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The Sports Report: Dalton Rushing snaps out slump, helps Dodgers win

Dalton Rushing snaps nine-game hitless streak

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing fought to end his skid.

He held up on a curveball from Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola that clipped the bottom of the strike zone. He fouled off a changeup. And he stayed disciplined as Nola tried to get him to chase a fastball up and two breaking balls in the dirt.

In a full count, Rushing fouled off another changeup. And then, finally, Nola made a mistake.

Rushing hammered the grooved fastball to left-center field, just shy of the Citizens Bank Park concourse.

“It’s pretty obvious I’ve been fighting recently,” Rushing said after the game. “The more you try in this game to fight out of a hole, the deeper you dig yourself in a hole. So I think that’s what it’s been recently. And today it was, obviously, you get a good start to the day, and it’s kind of uphill. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was anything different. I just trusted myself today.”

It was the Dodgers’ first run during a 9-5 win and Rushing’s first hit in more than two weeks. Over the course of nine hitless games, he went 0-for-19.

Rushing has been the Dodgers’ starting catcher since early June, when Will Smith was first sidelined with a neck injury. And the Dodgers will continue to rely on him, with Smith out indefinitely.

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

MORE DODGERS:

‘It looked good.’ Dodgers encouraged by Shohei Ohtani bullpen session after knee injury

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Angels fall to Cards in series finale

Hunter Dobbins scattered six hits over six innings, JJ Wetherholt hit a home run in the sixth and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 1-0 victory over the Angels on Wednesday at Angel Stadium.

Dobbins, recalled from triple-A Memphis for Wednesday’s start, struck out five and walked none to help St. Louis snap a four-game losing streak and end the Angels’ three-game win streak.

Luis Gastelum threw a scoreless seventh, George Soriano had a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Riley O’Brien struck out Oswald Peraza with an 80-mph sweeper and Josh Lowe with a 98-mph sinker with two on in the ninth for his 26th save.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

New baseball team courts Asian fans in Irvine

From Bill Shaikin: Would he get his own song?

Lars Nootbaar grew up in Southern California, playing for USC and attending games at Dodger Stadium. His mother is from Japan, so he played with Shohei Ohtani on Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

In Japan, fans come up with a song for each player and sing it happily and relentlessly. Nootbaar played in the major leagues, not in the Japanese league, so he was not sure he would get a song until he came up to bat.

“I don’t know how everybody in the stadium knew how to do it,” the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said Wednesday at Angel Stadium. “Everybody was chanting it. It was pretty awesome.”

In Japan, baseball games are nine innings of songs and chants, drums and noise sticks. No excessively caffeinated in-game hosts. No scolding video commands to make some noise. The joyful sounds are organic, and they come from the fans.

Nootbaar attended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s last game in Japan and absolutely raved about the energy in the stadium. Does he believe that kind of fan experience would translate to an American ballpark?

“I don’t see why not,” Nootbaar said. “It would probably have to start small, but it would be cool to integrate that.”

We’re starting small, and soon. A minor league team plans to launch in Irvine next year, and the entrepreneur behind it is pitching it as a way to provide fans with a taste of Asian baseball.

“We’re going to really lean into some of the innovation in fan experience that you’ve seen in Korea and Japan,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners.

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Sparks fall to Mercury in final game before all-star break

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Sparks and Mercury teetered and tottered, but Phoenix pulled away late to hand Los Angeles an 86-82 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in the two teams’ final game before a much-needed All-Star break.

With the game tied at 60 entering the fourth quarter, Phoenix scored consecutive baskets and never relinquished its advantage. Forward Alyssa Thomas dominated with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists and three steals, while guard Kahleah Copper poured in 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting to lead the Mercury precisely as Sparks coach Lynne Roberts expected.

“Players like [Thomas] and [Copper] … can both take over games,” Roberts said before the game. “Last time we played them, Copper had 41 … she is an absolute talent. I think they run good stuff. I like what [Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts] does.”

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Sparks-Mercury box

WNBA standings

Son scores again in LAFC win over Real Salt Lake

Son Heung-min scored a goal for the second consecutive game, Denis Bouanga added a goal, and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Hugo Lloris, who leads MLS with nine shutouts this season, had six saves for LAFC (9-5-3).

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MLS standings

Galaxy fall to sizzling St. Louis City

Lukas MacNaughton and Marcel Hartel scored four minutes apart late in the first half to break open St. Louis City’s 3-1 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Simon Becher scored in the second half after Galaxy defender Emiro Garcés was sent off in the 49th minute with his second yellow card, and St. Louis cruised to its third straight win.

St. Louis, which is unbeaten in six straight since early May, also leapfrogged the Galaxy into the Western Conference’s playoff positions with this victory.

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This day in sports history

1907 — Australasia beats British Isles 3-2 to win the Davis Cup held at Wimbledon. Australasia wins its first David Cup and ends the four-year reign of the British Isles.

1921 — At the annual Harvard-Yale vs. Cambridge-Oxford meet at Harvard Stadium, Harvard’s Edward Gourdin becomes the first to long jump 25 feet. Harvard lists Gourdin’s jump as 25 feet, 3 inches, but the official listing in U.S. Track and Field is 25-2.

1960 — Betsy Rawls becomes the first woman to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title four times.

1966 — John Pennel pole vaults 17 feet, 6 1/4 inches for the world record in a meet at Los Angeles. It’s the eighth of nine world records he set in the event in his career and his first since 1963.

1976 — The last NFL All-Star game is held and is shortened when thunderstorms hit Chicago. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the All-Stars 24-0.

1978 — Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship for the second straight year.

1989 — Mark Calcavecchia wins the British Open, edging Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a three-man playoff. Calcavecchia, the first American to win the Open in five years, birdies three of the four holes in the playoff.

1989 — Greg Lemond wins his second Tour de France with the closest finish ever, edging Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. Lemond starts the day 50 seconds behind Fignon and wins the final stage, a 15-mile race against the clock from Versailles to Paris, in 26:57. Fignon finishes the stage 58 seconds slower.

1995 — John Daly wins the British Open at St. Andrews by four strokes in a four-hole playoff with Italy’s Costantino Rocca. Rocca forces the playoff by sinking a 65-foot putt on the 18th hole.

1995 — Miguel Indurain of Spain wins his record fifth consecutive Tour de France. Indurain joins Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as the other five-time winners.

2000 — Tiger Woods, at 24, becomes the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam with a record-breaking performance in the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Woods closes with a 3-under 69 for a 19-under 269 total, the lowest score in relation to par at a major championship.

2000 — 87th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified).

2006 — Tiger Woods, one month after missing the cut for the first time in a major, becomes the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.

2006 — Floyd Landis, pedaling with an injured hip, cruises to victory in the Tour de France, keeping cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitches the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay.

2012 — Penn State is all but leveled by penalties handed down by the NCAA for its handling of the allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA imposes an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award.

2017 — British cyclist Chris Froome wins his fourth Tour de France.

2019 — Nike’s Jordan Brand signs 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson to richest multiyear sponsorship deal for a rookie in history; estimated 7 years for $75 million.

2021 — The Opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games takes place after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 — The Cleveland Indians announce the team will be re-named the Guardians.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1925 — Lou Gehrig hit the first of his major league record 23 grand slam homers as the New York Yankees posted an 11-7 triumph over the Washington Senators.

1930 — Pie Traynor won both ends of a doubleheader for the Pittsburgh Pirates with home runs. In the first game, Traynor homered in the ninth and in the second game, he connected in the 13th.

1944 — Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the New York Giants. Nicholson hit a home run in the opener, which the Cubs won 7-4. He hit three straight in the second game, but the Giants won 12-10. In that game, Nicholson was walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

1955 — Bob Cerv and Elston Howard of the New York Yankess hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs to force extra innings against Kansas City. The Athletics won 8-7 in the 11th inning on Hector Lopez’s RBI-single. Trailing 7-5 entering the top of the ninth, Cerv batted for pitcher Tommy Byrne and homered of Alex Kellner. Tom Gorman replaced Kellner and Howard, hitting for Irv Noren, tied the game.

1964 — Bert Campaneris of Kansas City hit two home runs in his first major league game. He homered on the first pitch off Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and then connected again in the seventh to lift the Athletics to a 4-3 win.

1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.

1985 — Oddibe McDowell became the first player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

2000 — Ryan Klesko hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th to lift San Diego over Colorado 6-4.

2009 — Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson’s on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter — the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas.

2011 — The Red Sox extend Seattle’s losing streak to 14 games, tied for the longest in team history, with a 3 – 1 win at Fenway Park which is also Terry Francona’s 1000th as Sox manager. Josh Beckett is the winner.

2014 — Padres OF Cameron Maybin is handed a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines; he is the first major leaguer suspended for PED use this season.

2016 — Trevor Story hit two home runs to set an NL rookie record for shortstops and Colorado beat Atlanta 8-4. Story had four hits including his 25th and 26th homers to pass his mentor, Troy Tulowitzki, who had 24 for the Rockies in 2007. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox set the major league record for shortstops with 30 in 1997.

2020 — CommissionerRob Manfred springs a surprise on everyone as he announces a modified postseason format for this year only. There will be eight teams participating from each league: the two teams with the best records in each division, and the ones with the two next best records in the league. The teams will be seeded one to eight. The Wild Card Game will be replaced by a preliminary round with all teams participating, played in best-of-three format, with all games played in the better-ranked team’s ballpark.

2021 — Cleveland baseball team announced the team will be called the Guardians beginning in 2022.

2023 — In Cooperstown, NY, Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen are inducted into the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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The Sports Report: Justin Wrobleski leads Dodgers past Phillies

Dodgers beat the Phillies

From Maddie Lee: Left-hander Justin Wrobleski plans to give Clayton Kershaw a call.

Wrobleski has long spoken highly of Kershaw’s impact on him as a teammate. But as Wrobleski charts his way past his career high in innings at any level, he needs some extra advice from the three-time Cy Young winner.

“Trying to figure out how he did it for so long, throwing 200 a year,” Wrobleski said after holding the Phillies to one run through 6 ⅓ innings in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Tuesday. “This is something I’ve been thinking about the past couple days. … I think it’s something that could be helpful moving forward.

Wrobleski’s workload is something manager Dave Roberts is thinking about, too.

Every year, teams across Major League Baseball claim that they have their sights set on the World Series. But the Dodgers have made that pilgrimage through October so routine, and have leveraged their financial might to assemble such a deep roster, that the extra month of play weighs more heavily on their midseason decisions than it does for any other club.

Yes, the Dodgers want to claim the best regular-season record in the majors. But they also know how vital it is to peak in health and performance at the right time. Part of that puzzle is managing workload for young pitchers who are poised to be major postseason contributors.

“[Wrobleski’s] obviously a huge piece of what we’re doing and what we’re going to be doing,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ win.

The Dodgers pulled out the victory on a game-ending 5-2-6-4 double play when the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto was thrown out running back to second base — instead of staying on third — after Justin Crawford was caught in a rundown.

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ESPN six-episode podcast to examine Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal

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Angels extend win streak to three games

Walbert Ureña pitched six innings of one-run ball, Jorge Soler and Jo Adell each drove in two runs in a five-run first inning and the Angels extended their winning streak to three games with a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

The Angels banged out five of their 10 hits in the first inning. Soler hit a two-run double and Adell added a two-run homer for the Angels, who have their longest winning streak since a four-game run from June 9-13.

Ureña (6-7) allowed up six hits, struck out five and walked one while lowering his ERA to 2.78 for the season and 2.49 in 14 starts since May 1. Making his first start since the All-Star break, the rookie right-hander threw 16 pitches of 100 mph or more, including hitting a season-high 101.5-mph sinker to Jordan Walker, in the first. He had thrown 16 pitches of 100 mph or more — total — in 81 1/3 innings of his first 17 games.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Why are the Warriors on LeBron James’ list?

From Mirjam Swanson: Take all the time you want, LeBron. It’s your life.

