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Wade Meckler and Jo Adell keyed a five-run second inning with two-run doubles, and Walbert Ureña navigated heavy traffic through five shutout innings to lead the Angels to a 10-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

Houston put two runners on in the first, second and fifth and loaded the bases in the third, but Ureña (4-4) pitched out of each jam to lower his ERA to 2.44 on the season and 1.84 in eight starts since early May.

The 22-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, struck out seven and walked five in his 107-pitch effort, which included a 97-mph fastball to whiff Joey Loperfido with the bases loaded to end the third.

The Angels scored two unearned runs off starter Kai-Wei Teng (3-5) in the first, one when Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the other on Oswald Peraza’s RBI grounder.

Backup catcher Sebastián Rivero sparked the Angels’ second-inning rally with a one-out single. Zach Neto was hit by a pitch and Mike Trout ended an 0-for-22 slump with a single to load the bases.

Meckler doubled to left-center for two runs and a 4-0 lead. Adell doubled to left to make it 6-0, and Peraza’s RBI groundout extended it to 7-0.

The Angels added three insurance runs in the eighth on Trey Mancini’s sacrifice fly and RBI groundouts by Peraza and Denzer Guzman. Relievers Brent Suter, Drew Pomeranz and Kirby Yates covered the final four innings.

Schanuel, who has been slowed by a left ankle injury, exited after three innings because of left calf tightness.

Rivero, who also singled in the third and has seven hits in his last seven at-bats, was removed in the fifth because of a left wrist injury.

Jack Kochanowicz to have Tommy John surgery

Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz needs Tommy John surgery, the team said Tuesday, and the 25-year-old right-hander is expected to be sidelined through the 2027 season.

The Angels also said that third baseman Yoán Moncada will have surgery on his balky right-knee. But, the specifics of the procedure and a timetable for the switch-hitter’s return were not known.

Kochanowicz went 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA in 13 starts this season, striking out 47 and walking 36 in 64 innings.

The hard-throwing sinker-ball specialist went 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA in his first seven starts, but was ineffective during his next six starts, going 0-4 with an 11.91 ERA, striking out 17 and walking 15 in 22 2/3 innings.

Kochanowicz’s fastball averaged 97 mph and touched 99 mph against the Dodgers, but he said after the game that his arm bothered him when he threw his changeup.

“Honestly, I didn’t think this was in the cards,” Kochanowicz said before Tuesday’s game against Houston. “I really thought it was just a little angry.

“I mean, my velo was fine, the fastballs, everything was fine. It really was just the changeup.

“I thought it was just kind of general soreness. … I thought I was going to hear back today that it was all right, but man, it is what it is.”

Manager Kurt Suzuki said the Angels are “still evaluating” their options for Kochanowicz’s replacement in the rotation. Among the candidates are left-hander Sam Aldegheri and triple-A right-handers Caden Dana and George Klassen.

Moncada, 31, who signed a one-year, $4-million deal with the Angels in February, was placed on the injured list because of right-knee inflammation on May 22 and transferred to the 60-day injured list on Monday.

He hit .189 with a .605 OPS, three homers and 10 RBIs in 41 games.

Wade Meckler and Nick Madrigal each had four of the Angels’ 16 hits, Walbert Ureña pitched six solid innings and the Angels beat the Colorado Rockies 11-4 on Wednesday night.

Meckler is batting .389 (14 for 36) with two homers and 10 RBIs since he was recalled from double-A on May 22.

Vaughn Grissom added a homer and three RBIs, and Oswald Peraza had two hits and two RBIs to help the Angels — who tied their season high with the 16 hits — avoid a three-game sweep.

Ureña (3-4) gave up three hits and three runs. He struck out seven and walked three, cooling a Colorado lineup that scored 39 runs in its previous five games. The 22-year-old right-hander, who moved from the bullpen to the rotation in mid-April, has a 2.08 ERA in his last seven starts.

The Angels bunched six hits in a six-run second, the rally featuring Jose Siri’s RBI double and RBI singles by Logan O’Hoppe, Grissom and Peraza. Two runs scored on wild pitches by Michael Lorenzen (2-8), who gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The Rockies cut it to 6-1 on back-to-back doubles by Hunter Goodman and Troy Johnston in the fourth, but the Angels countered with Grissom’s two-run homer in the bottom of the inning for an 8-1 lead.

Colorado pulled to 8-3 in the fifth on Tyler Freeman’s two-run homer, but the Angels answered again in the bottom half on Jo Adell’s RBI single for a 9-3 lead. Doubles by Meckler and Peraza and Madrigal’s RBI single pushed the lead to 11-3 in the sixth.

Relievers Drew Pomeranz, Ryan Zeferjahn and Kirby Yates covered the final three innings for the Angels.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Wade Meckler hit his first grand slam in the majors for the first of Los Angeles’ four homers in the Angels’ 14-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

Meckler connected off Drew Rasmussen (4-2) in the first inning. He also singled and stole a base.

