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HOUSTON — Will Smith, the left-handed reliever who won a championship with the Atlanta Braves last year, was added to the Houston Astros‘ roster ahead of their World Series matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Smith, who replaced right-hander Seth Martinez, stands as the only lefty in the Astros’ bullpen and can be used as a matchup option against the left-handed-hitting Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, who combined for a 1.426 OPS during the National League Championship Series.

The Astros have also regained their third-base coach, Gary Pettis, who missed the American League Championship Series because of an undisclosed illness. Astros manager Dusty Baker said Pettis was medically cleared to return for the start of the World Series.

“I didn’t think he was going to be, but he wants to be here,” Baker said. “He did everything that was needed to clear the protocols of health, and so he’s doing great.”

The Astros also announced that Framber Valdez will get the Game 2 start opposite Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, as was widely expected.

The Phillies also made a minor tweak with their World Series roster, replacing left-hander Bailey Falter and utility man Dalton Guthrie with right-hander Nick Nelson and utility man Nick Maton. Phillies manager Rob Thomson had toyed with the idea of moving Harper up to the No. 3 spot in the lineup, putting him closer to the leadoff-hitting Schwarber, given that the Astros’ bullpen was exclusively right-handed, but he opted to keep him fourth.

Thompson consulted with several coaches and players before the game and decided not to change the top half of the lineup.

“To a man, they were like, ‘You know, we’ve been swinging the bats pretty good right where we’re at. Everybody’s really comfortable with where we’re at,'” Thompson said. “So, that’s what we’re going with.”

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NFL draft hopeful, ex-LSU WR Lacy found dead

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NFL draft hopeful, ex-LSU WR Lacy found dead

Former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy was found dead Saturday night in Houston, an LSU official confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.

Lacy was accused of causing a crash that killed a 78-year-old man on Dec. 17 and then fleeing the scene without rendering aid or calling authorities. On Jan. 12, he turned himself in to authorities, was jailed and then released on $151,000 bail, according to police records.

Lafourche (Louisiana) Parish Sheriff’s Office records indicated that Lacy was charged with negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run with death and reckless operation of a vehicle. According to WAFB-TV, a grand jury was to begin hearing evidence in the case Monday.

According to a news release from Louisiana State Police, Lacy was allegedly driving a 2023 Dodge Charger on Louisiana Highway 20 and “recklessly passed multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed by crossing the centerline and entering the northbound lane while in a designated no-passing zone.”

“As Lacy was illegally passing the other vehicles, the driver of a northbound pickup truck abruptly braked and swerved to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the approaching Dodge,” a Louisiana State Police news release said.

“Traveling behind the pickup was a 2017 Kia Cadenza whose driver swerved left to avoid the oncoming Dodge Charger. As the Kia Cadenza took evasive action to avoid impact with the Dodge, it crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2017 Kia Sorento.”

Police alleged that Lacy, 24, drove around the crash scene and fled “without stopping to render aid, call emergency services, or report his involvement in the crash.”

Herman Hall, of Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was a passenger in the Kia Sorento, later died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to state police.

Lacy’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, said in a statement that his client is “fully cooperating with the authorities.”

Lacy declared for the NFL draft on Dec. 19, two days after the crash, and did not play in LSU’s win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl. He participated in March at LSU’s pro day and was ranked as high as the No. 6 receiver prospect in the draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper in December. Lacy was not ranked among the top 10 available wide receivers in Kiper’s most recent Big Board, which was published last month.

Lacy played three seasons at LSU after starting his career at Louisiana. Lacy had his best season last year when he caught 58 passes for 866 yards and a team-leading nine touchdowns.

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Cubs feast in Dodgers’ worst home shutout loss

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Cubs feast in Dodgers' worst home shutout loss

LOS ANGELES — The Chicago Cubs had a big night against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

One night after being shut out, the Cubs broke out for 14 runs and 15 hits in the final three innings of a 16-0 victory Saturday night to hand the Dodgers their first home loss of the season and their worst home shutout defeat in franchise history.

The Cubs finished with 21 hits, including nine for extra bases.

“The boys came out swinging, and it was pretty cool to see,” said Chicago’s Carson Kelly, who homered twice among his three hits and drove in three runs. “Kudos to our guys for working at-bats, really working counts, getting good pitches to drive and not missing them. We also ran the bases well and took our walks. … I think it’s just the mentality of this team that we’re going to fight to the end no matter what the score is.”

