England and Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole will retire at the end of season.
The 38-year-old is the second most capped men’s player in England history, having made 118 appearances for his country.
Cole, who also twice toured with the British and Irish Lions, came through Leicester’s academy and has played 340 senior games and won four Premiership titles with his boyhood club.
Cole said his decision to retire had been influenced by Ben Youngs, his long-time team-mate for club and country, who recently announced he would be hanging up his boots.
“As you get older, physically, it’s definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that’s challenging as well,” Cole said.
“I don’t want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark will be out at least two weeks with a left quad strain, the team announced Monday.
The Fever did not say when Clark suffered the injury. The team said further updates will be provided after she gets another evaluation.
Clark played 37:52 and had 18 points and 10 assists in a 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.
The Fever are 2-2 this season and could be without Clark for at least the next four games against the Mystics (twice), Sun and Sky. All the opponents sit below the Fever in the Eastern Conference.
Clark is averaging 19.0 points, 9.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds this season.
Season 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us” ends with the ultimate cliffhanger (seriously, if you have not seen and do not want to know, please stop reading right now): An Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) vs. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face-off in which only Abby has a weapon. As Ellie cries out, a gun goes off and … we are sent back in time to Day 1, Abby’s viewpoint.
So if any of y’all were looking for some kind of closure, emotional or narrative, well, you have got a bit of a wait.
The episode itself played out like a mini-epic. Picking up where last week’s mostly flashback episode ended, Ellie returns to the theater to find Jesse (Young Mazino) tending to Dina (Isabela Merced), who got an arrow through the leg, courtesy of the Seraphites, in Episode 5. When Dina refuses an anesthetic slug of alcohol during the proceedings, Jesse gets the wind up. As he and Ellie then set out to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna), he (kinda) tricks Ellie into revealing Dina’s pregnancy.
That admission only adds fuel to the tension between Ellie, with her obsessive need to make Abby pay for killing Joel, and Jesse, who is angry at Ellie for putting her personal desire for revenge above the needs of the community back in Jackson. High words are spoken before the two split up, with Jesse going to search for Tommy, Ellie to continue tracking Abby.
After a frankly weird hero’s journey in which she braves stormy seas and faces execution by the Seraphites, Ellie makes it to the abandoned aquarium to find Abby. There she surprises Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord), two of the former Fireflies who were with Abby when she killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). When Owen reaches for a gun, Ellie fires, shooting him through the throat. The bullet also, alas, hits Mel, who reveals her advanced pregnancy and, as she bleeds out, begs Ellie to cut the baby out. Horrified, Ellie can do no such thing, and Mel dies even as Jesse and Tommy show up.
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) also has to battle the elements in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
It’s a powerful and terrible scene. Upon their return to the safety of the theater, Ellie is, understandably, very shaken and appears to be rethinking the wisdom of her revenge tour when Abby shows up and kills Jesse (sob). As Ellie takes responsibility for Mel and Owen’s deaths and struggles to explain, we see her original fury reflected in Abby’s face. She points the gun at Ellie, a shot rings out and the story resets on Day 1 of the outbreak.
The Times’ Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara discuss the finale and the season that came before it.
McNamara: As someone who has not played the game but has watched a lot of television, I am going to make the wild guess that Ellie is not dead. Not that I expect to discover this for quite a while, as the final scene indicates that Season 3 will be giving us Abby’s backstory before bringing us (one hopes) back to the theater and the series’ present.
This finale, like much of what preceded it, felt both rushed and oddly slow. This season has been very much (and at times too obviously) focused on Ellie’s growth, as a person and a main character. And with the exception of her love for Dina, I’m not sure how much is there. That Ellie is relentless has been made abundantly clear; ditto the fact that she is confused about her purpose in life. But I admit I was relieved when Jesse read her the riot act about how this mission of vengeance put so many people in danger, including and especially the woman Ellie claims to love.
The stakes in Season 1 were very clear — get Ellie to where she can be used to make a cure — even if they were subverted in the end. This season, the main tension appears to be more about Ellie becoming mature enough to accept that not all heroes have to make dramatic sacrifices or win a blood feud.
That’s a fine message, but it required a lot of attention on her emotional growth, which honestly seemed to occur mostly in the final few minutes, while offering only tantalizing slivers of the larger forces around her. How do you introduce a crazy cult and not offer any real explanation for it? How do you enlist Jeffrey Wright (or for that matter, Hettienne Park) as WLF commanders and then give them so little to do? Not to mention poor Mel and Owen, who are sacrificed, apparently, merely to broaden Ellie’s worldview.
I realize that some of this is about staying true(ish) to the game, which I understand offers different viewpoints, but even with the action-packed finale, it’s hard not to feel like Season 2 was simply a preamble to Season 3. What do you think, “Last of Us” player Tracy Brown?
Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) remains a mystery in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Brown: I have to agree with you, Mary — the finale’s pacing felt a bit awkward as it barreled its way toward the perspective shift into Abby’s side of the story that will likely be the focus of Season 3, while also trying to pack in familiar moments from the game. I also think you’re feeling a version of the confusion and frustration that “The Last of Us: Part II” players felt when Ellie and Abby’s showdown at the theater abruptly cut to something completely different and you’re suddenly being forced to play as the character you’ve spent hours trying to hunt down.
In the game, up until that cliffhanger, you’ve primarily been playing as Ellie outside of a few sequences before Joel’s death. Players don’t learn much about the Washington Liberation Front or the Seraphites or their conflict until they get to Abby’s side of the story. And when you’re playing a game, you’re used to knowing only as much as the character you’re playing as and learning more about any enemies as you go. You’re also much more mission-oriented — as great as a game’s story is, you’re main focus is gathering as much information as you can to accomplish your goal. The mission and the themes are a bit more straightforward in the first “Last of Us” game.
In “The Last of Us: Part II,” there’s a bait and switch. You start the game’s main storyline playing as Ellie, with the assumption that your mission is to get revenge, only to find yourself suddenly playing as Abby. Because “Part II” is more about an exploration of trauma and cycles of violence, Abby and her story have to be more than something you learn about as Ellie. In the game, the perspective shift is essential and revelatory because, navigating any discomfort while playing as Abby is part of the experience. It’s something dependent on the unique way players become attached to characters they play as.
In television, stories can unfold differently. Because audiences are not playing as Ellie, they can be introduced to Abby’s ties to the events in Salt Lake City and characters like Isaac (Wright) much sooner than in the game because we’re not locked into one point of view. And that freedom brings its own challenges. I should also mention that as acclaimed as the franchise is, “Part II” was a bit more divisive among players too. Lorraine, what did you think about the finale?
Ali: You’ve both expressed many of the same feelings I have about the finale and about Season 2 in general. Does that mean I can have the night off? If I took my cues from Ellie, I’d do just that. Ellie predictably put her own interests above everyone and everything else, which didn’t leave much room for an interesting story twist or character growth in the Season 2 finale. To Mary’s point about pacing, Episode 7 spent precious time hammering away on what we already know: Ellie’s need for revenge put everyone who cares about her in danger. Poor Dina. The only way Jesse was getting that crossbow bolt out of her leg was pulling it straight through. The credits are nearly ready to roll by the time Ellie realizes her single-minded quest is as barbaric as Abby’s killing of Joel, but not before she gunned down a pregnant woman.
Tracy, I wonder if the trouble the show had picking out where to spend its time is partly a game-to-TV adaptation problem. You mentioned the shifting perspectives in the game, of players seeing the world through Ellie’s and then Abby’s eyes. But serieswatchers are a passive audience and that left the show with a lot of options to tackle and/or leave out. The finale’s hopscotching from scenario to scenario appeared like it was born out of duty rather than purpose. Ellie’s choppy boat ride, the rogue wave washing her ashore, her capture and release at the hands of the cult — all were colorful and dramatic but felt abrupt and even extraneous to the story. That said, the decaying Costco storefront was a nice touch even if it was totally random.
Lastly, I loved the Seattle-centric soundtrack and poster choices of grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. But a lot of great female bands came out of the Pacific Northwest too, and I can’t help but feel the feral screams of 7 Year B— would have been a perfect soundtrack for Ellie’s rage. So what do we all think about the last moments of the finale, which set us up for Season 3?
Jesse (Young Mazino) is not too pleased with Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
McNamara: I love the granular music criticism, Lorraine! For the life of me, I could not figure out what to make of Ellie’s brief capture by the Seraphites, which felt a lot like finale padding — don’t forget the crazy cult in the woods about which we know nothing yet! — or even her “Twelfth Night”-like near-drowning. (“What country, friends, is this?”)
I can see how the switch from Ellie to Abby might work in the game — you’ll never understand your “enemy” until you walk a mile in her shoes — but for a series to flip viewpoints seasonally (as opposed to episodically) is a big ask for viewers, especially those not familiar with the game.
With the exception of Ellie and Dina’s burgeoning relationship, much of this season felt like a big teaser reel for Season 3. Ramsey is a talented actor, but the task of carrying the show by portraying a recognizable teen on a complicated existential journey in the middle of a life-or-death adventure tale is a formidable one, especially without the benefit of an older, wiser guide/co-star. But then no one said adapting a game to a series would be easy.
