catch

CHICAGO — Southpaw Tarik Skubal’s experience pitching in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field came with a hostile reception. Cubs fans booed him as he approached the bullpen gate in right field to warm up before the game. They jeered even louder and longer as he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning.

That’s what came with the “Los Angeles” scrawled across the chest of his new blue jersey. Over the weekend he’d gone from the top trade candidate in baseball, to a symbol of the Dodgers’ evil reign.

A sports betting site even seized on the moment and paid for an airplane to fly a “THE DODGERS RUINED BASEBALL” banner over Wrigley Field a few hours before the game Tuesday — although it was upside down.

As the boos quieted, he authored a quality start in his Dodgers debut. But that wasn’t enough to serve as the team’s new stopper, as the Dodgers’ offense fell flat. They stumbled to a 5-1 loss and extended their skid to a season-high five games and ensured a second straight series loss.

“There’s certainly no panic,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve been through a lot of these things, this core group of guys. I think that you just got to kind of reset, flush it, find a way to win a game, and not let it just compound. But it never feels good to lose.”

The first pitch Skubal threw as a Dodger, en route to holding the Cubs to two runs and four hits in six innings, was a sinker that zipped through the top of the strike zone at 96.3 mph, according to Statcast, to get ahead in the count against Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong.

For the next four pitches, he alternated between his four-seam fastball and off-speed pitches — first his changeup and then curveball. And to finish off the at-bat, he located a sinker at the bottom of the zone for a called strike three.

It was a strong first impression, and his first strikeout of six.

“Going to bed last night, excited,” Skubal said. “It felt like my major-league debut, kind of same type of vibe in terms of the nerves running through. But I think that’s all good stuff.”

Skubal retired the first six batters he faced, with the help of a sliding catch by center fielder Andy Pages and a diving grab by right fielder Kyle Tucker.

To end the second inning, Skubal got new Cub Tyrone Taylor to chase a changeup just outside. Skubal skipped backward off the mound and buried his fist in the pocket of his glove in celebration.

The next inning, Skubal wavered ever so slightly. He gave up a first-pitch solo home run to Dansby Swanson.

“I think everyone around the league and he himself would say he’s an aggressive pitcher, he comes after you,” Swanson told reporters. “ He likes to get strike one, he likes to get strike two. You’ve just got to be ready to hit pitches he may leave over the plate, and he doesn’t do that very often. He’s been so good for a reason.”

Then, after another sliding catch by Pages and a strikeout, he gave up a single to Crow-Armstrong and walked Seiya Suzuki.

In his first high-pressure situation of the night, Skubal induced Alex Bregman to fly out on a changeup.

Then, he was back to cruising. Skubal put together perfect fourth and fifth innings.

“He creates really tough angles,” said catcher Ben Rortvedt, after his first game since the Dodgers reacquired him at the trade deadline. “Really commands the glove side really well. And his off-speed is really good, his changeup is elite. It’s two fastballs you can put on a dime. It’s just really good stuff.”

In the sixth, an unlucky bounce pushed the go-ahead run across the plate.

With one out, Skubal walked Suzuki on four pitches. Then he missed his spot with a fastball to Bregman, who roped a line drive to deep right field. Tucker tracked it back to the warning track but just missed the catch as he slammed into the wall. The double put runners on second and third.

Skubal held the Cubs at bay for one more batter by getting Michael Busch to skip a groundball to second baseman Tommy Edman, playing on the edge of the infield grass. He fired home for the second out of the inning.

Then came that dose of misfortune. Skubal’s fastball did its job, as the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner drove it into the ground. Bouncing off the plate, the ball shot up in the air, and then it settled in the grass, giving Bregman enough time to score the go-ahead run.

The Wrigley faithful turned up the heat, taunting “Skuuuuubaaaaalll.” They’d done something similar in the National League Division Series last year to Brewers ace Freddy Peralta.

