home run

The Dodgers aren’t ready to call Roki Sasaki their closer, but who are they kidding?

Sasaki is their closer.

When the 23-year-old rookie from the Japanese countryside stepped onto the October stage on Wednesday night, he revealed himself to be more than the team’s best late-inning option.

He showed he was special.

He was Reggie-Bush-exploding-through-the-Fresno-State-defense special.

He was Allen-Iverson-crossing-up-Michael-Jordan special.

He was Yasiel-Puig-doubling-off-a-runner-for-the-final-out-in-his-debut special.

“Wow,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Really, all you can say is wow.”

Watching Sasaki pitch the final inning of a two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in their National League wild-card series, the patrons at Dodger Stadium at once recognized the novelty of his act. The same crowd that can’t distinguish home runs from fly balls was chanting his first name throughout the ballpark after just two pitches.

Sasaki threw seven fastballs in the perfect inning, and six of them were faster than 100 mph. The other was clocked at 99.8 mph.

With a forkball that looked as if it were dropping perpendicular to the ground, he struck out the first two batters he faced. Spencer Steer and Gavin Lux had no chance.

“That guy is gross,” reliever Tanner Scott said.

The 11-pitch performance by Sasaki was why the 8-4 victory in Game 2 felt so different from the 10-5 win in Game 1. In both games, the bullpen created messes in the eighth inning. Game 1 left the Dodgers questioning how they could defend their World Series title with such an unreliable group of relievers. Game 2 offered them a vision of how they could realize their ambition.

“That’s what we need right there,” Muncy said.

Sasaki was the last card in the deck for the Dodgers, who gave up on Scott before the playoffs even started. They experimented with some less experienced arms, but none of them performed well. Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer were part of a dispiriting three-run eighth inning against the Reds in Game 1. Converted starter Emmet Sheehan was part of another eighth-inning meltdown in Game 2, as he retired just one of the five batters he faced, and that was on a sacrifice fly that drove in a run. Sheehan was charged with two runs.

By the time Sasaki started warming up in the bottom of the eighth inning, he might as well have already inherited the closer role by default. The other candidates had pitched their way out of consideration.

Never mind that Sasaki had never pitched in relief in either the United States or Japan until he did so on a recent minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Sasaki pitched out of the bullpen twice in the major leagues in the final days of the regular season, and he was about as promising a bullpen possibility as they had.

So when Sasaki emerged from the bullpen against the Reds, fans in every section of Dodger Stadium stood to applaud. Sasaki represented their final hope.

Once on the mound, Sasaki delivered a performance that was as aesthetically pleasing as it was effective.

The high leg kick. The athletic delivery. The velocity and precision of his fastball.

Words couldn’t accurately describe what he did, so his teammates didn’t bother trying.

“You guys saw the same thing I did,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said.

Dodgers management was reluctant to say anything definitive about Sasaki’s role moving forward.

Was Sasaki the new closer?

“He’s going to get important outs for us,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman replied.

Asked the same question, manager Dave Roberts offered an equally ambiguous answer.

“I trust him,” Roberts said, “and he’s going to pitch in leverage.”

As guarded as Friedman and Roberts were, they couldn’t conceal the truth. Something fundamentally changed for the Dodgers on Wednesday night: They found their ninth-inning pitcher.

Sasaki is their closer.

From Jack Harris: The “theater of October,” as Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman often describes playoff baseball, descended upon Chavez Ravine for Game 2 of the National League wild-card series Wednesday night.

There was dramatic adversity early, after Teoscar Hernández’s consequential dropped ball in the first inning created a sudden deficit.

There was climactic tension late, as the Dodgers’ bullpen grinded through more eighth-inning trouble that threatened to squander another comfortable lead.

There were leading performances in the middle, from Mookie Betts (four hits, three doubles, three RBIs), Kiké Hernández (two hits, two runs, one RBI in another postseason masterclass) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto most of all (6⅔ clutch innings that got the game back under control).

At the end, there was even a star turn from rookie phenom Roki Sasaki, who slammed the door shut in an 8-4 victory that completed a wild-card sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

“It was a great test, and we didn’t waver,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“One inning at a time, one pitch at a time,” Betts added. “That’s what I love about this team.”

Indeed, the Dodgers not only advanced to the NL Division Series, where they will face off against the powerhouse Philadelphia Phillies beginning Saturday night. But they did so with the kind of performance that could catapult them through the rest of this month, steeling their resiliency and their resolve in pursuit of a second-consecutive World Series championship.

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It must be October, because Super Kiké Hernández is here. ‘Track record speaks for itself’

Hernández: Can the Dodgers win a World Series with such an unreliable bullpen?

Shaikin: Why the Dodgers don’t need to worry about rested starting pitchers for NLDS

Real estate investor denies improper use of Shohei Ohtani’s likeness

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

National League

Cincinnati at Dodgers
Dodgers 10, Cincinnati 5 (box score)
Dodgers 8, Cincinnati 4 (box score)

San Diego at Chicago
Chicago 3, San Diego 1 (box score)
San Diego 3, Chicago 0 (box score)
Thursday, 2 p.m., ESPN

American League

Detroit at Cleveland
Detroit 2, Cleveland 1 (box score)
Cleveland 6, Detroit 1 (box score)
Thursday, noon, ABC

Boston at New York
Boston 3, New York 1 (box score)
New York 4, Boston 3 (box score)
Thursday, 5 p.m., ESPN

NL Division Series

Dodgers vs. Philadelphia
Saturday at Philadelphia, TBD, TBS
Monday at Philadelphia, TBD, TBS
Wednesday at Dodgers, TBD, TBS
*Thursday, Oct. 9 at Dodgers, TBD, TBS
*Sunday, Oct. 11 at Philadelphia, TBD, TBS

San Diego or Chicago vs. Milwaukee
Saturday at Milwaukee, TBD, TBS
Monday at Milwaukee, TBD, TBS
Wednesday at SD or Chi, TBD, TBS
*Thursday, Oct. 9 at SD or Chi, TBS, TBS
*Saturday, Oct. 11 at Milwaukee, TBD, TBS

AL Division Series

Cleveland or Detroit vs. Seattle
Saturday at Seattle, TBD, Fox/FS1
Sunday at Seattle, 5 p.m., FS1
Tuesday at Cle. or Det., TBD, Fox/FS1
*Wednesday at Cle. Det., TBD, Fox/FS1
*Friday, Oct. 10 at Seattle, TBD, Fox/FS1

New York or Boston vs. Toronto
Saturday at Toronto, TBD, Fox/FS1
Sunday at Toronto, 1 p.m., FS1
Tuesday at NY or Bos., TBD, Fox/FS1
*Wednesday at NY or Bos., TBD, Fox/FS1
*Friday, Oct. 10 at Toronto, TBD, Fox/FS1

*-if necessary

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Two seasons before Puka Nacua joined the Rams, Cooper Kupp made NFL history.

In 2021, Kupp won the so-called triple crown of receiving, was named NFL offensive player of the year and won the Super Bowl LVI most valuable player award.

Not that Nacua, a junior at Brigham Young at the time, monitored Kupp’s statistics.

“Sadly, I don’t recall too much,” he said. “I never was a fantasy player so I never caught the buzz either.”

Four games into this season, the NFL is abuzz about Nacua.

Nearly three quarters of this season are still to be played, but if the Rams keep winning and Nacua keeps producing, the third-year pro could be on a track similar to Kupp’s historic season.

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LAKERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: When LeBron James was asked about how a former defensive player of the year and a former No. 1 overall pick could elevate the Lakers roster, the superstar instead offered a different offseason addition’s name first.

“And Jake,” James added quickly during his Lakers media day news conference after a question about center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart.

Jake LaRavia’s signing came with less fanfare than the moves that brought Smart and Ayton to the Lakers, but the 6-foot-7 wing hopes he can be equally as influential in a quiet connector role behind some of the league’s biggest stars.

“We got a lot of dudes on this team that can score, a lot of dudes on this team that can put the ball in the bucket,” LaRavia said Wednesday at Lakers training camp. “So I’m here to complement those players, but to also just bring energy every day on both sides of the ball.”

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THRILLA IN MANILA

From Bill Dwyre: Once all the papers were signed and the fight was officially on, Muhammad Ali knew exactly what to do.

The master quipster, fight-promoting wizard and most famous and outrageous boxer in the world — the longtime heavyweight champion who had trumpeted his boxing style as one to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” — told the media what would happen on Oct. 1, 1975.

“It will be,” he bellowed, “A killa and a thrilla and a chilla when I get to the gorilla in Manila.”

It turned out to be all of that 50 years ago, as well as being offensive, when he called his fight opponent, Joe Frazier, a gorilla. The shortened “Thrilla in Manila” stuck and became the label and the headline for what was to become one of the greatest boxing matches of all time.

Bob Arum will turn 94 in December, and he is still going strong.

In the ‘60s, he was a Harvard-educated lawyer who ended up working for Bobby Kennedy’s justice department. Kennedy assigned him to confiscate closed-circuit TV revenue from the 1962 Floyd Patterson-Sonny Liston fight because information had been leaked to the U.S. government that the promoter, Roy Cohn, was planning to skirt some tax responsibilities by illegally paying Patterson in Sweden.

That’s the same Roy Cohn who eventually became the lawyer and confidant of a young Donald Trump.

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1906 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs American challenger ‘Fireman’ Jim Flynn in 15 rounds to retain his title in Los Angeles.

1950 — Jim Hardy throws six touchdown passes, including five to Bob Shaw, as the Chicago Cardinals pound the Baltimore Colts 55-13.

1970 — Fourteen members of the Wichita State football team are killed in a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains.

1980 — Larry Holmes registers a technical knockout in the 11th round against Muhammad Ali to win the world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

1983 — The Green Bay Packers score 49 points in the first half, including 35 in the second quarter, in a 55-14 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

1988 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, representing Canada, wins super-heavyweight gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; beats American Riddick Bowe by 2nd round TKO.

1991 — Steffi Graf becomes the youngest woman to win 500 matches as a pro when she beats Petra Langrova of Czechoslovakia 6-0, 6-1 in the Leipzig International Tournament.

1993 — In the first all-British world heavyweight title fight, Lennox Lewis retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seven-round knockout of Frank Bruno in Cardiff, Wales.

1993 — California rallies from a 30-0 deficit to beat Oregon 42-41. Dave Barr throws three second-half touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Iheanyi Uwaezuoke with 1:17 left in the game.

1994 — North Carolina’s 92-game winning streak in women’s soccer ends with a scoreless tie in overtime against Notre Dame.

1994 — Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins beat son Dave’s Cincinnati Bengals 23-7 in the first meeting between father and son coaches in pro sports.

2004 — Rice and San Jose State play in the highest-scoring regulation game in Division I-A history, with the Spartans winning 70-63. The 133 points surpass the total from Middle Tennessee’s 70-58 victory over Idaho on Oct. 6, 2001. The schools combine for 19 touchdowns to break the Division I-A record of 18.

2006 — Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is given a five-game suspension — the longest for on-field behavior in NFL history — for stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s head and kicking him in the face.

2009 — Ninth-grader Alexis Thompson shoots a 3-under 69 for a share of the lead with top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and three others after the second round of the Navistar LPGA Classic.

2011 — Dallas has its largest lead blown in a loss in franchise history, frittering away a 24-point third-quarter cushion in a 34-30 loss to Detroit. The Lions turned a 20-point halftime deficit into an overtime win at Minnesota the previous week.

2016 — The United States win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008. Ryan Moore two-putts on No. 18 for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, giving the Americans a 15-10 lead that seals the win over Europe. The 17-11 victory over Europe is their biggest rout in 35 years at the Ryder Cup.

2016 — Atlanta’s Matt Ryan passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns, while wide receiver Julio Jones has 12 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta’s 48-33 win over Carolina.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1908 — Addie Joss of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game, defeating the Chicago White Sox, 1-0.

1916 — Grover Alexander pitched a 2-0 three-hitter against the Boston Braves for his 16th shutout and 33rd victory of the season.

1920 — The only tripleheader in this century was played, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first two games. The Pirates won the nightcap, which was called after six innings because of darkness.

1938 — Bob Feller struck out 18 Detroit Tigers to set a single-game record that stood until Steve Carlton broke it in 1969.

1968 — Bob Gibson set a World Series record by striking out 17 Detroit Tigers in Game 1.

1978 — In a one-game playoff for the AL East title, Bucky Dent hit a three-run homer off Mike Torrez to lead the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

1986 — Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets became the first pitcher in baseball to strike out 200 batters in each of his first three seasons as he fanned seven en route to an 8-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1991 — The Toronto Blue Jays clinched the American League East title and became the first team in sports history to draw four million fans in one season.

1995 — The Seattle Mariners, behind Randy Johnson’s three-hitter, beat the Angels 9-1 in a one-game playoff for the AL West title.

2001 — Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs, becomes the first player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in three seasons.

2005 — Roy Oswalt got his 20th win to lead the Houston Astros over the Chicago Cubs 6-4, clinching the NL wild-card berth and capping a historic comeback. Houston started the season 15-30 and became the first team since the 1914 Boston Braves to make the postseason after falling 15 games under .500.

2009 — B.J. Upton became the first player in Tampa Bay history to hit for the cycle. He went 5 for 5 with a career-high six RBIs in a 13-4 win over the New York Yankees.

2013 — Tampa Bay posted another must-have win on the road, beating the Cleveland Indians 4-0 in the AL wild-card game. The Rays playing in their third city over four days advanced to the best-of-five division series.

2016 — Baltimore’s Matt Wieters homered from both sides of the plate and Kevin Gausman gave the Orioles a clutch pitching performance to beat the New York Yankees 5-2 and snag a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season.

2016 — Vin Scully called his final Dodgers game after a record 67 seasons.

2018 — Tony Wolters hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the 13th inning, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in an epic NL wild-card game.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Jack Harris: This year, October started a day early for the Dodgers.

Thanks to their underwhelming regular season, their march toward postseason history began before the month even started.

This season’s team, coaches and players acknowledged repeatedly in recent weeks, had played their way into this spot: Having to begin the playoffs on the last day of September, in a daunting best-of-three wild-card series against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday; facing the slimmest of margins in their pursuit of back-to-back World Series championships, having won the National League West but failed to secure a top-two playoff spot.

That meant, unlike the last three years, the Dodgers did not have a bye to the division series.

It meant, this fall, they had to hit the ground running.

“The pitfalls are just [avoiding] kind of easing your way into a series,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday afternoon.

But, he added declaratively, “I don’t see that as a problem.”

In a 10-5 Game 1 defeat of the Reds at Dodger Stadium, it indeed was not.

Shohei Ohtani led off with a home run. Blake Snell was superb in a seven-inning, two-run start. And in a rollocking two-batter sequence in the bottom of the third inning, the Dodgers broke the score wide open, with Teoscar Hernández hitting a three-run bomb moments before Tommy Edman went back-to-back with a solo shot.

