Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

National League

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

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

American League

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

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

NL Division Series

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

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

AL Division Series

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

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

*-if necessary

RAMS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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LAKERS

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

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

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

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

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THRILLA IN MANILA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

The U.S. economy will be hampered by the Trump administration’s tariffs in the coming months, which along with interest rate cuts could lead to a “stagflation-lite” scenario of modestly elevated inflation and unemployment, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast released Wednesday.

The fourth-quarter estimate also predicts that rising layoffs could lead to a recession, and if President Trump is successful in exerting more control over the Federal Reserve, a “full blown stagflation scenario becomes a more significant risk.”

“This forecast is being produced at a time when more extreme scenarios have become increasingly plausible, even though they do not yet represent our baseline outlook,” states the report by Clement Bohr, senior economist at the forecast.

UCLA’s report notes that the labor market “deteriorated notably” in June while inflation pivoted away from a path of “gradual normalization” onto a rising trajectory.

The quarterly forecast does not take into account the government shutdown that began Wednesday that could results in thousands of layoffs, but predicts third-quarter GDP growth will come in at just 1% on a seasonably adjusted basis, and it will weaken further as the full cost of the tariffs takes hold.

It expects growth to recover in the middle of next year and reach 2% by the fourth quarter, remaining there throughout 2027.

Driving the stagflation prediction is an effective tariff rate of about 11%, with the risk of future levies on pharmaceuticals and the potential lack of a resolution of the China trade dispute. The report notes the political pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the decision by the bank to cut the federal funds rate by a quarter point in September. UCLA predicts a similar rate cut this month.

Trump’s “big beautiful” budget reconciliation bill passed in July, which included $703 billion in temporary tax cuts over the next four years starting in 2026, also will provide substantial stimulus. The Consumer Price Index is expected to peak at 3.6% in the first quarter of next year before easing.

However, the economy will be held back by a tightening labor supply caused by retiring baby boomers and restrictive immigration policies. The unemployment rate has crept up to 4.3% and is expected to peak at 4.6% early next year.

Also Wednesday, closely watched ADP Research released figures showed private-sector payrolls decreased by 32,000 in September with job growth slowing across many industries.

The billions of dollars being invested in artificial intelligence by large technology firms has helped prop up the economy, the forecast noted, which should result in productivity gains — but the capital expenditures should tail off as a “trough of disillusionment” sets in when revenue gains don’t meet expectations.

The report also expects consumer consumption to weaken following a surge in electric-vehicle purchases in the third quarter due to the expiration of federal tax credits last month.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said if the government shutdown lasts a week or two it won’t have a “meaningful economic impact.” However, if it lasts for a month or more and is accompanied by mass federal layoffs, it would have a profound effect on the economy, Zandi said.

“It would wreak havoc on the financial markets as global markets and investors begin to wonder if we can govern ourselves,” he said. “That would mean higher interest rates and lower stock prices.”

NEW YORK — A new report on book bans in U.S. schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.

PEN America’s “Banned in the USA,” released Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years ago, when PEN didn’t even see the need to compile a report.

Some 80% of those bans originated in three states that have enacted or attempted to enact laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable — Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Meanwhile, PEN found little or no instances of removals in several other states, with Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey among those with laws that limit the authority of school and public libraries to pull books.

“It is increasingly a story of two countries,” says Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read program and an author of the report. “And it’s not just a story of red states and blue states. In Florida, not all of the school districts responded to the calls for banning books. You can find differences from county to county.”

King’s books were censored 206 times, according to PEN, with “Carrie” and “The Stand” among the 87 of his works affected. The most banned work of any author was Anthony Burgess’ dystopian classic from the 1960s, “A Clockwork Orange,” for which PEN found 23 removals. Other books and authors facing extensive restrictions included Patricia McCormick’s “Sold,” Judy Blume’s “Forever” and Jennifer Niven’s “Breathless,” and numerous works by Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult.

Reasons often cited for pulling a book include LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race and passages with violence and sexual violence. An ongoing trend that PEN finds has only intensified: Thousands of books were taken off shelves in anticipation of community, political or legal pressure rather than in response to a direct threat.

“This functions as a form of ‘obeying in advance,’” the report reads, “rooted in fear or simply a desire to avoid topics that might be deemed controversial.”

The PEN report comes amid ongoing censorship efforts not just from states and conservative activists but from the federal government. The Department of Education ended an initiative by the Biden administration to investigate the legality of bans and has called the issue a “hoax.” PEN’s numbers include the Department of Defense’s removal of hundreds of books from K-12 school libraries for military families as part of an overall campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and “un-American” thinking.

In Florida, where more than 2,000 books were banned or restricted, a handful of counties were responsible for many of the King removals: Dozens were pulled last year as a part of a review for whether they were in compliance with state laws.

“His books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal — these prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism, and people of color — but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books,” Meehan says. “Some districts — in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment — will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access too.”

PEN’s methodology differs from that of the American Library Assn., which also issues annual reports on bans and challenges. PEN’s numbers are much higher in part because the free expression organization counts any books removed or restricted for any length of time, while the library association only counts permanent removals or restrictions.

Both organizations have acknowledged that because they largely rely on media reports and information that they receive directly, their numbers are far from comprehensive.

