Seth Jarvis scored 1:45 into overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes extended their undefeated start to the season to five games despite giving up a three-goal lead in a 4-3 win over the Kings on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Jarvis netted his sixth goal of the season, capitalizing on a fortunate bounce after Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke blocked Sebastian Aho’s shot, scoring into an open net with goalie Anton Forsberg unable to get back in position.
Jordan Staal had two goals, Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored, and Brandon Bussi made 25 saves for the Hurricanes.
Kevin Fiala tied it midway through the third period for the Kings, who have lost four straight. Trevor Moore and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored, and Forsberg made 36 saves.
The Hurricanes went up 3-0 early in the second period before the Kings responded. Moore got the Kings on the board and looked to have picked up a second less than a minute later, but it was waived off for goaltender interference by Warren Foegele.
Kuzmenko cut it to 3-2 on the power play with 3:56 left in the period, the first conceded by Carolina this season in 10 road penalty kills.
For all of its dominance, Carolina had scored two goals in the first period coming into the night. Staal doubled that in the opening 3:58, including scoring 12 seconds into the game when William Carrier found him alone at the back post for his 300th career goal.
Staal joined his brother Eric in the 300-goal club, making them the fourth brother pair to accomplish it and joining Maurice and Henri Richard, Bobby and Dennis Hull, and Brent and Brian Sutter.
Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere played 4:06 in the first period before exiting the game with a lower-body injury.
The Phillies had scored three runs off Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the second. Citizens Bank Park was shaking on the scale of a small earthquake. And the Dodgers’ offense was doing nothing against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez.
In the opening contest of a heavyweight series, the defending champions were down.
But, in their typically resilient fashion, far from out.
In a come-from-behind, statement-sending 5-3 win, the Dodgers did again what carried them a championship last October.
They shrugged off the early adversity, with Ohtani conceding no further damage over a six-inning start, finishing his postseason pitching debut with nine strikeouts and four monumental scoreless innings.
Their lineup chipped away at the deficit, knocking Phillies ace and Cy Young Award candidate Sánchez out of the game on Kiké Hernández’s two-out, two-run double in the sixth.
Then, they landed the actual knockout blow, with Teoscar Hernández flipping the game — and the feel of this best-of-five series — with a two-out, three-run, stadium-silencing home run in the seventh.
Game 2 will be back here in South Philadelphia on Monday night. And the Dodgers will go into it with, given the way Saturday started, an unexpected 1-0 series lead.
It could not have started worse for the Dodgers.
Sánchez was carving them up with wicked sinkers and fall-off-the-table changeups. Ohtani, meanwhile, ran into early trouble in the bottom of the second.
The inning started with a walk to Alec Bohm, when Ohtani missed on a full-count fastball. That was followed by a single from Brandon Marsh, who got a down-the-middle fastball in a 2-and-2 count and shot a base hit to center.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani delivers during the third inning against the Phillies on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
As Ohtani tried to settle down, a chorus of taunting chants — Sho-Hei! Sho-Hei! — came raining down.
A crowd of 45,777 was ready to explode.
Then, J.T. Realmuto gave them the chance.
After missing with a first-pitch slider to Realmuto, Ohtani left a 100.2-mph heater in the dead heart of the zone. The location rendered the velocity irrelevant. Realmuto barreled it up, sent a line drive screaming into right-center, then chugged all the way to third after the ball got past Teoscar Hernández in the gap.
A fly ball two batters later — which worked for a sacrifice fly thanks to Hernández’s inability to cut the ball off — made it 3-0.
In the moment (and with the way Sánchez was pitching early), the lead felt almost insurmountable.
The Dodgers, however, didn’t wilt.
The turnaround began with Ohtani, who followed Realmuto’s triple by retiring the next 10 he faced. His only other trouble came in the fifth, when the bottom two hitters in the Phillies’ order reached base with one out. But even then, Ohtani buckled down, getting Trea Turner to line out and Kyle Schwarber to swing through a curveball that ended the inning.
Eventually, the Dodgers’ offense found life too.
With two outs in the sixth, and Sánchez having given up only two hits all night, Freddie Freeman sparked a rally with a five-pitch walk. Tommy Edman took a sinker the other way to put two aboard.
That brought up Kiké Hernández, who had already begun reprising his role of October hero with four hits in the team’s wild-card series sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.
On cue, Hernández came up clutch again, jumping on a slider from Sánchez that caught a little too much plate and roping it down the left-field line for a two-run double — the latter run coming when Edman ran through a stop sign at third base.
Just like that, Sánchez was knocked out of the game. What had been a raucous crowd earlier in the night suddenly grew tense.
That dread only grew in the next-half inning, when Ohtani completed his start with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth.
Then, in the seventh, the Dodgers made the comeback complete — getting the biggest swing of the night from another postseason savior, Teoscar Hernández.