As for the final moments, well, as I said, I don’t think Ellie’s dead, though Jesse certainly is, which is tragic — he and Tommy were the real heroes of Season 2. I am intrigued by the “Day 1“-ness of the final scene. I always like when postapocalyptic tales take the time to explain how it all went down. So I will be counting the months to see what happens next, which I suppose is what every TV writer wants.
Brown: I’ll refrain from spoiling Ellie’s fate here, even though the game with the answer came out in 2020! But I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the cut to Abby’s “Seattle Day 1” signals the show is likely sticking to the structure of the game — meaning Season 3 will tell Abby’s story, following the former Firefly for the same three days that Ellie has spent in the Emerald City leading up to their violent reunion. If the show stays true to the game, we won’t be seeing what happens to Ellie following that cliffhanger gunshot until the story reaches that part of “Day 3” from Abby’s perspective. Sorry, Mary!
I was a bit surprised when I realized the show was going to follow this same route, especially after it introduced Abby’s backstory so early. One of the perks of television is that it’s possible to follow the multiple storylines of more than one character, so I thought the show might try weaving Ellie and Abby’s narratives a bit more. One benefit of following the game’s road map, though, is there are distinct breaks in the overall story to build seasons around. (I’m calling it now that the Season 3 finale will be around their clash at the theater again.)
Back to Lorraine’s point, I do think that some of the struggles of this season comes down to the choices around which game moments to give space to. Some game-to-TV moments were very successful, like Joel taking Ellie to the museum for her birthday in Episode 6. Others, like Ellie taking that boat to get to the aquarium, were a bit less successful. Ellie getting tossed around those waves was a great nod to that sequence in the game, but on the show, it wasn’t as clear why she even needed to hop on the boat to begin with.
We’ve all mentioned how Dina and Ellie’s relationship has been one of the highlights of this season. Without spoiling anything, what I am most curious about is how Ellie’s excitement around Dina’s pregnancy and becoming a dad is going to affect the story to come. How about you, Lorraine, is there hope for “The Last of Us” to win you back?
Ali: There is always hope, Tracy, even in the blighted, rotting, fungus-filled world of “The Last of Us.” My meager hope for the Season 3 opener? That Ellie emerges a survivor, and her comeback scene is set to Pearl Jam’s “Alive.”
It’s 6 a.m. in Brisbane, Australia, and Kaitlyn Dever is thinking about going to the beach. Except it’s pouring rain outside, which is the only reason she had the option to check out the waves in the first place. The deluge has delayed her call time for “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” the monster movie she’s been shooting for the past couple of months.
Just how hard is it raining? Like a normal downpour? Or is it the kind of deluge we see in the final minutes of the season finale of “The Last of Us”?
“It’s actually pouring like the finale of ‘The Last of Us,’” Dever says, laughing.
With the beach off the menu, we have plenty of time to settle in and talk about the bruising (and possibly confusing) season finale of “The Last of Us.” Anyone thinking that the finale might feature a showdown between Dever’s character, Abby Anderson, the young woman who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal) to avenge her father’s death, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who has been hunting Abby to exact her own revenge, might be disappointed.
Abby doesn’t turn up until the episode’s last three minutes. When she does finally arrive, she ambushes Ellie. It’s not a tender reunion.
“I let you live,” Abby hisses. “And you wasted it!”
Then we hear the sound of a gunshot and the screen goes black. After a reset, we see Abby lying on a sofa in an entirely different environment, being beckoned from her respite to meet with militia leader Isaac (Jeffrey Wright). She strides to a balcony in Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, the stadium now being used as a base for the Washington Liberation Front. Her entrance is positively papal, and as Abby surveys the scene, a graphic lands on the screen: Seattle Day One, a time frame we’ve already lived from Ellie’s point of view.
What the hell just happened?
[Laughs] I don’t know. I have no idea.
It looks like the show just reset and we’ll be starting Season 3 following Abby for three days, leading up to her confrontation with Ellie.
One would think, yes. But [“The Last of Us” co-creator] Craig [Mazin] hasn’t talked to me about what he’s doing. All he said to me was, “Just get ready for what’s to come because it’s going to be crazier.” He always said he wanted to make Season 2 bigger than Season 1, and he said Season 3 is going to be even bigger. I’m like, “OK. I’ll be ready.”
How did he pitch you on doing the show in the first place?
At my first meeting with Craig and Neil [Druckmann, co-creator of “The Last of Us” game] they told me that their plan for Season 2 was Abby’s introduction to “The Last of Us” world. They told me the number of episodes, so I wasn’t super surprised about that, though I wasn’t thinking that the entire season was going to end on me. [Laughs]
So when you got the script and read that ending …
I was like, “We’re really doing this. Wow.” It’s a lot of pressure. I always think about the times in my past when I’ve done things and I’ve had one line in a scene, and it’s the most nerve-racking thing to do. Everyone else has dialogue, and you’re just thinking about your one line and how you’re going to say it and if you screw it up, the whole scene is screwed up because of your one line. It’s pretty terrifying — but thrilling too.
You’re talking about Abby telling Ellie, “You wasted it”? You really spit it out with some heat.
That’s good to know. I was going back and forth between Vancouver and L.A., so I constantly had to recalibrate and get back into the emotional intensity of Abby. That was actually the last scene I shot.
How did you find your way back into Abby’s anger?
Well, the very first scene I shot was the killing of Joel. The light one. [Laughs] So getting back into it, I’d always go back to that and Abby’s monologue, what she says to Joel before shooting him. Those words are so visceral and heartbreaking and really paint a picture. So I just kept bringing myself back to that place, how I’d been thinking about saying those words for five years.
Abby’s brutal encounter with Ellie in Seattle was the last scene Dever shot on “The Last of Us” Season 2.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Did you watch that Joel episode when it aired or had you already seen it?
I did watch it with my partner. But the first time I watched it, I was by myself. And before that, I had gone to do ADR [automated dialogue replacement] with Craig, and he asked, “Can I just show you a little bit of it?” And I was on the floor because I was so overwhelmed. That is the most intense episode of television I’ve ever seen. And then when I watched it later, I couldn’t believe it, even though I had experienced it myself.
You had experienced it, but you’ve said you don’t really remember filming it because it was four days after your mother’s funeral. [Dever’s mother, Kathy, died from breast cancer in February 2024.] In some ways, it must have been like you were watching it for the first time.
I had to fly out three days after her funeral. And the fourth day was that scene in the chalet with the Fireflies and Joel on the floor. So, yeah, it’s all a blur, and it felt like I got to experience it as a first-time viewer. I’d see things and go, “Oh, yeah.” Grief does a really interesting thing with your brain. It messes with your memory.
Filming the scene where you brutally kill one of the most beloved characters on television goes back to what you were saying about pressure. And to do it under those circumstances must have been overwhelming.
I was terrified. I had spent so much time contemplating my mom’s death before she died, thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to go on. I couldn’t imagine. And then it’s a heartbreaking thing to think about, how life moves on. And you have the choice to keep going or not go to Vancouver and do the show that she was so excited about me doing. And then after she passed, I realized there’s no part of me that couldn’t not do this. I had to do it for her.
How did you fight past the fear?
My dad really encouraged me. I really was terrified. And he was like, “You got this. Mom was so excited that you got to be in this show.” And luckily, the crew was so understanding and supportive. Everyone took care of me.
Then it’s 15 months later and the episode finally airs, which I’d imagine brings about a different set of worries. Did you go online to check out the reaction?
Of course I did! I kill everyone’s favorite character, the love of everyone’s life. I’d never been part of anything this massive before. Like, the whole world is watching this. I had no idea what to expect.
And what did you find?
It was more positive than I thought it would be.
I didn’t play the game, so one of my first thoughts after watching it was: Wow, gamers can keep a secret.
They can. I loved watching all those TikTok videos where people were filming their parents or partners watching and showing their reactions.
Having played the game, you’ve known about Abby and Joel for years.
My dad was playing the second game and handed me the controller and said, “Kaitlyn, you’ve got to see this.” In the game, it’s so jarring and shocking.
On TV too!
[Laughs] But with the game, after they kill Joel, all of a sudden you’re playing as a woman. And my first reaction was, “Is this Ellie? Am I playing as Ellie?” It is interesting how they take these two characters who are mirrors of each other in many ways.
Dever’s Abby surveys the action inside T-Mobile Park on “Seattle Day One.”
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
I was thinking about how it’d be great if Season 3 would have an episode with Abby and her father that mirrored the one with Ellie and Joel.
That’s a really good idea. I hope we get to do something like that.
I have a feeling you might. Maybe you even know something about that. [Laughs]
Honestly, I can keep a secret too! I knew about Joel dying long before even Season 1 because I had met with Neil years ago when they were talking about making a movie from the game. And he was showing me the making of the second game and asked, “You want to know what happens?” And I’m like, “Oh, my God!” So I’ve been keeping this in a long time.
So you’re good at keeping a secret. Gamers know how Season 3 is likely to develop. You’ve played the game. Are you being coy?