Yes, it’s annoying to have to hear about it every day, but it’s your decision when to tell us where you’re going to play your 24th season of pro ball.

So, go ahead, keep NBA schedule-makers on pins and needles. Savor having workers at my local Trader Joe’s discussing your future on a Monday in the middle of July. Enjoy your twilight limelight.

But don’t tell us, on podcasts and in public appearances, that the factors you’re prioritizing are A) whether a team is built to win now; B) the proximity to your home in L.A.; and C) not money, but overall happiness — and then signal it might be the Golden State Warriors.

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MORE LAKERS:

Lakers release preseason schedule; opener is Oct. 5

World Cup: Messi returns to Argentina to recover

Lionel Messi arrived back in Argentina on Tuesday for a few days of rest following the World Cup final loss to Spain.

Messi’s private jet landed near his hometown of Rosario from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 6:27 a.m. Although many fans were waiting with signs and flags, he did not make a public appearance.

“The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal,” he posted on his Instagram account. “I cherish all the good moments, memories that will last forever — and the support of an entire nation which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, propelled us once again into the ranks of the world’s best.”

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Rodgers appears to have reconciled with family members

From Chuck Schilken: Aaron Rodgers recently shared photos of himself with his parents and one of his brothers on social media.

While that’s something that a lot of people do, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is a very private person who has never even posted a photo of his wife online.

Rodgers also has been estranged from his parents and brothers for quite some time now.

Those relationships appear to be on the mend, however, after the 22-year NFL veteran took to Instagram on Monday and posted several seemingly recent family pictures — including one of him with his arm around his father Ed, another with his arm around his mother Darla and others of him interacting with older brother Luke.

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This day in sports history

1921 — Jim Barnes wins the U.S. Men’s Open golf championship by edging Walter Hagen, Leo Diegel, Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod.

1962 — Gary Player of South Africa becomes the first non-resident of the United States to win the PGA championship.

1963 — Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in 2 minutes, 10 seconds of the first round to retain the world heavyweight title. Liston took the title from Patterson with a first-round knockout in Chicago on Sept. 25, 1962.

1973 — Sue Berning wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship for the third time with a five-stroke victory over Gloria Ahret.

1984 — Kathy Whitworth becomes the all-time winner in professional golf tournaments by winning the Rochester Open. Whitworth, with 85 career wins, passes Sam Snead’s total of 84 PGA tournament victories.

1984 — Seve Ballesteros wins the British Open with a four-round 276, breaking the course record set by Ken Nagle in 1960 by two strokes. Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer finish two strokes behind.

1990 — Nick Faldo wins his second British Open crown in four years, defeating Payne Stewart and Mark McNulty by five strokes.

1996 — Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey becomes first weightlifter in Olympic history to win three gold medals. Suleymanoglu wins the 141-pound division by hoisting 413¼ pounds.

1994 — Former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor O.J. Simpson pleads “Absolutely 100% Not Guilty” of murder.

1998 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee ends her brilliant heptathlon career with a victory at the Goodwill Games. It’s her fourth consecutive Goodwill title. Earlier, the 4×400-meter relay world record of 2:54.29, set by the 1993 U.S. World Championship team, comes crashing down. Michael Johnson, the anchor on that 1993 team, anchors this United States 4×400 team, which finishes in a 2 minutes, 54.20 seconds.

2001 — David Duval shoots a 4-under 67 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes to win the British Open title, his first major championship. He finishes at 10-under 274 for a three-stroke victory over Sweden’s Niclas Fasth.

2005 — Yelena Isinbayeva clears the 5-meter mark at the Crystal Palace Grand Prix in London for her latest world record. The Olympic champion easily clears 16 feet, 4¾ inches on her first attempt, barely nudging the bar.

2007 — Padraig Harrington survives a calamitous finish in regulation and a tense putt for bogey on the final hole of a playoff to win the British Open over Sergio Garcia.

2008 — Candace Parker scores 21 points and DeLisha Milton-Jones adds 19 before both are ejected after a scuffle in the final minute as the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Detroit Shock 84-81 at Auburn Hills, Mich. The WNBA game turns ugly in the final seconds as a collision between Parker and Detroit’s Plenette Pierson turns into a shoving match that has players and coaches from both teams leaving the bench.

2012 — Bradley Wiggins becomes the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France by protecting the yellow jersey during the final processional ride into Paris. Fellow Briton and Sky teammate Christopher Froome finishes second, 3 minutes, 21 seconds behind.

2012 — Ernie Els wins his fourth major championship in an astonishing finish, rallying to beat Adam Scott in the British Open when the Aussie bogeys the last four holes. Els, who starts the final round six shots behind, finishes off a flawless back nine with a 15-foot birdie putt for a 2-under 68. Scott was four shots ahead with four holes to play.

2018 — Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird plays in a record 500th WNBA game.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1905 — Weldon Henley of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a no-hitter, defeating the St. Louis Browns 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the highlight of Henley’s 4-11 season.

1906 — Bob Ewing pitched the Cincinnati Reds to a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies without a single assist by teammates.

1923 — Washington’s Walter Johnson struck out opposing pitcher Stan Coveleski for his 3,000th career strikeout. The Big Train, the first player in MLB history to reach 3,000 strikeouts, struck out five and allowed one run to give the Senators a 3-1 win over Cleveland.

1926 — Cincinnati had four triples in an 11-run second inning as the Reds beat the Boston Braves, 13-1. Curt Walker hit two in the inning to tie an NL record for most triples in an inning.

1932 — Philadelphia’s Mickey Cochrane hit for the cycle and drove in four runs to lead the Athletics to an 8-4 win over the Washington Senators.

1962 — Floyd Robinson of the Chicago White Sox had six singles in six at-bats in a 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

1964 — Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hit for the cycle, drove in three runs and scored four times in the Pirates’ 13-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.

1967 — The Atlanta Braves used a major league record five pitchers in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The pitchers were Ken Johnson, Ramon Hernandez, Claude Raymond, Dick Kelley and Cecil Upshaw.

1997 — Atlanta’s Greg Maddux turned in a masterful pitching performance, using 76 pitches in a complete game 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

2000 — Seattle’s 13-5 win over Texas was interrupted for 54 minutes when a rainstorm drenched fans at Safeco Field and the $517.6 million stadium’s roof wouldn’t close because of a computer problem. The roof finally began closing about 20 minutes later.

2006 — Alfonso Soriano had three doubles, a triple and scored two runs to lead Washington to a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

2012 — Seth Smith hit a tying homer in the ninth inning, Coco Crisp singled home the winning run in the 12th and the surging Oakland Athletics rallied from four runs down to stun the New York Yankees 5-4 and complete a four-game sweep. The Yankees had not been swept in a four-game series since May 2003 against Toronto.

2013 — Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, was suspended for the rest of the season and the postseason, the start of sanctions involving players reportedly tied to a Florida clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. The Milwaukee Brewers star accepted the 65-game ban, 15 games more than the one he avoided last year when an arbitrator overturned his positive test for elevated testosterone because the urine sample had been improperly handled.

2014 — The Minnesota Twins turn a triple play against the Yankees.

2022 — In their first game after the All-Star break, the Blue Jays set a team record for runs in a 28 – 5 beatdown of the Red Sox.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.



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The Sports Report: Dodgers fall to the Phillies

Dodgers lose to the Phillies

From Maddie Lee: Emmet Sheehan backpedaled down the mound, watching the ball fly just over the left-field wall.

His start Monday, much like his season, had its ups and downs. But just when it seemed he’d found a groove, he gave up a momentum-swinging solo home run to Philadelphia’s Brandon Marsh in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 10-7 loss to the Phillies.

It was Sheehan’s first start since the All-Star break, pushed back because of a rainout Saturday in New York. He gave up six runs in 5⅓ innings, raising concerns again over his inconsistency. While the Dodgers (63-38) weather the loss of Shohei Ohtani from the rotation, they need steadiness from the rest of their starters.

“Certainly, he’s getting a lot of opportunity,” manager Dave Roberts said of Sheehan. “It’s not the consistency that any of us like or want, Emmet included. Until there’s another alternative, we’re going to keep running him out there.”

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Shaikin: Why Dodgers aren’t panicking over their $60-million bet on Kyle Tucker

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Angels win in an interesting way

Vaughn Grissom drove in the tying run with a one-out double in the ninth inning and Jo Adell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Angels a 3-2 comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Nolan Schanuel, batting .367 since June 21, sparked the late rally with a one-out single off All-Star closer Riley O’Brien, who is tied for the National League lead with 25 saves.

Jorge Soler was hit by a pitch and Grissom sent a line drive off the right-field wall that eluded a leaping Jordan Walker. Pinch-runner Oswald Peraza scored from second base and pinch-runner Jose Siri reached third.

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Lakers sign Matisse Thybulle

From Broderick Turner: The Lakers have signed forward Matisse Thybulle to a one-year, $3.3-million contract, people familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times Monday.

Thybulle, who spent last season playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, made the NBA’s all-defensive team twice over his seven-year career. He is a defensive wing player that the Lakers sought to surround Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Thybulle averaged 5.8 points per game last season and shot 43.3% from the field, 39.8% from three-point range, in 30 games.

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World Cup: Team Argentina sullied its reputation

From Kevin Baxter: This summer’s World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things.

It was the first to be played in three countries, the first with 48 teams, and the overall attendance nearly doubled the previous record. Norway’s Erling Haaland and Cape Verde’s Vozinha were captivating while Egypt and Canada both won World Cup games for the first time, advancing to the round of 16.

And Spain, glorious Spain, gave up just one goal in eight games to dethrone the reigning champions and become the first nation in history to own both the men’s and women’s World Cup titles at the same time.

But the tournament will also be remembered for a classless and churlish Argentina, which forever stained itself with a thuggish performance in the game and an ungracious one afterward.

If La Albiceleste had simply kept its composure, it would have secured a place next to Brazil and Germany, the only other countries to reach three finals in four World Cups, as one of the greatest teams of all time. Instead, some of its players turned the postgame handshakes into a brawl, with Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes drawing a red card for grabbing Spain’s Eric Garcia by the throat and shoving him to the turf.

It was believed to be the only red card ever handed out after a World Cup final, and the ignominy it brought was well-deserved. But the childishness was just beginning. When Spain assembled on the podium to accept the World Cup trophy, which had been Argentina’s moments earlier, the South Americans turned their backs.

More than an hour later Lionel Messi, who has cemented his stature as the greatest player in World Cup history, soiled that status by leading the players out of the locker room and through a back exit to the team bus, avoiding the media many had been so eager to speak with during the team’s unbeaten run to the final.

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Despite some irritating flaws, 2026 World Cup a rousing success for FIFA, U.S. and fans

This day in sports history

1876 — Princeton takes the team championship in the first IC4A (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes Association) track and field meet.

1957 — Lionel Herbert wins the PGA championship with a 2-1 final round victory over Dow Finsterwald.

1957 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black player to win a major U.S. tennis tournament.

1963 — Jack Nicklaus wins the PGA championship by two strokes over Dave Ragan to become the fourth golfer to win the three major United States titles.

1968 — Arnold Palmer becomes the first PGA golfer to earn $1 million over his career despite losing by one stroke to Julius Boros in the PGA championship.

1974 — Sandra Haynie edges Carol Mann and Beth Stone by one stroke to win the U.S. Women’s Open championship.

1979 — Spain’s Seve Ballesteros captures the British Open by three strokes over Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus.

1985 — John Henry, the greatest money winner in horse racing history, is retired. The 10-year-old won 39 races in 83 starts and earned $6,597,947 in total purses.

1985 — Sandy Lyle wins the British Open by one stroke over Payne Stewart.

1989 — Mike Tyson knocks down Carl “The Truth” Williams with a left hook and stops him 93 seconds into the first round of his heavyweight title defense. It is the fifth shortest heavyweight title fight in history.

1996 — Tom Lehman shoots a final-round 73 for a 72-hole total of 13-under 271 to win the British Open, two strokes better than Ernie Els and Mark McCumber.

