LOS ANGELES DODGERS right-hander Jack Flaherty, who owns a 7.04 ERA through three postseason outings this month, will start Game 1 of the World Series against the visiting New York Yankees on Friday.

He will match up against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole — both of them former Los Angeles-area high school stars.

The Dodgers will go with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 on Saturday. According to manager Dave Roberts, right-hander Walker Buehler also will draw a start for Los Angeles, in either Game 3 or Game 4 at New York, with the other of those two contests becoming a bullpen game for the Dodgers.

Flaherty, 29, gave up eight runs on eight hits and four walks in three innings during a loss to the New York Mets in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) on Friday. In his prior two playoff starts this year, he yielded four runs in 5 1/3 innings during a loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of the NL Division Series, then tossed seven shutout innings for a victory in Game 1 of the NLCS.

The manager added about Flaherty and Yamamoto, “I think if you’re looking at kind of both those pitchers and what the potential World Series could look like, just giving both those guys the best opportunity to participate, to pitch, and put them in the best spots possible, as far as days of rest and things like that.”

Flaherty was acquired by the Dodgers in a July trade with the Detroit Tigers. He went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for Los Angeles, capping a year in which he finished 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts.

Yamamoto is 1-0 with a 5.11 ERA in three playoff starts. He didn’t pitch beyond five innings in any of those outings, and five innings was also his maximum in four September starts after he returned from a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for three months.

Buehler is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA through two postseason starts.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who has been slowed in the postseason by a right ankle sprain that kept him out of two games, plans to be in the lineup for the World Series opener. He is batting .219 with no homers and one RBI through eight playoff games. — Reuters

MANCHESTER, England — Erling Haaland back-heeled home a stunning strike, the first of two goals on the night for Manchester City’s goal-scoring machine, as City cruised past Sparta Prague, 5-0, on Wednesday to remain unbeaten in their Champions League campaign.

Phil Foden, John Stones and Matheus Nunes also scored for Pep Guardiola’s side who climbed to third in Europe’s elite club competition with seven points after three games, while Sparta have four points.

City are now unbeaten in 26 successive Champions League matches, the longest unbeaten streak by any club in the competition’s history, breaking the record of 25 by Manchester United from 2007-2009.

Haaland was the star of the show, bringing the blue-clad City fans out of their seats at Etihad Stadium when he scored in spectacular fashion in the 58^th minute, leaping high to backheel home Savinho’s cross from out of the air.

“I saw it when the ball came in. It’s unbelievable. He’s a statue. So tall and so flexible,” Guardiola said. “I like it, he has this sense of humour. Unbelievable.”

Nunes added: “What an amazing goal. I was speechless after that. When he scored a similar goal against Dortmund I was watching on TV so to see this live it was amazing.”

The 24-year-old Norwegian completed his brace with a more traditional finish in the 68^th minute, easily slotting home a pass from Savinho to put his scoring tally at 44 Champions League goals in 42 games.

Haaland climbed level with Didier Drogba in 16^th spot on the all-time scoring list in the European competition, although Drogba took 92 games to reach the mark.

Foden got the 2023 Champions League winners on the scoreboard in the third minute when he latched on to a pass from Manuel Akanji and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Stones padded City’s lead in the 64^th minute when he leapt to head home from a superb cross from Nunes.

Both Foden and Stones were instrumental in City’s 2-1 Premier League victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, with Foden delivering the corner which led to Stones’ stoppage-time winner.

City were awarded a penalty in the 88^th minute, for a foul by Angelo Preciado, and Nunes fired his shot past keeper Peter Vindahl Jensen.

While Czech champions Sparta had a few chances on the counter-attack in the first half, City pummelled the visitors with 22 shots to their five on the night, with 10 of them on target.

City, who drew 0-0 with Inter Milan and then thrashed Slovan Bratislava 4-0 in their first two games, next visit Sporting in the new 36-team league phase, with the top eight automatically making the last 16. — Reuters