The PEN report does not include data from Ohio, Oklahoma, Arkansas and other red states because researchers could not find adequate documentation. Meehan said PEN also doesn’t know the full impact of statewide laws.

Italie writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers Dugout: How the Dodgers and Reds match up

Dodgers box score

MLB POSTSEASON SCHEDULE, RESULTS

National League

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

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

American League

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

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

*-if necessary

ANGELS

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

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

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

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LAKERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ANGEL CITY

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

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

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

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

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Los Angeles County supervisors criticized the long-awaited $1.9-million outside investigation on government failures during the January wildfires as full of gaping holes after outcry from residents who say the report failed to answer their key question: Why did evacuation alerts come so late for so many?

“I’ve heard from many residents, some of whom are in the audience, who share that this report leads to more questions than answers, and, quite frankly, a lot of anger,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents unincorporated Altadena, as the board discussed the report’s findings at its Tuesday meeting.

Nineteen people died in the Eaton fire, all but one of whom was found in west Altadena, an area that did not get evacuation alerts until hours after the fire threatened the area.

The report from McChrystal Group found, among other failures, that there was no clear guide of which county department was responsible for deciding which areas to evacuate. The responsibility for evacuations is split among the Office of Emergency Management, the Sheriff’s Department and the Fire Department, and none have taken responsibility for the evacuation blunders. The county also failed to consistently issue evacuation warnings to neighborhoods next to ones that were under an evacuation order, the report found.

The pushback by supervisors is notable because they commissioned the report in January and vowed it would get to the bottom of what went wrong. When it was unveiled last week, top county officials hailed it as a blueprint for improvements. But it almost immediately faced criticism from residents and others.

Despite the shortcomings, the supervisors said they were eager to implement the report’s recommendations, which included making it clear who was responsible for issuing evacuations and beefing up staffing for the Office of Emergency Management. The supervisors unanimously approved a motion Tuesday, to start the process of implementing some of the report’s recommendations.

One of the report’s problems, Barger said, is that so many noncounty agencies declined to participate in the report. Several California fire agencies including the Pasadena Fire Department, the state’s Office of Emergency Services and the Los Angeles Fire Department declined to provide information, according to the report.

“It is inexcusable and I would challenge any one of those departments, or any one of those chiefs, to look the survivors in the eye and explain why they were compelled not to cooperate, because that does lead to ‘What are you hiding?’” said Barger, who said she was “incredibly frustrated and disappointed.”

“We have very one-sided information,” acknowledged Erin Sutton, a partner with McChrystal Group. “It is the county information.”

Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the consultants had been “unable to compel” other agencies to share their automatic vehicle locator data. The Times used county vehicle locator data earlier this year to reveal that most county fire trucks didn’t shift into west Altadena until long after it was ravaged by fire. The Times was not able to obtain vehicle locator data from any of the other fire agencies that were dispatched to the Eaton fire that night.

“We were out of L.A. County Fire trucks. We were relying on our mutual aid partners that were there,” Marrone said. “We just don’t have their data.”

The Sheriff’s Department has also yet to release vehicle locator data on where deputies were that evening. Sheriff Robert Luna said Tuesday that the department had dozens of deputies assisting with evacuations that night.

“We can absolutely do better, and we’re already putting systems in place so that we can do better,” Luna told the supervisors Tuesday. “They weren’t waiting for warnings.”

A spokesperson for the Pasadena Fire Department said the agency didn’t participate beyond providing written information because the “scope of the review was the response by Los Angeles County.” The L.A. Fire Department said it didn’t participate because it was outside the agency’s jurisdiction. The state’s Office of Emergency Services noted it was already conducting its own review.

“I too am frustrated by what I feel are areas of incompleteness,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district was scarred by the Palisades fire.

The 133-page report makes only one mention of deaths from the fire. Horvath said she felt the report failed to include the “very painful” accounts from survivors and should have delved into the issue of rogue alerts that urged many to get ready to evacuate even though they were miles away from fire.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell said she wanted to highlight the racial disparity of outcomes in Altadena, an issue she called the “elephant in the room” and one that was not mentioned in the report. Black residents of Altadena were more likely to have their homes damaged or destroyed by the Eaton fire, according to research by UCLA.

Residents feel deeply that their experience — receiving later alerts and fewer fire resources than their neighbors — is not reflected in the report, she said. “We have to figure out how to acknowledge that disconnect, not diminish it,” she said

Congresswoman Judy Chu, whose district includes Altadena, said in a letter to the board that the report left “unresolved questions” around evacuation failures.

“The report does not explain why officials concluded it was safe to wait until 3:25 a.m. to issue the order, or who was responsible for that decision,” she wrote.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors reviewed the McChrystal report on the January fires at a meeting Tuesday.

(Terry Castleman / Los Angeles Times)

Standing on a vacant lot in west Altadena, hundreds of residents said they were frustrated with the report.

“Officials have responded with unconscionable ineptitude,” said Kara Vallow, who said she believed the document “goes out of its way to avoid accountability.”

Speakers called for Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta to investigate separately, questioning the independence of the report. Survivors held signs with victims’ names, while others questioned why alerts came so late for west Altadena.

