quality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ian Happ, left, Seiya Suzuki, middle, and Pete Crow-Armstrong run after beating the Dodgers.

(Melissa Tamez / AP)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With the World Cup final less than 24 hours away, an unlikely factor is grabbing the attention of organisers, fans and players alike.

The lingering smoke from the Canadian wildfires sparked earlier this week has engulfed the northeastern region of the United States, raising questions about its impact on the Spain vs Argentina final in New Jersey on Sunday.

A visible haze hung over the twin World Cup host states of New York and New Jersey on Saturday, with inclement weather causing disruptions.

At one point on Friday, New York rated as the city with the worst air quality in the world.

The World Cup final between the European champions and current title holders kicks off at 3pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Here’s what we know about the smoke, weather and World Cup final:

Is there a haze in New York and New Jersey before the World Cup final?

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is hanging over the region, reducing visibility and affecting air quality in most northeastern US states.

Warnings of unhealthy air quality remained in effect across a wide area of the US east coast on Saturday.

However, experts predict conditions will improve for the big showdown in New Jersey tomorrow.

The air quality index forecast shows an improvement from unhealthy air to “moderate” air quality for sensitive groups from Saturday to Sunday in East Rutherford, which means little to no health risk for the general public on the day of the final.

How is the weather and what’s the forecast in New Jersey before the Spain vs Argentina final?

A thunderstorm passed through the area on Saturday afternoon, causing heavy rain and loud thunder at the New York New Jersey Stadium, renamed from MetLife Stadium.

State police urged people to leave the stadium seating bowl and field and take shelter. Volunteers and staff dashed inside for cover as ponchos were handed out. The sky was the same thick, soupy grey it had been for days.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill warned residents about the potential for damaging winds, tornadoes, flash flooding and large hailstones.

FIFA said it was in close contact with local authorities as it continues to monitor the impacts from the wildfire smoke and the storms on the stadium conditions for the final.

Have the weather and smoke disrupted preparations for Spain or Argentina?

Spain’s last training session ahead of the final at a nearby Melanie Lane Training Ground was suspended because of storms and lightning in the area.

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) said that was in accordance with US storm safety protocol.

“The players are currently taking part in a warm-up session indoors,” RFEF added.

FIFA said that there would not be another time slot for the team to train.

Argentina had an outdoor training session at their scheduled time of 1:30pm (17:30 GMT), with players showing no concerns about air quality or the weather.

Will the wildfire smoke affect the World Cup final?

The haze will mostly clear from New Jersey just in time for the final, thanks to thunderstorms passing through the area, meteorologists say.

“This storm front will largely move the smoke out of the northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina,” said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at online weather service AccuWeather.

“There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” Roys said. “In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the northeast.”

Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist at WFLA-TV, echoed the forecast, saying the storm front would “sweep the atmosphere clean”, leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air.

“It won’t be dangerous anymore,” Berardelli said. “It’s going to be dramatically better.”

Temperatures are forecast to be around 27C (80F) with light breezes and low humidity for kick off.

“You couldn’t have asked for much better weather for the World Cup,” Berardelli added.

Both experts expect the heavier smoke on Sunday to be concentrated closer to the fires, hanging over parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes region.

Berardelli said they are burning longer and faster because of climate change.

Officials in New York and New Jersey have issued an air quality health alert because of wildfire smoke just days before the World Cup final.

Haze caused by Canadian wildfires has blanketed the New York region, prompting officials to urge residents to reduce outdoor exertion and stay indoors if possible.

New York New Jersey Stadium – which is in East Rutherford, New Jersey – will host the final between Spain and Argentina on Sunday, 19 July (20:00 BST).

Conditions deteriorated just before Spain landed in New Jersey on Wednesday night, a day after their semi-final victory over France in Texas.

Spain spent Thursday training outdoors, looking unaffected by the air quality. They have not commented on whether they are concerned.

Argentina, meanwhile, stayed in Georgia after their semi-final win over England, but will begin training in New Jersey on Friday afternoon.

