Smith moves to 223 career catches, a record for fielders, as Australia bowl out South Africa for 284 in reply to 390.
Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026
Steve Smith has broken the Test record for the most career catches by a fielder as Australia have played themselves into a strong position on the third day of the first Test against hosts South Africa.
Smith held four catches on Sunday, taking his total to 223, as South Africa were bowled out for 284 in reply to Australia’s first innings of 390 at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.
Nic Maddinson (17 not out) and Travis Head (10 not out) added 33 runs off just 5.4 overs to stretch Australia’s overall lead to 139 before bad light ended play for the third day in a row.
Maddinson, who laboured to a 33-ball duck in the first innings, hit two fours off Marco Jansen in the first over of the second innings and added a six off Wiaan Mulder before play was called off.
Australia’s bowlers applied relentless pressure on an easy-paced pitch and a succession of South African batsmen contributed to their own dismissals by playing poor shots.
Six Protea batters reached 30, but David Bedingham’s 49 was the top score.
Australian captain Pat Cummins took three for 54, and Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon claimed two wickets each as Australia’s long-serving bowling quartet combined with customary efficiency.
Smith special in the slips
Smith started the day on 219 catches, one behind Joe Root of England.
He equalled the record when he caught Temba Bavuma. Smith, playing in his 126th Test, broke the record when he lunged to his left from second slip to hold a sharp edge from Bedingham off Cummins.
Smith was in the action again with a spectacular catch to dismiss Verreynne, again anticipating well at slip as the South African wicketkeeper made good contact with a reverse sweep that Smith held in an outstretched right hand.
His fourth catch was from an edge to slip by last man Anrich Nortje off the bowling of Beau Webster.
Smith’s career haul of 223 catches exceeds the total of all but 11 specialist wicketkeepers.
Carlo Holse scored three goals in the first 21 minutes and had the second hat trick in club history to help St. Louis City beat the Galaxy 6-2 on Sunday night to extend their unbeaten streak across all competitions to 20 games and tie the MLS record.
St. Louis, which is 13-0-5 in its past 18 regular-season games, tied the mark set when the New York Red Bulls went unbeaten in an MLS-record 20 consecutive games across all competitions in 2016.
Rafael Navarro converted from the penalty spot in the 45th minute, scored again in the 53rd and added two assists for St. Louis (14-6-8). Lukas MacNaughton scored on a diving header in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time and Roman Burki had five saves.
Holse opened the scoring in the second minute, added a goal in the seventh and skipped a shot inside the right post from the center of the area to make it 3-0 in the 21st minute to record the second-fastest hat trick in MLS history. Hany Mukhtar scored three goals for Nashville in the first 16 minutes of 5-1 win over Chicago on July 17, 2021.
The Galaxy’s Kyogo Furuhashi went off because of an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced in the 10th minute by João Klauss, whose goal in the 71st minute capped the scoring. Klauss, a 29-year-old midfielder in his first season with the Galaxy, had St. Louis City’s first hat trick in a 3-3 tie with the Galaxy on June 14, 2025.
Robert Taylor scored in the 31st minute for the Galaxy (9-11-9).
St. Louis beat the Galaxy 3-1 on July 22 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Mexican boxer tells Turki Al-Sheikh he ‘fears nothing’ and will face M’billi in Riyadh on October 31 ‘no matter what’.
Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026
The world title fight featuring Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Christian M’billi will go ahead this month in Saudi Arabia despite attacks on the country’s airports, which have killed at least 14 people in Riyadh in two days, Saudi sports promoter Turki Al-Sheikh confirms.
Alvarez vs M’billi is scheduled for October 31 in the Saudi capital, which has repeatedly come under attack from Yemen’s Houthis, but Al-Sheikh sought to allay the doubts over the bout on Sunday.
One person was killed and 11 were injured on Sunday when a projectile struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
A Houthi strike on the same airport on Saturday killed 13 people and injured more than 300, making it the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for all four strikes on Saudi airports before Sunday’s attack, which has yet to be claimed by any group.
Alvarez, who has held multiple world titles across several weight classes, will face WBC super-middleweight champion M’billi in a highly anticipated bout.
“Canelo reached out and told me he’ll still fight in Riyadh this October, no matter what happens,” Al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, wrote in a social media post. “He [Alvarez] fears nothing.”
The Mexican boxer, a former two-time undisputed super-middleweight champion, has not fought since he was beaten by American Terence Crawford in September 2025.
MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers have a big hole in the middle of their batting order, and it’s not Shohei Ohtani.
If anything, Ohtani has reemerged as an offensive force in the cleanup spot, singling, walking and scoring the Dodgers’ only run Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
The problem is with the guy hitting in front of Ohtani.
