team

It was never actually in doubt. Dearica Hamby was going to stay a member of the Sparks. That was just how she worked.

Even when Nneka Ogwumike came into the fold and the frontcourt became crowded, Hamby didn’t doubt her decision to return to the organization that traded for her four years ago.

Loyalty mattered more than anything else.

“That’s who I am,” she said. “I don’t run away from things. I wanted to stay here and help L.A. get back to where it was and is capable of being.”

In a loaded frontcourt, the 32-year-old Hamby has still found ways to shine. Hamby has led the Sparks in scoring four times and led or tied for rebounding 16 times this season after signing a three-year, $3.5-million contract.

She ranks in the top 20 in the league in rebounds and field-goal percentage (plus 25th in scoring) and is eighth in offensive rebounds in establishing herself as an essential piece to the Sparks’ “win now” attempt.

“I think it’s the challenge, because we are so good and we have so much talent,” said Hamby, who is averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field. “You’re forced to produce, but it’s also a blessing. I know it’s probably hard for coach to manage the three’s playing time and stuff like that, but it’s a beautiful problem.”

Hamby was in the headlines when the Aces traded her after she was pregnant. In September of that year, she filed a federal discrimination complaint against the team and league, claiming she was traded because she was pregnant. The two sides resolved matters before trial.

The new CBA this year created a new rule that requires a pregnant player’s consent to be traded.

“I feel like she’s such an anomaly,” said forward Rae Burrell. “I remember when she had her son, and it was crazy because everybody was saying she was coming back so early, I thought that was insane, but now being her teammate, I see it, she’s just kind of a freak of nature, like she’s so athletic, she can do all types of things on the court that you think looks unorthodox, but she makes it happen, but also just love being her teammate. She’s just good people.”

Since that trade, she has been a regular in the Sparks’ starting lineup while averaging double-digit scoring and around eight rebounds per game. She’s one of the most efficient scorers in the league, too.

But Hamby’s games have been all over the board. Against the Aces, she missed all seven of her shots. Against Dallas and Indiana, she made six of eight shots. She’s had eight games with a shooting percentage above 60% and four games under 40%.

Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, left, tries to steal the ball from Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during a game in Phoenix.

(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Having the three frontcourt players has been an adjustment for coach Lynne Roberts to find how to implement them all in the offense.

“I’m trying to implement the new offense, we’re plugging pieces into play, and things that I may have been able to do last year as freely I’m not as able to do this year,” Hamby said. “So just adjusting for sure, but I think that’s across the board for everybody.”

Before the season, Roberts said that Cameron Brink would come off the bench and Hamby would start. Brink, the only natural center on the team, averages just 17.5 minutes per game primarily because of her 3.7 fouls.

“She’s my vet,” Brink said of Hamby. “I think she’s just such a grounding force for us, and she’s someone that does everything, so I just really feel like I learn from her every day, and I’m just very thankful to be in her presence.”

Hamby averages 3.2 fouls per game and has expressed frustration about the new officiating norms this season, but has avoided true foul trouble. She and Ogwumike work as two fours instead of a team with a traditional five.

“She has a lot of energy,” Ogwumike said. “I think she does a really good job of just having a high motor and going out there and kind of like doing the dirty work. I feel like it’s beneficial to have a loaded frontcourt, to be able to have so many different types of players and a depth where anytime one of us is in, there’s no letdown.”

The Sparks have been the worst defensive team in the league this season and struggled to score when point guard Kelsey Plum was out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Ogwumike might be the other veteran leader, but Hamby has stayed with this Sparks team the past two seasons while Ogwumike was in Seattle.

Now her role has changed, even with that loyalty. She’s playing just over a minute less and they’re asking for better defense and efficiency.

Hamby chose to come back. Now she’s choosing to help build the Sparks up.

“I know my usage is a lot lower,” Hamby said. “A goal of mine the last two seasons was to have those numbers, so to have the same numbers just at a more efficient rate, and so I mean offensively, but with like two fewer shots a game, that’s pretty impressive.”

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic heads to the locker room at halftime during the loss to Belgium.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

More Americans are playing for bigger clubs and having more success in Europe than ever before, but that pipeline has yet to produce a true superstar. Many of the teams that have had success in this tournament have at least one player — Mbappé, Haaland, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane — who can change the game on their own.

The U.S. doesn’t have anyone who would be sure to start on any of the World Cup semifinalists and until it does, closing the gap will be difficult.

“We are USA and [we’re] competing against Belgium, Portugal,” Pochettino said last March. “I think for sure Belgium and Portugal have [players] in the top 100. We don’t.”

He is right. When the Guardian published its annual list of the world’s top players last winter, Christian Pulisic, the top American, didn’t make the top 100. And he didn’t play a full game in this tournament, missing one to injury, leaving three early and entering another as a late second-half substitute. He played just 223 minutes — 19 more than Ricardo Pepi — and finished with one assist.

Landon Donovan was arguably the closest thing to a game-changing player the U.S. had, so it’s no surprise he scored key goals in the team’s most important World Cup games in the last 32 years: one against Algeria in stoppage time in 2010 that allowed the Americans to finish atop their group for the first time since 1930, and another against Mexico in the round of 16 in 2002, sending the team to the quarterfinals for the only time.

If those are structural things that have long held U.S. Soccer back, there also were issues specific to this team, a supposed Golden Generation whose core was formed in the wake of the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

The talent was undeniable, which led to great expectations. But what has this generation accomplished? Two round-of-16 exits in the World Cup, one Gold Cup title in the last four tournaments — the team’s worst stretch this century — a fourth-place finish in the last Nations League and a group-stage departure in the last Copa América.

Impressive wins over Paraguay and Australia to start the World Cup gave the Golden Generation a bit of a shine and suggested progress. But when the Americans met a top-10 team in Belgium, the matchup proved a mismatch.

“We want to have higher hopes,” Pulisic said. “We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world. We just still have that next step to climb.”

Against Belgium, that step looked as steep as Mt. Everest.

Marc Guehi has won his fitness race and is expected to start England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway alongside a recalled John Stones in central defence.

Manchester City defender Guehi suffered a minor hamstring strain in the win over Mexico and has missed training sessions this week.

But he is set to be cleared to continue in the heart of England’s defence.

He is expected to be playing alongside Stones in defence, who is set to be recalled into the starting XI for the first time since the opening game against Croatia.

Ezri Konsa is set to be moved from centre-back to right-back.

Declan Rice is fit to start despite a sickness bug that has hampered his involvement in the preparations for the game while Noni Madueke is expected to play ahead of Bukayo Saka in another change to the XI.

Stones, 32, has been a substitute in all the subsequent matches since Croatia. However, he played a key role against Mexico, coming on for Saka on 57 minutes following Jarell Quansah’s red card.

Expected England team: Pickford, Konsa, Guehi, Stones, O’Reilly, Anderson, Rice, Madueke, Gordon, Bellingham, Kane.

More to follow

I am a lifetime resident of Los Angeles and my family has always rooted for the Dodgers. Last year we gave them a pass when they went to visit Trump at the White House. This year after Trump’s attack on our community we cannot accept the Dodgers visiting Trump again. Dave Roberts should know that the first obligation of a patriot is to stand up against tyranny. Shame on him and any other Dodger who goes to the White House this year. I will be canceling my Spectrum service. I’m not playing with the future of our democracy.

Felipe Caceres
Los Angeles

If the Dodgers kowtow to Donald Trump yet again, Angelenos should consider boycotting the team for the rest of the season. Yes, they are an exceptional team and might return to the World Series yet again. However, other great athletes, such as the recent U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, have displayed their courage and integrity in refusing to bow down to that dangerous tyrant.

By serving, as too many others continue to do, to support and enable the thug, they are enabling him in his inhumane and destructive policies and actions. As well, Trump invaded L.A., and the Dodgers did little to support the city they allegedly represent. If they return, it is more than a slap in the face of every sane and thoughtful Angeleno.

Barry Cutler
Palm Desert

I have always paid for the Dodgers’ games on mlb.tv, but this year when the Dodgers did not decline the White House visit, I did not. I was holding out hope they wouldn’t squeeze a visit in on their road trip after the All-Star Game and I’d get half a season. Instead I’m listening to the games on the radio. I’ve heard the players say things like “you never know when this might happen again” or “it’s tradition.” I don’t get either one of those excuses. Is Mookie Betts going to ask Trump why he posted the picture of the Obamas as monkeys? Or any of the players going to stand up for anything?

How about be like the women’s Olympic hockey team and stand up for what is right? Don’t be a pawn for another photo op for this dysfunctional White House. Please?

Marnie Jernagan
Fresno

Columnist Bill Plaschke wants to impose his political views on us and the Dodgers. Let each player decide if he wants to go to the White House, and if some players don’t want to go, then fine — don’t go. But why should all the players be confined to Plaschke’s view of politics?

David Waldowski
Laguna Woods

I was a huge Dodgers fan until last year when they visited the White House. What a happy crowd they looked, even presenting President Trump with his own jersey, No. 47. That wasn’t enough? They’re off again, with Dave Roberts talking about “respecting the highest office in the land, it doesn’t matter who’s in office” while Clayton Kershaw, who presented the jersey is so “excited to go” again. Roberts had previously talked about it being a tradition. Nothing about this White House or this president is traditional, and not going is not making a “political” stand. It would be a stand for decency and normalcy. While visiting the East Wing maybe they can present Trump with the inaugural Baseball Peace Prize. Shame on the Dodgers!

Jane Peters
Los Angeles

Logan Webb has long been a bright spot amid San Francisco Giants chaos and dysfunction. Now he’s gone dark, deleting his X.com account after exchanging volleys with a radio reporter.

The right-hander who led the National League in innings pitched each of the last three seasons gave up five runs Wednesday in the first inning of the Giants’ 10-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, including surrendering the first grand slam of his career.

Webb settled down and tossed six scoreless innings thereafter. But the Giants were well on their way to dropping to 39-54, 21.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Heliot Ramos singled for the Giants’ lone hit.

Jack Loder, a clearly exasperated digital content producer for the Giants’ flagship station KNBR, posted a two-minute video on X shortly after the game that singled out Webb for criticism.

“People say, ‘How do you blame Webb when the offense didn’t do anything?’” Loder said. “Yes, the offense didn’t do anything. I’m spreading the blame here. Maybe they do something if it’s 0-0 or 1-0. When someone is supposed to be your ace, you think they are going to give you the best chance to win every week….

“I’ve really appreciated his Giant tenure, but there’s always been a little bit lacking. I wish he was a little bit more of an ace. Because Lord knows this team has needed him in so many instances the last few years.”

Loder then accurately predicted that Webb “might be searching his name on Twitter after the game, which is never a great look.”

Webb commented on Loder’s video soon thereafter: “You know what’s sad is they allow people like you in the locker room.”

Loder, in turn, posted Webb’s response, adding, “If you’re wondering where the Giants are at mentally after a 10-0 loss to fall to 16 games under .500.”

Webb responded to another reporter’s comment in the thread and to at least two Giants fans, telling one, “Honestly you probably don’t know anything about anything some loser on the couch that couldn’t make his little league team.”

Later in the evening, Webb deleted his account and has not reactivated it. Perhaps reporters may speak to him next at the All-Star Game. He is representing the Giants for the third year in a row.

Near the end of his video, Loder broadened his criticism: “The veterans — the highest-paid guys — let this team down, let the franchise down, let the fans down.”

Six Giants players are being paid more than $20 million this season: First baseman Rafael Devers ($25 million), third baseman Matt Chapman ($25 million), starter Robbie Ray ($25 million), Webb ($23 million), outfielder Jung Hoo Lee ($22 million) and shortstop Willy Adames ($21 million).

Only Chapman (2.5 WAR) has been worth even two wins above replacement, and he is on the injured list.

Giants woes have extended beyond the field. Four pitchers pushed back against the team’s annual Pride Night in June, with three writing Bible verses next to the rainbow-tinted logo on their caps and the fourth declining to wear the colorful cap at all. MLB informed them that they were in violation of uniform protocols, triggering a culture skirmish between one of the nation’s most vibrantly diverse and queer cities and Republican politicians who asserted that the players’ actions were an expression of religious freedom protected by the Constitution.

The response from Giants president and Hall of Fame catcher Buster Posey was considered inadequate. He refused to discuss the players’ actions or the team’s response, telling reporters, “I’ll take baseball questions.”

Baseball questions pertaining to the Giants have been numerous, from the hiring of a manager — Tony Vitello — who had zero professional baseball experience to Devers seemingly defying Vitello by waving off a pinch-runner to three outfielders engaging in a provocative hip-thrust celebration.

Webb’s social media meltdown can be added to the list.

Dodgers should not visit the White House

From Bill Plaschke: Surely they hear the chants. They must hear the wonderful chants.

“Let’s go, Doyers! Let’s go, Doyers!”

Surely they see the faces? They can’t miss the gloriously diverse faces.

All shades, all colors, 4 million faces surrounding them with resounding support and unrequited love.

The Dodgers do know they play in Los Angeles, right?

Then why in the hell do they insist on embracing the person trying to tear this city apart?

This is an old issue, it’s been written before, it’s been debated ad nauseam, but it’s happening again and remains as sickening as ever.

The Dodgers are going to celebrate their 2025 World Series title with President Trump at the White House on July 23, it was confirmed Thursday.

Just like last season.

Seriously.

Continue reading here

Dodgers scheduled to visit White House in late July to celebrate 2025 World Series win

World Cup spurs grass/artificial turf NFL debate

From A.J. Perez: FIFA’s natural grass transformation of SoFi Stadium and six other NFL stadiums with artificial surfaces for this summer’s World Cup reignited the debate over grass versus synthetic turf.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis long ago took a side in the fight.

“I just always felt that football should be played on grass,” Davis told The Times. “That’s for safety purposes, No. 1. I want it to look like a game was played even if it’s an indoor field. You see grass stains and everything else. I wasn’t going to a stadium without it being grass once I knew that capability was there. Obviously, it added a lot of cost, but it’s worth it.”

FIFA spent millions to lay new grass atop all 11 NFL stadiums and most of the other five stadiums that hosted World Cup games in Mexico and Canada — and some NFL players see this summer’s temporary changeover as the league’s touch-grass moment.

