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From Benjamin Royer: The Dodgers’ pitcher injury woes are continuing to pile up, this time with heralded Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki out of action.

Sasaki did not throw at his scheduled bullpen session Tuesday and got his right shoulder examined by the team doctor.

The Dodgers soon after announced Sasaki was put on the injured list after he was diagnosed with right shoulder impingement.

After Tuesday’s 11-1 loss to the Athletics, manager Dave Roberts said that Sasaki’s been shut down for the foreseeable future as the team treats his injury.

“I think that our goal is to get him healthy, get him strong,” Roberts said, adding that there is no timeline for Sasaki’s return. “Make sure his delivery is sound for him to pitch for us. Now with the information we’ve learned, he hasn’t been as productive as he would’ve liked because he was compromised.”

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Dodgers are routed by Athletics, but will get Clayton Kershaw back Saturday

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

PETE ROSE REINSTATED

From Steve Henson: Pete Rose was posthumously removed from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list Tuesday, making the all-time hits leader eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson, banned after his participation in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, also was reinstated in a sweeping decision by commissioner Rob Manfred that included other deceased players from the list. All are eligible for election to the Hall of Fame.

An MLB statement released Tuesday referred to it as a “policy decision.”

“This issue has never been formally addressed by Major League Baseball, but an application filed by the family of Pete Rose has made it incumbent upon the Office of the Commissioner to reach a policy decision on this unprecedented issue in the modern era as Mr. Rose is the first person banned after the tenure of commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to die while still on the ineligible list.

“Commissioner Manfred has concluded that MLB’s policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual.”

Rose had been exiled from the sport since 1989, after he was found by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti (yes, the father of actor Paul Giamatti) to have been betting on his team’s games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose died Sept. 30, 2024, at the age of 83.

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PETE ROSE POLL

Should Pete Rose and Joe Jackson be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Click here to vote in our survey. Results will be announced Monday.

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 4 Denver Nuggets
Denver 121, at Oklahoma City 119 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 149, Denver 106 (box score)
at Denver 113, Oklahoma City 104 (OT) (box score)
Oklahoma City 92, at Denver 87 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 112, Denver 105 (box score)
Thursday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 12:30 p.m., ABC*

No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 7 Golden State
Golden State 99, at Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Minnesota 117, Golden State 93 (box score)
Minnesota 102, at Golden State 97 (box score)
Minnesota 117, at Golden State 110 (box score)
Wednesday at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Sunday at Golden State, TBD*
Tuesday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 121, at Cleveland 112 (box score)
Indiana 120, at Cleveland 119 (box score)
Cleveland 126, at Indiana 104 (box score)
at Indiana 129, Cleveland 109 (box score)
Indiana 114, at Cleveland 105 (box score)

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 New York
New York 108, at Boston 105 (OT) (box score)
New York 91, at Boston 90 (box score)
Boston 115, at New York 93 (box score)
at New York 121, Boston 113 (box score)
Wednesday at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT
Friday at New York, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Monday at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run 430-foot walk-off homer to centerfield to give the San Diego Padres a comeback 6-4 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.

Tatis dropped the bat emphatically and watched the ball fly after he connected on a cutter against Angels closer Kenley Jansen (0-2), who took the loss.

Padres reliever Jason Adam (4-0) earned the win with a scoreless ninth.

Matthew Lugo hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh to give the Angels a 4-2 lead. Lugo’s homer followed an RBI double in the seventh by Jo Adell, igniting a three-run rally after the Angels had two outs and no baserunners.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: Angel City defender Savy King, who was carted off the field at BMO Stadium after collapsing in the 74^th minute of the team’s game with Utah last week, underwent successful surgery to repair a heart abnormality Tuesday, the team said.

King received emergency care at California Hospital Medical Center after leaving the field Friday and was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday, where doctors detected the heart issue.

“Her prognosis is excellent,” the team said in a statement.

King’s family issued a statement of its own.

“Our entire family, along with Savy, have been so moved by the love and support from Angel City players, staff, fans and community, as well as soccer fans across the country,” it read. “We are blessed to share that Savy is recovering well and we are looking forward to having her home with us soon.”

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UCLA SPORTS

From Ben Bolch: After seeing a series of bullet-point slides and hearing a slew of buzzwords about UCLA’s athletic department finances, Bob Myers put the crisis facing his alma mater in much simpler terms.

“It’s like water’s coming in the boat and you’re trying to get it out, but how does this thing not sink?” Myers asked Tuesday afternoon at the UC regents meeting. “Or how can we help, I suppose?”

Myers, who sandwiched a hugely successful run as the Golden State Warriors’ general manager between his time as a reserve forward on the Bruins’ 1995 national championship basketball team and his appointment as the newest member of the UC board of regents, was inquiring about an athletic department deficit that has ballooned to $219.5 million after running in the red for six consecutive fiscal years, including a $51.8-million shortfall in the 2024 fiscal year.

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CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Chargers’ season opener in Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be the NFL’s first game streamed exclusively on YouTube, the league announced Tuesday, further expanding the NFL’s streaming footprint to include the ubiquitous free video platform.

Despite now having a home team and TV partner for the matchup, the Chargers’ opponent was the only piece of the NFL’s seven-game international slate that was not announced Tuesday. Front Office Sports reported the Chargers will face AFC West rival Kansas City on Sept. 5 at Arena Corinthians. The Chiefs have won seven consecutive games against the Chargers while becoming one of the league’s most popular TV draws.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams will be back on the international road this fall.

The NFL announced on Tuesday that the Rams will be the visiting team against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 19 at Wembley Stadium in London. The game will kick off at 6:30 a.m. PDT and will be broadcast by NFL Network.

The full NFL schedule will be announced Wednesday at 5 p.m. PDT.

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Pacific 1 Vegas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
Edmonton 4, at Vegas 2 (summary)
Edmonton 5, at Vegas 4 (OT) (summary)
Vegas 4, at Edmonton 3 (summary)
at Edmonton 3, Vegas 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Edmonton, TBD, TNT*
Sunday at Vegas, TBD, TNT*

C1 Winnipeg vs. C2 Dallas
Dallas 3, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
Winnipeg 4, at Dallas 0 (summary)
Dallas 5, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
at Dallas 3, Winnipeg 1 (summary)
Thursday at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Dallas, TBD*
Monday at Winnipeg, TBD, ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Atlantic 1 Toronto vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
at Toronto 5, Florida 4 (summary)
at Toronto 4, Florida 3 (summary)
at Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT) (summary)
at Florida 2, Toronto 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Toronto, 4 p.m., ESPN*
Friday at Florida, TBD, TNT
Sunday at Toronto, TBD, TNT*

Metro 1 Washington vs. Metro 2 Carolina
Carolina 2, at Washington 1 (OT) (summary)
at Washington 3, Carolina 1 (summary)
at Carolina 4, Washington 0 (summary)
at Carolina 5, Washington 2 (summary)
Thursday at Washington, 4 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Carolina, TBD*
Monday at Washington, TBD, ESPN*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1919 — Four days after his Kentucky Derby victory, Sir Barton, ridden by Johnny Loftus, wins the Preakness Stakes by four lengths over Eternal.

