The Dodgers got one run and an October reminder that nobody accepts reputation at home plate. Milwaukee took the National League Championship Series opener 2-1, with Brice Turang homering off Tarik Skubal and the Brewers’ bullpen closing the account after Jacob Misiorowski’s taxing outing.

That relief work was the hinge. Milwaukee needed its bullpen to finish what its starter could no longer comfortably carry. Los Angeles spent the rest of the game discovering how little room one run buys.

Across the Pacific, Dallas had a considerably happier reunion. Kyrie Irving scored 17 points in his first game in 586 days, returning for the Mavericks at the NBA China Games. The repeatable number is the absence. A preseason basket carries some weight when the wait has been that long.

In August, this paper wrote about Dallas failing to trade Irving. Now the Mavericks have taken his return overseas, where the NBA’s commercial ambition depends on giving distant fans something worth staying attached to. China got the comeback. Dallas gets the much longer assignment of keeping it going.

Our scoreboard records the Dodgers’ next game against Milwaukee on October 15. The bullpen has already demonstrated what another one-run offering can buy them.