[Laughs] We don’t know what Craig’s plans are. He has been playing with dynamics, even in that first episode of the season where we see Abby taking charge and being a leader.
She sure looks like she’s a leader in the finale’s last scene.
That scene plays at the idea that Abby is sitting in her power. And whatever that means, I will keep to myself for now. People who have played the game will have a few guesses.
When you went to work on “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova” the day after the Abby/Joel episode aired, did people treat you a little differently? Maybe keep their distance a bit? Hide the golf clubs?
It was pretty wild to go to work that day. Everyone wanted to talk about it. And all they could really get out was, “Oooooof, that episode.”
One thing I kept looking for all season was where they used CGI to remove a spider bite from your face. I couldn’t find it.
[Laughs] It’s in the first episode with the Fireflies. I had gone home for a few weeks and got a spider bite on my cheek. I thought it was a pimple. It was not a pimple. It was a huge spider bite and … I hate to use this word, but it was oozing. And the CGI is amazing. You can’t even tell it is there. I still have a scar on my face because they had to cut it out.
NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.
Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.
Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.
“I thought that infused some life into us,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Alas, it wouldn’t last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.
They were doomed by bad defense early, the Mets scoring three early runs with the help of two Dodgers errors. They were frustrated by wasted opportunities at the plate later, hitting into three double plays for a second consecutive game.
It sent the team to a series defeat in the weekend’s rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series. It also dropped them to 3-6 in their last nine games and 9-11 in their last 20.
Really, outside of their 8-0 start to the season, they’ve been little better than a .500 team, going just 24-21 since then (even with another seven-game winning streak mixed in to that stretch).
And while they’re still in first place in the NL West, and trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees for the best record in baseball, they aren’t playing like a team anywhere near that distinction.
“Tonight was one of those nights that we just gave them extra outs, and they took advantage,” Roberts said.
“It’s been pretty frustrating,” echoed third baseman Max Muncy. “Just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”
There was no bigger self-inflicted wound than the one Muncy suffered in the bottom of the first.
After two strikeouts from Landon Knack to start the inning, Juan Soto hit a sharp grounder to third that Muncy bobbled on a high hop, recovering too late to throw Soto out at first.
It was Muncy’s eighth error of the season, second-most among MLB third basemen, and first not to come on a throw.
“It’s one of those things where I’m just really not good defensively right now,” Muncy said. “Not going to shy away from it, but all I can do is keep showing up every day, working on it, trying to figure things out, trying to get better. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
On Sunday, however, there was nothing Muncy could do.
One pitch later, Pete Alonso whacked a hanging curveball from Knack for a two-run homer. The Mets (32-21) wouldn’t squander the lead the rest of the way.
“We were trying to get it down a little bit, and obviously left it up,” Knack said. “I would say he’s a little more aggressive with runners on, so was able to take advantage of it.”
As Alonso rounded the bases, Muncy stared stoicly into the distance.
“It makes you feel like the game is on your shoulders. That’s how I feel, at least,” Muncy said. “It’s a play that needs to be made, and I should have made it. It’s just a frustrating one.”
There were plenty of other moments, however, that left the Dodgers (32-21) shaking their head.
After Ohtani’s leadoff homer, their offense had the chance to add on more. Mookie Betts reached on an error. Freddie Freeman moved him to third with a double. When Will Smith followed with a fly ball to center field, it was deep enough for Betts to break for home. At least, that’s how it seemed.
Instead, Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor delivered a strike to the plate. And after Betts was initially ruled safe on a feet-first slide, a Mets challenge got the call overturned. A chance to build some early breathing room for Knack had disappeared. And despite repeated opportunities to claw back later, the Dodgers failed to scratch anything else across the plate.
In the fourth inning, Freeman hit a leadoff single … only for Smith to promptly ground into a double-play.
Later in the inning, Teoscar Hernández doubled and Muncy walked to put two aboard … only for Andy Pages to hit a deep fly ball that died at the warning track in left.
In the fifth, the Dodgers generated their best chance against Senga … only for the right-hander to induce a two-out grounder from Smith that ended the threat.
In the sixth, Muncy drew a one-out walk … only for Pages to roll into another double play, the 42nd for the Dodgers this season (fifth-most in the majors).
“I think that the tale is we’ve just got to play clean baseball, have a good offensive approach, because we’re going to see some good pitching,” Roberts said, with the Dodgers in the midst of a 29-game stretch against nothing but playoff-contending teams.
“Case in point is Shohei didn’t get a fifth at-bat [tonight], because they made plays and they got a couple double plays and things like that. All that stuff matters. So that stuff that’s really highlighted when you’re playing against good ballclubs.”
The Mets scored their only other run against Knack — who delivered just the 14th six-inning start of the season for the club — in the third. With one on and one out, Mark Vientos hit a hard grounder up the middle that Betts impressively got to from shortstop. But then Betts misfired on a flip to second base, sailing the ball over teammate Tommy Edman’s head to put runners on the corner. A fielder’s choice from Soto in the next at-bat led to a run.
The 3-1 deficit proved too much for the Dodgers to surmount — ending a day that had begun with so much optimism around Ohtani’s two-way talents with a dud of a performance and frustrating series loss in Queens.
United finish with their lowest standing in the Premier League era as Newcastle confirm Champions League spot.
Manchester United have ended their disappointing 2024-25 season with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League campaign, denying the visitors a Champions League qualification spot in the process.
United surprisingly dominated the first half of Sunday’s game against a side chasing a top-five finish.
Against the run of play, Morgan Rogers appeared to have netted Villa a crucial goal 18 minutes from time, but referee Thomas Bramall ruled that he had fouled United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir before slotting home.
The hosts’ cause was aided as Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was sent off just before the break.
Furious Villa’s mood worsened after Amad Diallo immediately headed the hosts in front down the other end, before Christian Eriksen’s penalty ensured United finished 15th and sixth-placed Villa had to settle for a place in the Europa League next term.
Newcastle United breathed a sigh of relief as their 1-0 defeat by Everton could have opened the door for Villa to climb above them with a win over United.
Villa manager Unai Emery confronted Bramall after the final whistle, unhappy at what he believed was a “big mistake” by the match official.
“The TV is clear with the move but of course we have to accept it,” Emery said. “It was a mistake. A big mistake.”
At the final whistle, Emery stood motionless on the touchline and stared at Bramall for a long time. After confronting the official as he came off the field, Emery continued his discussions with him as they went down the tunnel.
Protest songs against Manchester United’s ownership greeted the final whistle, even if supporters had been treated to a rare home success.
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s disappointing season ended with the consolation of a place in the Champions League after a 2-0 victory at Fulham, earned by Ilkay Gundogan’s overhead kick and an Erling Haaland penalty.
The victory ensured City finish third in the table with 71 points from 38 games, the first time they have ended outside the top two since the 2016-17 season. Fulham finished 11th with 54 points.
City opened the scoring at 21 minutes when Matheus Nunes’s chipped shot on the angle was clawed away by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno and into the path of Gundogan, whose acrobatic effort steered the ball into the net off the crossbar.
The visitors doubled their advantage when Sasa Lukic fouled Gundogan in the box and Haaland converted the spot kick to score his 22nd league goal of the campaign, while Kevin De Bruyne came off the bench for the final five minutes in his farewell to City.
City left Jack Grealish out of their match-day squad amid talk he could leave the club, while De Bruyne spent time with the City fans at the final whistle, many of them holding up signs of thanks to the Belgian for his decade at the club.
City ended up with 71 points, Chelsea on 69 and Villa on 66, but with an inferior goal difference to Newcastle on the same points.
Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after playing his last Premier League match for Manchester City [Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters]
Forest, who still had hopes of a top-five finish going into the last day, will go into the UEFA Conference League.
Champions Liverpool ended their campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Crystal Palace in a party atmosphere at Anfield.
Runners-up Arsenal, who ended 10 points behind Liverpool, beat bottom club Southampton 2-1 away.
Brighton and Hove Albion brought Europa Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur down to earth with a bump as they won 4-1 in north London to finish eighth, but that will not be good enough to secure a European berth for the south coast side next season.
Tottenham finished a woeful league season in 17th place, their worst performance since being relegated in 1977.
Liverpool’s players celebrate with the trophy on the last day of the Premier League season [Phil Noble/Reuters]
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kelly Inouye-Perez was thinking about one pitch.
Even with her team three outs from elimination, needing at least three runs to stay alive in Game 2 of the Columbia Super Regional, she was still just thinking about one pitch.
Superstar slugger Jordan Woolery found it, hitting a walk-off home run to give UCLA an improbable 5-4 victory that set up a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday at Beckham Field.
“You never want to put yourself in a position to have a game feel like it’s out of your reach,” Inouye-Perez said. “It’s not about three outs or the bottom of the seventh or what the score is. Give us one pitch and anything can happen. And I think that’s the brilliance of our sport. It’s not a timed sport, you have an opportunity if you have one pitch.”
Just getting to the point where one pitch could win the game seemed improbable for most of the day. South Carolina (44-16) took the lead in the first inning and never gave it up until Woolery’s swing, leading 4-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh with Jori Heard on the mound.
