team

Dodgers beat the Padres

From Maddie Lee: Andy Pages’ game-winning at-bat was one of the “greatest” teammate Freddie Freeman has ever seen in person. Manager Dave Roberts commended his “will and determination.” Even Padres closer Mason Miller, the pitcher on the other side, tipped his cap: “Outstanding job by him.”

The Dodgers’ 5-4 comeback victory was sealed with a nine-pitch battle between Pages and Miller. And the Dodgers’ young All-Star candidate beat the best closer in baseball.

“I never thought he was going to strike me out or dominate me,” Pages said through an interpreter. “I was 100% certain I was going to move the ball forward.”

Forward and in the air to right field for the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

The Dodgers (30-19) evened the series, pulled back into the top spot in the division standings, and handed Miller his first loss as a Padre.

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Shaikin: Pitching injuries are piling up again for Dodgers. Can the starting rotation hold up?

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels walloped by the Athletics

Nick Kurtz had three hits and five RBIs, Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Athletics beat the Angels 14-6 on Tuesday night.

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

Kurtz, the reigning American League rookie of the year, sparked a six-run third inning with an RBI single, keyed a two-run sixth with a two-run single and added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

Reliever Justin Sterner (2-3) escaped a first-and-third, two-out jam in the fourth and earned the win for the AL West-leading A’s, who snapped a three-game skid.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Billie Jean King graduates

From Steve Henson: Long before Billie Jean King won dozens of Grand Slam tennis titles, founded the Women’s Tennis Assn., became part owner of the Dodgers and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she enrolled in what was then called Los Angeles State College.

Three years later in 1964, King left without a degree to devote full attention to her burgeoning tennis career.

Failing to earn the degree bothered her, and King would correct anyone who said she had graduated.

“I said, ‘Don’t ever say ‘graduated.’ I haven’t earned it — yet,’” she said.

“Yet” became a reality Monday when King, 82, received her bachelor’s degree in history from the same school she attended more than 60 years ago — now called Cal State Los Angeles — walking across the Shrine Auditorium stage with the rest of the Class of 2026.

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This day in sports history

1897 — British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Liverpool GC: English amateur Harold Hilton wins 2nd Open title by 1 stroke from Scot James Braid.

1900 — The second modern Olympic games open in Paris.

1941 — Ten days after his Preakness victory, Whirlaway races against older horses for the first time and defeats four rivals in the Henry of Navarre Purse at Belmont Park in New York.

1950 — Heavily favored Hill Prince, ridden by Bill Boland, wins the Preakness Stakes by five lengths over Middleground.

1964 — Buster Mathis beats future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazer on points at trials in Flushing, NY to qualify for US Olympic boxing team; Mathis injures thumb, replaced by Frazier who wins gold medal.

1967 — Damascus, ridden by Willie Shoemaker, wins the Preakness Stakes by 2¼ lengths over In Reality.

1972 — Bee Bee Bee, a 19-1 long shot ridden by Eldon Nelson, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1½ lengths over No Le Hace.

1972 — Indiana’s Roger Brown scores 32 points to lead the Pacers to 108-105 to win over the New York Nets and the ABA championship.

1978 — Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, continues the battle with Alydar and wins the Preakness Stakes by a neck.

1983 — American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

1985 — Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1990 — Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf’s 66-match winning streak and takes the German Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Graf’s streak is the second longest in the modern era of tennis. Martina Navratilova won 74 straight matches in 1984.

1990 — The 18th triple dead heat in modern thoroughbred history takes place in the ninth race at Arlington International Racecourse. All Worked Up, Marshua’s Affair and Survival are timed in 1:24 4-5 over seven furlongs.

1991 — Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan is named NBA’s MVP.

1992 — 36th European Cup: Barcelona beats Sampdoria 1-0 at London.

1998 — 6th UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid beats Juventus 1-0 at Amsterdam.

2000 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (78,217): Chelsea beats Aston Villa, 1-0; Roberto Di Matteo scores 73′ winner.

2005 — Nextel Cup rookie Kyle Busch becomes the youngest winner in Craftsman Truck Series history, holding off Terry Cook and Ted Musgrave in a three-lap closing sprint at the Quaker Steak & Lube 200.

2006 — Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro breaks down at the start of the Preakness, galloping a few hundred yards while his eight rivals pass him. Bernardini wins the $1 million race, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1-4 lengths.

2007 — Roger Federer ends Rafael Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win in the final of the Hamburg Masters. It’s Federer’s first clay-court title in two years.

2015 — NASCAR 2016 Hall of Fame inductees: Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte and Jerry Cook.

2017 — Cloud Computing, ridden by Javier Castellano, runs down Classic Empire in the final strides to win the Preakness by a head. The 13-1 long shot runs 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.98 and pays $28.80 to win. Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire duel throughout most of the race before Classic Empire jumps in front midway on the far turn.

2018 — Sweden beats Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout for the gold medal at the world ice hockey championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.

2018 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G &CC: Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez wins by 3 from American trio Joe Durant, Steve Stricker & Gene Sauers.

2018 — The Vegas Golden Knights punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final beating the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on the road to win the Western Conference finals 4-1. The Golden Knights become the second expansion team in the NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB since 1960 to reach a championship series in their first season. The other team was the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1919 — Babe Ruth won a game on the mound and at the plate. He hit his first career grand slam as the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 6-4.

1925 — The Cleveland Indians scored six runs in the last of the ninth to beat the New York Yankees 10-9. Tris Speaker scored the winning run from first on a single.

1932 — Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four doubles in one game.

1941 — Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox won his 20th consecutive game at home, the longest home park streak in the major leagues. Boston beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2.

1947 — The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves 4-3 in a game that featured 22 hits — all singles. The Pirates had 12 singles, the Braves 10.

1948 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hits for the cycle and collects six RBI in a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. DiMaggio hits two home runs, a triple, a double and a single, and narrowly misses another extra-base hit when Chicago left fielder Ralph Hodgin makes a spectacular catch at the wall.

1953 — In the 13th game of the season, the Milwaukee Braves surpassed their 1952 attendance of 281,278, when they were in Boston.

1959 — The Detroit Tigers beat the Yankees, 13-6, to place New York in last place for the first time in 19 years.

1962 — Chicago Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs had eight singles in eight trips to the plate. The Cubs swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 and 11-2.

1978 — Willie Stargell hit a 535-foot homer off Montreal’s Wayne Twitchell — the longest home run in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium — to highlight the Pirates’ 6-0 victory. It was also Stargell’s 407th career homer, tying him with Duke Snider on the career list.

1983 — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton passes Walter Johnson to move into second place on the all-time strikeout list. Carlton’s four strikeouts put him at 3,511, just 10 behind Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros.

1984 — Boston’s Roger Clemens earned his first major league victory. The Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4.

1988 — Mike Schmidt belts the 535th home run of his career during 1st inning off Padres starting pitcher Andy Hawkins, moving Schmidt past Jimmie Foxx into sole possession of 8th place on the all-time home run list.

1991 — Jeff Reardon got his 300th save and Steve Lyons and Jack Clark homered as the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0.

1999 — Robin Ventura became the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep over Milwaukee, 11-10 and 10-1. He had two slams in a game for the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 4, 1995.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit two homers in the San Francisco Giants’ 11-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, giving him a total of five in two games, becoming the 23rd player in history to do so.

2006 — Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth for second place on the career home run list during San Francisco’s 4-2, 10-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics.

2009 — Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury tied a major league record with 12 putouts by an outfielder in a nine-inning game, previously done by Earl Clark of the Boston Braves in 1929 and Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins in 1977. He accomplished the feat in the Red Sox’s 8-3 win over Toronto.

2009 — Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit consecutive home runs for the New York Yankees in an 11-4 victory over Baltimore. All three solo shots to right field came in the second inning off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie — with two strikes.

2011 — The Chicago Cubs make their first visit to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series.

2018 — Rookie Jordan Hicks of the Cardinals ties Aroldis Chapman’s record for the fastest pitch ever recorded by pumping a couple of fastballs at 105 mph while facing Odubel Herrera of the Phillies. The first one goes for a ball, and Herrera manages to foul off the second before striking out on a pitched timed at 103.7 mph.

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.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater was about to debut its first new production in 45 years, and it was uncertain whether one of the show’s signature new puppets would even work. A pelican, with an oversized bucket-like beak, was in need of last-minute maintenance.

This gangly bird, designed to hop, skip, soar and sing to Clarence Henry’s mid-’50s rhythm and blues hit “Ain’t Got No Home,” was supposed to surprise the audience, as its elongated bill is actually hiding a frog. Getting the pelican-frog duo to perform in unison was a feat of mechanical artistry for the team, not to mention the choreography needed by the puppeteer.

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And in the minutes before showtime, director Alex Evans was trying to stay calm. In such moments, he would say later, he only need remind himself of an old adage in the puppet arts.

“Puppets,” he says, “break all the time.”

With that, he was ready to embrace the unknown.

“I always say I love the chaos of live theater,” Evans says. “We got to believe in this thing.”

“Choo Choo Revue,” the latest in a long line of song-and-dance productions, is arriving at a momentous time for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Just last month the troupe announced its intent to purchase its venue on Highland Park’s York Boulevard for $5 million, doing so as it was gearing up for performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The latter went viral, a fact Evans attributes to many of the first week shows of “Choo Choo Revue” selling out.

An organist plays while people file into the premiere of “Choo Choo Revue” at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

In many ways, “Choo Choo Revue” is a statement piece. Evans, who also serves as co-executive director with Mary Fagot, wants to place the spotlight on the theater’s current crop of artists, fabricators and collaborators. While the show pays tribute in many ways to the theater’s legendary namesake founder, perhaps most notably in its use of his vintage record collection, it’s time, Evans says, for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s next generation to shine.

Evans was instrumental in the decision to shift the team away from the previously announced production of “Arabian Nights,” a project once spearheaded by Baker, who died in 2014. Just ahead of the arrival of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the theater had gone so far as to print an “Arabian Nights” program, and had finished sets and puppets ready to go.

“Choo Choo Revue” is the first new Bob Baker Marionette show since 1981’s “Hooray LA!”

During the forced closure, however, the team began to rethink its future. “It was a deep-breath time to do some internal thinking about who we are and what we want to prioritize,” says Evans, who joined the company in 2007 as a volunteer and became a staffer in 2009.

“The first new show in 40 years — us finishing one of Bob’s shows would have been deeply personal and meaningful, but it would have kept the narrative, internally and externally, that this was one person’s vision,” Evans says. “‘Choo Choo’ is the culmination of so many different ideas and people. It was purposefully about opening the floodgates, that Bob Baker could be more than just the person of Bob Baker.”

It wasn’t a sure thing the Bob Baker Marionette Theater would even reach this milestone. For much of the past decade — since about the death of the theater’s patriarch — the narrative surrounding the theater was one of survival.

In 2019, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater needed a lifeline. Forced out of its edge-of-downtown home of more than 55 years, the beloved troupe with its thousands of handcrafted puppets — a saucy black cat in heels, a fish out of water that can’t help but wiggle — ultimately found a new location in a Highland Park theater, where it signed a 10-year lease.

Then came the pandemic, when the theater relied heavily on community fundraising to cover its rent. California, and Hollywood in particular, has a rich puppetry tradition. Bob Baker Marionette Theater likes to refer to itself as the largest ongoing puppet theater in the U.S. The oldest puppet space in the country resides up north in Oakland at amusement park Children’s Fairyland. And in 2020, Bob Baker found it had many fans, asking at one point to raise $365,000 over the course of a year. It did so in four weeks.

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1. L Castro twirls a marionette. 2. The audience gives a round of applause after the premiere of “Choo Choo Revue.” 3. People stand in line for the premiere of “Choo Choo Revue” at the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. (Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)

Old favorites, including the theater’s famed black cat marionette, make appearances in “Choo Choo Revue.”

But it was the long process of buying its home, namely the belief that it would be in Highland Park to stay, that gave the company the confidence that it could go forward with a new show. The obvious question, of course, is why it took 40 years for a completely fresh Bob Baker experience. Evans gives a long answer, pointing to numerous hurdles, be it the shift in locations, the cost of preserving its historic puppets and collection, as well as just managing priorities.

“It’s not necessarily a financial hurdle,” Evans says, noting “Choo Choo Revue” cost $300,000, with about half of that sum dedicated to the creation of new puppets and scenery.

