SPORT

Following a four-season absence from the WSL, Birmingham are back, having won Women’s Super League 2 last season.

The Blues edged a thrilling title fight with Palace and Charlton, clinching the trophy on goal difference by winning at The Valley on final day.

They showed quality going forward and in defence, scoring the second-most goals and conceding the second-fewest.

They also finished with the league’s best goal difference, while striker Lily Crosthwaite picked up her award for WSL 2 player of the year last week.

Among six new signings, head coach Amy Merricks has recruited experienced centre-back Millie Turner, who made 145 WSL appearances in eight seasons at Manchester United, has two England caps and is the new Blues captain.

She will play alongside talented 23-year-old Neve Herron, who was named in the WSL 2 Team of the Year.

“There’s going to be challenges, there’s going to be moments, highs and lows, but come that first game of the season, we’re going to be ready,” Herron told BBC Sport.

The Dodgers’ August woes followed them into the first day of September.

Roster expansion, returning three players from the injured list, the mental relief of turning the calendar page — none of that gave the Dodgers the boost they needed against the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Instead, the Dodgers lost 13-8 to a team that entered the day 4 ½ games out of the last National League wild-card spot.

“I just think tonight we just got behind the eight ball,” manager Dave Roberts said.

During the Dodgers’ past seven series (following a high-scoring trip to Chicago), their rotation has recorded a top-five ERA (2.97) in the majors. But on Tuesday, left-hander Eric Lauer coughed up seven runs in three innings.

Dodgers second baseman Alex Freeland chases the ball as the Cardinals’ Nathan Church hits an RBI in the third inning Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

It was a personal outlier as well in Lauer’s time with the Dodgers. Lauer had given up more than three runs in just two other outings since the Dodgers acquired him from the Blue Jays in mid-May, and Tuesday marked his shortest start.

“I felt good warming up, felt good in the bullpen, then got out there and kind of just lost it,” Lauer said. “And you know it’s one of those things where you try to make adjustments and you try to work on things between, and I think I might have been just tinkering a little too much in between and getting outside of myself. So I think really just focusing on what I do well and repeating that and not trying to get too fancy and getting back to the basics is really all I can do.”

The Dodgers had briefly moved Lauer from the rotation into the bullpen, but he reclaimed his starting role when right-hander Roki Sasaki landed on the IL last week with a blister on his right middle finger.

Lauer’s start Tuesday began to go downhill in the second inning when he gave up back-to-back solo homers to Ramón Urias and Thomas Saggese with two outs.

Those two runs could have been quickly forgotten if Lauer had gotten back on track. The next inning, however, he surrendered five runs as the Cardinals kept chipping away with five singles, a hit batter, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers struck back in the bottom half of the inning — but not exactly with authority.

Mookie Betts’ bases-clearing double was assisted by a Cardinals defensive miscue. Right fielder Jordan Walker and second baseman José Fermín both raced after Betts’ shallow fly. As Fermín dashed back, Walker slid to attempt the catch — and took out Fermín’s feet from under him.

The ball fell to the ground. With two outs, Dodgers baserunners were going on contact and all three crossed the plate before Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson could retrieve the ball and throw it.

Betts’ bat stayed hot. And he contributed another RBI double in the fifth — this one smoked up the left-field line to drive in one run. But it didn’t do much to put a dent in the Cardinals’ lead.

The Cardinals continued to tack on against the Dodgers’ bullpen, powered by three more home runs, off right-hander Seth Halvorsen, lefty Alex Vesia and lefty Justin Wrobleski, fresh off the injured list.

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández pitches during the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Catcher Will Smith, who the Dodgers also activated from the IL Tuesday, put the ball in the air in his first four at-bats and was finally rewarded in the seventh inning with an RBI double. He drove in another run in the ninth, grounding into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, as part of a three-run last-ditch rally.

“I think that there were some positives with the at-bats,” Roberts said. “I liked some of the swings. I like taking walks when given to us. I like being able to push and runs across.”

All four players who the Dodgers activated on Tuesday appeared in the game. In addition to Smith and Wrobleski, second baseman Alex Freeland (recalled from triple A) started the game, and Dalton Rushing (reinstated from the IL) struck out in his lone pinch-hit at-bat. Rushing will provide a left-handed bat off the bench until he’s graduated from his throwing program and built up on the defensive side.

The score was so lopsided by the ninth inning that utility player Kiké Hernández took the mound to finish the game — but without his signature pitching helmet.

Spencer Jones homered and drove in three runs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. also went deep and finished with three hits, and the New York Yankees pulled away Tuesday night for a 7-3 victory over the Angels.

Jones and Chisholm launched back-to-back homers to give Gerrit Cole a 3-0 lead before even throwing a pitch in his latest return home. New York moved four games ahead of rival Boston for the top American League wild card and remained 4 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

A day that began with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, led by Rams owner Stan Kroenke, reaching an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Angels from owner Arte Moreno ended with the struggling Angels losing for the ninth time in 11 games.

Cole (8-7) gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber held the Angels to one hit the rest of the way.

Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez (4-6) gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking two.

The Angels trailed 4-1 when Wade Meckler, who had three hits, opened the sixth with a single. Moisés Ballesteros singled and Christian Moore sliced a two-run triple to right field that eluded a diving Jones and trimmed the deficit to 4-3.

Cole was pulled in favor of Headrick, who stranded Moore by striking out pinch-hitter Jose Siri and getting Oswald Peraza to fly out.

New York pushed the lead to 6-3 in the eighth when Jones walked, Chisholm singled and Trent Grisham, mired in a two-for-42 slump, fouled off two bunt attempts before hitting an RBI single. Ryan McMahon loaded the bases with a bunt single and Paul Goldschmidt hit a sacrifice fly.

Consecutive singles by Cody Bellinger, who had three of New York’s 14 hits, Luis García Jr. and Jones made it 7-3 in the ninth.

The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the first. Bellinger singled before Jones hit a two-run homer — his second longball in two nights — and Chisholm followed with an opposite-field shot into the left-field corner.

Ben Rice singled in the third, went to third on Bellinger’s single and scored on García’s double-play grounder for a 4-0 advantage.

The Angels pulled to 4-1 in the bottom half when Zach Neto singled, stole second and scored on Meckler’s two-out single.

Up next

Yankees RHP Cam Schlittler (12-6, 2.09 ERA) faces LHP Reid Detmers (4-8, 3.54) in Wednesday night’s series finale.

DiGiovanna writes for the Associated Press.

Mike Trout was practically beaming. He dropped the phrase “fresh start” four times in an interview that barely lasted five minutes.

The burden of the Angels’ failures has been disproportionately his to bear. He has insisted that his path to Cooperstown would run through Anaheim and only Anaheim. He has played 16 seasons for an owner that blessed him with half a billion dollars, treated his family like royalty and stranded him in position to conclude a star-spangled career without ever winning a postseason game.

On Tuesday, Trout learned that the Angels would have a new owner: Stan Kroenke. Trout got off the call, looked up Kroenke and has not stopped smiling since.

“What a track record,” Trout said. “Wherever he buys, he wins.”

Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to purchase a majority stake of the Angels on Tuesday. The deal is pending regulatory review and MLB approval.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

The Rams. The Colorado Avalanche. The Denver Nuggets. Arsenal.

So what if the Angels have baseball’s longest playoff drought? They now have baseball’s richest owner, with a net worth valued by Forbes at $24 billion.

Kroenke bought a controlling share of the Angels at a valuation of $4 billion, a record for a major league team, with current owner Arte Moreno retaining a small stake, a source with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. The sale includes the team-owned television and radio outlets, ABTV and AM 830. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and MLB approval.