1996 — Wayne Gretzky signs a two-year deal with the New York Rangers.

2002 — Ernie Els squanders a three-stroke lead but outlasts Thomas Levet of France to win a four-man playoff that produces the first sudden-death finish in the 142-year history of the British Open.

2007 — Bernard Hopkins, in the twilight of his fighting days, ends Winky Wright’s 7 1/2-year unbeaten streak with a unanimous decision in their 170-pound bout in Las Vegas.

2009 — China’s Guo Jingjing easily wins her fifth straight world championship in 3-meter springboard. She captured her first springboard world title in 2001, and hasn’t lost since in the every-other-year competition.

2013 — Phil Mickelson wins his first British Open title with a spectacular finish. He birdies four of the last six holes for a 5-under 66 to match the best round of the tournament.

2013 — Britain’s Chris Froome wins the 100th Tour de France, having dominated rivals over three weeks. He rides into Paris wearing the yellow jersey he took in Stage 8 in the Pyrenees and never relinquished.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1921 — The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees combined for an AL record 16 doubles in the Indians’ 17-8 victory. Cleveland had nine doubles and New York seven.

1945 — The Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Athletics played 24 innings in a 1-1 tie. Les Mueller pitched 19 2-3 innings for the Tigers.

1956 — Brooks Lawrence of the Cincinnati Reds had his 13-game winning streak broken when Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory.

1970 — San Diego’s Clay Kirby held the New York Mets hitless for eight innings but was lifted for a pinch-hitter by manager Preston Gomez. With the Padres trailing 1-0 with two out in the eighth, Gomez elected to go for the win instead of letting Kirby finish. The Padres lost the no-hitter and the game, 3-0.

1973 — Hank Aaron of Atlanta hit his 700th home run in the third inning of an 8-4 Braves loss to Philadelphia. Aaron connected on a 1-1 fastball off Phillies pitcher Ken Brett.

1975 — Joe Torre of the New York Mets grounded into four double plays in a 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros. Felix Millan had four singles but was wiped out each time by Torre.

2001 — In their highest-scoring game in 58 years, the Dodgers routed Colorado 22-7. The 22 runs were the most scored by the Dodgers since Brooklyn beat Pittsburgh 23-6 on July 10, 1943, at Ebbets Field.

2006 — Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to reach 450 home runs when he homered in the New York Yankees’ 7-3 loss to Toronto. Rodriguez also got his 2,000th hit.

2007 — Jamie Moyer and David Wells face off. The two combine for 88 years and 307 days of age, making it the second-oldest matchup of starting pitchers in major league history. The only older duel was between Don Sutton and Phil Niekro in June of 1987.

2008 — Detroit’s 19-4 victory at Kansas City marked the third time this season the Tigers scored 19 runs. The Boston Red Sox were the last team to accomplish that feat, scoring 19 or more four times in 1950. Detroit beat Texas 19-6 on April 23 and Minnesota 19-3 on May 24.

2015 — Shin-Soo Choo hit for the cycle, leading the Texas Rangers past the Colorado Rockies 9-0. Choo, who had three RBIs, doubled in the second inning, homered in the fourth and singled in the fifth. He completed the cycle with a triple to center to start the ninth.

2019 — The 2019 Hall of Fame Class is inducted in Cooperstown, NY, with six former players being honored: Harold Baines, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith. All are present, save for Halladay, who passed away in a plane crash in 2017 and, who is represented by his wife, Brandy. Rivera, the first player to be elected unanimously to the Hall, gets the honor of speaking last, befitting his status as the greatest closer in history.

2024 — The Hall of Fame inducts its four newest members, constituting the Class of 2024, at its annual ceremony held in Cooperstown, NY. Honored today are 1B Todd Helton, C/1B Joe Mauer, 3B Adrian Beltre and manager Jim Leyland.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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The Sports Report: Spain wins the World Cup

Spanish conquest

From Kevin Baxter: This summer’s World Cup was so good, nobody wanted it to end.

So Spain and Argentina played on and on in Sunday’s final, through 90 minutes of regulation time and then through a 15-minute extra period before Ferran Torres gave Spain the only goal it needed to claim the title with a 1-0 victory over the defending champion at a sold-out MetLife Stadium.

It was an epic finish to an epic tournament, one that set records for everything from attendance and TV viewers to games played and goals scored. And it was almost certainly the last World Cup for Argentine captain Lionel Messi, 39, who finished his record-setting sixth tournament as the all-time leader in games (34), assists (12) and goal contributions (33).

His parting gift was a silver medal, a handshake from President Trump and a hug from the King of Spain. But none of those were the prize he wanted most, so when he left the stage after receiving his medal, he broke down in tears.

A swarming Spanish defense made him little more than a spectator for most of the match. So while Argentina came into the final leading the tournament in goals per game, it also became the first team to go 90 minutes without a shot in a World Cup final. It was outshot 20-2 for the game, and Spanish keeper Unai Simón, who gave up just one goal in eight matches, was not forced to make a save in registering his seventh clean sheet.

He was named the outstanding keeper of the tournament.

That allowed Torres, who started just once in the tournament, to become the hero.

Continue reading here

Swanson: LAFC star Son Heung-min proves life after the World Cup can offer hope and redemption

Go beyond the scoreboard

Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.

Great day for Eliezer Alfonzo

From Maddie Lee: Eliezer Alfonzo jumped on a first-pitch cutter, keeping his hands inside to send it into shallow center field.

Two weeks after making his major league debut under tragic circumstances, Alfonzo recorded his first hit.

“The guys have been supporting me, pushing me every day,” Alfonzo said. “And they told me, ‘You’re going to get it here at Yankee Stadium, it’s going to be really good.’”

It was a heartwarming moment early in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. By dropping the series finale after an 8-2 win in the opener, the Dodgers settled for a series win instead of sweep.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s third career complete game was the highlight of the win in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Sunday. It was his first complete game since Game 2 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Shaikin: Shohei Ohtani’s knee troubles creating a major pitching dilemma for Dodgers

Dodgers Game 1 box score

Dodgers Game 2 box score

MLB standings

Angels edge the Tigers

Ryan Johnson struck out five and gave up one run in five solid innings, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto delivered RBI hits and the Angels ended a four-game skid with a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Johnson (2-4) gave up two hits and walked three. The right-hander escaping a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the fifth when he struck out Dillon Dingler with an 82-mph sweeper. Samy Natera Jr., Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman worked scoreless innings of relief.

Ryan Zeferjahn, who gave up just two earned runs in 19 1/3 innings of his previous 18 games since June 1, gave up a homer to Riley Greene in the top of the ninth as Detroit closed within 3-2. But, Zeferjahn retired the next three batters and earned his third save.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Sparks lose fourth in a row

Paige Bueckers had 25 points before leaving the game following a scary collision, Arike Ogunbowale scored six of her 20 down the stretch and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 90-82 on Sunday to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record six games.

Bueckers hit a three-pointer that capped a 14-5 spurt and gave the Wings an eight-point lead with 9:12 left in the game.

Jessica Shepard had 11 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Wings (17-8) and Azzi Fudd also scored 11.

The Sparks (10-15) have lost four consecutive games, all on the road.

Nneka Ogwumike made seven of 12 from the field and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks. Dearica Hamby added 16 points on eight-of-12 shooting, Cameron Brink scored 10 and Erica Wheeler had 10 assists to go with nine points for L.A.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

Ryan Fox wins British Open

Ryan Fox of New Zealand survived a wild ride along the back nine of Royal Birkdale and delivered the biggest putt of his life Sunday, making a 12-foot birdie on the final hole to win the British Open for his first major title.

Four players had a share of the lead at some point Sunday. American Cameron Young was atop the leaderboard for two hours because he finished his astonishing six-under 64 when the leaders were on the front nine.

Fox never lost hope, even after a pair of bogeys on the back nine, and the 39-year-old son of an All Blacks rugby player delivered the goods when it counted. He birdied the 16th to tie Young for the lead, and then made birdie on the toughest hole to become the third Kiwi to win a major.

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British Open leaderboard

This day in sports history

1958 — The PGA championship calls for medal play for the first time and Dow Finsterwald beats Billy Casper.

1963 — Mary Mills wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by three strokes over Sandra Palmer and Louise Suggs.

1974 — Carl Rosen’s Chris Evert beats Miss Musket by 50 lengths in the winner-take-all match race at Hollywood Park.

1975 — Sandra Palmer wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by four strokes over Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner and Sandra Post.

1980 — Tom Watson wins the British Open by four strokes over Lee Trevino. Watson shoots a 13-under 271 at Muirfield Golf Links at Gullane, Scotland. Watson becomes the fourth American to win three Open titles, joining Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

1997 — Justin Leonard closes with a 65 to win the British Open at 12-under 272 at Royal Troon. Leonard, whose closing round is one of the best in major championship history, takes the lead from Jesper Parnevik with a birdie on No. 17.

2002 — Tiger Woods, trying to win the third leg of the Grand Slam, shoots his worst round (81) as a pro, knocking himself out of contention.

2008 — Padraig Harrington is the first European in more than a century to win golf’s oldest championship two years in a row. Harrington pulls away from mistake-prone Greg Norman and holds off a late charge by Ian Poulter for a four-shot victory in the British Open.

2009 — Lauren Lappin homers to start a three-run rally in the third inning, and the United States beats Australia 3-1 in the World Cup of Softball championship game at Oklahoma City.

2013 — China’s Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao wins the first diving gold medal at the world championships in Barcelona, Spain. Wu earns a record sixth world title in the women’s 3-meter synchronized springboard.

2014 — Rory McIlroy completes a wire-to-wire victory in the British Open to capture the third leg of the career Grand Slam. McIlroy closes with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. McIlroy, winner of the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship, joins Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players with three different majors at age 25 or younger.

2015 — Zach Johnson rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and outlasts Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a three-man playoff to win the British Open. Jordan Spieth, looking to win his third straight major, falls one shot short of joining the playoff.

2020 — Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first man to score 50 goals in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.

2021 — The Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns 105-95 in game six of the NBA Finals to win their second NBA Championship. It was the fourth win in a row after falling behind 2-0 in the series. The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1906 — Malcolm Eason of Brooklyn pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

1925 — Brooklyn’s Dazzy Vance struck out 17 batters as the Dodgers tripped the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in 10 innings.

1933 — Babe Herman hit three home runs, including a grand slam, to pace the Chicago Cubs in a 10-1 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.

1941 — New York’s Joe DiMaggio had three doubles and a homer in a 12-6, 17-inning Yankee victory over the Tigers in Detroit.

1958 — Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers threw a no-hitter, beating the Boston Red Sox 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.

1970 — Bill Singer of the Dodgers pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies for a 5-0 victory in front of 12,454 at Los Angeles.

1973 — Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox lost both ends of a doubleheader to the New York Yankees, 12-2 and 7-0.

1976 — Hank Aaron hit the 755th and final home run of his career to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 win over the Angels.

2008 — Francisco Rodriguez became the fastest pitcher to 40 saves in big league history when he closed out the Angels’ 5-3 victory over Boston. Rodriguez, who struck out the side in the ninth inning, reached 40 saves in 98 games — 10 faster than John Smoltz did five years ago.

2009 — Matt Holliday homered twice, including a tying grand slam in the seventh inning, and Jack Cust followed with another shot, helping the Athletics rally from a 10-run deficit — the largest comeback in Oakland history — and beat the Minnesota Twins 14-13.

2013 — The Seattle Mariners manage only one hit but defeat the Astros 4-2.

2015 — Women’s baseball is played in The Pan American Games for the first time.

2017 — Matt Carpenter hits three home runs and two doubles as the Cardinals defeat the Cubs 17-5.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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Netflix stock plunges to 52-week low following mixed earnings report

Netflix stock plunged 9% on Friday morning to $67.74 a share, after the streamer’s second quarter earnings report renewed concerns among investors and analysts about the streamer’s future growth.

