Dodgers lose to the Giants
From Bill Shaikin: José Soriano leads the major leagues with a 0.24 earned-run average. It’s hard to think of something the Angels could do to make him better.
Shohei Ohtani ranks second with a 0.38 ERA. It’s not so hard to think of something the Dodgers could do to make him better.
On Wednesday, however, that might not have turned the Dodgers into winners. The San Francisco Giants won in the unlikeliest of ways: on one swing, a three-run home run from Patrick Bailey, a catcher who opened play batting .145 and had not hit a home run since last season. After Ohtani pitched six shutout innings, Bailey homered off Jack Dreyer in the seventh.
That was not the only unlikely performance: The winning pitcher was Tyler Mahle, who pitched seven shutout innings for his first victory in 10 months. Mahle started the game with an 0-3 record and 7.23 ERA.
That was the ballgame: Giants 3, Dodgers 0, with San Francisco clinching the series and the Dodgers losing for the fourth time in five games. In two games against the Giants, the Dodgers have scored one run.
Mike Trout ties a Garret Anderson record
Mike Trout homered, Nolan Schanuel homered and hit a three-run double and Jose Soriano worked five shutout innings as the Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 on Wednesday to avoid a series sweep.
Trout’s eighth homer of the season was a 428-foot solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. That hit tied the 34-year-old Trout with the late Garret Anderson for the Angels’ franchise record of 796 extra-base hits. Anderson died last week of an acute necrotizing pancreatitis at the age of 53.
Soriano, who is 5-0, gave up three hits and struck out five in five innings before leaving with a 3-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to an MLB-leading 0.24. The 27-year-old right-hander is the first MLB pitcher since 1900 to allow no more than one run in the first six starts of a season, and he has the lowest ERA (with a minimum of 30 innings pitched) through a pitcher’s first six starts of a season since 1913, when earned runs became official in both leagues.
Ducks even series with Edmonton
Cutter Gauthier broke a tie off a rebound with 4:52 left and the Ducks beat Edmonton 6-4 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series, with Oilers star Connor McDavid slowed by an apparent leg injury.
McDavid appeared to catch an edge early in the second period after getting tangled up with teammate Mattias Ekholm and the Ducks’ Ian Moore. McDavid briefly left the game before returning, playing just over 24 minutes.
Game 3 is Friday night at Honda Center. Edmonton opened the series Monday night with a 4-3 victory.
Gauthier put the Ducks back in front after Josh Samanski — making his playoff debut — tied it at 4 with 6:09 to go. Ryan Poehling put it away with an empty-netter with 1:10 left, his second goal of the game. He scored shorthanded in the second.
Ducks playoffs schedule
All times Pacific
at Edmonton 4, Ducks 3 (summary)
Ducks 6, at Edmonton 4 (summary)
Friday: Edmonton at Ducks, 7 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max)
Sunday: Edmonton at Ducks, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday: Ducks at Edmonton, TBD
*Thursday, April 30: Edmonton at Ducks, TBD
*Saturday, May 2: Ducks at Edmonton, TBD
*-if necessary
Kings playoffs schedule
All times Pacific
at Colorado 2, Kings 1 (summary)
at Colorado 2, Kings 1 (OT) (summary)
Thursday: Colorado at Kings, 7 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max
Sunday: Colorado at Kings, 1:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max
*Wed., April 29: Kings at Colorado, TBD
*Friday, May 1: Colorado at Kings, TBD
*Sunday, May 3: Kings at Colorado, TBD
*- If necessary
Lakers series is over
From Bill Plaschke: Who knew?
LeBron James flying down the lane unchecked for a pumping, over-the-shoulder slam.
Marcus Smart diving and scrapping and leading cheers with a scream.
Luke Kennard stepping to the free-throw line and hearing the chant, “MVP! … MVP! … MVP!”
Who knew?
Without their two best players, facing the quicker and more bruising Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, who knew the Lakers would do what they did Tuesday night at a roaring Crypto.com Arena?
They say a series doesn’t start until the home team loses a game, but, believe it, this series is already over.
Lakers’ ‘Swiss Army knife’ Marcus Smart sets the tone against Kevin Durant, Rockets
Lakers playoff schedule
First round
All times Pacific
at Lakers 107, Houston 98 (box score)
at Lakers 101, Houston 94 (box score)
Friday: Lakers at Houston, 5:30 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
Sunday: Lakers at Houston, 6:30 p.m., NBC
*Wednesday: Houston at Lakers, TBD
*Friday, May 1: Lakers at Houston, TBD
*Sunday, May 3: Houston at Lakers, TBD
*-if necessary
LAFC plays to scoreless draw
Zack Steffen finished with two saves and had his second shutout of the season for the Colorado Rapids in a 0-0 tie with LAFC on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.
The Rapids (4-4-1) had 71% possession.
LAFC (5-2-2), who had lost back-to-back game for the first time in more than a calendar year, are winless in three straight.
Hugo Lloris had two saves and leads MLS with seven shutouts.
Galaxy lose to Columbus
Dániel Gazdag and Diego Rossi each scored to help the Columbus Crew beat the Galaxy 2-1 on Wednesday night in a game delayed for over two hours because of severe weather.
Columbus (2-4-3) has given up just three goals in its first four home matches of the season.