Continue reading here

The world came for soccer. What it discovered about America in 1994 was something else.

Steve Cherundolo will lead U.S. men’s soccer team that will compete in 2028 Olympics

Thursday’s World Cup results

France 2, Morocco 0

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
Noon, Belgium vs. Spain, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup quarterfinals schedule, results

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

France 2, Morocco 0

Friday
Belgium vs. Spain, noon

Saturday
Norway vs. England, 2 p.m.
Switzerland vs. Argentina, 6 p.m.

Semifinals schedule

Tuesday
France vs. Belgium or Spain, noon

Wednesday
Norway or England vs. Switzerland or Argentina, noon

Third-place match

Saturday, July 18, 2 p.m.

Championship match

Sunday, July 19, noon

Kawhi Leonard trade is put on hold

From Steve Henson: The Toronto Raptors put the brakes on acquiring Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers, announcing Thursday that the trade is on hold until the NBA investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules is complete.

“The NBA league office informed us that as a result of the ongoing investigation involving the Clippers, we would assume the risk of any potential outcome of the investigation impacting Kawhi,” the Raptors said. “In light of this, we will wait until the league’s investigation is complete.”

The teams last month finalized a trade to send Leonard to Toronto for forward Brandon Ingram, shooting guard Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks. Leonard spent the last seven seasons with the Clippers after leading the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship.

Continue reading here

UCLA lands big name

From Steve Galluzzo: UCLA coach Mick Cronin won a spirited recruiting battle for one of the top European prospects, landing wing player Nikola Kusturica on Thursday.

Kentucky, Michigan and Gonzaga had courted Kusturica, a 6-foot-9 Serbian who is among the top 17-year-old players in Europe. Recruiting websites listed Kusturica as a five-star prospect, and college basketball analysts at Field of 64 and other outlets project Kusturica could be a top-five 2028 NBA draft pick.

UCLA announced it received a signed grant-in-aid agreement from Kusturica, who will join the Bruins for the upcoming season.

Continue reading here

No charges filed against Rams’ Alaric Jackson

From Austin Knoblauch: Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson is not facing charges related to his arrest last month on suspicion of domestic violence, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office confirmed.

“Charges are not filed against the respondent at this time, however, the case stays open throughout the length of the statute of limitations. It can be re-evaluated if there are further developments,” said Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

Pine said the matter has been assigned for a City Attorney hearing, a pre-filing diversion that is an alternative to misdemeanor prosecution.

Continue reading here

Ducks keep Leo Carlsson

The Ducks have matched the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson, keeping their rising young star at an extraordinary cost.

The Ducks announced their decision Thursday on the 21-year-old Carlsson, who is now the NHL’s highest-paid player under the five-year, $90-million deal extended by the Flyers one week ago.

“It’s going to be a special feeling, having this pressure,” said Carlsson, who wasn’t told the Ducks were matching the offer sheet until shortly before the decision was made public. “I always wanted to be a Duck. It’s my home, too. I’m just super excited to be back.”

Although he didn’t produce points at a rate commensurate with his new salary during his first three seasons, almost everyone believes Carlsson can become one of the best centers in hockey, so his deal might eventually look downright affordable.

He scored 67 points in 70 games last season despite being limited for a lengthy stretch by a leg injury, and he added 11 points in 12 games during his first postseason experience.

Continue reading here

Angels lose to Rangers

Wyatt Langford lined a shot off the wall in left field to bring home Alejandro Osuna in the ninth inning, lifting Texas to a 7-6 victory over the Angels after the Rangers blew a five-run lead Thursday night.

Langford struck out three of his first four times up as the designated hitter after getting activated from the 10-day injured list in his return from a left hamstring strain.

Osuna led off the ninth with a single and went to second on pinch-hitter Nicky Lopez’s sacrifice bunt. Langford lined a 1-and-1 fastball from former Texas closer Kirby Yates (0-4) over Jose Siri’s head for the winning single.

Jo Adell had a tying, pinch-hit single to cap a five-run seventh a night after homering twice in the Angels’ 13-1 victory.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1926 — Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Open golf tournament for the second time with a 293 total.

1951 — Britain’s Randy Turpin defeats Sugar Ray Robinson in 15 rounds to win the world middleweight title and give Robinson his second loss in 135 bouts.

1960 — UEFA European Championship Final, Parc des Princes, Paris, France: Viktor Ponedelnik scores in extra time as Soviet Union beats Yugoslavia, 2-1.

1971 — Lee Trevino rebounds from a double-bogey on the next to last hole with a birdie on the final hole to win the 100th British Open by one stroke over Lu Liang-Huan. Trevino, who won the U.S. Open a month earlier, is the fourth golfer to win both championships in the same year, joining Bobby Jones (1926, 1930), Gene Sarazen (1932), and Ben Hogan (1953).

1976 — Johnny Miller shoots a 66 in the final round to beat 19-year-old Spaniard Seve Ballesteros by six strokes to take the British Open. Ballesteros, who starts the final round two strokes ahead of Miller, shoots a 74 and ends tied for second place with Jack Nicklaus.

1992 — The Major Soccer League, the only major nationwide pro soccer competition in the United States, folds after 14 seasons.

1999 — Team USA wins the Women’s World Cup over China in sudden death. The Americans win 5-4 in penalty kicks, with defender Brandi Chastain kicking in the game winner.

2010 — Paula Creamer wins her first major tournament, never giving up the lead during a steady final round of the U.S. Women’s Open. Creamer shoots a final-round 2-under 69 for a 3-under 281 for the tournament.

2010 — Spain wins soccer’s World Cup after an exhausting 1-0 victory in extra time over the Netherlands. In the end, it’s Andres Iniesta breaking free and scoring a right-footed shot from 8 yards just past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

2011 — The United States advances to the semifinals after one of the most exciting games ever at the Women’s World Cup in Dresden, Germany. The U.S. beat Brazil 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie. Abby Wambach scores a thrilling goal to tie it in the 122nd minute, and goalkeeper Hope Solo denies the Brazilians again.

2016 — Andy Murray wins his second Wimbledon title by beating Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) on Centre Court.

2016 — Brittany Lang wins her first career major at the U.S. Women’s Open when Anna Nordqvist touches the sand with her club in a bunker for a two-stroke penalty in the three-hole aggregate playoff. The penalty occurs on the second hole of the playoff and is not delivered to the players until they were on the final hole after officials review replays in the latest controversy at a USGA event. Lang seals the win with a short par putt on the final playoff hole, while Nordqvist makes bogey to lose by three shots.

2017 — An independent review of the scoring in Manny Pacquiao’s contentious WBO welterweight world title loss to Jeff Horn confirms the outcome in favor of the Australian. A Philippines government department asked the WBO to review the refereeing and the judging of the so-called “Battle of Brisbane” in Australia on July 2 after Horn, fighting for his first world title, won a unanimous points decision against Pacquiao, an 11-time world champion. The WBO said three of the five independent judges who reviewed the bout awarded it to Horn, one awarded it to Pacquiao and one scored a draw.

2021 — Ashleigh Barty of Australia wins Wimbledon defeating Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

2022 — Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Novak Đoković wins 4th straight and record equaling 7th Wimbledon singles title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 win over Nick Kyrgios of Australia; Đoković now has 21 Grand Slam titles.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1917 — Ray Caldwell of New York pitched 9 2-3 innings of no-hit relief as the Yankees beat the Browns 7-5 in 17 innings in St. Louis.

1932 — The Philadelphia A’s defeated Cleveland 18-17 in an 18-inning game in which John Burnett of the Indians had a record nine hits. Jimmie Foxx collected 16 total bases, and Eddie Rommell of the A’s pitched 17 innings in relief for the win, despite giving up 29 hits and 14 runs.

1934 — Carl Hubbell struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin in succession, but the AL came back to win the All-Star game 9-7 at the Polo Grounds as Mel Harder gave up one hit in the last five innings.

1936 — Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein hit four home runs in a 9-6 10-inning victory over the Pirates, and it wasn’t in the cozy Baker Bowl. He hit them in Pittsburgh’s spacious Forbes Field, including the game-winning three-run shot in the 10th off Bill Swift. Klein almost homered in the second inning when he sent Pirates outfielder Paul Waner to the wall in right to haul in a long fly ball.

1947 — Don Black of the Cleveland Indians pitched a 3-0 no-hitter over the Philadelphia A’s in the first game of a twin bill.

1951 — The NL hit four homers en route to an 8-3 triumph at Detroit, giving the league consecutive All-Star victories for the first time.

1968 — The American League and National League agreed to split into two divisions in 1969. The twelve teams in each league will be divided and play a best-of-five games League Championship Series to determine the pennant winner.

1982 — Larry Parrish of the Texas Rangers hit his third grand slam in seven days, off Milt Wilcox in the first game of a doubleheader against Detroit. The Rangers beat the Tigers 6-5. Parrish had hit his first on July 4 and his second on July 7.

2001 — Cal Ripken upstaged every big name in the ballpark, hitting a home run and winning the MVP award in his final All-Star appearance to lead the American League over the Nationals 4-1. Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez connected for consecutive home runs as the AL won its fifth in a row.

2007 — Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run to lead the American League to a 5-4 victory over the National League in the All-Star game.

2009 — Jonathan Sanchez pitched the majors’ first no-hitter of the season, recording a career-high 11 strikeouts in San Francisco’s 8-0 win over the San Diego Padres. The only runner the Padres managed came on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe in the eighth.

2012 — San Francisco’s Melky Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval keyed a five-run blitz against Justin Verlander in the first inning that powered the NL to an 8-0 romp over the American League in the All-Star game.

2013 — David Ortiz doubled in his first at-bat to become baseball’s career leader in hits as a designated hitter and hit a two-run homer an inning later, leading Boston Red Sox to an 11-4 victory over Seattle. Ortiz entered the night tied with Harold Baines for the most hits as a DH.

2014 — Derek Jeter, playing his final regular-season game in Cleveland, went 2 for 4 in the 1,000th multi-hit game of his career. Cleveland scored nine runs in its last two innings at bat to rally past New York with a 9-3 win.

2019 — The independent Atlantic League introduces a “robot umpire” to call balls and strikes at its annual all-star game in York, PA.

2022 — In the 8th inning of their game against the White Sox, Tigers outfielder Robbie Grossman drops a routine fly ball hit by Luis Robert and is charged with his first error since June 13, 2018, ending the longest errorless streak by any player at any position in major league history after 440 games. Worse, the error proves costly as Robert later comes around to score in a 4-2 ChiSox win.

2023 — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wins the annual Home Run Derby, held this year at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, WA, by defeating Randy Arozarena in the final round. His father, Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, had won the event in 2007, and Vladito had finished runner-up in his first participation as a rookie in 2019.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Surely they hear the chants. They must hear the wonderful chants.

“Let’s go, Doyers! Let’s go, Doyers!”

Surely they see the faces? They can’t miss the gloriously diverse faces.

All shades, all colors, 4 million faces surrounding them with resounding support and unrequited love.

The Dodgers do know they play in Los Angeles, right?

Then why in the hell do they insist on embracing the person trying to tear this city apart?

This is an old issue, it’s been written before, it’s been debated ad nauseam, but it’s happening again and remains as sickening as ever.

The Dodgers are going to celebrate their 2025 World Series title with President Trump at the White House on July 23, it was confirmed Thursday.

Just like last season.

Seriously.

“President Trump is excited to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers BACK to the White House to celebrate their World Series championship!” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Times.

“Back” to the White House.

How embarrassing.

The 2017 NBA champion Golden State Warriors wouldn’t go. The 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles wouldn’t go. The 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder wouldn’t go.

And now this group of Dodgers is going twice?

Their first visit last spring was bad enough, with Trump noting, “That is a very good-looking group of people,” while the Dodgers stood around him in slack-faced awe.

Dodgers owner Mark Walter smiles while listing to President Trump speak during the Dodgers’ championship visit to the White House in April 2025.

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Some, including Dodgers officials, argued this was a visit about tradition, not politics. Teams have been visiting the White House since President Andrew Johnson hosted two amateur baseball clubs in 1865. The Dodgers said they were just abiding by this once-revered sports custom. They said they were showing respect for this country’s highest office, not necessarily the man inhabiting it.

Understood. But what happened two months after that first visit altered even that flimsy bit of logic, as the man inhabiting the office rained terror on Los Angeles with the midsummer ICE raids that changed the lives of thousands.

Many impacted were the Dodgers fans who filled the stadium every night for the team with arguably the largest immigrant fan base in sports. Some even were wearing Dodgers caps and jerseys when they were swept up and hauled away.

While other pro sports teams in town immediately condemned the raids, the Dodgers said nothing until finally announcing and fulfilling a $1.1-million donation to community organizations to support families impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

At the time, only one Dodger spoke out publicly, with Kiké Hernández writing on Instagram, “Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”

A year later, Hernández is still on the Dodgers, he has much clubhouse credibility, and yet they’re still going back? Were they not listening?

The roster is filled with other levelheaded veterans who surely realize that by serving as a cheap Trump photo-op, they are honoring a man whose policies have ravaged their fans more than any other group in America, and yet they’re still going back?

An organization cannot boast of sharing a uniform with Jackie Robinson while sharing a very public afternoon with President Trump. That doesn’t work.

Kiké Hernández was the only Dodger who spoke out publicly last year.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

An organization that admirably fought back against the wishes of a conservative clubhouse to pioneer Pride Night cannot be the same organization that publicly normalizes the morality of President Trump. That doesn’t compute.

Can’t anyone on Vin Scully Avenue see the big picture here?

Maybe Jose Madera, director of the Pasadena Community Job Center, can show them.

Madera, a die-hard Dodgers fan, hasn’t attended a game since last summer’s ICE raids because he’s lost faith in the Dodgers’ connection with the Los Angeles community.

He says this latest news of a second White House visit only frays that connection further.

“It’s very disappointing to hear that our team is going to shake the hand of a person who has sent so much hate and terror into our community,” he said. “Thousands of families in our city live in fear … we can’t stand for what’s going on.”

Madera said the Dodgers need to remember who they are.

“The Dodgers bring so much joy to our community, but a large part of their fan base is the immigrant community, and they need to stand with us,” he said. “It’s very disappointing that they’re not, and we need to hold them accountable.”

