associated press

Sept. 21, 2026 12:45 PM PT

AUSTIN, Texas — A Venezuelan man shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was in custody Monday at an ICE detention center in Texas after he was released from a hospital with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to a spokesperson for the man’s attorney.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was making a DoorDash delivery in Austin, the state capital, on Sunday before he was shot during a traffic stop, said Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, a spokesperson for immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.

Ruiz said Perez called his wife around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to tell her that he had been shot. She said Perez’s wife hasn’t spoken with him since then.

Perez was being detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles southwest of Austin, Ruiz told the Associated Press. She said Lincoln-Goldfinch spoke by phone with Perez, who told her that he was being interrogated while a bullet remained in his back. Perez also said he had no pain medication, according to Ruiz.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has released little information and has not said what prompted the shooting. In a statement early Monday, the department said it was investigating the shooting of a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally who “had a final order of removal.”

Perez is an asylum seeker and entered the United States through a parole program, and he has no criminal history, Ruiz said.

“Regardless of his status, the use of force was unwarranted,” Ruiz said. “As far as we understand, he was here legally.”

The shooting occurred amid a surge in ICE enforcement across the U.S. during President Trump’s second term. During the summer, it reported more than 50,000 monthly arrests in July and August — a first for the agency.

Immigration officers have come under intense scrutiny amid a series of shootings during the crackdown. At least four people have been fatally shot by federal officers during immigration enforcement operations this year.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis told reporters Sunday that the shooting occurred after a traffic stop. She said local police were not involved. Local officials said the man was shot once in the torso and had been hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

Perez’s wife and attorney were unable to get information on his condition from the hospital Sunday until hospital attorneys told them about 6 p.m. that he had been discharged 90 minutes earlier, Ruiz said.

She said ICE had not confirmed any information to Lincoln-Goldfinch, who used legal databases and other means to discover where he was being detained.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Sunday he wants local police to have a role in investigating the shooting. Watson said it wouldn’t be appropriate for ICE to investigate on its own.

At the scene of the shooting, a dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes before it was towed away Sunday evening.

About 100 anti-ICE protesters gathered Sunday in the shooting’s aftermath.

Wilder and Bedayn write for the Associated Press. AP writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Ga., contributed to this report.

Struggling Chargers lose again

From Sam Farmer: Once is a hiccup.

Twice is a habit.

Maybe this is what the Chargers are — lurching, sputtering and unable to consistently move the football, despite an offensive overhaul packed with lofty expectations.

Just as they did in their abysmal season opener, the Chargers struggled at home Sunday and failed to establish a rhythm on their way to a 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 26-14 on Sunday, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier for them moving forward.

The Chargers lost their opener to the Arizona Cardinals by an identical score — 26-14.

In another bit of sad synchronicity, both the Raiders and Cardinals won just three games and fired their coaches last season.

“Not deterred,” said Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, off to his first 0-2 coaching start in college or the pros. “No one in that locker room is deterred.”

If so, the Chargers are showing far more determination off the field than on it. Because their play Sunday could buckle the resolve of even true believers.

Continue reading here

Chargers summary

NFL standings

Dodgers sweep the Giants

From Kevin Baxter: Only the Pirates and Cubs have met more often than the Dodgers and Giants, who faced off for the first time in 1889. And over all that time, the Dodgers are just two games better, with 1,294 wins to the Giants’ 1,292.

The Dodgers and Giants have also won more pennants, made more World Series appearances and have more players wearing their caps in the Hall of Fame than any other National League teams, all of which fueled a rivalry that was once among the most visceral and passionate in American sports.

But that was then and this is now.

After Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Giants, the Dodgers’ 14^th win in their last 17 games, the team could finish a season with 100 wins for the fourth time in six years. The Giants have had just one winning record in that time.

The Dodgers (96-60), who have won five straight division titles, are headed to the postseason for a record-tying 14^th consecutive year. The Giants will miss the playoffs for a fifth straight season.

So is the rivalry dead? That depends on who you ask.

“It’s always a rivalry,” Giants pitcher Logan Webb. “We’d like to make it a little closer when it comes to the standings. But I definitely feel it when I throw against them.”

But then Webb, who is from Northern California, grew up with the rivalry and, as the longest-tenured Giant, pitched against the Dodgers in games that mattered. Giants coach Ron Washington, who made his major league debut with the Dodgers when the rivalry was still a thing, said many players on San Francisco’s roster don’t know that background.

Continue reading here

Dodger Stadium has a botanic garden tour. Meet the man entrusted with making it a draw

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Calling all Dodgers fans

Times sports reporter Kevin Baxter wants to talk to a few Dodgers fans for an upcoming story. If you are interested in speaking with him, please email him at kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Angels shut out by Twins

Alan Roden hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high four runs, and Dean Kremer yielded one hit over six stellar innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 8-0 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Josh Bell had three hits and two RBIs for the Twins (73-83), who have won three of five overall after splitting four games at Angel Stadium with two shutout victories. Brooks Lee added three hits and scored three runs.

Roden had three hits in his first major league game this month, punctuated by a shot to right in the seventh for his third career homer, his first since Aug. 6, 2025.

The game also was likely their last at Angel Stadium during the 24-year tenure of owner Arte Moreno, who intends to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke before next season begins.

Continue reading here

‘I try to bring the energy.’ Michael Araujo living his dream as the voice of Angel Stadium

Angels box score

MLB standings

Angel City routs Utah

Angel City cruised to a 3-0 road victory over a shorthanded Utah team that received two red cards in the first half.

Defender Paige Cronin and midfielder Ana Tejada were ejected by the 24th minute. Two minutes later, Ally Sentnor converted the resulting penalty kick past goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn to put Angel City (11-8-6) ahead in Sandy, Utah.

Two minutes after coming off the bench for the second half, Taylor Suarez made it 2-0 with a one-touch finish off a pass from Gisele Thompson.

Continue reading here

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

Sparks unveil Lisa Leslie statue, then win

From Jordan Puente: Sparks legend Lisa Leslie has officially been immortalized in Los Angeles.

Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, became the first female professional athlete to receive a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. After the ceremony, the Sparks earned a 105-84 win over the Portland Fire.

Leslie’s friends and family gathered outside the arena for the unveiling of the statue Leslie dubbed “The First Lady,” celebrating her 12-year pro basketball career in Los Angeles. Many speakers, including former Sparks coach Michael Cooper and Lakers legend Magic Johnson, noted Leslie’s accomplishments while also saluting her as a kind person.

Leslie became the second WNBA player to be honored with a bronze statue outside of a U.S. pro basketball arena, joining the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1940 — For the first time in the history of photo finishes a triple dead heat for first place is recorded, at Willow’s Park, Victoria, British Columbia.

1955 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1980 — Richard Todd of the New York Jets completes an NFL record 42 passes and throws for 447 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-27 loss to San Francisco.

1982 — NFL players begin a 57-day strike.

1985 — Michael Spinks wins a 15-round unanimous decision over Larry Holmes Las Vegas to win the world heavyweight title.

1985 — Montana State’s David Pandt catches 21 passes for 169 yards against Eastern Washington to set an NCAA record.

1986 — Ken O’Brien’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Walker at 2:35 in overtime ends one of the highest scoring games in NFL history as the New York Jets defeat the Miami Dolphins 51-45. O’Brien passes for 479 yards and four touchdowns, all to Walker. Miami’s Dan Marino passes for 448 yards and three touchdowns as both quarterbacks set a record with 884 combined yards passing.

1991 — U.S. Basketball announces “Dream Team” for the 1992 Olympics.

1994 — The North Carolina women’s soccer team wins its 89th straight game, setting the unofficial record for the longest winning streak in college sports. The 5-1 victory over rival N.C. State broke the mark of 88 in a row set by the UCLA men’s basketball team during the early 1970s.

1997 — The Buffalo Bills stage the third-biggest comeback in NFL history, overcoming a 26-0 deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts 37-35. The Bills made the greatest comeback in the 1992 AFC playoffs, wiping out a 35-3 deficit to beat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in overtime.

2003 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins the fastest open-wheel race in history at California Speedway. Hornish’s Chevrolet-powered Dallara averages 207.151 mph in the Toyota Indy 400 — breaking the previous closed course race record of 197.995, set here last year by Jimmy Vasser in a CART Champ Car event.

2008 — The United States take back the Ryder Cup with a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory over Europe. It’s the largest margin of victory for the Americans since 1981.

2008 — Miami wins for just the second time in 22 games, ending New England’s NFL record 21 straight regular-season wins with a 38-13 win over the Patriots. Ronnie Brown scores a Miami-record four rushing touchdowns and passes for another. The 25-point loss is New England’s biggest in seven seasons at Gillette Stadium.

2014 — Tom Brady passes for 234 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 16-9 win over Oakland. The win is Brady’s 150th career victory as a starting quarterback, joining Brett Favre (186) and Peyton Manning (169) as the only quarterbacks to accomplish the feat.

2018 — English golfer Oliver Fisher shoots the first round of 59 in the 46-year history of the European Tour. Fisher makes an eagle and 10 birdies on a par-71 course in the second round of the Portugal Masters held at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1934 — Daffy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers for 3-0 victory in the second game of an Ebbets Field doubleheader. Daffy’s brother Dizzy, held Brooklyn hitless until the eighth inning in the opener and won 13-0.

1947 — Boston’s Johnny Pesky had two hits in each game of a doubleheader and finished the day with 202 hits. Pesky surpassed the 200-hit mark for the third time in as many major league seasons. He is the only player to lead a league in hits in his first three seasons in the game.

1964 — Manager Gene Mauch’s first-place Phillies lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds on Chico Ruiz’s steal of home in the sixth inning. It was Philadelphia’s first of 10 straight losses, a streak that cost them the NL pennant.

1970 — Oakland’s Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter in his eighth major league start, beating Minnesota 6-0.

1995 — Colorado’s John Vander Wal set a major league record with his 26th pinch-hit of the season with a home run in the seventh inning against San Francisco.

2000 — Colorado’s Jeff Cirillo doubled twice in a 13-4 win over San Diego, giving him 51 doubles for the year. Cirillo and Todd Helton (57) became the seventh pair of teammates in major league history to reach 50 doubles in the same season.

2001 — Albert Pujols hit a grand slam and doubled in a run in St. Louis’ 9-5 win over Pittsburgh. The slam gave him the major league record for extra base hits by a rookie (83), one more than Johnny Frederick’s total for Brooklyn in 1929.

2001 — Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez hits his 47th home run tying the major league record for home runs in a season by a shortstop. Cubs legend Ernie Banks established the record in 1958.

2006 — David Ortiz hit his 51st and 52nd homers, breaking the Red Sox record for most homers in a season of 50 set in 1938 by Jimmie Foxx. The homers also set the major league record by a designated hitter at 45, two more than he hit when he set the record last season.

2008 — Baseball said farewell to Yankee Stadium, the home of baseball’s most famous team. What began with a Babe Ruth home run on an April afternoon in 1923 ended with Mariano Rivera retiring Brian Roberts on a grounder to first baseman Cody Ransom, completing a 7-3 victory over Baltimore.

2013 — Matt Carpenter broke Stan Musial’s team record for doubles by a left-handed batter in a season and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2. Carpenter’s fifth-inning double was his 54th of the season, one more than Musial’s total in 1953.

2016 — Rookie Gary Sanchez hit two more homers and drove in five runs to lead the New York Yankees to an 11-5 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays. Sanchez homered in his fourth straight game. The catcher hit a three-run shot in a four-run second off Alex Cobb and added his 19th homer in 43 games this season on a solo drive in the sixth against Justin Marks. Including two games last season, Sanchez became the first player in major league history to hit 19 homers in his first 45 games. Wally Berger, with the Boston Braves in 1930, went deep 19 times in his first 51 games.

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Teacher/coaches are always teaching lessons, but what lessons do they learn from players?

Coaches learning lessons

Tom Harp, the longtime girls’ volleyball coach at Granada Hills.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Coaches are trained to be good teachers, which means offering life lessons and sports lessons. But what do they learn from their players?

For months, a simple questions has been asked: What’s the best lesson a player taught you?

Very few coaches asked could immediately answer. They needed to think long and hard, which meant the question was good.

Here’s a look at what some coaches offered as lessons learned from their players.

It was the battle in the trenches between Orange Lutheran and Sierra Canyon, which won 28-10.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Sierra Canyon and Orange Lutheran engaged in a penalty-filled nonleague game that should get both teams ready for league play. Thanks to running back Jaxsen Stokes, Sierra Canyon won 28-10. Here’s the report.

Bishop Amat made JSerra pull out every trick before the Lions prevailed 37-28 behind quarterback Hayes Cloutier. Here’s the report.

One of the best games of the week was Corona del Mar holding off La Serna 30-24. Here’s the report.

The Long brothers growing up, with the youngest, Grady, now the quarterback at La Serna.

(Long family)

The quarterbacks in the game are youngest brothers from families that combined to produce six quarterbacks. Here’s the report.

Huntington Beach knocked off Yorba Linda to go to 5-0 for the first time since 1998.

Receiver Paul Turner had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns to help Birmingham win its first game against a Southern Section opponent, beating Burbank 23-18. The Patriots play unbeaten Harvard-Westlake on Friday before switching to City Section action.

Marshall improved to 5-0 with a 28-27 win over Marquez, stopping a two-point conversion try in the final minute.

San Pedro picked up a forfet win over Palisades when the Dolphins couldn’t field enough players after a breakout of COVID.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s top individual performances from Week 4.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s games.

QB works all hours

Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet started work for his senior season on New Year’s Eve.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet was jump roping. He practices morning, afternoon and night trying to put himself in position to play college football. He has led his team to a 5-0 start.

Here’s a look at his passion and commitment to be a quarterback.

JSerra is 17-0 and keeps beating one challenger after another. The Lions will face Trinity League rival Orange Lutheran at home Tuesday. The Lancers’ only loss was to Orange Lutheran.

El Camino Real, which looked competitive with top City Section teams during the summer, will make its debut this week.

Here are the top 10 rankings by The Times.

Girls volleyball

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Southern California, Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei, played in the championship of the Durango tournaent in Las Vegas. Mater Dei handed the Trailblazers their first defeat by sweeping both sets.

Oak Park won the Chatsworth tournament.

Water polo

This was supposed to be the year another team in boys water polo was supposed to rise up and end Newport Harbor’s domination.

Last week’s South Coast tournament showed Newport Harbor isn’t going away without a fight.

The Sailors won the tournament title with lots of drama, beating Cathedral Catholic 16-15 in the semifinals, then winning the championship in three overtimes over Miramonte 11-10.

The DeShaun Jackson Story

A documentary on former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson debuts Sept. 24 on Prime Video.

(Amazon MGM Studios.)

Former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson gets the documentary treatment beginning Thursday when Amazon Video runs, “Going deep: The DeShaun Jackson Story.”

The story is told from his Pop Warner days through the NFL.

Notes . . .

Baseball coach Josh Lienhard was reinstated as a teacher and coach at El Camino Real and returned Wednesday. He was one of three coaches placed on administrative leave last month after school officials had questions why his CPR and first-aid courses he said he completed were not in the Red Cross database. The school spent thousands of dollars on an investigation that remains uncompleted. Two other coaches, tennis coach Jason Grider and girls soccer coach Eric Choi, also were allowed to return….

Junior Karl Robinson from Santa Margarita has committed to Notre Dame for lacrosse….

Catcher Logan Miller of Mater Dei has committed to San Diego State….

Shortstop Zion Avina of Orange Lutheran has committed to USC….

Junior pitcher Jax Janeski of JSerra has committed to USC….

Junior infielder/pitcher Griffin Doane of Santa Margarita has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

Junior Theo Swafford of Sierra Canyon has committed to Texas….

Standout guard Maxwell Scott of Corona del Mar has committed to Harvard….

Tess Oldenburg from Etiwanda has committed to Nevada for women’s basketball….

Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he’s a volunteer at Lawndale, where he “coaches the coaches.”…

Offensive lineman Dylan Felli of Mission Viejo has committed to the University of San Diego….

Eliana Corona from La Habra has committed to Cal Baptist for softball….

Longtime basketball coach Joe Reed has been reinstated as the head coach at Huntington Park. He had been coach since 1991, then lost his position when placed on administrative leave for 14 months because of an investigation. After being cleared to return, he was not given his coaching position back….

Evan Guadalupe from Summit has committed to Loyola Marymount for baseball….

Cody MacArthur has been promoted to interim football coach at Royal. He took over after the head coach was dismissed following an incident when he angrily kicked a football that struck a Royal player and was dismissed….

The Woodbridge Classic in cross country featured lots of race winner from outside Southern California. Here’s the results. …

Servite’s baseball team has one player signing with USC next month and another with UCLA. Let the rivalry begin.

From the archives: Cody Decker

Once a baseball player at Santa Monica High and UCLA, Cody Decker has taken his personality and ability to talk about anything to sports talk radio as a morning co-host for 97.1 with Crespi basketball coach Derek Fisher.

He had 11 at-bats in major league baseball with the San Diego Padres.