1977 — The Montreal Canadiens edge the Boston Bruins 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup in four games.

1981 — The Boston Celtics win the NBA championship with a 102-91 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 6.

1989 — James Worthy scores 12 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rally from a 29-point first-half deficit to beat Seattle 97-95 and sweep the Western Conference semifinals.

1994 — FA Cup Final: Manchester United defeat Chelsea 4-0 at Wembley Stadium, London.

1995 — Kelly Robbins overcomes a three-shot deficit in the final seven holes to win the LPGA Championship by a stroke over defending champion Laura Davies.

1997 — FC Barcelona of Spain win 37th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Paris Saint-Germain of France 1-0 in Rotterdam.

1999 — Annika Sorenstam shoots an 11-under 61, the best score in LPGA history on a par-72 course, to take a two-shot lead over Michelle McGann after the opening round of the Sara Lee Classic.

2003 — Jean-Sebastien Giguere stops 35 shots for his third straight shutout, and the Ducks beat Minnesota 4-0 for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals. He’s the first goalie in modern NHL history to record three consecutive shutouts in the next-to-last round of the playoffs.

2004 — Richard Jefferson scores 18 of his 31 points after regulation to lead New Jersey to a 127-120 triple-overtime victory over Detroit and a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The last playoff game to be decided in three overtimes was Phoenix’s 129-121 victory over Chicago in Game 3 of the 1993 NBA Finals.

2010 — The Philadelphia Flyers overcome a couple of 3-0 deficits to finish off the Boston Bruins. Simon Gagne scores on a power play with 7:08 left to cap a comeback from a three-goal deficit, and the Flyers win 4-3 for a berth in the Eastern Conference finals. The Bruins become the third team in NHL history to lose a series after winning the first three games.

2011 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (88,643): Manchester City beats Stoke City, 1-0; Yaya Touré scores 74′ winner; Citizens’ 5th title.

2017 — Stephen Curry scores 40 points and hits a tying 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining, and the Golden State Warriors rally after Kawhi Leonard is lost to an ankle injury to beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-111 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Draymond Green gives Golden State the lead for good on a three-point play after the Warriors trail by as many as 25 points in the first half.

2017 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: 21 year old South Korean Kim Si-woo shoots final round 69 to win by 3 strokes ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter.

2018 — The Supreme Court clears the way for states to legalize betting on sports, breaking a longtime ban and creating a potential financial boon for states and the gambling industry. Despite opposition from the major sports leagues and the Trump administration, the high court strikes down a federal law that barred betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states.

2018 — Arsenal finish EPL season in 6th place on 63 points; fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1913 — Washington’s Walter Johnson gave up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators won 10-5.

1914 — Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitched nine innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Senators, but lost 1-0 after giving up two hits in the 10th inning.

1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 300th victory with a 9-8 win over the Detroit Tigers.

1927 — Chicago pitcher Guy Bush went the distance for the Cubs in a 7-2 18-inning win over Boston. Charlie Robertson of the Braves almost matched the feat, leaving with one out in the 18th.

1965 — Carl Yastrzemski of Boston hit for the cycle and added another home run for five RBIs in a 12-8 10-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.

1966 — Roberto Clemente’s sixth and final career home run off Sandy Koufax is another no-doubter. It comes during Koufax’s final season, the net result being one less shutout for Sandy and one more moon shot for Clemente

1967 — Mickey Mantle’s 500th home run, off Stu Miller, lifted the New York Yankees to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

1972 — In his first game with the New York Mets, Willie Mays hit a fifth inning home run off Don Carrithers for the difference in a 5-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants.

1977 — Jim Colborn of the Kansas City Royals no-hit the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 victory.

1986 — Angels slugger Reggie Jackson hits his 537th career home run to move past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list. Jackson delivers the milestone blast against Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox.

1988 — Jose Oquendo became the first non-pitcher in 20 seasons to get a decision, taking the loss in the 19th inning when Ken Griffey’s two-out, two-run double led the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5.

1989 — Benny Distefano became the first left-handed catcher in a major league game in nine years when he caught the ninth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Mike Squires caught two games with the Chicago White Sox in 1980 and Dale Long caught two games for the Chicago Cubs in 1958.

1993 — Jay Gainer of the Colorado Rockies hit a home run on the first major league pitch he saw. The first baseman became the fifth National Leaguer and 12th major leaguer to accomplish this feat. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Rockies 13-5.

1996 — Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter as the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0. Gooden struck out five and walked six.

2000 — Although Sammy Sosa collects five hits, Henry Rodriguez has seven RBI and Eric Young steals five bases, the Chicago Cubs still manage to lose to Montreal, 16-15. Young’s five stolen bases are the most by a Cubs player since 1881 when George Gore stole seven.

2010 — After Twins manager Ron Gardenhire orders an intentional walk to Mark Teixeira and brings in righty Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez in the 7th, the Yankee third baseman blasts his 19th career grand slam to pass Frank Robinson for 7th on the all-time career home run list and give New York an 8-4 win.

2012 — Major League Baseball fires arbitrator Shyam Das after 13 years on the job. The Commissioner’s office was incensed at Das for overturning Ryan Braun’s suspension for PED use on a technicality on February 23rd, and the last straw comes when the same ruling is used today to justify ending Eliezer Alfonzo’s 100-game suspension early.

2016 — In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6-5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning.

2017 — The Yankees officially retire uniform number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter and unveil a plaque in his name in Monument Park at New Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader against the Astros.

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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

In an interview with the Observer, Wiggins said of his post-career cocaine addiction: “There were times my son thought I was going to be found dead in the morning.

“I was a functioning addict. People wouldn’t realise – I was high most of the time for many years.”

Wiggins – a gangly north Londoner, from a broken home, brought up in poverty – made it to the very top of a sport that requires clinical preparation and a calm head under pressure.

In interviews during his career, Wiggins exuded calm and charm. He seemed to have everything under control.

And perhaps it was, with the hyper-organised, big-budget Team Sky around him between 2010 and 2015, run by Dave Brailsford and Rod Ellingworth – with whom he would win the 2012 Tour, the 2014 world time trial championship and much more.