Pinch hitter Taylor Stephens worked a lead-off walk and came around to score on Kaitlyn Terry’s one-out triple. That line drive into the gap made it 4-2 and brought the tying run to the plate, but Heard followed it up by striking out Jessica Clements.
South Carolina was one out from its first trip to the Women’s College World Series since 1997, but Savannah Pola kept the game alive with an RBI single.
With Woolery coming to the plate in a one-run game, South Carolina made a pitching change. Sam Gress, who started the game and allowed one run in four innings, reentered the circle.
Woolery was 0 for 2 against Gress earlier in the game, but the pitching change was a blessing in disguise.
“I was just happy to have more time to take some breaths in between, honestly,” Woolery said. “I was happy to take a little timeout, catch my breath and get in the right head space. Both pitchers did a great job the last two days, so I have a lot of respect for both of them.”
One pitch later, she crushed her 23rd home run of the season, one with more importance than the first 22 combined. Down to its last breath, Woolery kept UCLA’s season alive.
“Coach always says the game comes back around,” Woolery said. “I’ve had a rough two days, so it was just trusting that was eventually going to come through. I just wanted to have my teammates’ backs today.”
Woolery’s heroics ended the game, but pitcher Taylor Tinsley made it possible. Tinsley threw a 137-pitch complete game with four runs allowed, but pitched out of a couple of key jams to keep the Bruins afloat. Tinsley stranded runners on the corners in the first inning, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and held the deficit at 4-1 with two runners on base in the seventh.
The sixth-inning jam did feature one big break with a South Carolina base running blunder. Second baseman Karley Shelton grounded out to her counterpart Pola with the bases loaded, but thought the inning was over after Pola fired home to cut down the lead runner. In reality, there were only two outs, but Shelton trotted off the field like the inning was over. Once she hit the dugout, she was automatically out.
It was far from a conventional double play, but it was exactly what UCLA needed to stay within three runs.
“Credit to Taylor Tinsley,” Inouye-Perez said. “She has been just a leader, she has been tough, she has had success, she has had disappointment. But she has prepared for this moment and was so locked in.”
Still, it would have been a clutch performance in a losing effort if not for one final rally. The type of miracle comeback that will earn a place in UCLA’s steeped softball lore if the Bruins can come back to win tomorrow.
“One thing that I told the team was we were going to have an opportunity to get the last punch,” Inouye-Perez said. “And we have a thing. We believe in Bruin magic. And great things can happen when you come together and play as a team.”
Four runs to save the season, three of them down to the final out. Magic might be the only explanation.
“The Bruin magic is literally just the belief that we will win this game,” she continued. “That’s something that has been a big part of the history of this part of this program. We’ve seen it, we have experience in it. But to see this team do it in this big moment is a big part of why you come to UCLA.”
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Sunday, with the start time and broadcast information to be revealed later Saturday night.
It’s the greatest gift to baseball players who attend schools in the City Section. Every season since 1969, except for two years during the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, the championship game has been played at Dodger Stadium.
The championships return to Dodger Stadium on Saturday. Marine League rivals Banning and Carson will face off at 10 a.m. for the Division I title, followed by El Camino Real taking on Venice at 1 p.m. for the Open Division championship. There’s free parking and tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for students. Gates open at 9 a.m.
Three of the four semifinal games were decided on walk-off hits, showing the parity this season.
In the Open Division, El Camino Real has its top two pitchers ready to go. Devin Gonor will get the start and Luke Howe has four innings left to throw if needed. Venice has its ace, Noel Moreno (12-1) available.
As usual, handling the environment and dimensions of Dodger Stadium will be key, from catchers preventing balls in the dirt from going to the backstop to outfielders making catches in the sun.
Banning has beaten Carson two of three times this season. Carson is coming off a dramatic win in the semifinals over Taft in which Xavier Allen hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the 11th inning.
Canon King of Venice is coming off a five-for-five performance against Birmingham. El Camino Real has won nine City titles.
All the teams involved will be invited to play in the Southern California regionals that begin in two weeks.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Taylor Ward hit his 15th home run and the host Angels beat the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Friday night for their eighth straight win.
Ward’s solo homer in the second inning gave him seven, including two grand slams, in his past 11 games. Jorge Soler also hit his seventh homer giving the Angels (25-25) at least two homers in a club-record seven straight games. They have homered in 13 consecutive games, the longest active MLB streak.
Ward added a sacrifice fly and Logan O’Hoppe an RBI double for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
Catcher’s interference, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded made it 6-0 in the sixth.
Yusei Kikuchi (1-4) went 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up seven hits and four walks while striking out five. He picked up his first win in 11 starts this season. Kenley Jansen walked two in the ninth but got his 11th save in 11 opportunities.
Ward’s homer gave him an extra-base hit in nine straight games, tying Darin Erstad (1998) for the club record.
Sandy Alcantara (2-7) went 5 1/3 innings, giving up six runs, five earned, with two walks and six strikeouts for Miami (19-30).
Eric Wagaman had three hits including his fourth homer of the season in the seventh and a two-run single in the eighth.
Kyle Stowers had an RBI double among his three hits. He has a 20-game on-base streak and has hit safely in 10 straight.
Key moment: Hunter Strickland relieved Kikuchi with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth. Liam Hicks hit a soft grounder that shortstop Zach Neto charged and threw to first to barely get Hicks.
Up next: Miami’s Cal Quantrill (3-4, 6.47 ERA) pitches against the Angels’ José Soriano (3-4, 3.57) on Saturday.
MO SALAH and Arne Slot made the secret pact that took Liverpool to the title and made him Player of the Year.
The campaign began with Anfield shrouded in doubts – especially over whether Salah would sign a new deal and how Slot might handle the strain of being Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
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Mo Salah and Arne Slot made a pact at the start of the seasonCredit: EPA
But Salah revealed how he was certain he could make the Dutchman a Prem champ in exchange for a pledge from the new manager.
Slot kept his word and so did the Kop’s Egyptian king as he reveals how over a series of discussions between the pair he declared: “I was very honest.
“I told him: ‘with me, you are going to win the Premier League but I have to feel really comfortable with the way we play.’
“He was very honest with me, we had a few honest conversations and he said to me: ‘OK, I will get the best out of you. I will put you in a situation where you feel comfortable but I need you to provide the numbers’.”
Provide those numbers Salah, just crowned the Football Writers Association’s player of the year for a third time, certainly did.
In what became a cruise to the crown he has set a new Prem high for a 38 – game season of 28 goals and 18 assists.
He needs two more goal involvements in tomorrow’s last game of the season against Crystal Palace to claim history by overtaking the joint record of 47 held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole set over 42 matches.
What’s more Salah will spend at least two more seasons with Liverpool having agreed a near – £400,000 a week new deal when he admits that the one pre – season doubt he did have was whether the club would come up with the numbers to make him stay.
Part of his concern was over the fact that owners Fenway Sports Group had always made age a number for older players.
Cheeky Mo Salah reveals Liverpool’s Premier League title felt way better without Klopp, Mane and Firmino
He explained: “There is always a time either now or later when it is going to happen (Salah leaving) but I love this club.
“I always wanted to stay but I know my value and I was waiting for the club to arrive to the right point where me and the club are both going to be happy so that’s why the contracts took so long.
“Based on the club history, because the club treated players of 30 or 31 in different ways I wasn’t clear in my head that I was going to stay 100 percent.”
Salah, who has equalled Thierry Henry’s record of three FWA awards, couldn’t be happier with the way it has all worked out for him – and for the former Feyenoord manager.
His content is based not only on his own personal pride over what he says was a “crazy season, a crazy year” but also on the warm respect he has developed for Slot.
The 32-year-old stresses: “It’s so special, I have a good relationship with him and I am very respectful towards him and his staff because we all work really hard.
“At the beginning, we had that conversation, he asked me for stuff he wanted me to do.
“I asked him and put me in the positions and situations where I can really provide numbers and our relationship is very good and it’s working well.
“And he has improved me, absolutely. Now he will have to deal with me a bit longer!
“I’ve always believed there’s always room to improve and I think he did it very well and you see the numbers this year and I feel very happy about it.
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Salah has been incredible this seasonCredit: Reuters
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He is set to win the Premier League Golden Boot yet againCredit: Reuters
“I would give him half the credit and the other half to my teammates because they always help me in the situations to give me the ball or be at the right spot so they can pass the ball and I score.”
Salah also speaks warmly of the bond he has always had with the fans, even throughout a campaign of questions over whether he would go, or like skipper Virgil van Dijk, also sign on for another two years.
He says: “My relationship with the fans, I see it as very special.
“They see me as an honest guy and they could see that straight away.
“I think that’s why our relationship is special and that’s why they love me. I don’t hide the stuff, I always share.”
He has improved me, absolutely. Now he will have to deal with me a bit longer!
Mo Salah on Arne Slot
Having picked up the FWA prize at an awards dinner on Thursday night he can now look forward to an even brighter future with Slot – and makes another vow.
He says: “One game to go, I broke the record for 38 games so I am going to go fully focused for the last game and hopefully I can get two goals or assists.