The Los Gatos-based company on Thursday narrowed its 2026 forecast to $51 billion to $51.4 billion from $50.7 billion to $51.7 billion, causing equity analysts to cut their estimates. The stock reached a new 52-week low on Friday and is down 49% from a year ago.

“This outlook likely reinforces investor concerns,” wrote analysts from Guggenheim Securities in a research note on Friday, which has a “buy” rating on the stock.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its declining stock price.

Investors have been skittish about the amount of time people spend on the streaming platform. Netflix’s share of TV viewing time in the U.S. has steadily declined in recent months as YouTube has gained market share, according to Nielsen data.

Investors are concerned that if people spend less time watching Netflix, it could cause people to cancel their subscriptions and make it more challenging for Netflix to raise prices in markets like the U.S.

Netflix said engagement is healthy on its platform and its programs continue to draw large audiences with popular shows like crime drama series “I Will Find You.”

Netflix said subscribers watched more than 97 billion hours on the streaming service in the first half of the year, up 2% from a year ago.

“We are increasingly concerned that younger generations are less interested in long form content as their time migrates to ‘free’ social media platforms,” wrote Jeffrey Wlodarczak, CEO of Pivotal Research Group in a report on Friday, who has a hold recommendation on Netflix stock. “We believe this will result in slower subscriber growth and attempts by the company to offset this via more aggressive price increases and investment in content.”

Netflix executives in a Thursday earnings presentation emphasized that measuring engagement at the company goes beyond hours spent watching the streaming service.

“There is not a linear relationship between view hours and revenue and profit because all hours are not created equal,” said Greg Peters, Netflix co-CEO on an earnings presentation on Thursday. “All hours don’t provide the same kind of value to the business.”

The streamer said it plans to allocate just over 5% of its content spend on live programming this year. Live content has been a key driver for subscriptions, accounting for six of the top 10 new member sign-up days over the last five years, the company said, even though it makes up roughly 1% of overall watch time this year.

The company is also diversifying the content it offers on its platform, adding live sports games and video podcasts, in addition its large library of TV shows and movies.

Netflix revenue rose 13% to $12.6 billion in the second quarter. Net income was $3.4 billion, up 9% from a year ago.

The company said its advertising business is on track to reach $3 billion in revenue this year, double the amount in 2025.

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The Sports Report: Can anything derail the Dodgers in the second half?

What can derail the Dodgers?

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior was worried. But how worried? He couldn’t say at first.

The team had taken major steps to address Shohei Ohtani’s lingering left knee condition, presenting him with a plan to skip his last start before the All-Star break and have his knee drained that Sunday. And he’d co-signed it.

The swelling in Ohtani’s knee, however, had been more persistent than the team expected. And pitching seemed to irritate it.

“I would say, moderately concerned,” Prior eventually said in a conversation with The Times last weekend. “But no more concerned than I probably am with anybody else who’s had to deal with aches and pains. Hopefully, this break and this rest will get it to calm down a little bit, and then we’ll see where we’re at next weekend.”

Coming out of the All-Star break, the Dodgers face the most pressing question for their second half: Will they be able to manage Ohtani’s knee condition?

Of course, plenty of other questions loom: What approach will the Dodgers take at the trade deadline? Will the pitchers coming off the injured list in the second half provide enough depth? Can they maintain the best record in the majors?

But naturally, Ohtani’s health is tangled up in all those answers.

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Plaschke: Who says they don’t need him? Dodgers need to trade for Tarik Skubal

Go beyond the scoreboard

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World Cup: Spain hopes to recapture 2010 magic

From Kevin Baxter: If something happened once, it can happen again. That’s kind of what Yogi Berra was getting at when he said “it’s like deja vu all over again.”

Berra, the late Yankee catcher and once New Jersey’s unofficial poet laureate, spent most of his life within walking distance of East Rutherford, N.J., where history could repeat itself all over again in Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. And that makes his words newly relevant.

Argentina and Lionel Messi, the reigning champions, will be seeking to become the first to repeat in 64 years while Spain will be playing in the title game for just the second time ever. And the similarities to its first trip, in 2010, are uncanny.

Sixteen years ago Spain became just the second reigning European champion to win a World Cup. It will enter Sunday’s game as the reigning European champion.

In the run-up to the 2010 World Cup, Spain ran off a 35-game unbeaten streak, which matched the longest in history at the time. La Roja will enter Sunday’s game with a 37-game unbeaten streak, which matches the current longest streak in history.

Continue reading here

World Cup schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Third-place match
France vs. England, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Championship match
Spain vs. Argentina, Sunday, noon

LeBron James remains mum on his next team

If LeBron James knows where he will play this coming season, he’s still not saying.

The NBA’s career scoring king and current free agent spoke publicly for the first time in weeks Thursday afternoon, though stopped short of revealing which team he’ll choose to play for this fall — despite at least one cry from someone in a jam-packed room shouting for him to “pick a team.”

“It’s going to be fun wherever I land,” James said.

The four-time NBA champion was recording an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast alongside guest co-host Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers in New York on the opening day of Fanatics Fest, a four-day event featuring dozens of athletes, celebrities and sports legends. Single-day general admission tickets were sold out, organizers said, and it’s likely that many of those patrons — there were at least several hundred there, phones out to capture the moment — were hoping to hear James’ next decision.

Not yet, he said.

“There’s no decision,” James said.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1939 — Henry Picard beats Byron Nelson 1-up in 37 holes to win the PGA championship.

1955 — Beverly Hanson beats Louise Suggs by three strokes in a playoff to capture the first LPGA championship.

1966 — Jim Ryun becomes the first American to hold the record in the mile since 1937. With a time of 3:51.3 at Berkeley, Calif., Ryun shatters Michel Jazy’s mark of 3:53.6 by 2.3 seconds.

1979 — Sebastian Coe breaks the world record in the mile with a time of 3:48.95 in Oslo, Norway. The time is rounded up to 3:49.

1983 — Bobby Hebert passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Michigan Panthers to a 24-22 win over the Philadelphia Stars in the first USFL championship game.

1983 — Tom Watson wins his second straight and fifth career British Open title. Watson shoots a 9-under 275 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England to finish one stroke ahead of Andy Bean and Hale Irwin.

1994 — Brazil wins a record fourth World Cup soccer title, taking the first shootout in championship game history over Italy.

2005 — Tiger Woods records another ruthless performance at St. Andrews, closing with a 2-under 70 to win the British Open for his 10th career major. He wins by five shots, the largest margin in any major since Woods won by eight at St. Andrews five years ago. He joins Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the career Grand Slam twice.

2006 — Stacey Nuveman and Lovieanne Jung each homer to power the United States to the World Cup of Softball title with a 5-2 victory over Japan.

2011 — Japan stuns the United States in a riveting Women’s World Cup final, winning 3-1 on penalty kicks after coming from behind twice in a 2-2 tie. Goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori makes two brilliant saves in the shootout. Japan, making its first appearance in the final of a major tournament, hadn’t beaten the Americans in their first 25 meetings.

2011 — Darren Clarke gives Northern Ireland another major championship, winning the British Open by three strokes over Americans Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.

2016 — Henrik Stenson shoots an 8-under 63 to beat Phil Mickelson by three strokes, becoming the first man from Sweden to win the British Open.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1924 — Jesse Haines of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves.

1925 — Tris Speaker is the fifth player to reach 3,000 hits.

1936 — Carl Hubbell’s 24-game winning streak over two years began as he beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on five hits.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak of 56 games was stopped by Al Smith and Jim Bagby of the Indians before 67,000 at Cleveland. The Yankees still won, 4-3.

1956 — In the second game of a doubleheader against Kansas City, Ted Williams hit his 400th home run. Williams connected in the sixth inning off Tom Gorman to give the Red Sox a 1-0 win over the A’s.

1966 — Chicago’s Billy Williams hit for the cycle to lead the Cubs to a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader. Williams singled in the first inning, doubled in the third, had an RBI-triple in the fifth, homered to center in the seventh and popped out to third baseman in foul territory. The Cardinals took the opener 4-3 in 11 innings.

1969 — Jim Kaat, Gold Glove winner for seven straight years, was charged with three errors, leading to three unearned runs against the Chicago White Sox. Nevertheless, he won the game at Minnesota 8-5.

1974 — Bob Gibson struck out Cesar Geronimo of the Reds in the second inning to become the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,000 strikeouts. Cincinnati beat St. Louis, 6-4.

1978 — Doc Medich of the Texas Rangers saved the life of a 61-year-old fan who had a heart attack just before a scheduled game at Baltimore. Medich, a medical student, administered heart massage until help arrived.

1987 — Don Mattingly became the first AL player to hit at least one home run in seven consecutive games as the New York Yankees disposed of the Texas Rangers 8-4.

1990 — Minnesota became the first team in major league history to pull off two triple plays in one game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Boston as the Red Sox beat the Twins 1-0.

2007 — Ryan Garko hit a tying pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning and singled home the winning run in the 11th to give Cleveland a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.

2011 — Dustin Pedroia singled with two out in the top of the 16th inning, snapping a scoreless tie and giving the Red Sox a 1-0 victory over the Rays. It was the longest 1-0 game in the major leagues since the Brewers at Angels on June 8, 2004 went 17 innings.

2016 — Starling Marte hit a solo home run in the 18th inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 in a marathon game that lasted almost six hours. Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy homered with two outs in the ninth inning for Washington.

2022 — Second-generation players take the first two spots in the 2022 amateur draft as SS Jackson Holliday, son of Matt Holliday, goes first overall to the Orioles, while OF Druw Jones, son of Andruw Jones, is selected second by the Diamondbacks.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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The Sports Report: Argentina to face Spain in World Cup final

Argentina advances to World Cup final

From Kevin Baxter: The jury is still out on whether Lionel Messi is the greatest soccer player ever. But there should be no doubt he’s the greatest to ever play in a World Cup.

And you don’t need the records, the wins or the goals to prove that — although he certainly has enough of those. You just need to see Messi at his most magical, as he was Wednesday, setting up a pair of game-changing goals in a seven-minute span to lift Argentina to a 2-1 win over England and into Sunday’s World Cup final with Spain.

“It’s really hard to speak right now, but I’m going to try not to cry,” Lautaro Martínez, who scored the winning goal two minutes into stoppage time, said in Spanish. “I’m already overwhelmed inside. It’s incredible. Everything we’ve achieved is just incredible.”

Like their 13-game World Cup unbeaten streak, dating to the opening game of the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Or back-to-back trips to the final, which gives them a chance to become the first repeat champion in the men’s tournament since Brazil in 1962.

But it hasn’t been easy. Eleven of Argentina’s 19 goals — including both scores in Wednesday’s semifinal — have come after the 75th minute. They trailed in the 80th minute or later in two of their last three knockout games, only to rally both times.

And Messi has either scored or assisted on three of the four goals that rescued Argentina.

Continue reading here

Go beyond the scoreboard

Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.

World Cup semifinals schedule, results

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Tuesday
Spain 2, France 0

Wednesday
Argentina 2, England 1

Third-place match

France vs. England, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Championship match

Spain vs. Argentina, Sunday, noon

Nneka Ogwumike ties team record in Sparks’ loss

Nneka Ogwumike scored 23 points for the Sparks on Wednesday. But it was her 15-foot jumper with 1:45 left in the game that put her in the record book.

Ogwumike’s final points tied Lisa Leslie as the franchise’s all-time scorers with 6,263 points in the Sparks’ 96-87 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, who won their fourth in a row.

Candace Parker is third with 5,684 points.

Ogwumike, who played 12 seasons in L.A. before returning this season, added 12 rebounds and five assists for the Sparks, who dropped to 10-13. The inconsistent Sparks have dropped back-to-back games since firing GM Raegan Pebley.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1920 — The United States sweeps Australia in five matches to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1913. The U.S. team is made up of Bill Tilden and Bill Johnston.

1938 — Paul Runyan wins the PGA Championship by routing Sam Snead 8 and 7 in the final round.