Teoscar Hernández celebrates after hitting a three-run home run in the seventh inning for the Dodgers against the Phillies on Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
After Andy Pages led off the inning with a single and Will Smith (who entered the game in the fifth inning for his first appearance of this postseason after missing the wild card round with a fractured hand) was hit by a pitch from David Robertson, the Phillies summoned top left-handed reliever Matt Strahm to face Ohtani.
As he did in his prior three at-bats, Ohtani struck out, taking a fastball down the middle, punching out in four-consecutive at-bats in a game for only the second time in his MLB career.
But by getting Strahm on the mound, the Dodgers had favorable right-on-left matchups behind him. Mookie Betts couldn’t take advantage, popping out to third for the second out of the inning. Hernández, on the other hand, didn’t miss.
On an elevated fastball in a 1-and-0 count, Hernández launched a towering fly ball to the right-center field gap. The Phillies outfield went back on it. But the ball kept carrying into the stands. The ballpark went silent. Hernández practically glided around the bases.
The drama didn’t end there.
Projected Game 4 starter Tyler Glasnow came on in relief in the seventh, when he retired the side on a double-play grounder, then returned for the eighth, when he loaded the bases on a single and two walks. That threat was extinguished by left-hander Alex Vesia, who induced a harmless fly ball from pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa to quiet a stirring crowd once again.
The ninth inning then belonged to Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old converted rookie starter who has ascended to closing duties less than two weeks after returning from a months-long shoulder injury. He picked up the save in straightforward fashion, retiring the side in order for his first career save.
Joseph Paintsil had a hat trick by halftime and the Galaxy cruised to a 4-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.
Paintsil scored goals in the fourth, 25th, and 43rd minutes for his first hat trick and the fastest in club history. Paintsil has nine goals this season. Defender Mauricio Cuevas notched two assists for a career-best five this season.
Diego Fagúndez used assists from Paintsil — his fifth — and Gabriel Pec to score his fifth goal and cap the scoring for the Galaxy (5-17-9) in the 60th minute. Pec assisted on Paintsil’s final goal and has eight this season. Fagúndez picked up his third assist on Paintsil’s first netter.
Dejan Joveljić scored in the 28th minute for Sporting KC (7-19-6). It was his 18th goal of the season after scoring 15 times for the Galaxy last season in their championship run.
Novak Micovic saved five shots for the Galaxy.
John Pulskamp had five saves for Sporting KC.
Shapi Suleymanov will miss the next match for Sporting KC after he subbed in in the 70th minute and was tagged with a red card in the 83rd.
Sporting KC travels to play Minnesota United on Saturday. The Galaxy travel to play FC Dallas on Saturday.
Christian Walker homered twice and the Houston Astros beat the Angels 6-1 on Saturday night, a couple of hours after getting eliminated from playoff contention.
Zach Cole and Jesús Sánchez also went deep for the Astros, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Walker was batting in the second inning when Cleveland scored in the bottom of the ninth at Progressive Field for a 3-2 victory over Texas that clinched the final American League playoff spot for the Guardians and eliminated the Astros.
That snapped Houston’s streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances, a run that featured seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-2023 and World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.
With Saturday night’s game rendered moot, Astros manager Joe Espada pulled his top three batters — Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa — after two innings.
Cole followed Yainer Diaz’s second-inning single with a two-run homer off Angels starter Caden Dana (0-4). Walker led off the fourth with a homer for a 3-0 lead. Cole walked and Sanchez lined a two-run homer to right field for a 5-0 lead. Walker’s solo shot — his 27th of the season — made it 6-1 in the ninth.
Houston starter AJ Blubaugh gave up one hit in four scoreless innings against the Angels (72-89), and reliever J.P. France (1-0) allowed one run and two hits in three innings, striking out five and walking one.
Dana, the Angels’ rookie right-hander, permitted five runs and five hits in seven innings.
Key moment: France gave up an RBI double to Jo Adell and walked Logan O’Hoppe to put two on with one out in the sixth, but the right-hander struck out Christian Moore and Oswald Peraza to preserve a 5-1 lead.
Key stat: Sunday’s season finale will be only the fourth game since the start of the 2015 season that the Astros (86-75) will play while out of postseason contention. The other three came at the end of 2016, when Houston was eliminated from the wild-card race on Sept. 29.
Up next: Astros RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-5, 6.71 ERA) will start Sunday against Angels LHP Sam Aldegheri (0-1, 8.00).
The singer D4vd called off a series of upcoming tour dates, including a concert this weekend at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre, as police investigate his connection to the death of a teenage Inland Empire girl whose decomposed body was discovered this month in a car registered to the musician.
A representative for the Greek said the show, which was scheduled for Saturday night, had been canceled. Other tour dates in San Francisco and in Europe had either been removed from or were listed as canceled on Ticketmaster’s website by Friday afternoon.
An event at L.A.’s Grammy Museum scheduled for Wednesday — in which D4vd planned to perform and to take part in a conversation about his work — has also been called off. A representative for D4vd didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, D4vd, 20, announced that he would release a deluxe edition of his 2025 album, “Withered,” on Friday, but the project hadn’t appeared on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music by Friday morning.