Will Smith walked in four plate appearances, marking just the second time he’s reached base in the postseason. In the four division series games against the Atlanta Braves, he had a single in 16 at-bats, striking out seven times. He’s hitting .053 in the playoffs — only Cleveland’s Ángel Martínez has a lower average among players with at least nine at-bats.
But there’s not much the Dodgers can do about it. They are built to win with pitching and Smith, the catcher, is the guy they rely on to guide those pitchers through games.
Dalton Rushing, who started just five fewer games behind the plate than Smith this season, is injured and not on the roster. Hunter Feduccia, who did make the team, caught just 15 complete games this season and isn’t an option to start in the playoffs.
“I’m not going to put Feduccia in place of Will Smith,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just not going to happen.”
So Roberts and the Dodgers are left to muddle on with Smith regardless of how much he struggles offensively. That’s because he’s far more valuable crouching behind the plate than standing next to it.
“I don’t even know how he’s performing offensively,” said Tarik Skubal, who took the loss Sunday. “Catchers, I think it’s the most important position on the field. They’re the ones calling pitches, dictating game flow, rhythm, all that type of stuff. I’m going to trust those guys always.”
Smith appears to be executing his catching duties very well, since opponents have scored just 10 runs and are hitting .160 against the Dodgers this postseason. Only Tampa Bay, which has played two fewer games, has done better.
As for what Smith thinks, that’s unknown because the Dodgers did not make him available to the media Sunday. But since he’s not coming out of the lineup, the next-best solution might be moving him to another spot in the order.
That worked with Ohtani, who had as many strikeouts as hits in the first two games of the division series, when he batted second. Since being dropped in the order, he has reached base four times in three games, stolen a base and scored twice.
“There’s always lineup construction. I can think it through. He’s not swinging the bat well,” Roberts said of Smith. “It’s hard because of the body of work, he just has that knack to get a hit, to get a big hit.”
Smith was on the injured list for 86 days this summer because of neck disk inflammation, returning for the final month when he slashed .290/.400/.548. He has cooled off considerably in October, just as he did last year, when he returned from a right hand contusion three games into the playoffs and got just two hits in his first 14 at-bats.
He recovered to bat .400 in last year’s NLCS win over Milwaukee, then broke a 4-4 tie with his winning homer against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just as important, though, Smith caught all but 11 innings in the Dodgers’ final 15 postseason games — including two 11-inning games and another that lasted 18 innings.
Smith rarely has hit well in the postseason, batting just .206 in 18 series, which may explain Roberts’ lack of panic. Plus, Roberts knows his All-Star catcher has helped him win three World Series rings, and if the Dodgers are to get another, it will be on the strength of their pitching, not their hitting.
And that side of Smith’s game is as strong as ever.
“To be honest, that’s not where my focus is with Will,” Skubal said of his catcher’s hitting. “My focus is what he’s doing behind the dish and he’s very important. He’s very important to the entire pitching staff.”
Olympic and defending world champions will be competing at the Shanghai Velodrome for the 2026 Track World Championships this week, and you can watch it on the BBC.
There are 22 titles at stake and this is the first track cycling qualifying event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The championships, taking place between 14 and 18 October, will see riders compete for the coveted rainbow jerseys in a range of disciplines, with events split between endurance and sprint.
Great Britain finished second in 2025 with the Netherlands taking top spot with nine gold medals. Harrie Lavreysen was once again the dominant force for the Dutch team, winning an incredible four gold medals in the Keirin, Sprint, 1km Time Trial and the Team Sprint.
What happened to that docile small-town bunch that was once embarrassingly soft? What happened to the team with great stats but none of the swagger, a team that the Dodgers swept last October in a playoff series that wasn’t that close?
The Dodgers entered the National League Championship Series at Milwaukee’s American Family Field on Sunday knowing the Brewers had the best record in baseball, the best batting average in baseball, the best bullpen in baseball, and still…
They had to be convinced this wasn’t the same Brewer team that had famously rolled over one short year ago.
Well, um… duck!
In a first round that portended a lengthy and bloody fight, the Dodgers clutched to a 1-0 lead after three innings with ace Tarik Skubal on the mound and Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski headed for the showers.
Then they lost it.
They lost to a rare Brewer home run. They lost to a trademark Brewer bunt. They lost to four stifling Brewer relievers.
In the end, they lost the series opener 2-1 to a relentless Brewer effort filled with all the muscle and hustle of their football-toting neighbors up in Green Bay.
This time, when they were knocked down, the Brewers didn’t stay down.
This time, the Brewers swung back and swung harder and eventually landed a stunning blow deep into the Dodgers’ psyche.
This time, it’s clearly going to be different.
This time they tied the game in the fourth inning on a Brice Turang home run, then took the lead an inning later on a perfect example of the manufactured attack that is pure Brewerball.