1947 — Rocky Graziano scores a technical knockout with a barrage of 30 punches against Tony Zale in the sixth round to win the world middleweight boxing title. Held in Chicago Stadium, it’s the largest grossing fight in history.

1950 — Uruguay beats Brazil 2-1 to win soccer’s World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.

1967 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA championship by one stroke over Shirley Englehorn. Whitworth sinks a fifty-foot uphill putt for a birdie on the 18th green at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton Mass.

1989 — Betsy King birdies three of the first four holes of the final round to win her first U.S. Women’s Open championship by four strokes over Nancy Lopez.

1993 — Nick Faldo ties the best single round in 122 years of the British Open with a course-record 63 to give him a one-stroke lead after the second round.

1995 — Annika Sorenstam of Sweden wins the U.S. Women’s Open by one stroke over Meg Mallon, her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

2005 — In Las Vegas, Jermain Taylor beats Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight title. Hopkins, a winner of a record 20 consecutive defenses, starts slowly and the undefeated challenger builds up a big enough lead on two judges’ scorecards to take the crown.

2006 — J.R. Todd becomes the first Black driver to win an NHRA Top Fuel event, beating Tony Schumacher in the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

2011 — Kyle Busch wins the Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to become the third driver to win 100 races in NASCAR’s three national series. Busch, with 22 Cup victories and 29 Trucks wins, also ties Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide Series victories with 49. Richard Petty and David Pearson are the other drivers with at least 100 wins.

2012 — Roger Federer surpasses Pete Sampras to set the record for the most weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings. After winning Wimbledon a week ago — his 75th career ATP title — Federer returns to the top for the first time since June 2010. Today marks his 287th week at No. 1, one more than Sampras.

2017 — Roger Federer defeated Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4, to claim a record eighth Wimbledon men’s title.

2023 — Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: In a classic final, 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz ends Novak Đoković’s 34-match win streak at the All England Club with a 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1897 — Chicago’s Cap Anson became the first major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits when he singled off Baltimore’s George Blackburn.

1902 — John McGraw was named manager of the New York Giants, a post he would hold for 30 years.

1909 — Ed Summers of the Detroit Tigers gave up only seven hits and pitched all 18 innings of a 0-0 tie with the Washington Senators, the longest scoreless game in AL history.

1920 — Babe Ruth broke his own season record of 29 homers with his 30th as the New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-2. Ruth would finish the season with 54.

1933 — Red Lucas of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 15-inning 1-0 win over Roy Parmelee and the New York Giants in the opener of a doubleheader.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio extended his hitting streak to 56 games with a 3-for-4 day as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 10-3.

1948 — After 8 1/2 years as Brooklyn manager, Leo Durocher stunned baseball by taking the helm of the archrival Giants in midseason.

1958 – In the nitecap of a doubleheader, Baltimore pitcher Jack Harshman hit two homers in a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.

1970 — The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pirates 3-2 before 48,846 in the first game at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.

1985 — Sparky Anderson became the first manager to lose an All-Star Game in both leagues. The National League won 6-1 for the 21st win in the last 23 games.

1996 — Colorado’s streak of scoring at least seven runs in a game ended at 11. The Rockies beat the Giants 5-3 and tied the 1911 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1938 New York Yankees and 1976 Cincinnati Reds with 11 7-run games.

1997 — Kevin Brown pitched his first career one-hitter to lead Florida to 5-1 win over the Dodgers. Brown, who no-hit San Francisco on June 10th, faced two batters over the minimum and gave up a lead-off single to left by Raul Mondesi in the fifth. He struck out eight and retired his final 15 batters.

1998 — Randy Johnson pitched a one-hitter to lead Seattle to a 3-0 win over Minnesota. Johnson struck out 11 and gave up a single to third baseman Brent Gates.

2006 — Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in Atlanta’s 10-5 win at San Diego to give him an extra-base hit in 14 straight games, tying a 79-year-old major league record. Jones tied the record set in 1927 by Pittsburgh’s Paul Waner.

2006 — Mariano Rivera earned his 400th save, escaping two jams and getting six outs to preserve the New York Yankees’ 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Rivera joined Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman and John Franco in the 400-save club.

2009 — Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard became the fastest player in major league history to reach 200 home runs, breaking the record previously held by Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner. Howard reached 200 homers in his 658th game, hitting his 23rd of the season in the sixth inning of a 4-0 win over Florida. Kiner hit No. 200 in his 706th game.

2013 — Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect eighth inning in his final All-Star appearance, Jose Bautista, J.J. Hardy and Jason Kipnis drove in runs to back a night of pulsating pitching, and the American League beat the National League 3-0.

2015 — Brock Holt became the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since 1996 and the Red Sox slugged their way out to a 9-4 victory over Atlanta.

2021 — Jake Cronenworth hit for his first career cycle, Wil Myers had a grand slam and a two-run shot and the San Diego Padres set a franchise record for runs in a 24-8 blowout of the Washington Nationals.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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Rubio gathers countries on left-wing political violence as it becomes a Trump focus in elections

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened leaders from more than 60 countries to take part in the Trump administration’s latest effort to quell what it calls “left-wing” political terrorism, a marquee issue for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

This focus comes even as studies show that there are very few reported cases of such incidents in the U.S., especially compared to historically higher levels of far-right violence.

With sweeping statements about the “alarming rise” of political violence by the left, Rubio and other U.S. officials painted a dark image of the future if the “communists and Marxists” perpetrating these supposed acts are not defeated. He urged officials in attendance — mostly from European and Latin American countries — to unite to address the issue, which he says has been a “blind spot” in counterterrorism doctrine.

“So many people in positions of power have repeatedly dismissed acts of violence and even terrorism as legitimate forms of political expression, so long as they served a left-wing cause,” Rubio said in opening remarks. “A bomb planted by a neo-Nazi group was ‘a nefarious and murderous act of evil.’ It is, but a bomb planted by a Marxist revolutionary, well, that’s just merely a tragic excess of idealism.”

A report published last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that left-wing terrorism attacks as of July 4, 2025, had surpassed those from the far right for the first time in more than 30 years. However, a closer look at the data reveals that the uptick reflects a very low starting level and a concurrent drop on the far right.

There was an average of 0.6 left-wing incidents annually from 1994 through 2000, compared with an average of 20.6 on the right, the report shows. From 2016 to 2024, there was an average of four per year on the left and 22.7 per year on the right. Those numbers had dropped dramatically on the right as of early July 2025, with only one incident. Meanwhile, there had been five from the left.

But the report’s authors note that right-wing terrorism could easily return to elevated levels and that it is important to fight terrorism on both sides of the political spectrum.

President Trump and his allies have prioritized talking points against the far left ahead of the congressional elections this November. Trump has repeatedly stated that the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to “completely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations.

Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is “something we haven’t seen in the U.S.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried “radical candidates” who are “self-described, self-identifying Marxists.”

For Rubio, his worldview on this issue has been largely shaped by his own history: he is the son of Cuban immigrants who arrived in Miami in May 1956, a few years before communist leader Fidel Castro rose to power in Havana. The former Florida senator said Thursday that it was that same government’s sprawling intelligence and ideological network that “helped to build the far left in our country and in our hemisphere.”

Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and main architect of the administration’s immigration policy, followed Rubio’s remarks, aiming to drive home the immediacy of the perceived threats he saw to American institutions coming from the left, and what response is needed in return.

“If your civilization is your home, you must defend it with the same passion and force as if an enemy intruder is inside your own house where your family lives,” Miller said. “That is the level of dedication and urgency that is required.”

This ideological focus has repeatedly conflated democratic socialism — which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation — with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated.

It has only intensified in the last year, after the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to become New York City mayor and several of his proteges who won their New York City congressional primaries last month, beating out incumbents.

One of the ways the administration has started to target left-wing efforts is through sanctions. In November, the State Department designated four antifa or anti-fascist groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in his remarks Thursday that targeting these entities’ financial networks is the best way to circumvent their efforts.

“We have spent decades developing the world’s most sophisticated financial counterterrorism capabilities, and now we are mobilizing some of the same tools that we have deployed against terrorists abroad to confront this emerging threat here at home,” he told the conference.

Amiri and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Amiri reported from New York and Kinnard from Columbia, S.C. AP writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed to this report.

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Judge blocks California law on recycling symbols on plastic containers

A federal judge has halted California’s groundbreaking “Truth in Recycling” law, which aims to reduce consumer confusion about which packaging can be recycled.

California’s recyclable packaging law prohibits manufacturers from using a “chasing arrows” recycling symbol on products or materials unless they are actually being recycled in a meaningful way, which the law quantifies. The bill was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 and was to go into effect on Oct. 4.

A coalition of farming, forestry, restaurant and packaging organizations sued the state in March, arguing the law violates their right to free speech. They argued that Senate Bill 343 operates as “government-imposed censorship.”

Judge William Hayes agreed that their challenge has merit, and on Tuesday ordered California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, the defendant in the case, to pause enforcement of the law “until further order of the Court.”

The industry trade groups, which include the Dairy Institute of California, the Flexible Packaging Assn. and the Western Growers Assn., applauded the decision.

The coalition “will continue to press the case that California can strengthen recycling without censoring truthful information on packaging and without adding unnecessary and significant costs for California families and businesses,” Californians for Affordable Packaging said in a statement.

The “ruling is a significant win, not just for our members, but for every business that wants to give consumers accurate information about the products they buy,” said Julie Landry, vice president of government affairs at the American Forest & Paper Assn. “The Court recognized what we’ve said from the beginning: California cannot fix consumer confusion by restricting truthful speech.”

Advocates of reducing the use of plastic disagreed.

“The court got it wrong, and I’m confident that the state will ultimately prevail,” said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste. “SB 343 does not violate the First Amendment; it requires companies to tell the truth when they make recyclability claims. Suggesting that the First Amendment protects misleading environmental marketing is inconsistent with the basic principles of consumer protection that states like California have implemented for decades.”

In January, CalRecycle, the state’s waste agency, issued a report showing that less than 10% of most single-use plastic materials in the state were being recycled.

Even yogurt containers and margarine tubs — made of ubiquitous polypropylene, or #5 plastic — are being recycled at a rate of only 2% in the state, the report said. Only 5% of colored shampoo and detergent bottles, made from polyethylene, or #1 plastic, are getting recycled.

Reports on abysmally low rates of recycling for milk cartons and polystyrene had been widely shared even before that.

Plastic materials that can’t be recycled are typically sent to landfills or sometimes illegally shipped overseas, where they are burned or end up in landfills, rivers and waterways.

A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that nationwide, taxpayers, governments and businesses are spending between $9.8 billion and $13.3 billion per year cleaning up plastic litter, and almost $3 billion is spent by local governments on landfilling plastic.

According to one state analysis, 2.9 million tons of single-use plastic and 171.4 billion single-use plastic components were sold, offered for sale or distributed in California in 2023.

Single-use plastics, and plastic waste more broadly, are considered a growing environmental and health problem. In recent decades, plastic waste has overwhelmed waterways and oceans, sickening marine life and threatening human health.

“It is a terrible decision which denies consumers basic information needed to make informed choices,” said Judith Enck, former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator and president of the nonprofit Beyond Plastics. “Given the long history of the plastics industry deceiving the public about plastics recycling, this is an especially bad outcome. It is a reminder that the plastics industry has enough money to fight even the most modest policy designed to protect people and the planet.”

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Detainees at ICE facility in Texas report frequent beatings and abuses, say rights advocates

Dozens of people held at a sprawling Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas say they were either beaten by guards or witnessed others being beaten, according to a new report issued by legal and human rights advocates.

The 84-page report issued jointly Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union also says men and women held at Camp East Montana, located at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss in El Paso, recounted being denied necessary medical care, forced to live in filthy conditions and fed inedible meals. Detainees also said they were prevented from contacting their lawyers or family members.

Of the 71 detainees contacted over a five month period, 64 — about 90% of those interviewed — said they had either personally been assaulted by the staff or had seen others physically abused, according to the report.