Mike Trout hit his 14th homer of the season in the fifth and Jo Adell and Oswald Peraza had back-to-back shots in a seven-run ninth. Trout, the major league walks leader, also walked twice and scored three of the Angels’ season-high 14 runs.

Tampa Bay lost for just the second time in its last 18 home games.

Yandy Díaz’s 24th career leadoff homer, his second in two games, put the Rays on the board in the first. But Angels starter Reid Detmers (2-5) pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.

Junior Caminero doubled in the third inning, when his popup dodged the Tropicana Field catwalks before landing in the infield. But Detmers left him at second and Tampa Bay finished one for 12 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 overall.

Four Angels relievers combined to one-hit the Rays over the final four innings.

In the top of the seventh inning, Angels shortstop Zach Neto scored on Ian Seymour’s wild pitch. Hip-checked by Seymour on the play at the plate, Neto remained on the dirt for several minutes before athletic trainers helped him to his feet. He walked off on his own power but did not return.

Neto’s replacement, Nick Madrigal, left in the top of the ninth inning after Andrew Wantz’s pitch ricocheted from Madrigal’s hand to his face. Adam Frazier pinch ran for Madrigal.

Up next: Angels RHP Jack Kochanowicz (2-3, 4.99 ERA) was set to start against LHP Shane McClanahan (5-2, 2.52) on Sunday in the series finale.

Dodgers rout Rockies, but lose Kiké Hernández

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández sat with manager Dave Roberts on the dugout bench for a while after he was lifted from a 15-6 win over the Rockies on Tuesday with what the team later called a left oblique strain.

“He understood how frustrated I was,” Hernández said, “and he was trying to get me to keep my head up.”

The Dodgers plan to put Hernández on the 10-day injured list and recall infielder Alex Freeland, Roberts said after the game. Hernández expects to know more about the severity of the injury Wednesday.

“It’s a bummer,” Roberts said after the game. “He’s missed a lot of time and worked hard to get back, was in great shape, added that spark that we had hoped.”

It was his second game of the season, after starting the year on the injured list after offseason surgery on his left elbow. And he was driving the ball hard.

But he said he initially tweaked his oblique before his season debut, during batting practice Monday.

“I was pretty embarrassed about it,” Hernández said. “I thought it was just weird tightness. Never done an oblique before. So I didn’t really know what I was feeling. Came in today, wasn’t feeling great. I got treatment, but I thought I could play. … Compared to some of the things I’ve played through in the past, it was nothing.

“And, yeah, it was a little more than nothing”

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

New Dodger Eric Lauer got early help from Mark Prior

From Maddie Lee: For a 20-year-old Eric Lauer, fresh out of Kent State University in 2016, talking pitching with Mark Prior made the big leagues feel closer.

“We were so young,” Lauer said in a conversation with The Times, “that it was kind of funny, because everybody was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Mark Prior.’ ”

Prior, the beloved former Cubs All-Star, finished third in NL Cy Young voting when Lauer was 8 years old.

“He was one of the first experiences I had where I was like, ‘OK, like, these elite big leaguers are just normal guys. They’re just like us.’ ”

Prior was a “high-level thinker,” as Lauer put it, who steered Lauer toward in-depth self-evaluation. But he also was just “a normal dude.”

The two have reunited with the Dodgers. Lauer — who held the Rockies to one run and four hits in his six-inning Dodgers debut Tuesday — was a midseason addition as injuries thinned the team’s starting pitching depth. Prior has been on the Dodgers’ coaching staff since 2018, serving as the pitching coach since the 2020 season.

But when they first met, Lauer was a Padres 2016 first-round draft pick and Prior was the minor-league pitching coordinator.

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Angels win fourth in a row

Vaughn Grissom hit a grand slam and drove in six runs as the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 10-6 on Tuesday night.

Detroit led 6-4 going into the eighth, and Will Vest (1-4) got the first two out with a runner on second. Logan O’Hoppe’s double made it a one-run score, Zach Neto singled and Mike Trout walked to load the bases.

Facing his ninth batter of the game — matching a career high — Vest fell behind 2-0 before Grissom homered to right-center field to give the Angels the 9-6 lead.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

U.S. World Cup roster announced

From Kevin Baxter: Mauricio Pochettino knows the joy of making a World Cup roster. But he also knows the misery of being left off one.

In the first case, you want to celebrate; in the second, you want to be left alone.

The U.S. coach said he kept both emotions in mind when informing players they had — or had not — made the roster for next month’s tournament, a roster that was formally announced Tuesday during a sun-splashed, made-for-TV rally in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, about 13 miles from where July’s World Cup final will be played.

“The most important event is to be in any single roster,” said Pochettino, who made Argentina’s team for the 2002 World Cup after being passed over four years earlier.

So when Pochettino decided which 26 men would be on his team this summer, each of them got a WhatsApp message, followed by a video, sent out at 1 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. Defender Tim Ream said he received the message as he walked to his car after training with his club team in Charlotte, N.C.