Lauren Randolph, a west Altadena resident, asked why, if flames were near her home in Farnsworth Park at 2:20 a.m., her family nearby didn’t receive an evacuation alert until almost 3:25 a.m.

“I ask again — who was in charge?” she said.

She said she felt the report failed to look into west Altadena, where she alleged that 911 calls were ignored and evacuation notices came late, noting that the area was home to most of Altadena’s Black and brown families.

The report emphasized that the “fire front” had not crossed into west Altadena, where nearly all the deaths took place, until around 5 a.m., nearly two hours after the evacuation orders came for the area. But many west Altadenans decried the description, saying their homes started to burn long before then.

“That is not true,” Sylvie Andrews said, the crowd around her laughing at the assertion.

Shawn Tyrie, a partner with McChrystal Group, acknowledged Tuesday that the satellite images they used don’t provide a “definitive picture,” particularly in cases with extreme wind, ember cast and smoke.

“Those images are severely degraded in smoke conditions like that,” he said, leaving open the possibility that the fire was in west Altadena well before 5 a.m., as residents previously reported to The Times.

Altadena residents voice their displeasure with the McChrystal report shortly before the Board of Supervisors met to review the report.

(Terry Castleman / Los Angeles Times)

Many of the residents’ questions were echoed Tuesday at the Hall of Administration by Barger, who drilled down on the difference between the fire front, which didn’t cross into west Altadena until 5 a.m, and the ember cast, which started dangerous spot fires in the neighborhood long before then.

“For people I’ve talked to who lost their homes, fire front versus ember cast mean nothing other than there was fire in their community, in their neighborhood, burning down homes,” she said.

Marrone said he believed they should have taken the ember cast into account.

“With hindsight being 2020, we do understand now that we must evacuate well ahead of not only the fire front … but we also need to take into account the massive ember cast,” he said.

Marrone said repeatedly that his firefighters were overwhelmed responding to multiple fires that day. Firefighters battled the Eaton fire as hurricane-force winds scattered embers for two miles. Unlike the Palisades fire, the most difficult stretch of the Eaton fire was fought in the dark with winds requiring all aircraft grounded by 6:45 p.m as the fire was just beginning. This left first responders without an aerial view of the flames, reducing their awareness of the fire direction.

Marrone said they’ve made a National Guard satellite program available to incident command, so fire officials can see the path of a fire on nights when they have no aerial support.

“Like I said before, and this is not an excuse, this was a massive, unprecedented disaster that presented severe challenges,” he said.

Barger also questioned why there was such a delay between when fire officials first noticed the fire was moving west and when the evacuation orders were issued. According to the report, a county fire official in the field in Altadena said they suggested to incident command staff a little before midnight that, due to high winds, evacuation orders should go out for the foothills of Altadena, all the way west to La Cañada Flintridge. About two hours later, at 2:18 a.m., a fire official radioed that they saw fire north of Farnsworth Park moving west along the foothills.

The first evacuation order for west Altadena came at 3:25 a.m.

Marrone said incident command needed to validate the report before requesting the order be sent out.

“That took time — probably too much time in retrospect,” Marrone said.

BOSTON — The Trump administration violated the Constitution when it targeted non-U.S. citizens for deportation solely for supporting Palestinians and criticizing Israel, a federal judged said Tuesday in a scathing ruling directly and sharply criticizing President Trump and his policies as serious threats to free speech.

U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston agreed with several university associations that the policy they described as ideological deportation violates the 1st Amendment as well as the Administrative Procedure Act, a law governing how federal agencies develop and issue regulations. Young also found the policy was “arbitrary or capricious because it reverses prior policy without reasoned explanation.”

“This case — perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court — squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in [the] United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do,’” Young, a nominee of Republican President Reagan, wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs in the case welcomed the ruling.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to deport students for their political views is an assault on the Constitution and a betrayal of American values,” said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Assn. of University Professors union. “This trial exposed their true aim: to intimidate and silence anyone who dares oppose them. If we fail to fight back, Trump’s thought police won’t stop at pro-Palestinian voices—they will come for anyone who speaks out.”

The ruling came after a trial during which lawyers for the associations presented witnesses who testified that the Trump administration had launched a coordinated effort to target students and scholars who had criticized Israel or showed sympathy for Palestinians.

“Not since the McCarthy era have immigrants been the target of such intense repression for lawful political speech,” Ramya Krishnan, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, told the court. “The policy creates a cloud of fear over university communities, and it is at war with the First Amendment.”

The student detentions, primarily on the East Coast, had caused widespread concern at California universities, which host the largest international student population in the nation and were home to major pro-Palestinian encampments in 2024. At UCLA, faculty earlier this year set up a 24-hour hotline for students who feared being potentially detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — although there were no high-profile targeted removals of international student activists.

In separate actions this year, the government also temporarily revoked visas and immigration statuses for students across the UC system and at other U.S. campuses based on minor violations such as traffic tickets. Revocations were reversed nationwide after a federal suit was filed.

In the Boston case, lawyers for the Trump administration put up witnesses who testified there was no ideological deportation policy as the plaintiffs contended.

“There is no policy to revoke visas on the basis of protected speech,” Victoria Santora told the court. “The evidence presented at this trial will show that plaintiffs are challenging nothing more than government enforcement of immigration laws.”