It’s not too late. The Dodgers still have time to change their minds and do the right thing. They still have time to acknowledge that this is not about eschewing tradition or succumbing to politics or anything but common human decency.

The president has treated the Dodgers fans with a careless disregard for their basic humanity, and the Dodgers need to let him know this is not OK.

“They still have a chance to decline,” Madera said. “We’re all hoping they do.”

Yeah, sure, in two weeks they could strut into the most celebrated residence in America as two-time defending champions.

But they would leave it as two-time losers.

WASHINGTON — The Dodgers are scheduled to visit the White House on July 23 to celebrate their latest World Series title.

“President Trump is excited to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers BACK to the White House to celebrate their World Series championship!,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Times.

The date falls on a scheduled off day in the middle of a nine-game East Coast road trip for the Dodgers. The team will play three games in Philadelphia against the Phillies July 20-22 before ending the trip with a three-game series against the New York Mets July 24 to 26.

The visit continues a tradition from the Dodgers’ two previous World Series championships. They were hosted by President Biden in 2021 and President Trump in April 2025.

After the Dodgers claimed their second consecutive World Series title with a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, a visit to the White House was planned, but it wasn’t until Thursday that a date was officially booked and confirmed.

Questions swirled around whether players would decline the visit this year after it did not happen during a scheduled visit to Washington in April.

Kiké Hernández said in 2018 he was unsure he would have gone had the Dodgers won the World Series the previous year. Mookie Betts said he was undecided and needed to talk it over with his family when last year’s visit was announced. After winning his first World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018, Betts skipped their trip to the White House the following year during Trump’s first term.

Both players, along with every returning member of the 2024 team who was with the team during its road trip, participated in the visit. The only notable absence was first baseman Freddie Freeman, who remained in Los Angeles to nurse an ankle injury.

Manager Dave Roberts, who indicated in comments to The Times in 2019 he might not go to the White House if Trump was president, also participated in last year’s ceremony.

Asked at the Dodgers’ fan festival in January about the possibility of returning to the White House, Roberts told The Times’ Bill Shaikin: “For me, I stand by: I’m a baseball manager. That’s my job.”

“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country,” Roberts said. “For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House. I’ve never tried to be political. … For me, I am going to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Clayton Kershaw, who retired after last season but was on Team USA for this year’s World Baseball Classic, told The Times in the spring that he was aware Dodgers fans are split over whether the team should visit the White House again this year, but he said he is looking forward to it.

“I went when President Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

Times deputy sports editor Ed Guzman contributed to this report.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals are set to begin Thursday when Kylian Mbappé and France take on an upset-minded Morocco team.

World Cup co-hosts U.S., Canada and Mexico will be watching from the sideline after being eliminated in the round of 16.

Here’s everything you need to know about the World Cup matches being played Thursday, Friday and Saturday across the U.S., Mexico and Canada (all times Pacific).

Thursday’s quarterfinal match

France vs. Morocco

France’s Kylian Mbappé jogs on the field during a win over Iraq in the World Cup on June 22.

(Derik Hamilton / Associated Press)

Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Time: 1 p.m.
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock

The buzz: France, bidding to make its third consecutive World Cup final, needed a penalty kick from Kylian Mbappé to dispatch stubborn Paraguay, a third-place team, in the round of 16. France has scored 16 times — Mbappé has seven of them, giving him 19 career World Cup goals — while goalkeeper Mike Maignan has conceded just two goals in five matches. Morocco, a semifinalist four years ago, advanced with a 3-0 win over Canada that ran its unbeaten streak to 34 games. Azzedine Ounahi scored twice in that game and is one of three Moroccan players with multiple goals. Morocco, a former French colony, has almost as many French-born players on its roster, six, as it does native Moroccans, seven.

Friday’s quarterfinal match

Spain vs. Belgium

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón catches the ball in front of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo during Spain’s round-of-16 win on July 6.

(Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood
Time: Noon
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock

The buzz: Spain is the first team in World Cup history to record six consecutive shutouts and goalkeeper Unai Simón has gone 609 minutes without allowing a World Cup goal, a streak that dates to group play of the last tournament four years ago. Spain, however, has struggled to score consistently, collecting a goal or less in three of its five games, including a round-of-16 win over Portugal on Mikel Merino’s goal in stoppage time. Mikel Oyarzabal is Spain’s leading scorer with four goals. Belgium earned its place in the quarterfinals by thumping the U.S. 4-1 in Seattle in its most complete game of the tournament. Belgium outshot the Americans 15-7, putting seven on target. Charles De Ketelaere had a brace in the first half and Belgium never looked back. For an aging golden generation of Belgian players, including Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Axel Witsel, this might be the final chance to grab a title.

Saturday’s quarterfinal matches

Norway vs. England

England’s Harry Kane celebrates after scoring during a win over Mexico on July 5.

(Eduardo Verdugo / Associated Press)

Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
Time: 2 p.m.
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock

The buzz: The forecast calls for temperatures in the high 80s, humidity at 77% and a chance of rain, challenging conditions for two teams from northern Europe. Norway, which knocked off Brazil to reach the quarterfinals for the first time, has scored 12 times in five games — Erling Haaland has seven of those, including both against Brazil — but has conceded nine, winning just once by more than a goal. Haaland’s 39% shot-conversation rate is the best in a World Cup since 1986. Unbeaten England had to gut out a tough win in the rare air of Mexico City with just 10 men to reach the quarterfinals for a third straight time. Captain Harry Kane is fourth in the Golden Boot race with six goals.

Argentina vs. Switzerland

Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Egypt on July 7 at the World Cup.

(Associated Press)

Where: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: Fox, Telemundo | Streaming: Fox One, Peacock

The buzz: Unbeaten Argentina needed three goals in 13 minutes to stay that way, barely escaping its round-of-16 game with Egypt on Enzo Fernández’s goal in stoppage time. Lionel Messi’s tying goal in the 83rd minute extended his World Cup scoring streak to nine games. He entered the quarterfinals leading the tournament with eight goals. Switzerland, also unbeaten, eliminated Colombia on penalties to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 1954. The Swiss have nine goals, three of those coming from 20-year-old Johan Manzambi, the youngest player on the team.

Ninety-six games in the books, just eight more matches to come. FIFA World Cup 2026 has lived up to its billing as the biggest of all time, and may yet end up in the conversation as the best tournament, too.

We’re down to the final eight nations with hopes of winning the trophy – four of them for the first time – while the other four are aiming to write a new glorious chapter in their football history.

But now the last 16 and the first rest day of the competition are out of the way, who has the best chance of being crowned champions in New York/New Jersey on July 19?

Al Jazeera ranks the contenders for the title:

8. Switzerland

It feels like a place in the last eight for the first time in 72 years is already a win for the Swiss, and don’t expect them to make further history.

Murat Yakin’s men benefitted from a kind draw which pitted them against the cohosts Canada, Bosnia and Qatar, and they only managed to ensure top-spot in that group by withstanding late pressure from the Maple Leafs after being held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar in their opening match.

They overcame Algeria without too much alarm in the last 32 but needed penalties to eliminate an off-form Colombia in the last round, with the Swiss failing to register a shot on target after the 32nd minute of normal time.

The potential loss of speedy 20-year-old Johan Manzambi, one of the tournament’s breakout stars, to a knee injury in training will diminish their hopes against Argentina, and even if they did manage to shock the world and send Messi and co home early, the chances are they would struggle in a semifinal against either England or Norway, let alone a final against France or Spain.

7. Morocco

When Morocco flew out of the blocks in the opening 45 minutes of their Group C game with Brazil, the world thought this was a new and improved version of the Atlas Lions which had made a shock run to the last-four in Qatar, however they failed to put that game to bed, despite their dominance.

A 1-0 win over Scotland followed in their second match before twice having to come from behind to see-off Haiti in the final gropup match day.

They then played the Netherlands in the last 32, and although they recovered from falling behind in the final 20 minutes to force extra-time with a goal in stoppage-time, they needed penalties to progress from another game they might well have won.

In the last 16, the played their best match of the tournament against Canada. The North African side was clinical, scoring three second-half goals to set up a France quarterfinal meeting.

They will need all that and more to avoid a one-sided defeat against France, who knocked them out in the last-four in 2022.

While only a handful of the XI beaten four years ago are likely to feature, the loss of leading scorer Ismael Saibari will also not help their cause against a nation where six of their squad were born. Indeed teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi captained the French under-21 side in a European Championship qualifier just 101 days before he is set to face Les Bleus in Boston, but switched allegiance on the eve of the tournament.

If Morocco are able to rediscover their form and spring an almighty surprise to see-off their old foes then all bets are off. They already know what it takes to beat Spain or Belgium, they did so in Qatar, while a potential final would not only make history as the first African and Arab country to take part in the showpiece, it might provide the wave of momentum which takes them all the way to the trophy itself.

6. Belgium

Belgium would have been at the No 8 ranking a few days ago but they had a reshuffle against the US and looked far better than they did in any of the group stage games or the first 75-minutes or so against Senegal in the Round of 32.

Inspired by the attacking play of Leandro Trossard, coach Rudi Garcia might have stumbled across a formula which works, leaving Kevin De Bruyne on the sidelines for the first time in 38 Belgium games and having Jeremy Doku and Romelo Lukaku as other potential game-changers off the bench.

The Red Devils certainly began slowly and only a 5-1 thumping of New Zealand in their final group game saw them through as group winners on goals scored, after failing to beat Egypt or Iran.

They made even harder work against Senegal, who should have been out of sight long before the comeback, when Lukaku and Youri Tielemans capitalised on some slack defending to score in the final four minutes of normal time before the latter dispatched a penalty five minutes from the end of extra-time to complete the unlikely turnaround.

Fuelled by a sense of injustice at the reversal of the ban for USA player Folarin Balogun they were far better against the host nation, but again benefitted from some poor defending, something which they cannot expect against Spain’s miserly defence.

It feels like the end of the road, and an era, for Belgium’s ageing golden generation, and if they did somehow get past Spain, then France would surely represent an insurmountable hurdle in the last four anyway.

5. Norway

We’re officially in uncharted territory for these dark horses. They came into the tournament never having won a knockout match at the World Cup – now they are eyeing a third straight.

Ruthlessly efficient is one way to describe Norway’s passage to the last eight. They arrived at their first World Cup in 28 years with a plan, and they have they stuck to it.

After an opening group game victory against Iraq, the pivotal match of their summer was always likely to be the second group game against Senegal. They won it 3-2. It ensured their passage to the knockout stages as runners-up and allowed Stale Solbakken to rest 10 players for the group finale against France.

Much was made of the decision not to try and match-up to Les Bleus for a potential top-spot in Group I, but despite the 4-1 defeat, it still looks like a great call.

Norway left it late before seeing-off Ivory Coast in the round of 32. Against Brazil in the last 16, they also left it late but finished strong with two goals in the final 11 minutes from Erling Haaland.

The 25-year-old has scored seven goals from just 18 shots across four games in this tournament, though the game management of midfielder Martin Odegaard, particularly against Brazil, has gone under the radar. The Arsenal player has three assists already, the same as left-sided super-sub Andreas Schjelderup, while corner taker Patrick Berg has two more.

Quarterfinal opponents England will have to figure out a way to deal with crosses into the middle better than they have done in their previous games and their management of Odegaard, and their own fitness levels, could be key to determining which European nation goes through to the semifinals to face, in all likelihood, Argentina.

However for all their attacking efficiency, Norway have kept one clean sheet in their past dozen matches and, were it not for the heroics of keeper Orjan Nyland, they might already be on their way home.

Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham will fancy their chances against defenders Kristoffer Ajer and Torbjorn Heggem and we could be in for another ding-dong battle with goals galore in sapping conditions, rather than any cagey defensive battles.

4. Argentina

Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, Egypt, Switzerland. It’s not a bad run for a defending champion, is it?

However it has been far from plain sailing for the Albiceleste, who have had to lean heavily on the 39-year-old legs and ageless football brain of Lionel Messi just to make it to the quarterfinals.

Messi leads the Golden Boot race with eight goals – though it should be double figures already with two penalty misses to his name.

Staring at the end of his World Cup career and trailing Egypt 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining, Messi put the nation on his back and registered his first assist of the tournament as Cristian Romero halved the deficit before thumping the equaliser himself four minutes later before the turnaround was completed in controversial fashion in stoppage-time.

The outpouring of emotion from Messi at fulltime showed just how close the two-time winners came to being eliminated, and expect them to try and learn their lesson against Switzerland, who possess less of the counterattacking threat than either of the African teams, especially if Johan Manzambi is ruled-out by the knee injury sustained in training.

Expect a potential semifinal with England to be a massive occasion – it’s a rivalry which runs deep, on and off the pitch. While this Argentina side boast extraordinary experience and clearly demonstrated their hunger, their starting XI against Egypt was the second oldest they have ever fielded in a World Cup, and they continue to look suspect at the back, something that Harry Kane, or even potentially Haaland –  should Norway get through – would be sure to test.

If it is to be a rematch against France in the final – as many predicted before and during the competition – then we can look forward to another extraordinary climax, with Les Bleus set on revenge for their penalty shootout heartache in Qatar after a pulsating 3-3 draw.

Who knows what mastery Messi is capable of summoning on any given day, but this France team is older, wiser and extra-motivated to land their third title, and it would take something extraordinary to stop them.

3. England

The Three Lions were seeded fourth in this tournament and, as a result, a run to the semifinals should be the minimum expectation for Thomas Tuchel’s men. It also comes with the added bonus of avoiding France or Spain until the final.

England capped off an up and down World Cup in the round of 16, recording one of their most memorable wins of all-time to overcome Mexico in the cauldron of the Azteca, playing out 58 minutes with 10 men and holding on for a 3-2 victory.

Norway will be a very different proposition in the sweltering conditions of Miami, and England have the most potential injury disruption of any side, with fitness issues over the likes of key players Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Reece James while stars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham know a booking in the quarterfinal would rule them out of any potential semifinal.

If they can keep Haaland quiet and prevent Odegaard from dictating the play, they will fancy their chances of reaching the last four for the fourth time.