He showed off his entertainment and singing skills by getting the top role in the school production of “The Music Man.” He had 18 home runs when he was playing catcher, then singing, so he knows how to multi-task.

Here’s a story from 2005 about his baseball and off-the-field talents.

Recommendations

From the Star-Telegram, a story on a top high school baseball pitcher being ruled ineligible in Texas for transferring for athletic reasons.

From the Daily Bulletin, a story on a 6-7 tight end who’s overcome the death of his father when he was 4 to become a top athlete at Webb School.

From Wyomingnews, a story on former Banning football standout Steve Perez.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

UCLA head coach Bob Chesney, offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy and starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava were all in alignment after UCLA’s Week 2 win over San Diego State.

The Bruins’ offense had to get better.

UCLA wasted no time following through on their promises, scoring 21 first-quarter points against Purdue — the most UCLA has scored in the inaugural quarter against a conference opponent since 2016 against Oregon State.

While the Bruins’ offense exploded, their defense imploded, giving up 38 points and 488 yards to the Boilermakers.

But in a homage to “Pac-12 After Dark,” it was only natural that UCLA outpaced Purdue, rumbling to a 52-38 win over the Boilermakers on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in the Bruins Big Ten opener.

Here are three key takeaways from UCLA’s third win of the season, matching its victory total from last season in just three games.

Running backs are elite

UCLA running back Anthony Woods is hoisted up by offensive lineman Julian Armella after scoring against Purdue at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

UCLA has returned to its roots.

With a rich history of churning out premier tailbacks, including Maurice Jones-Drew, DeShaun Foster and Zach Charbonnet, the Bruin offense has lacked a formidable rushing attack the last few years and finished as the nation’s third-worst ground unit in 2024.

But the Bruins may have struck gold in 2026.

UCLA ranks third in the country in rushing yards, first in rushing scores and fourth in yards per carry. Leading the charge is fifth-year tailback Wayne Knight who has 345 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in just three games — matching the Bruins’ total rushing touchdown mark from last season. Knight finished with his third multi-touchdown game of the season against Purdue, reaching the end zone twice to go alongside 200 all-purpose yards.

Through three games, Knight is exceeding the yardage and touchdown output from Reggie Bush’s 2005 season and Mark Ingram’s 2009 campaign — both of which featured Heisman Trophy wins.

But what makes UCLA’s ground attack so special is that it is a four-headed monster. And the Bruins proved it for the third straight week against the Boilermakers.

All three starting running backs — Knight, fifth-year Anthony Woods and senior Jaivian Thomas — reached the end zone and averaged more than six yards per carry in at least nine rush attempts. And Iamaleava added 55 rushing yards of his own to the 369 total the offense tallied.

After three games of consistent rushing dominance, it is becoming less of a coincidence and more of a pattern — UCLA may have one of the most potent rushing attacks in the country.

And one of its most valuable assets is the ground game’s ability to open up the passing offense.

Iamaleava answers the call

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava hurdles over Purdue defensive back Hudauri Hines during the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Iamaleava challenged himself to play better after a shaky start to the 2026 season.

After failing to complete a touchdown pass while throwing two red zone interceptions during the first two games, Iamaleava and Chesney knew that the signal caller left plays on the table.

“It’s not his best game, he knows it’s not his best game,” Chesney said after beating San Diego State. “I just think that the grit and the toughness that he played with though when he needed to get a couple first downs that really, really mattered to keep drives alive and put his body on the line and you know peeled himself off that ground and just kept fighting for his teammates, that’s special. But there’s a whole lot we got to do there.”

Iamaleava responded Saturday night, going 19-for-31 through the air for 276 yards and three touchdowns.

Not only did Iamaleava light up the stat sheet, but more important, he also passed the eye test. After looking impatient against San Diego State, consistently leaving the pocket early and failing to let plays develop downfield, he looked like a totally different player Saturday night.

Iamaleava looked poised in the pocket, going through multiple reads and hitting pass catchers across the field in an array of spots and formations. He also protected the ball against a solid Purdue defense.

But what was most impressive from the Bruin signal caller was his resilience and toughness on the field. After taking some bruising hits during the Bruins’ first two games, Iamaleava was fearless on scrambles and designed quarterback runs against Purdue, taking big hits downfield to gain extra yards. He also looked willing to take hits in the pocket to make deep or layered throws.

Although some of the hits led to time off the field — he cut a finger on his throwing hand and later took a crushing hit to his throwing shoulder that left him lying on the turf for some time — he always returned to the game. Chesney said he repeatedly asked Iamaleava whether he was sure he could continue playing and the senior kept insisting on returning to the game once he was cleared by the UCLA medical staff.

“He’s just a straight dog, there really isn’t much to say about that,” Knight said. “He’s battling. He gets hurt and he gets back up. He plays the next play. He’s doing this for his brothers.”

Same defense, different opponent

Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne scrambles out of the pocket while being chased by UCLA players Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Purdue’s offense revealed glaring holes the San Diego State offense could not expose.

Aztec quarterback Jayden Denegal only threw for 45 passing yards against UCLA, consistently missing open receivers downfield that had gained considerable separation on the Bruins’ cornerbacks. And even when he did find them, the receivers were not able to haul in catches.

Boilermakers quarterback Ryan Browne, on the other hand, had no problem picking apart the UCLA secondary. Browne went 19-for-30 for 378 yards and three scores, and while he did throw an interception to cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, it came with less than six minutes remaining when the Bruins were already up two scores.

Purdue’s slot receivers tore through the UCLA secondary, running through multiple layers of coverage. Receivers Asaad Waseem and Xavier Townsend combined for 14 receptions, 311 yards and two touchdowns.

Not only did the Purdue offense score five touchdowns, but the pace at which the team scored illustrated the lack of resistance the Bruins’ secondary gave the Boilermakers. Three of the five touchdown drives took less than two and a half minutes, with the first touchdown coming on one play — courtesy of completely broken coverage.

When asked about the impact of Purdue’s receivers Wednesday, defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler said he would have to wait for the game to answer certain questions.

“When you have 10 personnel and that many receivers that can catch the ball, it can create mismatches, and we play a lot of man, so who’s going to fold first?” Hitschler said. “Are we going to be able to man them up or are we having to play more zone? Those are questions that will play out as the game dictates by who’s winning the one-on-one matchups. It’s the chess match that always happens in any game.”

It was obvious who won the chess match.

Two forced fumbles from linebacker Sammy Omosigho and a formidable run defense that held tailback Fame Ijeboi to 2.8 yards per carry helped mitigate the defense’s problems.

How many games UCLA can win the rest of Big Ten play may rest on the defense’s ability to rebound from a brutal win over Purdue the way the Bruins’ offense did after an ugly win over San Diego State.

What a difference a year makes

Last year, coach Deshaun Foster was fired after UCLA got off to an 0-3 start.

This year, Chesney is pushing to improve on a 3-0 start.

Few have felt the transformation quite as deeply as Iamaleava, who was the face of both teams.

“Shoot, it means everything,” Iamaleava said of the team’s 3-0 start. “I think that just speaks to the growth of the team and speaks to Coach Ches, of how he got us to buy into this process and his winning, his winning ways. It feels good to be 3-0, and we’ve got to keep going.”

Women’s soccer scores signature win

The UCLA women’s soccer team has take on grueling schedule, facing off with four teams ranked in the top 25 so far this season.

The No. 21 Bruins (5-3-1, 2-1-0 Big Ten) made the most of their fourth opportunity for a signature win, earning a 1-0 win at No. 5 Ohio State (6-1-1, 2-1-0) on Thursday night. It was the Buckeyes’ first loss this season.

Kara Croone set up Leena Powell for the game winner fired from just outside the box in the 25th minute. UCLA goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor recorded five saves to maintain the shutout victory.

“Amazing performance for the girls,” UCLA women’s soccer coach Gof Boyoko said. “We needed a solid performance, and they did it. We scored a good goal, we didn’t concede, and we were strong defensively.”

UCLA alums help lead WNBA teams

Two Bruins were at their best when the Atlanta Dream earned a 106-81 win over the Chicago Sky on Saturday.

UCLA alum Jordin Canada, who has dealt the ball with expert precision this season, had 11 points and 10 assists for the WNBA-playoff bound Dream.

UCLA alum Gabriela Jaquez, who has enjoyed a strong rookie season with a rebuilding Sky team, finished with 14 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist. Chicago was eliminated from playoff contention, but Jaquez has been a bright spot for the team all season.

Bruins on deck

Here are all UCLA games scheduled to be played this week across all sports, with all times Pacific:

Monday, Sept. 21

Women’s golf at Canadian Collegiate Invitational, All day

Tuesday, Sept. 22

Women’s golf at Canadian Collegiate Invitational, All day

Thursday, Sept. 24

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Women’s volleyball at Indiana, 4 p.m.

Women’s soccer at Rutgers, 5 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 25

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Men’s tennis at Sherwood Collegiate Cup, All day

Men’s soccer at Maryland, 4 p.m.

Men’s water polo vs. Fordham, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 26

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Football at Maryland, 10:30 a.m.

Men’s water polo at Pepperdine, 1 p.m.

Women’s volleyball at Northwestern, 5 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 27

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Women’s soccer at Maryland, 9 a.m.

In case you missed it

Wayne Knight and UCLA bulldoze Purdue in Big Ten opener

UCLA braces for first Big Ten test of coach Bob Chesney’s tenure

UCLA to give all students free tickets to home football, basketball games

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this report.

Presley Gerber, the son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband, businessman Rande Gerber, died Sunday at a rehab facility at age 27, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.

Few details were available late Sunday.

Gerber worked as a model, including in 2018, at age 18, as the face of Calvin Klein Jeans’ global advertising campaign, along with his sister, Kaia Gerber.

A year later, he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, according to USA Today. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to complete a DUI program, TMZ reported.

Kaia, left, and Presley Gerber in Paris in 2017.

(Kamil Zihnioglu / Associated Press)

The death was confirmed to the Associated Press by Allie Jenkins, a representative for Crawford and Rande Gerber, who were married in 1998.

“The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time,” Jenkins said.

In an Aug. 11 interview with Vogue, sister Kaia, a model and actor, spoke of her older brother struggling with drug addiction, which he described in a since-deleted Instagram video in December.

She told the magazine that she was proud of him.

“My parents … were very, very private,” she said. “Now we have this absolute teacher, my brother, who said, ‘I’m gonna be very human for everyone.’”

Dodgers clinch NL West title

From Maddie Lee: Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.

He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.

“It’s not something that I ever take for granted,” Muncy said after the Dodgers clinched the division Thursday with an 8-2 win against the Reds. “This moment is as special as it gets. You get to pop bottles with the boys, celebrating. This is a long season.”

Sheets of plastic had been place in the Great American Ball Park visiting clubhouse since the day before, attached to the ceiling with binder clips and folded up above the lockers, ready to be unfurled after the game for the Dodgers’ celebration.

With their victory Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West division for the 13th time in 14 years. It was never much of a contest. The Dodgers maintained their division lead at nine games even after the Padres beat the Rockies Thursday afternoon.

“What’s funny is Los Angeles has always been looked at, as far as sports, a Laker town,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “I don’t know, I think we might have market share now in Los Angeles.”

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Plaschke: No more bubbly — NL West champion Dodgers appear headed for early fall

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Sean McVay doesn’t want a return to Australia

From Gary Klein: The Rams will be without edge rusher Myles Garrett for at least the next four games.

Will they have Aaron Donald for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants?

“We’ll see how this week goes,” coach Sean McVay said Thursday before practice.

The Rams are coming off an embarrassing 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.

McVay said the Rams have moved forward from the loss to the 49ers.

“It’s almost like you try and do the ‘Men in Black’ thing,” McVay said, referencing the movie franchise, “where you say all right, ‘hey I don’t remember what happened.’ That was so long ago. We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere. That will get taken out of context.”

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NFL Week 2 picks: Bills defeat Lions; Rams outlast Giants

Drew Doughty is named captain of the Kings

Drew Doughty was named captain of the Kings on Wednesday, inheriting the leadership position left vacant by Anze Kopitar‘s retirement.

Doughty is the 15th captain in team history. He served as an alternate captain since 2016-17, when Kopitar replaced Dustin Brown as captain.

The 36-year-old Doughty is the franchise leader among defensemen in numerous categories, including goals, assists, points and games played and was a key piece in their Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014. He will start preparations for his 19th NHL season when the Kings open training camp on Thursday.

“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said in a statement released by the team.

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From Ryan Kartje: On Oct. 20, 1928, the William & Mary Indians and Catholic University of Washington Cardinals met under the lights at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Va. Just a year earlier, in 1927, the two football programs made history, taking part in the first night college football game played on the East Coast. Thousands had come to watch that night and marvel at the temporary lights illuminating the field.

Their rematch, by comparison, was largely lost to history. William & Mary used “a thrilling avalanche of forward passes” and “set their teeth grimly to stage a gigantic comeback” in the third quarter, according to a Newport News story at the time. But Catholic blocked the final extra-point attempt and prevailed 13-12.

The significance of their 1928 meeting, nearly a century later, really had nothing to do with the result. In fact, it wouldn’t be fully understood until much later, when the great-grandson of two men on opposite sides of that matchup emerged as one of college football’s most promising freshmen.

Best the Wafles can tell after sifting through family documents last year, Ferris Wafle had just begun playing at William & Mary in 1928, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He’d taken a year off college, to work, before William & Mary recruited him. He’d wrestled for the Indians in addition to his playing football.

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Angels lose to Mariners

Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning, and Wade Meckler followed with a RBI single to give the Angels a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Minnesota rookie Walker Jenkins hit a two-out, two-run homer in top of the ninth for a 3-3 tie, and the Twins (71-82) took a 4-3 lead in the 10th on Brooks Lee’s RBI single.

Kody Clemens’ sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, but Angels left-hander Blake Weiman (1-1) got Josh Bell to pop to second and, after intentionally walking pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, struck out Royce Lewis to end the inning.

Automatic runner Jose Siri took third on pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom’s fly to left to open the bottom of the 10th. Zach Neto walked, Trout singled off Yoendrys Gomez (2-4) for a 4-4 tie, and Meckler singled off left-hander Kody Funderburk for the win.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Sparks lose to Wings

Paige Bueckers scored 19 points, Jessica Shepard had her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.

Dallas (25-16) tied the franchise record for wins in a season set by the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock (25-9). The Wings have three games remaining in the regular season.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1899 — The Cincinnati Open begins. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city and is now known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women’s Open.

1938 — The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0. Left end Dick Plasman tackles Arnie Herber in the end zone in the fourth quarter for the win.

1946 — Joe Louis knocks out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1960 — Goose Gonsoulin intercepts four passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1965 — In his first collegiate game, quarterback Billy Stevens of Texas-El Paso gains 483 total yards in a 61-15 rout of North Texas State. Receiver Chuck Hughes has 349 of those yards.

1966 — Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas throws four touchdown passes in 38-23 win at Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as NFL’s career leader with 212; finishes career with 290 TD passes.

1967 — U.S. yacht Intrepid beats the Australian yacht Dame Pattie in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1977 — U.S. yacht Courageous beats the challenger Australia in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1982 — In a rare father-son matchup, coach Jack Elway leads San Jose State to its second consecutive upset of quarterback John Elway and Stanford 35-31 in Palo Alto, Calif. John Elway completes 24-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, throws for 285 yards, three touchdowns and scores on a three-yard keeper for the win after a Cardinal fumble. Stanford reaches the Spartans’ 26-yard line, but Elway gets sacked on four consecutive plays to end the game.

2005 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre joins Dan Marino and John Elway with 50,000 yards passing and also breaks Elway’s single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left of a 26-24 loss to Cleveland at Lambeau Field.

2011 — At 16, Lexi Thompson becomes the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event. The 16-year-old Floridian closes with a 2-under 70 to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Thompson shatters the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.

2011 — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sets an NFL rookie record by throwing for 432 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Newton, who tied the record by throwing for 422 yards in last week’s loss at Arizona, completes 28 of 46 passes with one touchdown in the 30-23 loss to the Packers. Newton’s 854 yards passing is also the most yards for a player in his first two games.

2013 — American Jordan Burroughs earns another wrestling world title. Burroughs, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, extends his undefeated streak to 65 matches with a 4-0 victory over Iran’s Ezzatollah Akbarizarinkolaei in the 163-pound category at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1903 — Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.

1908 — Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.

1930 — New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings.

1954 — The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.

1963 — The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds — 5-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.

1968 — Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals.

1980 — Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

1984 — Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

1985 — Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.

1987 — Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.

1996 — Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0.

2003 — Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.

2006 — The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.

2011 — Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

2012 — Dusty Baker managed his 3,000th game, guiding the Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.

2020 — Garrett Crochet becomes the first player in over a decade to go straight to the majors when the No. 11 pick from the 2020 amateur draft makes his maiden appearance pitching in relief for the White Sox against the Reds. After working out at the Sox’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, IL since being signed, he impresses by striking two of three batter he faces and regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.

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.

Blake Snell leaves Dodgers’ loss early

From Maddie Lee: The trouble started as Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell threw in the Great American Ball Park bullpen before the game.

