ucla olympic sports

From Jack Harris: Upstaging Shohei Ohtani, especially on a day he pitches, is no easy feat.

But at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, teammate Max Muncy did it twice — hitting two home runs and matching a career high with seven RBIs to lift the Dodgers to a 13-7 defeat of the Washington Nationals, and make Ohtani more of the sideshow in his second pitching start of the season.

Despite two strikeouts over a scoreless first inning from Ohtani to begin the day, Dodger Stadium had sat in relative silence for the next five innings.

Ben Casparius, who replaced the still workload-restricted Ohtani on the mound in the second, gave up a three-run home run in the third, when a flyball deflected off Hyeseong Kim’s glove at the wall before hitting a fan reaching over the barrier.

Michael Soroka, the former All-Star turned inconsistent journeyman, held the Dodgers hitless into the fifth, racking up a career-high 10 strikeouts while protecting the 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, however, an opportunity for the Dodgers finally arose.

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Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Mauricio Dubón homered twice and Josh Hader stayed perfect in 19 save chances this season by getting Mike Trout to line out to center field with a runner on second as the Houston Astros held off the Angels 8-7 in the rubber game of their series Sunday.

Dubón’s second career multihomer game began with a leadoff shot against starter Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning for the Astros’ first run. Dubón added a two-run drive off Hunter Strickland for a 6-5 lead in the sixth.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Ben Howland planned it like this. Of course he did.

This was a coach so engrossed in details that he would grumble about the room temperature at news conferences and call a timeout when his team was in the middle of a big run just so that he could set up his defense.

So it should come as no surprise that before his 10-year run as UCLA’s basketball coach ended in 2013, Howland had schemed for his dream retirement.

In 2011, he bought a four-bedroom, ranch-style house in his native Santa Barbara close to so many old friends and family, knowing the full remodel job would take years. The Howlands moved in three years ago, after the coach’s final season at Mississippi State.

The home is now his departure point for frequent trips to see another old friend — the program he guided to back-to-back-to-back Final Fours from 2006-08. Howland likes to leave many hours before tipoff, arranging his schedule so that he can visit friends or fit in a doctor’s appointment.

Perhaps nobody at the school can put a smile on his face like the current basketball coach. Mick Cronin and Howland have known one another since the former helped run Sonny Vaccaro’s ABCD Camp in the 1990s, going on to forge a friendship rooted in mutual respect.

There’s so many similarities between the coaches, from their demanding practices to their relentless defenses to their wry senses of humor to their lack of hair to their admiration for things that are difficult but worthwhile.

“Coaching’s changed and I can still appreciate Mick because he comes from the old school and what he’s doing is no different than what [Bob] Huggins and [Rick] Pitino did as he’s working for them and watching these guys, who are both Hall of Famers, two of the greatest coaches ever,” Howland said.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams returned to Southern California nearly a decade ago intent on capturing the heart of NFL fans in Los Angeles.

Now, with two Super Bowl appearances, one championship and a still glistening-like SoFi Stadium, they have their eyes set on a larger territory: the world.

The Rams’ trip to Maui last week for a minicamp was their latest foray into building a global brand.

“In the journey to growing your brand globally, there’s never an ‘Aha, this is a perfect moment,’” Rams president Kevin Demoff said as he stood on the field at War Memorial Stadium after a workout attended by several thousand fans. “But I think this is a great step.”

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GOLF

Minjee Lee closed with a two-over 74 but never gave up the lead Sunday in the final round of the Women’s PGA Championship to win her third major title.

While Lee had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine, she had started the day with a four-stroke lead over Jeeno Thitikul. And the world’s No. 2-ranked player, also in that final group, bogeyed both par fives that are among the first three holes on Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.

Lee, ranked 24th, finished at four-under 284, three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the only other players under par.

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Women’s PGA championship leaderboard

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the court for the final time this season, collapsed into the arms of coach Mark Daigneault and finally smiled.

It was over.

The climb is complete. The rebuild is done. The Oklahoma City Thunder are champions.

The best team all season was the best team at the end, bringing the NBA title to Oklahoma City for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers — who lost Tyrese Haliburton to a serious leg injury in the opening minutes — 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

“It doesn’t feel real,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, the Finals MVP. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours and we deserve this.”

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Kevin Durant traded from the Suns to the Rockets in a blockbuster deal

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story)
at Indiana 108, Oklahoma City 91 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 103, Indiana 91 (box score, story)

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1917 — Molla Bjurstedt win the women’s U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title for the third straight year with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Marion Vanderhoef.

1922 — Walter Hagen becomes the first native-born American to win the British Open. Hagen shoots a 300 to beat Jim Barness and George Duncan by one stroke at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

1939 — Former football great Bronko Nagurski beats Lou Thesz to win the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight title in at the Coliseum in Houston. Thesz was largely considered the greatest wrestler of all time. Houston Mayor Holcombe reportedly presents Bronko with a $10,000 diamond studded belt.

1963 — Julius Boros wins a three-way playoff to take the U.S. Open. Boros beats Jacky Cupit by three strokes and Arnold Palmer by six.

1969 — Joe Frazier TKOs Jerry Quarry in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.

1972 — President Nixon signs the Higher Education Act of 1972. Title IX of this congressional act bars sex bias in athletics and other activities at colleges receiving federal assistance.

1974 — Sandra Haynie wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over JoAnne Carner.

1980 — West Germany wins European soccer title (2-1 against Belgium).

1985 — Laffit Pincay Jr. rides Greinton to a 1 3/4-length victory over Precisionist in the Hollywood Gold Cup, to join Willie Shoemaker as the only jockeys in history to surpass $100 million in purse earnings.

1988 — Charlotte Hornets & Miami Heat begin their NBA expansion draft.

1991 — A Mazda becomes the first Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 hours race, overtaking a Mercedes in the last three hours. Bertrand Gachot of Belgium, Johnny Herbert of Britain and Volker Weidler of Germany are the winning drivers of the rotary-powered Mazda.

1996 — Michael Johnson breaks the world record in the 200 meters, running 19.66 seconds at the U.S. track and field trials in Atlanta. The previous mark of 19.72 was set by Italy’s Pietro Mennea in 1979 in Mexico City.

1999 — The Hockey Hall of Fame waives the usual three-year waiting period and announces that Wayne Gretzky will be part of the Class of 1999.

2001 — Ilya Kovalchuk is the first player born in Russia to be taken with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft when he’s selected by the Atlanta Thrashers.

2005 — Tim Duncan comes up huge in the second half and is chosen finals MVP and Manu Ginobili has another breakthrough performance to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Detroit Pistons 81-74 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

2011 — NBA Draft: Duke point guard Kyrie Irving first pick Cleveland Cavaliers.

2013 — Courtney Force claims a Funny Car victory against her father at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals. In their first final-round matchup, Courtney Force earns her second victory of the year and third in her career. She improves to 4-2 against her father, John Force, a 15-time Funny Car world champion.

2015 — The NHL’s Board of Governors approve the proposed 3-on-3 overtime change.

2017 — NHL Draft: Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) center Nico Hischier first pick by New Jersey Devils.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1917 — In baseball’s greatest relief effort, Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox came in for Babe Ruth with nobody out and a man on first. The base runner was cut down stealing and Shore retired all 26 batters he faced to gain a 4-0 victory over Washington. Ruth walked Eddie Foster to open the game and was ejected after arguing with umpire Brick Owens.

1932 — Lou Gehrig plays his 1,103rd successive game in a New York uniform, equaling Joe Sewell’s record with one team (Cleveland).

1950 — Hoot Evers’ winning home run in the ninth inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 10-9 victory over the New York Yankees as the teams combined for 11 home runs, a major league record. The Yankees hit six and the Tigers five.

1963 — Jimmie Piersall, playing for the Mets in New York, hit his 100th career home run and celebrated by running around the bases backward.

1971 — Rick Wise of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds and hit two homers. Wise became the first pitcher to hit two homers while throwing a no-hitter.

1973 — Pitcher Ken Brett of the Philadelphia Phillies hit a home run in the fourth consecutive game that he pitched in June. He beat Montreal 7-2.

1984 — Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg hit two late-inning home runs off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bruce Sutter to tie the game twice as the Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to tie the game 9-9 then hit a two-run, two-out homer in the 10th to tie the game 11-11. Willie McGee hit for the cycle and drove in six runs for St. Louis.

1993 — Seattle OF Jay Buhner hits for the cycle in the Mariners’ 8 – 7, 14-inning win over the Athletics. He is the first Mariner player to ever hit for the cycle..

2003 — Stealing second base at Pacific Bell Park in the 11th inning, Barry Bonds becomes the first player to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases in his career.

2008 — Felix Hernandez hit the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years, then departed with a sprained ankle before he could qualify for a win in Seattle’s 5-2 victory over the New York Mets. The shot to right-center off Johan Santana was the first home run by a pitcher in Mariners history, and the first slam by an AL hurler since Cleveland’s Steve Dunning went deep against Oakland’s Diego Segui on May 11, 1971.

2013 — David Wright homered, tripled and matched a Mets record with four extra-base hits to back Matt Harvey’s splendid start in a lopsided 8-0 victory over Philadelphia. Wright went 4 for 5 with two of New York’s season-high seven doubles.

2020 — After the Players Association ratified proposed COVID-19 safety protocols, an abbreviated 60-game season will begin July 23 or 24.

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.

From Jack Harris: Seven times in the last 10 days, the Dodgers and San Diego Padres have renewed their steadily intensifying divisional rivalry.

And in the last inning of the last one of those games Thursday night, the mounting tensions between the clubs — and their respective managers — finally ignited into a benches-clearing confrontation.

At the end of the Padres’ 5-3 win against the Dodgers, San Diego star Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a Dodgers pitcher for the third time over the two recent series between the National League West foes, and a career-high sixth time by the team in his six years in the majors.

Moments later, Dave Roberts and Mike Shildt were face-to-face on the field, engaged in a shouting match that caused both benches to empty in a heated melee behind home plate.

“I felt that he was trying to make it personal with me,” Roberts said of Shildt. “Which then, I take it personal.”

Indeed, as soon as Tatis got plunked on the hand by a 93-mph fastball from debuting Dodgers rookie Jack Little, Shildt came storming out of the dugout, walking over to check on Tatis while barking in Roberts’ direction.

Whatever Shildt said, Roberts took exception. Suddenly, he was charging onto the field, bumping into Shildt as the two jawed back and forth and their two teams swarmed around them.

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Federal agents denied entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot, sparking new outrage over Trump sweeps

When Dodger baseball meets L.A. reality | Dodgers Debate

Shaikin: Why is Dodger Stadium SO LOUD?

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt hit consecutive homers in the second inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Angels 7-3 on Thursday to halt their six-game skid.

Carlos Rodón (9-5) allowed a season-high three homers but held the Angels to four hits in six innings to bounce back from two rocky outings against the Red Sox. The left-hander struck out seven and walked one on an 89-degree afternoon.

The AL East-leading Yankees stopped their longest losing streak since a nine-game slide in August 2023. New York also avoided its second four-game sweep at the current Yankee Stadium and first since September 2021 against Toronto.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: From the moment the Rams landed in Maui, Puka Nacua embraced the spotlight and provided sunshine vibes.

The star receiver, with several colorful leis draping his shoulders, turned heads upon arrival at a Monday night luau.

The next morning, flag football players excitedly buzzed “It’s Puka!” as he entered War Memorial Stadium for a Rams workout and clinic. That afternoon, autograph seekers lined up 100-deep for an exclusive afternoon Puka-centric event at a team pop-up store.

On Wednesday, several thousands of fans showed up to see the Rams’ public workout, dozens of them wearing Nacua jerseys.

Nacua, who is of Hawaiian, Samoan and Portuguese descent, welcomed the attention with open arms.

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CLUB WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter: The FIFA Club World Cup is just six days old, but it has already provided a mixed bag of memorable experiences for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose trip to Southern California with Paris Saint-Germain marked his first visit to the U.S.

“I was in shock,” the veteran winger said. “It’s very beautiful here. I like it very much. One day we [went] bowling. And played mini golf. I was thinking when I finish football, to come to live.”

Then there’s the soccer, where not all the memories have been good ones.

After contributing two assists to a win in PSG’s tournament opener, Kvaratskhelia was unable to get any of his game-high five shots past goalkeeper John Victor in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Brazilian club Botafogo before an announced crowd of 53,699 at the Rose Bowl.

The upset, the tournament’s most shocking result so far, snapped PSG’s win streak at six games in all competition, marked the first time it has been held scoreless since March 5 and leaves in doubt the team’s spot in the second round. Botafogo (2-0) leads the four-team group with PSG and Atlético Madrid (both 1-1) tied for second with a game remaining. With just two teams moving on, PSG will need a victory over the Sounders on Monday in Seattle to advance.

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Juventus players befuddled by visit with Trump at White House: ‘I just want to play football, man’

LAKERS

From Jack Harris: The Lakers are getting a new owner. And in Los Angeles, he’s already a familiar name.

Thirteen years after buying the Dodgers and transforming the team into a juggernaut in Major League Baseball, billionaire businessman Mark Walter is in line to become the new majority owner of the Lakers.

Suddenly, the once anonymous Chicago-based investment manager is about to have both of the Southland’s most prominent professional sports teams in his portfolio.

For Lakers fans, Walter’s arrival will mark a massive shift following decades of family ownership of the team by the Buss family. But, they won’t have to look far to find examples of how Walter has operated another iconic Los Angeles sports brand.

“He’s really committed to the city of Los Angeles in various ways,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday, after the stunning news of Walter’s impending purchase of the Lakers first emerged. “He’s going to do everything he can to produce a championship-caliber team every single year, and make sure the city feels proud of the Lakers and the legacy that they’ve already built with the Buss family.”

As Walter’s ownership of the Lakers prepares to begin, here are four things to know about his stewardship of the Dodgers over the last decade-plus.

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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story)
at Indiana 108, Oklahoma City 91 (box score, story)
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1908 — Colin wins the Tidal Stakes at Sheepshead Bay and retires undefeated after 15 starts. No major American racehorse approaches this record until 1988, when Personal Ensign retires with a perfect 13-for-13 career.

1936 — Jesse Owens sets a 100-meter record of 10.2 seconds at a meet in Chicago.

1940 — Joe Louis stops Arturo Godoy in the eighth round at Yankee Stadium to retain the world heavyweight title.

1960 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round in New York to become the first boxer to regain the world heavyweight title.

1966 — Billy Casper beats Arnold Palmer by four strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open.

1967 — Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, is convicted of violating the United States Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. Clay is sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000, the maximum penalty for the offense. Ali remains free while his conviction is on appeal.

1968 — The Night of Speed. In a span of 2½ hours, the world record of 10 seconds for the 100 meters is broken by three men and tied by seven others at the AAU Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Jim Hines wins the first semifinal in a tight finish with Ronny Ray Smith, becoming the first man to break the 10-second barrier. Both runners are credited with a time of 9.9 seconds. Charlie Greene wins the second semifinal and then ties Hines’ 9.9 record in the final.

1976 — UEFA European Championship Final, Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Czechoslovakia upsets West Germany, 5-3 on penalties following 2-2 draw.

1980 — Roberto Duran wins a 15-round decision over Sugar Ray Leonard at Olympic Stadium in Montreal to win the WBC welterweight crown.

1982 — Tom Watson wins the U.S. Open by two strokes over Jack Nicklaus.

1984 — Jockey Pat Day equals a thoroughbred racing record for an eight-race card when he wins seven races at Churchill Downs. Day’s only loss is in the fourth race.

1993 — Lee Janzen holes a 30-foot chip for birdie on No. 16 and adds birdies on the par-5 closing holes for a two-stroke victory over Payne Stewart in the U.S. Open. Janzen ties Jack Nicklaus’ record 272 total and Lee Trevino’s four straight rounds in the 60′s.

1993 — John Paxson hits a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left as the Chicago Bulls win their third consecutive NBA title with a 99-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the finals.

1994 — Ernie Els of South Africa becomes the first foreign winner of the U.S. Open since 1981, beating Loren Roberts on the second sudden-death hole.

2004 — Retief Goosen captures his second U.S. Open in four years. In the toughest final round at the U.S. Open in 22 years, Goosen closes with a 1-over 71 for a two-shot victory made possible when Phil Mickelson three-putts from 5 feet on the 17th.

2006 — Dwyane Wade caps his magnificent playoffs with 36 points and 10 rebounds to lead Miami past the Dallas Mavericks 95-92 as the Heat roar back from a two-game deficit to win the NBA finals in six games.

2013 — LeBron James has 37 points and 12 rebounds, and the Miami Heat repeat as champions with a 95-88 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

2018 — Christiano Ronaldo scores a goal against Morocco to become the all-time leading European goalscorer (85) in international compitition.

2019 — Duke power forward Zion Williamson is the first player chosen in the 2019 NBA Draft.

2020 — Tiz the Law, ridden by Manuel Franco, wins the 152nd Belmont Stakes becoming the first New York-bred horse to win the event since 1882.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1912 — The New York Giants outslugged the Boston Braves 21-12 with the teams scoring a total of 17 runs in the ninth inning. The Giants scored seven runs to take a 21-2 lead and the Braves scored 10 runs in the ninth.

1932 — Philadelphia’s Doc Cramer hit six singles in six at-bats and Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx and Mule Haas each drove in four runs in the Athletics’ 18-11 win over the Chicago White Sox. Haas hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to put the A’s up 12-6.

1956 — Mickey Mantle hit two home runs into the right centerfield bleachers at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Mantle hit both blasts off Billy Hoeft in the 7-4 win. He became the first player to reach the bleachers since they were were built in the late 1930s.

1973 — San Francisco’s Bobby Bonds broke Lou Brock’s National League record for leadoff home runs. Bonds’ 22nd career leadoff home run came off Don Gullet in a 7-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

1973 — Chicago’s Cy Acosta becomes the first American League pitcher to bat since the designated hitter rule went into effect. Acosta strikes out in the eighth inning, and still gets the win in the White Sox’ 8-3 win over California.

1980 — Freddie Patek, one of baseball’s smallest players at 5-foot-5, hit three home runs and a double to lead the Angels in a 20-2 rout of the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

1992 — Kelly Saunders became the second woman to serve as a public address announcer at a major league game when she filled in for Rex Barney in Baltimore.

1994 — The Detroit Tigers’ string of 25 straight games hitting a home run ended in a 7-1 loss to Cleveland. The streak matched the major league mark set by the 1941 New York Yankees.

2004 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit the 500th home run of his career, off Matt Morris, to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0.

2007 — Sammy Sosa hit his 600th home run, making him the fifth player to reach the milestone. Sosa, playing for the Texas Rangers following a year out of baseball, hit a solo homer off Jason Marquis. It came in the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs, the team he played for from 1992-2004.