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Plaschke: Dodgers flatten overmatched Reds in unwanted first round. But about that bullpen…

‘It’s awesome.’ Blake Snell gives the Dodgers just what they paid for

A ‘really grateful’ catcher Ben Rortvedt is thrust into Dodgers’ postseason plans

Will Smith makes the roster but not Michael Conforto for Dodgers’ wild-card series

Dodgers Dugout: How the Dodgers and Reds match up

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

National League

Cincinnati at Dodgers
Dodgers 10, Cincinnati 5 (box score)
Wednesday, 6 p.m., ESPN
*Thursday, 6 p.m., ESPN

San Diego at Chicago
Chicago 3, San Diego 1 (box score)
Wednesday, noon, ABC
*Thursday, noon, ABC

American League

Detroit at Cleveland
Detroit 2, Cleveland 1 (box score)
Wednesday, 10 a.m., ESPN
*Thursday, 10 a.m., ESPN

Boston at New York
Boston 3, New York 1 (box score)
Wednesday, 3 p.m., ESPN
*Thursday, 3 p.m., ESPN

*-if necessary

ANGELS

Ron Washington will not return for a third season as the Angels manager, the team announced Tuesday.

Washington missed roughly half of the current season after undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery. Interim manager Ray Montgomery also won’t be the Angels’ next manager, according to the Athletic.

The 73-year-old Washington was the oldest manager in the majors during his two seasons with the Angels, who hired him in November 2023. The Angels had the worst season in franchise history in 2024, going 63-99 after the free-agency departure of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

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LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: LeBron James did not participate in the Lakers’ first day of training camp Tuesday because of “nerve irritation in the glute.”

James’ teammates Marcus Smart, Gabe Vincent and Adou Thiero were “under either return to play protocols or modified protocols” during the team’s first sessions.

James is entering his NBA-record 23rd season and the goal is to ramp him up to be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

“Yeah, I think it’s probably a little bit longer of a ramp-up leading into opening night for him just obviously in Year 23, it’s uncharted territory here,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “So, I felt, and in talking with performance and in talking with Mike (Mancias, James’ personal trainer) and LeBron, like probably did too much last year in camp, which was great for me as a first-year head coach to get buy-in from him.

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From Ben Bolch: After a disappointing start to the season in which UCLA’s offense ranked among the worst in the nation, the Bruins and offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri mutually parted ways Tuesday evening, a university official told The Times.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the move has not been publicly announced.

Sunseri becomes the second coordinator to depart in the wake of coach DeShaun Foster’s dismissal, after defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe left earlier this month in another mutual parting of ways.

Tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel will be the offensive playcaller when the Bruins (0-4 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) face No. 7 Penn State (3-1, 0-1) on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Plans are underway to finalize additional staff and it is anticipated that former UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone will assume analyst responsibilities, pending completion of the appropriate university processes.

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ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: The soccer world is about to become a colder, darker and meaner place.

On Tuesday, Angel City’s Ali Riley will announce she is retiring at the end of this season. And when she leaves, all the joy, fun and beauty she brought to the field will leave with her.

Set aside, for a moment, her accomplishments, which are considerable: She played in five World Cups, made five Olympic teams, played in four of the biggest leagues in the world and captained Angel City in the club’s first game.

What she’ll be remembered for the person she is.

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1945 — World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis is discharged from U.S. army after being awarded the Legion of Merit.

1967 — Richard Petty continues phenomenal NASCAR winning streak by taking the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway; unprecedented 10th consecutive victory.

1975 — In the “Thrilla in Manila,” Muhammad Ali beats Joe Frazier in 14 rounds to retain his world heavyweight title.

1977 — 75,646 fans come to the Meadowlands to see soccer great Pele play his farewell game. Pele plays the first half with the New York Cosmos and the second half with his former team, Santos of Brazil.

1988 — Flamboyant American sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner wins her third gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious US 4 x 100m relay team.

1988 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 to win the women’s singles tennis gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; clinches first and only Golden Slam in history (Grand Slam & Olympics).

1993 — In his first World Boxing Council heavyweight title defense Lennox Lewis beats fellow Londoner Frank Bruno by TKO in 7 at the National Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

1997 — Kevin Garnett agrees to terms with the Minnesota Timberwolves on the richest long-term contract in professional sports history, a six-year deal worth more than $125 million.

1999 — In a blockbuster NBA trade, the Houston Rockets move All Star forward Scottie Pippen to Portland Trail Blazers for Kelvin Cato, Stacey Augmon, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers, Ed Gray and Brian Shaw.

2000 — NBA stars Ray Allen and Vince Carter each score 13 points as the U.S. beats France 85-75 to win the men’s basketball gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

2000 — United States wins the most medals (97), and the most gold medals (40) in Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.

2006 — Tiger Woods matches his longest PGA Tour winning streak of six at the American Express Championship. Woods finishes with a 4-under 67 for an eight-shot victory. It’s also his eighth victory of the year, making him the first player in PGA Tour history to win at least eight times in three seasons.

2011 — Tyler Wilson throws for a school-record 510 yards and Jarius Wright catches 13 passes for a school-record 281 yards as Arkansas turns an 18-point halftime deficit into a 42-38 victory over Texas A&M.

2017 — Frankie Dettori wins an unprecedented fifth Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as Enable caps a memorable season. Enable, the 10-11 favorite, leads for most of Europe’s richest horse race to claim her fifth consecutive victory after wins in the Epsom Oaks, the Irish Oaks, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Yorkshire Oaks. The filly wins by 2 1/2 lengths over Cloth Of Stars.

2017 — Houston’s Deshaun Watson becomes the first rookie to throw four touchdowns and run for another one, since Fran Tarkenton in 1961 and tied an NFL record for most TDs by a rookie quarterback in Houston’s 57-14 victory.

2017 — Todd Gurley scores the go-ahead touchdown on a 53-yard catch-and-run, and Greg Zuerlein kicks a career-high seven field goals to lead the Rams to a 35-30 win over Dallas.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1903 — The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-3 in the first World Series game. Jimmy Sebring hit the first series home run. Deacon Phillippe was the winning pitcher and Cy Young the loser.

1932 — Babe Ruth, as legend has it, called his home run against Chicago’s Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series, won by the New York Yankees 7-5 at Wrigley Field. Ruth and Lou Gehrig each hit two homers for the Yankees.

1946 — For the first time in major league history, a playoff series to determine a league’s championship was played between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Cardinals won the first game 4-2, with Howie Pollet holding the Dodgers to two hits — a homer and RBI single by Howie Schultz.

1950 — The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL pennant with a 4-1 10-inning victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers on the season’s last day. Dick Sisler’s three-run homer off Don Newcombe in the top of the 10th inning came after outfielder Richie Ashburn saved the game in the ninth.

1961 — Roger Maris hit his 61st home run against Tracy Stallard of the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The homer eclipsed Babe Ruth’s 34-year-old single-season home run record. The Yankees won 1-0.

1967 — The Boston Red Sox won the American League pennant with a 5-3 win over the Twins on the final day of the season. Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-4 and finished with 44 home runs, 121 RBIs and a .326 average to win the Triple Crown.

1973 — The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 to win the National League East. It was the first game of a scheduled make-up doubleheader at Wrigley Field, a day after the regular season ended. The Mets, 11 1/2 games behind and in last place on Aug. 5, won their 82nd game, the lowest number of victories to win a title.

1978 — The Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees 9-2 on the last day of the season to force a one-game playoff between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won their eighth straight game with a 5-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

1988 — Tony Gwynn went 2-for-3 to raise his league-leading batting average to .313 but hurt his hand in a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros. Gwynn is the first NL batting champion to win the title with an average below .320. The previous low was Larry Doyle’s .320 in 1915.

2000 — Detroit’s Shane Halter became the fourth major leaguer to play all nine positions in a game. He capped his adventure by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tigers over Minnesota 12-11.

2004 — Ichiro Suzuki set the major league record for hits in a season. He broke George Sisler’s 84-year-old mark with two early singles, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 8-3. Sisler set the hits record of 257 in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns over a 154-game schedule. Suzuki broke it in the Mariners’ 160th game.

2007 — Matt Holliday and the Colorado Rockies scored on Jamey Carroll’s shallow fly, capping a three-run rally in the 13th inning against Trevor Hoffman. He led the Rockies past the San Diego Padres 9-8 in a tiebreaker for the NL wild card.

2018 — Lorenzo Cain hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning, Christian Yelich had three more hits, sending the Milwaukee Brewers to their first NL Central title since 2011 by downing the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in a tiebreaker game. Yelich won the NL batting title with a .326 average. He fell one home run and one RBI short of what would’ve been the NL’s first Triple Crown since Joe Medwick in 1937.

2022 — The Dodgers become only the third team in the history of the National League (and seventh in the majors) to win 110 games in a season with a 6-4 win over the Rockies. Only the 1906 Cubs and 1909 Pirates have preceded them in the senior circuit.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Christian Walker homered twice and the Houston Astros beat the Angels 6-1 on Saturday night, a couple of hours after getting eliminated from playoff contention.

Zach Cole and Jesús Sánchez also went deep for the Astros, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.

Walker was batting in the second inning when Cleveland scored in the bottom of the ninth at Progressive Field for a 3-2 victory over Texas that clinched the final American League playoff spot for the Guardians and eliminated the Astros.

That snapped Houston’s streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances, a run that featured seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-2023 and World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.

With Saturday night’s game rendered moot, Astros manager Joe Espada pulled his top three batters — Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa — after two innings.

Cole followed Yainer Diaz’s second-inning single with a two-run homer off Angels starter Caden Dana (0-4). Walker led off the fourth with a homer for a 3-0 lead. Cole walked and Sanchez lined a two-run homer to right field for a 5-0 lead. Walker’s solo shot — his 27th of the season — made it 6-1 in the ninth.

Houston starter AJ Blubaugh gave up one hit in four scoreless innings against the Angels (72-89), and reliever J.P. France (1-0) allowed one run and two hits in three innings, striking out five and walking one.

Dana, the Angels’ rookie right-hander, permitted five runs and five hits in seven innings.

Key moment: France gave up an RBI double to Jo Adell and walked Logan O’Hoppe to put two on with one out in the sixth, but the right-hander struck out Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza to preserve a 5-1 lead.

Key stat: Sunday’s season finale will be only the fourth game since the start of the 2015 season that the Astros (86-75) will play while out of postseason contention. The other three came at the end of 2016, when Houston was eliminated from the wild-card race on Sept. 29.

Up next: Astros RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-5, 6.71 ERA) will start Sunday against Angels LHP Sam Aldegheri (0-1, 8.00).

From Jack Harris: It was not supposed to be this difficult. It was not expected to feel so frustrating.

Six months ago, the question was not whether the Dodgers would win the National League West, but how far out of the water they’d blow the competition.

It wasn’t whether they’d enter October in position to defend their World Series title, but if they could set a single-season wins record along the way.

“Everyone,” first baseman Freddie Freeman recalled, “was talking about our “superteam.’”

What played out instead, of course, was a disappointing regular season relative to the club’s lofty preseason expectations.

The team will not win 100 games, let alone the 120 that some predicted ahead of the year. It will not have a bye for the first round of the playoffs, having limped through much of the second half of the schedule. It did not realize the full potential of its $400 million roster, hampered by starting pitching injuries early in the year, bullpen implosions down the stretch and an extended funk from the lineup in the middle of the summer. It did not play like the star-studded juggernaut or villainous evil empire or ascendant dynastic power the rest of the baseball world had labeled it to be.

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Shaikin: Dodgers fans should take a moment to appreciate team’s success before anxiety returns

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Vinnie Pasquantino homered and drove in three runs, Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 9-4 on Thursday night.

Michael Lorenzen (7-11) gave up two earned runs and five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and no walks in 5⅔ innings for the Royals.

Jo Adell, Nolan Schanuel and Mike Trout each homered for the Angels (71-88). Trout’s two-run shot — his 23rd of the season and 401st of his career — cut Kansas City’s lead to 5-4 in eighth.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

LAKERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Lakers kicked off their summer break by signing their star player to a contract extension in a flashy news conference featuring Balkan walk-up music and a photo gallery display of Luka Doncic’s best Lakers moments. The team returned Thursday by announcing their continued commitment to their coach.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced head coach JJ Redick had signed a contract extension at a news conference with the coach as the Lakers begin training camp next Tuesday.

Redick signed a four-year, $32-million contract last year as a first-time head coach and led the Lakers to a 50-32 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of playoffs. The terms of the new deal were not announced.

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From Ben Bolch: UCLA’s five-member search committee for its next football coach that was revealed Thursday features heavy hitters from various corners of the professional sports world, including two who helped engineer a quick turnaround with the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

Commanders general manager Adam Peters and adviser Bob Myers — who will be joined on the committee by sports executive Casey Wasserman, former NFL star linebacker Eric Kendricks and UCLA executive senior associate athletics director Erin Adkins — were part of the team that hired Washington coach Dan Quinn, who took the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game in his first season.

They will hope to have similar success in selecting the successor to Bruins coach DeShaun Foster, who was fired earlier this month after his team started the season with three consecutive losses. Every member of the committee will be driven to find a winner given they either graduated from UCLA or work for the school’s athletic department.

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Abandon all hope, ye who enter? What to watch when UCLA faces Northwestern

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1942 — Jockey Club stewards revoke Eddie Arcaro’s license for one year after his display of “rough riding” aboard odds-on favorite Occupation in the Cowdin Stakes on Sept. 19, in which he attempted to injure a fellow rider during the race.

1981 — Kelvin Bryant of North Carolina rushes for 173 yards and scores four touchdowns in a 56-14 victory over Boston College, giving him 15 touchdowns over the last three games, an NCAA record.

1983 — Australia II wins America’s Cup yacht race to end the longest winning streak in sporting history. Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand, wins the title in the seventh and final race. Australia II crosses the finish line with a winning margin of 41 seconds over Liberty, which is skippered by Dennis Conner. The U.S. had successfully defended the cup over a period of 132 years, since the schooner America won it in a fleet race around England’s Isle of Wight in 1851.

1992 — Rocky Mountain’s Steve Thompson rushes for 405 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-36 overtime victory over Carroll College. The rushing total is the second highest in NAIA history.

1998 — Prairie View A&M ends its NCAA-record 80-game losing streak by stopping a 2-point conversion in the final minute for a 14-12 victory over Langston. The victory is the Panthers’ first since Oct. 28, 1989, when they defeated Mississippi Valley 21-12.

2000 — At the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team completes a stunning comeback by edging Japan 2-1 in extra innings to win its second straight gold medal.

2004 — Peyton Manning of Indianapolis passes for 393 yards and five first-half touchdowns in a 45-31 win over Green Bay. Manning has the most TD throws in one half since Tommy Kramer in 1986, and the most yards in a quarter, 247, since Boomer Esiason in 1996.

2004 — San Francisco’s 34-0 loss at Seattle ends a 420-game streak of not being blanked for the 49ers, an NFL record.

2010 — Christine Sinclair has two goals and Marta adds a goal and two assists as the FC Gold Pride beat the Philadelphia Independence 4-0 to win the Women’s Professional Soccer championship.

