SPORTS LINE
The Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers conquer a potentially overwhelming obstacle and move past winning seasons without winning any playoff series. The win is their 1st postseason series since ’18 to advance to the NLCS. The Brewers have gone into postseasons as underdogs and as favorites.
This year, they have proved they deserve to be a favorite. They have been hot and cold, home and away. And yet no matter the circumstances, the venue or their talent on paper, the result of each of their last five playoffs into October since 2019 had been, maddeningly, the same: One and done. Until this year. This year, the Brewers are moving on. William Contreras and Andrew Vaughn each hit go-ahead solo home runs and Brice Turang shrugged off a miserable series to mash a huge insurance shot while five Brewers pitchers, including All-Star closer Trevor Megill as the starter and a huge dose of rookies Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick, allowed only six baserunners while cobbling their way to 27 outs and a 3-1 win over the Cubs in winner-take-all Game 5 of the National League Division Series at American Family Field on Saturday. And the crowd went wild. It snapped Milwaukee’s streak of six consecutive postseason series losses, sent the rival Cubs home, and propelled the Brewers onward to the NLCS against another rival in the star-studded Dodgers.
The Green Bay Packers.
Lucas Havrisik tried out for the Packers on Friday, was signed on Saturday, and didn’t know if he’d play on Sunday until just before gametime. He made a huge field goal in the Packers’ victory over the Bengals. With the Packers holding on for dear life against an opponent they should have finished off a few times, Havrisik didn’t know he’d be kicking until about 90 minutes before Sunday’s game, split the uprights from 39 yards to help finish off the Bengals 27-18. Havrisik got the game ball as a reward.
The Packers’ standout veteran kicker, Brandon McManus, suffered an injured right quad during Wednesday’s practice. Before Thursday’s practice, LaFleur called it a “major concern.” For insurance, general manager Brian Gutekunst brought in Havrisik and Greg Joseph, who competed for a roster spot with the Packers at training camp last summer, for tryouts. About two-and-a-half hours before kickoff, McManus went through his usual pregame routine. He started from 30 yards, then slowly backed his way up to 54 yards and “made it by plenty,” he said. McManus said he was “comfortable” kicking, but the team was not. So, the Packers made a call to the bullpen for Havrisik, who agreed to come to Green Bay for a tryout for a position that might not actually be open. Havrisik woke up in his hotel on Sunday, knowing he might have to play and preparing like normal. It was “weird,” he said, but it ended with making one of the bigger kicks of his budding career.
The Milwaukee Bucks.
AJ Green scored 22 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a preseason win. The Bucks took on Eastern Conference rivals Detroit Pistons and emerged 117-111 winners. Giannis did not play, and it was up to the rest of the Bucks roster to prove their worth. AJ Green was the player who stood out. AJ Green led the Milwaukee Bucks with 22/3/3. The next highest Milwaukee Bucks scorer was Bobby Portis with 11. Green shot 100 percent, scoring all five three-point attempts, and going 5-5 from the free-throw line.
Portis explained: “I think sometimes as an NBA player there are only two things you can control every day, your work ethic and your attitude. That’s spoken like a true team player, and someone dedicated to doing their best and winning. AJ Green played 73 regular-season games for the Milwaukee Bucks, but he only started seven of them. In his third season in the league, Green averaged a career best yet 22.2 minutes per game and 7.4 points per game. This latest preseason game suggests he is ready to continue his improvement. Bobby Portis is clearly a believer.