U.S. World Cup roster

Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)

Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)

Midfielders: Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry City), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)

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Major League Volleyball comes to L.A.

From Marisa Ingemi: Los Angeles is getting another pro women’s volleyball team.

Major League Volleyball announced it will expand to L.A. in 2027, adding another team to the growing professional volleyball market.

The team will be co-owned by billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who also owns the Los Angeles Times and is a minority owner of the Lakers. He will operate the team alongside Ben Priest, a former investor of MLV’s Omaha Supernovas, one of the league’s first teams.

Sportico reported the duo are paying an expansion fee around $15 million-$20 million to join the five-year-old operation.

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Chargers, Derwin James agree to contract extension

Five-time Pro Bowl safety Derwin James and the Chargers have agreed to a multiyear extension.

The team announced the deal Tuesday. James was entering the final year of his contract, and general manager Joe Hortiz had said that keeping the five-time Associated Press All-Pro was a priority.

James has helped the Chargers’ defense rank fourth in the NFL in total defense over the last two years, allowing 304.8 total net yards per game. The team led the league in 2024 by allowing just 17.7 points per game.

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Kelsey Plum injured

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum sprained her ankle during practice Tuesday.

The team said she’ll be reevaluated next week.

Plum is leading the WNBA in scoring with a career-best 26.8 points per game, while shooting 59% from the floor and 49% from three-point range. Her 6.3 assists average is also a career high.

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This day in sports history

1823 — A $20,000 match race between American Eclipse (representing The North) and Henry (representing The South) is held at Union Course, Long Island, N.Y. American Eclipse wins in two-of-three heats, after his original jockey, William Crafts, is replaced by Samuel Purdy before the second heat. The race, witnessed by 60,000 spectators, is the first to have been timed by split-second chronometers, which were imported for the event.

1873 — Survivor is the winner of the first Preakness Stakes.

1882 — Trainer Robert Walden wins his fifth consecutive Preakness Stakes, with Vanguard. Walden would win a total of seven Preaknesses, a record for a trainer.

1961 — Fiorentina of Italy win 1st European Cup Winner’s Cup against Glasgow Rangers 4-2 in Florence (2nd leg).

1964 — European Cup Final, Praterstadion, Vienna: Internazionale beats Real Madrid, 3-1 for their first title.

1965 — 10th European Cup Final, San Siro, Milan: Jair da Costa scores winner as defending champions Internazionale beat Benfica, 1-0.

1968 — “Papa Bear” George Halas retires as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

1972 — Mark Donohue wins the Indianapolis 500 over two-time defending champion Al Unser with a record average speed of 162.962 mph.

1975 — The Philadelphia Flyers win their second straight Stanley Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6.

1981 — Willie Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race and then three more. Shoemaker gets the milestone on top of War Allied in the first race at Hollywood Park.

1981 — Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers is named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, making him the only player to win MVP honors in the NBA and the ABA.

1981 — 25th European Cup: Liverpool beats Real Madrid 1-0 at Paris.

1982 — The Lakers, despite an 11-day layoff, beat Philadelphia 124-117 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals for their ninth consecutive victory. The nine straight wins sets the NBA record for consecutive wins during one postseason.

1984 — Rick Mears wins the Indianapolis 500 by the largest margin in 17 years with a record-setting 163.612 mph. Mears beats Roberto Guerrero and Al Unser by two laps. Fifteen of the 33 drivers are eliminated during two crashes.

1985 — Scott Wedman sinks four three-point field goals without a miss and shot 11-for-11 overall from the field, both NBA Finals records, as Boston routs the Lakers 148-114 in Game 1. Boston’s 148 points and 62 field goals are NBA Finals records.

1987 — 31st European Cup: Porto beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Vienna.

1990 — Arie Luyendyk wins the fastest Indianapolis 500 by overpowering former winner Bobby Rahal over the final 33 laps, for his first Indy car victory in 76 races. His average speed of 185.984 mph breaks Rahal’s record of 170.722 in 1986. Luyendyk becomes the first to finish the race in under three hours.

1998 — In one of the biggest upsets in Grand Slam history, Pete Sampras is ousted at the French Open by 21-year-old Ramon Delgado of Paraguay, ranked 97th in the world, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4.

2001 — Hicham El Guerrouj runs the fastest outdoor mile ever in the United States, and high school sensation Alan Webb breaks four minutes outdoors. El Guerrouj wins in a sizzling 3 minutes, 49.92 seconds, shattering the U.S. all-comers’ record of 3:50.86. Webb, the 18-year-old from Reston, Va., puts on a brilliant last-lap burst and finishes fifth at 3:53.43, smashing the high school record of 3:55.3 set by Jim Ryun in 1965.

2001 — Senior PGA Championship, Ridgewood CC, NJ: 5-time British Open champion Tom Watson wins first of 6 Champions Tour major titles with a 1 stroke win over Jim Thorpe.

