Rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson gave up one hit over six scoreless innings, Nolan Schanuel hit an early two-run home run and the Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Tuesday night.
In his third career start, Johnson (1-2) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Jeremiah Jackson hit a line drive single to center with one out. Johnson allowed one walk with career highs of eight strikeouts and six innings, while throwing 90 pitches.
A second-round draft pick by the Angels in 2024, Johnson earned his second career win against a Baltimore offense which combined to score 18 runs over its previous two games.
Right-hander Shane Baz (4-8) gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings with one walk and five strikeouts for the Orioles, who had their three-game winning streak halted.
Baltimore was without second baseman Jackson Holliday (groin) for a third consecutive game and was also missing utility man Blaze Alexander (knee). The Orioles fell to 4-4 on a nine-game, three-city trip that ends against the Angels on Wednesday afternoon.
Schanuel gave the Angels (33-48) a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a home run off Baz to right-center field.
The Angels padded the advantage in the fifth inning when Jose Siri led off with a single, Zach Neto doubled and Vaughn Grissom followed with a two-run single to left. Jorge Soler added a one-out sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead.
With Johnson out of the game, the Orioles (38-43) broke through in the seventh inning when Gunnar Henderson singled and Pete Alonso walked against Samy Natera Jr. Baltimore scored its lone run on a two-out single to center by Leody Taveras against Chase Silseth.
Kyle Bradish pitched eight shutout innings, Taylor Ward hit a leadoff home run against his former team and the Baltimore Orioles extended their winning streak to three games Monday night with a 6-1 victory over the Angels.
Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer and Bradish (5-7) struck out nine as the Orioles improved to 4-3 on a nine-game trip.
Bradish gave up six hits and one walk. He has 21 strikeouts over his past two starts.
Baltimore was already without second baseman Jackson Holliday (groin) when third baseman Blaze Alexander (knee) exited in the third — leaving outfielder Leody Taveras to play third for the first time in seven seasons. Taveras finished with two hits.
Jorge Soler homered late for the Angels (32-48) in his return from the injured list, but Sam Aldegheri (2-3) gave up five runs and five hits over 4⅔ innings. The Angels had scored 27 runs over their previous three games.
Ward, playing his first game at Angel Stadium as a visitor following an offseason trade, hit the fourth pitch from Aldegheri 419 feet over the wall in center field. It was his 56th career home run at Angel Stadium.
The Angels then saluted Ward, a member of the major league team for eight seasons, with a tribute video in the middle of the first inning.
Baltimore made it 4-0 in the fourth on Mayo’s three-run homer and scored again in the fifth on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly. Gunnar Henderson added an RBI triple in the seventh that made it 6-0.
Rico Garcia gave up Soler’s homer in the ninth.
Baltimore (38-42) is 21-6 against the Angels since 2022.
OMAHA, Neb. — The way its regular season unfolded, a national championship for Oklahoma would have seemed impossible.
The way the postseason unfolded, well, there was no stopping the Sooners.
Oklahoma completed the improbable run to its first national championship since 1994 with a 13-2 victory over North Carolina in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the College World Series finals Monday night, a performance that featured the prodigious offensive production and clutch pitching the Sooners rode through the NCAA tournament.
“I think we knew the talent was always in the room,” said Jaxon Willits, named the CWS most outstanding player. “We got hot at the right time, and now we’re national champions.”
The Sooners (43-23) won the Southeastern Conference’s seventh straight title, quite an accomplishment for a team picked 14th in the 16-team conference in the preseason, finished 11th and entered the postseason off losses in seven of nine games.
To get to Omaha, they beat No. 2 national seed Georgia Tech twice on the road in regionals and swept upstart Kansas on the road in super regionals. To get to the finals, they beat No. 3 Georgia twice in bracket play.
“They got really confident the last month,” Sooners coach Skip Johnson said. “They care about each other. They didn’t want to give in. They were selfless.”
North Carolina (54-14-1) was runner-up for the third time since 2006 and now has 13 CWS appearances without a title. Only Florida State, with 24, has more without winning it all.
The Sooners were back in top form offensively after managing only four singles in a 6-2 loss in Game 2 and handed the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss of the season.
“We ran out of gas when all is said and done,” North Carolina coach Scott Forbes said.
Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson hoists the championship trophy after his team beat North Carolina in the CWS finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
When Jackson Cleveland struck out Jake Schaffner to end the game, he and catcher Deiten Lachance embraced and then headed to the dogpile that formed near third base. Players waving national championship towels rushed back toward their dugout to salute the celebrating Sooner faithful on the first-base line, football greats Barry Switzer and Brian Bosworth among them.
Kyle Branch, the No. 9 batter who came into the game one of 16 (.063) in the CWS, drove in six runs with a pair of singles and a home run. His homer came on his last at-bat, just as brother Kolby’s did for Georgia last Wednesday.
“Pure joy. Pure joy for our team,” Branch said. “I had a teammate tell me I was going to do something special, and for him to tell me that with the way things have been going, it has to be a God thing.”
He joined Dayton Tockey as the seventh and eighth Oklahoma players to homer in Omaha. Willits had three hits, reached base five times and finished the CWS 13 of 25 (.520).
Oklahoma’s Kyle Branch celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against North Carolina in the College World Series finale Monday in Omaha.
(Rebecca S. Gratz / Ap Photo/rebecca S. Gratz)
The pitching matchup of Carolina’s Jackson Rose (5-1) and Oklahoma’s Nick Wesloski was the first between freshmen in a CWS winner-take-all game since 1993. Neither got out of the third inning.
LJ Mercurius (7-7) turned in another strong performance out of the bullpen, shutting down a threat when Oklahoma led 3-1 in the third and holding the Tar Heels to one run in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up just two runs in 12 1/3 innings over four CWS appearances.
The Tar Heels’ pitching staff, which had the best ERA in the Atlantic Coast Conference, had been good and occasionally great in the CWS. It was neither Monday, with eight pitchers combining to yield 14 hits, issue eight walks, throw three wild pitches with one hit batter.