2010 — Seattle’s Leon Washington returns two kickoffs — 101 and 99 yards — for touchdowns in the Seahawks’ 27-20 win over San Diego.

2015 — Aaron Green catches a tipped pass in the back of the end zone with 23 seconds left and No. 3 TCU outlasts Texas Tech 55-52 in the Big 12 opener for both teams. On fourth-and-goal from the 4, Trevor Boykin throws four touchdown passes and finishes with a career-high 509 yards for TCU.

2015 — Sebastian Giovinco breaks the MLS single-season points record, assisting on two goals in Toronto FC’s 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire to push his total to 35.

2017 — Sylvia Fowles grabs a WNBA Finals-record 17 rebounds and scores 13 points to lead the Minnesota Lynx to a 70-68 victory over the Sparks in Game 2, evening the series at one game apiece.

2021 — United States regains the Ryder Cup beating Team Europe 19-9 at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisc.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1908 — Ed Reulbach of the Chicago Cubs became the only pitcher to throw two shutouts in a doubleheader, beating the Dodgers 5-0 and 3-0.

1926 — The St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees 6-1 and 6-2 in two hours and seven minutes. The first game took 55 minutes.

1952 — The New York Yankees clinched their fourth straight AL pennant with a 5-1, 11-inning win over the Philadelphia A’s.

1961 — Roger Maris tied Babe Ruth’s 34-year-old record with his 60th homer, off Baltimore’s Jack Fisher.

1981 — Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros became the first player to pitch five no-hitters, hurling a 5-0 victory over the Dodgers at the Astrodome.

1983 — Bob Forsch of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched the second no-hitter of his career by defeating Montreal 3-0.

1993 — Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners became the eighth pitcher to strike out 300 batters in a season with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings of a 3-2, 12-inning loss to Oakland.

1998 — Curt Schilling became the fifth pitcher to strike out 300 batters in consecutive seasons when he fanned Kevin Orie in the seventh inning of Philadelphia’s 4-3 loss to Florida in the first game of a doubleheader.

2000 — The Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 7-1 to clinch the NL East and win their record ninth straight division title.

2007 — The New York Yankees clinched their 13th straight postseason appearance, beating Tampa Bay 12-4.

2007 — Michael Young reached 200 hits for the fifth consecutive season with a pair of RBI singles among his three hits and Texas pounded the Angels 16-2. Young joined Wade Boggs and Ichiro Suzuki as the only players since 1940 with five consecutive 200-hit seasons.

2008 — The Tampa Bay Rays won their first AL East championship when the Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees. They became the first team other than Boston and New York to win the division since Baltimore did it in 1997.

2008 — Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki matched Lou Gehrig’s record with his eighth season of at least 200 hits and 100 runs. Suzuki scored his 100th run of the season in the third inning against Oakland. Gehrig reached the marks in 1927-28, 1930-32, 1934 and 1936-37.

2018 — Jacob deGrom was dominant, throwing eight stellar innings and leaving with a major league-best 1.70 ERA as the New York Mets blanked the Atlanta Braves 3-0. DeGrom (10-9) made his final regular-season start, striking out 10 and allowing just two singles against the NL East champions.

2018 — Colorado Rockies right-hander German Marquez started with eight straight strikeouts to match a modern-era big league record, and the Colorado Rockies routed the Philadelphia Phillies 14-0. By striking out his first eight batters, he tied a post-1900 mark set by Houston’s Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986, and equaled by the New York Mets’ Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014.

2019 — The Minnesota Twins become the first team to hit 300 home runs in a season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Jack Harris: If the Dodgers are going to win 13 games in October, they will likely have to master the playbook they ran Wednesday night.

Starting pitchers came out of the bullpen. Another late-inning collapse didn’t cripple their psyche. The offense delivered timely hits when it needed to. And the team grinded out a 5-4 extra-innings win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The story of the night, in an unexpected but entirely warranted late-season plot twist, was Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw throwing scoreless innings of relief for a beleaguered Dodgers bullpen.

The theme, however, was improvisation with the roster and resiliency in the dugout, moving the team within a win of another National League West division championship.

“I know the word resilience gets thrown out a lot, but it was a resilient win and a resilient group,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We fought our tails off until the end. It didn’t look good at different points of the game. But Arizona fought as well. So it was a heck of a ball game … Really good stuff.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers bullpen remains a mess. Can Roki Sasaki’s return provide trustworthy relief?

How Bill Russell stayed connected to baseball, and reconnected with the Dodgers

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Taylor Ward homered, Kenley Jansen earned his 475th career save and the Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Wednesday night to avoid a series sweep.

Only four pitchers have at least 475 saves: Jansen, Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601) and Lee Smith (478).

Yusei Kikuchi (7-11) gave up just one hit while striking out six over five innings. He was removed with a left forearm cramp before the sixth. Jansen struck out two in the ninth for his 28th save of the season.

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Despite rough season, Angels’ Mike Trout still believes he can recapture his MVP form

Angels box score

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: No reset necessary. No reason to make more of some rare misfires.

After 16-plus seasons, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford knows how to put less-than-efficient performances behind.

So the passes he missed in last Sunday’s defeat by the Philadelphia Eagles are not cause for concern as he prepares for Sunday’s game against the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium.

“It happens,” Stafford said Wednesday before practice. “I’m not too worried about it.”

Stafford completed 19 of 33 passes (57.6%) for 198 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Despite missing on some passes he usually completes, he finished the game by directing a two-minute drive that positioned the Rams to win the game. The Eagles blocked a last-second field-goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown.

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UCLA UNLOCKED

Sign up for UCLA Unlocked, our new weekly newsletter featuring all things Bruins athletics. Ben Bolch, in his 10th season covering UCLA football and men’s basketball for The Times, will be your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

UCLA POLL

Almost every week in UCLA Unlocked, there is a poll for readers to give their opinion on UCLA athletics. This week’s poll:

Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?

An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

From Ryan Kartje: Walker Lyons took his place in the slot and looked right. Lake McRee crouched on the opposite wing and looked left. The two Trojan tight ends had spent all last Saturday night moving around USC’s formations — split out wide, in the backfield, on the line of scrimmage — paving rush lanes and creating mismatches wherever they went.

Now it was third and short, early in the third quarter of USC’s win over Michigan State, and the two of them were on the field together again, forcing the Spartan defense to decide in a hurry just how Lincoln Riley planned to deploy them.

That unpredictability was precisely the point of the position. It’s why the tight end has been a critical tenet of his Riley’s offense since he started as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator in 2015. No other position, Riley has come to believe, adds more versatility to an offense.

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TIMES OF TROY

Times of Troy is our weekly newsletter featuring all things Trojans athletics. Ryan Kartje, who covers USC football and men’s basketball for The Times, is your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

SPARKS

The Sparks announced they are joining the WNBA’s facilities upgrade boom, building a $150-million, 55,000-square-foot training and practice facility in El Segundo that is set to open ahead of the 2027 season.

The venue will include two WNBA regulation basketball courts along with a locker room, weight room and athletic training space. The team states the facility will also feature an outdoor spa, indoor hydrotherapy suites, dedicated nap rooms, wellness spaces for yoga or mediation, and extensive use of natural light and retractable doors.

“We’re building a place where Sparks players can be at their best on and off the court,” said Eric Holoman, Sparks managing partner and governor. “From cutting-edge training and recovery spaces to family and community areas, every corner of this facility was designed with them at the center.”

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DODGERS DUGOUT

Dodgers Dugout is our award-winning Dodgers newsletter. Current news, historical items, polls, top 10 lists, you name it, if it’s about the Dodgers it is covered here. Houston Mitchell is your host. You can sign up by clicking here.

PREP RALLY

Want one place to get all your high school sports news? Our Prep Rally newsletter is what you need. Twice a week, we’ll deliver all the scores, news and features you crave, straight from our award-winning high school sports columnist, Eric Sondheimer. You can sign up for Prep Rally here.

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1866 — Jerome Park, named for its founder Leonard Jerome, opens in the Bronx in New York. Jerome, seeking to emulate the British racing system, also establishes the American Jockey Club, precursor to the present Jockey Club, formed in 1894.

1920 — Molly Bjurstedt Mallory wins her fifth title in six years with a two-set victory over Marion Zinderstein in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.

1926 — Walter Hagen wins his third straight and fourth overall PGA Championship. Hagen beats Leo Diegel 4 and 3 in the championship match at Salisbury Golf Links in Westbury, N.Y.

1949 — Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women’s Open by 14 strokes over Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

1962 — Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson at 2:06 of the first round at Comiskey Park in Chicago to win the world heavyweight title.

1966 — Gloria Ehret wins the LPGA Championship by three strokes over four-time champion Mickey Wright.

1982 — Ricky Edwards rushes for 177 yards and four touchdowns to help Northwestern end its 34-game losing streak in a 31-6 victory over Northern Illinois.

1988 — Americans sweep the medals in the long jump at the Seoul Olympics; Carl Lewis wins his second gold of the Games with leap of 8.72m ahead of teammates Mike Powell and Larry Myricks.

1988 — Swimmer Matt Biondi wins his 5th gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious American 4 x 100m medley relay team.

1994 — Oliver McCall scores a major upset by stopping Lennox Lewis 31 seconds into the second round to capture the WBC heavyweight title in London.

1995 — Jerry Rice has 181 yards receiving in San Francisco’s 27-24 loss to Detroit. It’s his 51st 100-yard game, which breaks Don Maynard’s NFL record.

1997 — WNBA announces it will add Detroit & Washington, D.C. franchises.

2000 — American basketball player Vince Carter jumps over 7 foot 2 Frédéric Weis in 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as “le dunk de la mort” (the dunk of death).

2004 — Bobby Seck of Hofstra throws eight touchdown passes to tie an Atlantic 10 mark and set a school record in the Pride’s 62-43 victory over Rhode Island.

2005 — Fernando Alonso becomes Formula One’s youngest champion by finishing third in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Alonso, 24, a six-time winner in his third full season in Formula One, ends Michael Schumacher’s five-year hold on the title.

2010 — Collingwood and St. Kilda plays to a 68-68 tie, the first in an Australian Rules football grand final since 1977, setting up a rematch to decide the league title.

2011 — The Detroit Lions snap a 13-game losing streak with a 26-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions, who won in the Metrodome for the first time since 1997, are 3-0 for the first time since 1980.

2013 — Skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA win the America’s Cup with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history to keep the oldest trophy in international sports in the United States. Spithill steers Oracle’s space-age, 72-foot catamaran to its eighth straight victory, speeding past Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand in the winner-take-all Race 19 on San Francisco Bay. All but defeated a week ago, the 34-year-old Australian and his international crew twice rallies from seven-point deficits to win 9-8.

2016 — Rory McIlroy rallies to enter a three-man playoff and win the FedEx Cup. After trailing by three shots with three holes to play in the Tour Championship, McIlroy holes a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole to win the playoff and claim the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.

2022 — Laver Cup Men’s Tennis, London: Team World sweeps final day for 13-8 victory over Team Europe; tournament marks retirement of Roger Federer.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1941 — Pete Reiser’s homer and Whitlow Wyatt’s five-hitter helped Brooklyn beat the Boston Braves 6-0 and clinch the Dodgers’ first pennant in 21 years.

1955 — Detroit’s Al Kaline, at the age of 20, became the youngest player to win a batting title, finishing his second season with a .340 average. Ty Cobb was one day older when he won the crown, batting .350 in 1907, also playing for Detroit.

1956 — Sal Maglie of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

1960 — The New York Yankees clinched manager Casey Stengel’s 10th and last American League pennant with a 4-3 victory over Boston.

1965 — Satchel Paige, at 59, became the oldest player in the majors, taking the mound for Kansas City and pitching three scoreless innings over the Boston Red Sox. He gave up one hit, to Carl Yastrzemski.

1965 — Willie Mays, who hit 51 home runs in 1955, joined Ralph Kiner as only the National Leaguers to have more than one 50-home run season.

1974 — Dr. Frank Jobe transplanted a tendon from Tommy John’s right wrist to the Dodger pitcher’s left elbow. The revolutionary ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction allowed John to win an additional 164 games, more than half of his career total of 288 victories.

1980 — Oakland’s Brian Kingman lost his 20th game when the A’s were defeated by the Chicago White Sox 6-4. Kingman was the first pitcher to lose 20 games with a winning team since Dolf Luque went 13-23 for the 1922 Cincinnati Reds.

1984 — Rusty Staub of the Mets became the second player to hit homers as a teenager and past his 40th birthday. Staub’s game-winning home run off Larry Andersen to give the Mets a 6-4 victory over Philadelphia at Shea Stadium. Ty Cobb was the other major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

1987 — San Diego’s Benito Santiago set a modern major league record for rookies by hitting safely in his 27th consecutive game in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers.

1998 — The New York Yankees set the AL record for wins with their 112th, beating Tampa Bay 6-1 to break the victory mark held by the 1954 Cleveland Indians.

2001 — Richie Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz became the first teammates to hit three home runs apiece in a game as Milwaukee defeated Arizona 9-4.

2003 — Toronto’s Carlos Delgado became the sixth player to homer in four straight at-bats in one game as the Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-8 at SkyDome. Delgado tied the score at 8-8 in the eighth with his fourth homer, a solo shot off Lance Carter.

2007 — Prince Fielder, at 23 years, 139 days old, became the youngest major league player to hit 50 home runs in a season, connecting twice in Milwaukee’s 9-1 rout of St. Louis.

2013 — The New York Yankees failed to make the playoffs for only the second time in 19 years, getting mathematically eliminated during their 8-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

2016 — Jose Fernandez, 24, ace right-hander for the Miami Marlins, was killed in a boating accident.

2017 — Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s major league record for home runs by a rookie, hitting a pair for the second straight day to raise his total to 50 and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 11-3.

2018 — Max Scherzer became the 17th pitcher since 1900 to strike out 300 batters in a season, reaching that milestone by fanning 10 in seven innings during Washington’s 9-4 win over Miami.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Jack Harris: Shohei Ohtani entered uncharted territory in his final pitching start of the regular season Tuesday night, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks over a season-high six innings while throwing a season-most 91 pitches.

Given the woeful state of the Dodgers’ implosion-prone bullpen, however, the only way they would’ve won was if Ohtani was able to go nine.

In the kind of late-game giveaway that did not feel the least bit surprising, the Dodgers were instead walked off by the Diamondbacks in a 5-4 loss, cutting their division lead to 1 ½ games with five to play.

Rookie relievers Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez combined to give up three runs in the seventh, cutting deep into what was then a 4-0 Dodgers lead.

Closer Tanner Scott completed the collapse in the bottom of the ninth, suffering his 10th blown save and fourth loss in a two-run inning punctuated by Geraldo Perdomo’s walk-off RBI single.

“It’s hard to absorb those games,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 11th walk-off defeat of the season. “Especially games that we need to win right now.”