“I think it was more about priorities,” Evans says. “Like, do we get the staff healthcare first, or do we do a new show first? So we got the staff healthcare. Or do we give the stage better lighting.”

As for how and why the team settled on “Choo Choo Revue” as its first production since 1981’s “Hooray LA!,” Evans says not to overthink it.

“It made me giggle,” he says. “It was a jumping off point to imagination. ‘Choo Choo Revue,’ by name itself, I thought to giggle.”

The show is a fantastical representation of a cross-country train trip, filled with adorable puppet trains.

A meticulously detailed log with windows, for instance, or a car that seems to balance natural, mountainous wonders on its back. They’re colorful playthings, at least until the background scenery starts depicting various locomotive styles. Puppeteers will whisk train cars out into the open, each often housing a fantastical creature — a moose, for instance, who takes a break from knitting to prance around to a rendition of the on-theme traditional blues ditty “Midnight Special.”

Behind it all are tens of thousands of hours of handcrafted proficiency. Each new puppet is a work of art. Take, for instance, a swarm of bats that seemed to glow in the dark (the creatures, created for “Choo Choo Revue,” made their debut during last year’s Halloween season).

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater created more than 100 new puppets for “Choo Choo Revue,” including a pelican hiding a frog in its beak.

Or an intricately detailed cicada band. They’re each playing tiny instruments — one a half-open sardine can, another a stringed matchbook. Their wings deserve a close inspection, as the translucent curved fixtures are inspired by stained glass windows. There are trees that ski, and train whistles with big lips and high heels, modeled after harmony group the Andrews Sisters. Wait till the latter toot off their tops, as each of the 100 new puppets is full of surprises.

“We get a bunch of different artists together, and we all brainstorm,” Evans says of the creation process. “Like, ‘Let’s all think for a second about anthropomorphizing trains.’ We did a series of sketches and showed them to each other. I honestly probably have a thousand different fascinating ideas for train movement.”

On opening night, the crowd claps along to the numbers, cheering with delight at each new piece of whimsy that rolls or soars onto the floor-level stage. And as for the showstopping pelican, the frog erupts out of its beak right on cue, a moment that indeed inspires a round of laughter and childlike awe.

As the imaginary train whisks the puppets around the country, the show manages to build anticipation just by making the crowd wonder what comes next. Say, for instance, a fluffy Sasquatch, or a crooner of a moon in pajamas singing an old-timey lullaby to all the little ones seated cross-legged on the floor.

Puppeteer Ginger Duncan twirls a marionette named Comedy.

Much of “Choo Choo Revue,” like the yawning, serenading moon, is rooted in the music of the past. That was a decision made to ensure the show feels in line with earlier Bob Baker works. Yet Evans says the team is emboldend after Coachella to start tackling more contemporary songs at its Highland Park headquarters. The crowd at the Indio festival, for instance, went wild for the puppets swooning to Ben Platt’s cover of Addison Rae’s hit tune “Diet Pepsi.”

“Honestly, if we had done Coachella last year, it would have pushed ‘Choo Choo’ further,” he says, noting he initially feared pop music could distract. “I didn’t think it could work in a way that wouldn’t throw you out of the show.”

And yet Evans doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. He nearly teared up at the end of the “Choo Choo Revue” premiere, saying the following afternoon that seeing this show come together after multiple years was second only to his 2025 wedding in terms of creating an “overwhelming feeling of pride, love and care.”

“Choo Choo Revue” culminates in a look toward the future. That’s when a sleek, silver, oversized high-speed bullet train arrives on the scene.

It can be read as a metaphor.

While the nonprofit is still seeking donor help — at the premiere, Fagot said the company now has secured $4.7 million toward its $5 million goal of buying the theater and it also hopes to raise an additional $2 million for building upgrades — its future is more secure than it has been at any time over the past decade.

At long last, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater can relax and look toward new horizons.

Evans, for instance, can’t help himself excitedly tease a potential next Bob Baker show. He says twice in the interview that the Olympics are on the troupe’s mind.

“We’ve got two years,” he says. And now the permanent home to house it.

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has sued the NCAA in an attempt to be allowed to practice and play with the Red Raiders in 2026, his final season of college eligibility.

Late last month, Sorsby and the Red Raiders announced that the fifth-year player had entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction and would be away from the team for an indefinite period of time.

A lawsuit filed Monday in Texas’ Lubbock County District Court requests that Sorsby be declared eligible for all team activities because the NCAA “failed to comply with its contractual commitments” to him as a student-athlete and therefore “is precluded from enforcing its gambling bylaws against Mr. Sorsby to deny or withhold his reinstatement.”

The filing also asks for “temporary and permanent injunctive relief enjoining the NCAA from interfering with his ability to practice, play, and participate fully as a member of the Texas Tech football team for the 2026 season.”

If he remains ineligible for college football, Sorsby intends to declare for this summer’s NFL supplemental draft. Athletes who enter that draft forfeit all remaining college eligibility.

“The relief is narrow: one student-athlete and one senior season,” the filing states. “The NCAA will suffer no cognizable harm from letting Mr. Sorsby play football while this case proceeds. But if this Court does not act, no future judgment can give Mr. Sorsby what the NCAA will have taken from him.”

As a freshman at Indiana and a low-ranked quarterback on the Hoosiers’ depth chart, the lawsuit states, Sorsby “placed small bets — typically between $5 and $50 — on the Indiana football team to win or for teammates to exceed expectations. He was not traveling with the team, and not privy to game plans; betting was his way of feeling connected to a team he could only watch from the sidelines.”

The most recent NCAA guidelines about sports wagering state that student-athletes who bet on their own games or on other sports at their school could “potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility.”

Sorsby stopped betting on Indiana football once he became the backup quarterback, according to the filing, and since then hasn’t bet on any of his teams (he transferred to Cincinnati in 2024 and to Texas Tech this offseason). However, the lawsuit states, “his gambling escalated into a compulsion he could not control.”

According to the filing, Sorsby and Texas Tech were notified by the NCAA in mid-April that it had opened an investigation into the quarterback’s gambling.

“Mr. Sorsby did not deny, deflect, or delay in response,” the lawsuit states. “He immediately admitted to Texas Tech that he had placed bets in violation of NCAA rules, but he also emphasized that he never bet on a game he played in and never took any action to influence the outcome of any game because of a bet. He recognized he had a gambling addiction.

“In response, Texas Tech determined that it would declare Mr. Sorsby ineligible, as required by the Bylaws. But unlike the NCAA, Texas Tech decided to support him in seeking treatment for his addiction and to seek reinstatement of his eligibility in light of the undisputed evidence that Mr. Sorsby had not committed any integrity violation; his gambling was the product of a mental health disorder.”

The lawsuit states that Texas Tech has made multiple attempts to initiate Sorsby’s reinstatement with the NCAA. “Throughout the process, the NCAA has arbitrarily stalled at every turn,” the filing states, “despite the fact that it knows that the clock is ticking for Mr. Sorsby.”

The NCAA said in a statement to media outlets Monday that it “has not received a reinstatement request for this case.”

“The NCAA generally doesn’t comment on pending reinstatement requests, but the Association’s sports betting rules are clear, as are the reinstatement conditions,” the NCAA said. “When it comes to betting on one’s own team, these rules must be enforced in every case for the simple reason that the integrity of the game is at risk. Every sports league has these protections in place, and the NCAA will continue to apply them equally because every student-athlete competing deserves to know they’re playing a fair game.”

Texas Tech said in a statement emailed to The Times: “After finalizing an agreed-upon stipulation of facts between Texas Tech University, the NCAA and Brendan Sorsby, the University has declared Sorsby ineligible for competition. Texas Tech intends to quickly initiate the reinstatement process.

“Texas Tech’s primary focus remains supporting Sorsby’s health and well-being.”

The US has banned non-Americans who have visited DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days from entry.

The United States will ensure that the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) football team can enter the country to play in the World Cup, making an exemption to an Ebola-related entry ban, according to a senior Department of State official.

“We expect the DRC team to be able to attend the World Cup,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The US has banned non-Americans who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from visiting the country due to a deadly outbreak of Ebola.

The US official said the DRC team, the only one among the three countries to have qualified for football’s premier event, had already been training in Europe, so they may not have been subject to the ban in any case.

But if they had, in fact, been in the DRC over the last 21 days, they would be subject to the sort of strict screening required for returning US citizens.

“We’re working to get them into the same protocol for testing in isolation that American citizens returning and permanent residents would be,” the official said.

The official said the exemption would not apply to everyday fans from the DRC looking to come to cheer on the team.

The DRC begin their World Cup campaign in Texas against Portugal on June 17.

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we’re not in Cancun just yet.

I fortunately have gotten some much-needed sleep during the week since the Lakers were eliminated, but NBA news never rests, especially during this pivotal offseason that could reshape the entire roster.

With almost half of the roster spots in flux, we’ll start with one player who we know will be back next season.

Luka Doncic fourth in MVP voting

He led the league in scoring but Luka Doncic finished a distant fourth in the most valuable player voting, which was announced Sunday before Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

While Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP in a landslide, Doncic didn’t receive a first-place vote. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 939 total points and 83 first-place votes. Nikola Jokic was second (634 total points, 10 first-place votes) and Victor Wembanyama was third (569 points, five first-place votes). Doncic, who had 250 total points, only had one second-place vote, and even fifth-place finisher Cade Cunningham had two first-place votes that contributed to his 117-point total.

This MVP discussion was one of the most competitive in recent memory. A fourth-place finish, especially without a single first-place nod, doesn’t quite do justice to how productive Doncic’s season was. He averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Despite playing without Doncic for the last month, the Lakers maintained a top-four seed in the competitive Western Conference and won 50 games for the second consecutive year. It was just the fourth time in the last 20 years that the league’s scoring champion didn’t receive a first-place MVP vote.

Some of the MVP race comes down to campaigning. Wembanyama, along with stellar play, repeatedly made his case during interviews. Doncic brushed off any chances to do the same.

Doncic preferred to let his play speak, but the message didn’t quite get through. During one of the most magical Marches in league history, Doncic dropped from second in NBA.com’s MVP ladder to fourth.

The season-ending hamstring injury on April 2 didn’t give him a chance to restate his case.

The more disappointing effect of the injury was that Doncic was not close to returning in time for the postseason, where he watched from the sideline as the Lakers got swept by the Thunder.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said last week in his exit interview immediately after the season-ending loss. “I know some people wanted me back, but obviously I wasn’t close to clearing. … If I could be out there, I would be, 100%. Everybody in that room knows that. But it was very tough. Like I said, this is the best time to play basketball. I was sad not to be able to help my team.”

Doncic said he will not play for the Slovenian national team this summer while he prioritizes time with his daughters and recovering. His second daughter Olivia was born in December, and Doncic, who missed two games to be present for the birth, quietly managed a custody battle during the season after he and his former fiancee split.

The last 15 months have been tumultuous for Doncic, but he grew as a leader for the Lakers, coach JJ Redick said, specifically in his dedication to building off-court relationships with teammates after the shocking trade that brought him to L.A. left him in a daze for months.

“I don’t think we got the best version of Luka, the person, [last year],” Redick said. “He was great, but he was phenomenal this year as a teammate and a leader. And obviously, as a player, the guy had a tier one season relative to the rest of the league.”

Still first in the Lakers’ hearts

Will Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton be back with the Lakers next season?

(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)

Doncic took his role as a leader so seriously last season that it started during free agency when he placed recruiting calls to Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton. With both players facing player options to return, Doncic didn’t commit to trying to woo anyone back.

“We’ll see,” Doncic said. “Can’t tell you nothing.”

Most of the Lakers’ roster could change next season, but Doncic is still at the center of every decision. General manager Rob Pelinka said it’s an “ongoing collaborative process” with Doncic regarding any offseason moves.

Pelinka said the roster will be “retrofitted” around Doncic. It wasn’t that long ago that a superstar still in his prime fell in the franchise’s lap, which shook up every existing blueprint. The new archetype are three-and-D players and rim-running centers.

Ayton was supposed to be a solution at center when he signed last year. When asked how he is approaching his player option, Ayton said after the season-ending game that he hadn’t made a decision yet, but that he had enjoyed his time with the organization thus far.

“It’s purple and gold, that’s about it,” said Ayton, who was the No. 1 pick in the same draft in which Doncic went third. “Just being honored and happy to be on this platform. And another chance, and all of that. There’s great players I learned [from] here.”