Police are investigating the singer’s ties to Celeste Rivas, who was reported missing in April 2024 and whose whereabouts were a mystery until this week, when authorities identified her remains after they found a body in the trunk of a Tesla in a Hollywood tow lot on Sept. 8.
SEATTLE — Bryan Woo struck out a career-high 13, J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead homer in the fourth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 5-3 on Saturday night to stay tied with Houston atop the American League West with their eighth straight win.
Matt Brash worked the ninth inning for his fourth save, yielding a solo home run to Taylor Ward.
Woo (14-7) pitched six innings, giving up two runs on three hits while walking one. He has pitched five innings or more in 31 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the AL.
Woo surrendered Jo Adell’s 36th homer and an RBI single by Bryce Teodosio in the second inning, then retired the next 13 batters he faced. The Angels struck out 16 times total.
Seattle scored early against Angels starter Mitch Farris (1-1), who lasted only four innings, yielding five runs on five hits, walking four and striking out seven. Jorge Polanco hit a two-run double in the first, and Crawford hit his 10th homer of the year in the fourth.
Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery was away for a funeral so Ryan Goins was the acting manager for Saturday’s game.
Seattle holds the second AL wild-card spot in a tie with the Boston Red Sox.
Key moment: Josh Naylor worked an 11-pitch at-bat against Chase Silseth in the fifth, concluding with a two-run single to extend Seattle’s lead 5-2.
Key stat: Polanco’s two-run double in the first inning was his eighth straight game with an extra base hit. It’s the longest streak by a Mariner this season.
Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (7-9, 4.58) faces Seattle RHP George Kirby (8-7, 4.56) Sunday in the series finale.
SANTA CLARA — Denis Bouanga finished with a hat trick after Son Heung-min scored in the first minute and LAFC beat the San José Earthquakes 4-2 on Saturday night at Levi Stadium.
Son gave LAFC (12-7-8) the lead when he used passes from rookie Artem Smolyakov and Mark Delgado to score 54 seconds into the match. It was Son’s second goal in five matches since transferring from Tottenham Hotspur. He ties for the third fastest goal in club history. Smolyakov’s assist was his first in his 19th appearance and Delgado’s was his career-high eighth.
Bouanga took over from there — scoring in the ninth, 12th and 87th minutes for his third career three-goal effort in regular-season play. Bouanga, who won the Golden Boot Award in 2023, has 18 goals on the season — three behind league leader Sam Surridge of Nashville SC.
Preston Judd scored in the 18th minute for the Earthquakes, whose final tally came on an own goal by LAFC defender Sergi Palencia in the 90th minute. Judd’s netter was his career-best seventh. Palencia had assists on two of Bouanga’s goals.
Hugo Lloris saved three shots for LAFC (12-7-8).
Daniel De Sousa Britto totaled two saves for the Earthquakes (9-13-8).
LAFC pulls one point behind the fourth-place Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference with the top four seeds earning home-field advantage in the best-of-three first round.
LAFC travels to play Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. The Earthquakes host St. Louis City on Saturday.
Kyle Tucker homered twice and drove in five runs as the surging Chicago Cubs routed the Angels 12-1 on Saturday night.
Reese McGuire added a grand slam and tied a career high with five RBIs to help the Cubs (75-55) win for the seventh time in nine games.
Cade Horton (8-4) gave up three hits over six scoreless innings and Ben Brown went the rest of the way for his first major league save.
Busting out of an extended slump, Tucker has three homers in two nights following a 25-game drought. The outburst has come after he was given three games off by manager Craig Counsell earlier in the week.
Jo Adell homered late for the Angels (61-68), who totaled eight hits while losing the first two games of the series.
Victor Mederos (0-2) and Carson Fulmer were charged with all 12 of the Cubs’ runs. The Angels fell to 2-6 since pulling off a three-game sweep of the Dodgers from Aug. 11-13.
McGuire’s grand slam in the fourth gave the Cubs a 6-0 lead and they made it 10-0 in the sixth when Tucker went deep for the second time. It was Tucker’s eighth multihomer game and first since May 2024 against the Angels with Houston.
Adell’s home run in the seventh, his 29th, ended Chicago’s shutout bid.
Key moment: With two outs in the third, Michael Busch tucked a double just inside the first-base line and past a diving Nolan Schanuel to get Tucker to the plate before his first homer of the game.
Key stat: Angels star Mike Trout went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts as his 22-game on-base streak came to an end.
Up next: Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA) will face his former team Sunday in a matchup against Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (8-6, 4.26).
It took until August, but the starting rotation the Dodgers envisioned in spring training is intact and delivering.
Vowing not to revisit the predicament they found themselves in last postseason, when only two true starters and a stacked bullpen somehow patched together enough innings to win a World Series, the Dodgers added two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell to a rotation that already boasted four potential aces and several other candidates coming off injuries or ascending from the minor leagues.
Snell complained of shoulder inflammation April 2 after his second start and took his sweet time recovering — four months, to be precise. But if his performance against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium is a fair indication, the wait was worthwhile.