Contractor Dan Edgar said his daughter Kaitlynn was practising at New York New Jersey Stadium on Thursday, where she will be dancing and performing for the final.

“She’s texting me that it’s bad out there,” he said. “It’s hard to dance, she says you can feel the air, it’s heavy.”

The smoke-filled sky and extremely hot temperatures have already been experienced by some footballers. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) went ahead with a match between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit on Wednesday night in front of a record crowd at Citi Field in Queens despite the orange haze.

The air quality index meant players were mandated to take two breaks per half according to NWSL policy.

Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman said after the match that the air quality was rough, and in her opinion, they shouldn’t have played.

Rodman said: “Not to make excuses at all, but I think on both sides we were all like, ‘another break, another break, another break’.”

New Yorkers are relieved conditions are not as intense as they were in June 2023, when the skies turned completely orange because of Canadian wildfires.

New York New Jersey Stadium is an open-air facility, but at the moment there is no suggestion the World Cup final, with more than 80,000 spectators and a star-studded half-time show, will be affected.

The air quality in the area is expected to improve on Friday while forecast rain on Saturday should further help disperse some of the smoke.

On Thursday, the Major League Soccer match between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps was postponed because of poor air quality conditions in the Chicago area.

Former Bayern Munich and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was set to make his debut for Chicago having joined as a free agent last month.

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic heads to the locker room at halftime during the loss to Belgium.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

More Americans are playing for bigger clubs and having more success in Europe than ever before, but that pipeline has yet to produce a true superstar. Many of the teams that have had success in this tournament have at least one player — Mbappé, Haaland, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane — who can change the game on their own.

The U.S. doesn’t have anyone who would be sure to start on any of the World Cup semifinalists and until it does, closing the gap will be difficult.

“We are USA and [we’re] competing against Belgium, Portugal,” Pochettino said last March. “I think for sure Belgium and Portugal have [players] in the top 100. We don’t.”

He is right. When the Guardian published its annual list of the world’s top players last winter, Christian Pulisic, the top American, didn’t make the top 100. And he didn’t play a full game in this tournament, missing one to injury, leaving three early and entering another as a late second-half substitute. He played just 223 minutes — 19 more than Ricardo Pepi — and finished with one assist.

Landon Donovan was arguably the closest thing to a game-changing player the U.S. had, so it’s no surprise he scored key goals in the team’s most important World Cup games in the last 32 years: one against Algeria in stoppage time in 2010 that allowed the Americans to finish atop their group for the first time since 1930, and another against Mexico in the round of 16 in 2002, sending the team to the quarterfinals for the only time.

If those are structural things that have long held U.S. Soccer back, there also were issues specific to this team, a supposed Golden Generation whose core was formed in the wake of the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

The talent was undeniable, which led to great expectations. But what has this generation accomplished? Two round-of-16 exits in the World Cup, one Gold Cup title in the last four tournaments — the team’s worst stretch this century — a fourth-place finish in the last Nations League and a group-stage departure in the last Copa América.

Impressive wins over Paraguay and Australia to start the World Cup gave the Golden Generation a bit of a shine and suggested progress. But when the Americans met a top-10 team in Belgium, the matchup proved a mismatch.

“We want to have higher hopes,” Pulisic said. “We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world. We just still have that next step to climb.”

Against Belgium, that step looked as steep as Mt. Everest.

BBC Sport World Cup pundits Micah Richards and Wayne Rooney believe Thomas Tuchel should have included more full-back cover in the squad, following the withdrawal of Tino Livramento and injury concerns for Reece James, and now Jarrell Quansah.

MATCH REPORT: England 2-0 Panama – Group L

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Los Angeles is the best food city in the United States. When considering breadth and scope, quality of ingredients and cooking, diversity and innovation, and sheer volume, it just can’t be beat. There’s no beginning and no end to its wonders.

But it’s more than that. Although our city can feel chronically fractured, our foods and restaurants may be the only possible glue that binds us. So we asked our Food writers, what are the local dining experiences that define living in our city?