2004 — Brad Richards’ goal in Tampa Bay’s 4-1 victory over Calgary is the game-winner — his record-tying sixth of the postseason.

2007 — Dario Franchitti gambles on the rain and wins the Indy 500. Franchitti inherits the lead by staying on the track when the leaders pit for fuel and then drives slowly to the checkered flag in a downpour when the race is stopped 10 laps later after 415 of the scheduled 500 miles.

2007 — Senior PGA Championship, Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Ocean Course: Denis Watson of Zimbabwe wins his lone major title by a 2 stroke margin from Eduardo Romero of Argentina.

2009 — UEFA Champions League Final, Rome: Barcelona beats Manchester United, 2-0; first Spanish treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League.

2011 — Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki loses to Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-3 in the third round of the French Open. It marks the first time in the Open era that the top two seeded women fail to make the round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament. Kim Clijsters, the No. 2 seed, lost on May 26.

2012 — Dario Franchitti wins the Indianapolis for the third time, taking advantage when Takuma Sato crashes on the final lap.

2012 — Manu Ginobili scores 26 points and San Antonio wins its 19th in a row to tie the NBA record for longest winning streak in the playoffs. The Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 to open the Western Conference finals.

2014 — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater becomes the only school in NCAA history to win championships in football, men’s basketball and baseball in the same school year.

2017 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Arsenal beats Chelsea, 2-1; Aaron Ramsey scores 79′ winner as Arsène Wenger becomes most successful manager in FA Cup history, winning his 7th title.

2018 — Chris Frome wins the Giro d’Italia to join cycling greats Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault with his third consecutive Grand Tour victory.

2018 — Senior PGA Championship, GC at Harbor Shores: Englishman Paul Broadhurst wins by 4 strokes from American Tim Petrovic.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1904 — Dennis McGann of the New York Giants stole five bases in one game to set a major league record.

1937 — Carl Hubbell, working in relief for the New York Giants, won his 24th straight game over two seasons. Hubbell pitched two innings and Mel Ott hit a ninth-inning home run to beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2. Hubbell’s string started July 17, 1936.

1955 — Norm Zauchin of the Boston Red Sox knocked in 10 runs with three home runs and a double in the first five innings of a 16-0 victory over the Washington Senators.

1960 — Baltimore catcher Clint Courtney used the “big mitt” for the first time to catch knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm. The mitt, designed by Paul Richards, was 50% larger than the standard. Nothing got by Courtney as the Orioles beat the New York Yankees 3-2.

1968 — Montreal and San Diego were awarded National League franchises as the league expanded for the first time in seven years.

1974 — Pittsburgh’s Ken Brett beat the San Diego Padres 6-0 with a two-hitter and in the second game of the doubleheader, hit a pinch-hit triple to give the Pirates an 8-7 victory.

1981 — Seattle’s Lenny Randle dropped to his hands and knees in an attempt to “encourage” Amos Otis’ slow roller to go foul. Umpire Larry McCoy accused the Mariner third baseman of blowing the ball foul and gave the Kansas City outfielder the single. Randle explained he was merely yelling at the ball not to stay fair. The Royals won 8-5.

1986 — At Cleveland, the Boston Red Sox were leading the Indians, 2-0, in the sixth inning when the game was delayed then called on account of fog.

1995 — Oakland’s Steve Ontiveros pitched 3-0 one-hitter against the New York Yankees. Luis Polonia got the only hit for New York.

1997 — Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. broke his own major league record for home runs hit through May by connecting for his 23rd of the season in an 11-10 loss to Minnesota. Griffey’s homer broke the mark he set in 1994.

2004 — Carlos Pena was 6-for-6 with two home runs, five RBIs and four runs in Detroit’s 17-7 victory over Kansas City.

2009 — Daisuke Matsuzaka and the rest of Boston’s pitchers tied a modern-day record with six wild pitches. Matsuzaka tied a franchise record set 80 years ago with four, while relievers Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson also sent catcher George Kottaras scrambling. It was just the fifth time since 1900 that a team threw six wild pitches in a game.

2010 — Florida International’s Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 50 games with a third-inning single against Western Kentucky. Wittels moved within eight games of matching the NCAA Division I record of 58, set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.

2012 — Taylor Sewitt threw 11 shutout innings of relief, entering the game with no outs in the first, to help Manhattan College beat Canisius 3-2, for the school’s second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

2012 — Paul Konerko hit a tiebreaking three-run homer — his 400th with the White Sox — and Chicago routed the Cleveland Indians 12-6. The offensive outburst gave Chicago nine or more runs in four consecutive games. The White Sox last accomplished that feat June 27-30, 1938.

2015 — Cubs pitcher Jon Lester sets a new record for most hitless at bats to begin a career with 58 at bats without a hit.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández sat with manager Dave Roberts on the dugout bench for a while after he was lifted from a 15-6 win over the Rockies on Tuesday with what the team later called a left oblique strain.