Continue reading here

‘A good message.’ Why celebrating Clayton Kershaw’s retirement gave Dodgers mental ‘reset’

MLB will use robot umpires in 2026, ushering in a new era for calling balls and strikes

Former Kings broadcaster Alex Faust to replace Bob Costas on TNT’s MLB playoff coverage

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Bobby Witt Jr. and Adam Frazier each drove in two runs, Salvador Perez moved into second place on Kansas City’s career RBI list and the Royals beat the Angels 8-4 on Tuesday night, shortly after being eliminated from postseason contention.

The Royals (79-78) were knocked out of the race for an AL wild card with five games remaining in their regular season. Kansas City, which reached the playoffs last season, has failed to qualify for the postseason in nine of the last 10 seasons.

Perez singled to center in the first inning to score Witt. It was the 35-year-old catcher’s 97th RBI of the season and 1,013th of his career, moving him past Hal McRae. The Royals’ all-time RBI leader is George Brett with 1,596.

Bryce Teodosio hit his first career homer for the Angels in the fifth inning, in his 45th MLB game this season. Taylor Ward added his 35th homer, a career high, in the ninth inning. The Angels have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

From Ben Bolch: A winless football team went bowling. It’s true.

With his players in need of a refreshing change that would still allow them to compete, UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper took the Bruins to a bowling alley last week on one of their days off from practicing.

“I also wanted to get out of the [football practice] building, to be honest, even for me and the coaches’ sake,” Skipper said Monday. “We’ve been locked in working and grinding and all that stuff, so we needed to get away and just kind of take a deep breath and compete in a different way.”

While it was the sort of team bonding exercise usually carried out in the offseason or during training camp, throwing a few strikes together could be the thing to help spare players from walking out on the rest of the season after an 0-3 start that led to the dismissal of their coach.

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UCLA UNLOCKED

Sign up for UCLA Unlocked, our new weekly newsletter featuring all things Bruins athletics. Ben Bolch, in his 10th season covering UCLA football and men’s basketball for The Times, will be your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

UCLA POLL

Almost every week in UCLA Unlocked, there is a poll for readers to give their opinion on UCLA athletics. This week’s poll:

Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?

An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

From Ryan Kartje: As USC enters a critical stretch of its conference slate, it’s unclear if it’ll have its star wideout or starting left tackle ready to play.

Junior wideout Ja’Kobi Lane did return to practice on Tuesday after sitting out last Saturday’s win over Michigan State with an upper body injury he suffered the week before. But junior offensive tackle Elijah Paige was not seen entering or leaving USC’s practice field.

USC coach Lincoln Riley declined to provide an update on Lane or Paige on Tuesday and instead referred reporters to the Big Ten’s availability report, which is released two hours before kickoff every Saturday.

Continue reading here

TIMES OF TROY

Times of Troy is our weekly newsletter featuring all things Trojans athletics. Ryan Kartje, who covers USC football and men’s basketball for The Times, is your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

LAFC

From Kevin Baxter: How good is Son Heung-min? On the night LAFC celebrated Carlos Vela’s induction into the team’s ring of honor, Vela asked for Son’s autograph.

And he’s not the only one. Small crowds of fans have begun gathering outside LAFC’s training center at Cal State Los Angeles, some waiting for hours, to request Son’s signature on scraps of paper, photos and plush likenesses of the South Korean star in a Tottenham uniform.

On a recent afternoon, Son stopped his car and obliged every one of them.

Forget, for a moment, what he’s done on the field — which isn’t easy to forget since he’s scored six times and assisted on three other goals in seven games, only one of which LAFC lost.

The transformation Son has brought everywhere else since joining the team seven weeks ago has been breathtaking.

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DODGERS DUGOUT

Dodgers Dugout is our award-winning Dodgers newsletter. Current news, historical items, polls, top 10 lists, you name it, if it’s about the Dodgers it is covered here. Houston Mitchell is your host. You can sign up by clicking here.

PREP RALLY

Want one place to get all your high school sports news? Our Prep Rally newsletter is what you need. Twice a week, we’ll deliver all the scores, news and features you crave, straight from our award-winning high school sports columnist, Eric Sondheimer. You can sign up for Prep Rally here.

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1930 — The Portsmouth Spartans beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 12-0 in the first NFL game played under floodlights. More than 6,000 fans turn out on an unseasonably warm evening to watch the game at the new University Stadium.

1950 — Philadelphia’s Russ Craft has four interceptions to lead the Eagles in a 45-7 rout of the Chicago Cardinals. Chicago quarterback Jim Hardy sets an NFL record by throwing eight interceptions.

1953 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Rolando La Starza in the 11th round at the Polo Grounds in New York to retain his world heavyweight title.

1967 — Jim Bakken of St. Louis Cardinals kicks an NFL-record seven field goals to give the Cardinals a 28-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. His longest field goal is 33 yards.

1971 — The World Hockey Association announces its formation with 12 teams to start play in October 1972.

1988 — American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets new world record 7,291 points to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; East Germans Sabine John & Anke Behmer take the minor medals.

1988 — American swimmer Matt Biondi sets world record 22.14 to win the 50m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; his 4th of 5 gold medals for the Games.

1988 — Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson breaks his own 100m world record with a time of 9.79 at the Seoul Olympics; disqualified 3 days later for use of drug stanozolol; Carl Lewis awarded gold and world record 9.92.

1993 — Juniata’s women’s volleyball team beats Washington of St. Louis to end Washington’s NCAA-record winning streak at 59 matches.

1994 — Washington ends Miami’s NCAA-record home winning streak at 58 with a 38-20 victory against the Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl.

1995 — On the final day of competition, Europe rallies past the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y. Europe takes seven singles matches to win its first Ryder Cup since 1989.

2001 — Green Bay’s 37-0 shutout of Washington ends the Redskins’ NFL record of scoring in 231 consecutive road games.

2006 — The Europeans turn the Ryder Cup into another rout, winning 18 1/2-9 1/2 and becoming the first European team to win three straight times.

2006 — Washington’s Mark Brunell breaks the NFL record for most consecutive passes completed in a game when he connects on his first 22 throws in a 31-15 win over the Houston Texans.

2011 — Dwayne De Rosario scores the quickest hat trick in MLS history, leading D.C. United to a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake.

2012 — Russell Wilson throws a disputed 24-yard touchdown to Golden Tate on the final play of the game, and the Seattle Seahawks rally to beat the Green Bay Packers 14-12.

2013 — Skipper Jimmy Spithill and defending champion Oracle Team USA extend their winning streak to seven to force a winner-take-all America’s Cup finale against Emirates Team New Zealand.

2016 — Daniel Carlson kicks six field goals and Auburn beats No. 18 LSU 18-13 after a ruling that Danny Etling’s apparent last-gasp scoring pass comes after time expired.

2017 — Peter Sagan of Slovakia becomes the first man to win three straight road race titles after holding off Norway’s Alexander Kristoff at the World Cycling Championships.

2017 — Diego Valeri scores twice to extend his MLS-record scoring streak to nine straight games and Portland beats Orlando City 3-0. Valeri moves in front of NYCFC’s David Villa for most goals this season with 20.

2017 — Jake Elliott kicks a 61-yard field goal as time expires to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 27-24 victory over the New York Giants. It is the longest by a rookie in NFL history.

2017 — Laver Cup Men’s Tennis, Prague: Roger Federer is unbeaten as Team Europe dominates Team World, 15-9 in the inaugural teams event.

2018 — Real Madrid midfielder & Croatian World Cup captain Luka Modrić is named world’s best male player at the FIFA Awards in London; Brazil & Orlando Pride forward Marta best female player; France’s Didier Deschamps best men’s coach.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1940 — Jimmie Foxx of the Red Sox hit his 500th career home run off Philadelphia’s George Caster in the first game of a doubleheader at Shibe Park. Foxx’s homer came in the sixth inning after Ted Williams homered. Joe Cronin followed with a homer and, later in the inning, Jim Tabor also homered. The four homers in the inning were a first in the AL.

1969 — The New York Mets clinched the NL East title, with Gary Gentry pitching a four-hitter in a 6-0 victory over St. Louis.

1974 — Detroit’s Al Kaline doubled down the right-field line off Dave McNally of Baltimore for his 3,000th career hit. The Orioles beat the Tigers 5-4 at Memorial Stadium.

1977 — Jack Brohamer of the Chicago White Sox had four extra base hits and hit for the cycle in an 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome.

1984 — Rick Sutcliffe threw a two-hitter and led the Chicago Cubs to their first league title since 1945 with a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

1988 — Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays, one strike from a no-hitter, gave up a bad-hop single to Julio Franco. Stieb settled for a 1-0, one-hit victory over Cleveland.

1998 — Boston’s Tom Gordon set a major league record for most consecutive saves with his 42nd to preserve the Red Sox’ 9-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

2004 — The Atlanta Braves clinched their 13th consecutive division title, winning the NL East with an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins. The Braves’ record streak of division championships began with the 1991 NL West title and excludes the 1994 strike-shortened season.

2006 — Trevor Hoffman became baseball’s career saves leader, earning No. 479 to pass Lee Smith and help NL West-leading San Diego beat Pittsburgh 2-1. It was his NL-leading 43rd save in 48 chances.

2008 — Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth inning of the Angels’ 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners to end the season with a major league record 62 saves.

2014 — The New York Yankees were eliminated from postseason contention after losing to the AL East champion Orioles 9-5. The Yankees missed the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1992 and ’93.

2016 — Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3-0 to send New York to its third consecutive shutout defeat — the first time that has happened to New York since 1975.

2022 — The Braves’ Kyle Wright, who had only won two regular season games in four seasons, becomes the first 20-game winner in the majors this year with a 6-3 win over Philadelphia. The win moves Atlanta within one and a half games of the Mets, holders of first place in the NL East.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Ben Bolch: One UCLA football legend sat across from the other, lamenting how far their beloved program had fallen.

On one side was Rick Neuheisel, a onetime Rose Bowl most valuable player and Bruins head coach, wondering aloud whether his alma mater had put itself in position to pick a strong successor to the recently dismissed DeShaun Foster.

“Is there confidence in the current athletic director when there’s been swing-and-misses,” Neuheisel asked, “or do you need to go find somebody else?”

On the other side of the CBS Sports studio roundtable was Randy Cross, a former All-America offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion so angry about the state of the Bruins that his voice rose as he spoke.

“UCLA is clueless, they’re rudderless, they’re leaderless and it’s been decades since they had anybody there that had a freaking clue as to, A, what they want to do and, two, how they’re going to do it,” Cross said. “It sounds simple — there isn’t a better school in America to go to than UCLA — but that athletic department is a joke led by the football team.”

Theirs weren’t the only critical voices.

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UCLA UNLOCKED

Sign up for UCLA Unlocked, our new weekly newsletter featuring all things Bruins athletics. Ben Bolch, in his 10th season covering UCLA football and men’s basketball for The Times, will be your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

UCLA POLL

Almost every week in UCLA Unlocked, there is a poll for readers to give their opinion on UCLA athletics. This week’s poll:

Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?

An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

TIMES OF TROY

Times of Troy is our weekly newsletter featuring all things Trojans athletics. Ryan Kartje, who covers USC football and men’s basketball for The Times, is your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.

DODGERS

From Dylan Hernández: There’s desperate, and there’s desperate to where you’re looking for Roki Sasaki to be the answer to your team’s late-inning problems.

The same Roki Sasaki who hasn’t pitched in a major league game in more than four months because of shoulder problems.

The same Roki Sasaki who posted a 4.72 earned-run average in eight starts.

The same Roki Sasaki who last week in the minors pitched as a reliever for the first time.

The Dodgers’ exploration of Sasaki as a late-inning option is a reflection of the 23-year-old rookie’s upside, but this isn’t a commentary of Sasaki as much as it is of the roster.

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DODGERS DUGOUT

Dodgers Dugout is our award-winning Dodgers newsletter. Current news, historical items, polls, top 10 lists, you name it, if it’s about the Dodgers it is covered here. Houston Mitchell is your host. You can sign up by clicking here.

CHARGERS

From Anthony De Leon: On a play-action pass, Chargers running back Najee Harris crumpled to the turf before the fake handoff could fully develop, immediately grabbing his left ankle and tossing aside his helmet in pain.

Needing assistance, trainers helped Harris to the sideline, as he was unable to put any weight on his leg, before he was carted to the locker room in the second quarter of a 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Harris, who spent the lead-up to his first season in L.A. recovering from an offseason eye injury in a fireworks accident, was expected to be a key piece of a one-two punch with rookie Omarion Hampton.

Now, he will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday.

“It’s unfortunate that that occurred … a rough start. He was playing good. I mean, he’s really good,” Harbaugh said. “We got good football players … guys will step into roles and, you know, be at their best when their best is needed most.”

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PREP RALLY

Want one place to get all your high school sports news? Our Prep Rally newsletter is what you need. Twice a week, we’ll deliver all the scores, news and features you crave, straight from our award-winning high school sports columnist, Eric Sondheimer. You can sign up for Prep Rally here.

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1926 — Gene Tunney beats Jack Dempsey with a 10-round decision to retain the world heavyweight title.

1952 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round to retain the world heavyweight title.

1979 — The Houston Oilers overcome a 24-0 deficit to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 in overtime.

1983 — Gerry Coetzee knocks out Michael Dokes in the 10th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Richfield, Ohio.

1992 — Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in one of the four major pro sports leagues when she takes the ice in the first period for the NHL expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game. The 20-year-old goalie faces nine shots and allows two goals in St. Louis’ 6-4 victory.

2000 — Ben Matthews ties an NCAA record with five interceptions as Bethel beat Gustavus 14-13. Matthews ties the all-division record shared by eight players.

2007 — For the first time in NFL history, two players have 200-plus yards receiving in the same game — whether they were opponents or teammates — in Philadelphia’s 56-21 rout of Detroit. Philadelphia’s Kevin Curtis has 11 receptions for 221 yards and Detroit’s Roy Williams catches 9 passes for 204. Detroit’s Jon Kitna sets a franchise record with 446 yards passing.

2012 — The Tennessee Titans become the first team in NFL history to score five touchdowns of at least 60 yards in a game in their 44-41 overtime win over Detroit. The scorers are Tommie Campbell with a 65-yard punt-return; Jared Cook’s 61-yard reception from Jake Locker; Darius Reynaud’s 105-yard kick-return; Nate Washington’s 71-yard reception from Locker; and Alterraun Verner’s 72-yard fumble-return. The Lions also become the first team in NFL history to score two touchdowns in the final 18 seconds of regulation to either take the lead or force overtime.

2012 — Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles rushes for 233 yards, including a 91-yard TD run in the Chiefs’ 27-24 overtime win over New Orleans. Ryan Succop kicks six field goals, one to force overtime in the final seconds and a 31-yarder in overtime for the Chiefs.

