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From Mike DiGiovanna: The Dodgers had their best pitcher on the mound in Tyler Glasnow, the 6-foot-8 right-hander who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in December and signed to a five-year, $136.5-million extension to be the team’s ace.
They had their most dangerous hitter at the plate for the game’s most critical moment in Shohei Ohtani, the two-time American League most valuable player who was signed to a 10-year, $700-million deal in December to power what was expected to be one of baseball’s most lethal lineups.
Neither delivered in a 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals before a Jackie Robinson Day crowd of 42,677 in Chavez Ravine on Monday night, the Dodgers suffering their fourth loss in five games.
Glasnow, who entered with a 3-0 record and 2.25 ERA, gave up six earned runs and eight hits, including two homers, in five innings, striking out five and walking two, suffering his first loss as a Dodger on a night he was battling flu-like symptoms.
“He’s not going to say it, but he was under the weather,” manager Dave Roberts said. “As far as the performance, it just wasn’t there. The fastball command wasn’t there. The breaking ball–curveball specifically–he didn’t have the feel for it. And the slider was sort of just rolling. It just didn’t have the teeth to it.”
Ohtani had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh when he stepped to the plate against Nationals right-hander Hunter Harvey with the Dodgers trailing 6-3, and two on after James Outman’s leadoff single and Mookie Betts’ two-out single.
Ohtani hit the ball on the nose, sending a 98-mph line drive to center field but well within the reach of Jacob Young, who ran toward the gap in left-center for the inning-ending catch.
“I mean, it’s not only me,” right fielder Teoscar Hernández said, when asked if there was a feeling in the dugout that something special was about to happen. “Everybody is hoping he’d get into one in that situation where we’re losing by three runs so we can tie the game. He made good contact, but unfortunately, it was right at the center fielder.”
Hernández: Overlooked parts of Dodgers’ roster could jeopardize title aspirations
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: The Lakers are going to have to defend against CJ MCollum, the Pelicans guard who races into three-point shots from all angles on the court.
The Lakers are going to have to defend against forward Brandon Ingram, their former first-round draft pick, who has become one of the toughest shot-makers in the NBA.
The Lakers are going to have defend against Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III on the perimeter, two capable three-point shooters. They’re also going to have to defend against Zion Williamson, the explosively athletic big man with an uncommon combination of size, speed and strength.
You’d think that would be enough to deal with before their play-in tournament game with the Pelicans on Tuesday at the Smoothie King Center. Instead, the Lakers might have to defend against something else.
Complacency.
NBA PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Play-in tournament
Western Conference
Tuesday
No. 8 Lakers at No. 7 New Orleans, 4:30 p.m., TNT
No. 10 Golden State at No. 9 Sacramento, 7 p.m., TNT
Eastern Conference
Wednesday
No. 8 Miami at No. 7 Philadelphia;, 4 p.m., ESPN
No. 10 Atlanta at No. 9. Chicago; 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Note: Winners of the Nos. 7 vs. No. 8 game advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. Loser of the game advances to a second play-in game to play the winners of the game between the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds. The winners of that game become the No. 8 seed in their respective conference.
ANGELS
Mike Trout‘s two-run homer highlighted a five-run outburst in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Trout gave the Angels a 2-1 lead with his seventh homer, a 111.1-mph, 420-foot shot down the left-field line off Phil Maton (0-1). Matt Thaiss extended the Angels’ lead to 5-1 with a three-run double.
“We needed a big one at the right time and he came through, and it opened it up for everyone else,” Angels manager Ron Washington said.
KINGS
From Kevin Baxter: The Kings lost a game they needed to win Monday, falling to the Minnesota Wild 3-1 at Crypto.com Arena to muddy the team’s playoff outlook with one game left in the regular season.