ACC freshman of the year Caden Glauber, who had given up just one run in 10 1/3 innings in four CWS appearances, was called on for a fifth one day after he threw 65 pitches in five shutout innings. It was apparent coach Forbes went to the well one time too many.
Glauber was called for a clock violation before he even threw his first pitch. He issued a four-pitch bases-loaded walk and Willits followed with a two-run single to make it 6-1 in the fourth. That was all for Glauber, who threw seven pitches, five of them balls. The Tar Heels had won all 29 games in which Glauber had pitched before Monday.
“This group loved each other all season and took us on a ride and came up just short,” Forbes said. “I’d take that ride every day of the year. While we’re sad, the sadness will go away. We talk about joy. Joy doesn’t go away. These guys have given me, our coaching staff, our fans, administration, everybody, a ton of joy and a ton to be proud of.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer outside No. 10 Downing Street on Monday as he announces his resignation, pending the selection of a replacement. That will take between three and 10 weeks depending on whether there is more than one candidate. Photo by Neil Hall/EPA
June 22 (UPI) — Keir Starmer announced Monday that he was standing down as British Prime Minister, saying he had heard the message from his own party that he wasn’t the right person to lead them into the next general election.
“I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision,” he said in a televised address outside No. 10 Downing Street in London shortly after 9 a.m. local time.
Starmer said he had instructed the Labour Party National Executive to draw up a timetable to select his replacement with a 7-day nomination period starting on July 9 — which, provided there is more than one challenger — fires the starting gun on a race that would see a new leader and prime minister in place by Sept. 1 at the latest.
It could be much sooner if the party throws its support behind a single candidate.
Starmer said he would stay on as prime minister until the process was complete and vowed to do everything he could to “ensure an orderly hand-over of power.”
The move came hours before Andy Burnham, the politician tipped to replace him, was due to be sworn as a Member of Parliament on Monday afternoon after a decisive win in a by-election last week.
Burnham confirmed he would run to replace Starmer, pledging in a post on X there would be no interruption to the business of governing and vowing to deliver on “economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation,” if he became prime minister.
If the nomination period comes to a close with him as the lone candidate he could be handed the keys to Downing Street as early as July 17 — in a revolving door of leaders that would see him become the country’s seventh prime minister in a decade.
Two of them — Conservatives Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak — never had a mandate from the electorate having been appointed by the Conservative Party in the middle of parliamentary terms, which normally run five years maximum.
The opposition Conservative Party did not immediately comment on Starmer’s resignation but Nigel Farage’s Reform UK said a general election should be called.
“If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No. 10, it has another thing coming. Reform demands an election, and we are ready to deliver radical change,” he wrote in a post on X.
The end came swiftly for Starmer following Manchester Mayor Burnham’s very strong showing in Thursday’s by-election for the parliamentary seat for the Greater Manchester constituency of Makerfield.
Until this morning Starmer, publicly, had vowed to fight any challenge — and as the incumbent gets an automatic bye to stand in any contest — but over the weekend senior figures in his administration persuaded him it was in the interest of the country, and in particular the party, to avoid a messy and potentially damaging fight.
However, Starmer’s problems can be traced back to within months of the landslide election victory he won in July 2024.
Rumblings within the party began after a poor showing in local elections in May 2025, losing a by-election in the “safe” Labour seat of Runcorn and Helsby and declining approval ratings in the polls.
Rebellions by his own MPs forcing policy U-turns, the Peter Mandelson debacle, and more losses at the ballot box, culminating in a disastrous defeat to Reform UK in “mid-term” local elections in May, saw growing numbers of MPs call for him to quit and defections from his cabinet.
SACRAMENTO — Zach Neto hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning that gave them their first lead, Denzer Guzman tied the score with a three-run home run in the eighth, and the Angels beat the Athletics 9-7 on Sunday.
Donovan Walton also homered and had three RBIs, while Nolan Schanuel and Jose Siri each added two hits to help the Angels (32-47) split the series after losing the first two games, including blowing an 11-4 lead Friday night.
Nick Kurtz hit his 19th home run, and Zac Gelof had a single and a double to extend his hit streak to 24 games for the A’s (38-40). Kurtz has 55 career homers, tied with Bob Johnson (1933-34) for the most in franchise history through the first two seasons of a career.
Five players drove in runs for the A’s. Joey Meneses had an RBI single in his Athletics debut after being called up from the minors before the game.
Chase Silseth (2-1) had two strikeouts and worked a scoreless eighth for the win. Sam Bachman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season.
Guzman’s third home run in as many days, a three-run drive off Hogan Harris (3-1), tied the score at 7-7.
After Siri singled with one out in the ninth, Neto belted an 0-and-1 fastball that landed just beyond the fence in left field.
Angels starter Reid Detmers gave up five runs and walked four in six innings.
Gelof singled leading off the game, doubled in the fourth, then reached on an error in the seventh before Kurtz’s home run. His hitting streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history since 1961.
A’s starter Jack Perkins had eight strikeouts in five innings and gave up four runs.
Up next for the Angels: LHP Sam Aldegheri (2-2, 4.50 ERA) faces the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
SACRAMENTO — Walbert Ureña and three relievers combined on a five-hitter and the Angels beat the Athletics 7-0 on Saturday night.
Denzer Guzman hit his second home run of the season, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel each drove in two runs and the Angels (31-47) improved to 2-4 on their trip.
Samy Matera Jr. retired four batters, Ryan Zeferjahn got five outs and Kirby Yates worked the ninth to complete the Angels’ seventh shutout of the season.
Jo Adell and Donovan Walton each had three hits as the Angels bounced back after blowing a late seven-run lead in the series opener Friday.
Ureña (5-5) yielded four hits in five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks. The 22-year-old rookie has gone five innings and given up three earned runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts, the longest stretch by an Angels rookie pitcher since Ron Romanick accomplished the feat in 10 games in 1984.
The Angels scored twice in the first inning off A’s starter J.T. Ginn to take an early lead.
After failing to score with the bases loaded in the third, the Angels pulled away with four runs in the sixth. Neto hit a two-run double down the left-field line and Schanuel doubled in two runs with a line drive down the right field line
Guzman hit a solo home run off Geoff Hartlieb in the seventh.
