Dodgers' Roberts against extending automatic runner to postseason. Blue Jays' Schneider not sure

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Admitting he came close to putting a position player on the mound for the first time in World Series history, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said a month ago he never would have believed he'd face that decision.

“I would have thought I was under the influence of something, for sure,” he said.

A day after the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Freddie Freeman's 18th-inning home run off Brendon Little to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Series, both managers said Tuesday they were getting close to having to send a position player to the mound in a game of utmost importance because they were running out of available pitchers.

Yet, neither was immediately in favor of adopting in the postseason the automatic-runner rule used in the regular season since 2020, in which each team starts every extra inning with a runner at second base. Among 209 extra-inning games this season, all ended by the 13th. In the six seasons with the “ghost” runner, the longest was the Dodgers' 16-inning win over San Diego on Aug. 25, 2021.

“Baseball in its truest form and part of winning a seven-game series is if there are games like that, then to have to go through the battle of attrition with pitching,” Roberts said.

As bullpens emptied and the Dodgers and Blue Jays played deep into the night, Toronto second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a jarring thought — both teams might run out of arms.

“There was a point where I was like, we might see two position players in the World Series going back and forth,” he said.

Will Klein, the Series-record 10th pitcher for Los Angeles, doubled his previous career highs with four innings and 72 pitches. Yoshinobu Yamamoto had warmed up and was set to enter for the Dodgers in the 19th, two days after throwing 105 pitches to win Game 2 in his second consecutive complete game.

“If Yamamoto couldn’t have taken the ball in the 19th, it was probably going to be Miguel Rojas. So that’s kind of where we were at,” Roberts said.

Rojas, a reserve infielder, made four mop-up pitching appearances during the regular season.

Little entered in the 17th for the Blue Jays and Shane Bieber, their scheduled starter for Game 4 on Tuesday, was in the bullpen and would have followed him to the mound. Rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, scheduled to start Game 5 on Wednesday, would have been the last pitcher in before a position player.

“When I saw Shane go down there, I was like, anything’s possible at this point, just depending upon how long it went,” Yesavage said.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider wasn't sure he would favor extending the automatic runner to the postseason.

“I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to baseball,” he said. “It’s kind of unique because that’s how you play for 162 and then that goes away. But with that, I think you've got to structure your roster accordingly to try to handle some of those situations.”

Roberts said he woke up refreshed on Tuesday ahead of Game 4.

“I took a little sleep aid to get off my high and woke up with clarity, freshness, and excited to go tonight,” he said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Fans stand during the 14th inning in Game 3 of baseball's World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Toronto Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho (5) tosses his bat after getting hit by a pitch during the 13th inning in Game 3 of baseball's World Series, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider speaks prior to Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts speaks prior to Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Small cities in big Texas metro areas were the fastest growing municipalities in the United States last year, as smaller communities in the South outpaced the rest of the nation, which has experienced a population slowdown since the start of the immigration crackdown last year, according to figures released Thursday.

Celina, Princeton, Melissa and Anna — all part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex — were the Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 fastest-growing U.S. cities with populations of 20,000 residents or more from mid-2024 to mid-2025, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Fulshear, in metro Houston, was the second-fastest growing U.S. city. The five Texas cities' year-over-year growth rates ranged from almost 15% to almost 25%.

In pure numbers, Celina, with only 64,000 people, grew by more residents — 12,700 — than Seattle and Houston, cities that are 12 times and 37 times larger respectively.

Small- to medium-sized cities hit a sweet spot between the largest U.S. cities, which were most impacted by the loss of immigrants from the crackdown started last year during the second Trump administration, and anemic growth in small towns, according to Matt Erickson, a Census Bureau statistician.

Nine out of 10 of the largest population gainers in pure numbers were cities in the South because of a healthy job market and its comparative affordability. The biggest numeric gainers were Charlotte, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Celina.

Fort Worth leaped over Jacksonville last year as the 10th most populous U.S. city, putting four Texas cities in the nation's top 10 most populous, with the other cities being Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Austin skipped over San Jose for the 12th most populous spot, as Texas’ capital city surpassed 1 million residents for the first time. It is now one of a dozen U.S. cities with 1 million residents or more.

Seattle was the only non-Southern city to crack the top 10 in numeric population gains last year, at the No. 5 spot.

Like many large cities, particularly on the coasts, Seattle lost population during the height of the pandemic a half-decade ago. But recent construction of new housing has helped ease the city's affordability, making it more attractive for residents to stay in the core city rather than move to farther out suburbs in the metro area, according to the Washington State Office of Financial Management.

The growth was driven by immigrants, particularly from China and India. International migration accounted for almost three-quarters of the area's population gains, according to county-level population estimates released in March.

The two cities with the greatest rates of population loss last year — Twentynine Palms, California, by Joshua Tree National Park and Key West at the southern tip of Florida — were in places with tight housing markets. Their losses ranged from -2.4% to -2.9%.

In Twentynine Palms, a large chunk of the housing stock has been converted into short-term rentals for tourists heading to the national park. Just under 40% of its housing is occupied by its owners, compared with the national average of 65%, according to Census Bureau figures.

Hemmed in on all sides by water, the limited housing stock in Key West, as well as some of the highest home insurance rates in the U.S., have driven up housing costs for the Conch Republic. The median price for a home in Key West was $1.3 million at the start of this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Other cities that had some of the biggest rates of population loss last year were hit by natural disasters.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida’s Gulf Coast within weeks of each other in late 2024. Remnants of Helene blew through western North Carolina, leaving behind damaging tornadoes and flooding. Among the cities with the greatest rates of loss were Asheville, North Carolina, and several cities on Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Pinellas Park, Dunedin, Largo and Clearwater.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

FILE - The Dallas skyline is visible through the framing of Reunion Tower, Nov. 6, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)