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From Jack Harris: Once the ambush started with two outs in the second inning Sunday, Gavin Stone couldn’t make it stop.
In his third career major league start — all against high-octane playoff teams from last year — the Dodgers rookie right-hander got stuck in a spin cycle against the Tampa Bay Rays.
On the verge of escaping an early jam and potentially moving past the rocky start to his outing, the same way he had six days earlier against the Atlanta Braves, Stone instead yielded five straight hits. The Rays exploded for six sudden runs.
By the time the outburst was over, the Dodgers were in a hole they never fully recovered from in an 11-10 loss at Tropicana Field.
And as Stone walked back to the dugout, his head hung low and his steps were somber and slow — the lasting image of another difficult day for the 24-year-old prospect.
“Obviously I’ve just got to go to work on fine-tuning some things,” Stone said afterward, finishing Sunday with a 14.40 ERA in his three starts this month. “I think it’s just a process.”
Where that process will take Stone next is unclear.
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ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval was back to his usual self Sunday against the Miami Marlins.
On the other side of battling food poisoning, which slowed him down during his last start against the Minnesota Twins, Sandoval pitched six innings, giving up two runs and eight hits while striking out two and walking two.
Those two runs didn’t seem like much but were more than enough for the Marlins. The Angels had already lost the series Saturday night, when fielding mistakes doomed them. On Sunday, a three-game sweep was completed with a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Marlins (28-26), who now share the same record as the Angels.
Why Shohei Ohtani described his latest 10-strikeout start as ‘average’
NBA PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Denver vs. No. 7 Lakers
Game 1: at Denver 132, Lakers 126
Game 2: at Denver 108, Lakers 103
Game 3: Denver 119, at Lakers 108
Game 4: Denver 113, at Lakers 111
Eastern Conference
No. 2 Boston vs. No. 8 Miami
Game 1: Miami 123, at Boston 116
Game 2: Miami 111, at Boston 105
Game 3: at Miami 128, Boston 102
Game 4: Boston 116, at Miami 99
Game 5: at Boston 110, Miami 97
Game 6: Boston 104, at Miami 103
Today at Boston, 5:30 p.m., TNT
NHL PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
Vegas (P1) vs. Dallas Stars (C2)
Game 1: at Vegas 4, Dallas 3 (OT)
Game 2: at Vegas 3, Dallas 2 (OT)
Game 3: Vegas 4, at Dallas 0
Game 4: at Dallas 3, Vegas 2 (OT)
Game 5: Dallas 4, at Vegas 2
Today at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Wednesday at Vegas, 6 p.m., ESPN
Eastern Conference
Carolina (M1) vs. Florida (WC2)
Game 1: Florida 4, at Carolina 3 (4 OT)
Game 2: Florida 2, at Carolina 1 (OT)
Game 3: at Florida 1, Carolina 0
Game 4: at Florida 4, Carolina 3
*-if necessary
INDIANAPOLIS 500
Josef Newgarden finally captured his long-awaited Indianapolis 500 on Sunday and gave team owner Roger Penske his 19th victory and first since buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway, making an audacious pass of defending race winner Marcus Ericsson during a frantic 2.5-mile sprint to the finish.
After the race was red-flagged for the third time in the closing laps, Newgarden was moved from fourth to second by race control. The two-time IndyCar champion, who had been 0 for 11 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” took advantage of it by slingshotting around Ericsson on the restart and holding him off through the last two turns for the win.
Newgarden brought his Chevrolet-powered car to a stop on the front stretch, jumped out and found a hole in the fence, diving into part of a crowd estimated at more than 300,000 to celebrate. Then, Newgarden climbed the fence to mimic longtime Team Penske driver and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1922 — The Supreme Court rules organized baseball is primarily a sport and not a business and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations.
1946 — Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta become the first thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They’re flown from New York to Inglewood by the American Air Express Corp., a 2,446-mile trip that lasts 20 hours due to bad weather.
1971 — Al Unser wins his second straight Indianapolis 500 with a record mark of 157.735 mph and finishes 22 seconds ahead of Peter Revson. The pace car, ridden by Eldon Palmer, crashes into the portable bleachers and injures 20 people.
1977 — A.J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win four Indianapolis 500s and Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman in the race. Guthrie is forced to drop out after 27 laps with mechanical problems.
1977 — Australian Sue Prell first female golfer to hit consecutive holes-in one; 13th and 14th holes at Chatswood Golf Club, Sydney.
1980 — Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.
1983 — After three second-place finishes, Tom Sneva wins the Indianapolis 500 by 11 seconds over three-time champion Al Unser.
1985 — 29th European Cup: Juventus beats Liverpool 1-0 at Brussels.
1988 — Rick Mears overcomes an early one-lap deficit, then overpowers the rest of the field on the way to his third Indianapolis 500 victory. Mears gives team-owner Roger Penske an unprecedented seventh victory and fourth in five years.
1989 — Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt retires at 39.
1990 — Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the top two seeds, are bounced in the first round of the French Open by two European teenagers, the first time the top two men’s seeds are eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Edberg is swept easily in straight sets by 19-year-old Sergi Bruguera of Spain, and Becker loses to 18-year-old Yugoslav Goran Ivanisevic.
1993 — Wayne Gretzky’s overtime goal gives the Kings a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference finals. The Kings become the first NHL team to play the full 21 games in the first three rounds.
1998 — Eighteen-year-old Marat Safin, ranked 116th in the world and playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, beats defending champion Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open.
2002 — Roger Clemens records the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Only Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) have more games with 10 or more strikeouts.
2005 — Dan Wheldon wins the Indianapolis 500 when Danica Patrick’s electrifying run falls short. Patrick is the first woman to lead at Indy, getting out front three separate times for a total of 19 laps. But Wheldon passes her with seven of the 200 laps to go and easily holds on.
2006 — Rafael Nadal passes Guillermo Vilas as the King of the clay courts and begins his pursuit of a second successive French Open trophy. Nadal earns his 54th consecutive win on clay, breaking the Open era record he shared with Vilas by beating Robin Soderling in straight sets in the first round at Roland Garros.
2010 — Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay pitches the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. Halladay strikes out 11 and goes to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.
2011 — JR Hildebrand, one turn from winning the Indianapolis 500, skids high into the wall on the final turn and Dan Wheldon drives past to claim an improbable second Indy 500 win in his first race of the year.
2011 — Roger Federer sets another record by reaching the French Open quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic closes in on a pair of his own. Federer extends his quarterfinal streak at major tournaments to 28 with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic maintains his perfect season to 41-0 and stretches his overall winning streak to 43 matches by beating Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
2012 — Serena Williams loses in the first round of a major tournament for the first time, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the French Open. Williams enters the day with a 46-0 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.
2016 — Alexander Rossi wins the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
2017 — Tiger Woods is arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Jupiter, Fla.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally…
Wayne Gretzky looks back at Game 7 against the Maple Leafs. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.