Wiggins’ talent and presence inspired the team to a period of domination in road cycling never before seen.

But post-career, his troubles spiralled.

In 2020, his marriage to Cath came to an end. They have two children: Ben – now a rider himself with Hamens Berman Jayco – and Isabella.

Then came the collapse of Team Wiggins, which he had founded in 2015. The team lacked enough blue chip sponsors, despite having so many talented British riders. There was an awful more of Wiggins’ own money invested in the team than most realised.

That, and a cocaine addiction, would spell trouble for anybody’s wallet – even a sporting icon. And Wiggins was declared bankrupt.

“I already had a lot of self-hatred,” said Wiggins of his post-career addiction. “But I was amplifying it. It was a form of self-harm and self-sabotage. It was not the person I wanted to be. I realised I was hurting a lot of people around me.

“There’s no middle ground for me. I can’t just have a glass of wine – if I have a glass of wine, then I’m buying drugs. My proclivity to addiction was easing the pain that I lived with.”

Wiggins’ former team boss Jonathan Vaughters – who now heads the EF Education-EasyPost World Tour team – understands why Wiggins has come across the problems he has. But that it’s not through a lack of self-awareness.

“I mean, ultimately pro cyclists are always going to search for that dopamine hit they got while racing,” Vaughters said. “[It] makes them an easy target for addiction.

“I mean… I’d say Wiggo is far more gifted, from an IQ standpoint, than most people. He’s very sensitive to social interactions too. So, you have a guy that’s hyper intelligent, hyper aware of social interactions, and has led an extremely disciplined, but dopamine-soaked lifestyle as a professional racer… It’s a perfect storm.

“He’s very clever. No formal education at all. But he reads people like a book.”

From John Cherwa: The horses have barely passed the finish line at Churchill Downs when many heads turn to the east, pointing to Baltimore, and start thinking about the Preakness, the second stop on racing’s Triple Crown. And that quickness belies the problem. It’s only two weeks after the Kentucky Derby.

It used to not be a problem when horses raced more often than they do today. The only racing that goes on nowadays is to see how fast you can get your superstar-in-the-making into the breeding shed, which is where the real money is made.

The Preakness is different from the Derby in so many ways. The biggest technical reason is the race is a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby. The biggest non-technical reason is the Preakness is fun, an experience trainers and owners enjoy rather than the price-gouging pressure cooker that is Louisville on Derby week.

“What the Derby thinks it is, that’s what the Preakness is,” Mickey Taylor, one of the owners of Seattle Slew, once said.

This year’s 150th anniversary of the Preakness is full of intrigue but short on stars, especially with Derby winner Sovereignty skipping the race. But it’s still an interesting race and the winner will etch his name in history. Here are five story lines to look for this week.

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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 4 Denver Nuggets
Denver 121, at Oklahoma City 119 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 149, Denver 106 (box score)
at Denver 113, Oklahoma City 104 (OT) (box score)
Oklahoma City 92, at Denver 87 (box score)
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Denver, TBD, ESPN
Sunday at Oklahoma City, TBD*

No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 7 Golden State
Golden State 99, at Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Minnesota 117, Golden State 93 (box score)
Minnesota 102, at Golden State 97 (box score)
Minnesota 117, at Golden State 110 (box score)
Wednesday at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Sunday at Golden State, TBD*
Tuesday, May 20 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 121, at Cleveland 112 (box score)
Indiana 120, at Cleveland 119 (box score)
Cleveland 126, at Indiana 104 (box score)
at Indiana 129, Cleveland 109 (box score)
Tuesday at Cleveland, 4 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Indiana, TBD*
Sunday at Cleveland, TBD*

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 New York
New York 108, at Boston 105 (OT) (box score)
New York 91, at Boston 90 (box score)
Boston 115, at New York 93 (box score)
at New York 121, Boston 113 (box score)
Wednesday at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT
Friday at New York, TBD, ESPN*
Monday at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Taylor Ward hit a grand slam to cap a six-run ninth inning, and the Angels beat the San Diego Padres 9-5 on Monday night.

The Angels rallied against Robert Suarez, who had converted 18 consecutive save opportunities — including 15 this season. Alek Jacob replaced Suarez and struck out Jorge Soler before Ward delivered.

Suarez (0-1) yielded a one-out single before walking four straight batters, forcing in two runs. The right-hander gave up just one run in his first 18 appearances this year.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

LONG BEACH STATE VOLLEYBALL

Freshman Moni Nikolov posted six kills, four aces and a pair of digs and Long Beach State beat UCLA 25-17, 25-23 and 25-21 to win the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament Monday night.

It was the Beach’s (30-3) fourth championship in program history and first since 2019. Long Beach State also won the title in 2018 and claimed its first title in 1991 when current coach Alan Knipe was a player.

The 6-foot-10 Nikolov, who just turned 18, started the match with an opening-serve ace and ended UCLA’s two-time reign with a thunderous kill.

“Not for one second did we think we were going to lose that game,” Nikolov said. “Before the game in the locker room we told each other we were here. We were born for this …. game.

“Even when we were down five, we trusted each other because we knew we were the better team.”

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NASCAR

From Kevin Baxter: When Shane van Gisbergen was offered the chance to move from Australian Supercars to NASCAR two years ago, he had one question: Can I bring my dog?

And when we say dog, we really mean horse because Ronald is much closer to a small pony than he is to a large dog.

“He’s a pretty cool dog,” van Gisbergen said of the Rhodesian Ridgeback who weighs 130 pounds, which makes him five pounds heavier than Tyler Reddick, the reigning regular-season NASCAR Cup Series champion. Van Gisbergen wasn’t going to leave Australia without him.

“You can’t get rid of a dog,” he said. “He is part of our family.”

Van Gisbergen isn’t the only animal lover on the NASCAR circuit. About a dozen drivers travel with their dogs so regularly, at least two tracks have built dog parks for the race teams.

“It kind of brings a feeling of home on the road,” said Alex Bowman, who has three dogs, an 8-year-old charcoal Labrador named Finn, a year-old Golden Retriever mix rescue named Huck and a goldendoodle named Merle that belongs to girlfriend Chloe Henderson, a self-proclaimed “dog mom.”

“My dogs are my best friends. So it’s always cool to have them at the race track,” said Bowman, who finished fifth in Sunday’s 400-mile race in Kansas City, Kan., the 12th event on the Cup Series schedule.