The loss, the Kings’ first at home in nine games, leaves them with a one-point lead over Vegas for third place in the Pacific Division. If the Golden Knights defeat the struggling Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and the Ducks on Thursday, the Kings would fall to the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot and meet the conference’s top-seeded team in the playoffs.
As of Monday, the Dallas Stars — a team the Kings haven’t beaten in three tries this season and been outscored 13-3 — were first in the West.
WNBA DRAFT
From Steve Galluzo: For the first time in franchise history, the Sparks were fortunate to have two of the top four picks in the WNBA draft, and the team chose Stanford center Cameron Brink at No. 2, then University of Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson at No. 4 on Monday evening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Brink was selected Pac-12 player of the year after leading the nation in blocked shots (3.74 per game) while averaging 17.4 points and 11.9 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 senior also won the Lisa Leslie Award as the country’s best center and was the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Jackson, who averaged an SEC-leading 20.2 points while grabbing 8.2 rebounds a game, was an all-conference first team honoree and scored 33 points in her last game for the Volunteers.
The Sparks had one more pick in the third round, the 28th overall choice, and selected USC guard McKenzie Forbes, who averaged 12.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
UCLA guard Charisma Osborne, who averaged 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists, was taken by the Phoenix Mercury with the 25th pick overall, the first pick of the third round. The only other local player taken in the third round was USC forward Kaitlyn Davis, who went to the Liberty with the 35th pick overall. Davis averaged 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She shot 48.5% from the floor.
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From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: As JuJu Watkins wiped tears from her eyes with the corner of her jersey after USC’s season-ending loss to Connecticut in the NCAA regional final, UConn coach Geno Auriemma gave Watkins two encouraging pats on the back. He said a few words into the freshman’s ear.
What did the legendary coach tell USC’s heartbroken star who set the NCAA Division I freshman scoring record in the crushing defeat?
“Go pro,” Auriemma joked later.
But even with the legendary coach’s light-hearted encouragement, Watkins probably won’t hear her name called in the WNBA draft until 2027.
To be eligible for the draft, domestic players must turn 22 years old during the calendar year of the event or have graduated from a four-year university prior to, or within the three months after, the draft.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: The Rams convened Monday for the first day of voluntary offseason workouts and, as has been the case for most of the last few years, Aaron Donald was not present.
As coach Sean McVay and his team begin preparing for the 2024 season, however, they know the recently retired Donald will not return from training in hometown Pittsburgh to be the leader of the defense.
That mantle now belongs to linebacker Ernest Jones IV.
And Jones, a three-year veteran, said he was prepared.
“From the moment I got here, this was a goal of mine, to be the leader of this defense,” Jones said Monday during a news conference in Thousand Oaks. “With [Donald] being gone, now there’s more eyes on me, which I can sure handle. … Without A.D., we get to go out there, and now it’s time for those guys to make a name for themselves.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1940 — Bob Feller of Cleveland defeats the White Sox 1-0 in Chicago in the only opening day no-hitter in the major leagues.
1958 — Arnold Palmer edges Doug Ford by one stroke to capture the Masters.
1978 — Cardinals’ Bob Forsch no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, in St. Louis.
1980 — Arthur Ashe retires from pro tennis.
1983 — Steve Garvey sets NL record by playing in 1,118 consecutive games.
1987 — Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls scores 61 points in a 117-114 loss to the Atlanta Hawks and becomes the second player to surpass the 3,000-point mark in a season.
2003 — The Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 overtime victory, making the Red Wings the first defending Stanley Cup winner in 51 years to be swept the following season in a four-game opening series.
2003 — Washington Wizards’ Michael Jordan plays his final NBA game.
2013 — Two bombs explode in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 270 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs. Earlier in the day, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia wins the 117th edition of the marathon and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya takes the women’s race.
2018 — Desiree Linden runs through icy rain and a near-gale headwind to win the Boston Marathon, the first victory for an American woman since 1985.
2019 — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson becomes the highest-paid player in NFL history with a 4-year $140m extension.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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