Ginn (5-4), who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his previous start against the Angels on May 18, gave up four runs and seven hits in 5⅓ innings. Ginn had five strikeouts and three walks.
Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Cedric Mullins crashed chest first into the blue padding of the wall as he made one last-ditch effort to save his team from a Dodgers home run. His glove, though, came up empty.
Not even a leaping Mullins, one of baseball’s veteran home-run robbers, could stop Freddie Freeman from doing what the Dodgers first baseman does best: hitting clutch home runs.
Freeman’s two-run home run in the sixth inning Wednesday, set up by Andy Pages’ double an at-bat earlier, lifted the Dodgers to a 5-4 win that allowed them to maintain a season-high nine-game lead over their closest National League West rival, the San Diego Padres (38-35). For the Dodgers (48-27), it was their sixth sweep of the season — all while surviving a shaky start on the mound by the usually unshakable Shohei Ohtani.
“He’s like a lot of our guys — when they feel good, they get their rest, production follows,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Freeman. “He’s been good for quite some time.”
If Ohtani’s left knee inflammation was bothering the four-time MVP, it didn’t seem to pose that great of a threat as he pitched the first four innings, and he pinch-hit in the sixth inning for Miguel Rojas, who had started at designated hitter.
Tampa Bay (41-30) eventually broke through in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on small-ball hits that found just enough grass. No particular pitch seemed particularly off for Ohtani, though the Rays connected more on his four-seam fastball that inning than the others. A bleeding blister that opened up didn’t help either.
“The stuff was good,” Roberts said. “The sweeper wasn’t as lights out, swing and miss as we’ve seen. He still always finds a way to manage innings and make pitches when he needs to, but yeah, I mean, I think that he was still kind of working through some delivery stuff with the knee.”
A handful of unlucky plays in the fifth left the Dodgers vulnerable. Take Mullins’ single to Freeman. Mullins hit the ball hard enough that Freeman, more than a handful of steps away from first base, wouldn’t be able to make the play unassisted. Ohtani tried his hardest to match Mullins’ speed but couldn’t.
“There was a little confusion with the Shohei inning, as far as you know, Freddie going to second, then Shohei thinking that, so giving them an extra out there,” Roberts said.
After a five-hit inning, Ohtani escaped on a bunt that went to Tommy Edman — playing third base in his return from the injured list — who threw to first for the third out. Ohtani’s ERA, after he surrendered a season-worst four earned runs, rose to 1.47 but still is second only to Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski among pitchers with at least 70 innings.
Shohei Ohtani gave up a season-worst four earned runs in the fifth inning Wednesday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“I felt good overall,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “It’s just really that inning, that fifth inning, that I wasn’t really too pleased. But aside from that, the stuff was good and felt pretty good overall.”
Rays starter Shane McClanahan also ran into trouble in the fourth inning. Alex Call singled in Mookie Betts for the first run, then stole second base. Call sprinted home on an Alex Freeland single, his helmet popping off and skidding a couple of feet into the grass as he crossed home.
McClanahan left the game with the bases loaded after the left-hander walked Edman — his only time reaching base in an 0-for-3 day — before Pages ended the inning by lining out softly to short against Casey Legumina.
The Dodgers came up short in another bases-loaded opportunity the next inning, squandering a chance to take the lead. Kyle Tucker pushed one run across on a bases-loaded walk. Yet, with no outs, the next three batters — Call, Dalton Rushing and Freeland — went down in order. The Dodgers finished with 11 runners left on base, which nearly cost them.
Alex Vesia put the potential tying run on base with a walk and spent most of his ninth-inning outing with Tampa Bay’s Austin Slater on second. The Dodgers intentionally walked Yandy Díaz with two outs to face Jonathan Aranda, who earned a walk. With the bases loaded, Vesia struck out Mullins swinging to end the game. It capped a stretch of nine scoreless innings by the bullpen in this series after the unit struggled during the team’s recent trip.
“I put myself into that mess,” Vesia said with a small smile while shaking his head. “Rush and I were just — I was leaning on him, to be honest. He had some good words of encouragement during a couple meetings. Just trust my stuff. I felt like I was nibbling around the edge. Overall, I’ll take it. It was a good win for all of us.”
Injury updates
Teoscar Hernández, out with a hamstring injury, is scheduled to take live batting practice Thursday. A simulated game is also in the works for the 33-year-old outfielder before a rehab game early next week, Roberts said.
Will Smith is unlikely to be reinstated Friday when he is eligible to come off the injured list. The Dodgers still are trying to figure out ways to make sure he doesn’t regress once the catcher comes back from a neck injury. He did a full workout Tuesday.
“I don’t want to put a say on when he’s going to play,” Roberts said. “But each day is getting better.”
NICKY Campbell’s daughter was rushed to hospital after she was hit by an e-bike.
The broadcaster announced that Lilla, 26, was badly injured while out in Peckham with her sisters last night.
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Nicky Campbell’s daughter was rushed to hospital last night after an e-bike hit and runCredit: x.com/nickyaacampbellThe radio star announced the news on Instagram on Saturday morningCredit: Getty
“It’s been a long and emotional night,” he said on Instagram.
He added that he hoped CCTV footage would be able to track down the rider, who allegedly “scarpered” once the ambulance arrived.
She is now recovering at home.
“It could have been so much worse. We are incredibly lucky,” said the BBC radio host.
The broadcaster said it could have been ‘so much worse’Credit: GettyLilla was badly injured during the incident and is now recovering at homeCredit: Getty
He thanked the staff at King’s College Hospital for their “superb” treatment.
The prominent Scottish broadcaster, journalist and author is best known for hosting ITV’s Long Lost Family and BBC Radio Live.
He rose to prominence in the late 1980s, with a ten year stint as a DJ on BBC Radio 1.
His personal life has been shaped by his experience as an adoptee and his advocacy work for children in care.
He was awarded an OBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to children, adoption and fostering.
The radio star is married to journalist Tina Ritchie and has four daughters, Breagha, Lilla, Kirsty and Isla.
SACRAMENTO — Pinch-hitter Jonah Heim launched a tying homer with two outs in the ninth and the Athletics surrendered 11 straight runs before rallying from seven down to defeat the Angels 12-11 in 10 innings Friday night.