In 2009, ESPN put Moreno on the cover of its magazine, proclaiming the Angels delivered the best value of the then-122 teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. In this decade, the experience had been so devalued by 12 consecutive losing seasons that resale tickets for Tuesday’s game against the mighty New York Yankees were available for $5, amid a season of fans regularly chanting “Sell the Team!”

“He’s aware of the chants,” Angels president Molly Jolly said. “He knows about them. At the end of the day, this is about having the right next owner more than it is about anything else.”

Jolly wouldn’t say whether Kroenke or Moreno initiated the negotiations. She did say the sale was not conducted through a formal bidding process, but proceeded through face-to-face discussions between Kroenke and Moreno.

“He has a traditional sense about him,” Jolly said. “To be able to sit down with another gentleman and have a conversation and talk about baseball and the franchise, that resonates for how he thinks and looks at things, rather than it being a complex conversation.

“I think that’s what was the ‘Why now?’ It was the right person having the right conversation with him.”

As far as she knew, Jolly said, the conversations had not started when she assumed the team presidency in April, but the possibility of a sale had “always stayed out there” after Moreno invited bids in 2022 and then decided not to sell.

In July, after joining the Angels as interim general manager, John Mozeliak said he had spoken with Moreno for hours and the topic of whether the owner might sell the team “never came up.” On Tuesday, Mozeliak acknowledged that, when he started his position, Moreno “had mentioned that this was a possibility.”

Fans at Angel Stadium hold up signs during a game against the Yankees Tuesday marking Stan Kroenke’s agreement to purchase the Angels from Arte Moreno.

(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)

The sale is not expected to be finalized until early next year. Kroenke has not done the usual due diligence that would precede a sale — meeting with team management and touring the stadium — and has not introduced himself to officials from the city of Anaheim. The city owns the stadium and surrounding parking lots, a 150-acre site that city officials would love to see Kroenke develop.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the Angels. Mozeliak, who ran the St. Louis Cardinals when the Rams played in St. Louis, said he never has met Kroenke. He did recall speaking with Kevin Demoff, who oversees all of Kroenke’s teams.

Mozeliak has no idea whether Kroenke might invite him to stay, but for now the plan of rebuilding the team and reorganizing the front office remains on course, in the interest of serving fans weary and frustrated after 12 consecutive losing seasons.

“We’ve been preaching change all along,” Mozeliak said. “Now they’re going to see even more.”

And, he noted, the Padres and Angels had sold at successive record prices for MLB teams, despite the prospect of a lockout and owners’ hopes for a new collective bargaining agreement with a salary cap intended in part to raise franchise values.

“A lot of people thought teams wouldn’t sell until there was a new CBA,” Mozeliak said. “Clearly, that prediction was wrong.”

In the clubhouse, no one was talking about that. Neto was talking about the call Trout made to “some of the Rams guys” for a scouting report on Kroenke.

“I reached out to one Rams player,” Trout said, smiling. “He exaggerates a little bit.”

Still, given the national attention given last winter to the air conditioning not working properly in an Angel Stadium weight room, Neto said the evaluation from the Rams’ locker room was glowing.

“The most important thing they said is, he just wants what’s important for us,” Neto said. “That’s to make the clubhouse better, in the sense of whatever we need, we get, whether that’s amenity-wise, speakers, whatever it is, he’ll make sure we get those.”

Trout was so enthusiastic that, when a reporter asked if he was excited about what the new vision might be, he answered before the reporter could finish asking the question.

“No doubt,” Trout said. “Obviously, when you’re frustrated the last — I don’t know how many years it’s been, but to hear the news like this, I’m super excited to have this change.”

For his part, Neto sounded ready to pitch Tarik Skubal on pitching for the Angels — or, at least, pitching Kroenke on the possibility of recruiting him in free agency.

“Who doesn’t want to be in Southern California?” Neto said. “The weather is beautiful here. We have the best fans, in my opinion. We have a beautiful stadium.

“Who wouldn’t want to be here and play in this organization, in this market? It would be a no-brainer.”

Trout said the ownership change “was needed” and said there was “a good vibe around the clubhouse,” but both he and Neto expressed appreciation for Moreno.

“Arte was very supportive of us, whatever the outside noise was,” Neto said.

“I’ve seen a lot of hate, a lot of love, a lot more hate. But, as a player who has played under him, it was a lot of love. He treated us well, and that’s all you can ask for as a player.”

After sparse attendance during USC’s season-opening win over San José State turned the Trojans into a national punchline during the weekend, USC coach Lincoln Riley responded Tuesday, dismissing what he called a “false narrative” being spread about the program in recent days.

“I think that comes from a lot of people who don’t follow our program, most of those who have never stepped foot in the Coliseum,” Riley said. “The reality is, during my years here, attendance has gone up every single year. As has our play in the Coliseum, including running the table last year in front of a lot of epic atmospheres. And I expect that to happen again this year.”

Average attendance for USC football games at the Coliseum actually dropped from the 2024 to the 2025 season, from an average of 71,571 to 67,783. But the 2025 season also featured fewer marquee home matchups, plus one game soaked by heavy rain (Iowa), and it was still the second-best average attendance of Riley’s four seasons as coach.

Saturday, though, marked the smallest home crowd at USC since late in the 2018 season, when the Trojans had their worst finish for the program in a quarter century, under former coach Clay Helton.

Much of that was due to the scorching heat throughout the Southland, which reached a heat index about 100 at the Coliseum on Saturday. It was so hot and humid that Lee Feaster, a native Texas and the father of freshman wideout Boobie Feaster, said on Tuesday that his wife passed out during the game and still had blisters.

But the attendance announced by USC — 51,144 — admittedly felt generous.

Attendance was that low just once under Helton, for a 38-35 loss to Arizona State, the weekend before Halloween in 2018. But average attendance plummeted after the 2017 season as fan sentiment turned on Helton. For the rest of Helton’s tenure, from 2018 to the start of 2021, USC reached the 60,000-fan mark just four times.

Empty swaths of Coliseum bleachers hadn’t been as much of a concern for Riley, who had never fallen below the 60,000-fan mark at home until Saturday. But as photos of the poor attendance circulated on social media during the weekend, USC chose to release a statement responding to the online derision.

“We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance,” the statement read. “We have high expectations and a premier home schedule this season, and we know the competitive advantage an electric Coliseum atmosphere can provide our program. We thank our fans who showed up Saturday and look forward to seeing increased attendance the rest of the season.”

The response, though, only poured gasoline on a viral fire.

By Monday, the conversation had crossed over from critical posts on social media to Riley’s coaching peers roasting USC, starting with his alma mater.

“Not to take any shots because I have a lot of respect for USC and Lincoln Riley, but man it’s really awesome to be playing Lubbock, Texas, in front of 60,000,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “And it’s going to be warm. It’s going to be every bit as warm as it was Saturday. The great thing is we’ve got some really tough people in West Texas that love their football. They’re gonna show up no matter what the weather’s like. There’s not going to be any excuses of why they’re not here for us.”

A fan covers takes cover under a poster during USC’s season opener against San José State Saturday at the Coliseum.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

New California coach Tosh Lupoi piled on some more Tuesday.

“To turn on the TV, to see that environment in Los Angeles, that’s disheartening to see,” Lupoi said in Berkeley. “I can guarantee you, that’s a completely different environment here.”

USC should have a much more temperate environment to play on Friday, when it kicks off against Fresno State at 6 p.m. at the Coliseum. And Riley knows the world will be watching closely, to see how many seats are filled for the Trojans’ second game.

“This is USC, right?” Riley said. “People are going to pay attention. People are going to have an opinion. It’s part of being a blueblood school.”

Texts lit up my phone this morning from friends who had wasted most of their lives rooting for the Angels: Arte Moreno finally was selling the team.

