Few things in baseball—actually, few things in all of sports—are more exciting than an inside-the-park home run. It's almost impossible for a player to get one without something unusual happening, whether it be a catastrophic miscalculation from a fielder or the ball taking a zany bounce. Point is, if someone tells you that there was an inside-the-park homer, you're going to want to see it.

Tuesday night brought two of those strange round-trippers to Major League Baseball. First, Lawrence Butler of the Athletics casually cruised 360 feet to lead off the game against the Atlanta Braves.

Later, the San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey ran very fast to walk off the Philadelphia Phillies after his shot to right-center decided to explore the space far away from any fielder.

They've been playing baseball for a long, long time. So it's a bit surprising to learn that this was the first time in Major League Baseball history that a leadoff inside-the-parker and a walk-off inside-the-parker occurred on the same day.

Considering the fact that baseball teams used to play in bizarrely-shaped playing surfaces back in the day with cavernous power alleys, one would think something like this would have happened before. But considering Butler's scamper was the Athletic's first leadoff inside-the-parker since 1943 and Bailey's was the first walk-off of the variety across all baseball in the last decade … yeah, definitely a rare night.

His competitiveness was something to behold, his love for Test cricket infectious, and he had this special ability to take you along on the ride

Sidharth Monga13-May-20251:38

AB de Villiers: ‘I did get a hint that Kohli would retire’

Now I feel old, man. Virat Kohli has run out of the fight to play Test cricket.Virat Kohli.I never imagined a day would come when Virat Kohli would wake up, decide to meet the selectors, and tell them that his body, mind, heart and spirit were not giving him enough to be able to play Test cricket to his standards anymore.Test cricket. The format he lived for. Anyone who has seen Kohli play knew it would take something extraordinary to take him away from “the quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever”. What a beautiful farewell note he has written. Only father time could dim Kohli’s boundless enthusiasm and love for Test cricket.Related

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Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket

Kohli has been Indian cricket's most influential figure

Feel old yet?All through my writing career, I have been certain of one thing: the fight in Kohli, especially for Test cricket. It has been the one constant in my time of covering Indian cricket. Don’t get me wrong, he has not been the only one with the fight for Test cricket, but not everyone is blessed with all the attributes required to live every minute of the Test cricket they play: natural physical strength, combativeness, ability to understand and fine-tune a good-enough technique, and the sheer love for Test cricket that makes you work on everything else, that makes success in Test cricket an obsession, a non-negotiable.I have seen and felt this energy and fight across the world. I experienced it first-hand long before Kohli played Test cricket. This was even before he had unleashed his competitive side in the Under-19 World Cup final when India scored just 159 and he took offence at the South African players’ premature dropping of the guard. He was not even a regular in a Delhi team that included Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia.Delhi were playing Maharashtra in this small hill town of Nagothane in late 2007. This was an Australia tour selection audition for Sehwag and Chopra. Sehwag was proving his fitness, Chopra his worth, and the Delhi batting was too packed to include Kohli in the XI.The Delhi nets were a daunting place, what with all these stalwarts, and Manoj Prabhakar in the coaching staff. The loud laughter from the nets looks and sounds like fun and games from the outside, but it is a seriously competitive place where every newcomer must earn their respect. “These days even Kohli is blocking,” Prabhakar was heard saying when Kohli defended a ball in the nets. Cue laughter all around. What is a 19-year-old kid to make of it? Isn’t he supposed to work on his defence in Ranji nets? He hit the next ball for a six, and went back to defending.There weren’t many lodging options, and we all ended up in the same resort. After a day’s play, with nowhere else to go, a few Delhi youngsters ended up with us in the table tennis room. None of us was playing seriously. Until I happened to beat Kohli. Even in a casual, almost joke of a table tennis match, this 19-year-old couldn’t bear losing to a 24-year-old journalist he was never going to be in competition with.By all accounts Kohli is a chill kinda guy outside cricket. I don’t know him off the field, but everybody says he is funny, an exceptional mimic, and has interests outside the game.2:54