“ICE’s Camp East Montana is a human rights disaster,” said Angélica César, a fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU who was a lead researcher for the report. “The U.S. government should shut it down, conduct independent investigations into all abuses and deaths in custody, and put an end to mass deportations and mandatory immigration detention.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The new accounts of violence and substandard living conditions inside Camp East Montana are consistent with earlier reports by The Associated Press and others. At least three detainees held at the facility since it opened in August have died, including a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who was handcuffed and stopped breathing earlier this year after being held down by guards.

A local medical examiner later ruled that death a homicide and a federal report issued last month said evidence in the case was “missing or destroyed.” That report by the Government Accountability Office found mismanagement by the Department of Homeland Security had created unsafe conditions that contributed to detainee deaths and suffering even as millions of wasted tax dollars enriched contractors.

In March, ICE replaced Acquisition Logistics, LLC, the prime contractor that had been awarded a deal last year worth up to $1.3 billion to build and manage the camp. The Virginia company had no prior experience running an ICE detention facility, had never won a federal contract worth more than $16 million and lacked a functioning website.

The change came as an internal ICE review documented 49 deficiencies, which it defines as violations of detention standards or policies, in areas including the use of force and restraints, security and medical care.

Despite the change in contractors, interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU as recently as last month found serious problems at the camp have persisted.

Detainees recounted degrading and inhumane living conditions that included bathrooms covered in feces, flooded housing units and no access to soap or other basic hygiene supplies, according to the report. They also reported being held indoors for weeks without meaningful access to recreation, sunlight or fresh air.

People also described receiving spoiled food and inconsistent meal schedules, with delays of up to 12 hours between meals.

The report recounts detainees saying that guards beat detainees in response to hunger strikes, requests for medical attention and complaints regarding detention conditions. Several people said that guards imposed collective punishment, striking or assaulting multiple people after accusing one detainee of violating rules, according to the report.

Researchers found that staff pressured and coerced those held there into abandoning immigration claims and accepting removal to third countries if they could not be sent back to their own country. The detainees said they were threatened with violence, criminal prosecution, and indefinite detention if they refused deportation.

In some cases, the report concluded, the circumstances of ICE detention could amount to enforced disappearances, a potential violation of international human rights law.

Human Rights Watch and the ACLU called on the Trump administration to close Camp East Montana and to allow independent investigations into deaths in custody, excessive force, medical neglect and enforced disappearances.

“The abuses documented at Fort Bliss are the predictable outcome of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, its brutal expansion of immigration detention, and the erosion of federal oversight mechanisms,” said César, the lead researcher. “People at Camp East Montana are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and protected from harm.”

Biesecker writes for the Associated Press.

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The Sports Report: Spain advances to World Cup final

Spain advances to World Cup final

From Kevin Baxter: In a World Cup boasting a galaxy of stars, a lunch-bucket team of blue-collar everymen may wind up outshining them all.

Spain clinched a berth to the final Tuesday by smothering France 2-0 at AT&T Stadium, running its unbeaten streak to 37 games while eliminating a team that had run roughshod through the tournament.

And it wasn’t even close. France came into the game with 16 goals, second only to Argentina in the tournament, then failed to put a shot on goal in the first 81 minutes.

It had Kylian Mbappé, who is tied with Lionel Messi for the scoring lead this summer and was the Golden Boot winner four years ago in Qatar. He was all but invisible until, frustrated, he felled Spanish keeper Unai Simón with a cheap shot in the final minutes, drawing a well-deserved yellow card.

France couldn’t even score into an open net, with Desire Doue lining a low shot right at a rapidly retreating Simón, who had come well off his line and left the goal unattended. For Simón, Tuesday’s clean sheet was his sixth in seven games in this tournament.

Continue reading here

How World Cup senior citizens like Lionel Messi have bio-hacked longer careers

Folarin Balogun says his red card controversy ‘didn’t help’ U.S. at World Cup

Norway star Erling Haaland left the U.S. with seven World Cup goals and a taxidermy raccoon, sparking a run on the item

Go beyond the scoreboard

Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.

World Cup semifinals schedule, results

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Tuesday
Spain 2, France 0

Wednesday
England vs. Argentina, noon

Third-place match

France vs. England or Argentina, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Championship match

Spain vs. England or Argentina, Sunday, noon

Cody Bellinger is MVP of AL’s All-Star game victory

Dylan Cease struck out the side in the first inning, combining with 10 relievers on a three-hitter in a show of pitching dominance that led the American League to a 4-0 win over the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.

All-Star most valuable player Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice followed with an RBI single in the first against Cristopher Sánchez of the host Philadelphia Phillies.

Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox added an eighth-inning home run off the Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski, who was pitching on his 26th birthday, for the game’s only extra-base hit. Wrobleski struck out five in two innings.

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Shaikin: ‘You never know when it’s your last.’ Mike Trout savors every moment of this All-Star Game

All-Star game box score

MLB standings

USC extends deal with Nike

From Ryan Kartje: The Swoosh is staying at USC for the foreseeable future.

USC and Nike agreed this week to a 10-year extension of their all-sports apparel deal through 2036, the school announced on Tuesday.

Their partnership was already among the longest-running apparel deals in college athletics. Now it’s ensured to carry into its fifth decade.

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What do the Sparks do next?

From Marisa Ingemi: A day after general manager Raegan Pebley was fired, the Sparks were in Atlanta and seemingly still focused on trying to reach the playoffs this year.

The suggestion that Pebley’s removal was a sign that the team is performing poorly didn’t sit well with coach Lynne Roberts.

“I don’t think we underachieved last year and this year is still going,” Roberts said in Atlanta on Monday before the team’s loss to the Dream. “For where we want to get, that’s not where we want to be, but we tripled our win total in my first year — that’s not underachieving. We haven’t hit our stride, we’ve been injured all year. Hopefully we get [Kelsey Plum] and Cam [Brink] back. Our system is designed around KP. I’m not close to thinking we are underachieving.”

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Clippers probe should wrap up this summer

From Broderick Turner: NBA commissioner Adam Silver reiterated Tuesday night after the Board of Governors meeting that the investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by funneling money to Kawhi Leonard for an endorsement deal he allegedly never fulfilled still is not completed.

Silver said his “timeline remains this summer” to make his findings known after high-powered New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz wraps up its investigation and presents the findings to the NBA.

The investigation centers on a $28-million endorsement deal to Leonard from a company called Aspiration that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $60 million into.

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This day in sports history

1912 — Jim Thorpe wins the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics and, in the closing ceremony, Sweden’s King Gustav proclaims Thorpe the world’s greatest athlete.

1922 — Gene Sarazen shoots a final-round 68 to beat out Bobby Jones and John Black for the U.S. Open golf championship.

1923 — Amateur Bobby Jones beats Bobby Cruikshank by two strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open golf title.

1927 — Bobby Jones wins the British Open shooting a championship record 7-under 285 at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. It’s the second straight Open title for the amateur, who goes wire-to-wire for a six-stroke victory over Aubrey Boomer and Fred Dobson.

1945 — Byron Nelson defeats Sam Byrd in the final round of the PGA golf tournament.

1961 — Arnold Palmer shoots a 284 at Royal Birkdale to win his first British Open title.

1967 — Argentina’s Roberto DeVicenzo wins the British Open by two strokes over defending champion Jack Nicklaus.

1972 — Lee Trevino wins his second consecutive British Open title by beating Jack Nicklaus by one stroke.

1978 — Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at St. Andrews to win his third and final British Open.

1984 — Hollis Stacy wins her third U.S. Women’s Open golf title, beating Rosie Jones by one stroke.

1990 — Betsy King overcomes an 11-shot deficit over the final 33 holes to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open as Patty Sheehan blows an eight-shot lead over the final 23 holes.

1991 — Sandhi Ortiz-DelValle becomes the first woman to officiate a men’s pro basketball game, working a United States Basketball League game between the New Haven Skyhawks and the Philadelphia Spirit.

2000 — Lennox Lewis stops Francois Botha at 2:39 of the second round to retain his WBC and IBF heavyweight titles in London.

2007 — BYU star Daniel Summerhays becomes the first amateur winner in Nationwide Tour history. Summerhays scores a two-stroke victory over Chad Collins and Chris Nallen in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational.

2007 — Copa América Final, Maracaibo, Venezuela: Defending champions Brazil win their 8th title with a 3-0 win over Argentina.

2010 — Rory McIlroy, a 21-year-old from Northern Ireland, ties the major championship record by shooting a 9-under 63 in the opening round of the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.

2010 — Caster Semenya wins her first race since being cleared to return to competition after undergoing gender tests, winning the 800 meters in a modest time against a weak field at a low-key meet in Finland.

2018 — Novak Djokovic wins his fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-2, 6-2 7-6 (3) victory over Kevin Anderson. It’s Djokovic’s 13th major trophy, the fourth-highest total in the history of men’s tennis, trailing only Roger Federer’s 20, Rafael Nadal’s 17 and Pete Sampras’ 14. At No. 21, Djokovic is the lowest-ranked Wimbledon titlist since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.

2018 — France wins its second World Cup title with a 4-2 win over Croatia in a dramatic final in Moscow.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1901 — Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched his first of two career no-hitters, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0.

1921 — NY Yankees slugger Babe Ruth ties MLB record of 138 career home runs (held by Roger Connor since 1895).

1960 — Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson goes 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle and driving in three runs to lead the Orioles past the Chicago White Sox 5-2.

1969 — Cincinnati’s Lee May hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the Atlanta Braves. May had two home runs and drove in five runs in both games. The Reds lost the opener 9-8 but won the second game 10-4.

1969 — Rod Carew stole home off Chicago’s Gerry Nyman in the Minnesota Twins’ 6-2 victory. It was Carew’s seventh steal of home for the year and tied Pete Reiser’s 1946 major league mark.

1973 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels struck out 17 batters and threw his second no-hitter of the year, beating Detroit 6-0.

1980 — Johnny Bench broke Yogi Berra’s record for home runs by a catcher, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos 12-7. Bench hit his 314th homer as a catcher off David Palmer. Bench had 33 home runs while playing other positions.

1997 — The San Francisco Giants scored 13 runs to set a modern NL record for runs in a seventh inning en route to a 16-2 rout of the San Diego Padres. The Giants set the NL record for the most runs in a seventh inning since 1900.

1999 — After 22½ years in the dreary Kingdome, Seattle finally played a home game outdoors, moving into a $517.6 million ballpark with a retractable roof. Jose Mesa wasted a ninth-inning lead by walking four batters and the Mariners lost 3-2 to the San Diego Padres in Safeco Field’s opener.

2003 — Garret Anderson of the Angels went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double, powering the American League past the National League 7-6 in the All-Star Game.

2005 — Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro became the 26th player to reach 3,000 hits with an RBI double into the left-field corner off Joel Pineiro in the fifth inning of a 6-3 win over Seattle. Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers.

2007 — The Philadelphia Phillies lost their 10,000th game, 10-2 to St. Louis. The franchise, born in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers and later unofficially called the Blue Jays in the mid-1940s, fell to 8,810-10,000.

2008 — Justin Morneau slid home just in time on Michael Young’s sacrifice fly in the 15th inning, giving the American League a 4-3 victory in the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. The AL extended its unbeaten streak to 12.

2014 — With Derek Jeter going out a winner in his last All-Star appearance, Mike Trout drove in two runs with a triple and a double to lead the American League past the National League 5-3. Jeter started his 14th and final midsummer classic and went 2 for 2 before being removed in the top of the fourth inning.

2017 — Cody Bellinger became the first Dodgers rookie to hit for the cycle and Alex Wood became the first Dodgers pitcher in more than a century to win his first 11 decisions in a season, helping Los Angeles beat the Miami Marlins 7-1.

2021 — Tampa Bay catcher Travis d’Arnaud becomes first player in MLB history to hit three homers while catching and batting leadoff in the Rays’ 5-4 win over the NY Yankees.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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Adam Silver says Clippers probe should wrap up before next season

NBA commissioner Adam Silver reiterated Tuesday night after the Board of Governors meeting that the investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by funneling money to Kawhi Leonard for an endorsement deal he allegedly never fulfilled still is not completed.