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Pacific 1 Vegas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
Edmonton 4, at Vegas 2 (summary)
Edmonton 5, at Vegas 4 (OT) (summary)
Vegas 4, at Edmonton 3 (summary)
at Edmonton 3, Vegas 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Edmonton, TBD, TNT*
Sunday at Vegas, TBD, TNT*

C1 Winnipeg vs. C2 Dallas
Dallas 3, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
Winnipeg 4, at Dallas 0 (summary)
Dallas 5, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
Tuesday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Dallas, TBD*
Monday at Winnipeg, TBD, ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Atlantic 1 Toronto vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
at Toronto 5, Florida 4 (summary)
at Toronto 4, Florida 3 (summary)
at Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT) (summary)
at Florida 2, Toronto 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Toronto, 4 p.m., ESPN*
Friday at Florida, TBD, TNT
Sunday at Toronto, TBD, TNT*

Metro 1 Washington vs. Metro 2 Carolina
Carolina 2, at Washington 1 (OT) (summary)
at Washington 3, Carolina 1 (summary)
at Carolina 4, Washington 0 (summary)
at Carolina 5, Washington 2 (summary)
Thursday at Washington, 4 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Carolina, TBD*
Monday at Washington, TBD, 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.

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.

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 Rickie 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.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1911 — Detroit’s Ty Cobb hit his first grand slam. After six innings, the Tigers led the Red Sox, 10-1. Boston came back to win the game 13-11 in 10 innings.

1911 — The New York Giants scored a major league record 10 runs before the St. Louis Cardinals retired the first batter in the first inning. Fred Merkle drove in six of the Giants’ 13 runs in the first en route to a 19-5 rout.

1923 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians struck out twice in one game for the first time in his career. Washington Senator rookie Wally Warmoth was the pitcher. In a 14-year career, Sewell had only one other multiple strikeout game.

1942 — Boston’s Jim Tobin became the only pitcher in modern history to hit three home runs in one game. Tobin led the Braves to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. His fourth at-bat was a fly ball caught against the fence in left field.

1955 — At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career.

1958 — Teammates Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer each had four long hits as San Francisco beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles 16-9. Mays had two homers, two triples, a single and four RBIs, and Spencer had two homers, a triple, a double and six RBIs for a combined 28 total bases.

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

1969 — Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs reaches the 1,500 runs batted in milestone with seven RBIs in a 19-0 shellacking of the expansion San Diego Padres.

1976 — For the sixth consecutive game, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals collects at least three hits.

1980 — Ray Knight of Cincinnati hit two home runs in the fifth inning — including a grand slam — to lead the Reds to a 15-4 rout of the New York Mets.

1982 — The Chicago Cubs won game No. 8,000 in their history with a 5-0 victory over Houston at the Astrodome.

1989 — Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins tied a major league record with four doubles against the Blue Jays. He became the 35th player to hit four doubles in a game, the first since Toronto’s Damaso Garcia in 1986.

1993 — George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hits his 300th career home run in the 6th inning of a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Brett is only the 6th major league player with at least 3,000 hits and 300 home runs.

1994 — Tim Salmon of the Angels went 5-for-5 against the Seattle Mariners to give him 13 hits over three consecutive games.

2000 — Todd Stottlemyre of Arizona earned his seventh victory of the season as the Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 6-2. It was Todd’s 136th career win. He and father Mel Stottlemyre became the first father-son combination to record 300 wins.

2002 — Only 38 home runs shy of the exclusive 500 home run club, Jose Canseco retires at 37 age due to injuries sustained in recent years.

2007 — San Francisco rookie Fred Lewis hit for the cycle in a 15-2 win over Colorado, just four days after being called up from triple-A Fresno.

2009 — Soon after Adam LaRoche became the first player to have a home run taken away following a video replay review, Ross Gload lost one the same way when umpires reversed their call. LaRoche wound up with a double for Pittsburgh at PNC Park. Gload’s pinch-hit drive was finally called foul at Milwaukee and he eventually struck out. Both players had already rounded the bases when umps changed the original call.

2009 — Ryan Zimmerman’s 30-game hitting streak ended when he went 0 for 3 with two walks in Washington’s 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

2012 — Joey Votto hit a grand slam in the ninth inning for his third home run of the game, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a rain-delayed 9-6 victory over the Washington Nationals.

2023 — By striking out Brice Turang and Joey Wiemer of the Brewers in the 5th inning, Zack Greinke becomes only the fifth pitcher in major league history to have struck out 1,000 different batters in his career. The veteran Royals hurler, who is in his 20th season, joins Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens in the exclusive club.

2024 — In a first, women are the lead television announcers for both teams in today’s game between the Athletics and Astros. Jenny Cavnar was named the A’s lead broadcaster before the start of the season, and for the occasion the Astros have announcer Todd Kalas and in-game reporter Julia Morales switch roles, with Morales, a long-time friend of Cavnar’s, taking over in the broadcast booth.

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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. As the prep baseball playoffs begin this week, let’s remind everyone we’re witnessing the making of the next great pitcher from Southern California.

Throwing strikes at 98 mph

Pitcher Seth Hernandez leads No. 1-ranked Corona.

(Nick Koza)

The Southern Section baseball playoff pairings will be announced on Monday, and 26-2 Corona is set to be the No. 1 seed in Division 1. It will be a last chance to take a look at standout pitcher Seth Hernandez, who enters the playoffs with a 17-0 record in two years of high school competition.

Southern California has produced Cy Young Award winners in Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Trevor Bauer (Hart), Jack McDowell (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame) and Bret Saberhagen (Cleveland), along with baseball’s current stars, Paul Skenes (El Toro), Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake) and Hunter Greene (Notre Dame)

Few exhibited in high school the pinpoint control along with being able to throw a fastball at 98 mph like Hernandez.

Here’s a look at the impact Hernandez has made.

Baseball

Venice received the No. 1 seed for the eight-team City Section Open Division playoffs that begin Wednesday. The semifinals are next Tuesday, followed by the championship game on May 24 at Dodger Stadium. Here are the complete pairings.

Sylmar came away as the Valley Mission League champions aided by a three-run home run from Rickee Luevano to beat Kennedy.

The Southern Section playoff pairings will be released Monday at 10 a.m. It’s the first time power rankings are being used to place teams into nine divisions. There’s expected to be first-round byes in Division 1.

Here’s this week’s final regular season top 25 rankings by The Times.

Softball

The Southern Section softball playoff pairings will be released at noon Monday.

In last week’s power rankings, Norco was ranked No. 1 and Orange Lutheran No. 2.

The City Section softball pairings will be announced on Friday. Granada Hills, which has lost in the final to Carson the last two seasons, is the likely No. 1 seed. San Pedro ended Carson’s reign as Marine League champion.

Track

Newbury Park’s Nicholas Durbiano (second from left) ran a 10.54 100 meters qualifying time at the Southern Section Division 2 prelims.