Pujara: Kohli brought a shift in India’s fitness culture as captain

Once the cricket switch was flicked on, though, the lack of chill was something to behold. And it extended to every activity within cricket. Kohli couldn’t help but compete. He had to be the ‘est: the best, the fastest, the loudest, the coolest, the funniest, even the nastiest when nasties were needed. And he had this special ability to take you along on the ride. Not just the players who felt drawn to rallying with him, but those watching and living the game through him.My quintessential visual memory of Kohli the Test cricketer is not from his batting or catching. It’s him at second slip, living every ball bowled by his fast bowlers. In that brief moment after the ball was played, you could look at Kohli and tell what had happened. The little hop if the ball was good. Asking the crowd to cheer when the bowling felt flat. If the edge was taken, he wouldn’t wait for the catch to be completed. He would start running towards the bowler, passing very close to the batter. His sculpted arms swinging in celebration.Kohli would compete anywhere, anytime. If any opponent’s celebration went out of the ordinary, he would outdo them when the time was right. If someone sledged him, he would unleash his fury on them when they batted. When the drunk barrackers in Sydney tried to bully him, he flipped them the bird. When there were calls to drop him when the seniors were failing more than he was, he expressed his anguish at the injustice. When he failed against the seaming ball in England, he didn’t go into a shell; he became intent on meeting the ball even earlier. Even press conferences were a competition. Even when he was injured during the 2016-17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he kept on fighting from the viewing area. Even as recently as his last Test series, Kohli was beefing with a debutant.Perhaps nobody knows better than Kohli that batters have limited agency in Test cricket, but his competitiveness made him must-see at all times. Neither spectators nor the opposition could take their eye off him. Even when he was not at his best, Kohli’s wicket brought the biggest celebration from the opposition. Even with a glaring limitation during his last few years, just his presence meant they were in a fight. By being in this aroused, hyper-charged state all the time, Kohli brought the best out of both teams, and elevated the spectacle of Test cricket.It is ultimately a sport of runs and wickets, but Kohli’s presence went beyond. Anyone who watched him felt that energy. The crowds danced to his tune. They hung on to every gesture. He was their conductor, they his orchestra.Kohli lived every minute of the Test cricket he played•Getty ImagesIt was impossible not to be touched by Kohli’s energy. I have been inspired by it. From him I have learnt that it is not about the choice you make, it is about how honestly and committedly you follow through with it. That it can be crippling if you fret on choices, whose success or failure depends on circumstances you can’t accurately predict. That when you look back, you look back not at what you decided to do but how committed you were to doing the thing you chose to do.The relentless pursuit of 20 wickets that asked more of the batters, the insistence on a certain coach that turned the whole fraternity against him for a while, the challenging pitches at home that denied him an average of 50, the team selections – you could argue about their merit, but you could never question his commitment to any of his choices. He never second-guessed himself.Kohli didn’t court instant success. On his first Test tour, West Indies bounced him out, making him question if he belonged. There were holes in his game, but his sheer will and obsession fashioned a highly successful Test batter out of him. Even at his best, most of Kohli’s greatest hundreds came in defeats: twin tons in Adelaide in 2014 to Centurion, Edgbaston and Perth in 2018. He suffered many a heartbreak – from Adelaide 2014 to the two South Africa tours he captained in to the 2018 tour of England – but because he had this ultimate commitment to Test cricket he would bounce back every time and lead the team to more wins than any India captain did. Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian cricketer with more Test wins than Kohli.Even in his last act as a Test cricketer, Kohli has reiterated the high regard he held Test cricket in. The selectors told him they were going to take him to England. Two relatively easy home series were to follow. He could have easily hung around and completed 10,000 runs. A farewell series at home to boot. His love for Test cricket, though, is purer than that. The moment he realised he was not able to rouse himself to give this format his best, he retired. Test cricket deserved nothing less than his best. It gave Kohli its best in return.May everyone find their equivalent of what Test cricket meant to Kohli.

The Washington Nationals are reportedly starting over.

The Nationals are dismissing general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, according to a Sunday afternoon report by Jeff Passan of ESPN later confirmed by the team. The abrupt move severs Washington from the two minds behind the team's only World Series title in 2019.

On Sunday, the Nationals lost 6–4 to the Boston Red Sox to drop to 37–53 on the season. The team currently owns the worst record in the National League outside of the woeful Colorado Rockies.

Washington hired Rizzo as an assistant general manager back in 2006, just two years after the team relocated from Montreal; he has seen almost all of the team's existence in Washington. In 2013, he was named the Nationals' general manager and helped turn the team into a winner.

Martinez was brought aboard before the 2018 season. He steered Washington to an improbable title in '19 after a 19–31 start, but has not made the playoffs since. Earlier in 2025, he was reported to have alienated players with comments deflecting blame from the coaching staff during a losing streak.