Garrett Mitchell walked, rookie Cooper Pratt laid down a sacrifice bunt and light-hitting Luis Lara banged the next pitch up the middle to score Mitchell from second for the 2-1 lead.
From there, the league’s best bullpen held the Dodgers to two singles in the last four innings, with the Dodgers stranding two runners on base in two of them. On a night they ended three innings with double plays and have still not focused their postseason hitting efforts, the final inning epitomized the frustration.
With two outs against closer Trevor Megill, Kyle Tucker drew a seven-pitch walk and kid pinch-hitter Josue De Paula drew a walk, and the sort of heroics the Dodgers have displayed for the previous two postseasons were all set up for Mookie Betts.
And he promptly lofted the second pitch to center fielder Mitchell, who made the catch and screamed and flexed with the sort of hearty celebration that usually comes from the Dodgers.
A different day indeed.
Last season in the NLCS, the Dodgers won the opener by this exact same score and the series was never really close. Don’t expect the Brewers to follow the same path, but also don’t expect this to be easy.
Milwaukee’s Brice Turang celebrates with third base coach Matt Erickson after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers should get the equalizer in this best-of-seven series Monday afternoon with October superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing relatively untested Logan Henderson.
But who knows? If the Brewers are going to act like this for a week, the Dodgers could be in big trouble.
The two-time defending champs aren’t panicking. But they’re not happy either. And if you listen closely, perhaps you can pick up a scent of worry.
“Yeah, you can’t go into a long series against a team that has the best record in baseball and expect to just win four,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s going to be a long series. We knew it coming in. We had our chances, but they made plays, pitches when they needed to.”
And the Dodgers, particularly one man in the middle of their order and behind the plate, failed to do the same.
Will Smith grounded into a double play and went hitless in three at-bats and is now one for 19 in the postseason.
“Yeah, he’s not swinging the bat well,” said Roberts, who remains hopeful. “He just has that knack to get a hit, a big hit.”
More of a lost cause is Shohei Ohtani, who banged out a single in three at-bats and is three for 16 in the postseason.
The Brewers seem better able to handle slumps from their stars because they’re all about the business of creating runs from what unselfish soul finds himself in the spotlight.
When asked about the key to this culture, Turang said, “I think the buy-in factor with everyone buying into what we’re trying to accomplish and kind of our style of play. Then not only that, like guys are getting more experience, they’re learning the game — even for me, still learning, getting experience. That’s a big factor in this.”
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski celebrates after striking out Kyle Tucker in the fourth inning Sunday in Game 1 of the NLCS.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Spoken like a guy who believes his team is on the verge of taking the next step. Turang said the key is what happens when they are faced with adversity — like Sunday night.
“Then not giving up when we are behind in the game and knowing that we can do it, we can make up runs,” he said. “This group is really, really good with that.”
As for the Dodgers, they know they’re really, really good at just about everything. But they know that time could be quickly running out on their chance to once again show it.
“We’ve just got to reset,” Roberts said. “We’ve got our guy going tomorrow, who we trust undoubtedly, and we’ve got to win a baseball game.”
This October, against this newly rumpled and roughneck version of the Milwaukee Brewers, that’s apparently going to be easier said than done.
England are set to add the first name to Stephen Fleming’s backroom team, with Eric Simons joining as Test bowling coach.
Former South Africa head coach Simons is a long-time ally of Fleming, having worked alongside him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings.
Simons’ new role will be confirmed on Monday, when England announce the latest round of central contracts.
New Zealander Fleming is assembling a backroom team for his first series in charge, against South Africa in December.
The shake-up in the staff comes as England once again split head-coaching responsibilities across formats. Fleming is in charge of the Test side and Brendon McCullum leads the white-ball teams.
When McCullum was Test coach, England used a number of fast-bowling consultants, including James Anderson, David Saker and Tim Southee.
Saker will be part of the England staff for the one-day tri-series in Pakistan this month, alongside long-term McCullum assistant Jeetan Patel, Mike Yardy and Carl Hopkinson.
Southee and fielding coach Sarah Taylor, who have been with England throughout the home summer, might rejoin the team later in the winter.
Kevin Pietersen has been appointed as a batting consultant to the white-ball teams in the run-up to the 50-over World Cup in southern Africa.
Former England batter Pietersen will not be on the tour of Pakistan, but is due to join the squad for the white-ball tour of Australia and then in South Africa for the three one-day internationals in the country of his birth in January.
Marcus Trescothick took interim charge of the Test team for the series against Pakistan. His future in the England set-up has been the subject of speculation and is yet to be confirmed.
Simons, 64, played 23 one-day internationals for South Africa in 1994 and 1995.
He also worked with Fleming at the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.