“I felt good all day, and then the second-to-last pitch of the bullpen, I threw a slider and then I felt it grab,” Snell said of the groin tightness that would later take him out of the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Reds early. “So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s see what we can do.’ ”

Guiding the ball without driving hard off his back leg, Snell’s velocity was down a tick or two through a 19-pitch first inning. He gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.

“I was going to try to get through five [innings],” he said, “but I just knew I didn’t really have a good shot at doing that and remaining healthy.”

In a conversation with manager Dave Roberts, pitching coach Mark Prior and head athletic trainer Thomas Alberts, they all agreed the best course of action would be to pull Snell from the game. Right-handed reliever Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.

With only 10 games left in the season, it’s unclear when Snell will be ready to pitch again.

“The next couple days are really going to decide,” Snell said. “But I’d love to throw on my next [scheduled start day]. Either there or a couple days after. But definitely, I want to try to get one more in the regular season.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

USC’s Trent Mosley to miss Rutgers game

From Ryan Kartje: Trent Mosley, USC’s rising star freshman receiver, will miss this week’s Big Ten opener against Rutgers and could be out an extended period of time after suffering an injury during the Trojans’ Week 2 win over Louisiana.

USC coach Lincoln Riley said that he doesn’t expect Mosley to be out “extremely long term,” but that any timeline for his return was “still a little inconclusive … depending on how he responds.”

Riley didn’t offer any details on the nature of the injury, but he said that it became clear after USC’s 49-30 win over Louisiana that “there was something we needed to get looked at.” Mosley still spoke to reporters after the game.

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UCLA to offer free tickets

From Connor Dullinger: In a bid to pack the Rose Bowl and Pauley Pavilion, tickets to all UCLA home football and men’s and women’s basketball games will be free for undergraduate, graduate and extension students going forward, UCLA athletics announced Wednesday.

Previously, the Bruins had to purchase a Den Pass for $199 to gain access to home football and men’s basketball games. Students who have already purchased the Den Pass for the 2026-2027 academic year will be reimbursed.

“We have an exciting team led by [head football coach] Bob Chesney and a lot of momentum surrounding UCLA Athletics,” new UCLA chief executive and athletic director Tim Harris said in a news release. “Now it’s time for our students to help set the standard. Arrive early. Be loud. Be relentless. We can’t wait to see a sea of Bruin Blue at the Rose Bowl this Saturday.”

The free student tickets are one of many changes Harris has made in an effort to bring new energy to the school’s signature sports that had struggled under previous athletic director Martin Jarmond.

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Forget defense, Rams need to fix offense

From Gary Klein: In the aftermath of the Rams’ humiliating season-opening defeat in Australia, the team’s defense is dominating the news cycle: edge rusher Myles Garrett’s knee surgery, lineman Aaron Donald’s potential season debut.

But as coach Sean McVay prepares his team for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants, the Super Bowl-favorite Rams’ suddenly not-so-super offense also demands scrutiny.

Consider: Every starter is back from a unit that in 2025 led the NFL in offense and scoring, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player.

And yet the Rams managed just 190 yards and scored one touchdown in their 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

That’s it.

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Angels lose to Mariners

Cal Raleigh had two hits and three RBIs, Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBIs and the Seattle Mariners kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-2 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Randy Arozarena also walked, singled and scored three runs for Seattle, which is 5 1/2 games behind Texas and Houston in the American League West and 6 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild-card spot with nine games left.

It was 2-2 when Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (1-6) walked Arozarena and Dominic Canzone with one out in the fifth. Raleigh roped an RBI double to left for a 3-2 lead, and Julio Rodriguez was walked intentionally to load the bases.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Angel City defeats Seattle

Ally Sentnor, Ary Borges and Taylor Suarez scored in Angel City’s 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.

In the 18th minute, Angel City midfielder Maiara Niehue’s volley attempt drew a handball on Seattle Reign midfielder Angharad James-Turner. Sentnor converted her second penalty kick in consecutive weeks to open the scoring.

Off a corner kick from defender Evelyn Shores in the 40th minute, an unmarked Borges headed it home to double the lead. Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.

Continue reading here

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

This day in sports history

1897 — England’s Joe Lloyd beats Scotland’s Willie Anderson by one stroke to win the U.S. Open in Wheaton, Ill.

1920 — The forerunner of the NFL, the American Professional Football Assn., is founded in an automobile showroom in Canton, Ohio. Twelve teams pay a $100 fee to obtain a franchise.

1938 — Don Budge completes the Grand Slam with a four-set victory over Gene Mako in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships.

1954 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Ezzard Charles in the eighth round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain his world heavyweight title.

1955 — In the first color telecast of a football game by NBC, No. 10 Georgia Tech defeats No. 9 Miami 14-6 in Atlanta. The winning score comes in the final minute when linebacker Jimmy Morris returns an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

1961 — The Minnesota Vikings, the newest NFL franchise, beats the league’s oldest franchise, the Chicago Bears, 37-13 win in the season opener. Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton, playing his first NFL game, comes off the bench to become the only quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in his first game.

1966 — In his head coaching debut, coach Joe Paterno leads Penn State past Maryland 15-7.

1967 — Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-31 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

1977 — The U.S. wins the Ryder Cup 12½-7½ at Royal Lytham & St Annes England. It’s the last time that a Britain and Ireland team competes for the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup expands the GB&I to include golfers from all of continental Europe in 1979.

1994 — UNLV receiver Randy Gatewood catches 23 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown in a 48-38 loss to Idaho.

2000 — Dan Marino’s No. 13 jersey is retired by the Miami Dolphins.

2002 — Suzy Whaley becomes the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event, earning an exemption to the 2003 Greater Hartford Open by winning a PGA Section Championship. Whaley is also is the first woman to win a Section Championship.

2016 — Cam Pedersen kicks a 37-yard field as time expired and North Dakota State of the FC, rallies to beat No. 13 Iowa 23-21 for its sixth straight win over an FBS opponent.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Brooklyn’s Casey Stengel makes his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, finishing with four singles, two RBIs and two steals in a 7-3 win.

1920 — Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers hit for the cycle in a 14-13 12-inning win over the Boston Red Sox at Navin Field. Veach had six hits, achieving the cycle with a double in the ninth.

1930 — Cleveland’s Earl Averill drove in eight runs with three consecutive home runs to lead the Indians to a 13-7 victory over the Washington Senators in a doubleheader opener. Averill added another homer in the nightcap, setting an American League record with 11 RBIs in a doubleheader.

1941 — Stan Musial makes his major league debut.

1947 — Jackie Robinson named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News.

1968 — Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants pitched a no-hitter, a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson. Ron Hunt homered for the only run.

1984 — Reggie Jackson became the 13th player to hit 500 home runs. The milestone shot came off Kansas City pitcher Bud Black. His homer came exactly 17 years after his first career hit.

1984 — Rookie pitcher Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets struck out 16 Phillies in a 2-1 loss at Philadelphia. Five days earlier, Gooden fanned 16 Pittsburgh Pirates tying a major league record for 32 strikeouts in two consecutive games.

1988 — Jeff Reardon became the first pitcher to save 40 games in both leagues as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Reardon, who saved 42 games for the Montreal Expos in 1985, pitched the ninth inning for his 40th save in 47 opportunities.

1996 — Hideo Nomo pitched a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, leading the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory. Nomo walked four batters and struck out eight.

2004 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit the 700th home run of his career, joining Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as the only players to reach the milestone. Bonds connected in the third inning at home, a 392-foot solo shot to left-center. San Francisco beat San Diego 4-1.

2004 — Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki broke Lloyd Waner’s season record for singles with his 199th in a 6-3 win over Oakland. Suzuki’s two hits gave him 235 for the season, 22 shy of the major league record set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920.

2008 — Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki matched Willie Keeler’s major league record of eight straight 200-hit seasons, beating out an infield single in the eighth inning for his third hit against Kansas City.

2018 — Christian Yelich became the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle twice in one season against the same team, driving in four runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Cincinnati Reds 8-0.

2024 — With a stolen base in the 1st inning, Bobby Witt Jr. becomes the first shortstop to have more than one 30-30 season, as he now has 30 steals and 32 homers; he also just the 8th player to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons.

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.

Sept. 16, 2026 2:55 PM PT

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he’s going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of “grave, unresolved concerns” about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

“The Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians,” Meeks said in a statement. “I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.”

Meeks’ objections, however, likely will not affect the sale, which was informally notified to lawmakers on Tuesday. Once it is formally notified to Congress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination that the transaction is an urgent national security interest.

Rubio has done so in the past, including bypassing a normal congressional review process to approve a nearly $3-billion sale to Israel last year. The administration then approved a new series of arms sales to Israel totaling $6.67 billion in January.

The State Department did not respond to requests for comment about either the new proposed sale or Meeks’ objection to it.

The $2.8-billion package includes 40,000 powerful 2,000-pound bombs, the Associated Press has reported. The transfer of 2,000-pound bombs had been paused by the Biden administration over concerns about the possibility of mass casualties.

The proposed sale is just the latest in a series of Trump administration steps to improve Israel’s military capacity and it comes as Israel is facing increased international isolation over its war in Gaza in response to the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas.

The conflict in Gaza has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and decimated the enclave. The U.S. brokered a fragile ceasefire, but violence has continued.

Lee writes for the Associated Press.

Dodgers clinch postseason spot

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers celebrated clinching a postseason berth with a champagne toast. Simple. Restrained. Leaving room for larger celebrations to come.

“The message was, ‘We haven’t come close to playing our best baseball yet,’” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Reds on Monday. “And here we are with 12 games left, getting a ticket to the postseason. And that says a lot about this entire organization. And just to finish strong.”

It marked the Dodgers’ 14th straight playoff berth, tying a record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 2005.

“It’s different than anything I’ve experienced, for sure,” Tarik Skubal said of the understated celebration. “But I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team. That was cool. A little toast and move on. Forget it happened. We’ve got more to accomplish.”

Most teams don ski goggles to celebrate with champagne and beer showers. The Dodgers will save the messier celebration for clinching the division. Their win over the Reds (70-80) trimmed that magic number to three.

It was fitting that Skubal, the Dodgers’ big trade-deadline acquisition, was on the mound for the clincher. He’s progressively improved in his eight starts with the Dodgers. And on Monday, he breezed through seven shutout innings, allowing just four baserunners (three singles and a walk).

“I think a lot of the struggles have been me versus me,” Skubal said. “Thinking too much out there, not competing the way I know how to compete. Just thinking too much about pitch selection at times and trying to be too fine and not challenging guys.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Will Edwin Díaz be on postseason roster?

From Maddie Lee: Even as the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth with their 4-1 win over the Reds on Monday, bullpen uncertainty loomed.

When they get to the playoffs, who’s going to take the ball in high-leverage situations?

Their options are dwindling. Edgardo Henriquez landed on the 15-day injured list Monday with low back discomfort, ruling him out for the rest of the regular season. Edwin Díaz was so shaky in his rehab assignment Sunday that a spot on the postseason roster isn’t guaranteed.

“We have to go with our best pitchers, as far as performance, talent, all that stuff,” manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers opened a four-game series against the Reds. “So my bet is that he will be [on the roster]. But there’s got to be some kind of evidence or something for us to sort of bet on. And so my bet is, yes, but we’ve still got to see something.”

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Angels defeat the Mariners

Reid Detmers struck out eight over six innings, and Jose Siri and Denzer Guzman each drove in two runs to help the Angels beat the fading Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night.

Detmers (6-8) gave up three runs and seven hits and a walk as third-place Seattle (70-81) dropped 5½ games behind AL West-leading Houston with 11 to play.

Ryan Watson pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings and Ben Joyce walked two in the ninth before retiring J.P. Crawford on a lineout to first base for his fifth save.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Steve Ballmer did the right thing for his team

From Kevin Baxter: Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his staff had spent the last 12 months loudly insisting they’d done nothing wrong.

The podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” first raised questions about payments star forward Kawhi Leonard received from Aspiration Partners without doing any endorsement work to benefit the company on Sept. 3, 2025. The NBA responded by starting an investigation.

In its findings — released Sept. 2 — an independent law firm reported “a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations” that benefited Leonard, who received $66 million in cash and equity from four companies through agreements facilitated by Ballmer and team executives at the request of Leonard’s uncle and then-agent. Those deals violated the league salary cap, which limits how much teams can pay players. The cap is $164.961 million for the coming season.

The Clippers released two statements that same day, protesting the finding and the stiffest sanctions in NBA history, including a $30-million fine and the loss of five future first-round draft picks. In addition, Ballmer, 69, was banned from all league activities for the next year.

After immediately calling the NBA’s investigation “biased” and vowing to “vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us,” the Clippers were silent for 11 days.

On Sunday night, they surrendered.

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Swanson: Clippers avoid a death penalty with Kawhi Leonard trade, but only if they clean house

Chargers miss chance to seize spotlight in L.A.

From Mirjam Swanson: It’s just one game. And it’s a long season.

Maybe a loooong season, if you’re a Chargers fan.

Sunday’s season-opening debacle — a sloppy, uninspired and uninspiring 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium — was a first, giant step back for these Chargers.

You can’t call Game 1 of any season a must-win. But you can pan back and recognize that sometimes Game 1 is a really, really should-win affair.

Not only because the Cardinals represented as close to a gimme as the Chargers are going to get on their precarious schedule.

But the Chargers also missed a prime opportunity to fill a hole in the L.A. football plot, rare as those are.

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Rams give updates on Garrett, Donald

From Gary Klein: Sean McVay and the Rams thought the situation was under control, or at least manageable.

Star edge rusher Myles Garrett first experienced knee discomfort and swelling during training camp, a condition that caused him to sit out the majority of team workouts throughout the weeks leading up to the season opener.

But Garrett failed to record a tackle, and was clearly not himself, in an embarrassing defeat by the San Francisco 49ers on Friday in Australia.

On Monday, Garrett was scheduled to have surgery, and he will sit out at least the next four games on injured reserve.

Will lineman Aaron Donald, who has returned from a two-year retirement, make his season debut against the Giants?

“We haven’t decided that yet,” McVay said. “He’s going to continue to work his process and we’ll see what that looks like.”

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1899 — Willie Smith wins the U.S. Open golf title, beating George low, Val Fitzjohn and W.H. Way.

1923 — Bill Tilden wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championship, beating William Johnston in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

1962 — Frank Tripucka of the Denver Broncos passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1971 — Stan Smith wins the U.S. Open title over Jan Khodes and Billie Jean King beats Rosie Casals for the women’s title. It’s the first time in 16 years both titles were won by U.S. players.

1973 — Three-year-old Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in the then-world record time of 1:45 2-5 for 11/8 miles.

1973 — Archie Griffin of Ohio State starts his NCAA record string of 31 games of rushing for at least 100 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a 56-7 rout of Minnesota in Columbus.

1978 — Muhammad Ali becomes the first three-time heavyweight champion with a unanimous 15-round decision over Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans.

1991 — The United States women’s gymnastics team makes history with its first team medal — a silver — at the World Championships in Indianapolis.

2002 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins another incredible race at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second straight IRL title. Hornish side-by-side with Helio Castroneves for many of the last 25 laps in the season-ending Chevy 500, crosses the finish line 0.0096 seconds — only a few inches — ahead of the other driver in contention for the season championship. Hornish wins his IRL-record fifth race of the season and becomes the first driver to win two IRL championships.

2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon begins NFL record-tying (Kurt Warner, Steve Young) streak of six consecutive 300-yard passing games, throwing for 403 yards in Raiders’ 30-17 victory at Pittsburgh.

2004 — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

2012 — LSU beats Idaho 63-14 to give the Tigers an NCAA FBS record 40th-straight non-conference regular season victory. LSU also set a Tiger Stadium mark with 20 straight home wins. Kansas State had 39 straight non-conference regular-season wins from 1993-2003.

2013 — Philip Rivers is 36 of 47 for 419 yards and three touchdown passes to Eddie Royal to lead San Diego to a 33-30 victory at Philadelphia. Michael Vick of the Eagles passes for a career-best 428 yards and two touchdowns and runs for a score.

2018 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores his 500th worldwide goal in the Galaxy’s 5-3 loss to Toronto FC. The 36-year-old Swede joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only active players with 500 goals for in club and international play.

2021 — U.S. gymnasts, including Simone Biles, testify against former team doctor Larry Nassar at a Senate Committee hearing, criticizing a system that allowed it to happen.

2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer announces his retirement from pro tennis at 41 with 20 grand slam wins and 103 ATP titles.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1902 — Chicago Cubs infielders Tinker, Evers and Chance turn their first double play together.

1912 — Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox pitched his 16th consecutive victory to tie Walter Johnson’s record as he beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1.

1938 — Brothers Lloyd and Paul Waner hit back-to-back homers for the Pittsburgh Pirates off Cliff Melton of the New York Giants. This was the only time brothers hit successive home runs in a major league game. It was Lloyd’s last homer.

1946 — The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in five innings when the game was called because of gnats. The insects became such a problem for the players, umpires and fans that the game had to be stopped.

1963 — All three Alou brothers — Felipe, Matty and Jesus — played in the outfield at the same time for the San Francisco Giants in a 13-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1969 — St. Louis left-hander Steve Carlton struck out 19 Mets for a nine-inning game record. New York won the game 4-3 on a pair of two-run homers by Ron Swoboda.