Snell struck out 10 in five scoreless innings of a 9-1 Dodgers victory, living up to the Snellzilla nickname he stole from his older brother as a brash 11-year-old and still uses as his Instagram handle. In two starts since coming off the injured list, the left-hander has 18 strikeouts in 10 innings.
The Dodgers offense was fueled by the long ball early on, with Max Muncy belting a two-run, opposite-field home run in the fourth inning and Shohei Ohtani absolutely crushing his 40th homer of the season 417 feet to dead center in the fifth with nobody on base.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hits his 40th home run of the season Saturday against the Blue Jays.
(Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
A six-run rally an inning later put the game away. Two hit batters and two walks set the table, and Dalton Rushing and Mookie Betts each delivered two-run singles with none out. Andy Pages drove in the last two with a two-out double, his second hit of the inning.
The win was the second in a row against Toronto (68-50), which remain in first place in the American League East. The series concludes Sunday with another formidable starter — Tyler Glasnow — taking the mound for the Dodgers (68-49).
Glasnow took a similar if less pronounced path than Snell this season, going on the injured list before the end of April and not returning until July 9. He has given up only one run in four of his five starts since returning and most recently went seven strong innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s clear that Snell and Glasnow are healthy, their arms as fresh and live as would be expected coming out of spring training. The same is true of Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw, two future Hall of Famers whose recoveries from injuries also were methodical and unhurried. Both are pitching well.
And so is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the only starter whose health hasn’t cost him time off. He’s made 22 starts, going 10-7 with a 2.51 earned-run average and leads National League starters with eight scoreless outings.
The Dodgers employ a sixth starter to give Ohani and Yamamoto five to seven days off between starts. The job belonged to Dustin May until he was traded to the Red Sox at the deadline, creating an opportunity for Emmet Sheehan, who was impressive over 60 innings as a rookie in 2023, but had Tommy John surgery in May 2024.
He’s pitched well, posting a 3.00 ERA over 30 innings, giving the Dodgers a luxury they haven’t enjoyed in recent memory: trotting out a starting pitcher every night that can prevent runs through the middle innings.
That leaves the bullpen to finish the job, and injuries and inconsistency continue to riddle the relief corps. Roberts said help is on the way, with several key relievers on the mend. If they return as effective as the starters, pitching could be a Dodgers strength entering the postseason.
DETROIT — Taylor Ward homered and fell a triple short of the cycle, driving in three runs to help the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Saturday night.
Ward had an RBI double in the first, singled and scored in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth. He grounded out in the seventh.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-7) gave up four runs in five innings. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 21st save and his career-best 20th consecutive outing without conceding an earned run.
Detroit’s Charlie Morton (7-10) matched a season high with 10 strikeouts, but the 41-year-old gave up six runs on seven hits in 4⅓ innings.
The Angels (56-61) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Ward’s RBI double, and the Tigers (67-51) got two in the second on Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single and Jake Rogers’ sacrifice fly.
Morton struck out seven straight after Ward’s double, with Mike Trout breaking the streak with a leadoff groundout in the fourth. Ward singled, Morton hit Yoán Moncada, and Jo Adell hit a three-run homer to make it 4-2.
The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning on Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly and Gleyber Torres’s RBI double.
Ward ended Morton’s night with a two-run homer in the fifth. Luis Rengifo made it 7-4 with a homer in the eighth.
Trailing 6-4, the Tigers had runners on first and second with no one out in the sixth, but Kikuchi struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter and got Torres to ground out.
But, in what became a frustrating 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Crochet bobbed and weaved around every knockout blow the Dodgers tried to land.
“I thought we played hard. I thought we competed,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He made pitches when he needed to.”
Indeed, in a game that was decided on the margins — through high-leverage at-bats and two-strike battles and risky decisions that backfired on the basepaths — Crochet was just a little bit better than Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, using his heavy fastball and premium all-around stuff to wiggle out of trouble in a way his aging 37-year-old counterpart couldn’t.
While Crochet limited damage over the rest of his six-inning start, striking out 10 batters to prevent each of the eight other Dodgers who reached base from scoring, Kershaw faltered when his back was up against the wall, yielding the lead in a three-run second inning before exiting after another run in the fifth.
“Obviously, when you’re facing a guy like Crochet, there’s not gonna be a ton of runs,” said Kershaw, who once invoked such fear from opponents but now has to grind with gradually diminished stuff. “Our guys did a good job getting a lead there early and really having good at-bats. Just frustrating not to be able to hold it.”
Making his first career regular-season start at Fenway Park (he had only previously pitched here in the 2018 World Series), Kershaw appeared to be battling his mechanics from the start. He delivered a first-pitch strike to only five of the first 14 batters. Even worse, he couldn’t put guys away on two-strike counts.
It culminated in the three-run second inning from the Red Sox (56-50). Trevor Story worked a leadoff walk. Carlos Narváez belted a double off the Green Monster. And, on a night he had two triples and a double, Jarren Duran laced a line drive to center that got over Andy Pages’ head to plate two runs (Duran would later score on a sacrifice fly).