“First order of business: it’s the Anacrime Angels,” Nelson Rodriguez cracked before sending a meme of Stringer Bell in “The Wire” wearing an old-school California Angels cap and saying, “I want you to put the word out there that we back up.”

“This news honestly made my year,” texted Anaheim City Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who graduated a year ahead of me from Anaheim High and whose daughter works at my wife’s restaurant. “Excited to leave the controversy and negativity behind and look forward to a new era of Anaheim baseball.”

“Shame this didn’t happen when [Shohei] Ohtani was an Angel,” the Mountain shared on a group text thread of childhood friends who call each other by long-standing nicknames — I’m the Consigliere.

“I get invited to the games but hell no,” replied the Butcher, who’s been a fan since the days of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in the 1970s.

“I’ll finally go back” to a game in person, my cousin Plas added. “A Trumper [Latino] what could’ve gone wrong …” he wrote, referencing Moreno, before asking if Kurt Suzuki was still manager because “that’s how little I’ve kept up with the team.”

Those are the texts I can print in a family newspaper.

Moreno is selling to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose company also owns perennial contenders in the NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche) and England’s Premier League (Arsenal). Sources told my colleagues that the price was $4 billion, which would be a baseball record and speaks to the Halos’ untapped potential.

Major League Baseball still needs to approve the deal, but I guarantee that Commissioner Rob Manfred and the 29 other team owners are reacting with the silly swaying dance that Dodgers players do every time they get on base.

“The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years,” the soon-to-be-ex-Angels owner said in a statement.

You stewarded nada, Arte: You destroyed.

You started with so much hope and ended up with fans like my friends shooting venom at you like pissed-off cobras. There’s a reason why you’ll leave as one of the most loathed owners in baseball history. Your underperforming reign makes the McCourts of Dodgers infamy seem as amazing and beloved as the O’Malleys.

Not even Shohei Ohtani, at spring training when he played for the Angels in 2023, could change the team’s fortunes under Moreno.

(Morry Gash/Associated Press)

The Tucson native, who made his billions in the billboard industry, bought the Angels from Disney in 2003, the year after they won their sole World Series championship. At a festive press conference, Moreno handed a sombrero to then-skipper Mike Scioscia to wear, then announced that the first order of business was to cut beer prices.

The new owner quickly signed the best players in baseball — slugger Vladimir Guerrero and pitcher Bartolo Colón. Moreno walked Angel Stadium during games to ask fans what they wanted, what they needed, what they dreamed of. That first decade, he made the Angels what they never had been for a prolonged period: winners.

Fans packed the stands — more than 3 million each year from 2003 to 2019, the third-longest streak in baseball. Anaheimers donned Halos jerseys and hats like never before. More incredibly, Moreno was at the cusp of the impossible: convincing a generation of Latino baseball fans in Orange County to side with the Halos instead of the Dodgers.

But there were always signs that something was off.

Moreno renamed the team the Los Angeles Angels two years after he bought them, a ridiculous moniker that made them a national punchline. The renaming also cost Anaheim millions of dollars in legal fees after the city unsuccessfully sued to force Moreno to keep my hometown in the team’s name.

Moreno openly talked about moving the Angels to a city that would build him a new stadium. He also fell into the terrible habit of signing conservative-leaning, past-their-prime ballplayers like Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon to massive contracts that weighed down the team for years, like one of Angel Stadium’s legendary cinnamon rolls.

Die-hards like my pals trudged on, buoyed by generational talent Mike Trout and the occasional flash-in-the-pan prospect. But even they were turned off by the last three years.

Former Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal tax evasion charges stemming from accusations that he solicited an illegal $1-million campaign donation for an attempted sale of city-owned Angel Stadium to a Moreno-led company.

That same year, the Halos let Ohtani — who was on his way to a second most valuable player award and already had established himself as one of the most talented baseball players ever — walk away as a free agent while gaining nothing in return.

This season kicked off with Moreno telling the Orange County Register about a survey supposedly revealing that winning wasn’t “a top priority” for Angels fans. The Angels hadn’t made the playoffs in 11 years, hadn’t finished with a winning record since 2015, had landed in last place in their division for the last two years — and that’s what he offered as a speck of hope? No wonder the team is on pace to lose 100 games for the first time in franchise history. No wonder disgusted fans have protested both inside and outside Angel Stadium all summer.

At the only game I went to this year — a sparsely attended afternoon snoozer against the Chicago White Sox — I found the stadium more beat-up than ever: peeling paint, beat-up seats, tinny PA system. For about $25 each, my friends and I bought tickets behind the first-base dugout that would have cost hundreds of dollars at Dodger Stadium.

Billboards along Southern California freeways have broadcast the Angels’ desperate attempts to draw in fans via pathetic promotions. Fireworks every Saturday. A bobblehead giveaway of light-hitting shortstop Zach Neto, who never has made an All-Star team. A “yard sale” that sounds like a giant casting off of crappy memorabilia a week away from the trash can.

Angels fans wave signs and urge owner Arte Moreno to sell the team to an ownership group willing to invest more in winning during a pregame protest at Angel Stadium.

(Joaquin Ruiz / For The Times)

I never cared for the Angels, but I always wanted them to do well. Any success they achieved rubbed off on my hometown, as it did during that magical 2002 run.

I also wanted Moreno, the first Latino to own a major professional sports team, to succeed, so his fellow Trump supporters might know that our kind can excel at the highest echelons of American society, if only we get the chance.

But for the last few years, I cheered each time the Angels lost. I wanted them to tank, to forever seal Moreno’s legacy as a loser. To serve as a warning to all professional sports owners that they can abuse a host city and its fan base for only so long before people revolt by just not caring.

Good luck to Kroenke as he tries to resuscitate a franchise deader than a stump in the Petrified Forest.

Who’s house? Angels’ house!

To all you long-suffering Halos fans, light that baby up, because salvation is at hand.

His name is Stan Kroenke, and he’s Rams tough, and he’s just spent a record $4 billion to transform your slumbering baseball organization into something that dazzles like Matthew Stafford and dominates like Myles Garrett.

Kroenke, whose illustrious ownership of the Rams resulted in their move to Los Angeles, a $5.5-billion stadium, and a Super Bowl championship, has agreed to take control of the Angels’ carcass from Arte Moreno in the franchise’s best move since Darin Erstad caught that fly ball on Oct. 27, 2002.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke holds up the Lombardi Trophy after his team beat the Bengals to win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in 2022.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

This is huge. This is landscape altering. This is like Southern California just added an expansion team led by one of the best owners in sports.

For the Angels, currently the second-worst team in baseball and on track to finish a league-worst 12th consecutive season out of the playoffs, this is downright life changing.

Kroenke builds. Kroenke spends. Kroenke wins.

The sale is not expected to close until early 2027, so change will come slowly, but buckle up, because a bumps-be-damned renovation is coming.

First, the Angels are getting a new stadium. Kroenke hasn’t confirmed it, but it’s surely happening. He’s a real estate guy at heart who loves turning empty lots into palaces and that’s what he’ll do in Anaheim.

You think SoFi is nice? Here’s guessing the new Angels stadium will be nicer, and surrounded by the sort of commercial baseball village sprouting up all over the major leagues. The stadium and its environs will offer everything the Dodgers can’t, and may just steal a few fans in the process.

Second, the Angels are getting new swashbuckling leadership. Don’t know who, but expect the new general manager to be the kind of leader who will boldly sacrifice the future to win now, because that’s what Kroenke does, he wins now. Think baseball’s version of Les Snead.

Third, the Angels are getting one of the game’s bright young managers. Don’t know who, but he will be a guy who’s big on analytics and even bigger on the human touch, and he’ll probably be very young and very anonymous and eventually very successful. Think baseball’s version of Sean McVay.