“He understood how frustrated I was,” Hernández said, “and he was trying to get me to keep my head up.”

The Dodgers plan to put Hernández on the 10-day injured list and recall infielder Alex Freeland, Roberts said after the game. Hernández expects to know more about the severity of the injury Wednesday.

“It’s a bummer,” Roberts said after the game. “He’s missed a lot of time and worked hard to get back, was in great shape, added that spark that we had hoped.”

It was his second game of the season, after starting the year on the injured list after offseason surgery on his left elbow. And he was driving the ball hard.

But he said he initially tweaked his oblique before his season debut, during batting practice Monday.

“I was pretty embarrassed about it,” Hernández said. “I thought it was just weird tightness. Never done an oblique before. So I didn’t really know what I was feeling. Came in today, wasn’t feeling great. I got treatment, but I thought I could play. … Compared to some of the things I’ve played through in the past, it was nothing.

“And, yeah, it was a little more than nothing”

In Hernández’s first at-bat Tuesday, leading off the third inning, he launched a solo home run. That swing, however, “felt awful.”

In between innings, he felt it throwing to first.

In his second at-bat he swung and missed before doubling as part of a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Neither swing felt good. When it also hurt running the bases, he knew it was time to come out of the game.

“Any other year, I would have at least tried to finish the game,” Hernández said. “But … when I was with the Red Sox, going through my core injury, last year with my elbow, I just keep going through things and I make things a lot worse. Today was one of those games that I felt like if I kept going, I was probably going to really, really put myself in danger of missing the rest of the season. So I just told him that I couldn’t go anymore.”

After talking with Roberts, Hernández stood up and disappeared down the tunnel. He was replaced in the lineup by Hyeseong Kim, with Miguel Rojas sliding over from second base to third in the top of the fifth inning.

“Frustrating to say the least,” Hernández said. “Not just because I missed time, but me coming back got somebody off the roster— those types of things. I was only able to give the team four at-bats. Yeah, tough. I feel pretty defeated right now. Hopefully we get somewhat good news tomorrow.”

Hernández had been filling in for Max Muncy at third base, while Muncy recovered from being hit by a pitch on the right wrist on Friday in Milwaukee. But Muncy will be in the lineup Wednesday, Roberts said, after testing his wrist before the game by throwing to bases and hitting on the field. He entered the game Tuesday in the top of the ninth and fielded a groundout.

So, the Dodgers will have options in the infield, even after designating Santiago Espinal for assignment Monday to activate Hernández. Freeland is expected to fill the utility player role. But Hernández made an immediate difference in just two games.

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After Hernández helped jump-start the offense Tuesday, it kept piling on. Mookie Betts had a two-homer game, his first in over a year. Andy Pages’ four-hit game tied a career high. The team combined for 17 hits and 15 runs, both matching season highs.

By the end, both teams had position players pitching. And the Rockies scored all but one of their runs off Rojas.

Ohtani to pitch despite HBP

In the fourth inning, right after Hernández’s double, Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland hit Shohei Ohtani in the right hand with an 85.2-mph changeup.

Ohtani spun and winced but then strode straight to first base. The next inning, Dalton Rushing pinch hit for him.

Shohei Ohtani reacts after getting hit by pitch on his right hand in the fourth inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Ohtani still scheduled to start on the mound Wednesday, Roberts said. But his hitting status went from likely to undecided.

“I just want to make sure, how he comes in and physically how he feels,” Roberts said. “Want to make sure he feels really good on the pitching side of things.”

Roberts doesn’t expect Ohtani to need X-rays on his hand, saying the pitch mostly hit the padding on his batting gloves.

MILWAUKEE — Teoscar Hernández backpedaled up the line as he watched the flight of his deep fly ball down the left-field line.

It clanged off the left-field foul pole to give the Dodgers the lead for the first time in a game they’d win 11-3.

“It was big,” Hernández said after going three for four with six RBIs, tying a career high. “We took the lead, and that was the best thing. We put less pressure on [starter Roki] Sasaki, so he could keep pitching the way he was pitching after the first inning. So it was a great [fourth] inning.”

The Dodgers’ offense, led by Hernández, came alive after a quiet first game of the series.

His heroics in the comeback victory — which also included a record-setting performance from the bullpen — were a high point in his offensive turnaround the last two weeks.

“I just think that he’s heightened his focus,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that his at-bat quality has been considerably better. I don’t think he’s wasting at-bats.

“For me personally, early on, I think that there was a couple of at-bats per night that he was just giving away. And now the last eight days, something like that, I don’t see him giving away any at-bats. And the production has reflected that.”

Hernández’ first hit of the game was made all the more dramatic by the rut the Dodgers started in.

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki throws during the first inning of a win over the Brewers on Saturday in Milwaukee.

(Jeffrey Phelps / Ap Photo/jeffrey Phelps)

Sasaki, coming off his best start of his MLB career against the Angels last week, ran into trouble right away against the Brewers.