All three batters did their damage with two strikes.
“Needed to figure it out a little bit better,” Kershaw said of the second inning. “The last few innings [after that], I actually felt pretty good with everything. Just couldn’t make the adjustment that second inning. And that’s what cost us.”
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1.Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers in the first inning Saturday.2.Boston starting pitcher Garrett Crochet delivers in the first inning Saturday.(Steven Senne / Associated Press)
Kershaw eventually settled down. He rediscovered his command in the third, working around a pair of singles with a double-play grounder and strikeout of Story. He found the kind of rhythm that has keyed his surprisingly strong 18th season from there, retiring seven consecutive batters to work his way into the fifth inning.
But with two outs in the fifth, Red Sox slugger Alex Bregman outlasted Kershaw in another two-strike battle, bouncing a single through the infield on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Then, rookie star Roman Anthony drove him home with a double off the Monster.
Kershaw’s night ended there, with four runs (tying the second-most earned runs he has allowed this season) and only two strikeouts over 4⅔ innings raising his season earned-run average to 3.62.
“Could have been a super frustrating day,” Kershaw said. “Now it’s only mildly frustrating — just that that’s still in there, I can still get people out. It’s just that second inning got to me.”
Crochet, meanwhile, never wavered after the Dodgers (61-44) did their early damage.
“When you’re facing guys like Crochet, you don’t get so many good pitches to hit,” Hernández said. “The ones that you do, you just have to put it in play and hopefully you can get good contact, do some damage, like we did in the first inning. After that, he was throwing the ball very good. He didn’t miss many pitches in the strike zone.”
The Dodgers, in an effort to manufacture extra offense, didn’t help their own cause on the bases, either.
After the first-inning home runs, another rally fizzled when Freddie Freeman was thrown out trying to go from first to third base on a Pages single that was initially booted by Duran in left field.
The Dodgers challenged the call, with Roberts applauding Freeman’s aggressiveness from the dugout, but the out was upheld. Tommy Edman lined out to end the inning an at-bat later.
“I thought that was a good play, I liked that,” Roberts said of Freeman’s decision. “He’s got to make a perfect throw to get Freddie right there. But in a first and third [situation] with a two-run lead, if we get into a situational spot right there, it could’ve been a different game.”
Instead, the rest of the night was more of the same.
The Dodgers had two other innings end with outs on the bases. Hernández was caught stealing for the final out of the fifth (on a close play the Dodgers were unable to review after burning their challenge earlier, but one Hernández was told likely would’ve been upheld). Will Smith was gunned down trying to turn a single into a double in the seventh, after Crochet’s exit.
“If you try to play it straight and try to collect a bunch of hits, it’s just not going to happen,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ game plan on the bases. “We had a chance early and then he started bearing down and the velocity ticked up. Then hits were harder to come by.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani examines his bat before striking out in the fourth inning Saturday.
(Steven Senne / Associated Press)
And if that wasn’t enough, Ohtani squandered several more chances in deflating sequences at the plate.
Despite extending his National League lead with his 38th home run to start the game, the slugger also moved into the top-five of the NL in strikeouts with three in each of his remaining at-bats Saturday, finishing with 124 on the season.
In both the second and fourth, No. 9 hitter Hyeseong Kim managed to single off Crochet (surprising results given Kim’s recent struggles, which Roberts said have been magnified by a recent shoulder injury). But both times, Ohtani followed with inning-ending Ks, chasing out of the zone on a fastball up and a cutter that was well away.
The Dodgers, nonetheless, gave themselves one last chance against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate after a two-out walk from Esteury Ruiz.
The batter representing that tying run: Mookie Betts, who was out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after spending the week back home in Nashville following a death in his family, but arrived at the ballpark shortly after first pitch to be available to pinch-hit.
His number was called with the game on the line, in what marked just his second trip back to Fenway Park since being traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers in 2020.
Alas, the former MVP brought a night of missed chances to a frustratingly fitting conclusion, getting rung up on a called third strike to set up a series rubber match Sunday.
Mississippi freshman defensive lineman Corey Adams was shot and killed Saturday night near Memphis, Tenn. He was 18.
Adams was a three-star recruit out of Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. His alma mater posted a tribute Sunday morning on Facebook.
“This is a post we never want to have to make and words can’t describe this type of pain. We are heartbroken and tormented to pieces,” the Karr Cougar Football account posted.
“Corey Adams was more than a football player! He was a friend, brother, son, student, and all around great young man. We never question God but this is one we just don’t understand. This wasn’t supposed to be the end of his story but we will #DoIt4Co.”
The Shelby County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it is investigating a shooting that took place at around 10:14 p.m. Saturday night outside a residence in Cordova.
“When deputies arrived at the intersection of Forest Hill-Irene and Walnut Grove, they stopped a vehicle, finding an adult male gunshot victim,” the sheriff’s office stated. “They provided life-saving measures until Shelby County Fire arrived. Shelby County Fire personnel later pronounced the victim deceased on the scene.”