The overall theme of Kroenke’s leadership will be championship or bust. He hates finishing second, and has left no stone unturned in giving the Rams every opportunity to succeed.

When he brought the Rams back to Los Angeles in 2016, he gave the team all of 13 games before firing then-coach Jeff Fisher after going 4-9. Soon thereafter he made 30-year-old McVay the youngest coach in NFL history and they’ve since become arguably the most admired franchise in the NFL.

Kroenke wins both on the field and in the community. His entire operation, which also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS and Arsenal of the Premier League, is led by Kevin Demoff, a lifelong Angeleno who understands and works the local market as well as any sports executive ever. The community has become saturated with Rams, and the same will be happening with the Angels as they increase their reach into Los Angeles County, something Moreno tried but could never pull off.

The name will remain the Los Angeles Angels, not because Kroenke doesn’t like Anaheim, but because he knows his investment must expand out of Orange County to eventually reap rewards.

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”

Storied. Anchored. Exciting. Those are words you rarely heard about the Angels under Moreno, whose 23-year stewardship began with a cheer and ended with a whimper.

Angels owner Arte Moreno has agreed to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Remember how, in his first news conference after buying the team from Disney, he lowered beer prices? He was fun, he was innovative and he was the first Latino majority owner in major American team sports. It was all so cool, and the team responded with five American League West titles and two appearances in the American League Championship Series.

But he eventually made some terrible free-agent decisions — bringing in Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Vernon Wells — and slowly lost touch with a winning formula.

The last straw was four seasons ago when he refused to trade star Shohei Ohtani and eventually lost him to the Dodgers in a free-agent bidding war he reportedly could have won.

In the end, fans were chanting for him to get out and this columnist wrote that he should sell the team … to Stan Kroenke.

Somebody listened!

It’s a sweet marriage, a perfect match, an outcome that deserves to be accompanied by the words of the late, great Rory Markas.

“Just another Halo Victory!”

Is it ever.

This summer, 35% of deals involving a transfer fee have been from one Premier League club to another, which is an increase from last year, when the figure was 30%.

That then increases to 44% in instances where Premier League clubs have bought players from lower down the English football pyramid.

On top of that, the Premier League net spend remains over £1bn for this window – by far the most in Europe – despite many of the biggest sales this summer coming from the English league too. Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs have received more in transfer fees than they have spent.

Aside from French-based duo Barcola and Bouaddi, the majority of major signings made by Premier League clubs this month have been from rival clubs in the same division.

They include England team-mates Rogers and Anderson, while Newcastle sold Tonali to Spurs and Guimaraes to Arsenal.

Manchester United snapped up Baleba from Brighton after a 12-month chase to aid their midfield revamp, while Tottenham‘s recruitment of Fernandes and Savio is in the same category.

But why are English clubs buying each other’s players more than ever this summer instead of shopping abroad for the biggest deals?

One reason could be the temptation for players who are proven in the Premier League.

Many of last season’s big-money signings – with a good chunk of them coming from the Bundesliga – failed to meet expectations or justify their transfer fee.

There have also been deals this summer involving the same clubs, possibly with accounting in mind, with Chelsea and Villa selling players to each other.

And there is also a feeling that teams abroad increase the transfer fees they are asking for when English teams – with all their TV riches – show interest in their players.

A federal judge this week threw out the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging California policies that allow transgender athletes to compete on school sports teams that match their gender identity.

The Justice Department alleged that the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation were in violation of Title IX, a 1972 federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding. It argued the law requires that sports eligibility and facilities access be based on biological sex, not gender identity.

But U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela found that Title IX does no such thing — and that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing other states to apply such eligibility standards only reinforced her conclusion.

Valenzuela, an appointee of President Biden, wrote that the Supreme Court had “explained that Title IX’s regulations ‘expressly permit schools’ to maintain separate sex-based teams and ultimately held that States ‘may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females’ and ‘may determine eligibility’ for those teams based on biological sex” — and “thus upheld the biological-sex eligibility rules before it without holding that Title IX requires every school to adopt the same rule.”

Valenzuela wrote that the Supreme Court “declined to decide whether Title IX permits transgender girls to participate on girls’ and women’s teams,” and “expressly stated” that nothing in its opinion addressed that “distinct question.”

Valenzuela wrote that she, likewise, did not need to decide that issue, only “whether Title IX and its implementing regulations clearly required California to exclude transgender girls from girls’ teams and sex-separated facilities.” She found “they did not.”

Therefore, Valenzuela wrote that California “lacked clear notice” of such categorical exclusion of transgender athletes as a condition of the federal funding California received, and other court decisions — including the Supreme Court’s in June — did not “supply the missing clarity.”

A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency is “evaluating our options for appeal.”

“We are disappointed by the Court’s order, and remain committed to enforcing President Trump’s agenda preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports,” it said, referring to transgender girls.

The Justice Department suit threatened to cut $44.3 billion in federal funding from the California Department of Education, if the state did not change its policies.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office, which represented the California agencies in court, deferred questions to the agencies.

Rebecca Brutlag, a spokesperson for the CIF, said it does not comment on legal matters. The California Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In court, they had made similar arguments as those Valenzuela cited in her ruling — arguing that Title IX does not require excluding transgender girls from girls’ sports, and neither does the recent Supreme Court ruling.

LGBTQ+ rights organizations praised Valenzuela’s ruling Tuesday.

Trevor Norcross, the father of Lily Norcross — a teenage transgender track athlete at Arroyo Grande High School on the Central Coast and one of the athletes whose participation in sports was cited by the Justice Department as a violation of Title IX — said it is “time to get back to supporting and enjoying girls’ and women’s sports instead of trying to tear them down.”

“I’m especially excited that girls in California can now focus on athletic competition without having to worry about manufactured culture wars and the prospect of invasive body inspections if they don’t look feminine enough,” he said.

Rainbow Families Action, a group that advocates for the rights of trans kids, hailed the decision, saying the Trump administration’s “relentless and hateful campaign against transgender children has hit another roadblock.”

The Justice Department’s lawsuit was brought by two longtime critics of California’s policies for transgender students: Harmeet Dhillon, a hard-charging conservative attorney in California before her elevation to head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; and Bill Essayli, a conservative state lawmaker before his elevation to lead the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

It was part of a much broader and ongoing effort by the Trump administration to erase trans-inclusive policies nationwide — around youth sports but also public bathrooms, medical care and official government documents.

California’s own policies for transgender athletes have been in flux.

Last year, President Trump took to his social media platform and demanded that state officials ban transgender teenage track star AB Hernandez from competing at the state track and field competition.

Amid those threats, the CIF updated its rules for transgender competitors. Under the new rules, transgender athletes can compete, but their qualifying for events cannot take a spot away from any cisgender competitor, and they must share whichever podium position they win with the next best cisgender athlete.

Hernandez went on to compete and win multiple medals, sharing her spots on the medal podiums with the cisgender athletes who otherwise would have claimed them had Hernandez not been competing. Hernandez repeated her success this year, again sharing her wins with cisgender competitors.

Los Angeles Times reporter Howard Blume contributed to this article.

When the Angels won their lone World Series, this was the headline in the Los Angeles Times: “Fantasyland!”

Can we run that headline again?

For your new owner, Angels fans, you get a proven winner and real estate developer — more on that in a second — whose very name drips with baseball history.

You know him as Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Rams. His full name is Enos Stanley Kroenke, so named in honor of two St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers: Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial.

As he assembled his sports empire, baseball was the one sport that eluded him. He has the Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and Arsenal. He badly wanted the Dodgers, a runner-up in the bidding when Mark Walter bought them in 2012.

Now he is acquiring the Angels — at a $4-billion valuation, a record for a baseball team — and getting the closest thing to a blank slate that any owner can get without buying an expansion team.

