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From Kevin Baxter: The buzz began more than 30 minutes before kickoff when the best soccer player in the world led his team on to the field for warm-ups to the flash of hundreds of cellphone cameras.
The Lionel Messi Show had arrived in Los Angeles.
The anticipation continued to build during the pregame introductions, when Messi’s name was met with a roar. And when the game started, the crowd reacted each time he touched the ball.
Part circus and part cultural phenomenon, Messi’s MLS Tour stop at BMO Stadium was the most-hyped game in LAFC history, with the team issuing approximately 350 credentials to media from around the world, about the same number the league handed out for last fall’s epic MLS Cup final at the same venue.
This time the result was different, with Messi contributing assists on the final two goals of a 3-1 victory that left Inter Miami unbeaten in 11 games since the Argentine joined the team six weeks ago. The loss was the second in a row for LAFC, the reigning league champion, which has won just twice in its last nine MLS games to fall to third in the Western Conference table.
“That team is by far the best I’ve played in MLS,” LAFC defender Giorgio Chiellini said of Miami. “By far.”
For the paying customers in the stadium-record soccer crowd of 22,921 — a number buoyed by several hundred standing-room only tickets — the get-in price for a seat on the secondary market was an MLS-record $894, according to the online marketplace TickPick. Three pitch-side seats sold for $2,339 each, about the price of a Panama Canal cruise.
This being Hollywood, the stadium was also chock full of celebrities, from actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Ed Norton and Jason Sudeikis and Dodgers Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw to Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and British royals Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
And there was little doubt who they came to see: With the exception of the north end, which was a solid sea of LAFC black and gold, the grandstands were dotted with fans in pink Inter Miami jerseys or the blue-and-white striped shirts of Messi’s Argentina. Vendors did a brisk business selling both outside the stadium.
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: here are two things the Dodgers can take away from their marquee meeting with the Atlanta Braves this weekend.
They can’t outclass Atlanta’s star-studded, MLB-leading squad, one that came into Dodger Stadium and won three of four games to cement their place atop the National League standings (and in pole position for the league’s top playoff seed).
But, the Dodgers are capable of beating their cross-country, World Series-contending foes, nonetheless — especially when they pitch like they did on Sunday afternoon.
In a 3-1 win that avoided a four-game sweep, the Dodgers finally did what they couldn’t the previous three nights, keeping the Braves’ offense in total check behind a dominant outing from their starting pitcher.
It wasn’t Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías or even veteran Lance Lynn that cracked the code.
Instead, rookie right-hander Bobby Miller served up seven spectacular innings, giving up just one run in his longest career start to help the Dodgers salvage something from a series that could be repeated in the National League Championship Series.
“Especially after getting our teeth kicked in a little bit the first few games, we really needed this one today,” Miller said. “I was really locked in. I had a great feeling going into this game. Probably the most locked in I’ve ever been so far. I knew I needed my best stuff.”
NL WEST STANDINGS
Dodgers, 84-52
San Francisco, 70-67, 14.5 GB
Arizona, 70-67, 14.5 GB
San Diego, 65-73, 20 GB
Colorado, 50-86, 34 GB
WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify
Philadelphia, 75-61
Chicago, 73-64
San Francisco, 70-67
Miami, 70-67
Arizona, 70-67
Cincinnati, 71-68
San Diego, 65-73, 5.5 GB
ANGELS
Pinch-hitter Tony Kemp had a two-run single that put Oakland ahead in a six-run seventh inning, and the Athletics rallied past the Angels 10-6 on Sunday to finish a three-game sweep.
Shea Langeliers added a two-run double for Oakland. Ryan Noda and pinch-hitter Seth Brown each launched a two-run homer in the sixth to begin the comeback after the last-place A’s were held hitless through five innings.
Oakland blew a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh on Luis Rengifo’s 15th home run before storming back in the bottom half.