If they do, and with Kane and Bellingham available, don’t discount them winning it to reach their first World Cup final since 1966.

Switzerland would hold little fear for the now tournament-savvy Three Lions in a potential semifinal, while an ageing Argentina side have been caused issues by the width, trickery and counter attacking threat of both Cape Verde and Egypt in the past two rounds, opening the door of opportunity for the likes of Saka, Anthony Gordon and Marcus Rashford to exploit, should England make it to the last four.

France or Spain in the final might be a different matter, however.

Les Bleus knocked England out in the quarterfinal in Qatar after an epic encounter while Spain bested them in the dramatic Euro 2024 final.

There would be the motivation of revenge, of course, but France’s front four would likely cause England’s makeshift back-line plenty of issues. The Spain game would likely be more equal, though reliant on England to win the midfield battle and for whoever plays full-back to try to keep Lamine Yamal quiet.

2. Spain

It’s not how you start it’s how you finish. Spain did not begin well, having to settle for a goalless draw with Cape Verde – although hindsight makes that result look a lot more respectable.

They made light work of Saudi Arabia in the group stage and then Austria in the round of 32, although they had to grind out victories over Uruguay in their group finale and then Portugal in the last 16 courtesy of a stoppage-time winner.

Their hopes are built on their defence and they have not conceded a goal in the tournament. Spain have six straight World Cup clean sheets dating back to Qatar 2022, the longest streak in history – and they have allowed just five shots on target across their opening five matches.

At the other end, Mikel Oyarzabal has bagged four goals but he’s missed a few chances to truly cement himself in the Golden Boot race and while their defence and midfield look solid enough, the X-factor Lamine Yamal has been visible in flashes only.

The European Champions should have enough to see-off Belgium in the quarters, despite the Red Devils’ improved showing against the USA, but a semifinal against, in all likelihood, France, will be a different matter.

While teenage defender Pau Cubarsi looks at home on the biggest stage of all, he’s yet to face the kind of test that Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele will pose, while either Desire Doue or Bradley Barcola would cause problems for Spain’s right-back, whether Luis de la Fuente opts for Pedro Porro or Marcos Llorente.

If they make the final, Spain will be favourites to win it, but ‘if’ remains the biggest two-letter word in all of sports.

1. France

France are the class of the field with a fearsome foursome in attack and a defence which, although it hasn’t really been tested yet, has only allowed two goals in five matches.

The most uncomfortable France have looked in any game was the opening half of their opening game against Senegal, when Mbappe looked off the pace and Senegal were guilty of missing good chances.

In every match since, it has been largely plain sailing: seeing off Iraq and Norway’s B-team to top the group, then sweeping Sweden aside and keeping their composure to see-off Paraguay in a feisty round of 16 encounter.

Morocco will be a big step-up, but with Mbappe eyeing both the Golden Boot and all-time World Cup scoring record, and Olise, Dembele, Doue and Barcola all providing a threat across the pitch, they will fancy their chances of extending their unbeaten record against the Atlas Lions to seven matches and will hope Olise avoids another caution which would rule him out of the semifinal after a booking against Paraguay.

Spain, and in particular their defence, would pose a different challenge, but one which Didier Deschamps’ men would back themselves to overcome, while a potential grudge match against Argentina or England in the final would provide the greatest stage of all for some of the greatest players of all to shine.

Don’t be surprised if the all-time World Cup scoring record is broken in the showpiece, a fitting finale to a summer for the ages.

Dodgers edge the Rockies

From Liana Handler: Mookie Betts’ first hit this series against the Rockies couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. With the crack of the ball against his bat, Tommy Edman scored from third, giving the Dodgers the lead.

And as Betts reached first, he pointed to Freddie Freeman, whose single put Edman in scoring position. It had taken a team effort to overcome another middling start from Roki Sasaki, and Betts, who had little to show before his game-winning hit, took the chance to highlight the joint contribution in the Dodgers’ 4-3 rubber-match win over Colorado (38-56).

It feels great,” Betts said of his nine-pitch battle. “Helping the boys win, that’s really all it is. We play the game to win, and coming through in a big moment is kind of what, when you’re a kid, playing in the backyard, getting that hit is what you always strive to do, and fortunately, I was able to do it.”

Given a three-run lead in the first inning, brought to the Dodgers by a wild pitch and Kyle Tucker’s two-run, line-drive single to left field, Sasaki seemed set up for success.

Still, he gave away the lead as quickly as it came. In the second inning, he left a fastball too far over the plate, and third baseman Kyle Karros drove the ball over the left-center wall. The slider he dealt two batters later to second baseman Edouard Julien also crossed the zone too far over the plate, and Julien rounded the bases with another homer. In the third, a sacrifice fly by Mickey Moniak evened the scored, 3-3

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Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Wednesday’s World Cup results

No matches scheduled

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
1 p.m., France vs. Morocco, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup quarterfinals schedule, results

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Friday
Belgium vs. Spain, noon

Saturday
Norway vs. England, 2 p.m.
Switzerland vs. Argentina, 6 p.m.

Mike Trout homers in return

Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in his return from the injured list, Jo Adell had two home runs and drove in a career-high five runs and the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 13-1 on Wednesday night.

Trout, who missed 17 games due to a strained right hamstring, hit a 438-foot shot that gave the Angels an 11-0 lead in the eighth. Trout has 48 homers against the Rangers, the most by any player since the franchise moved to Texas in 1972 and the second-most ever against the club. Reggie Jackson hit 54 home runs against the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers.

Adell hit a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a three-run homer in the fifth that made it 7-0.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Sparks defeat the Fever

From Marisa Ingemi: For the first time in two weeks, the Sparks won a game.

Nneka Ogwumike scored 24 points with eight rebounds and Rae Burrell added 22 points in what felt like a near must-win 106-92 effort against Indiana on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Fever committed 17 turnovers, which the Sparks (9-11) converted into 22 points, and star Caitlin Clark scored her second-fewest point total this season with just nine in limited minutes. Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points for the Fever, but the Sparks seemed to have an offensive answer each time.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1922 — Johnny Weissmuller is the first to swim the 100-meter freestyle under 1 minute as he breaks Duke Kahanamoku’s world record with a time of 58.6 seconds.

1932 — The NFL awards a franchise to Boston under the ownership of George Preston Marshall, Vincent Bendix, Jay O’Brien, and Dorland Doyle. The Boston Braves will change their nickname to Redskins in 1933 and move to Washington after the 1936 season.

1954 — Peter Thomson becomes the first Australian to win the British Open. Thomson shoots a 9-under 283 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, edging Bobby Locke, Dai Rees and Syd Scott by one stroke.

1965 — Peter Thomson wins his fifth British Open title by two strokes over Brian Huggett and Christy O’Connor Sr. Thomson shoots a 7-under 285 at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. Thomson’s previous Open victory was in 1958. It’s the last to conclude with two rounds on Friday.

1966 — Jack Nicklaus wins the British Open with a 282 at Muirfield to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player as the only men to win the four majors.

1967 — Mark Spitz and Catie Ball, both 17, swim to world records, and 14-year-old Debbie Meyer sets two records in one race in the Santa Clara International Invitational swim meet. Spitz sets a 100-meter butterfly record at 56.3 and Ball becomes the first U.S. swimmer to set a world record for the breaststroke with a 2:40.5 time for 200 meters. Meyer breaks the 800-meter freestyle record in 9 minutes, 35.8 seconds on the way to a record 18:11.1 in the 1,500.

1968 — Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first reigning NBA MVP to be traded the next season when he moves from Philadelphia 76ers to the Lakers.

1989 — Boris Becker and Steffi Graf claim a West German sweep of the Wimbledon singles crowns in the first double finals day in 16 years. Becker wins his third Wimbledon title in five years, rolling past defending champion Stefan Edberg 6-0, 7-6 (1), 6-4, while Graf takes her second straight championship over Martina Navratilova 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1.

1991 — South Africa is readmitted by the International Olympic Committee to the Olympic movement, ending decades of sports isolation and clearing the way for its participation in the 1992 Games.

1995 — Pete Sampras becomes the first American to win Wimbledon three straight years by beating Boris Becker 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

2000 — Pete Sampras passes Roy Emerson for the most Grand Slam championships and ties Willie Renshaw, a player in the 1880s, for the most Wimbledon titles with a four-set victory over Pat Rafter. Sampras, winner of seven Wimbledon titles, 13 Grand Slam championships, extends his mark at Wimbledon to 53-1 over the past eight years.

2001 — Goran Ivanisevic becomes one of Wimbledon’s most improbable champions, beating Patrick Rafter. Two points away from defeat, Ivanisevic rallies to beat Rafter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7 and becomes the second player to win a Wimbledon singles title without being seeded.

2006 — Roger Federer ends a five-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal, winning 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3 to earn his fourth straight Wimbledon title and eighth Grand Slam championship. Nadal had beaten Federer in four finals this year.

2006 — Italy wins its fourth World Cup title winning the shootout 5-3 against France, after a 1-1 draw. Outplayed for an hour and into extra time, the Italians win it after French captain Zinedine Zidane is ejected in the 107th for a vicious butt to the chest of Marco Materazzi.

2009 — Joe Sakic retires after 21 NHL seasons with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise, finishing with 625 goals and 1,641 points.

2016 — Serena Williams wins her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title by beating Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final. Williams pulls even with Steffi Graf for the most major championships in the Open era, which began in 1968. This is Williams’ seventh singles trophy at the All England Club.

2021 — British road cyclist Mark Cavendish wins Nimes to Carcassonne stage 13 of the Tour de France for his 34th career stage win. The win ties Eddy Merckx for most career stage wins.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1902 — Rube Waddell beat Bill Dineen 4-2 in 17 innings when light-hitting Monte Cross hit a two-run homer for Philadelphia.

1932 — Ben Chapman of the Yankees hit three homers, including two inside-the-park, as New York beat the Detroit Tigers 14-9 at Yankee Stadium.

1937 — Joe DiMaggio hits for the cycle as the Yankees defeat the Senators 16-2.

1940 — The NL recorded the first shutout in All-Star play, with a 4-0 win at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Five pitchers — Paul Derringer, Bucky Walters, Whit Wyatt, Larry French, and Carl Hubbell — held the AL to three hits. Max West hit a three-run homer.

1946 — After a one-year break due to war travel restrictions, the Americans trounced the Nationals 12-0 at Fenway Park, the most one-sided of the All-Star games. Ted Williams of the Red Sox didn’t disappoint the hometown fans. He hit two homers and two singles for five RBIs.

1968 — Willie McCovey hit into a double play, scoring Willie Mays with the only run of the 39th All-Star game, played at the Houston Astrodome. It was the first game of this series played indoors and the first 1-0 contest in All-Star history.

1976 — Houston’s Larry Dierker pitched a no-hitter as the Astros beat Montreal 6-0. Dierker struck out eight and walked four.

1991 — Cal Ripken hit a three-run homer to lead the AL over the NL 4-2 in the All-Star game for the AL’s fourth straight victory in the contest.

1996 — Mike Piazza launched an upper-deck home run in his first at-bat and lined an RBI double next time up, leading the Nationals to a 6-0 victory in the All-Star game in Philadelphia.

2002 — Despite Barry Bonds hitting a home run and Torii Hunter making a spectacular catch, the All-Star game finished in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers.

2005 — It took 847 regular-season games at Coors Field, the most any stadium needed, before hosting its first 1-0 game. The lowest total runs scored in a game at Coors Field before Colorado’s 1-0 win over San Diego was 2-0.

2011 — Derek Jeter homered for his 3,000th hit, making him the first player to reach the mark with the New York Yankees. Jeter hit the milestone with a drive to left field with one out in the third inning off Tampa Bay’s David Price, his first at Yankee Stadium this season. He tied a career high going 5 for 5 and singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for a 5-4 win. Jeter became the 28th major leaguer to hit the mark and joined former teammate Wade Boggs as the only players to do it with a home run.

2011 — The Dodgers got their first hit with two out in the ninth inning and still beat the San Diego Padres 1-0 when Dioner Navarro singled in Juan Uribe for the unlikely victory. Uribe was down to his last strike when he drove a pitch from Luke Gregerson over the head of left fielder Chris Denorfia for Los Angeles’ first hit and only the second hit of the game for either team. Navarro then looped a 3-1 pitch into short right-center to give the Dodgers three consecutive shutout victories for the first time since July 1991. San Diego’s Cameron Maybin had the first hit of the game in the fifth, a clean single through the box. It was the Padres’ only hit against rookie right-hander Rubby De La Rosa and three relievers.

2013 — Alex Rios tied an American League record with six hits in a nine-inning game and Adam Dunn hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Justin Verlander in the eighth to lift Chicago over Detroit 11-4.

2015 — Jose Fernandez pitched seven innings and tied the modern record for most consecutive home victories by a starter to begin a career, helping the Miami Marlins beat the Cincinnati Reds 2-0.

2019 — The American League defeats the National League 4-3 in the 2019 All-Star Game for their 7th straight win.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

July 8 (UPI) — NATO countries in Europe, plus Canada, agreed Wednesday to jointly spend $50 billion over the coming decade on developing new ground-based “deep precision strike capabilities,” including an advanced missile with a 1,250 mile range to defend the continent and beyond.

Launched by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the NATO Summit in Ankara, the project brings together Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Greece, Czechia, Slovakia, Turkey and Canada, Downing Street said in a news release.

The initiative was, Britain said, proof that allies were taking action to strengthen Europe’s ability to defend by “radically boosting NATO’s defense and deterrence capabilities” and ensuring a “more European NATO.”

“We must step up to deliver a stronger, more European NATO. The U.K.is already working with partners to develop exquisite capability that will give our Armed Forces the ability to defend and deter thousands of kilometres from the front line, but this U.K.-led initiative will allow us to step up our cooperation, bringing European Allies together to ensure NATO remains safe and secure for years to come,” said Starmer.

NATO said in a statement that the breakthrough came after NATO allies “made progress on providing innovative and cost-effective solutions for munitions and deep strike systems, delivering them faster and at greater scale.”

The costs and complexity involved in developing and making advanced strike capabilities, together with recurring compatibility and interchangeability problems and the rapidly evolving threat of long-range strikes requiring a nimble response, meant it made sense for allies to work together, NATO said.