Zack Gelof started the comeback with an RBI single in the sixth, and the A’s got two-run homers from Jacob Wilson in the seventh, Max Muncy in the eighth and Heim in the ninth to tie it 11-11.
Nick Kurtz walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th to force home the winning run. It was the largest comeback win for the A’s (38-38) this season.
Gelof extended his hitting streak to 23 games — the longest active run in the majors.
Tyler Soderstrom hit a one-out double in the ninth before Heim connected for his second career-tying pinch-hit homer. The first came earlier this month in a 15-14 loss to Milwaukee in Las Vegas.
Henry Bolte drew a leadoff walk from Kirby Yates (0-3) in the 10th. Following a double steal, Muncy flied out and Gelof was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Samy Natera Jr. entered and walked Kurtz on five pitches, scoring automatic runner Lawrence Butler.
A’s starter Jeffrey Springs gave up six runs on four hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. Elvis Alvarado (3-1) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win.
José Soriano struck out six in five innings. He permitted six hits, four runs and four walks.
Up next: RHP J.T. Ginn (5-3, 2.91 ERA) pitches Saturday for the A’s in the third game of the four-game series. The Angels had not announced their starter.
Three-time U.S. Olympian Jenny Simpson collapsed during a community running event Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C., and still is receiving medical treatment a day later.
There are few available details about what happened to the 39-year-old retired athlete who won a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics, or what her condition is. The incident occurred during a weekly gathering for local running enthusiasts at which Simpson served as the pace runner for a mile group.
At some point during the event, Simpson suffered what organizer Sir Walter Running described as a “medical incident.” She had no pulse for a brief period, according to media outlets, but it was restored with CPR and an automated external defibrillator at the track. Simpson was then taken to a local hospital.
“We are incredibly grateful to the individuals who responded immediately, as well as EMS and the medical professionals who handled the situation with such care, urgency, and professionalism,” Sir Walter Running said in a statement. “Jenny is receiving excellent medical care, and our thoughts are with her and her family.”
No further details have been released.
“We ask that you continue to continue to keep Jenny and her family in your prayers as we all hope for the very best,” the running group said.
An eight-time state champion (five in track and field, three in cross-country) at Oviedo High School in Florida, Simpson went on to star at Colorado as a two-time national steeplechase champion, a two-time national runner-up in cross-country and a three-time outdoor track and field All-American.
In addition to representing the U.S. at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Simpson was the 2011 world champion in the 1,500 and finished second in 2013 and 2017. She also was the 2014 Diamond League champion in the same event.
Upon her retirement in 2024, Simpson and her husband, Jason, spent a year traveling in their 23-foot Winnebago Ekko motorhome and running with community members at events across the country. This year, Simpson was named Fleet Feet’s chief running officer and joined FloTrack’s broadcast team for Diamond League recaps.
PHOENIX — Corbin Carroll hit a grand slam, Eduardo Rodriguez earned his 100th career win on the mound and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Angels 8-1 on Wednesday.
Carroll’s fifth career grand slam landed just over the right field wall, giving Arizona a 5-1 lead in the second inning. It was the two-time All-Star’s 13th homer of the season.
Rodriguez (6-2) scattered six hits and three walks, giving up just one run over his seven innings. The veteran left-hander struck out five, lowered his ERA to 2.45 for the season and became just the ninth Venezuelan-born pitcher to reach 100 wins in the big leagues.
Ketel Marte added a two-run double while rookie Tommy Troy had two hits — including a triple — and two RBIs. Gabriel Moreno contributed a three-hit day and reached base four times.
Angels left-hander Sam Aldegheri (2-2) lasted just three innings and gave up six runs. Shortstop Zach Neto led off the game with a solo homer. It was Neto’s 15th long ball of the season and second in two days.
PHOENIX — Mike Trout hit a two-run home run and an RBI double for the Angels in a 7-0 shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.
Trout’s 436-foot two-run shot to center came in the fifth inning and gave the Angels a 5-0 lead, and his sixth-inning double drove in Denzer Guzman.
Reid Detmers (3-5) worked seven innings for the Angels, giving up no runs and three hits while striking out three. He has given up three or fewer earned runs in each of his past five outings and nine of his last 10.
Wade Meckler hit an RBI single in the second to get the Angels on the board first, followed by a solo home run by Zach Neto in the third. Donovan Walton hit an RBI single in the fourth and a ground-rule double in the eighth to bring Logan O’Hoppe across.
The Angels combined for 14 hits, paced by O’Hoppe’s three-for-four night.
Adrian Del Castillo got the first hit of the game for the Diamondbacks in the third inning. Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo both singled in the sixth, and Corbin Carroll had a one-out infield base hit in the ninth. Arizona went 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and stranded five baserunners.
Kirby Yates and Chase Silseth combined for two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
Merrill Kelly (5-6) gave up 11 hits and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings for Arizona. He struck out four and walked one.
PHOENIX — Pavin Smith hit a tiebreaking, solo homer off the right-field foul pole, Ryne Nelson threw seven quality innings, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Angels 4-3 on Monday night.
Smith broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh when he launched his first homer in nearly a calendar year. The veteran first baseman — who came into the game with a .103 batting average — has spent most of this season on the injured list after surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow.
Geraldo Perdomo added an RBI double later in the seventh that made it 4-2. Paul Sewald gave up a solo homer to Donovan Walton with two outs in the ninth but struck out Oswald Peraza to earn his 18th save in 19 chances.
Nelson (3-5) gave up two runs, scattering nine hits and striking out five. The right-hander has thrown at least seven innings in five of his last seven starts.
Angels slugger Mike Trout hit his 16th homer, an opposite-field shot, to tie the score 2-2 in the fifth. It was the three-time MVP’s 420th career home run.
Walbert Ureña (4-5) threw seven innings for the Angels, giving up four runs (three earned).
The Angels (29-44) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on Jo Adell’s double down the right-field line that brought home Trout. The Diamondbacks (37-35) tied it in the bottom half on Gabriel Moreno’s single.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. returned to Arizona’s lineup after missing roughly three weeks because of a strained left hamstring. He had an RBI single in the fourth.