2017 — The St. John’s-St. Thomas rivalry game obliterates the NCAA Division III attendance record with a crowd of 37,355. The Tommies use a stingy defense to hang on for a 20-17 win over the Johnnies at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins. The previous mark was set on Oct. 8, 2016, with 17,535 fans watching Wisconsin-Oshkosh play at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

2017 — Juwan Johnson catches a seven-yard TD pass as time expires and fourth-ranked Penn State rallies to stun Iowa 21-19 in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Saquon Barkley has 211 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving for the Nittany Lions, who outgain Iowa 579-273 but nearly blew the game. With the Hawkeyes leading 19-15, Penn State goes 80 yards on 12 plays to close out the game, and Trace McSorley finds Johnson in a crowded end zone on fourth down.

2018 — Tiger Woods caps off one of the most remarkable comebacks in golf history. Woods ends his comeback season with a dominant victory at the Tour Championship. He taps in for par and a 1-over 71 for a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel. It’s the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his first in more than five years.

2018 — Drew Brees sets the NFL record for career completions while passing for 396 yards and three touchdowns and running for two scores to lift New Orleans past Atlanta 43-37 in overtime. Brees breaks the record of 6,300 career completions set by Brett Favre.

2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer plays his final professional match during Laver Cup in London; teams with friend and rival Rafael Nadal but loses to Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1908 — In a crucial game with the Chicago Cubs, Fred Merkle of the New York Giants failed to touch second base as the apparent winning run crossed home plate. This resulted in a great dispute and the game was eventually declared a tie and played over on Oct. 8 when the Cubs and Giants ended the season in a tie.

1939 — Brooklyn’s Cookie Lavagetto went 6-for-6 to lead the Dodgers’ 27-hit attack in a 22-4 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Lovagetto had four singles, a double and a triple and scored four runs. He was the only Dodger without an RBI. Dixie Walker, Gene Moore and Johnny Hudson each drive in three runs.

1952 — The Brooklyn Dodgers clinched the NL title, the first time since 1948 that the pennant wasn’t decided in the season’s final game.

1957 — Hank Aaron’s 11th-inning homer gave the Milwaukee Braves a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and the NL pennant. It was the first time since 1950 that a New York team hadn’t finished first.

1979 — Lou Brock stole base No. 938, breaking Billy Hamilton’s record, as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets 7-4 in 10 innings.

1983 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia recorded his 300th career victory with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 4-1, making Sparky Anderson the first manager to win more than 100 games in a season in each league.

1986 — Rookie left-hander Jim Deshaies set a major league record by striking out eight batters to start the game and finished with a two-hitter and 10 strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros past of the Dodgers 4-0.

1987 — Albert Hall of the Atlanta Braves hit for the cycle in 5-4 win over the Houston Astros.

1988 — Jose Canseco became the first major leaguer to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in one season as the Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-8 in 14 innings.

1992 — Bip Roberts tied the NL record with his 10th consecutive hit, then grounded out against Pedro Astacio to end his streak in the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Dodgers.

1998 — Houston’s Craig Biggio became the second player this century to have 50 steals and 50 doubles in a season, joining Hall of Famer Tris Speaker.

2001 — Sammy Sosa became the first player to hit three home runs in a game three times in a season, but Moises Alou’s two-run shot rallied Houston to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

2008 — The New York Yankees’ streak of postseason appearances ended. Boston beat Cleveland 5-4, minutes before the Yankees’ win. The Red Sox victory clinched at least the AL wild card and eliminated New York, which had made 13 straight postseason appearances.

2013 — Alex Rios of Texas hit for the cycle in a 12-0 rout of Houston. Rios finished off the cycle with a triple to right-center field in the sixth inning.

2016 — David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the first inning to set the RBIs record for a player in his final season, and the AL East-leading Boston beat Tampa Bay 2-1 for its ninth straight victory. Ortiz’s 37th homer came off Chris Archer and raised his RBIs total to 124, one more than Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1920. The 40-year-old’s 540th homer, his 300th on the road, struck an overhanging catwalk above the right-field seats.

2022 — Albert Pujols, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season no matter what happened, becomes the fourth player to reach the 700-home run mark, after Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. He does so by going deep twice, first off Andrew Heaney in the third inning and then off Phil Bickford in the fourth for No. 700. The Cardinals win handily, 11-0, over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Gary Klein: For a while there, it was beginning to look a lot like 2021.

That was the year the Rams went all-in, started fast, endured through a midseason losing streak and then went on to win the Super Bowl.

There is still a long way to go before Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

But despite what coach Sean McVay and his players insisted after their collapse on Sunday against the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, it was no confidence builder.

Not in the short term anyway.

The Rams blew a 19-point third quarter lead, were set up to possibly win with a last-second field goal and then had that kick blocked and returned for a touchdown in a 33-26 defeat at Lincoln Financial Field.

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Rams summary

NFL standings

CHARGERS

From Sam Farmer: Three weeks into the NFL season and already the Chargers have planted a flag atop the AFC West — and a Mt. Rushmore collection of coaches.

They dispatched of the Denver Broncos on Sunday, after beating the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders in the previous two weeks.

If you’re keeping a scorecard, those are wins over Andy Reid, Pete Carroll and now Sean Payton, all Super Bowl winners, in a historic start for Jim Harbaugh, who is quick to remind people not to “put me on that dance floor” because he has yet to win a ring.

But Sunday’s 23-20 triumph might have been the most impressive considering the Chargers were flat as day-old soda for a considerable stretch yet still found a way to come back and win.

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With Najee Harris likely done for the season, Omarion Hampton could see bigger Chargers role

Chargers summary

NFL standings

DODGERS

From Kevin Baxter: Half-filled duffle bags littered the floor of the Dodgers’ clubhouse Sunday afternoon while a jumble of suitcases stood inside the locker room door.

Sunday’s 3-1 matinee loss to the San Francisco Giants, a game which featured another late-inning bullpen meltdown, was the last chance to see the Dodgers at home during the regular season and 46,601 people brought tickets to mark the occasion, pushing the team’s attendance above 4 million for the first time.

But the vibe wasn’t so much “goodbye” and it was “we’ll be right back,” since the team and its fans are expecting to return to Dodger Stadium to open the National League playoffs next week. Even the retiring Clayton Kershaw made that point when he briefly addressed the crowd before the game.

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Kyle Freeland pitched six solid innings, Blaine Crim homered and drove in two runs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Angels 3-1 on Sunday in their final home game of a miserable season.

Victor Vodnik got three outs for his 10th save as the Rockies improved to 43-113 with six games remaining, ensuring they won’t tie the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in one season by a National League team since 1900. Those expansion Mets finished 40-120-1.

Mike Trout doubled leading off the game after hitting his 400th career home run Saturday night. He scored the only run for the Angels (70-86), who went 1-9 on their last road trip of the year.

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Fan gives back Mike Trout’s 400th career home run ball, but not before getting to do something cool

Angels box score

MLB standings

From Ben Bolch: Tim Skipper is tapping a trusted ally to help him steady UCLA’s football team for the rest of the season.

The interim coach is finalizing the hiring of veteran assistant Kevin Coyle as a member of his defensive staff in a move that could bolster the team after the departure of defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, according to one person close to the situation not authorized to discuss it publicly because the hiring has not been completed.

The hope is that Coyle could join the Bruins before they open Big Ten Conference play at Northwestern on Saturday.

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LAFC

Denis Bouanga scored three goals, his second hat trick in the last three games, and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Sunday night at BMO Stadium.

Bouanga, who has scored in four consecutive games, has 22 goals this season, tied with Lionel Messi for the most in MLS. Bouanga had 20 goals in each of the last two seasons and is the first player in MLS history with at least 20 goals in three consecutive seasons.

The 30-year-old Bouanga, who also had three goals in a 4-2 win over San José on Sept. 13, has a club-record four career hat tricks in the regular season, one more than Carlos Vela.

Continue reading here

LAFC summary

MLS standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1905 — Willie Anderson wins the U.S. Open for the fourth time in five years, beating Alex Smith with a 314-total at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Mass.

1927 — Gene Tunney wins a unanimous 10-round decision over Jack Dempsey at Soldier Field in Chicago to retain his world heavyweight title. The fight is marred by a long 10-count in the seventh round. Dempsey knocks Tunney to the mat, but Dempsey doesn’t go to a neutral corner. The referee doesn’t start counting until four or five seconds after Tunney is down. Tunney regains his feet and goes on to win.

1974 — The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos are the first teams to play to a tie, 35-35, with the new overtime rule in effect.

1984 — Mississippi Valley State’s Willie Totten passes for 526 yards in a 49-32 victory over Jackson State. Wide receiver Jerry Rice has 285 yards receiving.

1987 — The 1,585-member NFL Players Association goes on strike after the New England-New York Jets Monday night game. The strike lasts 24 days.

1990 — Illinois’ Howard Griffith sets an NCAA record when he scores eight rushing touchdowns in a 56-21 rout of Southern Illinois. Griffith gets touchdowns on three consecutive carries in the second quarter and ties an NCAA record with four touchdowns in the third quarter. Griffith doesn’t play in the fourth quarter. It’s the most points scored in an NCAA game by a player other than a kicker.

1991 — Miami coach Don Shula gets his 300th career victory in the Dolphins’ 16-13 win over Green Bay.

2002 — New England’s Tom Brady completes 39 of 54 passes for 410 yards and throws touchdown passes to four different receivers, leading the Patriots to a 41-38 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

2007 — Graham Harrell of Texas Tech completes 46 of 67 passes for 646 yards, the fourth-best total in major college history, in a 49-45 loss to Oklahoma State.

2007 — Kentucky’s Andre Woodson sets a major college record for consecutive passes without an interception, breaking the mark of 271 held by Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer.

2012 — Cobi Hamilton of Arkansas has 10 catches for a Southeastern Conference record 303 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-26 to Rutgers.

2012 — Old Dominion’s Taylor Heinicke smashes NCAA Division I records by throwing for 730 yards. He completes 55 of 79 attempts without being intercepted and leads the Monarchs back from a 23-point, third-quarter deficit to a 64-61 victory against New Hampshire.

2018 — Anthony Joshua retains his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles by stopping Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round at Wembley Stadium.

2018 — Jess McDonald scores two goals and the North Carolina Courage win the National Women’s Soccer League championship with a 3-0 victory over the Portland Thorns.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1911 — Cy Young, 44, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 for his 511th and final major league victory.

1936 — The Detroit Tigers swept the St. Louis Browns 12-0 and 14-0 to record the biggest double shutout in major league history.

1954 — Karl Spooner of Brooklyn became the first pitcher in the majors to strike out 15 in his first game as the Dodgers beat the New York Giants 3-0.

1966 — The Baltimore Orioles clinched their first AL pennant in 22 years with a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City A’s. Their last pennant came in 1944 when they were the St. Louis Browns.

1968 — Cesar Tovar played one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins, becoming the second major leaguer in history to do it. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A’s was the other.

1969 — Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants became the second player to hit 600 career home runs — joining Babe Ruth. The two-run shot off San Diego’s Mike Corkins in the seventh inning, gave the Giants a 4-2 win.

1973 — Baltimore’s Al Bumbry tied the major-league record with three triples as the Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 and clinched the American League East title.

1977 — Bert Blyleven tossed a 6-0 no-hitter for Texas against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium.

1986 — Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers became the first Mexican to win 20 games, beating the Houston Astros 9-2 while giving up two hits.

1990 — Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs stole his 300th base in an 11-5 loss to the New York Mets, to become the second player with 300 homers, 300 steals and 2,000 hits. Willie Mays was the other.

1993 — Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers faced three Seattle batters before hurting his right elbow. Ryan finished his career with 324 wins, 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters.

2000 — Houston’s Jose Lima set an NL single-season record by allowing his 47th homer in the Astros’ 12-5 loss to Cincinnati. The major league record for home runs allowed in a season is 50, set by Minnesota’s Bert Blyleven in 1986.

2003 — Detroit set an AL record with its 118th loss, falling 12-6 to Kansas City. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) set the record.

2003 — Second baseman Alfonso Soriano broke a major league record by hitting his 13th leadoff homer of the year in the New York Yankees’ 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.

2006 — Alfonso Soriano became baseball’s first 40-40-40 player in Washington’s 3-2 win over the New York Mets. Soriano hit his 40th double and stole his 41st base. With 45 homers, he already was only the fourth major league player with 40 homers and 40 steals in a season.

2018 — The Atlanta Braves capped a most surprising season by clinching their first NL East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. A year after going 70-92, manager Brian Snitker and his Baby Braves surged back into the playoffs.

2023 — By hitting his 40th homer of the season, Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes just the fifth member of the exclusive 40-40 club consisting pf players whp have hit 40 homers and stolen 40 bases in the same season. He already has over 60 steals, the first player to ever combine the two totals, and has a chance to reach 70. The Braves defeat the Nationals, 9-6. For the second time in a month, Aaron Judge hits three homers in a game to lead the Yankees to a 7-1 lead over the Diamondbacks. Judge had never had such a game before this year, and becomes the first player in Yankees history to have two in one season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

DENVER — Mike Trout hit his 400th career home run, Kyle Hendricks pitched seven innings and the Angels defeated the Colorado Rockies 3-0 on Saturday night.

Trout reached the milestone in the eighth inning when he hit a 485-foot solo homer to left-center field off Rockies reliever Jaden Hill to extend the Angels’ lead to 3-0.

The three-time American League MVP had just one home run in his previous 36 games.

Taylor Ward and Nolan Schanuel also homered for the Angels, who snapped an eight-game losing streak. Ward’s home run was his 34th of the season, tying him for the 10th-most in the majors.

In his 300th career start, and his first since giving up a career-high nine earned runs in a Sept. 14 loss to the Seattle Mariners, Hendricks (8-10) allowed just three hits and struck out five batters with no walks. He has given up three or fewer earned runs in 13 of his past 18 starts.

Luis García earned his second save of the season after getting Jordan Beck to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Colorado starter Germán Márquez (3-15) pitched a strong game in which he gave up four hits and two earned runs while striking out five in a season-high seven innings.

Hunter Goodman had two of the Rockies’ five hits.

Angels star Mike Trout hits his 400th career home run in a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Key moment: Ward’s solo homer in the second inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the Angels a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

Key stat: With his benchmark home run, Trout has a batting average of .400 with six homers and 12 RBIs in 15 career games at Coors Field.

Up next: Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (4-16, 5.14 ERA) will take on a yet-to-be-announced Angels starter on Sunday in the finale of the three-game series.

From Jack Harris: Clayton Kershaw took a deep breath, grasped the microphone with his left hand, then chuckled as he scanned the room around him.

“This,” he said, “is weird.”

Over his 18 seasons with the Dodgers, Kershaw was always wary of putting the spotlight on himself. Now, dozens of teammates, coaches, executives, staffers and media members, as well as his wife, Ellen, and their four kids, all sat before him — witness to his official announcement that he was ending his illustrious playing career.

“I’m going to call it,” Kershaw said. “I’m going to retire.”

After years of grappling with the decision, and ultimately returning to play for the Dodgers into his age-37 season, the future Hall of Fame left-hander made his decision to finally walk away sound simple.

“Going into the season, we kind of knew that this was going to be it, so didn’t want to say anything in case I changed my mind,” he said. “But over the course of the season, just how grateful I am to have been healthy and be out on the mound and be able to pitch, I think it just made it obvious that this was a good sending-off point. And it is. I’ve had the best time this year. It’s been a blast.”