2009 — Two games ended on wild pitches in extra innings. Nate Schierholtz scored the winning run for San Francisco on a wild pitch by Jason Jennings with two outs in the 11th inning and the Giants beat the Texas Rangers 2-1. Earlier, the Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland 6-5 in 13 innings when Andres Blanco came home on Kerry Wood’s gaffe.

2011 — The Florida Marlins named Jack McKeon interim manager. The 80-year-old McKeon became the second-oldest manager in major league history. Connie Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics in a suit, tie and straw hat until 1950, when he was 87.

2015 — Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter, losing his perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning when he hit a batter in the Washington Nationals’ 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Scherzer dominated in retiring the first 26 batters and was one strike from throwing the 22nd perfect game in major league history since 1900. Pinch-hitter Jose Tabata fouled off a pair of 2-2 pitches before Scherzer clipped him on the elbow with a breaking ball. Scherzer then retired Josh Harrison on a deep fly to left.

2016 — Colorado beat Miami 5-3 where eight solo homers accounted for all the runs in the game and set a major league record. Mark Reynolds hit two homers and Trevor Story, Nick Hundley and Charlie Blackmon also went deep for the Rockies. Marcell Ozuna homered twice and Giancarlo Stanton hit one for the Marlins. The previous MLB mark was five. The eight home runs were also the most in a game at Marlins Park since it opened in 2012. Five of the game’s first 13 batters connected.

2017 — Umpire Joe West worked his 5,000th major league game. West was behind the plate for a matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The 64-year-old, nicknamed “Cowboy” Joe, is the third umpire to work at least 5,000 games, joining Hall of Famer Bill Klem (5,375) and Bruce Froemming (5,163). West made his major league debut as a 23-year-old on Sept. 14, 1976, at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium in a game between the Braves and Houston Astros. He joined the NL staff full time in 1978. His 40 seasons umpiring in the majors are the most by any umpire.

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.

From Bill Plaschke: For 46 years it’s been a wonderful ride, the sweetest of sagas, the Buss family treating the Lakers like their precocious child, nurturing, embracing, empowering, transforming them into arguably this country’s most celebrated sports franchise.

But it’s time.

It’s time to give their baby to somebody who won’t be burdened by the family ties or deep friendships that have increasingly interfered with the chasing of championships.

It’s time to hand their beloved to somebody with enough money to keep it strong and enough vision to keep it relevant.

It’s time for the Lakers to… become the Dodgers?

Yes! It’s them! They’re here! Welcome, welcome, welcome! Come on in! Make yourself at home! History has been waiting for you!

This is really happening, the majority ownership of the Lakers is really being sold to Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and his TWG Global group at a franchise valuation of $10 billion, making it the richest transaction in sports history.

To Los Angeles sports fans, it’s worth even more.

For the future of professional sports in this city, it’s priceless.

This is the best thing to happen to the Southland’s sports landscape since, well, the last time Walter’s TWG Global group bought something this big.

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Lakers selling majority ownership of franchise to Dodgers owner

Q&A: Dave Roberts says Mark Walter will help make Lakers a perennial title contender

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Twenty-nine hours before his official return to the Dodger Stadium mound, Emmet Sheehan took a moment to get himself reacquainted with his home ballpark.

In an empty Dodger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Sheehan walked onto the field at Chavez Ravine, climbed up a slope he hadn’t toed since the 2023 season, and practiced his pitching motion a few times before returning to the clubhouse.

For Sheehan, such dry tosses are part of his normal pre-start routine. In any ballpark where he pitches, he likes to get a feel for the mound and its surroundings before the game.

The only difference this time: how long it had been since he’d taken the bump in a big-league stadium.

A former sixth-round draft pick who blossomed into one of the organization’s top pitching prospects during an impressive minor-league career, Sheehan became one of the many homegrown Dodgers pitchers to endure a major surgery after injuring his elbow in spring training last year.

In recent months, however, his relatively seamless recovery process had fueled excitement throughout the organization leading up to his return on Wednesday.

And over four sharp innings in the Dodgers’ 4-3 win against the San Diego Padres — one that ended on a walk-off home run by Will Smith in the ninth — the 25-year-old right-hander showed exactly why.

Continue reading herehttps://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2025-06-18/emmet-sheehan-will-smith-dodgers-padres-recap

Dodgers to announce plans to assist immigrant communities in L.A.

Shaikin: The Giants just made a big trade. Will the Dodgers make one of their own?

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the second inning to end New York’s 30-inning scoreless streak, but an error in the eighth inning gave the Angels a 3-2 win, sending the Yankees to their sixth straight loss Wednesday.

Mike Trout and Taylor Ward opened the eighth by drawing walks off Fernando Cruz (1-3), and Luis Rengifo walked on four pitches to load the bases. Jo Adell hit a 105.9-mph grounder to New York shortstop Anthony Volpe, who bobbled the ball and threw wide of second, allowing Trout to score.

The Yankees lost for the eighth time in 18 games, and their losing streak is the longest since they lost nine straight from Aug. 12-23, 2023.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story)
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

U.S. WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM

From Kevin Baxter: A trio of Angel City players were called up to the women’s national team Wednesday for a pair of friendlies against Ireland and one with Canada.

Sisters Gisele and Alyssa Thompson will be reporting to their fourth training camp together when they arrive Monday in Commerce City, Colo., alongside teammate Angelina Anderson. A goalkeeper, Anderson is one of six players still looking for her first cap with the senior national team, making this 25-women roster one of the most inexperienced in recent USWNT history.

Four players will be training with the national team for the first time.

USWNT roster

Goalkeepers: Angelina Anderson (Angel City), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals)

Defenders: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign), Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham), Gisele Thompson (Angel City)

Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)

Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1867 — Ruthless, ridden by J. Gilpatrick, wins the inaugural Belmont Stakes at Jerome Park in the Bronx. The filly earns $1,850 for her victory.

1914 — Harry Vardon wins his sixth and final British Open by shooting a 306, three strokes ahead of J.H. Taylor at Prestwick Club.

1936 — German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling knocks out previously unbeaten Joe Louis in the 12th round. Schmeling’s victory sets off a propaganda war between the Nazi regime and the United States.

1938 — FIFA World Cup Final, Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris, France: Luigi Colausig & Silvio Piola each score 2 goals as Italy beats Hungary, 4-1.

1954 — Ed Furgol edges Gene Littler by one stroke to win the U.S. Open, the first golf tournament to be televised nationally.

1955 — Jack Fleck beats Ben Hogan by three strokes in a playoff round to win the U.S. Open.

1977 — Hubert Green wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Lou Graham.

1986 — Len Bias, the second pick in the NBA draft made by the Boston Celtics two days before, dies of a heart attack induced by cocaine use.

1992 — Evander Holyfield wins a unanimous decision over Larry Holmes to remain unbeaten and retain the undisputed heavyweight title.

1992 — Charlie Whittingham becomes the second trainer in history, behind D. Wayne Lukas, to top $100 million in purse earnings when Little by Little finishes second in the sixth race at Hollywood Park.

1999 — Dallas wins its first Stanley Cup, as Brett Hull’s controversial goal at 14:51 of the third overtime gives the Stars a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6.

2000 — NBA Finals: Lakers beat Indiana Pacers, 116-111 in Game 6 to win the franchise’s first title in 12 years; MVP: Shaquille O’Neal.

2005 — Michael Campbell answers every challenge Tiger Woods throws his way for a two-shot victory in the U.S. Open. Retief Goosen, the two-time U.S. Open champion, turns in a collapse that ranks among the greatest in major championship history. He loses his three-shot lead in three holes and closes with an 81 to tie for 11th at 8 over.

2006 — Cam Ward stops nearly everything giving the Carolina Hurricanes their first Stanley Cup title with a 3-1 victory over Edmonton in Game 7.

2011 — Rory McIlroy runs away with the U.S. Open title, winning by eight shots and breaking the tournament scoring record by a whopping four strokes. McIlroy shoots a 2-under 69 to close the four days at Congressional in Bethesda, Md., at 16-under 268.

2016 — Dustin Johnson atones for his past mishaps in the majors winning the U.S. Open by three shots. Shane Lowry, who began the final round with a four-shot lead, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy finish tied for second.

2016 — LeBron James and his relentless Cavaliers pulls off an improbable NBA Finals comeback to give the city of Cleveland its first title since 1964. James delivers on a promise from two years ago to bring a championship to his native northeast Ohio, and he and the Cavs become the first team to rally from a 3-1 finals deficit by beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1927 — Jack Scott of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched two complete games in a doubleheader. Scott beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 and lost 3-0 in the second game. Scott was the last pitcher in major league history to complete two games on the same day.

1938 — Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Vander Meer coming off two straight no-hitters, extended his string of hitless innings to 21 2/3 against the Boston Bees. Vander Meer gave up a single to Debs Garms in the fourth inning. The Red won 14-1 behind Vander Meer’s four-hitter.

1941 — En route to 56, Joe DiMaggio hit in his 32nd consecutive game, going 3-for-3, including a home run, against the Chicago White Sox.

1942 — Paul Waner got hit number 3,000 — a single off Rip Sewell — but the Boston Braves lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6.

1952 — Brooklyn Dodger Carl Erskine pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field.

1961 — Roger Maris’ ninth-inning homer off Kansas City’s Jim Archer was his 25th of the year, putting him seven games ahead of Babe Ruth’s pace in 1927.

1973 — Pete Rose of the Reds and Willie Davis of the Dodgers collect their 2,000th hits. It is a single for Rose against the San Francisco Giants and a home run for Davis against the Atlanta Braves.

1974 — Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals hurled his second no-hitter in 14 months and gave up just one walk in beating the Brewers 2-0 at Milwaukee.

1977 — The Boston Red Sox hit five home runs in an 11-1 triumph over the New York Yankees. The five homers gave the Red Sox a major league record 16 in three games. Boston hit six homers on the 17th and five on the 18th, also against the Yankees. In the series the Yankees had no homers.

1990 — Gary Carter plays in his 1,862nd career game as a catcher to break the National League mark set by Al Lopez.

1994 — John Smoltz became the 14th major league pitcher to give up four homers in an inning when he was tagged by Cincinnati. The Reds set a team record for home runs in an inning, connecting four times in the first inning. Hal Morris, Kevin Mitchell, Jeff Branson and Eddie Taubensee homered. Smoltz allowed 20 total bases in the first inning, the most given up in the NL since 1900.

2015 — Alex Rodriguez homered for his 3,000th career hit as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 7-2.

2017 — Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger launched two more home runs, setting a major league record with his powerful start, and Clayton Kershaw became the first 10-game winner in the National League despite giving up a career-high four long balls as Los Angeles held on for a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets. Bellinger reached 21 homers in 51 career games — faster than any other player in big league history.

2019 — One day after fouling a bunted ball in his face during batting practice and breaking his nose, Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Nationals against the Phillies sporting a prominent black eye. He still stymies the opposition with 7 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win. “Trust me, this thing looks a lot worse than it actually feels,” he explains to journalists.

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.

From Jack Harris: Dave Roberts had made it only three steps out of the dugout when he got ejected Tuesday night.

So, before he went back, the Dodgers manager made sure to get his money’s worth.

On a contentious night that saw two superstars get hit by pitches, both dugouts receive umpire warnings, and the Dodgers eventually beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 at Dodger Stadium, tensions reached their boiling point in the bottom of the third inning.

And it was the usually even-keeled Roberts whose emotions burned hottest.

After Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch in the top of the third inning by Dodgers reliever Lou Trivino, reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani was hit in the leg with one out in the bottom half of the inning.

Unlike Tatis’ hit by pitch, which came with a runner in scoring position in an inning that saw the Padres score two runs, Ohtani’s plunking occurred amid more suspicious circumstances.

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Dodgers say Nezza is not banned from stadium for singing national anthem in Spanish

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story)
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Kyle Hendricks and three relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Angels beat the slumping New York Yankees 4-0 on Tuesday night to hand them their third straight shutout.

New York manager Aaron Boone tinkered with his lineup — batting rookie Jasson Domínguez first and dropping Paul Goldschmidt to sixth — but it didn’t yield results for the Yankees, who were 0 for 10 with runners on and got just three to second base.

Aaron Judge went 0 for4 with three strikeouts and heard boos following whiffs in the sixth and eighth. He is two for 19 with 12 strikeouts in his past five games.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA BASEBALL

For 12 years UCLA waited to return to Omaha and the College World Series. It waited 15 total hours to play the fourth inning of its game with Louisiana State. Now, the Bruins will have to wait several months to play again.

UCLA fell behind in the first inning for the second time on Tuesday and couldn’t complete an improbable comeback. The Bruins’ season ended at Charles Schwab Field in a 7-3 loss to Arkansas.

“I’m just so proud of our guys,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “Disappointing day for sure. Tough day. Tough circumstances. But at the end of the day, you know, you’ve got to give credit to LSU and, certainly, Arkansas.”

UCLA played from behind most of the game after returning starter Cody Delvecchio gave up a two-run homer in the first inning. He responded, yielding just one more run across four innings in his first appearance since March 28.

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Men’s College World Series schedule

RAMS

From Gary Klein: A Rams–Jalen Ramsey reunion might not be in the offing.

Coach Sean McVay on Tuesday reiterated his respect for the star cornerback who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI, but for the first time he indicated that there might be too many “obstacles” to making a trade with the Miami Dolphins for the three-time All-Pro.

Ramsey is due to earn $24.3 million this season, and his salary-cap number will increase substantially over the next few seasons, according to Overthecap.com.

“Usually, those are scenarios and situations that you have to have plans in place prior to executing some of the decisions that have occurred,” McVay said, perhaps referencing the contract adjustment quarterback Matthew Stafford received and the signing of free-agent receiver Davante Adams. “Definitely don’t want to rule anything out… but there would be some obstacles that are real that are in the place of maybe preventing that from occurring.”

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SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: If one word sums up the Sparks’ season so far, it’s hardship. Injuries continue to mount, and Kelsey Plum, their primary scorer and star, has joined the growing list of sidelined players.

Plum’s absence was sorely felt as what began as a valiant effort by the Sparks — keeping pace with the visiting Storm through the first half — quickly unraveled into a 98-67 blowout loss Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.

Already down two key starters — Plum and Odyssey Sims — the Sparks were forced to piece together a new starting lineup on short notice. Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, Azurá Stevens, Sarah Ashlee Barker and newly acquired Shey Peddy marked the Sparks’ fifth different starting five this season.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: Why is it always the women who stand up first?

That’s a rhetorical question, of course. But it’s one that has a basis in fact because girl power is real.

From Joan of Arc to Cassidy Hutchinson, whenever men have proven too cautious, cowardly or complacent to act, women have had the courage to do the right thing. The latest example of this feminine fearlessness came last Saturday, after federal immigration agents launched a series of raids throughout the Southland targeting everyone from schoolchildren to elderly churchgoers.

Angel City FC players and staff wore shirts in support of immigrants before the team’s match on Saturday. The club gave away 10,000 of the shirts to fans.

Within hours of the first arrests, Angel City, a women’s soccer club, became the first local sports franchise to issue a statement, recognizing the “fear and uncertainty” the raids had provoked. A day later LAFC, Angel City’s roommate at BMO Stadium, released a statement of its own.

That was a week and a half ago. But Angel City didn’t stop there. While the collective silence from the Dodgers, the Galaxy, the Lakers, Kings and other teams has been deafening, Angel City has grown defiant, dressing its players and new coach Alexander Straus in T-shirts that renamed the team “Immigrant City Football Club.” On the back the slogan “Los Angeles Is For Everyone /Los Angeles Es Para Todos” was repeated six times.

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CLUB WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter: It’s been just 18 days since Inter Milan played its last game, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final. But a lot has happened since then.

The team parted ways with manager Simone Inzaghi, who led it to two European finals in three seasons, and replaced him with Cristian Chivu. It temporarily lost the services of forward Mehdi Taremi, who had returned to his native Iran earlier this month and became stranded there when Israeli attacks closed the airspace over much of the Mideast.

Then the rest of the second-best club in Europe traveled 6,000 miles from Milan to Los Angeles, where it opened the FIFA Club World Cup on Tuesday in a 1-1 draw with Mexican club Monterrey before an announced crowd of 40,311 at the Rose Bowl.

“We’re trying to focus. And it’s not easy every day, I’m not going to lie,” said forward Marcus Thuram, whose 18 goals in all competition was second on the team this season. “But it’s part of what we do, we love what we do and we’ll continue doing what we do.”

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

Stanley’s stay in South Florida is getting extended.

The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Final on Tuesday night, becoming the NHL’s first back-to-back winners since Tampa Bay in 2020 and ’21 and the third team to do it this century.

Sam Reinhart scored four goals, becoming just the sixth player in league history and first since Maurice Richard in 1957 to get that many in a game in the Final. His third to complete the hat trick sent rats, along with hats, flying onto the ice. Matthew Tkachuk, one of the faces of the franchise, fittingly scored the Cup clincher.

More rats were part of the victory celebration when the clock hit zeroes. Panthers players mobbed in the corner, while the Oilers watched in dismay.

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STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story)
at Florida , Edmonton 1 (summary)

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1910 — Alex Smith wins the U.S. Open by beating John McDermont and Macdonald Smith in an 18-hole playoff at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Smith beats McDermont by four strokes and Macdonald Smith by six.

1921 — The University of Illinois wins the first NCAA track and field championships with 20¼ points. Notre Dame finishes second with 16¾ points.

1941 — Joe Louis knocks out Billy Conn in the 13th round at the Polo Grounds in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1960 — Arnold Palmer beats amateur Jack Nicklaus by two strokes to win the U.S. Open.

1967 — Jack Nicklaus shoots a record 275 to beat Arnold Palmer for the U.S. Open. Nicklaus breaks Ben Hogan’s 1948 record by one stroke.

1972 — Jack Nicklaus wins the U.S. Open by three strokes over Bruce Crampton and ties Bobby Jones’ record of 13 major titles.

1972 — UEFA European Championship Final, Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium: Gerd Müller scores a brace as West Germany beats Soviet Union, 3-0.

1975 — Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins wins the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman for the eighth consecutive year.

1984 — Fuzzy Zoeller shoots a 3-under 67 to beat Greg Norman by eight strokes in the 18-hole playoff at Winged Foot GC for the U.S. Open title.

1990 — Hale Irwin makes an 8-foot birdie putt on the 91st hole to beat Mike Donald in the first sudden-death playoff to decide the U.S. Open. It is the third U.S. Open title for the 45-year-old Irwin, the oldest winner in the tournament’s history.

1992 — Ottawa Senators make goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz their 1st draft pick.

1995 — Michael Johnson becomes the first national champion at 200 and 400 meters since 1899 as he captures both races at the USA-Mobil Championships.