Simons had two years in charge of the South Africa team between 2002 and 2004 and a spell as India’s bowling coach.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney and Toby Alderweireld discuss whether Ryan Gravenberch should have been sent off, after he received two yellow cards in Liverpool 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Premier League.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney and Toby Alderweireld analyse how Jeremy Doku changed the game in Manchester City’s favour, after coming on as a substitute in his side’s 3-0 win against Liverpool at Anfield.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Toby Alderweireld and Wayne Rooney discuss why Manchester City’s 3-0 victory against Liverpool leaves the Premier League in limbo as the club awaits a potential punishment, which could include a points deduction, after they were found guilty of financial breaches.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney says VAR made the wrong decision in awarding Crystal Palace their second goal, which saw the home side take the lead as they went on to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 in the Premier League.
Aston Villa are looking at signing Real Madrid striker Endrick, Liverpool are weighing up a move for Barcelona’s Marc Bernal and Everton are leading the chase for Rennes striker Esteban Lepaul.
Former Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann has been linked with a return to RB Leipzig but Red Bull football chief Roger Schmidt has rejected those rumours and backed current boss Martin Demichelis. (Sky Sports Germany), external
England striker Dominic Solanke, 29, has no plans to look at a move away from Tottenham, even with Spurs planning to add to their attack in January. (Football Insider), external
The Rams quarterback gave another masterclass last Sunday when he led the Rams to victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. It was Stafford’s 40th fourth-quarter comeback victory, leaving the 18th-year pro one shy of tying Ben Roethlisberger for third on the all-time list behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
But through four games, this has not otherwise been a prodigious start for the reigning NFL most valuable player and future Hall of Famer.
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Gary Klein breaks down what to watch for when the Rams face the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
Stafford, 38, has passed for six touchdowns, with six interceptions, for a team that is 2-2 going into its game on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium.
Stafford is tied with the Chargers’ Justin Herbert for second-most interceptions in the NFL, trailing only the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye, who has seven.
And while Stafford’s numbers are more middling than fall-off-a-cliff poor, they rank among his slowest statistical starts.
Only twice in his career has Stafford had six passes intercepted in the first four games.
As a rookie in 2009, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft had three passes intercepted in his first game, two in the second, none in the third and one in the fourth.
The same pattern repeated in 2022 during the Rams’ infamous Super Bowl hangover that ended with a 5-12 record, and Stafford on injured reserve.
Last season, in the Rams’ first four games, Stafford passed for eight touchdowns, with two interceptions, en route to a 3-1 start and what eventually became his run to a first MVP award.
So Stafford acknowledged that he personally has “room for improvement.”
“Some really bright moments, and some stuff I’m really proud of,” Stafford said, “and stuff that I definitely wish I could take back and help us be in a better position to win games. That comes with the position.”
The Rams’ — and Stafford’s — season began poorly after the team’s misguided decision to arrive in Australia the day before they played the San Francisco 49ers in the season opener. Stafford passed for only 155 yards, with an interception, in a 27-7 defeat.
Stafford rebounded by passing for four touchdowns, with an interception, in a 28-6 victory over the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium.
In the next game at Denver, Stafford completed 30 of 55 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns. But Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga intercepted two passes, one he returned for a touchdown and another in the end zone in the final seconds of a 30-26 Rams defeat.
Against the Eagles, Stafford completed 32 of 51 passes for 317 yards, with two interceptions.
“He was at his best in the most important moments,” coach Sean McVay said. “That’s the competitive greatness — to find a way in spite of some different things that maybe didn’t go our way.”
Stafford was asked this week how he managed to stay calm, not feel rattled and still take shots at clutch plays after committing turnovers in a hostile environment.
His answer: Trust his preparation and live with the results.
“The world’s going to have an opinion on how I played every single play of every single day — that’s something I’m used to,” he said. “Are there areas I want to be better that [reporters] don’t even pick up and talk about? Absolutely. Are there the obvious ones? For sure.”
Last season, starting in Week 4, Stafford put together a personal-best streak of eight games without an interception. He passed for 25 touchdowns during that stretch. In 17 games, he passed for a career-best 46 touchdowns, with eight interceptions.
Stafford has endured throughout his career by never getting too high or too low. So that won’t change.
“I want to do everything I can to put our team in the best position to succeed,” he said. “I’ve done that sometimes this year and other times I have not.
“I want to make sure that I do that at a more consistent clip moving forward.”
While Liverpool have won twice on their travels this season, they now sit ninth in the league – and their main issue seems fairly clear.
They have scored just seven goals this season – just twice at Anfield – and only seven teams have managed fewer.
It was early on in the first half when the cameras panned to Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai in the Main Stand at Anfield – all three of them were out with injuries.
Among them, the trio have scored six of Liverpool‘s seven league goals this season and on a day when Man City’s attack showed their class, Liverpool didn’t show any quality in the final third.
