Angels first baseman Trey Mancini, a cancer survivor and former Baltimore slugger, had three hits in his first major league game since 2023 on Monday night in a 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros in 10 innings.
Mancini delivered a run-scoring single in the second inning in his first at-bat. He singled again leading off the fourth before adding a third single in the eighth.
The Angels selected the contract of Mancini and put him in the lineup at first base against the Astros after putting infielders Vaughn Grissom (left oblique strain) and Adam Frazier (right elbow inflammation) on the 10-day injured list.
Mancini, 34, agreed to a minor league contract with the Angels in February, a deal that included an invitation to major league spring training. Mancini hit .273 with six homers, 29 RBIs and three steals for triple-A Salt Lake this year.
Mancini has batted .263 with 129 homers and 400 RBIs over parts of seven seasons in the majors. He played parts of six seasons with the Orioles and hit a career-high 29 homers in 2019.
Mancini then missed the 2020 season after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. He made a successful return to the Orioles in 2021, and he won a World Series ring in 2022 after Baltimore traded him to Houston.
He spent part of the 2023 season with the Chicago Cubs. He has since played in the minor league systems of the Reds, Marlins and Diamondbacks.
Mancini opted out of a minor league deal with Arizona last July after batting .308 with 16 homers for triple-A Reno.
Grissom’s move to the IL was retroactive to Friday. Frazier’s move was retroactive to Saturday.
The Angels also recalled infielder Denzer Guzman from Salt Lake and transferred infielder Yoán Moncada to the 60-day injured list.
England’s Emilio Gay falls for eight on Test debut as he’s caught off the bowling of Kyle Jamieson with the home side 16-1 on the first morning of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.
An eerie silence descended upon Dodger Stadium as the swatted ball soared toward the right field corner.
What was this? Who was this?
This wasn’t a crowd-roaring drive by a future Hall of Famer. This wasn’t a Ravine-rattling shot by a perennial All-Star.
This was rare. This was weird. This was a long fly by a long-shot outfielder ending a long minor-league journey with his first appearance at Dodger Stadium.
The ball flew and flew and, suddenly, this was a home run. A home run? Who was that again?
Yeah, the sunny 28-year-old did the Freddie Freeman Hop as he rounded second base in a wonderful show of giddy celebration by a guy who’s earned it.
“Kind of a blackout, if I’m going to be honest with you,” Ward said. “Hit it and kind of just went numb.”
Feel free to go numb with him. With his fourth-inning solo blast in Sunday’s 9-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, this not-exactly-a-kid-anymore was the once-in-a-lifetime story.
After seven minor league seasons, his first major-league home run.
After 156 minor-league homers, his first big-league dinger.
After years of trudging through Great Lakes and Ogden and Tulsa and Oklahoma City, his first big fly at 1000 Vin Scully Ave.
In fact, it was his first game at Dodger Stadium, period, and he soaked in the atmosphere with the same wide-eyed wonder as all those little leaguers who marched around the field before the game.
”When I went out to left field, kind of just looking around, taking it in, just realizing how special it was, just have fun with it, enjoy it all,” he said.
The Dodgers’ series win against a team that will challenge them in October was especially a blast for the “others,” the role players who wind up being so important, with Ward and Alex Freeland homering while Alex Call hit a two-run single.
“Everybody in this locker room is a superstar,” Freeland said. “A lot of us get overlooked just because we have guys like Shohei and Freddie. Everybody in this clubhouse can ball.”
Nobody was as excited to just be in the clubhouse as Ward, who is one of the little-known casualties of the Dodgers’ success, a decent hitter from their farm system who has never gotten a chance because the Dodgers don’t have a need for just-decent hitters.
”When I went out to left field, kind of just looking around, taking it in, just realizing how special it was, just have fun with it, enjoy it all,” Ryan Ward said after hitting a solo home run Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
When it comes to position players, with the exception of the former prospect Andy Pages, they buy stars, they trade for stars, they hoard stars, and they rarely give a long look to anybody who isn’t guaranteed to be a star.