The daddy of them all throughout Liverpool’s Prem history insists: “People need to realise that in the last five or ten years players start hitting their peak when they are 30 and upwards.
“When they have more experience and can manage their emotions and can provide big numbers.
“Football has changed now, people take care of themselves, if you try to do everything right you are going to play until you decide it’s time to retire.
“I said the other day I will probably play until I’m 39, 40 … until the kids tell you: ‘It’s OK, you leave football now and you stay with us!”
NEW YORK — In the interest of doing things differently last October, the Dodgers made a subtle, but profound, change in their travel plans.
In previous postseasons — many of which ended with disappointing early eliminations — the Dodgers would use one wide-body plane to shuttle players, coaches, executives, staff, broadcasters and other members of their bloated playoff traveling party from city to city.
Last year, they opted for a different flight pattern.
Everyone else, meanwhile, flew on a second, separate chartered commercial jet.
“I think it’s just [a way for us to make sure] more of the time we spend is together,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said during last year’s postseason. “Making sure we stayed together as a group.”
Given the results, the Dodgers decided to keep the change in place for this season.
What started as a one-month experiment then, has become a permanent routine for the defending champions now.
This year, in a significant shift to the way they travel, the Dodgers are using two planes on a full-time basis for their regular-season road trips: One for players, just like they did last October; and another for everyone else, from manager Dave Roberts and the rest of his coaching staff to the dozens of other team personnel that make up each trip.
“It was driven by them,” Roberts said of the players, noting their interest in continuing the two-plane itinerary this year. “And we facilitated it.”
“It’s reimagining team travel,” added Scott Akasaki, who as the Dodgers’ senior director of travel has overseen the transition. “It’ll be interesting to see what the positive things that come out of it are.”
Indeed, as club officials looked ahead to their 2025 title defense this winter, they quickly warmed to the idea of making the two-plane system permanent.
Already, they had bought into the positive impacts it had on team chemistry during the playoffs, believing it to be a contributing factor to the heightened level of camaraderie players cited as a driving force behind their 2024 championship.
But as they mapped out ways to ease the burdens of a grueling 162-game season, they recognized other logistical benefits that could result from the added travel investment.
“Our ownership was incredibly supportive of the idea,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “And yeah, it seems like it’s gone well so far.”
For starters, players now have more comfortable seating arrangements on flights, able to spread out on an aircraft that includes only a handful of additional clubhouse support staff.
“It’s providing an environment where our players are more apt to get rest and recovery, with just less people on the plane and more room to move around,” Akasaki said.
And after the team experienced several lengthy travel-day delays last year because of mechanical problems with their charter, they now have a “fail-safe” contingency plan, as Gomes described it; always having a second plane available to transport team members to their next city as scheduled.
“In theory, the players and critical staff can hop on the working plane and go,” Akasaki echoed, “while the remaining folks stay behind until the mechanical problem gets resolved.”
Four road trips into this year, however, no trickle-down effect has been as lauded as the changes the Dodgers have made to their actual travel schedule.
In the days of traditional single-plane travel, the Dodgers would typically wait to fly out of Los Angeles if they had an off day between the end of a homestand and the start of a road trip. It meant one extra night at home, but a later arrival into cities on the eve of an away series.
“When you’re spending your off day on the plane,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said, “you don’t ever feel like you’re as recovered.”
Using two planes for road trips has allowed the Dodgers players to leave right after the final game of a homestand, which so far this season has been followed by an off day. “When you’re spending your off day on the plane,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said, “you don’t ever feel like you’re as recovered.”
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
With the benefit of a second plane, the Dodgers can do things differently now.
Though each of the team’s first four homestands this year have been followed by an open date, the players’ plane has departed immediately after all four getaway-day games, getting them into road cities the same night (or, in the case of Wednesday’s flight to New York this week, early the next morning) before the rest of the traveling party arrives the following afternoon.
“I think it’s better,” Freeman said. “It gives us actually a whole day off.”
“It’s nice to just have the off day [without having to fly],” Muncy added. “You’re tired on the off day, but then you can get a full night’s sleep to rest and recover. That felt pretty good.”
Sometimes, that extra day affords players with rare additional personal time — giving someone like Muncy, a Dallas-area native, a full afternoon to see family before last month’s Easter weekend series in Texas.
But even for other guys, Muncy added, “it was, let me go lay out by the pool, or let me go grab some lunch somewhere, and then we’ll go get a nice dinner. It just gives you the whole day to kind of recover. I think it’ll be a better change for us.”
Accounting for a second plane, of course, does add complexities to the planning of each road trip. The truckloads of equipment the Dodgers travel with has to be specifically sorted and loaded onto the correct flight. The team has to coordinate between two airline partners, chartering a Boeing 757 from Delta and a Boeing 737-800 from United, to handle travel parties sometimes upwards of 100 in all. Akasaki now even has a bigger team of people who help with the planning process, too.
“From Andrew [Friedman, president of baseball operations] on down, it was like, ‘Hey, this is a big thing, and it’s a lot for one person to handle,” Akasaki said. “So [they asked], ‘What do you need to keep this all organized?’ That’s been very helpful.”
The team also had to account for potential other negatives. There were considerations made over the environmental impact of using a second plane, according to one person involved in the process but not authorized to speak publicly. There were more simple day-to-day changes to the rhythm of the team’s season as well.
“Like, you can’t have that organic conversation in the back of the plane between a staff member and a player like you used to,” Akasaki noted.
But, in the end, the pros outweighed the cons.
“You can still have that [conversation] in the clubhouse,” Akasaki noted.
Plus, for an organization that has long tried to maximize its monstrous financial resources to become a premier destination for star talent in baseball, being able to pitch prospective free agents on the luxury of using two planes certainly “doesn’t hurt” either, Gomes quipped.
With the Dodgers’ new travel system believed to be unique among MLB clubs, Roberts noted that “there’s a lot of other teams already asking about the two planes.”
And to this point, players said, the reviews have been positive.
“It’s still early,” Muncy noted. “I’ve only ever done it the one way since I’ve been here, so I don’t know what the other way is like” over the course of a full season.
But, Freeman joked with a grin, “I haven’t heard one complaint about it.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. One day it’s hot, the next day it’s cold. I think the Earth might have the flu.
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Let’s face it, the Dodgers haven’t been playing all that brilliantly lately. They are 10-9 in May and had a four-game losing streak at one point. The fault for this is mainly the pitching, which has been in shambles lately. What’s gone wrong, and how can the Dodgers, uh, deshambleize?
One of the best things about baseball is they keep track of every conceivable stat. So let’s take a look at some numbers.
Most runs given up in the first inning this season:
If you are near the lead in giving up runs at the beginning and end of games, then you are fortunate to be 31-19. It’s not sustainable, but it seems unlikely the Dodgers’ pitching will be like this all season, particularly when guys start making their way off the IL. And let’s look at the IL for pitchers again:
Dodger pitchers on the IL and when they are expected to return:
Tyler Glasnow, shoulder (before All-Star break) Brusdar Graterol, shoulder surgery (September) Michael Grove, shoulder surgery (2026) Edgardo Henriquez, broken foot (June) Kyle Hurt, Tommy John surgery (2026) Michael Kopech, shoulder impingement (later this month) Evan Phillips, elbow (unknown) River Ryan, Tommy John surgery (2026) Roki Sasaki, shoulder (unknown) Emmet Sheehan, Tommy John surgery (around the All-Star break) Blake Snell, shoulder (before All-Star break) Gavin Stone, shoulder surgery (2026) Blake Treinen, forearm (July) Kirby Yates, strained hamstring (early June)
Shohei Ohtani is expected back as a pitcher soon after the All-Star break.
Three members of the season-opening rotation are on the IL. Three members of the season-opening bullpen are on the IL. Not a recipe for success.
Glasnow and Snell have begun throwing, so they could be back before the break. Kopech is close to a return. Phillips had a setback in his recovery, but all signs are positive for everyone else.
“It still doesn’t feel like last year, but we’re in May, so not gonna jinx it and get into any comparisons,” Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, told reporters. “For the most part, the things that we’ve gone through are shorter-term. Last year, they were significant and resulted in surgery. In some ways, maybe we’re over-indexing some and just being a little bit more cautious and trying to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.
“But I said this a lot, and I think anyone who doesn’t say it is not being honest, there’s a lot we don’t know about injury stuff, and I think it’s important not to pretend like we have all the answers. There’s a lot to it that is really challenging, and we’re hoping to continue to grow and learn from experiences and just try to make the smartest, best move we can, knowing we’re going to make mistakes. … It’s by far the No. 1 thing that keeps me up at night.”
Sometimes, a low bullpen ERA can be misleading. Let’s say a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and one out. He gives up a bases-clearing triple, then strikes out the last two batter. The reliever’s ERA is 0.00, but did he do his job? No, so we also need to check a stat called inherited runners who scored, or IRS%. In the example given, the reliever’s IRS% is 100%. The league average this season is 32.9%.