This is our answer. The following are not the definitive “best” restaurants or meals in L.A. — we have a proper critics’ list for that each year. Instead, these experiences are the foundation for understanding what it means to love L.A. through its foods.

Tell us if you disagree, or if there’s anything you think we missed. Whether you’re a hard-boiled native or a first-time visitor with a big appetite, we’re confident that any combination of these 50 dining experiences will make your heart sing with love for L.A.’s invincible food scene. — Daniel Hernandez

A flight attendant has said men need to possess a specific quality to be able to date them. According to Yasmeen Golden, dating cabin crew isn’t for the fainthearted

When we travel, we often come across flight attendants, and sometimes they apparently use clever code words to tell you they fancy you. However, according to a woman known as Yasmeen Golden, things can get a little bit more complicated when it comes to dating cabin crew.

The flight attendant, who posts videos about her life on TikTok, said men actually need to possess a specific quality to be able to date people who work in air travel. Yasmeen claimed dating someone like her “isn’t for the weak”, as there are some things prospective partners need to come to terms with if they really want a relationship.

It’s not the only revelation a flight attendant has revealed recently either. Just weeks ago, another confessed the real reason they greet passengers on planes.

In the clip, Yasmeen admitted it’s not unusual for flight attendants to “break up” with their boyfriends. She explained: “Initially, to a guy who might think he’s secure, becoming a flight attendant sounds like a good deal.

“It sounds like, you know, ‘I’m never going to pay for flights again, you’re going to have flight benefits, we’re going to be able to see the world together’ etc etc.

“As glamorous as it seems from the outside, being able to obtain this job and go through the training to get this job and going through probation to get this job, will show you whether this relationship can stand the test of time or not. It is so common that people who become flight attendants, go through flight attendant training and make it out of flight attendant training, come out of flight attendant training single.

“It doesn’t matter how long the relationship was before. Men think this sounds like a good idea until they think about the fact that their woman is going to be on a layover multiple times a week without them and, for some reason, there is this pre-conceived notion that all flight attendants are cheaters.

“So they think, ‘you’re going to enter a field where every single night you’re going to be in a new city, and you’re going to find somebody else and cheat and I’m not going to stick around and let you do that to me’, which is always really funny coming from the man who acted like they wanted you to do the job so that they can travel the world with you and use the benefits.”

Warning: Below video may contain language some find offensive

Of course, Yasmeen said this idea is “dead wrong”, especially as flight attendants get so tired after a day at work. Most tend to spend their downtime sleeping, according to her.

She said this is why men have to be secure enough to accept her dream if they want to be in a relationship with a flight attendant, otherwise she fears things just won’t last. She also noted having space can be “healthy”, so they shouldn’t worry about being apart for days at a time.

Yasmeen added: “And then I think men realise that they don’t really have it in them to be with the woman who has the power to be in any country, in any state that they want to any time. It’s not for every man, you know?

“All in all, being with a flight attendant will show you if you’re really as secure as you thought you were. If you’re not, you’ll get kicked out of the relationship before the good job even starts.”

The video has been viewed thousands of times since she shared it and people were quick to comment too. They offered all sorts of ideas.

One commented, stating: “Dated for eight years and the night before my final exam he said ‘it’s either me or this job’. Left him right then, passed my exam with flying colours and now me and my best friend travel the world together! Thanks boo.”

Another added: “Love being a flight attendant, but finding that sweet spot between always wanting to be somewhere new, but also spending quality time at home/maintaining all kinds of relationships is definitely challenging at times. 100% worth it though and has taken some practice finding what works!!”

A third replied: “Yeah, my boyfriend is really secure. He does not care about the benefits nor is worried about what I’m doing. It’s a blessing.”

Meanwhile, a fourth also wrote: “Starting out it’s going to be tough. But, as seniority builds, that pay goes up and so do the days off. This job truly exposes who is in your life for the long run and who is temporary.”