“The fans are what create the environment,” Skubal said. “It’s a ton of fun to play in front of crowds like that. Even if they’re booing me or whatever it is, I think that’s what makes the game of baseball really fun, the competition really fun, and the atmosphere is really fun. I’m sure that’s not going to be the only rowdy atmosphere on the road. I plan on pitching in front of those atmospheres for the rest of the season, and then obviously, when it comes postseason time, I’ll be ready to go.”

Skubal bore down and got out of the inning with a flyout from Taylor. That changeup, designed to get him to chase, wrapped up Skubal’s outing at 85 pitches.

“For me, I want him wanting for more, feeling good,” Roberts said. “This is me still learning him. Where we’re at, I’m going to err on the side of being smart and cautious, and knowing that he can still give us more. I’m going to push him, but tonight is not the night. I just felt that that extra inning wasn’t worth the squeeze.”

When Skubal walked off the mound, his team trailed 2-1, their only run a solo homer from Tucker, who’d been booed throughout his first series back at Wrigley since departing the Cubs in free agency.

The Cubs, on the other hand, continued to rally against the Dodgers’ bullpen.

“Just a rut,” veteran leader Mookie Betts said after the loss. “It’s OK. We’re going to be OK.”

Stellio Lestienne, chef at La Matelote in Boulogne’s harbour, shows me his shopping list as we browse the city’s daily morning fish market. He wants to pick up some crab and sole, which are in season, but his usual lobster fisher is still out on his boat, so he’ll have to wait a bit for that. Although I’ve been a regular visitor to both Boulogne and the surrounding Hauts-de-France region for about 30 years, this is my first time in the fish market. Now I’m kicking myself for all that lost time.

It’s not very big, nor is it remotely picturesque, stretching along a nondescript car park in the port. But it does have a fantastic selection of fish and seafood, both from fishers (pêcheurs artisans in light-blue stalls) and retailers (commerçants in dark blue). And it’s considerably cheaper than other fish markets I’ve seen. “People come here from the UK with cool bags to do their shopping,” Stellio says, pointing to a man doing that very thing. I spot filleted roussettes (dogfish) going for €2 each. At another stall, a man deftly slices through a grotesque-looking monkfish, cutting out the prized cheeks.

Boulogne-sur-Mer is France’s largest fishing port and all of this bounty is just a short jaunt across the Channel. This makes the idea of a seafood safari along the Côte d’Opale – whose chalky cliffs, sand dunes and forests stretch south from Calais to Le Touquet and beyond – impossible for me to resist.

I start in the fishing village of Audresselles, a pleasant 45-minute pootle along the coast road from LeShuttle’s terminal. La Marie Galante, run by cheerful and talented sisters Béatrice and Godeleine Cuvellier, has a cosy interior and razor clams on the menu. Accustomed to seeing empty razor-clam shells on my favourite Norfolk beach but not on restaurant menus (too much of a faff to collect, a local fishmonger told me), I pounce on these shellfish smothered in garlic and parsley. This is followed by a typical plate of fruits de mer – oysters, whelks, giant juicy prawns and half a crab. Around me echoes the sound of people studiously pounding their crab claws open, soon joined by my own. The sound of a happy restaurant.

One of my favourite French towns awaits a little further along the coast – Wimereux, with its wonderfully whimsical 19th-century architecture and long expanse of beach. Its art deco grande dame, Hotel l’Atlantic, has had a major makeover since I last stayed. Chef Benjamin Delpierre, co-owner with his wife Aurélie, has also since handed back the restaurant’s Michelin star, throwing off the constraints that came with it. In a relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere, I dip prawn croquettes into a curried beetroot puree before revelling in a fillet of roast cod with an addictive celery cream and rich chicken jus. All the while, I watch mesmerised as the sun dips across the Channel.

Le Touquet, with its long sandy beaches, pine forests and golf courses loved by Channel-hopping Brits, is my next stop. But first I make a detour to its neighbour across the River Canche, Étaples-sur-Mer. This is another first for me: a visit to Maréis, an exhibition centre and aquarium telling the story of French sea fishing in the North Sea and Channel. And what an utterly fascinating story it turns out to be. What is caught in the sea and how it’s caught are vividly brought to life thanks to clever immersive and interactive exhibits (in French and English). Fish swim in an aquarium above my head, while another large tank holds enormous rays gliding through the water.

