blowout

Just when it seemed the Washington Commanders’ night couldn’t get much worse, it actually got much, much worse.

With his team trailing the Seattle Seahawks by 31 points midway through the fourth quarter Sunday night, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a gruesome injury to his non-throwing arm that will likely keep him off the field for several weeks.

After Washington’s 38-14 loss, coach Dan Quinn had little information on his second-year quarterback, saying only that Daniels had a “left arm injury” and that he hoped to provide an update in the morning.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that Daniels dislocated his elbow and will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.

A former star at Cajon High, Daniels won the Heisman Trophy at Louisiana State in 2023 and was selected at No. 2 overall by the Commanders in the 2024 NFL draft. He immediately took the league by storm, earning Pro Bowl and offensive rookie of the year honors while leading Washington to an unlikely appearance in the NFC championship game.

Season 2 has been a disappointment. Going into this weekend, Daniels had already missed three games with knee and hamstring injuries and the Commanders had struggled to a 3-5 record.

Then came Sunday night. Down by four scores in the fourth quarter, Washington drove to the Seattle 2-yard-line and was looking to make a slight dent in the deficit when disaster struck. On second-and-goal with 7:39 remaining in the game, Daniels faked a handoff and scrambled to his right before being spun down by Seattle’s Drake Thomas for a 2-yard loss.

As he was being taken to the ground, Daniels put out his left arm to brace himself. His elbow bent the wrong way. Commanders guard Sam Cosmi called the scene “gut-wrenching.”

“I didn’t see what happened exactly. I just heard a pause and I kind of put my head down and prayed for him,” Cosmi said. “You just don’t want to see that happen.”

A similar scene took place nearly 13 years ago for Washington, when another rising young star at quarterback, Robert Griffin III, re-injured his knee during a home game against the Seahawks. His career was never the same afterward.

Griffin was one of several people who took to social media Sunday night to comment on the matter. He seemed to speak for the majority of them when he wrote on X, “WHY WAS JAYDEN DANIELS EVEN STILL IN THE GAME?!?!?!”

“The Seattle Seahawks had the game won,” a visbly distraught Griffin said in a video also posted to X. “I understand you want to play to the end, but with the injuries that he’s already had this year, and the injuries he had last year, why is he in the game? Doesn’t make sense.”

Griffin, who currently works as a college football analyst on Fox Sports, added: “You can’t say a knee and a hamstring leads to an elbow injury like that. It was a freak accident, freak play. But I can’t help but feel for Jayden Daniels. Man, I can’t help but feel for Washington Commanders fans. Just a demoralizing blow, man.”

Asked by reporters after the game whether any consideration was given to removing Daniels before that series, Quinn seemed to indicate that the plays being called didn’t seem to present a high injury risk.

“Obviously in hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where injury could take place,” Quinn said. “Obviously, we’re more concerned in that spot to run and hand off and not have reads to go, but just the end result, obviously I’m bummed.”

Later in the news conference, in response to a similar question, Quinn gave a similar answer.

“Yeah, obviously, I’m just gutted by this, bummed,” Quinn said. “The one that he was on injured is usually a runner or throwing the flats, not a scramble. So it wasn’t a designed read or play into that spot. If we run it 50 times, it’s either hand off or throw, say, 50 times. So it’s a bummer, man, in a big way.”

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota has led the Commanders to a 1-2 record starting in place of Daniels this season.

Louisiana State fired coach Brian Kelly during the fourth season of a 10-year contract worth about $100 million, athletic director Scott Woodward announced Sunday night.

The move comes on the heels of Saturday night’s 49-25 loss to No. 3 Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium — a second straight loss, and third in four games for LSU (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference).

“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize.”

Associate head coach Frank Wilson, who also serves as a running backs coach, has been tapped as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Kelly was hired away from Notre Dame when his predecessor, Ed Orgeron, stepped down following the 2021 regular season.

He has gone 34-14 with the Tigers, even taking LSU to the 2022 SEC title game. But LSU did not qualify for the College Football Playoff in his first three seasons, and was virtually eliminated from contention with its loss to the Aggies.

The playoff was expanded from four to 12 teams for the 2024 season.