Up next: The Diamondbacks throw RHP Merrill Kelly (5-5, 5.46 ERA), while the Angels counter with LHP Reid Detmers (2-5, 4.00) on Tuesday.
CHICAGO — Dodgers left-hander Jack Dreyer rubbed a new baseball between his hands as he walked back to the mound, a sold-out Rate Field coming alive around him.
Fireworks crackled over the center-field scoreboard. Digital pinwheels spun. Dreyer had just surrendered his second home run of the inning, transforming a low-scoring battle into a lopsided White Sox advantage.
The Dodgers’ recent bullpen problems persisted in a 6-4 loss Sunday, overshadowing a bounce-back effort from Emmet Sheehan. The Dodgers tried to come back in the ninth, but fell short.
“We’ve gotten bit by the long ball, obviously in Pittsburgh, and here tonight,” said bench coach Danny Lehmann, filling in Sunday for manager Dave Roberts while he attended his daughter’s college graduation. “But overall, it’s more the strike throwing and just getting ahead of guys and doing what they’re supposed to do.”
The Dodgers dropped the series 2-1, marking their first series loss since May 8-10 against the Braves.
Sheehan was charged with three runs in five-plus innings, a massive turnaround coming off the second-shortest start of his career, only rivaled by a planned one-inning outing at the end of last season.
On Sunday, he didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning.
“He got strike one and then understood when to leave the zone when he needed to,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “He did a great job of that. I think a couple of those guys picked up on tendencies, jumped on a pitch. I felt they were good pitches. I thought he did his job today and gave us a chance to win.”
Sheehan’s velocity has been an indicator of how synced up his delivery has been on any given start this season.
Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan delivers against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning Sunday.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
On Sunday, his 95.1-mph average fastball velocity was 0.7 mph above his season average, according to Statcast — a promising sign. Results followed.
Sheehan retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, just a hit batter away from perfection. With two outs in the fourth, he gave up a double to Colson Montgomery, on a low line drive up the first-base line, just out of reach of Freddie Freeman as he made a diving attempt.
Then against Braden Montgomery, Sheehan worked back from a 2-1 count for an inning-ending strikeout.
Out of Sheehan’s hand, the pitch looked like it was going to cross the plate on the inside corner, about belt high. But as Montgomery started his swing, the firm changeup veered away from his bat at a sharp downward angle.
Montgomery swung over the pitch. A fired-up Sheehan buried his fist in his glove and shouted. With that strikeout, he preserved the Dodgers’ one-run lead.
Freeman provided that run with a solo homer in the first inning. And Sheehan gave the Dodgers plenty of time to extend that lead. In the sixth inning, however, the White Sox finally got to him.
“I definitely felt better early,” Sheehan said. “And then more of the same towards the end. Just pretty frustrating.”
Sheehan’s fastball to Sam Antonacci wasn’t in a bad spot. But in an 0-2 count, he could have put it a little higher or farther inside. Antonacci drove it over the right-field fence.
A single, a stolen base and an RBI double later, Sheehan walked off the mound, the Dodgers trailing 2-1.
Just a few weeks ago, turning the ball over to the Dodgers’ bullpen was a promising move. They were still riding a franchise-record streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings.
Lately, however, it’s been a rocky ride. The bullpen entered Sunday with a 6.71 ERA since ending that scoreless streak on May 25. Only the Giants and Rockies produced a worse mark over that stretch.
None of the Dodgers’ relievers have been dominant in recent games. Tanner Scott has been credited with three saves but also two losses. Kyle Hurt’s ERA has risen from 0.60 to 4.22. Dreyer, who went 10 straight games without giving up a run before landing on the injured list with left shoulder discomfort, has surrendered five home runs in seven appearances since returning on May 31.
Dreyer gave up three runs and three hits. Then Blake Treinen and Jonathan Hernández held the White Sox the rest of the way.
The Dodgers tacked on three more runs, on a sacrifice fly and an RBI double from Alex Freeland, and a solo homer from Mookie Betts. They stranded runners at the corners in the ninth.
Serena Williams’ doubles campaign at Queen’s has been curtailed as her playing partner Victoria Mboko has withdrawn with a left knee injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, 44, made her return to tennis on Tuesday after almost four years away from the sport.
The pair had been scheduled to play their quarter-final on Thursday but Mboko, 19, suffered a nasty fall in her singles match on Wednesday, which forced her to retire from the match.
Trailing 6-2 3-4 against Karolina Pliskova, the Canadian teenager cried out in pain as she went down clutching her knee and she limped off the court in tears.
It means her compatriot Leylah Fernandez and Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who they were scheduled to face in the doubles on Thursday, advance to the semi-finals.
“What a fun and memorable week at the HSBC Championships. Thank you to everyone who made it so special,” Williams posted on Instagram.
“Vicky Mboko, you’re an incredible talent and you’ll be back out there in no time.
“Wishing you a speedy recovery.”
Williams returned with a winning performance on Tuesday as she and Mboko won 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to upset third seeds Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
Playing 1,375 days after her last competitive match, Williams – one of the greatest players of all time – didn’t look a touch out of place as she rediscovered her powerful serve and groundstrokes.
The extent of Mboko’s injury has not yet been confirmed but there are concerns that the world number nine could miss Wimbledon, which starts on 29 June.
Jose Siri hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning, Mike Trout and Logan O’Hoppe homered, and the Angels beat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Angels starter Reid Detmers retired his first 15 batters before Shay Whitcomb homered leading off the sixth. Chase Silseth replaced Detmers to begin the eighth and gave up a leadoff homer to Cam Smith that tied it 2-all.
Houston nearly took the lead in the ninth. Yordan Alvarez singled with two out and Christian Walker followed with a double that appeared to score Alvarez. But the Angels challenged the safe call at home plate and it was overturned following a replay review.
Bryan Abreu (2-3) came on for the Astros in the 10th and pinch-hitter Donovan Walton hit a leadoff single that moved automatic runner Nick Madrigal from second to third. Siri, facing one of his former teams, then hit an 0-2 pitch to left field to drive in Madrigal.