Mike DeBartolo will become the Nationals' interim general manager as the team prepares to open a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday.

يواجه منتخب مصر الثاني بقيادة مديره الفني حلمي طولان، نظيره منتخب الأردن، ضمن مباريات دور المجموعات من بطولة كأس العرب 2025.

وكان منتخب مصر قد تعادل في الجولة الماضية مع منتخب الإمارات بهدف لكل فريق، ضمن مباريات الجولة الثانية من دور المجموعات ببطولة كأس العرب.

ويقع منتخب مصر في المجموعة الثالثة رفقة منتخبات الأردن والإمارات والكويت.

ويسعى منتخب مصر لتحقيق الفوز أو التعادل على أقل تقدير أمام الأردن، من أجل حسم التأهل إلى دور ربع النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب.

ويحتل منتخب مصر المركز الثاني في ترتيب المجموعة الثالثة لبطولة كأس العرب، برصيد نقطتين من التعادل مع الكويت والإمارات في الجولتين الأولى والثانية. موعد مباراة مصر والأردن في كأس العرب 2025

يواجه منتخب مصر نظيره منتخب الأردن، في تمام الساعة الرابعة والنصف من مساء اليوم الثلاثاء بتوقيت القاهرة، والخامسة والنصف بتوقيت قطر والسعودية والأردن. القنوات الناقلة لمباراة مصر والأردن في كأس العرب 2025

وسوف تذاع مباراة منتخب مصر الثاني مع نظيره منتخب الأردن عبر قنوات بي إن سبورت المفتوحة، وأبو ظبي الرياضية 1، وقناة الكأس، بالإضافة إلى ذلك، ستنقل المباراة عبر قناة دبي الرياضية 2، وقناة الشارقة الرياضية، وقناة إم بي سي مصر 2.

ويُمكنكم متابعة أحداث مباريات اليوم لحظة بلحظة من مركز المباريات من هنـــا

With the second half of the 2025 MLB season set to get underway, teams are assessing their approach for the upcoming trade deadline, weighing out whether it's worth it to get aggressive in hopes of competing for a World Series.

One team that ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan reports is expected to be aggressive, rather unusually so, is the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners have enjoyed a strong start to the season, thanks largely to their grade-A pitching staff and the utter dominance of AL MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, who leads MLB with 38 home runs at the break.

During an appearance on Seattle Sports radio's "Brock & Salk," Passan alluded to one key reason he thinks Seattle will, or at the very least should, take an aggressive approach to trade the deadline.

"I think the Mariners are going to be aggressive. And I think they should be," Passan said. "You don't take years like this from superstars and waste them. Period. And I think the Mariners front office knows that. Like, we can't ever expect a season like this from Cal Raleigh again. It's unreasonable, right? It's not just the numbers. It's the fact that we are talking about Cal Raleigh being up there with Barry Bonds, with Ken Griffey Jr., with Mickey Mantle. These are luminaries in the sport, and he belongs.

"And so when you get a season like that, don't waste it. Do everything you can, because once October comes around and once that guy steps in the batter's box, he can do magical things."

As Passan pointed out, a single, well-timed swing of the bat from Raleigh could be the difference between winning games in October and losing them. When you have a player who makes that much of an impact, both as a slugger and as a world-class catcher, it would be a disservice to the fan base not to put forth everything towards winning a title.

The Mariners don't often spend big. They were tame during free agency this offseason, which drew the ire of former Seattle infielder Justin Turner. While they've made some big mid-season splashes in recent years, including acquiring Luis Castillo in 2022 and Randy Arozarena in '24, that type of deal should only set the tone for what the Mariners accomplish at this year's deadline.

This year may well be the Mariners' best shot at a championship, something the franchise has still never achieved in its 48-year existence, and failing to make upgrades at the trade deadline to help achieve that goal would be a significant letdown.

MatériaMais Notícias

A Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF) anunciou nesta sexta-feira (12) a Betano, casa de apostas esportivas, como nova patrocinadora da Série A do Campeonato Brasileiro. Válido por três anos, o acordo prevê um pagamento estimado em torno de R$ 70 milhões a R$ 80 milhões por temporada. As informações dos valores foram divulgadas pelo Ge.