1995 — FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden: Hege Riise & Marianne Pettersen score within 3 minutes of each other to give Norway a 2-0 win over Germany.

2000 — Tiger Woods turns the 100th U.S. Open into a one-man show, winning by 15 strokes over Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Woods’ 15-stroke margin shatters the Open mark of 11 set by Willie Smith in 1899 and is the largest in any major championship — surpassing the 13-stroke victory by Old Tom Morris in the 1862 British Open.

2006 — Phil Mickelson’s bid for a third consecutive major ends with a shocking collapse when he bungles his way to a double bogey on the final hole, giving the U.S. Open to Geoff Ogilvy.

2017 — Brooks Koepka breaks away from a tight pack with three straight birdies on the back nine at Erin Hills and closes with a 5-under 67 to win the U.S. Open for his first major championship.

2017 — Diana Taurasi scores 19 points to break the WNBA career scoring record in the Phoenix Mercury’s 90-59 loss to the Sparks. Taurasi finishes with 7,494 points, passing Tina Thompson’s mark of 7,488.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1938 — The Brooklyn Dodgers signed Babe Ruth to coach for the remainder of the season.

1947 — Cincinnati’s Ewell Blackwell tossed a 6-0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves.

1950 — In the nightcap of a doubleheader, the Cleveland Indians scored 14 runs in the first inning for an American League record as they trounced the Philadelphia A’s 21-2.

1953 — At Fenway Park, Dick Gernert’s home run highlighted the 17-run, 14-hit seventh inning as the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 23-3. The Red Sox were up 5-3 after 6 1/2 innings. The Red Sox scored the 17 runs on 14 hits and six walks and left the bases loaded. Gene Stephens collected three hits and Sammy White scored three runs and Tom Umphlett also reached base three times in the inning.

1960 — The San Francisco Giants fired Bill Rigney and selected Tom Sheehan as manager. At 66 years, 2 months and 18 days, Sheehan was the oldest man to debut as a manager of a major league team.

1967 — Houston Astro Don Wilson tossed the first of his two career no-hitters by blanking the Atlanta Braves 2-0, facing 30 batters and striking out 15.

1975 — Fred Lynn batted in 10 runs with three homers, a triple and a single in a 15-1 Boston Red Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers. Lynn’s 16 total bases tied an AL record.

1976 — Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the sale of Oakland Athletics stars Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi. Athletics owner Charlie Finley sold Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million and Rudi and Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million each. Kuhn ordered the players to return to Oakland on grounds that they would upset the sport’s competitive balance.

1977 — New York Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson and manager Billy Martin get into a dugout confrontation at Fenway Park that’s seen on national television. Martin removed his right fielder for loafing on a ball hit to the outfield. Jackson questioned Martin in the dugout and the two are eventually separated by coach Elston Howard.

1986 — Don Sutton pitched a three-hitter for his 300th victory as the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 5-1. The 41-year-old right-hander became the 19th pitcher in baseball history to win 300 games.

2002 — Luis Castillo of the Florida Marlins ties Rogers Hornsby’s 80-year-old record for the longest hitting streak by a second baseman, beating out a dribbler to the pitcher in the 6th inning to make it 33 games in a row. Florida beats the Cleveland Indians, 2-1.

2007 — Chone Figgins went 6-for-6 and drove in the game-winning run in the ninth inning to lift the Angels over Houston 10-9.

2011 — Connor Harrell hit the first College World Series home run in the new TD Ameritrade Park to break a sixth-inning tie and first-time qualifier Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina 7-3.

2012 — R.A. Dickey became the first major league pitcher in 24 years to throw consecutive one-hitters and Ike Davis hit a grand slam in the New York Mets’ 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The previous pitcher to throw consecutive one-hitters was Dave Stieb for Toronto in September 1988.

2012 — Aaron Hill hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to become the fifth Arizona player to hit for the cycle, lifting the Diamondbacks to a 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

2014 — Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers throws the second no-hitter of the year, shutting out the Colorado Rockies, 8 – 0. It comes less than a month after his teammate Josh Beckett had pitched a no-hitter on May 26th. He strikes out 15 without giving up a walk, the only baserunner coming on a two-base error by SS Hanley Ramirez in the 8th.

2017 — Nolan Arenado completed the cycle with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Colorado Rockies stunned the San Francisco Giants by rallying for a 7-5 victory.

2024 — Hall of Famer Willie Mays, in the conversation for the greatest player ever, passes away at 93.

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.

From Jack Harris: Roughly four hours before first pitch Monday night, Shohei Ohtani sat at his locker in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse and prepared for his biggest game of the season.

First, the reigning MVP unwrapped the black compression sleeve he wears when pitching, and pulled it over his prized right arm. Then, he grabbed his bat and a pair of hitting gloves and headed toward the cages.

On this day, each piece of equipment was needed.

For the first time in almost two years, the two-way star would be playing both ways again.

In the Dodgers’ 6-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Monday, Ohtani made his long-awaited return as a pitcher from a September 2023 Tommy John operation, taking the mound in a Dodgers uniform for the first time as the club’s starter while also continuing to serve as their leadoff hitter in the lineup.

Ohtani’s pitching outing was brief, lasting just one inning and 28 pitches. He yielded one run on two hits (a pair of flare singles from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez) and a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado. And while he touched 100 mph with his fastball, his form was far from flawless.

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Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter reports to federal prison

Photos: Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani pitches for first time after Tommy John surgery

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story)
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Nolan Schanuel hit a run-scoring double in the 11th inning and the Angels beat the Yankees 1-0 on Monday night, extending New York’s losing streak to a season-high four games.

Schanuel’s one-out, opposite-field hit to left off Jonathan Loáisiga (0-1) scored automatic runner Christian Moore, a Brooklyn native who tripled in the eighth for his first major league hit.

Ryan Zeferjahn (4-1) pitched a hitless 10th. After the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs against Brock Burke in the bottom half, Hunter Strickland got Anthony Volpe to bounce into a forceout for his first save this year as the Angels improved to 5-0 in extra innings and dropped the Yankees to 1-5.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA BASEBALL

UCLA will wake up Tuesday morning with a chance to rally from a two-run deficit.

The Bruins’ winner’s bracket game against Louisiana State on Monday night was suspended until Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT following a three-hour rain delay — it will resume in the top of the fourth inning with UCLA batting and LSU leading 5-3. The remainder of the game is scheduled to air on ESPN.

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Men’s College World Series schedule

CLUB WORLD CUP

LAFC’s first foray into the FIFA Club World Cup was competitive, but ultimately a defeat.

LAFC hung around against English powerhouse Chelsea at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and had the match still in striking distance nearly the entire way, but lost 2-0 in its first of three group stage matches.

“Chelsea won, deservingly so,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I think we kind of clawed our way back into the game; I think we played a little better in the second half and maybe had the odd chance here or there to get the equalizer.”

The first competitive fixture between English and American clubs featured the mostly expected run of play, with Chelsea carrying most of the action and carving out nearly all of the afternoon’s clear-cut scoring opportunities. It was one-way traffic, and Chelsea broke through in the 34th minute when Pedro Neto beat LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at his near post following a quick turn inside around defender Ryan Hollingshead.

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story)
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1954 — Rocky Marciano scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Ezzard Charles at New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1961 — Gene Littler shoots a 68 in the final round to edge Doug Sanders and Bob Goalby in the U.S. Open.

1962 — Jack Nicklaus beats Arnold Palmer by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open.

1962 — Brazil beats Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago, Chile to win its second straight FIFA World Cup title. Czechoslovakia scored first on a goal by Josef Masopust at 15 minutes. Two minutes later Amarildo tied the game. In the second half, Zito and Vavá scored goals to give Brazil the victory.

1973 — Johnny Miller shoots a 63 in the final round to win the U.S. Open by one stroke over John Schlee at Oakmont, Pa. Miller’s 8-under 63 is the first ever carded in a major championship.

1976 — The 18-team NBA absorbs four of the six remaining ABA teams: the New York Nets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets.

1979 — Hale Irwin wins the U.S. Open by two strokes over Gary Player and Jerry Pate.

1989 — The Quebec Nordiques select Swedish center Mats Sundin with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft. He’s the first European player to be taken with the first pick.

1990 — Fifty-year-old Harry Gant becomes the oldest driver to win a NASCAR race as he posts a 2.4-second victory over Rusty Wallace in the Miller 500 at Pocono International Raceway.

1991 — Payne Stewart escapes with a two-stroke victory over Scott Simpson in the highest-scoring U.S. Open playoff in 64 years.

1992 — Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to Phoenix Suns.

1995 — Claude Lemieux snaps a tie at 3:17 of the third period as the New Jersey Devils open the Stanley Cup finals with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The victory, the ninth on the road, breaks the NHL playoff record for road wins.

2007 — Angel Cabrera holds off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke to capture the U.S. Open. Cabrera shoots a 1-under-par 69 in the final round at brutal Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.

2007 — Kate Ziegler breaks swimming’s oldest world record, shattering the 1,500-meter freestyle mark by 9 1/2 seconds at the TYR Meet of Champions Mission Viejo. Ziegler wins the 30-lap race in 15:42.54, easily erasing Janet Evans’ 1988 mark of 15:52.10 set in Orlando, Fla.

2008 — The Boston Celtics win their 17th NBA title with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Lakers in Game 6. Kevin Garnett scores 26 points with 14 rebounds, Ray Allen scores 26 and Paul Pierce, the finals MVP, adds 17.

2010 — The Lakers beat Boston for the first time in a Game 7 to repeat as NBA champions. The Lakers win their 16th NBA championship, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter 13-point deficit to beat the Celtics 83-79.

2011 — Rory McIlroy becomes the first player in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open to reach 13-under par, and despite a double bogey into the water on the final hole, his 5-under 66 is enough set the 36-hole scoring record at 131.

2012 — Webb Simpson wins the U.S. Open outlasting former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.

2018 — Brooks Koepka wins a second consecutive U.S. Open, the first player to do so since Curtis Strange in 1989.

2024 — Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 to clinch the club’s record 18th NBA Championship. Boston forward Jaylen Brown voted Finals MVP.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1915 — George “Zip” Zabel of the Chicago Cubs was called into the game against the Brooklyn Dodgers with two out in the first inning. He won 4-3 in the 19th inning in the longest relief effort in the majors.

1943 — Player-manager Joe Cronin of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run pinch homer in both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia A’s. The Red Sox won the opener 5-4 and lost the second game 8-7.

1960 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox connected for his 500th career home run off the Cleveland Indians. Williams, the fourth to accomplish the feat, hit a two-run homer off Wynn Hawkins in a 3-1 win.

1971 — Don Kessinger of the Chicago Cubs went 6-for-6, with five singles and a double, in a 7-6, 10-inning decision over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

1978 — Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees struck out 18 California Angels to set an American League record for left-handers. Guidry, who struck out 15 in the first six innings, ended with a 4-0 four-hitter.

1993 — Baseball owners voted 26-2 in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, doubling the teams that qualify to eight starting in 1994.

2007 — Brandon Watson extended his hitting streak to 43 games, breaking a 95-year-old International League record with a base hit in the Columbus Clippers’ 9-8 loss to the Ottawa Lynx. Jack Lelivelt set the IL record for the Rochester Hustlers in 1912.

2007 — Frank Thomas hit his record-breaking 244th homer as a designated hitter in Toronto’s 4-2 loss to Washington. The solo shot in the third inning moved Thomas past Edgar Martinez for the most homers by a DH.

2009 — Ivan Rodriguez catches the 2,227th game of his career, breaking Carlton Fisk’s record, in Houston’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to his former team, the Texas Rangers. For Texas, Omar Vizquel, the all-time leader for games played at shortstop, picks up his 2,677th hit, tying Luis Aparicio for most hits by a Venezuelan player.

2008 — Seattle’s Felix Hernandez struck out the side on nine pitches in the fourth inning of a 5-4 win over Florida, becoming the 13th pitcher in American League history to accomplish the feat.

2016 — Michaeal Saunders leads the Toronto Blue Jays to a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles with three home runs and 8 RBIs.

2021 — The Arizona Diamondback set a new all-time mark with their 23rd consecutive road loss losing to the Giants 10-3.

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.

From Benjamin Royer: The long-anticipated wait is over — Shohei Ohtani is ready to pitch.

The Dodgers announced after Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Giants that Ohtani will make his Dodgers pitching debut Monday against the San Diego Padres. He will start, but will begin his pitching return as an opener, likely throwing just an inning or two.

“It’s very exciting,” said manager Dave Roberts, before the team revealed his Monday start. “I think that for me, I’m still a baseball fan first. I really am. The anticipation here for the game is, man, it’s going to be bananas when it happens. There’s been a lot of anticipation. I think we’ve done it the right way as far as kind of our process.”

For Ohtani, it’s been a long road back to pitching. He signed with the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700-million contract before the 2024 season — a value representing not just his MVP-level bat, but his potential Cy Young Award-level pitching.

He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023, only hitting in his first season with the Dodgers. He tallied unprecedented numbers at the plate (.310 batting average, league-high 54 home runs, 130 RBI and 59 stolen bases). In recent weeks, Ohtani ramped up his throwing program, facing live hitters a handful of times.

Continue reading here

————

Fifteen minutes before first pitch on Sunday, Giants catcher Logan Porter trotted in from the visitor’s bullpen. He’d usually be accompanied by the starting pitcher, which was set to be left-hander Kyle Harrison.

Instead, Porter stood on the first-base line for the national anthem, turned to his left and whispered to his teammates. As they all received the information from Porter — reminiscent of the children’s game “Telephone” — other Giants teammates likely learned one-by-one that Harrison had been traded.

“It was crazy,” Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman said. “You don’t expect a trade like that this time of year and just getting the pitching change at the last minute.”

The odd scene at Dodger Stadium was because of a reported blockbuster trade that involved the Boston Red Sox sending infielder Rafael Devers to the Giants in exchange for Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks and two prospects — a move that further bolsters the talent in the L.A.-San Francisco rivalry.

San Francisco manager Bob Melvin was forced to turn to long reliever Sean Hjelle, who rapidly warmed up for the start, against a Dodgers offense that had scored 11 runs Saturday night.

It was more of the same from the Dodgers’ offense in a 5-4 victory Sunday. The top of the order manufactured a run via an Andy Pages sacrifice fly in the first inning. Edman hit a solo home run — his 10th — in the second. Pages put a cherry on top in the fifth after Shohei Ohtani (three for three, one walk) and Mookie Betts set the table with singles.

Continue reading here

Nezza says she sang national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium against team’s wishes

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story)
Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story)
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Gary Sánchez hit a seventh-inning grand slam, Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg also homered, and the Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep with a 11-2 victory Sunday over the Angels.

Cade Povich earned his first victory since April 24 as Baltimore secured its third sweep of the season, all in its last five series. The Orioles (30-40) are within 10 games of .500 for the first time since they were 15-25.

Nolan Schanuel homered for the Angels.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SOCCER

The U.S. hopes a blowout win over the world’s 100th-ranked team can start to lessen the pessimism created by the Americans’ longest losing streak since 2007.

Malik Tillman scored twice and Diego Luna had a pair of assists in a 5-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in the Americans’ CONCACAF Gold Cup opener.

“Really important I think to cut a little bit this — I don’t say negativity, but, yes … but it’s really important now to start the competition with a good feeling,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

Victory in the Group D opener ended a four-game losing streak and came after days of controversy over Christian Pulisic’s desire to rest during the Gold Cup and Pochettino not including the star in a pair of pre-tournament friendlies the attacker offered to play in.

Continue reading here

Paris Saint-Germain hopes Champions League title will help it expand its brand

U.S. OPEN

J.J. Spaun turned a sloppy mess of a U.S. Open at wet and nasty Oakmont into a thing of beauty at the end Sunday with two stunning shots that carried him to his first major championship.

First came his driver on the 314-yard 17th hole onto the green that led to a birdie that gave him the lead. Needing two putts from 65 feet on the 18th to win, he finished his storybook Open by holing the longest putt all week at Oakmont for birdie and a two-over 72.

That made him the only player to finish under par at one-under 279. It gave him a two-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre of Scotland.

And it made the 36-year-old San Dimas native a major champion in only his second U.S. Open.

Continue reading here

U.S. Open leaderboard

MEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

Men’s College World Series schedule

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story)
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1927 — Tommy Armour wins the U.S. Open with a three-stroke victory over Harry Cooper in a playoff.

1946 — Lloyd Mangrum edges Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi to win the U.S. Open by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff.

1951 — Ben Hogan captures the U.S. Open for the second straight year with a two-stroke comeback victory over Clayton Heafner.

1956 — Cary Middlecoff wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Ben Hogan and Julius Boros.

1968 — Lee Trevino becomes the first golfer to play all four rounds of the U.S. Open under par as he beats Jack Nicklaus by four strokes.

1974 — Hale Irwin beats Forrest Fezler by two strokes to win the U.S. Open. In what becomes known as the “Massacre at Winged Foot,” not a single player breaks par in the first round. Irwin’s 7-over 278 is the second-highest score since World War II — Julius Boros was 9-over in 1963.

1975 — NBA Milwaukee Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to the Lakers for 4 players.

1985 — Andy North wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Taiwan’s Tze-chung Chen, Canada’s Dave Barr and Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson.

1985 — Willie Banks of USA sets triple jump record (58 feet 11 inches) in Indianapolis.

1993 — Michael Jordan scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 111-105 victory and a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.

1996 — 50th NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls beat Seattle Supersonics, 4 games to 2; the Bulls’ 4th title in 6 years.

1998 — The Detroit Red Wings become the first team to win consecutive Stanley Cups since Pittsburgh in 1992, completing a sweep of Washington with a 4-1 win behind two goals by Doug Brown. It’s the fourth straight NHL finals sweep, a first in major pro sports history.

1999 — Maurice Greene smashes the 100-meter world record at 9.79 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 9.84 set by Donovan Bailey at the 1996 Olympics.

2002 — A runaway winner again in the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to capture the first two major championships of the year with a three-stroke victory at Bethpage (N.Y.) Black.

2006 — Tiger Woods returns from his longest layoff by making his earliest departure at a major, missing the cut in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time as a pro. Woods, with rounds of 76-76, misses the cut at the U.S. Open by three strokes.

2008 — Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate, his 14th career major.

2013 — Justin Rose captures his first major championship and becomes the first Englishman in 43 years to win the U.S. Open. Rose shoots a closing 70 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. for a 1-over 281 total and two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day.

2013 — Greg Biffle gives Ford a milestone victory with his second straight Sprint Cup win at Michigan International Speedway. It’s the 1,000th victory for Ford Motor Company across NASCAR’s three national series — Cup, Nationwide and Truck.