That evening in Le Touquet, the shouts of England fans from the Globe Trotter pub keep me abreast of the World Cup score while, across the lane at Pérard, I dine on a whole grilled sea bream. I can’t remember the last time I could fillet a fish so effortlessly, such was the perfection of the grilling and freshness of the fish. On the way back to my hotel, Novotel Thalassa Le Touquet, I’m treated to the same sunset spectacle as in Wimereux, the sands and the sea glowing in the warm light.

I spend an agreeable morning wandering through Le Touquet’s sprawling market, most of whose food stalls are under soaring wooden vaulted ceilings within the semicircular covered market. Not surprisingly, the fishmongers have their own section, where they’ve set up a bar à huitres so you can sit at high tables and order fruits de mer and a glass of wine. It’s tempting, but I go for a bowl of mussels covered in oozing maroilles cheese in nearby La Chope. The restaurant’s soundtrack of death metal isn’t exactly conducive to a relaxing lunch, but the food just about makes up for it.

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I still have an evening in Boulogne to look forward to, but first a stroll around the Old Town near the imposing basilica. My B&B is here too, the Stay Well Hôtel de Fiennes, an elegant 1732 townhouse with a courtyard made for unwinding. But the prospect of dinner at La Matelote drags me out of the comfy chairs and down to the port. Delicious flavours follow: langoustine with cauliflower cream; white asparagus with smoked salmon, caviar, basil cream and hummus; hake with pea puree and thyme-roasted carrots. And it’s all crowned by a quite stupendous lemon souffle. I’m not a dessert person, but this makes me want to applaud whoever made this divine creation.

I have a final stop before the end of my little seafood safari – back to Audresselles, but this time to my regular haunt, Chez Mimi. Trying to be sensible after days of indulgence, I opt for a small plate of crustaceans instead of my usual calorific “crabe mimi” (stuffed crab with fries). My husband orders it instead, making me wish I were less sensible. In the village square, everything is being set up for that weekend’s annual crab festival, now in its 50th year and an event I enjoyed years ago. I might be missing the party, but I have my own seafood celebration to savour.

The trip was provided by Hauts-de-France tourism and Pas-de-Calais tourism. Hotel l’Atlantic has doubles from €129 room only, Novotel Le Touquet from €128 room only and The Stay Well Hôtel de Fiennes from €160 B&B

A couple have shared the game-changing hack they used to guarantee they get a full row to themselves on a plane – but there’s one big catch that means it doesn’t always work

A savvy booking trick could see you snapping up an entire plane row for yourself. Let’s be honest – flying is rarely a comfortable experience, particularly when you’re wedged next to strangers for hours on end in a cramped seat with minimal legroom and precious little room to breathe.

However, if you’re travelling with a companion, there’s a nifty hack worth trying that could leave you both with the whole row to yourselves. One woman and her partner recently put the trick to the test on social media, and ended up with considerably more space than they’d ordinarily have had.

In a TikTok video, Lucy-Emma revealed that she and her partner had each booked the window seat and the aisle seat in the same row, deliberately leaving the middle seat vacant. They were banking on no one else claiming that middle spot, effectively bagging an extra seat without spending a penny extra – and it came off brilliantly.

She said: “We decided to do the thing where you book the aisle and the window seat and hope that no one sits here [in the middle seat]. Especially because I dislocated my toe this morning, and I want somewhere to put my feet up.”

Lucy-Emma later captured herself and her partner on film once all passengers had boarded, confirming that the middle seat remained unoccupied. This meant she could use it to rest her injured foot, while also taking advantage of the tray table to give herself extra room to watch her favourite show on her laptop.

Viewers of the video were left gobsmacked, with many having no idea that booking two seats and leaving the middle one empty was even an option. Others, however, admitted they were petty enough to deliberately book the middle seat just to scupper couples attempting to use this trick to their advantage.