John Armstrong, the senior bureau official in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, testified that visa revocations were based on long-standing immigration law. Armstrong acknowledged he played a role in the visa revocation of several high-profile activists, including Rumeysa Ozturk and Mahmoud Khalil, and was shown memos endorsing their removal.

Armstrong also insisted that visa revocations were not based on protected speech and rejected accusations that there was a policy of targeting someone for their ideology.

One witness testified that the campaign targeted more than 5,000 pro-Palestinian protesters. Out of the 5,000 names reviewed, investigators wrote reports on about 200 who had potentially violated U.S. law, Peter Hatch of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit testified. Until this year, Hatch said, he could not recall a student protester being referred for a visa revocation.

Among the report subjects was Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Khalil, who was released last month after 104 days in federal immigration detention. Khalil has become a symbol of Trump’s clampdown on the protests.

Another was Tufts University student Ozturk, who was released in May from six weeks in detention after being arrested on a suburban Boston street. She said she was illegally detained after an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing her school’s response to the war in Gaza.

Casey writes for the Associated Press. Times staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.

The U.S. Air Force is reportedly examining the possibility of fielding stealthy flying-wing aircraft that could serve as ‘arsenal planes’ loaded with air-to-air missiles. The broader concept is one that we have discussed in the past, including in relation to a version of the B-21 Raider stealth bomber. According to an article from Air & Space Forces Magazine, the Air Force is also considering other potential flying-wing platforms to fill this air-to-air role.

A senior Air Force official told Air & Space Forces Magazine that this kind of arsenal plane was being studied as part of the Air Force’s plans for how to deal with a high-intensity conflict fought with China in the Indo-Pacific region. The stealthy flying-wing aircraft would be armed with “dozens” of air-to-air missiles, the article states.

According to a former top Air Force official speaking to Air & Space Forces Magazine, “there wasn’t a compelling argument” for an air-to-air version of the B-21 in the past, even though it had been discussed. But the prospect of an air war with China and its rapidly evolving air combat capabilities seems to have changed that stance.

Currently, the study is still at an early stage, but it’s intriguing, to say the least, that the Air Force is looking at the possibility of engaging other manufacturers and employing different platforms than the B-21, which is now deep in flight test.

The same official told the publication that an arsenal plane of this kind would be one way of providing a supplement to or even taking the place of some of the Air Force’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones it intends to press into service in the coming years. “There are other ways of achieving ‘affordable mass’ than darkening the skies with CCAs,” the official said.   

The basic operational scenario would involve the arsenal plane providing additional air-to-air ‘magazine depth’ for crewed fighters, such as the F-22, F-35, and the future F-47. The fighters would be responsible for detecting and designating targets, which would then be engaged by long-range missiles launched from the arsenal plane, operating at a standoff distance, a concept that we have been discussing for years. CCAs could also be added to the mix. It’s worth noting that a lack of larger numbers of air-to-air missiles in their jets is a top complaint of F-35 and F-22 crews. Smaller missiles optimized for internal carriage and with shorter ranges are in the works to help mitigate this issue.

There is no mention of whether the arsenal plane would be crewed or not, but the idea of an uncrewed or optionally crewed version of the B-21 has been part of that program from the outset. Furthermore, work has already been done on a possible complementary drone for the B-21, as you can read about here. While this was originally pitched as a bomber drone, such a design could equally lend itself to becoming an air-to-air arsenal plane.

It’s interesting, too, that the idea of an air-to-air role for the B-21 has come up in the past.

Back in 2019, Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Pleus, at that time the Director of Air and Cyber Operations for Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), discussed the possibility of a B-21 “that also has air-to-air capabilities” and can “work with the family of systems to defend itself, utilizing stealth…”

Even before those remarks, TWZ had explored how the new stealth bomber could serve in multiple roles, including in an air-to-air capacity, while Air Force officials had repeatedly alluded to its multi-function capabilities.

“Many of the B-21’s weapons, which will include everything from JDAMs, to Massive Ordnance Penetrators, to ultra long-range air-to-air missiles, will benefit from the Raider’s high perch,” TWZ wrote as long ago as 2017. “Even potentially lasers in the future will have more range due to this performance attribute.”

In December of last year, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin confirmed the service had not ruled out expanding the roles and missions of the B-21 as part of a reassessment of plans for its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative, which led to the F-47.

The latest Air Force thinking also includes the option of using an airframe other than the B-21 to achieve the same air-to-air task. This is apparently based on concerns about Northrop Grumman’s capacity to build the baseline bomber in addition to a potential air-to-air-tasked spinoff. At the same time, a full-specification B-21 version would be a very expensive asset, and likely its level of sophistication would not be required for an arsenal plane role. A stripped-down model, with no sensors and less communications capabilities, as well as possibly no pilots and slightly degraded stealth could drop that price considerably while leveraging the B-21’s basic airframe.

The Air Force’s publicly stated plan has long been to buy at least 100 Raiders. However, as we have talked about in the past, there is the potential that the B-21 force could ultimately become significantly bigger. In the meantime, Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) has looked into the options for increasing B-21 production output, including the possibility of opening up another production facility.