Silver said his “timeline remains this summer” to make his findings known after high-powered New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz wraps up its investigation and presents the findings to the NBA.

The investigation centers on a $28-million endorsement deal to Leonard from a company called Aspiration that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested $60 million into.

With the investigation being about 11 months old, Silver was asked about a timeline for the NBA to announce the results.

“As you know, I am not conducting the investigation, nor is the league office,” Silver said. “It’s being conducted by the Wachtell law firm, independent of the league. Of course, as I have said previously, we all have an interest in wrapping this up and as I most recently said in an interview, that I’m hopeful that it will wrap up this summer so that will continue to be the goal here.”

The Clippers traded Leonard to the Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks. Leonard, who spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers, led the Raptors to the NBA championship in 2019. The Raptors then decided to put the trade on hold until the investigation is over.

“And I just want to clarify, so everyone understands, the league did not pause the trade,” Silver said. “The parties that did the trade made the decision not to go forward given that the investigation would remain open and the possible impact on Kawhi or his contract was yet to be known and so they chose not to live with that uncertainty. But, that was well-known before the trade was proposed and I didn’t think there was any reason for people to believe that the status of Kawhi Leonard would change merely because he was traded. The investigation needs to run its course.”

The Clippers have consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding the investigation.

Because of the probable length of the report, Silver was asked about reading such a voluminous amount of information and if things would be resolved before the start of next season.

Silver also didn’t talk about whether Leonard is being investigated for any other side deals.

“I don’t know specifically what will be in the report,” Silver said. “To the best of my information, the report is not done. I do get regular updates from our general counsel, who is Rick Buchanan, and he deals with on a weekly basis on who they are talking to and what they are finding on a preliminary basis. But my understanding is that Wachtell is now in the process of going through the information they’ve gathered and drawing conclusions from that information. And I think, yes, it is realistic to think that this can be wrapped up, and I would say needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of next season.”

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The Sports Report: Austin Reaves looks at life after LeBron

Austin Reaves discusses the Lakers after LeBron

From Broderick Turner: From the time Austin Reaves joined the Lakers in 2021 as an undrafted prospect, his basketball life centered around playing with a savant in LeBron James.

That no longer will be the case.

Reaves re-signed with the Lakers on a four-year, $180-million deal, but James decided to move on as he prepares to play an unprecedented 24th season.

Reaves was stunned when he heard about James’ decision while playing golf in Lake Tahoe. Nearly two weeks later, Reaves says he still is trying to process the development.

“I kind of was thinking about it last night when I got here,” Reaves said Monday in his first news conference since re-signing. “Starting the season without him being on the team is going to be different for me. He’s kind of all I’ve ever known. Just him being around, joking around, acting like he’s 15. But that’s his decision and like I said in Tahoe, anytime I’ve talked about it, I got nothing but love and respect for him and yeah, let’s play some golf soon.”

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Lakers sign Ziaire Williams to one-year, $3-million deal to bolster their depth

Go beyond the scoreboard

Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.

How France became a World Cup power

From Kevin Baxter: Before it could rise in the World Cup, France first had to fall.

And the fall was spectacular.

In 2010, four years after reaching the final for the second time in three World Cups, the players revolted against coach Raymond Domenech during the tournament. In response, the managing director of the country’s soccer federation resigned in disgust, and the team left South Africa winless after scoring just once in three games.

That matched France’s worst World Cup performance in 76 years. The team, outsiders agreed, had become impossible to coach.

Four years later France made the quarterfinals, beginning a streak in which it has reached the final eight in four consecutive World Cups for the first time. If France beats Spain in the semifinals Tuesday it will advance to the final for a third straight time.

Only Brazil and Germany have done that.

The base for that success was laid a generation before the collapse in South Africa, when a series of poor performances led the French Football Federation to create a series of 16 government-subsidized academies known as Centres de Formation.

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World Cup semifinals schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Tuesday
France vs. Spain, noon

Wednesday
England vs. Argentina, noon

Third-place match

Saturday, 2 p.m.

Championship match

Sunday, noon

How Justin Wrobleski became an All-Star

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski could have been content with his performance the first couple of months this season. After all, he’d come into the year fighting for a rotation spot, and he’d shown in that time that he was ready to be a full-time major-league starter.

That wasn’t enough.

While still holding on to his identity as a pitcher who goes right at hitters, Wrobleski tallied 20 strikeouts over his last two starts of the first half.

“We’re just doing a good job with the plan,” Wrobleski said last week, days before he was named a first-time All-Star. “I feel like I’m continuing to get better at knowing where to go with two strikes, knowing where to go versus a certain hitter with two strikes and just kind of reading the game.”

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Shaikin: Love it or hate it: Would the Dodgers’ NL West rivals call a Tarik Skubal trade overkill?

Shaikin: Inside the Shohei Ohtani Economy driving a wild auction for his worn cleats

Sparks lose to the Dream

Angel Reese had 23 points and 13 rebounds for her WNBA-leading 16th double-double of the season, Allisha Gray added 20 points, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Sparks 101-92 on Monday night.

Gray made Atlanta’s first field goal of the fourth quarter with 4:07 remaining to tie it at 87. Then, Reese got a friendly roll on her third made three-pointer of the season to make it 90-87 and she added two free throws on the next possession for a five-point lead. Jordin Canada capped the 9-0 run for a 94-87 lead.

Canada finished with 16 points and Rhyne Howard added 11 for Atlanta (14-10), which had lost six of its last seven games. Reese, who missed Saturday’s game against Portland, was seven for 11 from the field and made all eight of her free throws in 32 minutes.

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Sparks box score

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This day in sports history

1912 — Kenneth McArthur runs Olympic record marathon (2:36:54.8).

1951 — Citation is the first horse to win $1 million in a career by taking the Hollywood Gold Cup by four lengths in Inglewood. Citation retires after the race with total earnings of $1,085,760. In 45 starts, Citation ran out of the money only once.

1964 — Jacques Anquetil wins his fifth Tour de France. It’s his fourth straight title of the cycling event.

1973 — Tom Weiskopf wins the British Open by three strokes over Johnny Miller and Neil Coles. Weiskopf goes wire-to-wire and his total of 12-under-par 276 matches the Open Championship record set by Arnold Palmer on the same Troon Golf Club course in 1962.

1985 — Kathy Baker beats Judy Clark by three strokes to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title.

1985 — The Baltimore Stars defeat the Oakland Invaders 28-24 to win the United States Football League championship.

1986 — Jane Geddes beats Sally Little in an 18-hole playoff to take the U.S. Women’s Open championship.

1991 — Meg Mallon shoots a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Pat Bradley in the 46th U.S. Women’s Open. Mallon finishes with a 1-under 283.

2001 — John Campbell scores an unprecedented sixth victory in the $1 million Meadowlands Pace as Real Desire beats favored Bettor’s Delight in the stretch. Real Desire paces the mile in 1:49.3 in matching the record set by The Panderosa two years ago in the race that gave Campbell his fifth win. Campbell, 46, is a winner of a $1 million race 19 times.

2005 — In Oklahoma City, the United States is beaten in an international softball game for the first time since 2002, losing 2-1 to Canada in the inaugural World Cup of Softball.

2011 — Kaio breaks former grand champion Chiyonofuji career sumo victory record, beating Mongolian Kyokutenho for No. 1,046. The 39-year-old Kaio forces out Kyokutenho in the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.

2011 — Amateur Tom Lewis shoots a record 5-under 65 in the opening round of the British Open. The 20-year-old Lewis posts the lowest round ever by an amateur in golf’s oldest major to pull even with Thomas Bjorn at Royal St. George’s.

2013 — Jordan Spieth becomes the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in 82 years. The 19-year-old outlasts David Hearn and Zach Johnson on the fifth hole of a playoff to win the John Deere Classic. He’s the first teenager to win since Ralph Guldahl took the Santa Monica Open in 1931.

2018 — Angelique Kerber claims her first Wimbledon title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over seven-time champion Serena Williams.

2019 — Novak Dokovic wins the longest ever Wimbledon title over Roger Federer 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3) in 4 hours 57 minutes.

2019 — English Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins a record sixth British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone; moves him one win clear of Jim Clark and Alain Prost (five).

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1916 — St. Louis Browns pitcher Ernie Koob went the distance in a 17-inning 0-0 tie with the Boston Red Sox. Carl Mays went the first 15 innings for the Red Sox and Dutch Leonard finished.

1946 — Cleveland player-manager Lou Boudreau hit four doubles and a home run in the first game of a doubleheader against Boston, but Ted Williams connected for three home runs and drove in eight runs for an 11-10 Red Sox victory.

1956 — Mel Parnell of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox for a 4-0 victory at Fenway Park.

1967 — Eddie Mathews of the Astros hit his 500th home run off San Francisco’s Juan Marichal at Candlestick Park. Houston beat the Giants 8-6.

1968 — Hank Aaron hit his 500th home run off Mike McCormick as the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2.

1968 — Don Wilson of the Houston Astros struck out 18 Reds in a 6-1 victory over Cincinnati in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

1969 — Oakland’s Reggie Jackson knocked in 10 runs in a 21-7 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Jackson had five hits in six at-bats, including two two-run homers and a double.

1970 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds scored on Jim Hickman’s 12th-inning single after bowling over Cleveland’s Ray Fosse at home plate to give the NL a 5-4 victory over the AL at Riverfront Stadium.

1972 — In a major league first, Bill Haller was the umpire behind the plate while his brother Tom was the catcher for the Detroit Tigers.

1995 — Ramon Martinez threw the first no-hitter of the season as the Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins 7-0. Martinez was perfect for 7 1-3 innings before walking Tommy Gregg.

2006 — The New York Yankees snapped Jose Contreras’ winning streak at 17 decisions with a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox. Contreras (9-1) hadn’t lost since dropping a 4-2 decision to Minnesota last Aug. 15.

2008 — Josh Hamilton of Texas, with a dazzling display of power, hit a record 28 homers in the first round of the All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium before he was beaten out by Minnesota’s Justin Morneau in the finals.

2009 — The American League continued its dominance over the National League with a 4-3 win in the All-Star game. The AL is 12-0-1 since its 1996 defeat at Philadelphia — the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history. Carl Crawford of Tampa, robbed Brad Hawpe of a go-ahead homer in the eighth and took home MVP honors.

2014 — Yoenis Cespedes successfully defends his title as Home Run Derby champion in the annual event held before the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis, MN. Cespedes defeats Todd Frazier in the final round, 9 long balls to 1, having hit 28 overall. Ken Griffey Jr. was the only other repeat winner in the event, winning in 1998 and 1999.

2015 — Mike Trout became the first player in 38 years to lead off the All-Star Game with a home run, and the American League beat the National League 6-3 to secure home-field advantage in the World Series for the third straight time and 10th in 13 years. Trout also became the first player to be selected the game’s MVP two years in row.

2018 — The Cardinals fire manager Mike Matheny just before the All-Star break, after a loss to the Reds that puts them just one game above .500. Hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller are also let go, while bench coach Mike Shildt is named interim manager, with a permanent replacement expected to be named when play resumes after the Mid-Summer Classic in a few days. However, Shildt will do so well that he will be made permanent within a few weeks.

2023 — Brothers Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor both hit two-run homers in the 3rd inning in the Guardians’ 12-4 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Park. It the first time that brothers hit multi-run homers for the same team in the same inning.

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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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TSMC’s June sales drive revenue surge of 68% ahead of earnings report

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TSMC said on Monday that June revenue rose 67.9% year on year to NT$398.27 billion (€10.8bn), bringing the first-half of the year revenue to NT$2.4 trillion (€65.4bn), a 35.6% increase from the same period in 2025.


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Based on the company’s monthly revenue disclosures, second-quarter revenue amounted to roughly NT$1.27 trillion, ahead of the NT$1.264 trillion (€34.4bn) consensus forecast from 20 analysts surveyed by LSEG.