2015 — The Golden State Warriors win their first NBA championship since 1975, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6. Stephen Curry and Finals MVP Andre Iguodala each score 25 points for the Warriors, who won the final three games after Cleveland had taken a 2-1 lead.

2016 — LeBron James scores 41 points, Kyrie Irving adds 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 to even an unpredictable series and force a decisive Game 7.

2018 — Video Assist Referee (VAR) technology used for the first time in a World Cup soccer match.

2022 — NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors beat Boston Celtics, 103-90 for a 4-2 series win; Warriors’ 4th title in 8 years; MVP: Stephen Curry.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1916 — Tom Hughes of the Boston Braves pitched a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Pirates.

1938 — Jimmie Foxx didn’t get a chance to hit as the St. Louis Browns walked him six straight times. The Boston Red Sox won anyway, 12-8.

1953 — The St. Louis Browns beat New York 3-1 to break the Yankees’ 18-game winning streak and end their 14-game losing streak.

1957 — Relief pitcher Dixie Howell hit two home runs in the 3 2-3 innings he pitched to lead the Chicago White Sox to an 8-6 victory in the second game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators.

1971 — The Oakland Athletics hit five solo home runs in a 5-1 win over the Washington Senators. Mike Epstein and Joe Rudi had a pair homers and Dave Duncan one. Epstein’s home runs came in his first two at-bats to give him homers in four straight at-bats over two games.

1978 — After three ninth-inning near misses, Tom Seaver threw the first no-hitter of his 12-year career as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0.

1991 — Otis Nixon of Atlanta stole six bases against Montreal to set a modern National League record and tie the major league record set by Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia A’s in 1912. Montreal won the game 7-6.

1992 — Boston’s Mark Reardon became baseball’s all-time save leader when he closed out a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees. Reardon logged his 342nd save to pass Rollie Fingers.

1993 — Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners hits his 100th home run in Seattle’s 6 – 1 victory over Kansas City to become the fourth-youngest to hit the century mark. Only Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews and Tony Conigliaro did it faster than the 23-year-old Griffey.

2001 — John Olerud went 4-for-5 and hit for the cycle as Seattle beat the San Diego Padres 9-2. He hit a homer in the ninth to complete the cycle.

2009 — The San Diego Padres set a major league record with their 12th straight loss in interleague play when they fell 5-0 to Seattle.

2014 — Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, winner of eight National League batting titles, passes away from cancer of the salivary gland at 54.

2015 — Brock Holt became the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since 1996 and the Red Sox slugged their way out to a 9-4 victory over Atlanta.

2015 — Manny Machado and Chris Parmelee each hit two of an Orioles-record eight home runs, and Baltimore pounded woeful Philadelphia 19-3. The eight home runs were the most by the Orioles since their move from St. Louis in 1954.

2019 — An authentic Babe Ruth New York Yankees jersey from 1928-30 sets a record for a piece of baseball memorabilia as it sells for $5.64 million at auction.

2019 — The Padres and Rockies set a record for most combined runs in a four-game series with a total of 92, breaking the previous record of 88 set in 1929 between the Brooklyn Robins and Phillies.

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. It’s awards time for high school baseball and softball.

All-star teams

Quentin Young of Oaks Christian sends a slider over the fence in left field at Cleveland High on Monday. Oaks Christian won 5-3.

(Craig Weston)

Pitcher Seth Hernandez of Corona is The Times’ baseball player of the year for the second consecutive season. He improved on his performance and put together a two-year run in which he went 18-1. Here’s a profile on the impact he made.

The Times’ All-Star baseball team includes Quentin Young of Oaks Christian. He moved to shortstop and hit 14 home runs. Here’s a look at the All-Star team.

Second-year coach Andy Rojo has St. John Bosco in the Division 1 final.

(Nick Koza)

The coach of the year is St. John Bosco’s Andy Rojo, who guided the Braves to their first Southern Section Division 1 championship along with the Southern California Division 1 regional championship and their first Trinity League title since 2017. Here’s the report.

Here’s the final top 25 rankings by The Times with St. John Bosco at No. 1.

Kai Minor of Orange Lutheran showing off her defensive skills.

(Nick Koza)

Oklahoma-bound Kai Minor of Orange Lutheran is The Times’ softball player of the year. Here’s the report on the impact she made for the Lancers.

Here’s The Times’ All-Star softball team.

The Times’ coach of the year is Rick Robinson of Norco. He put together a team of young and old and guided the Cougars to the Southern Section Division 1 championship. Here’s the report.

Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson with son Deuce, a junior receiver.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson used to be a star running back for the Dons and USC. He knows all about running the ball, so there was a little comedy seeing the Dons playing in a seven on seven passing tournament at Western High. Except Johnson has embraced the passing game with the arrival of quarterback Elijah McDaniel, a sophomore transfer from Warren. And Johnson’s son, Deuce, is a standout junior receiver.

So the Dons will be active this summer in passing tournaments. Not that Johnson wouldn’t prefer to run the football. He’ll never lose his love for seeing running backs gain yards.

City Section coaches had their annual meeting at the Rams’ locker room at SoFi Stadium to discuss changes and updates for the fall season.

It was announced that View Park Prep won’t have a football team this season, leaving Metro League teams scrambling to fill games.

Former L.A. Jordan quarterback James Boyd, who was the City Section player of the year, is the new head coach for the Bulldogs. He’s 33 years old.

Here’s a look at more City Section football news. . . .

La Serna won the Los Altos passing tournament. Orange Lutheran won the Chargers tournament using three quarterbacks. Schurr won the SGV tournament.

Notes . . .

Offensive lineman Sam Utu of Orange Lutheran has committed to Alabama. . . .

Defensive back Derrick Johnson of Murrieta Valley has committed to Oklahoma. . . .

Safety Logan Hirou of Santa Margarita has committed to UCLA. . . .

Offensive lineman Cooper Javorsky of San Juan Hills has committed to UCLA. . . .

Tight end Beckham Hofland of Los Alamitos has committed to Boise State. . . .

Former Gardena Serra defensive lineman Robert James has changed his commitment from Fresno State to UCLA and will play for the Bruins this fall. . . .

Former Orange Lutheran linebacker Talanoa Ili, now at Kahuku, has committed to USC. . . .

Defensive lineman Kingston Schirmer of Corona Centennial has commited to Cal. . . .

Tyler Lee of El Camino Real was chosen the City Section player of the year in boys volleyball. Here are the complete All-City teams. . . .

Shalen Sheppard of Brentwood won a gold medal representing the USA U16 national basketball team. He’ll be a sophomore. . . .

Luke Howe of El Camino Real.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Luke Howe of El Camino Real is the City Section player of the year in baseball. Here’s the complete All-City team.

Addison Moorman of Granada Hills is the City Section player of the year in softball. Here’s the complete All-City team.

DeAndre Cole is the new boys basketball coach at Compton Centennial. . . .

Jake Tatch of JSerra has been selected the Gatorade state player of the year in boys soccer. He’s headed to Michigan. . . .

Oaks Christian water polo coach Jack Kocur is the head coach for the USA Junior National team at the World Aquatics U20 Water Polo championships this summer. . . .

Deon Green is the new girls basketball coach at Chino. . . .

Chaminade has decided to add a flag football team. . . .

St. John Bosco closer Jack Champlin has committed to Washington. . . .

Former Servite star Max Thomas of USC finished second in the 100 meters at the NCAA track and field championships and helped the Trojans, coached by former Taft great Quincy Watts, win the NCAA title. . . .

The Fairfax basketball tournament originally scheduled to be held this week at Fairfax High has been changed to Pan Pacific Park.

From the archives: Max Muncy

Former Thousand Oaks High School shortstop Max Muncy celebrates following a home run during a game in 2021.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Thousand Oaks grad Max Muncy, the “other” Max Muncy, is getting hot in his return to playing for the Athletics.

He got recalled from the minor leagues and started showing power. He’s playing third base while his former Thousand Oaks teammate, Jacob Wilson, is the shortstop. Muncy graduated in 2021 and Wilson in 2020.

Here’s a story about Muncy and Wilson being together at Thousand Oaks.

Here’s a story from 2021 on how Muncy kept improving to become a pro prospect.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on an adaptive tennis program making a difference.

From NFHS.org, a story on how to start archery as a P.E. program.

From the Los Angeles Times, a look back at the life of former Verbum Dei star David Greenwood.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Prep Rally will take the next two weeks off and return on July 7.

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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From Brady Oltmans: An NCAA communications official apologized to UCLA baseball coach John Savage before he could join two of his players on the stage for Thursday’s news conference. They hadn’t printed all the nameplates for the coaches yet.

The coach then sat next to star shortstop Roch Cholowsky and outfielder Dean West at the microphone, finished typing into his phone and leaned forward for his opening statement.

“Well, I think you can see by the nameplate, you can tell that they weren’t expecting us,” Savage deadpanned.

He admitted he was teasing before acknowledging the Bruins’ circumstances heading into their Men’s College World Series opener against Murray State on Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT (ESPN).

No team in this year’s CWS field played in last year’s tournament — the first time that’s happened since 1957. But the Bruins set themselves apart from the field because they have played at Charles Schwab Field this year.

Omaha hosted last month’s Big Ten tournament. The Bruins won their first three games in the tournament before falling 5-0 to Nebraska in the conference title game.

Savage believes that week-long tournament helped the Bruins get a feel for the ballpark. They know the downtown streets, the hotels and the practice schedule. But he doesn’t want the team to get too comfortable. He wants them to keep the edge they’ve developed since being shut out.

Continue reading here

Men’s College World Series schedule

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (boxscore, story)
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Bill Shaikin: The Dodger Stadium Express is scheduled to operate normally this weekend, even as the bus departs from and arrives at an area subject to curfew restrictions.

The service, which provides fans a free ride between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, “will be running per usual,” Metro senior director of communications Missy Colman said Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mayor Karen Bass imposed an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in the downtown area most impacted by protests against federal immigration enforcement, and by the violence, looting and vandalism that sometimes accompanied them. She said she expected the curfew to last several days.

Continue reading here

RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams did not draft an offensive lineman, but they have added a veteran just before the end of offseason workouts.

The Rams on Thursday agreed to terms with veteran free-agent offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been signed.

Humphries, a 2015 first-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals, joins a line that includes starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, right tackle Rob Havenstein and swing tackle Warren McClendon Jr.

Continue reading here

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Facing unrestricted free agency for the first time in his illustrious career, Khalil Mack could have chosen any team to chase his championship ambitions. Why did the star edge rusher choose to stick with a franchise that has never won the Super Bowl?

“Why not here?” the Chargers edge rusher wondered back.

Praising the leadership under coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz, the players on the roster and his familiarity with the franchise, Mack’s decision to return to the Chargers wasn’t that complicated at all.

“It was a no-brainer,” he said this week during Chargers minicamp in his first comments with local reporters since January.

Continue reading here

U.S. OPEN

J.J. Spaun is still new enough to the U.S. Open, and a newcomer to the brute that is Oakmont, that he was prepared for anything Thursday. He wound up with a clean card and a one-shot lead on an opening day that delivered just about everything.

Scottie Scheffler had more bogeys in one round than he had the entire tournament when he won the Memorial. He shot a 73, his highest start ever in a U.S. Open, four shots worse than when he made his Open debut at Oakmont as a 19-year-old at Texas.

Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the U.S. Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-five fourth. However, he finished his round with a triple bogey.

Bryson DeChambeau was 39 yards from the hole at the par-five 12th and took four shots from the rough to get to the green.

Si Woo Kim shot a 68 and had no idea how.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” Kim said. “Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me.”

Continue reading here

U.S. Open leaderboard

NHL AWARDS

Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender, becoming the first at the position to do so since Carey Price a decade ago.

Hellebuyck was unveiled as the top MVP vote-getter on an awards show Thursday night prior to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, hosted by actor and former Arizona State wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct for a third time.

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl finished second in the Hart voting and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov third, a single point ahead of Colorado’s reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, as chosen by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Hellebuyck was a landslide winner of the Vezina as picked by general managers, receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes.

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (summary, story)
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1908 — Canadian champion Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires of Australia in 8th round at Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris to retain world heavyweight boxing title.

1913 — James Rowe, who had won back-to-back Belmont Stake races in 1872-73 as a jockey, sets the record for the most number of Belmont Stakes wins by a trainer, eight, when he sends Prince Eugene to victory.

1935 — Jim Braddock scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Max Baer in New York to win the world heavyweight title.

1953 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open for the fourth time, with a six-stroke victory over Sam Snead.

1956 — 1st European Cup Final, Paris: Héctor Rial scores twice as Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 4-3 to claim inaugural title.

1959 — Billy Casper wins the U.S. Open golf tournament over Bob Rosburg.

1971 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA championship by four strokes over Kathy Ahern.

1982 — Jan Stephenson wins the LPGA championship with a two-stroke triumph over Joanne Carner.

1989 — 43rd NBA Championship: Detroit Pistons sweep Lakers in 4 games.

1991 — The National, the nation’s first all-sports daily newspaper, ceases publication.

1992 — Sergei Bubka of Ukraine breaks his own world outdoor record in the pole vault by soaring 20 feet, one-half inch. The jump is the 30th time that Bubka has set the record indoors or outdoors, surpassing the 29 world records by distance runner Paavo Nurmi of Finland in the 1920s.

1993 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA Championship for a third time, with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Lauri Merten.

1997 — Chicago wins its fifth NBA championship in the last seven years, as Steve Kerr’s last-second shot gives the Bulls a 90-86 Game 6 victory over the Utah Jazz.

2002 — Stanley Cup Final, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1 for a 4-1 series win; Red Wings’ 10th title; coach Scotty Bowman retires with record 9th title.

2010 — Zenyatta wins her 17th consecutive race, giving her the longest winning streak by a modern-day thoroughbred in unrestricted races. The 6-year-old mare, ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, wins the $200,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length over St Trinians at Hollywood Park. With the victory, Zenyatta surpasses the 16-race winning streaks of Cigar, 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, and Mister Frisky.

2011 — Boston scores four times in a 4:14 span of the first period and beats the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden, evening the best-of-7 series. Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Michael Ryder give Boston a 4-0 lead before the midway point of the first period.

2014 — The Netherlands thrashes Spain 5-1 in the World Cup’s first shocker, toying with an aging team that dominated global football for the past six years and avenging a loss in the 2010 final.

2014 — The Kings wins the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years with a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5.

2016 — LeBron James has 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, Kyrie Irving also scores 41 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers capitalize on the Warriors playing without suspended star Draymond Green, staving off NBA Finals elimination with a 112-97 victory in Game 5. James and Irving are the first teammates to score 40 points in an NBA Finals game as the Cavaliers pulled within 3-2 and sent their best-of-seven series back to Ohio.

2017 — The Golden State Warriors win their second NBA tile in three years with a win over the Cavaliers 129-120.

2019 — The Toronto Raptors beat defending champion Golden State Warriors, 114-110 to win the franchise’s first Championship.

2021 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Đoković wins his 19th Grand Slam singles title; beats Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

2023 — Stanley Cup Final, T-Mobile Arena, LV: Vegas Golden Knights rout Florida Panthers 9-3 to clinch 4-1 series win; franchise’s first title in only 6th year in the NHL; MVP: Jonathan Marchessault (VGK forward).

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1905 — Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched his second no-hit game, beating the Chicago Cubs and Mordecai Brown 1-0. Mathewson and Brown matched no-hitters for eight innings. The Giants got two hits in the ninth for the win.

1912 — Christy Mathewson recorded his 300th career victory with a 3-2 triumph over the Chicago Cubs.

1921 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees pitched the first five innings and hit two home runs in an 11-8 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

1937 — New York’s Joe DiMaggio hit three consecutive home runs to give the Yankees an 8-8, 11-inning tie against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.

1947 — In the first night game played at Fenway Park, the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3.

1948 — Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium drew 49,641 fans who saw Ruth’s No. 3 retired and the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3.

1957 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit three home runs and drove in five runs in a 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians as Williams became the first AL player to have two three-homer games in a season.

1973 — The Dodgers’ infield of Steve Garvey (first base), Davey Lopes (second base), Ron Cey (third base) and Bill Russell (shortstop) played together for the first time in a 16-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The quartet would set a major league record for longevity by playing 8 1/2 years in the same infield.

1980 — Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies goes 4 for 5 to move past Honus Wagner into fifth place on the all-time hit list with 3,431.

1998 — For the fourth time in major league history, teammates hit back-to-back homers in consecutive innings. Atlanta’s Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones each homered in the second and third inning of the Braves’ 9-7 win over Montreal at Turner Field.

2003 — Roger Clemens reached 300 wins and became the third pitcher with 4,000 strikeouts, leading the New York Yankees over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Clemens, the 21st pitcher to make it to 300, gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings and struck out 10, raising his total to 4,006. Clemens joined Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136) in the 4,000-strikeout club.

2008 — Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hit consecutive home runs in the first inning of Philadelphia’s 20-2 rout of St. Louis.

2012 — Matt Cain pitched the 22nd perfect game in major league history and first for San Francisco, striking out a career-high 14 batters and getting help from two running catches to beat the Houston Astros 10-0. Cain’s 125-pitch masterpiece featured a pair of great plays by his corner outfielders. Left fielder Melky Cabrera chased down Chris Snyder’s one-out flyball in the sixth, scurrying back to make a leaping catch on the warning track. Right fielder Gregor Blanco ran into right-center to make a diving catch on the warning track and rob Jordan Schafer for the first out of the seventh.

2015 — Alex Rodriguez collects his 2,000th career RBI with a two-run home run in the New York Yankee’s 9-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Rodriguez is the fourth player to reach the milestone joining Cap Anson, Babe Ruth and leader Hank Aaron.

2019 — Shohei Ohtani becomes the first Japanese player to hit for the cycle in Major League Baseball.

2021 — The Blue Jays set a record for a visiting team at Fenway Park by blasting 8 homers in an 18-4 win over the Red Sox. Seven players go deep, with Teoscar Hernandez doing so twice, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits his major league-leading 21st.

2024 — It took him 14 seasons and 320 other long balls, but J.D. Martinez finally hits a walk-off homer, doing so off Tanner Scott of the Marlins with Francisco Lindor on base in the 9th inning to give the Mets a 3-2 win. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the third most homers by anyone before a first walk-off shot, trailing only Mark Teixeira (408) and Jose Bautista (336).

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.

From Jack Harris: There was a one-handed finish. A slow stroll out of the batter’s box. And a leisurely, long-awaited trip around the bases.

It’d been a while since Teoscar Hernández last admired such a momentous home run ball.

It was a sight the struggling Dodgers had come to sorely miss.

Ever since returning from an adductor strain last month, Hernández had endured one of his coldest stretches at the plate since joining the Dodgers last year. He was batting .171 over 20 games since his mid-May return to the lineup. He had just three hits in 38 at-bats over his last 10 contests.

