Joining Barcelona has been Rashford’s preferred option since he declared in December that he was ready for a new challenge after being dropped by United head coach Ruben Amorim.
The move will be Rashford’s second consecutive loan spell after a six-month stint with Aston Villa in the second half of last season.
The forward is expected to complete a medical with the La Liga club early this week, with the aim of being able to join Barcelona’s pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea on Thursday.
Should Rashford join the tour, he could come up against former United team-mate Jesse Lingard.
Lingard, 32, is in his second season with K League side FC Seoul, who face Barcelona on 31 July.
Jose Herrera hit a two-run double in a four-run fourth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday.
Blaze Alexander had two hits as the bottom of the Diamondbacks’ order was productive in a positive result just before the All-Star break. Alexander was batting eighth and Herrera ninth for Arizona, which won for just the fourth time in its past 12 games.
Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly (8-5) overcame early control trouble to give up one run and one hit over five innings. He had six strikeouts, with two of his four walks to the first three Angels batters of the game.
Mike Trout drove in a run for the Angels, who fell short in their bid to earn a third home series sweep since the start of June.
Angels right-hander José Soriano (6-7) gave up five runs, but just one was earned over five innings, with three walks.
The Angels led 1-0 after Trout’s RBI single in the third inning.
The Diamondbacks moved in front 4-1 in the fourth inning on a game-tying grounder from Eugenio Suarez, an RBI double from Alexander and Herrera’s two-run double. Suarez added an RBI double in the fifth.
Key moment: With runners at first and second and nobody out for the Diamondbacks in the fourth, Angels third baseman Yoan Moncada misplayed Suarez’s grounder to his left, opening the door for the four-run inning. Moncada, who has been bothered with knee soreness, was replaced on defense in the sixth inning by Kevin Newman.
Key stat: Kelly is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA in his 11 starts that have come immediately after an Arizona loss, with opponents batting under .200 in those games.
Up next: Both teams return to action Friday after the All-Star break: Arizona is home to the St, Louis Cardinals; The Angels are at Philadelphia.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The glasses might’ve come first. But it was a light bulb moment with the swing that made the most profound change.
Just over a month into the season this year, veteran Dodgers slugger Max Muncy was in a desperate search for answers.
Through the team’s first 30 games, his batting average started with a one and his home run total was stuck on zero. His role as the team’s starting third baseman was being called into question, fueling early-season speculation that the team would need to replace him before the trade deadline. He was absorbing daily criticism from fans, while trying not to succumb to internal self-flagellation.
The 10-year veteran had gone through cold starts before. But nothing quite so frustrating as this.
“It’s a privilege to play under this pressure, and it’s something I’ve always thrived on, but it doesn’t mean it’s been easy,” Muncy said on the last day of April. “It’s been a rough month.”
Starting that afternoon, however, Muncy made one big change. Upon learning he had astigmatism in his right eye, he began wearing glasses at the plate to balance out his vision. In his first game using them, he hit his first home run of the year.
Then, nine days later, came the real breakthrough.
After spending the entirety of the winter tinkering with his swing, and most of the opening month trying to calibrate his mechanics, everything suddenly synced up during a May 9 at-bat in Arizona.
Muncy took a quick hack at a high fastball from Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel. He lined a ninth-inning, game-tying single through the right side of the infield in the Dodgers’ eventual win at Chase Field. And he realized that, finally, he’d found a feeling in the batter’s box he’d been chasing the last several years.
A demarcation point had just been established.
And Muncy’s season has been transformed ever since.
“The funny thing about baseball is, sometimes, it just takes one swing, one play, one pitch to lock someone in,” he said. “And ever since that day, I’ve had that feeling in the back of my head. Like, ‘That’s what it’s supposed to feel like.’”
In 36 games before then, Muncy was hitting .188 with only one home run, eight RBIs and 43 strikeouts; his early days with the glasses not even leading to an immediate turnaround.
But since May 9, he has been one of the best hitters in baseball, and on one of the most prolific stretches of his entire career. Over his last 43 games, Muncy’s batting average is .313, a personal best over any span that long in the majors. He has 12 home runs and a whopping 47 RBIs, a major-league-leading total in that stretch. According to Fangraphs’ all-encompassing wRC+ statistic, only Ronald Acuña Jr., Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge and Ketel Marte have been more productive at the plate.
And, most important, he has re-established himself as a central cog in the Dodgers’ lineup.