Monday’s release covers June revenue and cumulative first-half sales only.

TSMC will publish its full second-quarter earnings on Thursday, including net profit, gross margin, operating margin and updated financial guidance.

The road ahead

At its April earnings presentation, TSMC said it expects full-year 2026 revenue to grow by more than 30% in US dollar terms and projected capital expenditure of between $52 billion (€45.5bn) and $56 billion (€49bn) as it expands manufacturing capacity to meet AI-driven demand.

New fabrication plants are under construction or in preparation in Arizona, Japan and Germany, reflecting both the scale of customer demand and government efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Shares in TSMC rose about 1% following Monday’s revenue update.

Investors will now turn their attention to Thursday’s full earnings report for updates on profitability, margins, full-year guidance and the rollout of the company’s two-nanometre manufacturing technology, which is already attracting strong customer interest.

The AI engine

The company sits at the centre of one of the largest investment cycles in the semiconductor industry’s history.

Many of the world’s leading AI processors, including Nvidia’s GPUs and much of the custom AI silicon designed by Amazon, Google and Microsoft, are manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan.

At the company’s April earnings presentation, CEO Che-Chia Wei described AI demand as “extremely robust”, driven by the shift from chatbots that answer questions to agentic AI systems capable of taking actions.

That transition requires significantly greater computing power, increasing demand for the advanced chips TSMC manufactures.

Advanced technologies, defined as chips produced using process technologies of seven nanometres or smaller, accounted for 74% of wafer revenue in the first quarter.

TSMC’s three-nanometre technology alone contributed 25% of wafer revenue.

Reports have indicated that Nvidia has reserved roughly 60% of TSMC’s advanced chip-packaging capacity for 2026, highlighting continued supply constraints across the AI semiconductor market.

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At least 27 killed in Bangkok bar fire, Thai media report

At least 27 people have been killed in a huge fire which ravaged through a Bangkok bar, Thai media has reported.

Firefighters were called to the scene just after midnight and discovered patrons fleeing through the flame-enveloped front door of the venue.

Unverified footage shows flames blasting out of the bar as one woman falls to the floor before getting to her feet to get away.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told journalists at the scene that 27 people died and several have been taken to the hospital, according to local media. He stressed the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

The bar is located in the Chatuchak District and is a famous entertainment venue and restaurant in the area, Thai outlet the Daily News reported, external.

Firefighters were able to bring the flames under control in half an hour.

Pictures taken inside the bar after the fire was put out show it completely charred and blackened, with the ceiling peeling off.

A number of people are still missing after the disaster, Thai outlet Thairath reported, external.

This is a breaking story. More updates will follow.

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Wembanyama signs contract with Spurs for five years, $252m: Report | Basketball News

Victor Wemnanyama, the NBA’s tallest player, inked the third-largest rookie extension in history.

Hours after he told Spurs fans he was “here to stay”, Victor ⁠Wembanyama signed a ⁠multiyear contract extension with San Antonio that ESPN reported is for five years and $252m.

The deal, ⁠which is worth $50.4m per year, is the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) maximum rookie-scale extension and carries a player option ⁠for the fifth season.

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“Spurs family, I’m here to stay,” Wembanyama tweeted Friday. “Whatever it takes.”

The Spurs, who did not confirm financial details, published photos and videos of Wembanyama inking his ‌contract.

Wembanyama has been viewed as one of the elite young players in the sport going back before the Spurs selected him No 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The 7ft4in (2.24-metre) centre with an 8-ft (2.44-metre) wingspan has averaged 23.4 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists ⁠and 3.5 blocks per game through ⁠three NBA seasons.

The Defensive Player of the Year and a first-time All-NBA first-team selection, Wembanyama finished third in Most Valuable Player (MVP) balloting this season ⁠after putting up career highs of 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

He ⁠is a career 34.2% 3-point shooter ⁠who has made 2.2 triples per game, and he’s led the league in blocks in every season since his arrival.

The Spurs fell to ‌the New York Knicks in five games last month in Wembanyama’s first NBA Finals.

The current pieces around ‌him ‌include guards De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper, and the Spurs recently signed veteran forward Tobias Harris.

Victor ⁠Wembanyama reacts.
Wembanyama, left, with teammate Stephon Castle during the NBA Finals in June [Ross D Franklin/AP]

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Xi meets N. Korea’s premier ahead of 65th anniv. of friendship treaty: report

Chinese President Xi Jinping, seen here at a reception in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People in September 2025, met with North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song on Friday, Chinese media reported. File Photo by Kremlin Press Office/UPI | License Photo

Chinese President Xi Jinping met North Korea‘s premier in Beijing on Friday ahead of an event marking the 65th anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty between the two nations, news footage aired by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed.

North Korean Premier Pak Thae-song arrived there earlier in the day for a three-day visit to attend the event commemorating the treaty anniversary at the invitation of China’s Communist Party, according to the report.

The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed July 11, 1961, by late North Korea founder and former leader Kim Il-sung and then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang’s state media, reported on Pak’s planned visit to Beijing the previous day, without specifying a detailed schedule.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Jinping held summit talks in Pyongyang last month and vowed to strengthen bilateral ties through expanded exchanges across multiple sectors, from economy to culture, as well as more frequent high-level visits.

At that time, Xi stressed the importance of marking the anniversary, fueling speculation that the two countries would hold a large-scale event.

In socialist nations like North Korea and China, anniversaries that fall on five- or 10-year intervals carry particular significance and are typically celebrated with grand events. High-level official visits and exchanges of congratulatory messages had been widely expected.

South Korea’s unification ministry said at a briefing earlier in the day it will “closely monitor” related developments in Beijing.

According to the ministry, this marks the first time in seven years that a North Korean government delegation has been dispatched to Beijing in celebration of the treaty’s anniversary.

The ministry also noted that North Korea has elevated the rank of its chief delegate to premier this year from vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly back in 2019.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

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Marcellus Wiley arrested after allegedly threatening to kill his wife

Former NFL defensive end and Los Angeles sports radio personality Marcellus Wiley was arrested Saturday in Florida after allegedly threatening to kill his wife and poking her in the face with his finger.

Wiley faces a possible charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. According to the Orange County (Fla.) Corrections Department, he was released on a $1,000 cash bond Sunday at 8:43 p.m. An arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 4.

“I completely and unequivocally deny these allegations, and I’m certain the truth will prevail,” Wiley wrote Monday on X. “As you know, I’m usually the first to break down the truth and separate facts from fiction. But because this is now a legal matter — and because my greatest responsibility is protecting my babies, who have already been impacted — I have to handle this differently.

“When I can speak freely, I absolutely will. Until then, thank you for your patience, your prayers, and for continuing to stand with me.”

The former Pro Bowl player is married to Annemarie Wiley, a former cast member of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and the mother of three of his children. The name of the alleged victim is redacted from the arrest affidavit viewed by The Times, but she is identified as a woman who said she has been married to Wiley “for approximately 14 years” and shares three children with him.

A sheriff’s deputy responded to a call at the World Marriott in Orlando around 4:47 p.m., according to the arrest report, and the accuser said she wanted Wiley removed from their hotel room.

“She stated Marcellus told [her] he was going to kill her and she was afraid of his behavior,” the report states. “When asked to elaborate, she stated on the previous morning Marcellus had put his hands on her.”

The report states that the woman told the deputy that on the morning of July 3, Wiley “used one finger to sternly and intentionally poke her in the cheek. [She] stated he did not have permission to do this, and she stated she believed he did this to cause her harm.”

She did not request medical attention after the alleged incident, according to the affidavit, and the deputy said he did not see any visible injury. The woman also told the deputy that Wiley “had an unreported history of violence toward her and she was planning to divorce him when they returned home to California.”

Their 7-year-old daughter, who the woman said had witnessed the incident, told the deputy she did not see her father touch her mother but had heard them arguing that morning.

According to the affidavit, Wiley told the deputy in an oral statement that “he and his wife had not had any physical altercation while at the hotel, and he also stated they have never had any physical violence between them.”

In addition, the report said, “Marcellus stated he believed his wife had called deputies to make a report due to her intention to divorce him. Marcellus stated he had been taking care of the children and no violence had occurred between them.”

The deputy determined probable cause existed for Wiley’s arrest, and he took the 10-year NFL player to the correctional facility “without incident.”

According to court records, Wiley has been appointed a public defender. He is allowed to return to California but must obey a no-contact order that prohibits him from “having any type of contact with the victim(s), either directly or indirectly.”

He can return home one time with law enforcement to collect his belongings.

A Compton native, Wiley played four years at Columbia before a 10-year NFL career from 1997 to 2006. He spent three seasons with the San Diego Chargers, including his only Pro Bowl year in 2001, and also played for the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars. His post-football broadcast career included several years as a host on KSPN-AM (710) in Los Angeles.

Multiple women accused Wiley in civil lawsuits of sexually assaulting them in the past. One Jane Doe filed in April to turn her lawsuit into a class-action suit against Wiley and Columbia University. The filing included four new accusers and stated that “at this time, without the benefit of discovery, there appears to be at least 10-12 victims. It is anticipated that discovery will reveal more.”

Wiley has denied all the allegations against him in court documents and publicly.

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White House report brands Smithsonian leadership as radical activists who can’t be trusted

A White House report brands the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution, especially at the National Museum of American History, as radical activists who cannot be trusted, indicating that President Trump may be preparing to install his own team.

The report released late on Independence Day by the White House Domestic Policy Council comes in the midst of Trump’s aggressive campaign to overhaul some of Washington’s most sacred cultural and historic institutions. Trump in March revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targeted funding for programs that advanced “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” as he continued a broadside against culture he deems too liberal.

“The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” according to the report by the council, which is led by a former top Trump speechwriter.

The authors added: “As this report shows, confirmed in the words of Museum leadership, this ideological capture has moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.”

The Smithsonian did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.

Historian Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian’s current secretary, is the first African American to lead the institution. In an unrelated interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Bunch said “the notion of being a more perfect union, not the perfect union, is really what motivates me.”

“I think what I want people to understand is that there is a responsibility to continue to make those aspirations available, accessible, meaningful to a whole range of people,” Bunch said. “And that, in essence, America’s greatest strength, it’s not running away from its history, but it’s understanding how that history shaped us and continues to shape us.”

Historian Anthea M. Hartig is the first woman to serve as director of National Museum of American History.

Trump’s escalating effort to force changes at the Smithsonian marks the Republican president’s latest move to transform cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he considers out of step with conservative sensibilities. Trump had himself installed as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the aim of overhauling programming, and his handpicked board voted to add his name to the building, only to have a federal judge later order the signage to be removed.

The administration also forced Columbia University to make a series of policy changes by threatening the Ivy League school with the loss of several hundred million dollars in federal funding.

Trump has also imposed changes on historical sites beyond Washington, including in Philadelphia, where the administration won a court ruling last week allowing it to reinstall interpretive panels that critics say whitewash the history of slavery at the site of President George Washington’s home. Advocates, academics and officials have been concerned for months that the version that complies with Trump’s order could give a history that plays down the pain in the nation’s past in favor of a more triumphant view.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., accused Trump and his allies of trying to “rewrite history.”

“There’s not one individual narrative that a president gets about our history,” Shapiro, a potential presidential prospect, said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And any president should want to make sure that that full history is shared, that the American people are able to draw their own conclusions.”

Shapiro added, “If we understand where we came from, we’re going to have a better path forward.”

Trump’s Domestic Policy Council does not necessarily agree.

The National Museum of American History “confronts visitors with materials intended to undermine faith in American institutions and the longstanding shared ideals of the American people,” the council’s report said. “We must be committed to restoring truth and sanity in how American history is presented and taught.”

In seeking to fulfill Trump’s order, which he called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” the review concluded by finding that the museum “by the intention and at the direction of current Museum and Smithsonian leadership, has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.”

Peoples writes for the Associated Press.

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