Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto hit home runs, Ryan Zeferjahn worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning and the Angels held on for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.
Zeferjahn hit a batter and walked two in the ninth before retiring Edgar Quero on a groundout for his first save this season and his third in 10 career opportunities. The right-hander struck out rookie home run leader Munetaka Murakami — tied with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge at 14 — with a runner on first to get the final out in the eighth.
Trout hit his 11th homer of the season and the 415th of his career with one out in the first off Erick Fedde (0-4) after Chicago scored two runs off Sam Aldegheri in the top half.
Neto homered for the first time since April 10, a tiebreaking two-out shot in the fifth for his sixth of the season. Trout walked for the second time before scoring from first on a double by Nolan Schanuel to make it 4-2 and chase Fedde. Trout reached base four times with a single in the eighth.
Neto ended an 0-for-23 slump with a third-inning single before getting picked off.
Chase Meidroth hit his second homer leading off the seventh against Sam Bachman to get Chicago within 4-3. Both Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas extended their on-base streaks to 18 games for the Sox.
José Fermin (1-1) pitched a scoreless fifth for the win. Aldegheri gave up two runs on four hits in four innings in his sixth career start.
Fedde yielded four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The top four hitters in the Angels’ lineup drove in a run for the first time since June 18, 2021, against the Tigers.
First, it was Barcelona, Venice and Dubrovnik. Now, Florence has joined the most overtouristed destinations in the world: its 365,000 inhabitants shared their city last year with 4.6 million visitors. The director of the city’s Accademia gallery – home to Michelangelo’s David – talked in 2024 about “hit and run” tourism, describing visitors “on a quick in-and-out mission to take selfies … trampling the city without contributing anything”. Local author Margherita Calderoni describes Via Camillo Cavour, a street leading to the Duomo, as a “rancid soup” of chain restaurants and “shops selling plastic trinkets from who knows where”.
Although steps are being taken – the city council has introduced a ban on new short-term lets and is promoting sights in lesser-known neighbourhoods – tackling overtourism is a challenge. And other Tuscan cities, such as Siena and San Gimignano, are suffering too. But beyond these honeypots, Italy’s fifth-largest region is full of glories, with not a takeaway chain or selfie stick in sight. Here are six of my favourites.
For architecture: Monteriggioni
To hit Monteriggioni during its medieval festival in July is to be transported to the middle ages: the whole town becomes a stage on which local re-enactors recreate 13th-century life, with artisans, entertainers, soldiers and musicians in the streets, and inns serving ancient recipes. Festival apart, this tiny town is remarkable for its intact architecture. It was built by the Republic of Siena around 1213 to ward off Florentine aggression, and it is still possible to walk around its 570 metres of wall, with two gates and 14 watchtowers. Inside there is a church, a museum and gardens once used to grow food in case of a siege. All cobbled streets and panoramic views, it feels intimate but rarely crowded. On the square, Il Tagliere Medievale is the place to people-watch over cured meats and cheese and a carafe of chianti. Stay at Il Piccolo Castello, doubles from €115 B&B
For idealists: Pienza
The hilltop town of Pienza. Photograph: Fani Kurti/Getty Images
Is there such a thing as an “ideal city”? In 1459, Pope Pius II rebuilt his birthplace, Corsignano, according to the scientific and humanist criteria architects and planners believed cities should fulfil, with harmoniously proportioned streets, buildings and fortifications. Naturally, he then renamed the town after himself. Pienza is tiny – about 2,000 inhabitants – and best explored on foot. The main square, Piazza Pio II, is a small space shared by the cathedral and the honey-coloured Piccolomini Palace, Pius’s summer residence. The three colonnaded loggias (covered walkways) facing the Piccolomini’s garden suggest the harmony architect Bernardo Rossellino was aiming for.Human harmony is evoked by street names Via dell’Amore and Via del Bacio (kiss): both lead to a walkway with panoramic views over the Val d’Orcia. Foodwise, Pienza is known for its pecorino cheese: try it atLa Terrazza del Chiostro, run by young chef Massimiliano Ingino. Stay at Agriturismo Casalpiano, doubles from €135 B&B
For Renaissance art: Arezzo