Leveraging multinational projects and shared defense purchasing would spread the cost, realize economies of scale and deliver field capabilities much faster than working individually, it added.

Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Turkey will work together on developing the proposed long-range missile deterrent and other “novel deep precision strike capabilities,” including new missiles and launchers.

The remainder of the countries — plus Denmark, Norway and Turkey — agreed to work together to address issues created by the array of different weapons systems used by NATO member states by developing a prototype generic NATO artillery round, aimed at establishing standards for a “future fully interchangeable, interoperable NATO 155mm munition.”

Speaking in Ankara, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the new deep precision strike capability would deter would-be aggressors by enabling NATO to target high-value military assets and “the logistical engines that drive armies.

“At Ankara we are sending a clear message to President Putin; NATO is stronger, more European and ready to defend our citizens against the long-term threat posed by him and the Russian state,” said Cooper.

Britain is already working on a multi-billion-dollar project to jointly develop long-range stealth and hypersonic missiles with Germany as part of an enhanced defense cooperation pact between the countries signed in summer 2024.

It is also working with France and Italy on Stratus, a new family of long-range cruise and anti-ship weapon, to replace the Storm Shadow cruise missile and Harpoon and Exocet anti-ship weapons used by the militaries of the three countries.

Stratus is being developed by the pan-European defense contractor MBDA Missile Systems.

Wednesday’s developments came amid a summit at which the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been doubling down on its burden-sharing message that Europe must shoulder more responsibility for its own defense and for member states to meet pledges made in The Hague in 2025 to up core military spending to 3.5% of GDP, or 5% total defense and security-related spending.

Shohei Ohtani hits 300th homer in Dodgers’ loss

From Maddie Lee: In Shohei Ohtani, who on Tuesday became the first Japanese player to hit 300 home runs in MLB, the Dodgers had the first National League All-Star voted in this year.

They still have a chance for a late addition.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been lobbying for two members of his pitching staff to be named replacement players: left-handed starter Justin Wrobleski and left-handed reliever Tanner Scott.

“There’s going to be some changes and some talks here,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. “There’s continual talks about both guys.”

Earlier Tuesday, MLB announced replacements for three NL pitchers who won’t be eligible to appear in the All-Star Game. Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft, Philadelphia’s Jesús Luzardo and St. Louis’ Riley O’Brien claimed spots as Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski and Miami’s Max Meyer bowed out.

“Obviously it’s disappointing,” Wrobleski said after holding the Rockies to one run through seven innings. “You want to be an All-Star. It’s something that, regardless of the year, whenever, it’s always a big deal. It’s something I wanted to do. It’s frustrating to not get that nod. But like I said before, it’s just more reason to try and keep getting better. Hopefully I can gain the respect of players and everybody else and maybe be in there next year.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

World Cup: U.S. team hopes they inspired future success

From Kevin Baxter: Last fall, in an effort to inspire a national soccer team lacking in confidence and belief, coach Mauricio Pochettino came up with a slogan for this summer’s World Cup, one the U.S. would be playing at home.

“Why not us?” he asked.

Why couldn’t the U.S. make a deep run in the tournament? Why couldn’t the U.S. compete with the best teams in the world? Why not us?

Monday he got his answer: Because the U.S. just isn’t good enough.

A couple of rousing performances in group play and a win over a third-place team in the first elimination game had the U.S. believing, had the U.S. hoping. Maybe Pochettino was right. Maybe it was the Americans’ time.

But it all proved to be a mirage.

Continue reading here

Swanson: Trump’s World Cup meddling only made matters worse for rattled U.S. squad

Paraguayan senator demands apology from Kylian Mbappé for his response to her racist posts

Tuesday’s World Cup results

Round of 16
Argentina 3, Egypt 2
Switzerland 0, Colombia 0 (Switzerland wins on PK’s, 4-3)

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
No matches today

World Cup round of 16 schedule, results

Round of 16 results
Morocco 3, Canada 0
France 1, Paraguay 0
Norway 2, Brazil 1
England 3, Mexico 2
Spain 1, Portugal 0
Belgium 4, U.S. 1
Argentina 3, Egypt 2
Switzerland 0, Colombia 0 (Switzerland wins on PK’s, 4-3)

Quarterfinals schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Thursday
France vs. Morocco, 1 p.m.

Friday
Belgium vs. Spain, noon

Saturday
Norway vs. England, 2 p.m.
Switzerland vs. Argentina, 6 p.m.

Angels lose seventh in a row

Alejandro Osuna hit a three-run homer during a five-run eighth inning and the Texas Rangers pulled away for an 8-3 win over the Angels on Tuesday night.

Osuna’s first homer of the season followed RBI singles by Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue in the six-hit inning off Sam Bachman (1-2). Foscue also hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh, tying the score 3-3.

Peyton Gray (4-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win for the Rangers, who pulled within one-half game of first-place Seattle in the AL West.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Lakers sign center Kevon Looney

From Broderick Turner: The Lakers got their backup big man when Kevon Looney signed a one-year, $3.9-million deal on Tuesday, people not authorized to speak publicly told The Times.

The 6-foot-9 Looney won three championships with the Golden State Warriors, in 2017, 2018 and 2022. He played last season with the New Orleans Pelicans. Looney, 30, is an 11-year veteran who went to UCLA. He’s a strong rebounder, a very good defender and he sets solid screens for teammates.

Looney will be the backup behind starter Walker Kessler, who was acquired in a trade from the Utah Jazz and agreed to a four-year, $130-million deal. The Lakers traded last season’s starting center, Deandre Ayton, and backup Jaxson Hayes signed with the Jazz.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1889 — John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain in the 75th round in Richburg, Miss., for the U.S. heavyweight championship. It’s the last bare-knuckle boxing match before the Marquis of Queensbury rules are introduced.

1922 — Suzanne Lenglen beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, 6-2, 6-0 for her fourth straight singles title at Wimbledon.

1939 — Bobby Riggs beats Elwood Cooke in five sets to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1955 — Peter Thomson wins his second consecutive British Open finishing two strokes ahead of John Fallon. Thomson shoots a 7-under 281 at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.

1967 — Billie Jean King sweeps three titles at Wimbledon. King beats Ann Hayden Jones 6-3, 6-4, for the singles title; teams with Rosie Casals for the women’s doubles title, and pairs with Owen Davidson for the mixed doubles title.

1978 — Bjorn Borg beats Jimmy Connors, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to win his third straight men’s title at Wimbledon.

1984 — John McEnroe whips Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in 100-degree temperatures to take the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1990 — West Germany wins the World Cup as Andreas Brehme scores with 6 minutes to go for a 1-0 victory over defending champion Argentina in a foul-marred final.

1991 — Michael Stich upsets three-time champion Boris Becker to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

1995 — Top-ranked Steffi Graf wins her sixth Wimbledon singles title, beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

1995 — NHL Draft: Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL) defenseman Bryan Berard first pick by Ottawa Senators.

1996 — Switzerland’s Martina Hingis becomes the youngest champion in Wimbledon history at 15 years, 282 days, teaming with Helena Sukova to beat Meredith McGrath and Larisa Neiland 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in women’s doubles.

2000 — Venus Williams beats Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title. Williams is the first Black women’s champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1958.

2007 — Roger Federer wins his fifth straight Wimbledon championship, beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2. I’s also Federer’s 11th Grand Slam title overall.

2010 — Paul Goydos becomes the fourth golfer in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59. Goydos puts together his 12-under, bogey-free round on the opening day of the John Deere Classic. Goydos makes the turn at 4-under, then birdies all but one hole on the back nine at the 7,257-yard TPC Deere Run course.

2012 — Roger Federer equals Pete Sampras’ record of seven men’s singles titles at the All England Club, and wins his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

2014 — Germany hands Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals that stuns the host nation. Miroslav Klose scores a record-setting 16th career World Cup goal in a five-goal spurt in the first half and Germany goes on to score the most goals in a World Cup semifinal.

2016 — Roger Federer loses in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in his career, falling to Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Centre Court. The 34-year-old Federer had been 10-0 in Wimbledon semifinals, winning seven of his finals.

2018 — South Korean golfer Sei Young Ki breaks the LPGA 72-hole scoring record with a 31-under par 257 in winning the Thornberry Creek Classic.

2022 — Gymnast Simone Biles aged 25, becomes the youngest person to receive the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Joe Biden.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Rube Marquard’s 19-game winning streak was stopped as the New York Giants lost 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs.

1918 — Boston’s Babe Ruth lost a home run at Fenway Park when prevailing rules reduce his shot over the fence to a triple. Amos Strunk scored on Ruth’s hit for a 1-0 win over Cleveland. Ruth, who played 95 games in the season, finished tied for the American League title with 11 homers.

1935 — The AL extended its All-Star winning streak to three with a 4-1 victory at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. New York Yankee Lefty Gomez went six innings, which prompted the NL to have the rules changed so that no pitcher could throw more than three innings, unless extra innings.

1941 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Up to that point Arky Vaughan of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the NL hero with two home runs, the first player to do so in All-Star play. Joe and Dom DiMaggio played for the AL, marking the first time that brothers appeared in the same All-Star game.

1947 — Frank Shea became the first winning rookie pitcher in the first 14 years of All-Star play as the AL nipped the NL 2-1 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

1952 — The NL edged the AL 3-2 in the first rain-shortened All-Star game. The five-inning contest, at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, featured home runs by Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer of the Nationals.

1957 — Baseball owners re-elected commissioner Ford Frick to another seven-year term when his contract is up in 1958.

1958 — The 25th anniversary All-Star game, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, went to the AL, 4-3 in a game that only produced 13 singles. This was the first All-Star game in which neither team got an extra-base hit.

1970 — Jim Ray Hart of San Francisco hit for the cycle and became the first NL player in 59 years to drive in six runs in one inning as the Giants beat Atlanta, 13-0.

1974 — New York shortstop Jim Mason tied a major-league record when he doubled four times in the Yankees’ 12-5 win over Texas.

1982 — Billy Martin records his 1,000 career win as a manager as the A’s beat the Yankees 6-3.

1994 — Shortstop John Valentin made the 10th unassisted triple play in baseball history in the sixth inning and then led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to lead Boston to a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

1997 — Cleveland Indians catcher Sandy Alomar hit a two-run homer to give the American League a 3-1 victory over the National League in the All-Star game. Alomar, the first player to win the All-Star MVP in his own ballpark, broke the tie in the seventh inning off San Francisco’s Shawn Estes.

2000 — Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens teamed up to shut down the Mets, giving the Yankees identical 4-2 victories in the first double-ballpark doubleheader in the majors since 1903. After the opener, many in the sellout crowd of 54,165 at Shea Stadium immediately headed for Game 2, which drew 55,821 at Yankee Stadium.

2008 — Ryan Braun of Milwaukee hit his 56th home run in his 200th major league game, a 7-3 win over Colorado. Only Mark McGwire and Rudy York (both 59) had hit more in their first 200 games in the majors.

2014 — The Mets record the 4,000th win in franchise history by defeating the Braves 8-3.

2015 — Tampa Bay hits two inside-the park home runs in a 9-7 loss to the Royals. It is the first time the feat has been done since 1997.

2021 — San Diego Padres relief pitcher Daniel Camarena records his first MLB hit, a grand slam, in his second at bat against the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Swiss fans celebrated wildly after their team made it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954 by beating Colombia on penalties.

Four former Kings elected to our Hall of Fame

The next ballot we sent out for the L.A. Times Sports Report Hall of Fame was the Kings/Ducks ballot, with 20 names appearing. People were able to vote for up to 10 candidates.

Reminder: Whoever is named on at least 75% of the ballots will be elected. The five people receiving the fewest votes will be dropped from future ballots for at least the next two years. A person must be retired to appear on the ballot.

There were 4,183 ballots cast in the Kings/Ducks voting, and four candidates received at least 75% of the vote.

Inductees

Wayne Gretzky, 90.4%

Marcel Dionne, 87.5%

Luc Robitaille, 83.7%

Anze Kopitar, 76.1%

Didn’t make it, but will remain on ballot

Jonathan Quick, 70.2%
Rogie Vachon, 69.7%
Bob Miller, 66.5%
Teemu Selanne, 53.3%
Dave Taylor, 50.2%
Rob Blake, 48.2%
Paul Kariya, 41.4%
Dustin Brown, 39.9%
Ryan Getzlaf, 21%
Bernie Nicholls, 19.7%
Darryl Sutter, 18.4%

Bottom five, dropped from ballot for two years

Scott Niedermayer, 15.4%
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 13.1%
Charlie Simmer, 12.9%
Nick Nickson, 12.8%
Randy Carlyle, 1.8%

Thanks to everyone who voted! There is still time to vote in our other active categories.

To vote in the other colleges ballot, click here.

To vote in the other sports/teams ballot, click here.

Inductees so far

Dodgers/Angels
Don Drysdale
Clayton Kershaw
Sandy Koufax
Vin Scully
Fernando Valenzuela

Lakers/Clippers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Elgin Baylor
Kobe Bryant
Chick Hearn
Magic Johnson
Jerry West

Rams/Chargers/Raiders
Eric Dickerson
Deacon Jones
Merlin Olsen

UCLA
Lew Alcindor
Arthur Ashe
Ann Meyers
Jackie Robinson
Bill Walton
John Wooden

USC
Marcus Allen
Cheryl Miller

Kings/Ducks
Marcel Dionne
Wayne Gretzky
Anze Kopitar
Luc Robitaille

Until next time…

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

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where it’s been a, uh, busy week.

Over a short seven days, the Lakers confronted their past, welcomed their present and got a glimpse at their future. Starting with LeBron James officially filing for divorce last Tuesday, the Lakers transformed into almost a completely new team overnight.

But did they turn into a better team?

Hello to a new era

The relationship was characterized by passive aggression, cryptic tweets and small slights that added up to a big, if not inevitable, breakup. After such a complicated tenure, at least LeBron James’ Lakers career ended with clarity.

By informing the team before free agency started that he would not be returning next season, James offered a clean break when both sides needed it. The 41-year-old, who is still the best unrestricted free agent on the market, will keep the rest of the league hostage. The Lakers can move forward in peace.

They didn’t take long to find their rebound star.