That slump, which also included only one home run since April 28, finally reached a tipping point ahead of Wednesday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres, with manager Dave Roberts moving Hernández out of his customary cleanup spot in the batting order in favor of hot-hitting catcher Will Smith.

“I love him in the four [spot] when he’s right,” Roberts said pregame. “But clearly the last few weeks, he’s been scuffling.”

In what was a tie score at Petco Park, on a day first place in the National League West was up for grabs, Hernández delivered the decisive blow in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Padres, belting a three-run home run to straightaway center that sent the club a pivotal series victory.

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Hernández: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is always the calm center during the storm

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (boxscore, story)
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Jo Adell homered in a wild six-run sixth inning and the Angels overcame two homers by Brent Rooker to beat the Athletics 6-5 at Angel Stadium on Wednesday and sweep a three-game series.

Adell’s 13th homer was his sixth in nine games.

His two-run shot capped a rally that saw Athletics starter JP Sears ejected after giving way to reliever Grant Holman (4-2) with one out. Holman walked Mike Trout on a 3-2 pitch he believed was a strike to load the bases. Holman hit Taylor Ward to bring in a run and Jorge Soler followed with a two-run single. That’s when Sears was tossed after yelling animatedly from the dugout.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Josaiah Stewart quickly studied the assignment, focused intensely, and went to work.

The Rams linebacker delicately gripped a paintbrush, dipped it into a cup of green paint, and began filling the outline of a bird traced onto a wall of an Altadena school rebounding from the Eaton fire.

A few feet away, Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson and defensive lineman Ty Hamilton maneuvered their huge frames to add their own artistic touches to the hallway mural.

It was the latest rookie bonding experience for the 2025 draft class, a six-player group that includes several expected to play prominent roles for a team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.

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CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: No one in the Chargers’ locker room felt as bad as Justin Herbert. At least that’s what the quarterback said after a career-high four interceptions in January cost the Chargers an opportunity for their first playoff win since 2018.

But the disappointment that rendered Herbert motionless on the sideline in Houston had faded in his memory, he said. Offseasons tend to have that rejuvenating effect.

“If I spend any more time worrying or focusing on a loss like that, I would be doing a disservice to my teammates,” Herbert said Wednesday on the second day of Chargers minicamp. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, like I said at the end of the year, but you gotta move on.”

Despite the crushing wild-card loss that prolonged the Chargers’ seven-year playoff win drought, Herbert maintained that his offseason has been business as usual.

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SPARKS

Rickea Jackson scored a career-high 30 points, Azura Stevens had 19 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Sparks to a 97-89 Commissioner’s Cup win over the Aces in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

The Aces were without star center A’ja Wilson for the final 11 minutes of the game after she left with 1:17 left in the third quarter with an injury. She was accidentally hit in the face on Dearica Hamby’s drive to the basket.

Jackson went 11 of 17 from the field, including four of eight from three-point range, and four of five at the free-throw line to top her previous best of 25 points against Dallas last season.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter and Erik Kirschbaum: Think of the World Cup as a big dinner party. Only instead of asking over family, neighbors and some folks from the office, the whole planet has been invited.

Many of those people will be coming to Southern California, and with Wednesday marking the one-year countdown to the tournament’s kickoff, Larry Freedman, co-chair of the Los Angeles World Cup host committee, acknowledges there’s still a lot of tidying up that has to be done before the guests arrive.

“As with any event of this magnitude, there are a tremendous number of moving pieces,” he said. “Nobody is ready, 100%, a year out. When we signed up for this, we knew we would be working to the end to get ready.”

The 2026 World Cup will be the largest and most complex sporting event in history, with 48 national teams playing 104 games in 16 cities spread across the U.S., Mexico and Canada over 39 days. Eight games will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Continue reading here

Amid protests, questions loom about how active ICE will be at Club World Cup games

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1920 — Man o’ War wins the Belmont Stakes, which was run at 1 3/8-miles, in 2:14 1/5. He shatters the world record by 3 1/5 seconds and sets the American dirt-course record for that distance.

1930 — Max Schmeling beats Jack Sharkey on a fourth-round foul for the vacant heavyweight title in New York. Schmeling becomes the first German — and European — heavyweight world champion.

1939 — Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open in a three-way playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute.

1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown with an eight-length victory over Better Self. It’s Arcaro’s second Triple Crown. He rode Whirlaway in 1941.

1948 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open with a record 276, five fewer than Ralph Guldahl’s 1937 record.

1979 — Bobby Orr becomes the youngest player in NHL history to be selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 31-year-old is inducted months after officially ending his NHL career as the Hall waives its usual three-year waiting period.

1981 — Larry Holmes stops Leon Spinks in the third round for the WBC heavyweight title in Detroit.

1983 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over Sandra Haynie.

1984 — 38th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Lakers, 4 games to 3, to win the championship title.

1990 — Egypt, a 500-1 shot, stuns the Netherlands when Magdi Abdel-Ghani makes a penalty kick with eight minutes remaining to tie the World Cup favorites 1-1.

1991 — The Chicago Bulls win the first NBA championship in the team’s 25-year history with a 108-101 victory in Game 5 over the Lakers. MVP Michael Jordan scores 30 points, Scottie Pippen has 32 and John Paxson 20.

2002 — NBA Finals: Lakers beat New Jersey Nets, 113-107 for a 4-0 sweep and 3rd straight title; MVP: Shaquille O’Neal for 3rd consecutive Finals series.

2005 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 1-over 73 for a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Championship. The 15-year-old Wie shoots a 69 to finish second. It’s the highest finish by an amateur in a major since 20-year-old Jenny Chuasiriporn lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak in the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open.

2008 — The Boston Celtics overcome a 24-point deficit and beat the Lakers 97-91 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. No team has ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit after the first quarter, and the Celtics post the biggest comeback in the finals since 1971.

2009 — Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot scores two second-period goals as the Penguins beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

2011 — The Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of the finals in Miami, 105-95. Jason Terry scores 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki adds 21 as the Mavericks win four of the series’ last five games.

2013 — Andrew Shaw scores on a deflection in triple overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in a riveting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Blackhawks gets third-period goals from Dave Bolland and Oduya to erase a 3-1 deficit.

2016 — Sidney Crosby sets up Kris Letang’s go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Pittsburgh Penguins win the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history by beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

2017 — Kevin Durant caps his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home an NBA championship. Durant, who joined Golden State last July, scores 39 points in a finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

2019 — Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 4-1 for a 4-3 series victory; first title in franchise history.

2021 — Danish soccer midfielder Christian Eriksen suffers an on-field cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match with Finland in Copenhagen. Eriksen is revived with a defibrillator and the game controversially continues with a 1-0 Finland win.

2023 — NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets beat Miami Heat 94-89 to win the franchise’s first title; MVP: Denver C Nikola Jokić.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1922 — Hub Pruett struck out Babe Ruth three consecutive times, and the St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees 7-1.

1928 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees had two triples and two homers in a 15-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

1939 — The Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.

1954 — Milwaukee’s Jim Wilson pitched the year’s only no-hitter, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0.

1957 — Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals broke the National League record for endurance when he played in his 823rd consecutive game. The previous mark was established in 1937 by Pirates first baseman Gus Suhr.

1959 — The San Francisco Giant’s Mike McCormick tossed a 3-0, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Richie Ashburn singled in the top of the sixth for the Phillies, but the hit didn’t count because the game was stopped by rain.

1962 — In Milwaukee’s 15-2 rout of the Dodgers at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game with Tommie connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older brother Hank had hit one out in the second.

1970 — Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates hurled a 2-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. Ellis walked eight and hit a batter, and Willie Stargell hit two homers.

1981 — Thirteen games were canceled due to the players’ strike.

1997 — After 126 years, baseball broke its tradition and played interleague games. The San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 4-3.

1999 — Cal Ripken went 6-for-6, homering twice and driving in six runs as the Baltimore Orioles scored the most runs in franchise history with a 22-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves.

2006 — Jason Grimsley was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball, less than a week after federal agents raided his home during an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.

2007 — Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0. Verlander struck out a career-high 12, walked four and benefited from several stellar defensive plays.

2009 — Chicago right fielder Milton Bradley had a bad day at Wrigley Field. Bradley lost Jason Kubel’s pop-up in the sun for a single, couldn’t catch Michael Cuddyer’s RBI bloop double, made a baserunning blunder and, most egregiously, flipped the ball into the stands after catching Joe Mauer’s one-out sac fly.

2009 — New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez’s lazy popup with two outs in the ninth inning as two runs scored, helping the Yankees escape with a wild 9-8 victory over the Mets.

2010 — Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer for a grand slam — only the second player to do it — leading the Boston Red Sox to a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nava connected on a fastball from Joe Blanton in the second inning. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a slam on the first pitch he saw Sept. 2, 2006, for Cleveland against Texas.

2011 — Realignment is on the table again as Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association are in discussions to renew the collective bargaining agreement, which expires on Dec. 11. One of the options being discussed would see one team moving from the National League to the American League to create two 15-team leagues, with the Houston Astros the likeliest candidate for a move.

2012 — Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig’s record by hitting his 23rd career grand slam.

2016 — Sam Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville 4-3 in the Super Regionals.

2017 — Royce Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, is selected first overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 amateur draft.

2018 — Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera suffers a season-ending injury when he tears a biceps tendon while swinging at pitch in the 3rd inning of a game against the Twins. He had already missed all but one game of May with a hamstring injury.

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.

From Jack Harris: Major League Baseball does not have a mercy rule for ending games early.

On Tuesday night at Petco Park, the Dodgers could have used one.

In recent years, the club has punted on plenty of games in the interest of protecting their often injury-riddled and shorthanded pitching staffs. But in an 11-1 loss to the San Diego Padres, they took the act of de facto forfeiture to levels even they hadn’t previously pioneered.

First, they let minor league call-up Matt Sauer wear it — in every sense of the phrase — over a nine-run, 13-hit, 111-pitch outing.

Then, in the face of a nine-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth, they sent position player Kiké Hernández to the mound to pitch the rest of the game, the earliest a true position player had ever taken the mound in a contest in Dodgers franchise history.

“Very awkward,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It doesn’t feel good.”

The Dodgers’ decision to pack, even before the seventh-inning stretch, it in was rooted in logic.

They are currently operating with only four healthy starting pitchers. Their equally banged-up bullpen is leading the majors in innings, and was coming off five frames of work in an extra-inning win the night before. And by the time Hernández took the mound in the sixth, the game had long been lost, the Padres (38-28) teeing off on Sauer with three runs two-out runs in the third inning, single scores in the fourth and fifth, and a four-spot in the sixth.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: Despite a quiet offseason, Padres are still making noise in competitive NL West

Shohei Ohtani (and Glasnow and Snell) could be back on Dodgers’ mound sooner than expected

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
Wednesday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Nolan Schanuel hit a single into shallow center field in the 10th inning for the first walk-off hit of his career to drive in Jo Adell and give the Angels a 2-1 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Reid Detmers (2-2) struck out two of three batters to strand the automatic runner in the top of the 10th.

Hogan Harris (1-1) took the loss for the A’s, who have lost 22 of 26 games.

The Angels trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth when Travis d’Arnaud hit left-hander T.J. McFarland’s first pitch for a pinch-hit homer and a 1-1 tie.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Davante Adams lined up on the right side, ran a short slant pattern to the middle of the field, and then caught a pass from Matthew Stafford and sprinted up the middle toward the end zone.

A few players later, Adams crossed the field left to right and then extended his 6-foot-1 frame while leaping high to grab a pass over the middle for another significant gain.

It’s only organized team activities, conducted without pads, but Adams demonstrated on Tuesday that he has quickly immersed himself in the Rams’ offense and culture since the three-time All-Pro receiver signed a free-agent contract in March.

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CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: He wasn’t under the watchful eye of Chargers executive director of player performance Ben Herbert this offseason. He didn’t train in the team’s El Segundo practice facility. But it doesn’t mean Rashawn Slater wasn’t working this offseason.

Making his first offseason appearance at the Chargers’ facility this week as the team started mandatory minicamp, Slater immediately passed the team’s conditioning test. In fact, Jim Harbaugh said, Slater reported the test was too easy.

“Too easy,” the coach said, “because he trains.”

Slater’s return highlighted the Chargers’ perfect attendance on the first day of three-day minicamp Tuesday. The star left tackle had missed all of voluntary organized team activities while in discussions for a contract extension.

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DAVID GREENWOOD

From Ben Bolch: David Greenwood adored basketball so much in middle school that he would play for three different teams in three different parks on the same day, multiple times a week.

His brother, Al, would be in the car driving around with him between games while David traded in his sweaty uniform for a fresh one, repeating the process over and over.

“He was relentless,” Al said, “because he loved the game.”

At home, David would get tossed around in driveway games by the cement contractor father who was twice his size, only to keep getting back up for more contact. In practices, he shot blindfolded to perfect his form, his brother having to let him know when he was close to going out of bounds so that he could get his bearings.

Greenwood, the determined Compton kid who went from a star high school player at Verbum Dei to one of the top scorers in UCLA history to an NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons, died Sunday night at a Riverside hospital

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SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: When the CONCACAF Gold Cup was launched, it was intended to be the confederation’s version of UEFA’s European Championships or CONMEBOL’s Copa América.

And for more than a generation it sufficed.

But as Mexico and the U.S. got better, playing group-play matches against the likes of Saint Kitts and Nevis or Martinique every other year ceased to be a challenge. So twice in the past decade the confederation brought South America’s championship tournament to North America just to make things interesting.

However, this summer the Gold Cup, which kicks off Saturday with Mexico, the reigning champion, facing the Dominican Republic at SoFi Stadium, has gotten its groove back. (The U.S. opens play Sunday in San José against Trinidad and Tobago.)

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story)
Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1898 — Willie Simms becomes the only Black jockey to win the Preakness Stakes when he rides Sly Fox to victory and the only one to have won all three Triple Crown races. Simms’ other Triple Crown wins: Kentucky Derby (1896, 1898), Belmont Stakes (1893, 1894).

1919 — Walter Hagen wins the U.S. Open with a one-stroke playoff victory over Michael Brady.

1919 — Sir Barton, ridden by Johnny Loftus, captures the Belmont Stakes to become thoroughbred racing’s first Triple Crown winner.

1921 — Grey Lag, ridden by Earl Sande, wins the first Belmont Stakes run counterclockwise. Previous Belmonts were run clockwise over a fish-hook course that included part of the training track and the main dirt oval.

1938 — Ralph Guldahl wins golf’s U.S. Open for the second straight year by beating Dick Metz.

1949 — Cary Middlecoff wins the U.S. Open by beating Sam Snead and Clayton Heafner.

1955 — Nashua wins the Belmont Stakes with Eddie Arcaro in the saddle. It’s the sixth Belmont victory for Arcaro, tying Jimmy McLaughlin’s record.

1977 — Seattle Slew, ridden by Jean Cruguet, runs wire to wire in the Belmont for a four-length victory over Run Dusty Run and the Triple Crown.

1978 — Nancy Lopez shoots a record 13-under par to win the LPGA Championship by six strokes over Amy Alcott.

1982 — Larry Holmes stops Gerry Cooney in the 13th round for the WBC heavyweight title at Las Vegas.

1984 — The Boston Celtics beat the Lakers 111-102 in Game 7 to win their 15th NBA title.

1992 — Tracy Austin, 29, is youngest inductee of International Tennis Hall of Fame.

1994 — For the first time in 11 years, the United States loses in the women’s world basketball championships. Guards Hortencia and Paula combine for 61 points, and Brazil stuns the defending champions 110-107 in the semifinals.

2006 — Se Ri Pak beats Karrie Webb on the first playoff hole to win the LPGA Championship. Pak atones for a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole in regulation that set up the playoff.

2006 — Rafael Nadal wins his second consecutive French Open, beating Roger Federer in four sets. Nadal spoils Federer’s bid for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam championship and extends his record clay-court winning streak to 60 matches.

2011 — Texas A&M sweeps the men’s and women’s titles at the NCAA outdoor championships, becoming the first school to post dual three-peat champions. Villanova’s Sheila Reid becomes the first woman to win the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at the same NCAA meet.

2012 — Rafael Nadal wins his record seventh French Open title, returning to Roland Garros to defeat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. It’s Nadal’s 11th Grand Slam title, tying him on the all-time list with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, who won six French Open titles.

2012 — The Kings win their first NHL title, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

2017 — Rafael Nadal wins his record 10th French Open title by dominating 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the final. No other man or woman has won 10 championships at the same major in the Open era, which began in 1968.

2017 — Stanley Cup Final, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville: Pittsburgh Penguins defeat Nashville Predators, 2-0 for 4-2 series win; Penguins back-to-back champions.

2022 — Charl Schwartzel hangs on to beat fellow South African Hennie Du Plessis by a stroke to win the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational event.

2023 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic beats Casper Ruud of Norway 7-6, 6-3, 7-5 for his men’s record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1904 — Bob Wicker of the Chicago Cubs pitched 9 1-3 hitless innings before Sam Mertes of the New York Giants singled. Wicker won a 1-0, 12-inning one-hitter.

1938 — Johnny Vander Meer hurled the first of two consecutive no-hitters, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves 3-0.

1967 — The Chicago Cubs hit seven homers and the New York Mets four in the second game of a doubleheader, tying the major league record set by the New York Yankees (6) and Detroit Tigers (5) in 1950. Adolfo Phillips hit four home runs in the doubleheader for Chicago.

1981 — After Seattle’s 8-2 win over Baltimore, major league players went on strike.

1985 — Von Hayes became the first player in major league history to hit two home runs in the first inning. Hayes connected twice in a nine-run first, powering the Philadelphia Phillies to a 26-7 victory over the New York Mets.

1988 — Rick Rhoden of the New York Yankees became the first pitcher since the inception of the designated hitter (1973) to start a game as the DH. He was seventh in the lineup and grounded to third out in the third inning and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jose Cruz pinch-hit for him in the fifth of the 8-6 win over Baltimore.

1990 — Nolan Ryan pitched the sixth no-hitter of his career to extend his major league record, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0. Ryan, 43, was the first to pitch no-hitters for three teams and the oldest to throw one.

1995 — Lee Smith set a major league record with a save in his 16th consecutive appearance, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the Angels’ 5-4 victory over Baltimore. Smith broke the mark of 15 straight set by Doug Jones in 1988.

2002 — Jared Sandberg became the 16th AL player to homer twice in an inning, and the third this season, when Tampa Bay beat the Angels 11-2.

2003 — Houston’s Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner combined for the first no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 45 years, winning 8-0. The sextet set a record for the highest number of pitchers to throw a no-hitter in major league history — four accomplished the feat twice.