Ayton flashed his potential. He was a force during the first-round playoff win over Houston. The Lakers needed him in that series and he delivered. But he also acknowledged that it was “a very humbling experience” being on a team that did not need him to score, instead asking him to primarily rebound and defend the rim with consistency.

Considering that Ayton is coming off career-lows in points (12.5), rebounds (eight) and minutes (27.2) per game, it might be hard for him to command a better salary than the $8.1-million option he has on the table.

Smart can opt into $5.4 million. The 32-year-old could decline the player option with hopes of securing a long-term contract, whether with the Lakers or elsewhere, after he proved he could still be an effective defensive spark plug and offensive shot-maker. Had a late-season right ankle injury not lingered so long, Smart, who played only 62 regular-season games, could have been in the conversation for an all-defensive team nod.

The Lakers need strong defensive players around Doncic and Austin Reaves if the duo reunite as the team’s backcourt of the future. The chemistry on and off the court between the guards was one of the highlights of the season and a reason to be hopeful that it could work in the future.

Doncic called playing with Reaves and LeBron James “an unbelievable experience.” Pelinka said at his end-of-season news conference that Reaves has expressed interest in returning to the Lakers. James’ future is more uncertain: Pelinka said the team will give James space to decide on his own, although he “would love” to have the NBA’s all-time leading scorer back.

Favorite thing I ate this week

Pho with rare beef and beef balls from Pho Show in Culver City.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

I was playing hurt the last few days of the season. I sniffled, sneezed and hand-sanitized my way through Game 4 and the end-of-season news conference with Pelinka and Redick then scooped up the ultimate sick day dinner: pho.

The pho tai bo vien (rare beef and beef ball pho) from Culver City’s Pho Show didn’t heal me completely, but it sure helped. I basically slept for three straight days after the Lakers’ season ended. Now between the remaining playoff games across the league, I’ll be catching up on TV shows, reuniting with the friends I neglected for months and enjoying my rent.

In case you missed it

Letters to Sports: Another split decision on future of LeBron James and the Lakers

Lakers continue retooling of organization with plans for more hires

Lakers want LeBron James and Austin Reaves to return next season

‘I don’t know.’ LeBron James unsure if he’ll return for 24th season or retire

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!

Dodgers lose to the Padres

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers entered the late innings Monday in an unenviable position: trailing the Padres, whose biggest strength is their bullpen.

“When they have a lead they don’t relinquish it too often,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 1-0 loss Monday. “You know the numbers — when they’re ahead in the seventh inning they don’t lose. You do have to be a little more aggressive and capitalize when you do get those chances.”

Including Monday, the Padres are 20-2 when leading after six innings, 21-1 when leading after seven, and they have a perfect 22-0 record when leading after eight.

Even when Padres closer Mason Miller got off to an uncharacteristically wild start in the ninth inning Monday, the Dodgers failed to capitalize.

He walked Freddie Freeman and Kyle Tucker on nine pitches. And the next three batters — Will Smith, Max Muncy and Andy Pages — all have proven their ability to do damage in clutch moments.

But it was Miller on the mound, a rare reliever who could actually challenge for the Cy Young Award.

“In this kind of series, you know you’re going to have close games,” Freeman said after the game. “And we just couldn’t get it done.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers give injury updates on Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Brusdar Graterol

Why Dodgers’ 2017 pitch to Shohei Ohtani remains relevant: ‘Acquiesce and accommodate’

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Justin Turner finds new life with the Tijuana Toros

From Bill Shaikin: Justin Turner did not wear the correct jersey one day, and now he would pay for his sin.

His teammates formed two lines, one facing the other. Turner snaked through the gauntlet, as his teammates playfully slapped and shoved him around.

Turner is 41, an All-Star and World Series champion, one of the most beloved players in Dodgers history. Yet there he was on a gloomy Saturday afternoon in a 50-year-old stadium in Tijuana, subjecting himself to a mashup of a kangaroo court and a hazing ritual, three hours before he would play in a uniform with six advertisements on the jersey and four more on the pants.

“Justin doesn’t have to be here,” said former major leaguer Roberto Kelly, the manager of the Tijuana Toros. “He doesn’t need this to continue his life.”

For the first time in 17 years, Turner is not playing in the major leagues. No team wanted him.

In Tijuana, whether he decides to end his career here or elsewhere, he has nurtured a special bond with his son and emerged as an improbable tourist attraction for Dodgers fans.

Continue reading here

Angels spoil no-hitter, get walk-off win

Adam Frazier singled, leading off the ninth inning for the first hit against Athletics starter J.T. Ginn, and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Angels a 2-1 victory Monday night.

Neto drove a 2-0 sinker 413 feet to center field, stunning Ginn and the A’s while ending a six-game losing streak for the Angels. It was their third walk-off win this season.

Ginn (2-2) struck out 10 and issued one walk on 105 pitches. He also hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1909 — In his first title defense Jack Johnson fights ‘Philadelphia’ Jack O’Brien to a no decision in 6 rounds in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to retain his world heavyweight crown.

1923 — Zev, a 19-1 long shot ridden by Earl Sande, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1½ lengths over Martingale.

1935 — NFL adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936.

1965 — West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner’s Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London.

1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, rallies from last with a powerful move on the clubhouse turn to win the Preakness Stakes by 2½ lengths over Sham. There is controversy over the timing of the race as original teletimer time was 1:55 for the 1 3/16-mile race. Pimlico amends it to 1:54 2/5, two days later.

1974 — The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.

1979 — Spectacular Bid, ridden by Ron Franklin, wins the Preakness Stakes by an easy 5½ lengths over Golden Act.

1984 — Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Wayne Gretzky scores twice as Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 5-2 for a 4-1 series win; Oilers first SC title.

1990 — Hobart wins its 11th straight NCAA Division III lacrosse championship, beating Washington College of Maryland 18-6. The Statesmen, winners of every final since the tournament’s inception in 1980, are 100-3 in Division III in that time.

1991 — Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first Black driver to make the lineup for the Indianapolis 500.

2001 — Manchester United lose 3-1 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane but win English Premier League title for the 3rd consecutive season.

2004 — NHL Western Conference Final: Calgary Flames beat San Jose Sharks, 4 games to 2.

2007 — Curlin, ridden by Robby Albarado, nips Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense by putting his head in front on the final stride, winning the Preakness Stakes in a riveting finish. The winning time was a blazing 1:53.46, equaling the stakes record of 1:53 2/5.

2007 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,826): Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1 – 0 (a.e.t.); Didier Drogba scores 116′ winner for Blues’ 4th title.

2007 — NHL Eastern Conference Final: Ottawa Senators beat Buffalo Sabres, 4 games to 1.

2008 — NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Dallas Stars, 4 games to 2.

2012 — I’ll Have Another overtakes Bodemeister down the stretch to win the Preakness. Like the Kentucky Derby, I’ll Have Another races from behind to beat pacesetter Bodemeister, who also finished second in the Derby. I’ll Have Another, ridden by Mario Gutierrez, covers the 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.94.

2012 — UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues’ first title.

2014 — Lucy Li becomes the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open by winning the sectional qualifier at Half Moon Bay in California. The 11-year-old Li shoots rounds of 74 and 68 on the par-72 Old Course and surpasses Lexi Thompson as the youngest competitor in a U.S. Women’s Open when she tees off at Pinehurst on June 19. Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 Open.

2015 — The NFL announces it is moving back extra-point kicks and allowing defenses to score on conversion turnovers. The owners approve the proposal to snap the ball from the 15-yard line on PATs to make them more challenging.

2017 — LeBron James scores 30 points, Kevin Love had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers steamroll the Boston Celtics 130-86 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and tie an NBA record with their 13th straight playoff victory.

2018 — Justify holds off several hard-charging challengers and win the Preakness Stakes on a sloppy, slippery track. Ridden by Mike Smith, the 2-5 favorite wins by a half-length after completing the race in 1:55.93. Bravazo edges Tenfold for second. Trainer Bob Baffert ties D. Wayne Lukas’ record with his 14th Triple Crown victory and matches 19th-century trainer R.W. Walden with his seventh Preakness title.

2018 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1-0; Belgian international Eden Hazard scores 22′ penalty.

2019 — PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Bethpage State Park: Defending champion Brooks Koepka leads wire-to-wire; wins despite 5 bogeys on last 8 holes by 2 strokes from world #1 Dustin Johnson.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1910 — Cy Young won the 500th game of his career as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 5-4, in 11 innings.

1910 — Boston beat the Pirates 6-3 for the first time in 26 tries.

1933 — For the first time in major league history, brothers on opposite teams hit home runs in the same game. Boston Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell homers off his brother Wes Ferrell in the 2nd inning, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher returns the favor as he homers in the 3rd on a pitch called by his sibling. It is the only time that the Ferrell brothers homer in the same game.

1942 — Paul Waner of the Boston Braves got his 3,000th career hit off Pittsburgh’s Rip Sewell in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Pirates.

1956 — Pittsburgh’s Dale Long hit a ninth-inning homer against the Chicago Cubs. It was Long’s first of eight straight games with a homer.

1962 — Stan Musial of St. Louis became the NL career hits leader. The 41-year-old got a ninth inning single for his 3,431st hit and moved past Honus Wagner. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 8-1.

1968 — After hitting 10 home runs in six games, Frank Howard of the Washington Senators was stopped by pitcher Earl Wilson of Detroit, which won the game 5-4.

1976 — Carl Yastrzemski has the only three-homer game of his illustrious career, going deep three times in a 4-for-4 day in a 9-2 Red Sox win over the Tigers. He victimizes three different pitchers: Dave Roberts, Steve Grilli and John Hiller.

1979 — After a bitter six-week strike, the major league umpires return to work. During the work stoppage, the men in blue were replaced by amateur and minor league arbiters.

1981 — Pittsburgh’s Jim Bibby gave up a leadoff single to Terry Harper of the Atlanta Braves, then retired the next 27 batters for a 5-0 one-hitter. Bibby also hit two doubles.

1998 — Mark McGwire hit three two-run homers against Philadelphia. It was the second time this season and fourth time in his career McGwire hit three homers in a game. McGwire became the 12th player to have two three-homer games in a season.

2000 — Jason Kendall hit for the cycle and drove in a career-high five runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 13-1 rout of St. Louis. Kendall had a two-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, a double in the third and a two-run triple in the eighth.

2004 — Atlanta’s 45-year-old Julio Franco broke his own record for the oldest player to hit a pinch-hit homer. Franco, who had a pinch-hit homer two weeks earlier against San Diego, hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the score at 4 in the eighth. The Braves lost 6-4 in 11 innings to the Diamondbacks.

2008 — Boston’s Jon Lester shut down Kansas City 7-0 for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The 24-year-old lefty, who survived cancer to pitch the World Series clincher for the Red Sox last fall, allowed two baserunners, walking Billy Butler in the second inning and Esteban German to open the ninth. Jason Varitek catches his fourth no-hitter, tying Ray Schalk for the major league record; one of Schalk’s no-hitters was later removed from the official records, making Varitek the first backstop to have four official no-hitters to his name.

2009 — Washington became the fourth team in major league history to score at least five runs in each game of a six-game losing streak. The Nationals lost 8-5 in 10 innings to Pittsburgh after they rallied to tie the score with a run in the ninth, but another letdown from a bullpen with a collective 1-14 record allowed them to join the 1929 Pirates, 2004 Cincinnati Reds and 2005 Texas Rangers.

2010 — CF Angel Pagan hits the first inside-the-park homer in the history of Nationals Park.

2011 — After sitting on the bench for most of the season so far, veteran 1B Jason Giambi has the first three-homer game of his career in the Rockies’ 7 – 1 win over Philadelphia. He hits homers in his first three at-bats, driving in all 7 of his team’s runs, but fails in his last two at-bats to become only the 16th player to hit four dingers in one game. Giambi entered the game hitting .115 with 1 homer and 4 RBI; at 40, he is the second-oldest player to hit three home runs in a game, after Stan Musial who was 41 when he accomplished the feat on July 8, 1962.

2018 — The Rays have been experimenting with “bullpen days” all season, when the starting pitcher is not expected to go deep into the game, going all out for 3 or 4 innings before handing the ball over to another reliever, but today they take it even further. Short reliever Sergio Romo starts today’s game against the Angels, his first start in the majors after 588 appearances out of the bullpen, and is only asked to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough. The plan works perfectly as Romo strikes out the three men he faces — Zack Cozart, Mike Trout and Justin Upton, all righthanders — then hands the ball over to lefty Yarbrough in the 2nd. Yarbrough pitches scoreless ball until allowing a run in the 8th as Tampa Bay wins, 5-3. It is the first time a starting pitcher leaves after a perfect 1st inning since Ernie Shore had done so on October 5, 1915. Manager Kevin Cash is so pleased with how the scheme goes that he picks Romo to start the next day’s game as well.