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Com isso, a competição nacional pode receber uma valorização de até R$ 30 milhões de reais por ano de contrato, uma vez que a antiga detentora dos direitos pagava R$ 50 milhões por temporada.

A empresa do ramo de apostas, que já possuía os namings rights de outras competições do futebol brasileiro, como Série B e Copa do Brasil, chega para substituir a atacadista Assaí, dona da propriedade nas últimas seis edições da competição.

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INÍCIO DO BRASILEIRÃO

A primeira rodada do Brasileirão começa neste final de semana e conta com partidas entre os dias 13 e 14 de abril. No sábado (13), o Internacional recebe o Bahia, às 18h30 (de Brasília), em partida que marca o início da competição. No mesmo horário, em confronto entre equipes que retornaram à elite nesta temporada, o Juventude visita o Criciúma.

Atual bicampeão do Brasileirão, o Palmeiras inicia a caminhada em busca do tricampeonato fora de casa. No domingo (14), a equipe comandada por Abel Ferreira visita o Vitória, às 18h30 (de Brasília), no Barradão.

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CONFIRA TODOS OS JOGOS DA PRIMEIRA RODADA

▪️ 13/04 – Internacional x Bahia
▪️ 13/04 – Criciúma x Juventude
▪️ 13/04 – Fluminense x RB Bragantino
▪️ 13/04 – São Paulo x Fortaleza
▪️ 14/04 – Vasco x Grêmio
▪️ 14/04 – Athletico x Cuiabá
▪️ 14/04 – Atlético-GO x Flamengo
▪️ 14/04 – Corinthians x Atlético-MG
▪️ 14/04 – Cruzeiro x Botafogo
▪️ 14/04 – Vitória x Palmeiras

Tudo sobre

BrasileirãoFutebol Nacional

While the glory is yet to arrive, Mikel Arteta has utterly transformed Arsenal over the last five years or so.

He took charge of a team that were stuck in mid-table and, within a few years, turned them into genuine challengers for the Premier League and Champions League.

This incredible evolution is certainly due in part to his philosophy and tactics, but it has also been aided by the exceptional players he has signed along the way.

That said, there is a superstar in the team today, signed by Unai Emery, whose valuation has exploded over the years, someone who has been pivotal to the evolution of the backline.

The evolution of Arsenal's backline

The first game of Arteta’s tenure was away to Bournemouth in December 2019, and to say the backline for that match was underwhelming would be an understatement.

Arteta’s first Arsenal XI
GK – Bernd Leno
RB – Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CB – Sokratis
CB – David Luiz
LB – Bukayo Saka
CM – Lucas Torreira
CM – Granit Xhaka
RW – Reiss Nelson
CAM – Mesut Ozil
LW – Aubameyang
CF – Alexandre Lacazette

In fact, the only player still at the club is Bukayo Saka, and the idea of the Gunners’ now playing their best attacker at left-back is patently absurd.

Fortunately, Gabriel Magalhães was signed from LOSC Lille the following summer to replace Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

The manager still opted for a three or five-at-the-back system for the start of the 20/21 season, which was soon replaced with the four-at-the-back system that fans were clamouring for at the time.

That season saw Gabriel start most games, and then, depending on who was fit, it would be David Luiz or Robert Holding next to him, with Hector Bellerin or Maitland-Niles on the right and, again, when fit, Kieran Tierney on the left.

That summer saw another key figure join the club in Ben White, who, for the 21/22 campaign, became the other regular starting centre-back alongside the Gunners’ current number six.

The Englishman would move to the right-back position just a year later, the same summer Oleksandr Zinchenko joined the club.

Market Movers

Football FanCast’s Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club’s star player or biggest flop worth today?

However, his defensive fragilities would see him start to lose his place within 18 months and then altogether with the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly and the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori two years later.

Finally, the defence everyone recognises today was completed upon the return to fitness of Jurrien Timber, David Raya making the goalkeeping role his own, and a certain signing made by Emery, who is now worth a king’s ransom.

The Emery signing now with a fortune

Arsenal’s defence is now a beast but there’s one man, despite Gabriel’s best efforts, who always maintains the same standards.

That man is William Saliba, who joined Arsenal for around £27m in the summer of 2019 when, remarkably, Emery was still in charge.

He didn’t actually play a competitive game for the club until the start of the 22/23 season, when his arrival saw White move to the right.

