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From Mike DiGiovanna: Long lines snaked out from Dodger Stadium entrances a good three hours before Thursday night’s game, and most of the 53,527 fans in attendance were in their seats well before first pitch, a rarity for the notoriously late-arriving Chavez Ravine crowds.
The draw? It was Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night, the two-way star’s first as a Dodger since signing a 10-year, $700-million deal in December, with a doll of the slugger in his batting stance given to the first 40,000 fans through the turnstiles.
“It’s great for Shohei, it’s good for the Dodgers,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game against the Cincinnati Reds. “I mean, it’s gonna be a hot-ticket item for fans lucky enough to grab one of those.”
There were plenty of Ohtani bobbleheads on eBay Thursday night, with asking prices as high as $5,000.
For those who arrived too late to get an Ohtani bobblehead, the Dodgers can commiserate. They, too, left Chavez Ravine empty handed, managing only four singles–one a bloop, one that didn’t leave the infield–against seven pitchers in a 7-2 loss to a struggling Reds team that had lost 15 of its previous 19 games. It’s the first time since 2018 that Dodgers have gone without an extra base hit in two straight games.
Cincinnati shortstop Elly De La Cruz had four hits, a walk, an RBI and a career-high four stolen bases, and Dodgers ace Tyler Glasnow was roughed up for four runs and six hits in five innings, as the Dodgers lost their second straight game, their first such streak since they lost three in a row to Washington and the New York Mets on April 17-20.
Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan has season-ending Tommy John surgery
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: As the Lakers continued meeting with prospects in the final days of the NBA draft combine, their coaching search continued to be a strong topic of conversation among rival scouts and executives.
Internally, Lakers sources not authorized to speak publicly have tried to describe their coaching search as being a “wide open” process, with things still in the early stages.
Following the dismissal of Darvin Ham, the team began researching a batch of candidates that included top assistants, former head coaches and, yes, broadcaster-podcaster JJ Redick.
Candidate interviews are close, but as of now, anything being discussed with certainty has been called “hypothetical” by candidates involved in the process.
But despite what the Lakers are saying, many around the league view Redick as the favorite and offered varying levels of approval.
NBA PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Second round
Western Conference
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 5 Dallas
at Oklahoma City 117, Dallas 95 (box score)
Dallas 119, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score)
at Dallas 105, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 100, at Dallas 96 (box score)
Dallas 104, at Oklahoma City 92 (box score)
Saturday at Dallas, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., TNT
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Minnesota
Minnesota 106, at Denver 99 (box score)
Minnesota 106, at Denver 80 (box score)
Denver 117, at Minnesota 90 (box score)
Denver 115, at Minnesota 107 (box score)
at Denver 112, Minnesota 97 (box score)
at Minnesota 115, Denver 70 (box score)
Sunday at Denver, TBD, TNT
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 4 Cleveland
at Boston 120, Cleveland 95 (box score)
Cleveland 118, at Boston 94 (box score)
Boston 106, at Cleveland 93 (box score)
Boston 109, at Cleveland 102 (box score)
at Boston 113, Cleveland 98 (box score)
No. 2 New York vs. No. 6 Indiana
at New York 121, Indiana 117 (box score)
at New York 130, Indiana 121 (box score)
at Indiana 111, New York 106 (box score)
at Indiana 121, New York 89 (box score)
at New York 121, Indiana 91 (box score)
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Sunday at New York, 12:30 p.m., ABC
*-if necessary
SPARKS
From Bill Plaschke: The buzz reached its peak late in the fourth quarter, the Sparks losing but winning, the stands downcast but dancing, the tiny gym teeming with hope.
The buzz that has swarmed the WNBA in recent weeks finally came to the Southland on Wednesday, engulfing a cellar team that played as if competing for a title in front of fans who cheered like they were champions.
The Sparks lost their season opener 92-81 to the favored Atlanta Dream, but make no mistake.
This is not the Sparks team that finished the last three seasons with losing records. This is not the Sparks team that has been recently booed and questioned and, worst of all, ignored.
Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon (25) drives to the basket under pressure from Atlanta Dream guard Haley Jones at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on Wednesday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
These Sparks look different. These Sparks feel reborn. These Sparks play with spark.
MLS
From Kevin Baxter: Lionel Messi will make an MLS-record $20.45 million this season but he’s just one of six millionaires playing for league-leading Inter Miami, according to salary figures released Thursday by the MLS players association.