Current estimates suggest that Northrop Grumman will be building 10 B-21s per year by the early 2030s. Even with funds to increase that output, it’s far from certain that there will be additional capacity for production of an air-to-air version as well.

Clearly, developing a new stealthy flying-wing arsenal plane from scratch would be a significant endeavor, although likely less costly than producing a high-end bomber for arsenal plane use. At the same time, a specialized design for the role could draw upon technologies developed not only for the B-21 but also for other advanced flying-wing programs, including ones in the classified realm.

While a dedicated air-to-air version of the B-21 might not find AFGSC favor, Raiders armed with air-to-air missiles for their own protection is another matter. This is underscored by evidence that PACOM has already included notional B-21s with air-to-air weapons in war games intended to learn about future campaigns fought against China.

Another option would be to expand (or include if it doesn’t have it already) air-to-air capability in the baseline B-21. Raiders with the option of employing air-to-air as well as air-to-ground weapons would ensure versatility, and these aircraft could even carry mixed load-outs if the mission required it. It should be noted, too, that the B-21 has a smaller weapons carriage capability than the current B-2 Spirit and, at least based on photos of the second aircraft, it lacks side bays for smaller weapons — this could change as development continues.

On the other hand, the B-21 is a very costly plane, and any weapons capacity given over to air-to-air munitions necessarily takes away from its primary bomber mission, something that AFGSC is unlikely to appreciate. It will also be tasked extremely heavily for its central strike role during a major conflict. So, if the B-21s were partially tasked with working as arsenal ships for fighters, more airframes would be needed, which could make taking on this role more agreeable to AFGSC.

In the meantime, there is apparently no shortage of long-range air-to-air missile programs that could yield suitable armament for an arsenal plane of this kind.

There are various very long-range air-to-air missile programs known to have been in the works in the United States, with more in the classified realm. The best known is the joint Air Force/Navy AIM-260, which will offer much greater range than the current AIM-120 AMRAAM, as well as other new and improved capabilities, but will put these in a missile with similar dimensions to the AIM-120. A Raider-sized aircraft could carry a huge number of AIM-260s.

At the same time, a platform the size of the B-21, or closer to its size, would also be capable of carrying outsized weapons beyond the scope of carriage by CCAs, or even crewed fighters, such as multi-stage air-to-air weapons. As for large, very long-range air-to-air missiles, one option very well-suited to the role would be the AIM-174, the air launched derivative of the surface-launched SM-6 missile. These are currently carried by U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets. Longer-ranged than any other air-to-air missile the U.S. military has ever fielded, it is also tailor-made for the Indo-Pacific theater, as you can see in the video below. Firing it at the direction of forward-operating fighters would very much fit the role of this new flying wing aircraft, which would be able to carry far more than fighters could.

Alternatively, instead of buying large flying wings each carrying dozens of missiles, the Air Force could acquire uncrewed combat air vehicles, or UCAVs, offering a longer range and better survivability than CCAs, as well as a far greater payload. The result would be a more survivable drone carrying a fighter-sized load of missiles. The apparent absence of UCAVs of any kind from Air Force plans is something we have discussed in detail before and have since followed up on.

If this option were to be pursued, it would go some way to address the limitations of a larger flying-wing platform carrying dozens of missiles at once. Simply put, those missiles can only be in one place at any given time. Buying more plentiful UCAVs would mean that they can be in many places at once, and losing a drone of this kind would be preferable to the Air Force losing many millions in the cost of a more exquisite flying wing platform and its missiles.

For its part, China is busily developing flying-wing drones, including stealthy UCAVs. Some of these drones are also notably large. Indeed, the latest of these may well even match this latest U.S. Air Force arsenal plane concept, at least by design, although we do not know its exact planned mission or stores configuration. Namely, this is a flying-wing drone with a ‘cranked kite’ planform, a bit smaller than a B-21, but likely with kinetic capabilities. Potentially, it could also be used in an air-to-air combat support role.

Other interesting parallels can be found between the new U.S. Air Force concept and naval programs for ‘arsenal ships.’ These vessels are intended to similarly increase magazine depth, lobbing air defense, land-attack, and anti-ship missiles in support of more conventional surface combatants. Some of these arsenal ships are also expected to operate uncrewed, while others will go to sea with a much-reduced crew complement.

Should the Air Force find funds for an air-to-air arsenal plane of whatever kind, the effect that would have on the CCA and other initiatives is unclear.

The statement that an unnamed senior Air Force official gave to Air & Space Forces Magazine suggests that a stealthy flying-wing aircraft armed with large numbers of air-to-air missiles could, to a degree, threaten CCA plans, although it could also be a very useful complement.

The CCA program, at least to begin with, is based around drones that can carry air-to-air missiles, meaning these drones can work closely with crewed aircraft, significantly extending their reach while enhancing lethality and survivability.

As it stands, the primary mission of the first increment of CCAs will be acting as flying ‘missile trucks’ supporting crewed combat jets, a fact reflected by the FQ (Fighter Drone) designations, for the General Atomics YFQ-42A and the Anduril YFQ-44A.

While CCAs would be expected to operate much closer to the enemy than an arsenal plane, they would not be able to carry anywhere near as many missiles — initially, just two AMRAAMs.