1979 — Bob Watson of the Red Sox became the first player to hit for the cycle in both leagues as he led Boston to a 10-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He hit for the cycle with the Houston Astros against San Francisco on June 24, 1977.

1990 — Bobby Thigpen pitched one inning and became the first relief pitcher with 50 saves in a season as the Chicago White Sox beat the Red Sox 7-4.

1996 — The Baltimore Orioles set baseball’s season home run record with five against Detroit, including Mark Parent’s record breaking shot in the third inning and Brady Anderson’s 10th leadoff homer of the year. The homers gave the Orioles 243, three more than the 1961 New York Yankees.

1997 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 51st and 52nd homers in Seattle’s win over Toronto to become the sixth major league player to hit 100 or more home runs over two consecutive seasons. Griffey hit 49 homers last season.

1998 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his AL-leading 52nd homer and drove in five runs to become the fourth-youngest player to reach 1,000 RBIs, leading the Seattle Mariners over the Minnesota Twins 12-7.

2002 — Arizona’s Curt Schilling struck out eight to reach 300 for the season, joining Randy Johnson as the first teammates in baseball history to each strike out 300 in the same season. The Diamondbacks beat Milwaukee 6-5 in 13 innings.

2008 — In an unprecedented move, the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost. It marked the first time in major league history — except the strike-split 1981 season — that a manager was fired in August or later with his team in playoff position. The Brewers, 83-67, lost seven of eight and fallen into a tie with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead.

2009 — David Ortiz hit his record-breaking 270th homer as a designated hitter and had an RBI single in Boston’s 4-1 victory over the Angels. Frank Thomas had held the mark with 269.

2011 — Pablo Sandoval tripled in the sixth inning to complete the first cycle of his career and San Francisco beat Colorado 8-5.

2017 — The Cleveland had its AL record winning streak stopped at 22 as the Indians were beaten 4-3 by the Kansas City Royals, who became the first team to conquer the defending league champions since Aug. 23. The Indians came within four of matching the overall record held by the 1916 New York Giants.

2014 — The Mets’ Jacob deGrom ties a major league record when he strikes out the first eight batters he faces before his opponent on the mound for the Marlins, Jarred Cosart, singles to right. DeGrom ties the record set by Jim Deshaies in 1986. He strikes out 13 in seven innings but ends up with a no-decision as the Marlins win, 6-5.

2022 — On Roberto Clemente Day, the Rays make history by fielding an all-Latino line-up (excluding starting pitcher Shane McClanahan). It consists of C René Pinto, 1B Harold Ramirez, 2B Isaac Paredes, SS Wander Franco, 3B Yandy Díaz, LF David Peralta, CF José Siri, RF Randy Arozarena and DH Manuel Margot, with five countries being represented. All wear Roberto Clemente’s iconic uniform number, 21, as they go on to defeat the Blue Jays, 11-0.

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.

Rams lose to 49ers

From Gary Klein: Maybe, if the Rams still reach their intended destination at season’s end, they’ll look back at their very long trip to Australia — and purposely short stay — and be grateful.

A humbling punch in the face. A wake-up call. A rallying point that spurs them to even greater heights.

Until then, there is only one way to look at it:

The Rams embarrassed themselves, for a new part of the NFL world to see, in a humiliating 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams arrived here as the star-studded favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium. They left star-crossed, stunned and searching for answers on their long flight back to Los Angeles.

The Rams sleep-walked through nearly all of the opener before a sold-out crowd of 100,021 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the first NFL game in Australia.

Coach Sean McVay’s strategy of arriving the day before the game backfired and resulted in a dull performance by a team featuring some of the NFL’s biggest stars.

“I don’t believe that’s why we didn’t play well enough, I really don’t,” McVay said. “It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say that was a miss.”

Continue reading here

Rams summary

Rams poll

We asked, “Will the Rams win the Super Bowl and how many games will they win, counting the playoffs?”

After 1,172 responses:

Will the Rams win the Super Bowl?

Yes, 62.8%
No, 37.2%

How many games will the Rams win this season, including the playoffs?

18, 25%
17, 22.2%
16, 14.2%
15, 11.9%
14, 7.4%
20, 5.1%
9, 4.9%
19, 4%
12, 2.8%
Fewer than 10, 1.2%
10, 0.7%
11, 0.6%

Ohtani on IL raises questions

From Maddie Lee: When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.

What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?

It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.

If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of on the 15-day injured list?

Maybe.

Or maybe the injuries were significant enough that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.

Maybe not.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: Why it’s past time for MLB players, owners to get a 2028 Olympics deal done

UCLA confident a big Iamaleava game is coming

From Connor Dullinger: UCLA senior wide receiver Mikey Matthews expects the Bruins’ aerial attack to be as electrifying and dominant as their ground game was in a season-opening win over California.

The passing offense lived up to Matthews’ expectations against Cal — but only for a half.

After quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 12 of 18 passes for 179 yards in the first half, he completed just two more passes for five yards — the Bruins’ only yardage in the third quarter.

The rushing attack carried the Bruins to victory, breaking open a tied game with three fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

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Family values are key to Trent Mosley’s USC success

From Ryan Kartje: Since he was a boy, Trent Mosley was taught to live by the Five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

The Five Ps weren’t so much a lesson in the Mosley household as “a lifestyle,” father Emmett Mosley explains. He can’t recall when or from whom he first heard the phrase, but ever since, the Five Ps have stuck with him. To the point that he and his wife, Cindy, made it a core tenet of their family. All four Mosley kids — their daughter, Jalyn, and three boys, Emmett Jr., Trent and Grant — were brought up on the principle that preparation was paramount.

So then, no one in the Mosley family was surprised to see Trent sprinting wide open in the second quarter last Friday night at the Coliseum, well on his way to another impressive performance in his second college game. Just like no one at USC is batting an eye at the freshman’s staggering start, which has him leading the nation with three touchdown catches and the Big Ten with 222 receiving yards.

To those who know Trent best, it’s like this sudden ascent to stardom simply was … inevitable. That’s the Five Ps at work, his father explains.

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This day in sports history

1886 — The Mayflower defends the America’s Cup by beating Britain’s Galatea in two straight heats.

1937 — Don Budge beats Gottfried von Cramm in five sets to win his first U.S. Open men’s singles title. Budge wins 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

1964 — ABC television cancels Fight of the Week, ending 18 years of regularly scheduled prime-time boxing on U.S. broadcast network television.

1976 — In the third race at Latonia, jockey John Oldham and his wife, Suzanne Picou, become the first husband and wife riding team to compete in a parimutuel race. Oldham finishes second aboard Harvey’s Hope and Picou rides My Girl Carla to an 11th-place finish.

1977 — In the last U.S. Open match played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, Guillermo Vilas beats Jimmy Connors, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0, for the men’s singles title

1982 — Chris Evert wins her sixth U.S. Open singles title, defeating Hana Mandlikova, 6-3, 6-1.

1982 — In a 23-16 loss to Illinois, Ralf Mojsiejunko of Michigan State kicks a 61-yard field goal in his first collegiate attempt.

1983 — Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris runs for 118 yards in Steelers 25-21 win at Green Bay to become only the third player in NFL history to rush for 11,000 yards.

1988 — Mats Wilander wins the longest men’s final in U.S. Open history, edging Ivan Lendl, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

1994 — Andre Agassi wins the U.S. Open with a three-set victory over Michael Stich and becomes the first unseeded player to beat five seeded players in a Grand Slam and the first unseeded champion since Fred Stolle in 1966. Andre wins 6-1, 7-6, 7-5.

1999 — U.S. Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam title; beats world No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6.

2001 — Sports comes to a standstill after terrorism in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, with major league baseball postponing a full schedule of regular-season games for the first time since D-Day in 1944.

2010 — James Madison, a top team in the Football Championship Subdivision, beats No. 13 Virginia Tech 21-16. The last time Virginia Tech lost to a I-AA team was 1985, when Richmond beat the Hokies 24-14 at Lane Stadium.

2010 — The Penn State women’s volleyball team has its record winning streak ends at 109 matches with a 28-26, 25-12, 25-18 loss to Stanford in a tournament at Florida. Penn State’s streak is the second-longest in Division I team sports, behind the 137 straight wins by the Miami men’s tennis program from 1957-1964.

2011 — Carolina’s Cam Newton becomes the first rookie to throw for more than 400 yards in his NFL opener in a 28-21 loss to Arizona. Newton, the No. 1 draft pick playing on the same field where he led Auburn to the BCS championship in January, completes 24 of 37 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

2015 — Roberta Vinci stuns Serena Williams to end her Grand Slam bid in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. The 43rd-ranked Italian wins 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Eddie Collins set a major league record with six stolen bases for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.

1918 — The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games. This was Boston’s third championship in a four-year stretch — 1915, 1916 and this season.

1936 — Hod Lisenbee of the Philadelphia A’s tied a major league record for hits allowed, giving up 26 in a 17-2 rout by the Chicago White Sox.

1949 — The New York Yankees sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Washington. In the 50-minute half-inning the Senators walked a major-league record 11 batters as the Yankees went on to a 20-5 win. New York won the second game 2-1 in one hour and 22 minutes.

1959 — The Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4, putting an end to reliever Roy Face’s 22-game winning streak. It was his only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.

1974 — It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings — seven hours, four minutes — to beat the New York Mets. There were a record 202 plate appearances. Felix Millan and John Milner had 12 appearances apiece.

1985 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the all-time hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb’s record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game in the majors.

1987 — New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with 34 homers, became the first National League infielder to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1996 — San Diego’s Ken Caminiti broke his own major league record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo shot to break his record set last year.

2008 — Albert Pujols drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Cubs, becoming only the third player in major league history to reach the milestone in his first eight seasons. Pujols also extended his major league-record streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his first eight seasons, two more than any player in history.

2014 — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a pitch. Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball from Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers in the fifth inning of a 4-2 loss.

2021 — Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers throw a combined no-hitter to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.

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.

Sept. 9, 2026 2:59 PM PT

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — President Trump had been eagerly awaiting his trip to Texas for Republicans’ unusual midterm convention. But his new Air Force One had other ideas, at least for a short time.

The president arrived at Joint Base Andrews via Marine One on Wednesday afternoon for his scheduled departure to Dallas. But he was held on the helicopter for about 15 minutes as U.S. Air Force personnel were seen attending to Air Force One and an inflatable emergency slide that was seen deployed from the front right exit, across the plane from the door that Trump typically uses.

As Trump arrived at the base, the old blue and white presidential aircraft was seen moving from its hangar onto the tarmac a few hundred yards behind the new plane that Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari government and had refurbished and painted red, white, blue and gold. The older plane’s front and rear steps were put in place, signaling the possibility that it would have to be used for Trump’s Texas trip.

Eventually, Trump emerged from Marine One and said the slide on the new plane was being tested.

“They want to make sure everything works perfectly,” the president said of the jetliner that Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari government and had refurbished.

It was not immediately clear whether the slide was intentionally inflated for testing or whether it was an error that had to be assessed and corrected. But Trump said he was not worried. Asked whether he was satisfied that the plane was safe, he said, “Yeah, I am — or I wouldn’t be on it.”

Trump boarded shortly after as the crew continued to work. They appeared eventually to deflate, detach and cart away the deployed slide.

Air Force One, the designation for whatever aircraft carries a sitting president, took off for Dallas shortly after.

Barrow and Martin write for the Associated Press. Barrow reported from Atlanta. AP reporter Collin Binkley contributed to this report from Washington.

Dodgers edge the Reds

From Maddie Lee: Even Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who’d never be accused of wearing his emotions on his sleeve, was a little worried during his monthslong absence because of a persistent neck injury that he might not be healthy by the end of the season.

“‘It was kind of the ‘who knows how long it’s going to take,’” Smith said when the Dodgers activated him at the beginning of the month. “But at some point I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it.”

It apparently didn’t come to that. And in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, Smith’s fifth time in the lineup since returning from the injured list, he put the Dodgers ahead with a first-inning home run and guided Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal through 7 ⅓ innings of two-run ball.

“He called a great game,” Skubal said of his Team USA teammate. “And the targets that he sets up, and the way that he goes about it, he gives me a ton of confidence back there.”

A neck problem that was initially expected to resolve on its own in a few days turned into a nearly three-month IL stint. With the revolving door behind the plate in Smith’s absence, getting him back down the stretch and into the postseason was going to be key.

While Smith was on the IL, backup catcher Dalton Rushing was thrown into the starting role, learning how to balance the defensive responsibility of serving as the main backstop at the major-league level with a desire to also contribute offensively.

Continue reading here

Shohei Ohtani out of the Dodgers lineup, available to pinch-hit

Shaikin: An October bye-bye? Dodgers need bye to save Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Aaron Donald won’t play in Rams’ season opener

From Austin Knoblauch: Defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not travel with the Rams to Melbourne to play in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday.

Donald, who rejoined the Rams last month after a two-year retirement, wouldn’t confirm if he was planning to play in the season opener when asked multiple times by reporters on Monday, only saying he was “feeling really good. Feeling great.”

The development isn’t surprising considering McVay and his assistants weren’t pushing Donald to play. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said Monday that the team was taking a “day-to-day” approach regarding Donald’s status.

“I think he’ll be ready to go sooner rather than later, but we’re making a decision that we think is best for him and for our team,” McVay said. “He’s attacked this the right way, but it would have been a really quick turnaround.”

Continue reading here

Rams used player ‘guinea pigs’ to help craft their Australia travel plan

How the Rams turned their weakest link into a strength with secondary makeover

Rams vs. 49ers will be a mini Super Bowl for Melbourne’s iconic cricket ground

More than just a coaching tree: Why Sean McVay is so good at forging NFL coaches

Rams poll

Two questions for you: Will the Rams win the Super Bowl and how many games will they win, counting the playoffs? Click here to vote in our survey. Results announced on Friday.

Phil Jackson to get statue

From Chuck Schilken: Phil Jackson will be the next member of the Lakers to receive a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers announced on Tuesday that they have commissioned a statue of the coach who led them to five NBA championships — with help from Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and others — that will be unveiled April 9 when the Minnesota Timberwolves are in Los Angeles for the next-to-last game of the 2026-27 season.

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Angels defeat the Red Sox

Reid Detmers struck out nine and gave up one hit over six shutout innings, Zach Neto was four for five with a two-run homer, and the Angels beat the Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night to end Boston’s five-game winning streak.

Vaughn Grissom and Jose Siri hit RBI singles and the Angels scored twice on double-play grounders, providing ample offense for Detmers (5-8), who got his first win since a 1-0 decision over Kansas City on Aug. 15.

Detmers struck out at least one in all six innings he pitched and allowed only three runners. He retired the last 10 batters he faced after hitting Jahmai Jones with a pitch in the third, then was pulled before the seventh after throwing a career-high 112 pitches.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1909 — Jack Johnson retains his heavyweight boxing title when he fights Al Kaufman to a no decision in 10 rounds at Coffroth’s Arena in San Francisco.

1940 — Donald McNeil beats Bobby Riggs after losing the first two sets to capture the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. title. Alice Marble wins her third straight title with a two-set triumph over Helen Jacobs.

1956 — Australia’s Ken Rosewall wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. title with a four-set victory over Lewis Hoad. Shirley Fry beats Althea Gibson 6-3, 6-4 for the women’s title.

1960 — The Denver Broncos beat the Boston Patriots 13-10 in the American Football League’s first regular-season game. The game is played on a Friday night at Boston University’s Nickerson Field.

1968 — Arthur Ashe wins the U.S. Open by beating Tom Okker 14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Ashe is the first Black male to win a Grand Slam tournament. As an amateur, Ashe is ineligible to receive the $14,000 winner’s prize, but collects $280 in expenses for the two-week tournament.

1972 — UCLA’s Efren Herrera kicks a 20-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining to beat preseason No. 1 Nebraska 20-17 at the Coliseum.

1974 — Jimmy Connors romps to a 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ken Rosewall to win the U.S. Open.

1978 — Chris Evert beats 16-year-old Pam Shriver 7-5, 6-4 to win her fourth straight U.S. Open.

1979 — In an all-New Yorker U.S. Open men’s final, John McEnroe beats Vitas Gerulaitis, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Tracy Austin, at 16 years, 8 months and 28 days, becomes the youngest U.S. Open women’s singles champion, ending Chris Evert’s 31-match win streak at the Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win.

1984 — John McEnroe beats Ivan Lendl 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to win his fourth U.S. Open.

1990 — Pete Sampras, at the age of 19 years and 28 days, becomes the youngest U.S. Open men’s singles champion, defeating Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

2000 — Venus Williams wins her first U.S. Open singles title, defeating Lindsay Davenport, 6-4, 7-5.

2006 — Top-ranked Ohio State tightens its hold on the No. 1 spot after beating the No. 2 ranked and defending champion Texas Longhorns 24-7 in Austin, Texas.

2007 — Asafa Powell sets another world record in the 100 meters, winning a heat at the Rieti Grand Prix in 9.74 seconds. The world’s fastest man improves his record by 0.03 seconds, having run 9.77 three times.