“I will not compromise in our pursuit of excellence and we will not lower our standards,” said Woodward, an LSU graduate who was hired to his current post in 2019, the same year the Tigers won their last national title under Orgeron.

Orgeron left after not posting a winning record during his final two seasons.

While Kelly did not coach LSU to a playoff berth, he oversaw quarterback Jayden Daniels’ development into a Heisman Trophy winner in 2023.

“I am confident in our ability to bring to Baton Rouge an outstanding leader, teacher and coach, who fits our culture and community and who embraces the excellence that we demand,” Woodward said.

LSU could have to pay Kelly tens of millions not to coach, but the precise figure was unclear on Sunday night.

“We will continue to negotiate his separation and will work toward a path that is better for both parties,” Woodward said.

DESPITE years as one of the most famous party boys in London and New York, don’t expect to see Mark Ronson hitting it hard for his 50th.

The Uptown Funk hitmaker is celebrating the landmark birthday today but is opting for a low-key family occasion instead of a blow-out bash.

Mark, who is gearing up to release his book Night People on September 16, explained: “I feel like because my whole life has been a party, not necessarily a party for me, but DJing a party for others and being in the party and all that s***, I have no desire to.

“Everybody’s like, ‘You’ve gotta do something big!’

“And my 40th, I kind of went all out.

“I had this big party with 60 friends or maybe more in the countryside.

“We all got on a tour bus and I DJ’d at Festival No6 in Wales.

“And then it was just three days of partying.”

But things are different for Mark these days, after he settled down and became a dad to two daughters.

He added: “Now I have absolutely no desire to do that.

“I just want to be with my family.”

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SHAKIRA’S MEX ON THE BEACH

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SHAKIRA shore looks good as she poses on a beach to launch her new haircare brand Isima.

She shared the bikini pic from Mexico, where she is on her mammoth Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour.

Shakira will play out the remainder of her gigs in South America before finally finishing in Argentina on December 9.

HAILEY LEGS IT TO NEW YORK

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HAILEY BIEBER looked like she was fresh from shooting hoops as she headed out in New York.

The supermodel wore mesh basketball shorts with heels and an oversized leather jacket.

Hailey has just signed a fresh deal with fashion house DKNY to be the face of its new autumn campaign alongside Candice Swanepoel.

She said: “DKNY channels everything I love about New York: It’s energized, unique and full of inspiration.

“There is a balance of structure and ease that makes everything so wearable.

“I gravitate towards elevated classics that I can throw on but still feel intentional.”

I gravitate towards anything in the washing pile that looks clean and not too creased.

ILL CELINE SCRAPPED EURO GIG

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CELINE DION was forced to cancel her appearance during the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland after struggling with her health.

The My Heart Will Go On singer had kept the surprise appearance under wraps.

But it ended up being one of music’s worst-kept secrets, with Eurovision presenter Graham Norton referencing a possible appearance live on air.

Celine, who has stiff person syndrome, had been due to perform Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, the song she won the competition with for Switzerland in 1988.

French newspaper Le Parisien has now claimed Celine was in Basel for the event but suffered a medical episode and was forced to cancel her performance.

The revelation comes after her Prime Video documentary last year, in which she talked about living with stiff person syndrome, which is a neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and cramps.

She was diagnosed with the rare disease in 2022 and has shared her experience to raise awareness.

Celine said: “I barely could walk at one point and I was missing very much living.

“My kids started to notice.

“I was like, ‘OK, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared’.

“I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, but Mum has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with.’”

Celine, you are a warrior.

GAGA’S ALL DOLLED UP IN VID

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LADY GAGA transforms into a broken doll for her new video The Dead Dance.

She wears a tattered dress while strutting through a rain forest littered with creepy broken dolls.

Gaga debuted the video last night, with more than 74,000 fans tuning into the YouTube reveal.

The song is in the new series of Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off, Wednesday.

She also updated streaming platforms last night to add two tracks to her album Mayhem – Kill For Love and Can’t Stop The High.

From the first snap of training camp, DeShaun Foster tightly controlled any narratives about his team.

Reporters never knew how much — or little — of UCLA’s practice sessions they would get to watch, one day being limited to eight minutes of stretching. Mostly they saw individual drills, field goals and — in recent weeks — one snap of the full offense going against the defense.