One person said: “I didn’t know you could do this!”

Another added: “Wow, so lucky!”

But one argued: “And I’m the a**hole who sits in the middle seat and refuses an offer to swap seats. S*** goes both ways.”

A fourth also shared: “I’m that person who purposely books the middle seat just to miff people off.”

Numerous other commenters were quick to flag that this method is far from foolproof. Certain airlines may not permit you to leave the middle seat vacant, while on fully booked flights, the seat could simply be assigned to another passenger.

One person pointed out: “Doesn’t this only work if the flight isn’t full? If the flight is full, the booking system will automatically put someone there who hasn’t booked a seat.”

As such, this isn’t a reliable method of securing extra space on board, as you could find yourself with a complete stranger wedged between you and your travel companion – and they may well refuse to budge so the pair of you can sit together.

If you’re looking to guarantee more room on a flight, the only surefire solution is to book the middle seat yourself, which some airlines may offer at a reduced rate compared to your actual seat.

NEW YORK — The Dodgers don’t know when Shohei Ohtani will take the mound next.

He was tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday against the Phillies, after promising initial reports on his recovery from an injection in his left knee. But after seeing his knee’s response to playing catch, the team decided to give him more time.

“We just want to continue to give it the best chance to kind of get into a good spot,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And as he said, as we feel, it’s the pitching and the torque of landing on that leg that kind of gets it upset.”

It was clear enough from catch play that Ohtani’s start would have to be pushed back that Ohtani did not feel the need to test it by throwing off a mound, Roberts said.

“Where we’re at right now, how we’re proceeding, I would say that it’s going to be some time,” Roberts said. “It’s not going to be a day-to-day thing.”

That left a wide range of timeline possibilities, from days to weeks. Roberts did, however, rule out shutting Ohtani down from pitching for the rest of the season.

“I guess anything is possible, but I just don’t think that’s a possibility,” he said.

To fill Ohtani’s spot in the rotation this week, the Dodgers moved right-hander Emmet Sheehan’s start to Monday. Before the rainout bumped the second game of the series against the New York Yankees, Sheehan was scheduled to start Saturday.

For Sunday’s doubleheader, right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound in the first game. The bullpen, and potentially multiple innings from the 27th man, will cover the nightcap.

“Honestly, a lot of it is where we’re at and how we’ve put ourselves in a good spot,” Roberts said of the MLB-leading Dodgers. “Could [Ohtani] probably do it? Sure. But right now, the benefits just don’t seem to outweigh the cost at this time of the season. So I think we still have plenty of time to get him to a good spot to then pitch.”

Ohtani, who went hitless in four at-bats as the designated hitter in Friday’s 2-1 win, was set to DH and hit leadoff in Sunday’s first game.

Ben Morris visited Sambuca di Sicilia, dubbed “Italy’s little America”, to investigate a seemingly incredible €1 home scheme, but he quickly discovered a catch

A travel vlogger who visited the beautiful Mediterranean island of Sicily to investigate a €1 home scheme quickly came across a major “catch”. A wave of reports advertise small towns in Italy flogging vacant properties for as little as €1 (just 85p in today’s money).

It’s a phenomenon that comes on the back of a reported rural exodus. Young Italians have been increasingly drawn to city life, leaving stunning villages to empty out as their ageing populations dwindle.

Around 25 municipalities are said to be offering the €1 homes, betting that renovated and occupied properties will be more lucrative; second homes come with tax bills.

Ben Morris visited the commune of Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily, dubbed “Italy’s little America” due to the influx of US property buyers, to investigate. On his self-titled YouTube channel, Ben spoke to a local estate agent about the scheme.

She explained: “So, when they launched the first project, then there has been three: €1 houses, €2 houses, and €3 houses.”

The estate agent went on to say: “The rules are more or less always the same. You have to do an offer of at least €1, €2 or €3, but you know that the higher offer will win the house.”

Returning to Ben’s narration, he stated: “So there’s the catch in Sambuca. Although houses do go on the market for €1, they usually get bid on for up to €5,000 (about £4,200).