(Nick Koza)

The Southern Section track and field finals are set for Saturday at Moorpark High. The most interesting competition could come in Division 3, where Servite and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame will engage in an all-out duel for the boys team title.

There is so much depth to call upon from both teams. Servite qualified six runners for the 200. Notre Dame qualified four athletes for the long jump. The two schools went one-two in the 4×100 relay. Notre Dame’s JJ Harel is in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Servite athletes are favored to win the 100, 200 and 400 and both relays. It will come down to picking up points in other events.

Here’s a look at results from the prelims.

Swimming

Granada Hills sophomore Isabella San Jose dives off the block to begin the anchor leg of the Highlanders’ victorious 400-meter freestyle relay.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Granada Hills won the City Section boys and girls championships in swimming. Here’s the report.

Santa Margarita won the boys and girls titles at the Southern Section Division 1 championships. Here’s the report.

The state championships take place this weekend in Clovis.

Lacrosse

It will be Loyola taking on Mater Dei to decide the Southern Section Division 1 boys lacrosse championship Friday night.

For girls, Mira Costa will take on Foothill. Here’s the schedule.

Volleyball

It will be Huntington Beach taking on No. 1 Mira Costa in the Southern Section Division 1 volleyball championship match on Friday at 7 p.m. at Cerritos College.

Here’s a report on Mira Costa overpowering Corona del Mar.

The City Section Open Division semifinals will be held Tuesday night, with Venice hosting Granada Hills and Chatsworth hosting El Camino Real. The championship will take place Saturday at Birmingham.

Freshman sensation

Freshman pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham is 7-0 with a 1.09 ERA.

(Craig Weston)

Freshman pitcher Carlos Acuna of Birmingham has had a sensational start of his high school career with a 7-0 record going into the start of the City Section playoffs next week.

Here’s a profile on what has made him so effective and calm under pressure.

Palisades loses field

Bulldozers have cleared the Palisades High baseball field so that bungalows can be used. The field won’t be rebuilt until 2029 at the earliest.

(Craig Weston)

The Palisades High baseball field is gone. Bulldozers cleared everything last month to make way for bungalow classrooms.

The school and Los Angeles Unified School District made the decision as the best way to get the campus re-opened after the Palisades fire.

There will be no new baseball field until 2029 at the earliest, a tough blow to the team and community.

Here’s the report.

Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

New rules are coming in girls’ flag football that will be released this month. Some are controversial and will change the game.

Here’s a report on what to look for and the possible impact of the new rules.

There’s a big spring seven on seven passing tournament set for Saturday at Long Beach Millikan.

Practices have been taking place this spring across the Southland. Servite has had many visitors looking at its young offensive line. Here’s a report.

San Juan Hills has a rising line prospect. Here’s a report.

Notes . . .

Will Burr is the new girls’ basketball coach at Harvard-Westlake. He’s won Southern Section titles at Oak Park and Viewpoint. He played basketball at Bishop Alemany and is a former classmate of head of athletics Terry Barnum. . . .

Joe Goyeneche has stepped down as football coach at St. Bonaventure and will be replaced by defensive coordinator Nathan Page. Former coach Jon Mack is serving as a consultant. . . .

Former Taft and St. John Bosco basketball coach Derrick Taylor is the new head coach at Blair in Pasadena. . . .

Former Newbury Park and Utah quarterback Cam Rising (left) announced he is medically retiring from football. He’s coaching Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park.

(Craig Weston)

Former Newbury Park and Utah quarterback Cam Rising announced he is medically retiring from football and has joined Newbury Park as its new offensive coordinator, where he’ll get to tutor Michigan commit Brady Smigiel. . . .

Brandon Alexander has been hired to be the first girls flag football coach at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Schools in the Mission League have been reluctant to add flag football, so this could be the start of an expansion. Harvard-Westlake is expected to add a team in 2026. . . .

Huntington Beach junior receiver Troy Foster has committed to San Diego State. . . .

Standout defensive lineman Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon has committed to Oregon. He changed to become part of the class of 2026. . . .

Linebacker Shaun Scott of Mater Dei has committed to USC, giving the Trojans 28 commitments for the class of 2026. . . .

Windward basketball standout JJ Harris has committed to Loyola Marymount. . . .

It was an emotional moment for Loyola and Harvard-Westlake tennis players honoring Loyola captain Braun Levi, who was killed by a suspected drunken driver. Here’s a report on the schools uniting.

From the archives: Augie Lopez

Former Loyola baseball player Augie Lopez has helped USC move into playoff contention.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Former Loyola High catcher Augie Lopez has made a huge impact as a freshman for USC, helping the Trojans move into position to gain their first NCAA playoff berth since 2015.

He entered this past week hitting .338 with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Here’s a story from 2025 discussing Lopez as a player.

And here was my prediction for 2025 back in January.

Recommendations

From NFHS.org, a story on how track and field officials can stay calm during championship events.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the life and legacy of Chet Lemon, a Fremont High grad and World Series hero who died at the age of 70.

From MaxPreps.com, a story on a Texas high school softball team setting a national record for most home runs.

Tweets you might have missed

From Bill Plaschke: I love him like you love him.

But it’s time.

Austin Reaves is the Lakers’ breath of fresh air, a sharpshooting respite from all the drama and dirge, a stirring journey from undrafted to indefatigable. My favorite, everybody’s favorite.

But it’s time.

If the Lakers are going to get where they need to be, they’ll have to get there without Austin Reaves. If the Lakers truly value the acquisition of a big man, they’re going to have to get rid of the little fella.

Damn, I hate writing these next three words.

Trade Austin Reaves.

Send him packing in a deal that brings the Lakers the sort of lob partner and rim protector whose absence knocked you out of the postseason. Use him as the most attractive asset that could lure the sort of behemoth that could help this group bully their way back into contention.

You say you want to build around Luka Doncic? Start with uprooting Reaves.

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 4 Denver Nuggets
Denver 121, at Oklahoma City 119 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 149, Denver 106 (box score)
at Denver 113, Oklahoma City 104 (OT) (box score)
Oklahoma City 92, at Denver 87 (box score)
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Denver, TBD, ESPN
Sunday at Oklahoma City, TBD*

No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 7 Golden State
Golden State 99, at Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Minnesota 117, Golden State 93 (box score)
Minnesota 102, at Golden State 97 (box score)
Monday at Golden State, 7 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Sunday at Golden State, TBD*
Tuesday, May 20 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 121, at Cleveland 112 (box score)
Indiana 120, at Cleveland 119 (box score)
Cleveland 126, at Indiana 104 (box score)
at Indiana 129, Cleveland 109 (box score)
Tuesday at Cleveland, 4 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Indiana, TBD*
Sunday at Cleveland, TBD*

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 New York
New York 108, at Boston 105 (OT) (box score)
New York 91, at Boston 90 (box score)
Boston 115, at New York 93 (box score)
Monday at New York, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday at Boston, 4 p.m., TNT
Friday at New York, TBD, ESPN*
Monday, May 19 at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: At the end of a grueling 10-game trek around the country, and in search of their first winning trip this season, the Dodgers got exactly what they needed Sunday afternoon.