It is in this environment that Ward has surely asked himself, what does he have to do?
He was drafted out of Rhode Island’s Bryant University in 2019 and by 2021 he was showing home-run power with 27 jacks at class-A Great Lakes. Every year he climbed the minor league ladder, and every year he grew stronger, with 34 homers and 104 RBIs two years ago, and 36 homers with 122 RBIs last year when he was named Pacific Coast League MVP.
How long has he been in the bush leagues? He is triple-A Oklahoma City’s career leader in home runs.
But he was prone to slumps, and oversized swings, and average defensive skills, and last season at Oklahoma City his strikeouts equaled his RBIs.
So he never got even a major-league sniff, leading him to spend his winters working a snow plow with his father to stay in shape, yet he never complained.
“Even talking to Freeland today on the bench, and he made a note that Ryan was probably the most positive guy down there in triple A, and that speaks to his character,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And if there’s anyone that has the right to be salty and frustrated, it’s him, but he was professional about it, and he was an easy one to recall and get him here.”
This finally happened late last month when Ward was recalled to briefly fill a hole when Freddie Freeman went on paternity leave. He played two games in Colorado, had a couple of hits, and was sent back down.
This weekend, he was recalled again to replace Teoscar Hernández, who was placed on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. Ward was jammed in the lineup Sunday, struck out against Phillies’ rookie Andrew Painter in the second inning, then made contact on a 1-and-0 pitch and sent it whirling into the right-field bullpen.
“Watching it go over the fence was really cool,” he said.
Ryan Ward celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Phillies.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Watching the ball returned to his locker in a glass cube was perhaps just as cool. And then celebrating afterward by getting doused with all sorts of stuff by his thrilled teammates? Off the charts.
“I’m probably gonna smell for a little bit,” he said.
Smell of what?
“You name it.”
Considering Ward hit his homer in the fourth inning, you’re probably wondering how he performed the rest of the game. Well, um, there was no rest of the game. He was almost immediately benched again for Call.
And the struggle continues.
“Keep trying to grind your game as much as you can and just kind of force the door down,” he said.
The title of Violet Grohl’s debut album, “Be Sweet to Me,” started as an inside joke.
“‘Be Sweet to Me’ is a phrase that my best friend and I say to each other when we’re play-fighting,” says the rising singer. “It’s what we do to put an end to it. Like, ‘Oh, be sweet to me!’”
The phrase might also carry a double meaning, one Grohl is still parsing. At some point in the naming process, someone in her circle asked Grohl if she was making a plea. Remembering that moment, Grohl pauses to consider.
“I guess it can be seen as a pretext for the album. Just … be sweet,” she says. “But at the same time, it’s literally just what my best friend and I say to each other when we’re calling each other idiots.”
Intentional or not, no one could blame the 20-year-old for inserting an earnest request for audiences to proceed with kindness as she readies her debut album, which finally landed Friday.
The reasons are pretty self-explanatory: Grohl is the eldest child of modern rock icon Dave Grohl, the highly decorated founder and centerpiece of Foo Fighters and onetime drummer of Nirvana, and his wife, former model and TV producer Jordyn Blum. In an age of “nepo” accusations and internet dogpiles, it would be completely understandable for Grohl to feel anxious about her album’s reception.
But if she is, it doesn’t show. On a warm day in mid-May, Grohl appears relaxed and self-assured — but not arrogant — as she idles on a sofa in a cozy Studio City ADU owned by her publicist. Encased in a long, black sleeveless dress, she’s giving a mixture of off-duty rock star and summer goth. Her arms host an array of intricate tattoos; I spot a raven, a skull and a vintage lace fan. Next to her is a bulging Balenciaga mini bag, and a pair of oversized sunglasses on her head are perched atop a mop of jet black curls. The high contrast of her pale, makeup-less skin and swept back hair makes her round, gray-blue eyes appear even more pronounced.