2021 — Corey Kluber of the Yankees is the latest pitcher to join this season’s no-hitter parade, pulling off the feat with a 2-0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. It is already the 6th 9-inning no-hitter this year, and comes one day after Spencer Turnbull of the Tigers had pitched the previous one.

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.

SAN DIEGO — Sitting in the Petco Park visiting dugout Monday afternoon, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes would have preferred to be answering a different set of questions about the team’s rotation depth.

In spring training, it was all about how many difficult decisions the Dodgers had in front of them because of the quality depth they’d built. In the first couple months of the season, a spike of injuries had completely flipped the conversation.

“It’s the reason why you try to go in with as much depth as you can knowing that things can happen,” Gomes said. “You hope that they don’t pile up all at the same time, which has happened as of late. But we’ll keep navigating it. We’ll work through it like we have in the past.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got a big series these three games. Go out and play good baseball here and then keep balancing the short-term, long-term.”

Gomes provided updates on the Dodgers’ mounting pitching injuries, and how the team is combating the absences:

—The Dodgers expect left-hander Blake Snell will undergo the less invasive NanoNeedle scope procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow Tuesday. The procedure could shorten Snell’s recovery time by a month, compared to a more traditional arthroscopic procedure.

—Right-hander Tyler Glasnow had another back flare-up. He’ll be shut down from throwing for a few days. “No concern long-term,” Gomes said. “But a little slower on the front end than we expected.”

—The Dodgers are leaning toward using Eric Lauer as a starter. They have not yet decided where to slot him in, but it probably won’t be this weekend in Milwaukee.

—Right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol (right shoulder surgery recovery) sustained a back injury while on rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City. The team is still working to determine next steps and has not ruled out surgery.

Taylor Tinsley has pitched 203 innings and accounted for 30 of UCLA’s 50 wins this season.

As one of three star veterans on a team featuring younger and less experienced talent, Tinsley has embraced a heavy workload and the inevitable miscues that can go along with it.

She opened NCAA tournament play surrendering 10 runs and relied on her teammates to rally for a walk-off win, but Tinsley rebounded with grace while earning back-to-back victories that propelled UCLA to a regional win.

Tinsley is quick to deflect praise to her teammates, especially record-setting hitters Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.

UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez struggled to contain her emotions when asked about the influence Tinsley had on the program after Sunday’s win, so Grant filled in.

“Everything Taylor said about us as a team, we try to reciprocate it back to her,” Grant said. “We know what she is doing for us. She is sacrificing everything for this team, and especially on offense, we try to give back as much as possible.”

Tinsley, who has led the Bruins in ERA for three consecutive seasons, earned back-to-back All-Big Ten honors and helped lead UCLA to the Women’s College World Series last season.

She has spent four years at UCLA competing alongside hyper-competitive, intense athletes such as Maya Brady, niece of NFL legend Tom Brady, and more light-hearted players, including Woolery and Grant, who bring joy and laughter to their work. All her teammates, of course, expect to win.

“This year, our team is fun and relaxed; we like to be goofy, ” Tinsley said.

Tinsley credits the team for her success on the mound. She said one of her proudest moments was watching Grant and Woolery break UCLA and NCAA hitting records. Taylor, Grant and Woolery were selected in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft.

Before they turn pro, the seniors are trying to win a national championship.

“I definitely think we’ve left our mark on this program in general,” Tinsley said. “We entered as freshmen with a legendary senior class. We had Megan Framo, Aaliyah Jordan, and I even got to play with Maya Brady for two years, so I learned a lot from them.”

The alumni, some of whom attended the Bruins’ NCAA regional-clinching win over South Carolina on Sunday, still have an influence on her today.

Inouye-Perez said Tinsley has put the program on her back since her sophomore year. She inspires her teammates, including freshman pitcher Natalie Cable.

The pitchers are still learning, but their coach is pleased with their commitment to improving and learning from Tinsley.

“I am very fortunate that they have a positive attitude and work hard every day and are ready to do whatever they can to help the team,” Inouye-Perez said of the pitching rotation.

After Friday’s walk-off win over California Baptist, Inouye-Perez trusted Tinsley to shake off one very bad inning to pitch on Saturday and Sunday against South Carolina and she delivered.

Now the Bruins will host Central Florida, which upset regional host Florida State, for a super regional series starting Friday with a ticket to the Women’s College World Series on the line.

Tinsley said her training prepared her to let go of Friday’s game and play her best the rest of the weekend.

“It comes with pitching. Just taking one pitch at a time,” Tinsley said. “We are focused on where our feet are and not worried about the past or future.”

Baseball wraps up record-setting regular season

The No. 1 UCLA baseball team earned a 6-1 win over Washington on Saturday during the Bruins’ regular-season finale at Husky Ballpark, sealing a 2-1 series victory.

UCLA (48-6, 28-2 Big Ten) set a school record for regular-season wins, surpassing the 2019 team’s 47 victories.

The Bruins won every regular-season series and were the only team in the country to win at least two of three games every weekend. UCLA also set a school record for most conference wins.

Top MLB draft prospect Roch Cholowsky led UCLA with 21 home runs, while Will Gasparino smashed 19 and Mulivai Levu added 16. Roman Martin, meanwhile, led the Bruins with a .340 batting average.

Logan Reddemann (8-0), Michael Barnett (6-0) and Wylan Moss (5-1) pitched the most innings and contributed heavily to UCLA’s success.

The Bruins clinched the Big Ten tournament No. 1 seed and will open play Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Rice and Jaquez are thriving in WNBA

The Tempo’s Kiki Rice drives past the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

All six of UCLA’s WNBA draft picks made opening day rosters and they’ve all earned game minutes.

Chicago Sky’s Gabriela Jaquez and Toronto Tempo’s Kiki Rice are off to the hottest starts.

After Marisa Ingemi wrote about Rice’s strong start with Toronto (2-2), Rice started her first game and helped the Tempo defeat the Sparks. Rice scored a season-high 19 points with five rebounds, two assists and no turnovers.

Jaquez, however, had the bigger game Sunday. She is the only former Bruin to start every contest for her WNBA team so far this season. She had 20 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 32 minutes during the Sky’s (3-1) 86-71 road win over the potent Minnesota Lynx (2-2).

She earned player of the game honors and was recognized by coach Tyler Marsh in the postgame locker room.

“Her teammates love her, the coaching staff loves her,” Marsh said of Jaquez. “It’s very hard for me to take her off the court, even when she’s gasping for air. She just finds ways to be effective on both ends of the floor.”

In case you missed it

UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

‘We got really lucky:’ Toronto Tempo say UCLA star Kiki Rice has not disappointed

UCLA softball rolls past South Carolina, Megan Grant extends NCAA home-run record lead

UCLA surrenders 10 runs in an inning, rallies to win NCAA regional opener on walk-off

UCLA rewards national title-winning coach Cori Close with contract extension

Inside the Rose Bowl’s $30 million makeover: Will it help the stadium stay relevant?

UCLA senior Megan Grant breaks NCAA home-run record but Bruins fall in Big Ten title game

UCLA senior Megan Grant ties NCAA softball home run record; Bruins reach title game

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Iran’s national football team has arrived in Turkiye for a pre-World Cup training camp, but players are yet to receive visas for entry into the US. FIFA says it is confident Iran will be able to play in next month’s tournament despite the uncertainty.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Jason Collins, who combined with his brother, Jarron, to bring San Fernando Valley high school basketball to an unprecedented level during their days at Harvard-Westlake in the 1990s, died at the age of 47 because of brain cancer. Here are some recollections.

Legacy of Collins twins

In 1997, Jarron (left) and Jason Colllins.

(Los Angeles Times)

I’ve written so many stories on the Collins twins, Jason and Jarron, that I seriously considered writing a book about the family after their days at Harvard-Westlake in the 1990s. Their mother always told me the secret to their success was “greens and genes.”

With great sadness, when word was released last week that Jason had passed from his brief fight with brain cancer at the age of 47, I needed time to accept the news. I knew it was coming but the outcome remains unacceptable. He and his family sought every possible consultation and treatment. Unfortunately, a cure for glioblastoma remains undiscovered.

Rather than dwell on the tragedy of an illness taking away someone so young, I intend to celebrate his courage and the family’s courage. When Sports Illustrated put him on its cover in 2013 and quoted him, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” the world of sports changed.

Except he and his brother had already changed high school basketball in Southern California forever. Their arrival at Harvard-Westlake as freshmen in 1994 put the Wolverines on the basketball map and eventually led to what the Wolverines are today — one of the best programs in California.

They were the twin towers who grew to 7-feet and 6-11. They won two state titles and had a combined record of 123-10. One of their teammates was backup center Jason Segel, who’d become one of the best comedy actors in the world and received attention for his dunks.

Here’s a story from their freshman season in 1994, turning around a team that had gone 5-20 before their arrival. In 1995, Jason was named to the All-Southern Section super team that included Schea Cotton and Paul Pierce, two legendary high school players. On that same team was Doug Gottlieb, who’d go on to a media and coaching career.

They played at Stanford and in the NBA. They were good people guided by parents who taught them to be respectful and help others. Because of their size, they could never hide from the spotlight or walk around a campus without being noticed. It was tremendous pressure on two teenagers, but they had each other to lean on.

The years went by, and incredibly, Jarron now has two high school age daughters and a seventh-grade son playing basketball at Harvard-Westlake. Jarron has been an NBA assistant but insisted on his family staying in Southern California.

It was a privilege to see them develop before anyone knew their name and watch them mature and make a difference in little ways and big ways. Jason is gone, but Jarron and his children will keep Jason’s memory alive with their own contributions.

Baseball

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, St. John Bosco, Harvard-Westlake and Orange Lutheran all earned spots in Friday’s Southern Section Division 1 baseball quarterfinals by going 2-0 in the new pool play tournament. The four other spots will be decided Tuesday in elimination games: Sierra Canyon at Cypress, Norco at Ayala, Corona at Corona Santiago and Huntington Beach at La Mirada.

Notre Dame plays winner of Corona-Corona Santiago. St. John Bosco plays winner of Huntington Beach-La Mirada. Harvard-Westlake faces winner of Sierra Canyon-Cypress. Orange Lutheran plays winner of Norco-Ayala.

Among the best individual performances in Division 1, James Tronstein went three for three with his 10th home run, drove in two runs and scored three runs in Harvard-Westlake’s win over Huntington Beach. Brady Murrietta of Orange Lutheran hit three home runs in a win over Corona. Jacob Madrid of Notre Dame hit his 12th home run in a win over top-seeded Norco. Here’s a report.

The City Section will hold an Open Division semifinal doubleheader Wednesday at Cal State Northridge, with El Camino Real playing Granada Hills at 2 p.m., followed by Birmingham taking on Carson at 5:30 p.m. The winners advance to play at Dodger Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. Here’s a report.

Two schools in the City Section, Jefferson and King/Drew, were forced to forfeit playoff victories when it was discovered pitchers exceeded the maximum allowed pitches in a game.

Softball

Kelsey Luderer is all smiles after a fourth-inning home run helped propel Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to a 6-3 win over Anaheim Canyon in a Division 1 playoff opener.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame entered the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs as a 91-1 longshot. At least coach Justin Siegel was having fun about a 91-1 longshot winning the 1913 Kentucky Derby, The Knights won twice last week over Anaheim Canyon and Oaks Christian to advance to a tough Wednesday quarterfinal matchup against defending champion and No. 2-seeded Norco.

The big surprise was La Habra beating top-seeded Murrieta Mesa 6-4. And how about Orange Lutheran defeating Chino Hills 17-14.

Here are Saturday’s scores.

Here are the City Section playoff pairings.

Track

Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won her third straight 1600 meter title at the Southern Section finals on Saturday, May 16, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

From Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago breaking records in the girls’ 1,600 to Servite’s outstanding 4×100 relay team, there were lots of top performances at the Southern Section track and field championship.

JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame set a school and Division 3 record by clearing 7-1 in the high jump. There were top performances in the boys 100, 400 and girls distance races.

Here’s a report on the finals.

The Masters Meet, which involves qualifying for next week’s state championships, will be held Saturday at Moorpark High.