City (16) have scored more than double the goals Liverpool (7) have scored this season in the top flight.
Across three league games at Anfield this season, Liverpool have failed to score in two of them. That must improve.
In Isak’s absence, Lewis Koumas put in a great shift. However, the 21-year-old lacks that killer edge in front of goal at this level.
The focus must fall on summer signings Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola. It is this kind of game where you need a match-winning moment and neither showed anywhere near the quality that is expected when you have a price tag of over £100m.
There was one moment at 0-0 in the 55th minute when Wirtz had Milos Kerkez and Barcola in acres of space to his left, but chose to shoot and fired wide.
“You learn a lot in games like today,” Iraola said. “I am very proud of my players. They put the work rate and everything in today. It’s a loss and we didn’t get anything from the performance but I liked it a lot.”
But deep down, Iraola will know there is a lot of work to do and getting the big money signings to deliver will be high on his agenda.
NEW YORK — UCLA jumped to No. 12 in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll following its upset of Oregon and USC retained its No. 19 ranking following its win at hostile Penn State.
The poll saw many changes following a Saturday filled with upsets.
Georgia moved up to No. 1 after its win at Alabama, Texas dropped six spots to No. 7 after its loss to rival Oklahoma and Oregon was unranked for the first time in four years after losing for the second time in the past month.
The Bulldogs, who had been No. 2 for five straight polls while rolling off five straight lopsided wins, went on the road and beat Alabama 20-17 with the help of what appeared to be a missed pass interference call in the end zone late in the game.
Georgia received 66 first-place votes from the panel of 70 media members after its first victory in Tuscaloosa since 2014 and ascended to the top of the poll for the first time since Sept. 8, 2024.
Notre Dame, which tuned up for this week’s top-10 matchup at BYU with a 58-7 rout of Stanford, moved up one spot to No. 2. The Fighting Irish got one first-place vote and have their highest ranking since they were No. 2 in the final poll of the 2024 season.
No. 3 Miami, which received two first-place votes, is followed by Ohio State and Indiana. The Hoosiers, who received the remaining first-place vote, got a two-spot promotion after their narrow win at Nebraska.
Alabama remained No. 6, and Texas, BYU, Mississippi and Texas Tech completed the top 10.
Oregon came into the season with its highest preseason ranking ever at No. 2. The Ducks’ turnover-fueled 17-15 home loss to UCLA dropped them to 3-2 and knocked them out of the poll for the first time since they went from No. 11 to unranked following a 49-3 loss to Georgia in the 2022 opener.
No. 12 UCLA and No. 15 Kentucky got the biggest promotions. The Bruins moved up nine spots with their win over Oregon, and the Wildcats went from unranked to No. 15 with their 35-34 overtime win over LSU, which dropped from No. 10 to No. 22.
In and out
In: Kentucky, which dropped out last week after beating South Carolina, is back in the poll with its highest ranking since early October 2022.
In: No. 21 Wake Forest is 5-1 and ranked for the first time since late October 2022.
In: No. 25 Northwestern, at 4-1, earned its first ranking under fourth-year coach David Braun.
Out: Oregon hasn’t lost two of its first five games since the 2016 team opened 2-5 and finished 4-8.
Out: Florida has gone from No. 8 to No. 16 to out of the rankings in two weeks following its 38-19 home loss to South Carolina.
Out: Pittsburgh managed just one touchdown on eight second-half possessions in a 21-17 home loss to North Carolina.
Poll points
— This is the second time in three years there have been three or more No. 1 teams in the first six polls. Georgia, Texas and Alabama took turns holding the top spot in the first six polls in 2024. The only other time in the Top 25 era that three teams had been No. 1 at this point of a season was 1990.
— Notre Dame and Miami, dubbed “Catholic vs. Convicts” rivals since their classic game in 1988, haven’t been together in the top three since Nov. 9, 1993.
— Texas’ six-spot fall from No. 1 to No. 7 matched its drop following a season-opening loss to Ohio State last year.