2010 — Andy Pettitte records his 200th win in pinstripes in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over Houston at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231) are the only other members of this exclusive New York club.

2012 — The Cubs sign Cuban defector Jorge Soler to a nine-year contract worth $30 million. The 20-year-old outfielder was the subject of a bidding war among several teams.

2013 — The Dodgers and Diamondbacks engage in a beanball war. The hostilities start when D-Backs pitcher Ian Kennedy hits super rookie Yasiel Puig in the head with a fastball in the 6th inning. The ball hits his nose, and he stays on the ground for a few minutes but stays in the game; Andre Ethier follows with a tying two-run homer. In the top of the 7th, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke hits the first batter, Miguel Montero, in the back, prompting both benches to empty, although only stares are exchanged. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Kennedy throws a pitch near Greinke’s head, and pandemonium breaks out, with both benches and bullpens emptying again, and players and even coaches going at each other. When order is restored, Puig and coach Mark McGwire are ejected for the Dodgers, and manager Kirk Gibson and coach Turner Ward for the D-Backs. Incidentally, the Dodgers wins the game, 5 – 3. Major League Baseball will hand out eight suspensions and twelve fines as a result of the events, with Kennedy getting a ten-game suspension and Eric Hinske of the D-Backs getting five; both managers are suspended for one game, and two for the two coaches.

2017 — Max Scherzer of the Nationals records the 2,000th strikeout of his career, beating out Clayton Kershaw, who reached the milestone less than a week ago, as the third fastest pitcher to the mark.

2017 — Rookie sensation Aaron Judge hit two more home runs, including a drive that cleared the distant bleachers at Yankee Stadium and sent New York romping past Baltimore 14-3. The 6-foot-7 Judge led the majors with 21 homers and topped the AL with 47 RBIs and a .344 average.

2022 — Jared Walsh hits for the cycle and Mike Trout blasts a pair of homers as the Angels defeat the first-place Mets, 11-6. Walsh is the 9th player in team history to achieve the feat, almost exactly three years after teammate Shohei Ohtani was the last to do so, while Trout appears to be out of the deep slump that contributed to recent 14-game losing streak, costing manager Joe Maddon his job.

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.

From Jack Harris: Rivalries in baseball can sometimes be difficult to define.

There are the obvious ones. Like the Yankees and Red Sox. The Cardinals and Cubs. And for the Dodgers, going back to their founding in New York, a generations-old hatred for the Giants.

“By definition, you can’t just decide to choose your rivalry because one team gets good,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said. “And for the Dodgers, that’ll always be the Giants.”

But periodically, there are other emotionally charged, highly competitive, and intensely simmering clashes; often taking root between simultaneous contenders, bad-blooded division foes or closely situated fan bases sharing a mutual dislike.

Over the last half-decade, that’s what has slowly been built between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

And in their first renewal of the season Monday night at Petco Park, the two clubs lived up to the ever-growing hype in an 8-7 extra-innings win for the Dodgers.

“Both teams are good. The fan bases are very adamant. Both environments have been hostile over the last several years,” Muncy said. “It brings everything that a rivalry should bring.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
Wednesday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

From Benjamin Royer: Ron Washington took a page out of the characterized version of himself from the 2011 film “Moneyball” when asked about how difficult it would be to revive the Angels’ sputtering offense.

“It’s hard,” the Angels manager said Friday. “It’s very hard.”

Finding ways to improve the Angels’ productivity at the plate could prove even more daunting. They have the second-most strikeouts (622) and second-fewest walks (163) in MLB. Washington understands it’s a problem, but acknowledges the solution isn’t easily attainable.

“Adjustments is something in the game of baseball that’s never ending, so we just got to keep making adjustments,” Washington said. “That’s it. If I knew, if anybody knew the adjustment to make to get an offense going, you would never see offense putter. That’s baseball. You just got to keep adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting.”

Continue reading here

————

Yusei Kikuchi took a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning and Jo Adell homered and drove in three runs to help the Angels beat the Athletics 7-4 on Monday night.

Mike Trout had two RBIs for the Angels, who shook off the latest incredible catch by Athletics rookie Denzel Clarke in center field.

Kikuchi (2-5) yielded just a one-out single to Max Muncy in the fifth and exited after striking out Nick Kurtz with his 104th pitch to begin the eighth. The left-hander struck out five and walked one in a brilliant outing.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: With both teams in similar stages of growth and aiming to build lasting foundations, the Sparks and the Golden State Valkyries have shown just how slim the gap is between them.

A margin so thin that in the third meeting of the season, it took overtime to declare a winner.

The Valkyries have proven to be a real problem for the Sparks — offering far more fight than expected from a first-year franchise. And for the second straight meeting with the Valkyries, the Sparks couldn’t keep up, losing 89-81 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.

In the end, it came down to fundamentals. After struggling with layups all night, the Valkyries converted two in a row — first from Veronica Burton, then from Kayla Thornton — to take an 82–79 lead in overtime. They built on that momentum, and with 37 seconds left, Thornton delivered the dagger: a three-pointer that sealed a hard-fought win.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

L.A. OLYMPICS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen and Dakota Smith: Three years before the Olympics, LA28 organizers gave International Olympic Committee officials the kind of Games preview that even Hollywood’s best scriptwriters couldn’t plan.

To begin a visit to check on LA28’s planning progress, the IOC coordination commission attended a game at Dodger Stadium and watched Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off double in the 10th inning to defeat the New York Mets in the same stadium that will host Olympic baseball in three years.

The electric celebration, passing grades for an advanced venue plan and a growing corporate sponsorship portfolio keeps LA28 on track approaching the three-year mark until the 2028 Olympics open in a dual-venue ceremony at SoFi Stadium and the Coliseum.

“We are really confident in the progress we’ve made,” LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman said after the coordination committee’s three-day visit. “We’re focused on what we’ve always done to deliver the greatest Games we are capable of delivering in this city in the most fiscally responsible way that pays dividends for every member of our Olympic movement and our community.”

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
Monday at Florida (summary, story)
Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1890 — The Preakness Stakes is run outside Baltimore, at Morris Park in New York. The race is then suspended for three years, and resumes at the Brooklyn Jockey Club’s Gravesend Course from 1894-1908.

1932 — Gene Sarazen leads wire-to-wire to win the British Open by five strokes ahead of Macdonald Smith at Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Sarazen finishes with a tournament record of 283.

1933 — Johnny Goodman wins the U.S. Open golf title, making him the last amateur to win this event.

1934 — Italy beats Czechoslovakia 2-1 in extra time to win the second FIFA World Cup at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome. Italy trailing 1-0, ties the game at the 80th minute. Angelo Schiavio scores the winning goal in extra time.

1944 — A rare triple dead heat occurs in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct with Bossuet, Brownie and Wait a Bit crossing the finish line together.

1950 — Sixteen months after near-fatal car accident, Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open. Hogan beats Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18-hole playoff at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

1968 — UEFA European Championship Final, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy: Italy beats Yugoslavia, 2-0 in a replay (first game, 1-1).

1973 — Mary Mills shoots a 63 in the final round of the LPGA Championship to beat Betty Burfeindt by one stroke.

1977 — Al Geiberger sets a PGA Championship 18-hole record when he shoots a 59 in the Danny Thomas Classic.

1978 — Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, wins the Belmont Stakes to capture the Triple Crown in one of the greatest battles in racing history. Affirmed edges Alydar for the third time.

1989 — Wayne Gretzky of the Kings is named the NHL’s MVP, winning the Hart Trophy for a record ninth time.

1995 — Trainer D. Wayne Lukas wins a record five straight Triple Crown races as Thunder Gulch takes the Belmont Stakes. Lukas is the first trainer to win the Triple Crown races with two different horses. Lukas’ Timber Country won the Preakness.

1996 — Colorado’s Patrick Roy makes 63 saves before Uwe Krupp scores 4:31 into the third overtime to give the Avalanche a 1-0 victory against the Florida Panthers at Miami Arena and complete a four-game sweep of the Stanley Cup Final.

2000 — Stanley Cup Final, Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX: New Jersey Devils defeat Dallas Stars, 2-1 in double OT for a 4-2 series victory.

2006 — In Atlantic City, N.J., Bernard Hopkins wins a unanimous decision over light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, capping an 18-year career with an upset for the ages.

2010 — USC is placed on four years probation, receives a two-year bowl ban and a sharp loss of football scholarships. The NCAA cites USC for a lack of institutional control. The NCAA found that Reggie Bush, identified as a “former football student-athlete,” was ineligible beginning at least by December 2004. The NCAA also orders USC to vacate every victory in which Bush participated while ineligible. USC loses 30 scholarships over a three-year period, 10 annually from 2011-13.

2012 — Shanshan Feng wins the LPGA Championship to become the first Chinese player to win an LPGA Tour title and a major event.

2018 — Rafael Nadal won a record-extending 11th championship at Roland Garros by beating Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal became the second player in tennis history to win 11 singles titles at any Grand Slam tournament after Margaret Court, who claimed 11 Australian Open titles.

2018 — Kristen Gillman led a U.S. singles sweep in the biggest blowout in Curtis Cup history. Gillman, a 20-year-old University of Alabama star, beat 16-year-old Annabell Fuller 5 and 4 to cap a perfect weekend at Quaker Ridge in Scarsdale, N.Y. The Americans won 17-3, breaking the record for margin of victory of 11 set in a 14 1/2-3 1/2 victory at Denver Country Club in 1982.

2023 — UEFA Champions League Final, Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul: Manchester City beats Inter Milan, 1-0 to complete historic Champions League, Premier League & FA Cup trifecta.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1921 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became baseball’s career home run leader by hitting his 120th off Cleveland’s Jim Bagby in the third inning. The Indians took the game 8-6.

1944 — Joe Nuxhall, at 15 years, 10 months and 11 days, became the youngest player in major league history when he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds in an 18-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1959 — Rocky Colavito of Cleveland hit four consecutive home runs at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, a tough home run park. Billy Martin and Minnie Minoso also homered in the Indians’ 11-8 victory.

1966 — Cleveland’s Sonny Siebert threw the only no-hitter of the year as the Indians beat the Washington Senators 2-0.

1972 — Hank Aaron’s grand slam pushed the Atlanta Braves to a 15-3 rout over the Philadelphia Phillies. It was Aaron’s 649th home run, moving him ahead of Willie Mays into second place on the career home run list. It was also his 14th grand slam, tying Gil Hodges’ NL record.

1997 — Kevin Brown threw a no-hitter and kept himself from a perfect game by hitting a batter in the eighth inning, leading the Florida Marlins over the San Francisco Giants 9-0.

2005 — Baltimore’s 4-3 win over Cincinnati marked the first time that three 500-homer players appeared in the same game — the Orioles’ Sammy Sosa (580) and Rafael Palmeiro (559), and the Reds’ Ken Griffey, who hit a solo shot in the eighth inning for No. 511.

2006 — Reggie Sanders became the fifth player in major league history with 300 homers and 300 stolen bases when he hit a two-run shot in Kansas City’s 9-5 loss to Tampa Bay. Sanders homered off Chad Harville in the ninth to reach the milestone joining Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson and Bobby Bonds.

2011 — Tony La Russa managed his 5,000th game when the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 8-0. La Russa complied a 2,676-2,324 record with the White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals. Only Connie Mack managed more games with 7,755 over 53 years.

2012 — Frankie Vanderka threw a three-hitter, Travis Jankowski had four hits and Stony Brook completed an improbable run to the College World Series with a 7-2 victory over LSU in the deciding game of the Baton Rouge super regional. Stony Brook became only the second team to open the tournament as a No. 4 seed in the regional round and advance to the World Series. The first was Fresno State during its stunning 2008 run to a national title.

2019 — The Diamondbacks and Phillies play “Home Run Derby” at Citizens Bank Park, in a 13-8 win by the D-Backs. Arizona opens the game with three straight homers off Jerad Eickhoff, by Jarrod Dyson, Ketel Marte and David Peralta, on their way to hitting 8 long balls. The Phillies reply with 5 of their own, including two by Scott Kingery, but it’s not enough on a night when balls are flying out of the park right and left. Eduardo Escobar homers from different sides of the plate in consecutive innings for Arizona, and Ildemaro Vargas also homers twice. The combined 13 homers set a new major league record. The D-Backs had been the last team to open a game with three dingers, back on July 21, 2017.

2020 — Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Amateur draft is held virtually and limited to five rounds.

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.

From Bill Plaschke: They pull giant boxing gloves over aging, sometimes shaking hands.

They approach a black punching bag on weary, sometimes wobbly feet.

Then they wail.

They hit the bag with a left-handed jab, a right-handed reverse, a hook, another hook, an uppercut, another jab, bam, bam, bam.

They end the flurry with kicks, side kicks, thrust kicks, wild kicks, their legs suddenly strong and purposeful and fueled by a strength that once seemed impossible.

Outside of this small gym in a nondescript office park in Monrovia, they are elderly people dealing with the motion-melting nightmare that is Parkinson’s disease.

But inside the walls of Kaizen Martial Arts & Fitness, in a program known as Kaizen Kinetics, they are heavyweight champs.

Ranging in age from 50 to 90, spanning the spectrum of swift strides to wheelchairs, they are the most courageous athletes I’ve met.

I am in awe of them, perhaps because I am one of them.

I, too, am living with Parkinson’s disease.

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story)
Wednesday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

UCLA BASEBALL

From Benjamin Royer: Since coming to Westwood, Roch Cholowsky has had Omaha on his mind.

The Big Ten Player of the Year — a projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft by some analysts — turned Charles Schwab Field in Omaha into a playground during the Big Ten tournament, winning player of the tournament honors despite UCLA not claiming the championship.

So far, in the NCAA tournament, Cholowsky had been uncharacteristically quiet for his standards. He still made hard plays look easy as a “premium shortstop” — as UCLA coach John Savage glowed about his defensive skills — but his bat wasn’t making its usual noise.

Cholowsky finally had his moment Sunday.

Cholowsky’s RBI single off that strike in the fifth, a part of his two-for-five day, clinched UCLA’s spot in the Men’s College World Series with a 7-0 victory over Texas San Antonio. The two-game sweep of the Roadrunners gave the Bruins their sixth berth to Omaha and first since 2013, when they won it all.

Continue reading here

DODGERS

From Kevin Baxter: The Dodgers have sent Clayton Kershaw to the mound to give a slumping team a lift countless times during his 18-year career. And they’ve rarely been disappointed.

They did it again on a sultry Sunday afternoon in St. Louis and once again Kershaw delivered, earning his first win of the season in a 7-3 victory over the Cardinals that broke a two-game losing streak and ended a slide that had seen the Dodgers lose five of their last seven.

“He’s been a stopper for many years. He’s been a staff ace for many years. He’s going to the Hall of Fame,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “So he understands. And he’s going to be prepared.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018, and he matched Miami’s Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season.

Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

LAFC

Denis Bouanga had a goal and two assists, Eddie Segura scored his first goal since 2020 and LAFC extended its MLS unbeaten streak to nine games with a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night at BMO Stadium.

Bouanga converted from the penalty spot in the 59th to give LAFC (7-4-5), which had 56% possession and outshot Kansas City 21-5, a 2-1 lead.

Dejan Joveljic scored a goal for the fourth consecutive game when he ran onto a through ball played ahead by Manu García, and scored from near the penalty spot to make it 1-0 in the 39th minute.

Continue reading here

LAFC summary

MLS standings

FRENCH OPEN

Coco Gauff won the French Open for the first time by defeating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s final for her second Grand Slam singles title.

The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes in a contest that was full of tension and momentum swings to get the better of Sabalenka for the second time in a Grand Slam final. She also came from a set down to beat the Belarusian in the 2023 U.S. Open final.

Gauff raised the winner’s trophy aloft, then kissed it several times. She held her hand over her heart when the U.S. national anthem played. She is the first American woman to win at Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2015.

She then thanked her parents for doing everything “from washing my clothes to keeping me grounded and giving me the belief that I can do it.”

“You guys probably believe in me more than myself,” Gauff said in her on-court speech.

It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years.

Continue reading here

————

Carlos Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) on Sunday and win the French Open title for a second straight year.

Alcaraz, who won his fifth Grand Slam tournament in as many finals, produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament.

It was even better than his performance here last year, when he came back from 2-1 down in sets in the final against Alexander Zverev. But this time Alcaraz emulated Novak Djokovic’s feat from the 2021 final at Roland-Garros, where he fought back from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Continue reading here

Tennis great Stan Smith on life lessons, Arthur Ashe’s legacy and his namesake shoes

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story)
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1888 — James McLaughlin sets the record for wins by a jockey in the Belmont Stakes, six, when he rides Sir Dixon to a 12-length victory. McLaughlin’s record is matched by Eddie Arcaro in 1955.

1899 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Bob Fitzsimmons in the 11th round in New York to win the world heavyweight title.

1930 — Paavo Nurmi runs world record 6 mile (29:36.4).

1934 — Olin Dutra edges Gene Sarazen by one stroke to win the U.S. Open.

1940 — Lawson Little beats Gene Sarazen by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open golf title.

1945 — Hoop Jr. wins the Kentucky Derby, which is run one month after a national wartime government ban on racing is lifted.

1946 — Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in 8 for heavyweight boxing title.

1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Belmont Stakes in record time to capture the Triple Crown. Secretariat sets a world record on the 1½-mile course with 2:24, and a record for largest margin of victory in the Belmont, 31 lengths.

1978 — Larry Holmes scores a 15-round split decision over Ken Norton for the WBC heavyweight title in New York.

1979 — Coastal, ridden by Ruben Hernandez, spoils Spectacular Bid’s attempt at the Triple Crown with a 3¼-length victory over Golden Act. Spectacular Bid finishes third.

1984 — Swale, ridden by Laffit Pincay, wins the Belmont Stakes by four lengths over Pine Circle. Swale dies eight days later.

1984 — French Open Women’s Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert 6-3, 6-1; 2nd women in Open Era to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at once.

1985 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 29 points to lead the Lakers to a 111-100 victory over the Boston Celtics and the NBA title in six games.

1990 — Monica Seles holds off four set points in the first set tiebreaker and goes on to become the youngest winner of the French Open, beating two-time champion Steffi Graf 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Seles is 16 years, six months.

1991 — In the first all-American men’s final at the French Open since 1954, Jim Courier rallies to beat Andre Agassi 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 for his first Grand Slam title.

1993 — Patrick Roy makes 18 saves and the Montreal Canadiens capture their 24th Stanley Cup, beating the Kings 4-1 in Game 5.

2001 — Stanley Cup Final, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO: Colorado Avalanche beat defending champion New Jersey Devils, 3-1 for 4-3 series win; Avalanche 2nd title.

2001 — Jennifer Capriati beats Kim Clijsters 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 to win the French Open, her second consecutive Grand Slam title.