“However, the town that we’re going to visit after this actually has houses that you can straight up buy for €1. No catch. And there’s actually places available now.”

Ben then spoke about the home of Meredith Tabbone, who bought hers for €5,000 and later bought the home next door. However, her renovations set her back a whopping $446,000 (about £333,000).

Later, he set off in search of a no-strings-attached €1 home in the town of Mussomeli. Ben met up with a woman named Natalie, who said she’d show him a range of homes, including two that cost just €1.

Once he entered one such property, it was immediately visible that the house needed a lot of work. Ben was advised to only walk on the edges of the floor as he ventured through the property for “safety” reasons.

After he inspected the seemingly dilapidated two-level property, he commented: “And that is exactly why so many of these homes are being sold for so cheap. You’re going to need to do renovations and spend money to make it livable.

“You also have the responsibility to make sure your house doesn’t fall down and like kill your neighbour or something.”

Natalie also explained that, in addition to this, the buyer would have expenses to close the sale. Ben said this was another “little catch”, adding that you’d have to pay for notary fees and certificates.

Speaking previously about the scheme, 1eurohouses.com said in a statement, as reported by the Independent: “We do not need new constructions and new overbuilding.

“The strategy to improve the housing environment and reclaim our cultural identity is to revive the small abandoned centres or to redevelop buildings in a state of abandonment, with a story that is our history.”

After topscoring with the bat for Scotland, Kathryn Bryce makes an impact with the ball, taking a superb one-handed catch to remove Ireland’s Alana Dalzell for six in their opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Old Trafford.

FOLLOW LIVE: Impressive Scotland complete victory over Ireland

Available to UK users only.

The first film by Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg to be shot partly in the U.S. is, perhaps not surprisingly, a freaky satire of Hollywood. Its take on fame has only grown more accurate in the years since its premiere in 2014. Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson star in a demented tale of family, celebrity, ambition, ego and limousines. Funny and perverse, the film captures the uncanny cocktail of mean-spirited malignancy, self-obsessed delusion and just plain obliviousness that runs rampant around town. Presented by the screening series Mezzanine and the local literary magazine the Big One, the evening will be introduced by the film’s screenwriter, Bruce Wagner, a longtime chronicler of Los Angeles.

“Maps to the Stars” is playing June 14 at Brain Dead Studios. Tickets here.

German art student Miriam Wiskemann has won a year-long right-of-use agreement for the uninhabited island of Marsten off Sweden’s west coast – but there is a major catch

Starting next Monday, 27-year-old art student Miriam Wiskemann will become the sole guardian of an uninhabited island situated off Sweden’s coastline. The diminutive island of Marsten, measuring just 180 metres by 50 metres, attracts kayakers and paddle boarders throughout the summer season, but for most of the year remains the exclusive territory of a cormorant colony.

The only stipulation is that Miriam must relinquish her title in June 2027. She is among a handful of fortunate winners of a competition organised by Visit Sweden. According to Visit Sweden’s website, the initiative aimed to demonstrate that “true luxury isn’t about excess, but rather about time, space and balance”.

Miriam and four other individuals from across the globe will be granted a year-long right-of-use agreement alongside a travel voucher worth 20,000 Swedish krona – approximately £1,590. The prize doesn’t include permanent residency, as there are no structures on the island.

Miriam, who is pursuing a degree in art, intends to spend some time on Marsten in September, collecting inspiration for her final creative project for her illustration degree. She remarks: “The main prize is actually the journey there.”

Miriam, originally from Dusseldorf in Germany, is currently studying at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design. She reveals she aspires to eventually pursue a master’s degree in Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm.

The art student, who has actually lived in Sweden for a year, explained to German news agency dpa: “Sweden just has a more relaxed pace of life that I’ve often found myself missing in Germany. This trip is all I’m going to be thinking about for the rest of this term.”

“I’ll take time to cycle around the island and draw a lot of inspiration from my surroundings,” she said. “Having this luxury of being able to travel there will definitely have a big influence on me.