Here are the best teams this season in IRS%:
1. Toronto, 20.8% (15 of 72 inherited runners scored) 2. Yankees, 23.1% (18 of 78) 3. Dodgers, 23.4% (11 of 47) 4. Baltimore, 24.7% (18 of 73) 5. Seattle, 27.3% (12 of 44) 30. San Francisco, 42.9% (21 of 49)
Dodgers’ ERA as a starting pitcher this season:
Ben Casparius, 0.00 (one inning) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1.86 (58) Blake Snell, 2.00 (9) Tony Gonsolin, 4.05 (20) Dustin May, 4.09 (50.2) Matt Sauer, 4.50 (4) Tyler Glasnow, 4.50 (18) Roki Sasaki, 4.72 (34.1) Landon Knack, 6.61 (16.1) Jack Dreyer, 6.75 (5.1) Clayton Kershaw, 11.25 (4) Justin Wrobleski, 14.40 (5) Bobby Miller, 18.00 (3)
Yamamoto has carried the rotation this season.
Finally, the Dodgers are 10-9 this month. Have they had any months where they finished .500 or worse since 2017?
Ten worst months by the Dodgers since 2017:
September, 2017: 12-17, .414 April, 2018: 11-14, .440 July, 2024: 11-13, .458 May, 2018: 14-14, .500 June, 2023: 12-12, .500 August, 2018: 14-13, .519 May, 2025: 10-9, .526 June, 2022: 14-12, .538 July, 2021: 14-12, .538 April, 2017: 14-12, .538
Note: This does not include short months (March or October) when they may have gone 0-1 or 2-3.
So, except for 2019, every full season since 2017 has included one mediocre month. Maybe the Dodgers are getting it out of the way in May this season.
This stretch of games calls for patience. The Dodgers have made moves to improve their offense this month. But there’s not a lot to do to improve the pitching except wait for guys to get healthy. It’s hard to be patient when there are four teams playing so well in the NL West, with one of the four guaranteed not to make the playoffs. Think of it this way: They say patience is a virtue, and couldn’t we all use a little virtue in our life?
Who do you want to hear from?
We’ve been doing the “Ask…. “ series for quite a few years now, where Dodgers from the past answer questions posed by readers. I have a couple lined up that I won’t reveal just yet, but what I’d like to know is: Who would you like to hear from? Is there a former Dodger for whom you have a question? Email me at [email protected] and let me know. No promises, since the person has to agree to do it, but I can try.
And before you send me this name, Sandy Koufax is off the table. I’ve asked more than once, and he just doesn’t do interviews. And I respect that. But any other former Dodger is fair game. Except the ones who are no longer with us, I guess that technically makes them a member of the Angels now.
I’m probably forgetting a few, but you get the idea. And, now you know not to ask for the people listed. Again, email me at [email protected] and let me know who you’d like to hear from.
All-time leaders
The flip side of the previous leaders: Dodgers’ all-time worst in batting average with two out and runners in scoring position, minimum 150 at-bats, excluding pitchers.
Franchise 1. Dave Anderson, .179 2. Rick Monday, .185 3. Austin Barnes, .188 4. Steve Yeager, .190 5. A.J. Ellis, .193 6. Joc Pederson, .194 7. Yasmani Grandal, .198 8. Dave Hansen, .200 9. Ollie O’Mara, .200 10. Jim Bucher, .204
Los Angeles only 1. Dave Anderson, .179 2. Rick Monday, .185 3. Austin Barnes, .188 4. Steve Yeager, .190 5. A.J. Ellis, .193 6. Joc Pederson, .194 7. Yasmani Grandal, .198 8. Dave Hansen, .200 9. Greg Brock, .209 10. Tim Wallach, .211 11. Yasiel Puig, .215 12. Frank Howard, .217 13. Max Muncy, .218 14. Cody Bellinger, .220 15. John Roseboro, .222
Scheduling note
Memorial Day is Monday, so there will be no newsletter that day as we honor those who gave their lives for this country. Dodgers Dugout will return next Friday.
Up next
Friday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 0-0, 11.25 ERA) at New York Mets (Griffin Canning, 5-1, 2.47 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Saturday: Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, 2-0, 4.05 ERA) at New York Mets (*David Peterson, 2-2, 2.86 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Sunday: Dodgers (Landon Knack, 2-1, 6.17 ERA) at New York Mets (Kodai Senga, 4-3, 1.43 ERA), 4 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Throughout HBO’s post-apocalyptic series “The Last of Us,” music plays a role in setting the mood for moments big and small, heartfelt and heart-wrenching. It’s not unlike the video game, which was hailed for its original soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla (who is also a composer on the show), and for the pop music covers that helped to elevate the narrative.
In the most recent episode of Season 2 of “The Last of Us,” titled “The Price,” there’s a callback to a scene from the game that fans have been waiting for: Joel (Pedro Pascal) performs a stripped down version of Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” for Ellie (Bella Ramsey). The song captures the themes of loss and losing yourself, but also of moving forward together. And it’s not the only instance of a pop song showcasing characters’ emotions — in “Day One,” the fourth episode of Season 2, Ellie performs an acoustic cover of A-ha’s “Take on Me” as Dina (Isabela Merced) walks in and gently persuades her to continue playing the tender rendition. It’s another adaptation from the video game that signals the kindling of the relationship between Ellie and Dina.
“Bella is playing the guitar in the scene where Ellie plays the guitar and sings ‘Take on Me’ to Dina. That’s Bella. No tricks,” said Craig Mazin, co-creator of “The Last of Us,” in an interview earlier this year.
For Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the series and the video game franchise, he knew that when Ramsey was cast, the actor’s musical abilities would be an asset for future installments. “I remember seeing a video of them playing and singing and talking to Craig and being like, ‘Oh, they’re ready to go for if we get to Season 2,’” he said.
Ramsey, however, isn’t alone in their musical abilities. Over the course of the season in interviews with the cast and creators of the series, it became clear that music was a shared passion that bonded them on and off screen. Here, we collect some of their thoughts on music and performing together.
WEST SACRAMENTO — Taylor Ward hit a go-ahead grand slam, Logan O’Hoppe also homered in a five-run seventh inning and the Angels rallied past the skidding Athletics 10-5 on Thursday for their seventh consecutive victory.
Ward and O’Hoppe both connected off reliever Grant Holman (4-1), sending the A’s to their ninth loss in a row.
It was the second go-ahead slam in 10 days for Ward, who finished with three hits and five RBIs. He has an extra-base hit in eight straight games — one shy of the club record set by Darin Erstad in 1998.
Ward has 17 RBIs in his last 10 games. He and O’Hoppe each have 14 homers this season. Zach Neto also had three of the Angels’ 13 hits.
The Angels (24-25) completed a 7-0 trip, winning four games against the Athletics to sweep them on the road for the first time in 28 years. The Angels have hit multiple home runs in six consecutive games for the third time in franchise history (also 1961 and 2019). It’s only their third seven-game win streak in the last 10 seasons.
Previously limited to fastballs and splitters, Shohei Ohtani threw a handful of sliders and curveballs in his mid-week bullpen session, but that doesn’t mean he will be a two-way player again before the All-Star break.
Ohtani is lined up to potentially face hitters in a simulated game on Saturday in New York, but that doesn’t mean he will pitch in the upcoming four-week stretch that could determine the course of the Dodgers’ season.
As encouraged as the team is with his progress and as desperate as the Dodgers are for one of their sidelined frontline starters to return, they will continue to slow play Ohtani’s return to the mound, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.
The Dodgers could use Ohtani’s arm, but they absolutely need his bat, and they don’t plan on jeopardizing his offense by exposing him to any unnecessary risks on the mound.
Which is a major gamble in itself.
Every one of their next 26 games will be against teams with winning records. Of them, 23 will be against teams that would have qualified for the playoffs if the regular season ended on Wednesday, the exception being the St. Louis Cardinals, who have won 13 of their last 17 games.
Starting on Friday at Citi Field with the opening game of a three-game series against the New York Mets, the stretch of games will include seven meetings with the San Diego Padres and three with the San Francisco Giants.
The Padres were 2 ½ games behind the Dodgers in the National League West entering Thursday. The Giants were just two back.
Considering the state of their pitching staff, the Dodgers could very easily emerge from this stretch of games in second, third, or maybe even fourth place in their division.
Roki Sasaki is targeting a return in late June from what the team described as a shoulder impingement, but the rookie never looked entirely comfortable before he went down, so who knows what he will offer them when he comes back.
Roki Sasaki is one of several Dodgers starting pitchers on the injured list.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“Not sure I’ve ever seen their pitching so decimated,” an executive from a rival team said.
The loss of frontline starters is nothing new for the Dodgers, whose injury problems last year practically forced them to acquire Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline. What’s new is their lack of depth.
The returns of Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw have mitigated the problem but only so much. Along with the inconsistent Dustin May and the consistently mediocre Landon Knack, Gonsolin and Kershaw represent the rotation’s final line of defense.
In previous seasons, the Dodgers always seemed to have 10 pitchers in their organization who could beat a mid- or low-level opponent on any given day. However, the inability to keep their young pitchers healthy has cost them much of that depth. Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Gavin Stone underwent major surgeries last year. Michael Grove had a shoulder operation this year. Injuries have turned Bobby Miller into a pedestrian minor leaguer, but if another starter is injured, the Dodgers could be forced to call him up again.