“He’s one of our most trusted hitters,” manager Dave Roberts said this past weekend. “I haven’t always been able to say that.”
Being a better, more trusted hitter has been a work in progress for Muncy ever since the devastating elbow injury he suffered at the end of 2021.
In Muncy’s prime years with the Dodgers from 2018-2021, he not only blossomed as one of the best sluggers in baseball by belting 118 home runs over a four-year stretch, but did so while posting a .246 batting average and .371 on-base-percentage; solid marks for a power threat occupying a key role in the middle of the Dodgers’ order.
At the core of that all-around approach was an ability to handle pitches to all parts of the plate — none more important than elevated fastballs at the top of the strike zone.
Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy writhes in pain after colliding with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jace Peterson during the final regular-season game in 2021.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“When I’m going well, I’m a really good high-fastball hitter,” Muncy said earlier this year.
“When Max is covering that pitch,” added hitting coach Aaron Bates, “it allows him to do so many other things as a hitter.”
Coming off his elbow injury, however, getting to high heat became a weakness in Muncy’s game. For much of the next two years, when he still hit for power but batted only a combined .204, he felt “it was really hard to replicate” his old swing. Last year, he made some incremental progress — when he batted .232 — but was stalled by an oblique strain that cost him the middle three months of the season.
Thus, this winter, Muncy set his mind to rediscovering his old mechanics.
“It really wasn’t that big of a change,” he said. “It was just going back to what I did when I first got here from 2018 to 2021. The same philosophy I had all those years.”
The work started in January, when Bates and fellow Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc visited Muncy at his home in Texas and crafted a simple focus for the 34-year-old’s offseason work: Purposely practice hitting grounders and line drives on a lower trajectory, in hopes it would train his swing to stay on top of the ball even on pitches up in the zone.
“You know he’s naturally going to have loft in his swing to elevate the baseball easily,” Bates said. “So that was a focus point for him, making sure he can hit a hard line drive on a pitch up in the zone, not necessarily trying to elevate it more than he needs to.”
A sound theory, with some disastrous early results.
At the start of the year, Muncy’s new swing thought bred other unexpected bad habits. In his effort to stay on top of the ball, he was opening up his backside and letting his front shoulder drift too far forward at the start of his move. As a result, Muncy had trouble squaring the ball and keeping his bat level through the strike zone. It led to not only a lack of power, but a diminished ability to distinguish the kind of pitches being thrown — evidenced by a nearly 32% strikeout rate in April that was seventh-highest among MLB hitters.
“That’s where it’s tough playing the sport,” Muncy said. “Because you can’t chase results immediately, even though you kind of have to. You have to chase the process in the long run.”
And even as external pressure over his dwindling production mounted, Muncy said the club’s coaches and front office assured him he’d have time to keep working through it.
“It’s easier to stick with something long-term when that’s the case,” Muncy said. “And for me, that’s been my entire career. Trust the process, not the result.”
During late April, Muncy’s process included a visit to the same eye doctor who had diagnosed Kiké Hernández with eye astigmatism last year; a discovery that prompted Hernández to start wearing glasses, and keyed a sudden offensive turnaround in the second half of the season.
Turned out, Muncy had a similar problem. Though his vision was 20/12, astigmatism in his right eye had made him left-eye dominant, a subtle but limiting dynamic for a left-handed hitter.
Thus, on the last day of the month, Muncy also started wearing prescription-lensed glasses, and christened the new eyewear with a home run in his first game using them.
“It’s not necessarily something that I need,” Muncy said. “But just any chance at all it evens out both eyes for me, I’ve been taking it.”
Yet, in his first week using them, he still went just six-for-28 with nine strikeouts and only five walks. He was still grinding through his adjustments to his mechanics. He was still waiting for one swing where everything would feel synced up.
When Muncy came to the plate in that May 9 game against the Diamondbacks to face Ginkel, he surveyed the situation, put his swing mechanics out of his head, and tried to focus on only one objective.
“It was guy on second, no outs,” Muncy recalled, “so I was trying to give up the at-bat, get the ball on the ground to the right side of second base, and move the runner from second to third.”
Throughout his career, this is when Muncy is at his best. When his mind isn’t clouded by the pressure to produce, or the particulars of his swing. When he’s “going out there and just trying to play the situation,” he explained. “Like, ‘What is my at-bat calling for in this moment?’”