There are meanwhile efforts to extend the reach and flexibility of crewed fighters (and other platforms), including the LongShot drone, which is being developed specifically as an air-to-air ‘missile truck.’ The drone will carry the missiles forward to enhance the tactical lethality and especially the survivability of the launch platform. While it is planned to be cost-effective, the LongShot is not reusable, and each one will also carry just two missiles. At the same time, the LongShot could be an option to increase the reach of an arsenal plane, too.

Indeed, all of these smaller drones will have only a relatively limited weapons-carrying capacity. In this context, a larger stealthy flying-wing with capacious internal capacity becomes very compelling in terms of bringing the largest number of air-to-air missiles to bear against a numerically superior adversary, like China. Furthermore, depending on the degree of standoff range at which the arsenal plane could operate, it wouldn’t necessarily need the same degree of low observability as the B-21.

Also interesting is the timing of the new arsenal plane revelations, in terms of the F-47, which was always intended to be a spearhead of the Air Force’s future air superiority efforts, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.

While Boeing has started production of the first F-47 for the Air Force, with a first flight planned for 2028, there are questions about the final number of aircraft to be built and what they will cost, as well as its overall size (and capacity for weapons carriage).

The Air Force has said it plans to buy at least 185 F-47s, but potentially that figure might change going forward. There has also been discussion about the potential for multiple versions to be built in incremental developmental cycles. Meanwhile, with predictions that the F-47 might cost three times as much as the average F-35, this factor will very likely also play into acquisition plans.

Whatever the number of F-47s procured, the Air Force seems to consider that these, plus much larger quantities of F-35s and CCAs, might still not be enough to wrest air superiority from China over the vast distances of the Pacific, especially in any kind of prolonged campaign.

While it would come at a significant cost, a stealthy flying-wing aircraft packed with air-to-air missiles might just be one way of doing that.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Heartbreak doesn’t feel so good in a place like this. Longtime Hollywood power couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have gone their separate ways, according to several reports.

The Oscar-winning actor and the country music star separated and have been living “apart since the beginning of the summer,” TMZ reported Monday. People also confirmed the stars’ split, with a source saying that that Kidman “has been fighting to save the marriage.”

Representatives for Kidman, 58, and Urban, 57, did not respond immediately Monday to requests for comment.

Beloved AMC Theatres spokesperson Kidman and Grammy winner Urban tied the knot in June 2006 and share two teenage daughters who have been under the actor’s care “since Keith has been gone,” TMZ reported. The “Blue Ain’t Your Color” musician has been on the road for his High and Alive world tour, which launched in May. After the American leg of the tour concludes in Nashville in October, he will bring his music overseas beginning March 2026.

Kidman celebrated 19 years of marriage to Urban on social media in June, sharing a black-and-white photo of them backstage. “Happy Anniversary Baby,” she captioned the tender Instagram photo. Urban, who did not post an anniversary photo to the grid, has mainly used his Instagram to promote his musical endeavors in recent months. In May, he shared photos of him and Kidman celebrating his win at the American Country Music Awards.

The Australian stars married in an intimate ceremony in Sydney. Kidman was previously married to “Mission: Impossible” action star Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. Kidman is Urban’s first wife.

It’s currently unclear whether the spouses will file for divorce.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that will create new transparency measures for large AI companies, including public disclosure of security protocols and reports of critical safety incidents.

Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said Senate Bill 53 will create “commonsense guardrails” to ensure groundbreaking innovations don’t sacrifice safety and transparency amid the rapid growth of AI technologies. Newsom said the bill strikes the right balance of working with the artificial intellegence companies, while not “submitting to industry.”

“AI is the new frontier in innovation, and California is not only here for it – but stands strong as a national leader by enacting the first-in-the-national frontier AI safety legislation that builds public trust as this emerging technology rapidly evolves,” Newsom said in a statement.

The bill was introduced this year after Newsom vetoed a broader bill last year, which was also authored by Wiener. That bill, SB 1047, was supported by Elon Musk and prominent AI researchers, but opposed by Meta and OpenAI.

In his lengthy veto message last year, Newsom called SB 1047 “well-intentioned” but added that it was not the “best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.” In punting the measure last year, Newsom announced that his administration would convene a working group of AI leaders and experts to develop more workable protections that became the basis for SB 53.

The new law will require companies to disclose their safety and security protocols and risk evaluations. It mandates reporting of critical incidents — such as cyberattacks or unsafe behavior by autonomous AI systems — to the state’s Office of Emergency Services.

Cal OES would begin publishing annual reports in 2027 that anonymize and aggregate critical safety incidents it receives. SB 53 also strengthens whistleblower protections for employees who report violations.

The Attorney General in California will be able to bring civil penalties of up to $1 million against companies who violate the new law.

“With a technology as transformative as AI, we have a responsibility to support that innovation while putting in place commonsense guardrails to understand and reduce risk,” Wiener said in a statement.

The bill was opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Progress, a tech industry association.

“This exhaustive approach compels developers to allocate significant time and resources toward preparing for hypothetical risks rather than addressing actual, demonstrable harms,” wrote the Chamber of Progress.

Every morning, Darnell Miller walks his 10-year-old brother, Fredrick, to elementary school, then walks another 20 minutes to Santee High in downtown Los Angeles. Before football practice, when the bell rings in the afternoon, he sometimes jogs to pick up his brother, then walks him home or takes him to practice.