“Everyone wants you to be an idealized version of … not even yourself, but of what they want you to be,” she says. “Sorry, that’s just not gonna happen with me.”
(Bella Newman)
Any time spent with her reveals that Grohl is the sort of person who is ultra-sensitive to the energy of places, people and even the long-deceased. In her free time, Grohl is an avid lover of anything paranormal. “The same time I got into horror movies, I started watching ‘Ghost Adventures’ on Travel Channel,” she says. “It totally sent me down this rabbit hole of the supernatural.”
When I ask if she’d ever made contact with any ghosts, Grohl nods emphatically before describing a trip to a hunting estate near the Scottish Highlands. “It is the most haunted place I’ve ever been in my whole life,” she says. “I walked into the house, and it was like a blast of cold air, chills everywhere. It’s this instinctual feeling of, I’m not alone here … I heard footsteps and disembodied voices, I saw shadows, I had crazy f–ing dreams. It’s so eye-opening, but it’s not evil or negative.”
Chilling films and Lynchian surrealism pervade the tracklist of “Be Sweet to Me,” which relies on symbolic lyricism to illustrate coming-of-age stories. From a sonic perspective, listeners will be thrilled to know that her debut does not just make for an entertaining listen — it’s a dedicated towpath to the very squealing heart of alternative rock, built by an artist who understands her music history on a granular level. Across a tight 11 tracks, “Be Sweet to Me” careens across late-’80s and ‘90s experimental genres, from ripping alt-rock on “Bug in the Cake” to hazy dream pop on “Mobile Star” to aggro Clinton-era alt metal on “Often Others,” and even a bit of chugging hardcore on “Cool Buzz.”
As many references as she brought to the recording process, led by producer Justin Raisen (a known collaborator of Charli XCX and Kim Gordon, who made the introduction), Grohl is not attempting to cosplay the grunge era. Instead of simply mirroring influences, she deftly puts her own spin on each arrangement with inventive, grabby arrangements, razor-sharp production and her versatile vocals, which can bellow like Courtney Love, murmur like PJ Harvey or turn ethereal like Elizabeth Fraser.
“Justin has a crew of musicians that he works with, and they’re all close friends of his,” Grohl explains of the album’s backing band, which Raisen assembled to mimic the Wrecking Crew, a loose collective of session players who appeared on some of the most beloved albums of the 1960s and ‘70s. “They’re the coolest, most talented, genuine music lovers, and seriously talented musicians … I’d never been in that kind of recording environment before. Everyone would throw out ideas or I would share a reference, and whatever it was about the song, [we’d ask] how we can build and make it a completely new, different thing.”
Growing up in Tarzana/Woodland Hills, Grohl says she’s been singing ever since she could speak. In a baby book, her mother wrote how Grohl, at 8 or 9 months, was “babbling and singing.” She took piano lessons with a teacher who taught her any Beatles song she wanted to learn. She later picked up the ukulele, and then a guitar. Now, it’s any piece of gear, from bass to drums to a lap dulcimer. “I just love messing around with different instruments and seeing all the different sounds I can make,” she says.
Grohl also had an ideal music-taste mentor in her father, who told his eldest all about Björk and acquiesced to playing Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” on repeat. “I think I was 4 or 5, and I remember sitting in front of his computer, and he was talking about how she was from Iceland,” Grohl says of those days. “And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s the princess of Iceland. That was my idea of Björk from a young age. Björk’s ‘Hunter’ music video was a turning point for me.”
By adolescence, while on the road with the Foo Fighters, Grohl would make herself useful by assisting the band’s tour manager. She remembers: “I had a walkie-talkie, I would hand per diems out to people, I would run the envelopes around, and bring my dad a towel after the show, stuff like that.” The live-music atmosphere may have also sparked Grohl’s curiosity in songwriting, which she says began as a way of journaling. “I have cassette demos that I made with a tiny one-track recorder,” she remembers. “Then I started learning how to use Logic right before I turned 13, and that opened up this whole new world.”