The Piazza del Duomo in Arezzo. Photograph: PK Photos/Getty Images
On a hill where eastern Tuscany rises to the Apennines, Arezzo is rich in history and art, but sees a fraction of Florence’s visitors. Many come for the monthly antiques fair on Piazza Grande, the sloping main square. The city’s treasure is the 15th-century artist Piero della Francesca’s Legend of the True Cross frescoes in San Francesco basilica, but I also love his serene Mary Magdalene in the cathedral up the road. From there, it’s a short walk across Passaggio del Prato park to the fortress built by the Medici family in 1540. Its ramparts offer great views over red roofs and rolling countryside. In pedestrianised Via Cavour, three friends recently took over a former corset shop and turned it into a deli selling filled focaccia, wine, chocolates and olive oil. Stay at La Corte del Re, doubles from €79 room-only
For history: Volterra
A Roman amphitheatre in Volterra. Photograph: Robert Harding/Alamy
Volterra was founded about 3,000 years ago as part of the Etruscan league of 12 cities. Its Guarnacci museum features hundreds of fantastically decorated funerary urns, but they’re outshone for me by an elongated male nude in bronze called Shadow of the Evening which, though believed to have been made in the third century BC, wouldn’t look out of place in a modern sculpture show and is said to have inspired Giacometti. A short walk away, the Porta all’Arco is an Etruscan gate still standing after 2,300 years. More recent monuments include a Roman amphitheatre and a Medici fortress now used as a prison. The town is also known for alabaster carving: check it out at the Ecomuseum, or buy at local cooperative Artieri Alabastro. In a picturesque alley, La Sosta del Priore (Prior’s Pitstop) offers sandwiches with fillings such as wild boar, melted pecorino and lampredotto (tripe). Stay at Villa Nencini, doubles from €65 B&B
For port city vibes: Livorno
The Quartiere Venezia in Livorno. Photograph: Roberto Nencini/Alamy
Tuscany has so many sights that its ancient port is often overlooked. Originally fortified by the Pisans, Livorno was ruled by Florence’s Medicis from the 1500s, and today’s multicultural vibe is thanks in part to that dynasty. Under Medici law, newcomers of any nationality or faith were encouraged to settle here, and a diverse population – Greeks, Armenians, Jews fleeing the Inquisition – helped Livorno thrive. Today, this politically leftish and greenish city is home to populations from Senegal and Morocco as well as eastern Europe.
Get a lungful of sea air at the checkerboard seaside promenade Terrazza Mascagni, then walk up to the Quartiere Venezia, Livorno’s Little Venice, with bridges, coloured houses and two Medici fortresses, Nuova and Vecchia. Other sights include San Francesco Cathedral and one of Italy’s biggest covered markets, the Parisian-style Vettovaglie. Livorno is known for its chickpea pancakes (torte di ceci), and Torteria Gagarin by the market sells them hot from a wood-fired oven to eat in a roll as a cinque e cinque sandwich. Stay at Dogana d’Acqua Rooms & Art, doubles from €75 room-only
For coastal charm: Porto Ercole
The harbour at Porto Ercole. Photograph: Stevan ZZ/Getty Images
A port since Roman times, this village on a promontory in the south of Tuscany was fought over in 1555 in a proxy war between Spain (supporting Florence) and France (Siena). Spain won and built the forts that still guard all approaches. Climb up to Forte Stella for views over the picturesque harbour and north to one of three causeways linking the promontory to the mainland. The walk into town passes the botanical garden. Farther north is the unassuming cemetery that is home to Caravaggio’s simple tomb, an odd finale to a life of brawls, murders, arrests and exile. Mystery surrounds the painter’s death, but he was said to be heading for Rome in the hope of papal forgiveness when he succumbed to “fever” – probably infection from a sword fight in Naples.
For a beach day, head out on the SP66 and take the signposted footpath just before the crossroads leading to Forte Stella. Sandy Spiaggia Lunga is mostly undeveloped, but in high summer there’s a bar with sunbeds to hire. Right on the harbour back in Porto Ercole, Grano offers top-quality sourdough pizzas by the slice. Stay at Alba sul Mare, doubles from €91 room-only
In the first of several significant flashbacks in “Over Your Dead Body,” Samara Weaving’s unhappy Lisa complains to a friend about a hunting trip her equally miserable husband Dan (Jason Segel) is taking her on. “You know how much I hate guns,” Lisa fumes. “So dangerous.” Turns out, she’s actually telling two lies, which is par for the course for this twisty yet underwhelming dark comedy that views marriage as both a hyperviolent blood sport and a battle to the death.