This is a peek into the life of the 17-year-old Miller, a soft-spoken senior who leads the City Section in rushing at midseason with 1,159 yards and 13 touchdowns for 4-1 Santee.

As an example of his talent, the 6-foot, 170-pound Miller made such a positive impression in a 43-7 loss to University that the opposing coach, Bryan Robinson, said, “He’s the No. 1 running back in the City Section.”

Miller rushed for 209 yards in the defeat. He also plays basketball, runs track and has a 4.6 second 40-yard time.

He used to play youth football at age 6 and was so scared of being tackled that he kept running away from defenders when he had the ball.

He moved from Memphis to Los Angeles at the end of 2018. He didn’t play football his freshman year at Santee. He played point guard on varsity basketball. The football coaches noticed him.

“The coaches made me come out,” Miller said. “They kept asking me and I said I’d give it a try. Now I love it.”

He was a receiver last season until switching to running back at midseason after an injury to a teammate. He also plays defensive back.

“He’s a natural at running back,” coach John Petty said.

Santee High running back Darnell Miller, right, takes his 10-year-old brother, Fredrick, to elementary school each morning.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Raised by a single mother, Miller relishes his role watching over his fifth-grade brother who sometimes joins him on the football bus to road games. The two are so quiet and shy that it might take a third person to get them to speak up. Playing football has helped Miller become more vocal but his performances are speaking for him.

Miller has a warning. “I feel I can still get better,” he said.

Let’s review some midseason excellence with some player-of-the year candidates:

• Quarterback Luke Fahey, Mission Viejo. Having guided the Diablos to wins over Santa Margarita, Folsom and San Diego Lincoln, Fahey has shown accuracy and great judgment. He has completed 74% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and one interception.
• Taylor Lee, Oxnard Pacifica. The junior quarterback has gone on a touchdown throwing barrage with 19 in his last three games for unbeaten Pacifica. Tougher competition begins in the Marmonte League.
• Madden Williams, St. John Bosco. The senior receiver is living up to expectations in playing his best in big games. He has 13 receptions for 331 yards and four touchdowns entering Trinity League play.
• Jaden Walk-Green, Corona Centennial: A junior safety who started the season unknown, he has made an impact with his athleticism. He starts in center field for the baseball and is versatile on the football field, batting down balls, making tackles and serving as the Huskies’ kicker.
• Mark Bowman, Mater Dei: He’s a senior tight end showing everyone why he might be the best in the country. The Monarchs haven’t throw many passes to him because they have so many top receivers, but he had two touchdown catches last week against Bishop Gorman and contributes on almost every play with his blocking.
• Isaiah Arriaza, Damien. The Spartans are 5-0 behind their senior quarterback. Arriaza has passed for 1,491 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• Rocco Tompkins, JSerra. The linebacker and running back is only 5-10, but what a first five games he’s had. He leads the Southern Section in tackling. “He’s a tackling machine,” coach Victor Santa Cruz said.
• Madden Riordan, Sierra Canyon. On perhaps the best defense in the Southland, you don’t mess with Riordan, a defensive back who has two interceptions and 16 solo tackles. He had 10 interceptions last season.
• Khary Wilder, Gardena Serra: The defensive lineman has contributed six sacks and 17 solo tackles while coming ready to cause havoc every game.
• Max Meier, Loyola: The defensive lineman has seven sacks and helped out on 40 tackles while showing Stanford has stolen a rising talent.
• Caden Jones, Crean Lutheran. The junior quarterback and star point guard has completed 76% of his passes for 1,432 yards and 10 touchdowns with zero interceptions for the 5-0 Saints.

Players exceeding expectations: Sophomore quarterback Chase Curren, Crespi; senior quarterback Jack Thomas, Palisades; sophomore quarterback Gino Wang, JSerra; junior receiver Paul Turner, Birmingham.

Surprise teams: 1. Los Alamitos (7-0), 2. Beaumont (4-1), 3. Norco (5-0), 4. Moorpark (5-0), 5. Crespi (5-0), 6. Torrance (5-0).

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

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

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

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

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

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

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

LAKERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

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

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

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

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

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

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

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

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

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

Angels box score

MLB standings

RAMS

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

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

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

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

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

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UCLA UNLOCKED

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

UCLA POLL

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

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

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

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

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

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

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

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

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

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TIMES OF TROY

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

SPARKS

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

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

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

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DODGERS DUGOUT

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

PREP RALLY

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

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Sept. 24 (UPI) — Former FBI Director James Comey is likely to be indicted soon on criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, several media outlets reported on Wednesday.

Three unnamed sources said Comey will be indicted in the coming days on to-be-determined charges for allegedly lying to Congress in 2020, according to MSNBC, The Independent and CNBC.

Evidence suggests Comey lied to Congress while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 30, 2020, regarding the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into alleged Russian collusion with President Donald Trump‘s successful election campaign in 2016, MSNBC reported.

Federal law has a five-year statute of limitations on charges for lying to Congress while under oath, which would require charges to be filed against Comey no later than Tuesday.

The president urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to accelerate charges against Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James in a social media post on Saturday.

“They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” Trump said on Truth Social.