Alisson: Could do nothing to keep out Erling Haaland’s strike then beaten by a beauty from Jeremy Doku and some solid footwork from Rayan Cherki. 5
Ronald Araujo: Got a cheap yellow card early on and will be annoyed that the first two Man City goals came from his side. 5
Virgil van Dijk: Often pushed out of position to help Liverpool deal with getting outnumbered in midfield. Perhaps could have closed Haaland down quicker. 6
Jeremy Jacquet: Wasn’t a bad display from a young talent who is very impressive but this must have been a real eye-opener against a quality City attack. 6
Milos Kerkez: Battled well with Iliman Ndiaye and pushed up regularly but lacked quality in the final third. 5
Alexis Mac Allister: Grew into the game and put in a good shift but struggled once Liverpool went down to 10 men. 5
Ryan Gravenberch: Came in for the injured Dominik Szoboszlai and was Liverpool‘s best player until he got sent off for a second yellow card. Naive on his part. 6
Victor Munoz: Played with such a fearlessness and was an absolute nuisance for Man City, causing Nico O’Reilly all sorts of problems. 7
Florian Wirtz: Simply has got to do better, particularly in games of this magnitude. Was largely ineffective and made some poor decisions. 4
Bradley Barcola: Sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, must to do more in the final third. 5
Lewis Koumas: Making his first Premier League start and the 21-year-old got stuck in from the outset in an energetic display that was loved by the Anfield crowd. 7
Subs:
Nyoni (on 66, Wirtz): 6
Frimpong (on 75, Araujo):5
Ngumoha (on 75, Koumas): 5
Gomez (on 88, Jacquet)
Chiesa (on 88, Barcola)
Subs not used: Mamardashvili, Endo, Tsimikas, McConnell,
MILWAUKEE — The Dodgers added left-handed reliever Justin Wrobleski to the National League Championship Series roster on Sunday, bolstering their bullpen with a pitcher who can cover multiple innings, as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers, the best team in the regular season.
In the Dodgers’ first best-of-seven series of the postseason, they will carry 13 pitchers and 13 position players — one more pitcher and one fewer position player than the previous round.
To even the balance, they left pinch-runner/defensive replacement Hyeseong Kim off the NLCS roster. Kim appeared in just one game in the NLDS, on defense in the ninth inning of Game 4.
Wrobleski was an All-Star for his first-half performance (2.69 ERA). But an up and down second half included a short stint in the injured list, as the team kept an eye on his workload, and a move to the bullpen. He finished the season strong, allowing just one run in his last eight appearances (8 ⅔ innings).
“Length, having a guy that can go two or three, is something where you essentially protect downside on the pitching,” manager Dave Roberts said Saturday when asked what traits the Dodgers would prioritize when considering which pitcher to add. “As far as handedness, they’re pretty balanced, so that really doesn’t come into play. For us, it’s more of who can take down a couple innings.”
High school sports programs are filled with dozens of volunteers — manning the snack bar, taking tickets, helping provide security, cleaning floors, carrying equipment and taking statistics.
On and on it goes.
One of the most entrusted volunteers in football is the cameraman. That person must film the entire game, whether from the press box or the sideline.
Bennett Rogers is in his first year as Palos Verdes High’s cameraman. He sits in the end zone and has a camera that goes up so high on a tripod that it could be waving a flag. His son coaches for Palos Verdes, so he volunteered to shoot the games.
His most important equipment is a portable, comfortable chair that lasts through four quarters.
“That’s the key for my age,” he said.
To all the moms and dads volunteering, you’re the unsung heroes. Just make sure you have a sturdy chair when taking video.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Hamilton had started on the medium tyres while Verstappen and Leclerc chose the softs. Despite his theoretically more durable tyres, the Briton pitted on lap 18 to switch to the softs, while Leclerc waited until lap 24 to swap his softs for mediums.
Leclerc came out of the pits from his stop just ahead of Hamilton, who had stronger pace on his softer tyres.
Yet Ferrari chose not to order Leclerc to let Hamilton through to maximise his pace, a decision that was questioned by Hamilton from the car.
A virtual safety car was called on lap 39 and Leclerc and Antonelli, who had chased the Ferraris closely from the start from his fourth place on the grid, took the opportunity for a cheap pit stop – it takes 10 seconds less to stop under a safety car than under racing conditions.
Yet Hamilton, despite having older tyres, did not stop, a decision that promoted him to second behind Verstappen.
As Leclerc was catching Hamilton, the Briton was told he needed to stop again; he pushed back to suggest he try to go to the end, but was told they were six laps short to make it in terms of tyre life.
Leclerc soon caught Hamilton and passed him on lap 46 and set off after Verstappen, but could get no closer than 7.3 seconds to the Red Bull.
Hamilton never did stop, but as his tyres lost grip he fell back into the clutches of Norris and Antonelli.
A passing attempt by Norris on lap 54 with eight to go saw Hamilton run off track and take to the escape road at Turn One, but as he did, Antonelli grabbed the chance to pass the McLaren, and then Hamilton later on the same lap.
Norris followed him through, and now Hamilton fell back towards the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who passed him on the final lap after a resolute attempted defence from Hamilton.
It was Hamilton’s call not to stop and he apologised for it on the slowing down lap – but there remain a number of questions as to the choices made.
Russell’s fight back through the field took him up to seventh as he delayed his pit stop as long as possible.
But after dropping back to 10th behind Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, he passed Gasly after trailing him for 10 laps or so, but could not make it past Hulkenberg, who was himself chasing Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took the final point in 10th after starting from the back.