Continue reading here

Clayton Kershaw announces retirement after 18 seasons with Dodgers

Plaschke: Clayton Kershaw retiring with legacy as the greatest Dodger ever

Dodgers to reach 4-million fan milestone for the first time in team history

Shaikin: How the Dodgers’ new minor league team in Ontario came up with its name

————

From Jack Harris: Yoshinobu Yamamoto was not at his most efficient Thursday night.

Which meant, even though he pitched 5⅓ scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants, he left the fate of the game to the Dodgers’ shaky bullpen.

So often on nights like these recently, such a scenario would be a recipe for disaster. Given the way things have been going for the Dodgers’ unreliable relief corps — which entered the night with a 5.65 ERA in September — anything more than a few innings has felt like a big ask.

This time, however, the Dodgers’ relievers found a way to grind things out.

No, Michael Kopech still didn’t have his command. And no, Blake Treinen still didn’t look like himself.

But when they needed to most, the Dodgers’ relievers executed pitches. In a 2-1 win at Dodger Stadium, they did enough to stretch the team’s National League West division lead to three games.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Christian Yelich went two for four and reached 100 RBIs for the season as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Angels 5-2 on Thursday night.

Yelich doubled home Brice Turang as part of the Brewers’ three-run outburst in the seventh inning that broke a 2-2 tie. This marks Yelich’s first 100-RBI season since 2018, when he had 110 and was named the NL MVP.

The Brewers completed a three-game sweep and reduced their magic number for clinching the NL Central to four. The Angels have lost seven straight.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

ANZE KOPITAR TO RETIRE

From Austin Knoblauch: Anze Kopitar, widely considered the greatest player in Kings franchise history and poised to become the team’s all-time leading scorer, announced Thursday he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season.

“I just felt this is the time, but saying that, I’m looking extremely forward to this next season,” said Kopitar, who added the decision was rooted in spending more time with his family. “I still have a lot of motivation. I’ve got a lot of energy, a lot of desire to compete at the highest level.”

Kopitar said he was confident his decision would hold — even if the Kings made it all the way to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final.

“My mind is made up. It was a hard decision,” Kopitar said. “I want to get this out of the way now, to where I’m not a distraction for the team. … I just felt that this is the best time.”

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ANGEL CITY

Croix Bethune scored on a header in the 71st minute to pull the Washington Spirit into a 2-2 draw with Angel City on Thursday night in the National Women’s Soccer League.

The Spirit (10-4-7) remained in second place in the league standings behind the Kansas City Current with a nine-game unbeaten run.

The draw stopped a two-game losing streak for Angel City (6-9-6), which was below the playoff line but still within reach of a berth.

Continue reading here

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1925 — Bill Tilden wins his sixth straight U.S. Open tennis championship with a five-set victory over Bill Johnston. Tilden wins 4-6, 11-9, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It’s the fourth consecutive year that Tilden beats Johnston in the final.

1942 — Alsab, runner-up in the 1942 Kentucky Derby, beats 3-10 favorite Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown champion, by a nose in a $25,000 match race at Narragansett Park. Alsab and Whirlaway meet twice more in 1942, with Whirlaway winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct.3, and Alsab taking the New York Handicap on Oct. 10.

1948 — Pancho Gonzales, 20, wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title with a 6-2, 6-3, 14-12 victory over Eric Sturgess.

1985 — Minnesota’s Tommy Kramer passes for 436 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 33-24 loss to the Chicago Bears.

1988 — U.S. Olympic diver Greg Louganis hits his head on diving board at the Seoul Olympics. Louganis hits the board on his ninth dive. He has four temporary stitches put in the top of his head so that he could come back and perform his last two dives. Less than 30 minutes later, he completes a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 3 1/2 twists and, in the final round, a reverse 3 1/2 somersault in tuck position to secure his place in the medal round.

1992 — Sergei Bubka raises the world record in the pole vault, his 32nd world record, clearing 20 feet, 1½ inches in the Toto International at Tokyo.

1993 — Nigel Mansell overpowers the field in the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix to become the first rookie to win the Indy car PPG Cup championship.

2000 — In the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team strands a staggering 20 baserunners in an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to Japan, which ends a 112-game winning streak. It’s the first loss for the Americans since the 1998 world championships.

2004 — Jerry Rice’s run of 274 straight games with a catch is ended in the Oakland Raiders’ 13-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The last time Rice didn’t catch a pass was Dec. 1, 1985, at Washington.

2009 — Texas College of the NAIA is trounced 75-6 by Texas Southern, a week after losing 92-0 to Stephen F. Austin. The Steers fall to 0-4 and have been outscored 300-12.

2010 — Matt Schaub is 38 of 52 for a franchise-record 497 yards with three touchdowns in Houston’s 30-27 overtime win over Washington. Donovan McNabb of the Redskins is 28 of 38 for 426 yards. It’s the first time two quarterbacks throw for 400 yards in an NFL game since 1994.

2015 — Greyson Lambert of Georgia throws for 330 yards, three touchdowns and sets an NCAA record by completing all but one of his 25 passes to lead the to a 52-20 victory over South Carolina. Lambert posts the highest percentage (96.0) in FBS history for a minimum of 20 completions, breaking the mark of 95.8 (23 of 24) shared by Tennessee’s Tee Martin and West Virginia’s Geno Smith.

2015 — Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, sets a school record with 572 total yards, throws four TD passes and runs for two more scores in the Sooners’ 52-38 victory over Tulsa.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1925 — Ted Lyons lost his bid for a no-hitter when Bobby Veach singled with two outs in the ninth inning. The Chicago White Sox routed the Washington Senators 17-0.

1926 — The St. Louis Cardinals pounded the Philadelphia Phillies 23-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and beat them again in the nightcap, 10-2.

1949 — Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first NL player to hit 50 home runs in two different seasons.

1955 — Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs set a major league record with his fifth grand slam of the season in a 12-inning, 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1968 — Denny McLain won his 31st game, the most in the AL since Lefty Grove’s 31 in 1931. The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 6-2 while Mickey Mantle hit his 535th and next-to-last career homer.

1972 — Minnesota’s Cesar Tovar completed the cycle with a game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Twins a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

1973 — Frank Robinson hits his first home run in Arlington Stadium. It was the 32nd major league ballpark in which he had homered.

1984 — Pete Rose reached the 100-hit plateau for the 22nd consecutive year, an all-time record. He also tied the NL record for doubles with 725 as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2.

1986 — Chicago’s Joe Crowley pitch a no-hitter to lead the White Sox to a 7-1 win over the Angels.

1995 — San Diego’s Ken Caminiti became the first player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate three times in a season as he went 4-for-4 with a career-high eight RBIs in a 15-4 win over Colorado.

1998 — Seattle’s Alex Rodriguez hit his 40th homer to become the third player in baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

2001 — Roger Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to go 20-1, pitching the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

2001 — Albert Pujols set a National League rookie RBI record as St. Louis beat Milwaukee 8-2. Pujols drove in three runs to give him 120 RBIs, breaking the mark of 119 set by Wally Berger in 1930 for the Boston Braves.

2008 — Baseball’s instant replay system produced its first reversal when Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena had a two-run double changed to a three-run homer during the fourth inning against Minnesota.

2008 — Greg Maddux pitches his 5,000th inning against the San Francisco Giants.

2011 — Mariano Rivera set the major league record with his 602nd save, closing out the New York Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins.

2017 — A new MLB record for the most home runs in a season, 5,694, is set when Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals homers.

2024 — Shohei Ohtani kicks down the door of a brand new club of which he is the only member: the 50-50 club. Today, he gets his first six-hit game, and three of his hits are homers, giving him 51 on the season. He also steals two bases, also reaching (and going past) the 50 mark, all the while driving in ten runs in a 20-4 demolition of the Marlins by the Dodgers. Less than a month ago he became only the sixth member of the 40-40 club, but he now stands all alone in this new level of otherworldly excellence, and incidentally has set a new Dodgers single-season record for home runs (breaking Shawn Green’s mark).

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Jack Harris: With two out in the seventh inning Wednesday night, and Blake Snell trying to put the finishing touches on his best performance in a Dodgers uniform, Roberts appeared to be coming to the mound after a pair of walks to turn to his shaky bullpen with a three-run lead.

As he usually does when removing a pitcher, his gait was slow — at least, initially.

Once Snell saw him coming, however, Roberts picked up his pace — as he will sometimes do when electing to leave a pitcher in the game.

“You know what, in that situation, I was actually 50/50,” Roberts said. “Obviously, 99.9% of the time, I’ve got my decision made. But in that moment, I was kind of up in the air.”

After a brief discussion with his starting pitcher, he let Snell stay in.

“He’s one of the guys that we have to push,” Roberts explained afterward. “He’s got the track record for it. The DNA, the talent to do it. So it’s important.”

“For us to win 13 games in October, we’re gonna need certain guys to be pushed and go deeper.”

Five throws later, the two-time Cy Young Award winner, and $182-million centerpiece of the club’s offseason, rewarded the decision. He sent Otto Kemp down swinging with a 95 mph fastball. He authored an emphatic ending to his scoreless seven-inning start, one that lifted the Dodgers to a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies to maintain a two-game lead in the National League West standings.

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

Brandon Woodruff pitched five solid innings, Sal Frelick hit a three-run homer and Blake Perkins tied a career high with five RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Woodruff (7-2) gave up two hits and one run, struck out nine and threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes. He was pitching on 10 days rest to manage his workload after he missed last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery.

Angels starter José Soriano (10-11) exited with one out in the second after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Jake Bauers. Soriano sustained a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

CHARGERS

From Anthony De Leon: When Khalil Mack suffered a left elbow injury after colliding with a teammate while tackling the Raiders’ Geno Smith, the concern wasn’t whether he’d miss time, but how much.

Fortunately for the Chargers, the diagnosis was a dislocated elbow, sidelining him four weeks on injured reserve — far better than the season-ending outcome many had feared.

“He’s like Wolverine,” coach Jim Harbaugh said, invoking the regenerating “X-Men” character. “One of the toughest things I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t going to sit or lay down on the field. … A new level of respect.”

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From Ryan Kartje: Since DeShaun Foster was fired earlier this week, D’Anton Lynn has been near the top of most prospective lists of head coaching candidates for UCLA.

But USC’s rising star defensive coordinator said on Wednesday that he has not been contacted about the open job across town and reiterated that his attention was trained on the Trojans’ upcoming matchup with Michigan State on Saturday night.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff on defense that we’ve got to clean up and improve on,” Lynn said. “So that’s where all my focus is right now.”

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How Bishop Fitzgerald’s roots as a quarterback helped him become a prolific USC safety

From Ben Bolch: The fallout from UCLA coach DeShaun Foster’s dismissal deepened Wednesday when interim coach Tim Skipper disclosed that defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe had agreed to “mutually part ways” with the team, depriving the Bruins of one of their most respected assistant coaches.

Meeting with reporters for the first time since he was selected to coach the team for the rest of the season, Skipper said he didn’t know the specifics of Malloe’s departure. One person close to the coaching staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, told The Times that Malloe couldn’t get past blaming himself for the team’s 0-3 start, even suggesting that he be fired instead of Foster, so it was agreed that it would be best if he took time to regroup and focus on himself.

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L.A. OLYMPICS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: After Paris sold a record 12 million tickets for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, the group organizing the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is getting a head start on ticket sales.

General registration for 2028 Olympics tickets will open in January 2026, more than a full year ahead of the ticket timeline used during the Paris Games, LA28 announced on Wednesday. Tickets to the Paralympics — coming to L.A. for the first time — will go on sale in 2027.

Beginning next year, fans can register to enter the lottery for Olympics tickets at the organizing committee’s website la28.org. If selected in the random draw, fans will receive a purchase time and date for when ticket drops begin in spring 2026. Fans who are not selected for the first round of ticket drops will be automatically be entered into subsequent ones. LA28 officials plan to announce more information about the process later this year.

Single-event tickets will start at $28, with early access for locals around Olympic venue cities. In addition to major sports zones in Downtown L.A., Exposition Park, the Sepulveda Basin, Long Beach, Inglewood and Carson will host multiple Olympic events. L.A., Long Beach and Carson will host the majority of the Paralympic events.

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LAFC

Son Heung-min secured his first MLS hat trick on a sliding finish in the 82nd minute and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Salt Lake (10-15-4) has lost four of its last five matches.

Son, who joined LAFC (13-7-8) a month ago from the English Premier League, scored on a breakaway in the third minute for a 1-0 lead. He was left wide open in the middle of the field in the 16th and scored from distance to make it 2-0.

Son ran with Denis Bouanga from midfield on a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored an easy tap-in for a 3-1 advantage. Bouanga scored six minutes later on another breakaway to break a tie with league legend Carlos Vela for the most goals in club history with 94.

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LAFC summary

MLS standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1899 — The Cincinnati Open begins. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city and is now known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women’s Open.

1938 — The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0. Left end Dick Plasman tackles Arnie Herber in the end zone in the fourth quarter for the win.

1946 — Joe Louis knocks out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1960 — Goose Gonsoulin intercepts four passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1965 — In his first collegiate game, quarterback Billy Stevens of Texas-El Paso gains 483 total yards in a 61-15 rout of North Texas State. Receiver Chuck Hughes has 349 of those yards.

1966 — Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas throws 4 touchdown passes in 38-23 win at Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as NFL’s career leader with 212; finishes career with 290 TD passes.

1967 — U.S. yacht Intrepid beats the Australian yacht Dame Pattie in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1977 — U.S. yacht Courageous beats the challenger Australia in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1982 — In a rare father-son matchup, coach Jack Elway leads San Jose State to its second consecutive upset of quarterback John Elway and Stanford 35-31 in Palo Alto, Calif. John Elway completes 24-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, throws for 285 yards, three touchdowns and scores on a three-yard keeper for the win after a Cardinal fumble. Stanford reaches the Spartans’ 26-yard line, but Elway gets sacked on four consecutive plays to end the game.

2005 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre joins Dan Marino and John Elway with 50,000 yards passing and also breaks Elway’s single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left of a 26-24 loss to Cleveland at Lambeau Field.

2011 — At 16, Lexi Thompson becomes the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event. The 16-year-old Floridian closes with a 2-under 70 to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Thompson shatters the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.

2011 — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sets an NFL rookie record by throwing for 432 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Newton, who tied the record by throwing for 422 yards in last week’s loss at Arizona, completes 28 of 46 passes with one touchdown in the 30-23 loss to the Packers. Newton’s 854 yards passing is also the most yards for a player in his first two games.

2013 — American Jordan Burroughs earns another wrestling world title. Burroughs, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, extends his undefeated streak to 65 matches with a 4-0 victory over Iran’s Ezzatollah Akbarizarinkolaei in the 163-pound category at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

2016 — Detroit’s Anquan Boldin has a touchdown catch in the Lions’ 16-15 loss to Tennessee, to join Terrell Owens as the only players in NFL history to have at least 1,000 career receptions and a touchdown catch with four teams.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1903 — Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.