One night in May 2018, on a break from the East Coast leg of the Foos’ Concrete and Gold tour, the elder Grohl headlined a benefit concert for the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, where he encouraged his daughter, then only 12, to join him onstage to sing Adele’s “When We Were Young.” A few weeks later, back on tour, Grohl jumped onstage to help sing backup on a few tracks. “It wasn’t my first time singing on a stage, but it was my first time singing on a stage with that many people in [the audience],” she says of the second experience. “I was really scared, but once it was happening, and once it was over, I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I want to do. This is my purpose.’”
Chilling films and Lynchian surrealism pervade the tracklist of “Be Sweet to Me,” which relies on symbolic lyricism to illustrate coming-of-age stories.
(Bella Newman)
From there, Grohl became something of a live fixture — a beloved Foos adjunct performer. But clearly one with her own trajectory. In pre-pandemic 2020, Grohl joined the surviving members of Nirvana at the Art of Elysium Gala, where she sang “Heart-Shaped Box.” The next year, father and daughter recorded a duet of “Nausea” by L.A. classic punk favorites X. In 2022, Grohl opened the second tribute to late Foos drummer, Taylor Hawkins, with an aching rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
It should definitely be said that Grohl is hardly pulling a Jakob Dylan as it relates to her parentage — a detail that actually makes her appear that much more self-actualized and approachable, simply because she isn’t trying to circumvent reality or engage in a furious round of name-dropping. She freely discusses the long evening car rides around Los Angeles she’d take with her dad and two younger sisters during the pandemic, the car becoming a music-recommendation feedback loop, with older and younger generations trading off DJ duties. “My sister and I introduced him to Jockstrap,” Grohl chuckles when I ask what bands she introduced her dad to during those rides. “I’d play him old jazz standards, hip-hop. It was a constant thing.”
During those evening rides, Grohl also drank up the city’s otherworldly, vaguely haunted visage. “There’s something special about L.A. that I can’t fully describe,” she says. “There’s inspiration everywhere, so many beautiful people and historic buildings. I love art about L.A. — when people reference L.A. in their music, movies, or books. I grew up here, and I’ve lived here my whole life. I just feel that deep connection to it all.”
Like any great artist, Grohl is a product of her surroundings, and that can’t help but include a very specific, unlikely upbringing. In her own matter-of-fact way, Grohl shrugs as she acknowledges the inescapable pressure of her last name. “Everyone wants you to be an idealized version of … not even yourself, but of what they want you to be,” she says. “Sorry, that’s just not gonna happen with me. You’re not gonna convince me to change. I’m doing this because I love music, and that’s all I’ve ever known. Everyone’s gonna want me to be something, and I’m not the person that will give in to that.”
EastEnders fans have been left gutted after Karen Henthorn, who plays Julie Bates, appeared in her final sceens of the BBC soap last night – 29 years after her debut
EastEnders star bids farewell leaving fans gutted
An EastEnders legend has bid a sad farewell to the BBC soap – 29 years after her debut.
Last night’s episode marked the end of actress Karen Henthorn’s time on EastEnders, almost 30 years after she made her debut in Walford. She had returned as part of Nigel’s dementia storyline in July last year, having previously appeared on the soap between September 1997 and April 1998.
Thursday’s episode saw Karen Henthorn, who plays Julie Bates, leave Walford for India, just weeks after the death of her husband Nigel. Julie finally read Nigel’s letter, which revealed he had left her his pension, meaning she could take the trip of a lifetime.
Following her final scene Karen appeared in a farewell video on EastEnders’ official social pages. Stood on the BBC set she said: “It’s my last day and I’ve had the best time. The best 10 and a half months.” She went on to pay tribute to the cast and crew and said: “Whatever you do in life, it’s always about people and kindness.”