Ryan Zeferjahn (3-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win.
Trout launched his 15th homer to open the scoring in the first, and O’Hoppe’s drive with two out in the fifth made it 2-0.
Peter Lambert gave up two runs and five hits with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings for Houston.
Detmers permitted only one hit over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked none. The left-hander is third in the American League with 97 strikeouts and has given up three or fewer earned runs in eight of his last nine starts.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — USC’s 2026 baseball season will be defined by two words — progress and pain.
Just two outs away from reaching the College World Series for the first time since 2001, USC suffered a devastating 4-3 loss in game three of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, as North Carolina rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth and snatched the trip to Omaha away from the Trojans on Owen Hull’s walk-off RBI double into the left-center gap.
“I’m proud of our boys,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said. “I’m disappointed in the results, but I’m never disappointed in our guys. They did something pretty special this year.”
Andrew Johnson did everything possible and then some to get USC (48-18) across the finish line. After already throwing 3 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball to close Game 1, Johnson went a season-high 7 ⅔ innings with two earned runs surrendered to get the Trojans to the doorstep of victory. He glided through North Carolina’s lineup for most of the day, at one point retiring 15 out of 17 batters.
North Carolina’s Cooper Nicholson celebrates during his team’s ninth-inning rally to beat USC in their super regional finale Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
(Laura Wolff/For The Times)
He ended the super regional with 133 pitches thrown in a little over 48 hours, on top of the 145 pitches he threw across two appearances in the College Station Regional for a total of 278 tosses in 22 ⅓ innings with five earned runs given up in a heroic postseason stretch.
“The goal from the beginning of the season is Omaha,” Johnson said. “We’re definitely not just happy that we made it to supers and moved past the regional, but for it was a great season and we can be proud of what we accomplished.”
A first inning run off a Caden Glauber balk, plus Kevin Takeuchi and Andrew Lamb’s solo home runs accounted for all the offense on a day when the Tar Heels (50-12-1) had their own star pitcher going. Atlantic Coast Conference freshman of the year Caden Glauber held the Trojans at bay for most of the game, striking out a career high 11 batters in 7 ⅓ innings.
USC coach Andy Stankiewicz talks to his players after their season-ending loss to North Carolina.
(Laura Wolff / For The Times)
Glauber’s work was enough to hold his team in the game, but USC still had a 3-2 lead heading to the fateful bottom of the ninth. After closer Adam Troy retired the first batter, a long, loud foul ball seemed to spark North Carolina.
Third baseman Cooper Nicholson crushed a ball more than far enough for a home run, but just foul into the left field corner. But the near-miss seemed to rattle Troy, who walked Nicholson after getting ahead 0-2 in the count and fell behind 3-0 to nine-hole hitter Carter French.
Stankiewicz made a pitching change mid at-bat, going to Chase Herrell. French lined a 3-2 single through the right side, leadoff hitter Jake Schaffner tied the score on a sacrifice fly and Gavin Gallaher drew a walk, bringing Hull to the plate with the series’ winning run at second.
USC appeared to survive at least with extra innings when a Hull foul ball looked ticketed for the third out, but it dropped with three fielders in the area to give him an extra life. Hull pounded his fourth double of the game, prompting mass hysteria from the 3,913 Tar Heel fans and ultimate heartbreak in the other dugout.
Stankiewicz has built his program in stages, finally making the NCAA tournament last year and then going a step further this year.
But he also knows these opportunities are never guaranteed, and it will take a lot of work to return to the super regional stage.
“It’s a step,” he said. “Things take a moment. Sometimes we want things to happen overnight as humans I guess, but sometimes it takes a moment. We’ve been at this thing for awhile now, and we feel like we’re certainly building it and folks are taking notice. Now we just can’t go backwards. This thing’s got to continue moving forward.”
A positive season, but a nightmare ending sure to haunt the Trojans until they finally return to Omaha.
The chasm between the Freeway Series rivals was on display in the Dodgers’ 9-2 win against the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
The bottom of the first inning took so long that Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto resorted to throwing a ball against the back of the dugout to stay warm.
The one-run lead the Angels (24-41) had jumped out to in the top of the inning — when a leaping center fielder Andy Pages couldn’t quite reel in Oswald Peraza’s deep line drive for an RBI triple — was long forgotten after the Dodgers rallied for nine runs in the first.
Andy Pages celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run as part of a nine-run first inning for the Dodgers.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
It was the most runs the Dodgers scored in a single inning in nearly five years, matching their seventh-inning rally against the Nationals on July 2, 2021.
The Dodgers (42-23) helped themselves with a show of power. Pages drove in the first two runs by crushing a center-cut changeup from Angels starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz over the left-field wall.
Judging by his stroll out of the batter’s box, Pages seemed to know it was a homer on contact.
The ball had so much loft that reliever Blake Treinen parked under it in the bullpen and caught it with his hat. His fellow relievers mobbed him in an impromptu mosh pit.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Angels in the first inning Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Later in the same inning, after the lineup turned over, Shohei Ohtani also notched a two-run homer, for his second hit. In between, rookie Ryan Ward hit a two-run double off the wall.
The Dodgers brought 12 batters to the plate and recorded six hits in a row — seven total.
The Angels’ shoddy defense exacerbated the scoring spree. They had a chance to get out of it just four runs into the rally.
Kochanowicz had faced eight hitters and only recorded one out when Angels manager Kurt Suzuki turned to his bullpen.
Veteran left-hander Brent Suter jogged in with the bases loaded. Immediately, Suter got Alex Freeland to hit a ground ball to shortstop Zach Neto, for what should have been an inning-ending double play.
Instead, Neto’s throw across his body sailed past second and into foul territory on the other side of the diamond. By the time Angels right fielder Jo Adell collected the ball and threw to the cutoff man, three runs were scored.
Rams defensive end Myles Garrett throws out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani was up next. And in a two-strike count, he stayed inside a sinker to launch his two-run blast to left-center field.
The Angels’ defense didn’t fare much better in the second, although Suter navigated a pair of misplays — Neto muffed a one-hopper up the middle, which was ruled a single, and third baseman Donovan Walton overthrew first on a chopper — to escape without the Dodgers extending their lead.