The Lakers went all-in to get center Walker Kessler. Not just with the four-year, $130-million contract — which is longer than many of the other deals signed this month — but with the draft capital. When a simple offer sheet wouldn’t have been enough to pry the restricted free agent away from Utah, the Lakers threw in two first-round picks (2031, 2033) and two first-round swaps (2028, 2030). They don’t control their own first-round pick until 2032, meaning there aren’t many exit ramps if things go wrong.

But, on the other hand, what if they go right?

Kessler, 24, is seen as a “perfect” fit for the Luka Doncic-Austin Reaves Lakers, a league source told my colleague Broderick Turner. He’s an elite rim protector, averaging 2.4 blocks per game in his four-year NBA career. He led the NBA in offensive rebounds in 2024-25 and ranked fourth in rebounding rate, according to Basketball Reference.

He’s what Doncic asked for.

The concern might be more about an unproven track record. He only played five games last season because of a shoulder injury. He finished third in rookie of the year voting in 2023 but has only one full-time starting season. Even then, he played only 58 games in 2024-25.

It’s a big bet for a player who hasn’t even approached an All-Star conversation.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

Six of the Lakers’ top nine players from last season are gone. The Lakers started reloading their draft assets by trading Deandre Ayton on Friday, shipping the big man to Washington for Jaden Hardy and second-round draft picks in 2031 and 2032. Hardy, like new free agent addition Quentin Grimes, is another Doncic teammate from Dallas.

With Ayton’s departure, the Lakers are on the hunt for a backup center. They have two remaining roster spots and are still in the mix to add a two-way wing defender. Rookie Cameron Carr is showing in summer league that he could be an immediate three-point threat. He has some work to do in the weight room and needs more reps to be ready on the defensive end to fill the three-and-D responsibility Rui Hachimura held.

Hachimura was the last of the Lakers’ unrestricted free agents to settle on a new home. The 6-foot-8 forward was a valuable asset to the Lakers and maybe wasn’t appreciated enough for his willingness to accept different roles, even moving to the bench briefly during an important contract year.

Hachimura, who made about $18 million last season, got looks from across the league but agreed to a two-year, $28-million deal with the Clippers on Monday.

Even for some NBA players, moving is prohibitively inconvenient.

Goodbye to the old

Outsiders looked at James’ initial move to the Lakers as something that went beyond basketball reasons. Perhaps the breakup was the same way.

Doncic, Reaves and James could have been as competitive as any trio in the league, evidenced by the short, successful glimpses we saw last season. The basketball could have been beautiful.

But if James would have played out his career with the Lakers, there always would have been an awkward pall over the final years. This relationship wasn’t serving either party anymore. He was right that it was simply time to move on.

On paper, he leaves behind a historic chapter of an unparalleled career. Already a Hall of Famer before he came to L.A., James won the Lakers’ 17th NBA championship, ending a 10-year title drought for the franchise. He broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record while wearing a Lakers jersey in front of a sold-out Lakers crowd.

In the hearts of Lakers fans, the legacy is complicated. Fans never got to create the everlasting joyful memories we saw at the Knicks championship parade or, if you’ve been watching soccer, in this month’s FIFA World Cup. Perhaps the Lakers faithful will never forgive him for his role in the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade that set the organization back for years. James, for all his personal accolades and cultural influence, still stands no chance against the spirit of Kobe Bryant, especially after Bryant’s shocking death in 2020.

The comparisons were unrelenting. But James never shied away from them.

“Truly a honor to wear the [purple and gold],” James wrote on Twitter with purple and yellow heart emojis, responding to a kind statement from Lakers governor Jeanie Buss. “… Hope I made a few proud during my stint.”

Most breakups are hard. The end of this relationship, at least, is a rare instance when you can smile both because it’s over and because it happened.

Poll results

Last week, we asked which unrestricted free agent would you most like to keep. Ultimately, no one gets their wish; all have signed elsewhere. There were 39 total votes, with several submitting two names, but for the sake of this count, I only took each ballot’s first choice.

Here are the results:

Rui Hachimura: 23

Marcus Smart: 9

Luke Kennard: 5

Jaxson Hayes: 1

“Marcus Hachimura”: 1

New question

Last week’s poll didn’t have a particularly long shelf life. The first wave of free agency swept up almost all the available Lakers players within hours. This new question could fuel debate to outlast all of our natural lives: Would you like to see the Lakers retire LeBron James’ jersey? Slide into my inbox (thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com) to vote!

—Yes

—No

Favorite thing I ate this week

The special combination bánh mì (bánh mì đặc biệt) from San Francisco’s L&G Vietnamese Sandwich.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

When I was young(er), my parents went grocery shopping at the Vietnamese store Saturday mornings, and on his way out the door, my dad would poke his head into my room and ask simply, “One or two?” He was asking how many Vietnamese sandwiches I wanted for lunch.

Bánh mì remains my ultimate comfort food, and I liked the special combination bánh mì (bánh mì đặc biệt) from San Francisco’s L&G Vietnamese Sandwich so much that I went twice in three days. It had all the right Vietnamese cold cuts with the perfect pate and mayo ratio, and for an $11.50 deal, I even risk the caffeine-fueled heart palpitations to add a Vietnamese iced coffee.

In case you missed it

Lakers lose Rui Hachimura, who signs two-year deal with the Clippers

Lakers’ Adou Thiero hoping to learn and lead with Cameron Carr this summer

Cameron Carr makes a strong first impression in Lakers’ summer league opener

Lakers trading Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy, draft picks

Lakers announce summer league schedule, roster

Lakers get their new center. How Walker Kessler, three free agents fit with Luka Doncic

Lakers’ top defender Marcus Smart agrees to deal with Rockets

News Analysis: LeBron James won’t return to the Lakers. Now what?

Luke Kennard leaves Lakers for two-year deal with Phoenix Suns

Plaschke: LeBron James got out before Lakers could throw him out

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!

World Cup: U.S. loses to Belgium

From Kevin Baxter: For three weeks, it was the best World Cup ever for the U.S.

The Americans scored more goals, won more games and generated more interest than any U.S. team in history. But all that glory gave way to grief Monday when a 4-1 loss to Belgium brought the U.S. crashing back to Earth.

Belgium never trailed, getting two first-half goals from Charles De Ketelaere and two in the second half from Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku to clinch a spot in the tournament quarterfinals, where it will face Spain on Friday at SoFi Stadium. For the U.S., whose lone goal came from Malik Tillman, its World Cup ended in the round of 16 for a fourth straight time.

“Today,” midfielder Tyler Adams said, “wasn’t a good day.”

The U.S. did win a knockout round game in the tournament for just the second time, but that came in a round of 32 necessitated by the World Cup’s expansion to 48 teams. All three tournament hosts, the U.S., Canada and Mexico, were eliminated in the round of 16.

“You get knocked out of a tournament, it doesn’t feel great,” Adams continued. “You start to think about what you could have done better. The best players in the world go through it. You put yourself in those situations to try to break through at this moment.

“It sucks.”

Continue reading here

Kylian Mbappé calls out Paraguayan senator for ‘brazen racism’ after France’s World Cup knockout win

Monday’s World Cup results

Round of 16
Spain 1, Portugal 0
Belgium 4, U.S. 1

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
9 a.m., Argentina vs. Egypt, Fox, Telemundo
1 p.m., Switzerland vs. Colombia, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup round of 16 schedule, results

Round of 16 results
Morocco 3, Canada 0
France 1, Paraguay 0
Norway 2, Brazil 1
England 3, Mexico 2
Spain 1, Portugal 0
Belgium 4, U.S. 1

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Tuesday
Argentina vs. Egypt, 9 a.m.
Switzerland vs. Colombia, 1 p.m.

Quarterfinals schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Thursday
France vs. Morocco, 1 p.m.

Friday
Belgium vs. Spain, noon

Saturday
Norway vs. England, 2 p.m.
Switzerland or Colombia vs. Argentina or Egypt, 6 p.m.

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing spun to face home plate umpire Dan Iassogna, holding up his mitt with the ball secure inside.

When that didn’t change the safe call, he immediately pointed to the Dodgers dugout, mask in hand urging manager Dave Roberts to challenge the call.

Roberts’ hands flew up to his ears, asking for a replay review.

The tension in Dodger Stadium broke with the announcement: “The catcher touched the runner’s hand before he reached the plate…”

The crowd’s applause drowned out the rest.

The go-ahead run had been on the line with that ninth-inning review, in the Dodgers’ eventual 8-7 win against the Rockies in 11 innings. And the sequence started a wild end to the Dodgers’ first extra-innings game of the season.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Are the Angels ready for change?

From Bill Shaikin: In 2012, when Mark Walter and his partners bought the Dodgers, team president Stan Kasten declared mediocrity would no longer be acceptable.

Would the Dodgers improve their minor league system? Yes. Would the Dodgers improve their major league roster? Also yes. Would spending in one area preclude spending in another? Absolutely not.

“These fans expect and deserve a team that can win,” Kasten said then.

So do Angels fans. For the first time this decade, with the arrival of John Mozeliak as interim general manager, they have legitimate hope.

Mozeliak, whose St. Louis Cardinals teams reached the playoffs more often than not in his 18 years running baseball operations there, is here to end baseball’s longest postseason drought, or at least steer the Angels in that direction.

Continue reading here

Rui Hachimura signs with Clippers

From Broderick Turner: Rui Hachimura became the latest Lakers player to move on, agreeing to a two-year, $28-million deal with the Clippers on Monday, people familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times.

Hachimura played at a high level for the Lakers in the playoffs, averaging 17.5 points per game in 10 postseason games, the third-highest average on the team.

He was a lights-out shooter, making 54.9% of his field goals and a sizzling 56.9% of his three-pointers, which ranked him fifth in three-point shooting during the NBA playoffs.

Continue reading here

Adou Thiero sidelined by wrist injury before Lakers win summer league game with Spurs

Sparks are routed by the Storm

From Liana Handler: Forty-nine seconds. That’s all it took for the Seattle Storm’s Flau’jae Johnson to fire off a 27-foot three-point jumper to take the lead. In less than a minute, she sank the Sparks’ hopes of beating one of the worst teams in the WNBA, leaving 39 more minutes for the Sparks to consider just how the team got there.

Johnson, already the main act in Seattle, bolstered her WNBA Rookie of the Year case by scoring 23 points as the Storm defeated the Sparks 82-64 Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Each time the Storm drove down the court, there was Johnson, her ponytail fluttering as she skirted around the arc before driving into the paint, nonchalantly tossing up layups as if it was still shootaround. Not even the relentless defense chants summoned from the Sparks’ MCs stopped her.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1911 — Dorothea Lambert Chambers sets the record for the shortest championship match at Wimbledon — 25 minutes — by disposing of Dora Boothby 6-0, 6-0 in the women’s finals.

1912 — American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics, medal stripped 1913 (played pro baseball), reinstated 1982.

1934 — Elizabeth Ryan teams with Simone Mathiau and wins her record 12th women’s doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating Dorothy Andrus and Sylvia Henrotin 6-3, 6-3.

1953 — Walter Burkemo beats Felice Torza to win the PGA Championship at Birmingham (Mich.) Country Club.

1973 — In the first all-U.S. women’s Wimbledon final, Billie Jean King beats Chris Evert, 6-0, 7-5.

1974 — In Munich, West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win soccer’s World Cup.

1978 — NBA approves franchise swap; Buffalo Braves owner John Y. Brown and Harry Mangurian acquire Boston Celtics, while the Celtics owner Irv Levin gets Braves, later moved to San Diego to become the Clippers.

1980 — Larry Holmes retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round TKO of Scott LeDoux in Bloomington, Minn.

1982 — Steve Scott of the Sub 4 Club sets a United States record in the mile with a time of 3:47.69 in a track meet at Oslo, Norway.

1985 — West Germany’s Boris Becker, 17, becomes the youngest champion and first unseeded player in the history of the men’s singles at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Kevin Curren.

1986 — American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets world heptathlon record of 7,148 points in the inaugural Goodwill Games at Moscow.

1990 — Martina Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon women’s singles championship, beating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1, to break the record she shared with Helen Wills Moody.

1991 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to capture her third Wimbledon women’s title.

1992 — South Africa beats Cameroon 1-0 in Durban in first FIFA sanctioned match after nearly 20 years international isolation, apartheid.

1993 — Tom Burgess tosses three touchdown passes, and Wayne Walker scores twice as Ottawa spoils the debut of the CFL’s first American-based team by beating Sacramento 32-23.

2002 — Juli Inkster matches the lowest final-round score by an Open champion with a 4-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Annika Sorenstam in the U.S. Women’s Open. It’s her seventh major.

2007 — Venus Williams claims her fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli.

2007 — Wladimir Klitschko beats Raymond Brewster with a technical knockout after six rounds, to successfully defend his IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in Cologne, Germany.

2012 — Serena Williams dominates from start to finish, beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to win a fifth championship at the All England Club and 14th major title overall.

2013 — Andy Murray becomes the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final. The last British man to win the Wimbledon title before was Fred Perry in 1936.

2018 — Kristi Toliver scores 18 points to help the Washington Mystics beat the Sparks 83-74 for coach Mike Thibault’s 300th career regular-season win. Thibault becomes the first WNBA coach to reach that milestone.

2019 — U.S. Women’s National Team win their record 4th FIFA Women’s World Cup title with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands.

2021 — The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup and third overall. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is named Finals MVP.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1923 — Lefty O’Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, gave up 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 27-3. In 1928, he was to return to the majors as a great hitting outfielder.

1936 — The NL won its first All-Star game 4-3 at Braves Field in Boston.

1937 — Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 8-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game at Washington’s Griffith Stadium. In attendance was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1959 — At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two All-Star games played that season went to the NL, 5-4. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays.

1964 — The NL beat the AL 7-4 in the All-Star game on Johnny Callison’s two-out, three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York’s Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17-17-1) for the first time since the series began.

1998 — Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter’s haven as the American League beat the Nationals 13-8 at Coors Field in the highest-scoring All-Star game in major league history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL’s 11-9 win in 1954.

2006 — Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break when he connected in the second inning of a 9-0 win over Baltimore.