Karen then thanked the EastEnders fans, saying: “thanks for your love, your support and your commitment and dedication to the programme, which you love as much as I love. And I’m going to really miss you. So thanks everyone, take care of each other, loads and loads of love.”
The video then showed a snippet from Karen’s final scene before she was presented with flowers and applauded by the crew and co-star Steve McFadden.
Executive Producer Ben Wadey gave a speech, he said: “Your constant waterworks, your endless tears, but your performance has really been amazing. Thank you for everything, you’ve been amazing.”
The video posted on Facebook was captioned: “Tonight we say goodbye to the outstanding Karen Henthorn and Julie Bates. You’ve been an absolute delight and we will miss you dearly!”
Loyal viewers took to the comments to share their thoughts on Karen’s departure. One wrote: “Great actress and amazing portrayal of such an awful disease. I hoped you might end up with Phil, it’s the most he’s smiled since you arrived.”
Another commented: “Have absolutely loved her. Please get her back, it won’t be the same without her. Maybe Karen (Julie) could come back after a period of time and slowly become Phil’s love interest? They could be the equivalent of Corrie’s Vera and Jack!”
A third wrote: “So gutted she’s left. Her performance has been absolutely phenomenal throughout Nigel’s dementia storyline. Best wishes for the future Karen.”
EastEnders airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has framed the 2026 World Cup’s expansion from 32 to 48 teams as a watershed moment for inclusivity, opening the door for nations that have never qualified before.
Indeed, four teams will be playing at their first World Cup in North America this summer: Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.
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Here is Al Jazeera’s short guide to the debutants at this year’s competition.
Cape Verde
FIFA world ranking: 69
World Cup fixtures (Group H): Spain (June 15, Atlanta), Uruguay (June 21, Miami, US), Saudi Arabia (June 26, Houston, US)
Player to watch: Garry Rodrigues
With a population of about 525,000, the small archipelago off the coast of Senegal will become the third-least populous country to participate in a World Cup after Curacao and Iceland.
Ryan Mendes is not even a household name in Turkiye, where he plays for second-tier Igdir, but Cape Verde’s 35-year-old captain was at the heart of their 3-0 win over Eswatini in October, which booked their place at the World Cup.
This was no freak occurrence as Cape Verde topped their group at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which included Ghana, reaching the quarterfinals where they lost on penalties to South Africa.
Although they failed to reach AFCON 2025, they again topped their group in 2026 World Cup qualifying – this time finishing ahead of the once-mighty Cameroon.
“We have taken part in four African Cup of Nations tournaments, and we were also very close to qualifying for the 2014 World Cup,” Mendes told the AFP news agency.
“A lot has been achieved over the years. And today, we can say that this is the logical outcome.”
Garry Rodrigues of Cape Verde is challenged by Onni Valakari of Finland during a match in March [Phil Walter/Getty Images]
Cape Verde rely heavily on their Portuguese colonial past for a supply of diaspora talent, and also have several Dutch-born players, as well as one from Ireland – the Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopes. The Dublin-born 33-year-old has a Cape Verdean father and Irish mother and was reportedly recruited for Cape Verde via LinkedIn.
The team’s best-known player, however, is probably 35-year-old winger Garry Rodrigues; now at Cypriot club Apollon Limassol, he has had stints at the likes of Galatasaray and Olympiacos.
But even without mega-star names, Mendes is certain that the Blue Sharks can make a mark at the tournament.
“One thing’s for sure: we’re not going there just to play three games and come home,” he said.
Curacao
FIFA world ranking: 82
World Cup fixtures (Group E): Germany (June 14, Houston, US), Ecuador (June 20, Kansas City, US), Ivory Coast (June 25, Philadelphia, US)
Player to watch: Tahith Chong
“Small island, big dreams” reads a poster for the football team of the Caribbean island of Curacao – the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for football’s World Cup.