Impressively, the Frenchman is now valued at a staggering €103m by the CIES Football Observatory, which works out to around £89m, or 229% more than he cost the Gunners over five years ago. To put that into context, CIES believe that he is the most valuable player in the whole squad, even ahead of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.

That is an incredible increase, but it’s one that his performances and potential more than justify.

For example, in just his first game for the club, away to Crystal Palace, he helped the team to keep a clean sheet and was named the Man of the Match.

He then went on to play a crucial role in the North Londoners’ surprise title challenge, which unsurprisingly started to come apart following his back injury against Sporting CP towards the end of the season.

Since then, he has undoubtedly become an even better defender, someone who is as capable of putting in a last-minute goal-denying challenge or pinging the ball from the defence up to Saka to create a chance.

William Saliba’s Arsenal Career
Competition	Appearances
Premier League	106
FA Cup	3
League Cup	6
Champions League	22
Europa League	4
Community Shield	1
All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, FBref ranked him in the top 1% of centre-backs in the Premier League last season for pass completion, the top 4% for live-ball passes, the top 6% for total shots, the top 8% for passes blocked and more, all per 90.

Moreover, he has also helped the Gunners produce the best defence in the league for the last two seasons, and considering they’ve conceded just three goals in seven games this year, it may well be three in a row come May.

It cannot be overstated just how vital the Bondy-born “monster,” as dubbed by content creator Connor Humm, is to Arteta’s project, and so the news that he signed a five-year contract extension last week was as exciting as a new signing.

Ultimately, Arsenal have created arguably the best defence in Europe over the last three years, and Saliba has been a massive part of that.,

"I can guarantee" – Arsenal player reveals exit timeline with next club already decided

He’s made an admission about his future.

By
Emilio Galantini

Oct 8, 2025

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke will surely be incredibly frustrated by his side’s lack of quality in the final third after what happened at the end of the summer transfer window.

Speaking to Football Insider last month, journalist Pete O’Rourke revealed that the German boss wanted two additions to the squad that never came to pass.

The reporter said: “There will be a hint of frustration for Daniel Farke – they missed out on some targets. They are still lacking a bit up front, Leeds and he fears for them on that front – not getting the deal done for Manor Solomon will be a blow to Farke and the Leeds fans, because he had such a great impact there on loan last season.

“They tried to sign Harry Wilson on deadline day from Fulham and weren’t able to get that deal over the line as well, so they were looking to add some creativity in the final third.”

Instead of landing Manor Solomon, who scored ten goals on loan at Elland Road last season, or Harry Wilson, the club were unable to land any additional attacking signings in the final days of the window.

That recruitment failure from those above Farke has left the manager in a position where Jack Harrison is starting in the Premier League, which is a tough position to be in.

Why Leeds need to move on from Jack Harrison

The English winger returned to Elland Road in the summer after spending the previous two seasons on loan with Everton, which meant that he did not take part in the club’s two Championship campaigns.

Harrison’s form with the Toffees did not suggest that he was likely to return to Thorp Arch to improve their options at the top end of the pitch, as he struggled badly last term.

In the 2024/25 campaign, the left-footed dud scored one from 3.52 xG and failed to provide any assists in 34 appearances and 24 starts in the Premier League, per Sofascore, which shows that he was incredibly ineffective in the final third.

Appearances

7

Starts

1

Goals

0

Big chances missed

1

Key passes per game

0.1

Assists

0

Successful dribbles per game

0.4

Cross accuracy

13%

As you can see in the table above, Harrison has offered very little in possession on the pitch this season, with no goals and just one chance created in seven appearances in the Premier League.

The £90k-per-week flop’s form for Everton last season suggests that he is unlikely to improve much from this point, which is why the club should be looking to move on from him in the summer.

Farke wanted Wilson and Solomon at the end of the window, which suggests that he was not happy with his wide options, and it has been reported that the club will go back in for Wilson in January.

A move for the Fulham forward, who has scored seven Premier League goals since the start of last season (Sofascore), could leave Harrison surplus to requirements.

The English winger is not the only player in the squad who may be on borrowed time ahead of the January transfer window, though, as there are others who have struggled to adapt to the top-flight.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Brenden Aaronson is one and as as much as this may not be a popular thing to point out, there is a case to be made that central midfielder Ao Tanaka may not be suited to playing in the Premier League.

Why Ao Tanaka may be on borrowed time at Leeds

The Japan international was a star for the Whites when they won the Championship title last season, using his ability on the ball to dominate matches for Farke. After all, his manager described him as “unbelievable” for his performances.

