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From Gary Klein: Aaron Donald stood on the sideline Wednesday looking fit enough to immediately come out of retirement and play for the Rams.
A few yards away, 36-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford stood apart from the action, apparent hamstring tightness shortening his day during a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard.
Even if it was only a twinge, it was enough for the Rams to shut down Stafford. The 16th-year pro participated in three series before Jimmy Garoppolo took over the first-team offense and Stetson Bennett worked with the second unit.
Stafford was scheduled to speak with reporters on Wednesday but he was not made available after the two-hour workout. Rams coach Sean McVay was not scheduled to speak with reporters.
But pulling Stafford from practice said it all.
Less than a month before the season opener at Detroit, McVay cannot afford to take chances.
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DODGERS
From Mike DiGiovanna: The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks both won games before the Dodgers took the field against the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday night, yet another reminder that, for a team that has won 10 of the last 11 National League West titles, objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear.
The Dodgers failed to hold serve in an ugly 5-4 loss to the Brewers in American Family Field, and their division lead fell to 2 ½ games over the scorching-hot Padres, who have won 19 of 22 games, and D-Backs, who have won 18 of 21 games.
Veteran right-hander Walker Buehler, returning from a right-hip injury, gave the Dodgers little hope that he will provide much of a rotation boost down the stretch, laboring through a 3 ⅓-inning, 87-pitch start in which he gave up four runs — one earned — and three hits, struck out three and walked four.
The Dodgers also committed three errors, paving the way for the Brewers to score four unearned runs, and their win streak was snapped at five.
ANGELS
Daulton Varsho hit a three-run home run, Jose Berrios dominated over seven innings and the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three-game sweep of the Angels with a 9-2 victory on Wednesday night.
Ernie Clement and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each hit a two-run home run and Berrios (11-9) gave up one run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts as the Blue Jays pulled off their third series sweep of the season and second on the road.
Varsho and Guerrero both had three hits and three RBIs, while Clement added a triple.
Matt Thaiss hit a home run for the Angels, who are 1-5 since winning consecutive series against the New York Mets and New York Yankees. Thaiss had two of the Angels’ three hits.
Could the Angels lose their Angel Stadium lease? New state audit to probe land deal
CHARGERS
From Chuck Schilken: Colin Kaepernick is 36 and wants another shot at the NFL.
He’s several years younger than New York Jets starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers (40) and the same age that Matthew Stafford of the Rams, Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons and Russell Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers either are now or will be during the upcoming season.
Unlike those guys, however, Kaepernick has been away from the game for quite a while.
Kaepernick could have another path back to the NFL, although not necessarily the one he seems interested in at the moment. USA Today reports that Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh wants Kaepernick to join his coaching staff and that the two of them discussed the possibility back in January.
“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” said Harbaugh, who was Kaepernick’s head coach in San Francisco for four seasons. “He’s considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me. We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”
Chargers are eager to unleash rookie Junior Colson as he returns from injury
From Ryan Kartje: The gray screen, large enough to obstruct the opposing sideline’s view of USC coach Lincoln Riley, wasn’t exactly subtle. But against Utah, a team he knew to be adept at intercepting sideline signals, Riley decided to take additional security measures. So last October, on the heels of Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal, out came that gray screen, held in front of Riley like a beacon of passive-aggressive football paranoia.
To Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, its presence alone felt like a provocation.
“If your signals are being stolen in-game, that’s your fault,” he later told reporters.
Riley, meanwhile, insisted the screen was just a necessary precaution when sign stealing was still such a constant in the college game.
By April, the NCAA approved a rule change allowing for one player on each side of the ball to have use of a radio in their helmet, each denoted to referees by a green dot. Like in the NFL, that communication will be cut off with 15 seconds remaining on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever comes first.
For such a simple fix, it could have lasting implications on the college game, from the pace of play to coaches’ approach to late audibles. What it almost certainly won’t do, however, is put a stop to sign stealing.
CLIPPERS
From Broderick Turner: The Clippers will open their new arena, Intuit Dome, with their first regular-season NBA game on Oct. 23 against the Phoenix Suns and Team USA Olympic gold medal winners Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The Clippers will be led by stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, leaving Crypto.com Arena for a $2-billion state-of-the-art arena in Inglewood built by owner Steve Ballmer.
The Clippers will face Paul George, who after five years with the Clippers spurned them to sign a four-year deal worth $212 million with the 76ers this summer, for the first time on Nov. 6 when Philadelphia visits Intuit Dome.
The rest of the Clippers’ schedule will be released, along with the rest of the NBA, on Thursday.
OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS
From Steve Henson: Like any world-class gymnast, Jordan Chiles is familiar with contortions and flips. But what she has endured since giving her all in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics makes the most difficult routine seem like child’s play.
The latest: It appears that the head of the three-person Court of Arbitration for Sport panel that snatched her bronze medal has a conflict of interest because he is a lawyer who has represented Romanian interests for years.
Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the panel that also included Philippe Sands and Song Lu, is currently serving as legal counsel to Romania in disputes at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, according to documents first reported by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. Gharavi’s work on behalf of Romania dates back at least to 2011, according to his resume.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1948 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf title over Betty Hicks.
1950 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Freddie Beshore in the 14th round to retain his world heavyweight title.
1965 — Dave Marr edges Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper to take the PGA Championship.
1993 — Greg Norman lips his putt on the PGA Championship’s second playoff hole, giving Paul Azinger the title and leaving Norman with an unprecedented career of Grand Slam playoff losses. Norman, despite winning his second British Open title a month earlier, has lost playoffs in three other majors — 1984 U.S. Open, 1987 Masters, 1989 British Open.
1993 — Damon Hill, son of the late Graham Hill, becomes the first father-son Formula One winners when he takes the Hungarian Grand Prix.
1995 — Monica Seles returns to the WTA Tour after a 28-month absence following her 1993 stabbing with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kimberly Po at the Canadian Open.
1999 — Tiger Woods makes a par save on the 17th hole and holds on to win the PGA Championship by one stroke over 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. Woods, 23, becomes the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros in 1980.
2004 — In Athens, the U.S. men’s basketball team loses 92-73 to Puerto Rico, the third Olympic defeat for the Americans and first since adding pros. American teams had been 24-0 since the professional Olympic era began with the 1992 Dream Team. The U.S Olympic team’s record was 109-2, entering the game.
2005 — Phil Mickelson delivers another dramatic finish in a major, flopping a chip out of deep rough to 2 feet for a birdie on the final hole and a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship.
2007 — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleads guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated in a scandal that rocked the league and raised questions about the integrity of the sport.
2012 — Felix Hernandez pitches the Seattle Mariners’ first perfect game and the 23rd in baseball history, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in a brilliant 1-0 victory. It’s the third perfect game in baseball this season.
2012 — The U.S. breaks a 75-year winless streak at Azteca Stadium with an 80th-minute goal by Michael Orozco Fiscal and Tim Howard’s late sprawling saves in a 1-0 victory over Mexico.
2014 — Mo’Ne Davis, one of two girls at the Little League World Series, throws a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville 4-0 in the opener for both teams. Davis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team in South Williamsport since 2004, has eight strikeouts and no walks.
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.