And on that day in Arizona, with the Dodgers trailing by one run in the ninth, that simplified mindset gave Muncy his moment of long-awaited clarity.
Ginkel threw a 95 mph fastball up near Muncy’s chest. The slugger hit it with the kind of quick, level swing he’d spent all winter attempting to craft.
As the ball rocketed through the right side of the infield for a game-tying single, Muncy felt a lightbulb go off as he pulled into first base.
Fans cheer as the Dodgers’ Max Muncy rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam on June 22 against the Washington Nationals.
(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)
“I was so short and direct to it, it just triggered something in my head,” Muncy said. “It kind of took all the stuff I’d been working on, even going back to the winter, and was like, ‘OK, this is how I’m trying to get it to feel.’”
Muncy hasn’t looked back ever since.
By being able to cover the top of the strike zone, he hasn’t had to cheat on fastballs or hunt on tougher pitches to hit around his knees. When coupled with the glasses that have helped him better differentiate velocity from spin, he’s been able to be selective and wait out mistakes.
“There’s been spells in his career where it was the three [true] outcomes and that was it,” Roberts said, long a believer in Muncy’s ability to be a more potent hit collector, rather than just a high-powered, high-strikeout slugging presence. “Now, I think he’s a complete hitter. So you see the runs batted in, the homers, the quality of at-bats all tick up.”
During this torrid two-month stretch, highlights have come in bunches for Muncy. He’s had two seven-RBI games and another with six. He hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against the New York Mets on June 3. He had two grand slams in the span of three games last week.
He has gone from the subject of trade deadline rumors to a fan-voting finalist to make the All-Star Game.
He knows it’s still only been two months; that, in a sport as fickle as baseball, the feeling he has discovered at the plate can just as quickly disappear again.
But for the first time in years, he’s healthy, in sync and possessing total clarity — in both vision and mind — every time he steps to the dish.
“This is definitely more of what I was envisioning,” Muncy said this weekend, reflecting back on the early-season struggles and laborious swing work over the winter that preceded his two-month tear.
“Now, I have the confidence to know I can accomplish pretty much anything I want to do for that situation. Whereas, before, you don’t always have that.”
Last year, Benidorm welcomed close to 3 million visitors. Despite its reputation as a British holiday mecca – nearly 900,000 UK travellers visited the city in 2024 – it was actually Spanish nationals who made up the largest share, with more than one million domestic visitors flocking to the Costa Blanca resort, according to Benidorm city council. I have a feeling that these visitors did not come for the stereotype of full English breakfasts and pub crawls, but for something often overlooked by international tourists: the authentic, everyday rhythm of Spanish coastal life.
In a country where tourism makes up about 15% of GDP but has also spurred a housing shortage and countermovements, Benidorm offers a contrast to cities like Barcelona and Madrid, where tourism pressures are acute. The city’s mid-20th-century reinvention as a purpose-built resort might once have been controversial, but today it looks surprisingly sustainable in the context of a national housing emergency.
Benidorm was designed and built to handle industrial numbers of visitors – including me. My first visit was in the early 1990s, aged eight, on a classic package holiday with my family. I vividly remember staying up late to play billiards with a rotating cast of kids, and language barriers didn’t matter. Their mothers – and what felt like every other señora in our 20-storey hotel – took turns pinching my cheeks.
The coastal city has long accommodated large numbers of domestic and international travellers without displacing residents at the same rate as elsewhere. Unlike the “live like a local” model that has backfired in Spain’s big cities – such that more and more apartments once meant for residents are now exclusively for tourist use, especially in Madrid, where I’ve lived for 12 years – Benidorm has absorbed demand with ease while still offering an authentic Spanish experience. I’m here to explore exactly that.
Before the sun has fully risen, I walk to Poniente beach, the quieter, more local stretch just west of the old town. It is already full of life. A dozen elderly señores are taking a refreshing, pre-breakfast dip and a group of señoras are easing into the day with a free session of group yoga. As the weather heats up, the Spanish crowd moves away from the main beach to the nearby Cala Almadraba or, further along, to Cala del Tío Ximo. In these two secluded coves beyond the headland, pine trees frame crystal-clear shallows. Even in peak season, these smaller spots remain largely undiscovered by foreign visitors.