A second statement, issued hours later early Sunday morning, identified the victim as Adams.
The sheriff’s department also noted that “four adult males arrived by personal vehicles to area hospitals with gunshot wounds. All four victims are listed in non-critical condition.”
The shooting is an active homicide investigation, the department stated.
According to his Mississippi bio, Adams was a two-time all-state selection who had 19 sacks, 62 tackles (21 for loss), one fumble recovery and four batted passes his senior year. 247 Sports reports that he received offers from 17 schools — including USC, LSU, Oregon, Texas A&M and Mississippi State — before signing with the Rebels.
He enrolled at Mississippi in January. Months later, Adams posted pictures on Instagram of himself taking part in spring practice.
Mississippi football said in an X (formerly Twitter) post that it was “devastated” to learn of Adams’ passing.
“While our program is trying to cope with this tragic loss, our thoughts are with his loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” the Rebels wrote. “Out of respect for his family, we will not be commenting further at this time. We ask the Ole Miss community to keep Corey in their thoughts and respect the privacy of everyone involved.”
Denis Bouanga scored on a penalty kick and assisted on Nathan Ordaz’s goal as LAFC defeated FC Dallas 2-0 at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
Hugo Lloris made one save as LAFC (9-5-5) recorded its second straight shutout and won for the second time in three games since it went winless during the Club World Cup.
LAFC put 10 shots on goal.
Ordaz took a pass from Bouanga in the penalty box, spun and booted a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal in the 31st minute.
Bouanga made it 2-0 when he converted into the right side in the 45th minute, after he was fouled by Shaq Moore.
LAFC captain and defender Aaron Long was carted off in the 76th minute for an apparent leg injury.
Jake Paul appeared to be taking the biggest risk of his unique boxing career by stepping in the ring with Julio César Chávez Jr., a former middleweight champion and his most accomplished opponent by far.
At least it seemed like a risk — until a lifeless Chávez meekly waited until the ninth round to mount any offense, dismaying a crowd desperate for him to hurt the famous YouTuber-turned-pugilist.
Paul shrugged it all off and rolled to another victory. After all, he’s the star of every show.
Paul beat Chávez by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, dominating the early rounds before weathering Chávez’s late rally for his sixth consecutive win.
Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) had little trouble from the 39-year-old Chávez (54-7-2), controlling the majority of the bout in front of an ardently pro-Chávez crowd in Southern California.
“I love that he brought a good fight at the end, and I think the fans got a good fight to see him come out, put some punches on me,” Paul said. “It makes me better. I had to elevate tonight and rise to a different level. I’m glad the fans got to see me get punched in the face a little bit.”
Even with his famous father shouting furiously at ringside, Chávez fought tentatively and tepidly against Paul, who patiently controlled the ring and landed just enough to win rounds. Chávez looked lifeless at the start, barely throwing a punch until late in the fourth round of their cruiserweight bout at Honda Center.
Chávez first mounted a discernible attack in the sixth, and he delivered several exciting shots in the ninth, finally exhibiting the skills of a long boxing career.
But he couldn’t seriously damage Paul, who jumped on the ropes in celebration after absorbing several flurries in the 10th and final round. The crowd booed Paul after the bell, and he cursed at them.
“All the boos are awards,” Paul said. “It was flawless. I think I only got hit about 10 times.”
Julio César Chávez Jr., right, punches Jake Paul during their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday at the Honda Center.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
The judges scored it 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 for Paul. The Associated Press also favored Paul 97-93.
Chávez, who had fought just once since 2021, is best known for failing to maximize the potential in his father’s genetics. He is still the most credible boxer to share the ring with Paul, who is now 5 1/2 years and 13 bouts into his lucrative fight career.
“I thought I lost the first five rounds, so I tried to win the last rounds,” Chávez said. “He’s strong, a good boxer (for) the first three, four rounds. After that, I felt he was tired. I don’t think he’s ready for the champions, but he’s a good fighter.”
Paul has successfully leveraged his Internet ubiquity and his own hard work to become a force in the business of boxing, if not in traditionally important bouts. He has founded a busy promotional company and flirted with mixed martial arts while becoming arguably the most prominent combat sports athlete in the world.
But Paul had mostly fought mixed martial artists and fellow online celebrities, and he took his only loss in February 2023 when he stepped in against actual boxer Tommy Fury, whose fame also exceeds his ring skills.
“I don’t really care what people say at the end of the day, because every single time I just prove myself more and more,” Paul said. “And that’s slowly turning the tide.”
Paul hadn’t fought since last November, when he beat Mike Tyson in a much-hyped bout that couldn’t live up to improbable expectations from fans who didn’t understand the simple realities of Tyson being 58 years old.
Chávez was away from the ring for three years before his return late last year, but Paul’s invitation brought him back again — along with the thousands of fans who eagerly bought tickets in perpetual support of their champion.
Chávez has fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career conducted in the shadow of his father, one of the most beloved athletes in Mexican history. The son has failed drug tests, served suspensions and egregiously missed weight while being widely criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport.