The league’s average guaranteed compensation is $594,389, up 12% from last season, with the median salary topping $308,000. Nine players have guaranteed compensation of more than $5.2 million and 20 have guaranteed compensation of more than $3.5 million.
Messi, who leads the league in goal contributions with 10 scores and an MLS-best nine assists, has a base salary of $12 million and guaranteed compensation of $20,446,667, the same as last summer. But his pay was prorated in 2023 because he didn’t join MLS until midseason. His guaranteed salary is larger than the total of payrolls of 25 other teams.
New USL League One team in Antelope Valley builds on buzz with crest, name reveal party
NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Second round
Western Conference
C1 Dallas vs. C3 Colorado
Colorado 4, at Dallas 3 (OT) (box score)
at Dallas 5, Colorado 3 (box score)
Dallas 4, at Colorado 1 (box score)
Dallas 5, at Colorado 1 (box score)
Colorado 5, at Dallas 3 (box score)
Friday at Colorado, 7 p.m., TNT
*Sunday at Dallas, TBD
P1 Vancouver vs. P2 Edmonton
at Vancouver 5, Edmonton 4 (box score)
Edmonton 4, at Vancouver 3 (OT) (box score)
Vancouver 4, at Edmonton 3 (box score)
at Edmonton 3, Vancouver 2 (box score)
at Vancouver 3, Edmonton 2 (box score)
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday at Vancouver, TBD
Eastern Conference
M1 New York Rangers vs. M2 Carolina
at New York 4, Carolina 3 (box score)
at New York 4, Carolina 3 (2 OT) (box score)
New York 3, at Carolina 2 (OT) (box score)
at Carolina 4, New York 3 (box score)
Carolina 4, at New York 1 (box score)
New York 5, at Carolina 3 (box score)
A1 Florida vs. A2 Boston
Boston 5, at Florida 1 (box score)
at Florida 6, Boston 1 (box score)
Florida 6, at Boston 2 (box score)
Florida 3, at Boston 2 (box score)
Boston 2, at Florida 1 (box score)
Friday at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT
*Sunday at Florida, TBD
*-if necessary
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1875 — Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby by one-quarter length over Volcano. The day marks the opening of Churchill Downs with an estimated 10,000 spectators witnessing the first Derby. Aristides is ridden and trained by Black jockeys Oliver Lewis and Ansel Williamson, respectively.
1915 — Rhine Maiden wins the Preakness Stakes, to produce the only Kentucky Derby-Preakness wins by fillies in the same year. The 1915 Derby was won by Regret, who did not compete in the Preakness.
1925 — Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians collects his 3,000th career hit off Tom Zachry in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators.
1959 — Sam Snead sets PGA record for 36 holes at 122.
1969 — Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh agree to go from NFC to AFC in NFL.
1970 — Hank Aaron gets an infield single off Cincinnati’s Wayne Simpson for his 3,000th hit.
1979 — Dave Kingman of the Cubs hits three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hits two, as Philadelphia beats Chicago 23-22 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. The game includes 11 home runs, 50 hits and 109 at-bats.
1983 — The New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup.
1992 — Betsy King captures her first LPGA Championship by a record 11 strokes over JoAnne Carner, Liselotte Neumann and Karen Noble. King’s margin of victory breaks the LGPA championship mark of 10 set by Patty Sheehan in 1984.
1998 — David Wells pitches the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0.
1998 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, DuPont CC: 20-year-old rookie Se Ri Pak leads wire-to-wire to win the first of her 5 majors, 3 strokes ahead of runners-up Donna Andrews and Lisa Hackney.
2000 — Australia’s Susie O’Neill breaks the oldest record in international swimming, winning the 200-meter butterfly and beating the 1981 mark by Mary T. Meagher. O’Neill is timed in 2 minutes, 5.81 seconds, topping the record by 0.15 seconds.
2012 — Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia becomes the first player in Professional Bowlers Association history to win a national or senior tour title in six decades, beating Ron Mohr 220-204 in the PBA Senior Dayton Classic. The 65-year-old Petraglia won the first of his 14 PBA national tour titles in 1966 in Fort Smith, Ark., at the age of 19. Dick Weber also won PBA titles in six decades, but his mark includes a PBA regional title.
2014 — The Houston Rockets advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 18 years after overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Clippers with a 113-100 victory.
Compiled by the Associated Press
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.