Cala Almadraba. Photograph: Alamy
By the time the sun is at its highest, many Spaniards are already retreating to long lunches of local cuisine. At La Fava, I find a serene space where chef Fran Burgos serves elegant dishes rooted in Alicante’s coastal traditions – such as grilled aubergine with honeycomb, parmesan soup and seasonal fish – in a tranquil, whitewashed interior. For a classic Iberian diner, Casa Toni boasts Andalusian tiles and legs of jamón hanging above the bar. For paella, a must in the Valencia region, refined seafood restaurant Ducado has an array of rice dishes.
There’s room too for cross-cultural comforts. Ray’s 1, a longstanding British chippy run by a mother and daughter team (both called Teresa), earned a new Spanish fanbase when I wrote about it for Spain’s leading national newspaper, El País. Since then, Teresa senior tells me, they’ve had a regular flow of Spanish customers. Nearby, on my way to the ajuntament (town hall), I spot a queue outside Bar El Puente, a chicken rotisserie run by the same family since 1968 and attracting a mostly Spanish clientele.
Local social documentary photographer María Moldes captures the city’s idiosyncrasies through saturated, surreal portraits of Spanish sunbathers. Photograph: María Moldes
Anyone who has visited Benidorm will be familiar with Calle Santo Domingo, a pedestrianised alley in the old town. Here, a global clientele are drawn to the bustling Basque pintxo bars, especially in the evening. But farther inland lies a no-frills and more authentically Spanish tapas destination, just off Avenida Ruzafa. I squeeze into Taperia La Mina, where a bottle of house wine and six tapas costs €11. Restaurant Aitona and El Rincón de La Croqueta offer an equally simple experience. For a slightly quieter but still lively meal, La Mejillonera is known for its large plates of juicy orange mussels, and is worth the wait for a table.
But beyond sun, sea and food, Benidorm is a real Spanish city with real stories. For example, Marina Sanchis opened Casa Cremà, a pottery workshop for locals and visitors alike, having returned to her home town after being forced out of Madrid by soaring rents, and has turned her creative retreat into a thriving community space. She tells me Benidorm has given her something she’d lost in the capital: space, time, and a connection to community.
Many more Spanish artists have been inspired by the coastal metropolis, and their work has featured in the free and often overlooked Museo Boca del Calvari in the old town. María Moldes, who exhibited there a few years ago, is a local social documentary photographer whose photos of Benidorm echo the works of the late Carlos Pérez Siquier. Both photographers capture Spain’s idiosyncrasies through saturated, surreal portraits of Spanish sunbathers. Despite being taken decades apart, their images are almost indistinguishable.
La Fava restaurant
Even online, Benidorm has become something of a Spanish cult favourite. Erik Harley, a satirical influencer from Barcelona, tells me that Benidorm is his favourite place in the universe and he will soon be launching new tours of the city’s most iconic skyscrapers. And then there’s Mulero Ok, as he’s known here, a smartly dressed pensioner whose niche is playing Spanish pop music on his speaker and filming passersby dancing alongside his decorated, slow-gliding mobility scooter.
Among Spanish youth, the city’s cultural relevance is also on the rise. Benidorm Fest is Spain’s official competition to choose its Eurovision entry. Unlike the UK’s often half-hearted approach to the contest, Spain makes a big deal of the selection process and I regularly hear Melody’s Esa Diva, which was chosen as Spain’s entry this year, playing on the radio and in bars. Still only in its third year, the festival has become a defining highlight of the city’s cultural calendar, earning Benidorm a new identity as the country’s unofficial capital of pop.
Beyond the bustle of Benidorm, the nearby area is home to several charming villages that make for a perfect day trip, such as the colourful coastal town of La Vila Joiosa, a short tram ride away. Inland, the ancient hilltop village of El Castell de Guadalest is home to no fewer than eight eclectic museums and boasts stunning views of the Guadalest reservoir – one of Benidorm’s main sources of fresh water.
Benidorm wears its tourist-resort reputation with pride, but it offers far more than the stereotypes suggest. As a Brit abroad occasionally longing for home, I’m not going to deny that the British stereotype of Benidorm has its appeal for me. But I’m also here for what has become even more familiar to me: Spanish culture, local gastronomy and a deeper sense of place – the side of Benidorm that is enjoyed by more than 1 million domestic visitors each year.
In a country grappling with overtourism, Benidorm’s purpose-built design shouldn’t be dismissed as inauthentic. It’s a uniquely Spanish solution to a modern global challenge – and a city with space for everyone.
Paul Pogba is set to complete his move to Monaco this week as he returns to competitive football following a doping suspension.