Since Curacao clinched qualification with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Steven McClaren’s Jamaica in November, the 160,000 inhabitants of the Dutch island famed for its eponymous sapphire liqueur are riding the crest of the Blue Wave, as the national side is dubbed.
The most famous person around the squad is Curacao’s boss Dick Advocaat, the 78-year-old former Netherlands, PSV and Rangers manager who guided the Curacaoans to qualification. He is set to become the oldest manager ever at a World Cup.
Meanwhile, as a self-governing entity within the Netherlands, the island owes its World Cup squad entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao’s football federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.
“All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues,” he told AFP.
Perhaps the best-known player is former Dutch youth international Tahith Chong, now at Championship side Sheffield United. The only team member born on Curacao, Chong moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13.
The 26-year-old winger or attacking midfielder is known for his pace, dribbling and a wicked left foot.
The most famous Curacaoan is probably former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father and a mother from Curacao.
“It’s fantastic that the island is in the World Cup,” Kluivert, who coached the Curacaoan side between 2015 and 2016, told AFP.
“In my day, [football] was not that big on the island, but the players have given Curacao visibility. It’s important for the future, for the next generation.”
Jordan
FIFA world ranking: 63
World Cup fixtures (Group J): Austria (June 16, San Francisco, US), Algeria (June 22, San Francisco, US), Argentina (June 27, Dallas, US)
Player to watch: Musa Al-Taamari
Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami has called on his players to emulate Morocco’s shock run to the last four of the World Cup in 2022 as they prepare for their first appearance at the tournament.
“In big competitions, many teams can surprise. My country, Morocco, reached the semifinals in the last World Cup,” Reuters quoted him as saying during a training camp in Antalya, Turkiye in late March. “That gives us belief.”
Despite their underdog status, the players say they are not going to the World Cup just to make up the numbers.
“For us, we are not going just for participation,” midfielder Noor Al-Rawabdeh added. “We are aiming to go as far as we can in the tournament.
“To be honest, sometimes we don’t sleep when we think about it,” he added. “It’s a dream come true for us.”
Jordan’s Musa Al-Taamari, left, in action with Qatar’s Akram Afif during the AFC Asian Cup final in 2024, which Qatar won 3-1 [Robert Cianflone/Getty Images]
The Rennes winger Musa Al-Taamari is probably the team’s standout player – he was the key creative force as Jordan secured an automatic berth at the World Cup after finishing second behind South Korea in their Asian qualifying group.
Sellami said the camp in Antalya, which involved games against Costa Rica and Nigeria, was a key stage in building experience before facing elite opposition.
“We are preparing step by step. We’ve played against different football cultures,” he said.
“We are collecting experience and, Inshallah [God willing], we will surprise many people.”
Uzbekistan
FIFA world ranking: 50
World Cup fixtures (Group K): Colombia (June 17, Mexico City, Mexico), Portugal (June 23, Houston, US), DR Congo (June 27, Atlanta, US)
Player to watch: Abdukodir Khusanov
Uzbekistan FA Vice President Ravshan Irmatov is no stranger to the World Cup, having refereed at three finals, but believes the Central Asian country’s long-awaited qualification is merely the latest step in its football development.
“Qualifying for the World Cup has been a dream for 38 million people for 34 years,” Irmatov said. “You can understand how important it was for the Uzbek nation, we waited so long.”
Uzbekistan’s first qualification comes after seven attempts to secure a finals spot since the country was granted FIFA membership in 1994 following the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec guided a team built primarily on home-based talent to the cusp of the finals before health issues forced him to stand down, leaving Olympic team coach Timur Kapadze to secure the ticket for the 2026 tournament.
Abdukodir Khusanov became the first Uzbek to play in the Premier League when he joined City last year [File: Alex Livesey/Getty Images]
Captain Eldor Shomurodov, on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir from Roma, is the country’s top scorer with 44 goals in 90 games and scored 21 Turkish Super League goals this season.