1908 — Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.

1930 — New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings.

1954 — The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.

1963 — The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds — 5-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.

1968 — Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals.

1980 — Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

1984 — Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

1985 — Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.

1987 — Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.

1996 — Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0.

2003 — Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.

2006 — The Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.

2011 — Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

2012 — Dusty Baker managed his 3,000th game, guiding the Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.

2020 — Garrett Crochet becomes the first player in over a decade to go straight to the majors when the #11 pick from the 2020 amateur draft makes his maiden appearance pitching in relief for the White Sox against the Reds. After working out at the Sox’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, IL since being signed, he impresses by striking two of three batter he faces and regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Sam Farmer: The Chargers are spiraling — in all the right ways.

From Sam Farmer: A laser to Keenan Allen in the back of the end zone. A pristine rainbow to Quentin Johnston way downfield.

Justin Herbert, spinning passes with mechanical precision, led his team to a 20-9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, directing the Chargers to a 2-0 record and a spot alone atop the AFC West.

The second half of a Monday night NFL doubleheader was a yardstick game for both teams — how good were they, truly, after their season-opening victories? — and the Raiders got a vigorous ruler-rap across the knuckles, losing to the Chargers for the fourth time in the last five meetings.

Herbert, ruthlessly effective in a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, picked apart the Las Vegas secondary with surgical skill and used his legs to pick up yardage when his receivers weren’t open. He was his team’s leading rusher.

After a one-for-five passing start, he completed his next 15 throws. That included a 60-yard touchdown to Johnston, who scored twice against the Chiefs and is redefining his onetime reputation for exasperating drops.

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Chargers box score

NFL standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Before the season, Rams coach Sean McVay spoke confidently about his team’s talent and depth.

That depth will get another early test.

Starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon was placed on injured reserve Monday after suffering a fractured clavicle during Sunday’s 33-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Witherspoon, 30, will be sidelined “probably 12 weeks,” McVay said during a videoconference with reporters.

Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. are expected to be the starters, with veteran Darious Williams in a rotational role, on Sunday when the Rams (2-0) play the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The Rams also will “bring somebody in,” McVay said.

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DODGERS

From Kevin Baxter: Philadelphia has already clinched a playoff berth. The Dodgers’ magic number for matching that is five after Monday’s 6–5 extra-inning loss to the Phillies.

So the chances are high the teams will meet again in the postseason, which makes this week’s series at Dodger Stadium a great opportunity to do a little scouting.

“We try to gather as much information as we can,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “They’re doing the same thing.”

That’s not the main objective, though. Because if the Dodgers are closing in on a playoff berth, they aren’t there yet. And they have even more work to do after Monday’s game, which ended with J.T. Realmuto’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly scoring ghost runner Harrison Bader with the winning run for Philadelphia.

“With where we’re at, I’m trying to win every game,” said manager Dave Roberts, whose team fought back from deficits three times before falling. “And where it falls out is where it falls out.”

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Will Shohei Ohtani boost the bullpen in the playoffs? Dodgers weigh complex options

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

BOXING

From Jad El Reda: Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez walked alongside his wife and one of his daughters to the makeshift stage in a giant tent a few feet from Allegiant Stadium, the venue where he had just lost for the third time in his professional career.

Visibly affected by more than just the marks left on his face, Álvarez acknowledged that Terence Crawford was superior to him. He made no excuses, but he seemed to be signaling that his body was telling him that his time as a boxer was running out.

During the final rounds, Álvarez’s frustration was evident. He lowered his hands, shook his head and on several occasions appeared resigned. Despite having had a great training camp, his 35 years of age, 20 of them as a professional, were evident.

Yes, Crawford is 37, but Álvarez completed 26 more fights than Crawford entering their bout Saturday night.

“Sometimes you try and your body just can’t take it anymore,” Álvarez said. “That’s my frustration. Maybe I can’t understand Crawford, but my body just can’t take it anymore. I tried, but it just wouldn’t let me continue. And you have to accept that.”

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1885 — The America’s Cup is successfully defended by U.S. yacht Puritan as it beats Britain’s Genesta in two heats.

1926 — Henri Cochet ends Bill Tilden’s six-year reign as the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association champion as he beats Tilden in the quarterfinals.

1927 — Rene Lacoste wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship, beating Bill Tilden in three sets.

1951 — Betsy Rawls wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf title by edging Louise Suggs.

1955 — The formation of the United States Auto Club is completed and will oversee four major categories of auto races.

1973 — O.J. Simpson rushes for 250 yards to lead the Buffalo Bills to a 31-13 victory over the New England Patriots.

1989 — No. 1 Notre Dame beats No. 2 Michigan 24-19 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Fighting Irish wide receiver Raghib Ismail steals the show by returning kickoffs 88 and 92 yards for touchdowns. It’s the second time Ismail has two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same game, accomplishing the feat against Rice in 1988.

2000 — Zippy Chippy, a 9-year-old gelding, finishes third in the eighth race at the Three-County Fair in Northampton, Mass., extending his record as the losingest horse in American thoroughbred history to 88 races.

2001 — Jason Bohn shoots a 13-under 58 at Huron Oaks Country Club to win the Canadian Tour’s Bayer Championship by two strokes and go one below the best round ever shot in PGA Tour-sanctioned competition.

2007 — Bengals QB Carson Palmer passes for six TDs and the Browns’ Derek Anderson has five in Cleveland’s 51-45 win over Cincinnati, making it just the third time in NFL history that two QBs threw five TD passes apiece in the same game.

2010 — The Seattle Storm complete their undefeated march through the postseason, beating the Atlanta Dream 87-84 for a three-game sweep in the WNBA finals.

2012 — Eli Manning completes 31 of 51 passes for 510 yards — the second-best passing day in team history — with three touchdown passes and three interceptions as the New York Giants rally for a 41-34 win over Tampa Bay.

2012 — NHL locks out its players after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.

2017 — In front of the largest crowd to attend a stand-alone MLS match, Josef Martinez gets his second hat trick in a row and his third of the season to help Atlanta United hold on for a 3-3 draw against Orlando City. Atlanta United sets the record with 70,425 on hand at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

2018 — Scott Dixon has a steady drive to win his fifth IndyCar championship with ease. Dixon, needing an uneventful finale at Sonoma Raceway, finishes second behind winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. His fifth title moves him into second in IndyCar history, two behind A.J. Foyt.

2018 — Patrick Mahomes is 23 for 28 for 326 yards and six touchdown passes in Kansas City’s 42-37 win over Pittsburgh. His 10 touchdown passes through two weeks are the most by a quarterback through two games in NFL history.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1914 — Roger Peckinpaugh, at 23, was hired to finish the season as manager of the New York Yankees.

1924 — Jim Bottomley went 6-for-6 and batted in a record 12 runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 17-3. His hits included two home runs.

1926 — The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 23-3 at the Baker Bowl. The Cardinals scored 12 runs in the third inning to set a franchise record.

1939 — The New York Yankees clinched their fourth successive pennant with a win over Detroit. It was the 11th pennant overall.

1957 — The Los Angeles City Council approved a 300-acre site in Chavez Ravine for a ballpark for the Dodgers. The club’s obligation was to finance a public recreation area.

1960 — Warren Spahn, 39, pitched a no-hitter and set an all-time Braves record with 15 strikeouts. Milwaukee beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.

1965 — Dave Morehead of the Boston Red Sox pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Morehead walked one batter and struck out.

1975 — The Pittsburgh Pirates routed the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field 22-0. It was the most one-sided shutout since 1900. Pittsburgh’s Rennie Stennett tied a major league mark established in 1892 going 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game. The Pirates’ second baseman got two hits in one inning twice (in the first and fifth innings.

1988 — Cincinnati’s Tom Browning pitched a perfect game as the Reds beat the Dodgers 1-0. Browning struck out eight and only eight balls were hit out of the infield.

1993 — Dave Winfield of the Minnesota Twins became the 19th player in major league history to get 3,000 hits. Winfield singled off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in a 5-1 win at home.

1996 — Minnesota’s Paul Molitor got his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 21st major leaguer to reach the mark, in a 6-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

1997 — Philadelphia’s Curt Schilling struck out nine in the Phillies win over the New York Mets to become the 13th pitcher since 1900 with 300 strikeouts in a season.

2000 — Chicago’s Sammy Sosa became the third player to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGwire. Sosa homered in the Cubs’ 7-6 loss to St. Louis, joining McGwire as the only players to hit 50 in three straight years.

2006 — Washington’s Alfonso Soriano became the fourth player in major league history to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season in an 8-4 win over Milwaukee. Soriano when he swiped second base, his 40th stolen base, to go along with 45 home runs.

2006 — Chone Figgins hit for the cycle in the Angels’ 12-6 loss to the Texas Rangers.

2007 — Jim Thome became the 23rd player — and third this season — to reach 500 home runs. The slugger hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning off reliever Dustin Moseley to give the Chicago White Sox a 9-7 victory over the Angels.

2014 — Jake Arrieta took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before giving up Brandon Phillips’ one-out double, the only blemish for the Chicago Cubs pitcher in a 7-0 win over Cincinnati. Arrieta struck out 13 and walked one in his first career complete game.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Years ago, when Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax were at the top of the Dodgers’ pitching rotation, Drysdale missed a game to attend to some personal business. Koufax pitched a no-hitter that day.

When told about the achievement, Drysdale had one question: “Did he win?”

That’s a fair question for the current Dodgers pitching staff as well. Because Monday, for the second time in three days, the Dodgers took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.

They lost the first one. And while they won the second, it wasn’t easy with the Colorado Rockies bringing the tying run to the plate three times before Tanner Scott got the last out to preserve a 3-1 win at Dodger Stadium.

The victory kept the Dodgers a game ahead of the San Diego Padres in the National League West with 18 games left in the regular season.

It was Tyler Glasnow who flirted with history Monday, pitching seven hitless innings before turning the game over to relievers Blake Treinen and Scott. On Saturday, a similar scenario unfolded when Yoshinobu Yamamoto came within an out of a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles before giving up a home run to Jackson Holliday.

He left at that point, only to see Treinen and Scott give up three more runs in a 4-3 Dodger loss.

So when Scott gave up a double to Ryan Ritter to start the ninth — ending the no-hitter and drawing boos from those who remained from the crowd of 48,433 — manager Dave Roberts said he hoped he wasn’t witnessing déjà vu all over again.

“I try to not think like that,” he said.

Given how the Dodgers bullpen has struggled recently, it was hard not to.

Scott, however, quickly settled down, retiring the next two batters on soft grounders before Hunter Goodman lined out to Max Muncy at third to end the game and give Glasnow (2-3) his first win since March.

It was a victory that was long overdue.

Glasnow pitched six no-hit innings his last time out only to wind up with the loss when the Dodgers (80-64) failed to score behind him. That’s become an all-too-common problem for Glasnow, who has the second-lowest ERA in the Dodgers rotation but has received the weakest support with an average of 3½ runs per start.

Mookie Betts hits a two-run single in the seventh inning during the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Rockies on Monday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers’ hitters didn’t even match that modest number Monday. But when Mookie Betts delivered a two-run single in the seventh, breaking a 1-1 tie, it left Glasnow in position for the win.

“It’s always good to score runs,” he said with a smile.

Smiles have been hard to come by after Glasnow’s starts. In only three of his 15 starts have the Dodgers trailed by more than a run when he has exited the game. Yet in five of those starts, the Dodgers didn’t even score a run behind him, which explains why he went more than 160 days between wins.

“It is what it is,” he shrugged. “But yeah, they put some at bats together, and we ended up winning.”

Glasnow, who was held out of his last scheduled start with a sore back, was pitching for the first time in 10 days and was strong from the start, striking out the side in the first — although he needed 18 pitches to do it. He fanned the side again in the sixth, but in between he gave up a second-inning run on Jordan Beck’s leadoff walk, a stolen base and two long outs, the second Kyle Farmer’s sacrifice fly to the left-field wall.

What he didn’t give up was a hit. Glasnow said he was aware he had a no-hitter as the game progressed, but he also knew he probably wouldn’t be allowed to finish it.

“My pitch count was pretty high,” said the right-hander, who finished with a season-high 105, striking out 11 and walking two. “I don’t know how many pitches I was going to be allowed to throw.”

Also working against him were his two stints on the injured list this season and his recent back issues.

“Obviously I want to stay in, no matter what my pitch count is,” he said. “[But] given my, like, track record, I kind of understand why. I respect the decision.”

For five innings, Colorado starter Chase Dollander, who came in 2-12 with a 6.77 ERA, nearly matched Glasnow. The Dodgers didn’t get their first baserunner until the third inning and didn’t have a hit until the fifth, when Michael Conforto led off with a single to left.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow delivers in the fifth inning Monday against the Rockies.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Dollander faced just three batters over the minimum before leaving with an apparent injury after walking Ben Rortvedt to start the sixth. Reliever Juan Mejia walked the first batter he faced and an out later Freddie Freeman bounced a high-hopper over Farmer and down the right-field line for a tying double.

An inning later the Dodgers scored two more off Angel Chivilli (1-5) to go in front. With two out and a runner on first, Shohei Ohtani doubled to right to bring Betts to the plate. After falling behind 0-2, he picked out a belt-high slider and drove it into the center to break the tie.

With the Dodgers safely in front and Glasnow out of the game, the drama turned to the no-hitter. There have been 22 combined no-hitters in major league history, with the last one by the Dodgers coming against the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2018.

That appeared in reach when Treinen breezed through the eighth. But Ritter, the Rockies’ No. 9 hitter, one-hopped the wall in left on Scott’s second pitch of the ninth. The ball appeared catchable off the bat, but Alex Call, inserted for defensive purposes, turned the wrong way, costing him any chance to make a play.

Scott retired the side on two ground outs and a liner to Muncy before celebrating with Rortvedt, who was called up from the minors Thursday and has come within four outs of catching two no-hitters in his first three starts.

“It’s not me, it’s these guys,” he said. “I’m doing my homework as much as I can, trying to be prepared. The pitchers are prepared. It’s just the fruit of that labor at that point.

“It’s not easy. They’re making it look easy.”

PITTSBURGH — It was not quite a benching. But it served as a reminder nonetheless.

Last year, in many ways, Teoscar Hernández was the heart and soul of the Dodgers. Not their best player. Nor their biggest star. But someone who provided effervescent vibes in the clubhouse, veteran leadership in the dugout and clutch hits in several of the season’s biggest moments at the plate.

“Teo is a guy that we counted on a lot last year,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a guy that I really admire, because he can balance the fun part of baseball but also have that edge.”

This year, however, frustration has doused much of the fun. Struggles have dulled his usual edge.

Between injuries, slumps, defensive miscues and mechanical swing flaws, Hernández has endured one of his worst career seasons. He is batting just .247, his lowest since 2019. He has a .734 OPS, the lowest of his career and just a smidge above league-average. His limited range in right field has led to a flurry of dropped balls and some of the poorest defensive metrics of any big leaguer at the position. And going back to the last week of June, no other Dodger player (not even Michael Conforto) has been worth fewer wins above replacement than Hernández’s negative-0.5 mark, according to Fangraphs.