He still rose to its heights, winning the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defending it three times. Chávez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both.
Chávez even lost in 2021 to Anderson Silva, the former UFC champion and rudimentary boxer who lost a one-sided ring decision to Paul one year later.
Jake Paul, left, punches Julio César Chávez Jr. during their cruiserweight boxing match on Saturday at the Honda Center.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
Paul’s career as the world’s most popular pugilistic sideshow could change soon: His financial potency makes it almost inevitable that he will be invited to fight under a sanctioning body’s aegis, which means he could likely book a bout against an elite boxer whenever he chooses.
“We’ll see,” Paul said when asked to name his next opponent. “There’s a long line, so they’ve got to wait in line. Take a ticket.”
Paul then said he would have no problem beating Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, who retained his two cruiserweight title belts with a close unanimous decision over Cuba’s Yuniel Dorticos in the final undercard bout.
Earlier, 43-year-old former UFC star Holly Holm returned from a 12-year absence from the boxing ring to dominate previously unbeaten Yolanda Guadalupe Vega Ochoa.
New Jersey welterweight Julian Rodriguez earned a thrilling victory in the waning moments of the 10th and final round, staggering Avious Griffin with a sneaky left hand and eventually knocking the previously unbeaten Griffin sideways into the ropes for a stoppage with 5 seconds left.
Singer and social media personality Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
And, according to a video the performer later posted to social media, she did so against the wishes of the Dodgers organization.
In a video Nezza, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, posted to TikTok, an unidentified Dodgers employee is heard telling her before Saturday’s performance that “we are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.”
Then, the video cuts to Nezza — who was wearing a Dominican Republic shirt — signing a Spanish version of the Star-Spangled Banner on the field ahead of the Dodgers’ win against the San Francisco Giants.
The video’s caption: “So I did it anyway.”
In a separate video, Nezza said the version of the song she sang was commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that she wanted to sing it amid the recent unrest in Los Angeles stemming from raids by ICE agents.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we’re in LA and with everything happening,” she said. “But today out of all days, I just could not believe when she [the Dodgers employee] walked in and told me ‘no.’ But I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.”
The Dodgers did not respond to a request for comment.
Nezza reacts after singing the national anthem prior to a game between the Dodgers and Giants in at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
In general, the Dodgers have largely been quiet about the raids and resulting protests in the city over the last week.
Manager Dave Roberts has been asked about the situation twice. On Monday, he said that, “I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now.”
On Friday, he offered little further comment: “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and deport people, all the unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone,” he said, “But I haven’t dug enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
Veteran Kiké Hernández spoke out on Instagram on Saturday, writing that “I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”
The Dodgers, however, have not issued any team-level statement, and a club executive told The Times’ Dylan Hernández on Friday that they did not plan to make any comment.
Jo Adell homered twice, Chris Taylor also went deep and the Angels rallied from four runs down and beat the Seattle Mariners 8-6 on Saturday night.
Cal Raleigh homered twice — giving him a major league-leading 26 — and drove in four runs for the Mariners, who have lost five straight and 12 of their last 17 games.
Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who gave up Raleigh’s solo homer in the ninth, finished up for his 14th save.
Angels teammates Zach Neto, left, and Jo Adell celebrate after an 8-6 win over the Mariners on Saturday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Taylor replaced injured right fielder Jorge Soler (groin tightness) to start the second and led off with a homer off Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (4-4). Two outs later, Adell hit a 431-foot solo shot to left-center to trim Seattle’s lead to 4-2.
The Angels took advantage of two Mariners errors to score twice in the third to tie the score 4-4, and Adell’s 445-foot homer to center put them ahead 5-4 in the fourth.
Doubles by Nolan Schanuel and Taylor Ward pushed the lead to 6-4 in the fifth, and Zach Neto’s RBI single made it 7-5 in the sixth. Adell added an RBI single in the seventh for a three-run lead as the Angels scored in six consecutive innings for the first time since 2011.
Adell is 13 for 32 (.406) with five homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in his last 10 games, raising his season average from .184 to .224.
Seattle center fielder Julio Rodríguez, who singled in his first two at-bats, was knocked out of the game in the third after Randy Arozarena’s hard grounder hit him above the right ankle while Rodríguez was trying to steal third base.
Cole Young doubled and scored in the second and hit an RBI single in the sixth for the Mariners.
Connor Brogdon (1-0) replaced Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz with runners on first and third and one out in the fourth. He struck out J.P. Crawford, walked Jorge Polanco and got Leody Taveras to fly out with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-4 tie.
Stephenson out indefinitely
A pair of MRI tests revealed no structural damage to Robert Stephenson’s surgically repaired right elbow, but the Angels reliever was diagnosed with a stretched biceps nerve that will sideline him indefinitely.
“The good news is there’s no major injury or anything. It’s just a matter of how long it’s going to take,” Stephenson said Saturday night before a game against the Seattle Mariners. “It could be something that disappears overnight. It could be something that takes a couple weeks or longer. They’re kind of tricky.”