2003 — The New Jersey Devils end the Mighty Ducks’ surreal season, winning the Stanley Cup with a 3-0 victory. Mike Rupp, who had never appeared in a playoff until Game 4, scores the first goal and sets up Jeff Friesen for the other two.

2007 — Rags to Riches, a filly ridden by John Velazquez, outduels Curlin in a breathtaking stretch run and won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first of her sex to take the final leg of the Triple Crown in more than a century.

2010 — Chicago’s Patrick Kane sneaks the puck past Michael Leighton 4:10 into overtime, stunning Philadelphia and lifting the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961.

2013 — Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

2018 — Justify becomes the 13th Triple Crown winner by winning the Belmont Stakes with Mike Smith aboard.

2019 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Rafael Nadal beats Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1; 3rd straight French singles title; 12th overall; first to win 12 singles titles at same Grand Slam; 18th major.

2022 — The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series gets underway at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire; PGA suspends 17 participating players.

2024 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz becomes the youngest man to win grand slams on all three surfaces, coming back to beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in a final lasting 4 hours 15 minutes

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1901 — The New York Giants set a major league record with 31 hits in beating Cincinnati 25-13. Al Selbach of the Giants went 6-for-7 with two doubles and four singles and scored four runs.

1906 — Boston snapped a 19-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3.

1914 — Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates got the 3,000th hit of his career off Philadelphia’s Erskine Mayer in a 3-1 loss to the Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Wagner’s hit, a double, came in the ninth. Wagner joined Cap Anson as the only members of the 3,000-hit club.

1935 — The St. Louis Cardinals became the 10th team in major league history to score a run in every inning in a 13-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.

1946 — Commissioner Happy Chandler imposed five-year suspensions on players who jumped to the Mexican League and three-year suspensions for those who broke the reserve clause.

1946 — The New York Giants’ Mel Ott became the first manager to be ejected in both ends of a doubleheader. The Pittsburgh Pirates won both games, 2-1 and 5-1.

1963 — Playing the first Sunday night game in major league history because of excessive heat during the day, the Houston Colt .45s handed the San Francisco Giants their seventh straight loss in Houston, 3-0. Turk Farrell and Skinny Brown pitched the shutout.

1966 — Rich Rollins, Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher and Harmon Killebrew homered in the seventh inning for the Minnesota Twins in a 9-4 victory over the Kansas City Athletics.

1979 — Nolan Ryan struck out 16 batters as the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 9-1. It was the 21st time in his career he struck out 15 or more batters in one game.

1986 — White Sox pitcher Tom Seaver (306) and Angels hurler Don Sutton (298) had the highest composite win total (604) for opposing pitchers since 1926, when Walter Johnson (406) faced Red Faber (197). Sutton pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the White Sox 3-0.

1990 — Eddie Murray of the Dodgers tied Mickey Mantle’s record by homering from each side of the plate in the same game for the 10th time in his career. The Dodgers beat the Padres 5-4 in 11 innings.

1998 — Cecil Fielder of the Angels and Yamil Benitez of the Diamondbacks each hit grand slams in the same inning in Anaheim’s 10-8 win over Arizona. It was the first time both teams hit grand slams in the same inning since 1992.

2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. became the sixth player in baseball history to reach 600 homers with a drive off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds’ 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins.

2014 — Lonnie Chisenhall had nine RBIs and three home runs in a five-hit game, Michael Brantley scored five times and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 17-7.

2015 — Chris Heston pitched the first no-hitter in his 13th career start, leading the San Francisco Giants over the New York Mets 5-0. The rookie allowed three baserunners — all on hit batters. He also had a two-run single for his first big league RBIs and finished with two more hits than the Mets.

2019 — The Nationals accomplish a very rare feat as four consecutive batters hit solo homers in the 8th inning in Petco Park in San Diego to break a 1-1 tie. Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick starts things off against Craig Stammen, and is followed by Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon, who all go yard. This is only the ninth time in major league history this has happened, and the Nats were the last to do so, on July 27, 2017.

2019 — Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz shot in the back while visiting in his native Dominican Republic.

2022 — The Twins open the bottom of the 1st against the Yankees with three consecutive homers off Gerrit Cole at Target Field, by Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. This is the first time in franchise history this has happened.

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. The summer season has begun. Let’s examine what to look for.

Summer fun

Mater Dei tight end Mark Bowman, a USC commit, leads the defending Division 1 champion Monarchs.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

The 2025-26 season starts with a busy summer of preparation, when freshmen and transfers get their first looks from coaches in the off season. Football teams have begun competing in seven on seven events, hitting the weight room and beginning the process of getting into shape for the start of the season Aug. 22.

Fans wanting to get a sneak peek at this season’s fall stars, here are some tournaments to watch.

The L.A. Chargers are hosting a tournament June 14 in El Segundo. Arroyo High also has a tournament June 14. Palos Verdes has a tournament June 21. The Saugus tournament is June 21 at Central Park. St. John Bosco, Mission Viejo, Simi Valley and Baldwin Park are having tournaments June 28. Edison’s Battle at the Beach is July 12 and a must-see event. Long Beach Poly is hosting a tournament July 19 that includes Mater Dei, which is also in the Mission Viejo tournament.

In basketball, the California LIVE tournament for girls is June 12-14 in Roseville and for boys June 27-29 at Ladera Sports Center and San Juan Hills High. The Section 7 tournament for boys is June 20-22 at the Arizona Athletic Grounds and June 13-14 for girls. The War on the Floor tournament is June 19-22 at Chaminade and El Camino Real. The Maranatha tournament is June 9-14. The Fairfax tournament is June 16-21.

In baseball, the Area Code tournament featuring class of 2026 and 2027 players is Aug. 6-11 at Blair Field in Long Beach. The Area Code underclass tournament is Aug. 1-5.

Remember Southern Section schools have to take a mandatory two-week dead period in each sport, where coaches are not allowed to work with athletes.

Baseball

James Clark of St. John Bosco gets a triple against Patrick Henry.

(Steve Galluzzo)

St. John Bosco culminated the greatest baseball season in school history by winning the Southern California Division I regional. The Braves previously won the Trinity League title and the Southern Section Division 1 championship. From shortstop James Clark to relief pitcher Jack Champlin, coach Andy Rojo’s Braves finished 30-4 and beat one top team after another. Here’s a report on their final win.

If you want an early look at top teams for 2026, here they are: 1. St. John Bosco, 2. Harvard-Westlake, 3. Corona, 4. Norco, 5. JSerra.

Two awards for Seth Hernandez

Pitcher Seth Hernandez leads No. 1-ranked Corona.

(Nick Koza)

It’s awards season, and Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez is going to be busy. Last week, he was named the state player of the year by Gatorade, then the national player of the year by Gatorade.

Hernandez went 9-1 this season and should be a top pick in next month’s baseball draft.

He was home schooled until joining Corona his junior year and finished with a two-year mark of 18-1.

Here’s the report and video from the announcement.

Capt. Keeler

Dan Keeler, from the 1994 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame yearbook, will be the commander of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

(Sherman Oaks Notre Dame Yearbook.)

For all the push-ups completed, for all the running drills endured and for all the yelling received during his days playing high school football at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High in the 1990s, Dan Keeler is getting the last laugh later this month when he takes command of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in Coronado.

“Now I’m going to have to salute him,” former Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney quipped.

A story on the impact coaches can have on their players’ lives.

Softball

El Modena finished runner-up in the Division I regional to Chula Vista Mater Dei.

Lots of top teams chose to opt out of participating due to club commitments, graduation and other issues. The CIF intends to hold state championships in softball and baseball soon, so finding a way to get the top teams to participate will be a priority.

The regular season must end sooner to be held before school lets out or the problems will continue.

Golf

Southern California is where golf prodigies Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay first began to receive attention as youths, and 15-year-old Jaden Soong, a member of the Class of 2028 at St. Francis High in La Cañada, is on the same path.

On Tuesday, he mastered Poppy Hills Country Club, shooting a nine-under 62 to win the CIF state championship in Pebble Beach. He had no bogeys, seven birdies and an eagle. He’s believed to be the youngest to win a CIF individual golf title. PGA winners Cantlay (Servite) and Rickie Fowler (Murrieta Valley) are former winners of the event.

Here’s a look at his amazing performance.

Notes . . .

Sydney Douglas, who was a 6-foot-7 starting freshman for Ontario Christian’s championship girls basketball team, has transferred to Corona Centennial. . . .

John Andrade is the new soccer coach at Viewpoint. . . .

Offensive lineman Anthony Rodriguez of Long Beach Poly has committed to San Jose State. . . .

Junior receiver Gavin Honore of Mater Dei has committed to Georgia. . . .

Former Hart, UCLA and major leaguer Trevor Brown is the new baseball coach at West Ranch. He was known for his versatility, playing everything from catcher to the infield. . . .

St. Francis basketball coach Todd Wolfson will also be the school’s interim athletic director. Matt Luderer has been on leave while battling an illness. . . .

Gina Hairapetian has resigned after 22 years as softball coach at Chaminade. . . .

Offensive lineman Josh Haney from JSerra has committed to Fresno State.

From the archives: Ralphy Velazquez

Ralphy Velazquez during his Huntington Beach days.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Ralphy Velazquez, a former Huntington Beach baseball standout, is playing in the Cleveland Guardians organization. The 2023 first-round draft pick has eight home runs this season in the minors playing in high-A ball.

Here’s a story from 2023 discussing his power potential.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on skateboarders in their 50s and 60s.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Palisades High allowing its graduates to enjoy the Hollywood Bowl as the site for its ceremony with some celebrity speakers.

From the Los Angeles Times, the story of a high school track runner being disqualified at the state track championships for using a fire extinguisher.

From On3, a story on the new NIL rules approved by a judge for college athletics.

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 [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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From Benjamin Royer: It was supposed to be a day off for Freddie Freeman.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped before the game that the 35-year-old veteran first baseman had begun to understand the value of an off day as he’s dealt with discomfort in his ankle this season.

But with the go-ahead run on second base in the eighth inning, Roberts summoned Freeman off the bench. Was it time for another magical, Freddie Freeman moment at Chavez Ravine?

Not so fast. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza called for an intentional walk, and up walked Michael Conforto. The 46,364 fans at Dodger Stadium already booed the struggling outfielder after his third-inning strikeout. Hitting .165 entering the game, he was one of the unlikeliest to lead the Dodgers to a comeback victory.

But all Conforto needed was one hit, one chance. And he delivered.

Against Mets setup man Reed Garrett, Conforto ripped a go-ahead RBI single into left field, helping the Dodgers complete a three-run comeback to defeat the Mets 6-5 and salvage a series split against a potential NL playoff opponent.

“It’s been a grind up to this point,” Conforto said. “All I want to do is go up there and help us win. A lot of those situations I’ve come up short, so to come through today was everything.”

Continue reading here

Will Dodgers’ pitchers ever get healthy? How the team is tackling its biggest problem

Shohei Ohtani thought he was ‘in trouble’ before Dave Roberts gifted him a toy Porsche

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story)
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wednesday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

FRENCH OPEN

As popular as Coco Gauff is, she knew full well that nearly all of the 15,000 fans at Court Philippe-Chatrier would be against her during the French Open semifinals Thursday. That’s because Gauff, an American, was taking on a French opponent — and one who came from nowhere, 361st-ranked Loïs Boisson.

So the No. 2-seeded Gauff turned to a trick that 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic has talked about using: When the partisan crowd was loudly singing Boisson’s first name, Gauff pretended they were chanting “Coco!” Not that it mattered much, truly, because Gauff was by far the superior player throughout a 6-1, 6-2 victory that earned her a second trip to the final at Roland-Garros.

Three years ago, Gauff missed out on a chance to leave with the trophy when Iga Swiatek beat her. This time, Swiatek won’t be around for the championship match on Saturday because her 26-match unbeaten run at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament ended earlier Thursday with a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 loss to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1919 — Man o’ War wins his first race, a 5-furlong contest over a straightaway at Belmont Park. The 3-to-5 favorite wins by six lengths, covering the distance in 59 seconds.

1924 — Cyril Walker captures the U.S. Open with a three-stroke victory over Bobby Jones.

1936 — Granville, ridden by James Stout, wins the Belmont Stakes by a neck over Mr. Bones. Bold Venture, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, does not run in the race.

1946 — The National Basketball Assn. is founded at the Commodore Hotel in New York.

1966 — NFL & AFL announce their merger.

1969 — Joe Namath resigns from NFL after Pete Rozelle, football commissioner, said he must sell his stake in a bar.

1976 — 30th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Phoenix Suns, 4 games to 2.

1981 — Summing, ridden by George Martins, wins the Belmont Stakes, spoiling Pleasant Colony’s Triple Crown bid.

1987 — Bet Twice, ridden by Craig Perret, breezes to a 14-length victory in the Belmont Stakes to deny Alysheba the Triple Crown. Alysheba is a distant fourth.

1987 — West Germany’s Steffi Graf, eight days shy of her 18th birthday, becomes the youngest women’s champion of the French Open when she beats Martina Navratilova 6-4, 4-6, 8-6.

1998 — Real Quiet is denied the Triple Crown when Victory Gallop edges him at the wire in the Belmont Stakes.

1999 — Andre Agassi rallies to win the French Open and become the fifth man to complete a career Grand Slam. After losing the first two sets, Agassi surges back to beat Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Agassi won the 1992 Wimbledon, 1994 U.S. Open and 1995 Australian Open.

1999 — Juli Inkster wins the U.S. Women’s Open with a 16-under 272, the lowest 72-hole score in the championship’s 54-year history.

2007 — The Ducks capture the Stanley Cup with a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, ending the series in five games.

2010 — Rafael Nadal wins his fifth French Open title and avenges his lone Roland Garros defeat, beating Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Nadal improves to 38-1 at Roland Garros, with the only loss to Soderling in the fourth round a year ago.

2011 — The Bowl Championship Series strips USC of its 2004 title, leaving that season without a BCS champion. BCS officials vacated the championship after the Trojans were hit with heavy NCAA sanctions last year for rules violations committed during the 2004 and ’05 seasons.

2015 — American Pharoah leads all the way to win the Belmont Stakes by 5½ lengths, becoming the first horse in 37 years to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The bay colt, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Victor Espinoza, is the 12th horse and first since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown.

2015 — Serena Williams overcomes a mid-match lull and a third-set deficit to win her third French Open title and 20th major singles trophy by beating Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2.

2015 — Tiger Woods hits a new low with the highest score of his career — an 85 in the Memorial at Muirfield Village, the course where he has won eight times. Woods ends his front nine of the third round with back-to-back double bogeys and finishes with a quadruple-bogey 8.

2015 — UEFA Champions League Final, Berlin: FC Barcelona beats Juventus, 3-1 for 5th title and second treble (Spanish La Liga & Cup champions).

2018 — LeBron James passes Michael Jordan’s record of 109 for the most 30-point games in NBA playoff history in a 110-102 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

2023 — In a stunning development, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf League agree to unify to create its own for-profit entity to be run by the PGA Tour and funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1918 — Casey Stengel, after being traded by Brooklyn in the offseason, made his return to Ebbets Field a memorable one. In his first at-bat, Stengel called time, stepped out of the batter’s box and doffed his cap. A bird flew out and the fans broke into laughter.

1934 — Myril Hoag hit a major league record six singles in the New York Yankees’ 15-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox.

1939 — The New York Giants hit five home runs in the fourth inning in a 17-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds. With two out, Harry Danning, Al Demaree, Burgess Whitehead, Manny Salvo and Joe Moore connected as the Giants scored eight runs in the inning.

1945 — In the first game of a doubleheader, Boston’s Boo Ferriss scattered 14 hits to beat Philadelphia 5-2. Ferris, 8-0 on the year, tied the AL mark held by Chicago’s John Whitehead for wins at the start of a career.

1975 — Cleveland manager Frank Robinson hit two three-run homers in a 7-5 win over the Texas Rangers.

1986 — San Diego Padres manager Steve Boros was ejected before the first pitch of the game with the Atlanta Braves when he tried to give umpire Charlie Williams a videotape of a disputed play in the previous night’s 4-2 loss to Atlanta.

1992 — Eddie Murray drove in two runs at Pittsburgh to pass Mickey Mantle (1,509) as the all-time RBI leader among switch-hitters.

1995 — J.D. Drew of Florida State hit a record-setting three homers in his final three at-bats in a 16-11 loss to USC in the College World Series. Drew finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs and 12 total bases, also a series record.

1996 — For the second time in major league history and first in the AL, a cycle and a triple play took place in the same game. Boston’s John Valentin hit for the cycle, while Chicago turned a triple play in the Red Sox’s 7-4 victory. In 1931, Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein hit for the cycle in the same game that the Phillies turned a triple play against the Chicago Cubs.

2000 — The Rally Monkey is born, thanks to the Angels’ video crew playing a clip from the 1994 film Ace Ventura, Pet Detective on the JumboTron. With the words Rally Monkey superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild as the Angels score two runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5.

2003 — Insisting the corked bat, designed to put on home run displays during batting practice, was accidentally used in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa is suspended for eight games by Major League Baseball. Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president of on-field operations, agrees that the Cubs outfielder’s use of an illegal bat was an “isolated incident,” but one that still deserves a penalty.

2007 — Trevor Hoffman became the first major leaguer with 500 career saves when he closed out the San Diego Padres’ 5-2 victory over the Dodgers.

2017 — Scooter Gennett hit four home runs, matching the major league record, and finished with 10 RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds routed the St. Louis Cardinals 13-1. Gennett became the 17th player to homer four times in one game.

2022 — Eduardo Escobar hits for the cycle in an 11-5 win over the Padres; he is the first Mets player to do so since Scott Hairston in 2012, and the first player for any team to accomplish the feat at Petco Park.

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.

From Kevin Baxter: The Dodgers made history when they opened the season with eight straight wins, something no reigning World Series champion had ever done. But they’ve been just a shade above mediocre since then.

“I wouldn’t say [I’m] worried. It’s kind of where we’re at right now,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“It’s been hard to gain traction.”

If anything, the Dodgers have been spinning their wheels. Because with Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the New York Mets, the team’s third loss in four games, the Dodgers fell to .500 over the last month and their lead in the National League West remained at just a game over the San Diego Padres heading into Thursday’s get-away day matinee with the Mets.

Since their historic start, the Dodgers have had just three winning streaks of more than two games, but three losing streaks of more than two games. For every three steps forward, the team has taken 2 ½ steps back.

And while the Dodgers entered Thursday with the fourth-best record in the league, over the last two months they have a lower winning percentage than the Milwaukee Brewers, the third-best team in the Central Division. The reason why, Roberts said, is pitching.

Continue reading here

Hernández: Can Clayton Kershaw contribute to Dodgers’ title chase? ‘I’m gonna bet on him’

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wednesday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Angels 11-9.