BBC Sport revealed this month that the France midfielder was in advanced talks over a two-year contact at the Ligue 1 club.
Sources close to the deal have indicated an agreement is in place, with Pogba expected to arrive in his homeland from his temporary base in the United States in the coming days to have a medical before signing.
Former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder Pogba was provisionally suspended after being randomly tested following Juventus’ opening game of the 2023-24 season against Udinese.
The World Cup winner later received a four-year ban which was slashed to 18 months in October following an appeal.
In the final judgement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) it was confirmed Pogba inadvertently took DHEA, a substance which boosts testosterone and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) banned list.
Crucially, however, the ruling stated DHEA only has an affect on females.
On the field, he’s produced the first 50-50 season in baseball history and won a World Series. Off it, he’s sold everything from unsweetened green tea to skin-care products.
As it was, it felt as if Shohei Ohtani was everywhere. In reality, this was just half of the package.
The Dodgers are finally about to have the complete version of Ohtani, the right-handed pitcher with a 100-mph fastball who also launches 470-foot homers as a left-handed hitter.
Two-Way Shohei is back.
Ohtani will pitch his first game for the Dodgers on Monday, the team naming him as its starter for the opening game of a four-game series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
What was already a one-of-a-kind show will evolve into something that might never be seen again after Ohtani retires — not at Dodger Stadium, not at any other major league stadium, not anywhere in the world.
The news of Ohtani’s mound return became a source of anticipation in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, with Clayton Kershaw describing himself as “super excited.”
“I think we all are,” Kershaw said. “I think as fans of the game and just seeing him day in and day out get ready to pitch and do both, it’s going to be really fun, whether it’s one inning or whatever it is.”
The Dodgers plan to deploy Ohtani for an inning or two as an opener.
For most of this season, the Dodgers operated under the assumption that Ohtani wouldn’t pitch until after the All-Star break. The change of plans doesn’t represent a speeding up of a timeline as much as it does a modification of the route that will be taken to a final destination.
Ohtani last pitched in 2023 when he was still playing for the Angels, and he didn’t pitch in his first season for the Dodgers last year as he recovered from his second Tommy John surgery.
Shohei Ohtani pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In recent weeks, he prepared for his mound return by pitching to hitters in live batting practice. He threw 44 pitches in three innings in his third and most recent session.
However, throwing live batting practice and taking four or five at-bats in an actual game as a designated hitter was like “playing a doubleheader for him,” Roberts said.
To eliminate the exhausting cycle of warming up to throw, cooling down after, and warming up again to play a game, the Dodgers figured they could build up Ohtani’s arm in games. Whatever modest Ohtani’s contributions can make from the mound, the Dodgers will take them. With multiple starters on the injured list, the bullpen has shouldered a disproportionate share of the pitching load.
Because Ohtani wouldn’t take up an extra roster spot, Kershaw pointed out, “We don’t have to lose a pitcher or anything, so if he throws an inning a week, it’s great.”
Ohtani will likely pitch about once a week, with every start expected to be about an inning longer than the previous one. Theoretically, he could pitch four times before the All-Star break, which would stretch him out to be ready to pitch five innings when the Dodgers resume play.
While Ohtani remains in a ramp-up phase and his fastball has sat in the 94-95 mph range in his live bullpen sessions, still not at the 98-99 mph he once averaged. However, team officials believe he is ready to compete at the major league level because of the movement of his pitches.
Ohtani evidently thinks so as well.
“I think I’m approaching a level that is sufficient to pitch in games,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Saturday night.
His 25 homers are the most in the National League. He is also batting .297 with 41 runs batted in. The Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, he’s also stolen 11 bases.
Ohtani said didn’t think his offensive production would be diminished by pitching.
“I played as just a DH last year,” he said, “but to do both at the same time is my usual style.”
Ohtani played six seasons with the Angels, and he was a two-way player in four of them. His last three seasons with them made up what was arguably the greatest three-year stretch in the history of the sport, as he won two MVP awards and would have won a third if not for a 62-home season by Aaron Judge.
He has an opportunity now to match, or even surpass, that. Only this time, he will do so on a team that has a chance to reward him for his unprecedented achievements with the postseason glory he craves.
Man Utd sign Brazilian international forward on five-year deal as coach Ruben Amorim makes first big move.