AL WEST STANDINGS
Seattle, 77-59
Texas, 76-60, 1 GB
Houston, 77-61, 1 GB
Angels, 64-73, 13.5 GB
Oakland, 42-95, 35.5 GB
WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify
Tampa Bay, 83-54
Texas, 76-60
Houston, 77-61
Toronto, 75-62, 1.5 GB
Boston, 71-66, 5.5 GB
New York, 68-69, 8.5 GB
Cleveland, 66-71, 10.5 GB
Angels, 64-73, 12.5 GB
Caleb Williams passed for five touchdown passes and Tahj Washington caught two of them as No. 6 USC stayed undefeated on the young season with a dominant victory over Nevada at the Coliseum on Saturday.
Williams completed 18 of 24 passes for 319 yards before exiting the game in the third quarter with the Trojans in control. Tahj Washington caught two touchdown passes, giving him three TD catches through the first two games.
Zachariah Branch, Michael Jackson III, Brenden Rice, Quinten Joyner and Duce Robinson also caught scoring passes and MarShawn Lloyd scored on a 24-yard touchdown run.
On defense, USC played much better than it did in its season opener, but still struggled on deep-pass coverage. Nevada completed a 73-yard pass on its first possession and pulled off a 77-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. However, the Trojans, at one point, held the Wolf Pack (0-1) scoreless over 10 consecutive possessions and returned a fumble for a touchdown. They also had five sacks against Nevada.
USC (2-0) will open Pac-12 play next Saturday against visiting Stanford.
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From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: USC extended its home win streak to nine consecutive games with a 66-14 rout over Nevada on Saturday at the Coliseum. It didn’t take Lincoln Riley long to start thinking about extending the streak to a perfect 10 with conference foe Stanford visiting next.
“We took a step this week,” Riley said in his opening statement after the blowout win, “and we got a big one coming up and we gotta continue to take those steps.”
Here are four takeaways from USC’s win:
Plaschke: What’s up with Caleb Williams? Why isn’t USC celebrating his success?
Photos : USC showcases its playoff ambitions in blowout win over Nevada
Quarterback Dante Moore threw two touchdown passes in his much-anticipated college debut, leading UCLA to victory over Coastal Carolina in the Bruins’ season opener Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
Moore entered the game behind starting quarterback Ethan Garbers in the second quarter and connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Carson Steele. He re-entered the game in the fourth quarter with a one-point lead and found J. Michael Sturdivant on a 62-yard pass to extend the Bruins’ lead.
Moore completed seven of 12 passes for 143 yards. He also threw an end-zone interception in the fourth quarter, but a fumble recovery by UCLA defensive back John Humphrey on the next play.
A fumble recovery by Carl Jones Jr. off a strip sack of Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall sealed the win for the Bruins.
UCLA-Coastal Carolina box score
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From J. Brady McCollough: When the fourth quarter began, UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore had played just one series, leading the Bruins on an easy touchdown drive in the second quarter.
Chip Kelly had gone back to starter Ethan Garbers for the third quarter, but the offense looked lifeless. Now UCLA’s lead was down to one point, and, with Coastal Carolina driving into Bruins territory, the season opener was quickly slipping away.
The Chanticleers had doubled up UCLA in time of possession, quieting the Rose Bowl in the process. Confronted with a fourth-and-3 at the Bruins’ 38, Coastal coach Tim Beck elected to try to take the lead with a 55-yard field goal instead of testing the will of a tiring UCLA defense. His kicker missed.
At that point, Kelly wasted no more time in giving the ball back to Moore, the guy the recruiting rankings say is the most talented college player he’s ever coached. On the first play of the drive, Kelly dialed up a play-action pass. Moore brought the defense up with the fake and then delivered a perfectly-placed pass over the top to a streaking J. Michael Sturdivant for a 62-yard touchdown.
NFL
From Sam Farmer: The wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford made some waves on her podcast recently when she disclosed her husband was having a difficult time connecting with some of his younger teammates, a 35-year-old NFL star looking to find commonalities with phone-obsessed players fresh out of college.
It’s both an age-old issue and — relatively speaking — an old-age issue.