Photography and video were banned, even at a Rose Bowl practice open to spectators who faced no such restrictions. Foster preferred to let the team’s social media posts and internally produced video series suffice as the story of his team.

As of late Saturday night, the story could no longer be kept secret.

The Bruins don’t appear to be any good.

In a clunker of a season opener, they couldn’t tackle on defense or consistently move the ball on offense behind new quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

While it’s important to throw in the caveat that it’s just one game, UCLA’s 43-10 loss to Utah at the Rose Bowl represented a giant step backward after the Bruins had closed their first season under Foster with four wins in their final six games.

Eleven NFL scouts, including representatives from the Rams and Chargers, probably won’t be returning to watch anyone on a UCLA defense that missed a slew of tackles and failed to put any semblance of pressure on Utah quarterback Devon Dampier, whose fingerprints and footprints could be found all over this game.

Dampier completed 21 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns while running for 87 yards. He basically put the game out of reach late in the third quarter when he ran untouched into the end zone on fourth and goal from the UCLA two-yard line. Utah rolled up 492 yards of offense while converting 14 of 16 third downs.

Utah quarterback Devon Dampier scores a touchdown against the Bruins in the third quarter Saturday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, Iamaleava enjoyed only a few pockets of success during his first game running new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri’s scheme. Iamaleava completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards with one touchdown and an interception midway through the fourth quarter that sent large swaths of fans headed for home. He ran for 47 yards in 13 carries, proving to be his team’s best option on the ground.

UCLA’s running backs weren’t nearly as productive. Tailbacks Jalen Berger, Jaivian Thomas and Anthony Woods combined for just 37 yards, averaging 2.5 yards per carry. Wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer compounded his team’s inability to move the ball by dropping a pass while cutting across the field on third and four.

UCLA’s preseason secrecy appeared warranted by halftime, when the Utes outclassed the Bruins on the way to a 23-7 advantage.

The Bruins’ inability to get any pressure on Dampier was the big story. Dampier had all the time he needed to throw and run while accounting for 170 yards (including 78 on the ground) and completing 10 of 13 passes. The only way to stop him appeared to be having his helmet come off in the second quarter, which would have forced him to come out for a play had the Utes not smartly called a timeout so that he could return.

UCLA coach DeShaun Foster runs onto the field before Saturday’s loss to Utah at the Rose Bowl.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Utah converted its first six third-down attempts, including a third and four in which Wayshawn Parker ran off tackle for a 13-yard touchdown and a third and three in which UCLA safety Key Lawrence missed a potential tackle for loss, allowing Smith Snowden to run for an eight-yard touchdown.

Everything was tilting in the Utes’ favor when Dampier found linebacker — you read that right — Lander Barton in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. Utah led 20-0 and it was fair to wonder if UCLA could mount a sustained drive.

Iamaleava answered emphatically, showing some slippery moves on a 21-yard run and later completing a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Anthony Woods on a wheel route that finally put the Bruins on the board midway through the second quarter.

There wouldn’t be many positives for UCLA the rest of the way.

Kyle Tucker homered twice and drove in five runs as the surging Chicago Cubs routed the Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.

Reese McGuire added a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBIs to help the Cubs (75-55) win for the seventh time in nine games.

Cade Horton (8-4) gave up three hits over six scoreless innings and Ben Brown went the rest of the way for his first major league save.

Busting out of an extended slump, Tucker has three homers in two nights following a 25-game drought. The outburst has come after he was given three games off by manager Craig Counsell earlier in the week.

Jo Adell homered late for the Angels (61-68), who totaled eight hits while losing the first two games of the series.

Victor Mederos (0-2) and Carson Fulmer were charged with all 12 of the Cubs’ runs. The Angels fell to 2-6 since pulling off a three-game sweep of the Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.

McGuire’s grand slam in the fourth gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead and they made it 10-0 in the sixth when Tucker went deep for the second time. It was Tucker’s eighth multihomer game and first since May 2024 against the Angels with Houston.

Adell’s home run in the seventh, his 29th, ended Chicago’s shutout bid.

Key moment: With two outs in the third, Michael Busch tucked a double just inside the first-base line and past a diving Nolan Schanuel to get Tucker to the plate before his first homer of the game.

Key stat: Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts as his 22-game on-base streak came to an end.

Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) will face his former team Sunday in a matchup against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26).

Danny Musovski scored a goal in each half and 18-year-old Snyder Brunell scored in his league debut as the Seattle Sounders cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Galaxy on Sunday night.

Seattle grabbed the lead in the 25th minute on an own goal by defender Julián Aude.

The Sounders took a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute on Musovski’s unassisted goal. He made it 3-0 in the 54th minute with another unassisted goal. Musovski has already scored a career-high eight times this season. He had five goals with LAFC as a rookie in 2020 and five for Real Salt Lake in 2023.

Brunell subbed in for Jesús Ferreira in the 73rd minute and scored in the 85th. Defender Álex Roldán notched his third assist of the season and the fourth of his career. Rookie Kalani Kossa-Rienzi collected his third assist.

Andrew Thomas finished with three saves for his first clean sheet in his seventh start of the season for Seattle. He had two shutouts in five starts last season.

Novak Micovic saved five shots for the Galaxy. He had three saves and Thomas wasn’t tested in the first half.

Seattle is unbeaten in its last seven league matches at 4-0-3 and is on a 10-match unbeaten streak across all competitions after winning all three matches in Leagues Cup play.

Seattle leads the all-time series 15-11-14 in league play and 21-18-14 across all competitions.

The Sounders travel to play Minnesota United on Saturday. The Galaxy head to Florida to play Inter Miami on Saturday.

It took until August, but the starting rotation the Dodgers envisioned in spring training is intact and delivering.

Vowing not to revisit the predicament they found themselves in last postseason, when only two true starters and a stacked bullpen somehow patched together enough innings to win a World Series, the Dodgers added two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell to a rotation that already boasted four potential aces and several other candidates coming off injuries or ascending from the minor leagues.

Snell complained of shoulder inflammation April 2 after his second start and took his sweet time recovering — four months, to be precise. But if his performance against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium is a fair indication, the wait was worthwhile.

Snell struck out 10 in five scoreless innings of a 9-1 Dodgers victory, living up to the Snellzilla nickname he stole from his older brother as a brash 11-year-old and still uses as his Instagram handle. In two starts since coming off the injured list, the left-hander has 18 strikeouts in 10 innings.

The Dodgers offense was fueled by the long ball early on, with Max Muncy belting a two-run, opposite-field home run in the fourth inning and Shohei Ohtani absolutely crushing his 40th homer of the season 417 feet to dead center in the fifth with nobody on base.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits his 40th home run of the season Saturday against the Blue Jays.

(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

A six-run rally an inning later put the game away. Two hit batters and two walks set the table, and Dalton Rushing and Mookie Betts each delivered two-run singles with none out. Andy Pages drove in the last two with a two-out double, his second hit of the inning.

The win was the second in a row against Toronto (68-50), which remain in first place in the American League East. The series concludes Sunday with another formidable starter — Tyler Glasnow — taking the mound for the Dodgers (68-49).

Glasnow took a similar if less pronounced path than Snell this season, going on the injured list before the end of April and not returning until July 9. He has given up only one run in four of his five starts since returning and most recently went seven strong innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It’s clear that Snell and Glasnow are healthy, their arms as fresh and live as would be expected coming out of spring training. The same is true of Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw, two future Hall of Famers whose recoveries from injuries also were methodical and unhurried. Both are pitching well.

And so is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the only starter whose health hasn’t cost him time off. He’s made 22 starts, going 10-7 with a 2.51 earned-run average and leads National League starters with eight scoreless outings.

The Dodgers employ a sixth starter to give Ohani and Yamamoto five to seven days off between starts. The job belonged to Dustin May until he was traded to the Red Sox at the deadline, creating an opportunity for Emmet Sheehan, who was impressive over 60 innings as a rookie in 2023, but had Tommy John surgery in May 2024.

He’s pitched well, posting a 3.00 ERA over 30 innings, giving the Dodgers a luxury they haven’t enjoyed in recent memory: trotting out a starting pitcher every night that can prevent runs through the middle innings.

That leaves the bullpen to finish the job, and injuries and inconsistency continue to riddle the relief corps. Roberts said help is on the way, with several key relievers on the mend. If they return as effective as the starters, pitching could be a Dodgers strength entering the postseason.