The City Section championships will be held Thursday at Birmingham. There’s been a considerable drop in top talent this season, but hurdler Jayden Rendon of Carson is one to watch in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

Lacrosse

Loyola won its second consecutive Division 1 boys lacrosse championship with a 14-6 win over Santa Margarita.

Here’s the report. Mira Costa upset top-seeded Santa Margarita to win the girls title.

Going on without Dad

Sophomore outfielder JJ Rodriguez of Birmingham is back playing after the death of his father, Anthony, last month.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Sophomore JJ Rodriguez of Birmingham lost his father last month and turned to his baseball family for assistance after the death. Here’s a look at how coaches and teammates came to his support.

Volleyball

Mira Costa’s Mateo Fuerbringer spikes the ball over Loyola’s JP Wardy and Xander Tangri in the first set of the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs on May 15, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

From start to finish, Mira Costa showed it was the best boys volleyball team in the Southern Section, winning the Division 1 championship over rival Loyola on Friday. Here’s the report.

Chatsworth defeated West Valley League rival Granada Hills to win the City Section Open Division title. Here’s the report.

Tennis

Harvard-Westlake won the Southern Section Division 1 tennis title on Friday.

(Harvard-Westlake)

Harvard-Westlake ended the four-year reign of Irvine University as Division 1 tennis champions with a 10-8 victory in the final. Here’s the report.

The state playoffs begin this week. Here’s the schedule.

Pride in her son

Kaden Tennyson (right), a Riverside Notre Dame shotputter, with his mother, Janet, who has been battling cancer.

(Tennyson family)

The mother of shotputter Kaden Tennyson from Riverside Notre Dame is so proud of her son that she wrote a letter detailing her pride while she dealt with cancer.

Here’s the family story.

Notes…

Santa Margarita’s boys’ swimming team has won the state championship….

Defensive back Gavin Williams of Damien has committed to USC…

Junior Kylee Yeh of Mira Costa has committed to Hawaii for women’s basketball. Senior teammate Jada Martin has committed to UC Merced….

Standout center Braiden McKenna from Los Alamitos has committed to UC Davis for football….

Former Norwalk, San Diego State and NFL running back Rashaad Penny is the new football coach at Long Beach Jordan….

Vince Peralta has resigned as softball coach at La Habra….

Junior water polo standout Liv Taub of Laguna Beach has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

St. John Bosco won its own passing tournament championship over Edison and Bishop Amat won the Charter Oak tournament over Tustin. San Juan Hills won at Dana Hills.

From the archives: Easton Hawk

Easton Hawk during his sophomore season pitching for Granada Hills

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Easton Hawk, a former Granada Hills pitcher, has become one of the key pieces to the rise of UCLA’s top-ranked baseball team this season.

Hawk has 14 saves and a 1.62 ERA in his second season serving as a closer. He did some relief pitching at Granada Hills but was primarily a starter. His ability to throw strikes with good velocity has made him an effective pitcher when a save opportunity is at hand. He hasn’t given up any earned run in his last 22 innings.

Here’s a story from 2023 of Hawk getting into shape for Granada Hills.

Recommendations

From SI.com, a story on a high school football coach in Texas is under investigation for alleged misconduct.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how the mother of AB Hernandez is ready for any protests this spring.

From the Boston Globe, a story remembering the life of former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins.

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.

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It’s now official. You can call Chatsworth a 12-time City Section volleyball champion after the Chancellors won the Open Division championship on Saturday night, knocking off West Valley League rival Granada Hills 24-26, 25-21, 25-14, 25-18.

Noa Beauregard led Chatsworth with 14 kills and Grant Chang had 13.

Coach Sina Aghassy got his team to settle down and dominate the Highlanders after their first-set defeat. The two teams had split their league matches.

Both schools will move on to the state tournament next week, with pairings announced on Sunday.

Baseball

Sylmar 4, Chatsworth 3: The No. 1-seeded Spartans survived a three-run seventh inning by Chatsworth to advance to the City Section Division I semifinals against Verdugo Hills on Wednesday at Stengel Field. Tim Sepulveda had two hits.

Verdugo Hills 8, Sun Valley Poly 2: Jered Smith hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to help the Dons reach the City Division I semifinals.

Taft 11, Cleveland 0: The Toreadors advanced to the Division I semifinal behind Sebastian Gamez, who threw the shutout. Nate Swinson had two hits and two RBIs.

Venice 7, Palisades 6: The Gondoliers earned a match against Taft in the Division I semifinals. Darius Basco’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh won it. Miguel Medina threw three scoreless innings of relief.

Softball

La Habra 6, Murrieta Mesa 4: Rylee Gruener hit a grand slam during a five-run inning to enable La Habra to eliminate top-seeded Murrieta Mesa in the Division I playoffs. Alyssa Hernandez added three hits.

Orange Lutheran 17, Chino Hills 14: In a wild Division 1 playoff game, Sierra Nichols and Madelyn Armendariz each had four hits for Orange Lutheran, with Armendariz getting three doubles. Nichols, Rylee Silva and Eliza Johnson hit home runs. Brett Lambrecht had five RBIs for Chino Hills.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 8, Oaks Christian 5: The Mission League champions advanced behind freshman pitcher Ainsley Jenkins, who came in and provided three innings of three-hit relief pitching. Nadia Ledon, Keira Luderer and Ellayne Tellez-Perez hit home runs.

Norco 8, Riverside Poly 2: The No. 2-seeded Cougars were led by Savannah Gonzalez, who had three hits, including a home run. Coral Williams struck out 13. Camryn May and Sadie Burroughs also had three hits.

The Chargers essentially lived on an airplane last season, traveling more miles than any other NFL team.

This season, they will have a long runway followed by a dramatically sharp ascent.

They open against three first-time head coaches in succession, then face four Super Bowl-winning head coaches in a row.

Their first three games are against Arizona (Mike LaFleur), Las Vegas (Klint Kubiak) and Buffalo (Joe Brady), before squaring off against Seattle (Mike Macdonald), Denver (Sean Payton), Kansas City (Andy Reid) and — after a week off — the Rams (Sean McVay).

And it’s not as if the Chargers will be homebodies, as they have four coast-to-coast trips with road games at the Bills, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Miami. So they will still be racking up the frequent-flier miles.

The NFL made an effort to put some space between those cross-country games for the Chargers.

“We’re always being sensitive, trying to make sure we’re not pingponging a team across the country with travel to the East Coast and back,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution. “So we try to make sure those trips are broken up where we can, and we’re not doing too much of that back and forth.”

This marks the third season under Jim Harbaugh, who has had remarkable success at every stop in his coaching career but has yet to win a playoff game with the Chargers. Same goes for quarterback Justin Herbert, who was drafted in 2020 and is still looking for his inaugural postseason victory.

SoFi Stadium will host the Super Bowl next February, and the Battle For Los Angeles in Week 8 when the Chargers play at the Rams, a rare meaningful matchup of the crosstown foes.

The Chargers will play three preseason games, all Thursday night games against opponents they will face in the regular season. They will play at Houston on Aug. 13, followed by home games against San Francisco (Aug. 20) and the Rams (Aug. 27). All will be broadcast on CBS-LA.

Here is a game-by-game look at the regular-season schedule (all times Pacific):

Sept. 13, ARIZONA, 1:25 p.m. (CBS): It’s a gentle start against the rebuilding Cardinals, who figure to have Jacoby Brissett at quarterback in place of the familiar Kyler Murray, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings. The last time these teams played was in Arizona two years ago, and the Cardinals won, 17-15.

Sept. 20, LAS VEGAS, 1:05 p.m. (CBS): Back-to-back home games for the Chargers, who opened last season in Brazil. The Chargers swept the Raiders last season. Could No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza be starting at quarterback for the Silver and Black?

Sept. 27, at Buffalo, 10 a.m. (Fox): The first of four East Coast trips for the Chargers, who are stepping into a tough environment but at least won’t have to deal with a Buffalo winter. This is the start of a rugged seven-game stretch for the Chargers.

Oct. 4, at Seattle, 1:25 p.m. (CBS): The last time these teams played was 2023, so the rosters have pretty much turned over since then. Kenneth Walker III ran for 167 yards in that 37-23 win by the Seahawks. He was Super Bowl MVP last season and is now playing for Kansas City, so the Chargers will see enough of him.

The Chargers and quarterback Justin Herbert are set to play host to the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving weekend.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Oct. 11, DENVER, 1:05 p.m. (CBS): The Chargers and Broncos split last season, with each team holding serve at home. The Chargers won by three at SoFi, but the Broncos held their second-stringers to a mere field goal in the regular-season finale with Denver winning at home, 19-3.

Oct. 18, at Kansas City, 1:25 p.m. (CBS): As is the case with the Buffalo game, the Chargers are sidestepping some potentially harsh weather. They beat the Chiefs in Brazil in last season’s opener, then beat them by three points at Arrowhead in Week 15.

Oct. 25: Bye week. In recent years, the Chargers have almost always gotten their week off in the first half of the season. They had so many injuries last season, they could have used a week off every other week.

Nov. 1, at Rams, 1:05 p.m. (Fox): This is a home game for both teams, so the Chargers catch a break in terms of travel. It will be the third time these stadium-mates have met since the Rams returned in 2016. They split in the previous two meetings, with the Rams winning in 2018 and the Chargers in 2023.

Nov. 8, HOUSTON, 1:05 p.m. (CBS): Harbaugh’s Chargers are 0-2 against the Texans, losing by four to them at SoFi last season, and getting clobbered at Houston in the opening round of the 2024 playoffs, 32-12.

Nov. 16, at Baltimore, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN): This is a “Monday Night Football” game, and for good reason. It isn’t Harbaugh versus Harbaugh — as it would have been when brother John Harbaugh was coach of the Ravens — but Jim Harbaugh vs. Jesse Minter, his former Chargers defensive coordinator.

Nov. 22, JETS, 1:05 p.m. (Fox): Finally, something of a respite after a battering stretch of games. Of course, in the NFL, you can never breathe easy. The Chargers have beaten the Jets five times in a row, true, but those games were played over the past 14 seasons so those lopsided numbers aren’t relevant to this matchup.

Nov. 29, NEW ENGLAND, 5:20 p.m. (NBC): Back to the grind for the Chargers, who generated next-to-no offense in the playoffs last season against the eventual AFC champions. It was a low-scoring game all around, but the Patriots never looked concerned in their 16-3 victory.

Dec. 6, at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. (CBS): The Buccaneers have beaten the Chargers four times in a row, although that’s dating to 2012, so much of that is ancient history. Baker Mayfield has revived that franchise — and his own career.

Dec. 13, at Las Vegas, 1:05 p.m. (CBS): Sure, the Chargers might face Mendoza in Week 2, but there’s an even greater likelihood they will see him the second time around.

Dec.17, SAN FRANCISCO, 5:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime): This is a Thursday night game, and Harbaugh will be facing the franchise he got to the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. If the NFC West turns out to be as competitive as expected, the Chargers could do the Rams a solid here.

Dec. 27, at Miami, 10 a.m. (Fox): The Chargers won at Miami last season on a last-second field goal by Cameron Dicker. December is a good time of year to play in South Florida.

Week 17, KANSAS CITY, TBD: This is where the schedule gets squishy and the NFL pushes games around to give the most exciting ones the most exposure. This game is TBA. It could be a good one, considering the rivalry.

Week 18, at Denver, TBD: Just like last season, the Chargers finish at the Broncos. A difficult final exam, and maybe another gateway to the postseason.

The Bruin Bombers struck again Friday night, capping an epic rally during the opening round of the Los Angeles NCAA Regional.

The No. 7 UCLA softball team has been dubbed the Bruin Bombers because of the record-setting home runs they’ve been hitting this season. That clutch hitting helped the Bruins avoid a painful loss to open postseason play.

Shortstop Aleena Garcia became the hero on Friday night at Easton Stadium, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field with one out to in the seventh inning bring in Rylee Slimp and seal a 12-11 win over California Baptist (43-18). The Lancers held an 11-7 lead going into the sixth inning before UCLA mounted a comeback.

“It’s a credit to [associate head] coach Lisa [Fernandez,]” first baseman Jordan Woolery said when asked about the team’s nickname. “Her offensive coaching style has changed how we’ve all played this year, and you can see it [batters] one through nine.”

The fifth inning was a disaster for UCLA, nearly costing the Bruins the win.