Manchester United have completed the signing of Brazil international Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers as the fallen Premier League giants begin their rebuild
The 26-year-old forward, who has scored once in 15 appearances for Brazil, signed a five-year contract to 2030 at Old Trafford with the option of a further 12 months, the club said on Thursday.
United paid a reported 62.5 million pounds ($84m) to their fellow English top-flight club for Cunha.
United coach Ruben Amorim is expected to overhaul his squad after a woeful season, and Cunha’s is the first major transfer for the Portuguese since he replaced Erik ten Hag in November.
Cunha scored 17 goals for Wolves last season while the United attack had the fifth worst scoring record in the Premier League last term.
“Ever since I was a child in Brazil watching Premier League games on TV at my grandmother’s house, United was my favourite English team, and I dreamed of wearing the red shirt,” Cunha said.
“All my focus is now on working hard to become a valuable part of the team and helping get this club back to the top.”
Brazilian national team players Matheus Cunha, left, and Vinicius Junior, right, train before their June 5, 2025, World Cup qualifier against Ecuador [Sebastiao Moreira/EPA]
United were 15th in the league standings, their worst position since the Premier League era began in 1992. It also had its most losses in a Premier League season and recorded its lowest points total.
The joint record 20-time English champions have gone 12 years without the title since last winning it in former manager Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013.
“Bringing in Matheus was one of our main priorities for this summer, so we are delighted to have completed his signing so early in the window,” said Jason Wilcox, United director of football.
“He has proved his ability to succeed in the Premier League as one of the most exciting and productive forwards in England during his time at Wolves and before that in Spain and Germany.
“He has all the qualities we are looking for as we seek to build a strong, dynamic and entertaining team capable of challenging for the biggest honours.”
As well as Cunha, United are also interested in Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo.
The clubs are believed to be in negotiations over a fee for the Cameroonian international.
BOSTON — Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Angels 11-9.
The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.
Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, the Angels answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off.
In the bottom half, Abraham Toro singled with one out and Rafaela hit a 308-foot liner over the short wall that goes from the foul pole toward the bullpens in right.
Taylor Ward had four RBIs for the Angels, who were going for the three-game sweep.
Key moment
Before recording his first out, Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito allowed four runs on two doubles, two singles and a homer. Then Angels starter José Soriano gave up four singles and two walks to make it 4-3 before striking out Rafaela on his 25th pitch of the inning.
David Hamilton’s two-run double with one out gave Boston a 5-4 lead.
Key stat
Combined, the starting pitchers, allowed 14 runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Up next
The Angels are off Thursday, with RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.34 ERA) slated to start the opener of a three-game series against Seattle on Friday night. The Red Sox are off Thursday before starting a three-game series in New York against the Yankees.
PUNTERS were quite rightly stunned and social media went into meltdown after a shock unseat on a horse who drifted like a barge at Wexford on Wednesday.
Philip Byrnes flopped off Redwood Queen – trained by the jockey’s old man Charles – in the opening 2m1f claiming hurdle.
3
Redwood Queen looked to have 1-3 market leader Beacon Edge beaten as they approached the lastCredit: Racing TV
3
Redwood Queen landed on all fours having seemingly jumped the hurdle well – only for jockey Philip Byrnes to be unseatedCredit: Racing TV
3
An investigation has been launched into the incident, which came at the final flight after the horse had drifted markedly in the bettingCredit: Racing TV
Although on itself merely an extreme example of desperate riding, what angered many about this was that Redwood Queen had drifted in the betting from 7-2 to 13-2.
She clearly had the race in the bag when the jockey disappeared out the ‘side door’.
Byrnes runners, more than most other stables, appear to do best when the money is down.
My Saturday NAP
A Listed winner on comeback from ages off having previously run well in the 2000 Guineas when well fancied – everything, including the strong pace, points to a big run here. Back my tip simply by clicking the odds above.
To an outsider, the County Limerick handler runs what the majority would call a ‘gambling outfit’, for all that racing fans would have no proof of any financial transactions.
So when a Byrnes runner drifts like a barge, is clear at the last and then the jockey falls off, naturally many will cry foul play.
Only time will tell if that was the case – as the IHRB launch their full investigation.
But the chances are the case will eventually be dropped.
Only money trails could really prove guilt, and with so much punting action now on the Black Market, if anyone was trying to do something untoward they would have to be very thick indeed to leave any trace.
I did ask one top class jumps rider what they thought of the fall, and their response was interesting.
“Terrible bit of riding really,” they said.
