From Jack Harris: The Dodgers dugout sat in quiet dejection.
Two rows behind it, a Dodgers fan rose to his feet and began bowing down his arms.
Rounding the bases before them was the club’s new No. 1 enemy, a decent MLB slugger who, during trips to Dodger Stadium in recent years, suddenly performs like a cross of Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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Once again, Christian Walker had the Dodgers’ number.
For a second straight night, he hit two home runs to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-3, rubber-match win at Chavez Ravine.
“Obviously,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sighed postgame, “he feels really comfortable in the box against us.”
Entering this week, Walker already had a reputation as a Dodgers killer. In 87 previous games against the club, he’d hit 22 home runs and collected 50 RBIs. His numbers against franchise icon Clayton Kershaw were especially good, with a .294 career batting average off the future Hall of Famer.
“I got some thoughts,” Kershaw, who remains sidelined following offseason shoulder surgery, told reporters Thursday afternoon about how the team could neutralize Walker in the series finale. “For our guys, not for you.”
Whatever Kershaw was thinking, it apparently didn’t work.
Instead, after hitting one home run in Tuesday’s series-opener, then two more in Arizona’s rout of the Dodgers on Wednesday night, Walker continued his weeklong tear with another two-homer explosion Thursday, etching his name into recent Dodger Stadium history.
Dodgers-Diamondbacks box score
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El Tráfico rivalry
From Kevin Baxter: For seven seasons, the Galaxy and LAFC have shared Southern California. But until Thursday they had never played each other while sharing the top spot in the Western Conference standings.
They didn’t finish the night that way, with first-half goals from Kei Kamara and Denis Bouanga lifting LAFC to a 2-1 victory before a crowd of 70,076 at the Rose Bowl. Gabriel Pec scored for the Galaxy early in the second half.
For much of the bitter crosstown rivalry, the Galaxy have been closer to the bottom of the table than the top. LAFC, meanwhile, has the best record in the league since entering MLS.
That has often left one team playing for a title and the other one playing spoiler. That wasn’t the case this time.
“It looked to me as if the Galaxy players had something today to lose,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “They were not the underdogs today. And that’s a different burden.”
ANGELS
Angels pitcher Roansy Contreras, center, is pulled from the game by manager Ron Washington in the third inning of a 5-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Lawrence Butler homered, JP Sears won for the first time in more than a month, and the Oakland Athletics blanked the Angels on Thursday for a second straight game by the same 5-0 score to complete a three-game series sweep.
Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker hit back-to-back RBI singles in the third and Tyler Soderstrom added a sacrifice fly in the decisive inning on a hot Independence Day in the Bay Area, with an announced holiday crowd of 11,956.
Oakland’s pitching shut down an Angels lineup that had been on quite an offensive run.
“This offense that we faced had scored five or more runs in (seven) consecutive games, they had won six of their last seven, they swept us in Anaheim, beat a Detroit team at home, came here really confident and really swinging the bats well,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “So our pitching staff really did a great job this series of controlling their offense, keeping the guys that had really been providing the offense at check and not giving away free bases.”
BOXING
Ryan Garcia stands in the ring before his fight against Devin Haney in April.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Ryan Garcia was expelled by the World Boxing Council on Thursday after he repeatedly used racial slurs against Black people and disparaged Muslims in comments livestreamed on social media.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman announced the penalty against Garcia on the social media platform X.
“Exercising my authority as president of the WBC, I am hereby expelling Ryan Garcia from any activity with our organization,” Sulaiman posted. “We reject any form of discrimination.”
Independence Day tradition
Patrick Bertoletti celebrates after winning the men’s division of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest Thursday at Coney Island in Brooklyn. Bertoletti ate 58 hot dogs.
(Julia Nikhinson / Associated Press)
From Anthony De Leon: With the controversial absence of its king, Joey Chestnut, the competitive eating world turned its eyes Thursday to Coney Island, where an open field of competitors aimed to usurp the crown at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.
After 10 minutes of scarfing hot dogs, a new men’s champion emerged — Patrick Bertoletti. With mouth agape and stomach expanded, Bertoletti devoured 58 hot dogs to capture the Yellow Mustard Belt, outlasting 13 competitors.
For the first time in eight years, a new men’s champion was crowned.
Bertoletti, a Chicago native, returned to the event as Major League Eating’s No. 9-ranked eater in the world. In his sixth appearance, he surpassed his personal best total of 55.
“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Bertoletti said on ESPN2 after the competition. “Today, I’m getting married.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1919 — Suzanne Lenglen beats reigning champion Dorothea Lambert Chambers 10-8, 4-6, 9-7, in the challenge round to win her first women’s singles title at Wimbledon.
1930 — Bill Tilden beats Wilmer Allison 6-3, 9-7, 6-4, to capture his third men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
1947 — Larry Doby becomes the first black to play in the American League. He strikes out as a pinch-hitter for the Cleveland Indians in a 6-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
1952 — Maureen Connolly wins her first of three straight women’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Louise Brough 6-4, 6-3.
1968 — The Philadelphia 76ers trade Wilt Chamberlain, basketball’s greatest offensive player, to the Los Angeles Lakers after they are unable to sign him to a contract.
1968 — Australia’s Rod Laver wins the first open Wimbledon tennis championship, defeating countryman Tony Roche 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Laver becomes the first player since Fred Perry (1934-36) to win the men’s title three straight times.
1975 — Arthur Ashe beats Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. It’s the first all-American final since 1947. Connors, the defending champion, had not dropped a set in the previous six matches.
1980 — Bjorn Borg of Sweden wins his fifth men’s title at Wimbledon, defeating John McEnroe 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6.
1987 — A’s 1st baseman Mark McGwire becomes first rookie to hit 30 HRs before the MLB All-Star Game as Oakland beats Red Sox, 6-2.
1992 — Andre Agassi beats Goran Ivanisevic 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon men’s final to win his first Grand Slam title.
1993 — As’ outfielder Rickey Henderson leads off both games of Oakland’s doubleheader vs Cleveland with homers (first time since 1913).
1996 — Frankie Fredericks edges Michael Johnson to win the men’s 200 meters at the Bislett Games in Norway, snapping the American world champion’s winning streak of 21 races.
1997 — Martina Hingis, 16, becomes the youngest player to win Wimbledon since 1887. Hingis comes back for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jana Novotna.
2003 — Serena Williams beats sister Venus 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 for her second straight Wimbledon title. It’s her fifth championship in the past six Grand Slams, each capped by a victory over Venus.
2008 — Venus Williams wins her fifth Wimbledon singles title, beating younger sister Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Defending champion Venus is 5-2 in Wimbledon finals, losing only to Serena in 2002 and ’03.
2009 — Roger Federer wins his record 15th Grand Slam title when he outlasts Andy Roddick for his sixth Wimbledon championship in a marathon match that went to 16-14 in the fifth set.
2012 — Harness racing driver Dave Palone breaks Herve Filion’s North American record for career victories when he pilots Herculotte Hanover to victory in the eighth race at The Meadows in Washington, Pa. The win is the 15,181st of Palone’s 30-year career.
2014 — Petra Kvitova overwhelms Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in less than an hour to win Wimbledon for the second time.
2015 — The United States wins its third Women’s World Cup title and first since 1999 with a 5-2 victory over Japan behind a first-half hat trick by Carli Lloyd.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Angels center fielder Kevin Pillar made an amazing, home run-robbing catch against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Check it out here.
Until next time…
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