A strong start from right-hander Tony Gonsolin. A huge performance from the top of their lineup. And a thorough 8-1 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks, splitting a four-game series at Chase Field this weekend to return home from this week-and-a-half-long trip with a 6-4 record that keeps them in first place in the National League West.

“Really good team win,” manager Dave Roberts said.

In a battle of two former All-Stars on Sunday, Gonsolin outdueled Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen, tossing five scoreless innings to earn his second win in three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery — and a back injury that forced him to miss the first month of the season — this year.

“His delivery looks really good,” Roberts said of Gonsolin, who has a 2.80 ERA in his first three starts this season while looking much closer to the 2022 All-Star version of himself than he did while pitching through his elbow injury in 2023.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer during Baltimore’s four-run sixth inning, and Maverick Handley got his first two career RBIs in the Orioles’ 7-3 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Zach Eflin (3-1) pitched five innings of two-run ball in his return from a monthlong injury absence for the Orioles, who took two of three in this weekend series between last-place clubs. Baltimore finished its trip by winning for only the second time in eight games.

Matthew Lugo hit his first career homer as a pinch-hitter in the ninth for the Angels, who went 4-6 on their 10-game homestand.

Tyler Anderson (2-1) yielded one earned run over five innings for the Angels, who committed two errors and several other fielding gaffes.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

WNBA

From Anthony De Leon: Even on Mother’s Day — the day dedicated to relaxation and pampering for moms — the Sparks will take the hardwood in Torrance, sweating through defensive sets, refining footwork and hitting jumpers.

It’ll be a shortened practice, but practice nonetheless. There’s no time to pause. The WNBA season opener is less than a week away. The grind of pro basketball never lets up, and neither does the grind of motherhood.

Odyssey Sims’ latter role often kicks in when she steps off the court. When the final whistle sounds, her 5-year-old son, Jaiden, usually waits nearby — her best friend, “Mama’s baby.” He shares her wide grin. They move as one, even at the Sparks’ training camp.

“I’m used to bringing my son with me all the time,” Sims said. “He loves coming to the gym. … He has his moments where he’s like, ‘Mom, I’m ready to go.’ I’m like, ‘Son, it’s 10 o’clock, we haven’t even started.’”

Continue reading here

UCLA SOFTBALL

UCLA earned a No. 9 NCAA softball national seed and will host a regional during its first season as a Big Ten member.

The Bruins (49-10, 17-5 Big Ten) lost to Michigan 2-0 in the Big Ten tournament title game, but still earned the right to host the Los Angeles Regional. UCLA is making a record 40th appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Regional No. 2 seed Arizona State, Regional No. 3 seed San Diego State and Regional No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara also earn bids in UCLA’s regional, with the Regional No. 1 seed Bruins playing UC Santa Barbara at 4:30 p.m. PDT Friday (ESPN+) and Arizona State playing San Diego State at 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN2).

Texas A&M earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I softball tournament on Sunday, edging four-time defending national champion Oklahoma for the top spot and leading seven Southeastern Conference teams seeded in the top eight.

Continue reading here

LAFC

Brian White scored on a header in the 70th minute and the Vancouver Whitecaps rallied to tie LAFC 2-2 on Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games across all competitions.

The Whitecaps (8-1-3) lead all MLS teams with 27 points and hold a five-point edge over Minnesota in the Western Conference. They are 6-0-5 during the streak.

On the tying goal, second-half substitution Ali Ahmed headed the ball into the center of the box and White headed it into the net. White also scored in the 26th minute to pull Vancouver within a goal.

Continue reading here

LAFC summary

MLS standings

HOCKEY

From Kevin Baxter: Nareg Dekermenjian had Mother’s Day brunch with the Stanley Cup, which caused more than a little anxiety since no one was sure what hockey’s championship trophy liked to eat.

“I’m thinking all-meat diet for the Stanley Cup,” Dekermenjian said before sliding into a large corner booth at Stanley’s Restaurant (no relation to the Cup) in Sherman Oaks. “Anything less than that, I’m going to be very, very disappointed.”

As it turned out, the Cup was fasting so the plate in front of it remained empty. But then the trophy wasn’t the one being feted Sunday, Dekermenjian was. Last week he was named the winner of the NHL’s Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher Program, chosen from a field of hundreds of candidates from 31 of the league’s 32 cities.

For the fifth-grade teacher, who left a well-paying job as a financial advisor for a classroom four years ago, being honored by a visit from the Stanley Cup was a full-circle moment in several ways. For starters, it was an acknowledgment of the role hockey played in helping him adapt to his new country after his father, Edward, a jeweler in Lebanon who spoke only broken English, wagered everything when he left Beirut for the West Valley so his three children could have a chance at a better life.

Dekermenjian, the youngest, was just 5 and he immediately had trouble fitting in.

“Making friends or having some kind of link with the kids my age, coming from a different country, that was really different,” he said. So one day his mother, Zovig, pushed him out the door to join some neighborhood kids in a street-hockey game.

“I’m glad I did,” Zovig said Sunday. The game, it turned out, would change everything.

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference semifinals

Pacific 1 Vegas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
Edmonton 4, at Vegas 2 (summary)
Edmonton 5, at Vegas 4 (OT) (summary)
Vegas 4, at Edmonton 3 (summary)
Monday at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Wednesday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Edmonton, TBD, TNT*
Sunday at Vegas, TBD, TNT*

C1 Winnipeg vs. C2 Dallas
Dallas 3, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
Winnipeg 4, at Dallas 0 (summary)
Dallas 5, at Winnipeg 2 (summary)
Tuesday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Dallas, TBD*
Monday, May 19 at Winnipeg, TBD, ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Atlantic 1 Toronto vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
at Toronto 5, Florida 4 (summary)
at Toronto 4, Florida 3 (summary)
at Florida 5, Toronto 4 (OT) (summary)
at Florida 2, Toronto 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Toronto, 4 p.m., ESPN*
Friday at Florida, TBD, TNT
Sunday at Toronto, TBD, TNT*

Metro 1 Washington vs. Metro 2 Carolina
Carolina 2, at Washington 1 (OT) (summary)
at Washington 3, Carolina 1 (summary)
at Carolina 4, Washington 0 (summary)
Monday at Carolina, 4 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Washington, 4 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Carolina, TBD*
Monday, May 19 at Washington, TBD, ESPN*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1909 — The Preakness Stakes is held in Maryland after 16 runnings in New York. As part of the celebration marking the return of the Preakness, the colors of the race’s winner were painted onto the ornamental weather vane at Pimlico Racecourse for the first time.