2012 — Serena Williams, two points from defeat, suddenly regains her composure and her game, coming back to win the last four games and beat No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her fourth U.S. Open championship and 15th Grand Slam title overall.

2015 — Japan’s Saori Yoshida wins her 16th world or Olympic freestyle title at the world wrestling championships. The most decorated athlete in wrestling history, the 32-year-old Yoshida wins her 13th title at worlds — to go with three Olympic golds in as many tries.

2017 — Sloane Stephens dominates Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final and wins 6-3, 6-0 for her first Grand Slam title. The 83rd-ranked Stephens is the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.

2018 — Alabama strengthens its hold on No. 1 over No. 2 Clemson. The Crimson Tide made its 106th overall appearance at the top of the AP football rankings, which started in 1936, passing Ohio State for the most by any school.

2018 — Green Bay Packers start 100th season with historic 24-23 comeback win over Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field; first ever Packer recovery from 17+ points deficit after three quarters (20-3).

2018 — Cleveland ends its 17-game losing streak with a 21-21 tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

2021 — Tom Brady becomes the first player in NFL history to start 300 regular season games. Brady and the Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 on opening day of the 2021 season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1914 — George Davis of the Boston Braves pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Davis’ no-hitter was the first thrown at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.

1922 — Baby Doll Jacobson hit three triples to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

1936 — The New York Yankees clinched their eighth American League pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3 and 12-9. The Yankees finished 19½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the largest margin in team history.

1945 — Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.

1948 — Rex Barney of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 2-0 no-hit victory against the New York Giants on a rainy day at the Polo Grounds. He walked two and struck out four.

1965 — Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers tossed his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley gave up one hit — a double by Lou Johnson.

1987 — Nolan Ryan strikes out his 4,500th batter.

1988 — Atlanta’s Bruce Sutter joined Rollie Fingers and Rich Gossage as the only pitchers to save 300 games as the Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 in 11 innings.

1992 — Robin Yount became the 17th player to reach 3,000 hits in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Yount singled to right center off Cleveland’s Jose Mesa in the seventh inning.

1998 — The New York Yankees officially clinched the AL East title, the earliest in AL history, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-5. The Yankees improved to 102-41 — 20½ games ahead of second-place Boston.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit three home runs to give him 63 for the season. The third homer was a three-run shot in the 11th inning lifting San Francisco over the Colorado Rockies 9-4. Bonds broke Roger Maris’ record of 61 for most homers in a season by a left-handed hitter.

2004 — Joe Randa had six hits and tied a major league record with six runs, and Alex Berroa hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs in Kansas City’s 26-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader. Randa became the first AL player to have six hits and six runs in the same nine-inning game.

2007 — Milwaukee became the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected off Cincinnati’s Phil Dumatrait in a 10-5 victory. Weeks and Braun each hit two home runs and J.J. Hardy homered and hit two doubles — all in the first four innings.

2017 — Jose Abreu became the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle in 17 years in Chicago’s 13-1 rout of the San Francisco Giants.

2020 — At the urging of Roberto Clemente’s family, Major League Baseball pays tribute to its first Latin American superstar by allowing Puerto Rican players and others to wear his uniform number, 21, in his honor, on this day. This is akin to the wearing of No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day. In addition, all members of the Pirates, Clemente’s former team, wear the number, the first time it has been worn by a team member since Clemente’s passing 48 years earlier.

2022 — Major League Baseball announces the adoption of a number of changes to the rules to be introduced at the start of the 2023 season. They include a pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, and larger bases. All of these changes have already been successfully tested in minor league games and aim to improve pace of play, reduce injuries and create more in-game action.

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The high school football season is rolling along with some very good games this week. Let’s take a look.

Big games

Week three in high school football has so many intriguing games that fans will have lots of choices this week. Let’s look.

Thursday

Corona del Mar (3-0) at Newport Harbor (2-1). The annual Battle of the Bay brings out the fans and pumps up the players so much you never can trust who’s the favorite. Corona del Mar has the favorite’s role after knocking off Edison last week. Corona del Mar has three standout athletes in tight end Jake Haley, receiver Tucker Murray and linebacker Nolan Scott. The pick: Corona del Mar.

Laguna Beach (1-2) at Westlake (3-0). The Breakers wanted tougher nonleague opponents, which has led to a slow start in the win column, but beware if quarterback Jack Hurst can get the passing game going. Westlake had a scare in its opening, beating Newbury Park in three overtimes, then routed two outmanned opponents. This opponent has some very good athletes to challenge the Warriors. The pick: Westlake.

Friday

Corona Centennial (1-1) vs. Mater Dei (3-0) at Santa Ana College. The Monarchs were not happy Centennial beat them twice last season. They’re coming in very motivated. Mater Dei has a strong defense and an offense that continues to use three quarterbacks — senior Cameron Pooley, junior Russell Sekona and freshman Paytyn Guess. It’s clear that running the ball successfully will be the key to victory to both teams. Centennial has had blocking issues because of injuries, but the dynamic duo of quarterback Jaden Jefferson and receiver Quentin Hale will give fans a reason to watch. The pick: Corona Centennial.

San Pedro (3-0) at Bell (3-0). This is an important game for City Section playoff seeding purposes and also provides more evidence which of these teams will compete for a league title. San Pedro has relied on the passing of Seth Solorio, who set a school record last week with seven touchdown passes against Westchester. Bell has been running the ball with Jordan Medrano and Christopher Luna. The pick: San Pedro.

University (2-1) at Crenshaw (3-0). Brothers Bryan and Jason Robinson grew up playing youth football for Crenshaw. Now they’re the head coach and defensive coordinator at University, and their father, former Locke coach EC Robinson, is a consultant. EC gave former Crenshaw coach Robert Garrett his first job. The brothers always get pumped up for this game. It’s a great matchup between two of the City Section’s best linebackers, De’Andre Kirkpatrick of Crenshaw and D’Elliott Jones of University. It’s the battle of the apostrophes. The pick: Crenshaw.

Orange Lutheran (2-1) at Gardena Serra (2-1). This is Orange Lutheran’s final tuneup before an epic game next week against unbeaten Sierra Canyon. The Lancers have the kind of balance on offense that gives Serra trouble. But Serra has running back AJ McBean, who can help his team chew up time on the clock. The pick: Orange Lutheran.

Rancho Cucamonga (2-1) at Chaparral (1-2). Chaparral has been without its standout quarterback, Dane Weber, because a thumb injury, so it has been a big adjustment for a team loaded with outstanding receivers. Rancho Cucamonga was upset by Oak Hills last week. Expect lots of points in this one. The pick: Chaparral.

La Cañada at South Pasadena (2-1). For those who like neighborhood teams, this is a good matchup. The Spartans have been relying on quarterback Joe Bell and his best friends from the baseball team. Evan Hyun has scored five touchdowns for South Pasadena. The pick: La Cañada.

The battle of the South Bay between Carson and Palos Verdes was played before a standing-room only crowd at Carson. Fans were treated to a game that lived up to expectations when it came to the play at quarterback.

Palos Verdes won 35-20. Here’s the report.

Orange Lutheran has one of the toughest nonleague schedules and knocked off nationally ranked Basha from Chandler, Ariz. Here’s the report.

Corona del Mar is 3-0 going into its rivalry game against Newport Harbor this week and proved this could be a special season with a big win over Edison. Here’s the report.

Northern California received a boost with Folsom defeating Mission Viejo 35-21. Corona Centennial travels to play De La Salle at Memorial Stadium later this month.

Mater Dei is 3-0 using three quarterbacks after a 38-22 win over Valor Christian from Colorado. The Monarchs are still strong along the offensive line and have a defense performing well under new co-defensive coordinator Ivan Stephenson, who came over from Gardena Serra.

The best individual performance of the week might have been the school-record rushing total of 306 yards from junior Rocky Martinez of Redondo Union in a win Culver City. Culver City quarterback Nick Hoang passed for 436 yards and four touchdowns.

Despite a loss to Moorpark, Birmingham made major improvement in its second game. Freshman quarterback Exavier Johnson passed for 171 yards and two touchdowns. As he gains experience, the Patriots’ chances in the City Section will grow stronger.

Crenshaw came away with a 34-13 win over Hamilton. The Cougars are looking like the No. 2 team in the City Section behind Carson.

First-year Narbonne coach Patrick Goodpaster picked up his first victory with a 28-18 win over Fairfax. Here’s the report on his efforts to start from scratch after sanctions sent the program reeling.

Here’s a look at top individual performances from last week.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s this week’s schedule.

Playing multiple sports

Quarterback Joe Bell (left) and his sophomore brother, Jake, a linebacker, are two of seven baseball players on La Canada football team.

(Yary Photography)

There’s seven high school baseball players playing on the La Cañada football team this season, and the happiest of all is quarterback Joe Bell and star left-handed pitcher.

He loves to tell people how playing multiple sports has helped him in his main sport, baseball.

Here’s a look at the special story unfolding at La Cañada.

Bell High’s football team is also relying on baseball players. The Eagles are 3-0. Here’s the report.

Powerful offensive line

Mission Viejo linemen work on blocking during football practice.

(Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times)

Mission Viejo has one of its best offensive lines, with all five starters headed to colleges.

It has helped sophomore quarterback Brett Burnor transition more smoothly to varsity football.

Here’s a look at the offensive line.

Moorpark’s Davis Benson is a multisport athlete, competing in football as well as multiple track and field events.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Davis Benson is a terrific receiver at Moorpark. He’s also a decathlete who won Southern Section championships last spring in the long jump and 110 hurdles while finishing second in the high jump.

Not since the days of NFL receiver Drake London has Moorpark had such a talented athlete.

Here’s a profile on what makes Benson one of the best athletes in California.

Girls volleyball

Sierra Canyon might be No. 1 in California, but Mater Dei is not far behind. The Monarchs won the Dave Mohs tournament, defeating Marymount in the final 25-11, 25-21.

Mater Dei also defeated Mira Costa earlier in the week. Mater Dei is unbeaten has has matches against San Diego powers Cathedral Catholic and Torrey Pines this week.

Sierra Canyon is 13-0 and opens Mission League play Tuesday at Marymount.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is hosting Harvard-Westlake on Saturday night at 7 in a unique outdoor volleyball match on the school’s baseball diamond, helped by Nike, which is flying in a custom-made volleyball court. There will be food trucks, a DJ and a party atmosphere celebrating volleyball and women’s sports.

MaxPreps is sponsoring a tournament Friday and Saturday in Chula Vista. No. 1 JSerra is among the schools participating.

St. Joseph in Lakewood continues to quietly keep winning at 9-0.

In the City Section, it still looks like the Open Division champion will come from the Northern League. Wilson is 4-0, Eagle Rock 3-1 and Franklin 9-2.

Cross country

The unofficial start of cross-country season happens with the first big invitational of the year, and that will be held Friday and Saturday with the Woodbridge Classic at the Great Park in Irvine. Saturday’s top competition will happen at night, always a fun and interesting experience.

Redondo Union’s boys team won the Saddleback Cup over Trabuco Hills. Mario Montoya of Redondo won the two-mile race in 8:59.5. Santa Margarita took the girls competition.

Water polo

JSerra and Oaks Christian had an intense early season match, with the Lions prevailing 8-7. The Lions face 3-0 Mira Costa on Tuesday.

Loyola has started off 3-0 in the Mission League and lost to Cathedral Catholic in a nonleague match. Harvard-Westlake is 4-0 and has matches coming up against Mira Costa and Corona del Mar.

Newport Harbor suffered a rare 12-10 defeat to Cathedral Catholic.

Santa Margarita is 2-0 and faces Mater Dei on Sept. 23 in a Trinity League showdown.

Notes . . .

Brad Wright, the 6-foot-11 former UCLA basketball player, announced his resignation from El Camino Real’s Board of Directors on Sunday.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Brad Wright announced Sunday that he is resigning from El Camino Real’s board of directors after weeks of growing pressure after the placement of three coaches on administrative live. Here’s the report….

Junior shortstop Lennex Minor of St. Bernard has committed to UCLA baseball….

Pitcher Sam Principe from Orange Lutheran has committed to Cal State Northridge….

The court case filed against the CIF challenging transfer and NIL rules has been “terminated,” according to court documents. It was Calhoun vs. CIF. Now the CIF can move forward with discussions on policy changes, though the plaintiff can still appeal to a higher court….

Former UCLA basketball player Bobby Webb, who was a successful boys and girls basketball coach at Montclair Prep, has died, his good friend and former Montclair Prep player KJ Johnson announced….

Standout junior softball player Destinee Herrera from Oxnard announced she has committed to UCLA.

From the archives: Jeff Cirillo

Jeff Cirillo in 2013 at Providence High School.

(DAN WATSON/Dan Watson / The Burbank Leader)

One of the best hitters produced from the San Fernando Valley came from tiny Providence High in Burbank. Jeff Cirillo made it the major leagues and played for 14 years, the longest with the Milwaukee Brewers from 1994-1999. He also played baseball at USC and has been a pro baseball scout.

Here’s a story from 2014 on Cirillo.

Here’s a story from 2000 when he was having one of his best MLB seasons.

Recommendations

From ABC7news.com, a story on former Newbury Park and Stanford soccer player Katie Meyer.

From the Riverside Press Enterprise, a story on a 462-yards passing night.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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Cathy Engelbert will retire as WNBA commissioner at the end of the year, ending a tenure of seven-plus years that saw both tremendous growth and some turmoil for the league.

“In 2019, I had the privilege of being appointed the league’s first commissioner and to lead a league with enormous potential yet untapped awareness and significant undervaluation,” Engelbert said in a statement released by the WNBA. “Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports.”

Engelbert, 61, told the Associated Press that she has been considering retirement for months and wasn’t pressured into making the decision by NBA or WNBA stakeholders. She added that she will help with finding the next commissioner and with the transition period that follows.

“We’ll run a real succession process in the remaining four months,” Engelbert told AP. “If we don’t find someone, I’ll stay on.”

During Engelbert’s tenure, the WNBA has experienced record TV ratings and robust attendance, with a lucrative media rights deal being finalized this year and plans in place for expansion to 18 teams by 2030. An influx of talented and popular young players — including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers — helped along those lines.

Engelbert also helped the league and its players’ union agree on a new collective bargaining agreement this spring, resulting in the first million-dollar salaries for WNBA players.

Still, the negotiations leading up to the CBA were strained at times. Other issues surrounding the league — including player safety, the eligibility of transgender players, and the inconsistency of on-court officials — have caused some to question Engelbert’s leadership ability.

“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in the WNBA’s news release. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

L.A. Clippers are the L.A. Cheaters

From Bill Plaschke: Boom, goes the Clippers.

Steve Ballmer has been tattered. Lawrence Frank has been shredded. Their team future has been flattened.

Boom, goes those damn Clippers.

They had transformed themselves from the ridiculed Clip Joint to a top-shelf NBA organization, with the billionaire owner, the beautiful arena, the best coach and the most devoted fans … but they apparently got greedy, seemingly played dirty, and now have been affixed with a scarlet eight letters that will follow them forever.

Cheaters.

The NBA has ruled that the Clippers are cheaters.

Ballmer, cheater. Frank, cheater. Even president of business operations Gillian Zucker, cheater.

The NBA suspended Ballmer and Zucker for one year and Frank for six months Wednesday for violating salary cap rules when they signed Kawhi Leonard in 2019.

In arguably the harshest punishment in sports since SMU was given college football’s death penalty in 1987 — this is even worse than the USC sucker punch of 2010 — the league added injury to insult by stripping the team of five consecutive draft picks from 2029 to 2033.

Continue reading here

NBA hammers Clippers, Steve Ballmer and Kawhi Leonard following investigation

Read the NBA’s investigation of the Clippers, Steve Ballmer, Kawhi Leonard

Shohei Ohtani seems off as Dodgers lose to Cardinals

From Joaquin Ruiz: Shohei Ohtani didn’t look right when striking out in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched since July 3 due to lingering knee and biceps issues, winced in pain throughout his eight-pitch at-bat against reliever Riley O’Brien, seeming to strain himself with every muscle flex, let alone big-league hacks.

“I saw the same thing that everyone saw,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m going to talk to [Ohtani] tomorrow and really try to figure out … where he’s at physically. Because, yeah, I saw the shaking of the arm, I saw the wincing, and clearly, the swings aren’t who he is.

“Obviously, there’s some compensation. So, I’m going to talk to him, and then I’ll make a decision tomorrow about his availability.”

Roberts isn’t sure if Ohtani, who went 0-for-4 on Wednesday with four strikeouts and a walk, will need to go on the injured list.

“It won’t be an IL, unless it is,” Roberts said. “But it’s very unlikely.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to Yankees

Cam Schlitter gave up one run and two hits in eight superb innings, and the New York Yankees scored five two-out runs in the 10th in a series-clinching, 6-3 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

New York loaded the bases with one out in the 10th when Jose Caballero singled, the automatic runner holding at third, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked against reliever Luke Murphy (0-2).