Gazdag scored in the 41st minute when he redirected Hugo Picard’s cross with the outside of his foot.
Final NFL mock draft
From Sam Farmer: This might be the first time in the NFL’s modern era that Pittsburgh has hosted the draft, but the whole format was actually invented here.
In 1935, the league’s founders met at the Fort Pitt Hotel and voted unanimously to put in place a selection process in reverse order of the previous season’s standings. That would promote competitive balance, which has been a hallmark of the NFL ever since.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Las Vegas Raiders. The franchise went 21-41 over the past four seasons and its offense scored a league-worst 241 points last season.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who led Indiana to a national championship, won’t be at the draft but almost certainly will hear his name called first. He’s likely to be the only quarterback selected in the opening round.
A look at how the draft could unfold:
This day in sports history
1950 — The Detroit Red Wings edge the New York Rangers 4-3 in Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup.
1950 — The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 in Game 6 of the finals. George Mikan leads the Lakers with 40 points in a game marred by three fights, four Minneapolis players fouling out, and Nats coach Al Cervi being ejected for complaining too vociferously about a call.
1954 — The NBA adopts the 24-second shot clock.
1969 — Jerry West scores 53 points to lead the Lakers over Boston 120-118 in the opening game of the NBA finals.
1989 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 10 points in his last regular-season game as a Laker in a 121-117 win over Seattle.
1989 — NFL Draft: #1 pick UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman by Dallas Cowboys.
1993 — The Dallas Mavericks avoid matching the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in NBA history, beating Minnesota 103-100 for their 10th triumph of the season.
1993 — Orlando’s Nick Anderson scores 50 points in the Magic’s 119-116 win over the New Jersey Nets at The Meadowlands. Anderson’s feat is overshadowed by Shaquille O’Neal, who rips down the backboard in the first quarter, delaying the game 45 minutes.
2002 — Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues ties an NHL record with three straight shutouts in the playoffs. That had not happened in 57 years. Johnson reaches the milestone with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
2005 — NFL Draft: University of Utah quarterback Alex Smith first pick by San Francisco 49ers.
2011 — The Portland Trail Blazers rally from 23 points down in the second half, including an 18-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to defeat Dallas 84-82 and tie the first-round series at 2-2. Portland’s Brandon Roy scores 18 in the fourth quarter, including a 4-point play and the go ahead jumper with 39 seconds left. Roy outscores Dallas 18-15 in the quarter.
2017 — Kenyan runner Mary Keitany breaks Paula Radcliffe’s women-only marathon world record with a third victory in London. Keitany completes the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 1 second to shave 41 seconds off Radcliffe’s 12-year-old mark.
2020 — NFL Draft: LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first pick by Cincinnati Bengals.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1903 — The New York Highlanders, who later changed their name to the Yankees, won their first game as a major league team, 7-2 over the Washington Senators.
1913 — New York Giants ace Christy Mathewson beat the Phillies 3-1, throwing just 67 pitches.
1939 — Rookie Ted Williams went 4-for-5, including his first major league home run, but the Red Sox lost to Philadelphia 12-8 at Fenway Park.
1946 — Ed Head of the Brooklyn Dodgers no-hit the Boston Braves 5-0 at Ebbets Field. Head was making his first start after a year’s military service.
1952 — Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians and Bob Cain of the St. Louis Browns matched one-hitters. Cain wound up as the winner, 1-0.
1952 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Giants hit a home run at the Polo Grounds in his first major league at-bat. He was the winner, too, and pitched 1,070 games in the majors — but never hit another homer.
1954 — Hank Aaron hit the first home run of his major league career. The drive came against Vic Raschi in the Milwaukee Braves’ 7-5 victory over St. Louis.
1962 — After an 0-9 start, the expansion New York Mets won their first game beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 behind Jay Hook.
1964 — Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the first pitcher to lose a nine-inning no-hitter when Pete Rose scored an unearned run to give the Cincinnati Reds a 1-0 victory.
1978 — Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds makes an error at second base, bringing his major league record of 91 consecutive errorless games to an end.
1989 — Nolan Ryan came within two out of his sixth career no-hitter, losing it when Nelson Liriano tripled in the ninth inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1. Ryan finished with his 10th lifetime one-hitter.
1990 — Steve Lyons of the Chicago White Sox plays all nine positions during an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs.
1999 — Fernando Tatis of St. Louis became the first in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning in a 12-5 win over the Dodgers. Tatis also set the record with eight RBIs in one inning.
2008 — The Chicago Cubs won their 10,000th game, joining the Giants as the only franchise to reach that mark with a 7-6 10-inning victory at Colorado.
2009 — Ichiro Suzuki lined James Shields’ second pitch of the game for a home run, the only run of Seattle’s 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the 22nd time a leadoff homer was the deciding run in a game, and it was just the second time it happened for the Mariners.
2012 — Ivan Rodriguez, who has caught more games than anyone in big league history, announces his retirement after a 21-year career.
2013 — B.J. Upton and his brother Justin hit back-to-back homers for the first time, leading the Atlanta Braves past the Colorado Rockies 10-2 to complete a doubleheader sweep. It was the 27th time in major league history that brothers homered in the same game, but only the second time they went deep in consecutive at-bats. Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates also accomplished the feat on Sept. 15, 1938.
2022 — Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers becomes the 33rd member of the 3,000 hit club.
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.