1917 — Omar Khayyam, ridden by Charles Borel, becomes the first foreign-bred (England) colt to win the Kentucky Derby with a 2-length victory over Ticket.

1924 — Walter Hagen wins the PGA championship with a 2-up victory over Jim Barnes.

1973 — 6th ABA championship: Indiana Pacers beat Ky Colonels, 4 games to 3.

1974 — The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 102-87 to win the NBA championship in seven games.

1976 — 20th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Saint-Etienne 1-0 at Glasgow.

1979 — Chris Evert’s 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end when she loses to Tracy Austin in the semifinals of the Italian Open.

1980 — West Ham United wins the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium; midfield playmaker Trevor Brooking scores winner with a rare header.

1982 — FC Barcelona of Spain win 22nd European Cup Winner’s Cup against Standard Liège of Belgium 2-1 in Barcelona.

1993 — Parma of Italy win 33rd European Cup Winner’s Cup against Royal Antwerp of Belgium 3-1 in London.

1995 — Martin Brodeur ties NHL record getting his 3rd playoff shutout in 4 games.

1996 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, DuPont CC: England’s Laura Davies wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Julie Piers.

1996 — A three-way dead heat is run at Yakima (Wash.) Meadows, the 20th such finish in thoroughbred racing history there. In the day’s third race, a trio of $8,000 claimers — Fly Like A Angel, Allihaveonztheradio and Terri After Five — hit the wire together after a one-mile race.

2001 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (72,500): Liverpool beats Arsenal, 2-1 with Michael Owen scoring twice for the Reds.

2006 — Laure Manaudou of France breaks Janet Evans’ 18-year-old world record in the 400-meter freestyle, finishing in 4:03.03 at the French national swimming championships. Manaudou beats the time of 4:03.85 set by Evans in winning the 400-meter freestyle at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

2006 — Justin Gatlin breaks the 100-meter world record with a time of 9.76 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix. A week later, the International Association of Athletics Federations announces a timing error gave Gatlin a time of 9.76 seconds. His time of 9.766 seconds, should have been manually rounded up to 9.77, tying Asafa Powell’s world mark of 9.77.

2010 — Montreal follows up a monumental upset by pulling off another. The Canadiens, who eliminated the Washington Capitals, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Montreal accomplishes what no team had done since the current playoffs format was adopted in 1994. And that is beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner and defending Stanley Cup champion in successive rounds as an eighth-seeded team.

2010 — Kelly Kulick, the first woman to win a PBA Tour title when she beat the men in January in the Tournament of Champions, wins the U.S. Women’s Open for her second women’s major victory in 15 days. Kulick beats Liz Johnson of 233-203 in the final.

2013 — Serena Williams beats Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Madrid Open to retain her No. 1 ranking and collect her 50th career title.

2013 — PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Tiger Woods wins his second PC, 2 strokes ahead of David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman.

2014 — LeBron James ties his playoff career high with 49 points, Chris Bosh makes the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, and the Miami Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-96 for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

2019 — Manchester City beats Brighton, 4-1 to claim back-to-back English Premier League titles with 98 points, 1 ahead of runners-up, Liverpool.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.

1926 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators records his 400th career win when he defeats the St. Louis Browns, 7-4.

1937 — St. Louis’ Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1955 — Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.

1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.

1958 — Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants.

1966 — Lou Brock’s RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.

1969 — Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the seventh pitcher in National League history to strike out the side on nine pitches.

1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.

1989 — Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants records his 200th major league win, beating Montreal, 2-1.

1999 — Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez strikes out 15 batters for the second consecutive game in a 9-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

2000 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record set in 1968 by Cleveland’s Luis Tiant for most strikeouts over two games.

2001 — A.J. Burnett pitched an unlikely no-hitter — overcoming a record nine walks — to lead Florida over San Diego 3-0.

2004 — In one of the most remarkable at-bats in major league history, Alex Cora of the Dodgers fouls off 14 consecutive pitches and then hits the 18th pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run off Cubs pitcher Matt Clement.

2008 — Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, accomplishing the feat in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto. Cabrera made a diving catch on a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base and then tagged out Marco Scutaro to quickly end the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 3-0 loss in 10 innings.

2009 — Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 30 games, getting a first-inning single in the Washington Nationals’ 9-7 loss to San Francisco.

2010 — Homer Bailey became the latest Cincinnati Reds starter to pitch a gem against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tossing his first career complete game in a 5-0 win. The Reds became the first team in the majors in nearly 10 years to pitch back-to-back, complete-game shutouts without a walk — Oakland’s Tim Hudson and Barry Zito did it on Sept. 9-10, 2000, against Tampa Bay.

2015 — The Mariners tie a team record by hitting six homers in an 11-4 win over the Padres at Safeco Field. Nelson Cruz hits his major league-leading 15th home run, while Mike Zunino hits two, and Kyle Seager, Justin Ruggiano and Logan Morrison complete the barrage.

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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

After conducting an investigation into Los Angeles County’s faulty emergency alerts during the deadly January wildfires, U.S. Congressman Robert Garcia issued a report Monday calling for more federal oversight of the nation’s patchwork, privatized emergency alert system.

The investigation was launched by Garcia and more than a dozen members of L.A.’s congressional delegation in February after L.A. County sent a series of faulty evacuation alerts on Jan. 9, urging people across a metropolitan region of 10 million to prepare to evacuate. The faulty alerts came two days after intense firestorms erupted in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

The alerts, which were intended for a small group of residents near Calabasas, stoked panic and confusion as they were blasted out repeatedly to communities as far as 40 miles away from the evacuation area.

The new report, “Sounding the Alarm: Lessons From the Kenneth Fire False Alerts,” alleged that a technical flaw by Genasys, the software company contracted with the county to issue wireless emergency alerts, caused the faulty alert to ping across the sprawling metro region.

It also found that, contrary to accounts of L.A. County officials at the time, multiple echo alerts then went out as cellphone providers experienced overload due to the high volume and long duration of the alerts. Confusion was compounded, the report said, by L.A. County’s vague wording of the original alert.

“It’s clear that there’s still so much reform needed, so that we have operating systems that people can rely on and trust in the future,” Garcia told The Times.

The Times was reaching out to Genasys and county officials for response to the report.