Dave Roberts expertly managed a depleted rotation and exhausted bullpen in the playoffs last year, and he’ll have to do it again less than two months into the regular season. He could have to punt on certain games. When his team is behind, he could have to ask his starter to pitch an extra inning or two so that he could save his high-leverage relievers for games in which they are ahead.
This isn’t to say Ohtani’s pitching comeback should be expedited. Whomever they have pitching, the Dodgers will have to score runs to win another World Series, and that starts with Othani. Before they unleash Ohtani the pitcher, they have to protect Ohtani the hitter.
Because of that, they have gambled on May pitching more games like the one he pitched on Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory over Diamondbacks. They have gambled on Kershaw figuring out how to pitch as a 37-year-old returning from multiple operations. And they have gambled on Roberts managing an injury-ravaged pitching staff.
The wagers will decide what kind of season this will be, whether this is a year in which the Dodgers will run away with the NL West or one in which they will have to fight until the final days of the regular season to determine which team is granted a first-round bye in the playoffs.
A BARGAIN banger has beaten big-name brands in a blind taste test, just in time for BBQ season.
Consumer champion Which? put a variety of supermarket and branded sausages to the test, including premium labels Heck and The Jolly Hog.
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A group of taste testers put a selection of sausages to the testCredit: Getty – Contributor
The panel was made up of 65 people, and multiple factors were taken into consideration, including the texture, taste, and price.
Of the 12 tested, three superior sausages stood out and were made Which? Best Buys.
The testers crowned Lidl’s Deluxe Pork Sausages the winner with a score of 77 percent after they ticked all the boxes.
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Lidl’s Deluxe Pork Sausages were the winnerCredit: Gary Stone
The juicy texture got people’s taste buds tingling, and the flavour of the sausages was marked as “perfect” by an impressive 80 per cent.
Lidl’s sausages were also the cheapest of the 12 tested – so it’s good news all round.
The herb and spice seasoning also hit the spot with two-thirds of our tasters.
Around three-quarters liked the salt levels and two thirds said the texture was good – neither too coarse nor too fine.
The Which? team did point out that Lidl’s sausages are pretty high in saturated fat.
Two sausages contain 11.5g, which is more than half the recommended daily maximum for women and more than a third for men.
Lidl Deluxe Pork Sausages are £2.49 for 400g, which works out as 62p per 100g.
Coming in second place was M&S Collection British Outdoor Bred Pork Sausages with a strong score of 75 percent.
Almost double the price of Lidl’s at £4.50 for 400g, the sausages are £1.13 per 100g.
The flavour, juiciness and salt levels won three-quarters of the voters over.
Two-thirds enjoyed the all-important texture, but while 58 Pper cent said seasoning was well-balanced, the remainder were divided on whether it was too much or too little.
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The Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausages were in the top fiveCredit: The Black Farmer
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Sainsbury’s pork sausages are made from 93 per cent porkCredit: Sainsbury’s
These succulent sausages from M&S are a Best Buy, but note that they are also joint priciest on test.
They are available in store only and at Ocado.
In third place is Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference British Pork Sausages, scooping 75 percent.
These are £3 for 400g, which works out 75p per 100 – so they are an excellent all-rounder.
The pork flavour was highly rated, while more than 70% said the juiciness, saltiness, and herb and spice seasoning were perfect. The texture was also enjoyed by two thirds.
They lost a few marks on plate-appeal compared with the other Best Buys, and around a third said these sausages looked too pale.
They are available in store and online.
In fourth place is the first brand, The Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausages.
Costing £3.50 for 400g (88p per 100g) they were well liked across the board.
More than three-quarters liked their juiciness, while around two-thirds said the pork flavour and salt levels were good.
A few points were lost on seasoning, as a third of our tasters wanted this to be punchier.
These UK-based artisanal sausages are available on Amazon, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
Last but not least, in fifth place was Asda with its Exceptional Classic Pork Sausages.
These are pretty good sausages at a pretty good price, third cheapest after Aldi and Lidl.
More than 70 per cent enjoyed the pork flavour and pleasing texture. A similar proportion thought they looked the part and that the salt levels were right.
Herb and spice seasoning didn’t always hit the spot, though: nearly half felt this was lacking. So if you prefer a spicy sausage you might find these ones a bit bland.
They cost £2.98 for 400g (75p per 100g) and are available in store and online at Asda.
Here is how the rest of the supermarkets did:
Morrisons The Best Thick Pork Sausages – 70 percent. Mostly well-liked sausages that scored well on flavour and aroma, though barely a half were fans of their somewhat coarse texture. £3.25 for 400g (81p per 100g).
Aldi Specially Selected Pork Sausages – 69 percent. Worth considering with a satisfying texture, but somewhat bland compared with the higher-scoring sausages. £2.49 for 400g (62p per 100g).
Co-op Irresistible Pork Sausages – 69 percent. These juicy bangers were reasonable all-rounders, though a bit on the pale side. £3.60 for 400g (90p per 100g).
The Jolly Hog Proper Porker Sausages – 69 percent. Pretty good all-rounders, though no particular highlights. Around a third of our tasters wanted a stronger meaty flavour. £4 for 400g (£1 per 100g).
Iceland Luxury The Ultimate Pork Sausages – 65 percent. Fairly juicy, but rather pale and bland compared to the higher scoring sausages. They come in eight-packs, rather than the standard six. £4 for 400g (£1 per 100g).
Waitrose No.1 Free Range Pork Sausages – 62 percent. Juicy sausages, but they lost marks for looks and aroma. Less than half of our tasters found the texture and the seasoning worked for them. £4.50 for 400g (£1.13 per 100g).
Heck 97 percent Pork Sausages – 54 percent. Low in saturated fat, but also low in enjoyment factor for our tasters. More than 60 percent said the pork flavour of these pale sausages was too weak while over half wanted more seasoning. Note that the casings of these sausages are made from beef collagen. £3.25 for 400g (81p per 100g).
Natalie Hitchins, Which? Head of Home Products and Services, said: “Sausages are a summer barbecue staple for many, so it’s important to pick the right ones that will have your guests queuing up for more.
“Lidl came out on top for our taste tests, impressing with their juicy texture and meaty flavour. While pricier than Lidl’s, M&S and Sainsbury’s also dished up impressively succulent sausages.”
The sausages were tested in April 2025 at Which?’s specialist test lab.
The sausages were cooked according to pack instructions.
The taste test was blind, so the testers didn’t know which brand they were trying.
They tasted the sausages in a fully rotated order to avoid any bias.
Each tester had a private tasting booth so they couldn’t discuss what they were tasting or be influenced by others.
The tasters rated the flavour, aroma, appearance, and texture of each sausage, and told Which? what they liked and disliked.
The overall score was based on: 50 percent flavour, 20 percent appearance, 15 percent aroma and 15 percent texture.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
With the contract between USC and Notre Dame set to expire and one of college football’s most storied rivalries in serious danger of ending, officials at USC extended an offer to Notre Dame earlier this month in hopes of continuing the historic series for at least one more season — through the fall of 2026 — a person familiar with the negotiations not authorized to discuss them publicly told The Times.
The future of the rivalry beyond that, in the eyes of USC’s leaders, hinges in large part on what happens with the format of the College Football Playoff — namely, the number of automatic qualifiers guaranteed to the Big Ten in future playoff fields. And until those questions are answered, USC leaders agree the best course forward for its century-old rivalry with Notre Dame would be to continue their arrangement one season at a time.
Anything else would be “a strategically bad decision,” a USC source said.
That timeline is where the two rivals find themselves at an impasse. Notre Dame is seeking a long-term extension of the series, and in an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this week, Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua not so subtly suggested that it was USC putting the rivalry at risk.
“I think Southern Cal and Notre Dame should play every year for as long as college football is played,” he told SI’s Pat Forde, “and SC knows that’s how we feel.”
The two blueblood programs have played 95 times since 1924, when the story goes that the wife of legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne convinced her husband to schedule the series so she could visit Southern California every other year. In the century since, only World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic have stood in the way of USC and Notre Dame meeting on the football field. Between them, the two rivals boast 16 national titles, more than any other teams that play an annual college football series.
They’re scheduled to meet again in October in South Bend. What happens to the historic series after that matchup may come down to who blinks in a high-stakes game of chicken between the two schools.
USC has no plans to budge on its position without clarity over whether the Big Ten will have four automatic qualifiers in any future playoff format, a source told The Times. With nine conference games already built into the schedule and the possibility of an annual crossover matchup with the Southeastern Conference still on their radar, USC officials see no reason to commit long term to the Notre Dame matchup without assurances they wouldn’t be punished for scheduling such a marquee nonconference matchup.
The demands of Big Ten travel have also been a part of the conversation at USC, to the point officials broached the potential with Notre Dame of moving the game to the first month of the season. The hope was to better balance its future slate of travel to the Midwest and East Coast. Last season, in their Big Ten debut, the Trojans lost all four of their Big Ten road trips.