The 32-year-old Stephenson was expected to be one of the team’s top relievers after signing a three-year, $33-million deal in January 2024, but he missed all of last season after undergoing an ulnar collateral ligament repair with an internal brace in May 2024.
NEW YORK — The New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday just days after their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years, a person with knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press.
The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers with a loss in Game 6 on Saturday night. They then decided to move on from Thibodeau, who led them to the postseason in four of his five seasons in New York.
The decision was made by team president Leon Rose with approval from owner Jim Dolan, the person told the AP on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. The firing was first reported by ESPN.
It’s a strange decision by the Knicks, who had been one of the league’s worst franchises for most of the 2000s until Thibodeau was hired in 2020. He promptly led the Knicks to the playoffs in his first season, winning his second NBA Coach of the Year award, and they have been a solid contender in the East in recent seasons.
Their big breakthrough came in 2024-25, when they knocked off defending champion Boston in the second round to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000 — when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.
After they were eliminated Saturday, captain Jalen Brunson expressed his support for Thibodeau, bristling at a question about whether he believed the coach was right for the team.
Three days later, Thibodeau was gone with a 226-174 record in New York. He has the fourth-most wins by a Knicks coach.
Oh, sure, the Angel City forward is far too nice to call it that, but that’s what her first NWSL season has become.
“Everybody loves an underdog story,” she said. “It kind of added fuel to my fire. When people doubt you, it makes you want to prove it that much more.”
Tiernan was definitely being doubted about six months ago when she finished her college career at Rutgers as the school’s all-time leader in assists, yet didn’t get a call from 12 of the 14 NWSL teams. In the first winter without a league draft, every player was a free agent, available to the highest bidder. Only no one bid on Tiernan.
So she accepted an invitation to training camp with Angel City and now she’s showing the others what they missed, with her five goals leading all NWSL rookies and ranking second in the league overall heading into Saturday night’s home match with Racing Louisville.
“A fair shot,” said the 22-year-old. “All I wanted, literally, was just a chance to prove myself. Without the draft it was kind of like you get what you get and you’ve got to hope for the best.
“Once I got this invitation it was ‘let’s go big or go home.’ I got to show out. And pretty much did.”
Four of her five goals have given her team a lead; two were game-winners. Without her, Angel City (4-3-2) would not be in playoff position a third of the way into the season.
If Tiernan gets credit for passing her preseason test with the team, then technical director Mark Wilson and the rest of Angel City’s staff deserve praise for doing their homework. They identified Tiernan as a player worth watching last summer and nothing they saw — even the lack of interest from other clubs — swayed their thinking.
“We decided Riley was a top, top target once we’d kind of curated all of her stuff,” Wilson said. “You have to trust your process.”
So in November, Wilson had a Zoom call with Tiernan and found that he liked the person even better than he liked the player.
“That was the final piece of the puzzle,” he said. “We believed she had a big ceiling after watching her and we wanted to at least invite Riley in to spend some time with us.
“We really liked her character after the interview.”
Angel City forward Riley Tiernan heads the ball downfield during a game against the Washington Spirit on May 2.
(Roger Wimmer/ ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Tiernan said the only other offer she received came from Gotham FC, which trains 35 miles from Rutgers. But after spending her entire life in South Jersey, she felt Southern California offered a different sort of challenge.
“It just felt like it was time for me to spread my wings and step out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I had nothing to lose. After the first couple of training sessions, I started feeling comfortable and I started feeling like it was a place that I should be, an environment where I belonged.”
She’s certainly fit in, starting all nine Angel City matches and ranking second among outfield players in minutes played. Plus her five goals are just two shy of the franchise single-season record with 17 games left.
“She’s a big presence, but she turns on a sixpence,” Wilson said. “She has the ability to send players into the stands with a little check and her balance and mobility for a big presence is deceiving.
“She exhibited all of those qualities and more in all the work we did.”
She’s continued to prove she belongs despite playing as an attacker on a team that has seven forwards with World Cup experience.
“Isn’t it funny how that worked out?” Wilson said with a wry grin. “While we had quality attacking players, we want you looking over your shoulder. When you’re looking over your shoulder, you’re not comfortable. When you’re not comfortable, you’re pushing yourself. That level of competition for places drives standards and performance.
“Riley exhibited that from Day 1 and it hasn’t stopped. I don’t see her ever taking her foot off the gas.”
At least not until she’s finished proving herself to all those who doubted her. If she was once unwanted she’s now in high demand, having earned her first callup to the U-23 national team earlier this week. She’ll leave after Saturday’s game for Europe and two games against Germany, which constitute another new challenge.
“I think it’s good to have a sense of humbleness and be intimidated by such a high level in a new environment,” she said. “But I also think it’s important to turn that intimidation into motivation.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Tiernan has used others’ opinion of her to fuel her fire.
“I love this game because it does reward talent that works hard,” Wilson said. “Riley’s a talent, she is working hard, and eventually that value will be recognized.”