Murphy got Luis Garcia Jr. to pop out, but Austin Wells stroked a two-run single to right, Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to center, Trent Grisham hit an RBI single to left, and Ben Rice had an RBI single to right for a 6-1 lead.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Jordan Chiles returns to gymnastics

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: That Girl is back.

Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles announced her intention to train for the L.A. Olympics on Wednesday, publicly beginning her attempt for a third Olympic Games in a video narrated by NBA legend Michael Jordan.

“Why again?” says Jordan, whom Chiles is named after. “Because the dream is still there.”

Chiles helped the United States to a team gold medal in 2024, competing in all four events in the final. She won her first individual Olympic medal, a bronze on floor with her energetic Beyoncé-inspired routine, but that result still is being considered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after controversy involving the inquiry process that led to Chiles’ score being upgraded to overtake Romania’s Ana Barbosu.

Chiles is the fourth member of that gold medal-winning team to announce a comeback for the 2028 Olympics, joining Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera. Simone Biles, the 29-year-old, 11-time Olympic medalist, has not officially come out of retirement.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1908 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs Australian Bill Lang in six rounds in Melbourne in a warmup fight for his famous title bout with Jack Johnson.

1921 — The U.S. defeats Japan in five straight matches to win the Davis Cup.

1932 — Ellsworth Vines wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships with a three-set victory over France’s Henri Cochet.

1944 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title with a four-set victory over Bill Talbert in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships. Pauline Betz captures her third straight women’s title with 6-3, 8-6 victory over Margaret Osborne.

1945 — Frank Parker defends his U.S. Open title, defeating Bill Talbert 14-12, 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the first postwar U.S. Open.

1956 — Jockey John Longden surpasses Sir Gordon Richards’ then-record number of wins by riding Arrogate to victory in the Del Mar Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack to attain his 4,871st victory.

1974 — Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson retires; leaves NBA with 26,710 points, 9,887 assists and 7,804 rebounds in 1,040 games.

1975 — Martina Navratilova, 18, defeats Margaret Court, who is 33 and competing in her 11th and final U.S. Open, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

1977 — Ken Rosewall, two months shy of his 43rd birthday, is beaten by 24-year-old Jose Higueras, 6-4, 6-4. The best-of-three-set third-round match marks Rosewall’s final U.S. Open singles match.

1989 — Chris Evert defeats 15-year-old Monica Seles, 6-0, 6-2, for her 101st and final U.S. Open singles win.

1994 — Miami beats Georgia Southern 56-0, breaking an NCAA record with its 58th consecutive home victory. The Hurricanes surpass Alabama’s record of 57 wins in a row at home set from 1962-82.

2001 — Jockey John Velazquez becomes the first jockey to ride six winners on a single card at Saratoga Racecourse. Velazquez guides Starine to a 5¼-length victory in the Diana Handicap, a 1 1-8 mile turf race, for his sixth win.

2006 — Sparks center Lisa Leslie wins the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award, joining Sheryl Swoopes as the league’s only three-time winners.

2016 — Serena Williams’ dominating third-round victory at the U.S. Open is notable for a milestone: 307 Grand Slam wins. Williams’ 6-2, 6-1 win over 47th-ranked Johanna Larsson of Sweden improves her major-tournament mark to 307-42, putting her one win up on Martina Navratilova among women and tying Roger Federer among all players in the Open era.

2017 — UCLA’s Josh Rosen fakes the spike and throws a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining and UCLA overcomes a 34-point deficit to stun Texas A&M 45-44. Rosen is 35 of 59 for 491 yards and throws four fourth-quarter touchdowns. UCLA scores on five straight possessions after trailing 44-10 with 4:08 to play in the third quarter.

2022 — 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams plays her final singles match at the US Open, losing 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in a third round match in New York.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1917 — Philadelphia’s Grover Cleveland Alexander went the distance in both games of the Phillies’ 5-0 and 9-3 sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1947 — Bill McCahan pitched a no-hitter to give the Philadelphia Athletics a 3-0 win over the Washington Senators. One batter reached base for Washington, a two-base throwing error by first baseman Ferris Fain in the second inning.

1947 — The New York Yankees had 18 hits, all singles, in an 11-2 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. Tommy Henrich and Joe DiMaggio each had four hits.

1957 — Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves pitched his 41st career shutout with an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Spahn’s shutout set a major league record for left-handers.

1970 — Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs asked to be kept out of the lineup, ending his National League record of 1,117 consecutive games played. His record was broken in 1983 by Steve Garvey.

1976 — Milwaukee’s Mike Hegan hit for the cycle and drove in six runs to lead the Brewers to an 11-2 rout of Mark Fidrych and the Detroit Tigers.

1986 — Billy Hatcher’s homer in the top of the 18th inning gave the Houston Astros an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The teams played 14 innings the day before and used a major league record 53 players in the game.

1990 — Bobby Thigpen set a major league record with his 47th save in a 4-2 Chicago White Sox victory over Kansas City. Thigpen broke the record set by Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees in 1986.

2000 — Kenny Lofton’s 1st-inning run ties a 1939 major league record set by the Yankees ’Red Rolfe for scoring in 18 consecutive games. The speedy Indians outfielder, besides hitting the game-winning homer in the 13th, also steals five bases tying Cleveland’s single-game record set by Alex Cole.

2001 — Bud Smith became the 16th rookie in modern history to throw a no-hitter and the second to do it to San Diego this season in St. Louis’ 4-0 win. Smith was making his 11th start.

2007 — Pedro Martinez completed his comeback from major shoulder surgery and quickly went into the record books, becoming the 15th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career. The New York Mets right-hander needed only two strikeouts to reach the mark in a 10-4 win over Cincinnati.

2011 — Milwaukee’s George Kottaras hit for the cycle to lead the Brewers to an 8-2 win over the Houston Astros.

2013 — Pinch-hitter Travis Snider homered in the ninth inning to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers that clinched the Pirates’ first non-losing record in 21 seasons.

2017 — Jose Ramirez tied a major league record with five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs that deflected off Detroit outfielders, and the Cleveland Indians routed the Tigers 11-1 for their 11th straight victory. Ramirez had three doubles in becoming the 13th player with five extra-base hits in a game.

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.

Rams’ Stan Kroenke agrees to buy Angels

From Sam Farmer and Bill Shaikin: Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to buy the Angels, adding Major League Baseball to a portfolio that spans six leagues and two continents.

The deal marks the end of Arte Moreno’s turbulent ownership of the Angels, with the news triggering shock followed by celebration among beleaguered fans whose team owns baseball’s longest playoff drought.

The transaction runs through Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Kroenke’s holding company, which also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS and Arsenal of the English Premier League.

The Angels are being sold for an MLB-record $4-billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. The previous high was the $3.9-billion sale of the San Diego Padres that was completed last month.

Forbes had valued the Angels at $2.8 billion in March. The sale is “subject to customary closing conditions” and MLB approval, with the expectation it will close in the first quarter of next year, according to a news release announcing the deal.

Continue reading here

Light the Big A! Stan Kroenke just made Angels fans big winners

Angels fans hold up signs on Tuesday thanking Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, led by Stan Kroenke, for buying the majority share of the Angels from Art Moreno.

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

From Bill Plachke: Whose 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.

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.

Continue reading here

Angels exuberant about Stan Kroenke buying the franchise

Angels star Mike Trout, center, was excited to learn Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought the majoirty share of the Angels.

(Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)

From Bill Shaikin: 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.”

Continue reading here

MORE ANGELS COVERAGE:

Arellano: Arte Moreno finally sells the Angels. Anaheim’s long nightmare is over

Shaikin: ‘A big day for Anaheim.’ Angels get a fresh start with Stan Kroenke, and much more

Yankees strike back, beat Angels on day Anaheim team sale is announced

Angels box score

MLB standings

Sluggish Dodgers open homestand with lopsided loss to Cardinals

Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker can’t reach a fifth-inning homer by Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

From Maddie Lee: 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.

Continue reading here

Dodgers-Cardinals box score

MORE DODGERS

Will Smith and Dalton Rushing among Dodgers activated as rosters expand for September

Ignore the out-of-town trolls. Los Angeles sports fans are the nation’s best

USC fans brace for the heat before kickoff of the Trojans’ game against San José State at the Coliseum on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

From Bill Plaschke: The coach was mad. Sections of his home stadium were empty for a blowout win against an overmatched opponent, and he couldn’t understand why.

“I can honestly say I was a little disappointed there weren’t more students at the last game,” the coach said, adding, “There’s got to be a spirit that makes it special to play here, because that’s what makes it special to be here. And if that’s not here…”

Lincoln Riley after USC’s sparsely attended opener?

No, that was Nick Saban after a midseason home game between Alabama and Louisiana in 2018.

Hmmm. Empty seats even at the royal palace of the king of college football, huh?

There has been much similar chatter this week after the sports landscape witnessed a virtual ghost town at the USC opener against San José State Saturday at the Coliseum. There was an announced crowd of 51,444 but only about half that many showed up, immersing a national television audience in a giant bowl of empty red that left outsiders in a rage.

They called the Los Angeles sports fans a disgrace. They said they weren’t real sports fans. They whined so loudly on social media that USC embarrassingly felt compelled to issue a statement promising better turnouts.

“We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance,” read the statement. “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.”

With all due respect, I would like to issue a second statement to all you arrogant dummies spouting lazy cliches about a market you don’t understand.

Stick a foam finger in it.

Continue reading here

MORE USC NEWS:

Lincoln Riley defends USC amid criticism of season opener crowd

This day in sports history

1901 — Seven-year-old Ogden wins two races in a single day at Sheepshead Bay race track in Coney Island, New York. Ogden edges Cameron by a head in the second race on the card, a six furlong sprint on the main track. In the sixth race, a 1 1-16 mile distance on the turf, Ogden beats Monarka by a length.

1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Bill Lang in the sixth round in Melbourne for his last successful defense of his heavyweight title.

1924 — Bill Tilden wins his fifth straight U.S. men’s singles title with a 6-1, 9-7, 6-2 victory over Bill Johnston.

1940 — Byron Nelson wins the PGA by beating Sam Snead 1-up at the Hershey Country Club in Pennsylvania.

1945 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships by beating Bill Talbert. Sarah Palfrey Cooke beats Pauline Betz for the women’s title.

1965 — Cubs slugger Ernie Banks hits his MLB 400th career HR (off Curt Simmons) in Chicago’s 5-3 win v St. Louis at Wrigley Field; Simmons also gave up Willie Mays’ 400th HR in 1963.

1970 — The tie-break debuts in Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open. A total of 26 tie-breaks (the nine-point sudden death tie-break) are played on the first day of the tournament. Bob McKinley and Ray Ruffels both win matches in fifth-set tie-breaks.

1971 — Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert wins the first of her record 101 U.S. Open matches, defeating Edda Buding, 6-1, 6-0, in 42 minutes. Jimmy Connors, playing on 19th birthday, comes back from a two-set deficit to beat Alex Olmedo for his first U.S. Open victory.

1984 — In his first NFL start, Atlanta’s Gerald Riggs rushes for 202 yards and scores two touchdowns as the Falcons beat New Orleans 36-28.

1991 — Jimmy Connors turns 39 years old and rallies from a 2-5 fifth-set deficit to defeat 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6. The fourth-round Labor Day match lasts 4 hours and 41 minutes.

1995 — Frank Bruno wins a heavyweight championship in his fourth attempt registering a unanimous decision over Oliver McCall to take his WBC title in Wembley, England.

2001 — Michael Schumacher becomes the winningest driver in Formula One history, winning the Belgian Grand Prix for his 52nd career victory. Schumacher breaks the mark shared with Alain Prost and clinches his fourth world championship.

2004 — In a second-round match, Sargis Sargsian defeats Nicolas Massu, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in five hours and nine minutes. It’s the second-longest match on record at the U.S. Open and falls 18 minutes shy of breaking the record for longest match, set in 1992 when Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in 5:26 in the semifinals.

2007 — Clay Buchholz throws a no-hitter in his second career start against the Baltimore Orioles.

2008 — Adrian Beltre goes 5 for 6 and hits for the cycle in a 12-6 Seattle Mariners win over the Texas Rangers.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1929 — Joe Cronin of the Washington Senators hit for the cycle in a 10-7 win against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

1937 — For the second time this season, two batters opened a game with home runs. Boze Berger and Mike Kreevich of the Chicago White Sox connected off Boston’s Johnny Marcum, en route to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.

1944 — Dixie Walker of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit for the cycle and drove in four runs in an 8-4 win over the New York Giants at Ebbets Field.

1952 — Mike Fornieles of the Washington Senators, in his major league debut, pitched a one-hitter for a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader.

1957 — The Milwaukee Braves swept the Chicago Cubs, 23-10 and 4-0. Bob Hazle of the Braves got four hits in the first game and teammate Frank Torre scored six runs to tie the major league record.

1963 — Cincinnati’s Pete Rose hit a leadoff homer of Jay Hook to give the Reds a 1-0 win over the New York Mets in the second game of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.

1965 — Ernie Banks hit his 400th home run as the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 at Wrigley Field. The blow came off Curt Simmons in the third inning.

1971 — Cesar Cedeno’s 200-foot fly ball in the fifth inning fell for an inside-the-park grand slam home run as second baseman Jim Lefebvre and right fielder Bill Buckner of the Dodgers collided. The hit helped the Houston Astros beat Los Angeles 9-3.

1972 — Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs retired 26 consecutive San Diego Padres before walking pinch-hitter Larry Stahl on a 3-2 pitch. Pappas then retired Gary Jestadt to finish his 8-0 no-hitter.

1987 — Houston’s Kevin Bass went 4-for-4, including home runs from both sides of plate, and drove in three runs as the Astros posted a 10-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

1990 — Dave Stieb, who had lost three no-hit bids with one out to go in the previous two seasons, finally pitched one as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.

1996 — Mike Greenwell set a major league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one on a 10th-inning single to give the Red Sox a 9-8 victory over Seattle.

2001 — New York’s Mike Mussina came within one strike of pitching the first perfect game in the 89-year history of Fenway Park in a 1-0 win over Boston. Mussina’s bid was broken up by pinch-hitter Carl Everett’s clean single.

2002 — Miguel Tejada had his second straight game-ending hit as he singled home Terrence Long with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as Oakland tied the longest winning streak in AL history with a 7-6 victory over Kansas City. Oakland, which overcame a 5-0 deficit, equaled the 19 straight wins by the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees.

2003 — Eric Gagne set a major league record with his 55th consecutive save in Los Angeles’s 4-1 victory over Houston.

2009 — Alex Rodriguez picks up the 2,500th hit of his career as his Yankees defeat Baltimore, 10 – 2, to complete a sweep at Camden Yards. Eric Hinske‘s home run is the Bronx Bombers’ 20th at the park this season, the most by a visiting team since the ballpark opened in 1992. CC Sabathia earns his American League-leading 16th win.

2012 — Jurickson Profar made quite a debut at age 19, homering in his first major league at-bat and doubling his next time up in the Texas Rangers’ 8-3 win over Cleveland.

2015 — Clayton Kershaw strikes out 15 batters tying a career best and setting a new personal record of 251 for the season.

2022 — Yu Darvish reaches a rare milestone with a strikeout of Cody Bellinger in the 5th inning of the Padres’ 7 – 1 win over the Dodgers: this gives him 1,750 Ks in ten major league seasons, and this gives him 3,000 when the 1,250 he amassed in seven seasons in Japan are added. Among all pitchers who have struck out 1,000 or more batters on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, only Hideo Nomo has preceded Darvish in reaching the mark.

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 Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressing the Army to explain why it told a unit based in Europe to stop specializing in drone warfare, an order that comes as the world’s battlefields rapidly evolve and military tactics increasingly rely on uncrewed systems to fight.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade was building its own drones and practicing the kind of warfare that Ukraine has pioneered against Russia and that Iran has fought against the U.S. — warfare that has killed and wounded American troops. The brigade of 600 soldiers was set up in November to be deployed anywhere that drones were needed.

“We have deep concerns that eliminating this specialized drone unit will limit our ability to learn from allies, particularly the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and hinder our efforts to modernize drone warfare at the speed necessary to compete on the modern battlefield,” the lawmakers said in a letter shared with The Associated Press.

It requests a briefing from the Army to explain its decision and was sent Tuesday to departing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff. It was signed by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio.

“This specialized unit was a prudent response in a moment when the character of warfare is changing faster than a conventional formation’s ability to adapt,” the lawmakers say.

They said they were particularly keen to understand the data, analysis and process behind the change after less than a year of the drone unit being active. They also want to know if the decision was based on guidance from Pentagon leadership or made internally by the Army.

LaNeve, who is filling in as the Army’s top uniformed officer, recently ordered the battalion to refocus on its core mission of being an airborne infantry unit. The move followed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sudden ousting of the Army’s prior chief of staff, Gen. Randy George.

Integrating drones into the Army’s tactics was a major focus for George. Last year, he and Driscoll had rolled out what they called the Army Transformation Initiative, which pushed to add “modernized (unmanned aircraft systems) into formations.”

George, who became Army chief of staff under President Joe Biden, regularly spoke about the need to accelerate development of new drone systems and get them in the hands of regular soldiers, not just specialized units. Driscoll supported such efforts and focused on cutting the red tape for military contractors to quickly develop more drones.