Yamamoto retired 22 straight en route to eight innings of two-hit ball.
By mid-game, both teams were putting in replacements. The Angels had time to chip away, but they didn’t score again until Neto’s solo homer off Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer in the ninth inning.
The contrast was glaring.
Smith scratched
Dodgers catcher Will Smith was scratched from the lineup because of a stiff neck, manager Dave Roberts said. The issue “came out of nowhere,” Roberts said, pointing to a “bad night’s sleep or a bad pillow.”
“He was going to play two out of three [against the Angels] regardless,” Roberts said. “So it’s nice that we could kind of tap Dalton [Rushing] on the shoulder and get him in there.”
Roberts said he expects Smith will return to the lineup Sunday.
Injury update
Right-handed reliever Brock Stewart (left foot bone spur) is progressing after a setback a week and a half ago stymied his throwing progression.
The last time Stewart threw live batting practice, he aggravated the injury by running afterward. But throwing to hitters Saturday went better. He’s scheduled to throw one more live BP session before going out on a minor-league rehab assignment, Roberts said.
Roster moves
The Dodgers added right-hander Nick Frasso to the 40-man roster and transferred right-hander Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) to the 60-day injured list.
The team originally expected Glasnow to avoid the IL altogether, but his back issues have persisted. He remains shut down from throwing after a flare-up.
“He wants to get cranking again,” Roberts said, “but the doctors just aren’t allowing it and the body is not allowing for it right now.”
The Dodgers also traded left-hander Antoine Kelly, whom they signed to a minor-league deal in November to the Cubs.
Jared Grindlinger was right where he wanted to be Saturday afternoon at the end of his last high school baseball game — on the mound with a chance to clinch a championship for the orange and black.
Huntington Beach had a 5-0 lead with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning when the Oilers’ highly touted left-hander came in to relieve Jared Marchbank. The cushion was narrowed to two with runs scored on an error, an uncaught third strike and a wild pitch, but Grindlinger struck out the fourth batter to tie the bow on his team’s 5-3 victory over San Diego Cathedral in the Southern California Regional Division I final.
“I knew I’d be facing the top of their lineup and those guys are all great players but I was ready for it,” Grindlinger said. “To do this with my best friends who I’ve grown up with my entire life means everything to me.”
Grindlinger graduates Wednesday with plenty to be proud of and much to look forward to. The 6-1, 170-pound pitcher/outfielder reclassified in February to make himself eligible for next month’s Major League draft and is a potential first-round pick. Having just turned 17, the University of Tennessee commit has a bright future, but he wants to savor his final days on campus following in the footsteps of older siblings Bradley and Trent, who were back at their alma mater Saturday to cheer on Jared.
“I’ve known him since he was in second grade and he has two brothers who played for me too,” Oilers coach Benji Medure said upon wrapping up his 26th season. “Jared loves to compete and he fell in love with the culture and the family aspect of our program.”
In the first round of regionals on Tuesday, Grindlinger went four for four at the plate with a double, a home run, two singles and a run batted in plus he pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a 10-3 victory over Patrick Henry in San Diego. Two days later, he singled, tripled and scored two runs in an 11-3 semifinal victory at Corona.
Grindlinger blasted the fourth pitch he saw over the right-field fence to put the Oilers up 2-0 in the first inning Saturday — a lead they held until tacking on three more in the bottom of the sixth. He also patrolled left field and snared a line drive to end the top of the fourth.
“He came with two really good fastballs but then he hung a changeup and I knew I got it,” Grindlinger said of his 41st hit and second homer this season. “I’ve been working on discipline to look for my pitch.”
Medure noted Jared’s similarities to Bradley, the oldest, and Trent, whom he may soon be playing with in Knoxville.
“Bradley was a terrific pitcher and Trent was a super hitter and they’re all very close,” Medure said. “I think Jared picked Tennessee because he wants to be with his brother.”
He could be a Volunteer with his brother Trent next season.
“Jared’s got the best traits from both me and Bradley,” said Trent, who just completed his first season in Knoxville, where he made the SEC All-Freshman team as a catcher. “He has an aura about him and I’m super proud of him.”
“Jared’s a lot better than I was at his age,” admitted Bradley, a 2023 Huntington Beach alum who played at Long Beach State but is entering the transfer portal. “He’s barely 17 and getting to the upper 90s. He’s more polished, plus he’s a lefty.”
The hardest part about skipping his senior year to graduate early was not the extra classes he had to take but knowing he would be missing out on a chance to see his coach reach another milestone.
“He was a freshman and the second game that season I got my 400th win and Jared said, ‘I’m gonna be part of 400 and 500,’” added Medure, who is 28 wins away. “That year, we won 23 and 25 the next year. We had it all planned that 500 would be for the CIF title. When he decided to reclass to make millions of dollars he told him, ‘I feel bad I can’t win that 500th game for you.’ That’s the kind of kid he is.”
Grindlinger credits his mom for helping him meet all of his academic requirements and his brothers for teaching him everything he knows about the sport they all play.
“Whatever happens — whether it’s the draft or college — I’m good,” he said.
Medure is thrilled how the season ended considering he did not believe his team would even be in the regional bracket after losing early in the section playoffs. He is grateful for the three seasons he got to coach his superstar.
“Jared came in to let us know that scenario was on the table and every coach in that room said, ‘Awesome!’” Medure recalled. “He was scared to tell us because he thought we’d be upset. Usually it’s done to buy another year, not to lose one. Of course I’d like to coach one of the best players in America for four years, but ultimately I want him to do what’s best for him.”
The past five years has seen Chwalinska work hard on the lower levels of the WTA Tour, diligently trying to improve her game.
Working on being able to mentally compartmentalise her career – which she associated with “pressure, stress and crying” – from the rest of her life has proved crucial.
A year ago, Chwalinska was playing tiny tournaments in Italian cities Brescia and Bari after going out of the French Open in the second round of qualifying.
Now she has won nine matches in a row at Roland Garros. One more will see her become the first qualifier in the Open era to lift the trophy here.
Maybe the tattoo represents how she has played over the past three weeks – with a freedom and joy that has captivated the Parisian crowds.
