hard hit on a run in overtime that sent his helmet flying.

“This kid is a winner,” Smart said about his backup. “This kid is special.”

Beck, who could barely lift his arm, came back in the game for first-and-goal at the 4. All he had to do — and could do — was hand off to Trevor Etienne, who powered into the end zone to end the first overtime game in the SEC championship’s 33-year history.

Georgia went beyond regulation to win for the second week in a row, following up an eight-overtime, 44-42 victory over Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale.

This one was even sweeter, especially after losing its offensive leader.

“We’re beat up, we’re tired, we’re mentally fatigued,” Smart said. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team. They just keep coming, keep coming. They never say die.”

Beck went down on a wild final play of the first half while trying to heave one into the end zone. Trey Moore knocked the ball away with a blow to the right arm, setting off a wild scramble that ended with a couple of laterals and a Georgia lineman winding up with the ball.

More concerning for Georgia, Beck remained on the turf holding his throwing arm while teammates hovered over him. He finally trotted slowly off the field, but Smart said his day was done.

Not quite.

After holding Texas to a field goal on the opening possession of overtime, Stockton had to leave the game after a first-down run ended with a hit that knocked off his helmet.

“When we got the play and everybody saw it was Carson, we were pretty juiced up,” offensive lineman Tate Rutledge said.

Etienne took the handoff from Beck and powered up the middle. The ailing quarterback threw up his left arm in celebration, his right arm hanging by his side.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 358 yards, but was sacked six times and threw a pair of interceptions.

The Longhorns had a 260-54 edge in total yards in the first half, but continually hurt themselves with penalties and led only 6-3. They finished with 11 flags for 94 yards, including a false start that wiped out a field goal.

Faked out In one of the biggest calls of the game, Georgia drove for a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter with a bit of chicanery and plenty of good fortune.

With punter Brett Thorson sidelined with an injury, the Bulldogs called a gutsy fake on fourth-and-5 at their own 30.

The short snap went to protector Drew Bobo — son of Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo — who flipped it to Arian Smith coming around end for a 9-yard gain on what was technically a pass.

“He will go down with a higher passing percentage than his father,” Smart quipped, referring to Mike Bobo’s quarterback days for Georgia in the 1990s.

The Bulldogs fumbled twice after the fake but managed to recover it both times before settling for Peyton Woodring’s third field goal that made it 16-13 with 4½ minutes left.

Takeaway

Texas: This one really stings for the Longhorns, who squandered a prime chance to finish off their SEC debut season with a championship. The running game struggled to get anything going, finishing with just 31 yards on 28 carries. And there are plenty of questions about an offensive line that gave up a total of 13 sacks in the two losses to the Bulldogs.

Georgia: The best thing for the Bulldogs is earning extra rest for the playoff, especially with Beck ailing. But give plenty of kudos to Stockton, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards and made that huge run in overtime, shaking off an interception that gave Texas a chance to tie it on Bert Auburn’s 27-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in regulation.

Up next

Texas: The Longhorns will surely host a first-round game, but now will have to win four games to capture a national championship.

Georgia: Smart says he plans to celebrate for maybe 48 hours — instead of his customary 24-hour rule — because the Bulldogs don’t play again for nearly four weeks.

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”

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