After George was ousted by Hegseth without explanation in April, he was replaced by LaNeve. This week, Driscoll submitted his own resignation and later said on social media that Wednesday would be his final full day on the job. A reason for his departure was not publicly revealed, but he was an ally of George, and his tensions with Hegseth have been widely reported.

“We are supportive of the transformative initiatives the Army has taken under Secretary Driscoll’s leadership in this area and would like to see that momentum maintained even as uniformed leadership changes,” the lawmakers wrote.

Toropin and Finley write for the Associated Press. Toropin reported from Nuremberg, Germany.

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.

Dodgers swept by Braves

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ recent offensive woes were punctuated Thursday by a complete-game shutout by Braves left-hander Chris Sale.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” manager Dave Roberts said after the 1-0 loss.

The Dodgers (80-54), who’ve been swept three times this month, are clinging to a one-game lead over the Braves (79-55) for the second-best record in the National League. They are three games behind the Brewers (83-51) for the best record in baseball.

“I wish we’d played better,” Roberts said. “I wish we’d have won the game. I wish we’d won the series. It didn’t happen. But right now, there’s nothing we can do but just go out there and keep trying to get better and win a baseball game [Friday].”

What was expected to be a pitchers’ duel between Dodgers rotation leader Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sale lived up to the hype.

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Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit to face the Tigers. His focus is on the task at hand

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Mark Walter should sell the Sparks

From Mirjam Swanson: Mark Walter doesn’t need to sell the Sparks. It said so in a release from his company Wednesday: “TWG is not looking to sell its sports assets at ‘fire sale’ prices to raise capital for its insurance operations.”

He should sell the Sparks anyway.

Not because of the investigations into allegations that insurance companies under Walter’s umbrella failed to properly disclose and conduct transactions between other companies he controls.

But for the sake of the storied WNBA franchise, which hasn’t won a championship in a decade and is about to miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season — something that would have been unthinkable six seasons ago.

Sell for the sake of the Sparks, who have long deserved an owner who wants seriously to run the team like Walter’s group runs, well, the Dodgers.

With passion and pride, foresight and smarts.

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Sparks’ Cameron Brink blasts Enes Kanter Freedom, offers support to transgender community

Rams defeat Chargers in preseason game

From Gary Klein: Rams coach Sean McVay does not play starters or players expected to be significant backups or contributors during the preseason, especially in the final game.

Quarterback Stetson Bennett did not play on Thursday night against the Chargers.

That would seem to indicate that Bennett, not rookie Ty Simpson, will open the season as Matthew Stafford’s backup.

Simpson led three first-half scoring drives in a 20-18 victory at SoFi Stadium.

Simpson, the 13th pick in the draft, completed 18 of 23 passes for 119 yards, including a second-quarter touchdown.

It was Simpson’s second no-turnover performance. In the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Simpson played all but the first two series and completed 21 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

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Rams-Chargers summary

Chargers preseason takeaways: DJ Uiagalelei makes case to be Justin Herbert’s backup

Rams reacquire Tutu Atwell

From Gary Klein: The Rams never found a way to consistently deploy speedy receiver Tutu Atwell. But they apparently can’t quit him.

On Thursday, the Rams traded second-year running back Jarquez Hunter to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Atwell, the team announced.

Atwell, who will turn 27 in October, was selected by the Rams in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft out of Louisville. He was sidelined much of his rookie season because of a shoulder injury, and was subsequently used sparingly the next three seasons. In 2024, he caught a career-best 42 passes for 562 yards.

Before the 2025 season, the Rams signed Atwell to a one-year, $10-million contract. But with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams getting the majority of targets, Atwell caught only six passes for 192 yards, 88 coming on a winning touchdown pass play against the Indianapolis Colts.

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This day in sports history

1886 — Richard Sears beats R. Livingston Beeckman 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to win his sixth straight U.S. national tennis championship.

1888 — Henry Slocum defeats Howard Taylor 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to win the eighth U.S. men’s national tennis championship. Slocum, last year’s runner-up, is the first men’s champion other than Richard Sears. Sears, the U.S. champion from 1881-1887, retired last year.

1908 — Fred McLeod wins the U.S. Open golf title with a one-stroke victory over Willie Smith in a playoff.

1922 — The oldest American international team golf match, the Walker Cup, is established with the U.S. beating Britain 8-4.

1949 — The U.S. takes the Davis Cup, topping Australia 4-1.

1950 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black player to compete in the U.S. Open. Gibson wins her first round match, defeating Barbara Knapp of Britain 6-2, 6-2 at Forest Hills in New York.

1977 — The Cosmos beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at Portland, Ore., to win their second NASL title. Giorgio Chinaglia’s header in the 77th minute is the winning goal.

1989 — Pete Sampras, 18, wins his first U.S. Open singles match in four sets over Agustin Moreno of Mexico.

1990 — Stefan Edberg becomes the first top-seeded player since John Newcombe in 1971 to lose in the first round of the U.S. Open. Edberg loses to Alexander Volkov of the Soviet Union, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2.

1994 — Tiger Woods, 18, becomes the youngest winner in the history of the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, capturing the last three holes of his 36-hole title match against Trip Kuehne.

1995 — Monica Seles, plays in her first Grand Slam tournament in more than 2 1-2 years and beats Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3, 6-1 in first round of the U.S. Open.

2004 — The U.S. women’s basketball team goes through the Athens Olympics undefeated to win its fifth Olympic gold medal, beating Australia 74-63 in the final.

2004 — Led by San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginóbili, Argentina beats Italy 84-69 for the Olympic basketball gold medal in Athens; star-studded U.S. team takes bronze.

2008 — Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic is ousted from the U.S. Open, beaten by 188th-ranked Julie Coin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round. Never before in the Open era that began in 1968 had the No. 1 woman lost this early in the tournament.

2014 — Acknowledging he “didn’t get it right” with a two-game suspension for Ravens running back Ray Rice, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces tougher penalties for players accused of domestic violence, including six weeks for a first offense and at least a year for a second.

2022 — Tour Championship, Men’s Golf, East Lake GC: Irishman Rory McIlroy wins $18 million with one stroke win over Scottie Scheffler and Im Sung-jae; becomes first 3-time winner of the FedEx Cup.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1918 — Tris Speaker was suspended for the rest of the season because of his assault on umpire Tom Connolly after a dispute at home plate in Philadelphia.

1926 — Emil Levsen of the Cleveland Indians pitched two complete-game victories over the Boston Red Sox, 6-1 and 5-1. He did not strike out a batter in either game. The Indians used the identical lineup in both games.

1951 — The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Giants 2-0, ending the Giants’ 16-game winning streak. The streak enabled the Giants to cut the Dodgers 13½-game lead to six.

1971 — In the nightcap of a doubleheader, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Rick Wise hit two home runs to help himself to a 7-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

1977 — Steve Garvey of the Dodgers hit three doubles and two home runs in five at-bats, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 11-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. One of Garvey’s homers was a grand slam.

1977 — In a 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Nolan Ryan of the Angels struck out 11 batters to pass the 300-strikeout plateau for the fifth time in his career.

1987 — Mike Schmidt passes Ted Williams and Willie McCovey with 522 home runs

1990 — Ryne Sandberg became the first second baseman in history to have consecutive 30-homer seasons, leading the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

1992 — The Milwaukee Brewers set an American League record with 31 hits and 26 singles in a 22-2 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays.

1993 — Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hess’ bases-loaded single with two out in the sixth inning gives Long Beach a 3-2 victory over Panama in the championship game of the Little League World Series.

2003 — Eric Gagne set a major league record with his 44th straight save this season as the Dodgers beat Houston 6-3. Gagne eclipsed Tom Gordon’s 1998 record of 43 in a row to begin a season.

2005 — Michael Memea’s home run in the bottom of the seventh gives West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, the Little League World Series title.

2008 — Cristian Guzman of the Nationals became the second player to hit for the cycle since the franchise moved to Washington, driving in three in an 11-2 rout of the Dodgers.

2014 — San Francisco’s Yusmeiro Petit set a major league record when he retired his 46th batter in a row, and the Giants beat Colorado 3-1. Petit got the first eight Colorado hitters, establishing the mark by striking out Charlie Culberson. That broke Mark Buehrle’s record of 45 straight with the Chicago White Sox in 2009. Petit’s streak covered eight games, six of them in relief.

2016 — Ryan Harlost led Endwell, N.Y., to the Little League World Series title, striking out eight and limiting South Korea to five hits in six innings in a 2-1 victory. Endwell gave New York its first championship since 1964.

2021 — Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Otani becomes the first player in team history to reach 20 stolen bases and hit 40 home runs in a season.

2025 — For the third time this season, a player has a four-homer game, with Kyle Schwarber performing the feat and driving in nine runs in a 19-4 Phillies win over Atlanta. Three such games in one season breaks the previous record of two, set in 2002 and tied in 2017. In spite of its frequency this season, the feat has only been performed 21 times in major league history, and the last Phillies player to accomplish it had been Mike Schmidt in 1976.

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.

Dodgers lose Roki Sasaki

From Maddie Lee: The gathering on the Truist Park mound kept growing. At first, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was visited by pitching coach Mark Prior and catcher Hunter Feduccia, with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. Then, Prior summoned head athletic trainer Thomas Albert. Then, they called out manager Dave Roberts, who eventually made the pitching change.

The group had been examining the middle finger on Sasaki’s right hand. Sasaki exited the Dodgers’ 6-5 loss to the Braves in the fourth inning with a blister on that finger, which will land him on the 15-day injured list, Roberts said after the game.

“There’s just no way we can avoid it given the severity of the blister,” Roberts said. “So we’ll give him some time. But we can cover it up actually to keep his arm moving.”

Still, it’s unclear how long it will sideline him. In the meantime, Roberts said, left-hander Eric Lauer will return to the rotation, and the Dodgers will add a reliever as the corresponding move.

“It’s more disappointing with Roki because he has been so consistently good,” Roberts said. “And I don’t think he’s dealt with any blister issues. So for it to kind of come out of nowhere was a surprise to all of us. He was on a good run. So now unfortunately, it’s going to be minimum two weeks.”

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Mark Walter’s company TWG Global defends Dodgers financing and Lakers sale

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels swept by Guardians

Steven Kwan hit a tying double in the ninth inning, Travis Bazzana followed with a sacrifice fly and the Cleveland Guardians rallied past the Angels 4-3 on Wednesday for their seventh straight victory.

Hunter Gaddis (2-3) retired the final two batters in the eighth to earn the win. Erik Sabrowski worked a scoreless ninth for his second major league save and first since 2024.

With a runner on second, Sabrowski struck out pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud and got pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza to pop up to second as Cleveland completed a three-game sweep.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Jeanie Buss takes siblings to court again

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Jeanie Buss is taking her siblings to court. Again.

Attorneys representing the Lakers’ controlling governor filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to block her five siblings from trying to sell the family’s remaining 17.82% of the NBA franchise the Buss family has owned since 1979.

Jeanie contends that her siblings should abide by a 2017 court order that mandated the family’s co-trustees to “take all actions reasonably available to ensure that Jeanie is appointed and remains as the NBA controlling owner of the Lakers.” The 2017 legal battle installed Jeanie’s younger siblings, Janie and Joey, as her fellow co-trustees, two roles that were previously held by her older brothers Jim and Johnny, who were ousted after a failed attempt to wrestle control away from Jeanie.

The 97-page petition accuses Janie, Joey and the other siblings Jim, Johnny and Jesse of “devious behavior” for not including Jeanie in discussions to sell the family’s last stakes in the team earlier this month. While the other siblings elected to sell soon after Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner agreed to a record-breaking transaction with Mark Walter and released a statement attributed to the Buss family, Jeanie “never agreed to any sale, was never consulted and was never even informed,” the petition states.

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What to watch for in Rams preseason game against Chargers

From Gary Klein: Under coach Sean McVay, the Rams’ final preseason games routinely are showcases for players vying for spots on the practice squad, not the roster.

But Thursday night’s game against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium will offer another look at perhaps one of the most important players for the Rams’ future:

Rookie quarterback Ty Simpson.

Simpson, the 13th pick in the NFL draft, has been competing with fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett to back up Matthew Stafford, though Bennett took the vast majority of second-team reps during training camp and preseason workouts.

Other things to watch Thursday:

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Jim Harbaugh wants to see improvement from Chargers

From Joaquin Ruiz: It’s decision-making time.

With a 53-man roster needing to be finalized by Sunday, the Chargers wrap up the preseason against the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night.

The Chargers looked sloppy in their 41-17 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week, following an inspiring 27-7 road win over the Houston Texans, and now aim for a better on-field product in their final tuneup.

“Just want it to be crisp [and] clean,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Want to see improvement. … Everybody doing what they’re supposed to do.”

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Angel City loses to North Carolina

Ashley Sanchez scored twice to break the single-season goals record for the North Carolina Courage in a 2-0 victory over Angel City on Wednesday night.

The former All-American at UCLA leads the National Women’s Soccer League in scoring this season with 15 goals.

Sanchez scored her 14th goal in the 41st minute, tying Lynn Biyendolo’s record for the North Carolina set in 2019. Evelyn Ijeh’s backheel flick found a charging Sanchez, who blasted it into the far corner.

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Angel City summary

NWSL standings

This day in sports history

1884 — Richard Sears beats Howard Taylor 6-0, 1-6, 6-0, 6-2 to win his fourth straight U.S. national tennis championship.

1903 — Britain’s Hugh Doherty is the first non-American to win the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships with a 6-0, 6-3, 10-8 victory over the William Larned.

1909 — William Larned wins his fifth U.S. singles tennis title with a five-set victory over William Clothier in Newport, R.I.

1928 — Helen Wills beats Helen Hull Jacobs to take the fifth women’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships. Wills needs only 33 minutes, defeating Jacobs 6-2, 6-1.

1957 — Hickory Smoke, driven by John Simpson, Jr., wins the Hambletonian Stakes after capturing the fifth and deciding heat.

1969 — Lindy’s Pride, driven by Howard Beissinger, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.

1975 — Onny Parun of New Zealand defeats Stan Smith 6-4, 6-2 in the first night match at the U.S. Open before a crowd of 4,949 at the West Side Tennis Club.

1976 — Transsexual Renee Richards, formerly Richard Raskind, is barred from competing at the U.S. Open tennis championships after refusing to submit to a chromosome qualification test.

1978 — The Cosmos defeat the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3-1 to win the NASL Championship.

1985 — Mary Joe Fernandez, 14, becomes the youngest player to win a match at the U.S. Open. Fernandez beats Sara Gomer 6-1, 6-4.

1996 — Stefan Edberg stuns Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek at the U.S. Open, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in his record 54th straight and final Grand Slam event.

1999 — Maurice Greene and Inger Miller win at 200 meters at the world championships, giving the U.S. a sprint sweep. Greene is the first to win the 100 and 200 at a major global meet since Carl Lewis at the 1984 Olympics.

2006 — Marco Andretti, 19, becomes the youngest winner of a major open-wheel event, beating Dario Franchitti by 0.66 seconds to take the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

2015 — Usain Bolt wins his fourth straight 200-meter title at the world championships, finishing in 19.55 seconds in Beijing.

2018 — Simona Halep becomes the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the U.S. Open in the half-century of the pro era. Halep is overwhelmed by 44th-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-2, 6-4.

2023 — Gymnast Simone Biles (26) wins her record eighth U.S. championship.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1897 — Roger Bresnahan, later a Hall of Fame catcher, made his major-league debut as a pitcher for the Washington Senators by shutting out the St. Louis Browns 3-0.

1911 — Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox. Walsh struck out eight and walked one.

1937 — Brooklyn’s Fred Frankhouse pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. The game was stopped with two out in the eighth inning with the Dodgers leading 5-0.

1977 — Toby Harrah and Bump Wills of the Texas Rangers hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches in the seventh inning in an 8-2 victory over New York at Yankee Stadium.

1978 — Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds hit his 200th home run to become the first player in major league history to have 200 homers and 500 stolen bases.

1982 — Rickey Henderson of Oakland broke Lou Brock’s 1974 record of 118 stolen bases in a season and stole three more bases in the Athletics’ 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. It gave Henderson 122 thefts in 127 games.

1999 — Vladimir Guerrero’s hitting streak was halted at 31 games by Cincinnati’s Ron Villone in the Reds’ 4-1 win over Montreal. Guerrero went 0-for-2 with an intentional walk against Villone, ending the majors’ longest hitting streak since 1987.

2005 — Jeff Kent became the first player to hit 300 home runs as a second baseman in the Dodgers’ 8-3 win over Houston. The homer was the 325th of his career.

2010 — Florida led off a game with back-to-back homers for the first time in franchise history in a 7-1 victory over Atlanta. Cameron Maybin hit the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats. Logan Morrison then connected off Tommy Hanson for his first major league home run.

2011 — Justin Verlander became the majors’ first 20-game winner, grinding through six innings in the Detroit Tigers’ 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Verlander (20-5) became the first pitcher to win 20 games before the end of August since Arizona’s Curt Schilling in 2002.