The general manager? He’s an interim, and his contract expires this year.

The manager? His contract expires this year too.

The roster? The only players currently under contract for next year are outfielder Mike Trout — the Angels’ answer to Musial — and pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

The stadium? The lease expires in six years.

The Angels’ playoff drought? The longest in the majors, going on 12 seasons. Go, Super Bowl champ, go!

For Kroenke, the first order of business might well be a comprehensive search for what would be the Angels’ answer to Les Snead and Sean McVay, the GM and head coach duo that led Kroenke’s Rams to a Super Bowl championship. The players might not be the next order of business. The deal is not expected to be approved until early 2027, according to a sale announcement, and who knows whether owners still will be locking out players by then?

But Kroenke appears to be the perfect guy to resolve the longest-running and most critical order of business in Anaheim: resolving the Angels’ future there.

For 60 years, the Angels have played in a stadium surrounded by 130 acres of parking lots. For 60 years, fans have driven into the parking lots, watched the game, and driven home. For 60 years, the city has lost untold millions in tax revenue by failing to build anything atop those parking lots.

Kroenke just does it. He is doing it around SoFi Stadium, which he built. He is doing it around the Rams’ training facility in Woodland Hills, which he built. He plans to do it around the sports arena he is building in San Diego.

Now Kroenke could lobby for a new ballpark in Inglewood, in place of the Forum, and call it synergy. James Butts, the mayor of Inglewood, has said he would frown upon a ballpark there.

But here’s betting Kroenke won’t ask. The sale announcement highlighted Kroenke’s “presence in one of the largest sports and entertainment markets in the United States” and said the purchase of the Angels “extends this footprint south into a market of more than three million residents with its own distinct civic identity, corporate base and tourism economy.”

Kroenke wants what all sports owners want these days: money coming out of a stadium site 365 days a year, not just on game days. That means shops, restaurants, homes, hotels, offices, parks, music venues, and food halls. And good luck to Kroenke or any other developer trying to find a vacant 130 acres in any urban area in Southern California, much less one adjacent to a train station and within three freeways.

This is already happening across the 57 Freeway from Angel Stadium, where Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli are putting up what they call the OC Vibe. Kroenke’s history indicates he would do something just as fun, and likely grander given that he’ll have more land, and suddenly Anaheim could be the coolest place to be in Orange County (*unless Olivia Rodrigo is putting on another Daisy Chain Fields festival in Irvine).

And, if Kroenke is willing to rename the team the Anaheim Angels, the city and its local assemblyman just pushed through a new law that could provide him with a significant financial incentive for development, which in turn could reduce his cost to build the new ballpark the Angels so desperately need.

The city owns the stadium and parking lots, so they were not part of the team sale. City officials have not met with Kroenke.

“Fans and residents welcome the start of a new chapter for baseball in Anaheim,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken said. “I am encouraged by Stan Kroenke’s track record with the Rams and his commitment to investing in and uplifting neighborhoods.

“I look forward to working with the team’s incoming ownership to advance our city’s priorities around housing, open space and youth sports at the right time.”

For decades, Anaheim has loftily labeled the land around the neighborhood around the “Platinum Triangle.” Now the city might well have struck gold.

The local assemblyman that introduced that law, Avelino Valencia, could hardly have been any happier Tuesday.

“This is a big day for Anaheim,” Valencia texted me. “For 60 years, our community has filled Angel Stadium, raised a World Series banner as the Anaheim Angels, and shown up through every season.

“Few cities can offer a new owner a foundation like that. New ownership means new possibilities, and Anaheim is ready for them.

“I congratulate Stan Kroenke and Kroenke Sports and Entertainment on their agreement to purchase the Angels, and I welcome them home. Let’s build a partnership rooted in pride of place, a team that reflects the city it calls home, and the return of the Anaheim Angels.

“Anaheim is ready to work together, and Anaheim is ready to win.”

In a statement, Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) called it “a great day for Angels fans and Anaheim.”

As the stalemate between the city and Angels owner Arte Moreno grew more entrenched, the condition of Angel Stadium deteriorated. So did Moreno’s investment in the team.

Three years ago, the city commissioned an assessment of what it would take to keep Angel Stadium up and running for decades to come. We’re still waiting.

Those words, in a nutshell, exemplified the relationship between the team and the city in recent years. When the news broke Tuesday, a city official reached out to me to ask if it were true. And, after years of city officials sniping that the Angels had for a decade clipped the “of Anaheim” from their “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” name, the Angels emailed a statement confirming the sale with this headline: “Kroenke Sports & Entertainment to Acquire the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”

After a season of “Sell The Team” chants, Moreno did. And, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Valencia’s bill into law last week, the title of the law actually sounded more appropriate Tuesday: “The Home Run for Anaheim Act.”

The Dodgers made a flurry of moves on Tuesday, as rosters expanded for September, the most surprising of which was activating catcher Dalton Rushing (sprained right elbow) off the injured list.

The Dodgers also activated catcher Will Smith (neck) from the IL, optioned outfielder Alek Thomas to Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated catcher Ben Rortvedt for assignment. With two extra active roster spots for the rest of the season, the team activated left-handed pitcher Justin Wrobleski from the IL and recalled infielder Alex Freeland from Triple-A.

Rushing has been on the IL since early August, has been working through a hitting progression, and according to manager Dave Roberts has also started a throwing program. But Roberts indicated over the weekend that he wasn’t necessarily expecting Rushing to be ready to be activated Tuesday.

Regardless of how far Rushing’s throwing has advanced, he can provide a left-handed bat off the bench — a role the Dodgers could also use in the postseason. The Dodgers still have catcher Hunter Feduccia on the roster, and he can serve as the backup to Smith.

Smith returns after being sidelined for almost three months by a nagging neck injury. Wrobleski (left forearm inflammation), on the other hand, spent just over two weeks on the IL, as the Dodgers kept an eye on his workload for the overall season.

Freeland, a switch hitter, also provides a left-handed bat. And his addition improves lineup flexibility: when he plays second base, that could free up Tommy Edman to move to the outfield.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says he is taking full responsibility for his ‘recent personal failure’ after entering a no-contest plea to a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Romo was arrested July 23 in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating while intoxicated (OWI). He also received citations for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in a moving vehicle and unsafe passing, but they were dismissed Tuesday morning by a Milwaukee County judge.

The same judge found Romo guilty of the OWI charge and took away his driving privileges for six months. Romo also must pay $834, and an ignition interlock device must be installed on any vehicle owned or operated by Romo or registered in his name for a minimum of one year.

In a statement posted to Instagram soon after, Romo indicated he is taking the situation seriously.

“This morning, I faced a recent personal failure by pleading no contest to a civil offense for OWI in Wisconsin. I own this completely,” Romo wrote.

“Multiple back surgeries ended my career earlier than I expected and left me with constant, debilitating pain. That pain led to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.

“As I have taught my three young sons: when you fall short, you stand up and take full responsibility. That is an important first step. The harder and more important step is examining the path that brought you here and making the changes necessary to move forward.

“That path requires honesty.

“None of this is an excuse. These are my failures, and I take responsibility for them.”

Romo spent all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Cowboys and has been the lead NFL game analyst for CBS Sports since 2017. On July 31, the network placed Romo on indefinite leave and tapped J.J. Watt to fill in alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz.

He said Tuesday that he is “working closely with a team of doctors to address my health and make the necessary changes” in his life.

“The past month has been difficult, but it has also been personally significant,” Romo wrote. “It has required me to confront and own my mistakes fully — to the Lord, to myself, to my family, and now to the public.”

Romo added: “As I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS, I kindly ask for privacy during this period.”

Everton have agreed a deal for Jack Grealish to return to the club on a season-long loan from Manchester City while striker Beto has joined Serie A club Fiorentina in a £14.58m move.