He accused two unnamed Democratic Party senators of pushing a “woke RINO” to become the district’s federal prosecutor for Eastern Virginia so that he could stonewall the investigation until the statute of limitations expires.

RINO is an acronym for Republican in name only.

Interim U.S. Attorney for Eastern Virginia Lindsey Halligan is expected to lead the pending prosecution, but U.S. attorneys from other districts also might participate.

If charged and convicted for allegedly lying to Congress while under oath, Comey could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Comey as FBI director, a role that he held from Sept. 4, 2013, until Trump fired him on May 9, 2017.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

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

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

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

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

ANGELS

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

UCLA UNLOCKED

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

UCLA POLL

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

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

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

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

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

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

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

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

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

Continue reading here

TIMES OF TROY

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

LAFC

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

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

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

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

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

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DODGERS DUGOUT

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

PREP RALLY

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

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

SCRAPPING the two-child benefit cap may not help with a child’s early development and being ready for school, a report says.

The new study says ending the policy would massively help reduce child poverty but it currently has “no adverse” impact on kids by the end of their reception year.

1

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to end the cap from ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell.

But ending the policy that came into effect in 2017 would cost between £2 billion and £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

The government has a goal of raising the proportion of children starting school ready to learn from the current 68 per cent to 75 per cent by 2030.

Report author Tom Waters, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: “This suggests that it might be hard for the Government to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ – simultaneously reducing child poverty and raising school readiness – through scrapping the two-child limit.”

The government is expected to set out its strategy to tackle child poverty this Autumn.

Cabinet Minister Bridget Phillipson said scrapping the cap is “on the table” while drumming up support for her bid to be Labour’s deputy leader, following Angela Rayner leaving the role.

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

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

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

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

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

Theirs weren’t the only critical voices.

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UCLA UNLOCKED

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

UCLA POLL

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

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

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

A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?

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

A wild card such as Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin?

Click here to vote in our survey.

TIMES OF TROY

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DODGERS

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

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

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

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

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

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DODGERS DUGOUT

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

CHARGERS

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

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

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

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

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

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PREP RALLY

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

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Africa’s 5G access is far below the global average of more than 20 percent, highlighting connectivity challenges.

Only 1.2 percent of Africans currently have access to 5G networks compared with a global average of more than 20 percent, a sign that the continent remains at an early stage in accessing next-generation mobile technology, according to a new report from the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The State of Broadband in Africa 2025 report says that while Africa has made strong progress in mobile connectivity, the newest wireless technology remains largely out of reach for the continent’s 1.24 billion inhabitants.

However, industry projections suggest this could change dramatically over the next decade, with 5G expected to reach 17 percent penetration by 2030.

The slow 5G rollout contrasts sharply with Africa’s mobile success story in previous generations of wireless technology. Currently, 3G networks reach 77 percent of the continent’s population, while 4G coverage extends to 44.3 percent of people.

“The mobile sector has proved especially successful, with strong growth in mobile broadband and the development of large mobile operators,” the report states, citing companies like MTN and Vodacom as key drivers of expansion.

“However, there is still a significant usage gap, with 710 million Africans not using the internet despite living in an area served by mobile broadband infrastructure,” it adds. Key barriers, it says, remain affordability of handsets and lack of digital skills.

Chinese companies like Huawei, with more competitively priced products, have been able to establish a strong presence as a result across Africa.

The technology mix across sub-Saharan Africa shows 3G connections still dominating at roughly 50 percent of all mobile connections, while 4G accounts for 33 percent. Legacy 2G networks maintain 10 percent of connections, with 5G making up the remaining fraction.

Some countries, such as Somalia, have seen mobile connectivity flourish, not despite a lack of central authority but largely because of it, as large telecom companies have established large networks that cover urban areas well but also remote parts of the country, leading one British researcher to unfavourably compare Manchester with Mogadishu.

Mobile operators have invested heavily in infrastructure development, spending $28bn over the past five years across sub-Saharan Africa. Looking ahead, the industry plans to invest an additional $62bn between 2023 and 2030, much of which will focus on 5G network rollout and expansion.

The mobile ecosystem already contributes significantly to African economies, generating 7.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) worth $140bn in economic value and supporting 3.7 million jobs across the region in 2023.

Regional disparities within Africa reveal stark contrasts in connectivity progress.

Internet usage in Africa rose from 25 percent to 38 percent between 2019 and 2024, but remains well below the 68 percent global average. Sub-Saharan Africa lags furthest behind at 38 percent connectivity, with regional variations from 35 percent in Eastern and Southern Africa to 39 percent in Western and Central Africa.

Africa had a stark rural-to-urban divide in internet connectivity globally too. Only 57 percent of people in Africa were using the internet in urban areas compared with an 83 percent global average, and only 23 percent in rural areas.

Rwanda emerges as a particular success story, with telecommunications transformation following market liberalisation in 2006. The country developed a wholesale open-access 4G LTE network through a public-private partnership with Korea Telecom, ranking ninth among 38 African countries for mobile broadband affordability in 2017.

Satellite connectivity is expanding rapidly, with Starlink already operating in 14 African countries, including Benin, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, though South Africa notably lacks a confirmed launch date. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia became the latest African countries to gain access to Starlink this year.