2017 — Giancarlo Stanton hit his 50th home run to break an eighth-inning tie, helping the Miami Marlins sweep the San Diego Padres with a 6-2 victory. Stanton became the first NL player to reach 50 homers since Prince Fielder hit 50 for Milwaukee in 2007.

2017 — Rookie Rhys Hoskins homered for the fifth straight game and made a diving catch to start a game-changing triple play in the fifth inning, leading Philadelphia to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Hoskins led off the eighth with a drive to left-center to give him 11 home runs in his first 18 games, becoming the fastest in major league history to reach 11 homers. Hoskins was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Aug. 10.

2018 — Kendrys Morales’ home run streak was ended at seven games by the Baltimore Orioles, who halted an eight-game skid by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-0. Morales went 0 for 3 with a walk and did not hit the ball out of the infield.

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.

Dodgers lose to Braves

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could see the kind of inning right-hander Tyler Glasnow had to begin his start Tuesday, plagued by soft contact and bad luck, derailing a younger version of him.

“That’s an outing that a couple years ago I think might have gotten away,” Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Braves, ending a six-game winning streak. “And I don’t think he would’ve been as efficient getting through the fifth like he did. But there’s just a lot of growth with Glas. Just can’t wait to see more. Like I told him after the start, it’s just really good to have him back.”

Glasnow’s return was a major step for the Dodgers as they assemble their postseason pitching staff. The next will be two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching — which could happen as soon as this weekend.

Ohtani is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday or Friday, pitching coach Mark Prior said. Then Ohtani and the Dodgers will finalize next steps. But Roberts didn’t rule out the possibility of Ohtani making a short start Sunday in Detroit.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

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How two decades of friendship have shaped Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

José Ramírez drove in five runs with three doubles, Steven Kwan had five singles and the streaking Cleveland Guardians overcame an early five-run deficit to beat the Angels 8-6 in 10 innings Tuesday night.

Kwan capped his second career five-hit game with a leadoff single in the 10th against reliever Blake Weiman (0-1), advancing automatic runner Brayan Rocchio from second base to third. Travis Bazzana popped out, but Ramírez laced a two-run double to left-center to give the Guardians an 8-6 lead.

Cleveland reliever Erik Sabrowski (5-2) struck out the side in the ninth. Cade Smith fanned Denzer Guzman and Adam Frazier with runners on second and third in the 10th for his 35th save, sealing the Guardians’ sixth straight win.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Did Iger and Kushner overpay for the Lakers?

From Steve Henson: Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger, successful businessmen by any measure, paid $12.5 billion for the Lakers, easily the highest price ever for a sports franchise.

It was a rare chance to acquire an celebrated sports brand, and by all accounts, timing was everything.

The enormous sale price has implications for the rest of the NBA and raises a basic question: Did Kushner and Iger get a great deal or did they overpay?

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USC’s Jahkeem Stewart to miss season opener

From Ryan Kartje: USC sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, who was spotted over the weekend sporting crutches and a boot on his injured right foot, is expected to miss the Trojans’ season opener against San Jose State, coach Lincoln Riley said.

Losing Stewart for longer than that would be a bitter pill for USC to swallow at the start of a highly anticipated season. But while reports have suggested that Stewart is likely to miss USC’s entire nonconference slate with the injury, Riley suggested Tuesday that he could debut as soon as the following Friday, when USC takes on Fresno State in its second game of the season.

“What he’s dealing with right now is minor,” Riley said. “The plan is to probably hold him and I think he’ll be able from that point forward. But it’s certainly not long term. A little precautionary right now.”

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UCLA could still get key player

UCLA is proceeding as though it landed a massive gift this week, with 2025 Sun Belt player of the year Trent Hendrick joining the Bruins for practices Monday and Tuesday.

Hendrick is among 16 players who sought a Louisiana temporary restraining order allowing them to return to college after entering the NFL draft pool, arguing they would not have left had they know NCAA rules would change granting them an extra year of eligibility.

The temporary restraining order was granted last week, but the Big Ten voted on Tuesday to pass a new rule that prohibited football players who have signed a pro contract, were on a pro roster at any point or declared for the NFL draft as an underclassman without withdrawing, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition.

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Angel City coaching carousel can be frustrating

From Kevin Baxter: When Mark Parsons joined Angel City as sporting director 19 months ago, the first order of business was to find a head coach. The club had fired its first two managers and was about to open training camp without one.

But for Parsons, finding the right person was more important than finding a person right now.

“Time in getting it done is not the priority,” he said then. “Getting the right person is.”

So Parsons conducted an extensive global search before settling on Alexander Straus, who had won three straight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich. Straus lasted just a year in the NWSL, losing more than twice as many games as he won.

Now, 2½ months after firing Straus, Parsons is deep into another coaching search. And once again, he won’t be rushed.

“I don’t want to put a date on this,” he said. “Finding that person’s the priority. But getting to the right answer is the most important.”

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This day in sports history

1933 — Helen Hull Jacobs captures the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association singles title when Helen Wills Moody defaults in the third set because of back and hip pain.

1950 — Australia wins its third straight Davis Cup by beating the U.S. 4-1.

1961 — The International Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto.

1972 — The New York Cosmos win the NASL championship by defeating the St. Louis Stars 2-1.

1995 — Greg Norman sinks a 66-foot chip on the first playoff hole, to capture the World Series of Golf and become the leading money winner in PGA Tour history. Norman wins $360,000 in his third tour victory this year to raise lifetime earnings to $9.49 million and overtake Tom Kite.

1997 — Carl Lewis finishes his track-and-field career anchoring star-studded team to victory in the 400-meter relay to cap the ISTAF Grand Prix meet in Berlin. The team of Olympic 100-meter champion Donovan Bailey, former world record-holder Leroy Burrell and Namibian sprint champion Frankie Fredericks, win in 38.24 seconds.

1999 — Michael Johnson shatters another world record at the world championships — this time, breaking the 400-meter mark with a time of 43.18. He cuts 0.11 seconds off the record of 43.29 set by Butch Reynolds in 1988 and ties Carl Lewis for the most gold medals at the championships with eight.

2004 — Lindsay Tarpley and Abby Wambach score as the U.S. beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women’s football gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

2011 — The Tulsa Shock snap the longest losing streak in WNBA history with a 77-75 win over the Sparks. The Shock (2-25) had 20 straight losses before Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left.

2011 — Kyle Busch records his record-breaking 50th NASCAR Busch Series victory, edging teammate Joey Logano in the Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch breaks a tie with Mark Martin for the record in NASCAR’s second-tier series.

2012 — Lydia Ko wins the Canadian Women’s Open to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and only the fifth amateur champion. The 15-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander closes with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Inbee Park.

2016 — San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick kneels in protest during the U.S. national anthem at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium while playing against the San Diego Chargers, objecting to racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S.

2016 — Dan Raudabaugh throws six touchdown passes and the Philadelphia Soul win their second ArenaBowl title, beating the Arizona Rattlers 56-42.

2017 — Kyle Snyder scores a late takedown of Olympic gold medalist Abdusalim Sadulaev in the deciding match, and the U.S. wins the world freestyle wrestling title for the first time in 22 years.

2017 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. stops UFC champion Conor McGregor on his feet in the 10th round in Las Vegas. The much-hyped 154-pound fight is more competitive than many expected when an unbeaten, five-division world champion boxer takes on a mixed martial artist making his pro boxing debut.

2020 — Milwaukee Bucks forfeit their NBA playoff game after the shooting of Jacob Blake, leading to the NBA postponing more games.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1916 — Philadelphia’s Joe Bush pitched a no-hitter, to beat Cleveland 5-0.

1939 — The first major league baseball game was televised as WXBS brought their cameras to Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field for a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Dodgers.

1947 — Brooklyn’s Dan Bankhead became the first Black pitcher in the majors. He homered in his first major-league plate appearance, but didn’t fare well on the mound. In 3 1-3 innings of relief, he gave up 10 hits and six earned runs to the Pirates. Pittsburgh won 16-3.

1962 — Minnesota’s Jack Kralick pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Kansas City Athletics at Metropolitan Stadium. Lenny Green drove in the Twins’ run with a sacrifice fly off Bill Fischer in the seventh inning.

1987 — Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor went 0-for-4, ending his 39-game hitting streak, and the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 1-0 in 10 innings on pinch-hitter Rick Manning’s RBI single. With Molitor waiting in the on-deck circle for a possible fifth at-bat, Manning singled in the game-winner.

1989 — Chris Drury pitches a five-hitter and Trumbull, Conn., becomes the first American team since 1983 to capture the Little League World Series, defeating Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 5-2.

1991 — Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen pitched a no-hitter to lead the Royals to a 7-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.

1993 — Sean Burroughs, the son of former major leaguer Jeff Burroughs, pitches his second no-hitter of the Little League World Series and hits two home runs, sending defending champion Long Beach past Bedford, N.H., 11-0 in the final of the U.S. bracket.

1999 — Randy Johnson reached 300 strikeouts in record time, notching nine in seven innings to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins 12-2. Johnson achieved the milestone in his 29th start.

2004 — Ichiro Suzuki homered in the ninth inning for his 200th hit of the season, but Seattle fell to Kansas City 7-3. Suzuki became the first player to reach 200 hits in each of his first four major league seasons.

2007 — Dalton Carriker’s home run in the bottom of the eighth gave Warner Robins, Georgia, a thrilling 3-2 victory over Tokyo to win the Little League World Series title.

2007 — Boston defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-1 to complete a four-game sweep. For the series, the Red Sox outscored Chicago 46-7. Boston scored at least 10 runs in every game of the series, which is only the fourth time that has happened in a four-game series since 1900 and the first time in the American League in 85 years.

2008 — Major League Baseball announced umpires will be allowed to check video on home run calls starting Aug. 27. Video will be used only on so-called “boundary calls,” such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs.

2010 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis hits the 400th homer of his career, off Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals in the fourth inning. Pujols becomes the 47th major leaguer to hit that many and is the third-youngest to do so after Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.

2018 — Mana Lau Kong homered to center field on the first pitch his team saw and Ka’olu Holt pitched a complete game to lead Hawaii to a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the Little League World Series championship.

2018 — Toronto’s Kendrys Morales became the seventh player in major league history to homer in at least seven consecutive games, going deep in the third inning of the Blue Jays’ 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

2018 — Matt Carpenter tied a St. Louis record with four doubles, pitcher Austin Gomber had a two-run infield single in a six-run first inning, and the Cardinals routed Colorado 12-3.

2024 — Danny Jansen becomes the first player to appear for both teams in the same game. He had started the June 26th game between the Blue Jays and Red Sox at Fenway Park as Toronto’s catcher and was at bat with an 0-1 count when the game was suspended by rain in the 2nd inning. When the game resumes today, he has since been traded to Boston, and takes over behind the plate for Reese McGuire, who has been released.

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.

Games are won and lost on special teams.

Precision and execution on punts and kickoffs can pin teams in their own end zones, stopping drives before they even get started.

Electric returners can flip the field and change the trajectory of a game in one play.

And a big foot can mitigate the pressure of a two-minute drill and create scoring opportunities as far as midfield.

No one may understand that more than UCLA coach Bob Chesney, who served as the special teams coordinator at King’s College from 2003-04 and at Johns Hopkins from 2005-08.

Chesney’s emphasis on the third phase of the game followed him from his time in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to Westwood, where he incorporates special team periods throughout every practice.

While some coaches have specialists practice by themselves or use special teams periods sporadically through practice, Chesney ensures that everyone is involved, using players to distract kickers during field-goal attempts and returns, with the Bruins shouting, spraying water and running at specialists to simulate game-like scenarios.

In a game often decided by thin margins, special teams could be what pushes a team over the edge or what holds it back.

Let’s take a closer look at the changes Chesney and his staff have made to UCLA’s special teams personnel and how the group could fare in 2026.

Before analyzing the personnel, one of the biggest additions to the unit came in special teams coordinator Drew Canan, who followed Chesney from James Madison to UCLA and has led Chesney’s special teams units during the last 13 seasons.

UCLA’s Mateen Bhaghani hits a game-winning field goal with four seconds left against Maryland at Rose Bowl on Oct. 18.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

Kicker Mateen Bhaghani is arguably one of the highest impact Bruins returnees.

He has played 34 games across two years at UCLA and one season at California in 2023. During his three-year career, Bhaghani has hit 44 of 53 of his field-goal attempts and 71 of 71 extra points.

Despite his consistency, Bhaghani was not on the 2026 Lou Groza Award preseason watch list, an honor presented annually to the best college kicker in the country.

“That motivates me, but I don’t focus on it too hard,” Bhaghani said. “Seeing those types of things, I definitely feel like I could be one of those dudes, but I kind of ignore it. And I feel like this season I’ll show why I should be on that list, if not win it.”

The San Diego native has started all 24 of UCLA’s games during his two seasons in Westwood, nailing 36 of his 44 field-goal attempts, including five out his nine attempts from at least 50 yards.

Punter Chase Barry, who spent three seasons at UCLA and one at Oklahoma State, is back in Westwood. He was Bhaghani’s holder in 2024, helping the kicker hit 20 field goals, which led the Big Ten and ranked No. 11 among all kickers nationally.

As the season opener looms, Bhaghani is less focused on the technical side of his game and is placing more emphasis on sharpening the psychological side so that he can thrive under pressure.

“It’s all mental. The tougher I can sharpen my mental game to where it doesn’t matter what’s going on around me, I can go in there and make that kick. That’s what I feel is most important,” Bhaghani said. “Just being in pressure situations, it’s not as much technique and tweaking stuff like that right now. I feel like that’s more for the offseason. Whereas as we get closer to the season, I just focus on hitting a pure ball and working with the operation.”

Bhaghani proved his aptitude in high-pressure situations when he hit a 23-yard game-winning field goal against Maryland on Oct. 18 with two seconds remaining.

In addition to training mental toughness and familiarity with personnel, Chesney’s emphasis on special teams in practice has prepared Bhaghani for a high-impact year heading into his senior season.

UCLA coach Bob Chesney directs players during a preseason workout on Aug. 6.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

“Coach Chesney has been a blessing, special teams-wise. He’s always there for me, and he has a clear line of communication in terms of where we should kick, when we should kick,” Bhaghani said. “The culture that he’s brought to special teams as the heartbeat of the team, it’s important, and every team needs to implement that.”

Bhaghani said that freshman long snapper Giancarlo Cereghino — who was tabbed as the top long snapper in his class by 247Sports — would probably be the starting long snapper on field goals, and that the first-year player had been snapping well throughout preseason.

Fifth-year long snapper Salem Abdul-Wahab will most likely handle long-snapping duties for punts after doing so in all 12 games last year.

The biggest change in the special teams department will undoubtedly come at punter, where the Bruins lost their starter from 2025 in Will Karoll, who transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason.

Karoll punted 44 for times on a 43.5-yard average, with 13 downed inside the 20-yard line and just two touchbacks.

The Bruins added Sam Houston transfer punter Curtis Gerrand, who will probably start against Cal after an impressive spring and preseason camp.

At Sam Houston, Gerrand played in all 12 games as a true freshman, punting 64 times for a 43-yard average, including a long of 72 yards, and placed 22 punts inside the opponents 20-yard line.

Rounding out the punter room is sophomore Lennox Miller. The Sydney, Australia, native did not see any game action during his true freshman season at UCLA, but he was ranked as the ninth best punter in his class by Chris Sailer Kicking and a three-star recruit by ESPN. However. Miller will again have a tough time seeing game action in 2026 with the likes of Gerrand and Barry ahead of him.

In the kicking department, following Bhaghani is freshman Mateo Orosco, who probably will not play unless Bhaghani is injured, but was praised by Chesney during preseason camp.

“These two kickers are pretty good. They’re fun to watch and they’re going to battle the whole way through and I’m excited to just watch,” Chesney said. “You know how good Mateen is, but Mateo will be under him and watch this and follow, and just have that to learn from, it’s pretty exciting to watch those two go.”

Bruins on deck

Here are all UCLA games and exhibitions scheduled to be played this week across all sports:

MONDAY, AUG. 24

Men’s soccer vs. CSU Bakersfield, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, AUG. 27

Women’s soccer at Stanford, 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, AUG. 28

Men’s water polo at Cal (exhibition), 5 p.m.

Men’s soccer vs. Denver, 7 p.m.

Women’s volleyball vs. Long Beach State, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, AUG. 29

Men’s water polo vs. Saint Mary’s in La Jolla (Triton Invitational), 9:20 a.m.

Men’s water polo vs. Bucknell in La Jolla (Triton Invitational), 4 p.m.

Women’s volleyball vs. Long Beach State, 5 p.m.

SUNDAY, AUG. 30

Women’s soccer at Santa Clara, 1 p.m.

In case you missed it

Undrafted James Madison star Trent Hendrick commits to UCLA thanks to court ruling

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava learns, and builds, on his experiences

UCLA defensive back Cole Martin embodied Bob Chesney’s values before meeting the coach

UCLA Unlocked: Bruins’ defense has nowhere to go but up under Bob Chesney

Derek Carr, UCLA football’s new special advisor, sees a winner in Bob Chesney

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.