“The Swedish nature and the stark differences of the seasons have always really inspired me and my art,” she added.

Marsten sits amongst a cluster of islands located roughly four miles from Sweden’s western coastline. With over 267,000 islands dotted along the Swedish shores, a key objective of the competition was to spotlight these hidden gems.

VisitSweden’s “Your Swedish Island” campaign attracted almost 2,500 applications from 100 countries. The other winners hail from Canada, the US, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Each successful applicant will serve as guardian of their own remote island for the coming year.

Beware the Bruins Bombers.

UCLA claimed the first of a best-of-three super regional over Central Florida with a 9-1 run-rule win Friday at Easton Stadium, putting the Bruins one win away from reaching the Women’s College World Series.

Freshman infielder Bri Alejandre squared up and smashed a home run over the center-field wall to give UCLA the lead in the second inning. She tied the Big Ten freshman home-run record with her 23rd of the season.

“You don’t want this heat,” one fan yelled from behind home plate. The Bruins, though, were just getting started.

UCF struggled to find answers to match UCLA’s offensive firepower. Three Knights pitchers tried in vain as the Bruins diced up the diamond even though UCF walked UCLA and NCAA home-run leader Megan Grant three times.

Ava Stuewe ended her night in the fourth inning after she walked one Bruin and hit another. But her replacement, sophomore Isabella Vega, couldn’t find her footing, either.

UCLA strung together a sacrifice bunt and an RBI-ground out to score one run. Ramsey Suarez sliced a double down the left-field line as the ball landed less than a foot into fair territory.

Second baseman Kaniya Bragg’s three-run home run put UCLA up by five in the fifth inning. And Rylee Slimp ended the game with a three-run homer.

Yet, UCLA wasn’t perfect. The Bruins left the bases loaded when UCF’s Sierra Humphreys made a diving catch to end the fourth.

The Knights clawed back a run when Humphrey, the first batter of the fifth inning, homered to left. The hit was a small smudge on Bruins ace Taylor Tinsley’s line, finishing with two strikeouts and three hits across the five innings.

She looked shaky earlier in the game when she worked herself into a 3-2 count during the Knights’ first at-bat of the super regionals. As she took a moment to breathe, staring out at the blue wall, center fielder Jolyna Lamar nodded her head three times.

Tinsley then pitched three hitless innings before UCF’s Aubrey Evans doubled off to right in the fourth. Evans ran to third on a wild pitch, but Tinsley worked out of the jam with a groundout that she fielded herself and a lineout to Garcia at shortstop.

UCLA and UCF will play Game 2 Saturday at 7 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN. If the Bruins win, they advance to the WCWS. If they lose, the teams play again Sunday for the WCWS bid.

There are big savings on flights to Spain, Portugal, and more

A major airline has said it is reducing some of its flight prices by more than a fifth as it celebrates a huge 22 year in the skies.

Wizz Air said today, Tuesday: “We’re turning 22. Celebrate with us: up to 22% off ALL flights”. The Budapest-based airline flies to tens of destinations across Europe, from an array of UK airports including London Luton, London Gatwick, Liverpool John Lennon, and more. There is a catch on the savings, though, as flights must be booked before 11.59pm tomorrow, May 20.

Terms and conditions further stipulate that the discount applies only to the fare, excluding any administration fees. Flights within the deal depart between today, May 19, and October 30, 2027. Wizz Air added: “Promotion does not apply to group bookings.”

At the time of publication, we found return flights to Palma de Mallorca in June, from London Luton, from £31.80 per person. You can also get return flights to Bratislava from £30.24, or to and from Alicante from £31.80.

Looking ahead to the summer holidays, there are return flights to Palma de Mallorca from £40.81 in August, to Barcelona El Prat from £43.38 per person, and flights to and from Valencia from £45.04 per person.

If you’d prefer to travel from London Gatwick, there are return flights next month to Malaga from £31.80, to Valencia from £35.70, and to Faro from £47.72 per person. And in August, Gatwick passengers can fly to and from Faro from £56.94, Valencia from £58.64, and Malaga from £66.46.