UCLA gave up 10 runs, with a combination of defensive errors and starting pitcher Taylor Tinsley miscues allowing California Baptist to score eight runs. Brynne Nally replaced Tinsley on the mound and gave up a two-run home run before the Bruins finally stopped the Lancers’ onslaught.

“That was not a typical Taylor Tinsley game, and I know she will bounce back,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said.

The Bruins scored two runs in the sixth before Joylna Lamar hit a two-run home run in the seventh.

Slimp hit a single and California Baptist walked UCLA batting stars Megan Grant and Woolery to set up the game-winning fly ball Garcia hit to right field.

Inouye-Perez said she doesn’t like talking about Woolery and Grant much because she gets emotional, but she noted they bring calm to the Bruins’ lineup and help every player contribute to game-changing rallies.

“We already had our senior banquet and had a lot of tears,” Inouye-Perez said. “But taking the responsibility to be the ones to carry the team and come through in big moments, these two have done it together.”

The Bruins (48-8) will play South Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Easton Stadium. UCLA played the Gamecocks in February and won 5-4 on a walk-off. California Baptist will play Cal State Fullerton at 4:30 p.m.

Inouye-Perez said Friday night she had not yet decided who would pitch against the Gamecocks.

UCLA’s Rylee Slimp, right, and Bri Alejandre react after scoring the winning run against California Baptist on Friday at Easton Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Fullerton falls in opener

Cal State Fullerton held a one-run lead during the top of the the fifth inning, but South Carolina surged ahead and earned a 7-4 win on Friday to open NCAA regional play at UCLA’s Easton Stadium.

Left fielder Quincee Lilio hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to give the Gamecocks a lead they didn’t surrender.

The Titans pulled ahead a 2-0 at the top of the second before the Gamecocks splashed a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to tie 2-2. Both teams scored on fielding errors and Cal State Fullerton scored off a single before South Carolina’s game-sealing home run.

The NFL has released its full schedule for the 2026 season.

Now we know exactly where and when all 32 teams will play every week this fall.

That’s pretty exciting, right?

Oh, and all 32 teams also dropped schedule release videos, with all the Easter eggs, inside jokes, pop culture references and head-scratching moments you can handle.

Now that is exciting.

As always, the teams have given us a wide variety of visual experiences to enjoy. There are spoofs galore (the Rams adapted the “Napoleon Dynamite” opening credits and even included a newspaper called the Los Angeles Hard Times; the Las Vegas Raiders produced a new version of “Step Brothers” starring quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins; the Kansas City Chiefs took on the QVC shopping network).

Some videos were clearly meant to appeal strictly to that team’s fanbase, such as the Philadelphia Eagles’ 14-minute (by far the longest of the bunch) offering of five players giving their “unfiltered reactions” to every game on their schedule and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ piece that pokes loving fun at local fans with many references only true Yinzers would understand.

While many of the videos were high-tech and well-rehearsed, a handful featured unscripted fun, like New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston drawing pictures to help fans guess the opposing teams and Baltimore Ravens receiver Zay Flowers surprising a couple of super fans at their wedding.

Here are five of our favorites from this year’s crop of videos. It’s an extremely subjective list, but the stakes could be high — the Seattle Seahawks had our No. 1 video last May and went on to win the Super Bowl nine months later.

NEW YORK — The NHL docked the Vegas Golden Knights a second-round pick in next month’s draft and fined coach John Tortorella $100,000 on Friday for violating media access rules after their series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Ducks on Thursday night.

Tortorella refused to speak to reporters after Vegas routed the Ducks 5-1 to move on to face Colorado in the Western Conference final. The Golden Knights also did not open their locker room in accordance with league and NHL Players’ Assn.-negotiated regulations.

The NHL in a statement announcing the punishment said the penalties for these “flagrant violations” come after previous warnings were issued to the Golden Knights. The team has been offered the opportunity to appeal to Commissioner Gary Bettman’s office in person at the league’s New York headquarters next week.

“The Golden Knights are aware of today’s announcement from the NHL regarding the postgame media availability following Game 6 in Anaheim,” the team said in a statement posted to social media. “The organization will have no further comment.”

Ducks lose to Golden Knights

From Kevin Baxter: The carriage has turned back into a pumpkin, the ballgown is once again just tattered clothing and all the horses have gone back to being mice.

The Ducks’ Cinderella run through the NHL playoffs came to an end Thursday in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. And the end came well before midnight, with goals by Mitch Marner and Brett Howden in the first 8½ minutes giving Vegas a commanding lead before many in the late-arriving weeknight crowd had made it to their seats at the Honda Center.

The Golden Knights will move on to the Western Conference final with the Colorado Avalanche next week while the Ducks will move on to summer. But it’s the team’s latest start on the offseason since 2017, the last time the Ducks made it to the second round of the playoffs. So even if the glass slipper didn’t fit this time, the Ducks have reason to celebrate.

“I think our team, we learned, myself included, just how to play in those games,” said winger Troy Terry, the only remaining link to the Ducks’ last playoff team. “That’s kind of the difference in some of these games, a team like Vegas, learning how to manage those close games. It stings right now, but I think I speak for everyone that we’ll be hungry going into the summer.

“It was fun to play in this. It’s been a long time.”

Continue reading here

Ducks summary

NHL playoffs schedule

Ducks playoffs schedule

Second round

at Vegas 3, Ducks 1 (summary)
Ducks 3, at Vegas 1 (summary)
Vegas 6, at Ducks 2 (summary)
at Ducks 4, Vegas 3 (summary)
at Vegas 3, Ducks 2 (OT) (summary)
Vegas 5, at Ducks 1 (summary)

Dodgers defeat the Giants

From Liana Handler: You better run. Those three words were the only thought racing through pinch-hitter Alex Call’s head when he laced a pitch from San Francisco Giants reliever Matt Gage into right field.

The two-run single, which gave the Dodgers the lead, sparked a three-run rally in the sixth inning that concluded when Miguel Rojas drove in Call on a single to center field.

“It felt like I hit it,” said Call, who initially hesitated to run after making contact. “But I guess I just didn’t quite see it off the bat, and I’m like looking for it, keep looking up, and then all of a sudden I hear the crowd get really loud.”

Call’s single helped the Dodgers beat the Giants 5-2 on Thursday night, reclaiming first in the National League West after San Diego lost to Milwaukee. The Dodgers also escaped a third straight series loss at home ahead of their weekend road series against the Angels.

Call wasn’t the only Dodger who thrived under pressure. Designated hitter Will Smith, whom Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described earlier in the day as “unflappable,” hit from the leadoff spot for the first time in his career and homered to right-center field in the first inning to set the tone for the series-splitting win.

“That was nice, huh?” Roberts said. “Like I said before the game, just to be able to plug him in, you feel confident that no matter what, he’s going to give you his best. And I didn’t expect a homer, but it was a good way to start.”

Continue reading here

Kiké Hernández ‘little bit shocked’ by reception in Albuquerque while on rehab assignment

Dodgers pitcher, horse racing jockeys linked to cockfighting in Puerto Rico

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Rams schedule

From Gary Klein: The Rams will begin the season by traveling about 8,000 air miles to play against the San Francisco 49ers in Australia.

They aim to end the season playing in Super Bowl LXI on their home turf at SoFi Stadium.

The Sept. 10 opener — a Thursday night in the United States and the morning of Sept. 11 in Melbourne — is the first of 17 games on a schedule announced Thursday by the NFL.

With reigning NFL most valuable player Matthew Stafford and a roster fortified by the addition of All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams are regarded as a Super Bowl favorite. And their marquee status is reflected in a schedule that includes the maximum six prime-time appearances, an increase of two over last season when the Rams finished 12-5 and advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

Fans will have to wait nearly the entire season to see the Rams play the Seahawks. The first game between the NFC West rivals is Week 16 on Christmas night in Seattle. Two games later, on a date to be determined, they will play in the regular-season finale at SoFi Stadium.

Rams schedule

Sept. 10, San Francisco at Australia, 5:35 p.m. (Netflix)
Sept. 21, NY Giants, , 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Sept. 27, at Denver, 5:20 p.m., (NBC)
Oct. 4, at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. (Fox)
Oct. 12, Buffalo, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Oct. 18, Arizona, 1:05 p.m., (Fox)
Oct. 25, at Las Vegas, 1:25 p.m. (Fox)
Nov. 1, chargers, 1:05 p.m. (Fox)
Nov. 8, at Washington, 10 a.m. (Fox)
Nov. 15, at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
Nov. 22, off week
Nov. 25, Green Bay, 5 p.m. (Netflix)
Dec. 3, Kansas City, 5:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime)
Dec. 13, at San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. (Fox)
Dec. 20, Dallas, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Dec. 25, at Seattle, 5:15 p.m. (Fox)
Week 17, at Tampa Bay, TBD
Week 18, Seattle, TBD

Continue reading here

Chargers schedule

From Sam Farmer: The Chargers essentially lived on an airplane last season, traveling more miles than any other NFL team.

This season, they will have a long runway followed by a dramatically sharp ascent.

They open against three first-time head coaches in succession, then face four Super Bowl-winning head coaches in a row.

Their first three games are against Arizona (Mike LaFleur), Las Vegas (Klint Kubiak) and Buffalo (Joe Brady), before squaring off against Seattle (Mike Macdonald), Denver (Sean Payton), Kansas City (Andy Reid) and — after a week off — the Rams (Sean McVay).

And it’s not as if the Chargers will be homebodies, as they have four coast-to-coast trips with road games at the Bills, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Miami. So they will still be racking up the frequent-flier miles.

The NFL made an effort to put some space between those cross-country games for the Chargers.

“We’re always being sensitive, trying to make sure we’re not pingponging a team across the country with travel to the East Coast and back,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution. “So we try to make sure those trips are broken up where we can, and we’re not doing too much of that back and forth.”

Chargers schedule

Sept. 13, Arizona, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Sept. 20, Las Vegas, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
Sept. 27, at Buffalo, 10 a.m. (Fox)
Oct. 4, at Seattle, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Oct. 11, Denver, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
Oct. 18, at Kansas City, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Oct. 25: Bye week
Nov. 1, at Rams, 1:05 p.m. (Fox)
Nov. 8, Houston, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
Nov. 16, at Baltimore, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Nov. 22, NY Jets, 1:05 p.m. (Fox)
Nov. 29, New England, 5:20 p.m. (NBC)
Dec. 6, at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. (CBS)
Dec. 13, at Las Vegas, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
Dec.17, San Francisco, 5:15 p.m. (Amazon Prime)
Dec. 27, at Miami, 10 a.m. (Fox)
Week 17, Kansas City, TBD
Week 18, at Denver, TBD

Continue reading here

Chargers couldn’t resist making references to Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini in schedule video

Lisa Leslie to get a statue

From Marisa Ingemi: Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie didn’t expect to ever get a statue outside Crypto.com Arena. After all, it had been 15 years since her jersey retirement and no other Sparks player was featured among the Lakers and Kings heroes outside the area.

After years of hearing from fans that she deserve to be immortalized, Leslie learned she would join Sue Bird in Seattle as the second WNBA player to be honored with a statue at a franchise’s home arena.

“One thing I never had on my bucket list was a statue,” Leslie told The Times on Thursday. “I grew up seeing the statues of some of the amazing Lakers, so I’m just really grateful to be alive and to be one of the first, especially in the WNBA for L.A. Sparks. It means a lot to me, and I’m really hoping that our community will really rally around it.”

The Sparks announced Thursday morning that Leslie will receive a statue to be unveiled during a ceremony on Sept. 20 before a game against the Portland Fire

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1937 — War Admiral, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, battles Pompoon from the top of the stretch and wins the Preakness Stakes by a head.

1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Preakness Stakes by 5½ lengths over Vulcan’s Forge.

1952 — Johnny Longden becomes second jockey to ride 4,000 winners.

1953 — In his first world heavyweight title defense, Rocky Marciano KOs former champion Jersey Joe Walcott in the 1st round at Chicago Stadium.

1963 — Tottenham Hotspur of England win 3rd European Cup winner’s Cup against Atlético Madrid of Spain 5-1 at Rotterdam.

1971 — Canonero II, ridden by Gustavo Avila, captures the Preakness Stakes by 1½ lengths over Eastern Fleet.

1985 — Everton of England wins 25th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Rapid Wien of Austria 3-1 in Rotterdam.

1990 — Petr Klima scores at 15:13 of the third overtime to end the longest game in Stanley Cup Final history for the Edmonton Oilers — a 3-2 series-opening victory over the Boston Bruins in a game delayed 25 minutes because of a lighting problem.