He ranked within the top 7% of midfielders in the division for passes attempted per 90 (72.43) and for progressive passes per 90 (7.03), per FBref, which shows that he excelled in possession in the second tier.

The 27-year-old star also scored five goals from a central midfield position to help Leeds on their way to winning the tite with a staggering 100-point haul.

However, the step up to the Premier League has meant that Leeds have had to alter their style of play as they are unable to dominate matches with the ball as much as they were able to do in the Championship, which has been bad news for Tanaka.

Journalist Graham Smyth raised concerns over the midfielder’s physicality last month, saying: “My concern with Tanaka was physicality in the Premier League. He got run over a few times towards the end of the last season. I worried a little bit, against the most elite athletes in the Premier League.”

The central midfielder’s form in the top-flight so far this season backs up the reporter’s concerns, as he has struggled in his duels across his six appearances so far.

Burnley

0% (0/0)

Spurs

67% (2/3)

Bournemouth

20% (1/5)

Wolves

0% (0/0)

Arsenal

0% (0/6)

Everton

29% (2/7)

As you can see in the table above, Tanaka has only won more than 29% of his duels in one of his six outings in the Premier League this season for the Whites.

Per Sofascore, he has lost 76% of his duels in total, including 80% of his ground duels, and this shows that opposition players have found it far too easy to get the better of him in physical contests.

This may be why Farke has preferred a midfield trio of Ethan Ampadu, Sean Longstaff, and Anton Stach, as all three of them have won over 50% of their duels in the top-flight, per Sofascore.

Tanaka is a brilliant technician, as evidenced by his aforementioned form in the Championship, but the physical nature of a relegation battle in the Premier League seems to have rendered him ineffective in the middle of the park.

DCL upgrade: Farke must regret binning Leeds dud who was "like Archie Gray"

Leeds United must regret binning this striker who would be an upgrade on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

ByDan Emery Oct 19, 2025

If these issues persist until January, there may be a decision to make on his short-term future at Elland Road in the next January transfer window.

Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was on the wrong side of a pair of controversial decisions from the umpires during Tuesday's game against the Red Sox. The veteran was left irate after being rung up on a called third strike on a pitch that was outside of the strike zone.

But what truly had Springer irked was the decision from third base umpire Scott Barry, who ruled that his ground ball with the bases loaded was foul. During the second inning with Toronto trailing 1–0, Springer laced a ground ball down the third base line. It touched the ground in the infield before passing over the bag and landing in foul territory.

Barry, without much hesitation, declared it a foul ball, much to the chagrin of Springer. Sprigner looked bewildered at the call, and Blue Jays manager John Schneider came out to ask the officials to review the situation, only to be told it wasn't a play that could be challenged.

Because no review was allowable, Springer was sent back to the batter's box and it was ruled a foul ball. Springer struck out looking on the following pitch.

Springer slammed his bat on the ground and shotued in frustation as he walked back to the dugout following the questionable strike three call.

Having just been denied a potentially bases-clearing base hit, Springer clearly felt as if he'd been wronged twice in a span of two pitches. And for good reason, too.

After watching him clobber two home runs in Game 1 and deliver an RBI single earlier in Game 2, the Cincinnati Reds were done pitching to Shohei Ohtani. So, when the reigning National League MVP stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with a runner on second base and one out on Wednesday night, the Reds opted to intentionally walk him.

Can you blame them?

But the decision didn't pay off, as the next batter, Mookie Betts, hit an RBI double to extend the Dodgers' lead to 8-2. And even though Betts helped orchestrate the decision's backfire, he told reporters after the game that he doesn't blame teams for not wanting to pitch to Ohtani.

"Nothing," Betts said when asked what goes through his mind when he's intentionally walked. "I wouldn't let Shohei swing either. I mean, I understand. I expect the Phillies to do it. I expect [it to happen] for the rest of the postseason. I undertstand. I understand Shohei. I understand the situation of the game. And so I just gotta be ready to do my thing."

And ready he was, as Betts' RBI double proved to be valuable insurance when the Reds would bring the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, a jam the Dodgers bullpen navigated out of.

And as for intentionally walking Ohtani to pitch to Betts, it may be a short-lived strategy with the latter heating up at the dish. Betts collected six hits and three RBI in the Dodgers' sweep of the Reds.

Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Phillies begins on Saturday.