“For me, not being the same as last year is a little frustrating,” Hernández said. “I don’t want to be like that. I want to be better than last year. But it’s baseball. It’s life. You just have to keep working, keep trusting in yourself and the things that you can do to help the team.”

Last weekend, however, Roberts had a different idea. In the midst of Hernández’s latest cold spell, the outfielder was unexpectedly benched for Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“He’s an every-day guy,” Roberts said that day. “But I do think that where we’re at, you’ve got to perform, too, to warrant being out there every single day.”

The move wasn’t punitive, with Roberts also accounting for Monday’s off day in hopes “a two-day reset could help” the two-time All-Star.

But still, with the stretch run of the season nearing, the manager was dropping a hint to his star slugger as well.

“I think we’ve lost a little bit of that edge over the last couple months,” Roberts said Tuesday of Hernández, having had “numerous conversations” to communicate the same message with him personally.

“For me, I want to see that edge, that fight, that fire, and I’ll bet on any result. I just want to see that. We’re past the mechanical part of [his struggles with his swing]. Let’s just get into the fight. I’ve seen it. And I believe that’s what’s to come in the next month and beyond.”

This is not the position the Dodgers expected to be in when they re-signed Hernández to a three-year, $66 million contract this offseason — a move Roberts described as a “no-brainer” at the time after pushing for the front office to bring the free-agent back to Los Angeles.

He trusted Hernández’s bat, which mashed 33 home runs and 99 RBIs in his debut Dodgers season in 2024. He appreciated Hernández’s heartbeat, and how he delivered one of the season’s biggest swings in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series.

In bringing Hernández back, the Dodgers hoped that his mere presence would elevate the rest of the roster for this year’s championship defense.

“He knows his value for our ballclub,” Roberts said. “He knows my expectations of him individually.”

Only, to this point, Hernández has struggled to replicate that same intangible magic.

After a blistering start to the season (.315 average, nine home runs, and an MLB-most 34 RBIs through his first 33 games), the outfielder suffered a groin/adductor strain while stretching for a line drive in Miami, landing him on the injured list for two weeks. When he returned, he looked far from 100%, struggling to rediscover his swing or cover much ground in right. Before long, a slump took hold. And as it stretched on through the summer — compounded by foot contusion on a foul ball he suffered in July — frustration began to mount.

“It’s tough when you feel good and then something happens and you have to miss … whatever the amount of games might be,” Hernández said. “It was one of those for me this year. I got injured, then I came back. I fouled it off my foot and then missed games [again].”

He later added: “For me, being hurt is more frustrating than having a bad year. I’d rather be on the field having a bad year, than not being on the field and just fighting back and forth.”

Staying on the field, of course, hasn’t alleviated Hernández’s problems. After the All-Star break, he said his body finally started feeling better. On Tuesday, he proclaimed his groin and foot to be back to full health.

And yet, over his previous eight games, he had batted only three-for-27 leading up to Sunday’s removal from the lineup. Worse than that, he had fallen back into a habit of chasing too much, leading to non-competitive at-bats at a time Roberts had been trying to emphasize the opposite.

“[I want to see] Teo getting back to having that edge,” Roberts reiterated.

In Hernández’s return to the lineup Tuesday, some positive signs finally presented themselves. He fought off a pair of two-strike pitches before lining a second-inning single. He did the same thing in the third inning to drive in a run. Defensively, there was another awkward moment, when Hernández failed to make a sliding catch on a shallow fly ball down the right-field line in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ four-run first inning. But even on that play, Roberts argued postgame, Hernández got a good jump and covered a lot of ground — breaking into the kind of hard-charging sprint that hadn’t always been there earlier this season.

“If I see a good jump getting off the ball, good effort, I’ve got no problem with it,” Roberts said.

Really, that’s all Roberts is hoping for from Hernández moving forward now.

To have the kind of consistent intensity level that has wavered at times this season. To rekindle that balance of having fun and playing with an edge down the stretch run of the season.

“We’re going to see that,” Roberts said. “I have no doubt.”

“You just leave everything on the field,” Hernández echoed. “I’m going to keep working, keep doing my routine, keep doing the stuff that I normally do to get back on track. And hopefully I get the results that I want to help the team.”

Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber hit four home runs Thursday night against Atlanta to become the fourth Phillies player and 21st major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

Schwarber was four for six with a franchise record nine RBIs in the 19-4 victory. He broke a tie with Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani for the National League homer lead with 49 and moved within one of Seattle’s Cal Raleigh for the major league lead. Schwarber leads the majors with 119 RBIs.

Mike Schmidt was the last Philadelphia player to hit four homers in a game, doing so against the Chicago Cubs in April 1976. Schwarber had the third four-homer game of the season, following Eugenio Suárez and Nick Kurtz.

Kyle Schwarber high-five teammates after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning Thursday.

(Matt Slocum / Associated Press)

The Philadelphia star started the power surge with a solo shot in the first off Cal Quantrill, sending a 2-1 curveball into the seats in right field. Scharber hit a flyout to center in the second.

After Quantrill was lifted with one out and a runner on base in the fourth, Schwarber greeted lefty Austin Cox by sending a 3-2 curveball over the wall in right for his fourth multi-homer game of the season.

With “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants ringing down from Phillies fans in the fifth, Schwarber launched a three-run, opposite-field drive off Cox to put Philadelphia ahead 15-3. In the eighth, Schwarber hit a three-run shot to right off Wander Suero to make it 18-4.

Schwarber popped out in the eighth.

SAN DIEGO — When he was finished rounding the bases at Petco Park on Sunday, Shohei Ohtani made a detour on his return to the Dodgers’ bench.

Seated by the visiting dugout was a fan in a San Diego Padres cap and brown Fernando Tatis Jr. jersey. The spectator had spent most of the afternoon reminding Ohtani of how much he’d stunk in the three-game series.

Ohtani initiated a high-five with his tormentor, who playfully bowed in deference.

Manager Dave Roberts howled with delight. Teoscar Hernández showered Ohtani with sunflower seeds.

These were like scenes from the good old days, the Dodgers hitting bombs and laughing as they celebrated.

But was this a mirage?

Even after avoiding a sweep by the Padres with an 8-2 victory, even after moving back into a tie with them for the lead in the National League West, the Dodgers continued to be an enigma.

Who were they? The team that trampled the Padres in the series finale? Or the team that rolled over in the two previous games of the series?

“They’re gettable,” said a scout from a rival NL team who was in attendance.

The kind of game the Dodgers played on Sunday, however, prompted the same scout to attach this qualifier: They can’t be counted out.

One of baseball’s worst offensive teams over the last two months, the Dodgers blasted four home runs, including two by Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers claimed the lead on a three-run blast in the seventh inning by Dalton Rushing.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto did his part on the mound, picking up his 11th win by limiting the Padres to two runs over six innings.

The Dodgers have 31 games remaining in the regular season and they expect a number of their injured players to return over that period. The form they take will dramatically affect their chances in October.

Freddie Freeman, right, celebrates with Mookie Betts after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Padres on Sunday.

(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)

Winning their division could position them to secure a top-two seed in the NL, which would grant them a first-round bye. Failing to do so would subject them to a dangerous best-of-three wild-card series.

Because of the alarming number of injuries they have sustained this season, the Dodgers have already cycled through a variety of identities, from a team without starting pitching to a team without a reliable bullpen to, most recently, a team without a consistent offense.

In their previous two games, the Dodgers scored a combined two runs, leading Roberts and some players to question the team’s collective approach at the plate.

Just a week earlier, the division race looked as if it could be over. The Padres entered a three-game series at Dodger Stadium as the hottest team this side of Milwaukee. The Padres had bolstered their lineup, rotation and top-ranked bullpen at the trade deadline while the Dodgers did almost nothing.

The Dodgers still swept them.

But their inconsistency on offense kept them from protecting the two-game lead they’d built. They inexplicably dropped two of four games against the last-place Colorado Rockies. By Saturday, after their second loss to the Padres in as many days, they were in second place.

Just as the Dodgers looked as if they could be written off, just as they looked as if they could relinquish control of the division to the Padres, they responded with a performance worthy of their $320-million payroll.

“Today was a game we couldn’t drop no matter what,” Yamamoto said in Japanese, “so I went into the game with more focus than usual.”

The hitters also went into the game with a heightened focus, resulting in more extended at-bats that gradually wore down the Padres’ pitchers. The Dodgers scored seven of their runs in the last four innings.

The Dodgers don’t play the Padres again this season but Freeman said his team should be more concerned about their improvement rather than what its division rivals do.

Asked when he would start to scoreboard watch, Freeman replied, “Maybe in mid-September.”

Reminded only 31 games remain in the regular season, Freeman replied, “It is a sprint. I’ll be honest with you there. It’s a sprint now. You can’t worry about other teams if, like the last couple games, we don’t fix our offense, how our at-bats were going the last couple days. We fixed it today, we did better today. If you’re worrying about other things, that’s just not conducive, it’s not going to lead to quality things in the clubhouse. So maybe mid-September. When I turn 36, we’ll start scoreboard watching, all right?”

Freeman’s birthday is on Sept. 12. Will the Dodgers know who they are by then?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SAN DIEGO — The home team was one strike from victory Friday night, when the Petco Park video board suddenly erupted in hues of pink and mint, flashing the preferred accompaniment to any game against the Dodgers: BEAT LA.

Then came the 102-mph fastball, then a swing and a miss, and the San Diego Padres had indeed beaten the Dodgers.

For Dodgers fans who thought the National League West had been won last weekend at Dodger Stadium, this just in from San Diego: The NL West is tied.

These were words in this publication just five days ago: “The Dodgers now lead the National League West by two games, but it feels like 20.”

The Dodgers had just swept the Padres, their only competition for the division title. The Dodgers were 8-2 against the Padres this season. There was a blue wave of emotion. The thing that happened last is the thing you remember best.

“It’s natural,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s the great thing about fandom. People get excited. That’s a great thing about sports.”

The feeling in the clubhouse last weekend?

“In here? We played a great series, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to play,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t going to be won or lost then, and it’s not going to be won or lost this weekend.”

The trouble is not with the emotion. The trouble is with the schedule.

The number of games left after this weekend: 31. The number of Dodgers-Padres games left after this weekend: 0.

This is baseball’s best rivalry, with a division title and potential first-round playoff bye on the line. The Dodgers and Padres should be facing each other to wrap up the season, with all that emotion bursting forth.

Instead, the Dodgers finish the regular season against another traditional rival, the (checks notes) Seattle Mariners.

There has been plenty of emotion among the Dodgers and Padres fan bases already this year, mostly in the form of angst.

The Dodgers won the winter, and Padres fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.

The Padres won the trade deadline, and Dodgers fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.

For the Dodgers, the cliche is about to be put to a real-life test: Getting a player off the injured list is just like getting a player in a trade.

Reliever Tanner Scott was activated Friday. Reliever Kirby Yates could be activated as soon as Saturday.

Infielder/outfielder Kiké Hernández could be activated next week, followed in some order by relievers Michael Kopech and Brock Stewart, infielder/outfielder Hyeseong Kim, infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman and third baseman Max Muncy.

On Friday, infielder Alex Freeland hit his first major league home run, but infielder Buddy Kennedy (.287 OPS) went hitless, and the Dodgers burned their backup catcher to bat for him. They trusted outfielder Justin Dean to pinch-run and play center field, but not to bat.

Alex Freeland celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of a 2-1 loss to the Padres on Friday.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

“This is our club right now,” Roberts said. “We have guys coming back.”

On a hot August night, Petco Park was its usual lively self, with its usual sellout crowd, with Dodgers fans drowning out chants of “Let’s Go Padres” and Padres fans returning the favor at the sound of “Let’s Go Dodgers.”

Amid intensity fit for October, the Dodgers and Padres each let a strong starting pitcher — Blake Snell for L.A., Yu Darvish for San Diego — continue rather than reflexively remove him for the third time through the lineup.

How do you win in October, with pitchers like Snell and Darvish lined up?

Is it with the home run?

Only one major league team has more home runs than the Dodgers. The Dodgers scored their only run Friday on a home run.

Is it with small ball?

Only one major league team has fewer home runs than the Padres. The Padres scored both their runs in one inning Friday, with a rally that included three singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly.

The Padres dropped three sacrifice bunts Friday. They have 40 this season, the most in the majors. The Dodgers have eight, the fewest of any NL team.

Before the game, I spoke with Mason Miller, the former Athletics All-Star closer turned Padres eighth-inning setup man. To this point in his career, Miller said, the biggest game of his career has been closing the A’s final game in Oakland last September.

“I think I said it after that game: until I play in the playoffs, that will probably be my all-time baseball memory,” Miller said. “Now it doesn’t seem like I’ll have to wait that much longer to get that playoff taste.”

Not much longer at all. As of Friday morning, Baseball Prospectus put the Dodgers’ chance of making the playoffs at 99.8% and the Padres’ chance at 99.6%.

Maybe this weekend won’t mark the last Dodgers-Padres game this season. What we really want is the first NL Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Padres, with the winner advancing to the World Series: SoCal vs. the World.

When will the Dodgers’ hierarchy finally come to the same conclusion as everyone else in Dodger nation? Teoscar Hernández is a hack in right field, Michael Conforto needs a one-way ticket to the waiver wire and the Dodgers are a better team with Mookie Betts in right field.

Ron Yukelson
San Luis Obispo

Everyone is blaming Teoscar Hernández for the Monday night loss to the Rockies. It’s not Teoscar’s fault. A manager’s job is to put his players in the best position to perform at their best, Teoscar is not a right fielder, he’s better in left field. Everyone thinks that these are professional players and they should be able to play any position. Yeah, they can play any position, but it may not be their best performance. Quit juggling the players around and put them where they will perform at their best.

Paul Kawaguchi
Rosemead

Teoscar Hernández was singled out for criticism over his poor defense in a game the Dodgers lost to the Rockies. Yes, he didn’t do well in that game, but he has been very productive with his bat, with 74 RBIs and 20 home runs. Instead of making him the scapegoat for losing a game, why not point out the often awful bullpen performances. We are ahead in a game, then the relievers come in and blow the lead. They do this far more than Teoscar commits errors.

Deborah R. Ishida
Beverly Hills

If the Dodgers crashed the Little League World Series, no one would blink. Like the kids, their leather is leaky, their arms are toast, their best hitter is their best pitcher, their silly celebrations are pure playground — shimmy shakes and sunflower seed showers. What’s missing? A team mom and the minivan for postgame DQ runs.

Steve Ross
Carmel

I think the heat is getting to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Not only was Michael Conforto in the lineup on Thursday with his .190 batting average but he was batting cleanup with his nine home runs and 27 RBIs while Andy Pages was further down the batting order. Since Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup, I was shocked that the Dodgers scored nine runs.

Jeff Hershow
Woodland Hills