Six pitches in, he’d already given up back-to-back doubles en route to the first run. To make matters worse, his own error extended the inning. He got the Brewers’ Andrew Vaughn to chase a low splitter for a swinging bunt up the third-base line. Sasaki barehanded it cleanly but threw behind Vaughn. As the ball caromed off the retaining wall in foul territory, another run scored.

A fielder’s choice and a walk later, pitching coach Mark Prior strode out of the dugout for a mound visit. The Brewers played “Message in a Bottle” over the loudspeakers.

Sasaki answered his own SOS, with some help from his defense. He struck out Jake Bauers. And then in a 2-2 count to Sal Frelick, Sasaki threw a fastball up and out of the zone. Frelick got on top of it to line a single off the end of shortstop Mookie Betts’ glove as he leaped after it.

The single drove in a third run, but center fielder Andy Pages scooped up the ball and caught Gary Sánchez trying to go from first to third on the play, ending the inning.

Then Sasaki held the Brewers scoreless for the next four innings, retiring 10 straight as he bided time for the offense to make up the deficit.

The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman slides safely past the Brewers’ Gary Sánchez to score a run during the eighth inning Saturday in Milwaukee.

(Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

“It seemed a little like Groundhog Day that first inning, how it started,” Roberts said. “But for Roki to find a way to get out of it with three runs, and then settle in, settle down — his stuff got better in the third, fourth and fifth innings, and I told him that. Young pitchers, to understand that even if you get hit in the mouth early, you gotta find a way to keep going, so you don’t blow up your bullpen.”

Freddie Freeman got the Dodgers’ fourth-inning rally started with a leadoff double. Then Pages drove him in by roping his own double into the left-field corner, trimming the Brewers’ lead to two runs.

When Kyle Tucker drew a one-out walk, he gave Hernández the chance to put the Dodgers ahead with one swing. He took it.

“I’m just hitting the ball in the air, hitting it hard,” Hernández said. “That’s what you want as a hitter, and I think that’s what’s been the difference between the last two weeks [versus] the weeks before.”

He entered Saturday with a 1.001 OPS since the beginning of last homestand, compared to a .667 OPS up to that point.

Going into a three-city road trip last week, Hernández said refusing to dwell on poor results, especially in big situations, had been key.

“It was more like getting confidence and getting to trust myself again,” Hernández said. “And then just go out there and trust my swing, trust the work, and just trying to select better pitches to hit.”

In addition to coming up in the big situation, Hernández also contributed to the Dodgers’ late rallies, as they batting through the order in both the eighth and ninth innings to tack on seven runs.

The Dodgers’ bullpen shut down the Brewers for four innings. The performance from Alex Vesia, Kyle Hurt, Tanner Scott and Jonathan Hernández extended the bullpen’s scoreless streak to 36 consecutive innings, eclipsing the Dodgers’ previous record of 33 innings in 1998.

“The biggest thing is that they’re attacking in the hitters, they’re pounding in the strike zone, and when they need a pitch for a double play, they executed really well,” Teoscar Hernández said. “In ‘24 they helped us a lot, ‘25 too, and this year is not going to be different. They’re built for this, and they’re ready for it.”

Injury update

Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy’s right wrist was sore Saturday, as expected after he was hit by a 95.5-mph sinker the night before.

“We’re going to kind of give him a rest day to try to get that swelling out, and then see where he’s at [Sunday],” Roberts said. “And like I said, he’ll be down for the weekend, and then we’ll kind of see where we get to on Monday.”

Depending on how he’s recovering, the Dodgers could send Muncy to get a CT scan when they’re back in Los Angeles.

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández (left elbow surgery recovery) is expected to join the team Monday in Los Angeles. Roberts plans to write him into the starting lineup when Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland starts against the Dodgers.

Taylor returns

A day after word spread former Dodger Chris Taylor had opted to retire, he reportedly changed his mind and joined the Minor League Baseball injury list with a left forearm fracture.

Nick Kurtz had three hits and five RBIs, Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Athletics beat the Angels 14-6 on Tuesday night.

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

Kurtz, the reigning American League rookie of the year, sparked a six-run third inning with an RBI single, keyed a two-run sixth with a two-run single and added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

Reliever Justin Sterner (2-3) escaped a first-and-third, two-out jam in the fourth and earned the win for the AL West-leading A’s, who snapped a three-game skid.

Mike Trout hit his 12th homer of the season, a solo shot, and finished with two RBIs for the last-place Angels, who have lost 22 of 28 games since an 11-10 start.

Angels starter Reid Detmers (1-5) was tagged for eight runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander retired seven straight batters to open the game, five by strikeout, before Jeff McNeil and Darell Hernaiz singled in the third.

Shea Langeliers flied out before Kurtz punched an RBI single to center to extend his on-base streak 42 games, the sixth-longest in franchise history. Colby Thomas followed with a two-run double, Rooker added an RBI single, Henry Bolte hit a ground-rule double, and Gelof had a two-run single for a 6-0 lead.