2009 — Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado’s 5-4 victory over Washington without throwing a pitch. He entered with two out in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. It was the first time a major leaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003.

2011 — Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run shot and Boston added three consecutive home runs in the seventh in a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Six Boston players homered, including the three straight by David Ortiz, Josh Reddick and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

2011 — A Texas Rangers fan died after falling about 20 feet onto concrete reaching out for a baseball tossed his way by All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton during a game. Shannon Stone, 39, was at the game with his young son, who watched as his dad tumbled over the outfield railing after catching the ball. The accident happened in the second inning after Oakland’s Conor Jackson hit a foul ball. Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands as players routinely do.

2016 — Colorado’s Trevor Story tied an NL rookie record for most home runs before the All-Star break, homering twice and boosting his total to 21 as the Rockies beat Philadelphia 11-2.

2018 — Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 18-4. Reynolds (5 for 5) tied his career high for hits and equaled the Nationals’ RBI record.

2021 — In what has clearly been the “Year of the No-Hitter,″ five Rays pitchers combine to pitch one against the Indians in the second game of a doubleheader that goes seven innings.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s time to begin a weekly look at players to watch by position in Southern California high school football. First up is quarterback.

QBs to watch

Junior quarterback Chase Curren of Crespi.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

The Class of 2029 might be the best class to get excited about for this coming season, though there’s plenty of quarterbacks from every class to single out.

Seniors already committed include Huntington Beach’s Brady Edmunds (Ohio State), Corona Centennial’s Jaden Jefferson (Hawaii), Palos Verdes’ Ryan Rakowski (Nevada), Oxnard Pacifica’s Taylor Lee (Portland State), Chaparral’s Dane Weber (Cal) and Carson’s Chris Fields III (Georgetown). Laguna Beach’s Jack Hurst is coming off a season in which he threw for 45 touchdowns. Matthew Smith transferred from Villa Park to Santa Margarita and is committed to Vanderbilt. Caden Jones of Crean Lutheran is committed to Arizona.

DJ Mitchell from La Habra is a dual threat quarterback. Michael Gonzalez of South Gate passed for 3,842 yards and 41 touchdowns last season.

Among the juniors with great resumes are St. John Bosco’s Koa Malau’ulu, Mater Dei’s Russell Sekona, a transfer from Leuzinger, Crespi’s Chase Curren, St. Bonaventure’s Jaxson Carper, Star Thomas of Orange, Ayden Edwards of Tustin and Vista del Lago’s Josiah Dupree-Boyd. Talon Spencer of Capistrano Valley had 21 touchdown passes and 11 touchdown runs as a sophomore. Treyvone Towns of Rancho Cucamoga gets a restart after leaving Oaks Christian last season.

Quarterback Evan McCalister of Valencia is part of an outstanding class of 2029 quarterbacks.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Then there’s the sophomores who made memorable first impressions as freshmen. Let’s see how much they develop. The group is led by Thaddeus Breaux of Hamilton, Ford Green of Westlake, Marcus Washington of Cajon, Ezrah Brown of Orange Lutheran, Steven Moore of La Sierra, Levi Dean of Vista Murrieta, Jonah Tuaniga of Long Beach Millikan, Evan McCalister of Valencia and Jeremy Melialieu of Chaminade.

Edison passing tournament

The Edison Battle at the Beach passing tournament is set for Saturday at Edison High. It’s like a who’s who of top players and teams. Five of the six Trinity League teams are participating, with only Mater Dei not entered.

Also competing is Cathedral Catholic, which might be the best team in San Diego.

Here’s a tournament preview.

MLB Futures Game

The All-Star Futures game is set for Sunday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and Corona High fans will get to see pitcher Seth Hernandez represent the Pirates.

Also selected were Ralphy Velazquez from Huntington Beach, Mason McGwire from Capistrano Valley, Josiah Hartshorn from Orange Lutheran, Anthony Eyanson from Lakewood. Here’s the complete roster.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (Harvard-Westlake), Freddie Freeman (El Modena) and Paul Skenes (El Toro) were chosen for the MLB All-Star game.

Notes . . .

Tim Cunningham, a character actor from the 1980s hit TV series “Cheers,” still makes them laugh coaching baseball at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Tim Cunningham, a much beloved former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame assistant baseball coach who spent 11 years acting as a bar patron on the 1980s hit sitcom “Cheers,” died Friday in South Carolina. He was 80. He had humor, loved to read and loved baseball. His earliest coaching was serving as an assistant for the Northridge Little League team that included son Matt and finished second at the 1994 World Series.

In 2003, as head coach at Harvard-Westlake, he was The Times’ coach of the year, guiding his team to runner-up in Division 3. The Wolverines lost to Crespi 1-0. Future major leaguer Trevor Plouffe pitched for Crespi. Harvad-Westlake had a pitcher, Jason Gluson, who barely hit 80 mph. Glushon went on to become a sports agent.

Notre Dame will hold a celebration of his life at a later date, coach Tom Dill said. He is survived by his wife, Pat, son Matt, daughter Elizabeth and several grandchildren.

Former Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly has joined the coaching staff at Corona High. Here’s the report.…

Orange Lutheran grad CJ Weinstein, a standout second baseman, has changed his commitment from LSU to UCLA….

Jardiel Ochoa is the new baseball coach at Sun Valley Poly….

Defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou of Sierra Canyon has committed to Ohio State….

Former San Juan Hills linebacker Weston Port has committed to Michigan. He previously was committed to UCLA, went on his two-year Mormon Mission and will return next year to enroll at Michigan….

Receiver Eli Woodard of Chaparral has committed to Miami….

Defensive back Myles Baker of Sierra Canyon has changed his commitment from Cal to UCLA….

DeAnthony Wiley has resigned as girls basketball coach at Buena Park….

The new baseball coach at UC Riverside is Greg Wallis, a Chatsworth High graduate….

Brandon Granger of St. Bernard has committed to UC San Diego for basketball….

Vince Nolasco is returning to Salesian as athletic director. He previously was at St. Anthony….

From the archives: Kurt Stillwell

Kurt Stillwell was the No. 2 player taken in the 1983 MLB amateur draft out of Thousand Oaks High by the Cincinnati Reds as a shortstop. His father, Ron, was Thousand Oaks’ head coach. Kurt had a nine-year MLB career.

Now he works for agent Scott Boras, who was his agent in 1983 when he signed for $135,000, tops in the draft. Roger Clemens was taken No. 4 by the Red Sox and signed for $121,000. After his playing days, Stillwell became a fishing guide before joining the Boras Corporation.

Here’s a story from 1992 explaining Stillwell’s easy-going personality.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the return of JuJu Watkins to USC basketball practice.

From Burlinson on basketball, a story on the competition in Nevada and Rocklin.

From Texashsfootball.com, a story on transfers in high school football.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

FIFA rescinds Folarin Balogun’s red card punishment

From Kevin Baxter: FIFA made a dramatic discipline change for just the second time in its history, clearing the way for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun to play in Monday’s elimination game with Belgium.

The rare move drew celebration from the U.S. players who felt Balogun’s red card was unjust and drew outrage from the Belgium team and others protective of the integrity of the laws of soccer.

FIFA, the global governing body for soccer and the organizer of the World Cup, announced Sunday morning that the one-game suspension given to Balogun for a dangerous challenge that could have injured an opponent in last week’s win over Bosnia-Herzegovina would be held in abeyance, making him eligible to play in what is arguably the team’s most important game in at least a generation.

It was the first time FIFA has rescinded a red-card suspension during a World Cup in 64 years.

The Belgium team immediately protested the decision, with the country’s soccer federation saying it was “astonished” by the ruling and was “investigating all potential options” to block it and “safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair in our sport.”

It was unclear what those options might be.

Continue reading here

Mexico eliminated by England

Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane carried England to the World Cup quarterfinals, overcoming a raucous crowd, the elevation of Estadio Azteca and a man disadvantage in the second half to beat Mexico in a 3-2 thriller on Sunday night.

Bellingham scored two goals 98 seconds apart in the first half, and six minutes after Jarell Quansah was sent off, Kane converted a penalty to restore England’s two-goal lead.

England moves on to face Norway on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Fla., for a spot in the semifinals.

Continue reading here

Monday’s World Cup results

Round of 16
Norway 2, Brazil 1
England 3, Mexico 2

Today’s World Cup TV schedule

All times Pacific
Noon, Spain vs. Portugal, Fox, Telemundo
5 p.m., U.S. vs. Belgium, Fox, Telemundo

World Cup round of 16 schedule, results

Round of 16 results
Morocco 3, Canada 0
France 1, Paraguay 0
Norway 2, Brazil 1
England 3, Mexico 2

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Monday
Portugal vs. Spain, noon
U.S. vs. Belgium, 5 p.m.

Tuesday
Argentina vs. Egypt, 9 a.m.
Switzerland vs. Colombia, 1 p.m.

Quarterfinals schedule

All times Pacific
All games on Fox and Telemundo

Thursday
France vs. Morocco, 1 p.m.

Friday
U.S. or Belgium vs. Portugal or Spain, noon

Saturday
Norway vs. England, 2 p.m.
Switzerland or Colombia vs. Argentina or Egypt, 6 p.m.

Emotional day for Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo

From Liana Handler: As the announcer called out his name in the lineup, Eliezer Alfonzo hugged fellow Venezuelan Miguel Rojas before the catcher walked down the dugout to greet his teammates and coaches. The two had written messages on their caps in silver ink: On Alfonzo’s, “EyP, RIP,” the initials of his stepmother Patricia and his younger sister Eliana. On Rojas’, a cross was drawn next to “Alfonzo” and below “Fuerza Matatan.” In other words, stay strong, Matatan, the nickname given to Alfonzo’s father, the former major league catcher Eliezer “El Matatán” Alfonzo.

An unimaginable weight rested on his shoulders when Alfonzo stepped into the batter’s box to a standing ovation. Alfonzo’s stepmother and sister were reportedly found dead after the earthquakes in Venezuela last month.

Alfonzo went 0-for-2 in an otherwise quiet Dodgers 5-2 loss to the Padres, though even in that performance, he found moments to reflect. His sister, he said after the game, had a dream that she refused to tell him until it came true.

“I’m pretty sure the dream was something about this. I wish she was alive to watch me play in the big leagues,” Alfonzo said. “But I know she’s in God’s side now, and she’s gonna protect me, and she’s gonna enjoy every moment that I’m gonna have.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers’ Edwin Díaz pushes back against alleged links to illegal cockfighting

Dodgers’ Eliezer Alfonzo to start after his sister and stepmother died in Venezuela

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose sixth in a row

Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras homered, and five Boston pitchers combined to give up two runs over 6⅓ innings in relief of injured starter Ranger Suarez to lead the Red Sox to a 7-5 win over the Angels on Sunday night.

Boston’s eighth victory in 10 games completed a three-game sweep of the Angels, who have lost six straight and 12 of 19 since June 14.

Suarez, named to the American League All-Star team Saturday, exited with two outs in the third because of left adductor tightness, an injury he sustained when he jumped for Jo Adell’s chopper over the mound.

The left-hander was followed by Greg Weissert (1-2), Tyron Guerrero and Garrett Whitlock, who combined for 4⅓ hitless innings. Justin Slaten gave up a run in the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman gave up a solo homer to Zach Neto in the ninth before earning his 18th save.

Continue reading here

Pikachu magic: how a tiny Pokémon powered Zach Neto and the Angels in June

Angels box score

MLB standings

Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr are a good team

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: At 22 years old, Adou Thiero can barely believe he’s fielding the questions meant for veterans. This is still the Lakers forward’s first summer league after all.

The former second-round pick is suddenly one of the Lakers’ primary summer league players and hopes to use the experience as an important stepping stone, building up his game while also establishing a leadership voice.

Thiero, who missed last year’s summer league because of a knee injury, had 13 points in the Lakers’ thrilling, 93-91 double-overtime win over the Miami Heat on Sunday at Chase Center. Instead of his NBA role as a defensive spark plug who adds a jolt of athleticism off the bench, Thiero showed his unselfish playmaking Sunday while working with rookie Cameron Carr, who had 26 points and eight rebounds on four-of-nine three-point shooting.

Thiero, a 6-foot-7 forward, ignited the offense down the stretch Sunday. He is a threat to drive to the rim, and when combined with Carr’s shooting ability, the two-man game creates confusion for defenses, Lakers summer league coach Ty Abbott said.

Continue reading here

Pavel Mintyukov signs contract extension with Ducks

Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has agreed to five-year contract extension worth $36 million with the Ducks, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Ducks didn’t announce the financial terms of their deal through the 2030-31 season with the 22-year-old Mintyukov. The promising Russian blueliner was a restricted free agent this summer after recording 17 goals and 52 assists over 204 games in his first three NHL seasons.

The Ducks belatedly got this pricier-than-expected deal done with one of their most important young players only two days after they blundered into a precarious situation with their cornerstone center.

Leo Carlsson signed a five-year, $90-million offer sheet with Philadelphia last Friday, which means the 21-year-old Swede is likely to be the NHL’s highest-paid player next season for the Flyers or for the Ducks, who can match the offer or receive four first-round draft picks as compensation. Anaheim must decide by Friday.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1887 — Lottie Dod of Britain, 15, becomes the youngest woman to win the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon, defeating Blanch Bingley 6-2, 6-0.

1957 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black person to win a title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club by beating Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2 in the women’s singles title match.

1968 — Billie Jean King wins her third consecutive women’s singles title at Wimbledon by beating Australia’s Judy Tegart 9-7, 7-5.

1975 — Ruffian, an undefeated filly, and Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure compete in a match race. Ruffian, racing on the lead, sustains a severe leg injury and is pulled up by jockey Jacinto Vasquez. She is humanely destroyed the following day.

1994 — Leroy Burrell breaks the world record in the 100 meters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Burrell’s time of 9.85 seconds betters Carl Lewis’ 9.86 clocking set in the 1991 World Championships.

1996 — Steffi Graf beats Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-3, 7-5 in the Wimbledon final for the German star’s 20th Grand Slam title and 100th tournament victory.