Grealish, 30, is set for a medical at the Toffees, with his switch expected to be completed before Tuesday’s 23:00 BST transfer deadline.

The England international spent a large chunk of last term at Everton under a similar arrangement, scoring twice and providing six assists in 20 appearances, before sustaining a season-ending foot injury in January.

Grealish had been linked with other teams – including his boyhood club Aston Villa – but his preference was to return to Everton, whose chief executive Angus Kinnear told BBC Radio Merseyside had “remained in contact” with the winger.

Everton have also agreed a £3m deal to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles from French side Lyon.

The 29-year-old former Arsenal player has won five caps for England and can operate as a full-back or in midfield.

Meanwhile, Scotland right-back Nathan Patterson has completed a permanent move to Serie A club Torino.

Patterson, 24, joined Everton from Rangers in January 2022 and made 68 appearances across all competitions.

Guinea-Bissau international Beto, 28, leaves Everton after 25 goals in 113 appearances since joining from Udinese in 2023.

With Toffees winger Iliman Ndiaye, 26, also expected to complete a £65m switch to City, the Merseyside club want to bolster their attacking options before the deadline.

Everton also look to be closing in on the signing of Monaco and USA forward Folarin Balogun in a £40m deal.

However, their bid to re-sign Brazil striker Richarlison from Tottenham appears to have stalled over personal terms.

Grealish, who joined City from Villa for £100m in August 2021, has made two appearances for Enzo Maresca’s side this season.

He came on as a substitute in their Community Shield defeat by Arsenal before coming off the bench in a win against Bournemouth in their Premier League opener.

Grealish did not figure in a 4-1 victory at Crystal Palace on Friday.

Talks are under way between the clubs about a deal for the 24-year-old. It is not yet clear whether any transfer would be on loan or a permanent move.

For the second summer running Everton were also seemingly in the running to sign Dutch full-back Kenny Tete, 30.

However, it appears his proposed £9.4m move from Fulham had been dependent upon the Cottagers finding a suitable replacement.

Everton are next in action on Sunday, when they host Manchester United in the Premier League (14:00 BST).

Anyone wondering what look fashion-forward tennis star Naomi Osaka would sport at the U.S. Open this year received “The Answer” on Monday night at Flushing Meadows in New York.

That is, her look was very much inspired by basketball icon Allen Iverson, complete with cornrows, a headband and arm sleeves.

After her 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3) first-round victory over Anastasia Zakharova, Osaka said she decided to pay homage to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and his signature style after her apparel sponsor chose basketball as its U.S. Open theme.

“It’s my, I guess, my tribute to Iverson. I really like him a lot,” Osaka said during an on-court interview. “I mean, Nike said basketball, so I said, ‘OK, you want basketball, I’ll give you basketball.’”

Osaka took the court wearing a long, hooded gown — possibly inspired by Iverson’s hoodies and baggy clothes from back in the day — with newspaper clippings about her attached to it. She first took off the hood to reveal her hair and headband, then removed the gown to play in a black tank top and metallic tennis skirt.

Naomi Osaka arrives to compete against Anastasia Zakharova during the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday in New York.

(Adam Hunger / Ap Photo/adam Hunger)

Naomi Osaka reacts to winning the first set against Anastasia Zakharova on Monday at the U.S. Open.

(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

The two-time U.S. Open champion also gave a nod to the 11-time NBA All-Star during her media day news conference Saturday by wearing a T-shirt that featured the longtime Philadelphia 76ers star’s 1999 Slam magazine cover.

“For me, he’s a trailblazer,” Osaka said when asked about the shirt. “He’s also someone that I look up to a lot, because he’s done a lot in fashion, whether it’s on purpose or not, but he’s shifted the way that NBA players dress. And I also think the whole conversation around clothes in sports, and also just expressing yourself through style, I feel like he’s someone that I look up to in that regard.”

Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson plays against the Boston Celtics pn March 8, 2006.

(Winslow Townson / Associated Press)

With his hair, tattoos, jewelry and clothes, Iverson gained his reputation as an NBA fashion trailblazer during his playing career from 1996-2010 — so much so that in 2005, when then-commissioner David Stern instituted a stricter dress code for players arriving to games, many felt it was in response to Iverson’s look.

“I took the ass whooping for it, but the dress code thing I actually was just — I was 21,” Iverson said on “The Breakfast Club” last year. “Where am I going after the game? I’m going to the club. Before that, they were used to dudes wearing suits, and I was like, damn. I’ve never worn a suit growing up — going to church or to a funeral was the only time I put on a suit … and the courtroom. I never wore a suit to the gym to play, to the park.”

On Saturday, Osaka said she had never communicated with Iverson — “but hopefully he’ll see this,” she added.

Turns out, he did. Iverson posted a photo of Osaka in the shirt featuring his image and a clip of her comments about him Monday on Instagram.

“Wow, what a honor!!” Iverson wrote. “BIG FAN can’t wait to meet you. @naomiosaka”

Juventus have announced the arrival of Pape Matar Sarr from Tottenham on an initial loan while also agreeing a season-long loan deal for Newcastle forward Nick Woltemade.

The Serie A club will pay Spurs about 2.5m euros (£2.1m) for the loan of Senegal midfielder Sarr.

The club confirmed the deal includes an obligation to buy the 23-year-old for 27.5m euros (£23.6m) if certain conditions are met during the 2026-27 season.

Sarr, who joined Spurs from Metz in 2021, made more than 100 Premier League appearances for the north London club and also helped them win the Europa League in 2025.

He has made 42 appearances for Senegal since his international debut in 2021 and won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.

The announcement comes after Luciano Spalletti’s side also agreed a loan move for Woltemade, though that deal does not include an option to make it permanent.

The Italian side had been one of a number of clubs from the continent interested in signing the 24-year-old before Tuesday’s deadline.

UCLA fires Martin Jarmond

UCLA has fired athletic director Martin Jarmond and appointed longtime Lakers executive Tim Harris to replace him as chief executive and director of athletics.

UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk announced the change on Monday, ending Jarmond’s run of more than six years that included a stunning move to the Big Ten Conference, a string of conference championships outside of football and a significant financial deficit.

“UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable,” Frenk wrote. “Now is the moment to build a model for Athletics that protects the breadth of our program, creates new opportunities for student-athletes and coaches, and supports itself through the revenue it generates. I believe UCLA should help lead the transformation of intercollegiate athletics: our future must be shaped by purpose — not by pressure.”

Frenk cited the rapidly evolving college landscape, including the soaring costs associated with the name, image and likeness athlete compensation era, while announcing the need to shift to Harris’ leadership. Harris is a UCLA alum who spent more than 35 years helping run the Lakers’ business operations. Frenk announced Harris is accepting the job on “pro bono basis.”

“Tim will develop a new strategy to grow revenue through partnerships, licensing and other ventures, while ensuring that our student-athletes and coaches have the required support to compete at the highest level,” Frenk wrote in a letter to UCLA fans while outlining a new direction for the athletics program.

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Angels interim GM discusses his plan

From Bill Shaikin: In two months as the Angels’ interim general manager, John Mozeliak has reoriented the team’s draft selection priority from “closest to the majors” to “best available,” traded one-third of the major league roster to seed a barren minor league system, fired three coaches and completed a restructuring of the front office.

On Monday, he has scheduled the first meeting of the new leadership group in baseball operations.

We’ll get to that restructuring, but none of the decisions so far resolve two of the most compelling questions in Anaheim: Who is going to be running the Angels next year? And, with this year’s Angels flirting with the first 100-loss season in franchise history, are the Angels going to be much better next year?

To the latter question: Probably not.

“With the starting pitching we have, if we have the ability to be more consistent with our offense, you can definitely squint and see a better club out there,” Mozeliak told me. “But it’s going to take a few pieces to do that.”