Based on Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola’s 2021 “The Trip,” “Over Your Dead Body” concerns a couple whose wedded bliss has faded along with their professional prospects. Dan directed a moderately successful sci-fi film several years ago but is now stuck shooting cheesy pop-up ads. Meanwhile, Lisa’s nascent acting career is flailing. As the movie begins, Dan conspicuously informs his production team that he and his wife are going hiking in the middle of nowhere — something, he insists, the risk-taking Lisa wants to do, despite how perilous that might be. What we soon realize is that he’s creating cover for his nefarious plan, which is to kill Lisa at his family’s forest cottage, making it look like she disappeared without a trace in the woods.
But director Jorma Taccone eventually reveals that it’s not just Dan who has murder on his mind. That first flashback rewinds to Lisa’s simultaneous scheming, claiming to those close to her that Dan longs to go hunting — when, in fact, she’s secretly brought a rifle so that the authorities will assume he accidentally shot himself. (Whatever fears she once harbored about firearms are, clearly, no longer an issue, if they ever were.) Dan is offended when he uncovers her plot: Why would she want to kill him? At least he’s justified, he believes, having caught Lisa in an affair with her scene partner.
More surprises are in store as Dan and Lisa engage in a deadly standoff in the cabin, only to discover that they’re not alone. Another flashback details how two convicted killers, Todd (Keith Jardine) and Pete (Timothy Olyphant), escaped from a local penitentiary with the help of Pete’s girlfriend, prison guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis), and are seeking refuge at the cottage. Suddenly, the feuding married couple must work together to stay alive.
One-third of the comedy troupe the Lonely Island, Taccone previously directed the big-screen adaptation of the “Saturday Night Live” sketch “MacGruber” and co-directed the endlessly rewatchable mockumentary “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” For “Over Your Dead Body,” he teams with producer David Leitch, whose 87North shingle specializes in R-rated action-comedies like “Nobody” and “Violent Night.” Taccone’s irreverent, slyly shocking style would seem a good match for a story in which the pain of romantic discontent is paired with myriad scenes in which a variety of weapons wreak grisly havoc, including lawnmowers, sports cars, gardening equipment and a sock with a pool ball in it.
But despite Segel and Weaver’s best efforts, they can’t make this bickering duo deliciously awful, the characters proving more grating than hilariously combustible. And when Pete and his cohorts arrive, they’re too broadly quirky to be either menacing or hysterical, although Olyphant’s long-suffering leader has some nice moments slowly processing how dumb Todd and Allegra are.
Other than one queasy homage to “Deliverance,” the film’s handling of the showdown between this drab married couple and the cartoonish criminals is rarely gripping. Instead, “Over Your Dead Body” delivers over-the-top fight sequences emphasizing grimaces and gross-out laughs. People aren’t simply shot in the head — the bullet transforms it into a gooey slab of meat. Fingers get sliced off, stakes are driven through hands and a foot is reduced to bloody tatters. Taccone handles all this with gleeful excessiveness but once you’ve seen one pulverized face, you’ve seen them all.
A droll irony is intended to unfold alongside the rising body count. Dan and Lisa embarked on this getaway to murder one another, but they’ll end up rekindling their love. To be sure, Segel and Weaving are much more winning once their characters start warming to one another. Still, the film feels like a missed opportunity for Weaving, who became a scream queen in the “Ready or Not” films. In those movies, as an unsuspecting bride thrust into a life-or-death situation, she appealingly balanced a convincing physical performance with an understated comedic streak, her beleaguered character enduring one absurdity after another.
Weaving finds herself in a somewhat similar role in “Over Your Dead Body” and this uneven action-comedy is anchored by her had-it-up-to-here performance, which provides a witty insight into marriage that the film otherwise ignores. It’s bad enough that Lisa has to deal with Dan’s insecurity — now she’s got to tangle with some dopey crooks? Women have to do everything in a relationship.
‘Over Your Dead Body’
Rating: R, for strong bloody violence, gore, sexual assault, pervasive language, and sexual content