Trout led off the bottom of the third with his 43rd career homer against the A’s. That tied him with Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez for the most since the A’s moved to California in 1968. Trout also scored his 600th Angel Stadium run on the play, the most in franchise history.

The Angels pulled within 6-4 in the fourth on Trout’s bases-loaded walk and Vaughn Grissom’s two-run single, which knocked A’s starter Jacob Lopez out of the game. But Sterner got Jorge Soler to fly out, ending the inning.

The A’s, who pounded out 15 hits, pulled away with eight runs over the final four innings, with Kurtz driving in four, Gelof hitting a solo homer in the seventh and Rooker a two-run shot in the eighth.

No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.

During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.

“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”

Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.

“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”

South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.

The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.

Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.

“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.

South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.

The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.

Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.

All the Dodgers had to do was stay patient.

In a 15-2 win Saturday against the Angels in Anaheim, the Dodgers offense wasn’t able to gain much of a lead until the sixth inning. Then six consecutive free passes spurred an offensive explosion that put the game away.

In fact, Will Smith’s first-inning sacrifice fly scored the only run for either team through the first five innings, as the starting pitchers — Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski and Angels right-hander José Soriano — dueled.

Though the Dodgers scored first, Soriano avoided traffic on the bases more effectively than Wrobleski. That is, until Soriano lost command in the sixth.

Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski throws to the plate during a win over the Angels Saturday at Angel Stadium.

(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)

With one out in the sixth inning, Mookie Betts got the Dodgers’ rally started by drawing a five-pitch walk. Freddie Freeman followed suit and Smith wore a curveball to load the bases.

Soriano, who had only allowed one hit, didn’t regain his footing. He walked in two runs before being lifted. And then his replacement, Angels reliever Chase Silseth, hit Teoscar Hernández to bring in a third run for the Dodgers before they logged a hit in the inning.

Alex Call, the eighth Dodgers hitter to step up to the plate in the sixth, finally delivered the only knock of the rally, a two-run single on a ground ball through the left side of the infield.

The strong Dodgers fan presence at a sold-out Angel Stadium made itself known in the eighth inning when Shohei Ohtani drove a two-run triple into the right-field corner, raced to third as it bounced up and off the netting and then scored on a throwing error.

“MVP” chants broke out from the fans clad in blue.

They let out a roar shortly after, when Betts launched a solo homer to left.

The Dodgers continued the barrage in the ninth, scoring on pitcher Alek Manoah’s errant throw that past second base, Hernández’ sharp single up the third-base line and Ohtani’s bases-clearing double into the right-field corner.

That earned more “MVP” chants.

The Dodgers, one day removed from scratching left-hander Blake Snell and pivoting to a bullpen game on Friday, needed Wrobleski to give their relievers a breather.

The Dodgers’ bats ultimately helped take pressure off all the team’s pitchers.

Sale: R du Preez; O’Flaherty, Louw, Ma’asi-White, Roebuck; Ford, Warr; Opoku-Fordjour, Caine, Harper; van Rhyn (c), Bamber, Vermuelen, Gilmore, Dugdale.

Replacements: Longstaff, McEachran, Raymont, Hodkinson, Logan, Hanson, Bedlow, Woodman.

Saracens: Malins; Caluori, Tompkins, Hartley, Segun; Burke, Bracken; Carre, George, Street; Itoje (c), Tizard, McFarland, Earl, Willis.

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Riccioni, Wilson, Michelow, van Zyl, Farrell, Hall.

Referee: Christophe Ridley.

NEW YORK — Mike Trout hit his fifth homer of the series and the Angels overcame a homer by Aaron Judge in their 11-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon for a four-game split.

Trout, who recently made a mechanical adjustment, went six for 16 with five homers and nine RBIs in the series. Trout hit his latest homer with one out in the seventh inning when he sent a 2-2 slider from reliever Angel Chivilli about halfway up the left field bleachers for a 7-4 lead.

Trout homered in his fifth straight game at Yankee Stadium and became the fourth to hit five homers in a series against the Yankees. The others were Jimmie Foxx (1933), Darrell Evans (1985) and George Bell (1990), according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.

Trout’s latest homer contributed to a rare loss for the Yankees when Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homer in the same game. Including the postseason, New York is 53-8 when the duo both connect.

Jo Adell added a grand slam in the eighth for the Angels, who lead the AL with 32 homers.

Judge hit his 89th career first-inning homer and Stanton hit a two-run shot to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the fourth before the Angels scored four runs in the sixth off Max Fried (2-1) and Fernando Cruz. Ben Rice also homered in the sixth.

Trout walked three times and scored the tying run in a four-run sixth on a double by former Yankee Oswald Peraza, who also hit a two-run homer in the first.

Vaughn Grissom hit a go-ahead RBI single, and Josh Lowe hit a two-run single for a 6-3 lead.

The Yankees lost for the seventh time in nine games and Fried gave up five runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the first time this season after New York batted in the eighth.