A Long Beach Democrat who sits on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Garcia said the stakes were incredibly high.

“We’re talking about loss of life and property, and people’s confidence in our emergency notification systems,” he said. “People need to be able to trust that if there’s a natural disaster, that they’re going to get an alert and it’s going to have correct information, and we have to provide that level of security and comfort across the country.”

To improve emergency warning alert systems, the report urges Congress and the federal government to “act now to close gaps in alerting system performance, certification, and public communication.”

“The lessons from the Kenneth Fire should not only inform reforms,” the report states, “but serve as a catalyst to modernize the nation’s alerting infrastructure before the next disaster strikes.”

The report makes several recommendations. It calls for more federal funding for planning, equipment, training and system maintenance on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, the national system that provides emergency public alerts through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts and to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System.

It also urges FEMA to fully complete minimum requirements and improve training to IPAWS that Congress mandated in 2019 after the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent out a false warning of an incoming missile attack to millions of residents and vacationers. Five years after Congress required “the standardization, functionality, and interoperability of incident management and warning tools,” the report said, FEMA has yet to finish implementing certification programs for users and third-party software providers. The agency plans to pilot a third-party technology certification program this year.

The report also presses the Federal Communications Commission to establish performance standards and develop measurable goals and monitoring for WEA performance, and ensure mobile providers include location-aware maps by the December 2026 deadline.

But the push for greater oversight is certain to be a challenge at a time when President Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are pushing for FEMA to be dismantled.

In the last few days, the Trump administration fired FEMA’s acting head, Cameron Hamilton, after he told U.S. lawmakers he does not support eliminating the agency. Noem told U.S. Congress members at a hearing last week that Trump believes the agency has “failed the American people, and that FEMA, as it exists today, should be eliminated in empowering states to respond to disasters with federal government support.”

Garcia described the Trump administration’s dismantling of FEMA as “very concerning.”

“We need to have stable FEMA leadership,” Garcia told The Times. “The recent reshuffling and changes that are happening, I hope, do not get in the way of actually making these systems stronger. We need stability at FEMA. We need FEMA to continue to exist. … The sooner that we get the investments in, the sooner that we complete these studies, I think the more safe people are going to feel.”

Garcia said his office was working on drafting legislation that could address some of these issues.

“We really need to push FEMA and we need to push the administration — and Congress absolutely has a role in making sure these systems are stronger,” Garcia said. “Ensuring that we fully fund these systems is critical. … There’s dozens of these systems, and yet there’s no real kind of centralized rules that are modern.”

According to FEMA, more than 40 different commercial providers work in the emergency alert market. But further steps need to be taken, an agency official said, to train local emergency managers and regulate the private software companies and wireless providers that play a pivotal role in safeguarding millions of Americans during severe wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and active shooter incidents.

“Ongoing efforts are needed to increase training with alerting authorities, enhance standardization with service providers, and further collaboration with wireless providers to improve the delivery of Wireless Emergency Alerts to the public,” Thomas Breslin, acting associate administrator of FEMA’s Office of National Continuity Programs, said in a letter to Garcia.

Genasys, a San Diego-based company, said in a recent SEC filing that its “ALERT coverage has expanded into cities and counties in 39 states.” “The vast majority of California” is covered by its EVAC system, it said, which continues “to grow into the eastern United States, with covered areas expanding into Texas, South Carolina, and Tennessee.”

Genasys also noted that its ALERT system is an “interactive, cloud-based” software service, raising the possibility of communication disruption. “The information technology systems we and our vendors use are vulnerable to outages, breakdowns or other damage or interruption from service interruptions, system malfunction, natural disasters, terrorism, war, and telecommunication and electrical failures,” it said in its SEC filing.

As part of its investigation into how evacuation warnings were accidentally sent to nearly 10 million L.A. County residents during the L.A. fires, Garcia received responses from Genasys, L.A. County, FEMA and the FCC.

The report said a L.A. County emergency management worker saved an alert correctly with a narrowly defined polygon in the area near the Kenneth fire. But the software did not upload the correct evacuation area polygon to IPAWS, possibly due to a network disruption, the report said. The Genasys system also did not warn the L.A. County emergency management staffer that drafted the alert a targeted polygon was missing in the IPAWS channel before it sent the message, the report found.

Genasys has since added safeguards to its software, but the report noted that Genasys did not provide details about the incident. . It suggested the independent after-action review into the Eaton and Palisades fire response “further investigate Genasys’ claims of what caused the error, and how a network disruption would have occurred or could have blocked the proper upload of a polygon into the IPAWS distribution channel.”

The report commended L.A. County for responding quickly in canceling the alert within 2 minutes and 47 seconds and issuing a corrected message about 20 minutes later, stating the alert was sent “in ERROR.”

But it also criticized the county’s wording of the original alert as vague. Some confusion could have been avoided, it said, if the emergency management staffer who wrote the alert had described the area with more geographic specificity and included timestamps.

The report also found that a series of false echo alerts that went out over the next few days were not caused by cellphone towers coming back online after being knocked down because of the fires, as L.A. County emergency management officials reported. Instead, they were caused by cellphone networks’ technical issues.

One cellphone company attributed the duplicate alerts to a result of “overload, due to high volume and long duration of alerts sent during fires.” While the report said the company installed a temporary patch and was developing a permanent repair, it is unclear if other networks have enabled safeguards to make sure they do not face similar problems.

The report did not delve into the critical delays in electronic emergency alerts sent to areas of Altadena. When flames erupted from Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7, neighborhoods on the east side of Altadena got evacuation orders at 7:26 p.m., but residents to the west did not receive orders until 3:25 a.m. — hours after fires began to destroy their neighborhoods. Seventeen of the 18 people confirmed dead in the Eaton fire were on the west side.

Garcia told The Times that the problems in Altadena appeared to be due to human error, rather than technical errors with emergency alert software. Garcia said he and other L.A. Congress members were anxious to read the McChrystal Group’s after-action review of the response to the Eaton and Palisades fires.

Local, state and federal officials all shared some blame for the problems with alerts in the L.A. fire, Garcia said. Going forward, Congress should press the federal government, he said, to develop a reliable regulatory system for alerts.

“When you have so many operators and you don’t have these IPAWS requirements in place, that is concerning,” Garcia said. “We should have a standard that’s federal, that’s clear.”

Garcia told The Times that emergency alerts were not just a Southern California issue.

“These systems are used around the country,” he said. “This can impact any community, and so it’s in everyone’s best interests to move forward and to work with FEMA, to work with the FCC, to make sure that we make these adjustments and changes. I think it’s very critical.”

Times staff writer Paige St. John contributed to this report.