1991 — Manchester United of England win 31th European Cup Winner’s Cup against FC Barcelona 2-1 in Rotterdam.

1994 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, DuPont CC: Laura Davies of England wins her second major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Alice Ritzman.

1998 — Notah Begay III joins Al Geiberger and Chip Beck as the only players to shoot a 59 on a U.S. pro tour. He does it at the Nike Old Dominion Open.

1999 — Charismatic wins the Preakness and a chance to become the 12th Triple Crown champion, finishing 1½ lengths ahead of Menifee. It’s the 12th Triple Crown race victory for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

2002 — 10th UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid beats Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Glasgow.

2003 — The three-year championship reign of the Lakers ends. Tim Duncan has 37 points and 16 rebounds, and Tony Parker adds 27 points to help the San Antonio Spurs overpower the Lakers 110-82 to win the Western Conference semifinal series 4-2.

2004 — With one breathtaking surge, Smarty Jones posts a record 11½-length victory in the Preakness. Rock Hard Ten, in his fourth start, finishes strong for second ahead of Eddington.

2005 — Annika Sorenstam cruises to a 10-stroke win in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, finishing with a 23-under 265 total, matching the biggest 72-hole win of her career.

2010 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (88,335): Chelsea beats Portsmouth,1-0; Didier Drogba scores 59′ winner; Blues’ 6th title.

2011 — Finland scores five late goals to beat Sweden 6-1 and claim its second title at the hockey world championships. The Finns also beat rival Sweden in the 1995 final.

2011 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (88,335): Chelsea beats Portsmouth,1-0; Didier Drogba scores 59′ winner; Blues’ 6th title.

2015 — Stephen Curry scores 32 points, including a 62-footer to end the third quarter, and Golden State advances to its first Western Conference finals since 1976 by beating Memphis 108-95. The Warriors the first team since 1985 to hit 14 or more threes in three consecutive playoff games.

2016 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: World #1 and reigning PGA Champion Jason Day of Australia leads wire-to-wire to win by four strokes ahead of Kevin Chappell.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1918 — Washington’s Walter Johnson pitched a 1-0, 18-inning victory over Lefty Williams of the Chicago White Sox, who also went the distance.

1919 — After 12 scoreless innings, Cincinnati scored 10 runs off Al Mamaux in the 13th to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-0.

1933 — The major leagues advance the cut-down date a month, limiting rosters to 23 players today instead of June 15th.

1935 — Lou Gehrig steals home in a 4-0 Yankee win over the Tigers. It is his 15th and last steal of home, all of which were double steals.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio began his 56-game hitting streak against Chicago’s Eddie Smith, going 1-for-4 with one RBI.

1944 — Clyde Shoun of the Reds tossed a no-hitter against the Boston Braves for a 1-0 victory in Cincinnati. Chuck Aleno’s only home run of the year was the difference.

1951 — At Fenway Park, the Red Sox celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first American League game in Boston.

1952 — Detroit’s Virgil Trucks pitched the first of his two no-hitters for the season, beating the Washington Senators 1-0. Vic Wertz’s two-out homer in the ninth off Bob Porterfield won the game.

1960 — Don Cardwell became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first start after being traded. The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

1973 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels pitched the first of a record seven no-hitters, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-0. Ryan tossed his second gem two months later.

1978 — His 7th-inning, two-run homer moves Willie Stargell past the late Roberto Clemente into sole possession of second place on Pittsburgh’s all-time RBI list, his total of 1,307 now trailing only Honus Wagner’s 1,475.

1981 — Len Barker of Cleveland pitched the first perfect game in 13 years as the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 at Municipal Stadium.

1993 — The Montreal Expos retired their first number, No. 10 for Rusty Staub.

1996 — Chicago outfielder Tony Phillips went into the stands to confront a heckling fan during the White Sox’s 20-8 victory at Milwaukee. Phillips, who already had changed into street clothes after being taken out of the game in the sixth inning, went after a 23-year-old fan in the left-field bleachers.

2005 — Morgan Ensberg hit three home runs and finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs in Houston’s 9-0 victory over San Francisco.

2005 — New York’s Tino Martinez hit two homers and drove in three runs in the Yankees’ 6-4 win over Oakland. The two homers gave Martinez eight homers in his last eight games.

2018 — Two days after being sidelined by a broken bone in his hand, 2B Robinson Cano of the Mariners is suspended for 80 days for testing positive for a banned substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

2019 — Pitcher Edwin Jackson makes history by playing for his 14th team when he starts today’s game for the Blue Jays against the Giants.

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.

Gabriel Gudmundsson could return for Leeds after a two-match absence with a thigh injury.

Pascal Struijk is a doubt after hobbling off during Monday’s 1‑1 draw at Spurs.

Full Leeds’ team news will be provided by the manager, Daniel Farke, in his press conference later on Friday.

Kaoru Mitoma is set to miss the final two games for Brighton, as well as the World Cup, after suffering a hamstring injury.

Diego Gomez is back in contention, while Mats Wieffer could also feature.

Players out: Leeds – Okafor, Gruev, Bogle Brighton – Mitoma, Tzimas, Webster

Doubts: Leeds – Gudmundsson, Struijk Brighton – Wieffer

Key FPL notes:

The carriage has turned back into a pumpkin, the ballgown is once again just tattered clothing and all the horses have gone back to being mice.

The Ducks’ Cinderella run through the NHL playoffs came to an end Thursday in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. And the end came well before midnight, with goals by Mitch Marner and Brett Howden in the first 8½ minutes giving Vegas a commanding lead before many in the late-arriving weeknight crowd had made it to their seats at the Honda Center.

The Golden Knights will move on to the Western Conference final with the Colorado Avalanche next week while the Ducks will move on to summer. But it’s the team’s latest start on the offseason since 2017, the last time the Ducks made it to the second round of the playoffs. So even if the glass slipper didn’t fit this time, the Ducks have reason to celebrate.

“I think our team, we learned, myself included, just how to play in those games,” said winger Troy Terry, the only remaining link to the Ducks’ last playoff team. “That’s kind of the difference in some of these games, a team like Vegas, learning how to manage those close games. It stings right now, but I think I speak for everyone that we’ll be hungry going into the summer.

“It was fun to play in this. It’s been a long time.”

Ducks center Leo Carlsson passes the puck as Vegas’ Shea Theodore defends during the second period.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

This team, after all, wasn’t supposed to be at the ball this long. Fourteen players on its roster had never been to the postseason before; most of them had never even played for a winning team in the NHL before. But the team’s youth and inexperience proved to be a strength, not a weakness.

They didn’t know they weren’t supposed to win in the playoffs, so they did, dispatching the Edmonton Oilers — who made the last two Stanley Cup finals — in the first round and outplaying the veteran Golden Knights, a playoff team in eight of the franchise’s nine seasons, throughout much of the second round.

Rookie Beckett Sennecke, just 20, had four goals and an assist in the six games with Vegas. Winger Cutter Gauthier, just 22, led the team with 12 points in his first trip to the playoffs. Defenseman Olen Zellwenger, also 22, had a goal and assist in his first two playoff games and Olympic gold medalist Jackson LaCombe, 25, led the team in ice time — and was third in points with 10 — in his first postseason.

That’s the core of the team going forward and the playoff experience they got this spring will be invaluable.

“We’ve got a super young core here,” Sennecke said. “We’re a fast team and we play with a lot of skill, a lot of pace. … The next few years are exciting.”

Ducks left wing Alex Killorn moves the puck ahead of Vegas right wing Keegan Kolesar in the first period.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“It doesn’t make this any easier,” added center Mikael Granlund, at 34 the second-oldest Duck to play Thursday. “Tonight was kind of the story of the season. In the first period we’re down three goals. In the regular season, we were able to come back. But in playoffs, it’s not easy.

“So yeah, there’s a lot of good signs in this team, but at the same time, it’s never easy.”

However, the fairy godmother’s spell wore off early in Game 6, which was just 62 seconds old when Vegas went ahead to stay.

Marner opened the scoring with a spectacular breakaway goal, skating on to William Karlssson’s two-line pass as he entered the offensive zone and beating LaCombe up the center of the ice to the crease. When he got there, he pulled up, turned his back to goalie Lukas Dostal, then shoved the puck just inside the right post for his seventh goal of the playoffs.

Howden doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal 7½ minutes later, finding miles of space just to the right of the goal and banging in a pass from Marner that split LaCombe and Alex Killorn. The goal was Howden’s eighth of the playoffs, temporarily giving him the NHL postseason lead, while the assist gave Marner 18 postseason points, also best in the league.

“I thought we had a really good vibe going in and felt good about guys being excited,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Couple of quick goals, and we certainly lost a lot of our excitement. That was tough.”

When Shea Theodore scored off a faceoff seconds into a power play late in the period, it gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead at the intermission with the goals coming on a power play, the penalty kill and with the teams at even strength.

The Ducks led the NHL with 26 comeback wins during the regular season, but against the poised and patient Golden Knights the deficit was too big. The Ducks left the ice to a chorus of boos after the period, though they came back to dominate the second period, getting the only score at 12:46 when Mikael Granlund notched his fifth goal of the playoffs on a power play, lining a snap shot into the side netting from the middle the left circle.

But the Ducks would get no closer, with Vegas icing the game on two third-period goals from Pavel Dorofeyev, who had four goals in the final two games. The first came off a turnover from the Ducks’ John Carlson deep in his defensive end 2:52 into the final period and the second on a shot from a difficult angle to the right of the goal that ricocheted in off Dostal with 6:28 left in the Ducks’ season.

The two goals gave Dorofeyev nine for the playoffs, passing Howden for the league lead.

“They worked for what they got,” Quenneville said of the Golden Knights. “They deserve to move on.”

Huge crowds gathered in Tehran’s Revolution Square to celebrate and send off Iran’s national football team ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The new jersey of the Iranian national team, which will be worn in the World Cup competitions, was unveiled at the event.

Netflix picked up the rights to three more NFL contests amid government scrutiny over the migration of games from free TV to streaming.

The NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Melbourne, featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, will stream Sept. 10 on Netflix, the company announced Wednesday at its upfront presentation in New York. Netflix will present another NFL game first on Nov. 25 with a Thanksgiving eve game between the Rams and the Green Bay Packers at SoFi Stadium.

The streamer is also picking up a Saturday game in the final week of the regular season. With the Christmas double header Netflix has carried since 2024, the additions bring the total to five games next season.

The five games were a part of ESPN’s NFL package. ESPN relinquished the rights after the league took a 10% stake in the Walt Disney Co.-owned entity.

It was widely believed throughout the sports media business that all five games would go to streamers, split between Netflix and YouTube. But the other two will go to Fox, an international game that will air in the morning in the U.S., and NBC.

The two additional games are going to its traditional TV partners after politicians in Washington, including President Trump, raised concerns about the number of NFL contests that are moving off broadcast and behind streaming paywalls.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Fox Corp. Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch visited Trump at the White House in February to warn how traditional TV networks could be priced out of the NFL due to competition from deep-pocketed streamers.

The Department of Justice has also inquired about whether the NFL is violating the antitrust status given to leagues when their teams collectively negotiate TV rights deals.

An NFL executive familiar with the deal who was not authorized to comment publicly said the added broadcast games are not related to the issues raised in Washington. “We always are looking for ways to increase reach at the benefit of our fans,” the executive said.

In recent years, the NFL has carved out a number of games from the broadcast packages to sell to Netflix and YouTube. Those games primarily come out of the regional Sunday afternoon games carried on Fox and CBS.

But the NFL makes the case that it offers 87% of its games on free over-the-air television than any other major sport. Games sold to streamers are still made available on the local TV stations in the local markets of the teams that are featured.

Questioned about his father’s meeting at the White House, Fox Corp. Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch told Wall Street analysts on Monday there is no tension between the league and his company, which has carried the NFL since 1994.

Murdoch also said there have been no new negotiations with the NFL, which has expressed a desire to redo its current media rights package that runs through the 2032-33 season but has an opt-out in 2030. Murdoch has previously said the company is paying fair market value in its current deal.

In addition to the international game in Week 10, Fox is getting an extra Saturday game in Week 15.

The NFL believes its product is undervalued in light of the massive $76-billion, 11-year contract the NBA entered with NBC, Amazon and ESPN last year. The NFL is in the middle of an 11-year deal that pays the league $110 billion for games that provide much higher ratings.