1997 — Pete Sampras wins the fourth Wimbledon title and 10th Grand Slam title of his career, easily defeating Frenchmen Cedric Pioline 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

1998 — Twenty-year-old Se Ri Pak becomes the youngest U.S. Women’s Open champion after hitting an 18-foot birdie on the 20th extra hole to beat amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn in the longest Women’s Open in history.

2000 — Venus Williams beats her younger sister Serena 6-2, 7-6 (3) to reach the Wimbledon final. Their singles match is the first between sisters in a Grand Slam semifinal.

2003 — Martina Navratilova claims her 20th all-time Wimbledon title as she and Leander Paes beat Andy Ram and Anastassia Rodionova 6-3, 6-3 in the mixed doubles final.

2008 — Rafael Nadal ends Roger Federer’s bid to become the first man since the 1880s to win a sixth consecutive championship at the All England Club. Two points from victory, the No. 1-ranked Federer succumbs to No. 2 Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 in a 4-hour, 48-minute test of wills that’s the longest men’s final in Wimbledon history — and quite possibly the greatest.

2013 — Twin brothers Mike and Bob Bryan capture their fourth straight major with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo at Wimbledon. The Americans become the first men’s team in Open-era tennis to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.

2013 — Jimmie Johnson becomes the first driver in 31 years to sweep Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona 500 winner is the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982, and the fifth overall, to win both races in a season at Daytona.

2014 — Novak Djokovic wins his second Wimbledon title and denies Roger Federer his record eighth by holding off the Swiss star in five sets. Djokovic wastes a 5-2 lead in the fourth set but holds on for a 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 victory.

2014 — Florida teen Kaylin Whitney breaks the world junior record by running the 200 meters in 22.49 seconds at the U.S. junior national track and field championships in Eugene, Ore. The 16-year-old Whitney broke the world 17-and-under mark of 22.58 set by Marion Jones in 1992.

2015 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. is stripped of his WBO welterweight boxing title after failing to pay $200,000 sanctioning fee and vacate his two junior middleweight titles.

2016 — Roger Federer’s bid for a record eighth Wimbledon title remains alive after he comes from two sets down and saves three match points before overcoming Marin Cilic in five sets, advancing to the semifinals at the All England Club for the 11th time. It’s the 10th time in Federer’s career he erases a two-set deficit to win in five sets. This is also his 80th match win at Wimbledon, equaling Jimmy Connors’ record.

2019 — Jorge Masvidal sets a UFC record with a KO of Ben Askren five seconds into their bout in Las Vegas.

2019 — The Clippers acquire two NBA megastars in one day; Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard from Toronto in free agency, and Paul George from Oklahoma City for an unprecedented trade bounty of players and picks.

2020 — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes agrees to the largest contract for an athlete in sports history, inking a 12-year deal that could end up being worth $503 million.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1929 — The St. Louis Cardinals scored 10 runs in the first and fifth innings in beating the Philadelphia Phillies, 28-6, in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cardinals had 28 hits and set an NL record with the 28 runs.

1933 — The first major league All-Star game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The AL, managed by Connie Mack, defeated the NL, managed by John McGraw, 4-2 on Babe Ruth’s two-run homer.

1938 — Johnny Vander Meer, Bill Lee and Mace Brown combined to limit the AL to one run and seven hits as the NL won the All-Star game 4-1 at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Lefty Gomez of the New York Yankees suffered his first defeat in four All-Star starts.

1942 — The AL beat the NL 3-1 in the All-Star game at the Polo Grounds in New York on first-inning home runs by Lou Boudreau of the Cleveland Indians and Rudy York of the Detroit Tigers. York’s shot came with a man on base.

1949 — Walker Cooper of Cincinnati went 6-for-7, including three home runs and drove in 10 runs, against Chicago at Crosley Field. Cooper also had three singles and scored five times to lead the Reds to a 23-4 rout of the Cubs.

1966 — Boog Powell of the Baltimore Orioles knocked in 11 runs in a doubleheader against the Kansas City A’s to tie an AL record. In the first game, Powell hit two home runs, including a grand slam, two doubles and a sacrifice fly to drive in seven runs as the Orioles won 11-0. Powell had four RBIs in the nightcap.

1983 — On the 50th anniversary of the All-Star game, Fred Lynn’s grand slam off Atlee Hammaker, the first in All-Star competition, capped a record seven-run third inning. The AL also set a record for runs scored in a 13-3 victory that ended an 11-game NL winning streak. Chicago’s Comiskey Park was the site, as it was for the first All-Star game in 1933.

1986 — Atlanta’s Bob Horner became the 11th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a game and it still wasn’t enough to win. The Montreal Expos pounded the Braves’ pitching staff for an 11-8 victory.

2000 — Keith McDonald of the St. Louis Cardinals became the second player in major league history to homer in his first two at-bats, connecting in the second inning of a 12-6 loss to Cincinnati.

2005 — Florida pitchers retired 28 consecutive batters from the third inning on and set a team record with 22 strikeouts in a 12-inning, 5-4 victory over Milwaukee. A.J. Burnett matched his career high and the club record with 14 strikeouts in six innings.

2007 — Justin Morneau homered three times in the second game of a doubleheader to help Minnesota sweep Chicago 20-14 and 12-0. The Twins won the opener behind Jason Kubel’s seven RBIs.

2009 — Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs each had two-run shots during a 10-run first inning, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rout the Cincinnati Reds 22-1.

2010 — Alex Rodriguez hit the 21st grand slam of his career and adds a solo home run to bring his career total to 597.

2016 — The Orioles and the Dodgers combine for 36 strikeouts in a 14 inning game at Dodger Stadium.

2017 — With two hits in a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals, Florida Marlins Ichiro Suzuki become the all-time leader for hits by a player born outside the United States with 3,054, passing Rod Carew.

2022 — Aaron Judge hits his 30th homer of the year, a grand slam, in the Yankees’ 16-0 demolition of the Pirates. He is the fourth Yankees hitter to reach the mark before the All-Star Game, following Roger Maris in 1961, Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and himself in 2017.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

In 2012, when Mark Walter and his partners bought the Dodgers, team president Stan Kasten declared mediocrity would no longer be acceptable.

Would the Dodgers improve their minor league system? Yes. Would the Dodgers improve their major league roster? Also yes. Would spending in one area preclude spending in another? Absolutely not.

“These fans expect and deserve a team that can win,” Kasten said then.

So do Angels fans. For the first time this decade, with the arrival of John Mozeliak as interim general manager, they have legitimate hope.

Mozeliak, whose St. Louis Cardinals teams reached the playoffs more often than not in his 18 years running baseball operations there, is here to end baseball’s longest postseason drought, or at least steer the Angels in that direction.

At first, I was shocked to hear him say he does not believe the Angels need to rebuild. Under owner Arte Moreno, the Angels have resisted rebuilding, preferring to add lower-tier free agents and rush college players to the major leagues in an effort to field a competitive roster. That has failed: For the first time in franchise history, the Angels could finish in last place for a third consecutive season.

But, when Mozeliak and I sat down in the Angels’ dugout the other day, he explained that the path forward in Anaheim should not be tanking. It should be acting like the major-market team the Angels are — and were, during Moreno’s first decade of ownership.

“The one thing you have to realize about the Los Angeles Angels is: they do have resources,” Mozeliak said. “From Mr. Moreno to the market size, this is a place that could be a very, very special place.”

In Moreno’s first decade, under Bill Stoneman and Mike Scioscia, the Angels were a player development machine. In 2003, in his first winter as owner, Moreno signed the best position player on the free-agent market in Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero and the best pitcher on the market in four-time All-Star Bartolo Colon.

The questions Mozeliak asks and answers now are the same ones Kasten did with the Dodgers. Can the team deploy resources to upgrade scouting and player development? Yes. Can the team do the same with the major league roster? Also yes.

“There are many franchises in the game of baseball that cannot do that,” Mozeliak said. “They have trade-offs. They have to make a decision: If I’m going to give you $20 million for your infrastructure, that’s $20 million less for your payroll.

“This place is different.”

The Dodgers parallel only goes so far. Walter and Kasten inherited a core of Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Mozeliak will work with Mike Trout and a long-touted “young core” that has shown by now it is not the foundation of a championship-caliber team.

No one expects Moreno to spend like the Dodgers do (and even Walter’s fellow owners want a salary cap in an attempt to stop the Dodgers). Yet, in St. Louis, Mozeliak built winners without the Cardinals owners ever paying a luxury tax.

The first step in revitalizing the Angels comes Saturday, in the draft.

“We’re going to take the best available player,” Mozeliak said.

Mozeliak said he is not interested in two recent Angels trends: paying less to a first-round pick in order to spread the savings around longer shots in the lower rounds, or targeting a polished college player in part because he could get to Anaheim in a hurry.

“I’m not wedded to a high school player or a college player,” Mozeliak said. “I want the best player.”

The second item on the agenda: the Aug. 3 trade deadline, which would afford Mozeliak the opportunity to collect prospects for such players as pitcher Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano and outfielder Jo Adell.

In 2020, Moreno nixed a trade that would have brought Andy Pages – then a Dodgers prospect, now an All-Star – to the Angels.

In 2023 and 2024, Moreno rebuffed trade offers for Shohei Ohtani that could have returned the likes of Junior Caminero or Jackson Merrill. No player of that caliber would be coming in return for what the Angels have to offer now.

Mozeliak said the Angels should not consider a trade proposal in isolation, without considering how to flex their major-market muscles to fill whatever hole a trade might create.

“If we understand what we’re doing today can help make us stronger tomorrow, and then look at potentially what we could do on the free-agent market,” he said, “that should be something we are doing in parallel thinking.”

Mozeliak said he does not believe any player should be untouchable. As if on cue, Trout walked by.

Trade Trout? That’s not happening, right?

“That’s not happening,” Mozeliak said.

In his hours of conversations with Moreno, Mozeliak said, the topic of whether the owner might sell the team “never came up.”

Does Moreno appear interested in staying for the long haul?

“Absolutely,” Mozeliak said.

Mozeliak said he had presented Angels President Molly Jolly with a 100-day plan for what the team calls a consulting role: run baseball operations on an interim basis; do a deep dive into how the Angels do things now and how they can do them better; recommend a new general manager. Maybe he stays in that role, or in a supporting role, or he simply leaves when his contract expires in December.

“I’m certainly confident in what we need to do, and I’m certainly confident this is a market that could be amazing,” he said. “It’s exciting times for me. I’m energized.

“I’m smart enough to know that one person cannot change everything. But one person can begin change, and that’s what I’m going to start to do.”

Distinguished executives, including the likes of Dave Dombrowski and Andrew Friedman, have wanted no part of the Angels. Then again, Mozeliak is only committed for six months. If Moreno does not do what Mozeliak believes should be done, and if Mozeliak is not allowed to begin that change, he can just walk away.

“I think I have that authority,” Mozeliak said, “and I think he understands that he can embrace change, because that is what is going to be required.”

Based on Moreno telling you that?

“Yes,” Mozeliak said.

The last time the Angels hired an experienced general manager from outside the organization: 35 years ago, when they also looked to St. Louis for Whitey Herzog. That didn’t work. Herzog won a power struggle in the front office, then quit anyway, amid disputes with ownership.

This might work, or might not. But think back to 2020, when then-Angels president John Carpino said this: “Obviously, we’re not doing it the right way. We’re not winning games. So something is not right in our organization.”

Carpino retired in April, without ever explaining what was not right in the organization or, based on the standings, repairing it.

Jolly replaced him and, within two months, secured Moreno’s approval to hire the architect of a World Series championship team to figure out what was not right in the organization, and to fix it.

In one bold step, the Angels admitted they had a problem and set out a path to remedy it. With three months to go in this wretched season, the MVP of the 2026 Angels is abundantly clear: Molly Jolly.

Defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has agreed to five-year contract extension worth $36 million with the Ducks, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Ducks didn’t announce the financial terms of their deal through the 2030-31 season with the 22-year-old Mintyukov. The promising Russian blueliner was a restricted free agent this summer after recording 17 goals and 52 assists over 204 games in his first three NHL seasons.

The Ducks belatedly got this pricier-than-expected deal done with one of their most important young players only two days after they blundered into a precarious situation with their cornerstone center.

Leo Carlsson signed a five-year, $90-million offer sheet with Philadelphia last Friday, which means the 21-year-old Swede is likely to be the NHL’s highest-paid player next season for the Flyers or for the Ducks, who can match the offer or receive four first-round draft picks as compensation. Anaheim must decide by Friday.

Either way, the development is a public embarrassment for Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, whose antagonistic, foot-dragging attitude in negotiations with his young core finally cost him dearly.

Either he will lose one of the NHL’s top young centers, or Carlsson will eat up much more of his salary cap room than would have been necessary if Verbeek had done a deal at any point in the past year. Carlsson’s front-loaded, $18-million-per-year offer from the Flyers is much more than he was expected to receive, and more than Carlsson had already said he would accept.

Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale all held out in recent years when Verbeek’s hardline tactics dragged the negotiations into training camp — and while they all eventually signed, Verbeek has since traded all three young players.

Mintyukov’s deal was worth more than he was expected to get by most NHL observers, but the Ducks didn’t say whether another team had signed Mintyukov to an offer sheet. No NHL team immediately announced it had used the same tactic with Mintyukov that Flyers general manager Daniel Briere is using to attempt to sign Carlsson.

Verbeek also must still sign breakout star Cutter Gauthier, who scored 41 goals for the Ducks last season before reaching restricted free agency.

Anaheim still has enough cap room to do a deal with Gauthier, who isn’t eligible to receive an offer sheet from another team. But the combined size of these now-inflated deals for Mintyukov, Gauthier and likely Carlsson means Verbeek won’t have any room to make additional improvements to his roster, and will almost certainly have to offload salary.

Verbeek also has lost four key defensemen — captain Radko Gudas, Jacob Trouba, John Carlson and Olen Zellweger — in the past month while adding only journeyman Nick Jensen as a probable replacement.

Verbeek’s mistakes have dampened the good feelings coming off an impressive season by the Ducks, who ended their seven-year playoff drought and then eliminated the back-to-back Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round with an exciting young core under coach Joel Quenneville.

Mintyukov was the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft. While he has the potential to become an elite two-way defenseman, he hasn’t yet developed the consistency or the scoring acumen to match the size of his contract extension.

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.