Uh oh. That sounds discouragingly like the Angels of the last decade: We’re undermanned, but we want to be competitive, so we’ll sign a few lower-tier free agents and hope we can sneak into the playoffs with an 83-win season. In the real world, the Angels clinched their 11th consecutive losing season before the calendar turned to September.

Mozeliak has said he did not believe that the Angels need to rebuild, that the resources available to a team in the second-largest market in the majors should preclude outright tanking. In theory, that should mean that Mozeliak could trade José Soriano for shortstop Arjun Nimmala, 20, now the Angels’ top prospect, comfortable that owner Arte Moreno could buy a quality free agent to replace Soriano in the starting rotation.

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Angels end losing streak

Vaughn Grissom drove in four runs, rookie Walbert Ureña pitched seven strong innings and the Angels ended a seven-game losing streak with a 10-1 victory over the sloppy New York Yankees on Monday night.

Mike Trout had a two-run single and Christian Moore drove in a pair of runs as the Angels won at home for the first time since Aug. 15. Ureña (9-9) gave up five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Elmer Rodríguez (0-3) failed to make it out of the fourth for the Yankees (78-60), giving up four runs and four hits with three walks over 3⅔ innings. It was the shortest of his six career starts since making his major league debut in April.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Angel City defeats Boston

Prisca Chilufya scored a pair of goals as Angel City snapped a six-game winless streak with a 5-2 win over the Boston Legacy at Gillette Stadium on Monday night.

The match featured four goals in the first 18 minutes. Ally Sentnor scored for Angel City (8-8-5) in the fifth minute with a hard strike from just outside the box.

Some three minutes later, Sammy Smith added her own long strike for the Legacy that bounced to the far post out of reach of goalkeeper Angelina Anderson.

Angel City regained the lead with Chilufya’s first goal that got a slight deflection before getting past goalkeeper Laurel Ivory in the 14th minute.

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Angel City summary

NWSL standings

This day in sports history

1923 — The United States wins its fourth consecutive Davis Cup by beating Australia four matches to one.

1946 — Patty Berg wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf title by beating Betty Jameson in the final round.

1971 — John Newcombe becomes the first top-seeded man to lose in the first round of the U.S. Open when he loses to Jan Kodes, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.

1972 — American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer beats Russian champion Boris Spassky 12.5-8.5 in Reykjavik, Iceland; most publicized world title match ever played; Fischer 1st American to win title.

1973 — George Foreman knocks out Jose Roman at 2:00 of the first round in Tokyo to retain the heavyweight title.

1977 — Renee Richards, the 43-year-old transsexual who fought for more than a year for the right to play in the women’s singles of a major tennis championship, is beaten in the first round by Virginia Wade, 6-1, 6-4. Tracy Austin, at the age of 14 years, eight months, 20 days, becomes the youngest player to play in the U.S. Open, defeating Heidi Eisterlehner, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round. Austin’s mark is broken in 1979 by 14-year-old Kathy Horvath.

1984 — Willie Totten of Mississippi Valley State passes for a Division I-AA record 536 yards and nine touchdowns in a 86-0 rout of Kentucky State. Jerry Rice catches 17 passes for 294 yards and five touchdowns and breaks his own Division I-AA record for receiving yards.

1987 — Fifteen-year-old Michael Chang beats Paul McNamee, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, to become the youngest man to win a match at the U.S. Open.

1989 — Chris Evert becomes the first 100-match winner in 108 years of U.S. tennis championships. Evert, playing her final U.S. Open, beat Patricia Tarabini 6-2, 6-4.

1993 — Goran Ivanisevic and Daniel Nestor play the longest tie-break in the history of the U.S. Open (38 points). Ivanisevic wins the first-round match 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (18).

2007 — Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32. Julian Rauch’s 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds left puts the Mountaineers ahead of the Wolverines and Corey Lynch blocks a field goal in the final seconds to seal one of college football’s biggest upsets.

2012 — Eureka (Ill.) College quarterback Sam Durley passes for 736 yards in a 62-55 victory over Knox to break the NCAA single-game passing record. Durley completes 34 of 52 passes and throws for five touchdowns, including two in the final two minutes as the Red Devils close the Division III game with 17 unanswered points.

2014 — Kei Nishikori outlasts Milos Raonic in a five-set marathon that ends at 2:26 a.m., tying the latest finish in U.S. Open history.

2015 — Indiana’s Tamika Catchings scores 13 points, and the Fever beat the Connecticut Sun 81-51 to reach the playoffs for a WNBA-record 11th straight season.

2021 — Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the world record for goals scores in men’s international football with his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1906 — The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 in 24 innings. Jack Coombs of the Athletics and Joe Harris of the Red Sox pitched all 24 innings. Coombs fanned 18.

1930 — Wes Ferrell of Cleveland beat the St. Louis Browns 9-5 for his 13th straight victory.

1931 — Lou Gehrig hit his third grand slam in four days as the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1.

1945 — The Philadelphia Phillies, behind Vince DiMaggio’s grand slam, beat the Braves 8-3 in Boston. It was the fourth grand slam of the year for DiMaggio to tie a major league mark.

1958 — Vinegar Bend Mizell of the St. Louis Cardinals set a National League record by walking nine batters and tossing a shutout. Mizell beat Cincinnati 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.

1963 — Curt Simmons of the St. Louis Cardinals allowed six hits, drove in two runs with a triple and stole home plate in a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Simmons’ steal of home is the last by a pitcher.

1967 — Cincinnati’s Bob Lee walked Dick Groat with the bases loaded in the 21st inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 1-0 victory at Crosley Field.

1975 — Tom Seaver struck out Manny Sanguillen in the seventh inning to become the first pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in eight consecutive seasons. Seaver recorded 10 strikeouts in the Mets’ 3-0 triumph over Pittsburgh.

1986 — Oddibe McDowell and Darrell Porter of Texas hit back-to-back pinch hit homers in the ninth inning off Boston reliever Steve Crawford, but the Rangers fall to the Red Sox 6-4.

1998 — Mark McGwire broke Hack Wilson’s 68-year-old National League record for home runs in a season, hitting his 56th and 57th in the St. Louis Cardinals’ victory over the Florida Marlins.

1999 — Twenty-two of baseball 68 permanent umpires found themselves jobless, the fallout from their union’s failed attempt to force an early start to negotiations for a new labor contract. Under the deal mediated by U.S. District Judge J. Curtis Joyner, the union agreed the 22 “will provide no further services.”

2002 — Miguel Tejada hit a game-ending three-run homer to power Oakland to a 7-5 win, Oakland’s 18th straight victory, over Minnesota.

2007 — Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter in his second major league start, just hours after being called up by the Boston Red Sox. Buchholz struck out nine, walked three and hit one batter to give the Red Sox a 10-0 victory over Baltimore.

2008 — Arizona’s Stephen Drew and Seattle’s Adrian Beltre became the first players to hit for the cycle on the same day since Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers and George Burns of the New York Giants did it on Sept. 17, 1920.

2014 — Cole Hamels and three Philadelphia Phillies relievers combined to pitch a no-hitter, beating the Atlanta Braves 7-0. Hamels pulled after six innings. Relievers Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and closer Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a hitless inning to finish off the fourth no-hitter in the majors this season.

2018 — South Korea wins its third straight baseball Gold in the Asian games as they beat Japan 3-0.

2019 — Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros strikes out 14 batters as he throws his third career no-hitter in a 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

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. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Vaughn Grissom drove in four runs, rookie Walbert Ureña pitched seven strong innings and the Angels ended a seven-game losing streak with a 10-1 victory over the sloppy New York Yankees on Monday night.