The league has also said the move to streaming in recent years — which includes putting the Thursday Night Football package on Amazon Prime Video — is necessary to reach younger viewers who are not watching traditional TV. The Thursday games are made available on free TV in the local markets of the teams featured.

The NFL does have the right to renegotiate with CBS before that opt-out due to the network’s transfer of ownership. CBS parent Paramount was acquired by Skydance Media last year.

The NFL and CBS are not close on the new deal. The league is looking to increase the network’s fee from $2.1 billion a year to $3 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to comment.

The NFL is currently a break-even proposition for CBS at the current price.

But the NFL is at a significant advantage as the broadcast networks and their affiliated stations are dependent on the league, which provides a vast majority of the highest-rated programming on TV. NFL games give major leverage to TV station groups when they are negotiating new carriage deals from cable and satellite providers.

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman thought it was the truth when he said it.

After the Dodgers won the World Series last year, riding extreme highs and lows in an all-time nail-biter of a seven-game set, he remembers telling his wife, Robin, that a second consecutive championship, after a roller coaster of a season, should at least alleviate some of his stress during games the following April and May.

“I should have already gotten it before, but now I really get it,” he told The Times on Tuesday, recounting his declaration from last fall. “So now I’m going to be able to have some perspective.”

Robin didn’t believe him.

“She was right,” Friedman said before the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Giants on Tuesday.

A penchant for worrying often serves those in Friedman’s position well. Anticipating worst-case scenarios is the first step to protecting against them. The quality, however, doesn’t make for a pleasant viewing experience, especially during lulls in the season like the one the Dodgers are currently battling through.

The loss Tuesday extended their skid to four games, keeping the Dodgers (24-18) pinned behind the Padres (24-17) in the division standings.

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Dodgers-Giants box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

MORE BASEBALL:

Shaikin: Mark Walter says the Dodgers can’t win all the time. Even Magic Johnson agrees

Dodgers tout outfielder Alek Thomas’ upside after acquiring him from the Diamondbacks

Angels extend their futility on the road against Guardians | Angels-Guardians box score

Ducks fall to Golden Knights in OT, move closer to elimination

The Golden Knights’ Pavel Dorofeyev celebrates after scoring past the Ducks’ Lukas Dostal during overtime of Game 5 Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

From Kevin Baxter: The Ducks are a loss away from summer after Pavel Dorofeyev scored 4:10 into overtime, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 victory in Game 5 of the teams’ second-round playoff series Tuesday. Dorofeyev, who also scored on a power play in the first period, batted a Jack Eichel pass just inside the left post to end the longest game of the series.

With the win, Vegas leads the best-of-seven series three games to two heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Anaheim, where the Ducks’ season could end.

“We’ve come back a lot all year. Obviously it’s different in a series perspective but a lot of guys are just excited to play already. We just want, we want to, want to get back out there already,” winger Mason McTavish said. “I’m kind of excited to see what everybody’s going to bring. We’ve got a lot of confidence.”

Continue reading here

Ducks-Golden Knights box score

Lakers invest in offseason upgrades beyond players

Lakers coach JJ Redick, right, and general manager Rob Pelinka answer questions from the media.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Lakers’ roster isn’t the only thing getting restructured this offseason.

In the first offseason under Mark Walter’s ownership, the Lakers will undergo several changes in their front office and with the organization’s infrastructure while trying to keep pace in the ever-evolving NBA.

The Lakers plan to hire two assistant general managers, Rob Pelinka, the team’s president of basketball operations and general manager, said in a season-ending news conference Tuesday after the Lakers were swept out of the Western Conference semifinals by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

One position will focus on pro scouting, draft scouting and player development while the other will specialize in analytics, data and the salary cap. The organization has already begun interviews, Pelinka said.

“It’s not that we’ve had holes in those places,” Pelinka said. “We got a great team of people that works incredibly hard. It’s just we want to add more to that.”

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Swanson: Lakers should learn their lesson, avoid Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo walks off the court after a game against the Nets on April 10.

(Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press)

From Mirjam Swanson: I get it, you’re still thinking about the Lakers getting swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the playoffs.

It was a valiant fight to the end, Monday’s season-ending 115-110 loss. A thriller for naught.

But now we’ve finally reached the big, beautiful offseason the Lakers have been teasing for months. This pivotal moment that’s had them hoarding assets and fencing off their financial flexibility. All but paralyzed by possibility.

Even after jogging in place all this time, they’ve finally caught up with the can they kicked down the road: All indications are that the Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is about to hit the trade market.

And the Lakers — loaded with trade ammunition and cap space and forever wishing on star players — are going to be expected to make a play.

But they should run a different play.

Continue reading here

MORE NBA:

Lakers want LeBron James and Austin Reaves to return next season

Resiliency and re-signings: What’s next for the Lakers after getting swept by OKC?

Brandon Clarke, Memphis Grizzlies forward and former first-round pick, dies at age 29

UCLA rewards coach Cori Close with contract extension

UCLA coach Cori Close lifts the WBCA national championship trophy while surrounded by her players.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

From Marisa Ingemi: UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close isn’t going anywhere.

UCLA announced on Tuesday that Close signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season after she led the Bruins to their first NCAA national championship.

“I am so grateful to Chancellor [Julio] Frenk and [athletic director] Martin Jarmond for the opportunity to continue teaching and mentoring the young women who choose UCLA,” Close said in a news release. “I love being here in Westwood, and I am so excited for what the future holds. I hope we can continue to make our Bruin faithful proud.”

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Ducks playoffs schedule

Second round
All times Pacific
Game 1: at Vegas 3, Ducks 1 (summary)
Game 2: Ducks 3, at Vegas 1 (summary)
Game 3: Vegas 6, at Ducks 2 (summary)
Game 4: at Ducks 4, Vegas 3 (summary)
Game 5: at Vegas 3, Ducks 2 OT (summary)
Game 6: Thursday at Ducks, 6:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO MAX
Game 7*: at Vegas, TBA, ABC or ESPN
*-if necessary

This day in sports history

1891 — Isaac Murphy wins his second straight Kentucky Derby aboard Kingman. In the stretch, Kingman comes from last in the four-horse field to beat Balgownan by one-half length.

1905 — World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retires undefeated after 7 title defences; returns in 1910 to be beaten by Jack Johnson.

1950 — First ever race of the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship is run at Silverstone, England and won by Giuseppe Farina of italy in an Alfa Romeo.

1952 — In an Appalachian League game, Ron Necciai of the Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters while pitching a 7-0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners.

1958 — Stan Musial gets his 3,000th hit with a pinch-double off Chicago’s Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals win 5-3.

1962 — LPGA Western Open Women’s Golf, Montgomery CC: Mickey Wright wins on the 4th hole of a sudden-death playoff with Mary Lena Faulk.

1976 — The New York Nets overcome a 22-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-106 and win the last ABA championship in six games.

1989 — Trinidad & Tobago ties US 1-1, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup.

1992 — The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 5-1 to eliminate the Patrick Division champions in six games and advance to the Prince of Wales Conference finals. It is the first time all four division winners are eliminated in the same round. The Norris Division champion Detroit Red Wings were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in four straight games, and the Montreal Canadiens, who had won the Adams Division, lost in four games to the Boston Bruins. The Vancouver Canucks, the Smythe Division champions lost to the Edmonton Oilers in six games.

1993 — KC Royal George Brett hits his 300th HR.

1995 — Team New Zealand’s Black Magic 1 completes a 5-0 sweep in the America’s Cup, beating Dennis Conner’s borrowed boat Young America by 1 minute, 50 seconds.

1998 — Chelsea of England win 38th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Stuttgart of Germany 1-0 in Stockholm.

2005 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship to end his record of 142 consecutive cuts made over the last seven years on the PGA Tour. Needing a par on the 18th hole at Cottonwood Valley, Woods misses a 15-foot putt. He taps in for a bogey and a 2-over 72, leaving him at 1 over for the tournament.

2006 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,140): Liverpool beats West Ham United, 3-1 on penalties after 3–3 (a.e.t.); Reds 7th title.

2007 — Canada wins hockey’s world championship with a 4-2 victory over Finland. Rick Nash leads the way with two goals as Canada captures its’ 24th world title and first since 2004.

2007 — Rafael Nadal becomes the first player to win the Rome Masters three consecutive times by beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-2, 6-2. The victory extends his winning streak on clay to 77 matches. By reaching the final, the Spaniard broke John McEnroe’s record for most consecutive victories (75) on one surface.

2007 — At 16 years, 65 days Matthew Briggs debuts for Fulham in a 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough; youngest player to appear in an English Premier League match.

2007 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: American Phil Mickelson wins by 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Sergio García of Spain; event played in May for the first time.

2012 — Manchester City wins the English title for the first time in 44 years, surging past Queens Park Rangers 3-2 with Sergio Aguero scoring his team’s second goal late in injury time. Aguero scores during the fourth minute of injury time, two minutes after substitute Edin Dzeko made it 2-2. The winning goal snatches the trophy from defending champion Manchester United on goal difference.

2012 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Matt Kuchar wins by 2 strokes ahead of Ricky Fowler, Zach Johnson, Martin Laird and Ben Curtis.

2014 — Henrik Lundqvist sets an NHL record with his fifth straight Game 7 victory. He made 35 saves to lift the New York Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and earn a spot in the Eastern Conference finals. Brian Boyle and Brad Richards score for New York, who rally from a 3-1 series deficit for the first time in the franchise’s 88-year history.

2015 — Derek Stepan scores 11:24 in overtime, lifting the New York Rangers past the Washington Capitals 2-1 and into the Eastern Conference finals. Stepan’s wrist shot from the left wing caps a comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the series. The Rangers become the only team to manage that in successive years, doing the same thing to Pittsburgh in the second round in 2014.

2018 — Liverpool’s Egyptian soccer forward Mohamed Salah scores in a 4-0 win against Brighton to set the EPL goal scoring record (32) for a 38-game season.

2018 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: American Webb Simpson wins by 4 strokes from Xander Schauffele, Charl Schwartzel and Jimmy Walker.

2019 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G &CC: Steve Stricker wins his first career major title by 6 strokes ahead of Billy Andrade, Paul Goydos & David Toms.

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.

There was a moment when the Lakers were humming along near the end of the NBA’s regular season, when they went 16-2 in the month of March as Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James found their groove together as a dynamic threesome.

But on April 2 at Oklahoma City, Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain) went down with injuries and it was left to James to lead the group.

James did, leading the Lakers past the Houston Rockets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Reaves joined James in Game 5 of that series and the two of them led the charge into the Western Conference semifinals against the Thunder, a series in which Los Angeles got swept, 4-0.

Through it all, Doncic was and still is the center of the Lakers’ universe.

So with James and Reaves looking at free agency, Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said Tuesday at the team’s exit interviews that the organization wants both players back to team up with Doncic.

James, 41 and in his 23rd season, made $52.6 million last season but will be a free agent this offseason, when he can retire, return to the Lakers or play for another team.

“I think in terms of LeBron, we probably haven’t seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he’s honored the game. He’s given so much to his teammates, to this organization,” Pelinka said. “And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back. And I think the first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are.

“Does he want to play another year in the NBA? And that’ll be, as he said to you guys last night, family time [and] I think time with his inner circle. And we just want to honor that for him. Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster. That’s a blessing in itself just with what he does.”

Reaves is expected to opt out of his contract that will pay him $14.8 million next season and become a free agent. The Lakers can pay Reaves the most, a maximum deal of $241 million over five years, with a starting salary of about $41.5 million next season. Reaves could sign with another team that has cap space, but that deal would be for four years and about $178 million.

“He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the purple and gold. As you know, there’s rules and timing to all of that, but I think both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”

The Lakers have their star in Doncic and will collaborate with him going forward.

He led the NBA in scoring (33.5 points per game), was third in assists (8.3) and was a most valuable player candidate.

Doncic, who missed the last five regular-season games and all of the playoffs, signed a three-year extension last summer for $165 million.

The Lakers want to build on that.

“He’s an incredible partner,” Pelinka said of Doncic. “His basketball IQ on the court is something we get to see as fans. [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick]) and I get to see his basketball knowledge in terms of other players in the league and the way he wants to play and who he wants to play with.

“His knowledge-base is vast and so those collaborations with him are really inspirational. He also does it in a way that he wants to do his job great, and he wants to let JJ do his job great and let me do my job great. So, they really are productive conversations through that lens.”