Marcus Semien went four for five and Corey Seager hit a two-run single in a seven-run third inning to help the Texas Rangers rout the Angels 11-4 on Thursday night for a split of their four-game series.

Patrick Corbin (6-7) allowed two runs and seven hits with six strikeouts in five innings to win his second consecutive start. Jacob Latz allowed a run over 3 1/3 innings of relief with six strikeouts.

Semien had three hits with an RBI and two runs scored in the first three innings. Seager went two for three as seven of nine starters drove in at least one run for Texas during a 13-hit outburst.

Adolis García launched his 11th homer — a two-run shot off Carson Fulmer in the eighth for the Rangers’ final runs.

Jack Kochanowicz (3-9) lasted just 2 2/3 innings for the Angels, allowing eight runs. Fulmer gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief.

Seager, Semien, García and Jonah Heim had four straight singles for a 2-0 lead in the first.

Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter had RBI singles and Jake Burger added an RBI double in Texas’ big inning.

Zach Neto doubled off Corbin and scored on Taylor Ward’s 21st homer to cut it to 9-2 after five. Lamonte Wade Jr. had an RBI single in the sixth and Neto hit his 14th homer — a solo shot off Dane Dunning in the ninth.

Key moment: Corbin gave up three first-inning singles, but the Angels failed to score when Mike Trout hit into a double play and Ward was thrown out at home by García on Jo Adell’s single to right field.

Key stat: The Rangers’ 3.30 ERA leads the majors, while the Angels’ 4.59 ERA ranks 24th among 30 teams.

Up next: The Angels host the Diamondbacks beginning Friday. Neither team had announced a scheduled starter.

INDIANAPOLIS — Season on the line, the Indiana Pacers did what they’ve done time and time again. They bucked the odds.

And the NBA Finals are going to an ultimate game.

Obi Toppin scored 20 points, Andrew Nembhard added 17 and the Pacers forced a winner-take-all Game 7 by rolling past the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 Thursday night.

The first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

“The ultimate game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.

Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, while Tyrese Haliburton — playing through a strained calf — scored 14 points. The Pacers started slowly and then turned things into a blowout.

In a way, Game 6 was a microcosm of Indiana’s season. The Pacers started the regular season with 15 losses in 25 games, have had five comebacks from 15 or more down to win games in these playoffs, and they’re one win from a title.

“We just wanted to protect home court,” Haliburton said. “We didn’t want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. Backs against the wall and we just responded. … Total team effort.”

T.J. McConnell, the spark off the bench again, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Indiana.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points for the Thunder, who pulled their starters after getting down by 30 going into the fourth. Jalen Williams added 16.

“Credit Indiana,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They earned the win. They outplayed us for most of the 48 minutes. They went out there and attacked the game.”

Good news for the Thunder: Home teams are 15-4 in finals Game 7s. Bad news for the Thunder: Cleveland won at Golden State in the most recent of those and one of the three other home-team losses was in 1978 — by Seattle, the franchise that would move to Oklahoma City three decades later.

Indiana missed its first eight shots and got down 10-2. The arena, roaring just a few minutes before at the start, quieted quickly. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, sitting courtside in a Jalen Rose Pacers jersey, was pacing, kneeling, generally acting more nervous than he ever seemed as a player.

No need.

After the slow start, the Pacers outscored the Thunder 68-32 over the next 24 minutes. An Indiana team that hadn’t led by more than 10 points at any time in the first five games — and that double-digit lead was brief — led by 28 early in the third quarter. The margin eventually got to 31, which was Oklahoma City’s second-biggest deficit of the season.

The worst also came in these playoffs: a 45-point hole against Minnesota in the Western Conference finals. The Thunder came back to win that series, obviously, and now will need that bounce-back ability one more time.

“Obviously, it was a very poor performance by us,” Daigneault said.

The Thunder, desperate for a spark, put Alex Caruso in the starting lineup in place of Isaiah Hartenstein to open the second half. There was no spark. In fact, there was nothing whatsoever — neither team scored in the first 3:53 after halftime, the sides combining to miss their first 13 shots of the third quarter.

And the outcome was never in doubt.

If one word sums up the Sparks’ season so far, it’s hardship. Injuries continue to mount, and Kelsey Plum, their primary scorer and star, has joined the growing list of sidelined players.