Michael Busch, once a top prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system, had four hits, including a homer and two doubles, and drove in three runs. The first baseman is batting .308 (12-for-39) with three homers, six doubles and 11 RBIs in 10 career games against the Dodgers.

Ian Happ had three hits and scored two runs, and Miguel Amaya replaced the injured Seiya Suzuki (right wrist pain) in the fifth inning and homered among his two hits and drove in three runs.

Kelly keyed a five-run seventh inning with a homer 384 feet over the left-field wall against Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius and then crushed a 391-foot homer on a floater from infielder-turned-pitcher Miguel Rojas for a two-run shot in the ninth.

“You have to take a quick swing, not a big swing,” Kelly said, when asked how hard it is to homer off a 40-mph pitch. “You have to find the right timing of it.”

The Cubs pushed their major league-leading run total to 112, which is 21 more than the second-place New York Yankees (91), and they have outscored opponents by 41 runs, a margin nearly twice as much as any team.

Busch, who homered off Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki for a 1-0 lead in the second, came within inches of a monster game when he was robbed of a grand slam by center fielder Andy Pages to end the third.

“I saw him [make the catch] — unfortunately,” said Busch, a former minor league teammate of Pages. “He’s a good player. I didn’t want him to do that, so we’re going to have to have a conversation.”

Sasaki (0-1) left with a 1-0 deficit after allowing one run and four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two. However, the Cubs broke through against a Dodgers bullpen that entered the contest with a 2.15 ERA, the fourth-best mark in baseball.

Busch doubled and scored on Justin Turner‘s RBI single off Casparius for a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Amaya (single), Busch (single), Dansby Swanson (single) and Nico Hoerner (sacrifice fly) drove in runs after Kelly’s leadoff homer in the seventh.

Kyle Tucker had a two-run single and Amaya a two-run homer in the eighth, and the Cubs teed off on Rojas in the ninth.

The offensive outburst backed a superb start by Cubs right-hander Ben Brown, who used only two pitches — a four-seam fastball that averaged 95.6 mph and a knuckle-curve that averaged 86.9 mph — to blank the Dodgers on five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking none.

Brown (2-1) gave up five runs and seven hits in four innings of his previous start, a no-decision against San Diego.

“Just trying to do the exact opposite of last week,” Brown said. “This past week was a grind working on things, mentally going through things, but I put in that effort, and it obviously showed tonight.

“I was able to slow the game down, slow the heart rate down, execute pitch by pitch and go back to where I was last year … when my stuff is there, we can get through lineups like that.”

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Masterful win: Son of ex-PGAer gets 1st MLB win

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Masterful win: Son of ex-PGAer gets 1st MLB win

That Detroit Tigers prospect Jackson Jobe earned his first major league win on Masters weekend fits as perfectly as a green jacket.

The 22-year-old right-hander is the son of former professional golfer Brandt Jobe, who played in the Masters three times, with a young Jackson tagging along for the Par 3 contest in 2006.

On Saturday, it was Jackson’s turn to put up a low number, pitching six shutout innings as the Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0.

Jobe (1-0), the third pick of the 2021 amateur draft and the overall No. 3 prospect per Baseball America, cruised through the Twins’ lineup after earning no-decisions in his previous two starts. He allowed only three baserunners — two singles and a walk — while striking out two batters.

Brenan Hanifee, Tyler Holton and John Brebbia each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Detroit.

Spencer Torkelson homered and drove in three runs for the Tigers, who have won seven of their last eight.

Chris Paddack (0-2) gave up two runs — one earned — on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five innings for Minnesota, which at 4-11 is off to the second-worst start in team history.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first inning. Zach McKinstry led off with a walk, and Kerry Carpenter followed with a chopper to the right of second base. Carlos Correa fielded the ball cleanly but his throw on the run was wide of first base, allowing McKinstry to take third. He then scored on Torkelson’s sacrifice fly.

They doubled their lead in the fourth when Torkelson hit a leadoff single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Justyn-Henry Malloy.

Torkelson struck again in the sixth inning, hitting a two-run homer off Twins reliever Kody Funderburk to make it 4-0.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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