Brent Suter opened the game and went two-plus innings. Sam Aldegheri (1-0) gave up a run in 1 2/3 innings.

Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani had navigated the Mets lineup without much trouble until the fifth inning. But he’d also been holding back a little something.

“I can’t go full throttle the whole time,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton after the Dodgers’ 8-2 victory Wednesday. “But considering where the game was at that point, I felt like I just really had to go full throttle and make sure I’m considering the game situation.”

The Mets had just scored their first run of the game — ending Ohtani’s streak of innings without an earned run at 32 ⅔, the longest of his career — and cut the Dodgers’ lead to one.

So he unleashed a 100.2 mph fastball past Tommy Pham, and then 100.3 mph. Pham foul-tipped both and had some choice words with himself on the way back to the dugout.

“He has a little extra gear when he needs it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m sure he was frustrated about giving up a run, and then came back and really went after Pham.”

That strikeout was one of 10 Ohtani had in a performance that was dominant, regardless of the first mark on his previously spotless ERA.

Holding the Mets to one run through six innings, Ohtani logged double-digit strikeouts in a regular-season start as a Dodger for the first time, matching his effort in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series against the Brewers.

Shohei Ohtani pitches against the New York Mets.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Roberts said he’d been considering pulling Ohtani after the fifth inning started going sideways.

Ohtani had faced just one over the minimum through the first four innings he pitched. Then in the fifth he issued two walks before giving up a run-scoring ground-rule double to Mets designated hitter MJ Melendez on a line drive into the right-field corner.

Roberts changed his mind after Ohtani steamrolled Pham and got Francisco Lindor to line out to escape the inning without further damage.

“Just added a little more intensity after they scored a run,” Ohtani said. “But overall it felt really nice and easy and loose throughout the whole outing. So I think that’s the reason why I threw a little harder.”

Good thing Roberts sent Ohtani back out, too. He struck out the No. 2 through 4 hitters in the Mets’ batting order, all on different pitches.

The two-way phenom only had one job to worry about Wednesday.

For the first time since 2021, he was not also in the lineup as a hitter while pitching.

“If it weren’t for the hit by pitch [Monday], he would’ve been DHing and pitching tonight,” Roberts said before the game.

Ohtani was hit in the back of his right shoulder by a 94-mph sinker on Monday. Though that didn’t prevent him from serving as the designated hitter the first two games of the series, the Dodgers wanted to lighten the load Wednesday.

“Just feeling what gives him the best chance to stay loose during the outing, feel good,” Roberts said. “There’s still some soreness in there. When he’s hitting, there’s a component that he’s in the cage getting ready to hit, and if we can take that off his plate and just focus on one thing tonight, we felt — training staff, pitching coaches, myself — we just felt it was the best thing for him. So, once I told him, he completely understood.”

Dalton Rushing rounds the bases after an eighth inning grand slam.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

When asked what Ohtani’s initial reaction had been, Roberts widened his eyes in an impressively accurate impression of one of Ohtani’s patented facial expressions.

“I was a little bit surprised,” Ohtani said after the game. “But it made sense hearing what he had to say.”

The next time Ohtani takes the mound, he is expected to also hit. But Roberts didn’t rule out again having Ohtani just pitch if a similar situation arises again.

“It’s something I’m going to keep an eye on if it makes sense, but not just kind of do it proactively,” Roberts said. “It’s something that’s … got to make sense to not have your best hitter not in the lineup.”

To account for Ohtani’s absence in the batting order Wednesday, Kyle Tucker moved up from No. 2 to leadoff, and Dalton Rushing served as the DH.

The Dodgers scored all eight runs via the long ball: a two-run shot from Hyeseong Kim, his first home run of the season, a solo blast from Teoscar Hernández, Rushing’s first career grand slam, and a solo homer from Tucker.

“We had a really good DH hit today,” Ohtani said of Rushing, who also hit a double.

Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz was available Wednesday, for the first time since Friday. But the Dodgers’ five-run eighth inning eliminated the save situation. Instead, right-hander Kyle Hurt made his first major-league appearance since 2024. He gave up a run and had three strikeouts.

Jackie Robinson Day

The Dodgers’ celebration of Jackie Robinson Day began with the annual reflection at the Jackie Robinson statue, with both teams in attendance. Speakers included Robinson’s granddaughters Sonya Pankey Robinson and Ayo Robinson, Roberts, and Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

“We make the rather bold assertion that Jackie’s breaking of the color barrier wasn’t just a part of the Civil Rights movement,” Kendrick said in his speech, “it was the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.”

He broke down the timeline: Robinson debuted with the Dodgers in 1947, years before the Supreme Court ruled on Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954) or Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. (1955). The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was still a student at Morehouse College.

“If you don’t believe that one individual can indeed invoke change, you have to look no further than right here,” Kendrick said, pointing to the statue of Robinson. “Because what he did was incredibly difficult, under some of the most harsh circumstances you could ever imagine.”