Duffy scored both goals in Derry’s win at Eamonn Deacy Park to send his side into the final and was understandably emotional at the final whistle, aware that ” it was so importnat we got to the final this year”.
“It’s been a tough year all round,” he continued.
“Now we can get a real buzz around the town this month, build it up and get that good feeling back between us all. We’ve a brilliant day to look for ward to.”
Derry City’s form has imporved since Connolly’s appointment in August as they have removed any fears of relegation while reaching the cup final.
Duffy praised the impact of the former defender who he feels has liberated the team to express themselves on the pitch.
“He’s letting us play free-flowing football, encouraging all the defenders to try and play football as we’re all good players,” Duffy said.
“He wants us to take risks and we’re constantly doing that every day in training. Before matches he’s saying that if we lose the ball, that’s on him.
“He’s enclouraging us so much and it’s so enjoyable to play in. I think you can see that in these last few weeks were we are dominant and playing some nice football, but the main thing is players are digging in massively.
“You can see on the pitch it means everything to every player.”
At the Republican Party’s midterm convention, President Trump said he would make his crusade against transgender rights a major campaign issue ahead of the Nov. 3 election — calling the message that “men should not be playing in women’s sports” one of his party’s “great sound bites of all time.”
During a recent campaign trip, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a longtime LGBTQ+ advocate and likely Democratic contender for president in 2028, stood by his remark last year that allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports is “deeply unfair,” saying, “I haven’t been able to figure out how to make it fair from my perspective.”
For the second election cycle in a row, the rights of transgender people have taken center stage politically, despite their accounting for only about 1% of the U.S. population and many voters identifying other issues as far more important — splitting Republicans and Democrats, but also Democrats among themselves and putting the party on the defensive.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez, third from right, sits with other athletes at the CIF State Track Championship finals in Clovis on May 30, 2026.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
The politics are part of a much broader, international battle playing out in education, sports and the law, from local California classrooms and high school sports to the Olympic stage and the U.S. Supreme Court. Polling for years has shown most Americans oppose discrimination against transgender people, but also that a majority — including a substantial portion of Democrats — oppose transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports and children receiving gender-affirming care such as surgery or puberty blockers.
Republicans are pushing a well-funded message that transgender rights should be dismantled across the board, in healthcare, education, sports, the military and public spaces such as restrooms. Conservative mega-donors such as Elon Musk have spent millions amplifying that message in competitive races from Alaska to Ohio to Texas.
And to some degree, those tactics have worked. While many Democrats have ardently defended transgender rights, particularly in California, others in the party have sided with Republicans or softened their support.
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appears with Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors in Dallas on Sept. 10.
(Anja Schlein / Dallas Morning News )
James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Texas, backpedaled from past votes by saying young transgender athletes shouldn’t be allowed to play “if it risks safety or fairness,” while others including Rob Sand, a candidate for Iowa governor, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) have said they shouldn’t play.
Such messaging has dismayed transgender people and their families, as well as LGBTQ+ rights groups who have been trying to refine Democratic messaging on trans issues since Vice President Kamala Harris — another longtime LGBTQ+ advocate from California — responded to Trump’s anti-trans attacks in 2024 with a message some considered muddled.
Imara Jones, a transgender journalist and founder of TransLash Media, a platform built to spotlight trans people’s own experiences, said the party’s conflicting messaging “underscores the degree to which the Republicans have actually successfully weaponized trans issues.”
“You’re seeing a really sharp political calculus among Democrats,” Jones said, with those “in tight races, where they need to have Republican votes,” bending one way, and others who “want to make a statement about principle” and defending LGBTQ+ rights moving in the other.
Many Democrats in California say they believe the issue is a moral one and that Democrats only hurt themselves by ceding ground on human rights.
A volunteer for Toni Atkins, the former president pro tempore of the California State Senate, is silhouetted holding a Pride flag at the Harvey Milk Coachella Valley Diversity Breakfast, at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs Thursday, May 8, 2025.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“The solution is not to be ambiguous, but to be firm that we support basic human rights and the basic humanity of trans people,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a leader on pro-LGBTQ+ legislation running to replace retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). “Then go on to talk about the big issues facing our country, like this illegal war, like the fact that Congress has done nothing to regulate AI, like the explosive cost of energy and child care and housing.”
A national conversation
Trump has signed executive orders to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports, prohibit federal funding for gender-affirming care for youth, oust transgender service members from the military and deny recognition of transgender and nonbinary identities on critical documents such as passports.
The Justice Department has sued California and other states over their trans-inclusive sports policies, and successfully threatened large hospitals into ending gender-affirming care programs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services barred federal Medicaid spending on gender-affirming medication or surgeries for minors.
Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, speaks at Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington on Dec. 18, 2025.
(Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg)
Trump campaigned on such policies, and he and other Republicans clearly see them as helpful in the midterms. In his convention speech, Trump said he’s been surprised more Democrats haven’t abandoned transgender rights given polling showing a majority of Americans oppose transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
“They say it’s an 80/20 issue,” Trump said, in an apparent reference to a January 2025 New York Times/Ipsos poll that found 79% of respondents believed transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. More recent polls have shown a smaller majority opposed.
Demonstrators at a Rainbow Families Action march in Emeryville, Calif., on Dec. 8, 2025.
(Jessica Christian / San Francisco Chronicle )
Arne Johnson, a Bay Area father of a transgender child who helps run the advocacy group Rainbow Families Action, said being targeted by Republicans is scary, but watching Democrats “find ways to be more flexible about the rights of human beings” has been profoundly disappointing.
But he said he’s also been encouraged by some more recent polling showing Americans moving back toward the middle on transgender rights, which he believes is in part due to people being deluged with anti-trans ads getting frustrated that the political conversation isn’t focused on issues they care more about, like affordability and healthcare.
Ramiro Sarmiento, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, which has tracked at least $50 million in anti-trans political ads this cycle, agreed, saying, “MAGA wants to talk about trans kids because they’re losing the conversation voters actually care about.”
Conservative groups reject that framing. Many deny tht transgender people exist, while others say they are working to protect cisgender children or defend religious beliefs. They have also scoffed at Democrats who have changed their positions in the lead-up to the election, with the conservative American Principles Project accusing Talarico of only pretending to shift away from his “gender radicalism” on sports in order to win votes.
Allison Schuster, a White House spokesperson, said the Biden administration “spent four years pushing a radical agenda” of gender-affirming care for children, while Trump “pledged to restore common sense” and has since “delivered by consistently taking strong action to protect children from these dangerous, life-altering medical practices.”
The fight in California
In California, transgender athletes competing in youth sports has been raised as an issue in the governor’s race, where Republican hopeful Steve Hilton has rallied against their inclusion, and featured prominently in the races for the next state attorney general and the next state superintendent of public schools.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competes for Jurupa Valley High School at the 2025 CIF state track and field championships.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
Several Democrats running for Congress in the state have been criticized for their records on transgender rights, including San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who is seeking the redistricted congressional seat of departing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall), as well as Reps. Adam Gray (D-Merced) and Derek Tran (D-Orange).
Christian Martinez, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson, has accused Von Wilpert of having a “perverted agenda [that] pushes hormone treatments on kids,” and Gray of being “for they/them, not for Californians.”
Marni von Wilpert, a Democratic candidate for California’s 48th Congressional District, canvasses in a neighborhood Friday, May 29, 2026, in San Marcos, Calif.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office is fighting on multiple fronts to protect gender-affirming care and successfully rebuffed a Justice Department lawsuit over the state’s transgender sports policies. But pressure is coming not only from the Trump administration.
The California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees high school athletics, also revised its rules to ensure that transgender athletes in individual sports do not displace cisgender ones from rankings or medal podiums. And after local California teachers sued, the U.S. Supreme Court in March ruled against a controversial California student privacy law that precluded teachers from revealing a child’s interest in presenting in gender nonconforming ways in school to their parents if the child requested confidentiality, finding that the policy infringed on parents’ rights and the free exercise of religion.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers just passed at least a dozen measures aimed at bolstering LGBTQ+ rights, including by restoring an LGBTQ+ youth suicide and crisis hotline; helping discharged LGBTQ+ service members find housing and jobs; requiring California gender-affirming healthcare providers who are subpoenaed to inform Bonta’s office if they intend to respond; improving access to HIV prevention care and enhancing LGBTQ+ data privacy.
Newsom signed all those measures into law — his office said California “will not stand” for Trump’s “all-out assault on the LGBTQ community” — but vetoed a bill that would have barred future governors from allowing the extradition of abortion or gender-affirming care providers in California to states where such care is illegal, citing concerns about reduced executive discretion.
The 2026-27 state budget appropriated $66 million for gender-affirming care, including up to $30 million for underinsured patients in the Uncompensated Care Program, $26 million to assist organizations that provide such care and $10 million to cover care for poor children who lost it under the new Medicaid rules. Wiener called the latter a “short-term solution” that will protect kids while the state figures out a more permanent billing pathway under Medi-Cal.
A.W., a Bay Area mother of a transgender teenager who requested anonymity because she fears being targeted by the Trump administration, said her child’s gender-affirming care — a lifeline for him in recent years — was disrupted by the Medicaid rule change, and the state’s temporary fix was too little, too late.
A.W. said families like hers “shouldn’t have to make medical decisions based on politicians in Washington,” particularly for care so critical to her son and other kids. “If he had not had access to gender-affirming care, I don’t know where we would be,” she said. “It scares me to think about it.”
Times staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.