But the team’s best-known player is probably Manchester City’s Abdukodir Khusanov. The 22-year-old centre back has become a key part of the defence this season, well-regarded for his positional play, pace, strength and quiet leadership.
Uzbekistan confirmed their place at the finals with a 0-0 draw against the United Arab Emirates in June, and since then, former Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro has taken over as coach.
“I’ll tell you what I always repeat to my players: for the first time you will play in a World Cup, you have nothing to lose,” Cannavaro was quoted as saying by The Mirror newspaper in March.
“Approach every match with maximum calm, enjoy yourselves as much as possible, and if you feel anxiety, let it be positive anxiety.”
Plenty has happened over the past seven days, including a nervy win for England’s women’s cricket team, some season-defining football matches and more Fifa World Cup build-up.
About 21% of quizzers got full marks in last week’s edition. Will you make the grade this week?
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The Dodgers took two steps forward and one step back in their quest for full strength Friday, putting Glasnow on the injured list because of back spasms while planning to activate Snell from the injured list on Saturday and Betts on Monday.
Snell’s start Saturday will be his first since the World Series. The two-time Cy Young winner opened the season on the injured list because of shoulder fatigue, as the Dodgers eased him into spring with the goal of putting him in the best possible position to succeed in October.
Glasnow left Wednesday’s game because of the injury. An MRI examination revealed “nothing really significant,” according to manager Dave Roberts, but the IL stint allows Glasnow to avoid rushing to be ready for his next start, with the bigger October picture in mind.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers against the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
Glasnow never has made more than 22 starts in a season. He has been on the injured list in every full season since 2019.
With Glasnow’s status in question, the Dodgers on Thursday reconsidered their plan for Snell. They originally planned for him to make a final rehabilitation start Saturday, but Roberts said the pitcher and the team agreed he could throw the planned five innings in Los Angeles as well as he could in Ontario.
The Dodgers recalled reliever Paul Gervase to fill Glasnow’s roster spot. They could return him to triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Snell on Saturday.
Betts strained an oblique muscle April 4. The shortstop is scheduled to play two minor league rehabilitation games Oklahoma City Friday and Saturday, then return to Los Angeles for evaluation, with the hope he’ll be cleared for activation Monday.
“We’re not going to run him out there every single day,” Roberts said.
Snell and Betts are not the only reinforcements on the way. Utilityman Kiké Hernández and reliever Brusdar Graterol began rehabilitation assignments this week.
The return of Betts would appear to allow the Dodgers to jettison infield reserve Santiago Espinal, although the team opened the season with Espinal on the roster and Hyeseong Kim at triple-A, allowing Kim to play every day and Alex Freeland and Miguel Rojas to split time at second base.
However, since rejoining the Dodgers when Betts was injured, Kim is batting .314 with an .801 OPS.
The Dodgers dropped outfielder Kyle Tucker to sixth in the lineup Friday, in a batting order Roberts said was designed to combat Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale.
In his career, Tucker is 0 for 9 with four strikeouts against Sale.
SHE’S been branded arrogant, entitled and irritating by people who’ve watched her growing up on The Kardashians.
And as I braced myself to listen to North West’s debut EP N0rth4evr, I was expecting to absolutely hate it. But in all honesty, I love it.
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North West has released her debut EP N0rth4evr – and it is surprisingly goodCredit: SplashThe 12-year-old daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian does actually have talentCredit: Getty
The six-track record proves that the 12-year-old daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian does actually have talent.
She mixes heavy-metal guitar riffs with rage-rap and a flavour of the Japanese culture she loves so much.
Critics will argue that having two of the most famous people on the planet as parents would mean she couldn’t produce something that’s utterly rubbish.
But I’d argue North has a flair of originality and authenticity on all the tracks.