“The horse came out of his hands and he was unbalanced but who knows whether that was enough to fall off?”
They added: “Personally I don’t think he’s that good a stunt rider. I think if they wanted to throw themselves off it would have looked more obvious.
“It’s really hard to throw yourself off a horse. I just don’t think he’s that good.”
Social media is always fascinating on these occasions. People like me – journalists and presenters on TV – tend to come in for a barrage of abuse.
The general gist is that we ‘don’t tell it as it is’.
As well as that, we should ‘have an opinion’ and we won’t talk out against the ‘racing family’.
What those on social media are actually saying is that if we don’t agree with what they suggest we are on the so-called ‘gravy train’.
In this case, what those on social media wanted me to say was a jockey had deliberately fallen off a horse who had taken a walk in the betting because connections did not want it to win.
They would also like me to add the whole game is corrupt.
To say the above is fine for most, although technically there would always be a chance of action being taken against them if the authorities found there was no case to answer.
But if a TV presenter was to say such things – or someone in writing – they would be in court or before lawyers before you could count to ten.
I know this as a fact.
In my early days of broadcasting I was laid off for a month for two instances which I stand by to today, but which could not be proven.
Did one of those mouthing off on social media offer to help pay my bills because I had publicly stood up for the punters? No they did not.
Being a keyboard warrior is, naturally, a very different world to broadcasting or writing in a newspaper.
Social media has given the people an opening to express themselves like they have never had before.
But just because the rules of the land appear to matter little online, everyone should remember that for broadcasters and journalists it’s a different world.
The Wexford incident looked awful. But was it deliberate? I have absolutely no idea.
And at this stage none of you reading this have any concrete proof either. Such is life.
It’s the calm before the Derby and Royal Ascot this weekend, but one race I’m excited to watch is Saturday’s Group 3 Betfred John Of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock and live on ITV.
Old favourites Audience and Kinross are in the line-up, but it’s Alyanaabi who interests me.
He was once fancied for last year’s 2000 Guineas, and eventually finished fifth behind Notable Speech.
He carried on at about a mile for Owen Burrows, but his stamina has always been open to question and he returned over course and distance when scoring on May 10.
I was impressed then and everything looks right here for another bold run with a strong pace assured. Come on, Alyanaabi!
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware.org.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
Never chases their losses
Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
Louisville (4-4-2) has won three of its last four games. Angel City (4-4-2) has lost two in a row.
Taylor Flint put Louisville up 1-0 at BMO Stadium with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute. Rookie Riley Tiernan scored for Angel City in the 48th minute.
Emma Sears nodded the ball in from close range off a corner kick in the 53rd minute and USC alum Savannah DeMelo made it 3-1 Racing Louisville in the 56th.
Fischer was sent off for a physical altercation with Madison Hammond inside the Louisville box in the 67th minute. Alyssa Thompson converted on the ensuing penalty kick for Angel City.
Tottenham’s victory sparked emotional scenes among their fans, with the club set to have an open-top bus parade on Friday before their final Premier League game of the season at home to Brighton.
By winning the Europa League, Spurs will also have a chance to win the Uefa Super Cup when they face the Champions League winners, either Inter Milan or Paris-St Germain, on 13 August in Italy.
However, whether Postecoglou is still in charge of the club then is unknown.
“I would be disappointed if we don’t continue on this path,” he added in the post-match news conference. “It is difficult to buy into one person’s vision. I have been a serial winner. I know people dismiss what I have won because it didn’t happen here, but they were hard earned.
“There is huge relief. You carry the weight of responsibility and 150 times I have been a spokesman for this club.
“There are no planned meetings. I’ll go back to my hotel room with friends and family, open up a nice bottle of scotch, a massive parade on Friday, game on Sunday against Brighton and then holiday. Then que sera, sera.”
Postecoglou joined Tottenham in June 2023, having won five trophies in two seasons at Celtic, including back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles.
In September, he said he “always wins things in his second season,” a statement which was true when he had been in charge of clubs for two full seasons.
He maintained that record in Bilbao and said: “People misinterpreted me. It was not me boasting, just me making a declaration and I believed it. I had this thing inside me more than anything else.
“I know our league form has been unacceptable, but coming third was not going to change this football club, winning a trophy would, that was my ambition and I was prepared to wear it if it did not happen.
“People kept reminding me of it because we were getting closer but I’m happy with that.”