Plum’s absence was sorely felt as what began as a valiant effort by the Sparks — keeping pace with the visiting Storm through the first half — quickly unraveled into a 98-67 blowout loss Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Already down two key starters — Plum and Odyssey Sims — the Sparks were forced to piece together a new starting lineup on short notice. Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, Azurá Stevens, Sarah Ashlee Barker and newly acquired Shey Peddy marked the Sparks’ fifth different starting five this season.

“We obviously missed [Plum],” coach Lynne Roberts said. “We missed Odyssey. We missed Julie [Allemand]. Those are our three lead guards, and none of them are here.”

Plum was out with a leg injury, Sims for personal reasons and Allemand is with the Belgium national team for the European basketball championship. Plum’s absence was the most felt — she is averaging career highs in points (20.9), assists (5.6), rebounds (2.9) and steals (1.7) so far this season.

Peddy, signed to a hardship contract, joined the team just before Saturday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Since then, she has had just one practice under her belt before stepping in to replace Plum at point guard.

Also signed under a hardship exception, Grace Berger flew in late Monday and joined the team just hours before the game. Berger went scoreless in16 minutes.

“I thought Shey and Grace did a good job,” Roberts said. “They did what they could, but it’s hard to execute stuff that they’ve had little time to digest. It’s not anyone’s fault. That’s just the reality.”

Running the offense through their anchor, Hamby, the Sparks (4-9) held their own through the first 20 minutes, refusing to waver. They trailed 47-37 by halftime.

Hamby finished with a season-low eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.

But the resilience was short-lived. As the game wore on, cracks in the offense widened. Careless passes led to a flurry of turnovers.

Seattle’s Gabby Williams set the tone early with six steals in the first half. She finished with eight, along with 11 points and seven assists. The Storm scored 31 points off 24 Sparks turnovers, with 24 of those points coming on fast breaks.

A 14–5 run — led by former Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike — gave Seattle (7-5) a 62–42 lead with 5:37 left in the third. Ogwumike scored 10 of her 26 points in the quarter.

“In the second half, we couldn’t get a stop,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to be able to defend. We can’t give up 98 points and expect to beat anybody.”

Stevens echoed her coach’s sentiment: “Obviously, we have key people out, but we have enough to still execute and get things done. And it starts defensively.”

Several Sparks starters — including Hamby, Jackson and Stevens — remained in the game late into the fourth, but the deficit had long grown insurmountable, with the team trailing by as many as 30 points. Jackson led the Sparks with 17 points, while Stevens finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The news of Plum’s absence came as a surprise just after practice on Monday, with the Sparks ruling her out because of a lower leg injury.

Dominique Malonga, the 2025 first-round draft pick subsequently chosen as part of the three-team trade for Plum, finished with seven points in 12 minutes for Seattle.

It’s still unclear when Plum sustained the injury, though it presumably happened during Saturday’s loss to the Lynx. She underwent imaging the next day, but the team says the results offered little clarity.

Even more uncertain is her return timeline. It’s unclear if she will play Saturday against Minnesota. Roberts said Plum is “tuned in to her body — she’ll know when she’s ready to go.”

Through the first 12 games of the season, only Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard is averaging more minutes per game than Plum’s 36.

“I still believe strongly in this group, and we’re not even close to full strength,” Roberts said. “We have Kelsey Plum, Odyssey Sims, Julie Allemand, Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink all out. And when we’re going into the season, we’re thinking, Plum, Sims, Allemand, Burrell and Brink are all going to be huge parts. So we cannot lose perspective.”

But a prolonged absence for Plum could spell serious trouble for a team already reeling.

It was a statement, a reminder and a warning all wrapped into one.

The Dodgers might not have been playing their best baseball entering this weekend’s World Series rematch against the New York Yankees.

But in a ceaseless offensive onslaught in the opening two innings on Saturday, things seemed to suddenly, profoundly and perhaps permanently change.

The Dodgers didn’t just beat the Yankees in a nationally televised late-afternoon contest to clinch a weekend series win at Dodger Stadium. They executed a slaughter in broad daylight. Four runs scored in the first inning. Six more came around in the second. And by the end, their 18-2 victory did more than set up the chance for a sweep in Sunday’s series finale.