The predicament is part of the game. Every season, there are older quarterbacks looking to quickly develop that connective tissue with a cluster of young and inexperienced teammates. It’s happening with Russell Wilson in Denver and Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.
“When you go home at night to your wife and kids, and they go home to their apartment and Chipotle and movies and Game Boys and stuff, it’s just so different,” said Rich Gannon, named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player at age 37 and played two more seasons.
“I just remember going out of my way when I got older to make sure every young guy that made the team, I would find in that first 10 or 12 days an opportunity to go to lunch with him and say, `Hey, this is not easy. Congratulations. But you’re here today, you could be gone tomorrow. You’re going to get evaluated every day you walk in the building. You’d better study and you’d better know what you’re doing, and if you don’t know you’d better ask questions.’ ”
Sometimes that would work, other times it wouldn’t.
SPARKS
Layshia Clarendon scored 15 points, Dearica Hamby had a double-double and the Sparks moved into the eighth and final playoff spot with a 72-64 victory over the Washington Mystics.
The Sparks (16-21) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved a game ahead of Chicago after the Sky lost to the New York Liberty earlier Sunday. Chicago owns the tiebreaker with L.A. after winning three of four match-ups this season. Los Angeles won without star Nneka Ogwumike, who was a late scratch with a knee injury.
U.S. OPEN
Iga Swiatek’s U.S. Open title defense ended with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round on Sunday night.
The loss also means Swiatek’s stay at No. 1 in the WTA rankings will end next week, when current No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will rise to the top spot for the first time.
Swiatek’s shots were off-target in Arthur Ashe Stadium and she had a difficult time handling the hard hitting from the 20th-seeded Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open.
This was not necessarily a huge surprise, based on their previous matchups: Ostapenko has now improved to 4-0 against Swiatek over their careers. No other player owns four victories against the woman who has led the WTA rankings since April 2022.
Ostapenko’s first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows will come against Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American who eliminated Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 earlier Sunday.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1920 — Man o War wins the 1 5/8-mile Lawrence Realization Stakes at Belmont Park by 100 lengths, the largest winning margin in modern racing history. His time of 2:40 4/5 shatters the world record by 6 4/5 seconds for his fifth record performance of the year.
1932 — Olin Dutra defeats Frank Walsh in the final round 4 and 3 to win the PGA Championship.
1951 — Frank Sedgman becomes the first Australian to win the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships, beating Victor Seixas in three sets. Sixteen-year-old Maureen Connolly wins the first of three consecutive women’s titles, beating Shirley Fry in three sets.
1966 — The Houston Oilers holds the Denver Broncos to no first downs in a 45-7 rout.
1992 — Jimmy Connors loses to Ivan Lendl 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 in his record 115th and final U.S. Open singles match.
1993 — New York Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott no-hits Cleveland Indians 4-0 at Yankee Stadium.
1994 — Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins becomes the second quarterback with 300 touchdown passes by throwing for five scores in a 39-35 victory over New England. Dan Marino passes for 473 yards and Patriot’s quarterback Drew Bledsoe passes for 421 yards and four touchdowns. It’s second time two opposing quarterbacks each pass for 400 yards and four touchdowns in the same game.
2002 — Argentina defeats the U.S. 87-80 in the world basketball championships at Indianapolis. It’s the first loss for a U.S. team in 59 games since the Americans began sending NBA players to international tournaments in 1992.
2005 — 20-year-old Kyle Busch becomes youngest driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race when he out duels Greg Biffle in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.
2010 — Andy Dalton becomes TCU’s winningest quarterback, running for two touchdowns and throwing for another in the No. 6 Horned Frogs’ 30-21 victory over Oregon State. His 30th win moves him past Sammy Baugh, who had held the mark since the mid-1930s.
2017 — J.D. Martinez ties a major league record by hitting four home runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks rout the Dodgers 13-0 for their 11th straight victory.
2017 — Madison Keys eliminates Elina Svitolina in three sets to give the U.S. four women in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time in 15 years. Keys joins Americans Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe and Sloane Stephens.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally…
Jim Abbott pitches a no-hitter. 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 [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.