Chwalinska has earned notable wins over former French Open semi-finalist Maria Sakkari and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, as well as beating three seeded players in Shnaider, Anna Kalinskaya and Elise Mertens.
Playing with variety and spin, Chwalinska can lob, drop shot and moonball her opponents to distraction, but she can also hit with pace to finish off points quickly.
“I feel like I’m in the bubble. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m just very happy to be here,” said Chwalinska, who has almost tripled her career prize money with the guarantee of winning at least £1.2m by reaching the final.
“After the tournament there will be time to process it and breathe in, breathe out.”
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.
PHOENIX — The Dodgers had managed to cling to their lead over the Diamondbacks despite the comeback attempt the home team had mounted in the late innings.
Now it was up to left-hander Tanner Scott, coming off his first blown save of the season, to finish the job.
With the would-be tying run standing on first base and one out, Scott crashed hard on Geraldo Perdomo’s sacrifice bunt and zipped a throw across the diamond just in time for the out.
Then to tie a bow on the outing, Scott got Pavin Smith to lunge after an outside slider and ground into the final out of the game.
“It was good to see,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 6-5 win Tuesday. I thought from pitch one he was pitching with a purpose. Obviously there was no margin with a one-run lead. I just liked the way he was going after those guys.”
Though the Dodgers led for the game from Freddie Freeman’s first-inning homer on, it was a nail-biter. The Diamondbacks rallied against a Dodgers bullpen that had been practically flawless for weeks. Roberts made five pitching changes. But with an offensive bounce-back and strong pitching performances on the front and back end, the Dodgers evened the series at Chase Field.
Mookie Betts, from left, Max Muncy, Freddie Freeman and Alex Freeland await the pitcher.
(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)
“It’s nice after only scoring one [Monday] to get out and get some runs early on the board,” said Freeman, who led the team with three hits. “Four runs in the first couple innings, you would hope you keep going. But two in the middle innings there was good enough. Pitching was good again. Got a little hairy at the end, but luckily pulled it off.”
Freeman and Ohtani teamed up to give the Dodgers that four-run lead against Diamondbacks starter Michael Soroka in the first two innings.
A double from Ohtani preceded Freeman’s first-inning blast. Then the next inning, Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland’s back-to-back singles set up Ohtani to score them both when he lined a triple into the right-field corner.
Dodgers starter Eric Lauer, making his second start since the trade that brought him over from the Blue Jays, tossed two scoreless frames to maintain that lead.
In the third, however, Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll sent a cutter the other way, and it bounced off the top of the left-field wall into the home bullpen for Arizona’s first run of the night.
Lauer relied on soft contact to throw a scoreless fourth inning, but he ran into some trouble in the fifth, with back-to-back singles, a sacrifice fly, a disengagement violation and PitchCom issues.
In a two-run game, Roberts pulled the plug before Lauer could face right-handed No. 3 hitter Gabriel Moreno for a third time, even though Lauer had set him down twice. Lauer’s pitch count was only up to 70, after giving up five hits in 4 ⅔ innings.
“I thought I could have tried to convince him on the mound [to let me stay in], but he kind of stuck his hand out right away, so I didn’t have a huge chance there,” Lauer said. “But afterwards, we talked, and he explained his thought process to me and just reiterated his thoughts, and I agreed. And I think that’s huge, just to be able to have that conversation.”
Lauer did have an inkling, however, that he wasn’t going to be in the game too much longer with Nolan Arenado on deck. Arenado entered Tuesday with eight hits off Lauer in 27 at-bats (.296 batting average). Half of them were homers.
“We’re still learning each other, so it’s just making sure that [he knows] I do believe in him,” Roberts said of their conversation. “If I’m not going to let him go through Arenado right there, I felt it would give Blake the best chance to get us out of that inning in a tight ball game.
“I don’t want him looking over his shoulder. I pushed him in his first start, didn’t push him this start, because he was really good for us. And I just don’t want anything lost in translation or the assumption game. So I just wanted to kind of be forthright.”
Shohei Ohtani reacts after scoring on a single by Mookie Betts in the seventh inning,
(Rick Scuteri / AP)
Roberts turned to right-handed reliever Blake Treinen, who walked Moreno but got out of the inning by inducing Arenado to fly out to left field. Rookie Ryan Ward, in his fourth major league game, made the sliding catch.
The Dodgers (39-22) added insurance in the seventh, manufacturing the first with a double from Dalton Rushing, sacrifice bunt from Alex Freeland, an intentional walk to Ohtani, and sacrifice fly from Andy Pages. Back-to-back singles from Freedman and Betts pushed across a second run.
The Diamondbacks countered. And for the first time, the Dodgers’ lead looked like it was in danger.
Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt’s command was shaky from the start. And his two walks with less than two out in the seventh came back to haunt him, as both baserunners scored on Arenado’s double off the wall. Ward bobbled the ball as he picked it up for the relay home and a close play at the plate for the second run.
Hurt issued a third walk, a season high, before fellow right-hander Will Klein replaced him.
Pinch-hitter Geraldo Perdomo shot a line-drive single off Klein into shallow left field, loading the bases. Klein walked in a run, which trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to 6-5.
A broken-bat grounder to the right side of the infield, hunted down by Freeman ranging to his backhand side from first base, ended the inning.
Infield defense again got Klein out of a jam in the eighth, turning a double play after back-to-back singles to maintain the lead.
“They’re not going to be clean every time out there,” Roberts said of Hurt and Klein, two relievers he’s trusted in high-leverage situations this year. “They’ve both been very good for us. You’ve got to give those guys credit today, the Diamondbacks. They spoiled some pitches. They hit to the opposite field. They battled tonight.”
Scott (2.10 ERA) took over in the ninth, in his first appearance since Saturday, when he broke a streak of 12 appearances without giving up a run. His wife Maddie posted screenshots of the death threats their family received via social media in the aftermath.
On Tuesday, Scott retired three of the four batters he faced, with only a well-placed single through the right side of the field — a “soft-serve hit, as Roberts put it” — marring the outing.
Said Roberts: “Outside of that, he was really sharp tonight.”