It sent a shot across the bow to the rest of the baseball world, signifying that for all the Dodgers’ shortcomings of late, they might finally be clicking into top gear.

Granted, the Dodgers haven’t exactly been struggling to hit the ball. Entering Saturday, they were second in the majors in runs scored, second in OPS and first in batting average. They had been getting monster production from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith. And, largely on the strength of their lineup, they were leading the National League West, still on a near 100-win pace in their pursuit of a second consecutive World Series title.

Still, over much of the last month, it had felt as if something was missing.

The team’s injury-ravaged pitching staff had put a strain on their recent play, leading to an 11-12 slide entering this weekend’s marquee Yankees matchup.

And their offense was picking up only so much of the slack, weighed down by early slumps from Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Michael Conforto, as well as inconsistent performances from other bottom-half hitters.

Michael Conforto, left, celebrates with Hyeseong Kim after scoring on an RBI double by Tommy Edman in the second inning Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

It led to a malaise epitomized by a lack of signature moments. Not since knocking off the Detroit Tigers at the start of the regular season had the Dodgers won a series against a legitimate title contender. They were just 10-9 overall against opponents with winning records.

Manager Dave Roberts downplayed that notion Friday.

“We know that we have a good ballclub, and I don’t think that us not winning series against X amount of teams with winning records is an indictment on our ballclub,” he said. “I don’t think we’re thinking too much about that.”

Then again, with the Yankees coming to town as winners of 16 of their previous 20 games, this still felt like something of a litmus test — even if Betts was out with a fractured toe and the pitching staff remained far less than full strength.

“We try to win each and every game, of course,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Friday night, “but I think it’s a special atmosphere.”

Two games in, it has produced a couple of special results.

After coming from behind to steal Friday night’s opener, the Dodgers (36-22) wasted no time Saturday putting their foot firmly on the Yankees’ neck.

In the bottom of the first, Ohtani, Freeman, Smith and Muncy all singled within the first five at-bats against rookie Yankees starter Will Warren, scoring two runs. Conforto later added a sacrifice fly, before Tommy Edman hit a hard ground ball that got past third baseman (and former Dodgers farmhand) Jorbit Vivas for a run-scoring double, punctuating an inning in which the Dodgers batted around.

In the second, the Dodgers sent all nine batters to the plate again. After walks from Hernández and Freeman, Muncy hit a three-run homer to right, chasing Warren from the game with his 200th career long ball. Edman doubled home another run with two outs. Then Hyeseong Kim got the Dodgers to double digits, hitting his second home run of the season

Max Muncy hits a three-run home run in the second inning for the Dodgers on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By the time the Yankees (35-22) recorded their first hit on Austin Wells’ leadoff single in the third, it was already 10-0.

As starting pitcher Landon Knack cruised through six strong innings with the big lead — he gave up his lone run on a fourth-inning solo blast from Aaron Judge, his first of two long balls on the day — the Dodgers kept adding on.

In the fifth, Freeman plated a run with his 525th career double, tying Willie Mays and Ted Williams for 46th most all-time.

Then, Muncy went deep again, continuing his recent surge by belting another three-run homer high off the right-field foul pole, tying a career-high with seven RBIs on the day.

Over his last 19 games, Muncy is now batting .300 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and a .991 OPS.

And he isn’t the only Dodgers hitter heating up. Edman snapped a recent cold streak with three hits. Kim also had three hits, plus two stellar defensive plays: doubling off a runner at second base with a diving effort from shortstop in the third inning, then throwing out Judge at second with a perfect throw from deep center after shifting to the outfield. Andy Pages maintained his strong form with a solo home run in the seventh. Dalton Rushing hit his first career home run in the eighth.

The Dodgers’ biggest stars, meanwhile, have continued to dominate.

Ohtani, coming off his second live batting practice as a pitcher before the game (he threw 29 pitches over two simulated innings), had two hits, moving his OPS to 1.062.

In the National League, only Freeman has a better mark in that category, finishing Saturday at 1.078 (to go along with his NL-leading .374 batting average) after his own two-hit showing.

Couple all that with the impending returns of pitchers such as Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen — all of whom could be back within the next month or two, and in some cases sooner — and the Dodgers are starting to look more like the juggernaut they were supposed to be all along.