Mike Trout had a two-run single and Christian Moore drove in a pair of runs as the Angels won at home for the first time since Aug. 15. Ureña (9-9) gave up five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Elmer Rodríguez (0-3) failed to make it out of the fourth for the Yankees (78-60), giving up four runs and four hits with three walks over 3⅔ innings. It was the shortest of his six career starts since making his major league debut in April.

Spencer Jones homered for the Yankees, who committed three errors after scoring a combined 25 runs in consecutive wins over the rival Boston Red Sox at home last weekend. New York is three games ahead of Boston for the top American League wild-card spot and 4½ games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

The Angels (53-85) took a 1-0 lead in the third on Grissom’s run-scoring single. Zach Neto had an RBI single in the fourth after both Oswald Peraza and Tyler Heineman were hit by pitches from Rodríguez with two outs.

Trout added his two-run single in the fourth for his first multi-RBI hit since a two-run homer on July 8.

Jones connected in the fifth to make it 4-1.

Moore had a bloop RBI double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on an errant pickoff throw to second by Michael Fulmer. Neto scored in the sixth for a 7-1 lead when Yankees shortstop José Caballero made two errors on what could have been an inning-ending double-play grounder by Grissom.

In the eighth, Grissom made it 9-1 with a two-run double off the wall in left field and Moore added an RBI single. Grissom finished with three hits and scored twice.

Up next: Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (7-3, 3.19 ERA) faces Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (4-5, 6.03) in the middle game of the series Tuesday.

Asked about a realistic target for Cardiff this season, 11-cap Poland international Beliek added: “First half of the table, for sure.

“We have two more spots in the play-offs, and I honestly believe we are more than capable of getting there, 100 per cent.

“If we can get more clinical in the final third and more stable at the back, we can beat any team in this division.”

Although centre-back is his preferred position, Bielik has previously been used as a defensive midfielder.

The former Arsenal youngster hopes to free up Cardiff’s attacking options to express themselves.

“We have some scary players up front,” he said. “Sheffield couldn’t cope with the energy and the quality we have up there.

“Us centre-backs have to work hard to make sure that our offensive players have an enjoyable game and create chances to win the game.”

World champion Wu Yize set up an intriguing second-round tie against former Crucible winner Kyren Wilson at the British Open after both won their opening matches.

China’s Wu beat compatriot Liu Hongyu 4-3 in Cheltenham, while 2024 world champion Wilson was a 4-1 winner against Austria’s Florian Nuessle.

Last year’s British Open champion Shaun Murphy was joined by Ding Junhui, Barry Hawkins, Judd Trump and John Higgins in progressing to the second round.

However, three-time world champion Mark Williams lost 4-0 to David Gilbert, world number two Neil Robertson fell 4-1 to Pang Junxu, and 2023 world champion Luca Brecel fell 4-3 to Chris Wakelin.

Mark Joyce, who replaced Ronnie O’Sullivan after the seven-time world champion withdrew because of medical reasons, beat Poland’s Mateusz Baranowski 4-1.

New world number one Zhao Xintong, the first Chinese player to become world champion in 2025, will play his opening-round match against England’s Oliver Brown on Tuesday.

Zhao reached the final of the Wuhan Open last week, securing the top ranking spot in the process, only to lose 10-7 to countryman Chang Bingyu in the title match.

The British Open uses a random draw for each round, with no seeds, meaning high-profile names can face each other early in the tournament.

Dolly Parton may have been a worldwide musical icon, but she shared a special connection with her home state.

Parton died last week at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer. And now the University of Tennessee will honor that special relationship with the singing superstar with a helmet decal to be worn by Volunteers players all season.

Coach Josh Heupel announced the tribute Monday while talking to reporters ahead of his No. 20-ranked team’s opener against Furman this weekend.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t also talk about the passing of Dolly Parton — all that she’s meant across the world, this country, and certainly, the queen of East Tennessee and a lady that was extremely proud of her roots,” Heupel said.

“You look at her impact, you know, just her ability to give back, make an impact to people, certainly here in East Tennessee — she means a lot to people across this country but certainly here inside the state of Tennessee, too, so we’ll be wearing a sticker patch on the back of our helmet to recognize her, her accomplishments and everything that she’s meant.”

The sticker will feature a butterfly — an image that Parton had long used in her logos — with the singer’s first name in her handwriting in the middle, all in Tennessee orange and white.

Parton grew up in Sevierville, Tenn., roughly 30 miles east of the university’s Knoxville campus.

While she did not attend college, Parton was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters from Tennessee in 2009 following her commencement address to the graduating class of that year. She also received an honorary doctorate degree of letters from Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., in 1990.

In 2023, Parton was escorted onto the field by legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the crowd in singing “Rocky Top” following the first quarter of the Volunteers’ game against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback paid tribute to Parton following her Aug. 25 death.

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“There was only one Dolly and I feel lucky to have known her,” Manning wrote in an Instagram post that also included a photo of the two of them at the 2023 event. “We’ll miss you, Dolly. Tennessee won’t be the same without her!”

Last week, Middle Tennessee State University announced its football team would wear a patch honoring Parton during its home opener against Murray State on Saturday. In addition, the Blue Raiders will display QR codes on the scoreboard screen for donations to Parton’s book-gifting program, the Imagination Library.

UCLA has fired athletic director Martin Jarmond and appointed longtime Lakers executive Tim Harris to replace him as CEO and director of athletics.

UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk announced the change on Monday, ending Jarmond’s run of more than six years that included a stunning move to the Big Ten Conference, a string of conference championships outside of football and a significant financial deficit.

“UCLA Athletics currently carries a significant financial deficit, and its current path is not sustainable,” Frenk wrote. “Now is the moment to build a model for Athletics that protects the breadth of our program, creates new opportunities for student-athletes and coaches, and supports itself through the revenue it generates. I believe UCLA should help lead the transformation of intercollegiate athletics: our future must be shaped by purpose — not by pressure.”

Frenk cited the rapidly evolving college landscape, including the soaring costs associated with the name, image and likeness athlete compensation era, while announcing the need to shift to Harris’ leadership. Harris is a UCLA alum who spent more than 35 years helping run the Lakers’ business operations.

“Tim will develop a new strategy to grow revenue through partnerships, licensing and other ventures, while ensuring that our student-athletes and coaches have the required support to compete at the highest level,” Frenk wrote in a letter to UCLA fans while outlining a new direction for the athletics program.

It’s not clear whether Jarmond will receive all or part of the $5.9 million remaining on a recent contract extension that runs through June 30, 2029.

While UCLA enjoyed success in many sports and led the Big Ten in championships during its first season in the league, Jarmond struggled to get the football program on track until he collaborated with a committee on the hire of current coach Bob Chesney.

Fans called for coach Chip Kelly to be fired after bad home losses to Arizona State and California near the end of the 2023 season, but Jarmond said he preferred continuity with the Bruins poised to join the Big Ten. It seemed Kelly’s contract combined with the an athletic department deficit gave the athletic director little room to make a change.

Two months later, after reportedly interviewing for several coaching vacancies, Kelly took the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State.

Self-imposing a 96-hour deadline to find a successor, Jarmond pivoted to Deshaun Foster, a reticent running backs coach who was beloved by players but short on experience. After posting a 5-10 record and going 0-3 to start the 2025 season, Foster was fired. His contract presented fewer hurdles making a quick change when Foster struggled with the demands of the job.

The football program won one bowl game — the L.A. Bowl — during Jarmond’s tenure and set record lows for attendance in multiple seasons.

Jarmond, however, also presided over teams that won nine NCAA championships, including the women’s basketball national title last season.

At the end of the 2024 fiscal year, UCLA athletics carried $51.8 million in debt that required a university bailout. Big Ten revenue has dented the deficit, but the expense of fielding competitive teams in all sports is soaring.