But Notre Dame was not receptive to the idea of moving the game, which traditionally has been played in the latter half of the football season.
The Irish agreed earlier this month to a 12-year home-and-home scheduling agreement with Clemson. But while that deal seemed like a precursor to moving on from the USC series, Sports Illustrated reported this week that it was not expected to stand in the way of continuing with the Trojans.
Uncertainty has loomed over the rivalry since last summer when USC coach Lincoln Riley was first asked about its future at Big Ten media days.
“I know it means a lot to a lot of people,” Riley said. “The purist in you [says] no doubt. Now if you get in a position where you got to make a decision on what’s best for SC to help us win a national championship vs. keep that [game], shoot, then you got to look at it.
“And listen, we’re not the first example of that. Look all the way across the country. There have been a lot of other teams sacrificing rivalry games. And I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen. But as we get into this playoff structure, and if it changes or not, we’re in this new conference, we’re going to learn something about this as we go and what the right and the best track is to winning a national championship, that’s going to evolve.”
Those comments led many to point fingers at Riley for laying the groundwork for the rivalry’s possible demise. But as the two sides now stand at an impasse, a person familiar with the discussion at USC insisted that any decision on the series and its future would come from athletic director Jennifer Cohen.
She’ll have plenty to weigh on that front in the coming months, with both schools likely to dig in their heels for the long haul, slinging mud at one another in the meantime.
Bell will return to Waratahs after his sabbatical, with his contract running through to the end of 2027.
Waratahs head coach Dan McKellar said the club were “supportive” of his decision to join Ulster to continue his “personal growth”.
“He’s a young man, who came straight out of school into the Waratahs system, and we think the time at Ulster will be good for his development on and off the field, which ultimately will help the Waratahs long term,” he said.
Bell’s arrival later this year will continue the trend of southern-hemisphere players joining Irish provinces on short-term deals.
New Zealand international Jordie Barrett is nearing the end of his stint with Leinster having joined in December, with his All Blacks team-mate Rieko Ioane set to arrive at the end of 2025.
The announcement of Bell’s short-term deal comes on the same day Ulster confirmed the departure of New Zealand-born fly-half Aidan Morgan by “mutual consent”.
Ulster have already signed South African back row Juarno Augustus from Northampton Saints before next season, while loose-head Andy Warwick was among several departures at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
The province pulled off a major coup in 2022 when they landed South Africa’s World Cup-winning loose-head Steven Kitshoff, but he left after just one season.
Murphy’s side are hoping to bounce back after a miserable season in which they missed out on the United Rugby Championship (URC) play-offs and qualification for next season’s Investec Champions Cup.
Even as their pitching injuries have mounted in recent weeks, the Dodgers haven’t panicked.
On multiple occasions, team officials have noted how none of the seven pitchers who have gotten hurt since the end of spring camp suffered relatively serious injuries. In time, they promised, the staff would get back close to full health.
On Tuesday, signs of that optimism finally began to appear.
Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell (both out with shoulder inflammation) continued their throwing progressions, with Glasnow making some light pitches off a mound slope for the first time since going on the injured list last month, according to manager Dave Roberts.
Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) began playing catch just days after hitting the IL, raising his hopes of being back within the two-to-four week time frame the team has targeted. Blake Treinen (forearm sprain) also continued his catch play, while Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) was set to make a rehab outing with triple-A Oklahoma City.
Most of all, though, Shohei Ohtani checked off another important box in his return from a 2023 Tommy John surgery, taking another step closer to resuming two-way duties for the first time as a Dodger.
In a flat-ground throwing session Tuesday afternoon, Ohtani mixed in some breaking pitches for the first time in his throwing program this year, Roberts said, a notable development after the right-hander had been limited to fastball and splitters previously in pitching activities.
Already in recent weeks, Ohtani had been ramping up his pitching work in other ways. He had steadily increased the number of throws in his weekly bullpen sessions, getting up to 50 last Saturday. He has been doing up-downs in his bullpens, too, to simulate the downtime he will experience between innings when he returns to a big-league mound.
Roberts confirmed it is all a sign that Ohtani is finally getting closer to facing live hitting again for the first time since he underwent his second Tommy John procedure two offseasons ago.
Roberts said he was still unsure exactly when that might happen, but indicated that Ohtani and Snell are on similar timelines to return — with Glasnow a tick ahead of each of them.
“It is progressing,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s pitching rehab, which had been in more of a static stage with weekly 20-pitch bullpen sessions earlier this year. “I’m not sure when [he’s] going to take that slider from the flat ground to the bullpen, but that is progress. Yes.”
Right now, the Dodgers could use all the pitching help they can get.
Over their last 11 games, the team’s shorthanded pitching staff has struggled mightily, posting a 6.31 ERA over a 4-7 stretch that included a four-game losing streak entering Tuesday.
Among the opening day rotation, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May have stayed healthy through the first two months. And outside of Yamamoto — an early-season Cy Young candidate who was needed to be a stopper Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks — no Dodgers pitcher with more than three starts has a sub-4.00 ERA to this point of the campaign.
The rotation’s struggles have bled into the bullpen, where Dodgers relievers have combined for an MLB-high 207 2/3 innings this season, 19 more than any other team. Closer Tanner Scott has been solid, with a 1.74 ERA and nine saves in 11 opportunities. But many of the Dodgers’ other top relief arms have gotten hurt, including virtually all of their most trusted right-handers.
“It’s not the staff we thought we’d have this season,” Roberts acknowledged Monday night.
Before long, however, the Dodgers are hopeful it will be again.
In addition to Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow, the Dodgers will also eventually get Roki Sasaki (shoulder impingement) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John recovery) back as rotation options. Sasaki is expected to begin throwing again during the team’s upcoming trip. Sheehan has been throwing live sessions against hitters for the last several weeks as he works back from last year’s elbow procedure.
Brusdar Graterol (offseason shoulder surgery) is also scheduled to return during the second half of the season.
About the only injured pitcher who hasn’t made recent progress is Evan Phillips, whose original 15-day diagnosis now looks likely to stretch far longer than that.
Still, no one’s return has been more eagerly anticipated than Ohtani’s. After almost a year and a half of waiting, the Dodgers are hopeful his return, which has been expected to come around the All-Star break, is finally on the horizon.
His next step will be facing live hitting. And given his recent workload increases, it’s possible it could come soon.
“I really wish I had an answer [on when it will be],” Roberts said. “I’m just waiting for the green light from people that are sort of managing the Shohei rehab, day to day.”
NETFLIX has struck a new deal that will see a popular kids show come to the streaming giants service.
The show was facing an uncertain future after losing funding but has been saved by the new Netflix deal.
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The new deal will see episodes released later this yearCredit: Getty
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Sesame Street has been on TV for decades and boasts hundreds of awardsCredit: Alamy
Sesame Street will be hosted on the streaming service with 90 hours of previous episodes and a whole new season added to the Netflix catalogue.
The move comes after HBO decided not to renew the 50-year-old show’s deal.
Sesame Street was threatened with cancellation in the wake of the news but has now been thrown a lifeline.
The deal will see new episodes of the beloved children’s show run on Netflix, PBS, and the PBS Kids app later this year.
No date has been announced for the premiere as of yet.
Warner Bros Discovery, who aired the show since 2016, decided not to renew its deal for new episodes to air on HBO and Max.
However, episodes of the children’s TV series will remain there until 2027.
The new series, to be aired on Netflix, will be the shows impressive 56th season.
Episodes in the new season will revolve around a single, 11 minute story.
Sesame Workshop said in a statement: “This unique public-private partnership will enable us to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix’s global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the US continue to have free access on public television to the Sesame Street they love.”
Sesame Street has been entertaining children since 1969 with beloved puppet characters.
The show has won more than 200 Emmys in its long history.
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Characters like Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird and Cookie Monster lead the episodesCredit: AP
NETFLIX PRICES AND PERKS – HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAYING?
Here’s what you need to know…
Netflix Standard with Ads
Price: £4.99 UK / $7.99 US
Ad-supported, all but a few movies and TV shows available, unlimited mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Netflix Standard
Price: £10.99 UK / $17.99 US
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Option to add 1 extra member who doesn’t live with you
Netflix Premium
Price: £17.99 UK / $24.99 US
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 4 supported devices at a time
Watch in 4K (Ultra HD) + HDR
Download on 6 supported devices at a time
Option to add up to 2 extra members who don’t live with you
Netflix spatial audio
Picture Credit: Netflix
Episodes are led by Big Bird and a cast of characters that educate children about colours, shapes and numbers.
Funding for the show was thrown into question earlier this year when President Trump issued an executive order to block funding for TV network PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).
The move resulted in federal funding for the show, among other TV programmes for kids, being cut.
Netflix’ new deal will see the show saved from an otherwise uncertain future.
The streaming giant called Sesame Street a “beloved cornerstone of children’s educational television.”
Netflix promised to keep fan favourite segments like Elmo’s world and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck in the show.
The streaming service did hint at changes for the new season as well though, telling viewers to “expect new ways to play along.”
Sesame Street was co-founded by Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney.
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Netflix hinted at minor changes to the showCredit: Getty Images – Getty