Kanye West’s daughter North has a flair of originality and authenticity on all the tracksCredit: PAShe samples Mumford & Sons’ 2009 track Little Lion Man on punchy and pacy Th!s t!meCredit: Getty Images – Getty
She samples Mumford & Sons’ 2009 track Little Lion Man on punchy and pacy Th!s t!me, and the final 28 seconds of W0ah crunching has an electric guitar solo.
For a child who has grown up knowing only fame and privilege, North carries the expectations on her shoulders in her lyrics.
No doubt she’s had a big helping hand, working with American rock siblings Meg and Dia Frampton, but it opens your eyes to what life might really be like as a kid everyone thinks they know.
On How I Feel, North sings: “In the back of the Lamb’, it get lonely, they be all up in my comments like they know me.
“If they approach me no phones please, lot of eyes on me that I don’t need.”
While on Th!s t!me, she raps: “They hear the name, they don’t hear what I’m sayin’.
“They want the fame, but you know I ain’t playin’.”
North4evr links to Kanye’s 2018 track Violent Crimes, where he rapped about protecting daughter North from danger.
On it, she sings: “So much people ’round me, but I know they all fake, so much goin’ in my head that I can’t say.
“Know my minds in a place that is not safe.”
She balances the pitfalls with plenty of not-so- humble brags though, and on D!e boasts about her influence on fashion and culture.
The track, which contains some influences of Post Malone, has her rapping: “How am I younger than you, but I’m who you look up to?
“Once they on trend, I’m already off it.
“I’m a rock star, you could tell by my closet. Once they on trend, I’m already off it.”
The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree, clearly.
Beyonce has dropped yet another hint that her new rock-inspired album is comingCredit: She posted a video of Destiny’s Child hanging out with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks in 2001Credit: X
BEYONCE’s next era is just around the corner – and she’s dropped yet another hint that her new rock-inspired album is waiting.
The singer removed all the country- inspired Cowboy Carter merchandise from her website last night as she prepares to start promoting the record.
Bey also dropped another big clue about the direction she is heading by posting a video on her website of Destiny‘s Child hanging out with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks on the set of their Bootylicious video from 2001.
As I told you last week, Beyonce is planning to reveal all about her new record around the Met Gala in New York on Monday.
The album, believed to be called Betty Black, is the third in a trilogy of records following on from 2022’s Renaissance and Cowboy Carter in 2024.
We first revealed in July that Beyonce was working on a rock-themed album.
She hinted the record could be called Betty Black in a reclaiming of the African-American work song Black Betty which was remade in 1977 by rock group Ram Jam.
He has also rescheduled the Manchester AO Arena gig to May 24.
His concert at London’s O2 Arena is still planned to take place on May 23.
Zayn said he was recovering and wanted to come back “stronger”.
Roses taxman tussle
The Stone Roses have been stuck in a secret battle with HMRC over their former touring firmCredit: Getty
THE STONE ROSES have been locked in a secret 13-year battle with the taxman involving their failed touring company.
HMRC has been fighting the indie rockers – who made £26million from two huge reunion tours – over an unpaid £127,000 corporation tax bill from BMSW Ltd.
Over the years, the figure has risen to £158,000. The touring firm collapsed and went into liquidation.
Documents filed at Companies House reveal the Roses tried to close down BMSW Ltd in July 2013 after the end of the first tour, with £10million being distributed to the band after paying a £3.1million tax bill.
But there was a change in HMRC policy, which meant liquidators asked the group – late bassist Gary Mounfield, singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire and drummer Alan Wren – for £32,000 each.
That was received badly by the lads, below, who felt “extremely aggrieved” after signing an indemnity protecting them from such a liability.
It meant the firm moved from a member’s voluntary liquidation into a creditor’s voluntary liquidation in 2022 . . . and the battle is still going on.
Graham: Traitors turn-off
Graham Norton says he is not interested in taking part in Celebrity Traitors for one clear reasonCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
DENVER — What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.
Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.
Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.
Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.
“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”
He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.
The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.
Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-4 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.
The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