The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.

Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, the Angels answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Jared Verse and Braden Fiske joined the Rams last season as something of a one-two punch.

The former Florida State teammates were drafted in the first and second rounds, respectively, and lived up to their billing as individuals and as a collective force.

Verse, an edge rusher, became the NFL defensive rookie of the year. Fiske, a defensive lineman, was a finalist for the award.

“I think we did good, but I think we became more focused on helping the team than trying to do our own little thing and having a good little duo going on,” Verse said, adding, “So now we finally took another step — having another year together to figure out, ‘Hey, this is how I work, this is how he works.’

“So, I feel like this year is going to be a good one for us to play together.”

As they prepare for their second seasons, the two young stars are part of a front that could rank as one of the NFL’s most dynamic.

Continue reading here

Rams lifting contest? Aaron Donald ready to put Jared Verse ‘through it’

Ex-Rams long snapper Jake McQuaide disrupts church by demanding answers in porn scandal

ANGEL CITY

From Benjamin Royer: Alexander Straus was fewer than two weeks from his first training session as Angel City FC coach. Yet, Angel City CEO and co-founder Julie Uhrman wanted to see her new manager at work.

She flew to Portugal, where Straus was completing his three-season stint as FC Bayern Munich coach — a club the 49-year-old Norwegian led to three consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles and a 57-7-2 league record.

As Uhrman watched Straus coach Bayern Munich at the inaugural World Sevens Football tournament, she already was familiar with his technical acumen that was on display en route to a championship victory over Manchester United. That was not a surprise.

But what caught Uhrman’s attention was Straus’ relationships with his players.

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Edmonton vs. Florida
at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story)
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1884 — James McLaughlin becomes the first jockey to win three straight Belmont Stakes when he rides Panique to victory. He won with George Kinney (1883) and Forester (1882). McLaughlin repeats his feat in 1886-88. McLaughlin’s triple is matched by jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. in 1984.

1925 — Willie McFarlane beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in the second round of a playoff to capture the U.S. Open. Macfarlane shoots a 291 at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club.

1927 — Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard & 200-yard freestyle swim record.

1937 — War Admiral, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, wins the Triple Crown with a three-length victory over Sceneshifter in the Belmont Stakes.

1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Triple Crown by 25 lengths in the Belmont Stakes. Count Fleet goes at off at 1-20 odds in a race with no place or show betting.

1952 — Jersey Joe Walcott scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Ezzard Charles in Philadelphia to retain the world heavyweight title.

1961 — The newly formed American Basketball League adopts the 3-point field goal.

1977 — The Portland Trail Blazers hold off the Philadelphia 76ers 109-107 to win the NBA championship in six games. Portland becomes the first team in the 31-year history of the league to win four straight after losing the first two games.

1985 — Steve Cauthen wins the Epsom Derby aboard Slip Anchor and became the only American jockey to win the English Derby and Kentucky Derby. Cauthen had ridden Affirmed to victory in the 1978 Kentucky Derby.

1993 — Julie Krone guides Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race.

1994 — Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Sergi Bruguera produce the best day of tennis in Spanish history. Sanchez Vicario beats Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-4 in the French Open final and Bruguera retains his title by defeating another Spaniard, Alberto Berasategui, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

1999 — Steffi Graf wins her sixth French Open title and her first Grand Slam championship in almost three years, beating top-ranked Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

1999 — Charismatic loses his bid to become the 12th Triple Crown winner when he fractures his left front cannon bone and sesamoid while finishing third to Lemon Drop Kid in the Belmont Stakes.

2004 — Smarty Jones loses his Triple Crown bid and his perfect record when Birdstone runs him down near the finish of a thrilling Belmont Stakes. Birdstone, a 36-1 long shot ridden by Edgar Prado, returns $74, $14 and $8.60.

2005 — Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal beats unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina in four sets to win the French Open men’s singles title. The No. 4-seeded Nadal becomes the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Pete Sampras won the U.S. Open at 19 in 1990.

2011 — Rafael Nadal wins his record-equaling sixth French Open title, beating Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1 in the final.

2016 — Novak Djokovic becomes the first man in nearly a half-century to win four consecutive major championships and finally earned elusive French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, beating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

2021 — Luis Saez rides Essential Quality to wins the 153rd Belmont Stakes.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1915 — Philadelphia’s Grover Cleveland Alexander lost his no-hitter when Artie Butler punched a single with two outs in the ninth. Alexander struck out Bob Bescher for the final out to beat St. Louis 3-0. Alexander went on to pitch three more one-hitters during the season.

1929 — The Cincinnati Reds scored nine runs in the sixth inning en route to a 21-4 romp over the Chicago Cubs.

1935 — Chicago White Sox rookie John Whitehead loses to St. Louis 2-0. It was his first loss after winning his first eight starts, an AL record for the start of a career.

1949 — Commissioner Happy Chandler lifted the ban on all players who had jumped to a league in Mexico.

1955 — Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hit a home run off Chicago’s Billy Pierce that traveled about 550 feet. The ball cleared the left-field upper deck at Comiskey Park.

1959 — Pittsburgh’s Dick Stuart hit the longest home run at Forbes Field. Stuart smashed a shot over the center-field wall off Chicago pitcher Glenn Hobbie.

1966 — Leo Cardenas of the Reds hit four home runs in a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. Cardenas hit two home runs in each game as Cincinnati won the opener 8-3 but dropped the second game 9-5.

1986 — San Diego’s Steve Garvey was ejected for the first time in his career when he argued a play at home plate. Garvey, the on-deck hitter, protested the last out of a triple play by the Atlanta Braves. Television replays showed that Bip Roberts was indeed safe. The Padres lost 4-2.

1989 — The Blue Jays lost their debut in the SkyDome as Glenn Braggs hit a two-run homer to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past Toronto 5-3. The $375-million complex featured a $100-million, four-section, retractable roof.

1997 — Alex Rodriguez of the Mariners became the first Seattle player to hit for the cycle in a nine-inning game. He completed the cycle with a double in the ninth of a 14-6 win at Detroit.

2001 — Colorado pitcher Mike Hampton had two homers, three RBIs and recorded his eighth win as Colorado defeated Houston 9-4.

2008 — Atlanta’s Chipper Jones became the third switch-hitter in major league history to hit 400 home runs. Jones’ homer off Ricky Nolasco was one of his four hits in the 7-5 comeback win over Florida. Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray were the first two reach the milestone.

2013 — The Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners played the first game in major league history when each team scored five or more runs in the game when it was scoreless through the ninth. Alejandro De Aza and Alex Rios each had an RBI single in the 16th inning, and Chicago won 7-5.

2015 — Oakland’s Pat Venditte became the first pitcher in 20 years to throw with both arms in the same game, but the Boston Red Sox beat the Athletics 4-2 on a night a fan sustained life-threatening injuries when she was struck by a broken bat.

2021 — Team USA secured a spot in the Tokyo Olympics by winning the Americas Olympic Qualifier.

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.

From Jack Harris: It was a night of redemption at Dodger Stadium.

For the struggling home team, its recently beleaguered closer and its enigmatic third baseman most of all.

In a 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, Max Muncy atoned for a costly fifth-inning error with a two-home run performance, including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth.

Left-hander Tanner Scott snapped out of his recent funk, throwing a scoreless 10th inning a night after taking a loss in the same situation.

And after two consecutive frustrating defeats, the Dodgers finally bounced back on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th; earning a win that kept them in sole possession of first place in the National League West, and chased a few demons for both Scott and Muncy in the process.

“We needed every bit of it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s good to see the resilience from a lot of our guys.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers star Freddie Freeman’s family appreciated kind gesture from slain Baldwin Park officer

Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball legend with ties to the Dodgers, dies at 89

Judge orders woman who accused ex-Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault to pay damages by default

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Automatic runner Zach Neto scored on Taylor Ward’s bases-loaded double-play groundout to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings on Tuesday night.

Nolan Schanuel had two RBIs and Neto added two hits and an RBI to give the Angels consecutive wins for the first time since capping an eight-game win streak on May 23.

Kenley Jansen (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win a night after getting a save and Reid Detmers got his first save.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Puka Nacua is using organized team activities to hone his craft and prepare for his third NFL season.

But the Rams’ star receiver also recently took time to help others prepare to avoid potential health challenges.

Nacua last week returned from a trip to Samoa, where he and his mother joined medical professionals from Utah Valley University to provide testing, clinics and education about diabetes.

Nacua said his father, who died when Nacua was a youngster, experienced complications from the disease.

So the opportunity to travel with his mother to his maternal grandmother’s village was “kind of a full-circle moment” for his family, Nacua said Tuesday.

“To be able to go and improve the situation in the homeland was something sweet,” Nacua said after the team went through a workout.

Continue reading here

ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: It doesn’t seem that long ago that Christen Press was helping the national team to consecutive World Cup titles. She was unstoppable then, a key cog in the greatest women’s soccer team in history.

Yet she played her 155th and final match for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Press, just 18 days removed from those Olympics, became the first player signed by expansion club Angel City. She was bringing the NWSL to her hometown and was being rewarded with what was then the richest contract in league history.

Yet she’s started just 10 games since then, losing most of the last three seasons to a stubborn anterior cruciate ligament injury that took four surgeries to repair.

Press eventually will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, but she isn’t ready for that trip just yet. If her body isn’t always willing, her mind and her heart are still keen on the sport, so Press makes her most valuable contributions now in the quiet of the locker room.

Continue reading here

L.A. PARALYMPICS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Already slated to be the first venue in the world to host events from three different Olympic Summer Games, the Coliseum will help break new ground for the Paralympics in 2028.

The iconic stadium is at the center of the first Paralympic Games in L.A. as it hosts the para track and field competition, LA28 announced Tuesday in an updated venue plan that placed 23 disciplines into their future Paralympic homes.

“This is a momentous occasion for the city of Los Angeles,” para swimmer and Inglewood native Jamal Hill said in an interview with The Times. “Being a native Los Angeleno, you always hear about this melting pot of Los Angeles and many times, that melting pot, the default is to really thinking like, ethnic or racial or even cultural based. … I think it’s really, really beautiful and inclusive now that that melting pot is really starting to cover ability.”

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

Edmonton vs. Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1870 — Ed Brown becomes the first Black jockey to win the Belmont Stakes, with Kingfisher.

1927 — The United States wins the first Ryder Cup golf tournament by beating Britain 9½-2½.

1932 — Faireno, ridden by Tommy Malley, wins the Belmont Stakes by 1½ lengths over Osculator. Burgoo King, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, doesn’t race.

1966 — Ameroid, ridden by Bill Boland, wins the Belmont Stakes by 2½ lengths over Buffle. Kauai King, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, finishes fourth.

1974 — NFL grants franchise to Seattle Seahawks.

1984 — 1960 champion Arnold Palmer fails to qualify for the US Open Golf Championship for the first time in 32 years.

1987 — Danny Harris defeats Edwin Moses in the 400 hurdles at a meet in Madrid, ending the longest winning streak in track and field. Moses, had won 122 consecutive races dating to Aug. 26, 1977.

1988 — West Germany’s Steffi Graf beats 17-year-old Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union in 32 minutes with a 6-0, 6-0 victory to win the French Open for the second straight year.

1990 — Penn State is voted into the Big Ten. The school becomes the 11th member of the league and first addition to the Midwest-based conference since Michigan State in 1949.

1994 — Haile Gebrselassie becomes the first Ethiopian to set a world track record with a time of 12:56.96 in the men’s 5,000 meters at Hengelo, Netherlands.

1998 — Harut Karapetyan of the Galaxy scores three goals in five minutes for the fastest hat trick in MLS history in an 8-1 rout of the Dallas Burn. The seven-goal margin sets an MLS record.

2005 — Justine Henin-Hardenne beats a rattled and fumbling Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 to win the French Open, capping a comeback from a blood virus with her fourth Grand Slam title and her second at Roland Garros.

2005 — Eddie Castro sets a North American record for most wins by a jockey in one day at one track, winning nine races on the 13-race card at Miami’s Calder Race Course.

2008 — The Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in 11 seasons with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 .

2011 — Li Na becomes the first Chinese — man or woman — to win a Grand Slam singles title. She beats Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the French Open final for her fifth career title and first on clay.

2016 — Garbine Muguruza wins her first Grand Slam title by beating defending champion Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open, denying the American her record-equaling 22nd major trophy.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1940 — The Pirates beat the Boston Bees 14-2 in the first night game at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.

1940 — The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman’s Park, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-1.

1951 — Pittsburgh’s Gus Bell hit for the cycle to lead the Pirates to a 12-4 victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia.

1964 — Sandy Koufax pitched his third no-hitter, striking out 12, as the Dodgers beat the Phillies 3-0 in Philadelphia.

1968 — Don Drysdale of the Dodgers blanked the Pirates 5-0 for his sixth straight shutout en route to a record 58 2-3 scoreless innings.

1972 — A major league record eight shutouts were pitched in 16 major league games: five in the American League, three in the National League. The Oakland Athletics swept a pair from the Baltimore Orioles by identical 2-0 scores.

1974 — The game between the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium was forfeited to Texas. Umpire Nestor Chylak had problems with fans all night on 10-cent beer night. The crowd got out of control when Cleveland tied the score 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth.

1989 — Toronto beats Boston 13-11 in 12 innings after trailing 10-0 after six. Red Sox starter Mike Smithson threw six scoreless innings before leaving in the seventh because of a foot blister. The Jays then scored two in the seventh, four in the eighth and five in the ninth and two more in the 11th on Junior Felix’s home run. It was the biggest lead the Red Sox have blown and their 12th consecutive loss to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

1990 — Ramon Martinez struck out 18 and pitched a three-hitter, sending the Dodgers past the Atlanta Braves 6-0.

1996 — Pamela Davis pitched one inning of scoreless relief and got the win in a minor league exhibition game. She is believed to be the first woman to pitch for a major league farm club under the current minor league system. The 21-year-old right-hander pitched for the Jacksonville Suns, a double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, against the Australian Olympic team.

2000 — Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays becomes the 77th major league player to hit a home run in his first at bat, but just the fourth American League pitcher and the first since the Angels’ Don Rose in 1972, the year before the designated hitter rule took the bat out of AL pitchers’ hands.

2005 — Rafael Palmeiro and Melvin Mora each hit grand slams to help Baltimore rally for a 14-7 win over Detroit.

2007 — Mark Ellis hit for the cycle and Eric Chavez had a two-out homer in the 11th inning to lift Oakland to a 5-4 win over Boston.

2009 — Randy Johnson became the 24th major league pitcher to win 300 games by leading San Francisco to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader.

2012 — Mike Scioscia of the Angels became the ninth manager in AL history to manage 2,000 games with one club. The Mariners beat the Angels 8-6.

2018 — In a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge sets a record by striking out eight times.

2019 — San Francisco Giant Manager Bruce Bochy wins his 1,000th game as the manager of the Giants with a 9-3 victory over the New York Mets.

2022 — The rule preventing position players from pitching in a close game is invoked for the first time when Crew chief C.B. Bucknor objects to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts calling on OF Zach McKinstry to pitch the 9th inning against the Mets with his team trailing, 9-4. The rule, adopted before the 2020 season but not implemented until this year due to the upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic, states that a team cannot use a position player on the mound unless there is a difference of six or more runs between the two teams. Roberts is thus forced to use a real pitcher, Evan Phillips, to pitch the final inning.

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.

From Shotgun Spratling: There’s levels to a proper program build. Baby steps have to sometimes be taken, even if everyone involved would like to jump past several of those. Lessons have to be learned. Experiences, both positive and negative, have to be endured.

USC suffered through one of those difficult experiences, getting manhandled by national championship contender Oregon State for the second day in a row in the Corvallis Regional final. The No. 8 national seed shut down USC’s offensive attack in the winner-take-all regional final, eliminating the Trojans from the NCAA tournament with a 9-0 victory.

“Frustrating finish for sure,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said after being outscored 23-1 in back-to-back losses to the Beavers. “Proud of our boys and our coaching staff. Proud to wear this jersey. We’ve gotten better. Obviously, this weekend shows us that we’ve got to get better and be more competitive.”

Oregon State freshman James DeCremer, making just his second start of the season, held USC (37-23) to two hits in five scoreless innings. Then sophomore Eric Segura, who was pulled in the first inning of his start Friday after getting knocked around by Saint Mary’s, fired three scoreless innings.

Sophomore Laif Palmer entered after just USC’s third hit of the game. He induced the fifth double play of the day and got another groundout to close out the game. All three Oregon State pitchers fired mid-90s fastballs, something rare among USC pitchers and too much for the Trojan hitters to handle.

“We had a hard time controlling their arms,” Stankiewicz said. “The fastball was pretty hot.”

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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

NBA FINALS

West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: It took the Dodgers until the ninth inning Monday night to erase their first two-run deficit.

But when Tanner Scott surrendered a pair of scores in the top of the 10th, they couldn’t do it again.

In a 4-3 extra-innings loss to the New York Mets on Monday, a night that started with frustration — then crescendoed with a late-game rally — ultimately ended in a familiar fizzle.

Despite tying it behind a seventh-inning home run and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly from Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers (36-24) once again stumbled beneath the weight of their slumping closer.

In the top of the 10th, Scott gave up an RBI double to Francisco Alvarez to lead off the inning. Francisco Lindor followed with a down-the-line single to bring another run for the Mets (38-22). The left-hander, who signed for four years and $72 million this offseason, has a 4.73 earned-run average in his first 28 outings.

And after coming back once on Monday night, the Dodgers’ magic ran out in the bottom of the 10th.

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Plaschke: Missed chance to sweep Yankees leaves Dodgers in a precarious spot

Dodgers injuries: Mookie Betts nears return, but Tyler Glasnow’s body ‘not responding’

Well, Sale! It’s the Dodgers who have the all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Mike Trout had three hits, including a three-run, 454-foot homer off the left-center field light stanchion in the Angels’ six-run first inning on Monday night, in a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Zach Neto homered to lead off the game, and the Angels opened a 5-0 lead before before Red Sox starter Richard Fitts (0-3) recorded his first out. Jo Adell also homered in the first and added another solo shot in the sixth after Boston cut the lead to 6-5.

Jarren Duran had three hits for Boston, including a double to start the four-run fifth inning. Ceddanne Rafaela homered to make it 7-6 in the eighth.

Ryan Zeferjahn (3-1) was credited with the win, pitching a scoreless seventh inning and striking out two. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 11th save, getting Romy Gonzalez on a line drive to the warning track in right to end it.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

L.A. OLYMPICS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LA28 announced Honda as its automotive partner for the L.A. Olympics on Monday, securing a major founding-level partnership that will help the private organizing committee cover its estimated $7-billion budget.

Honda, which opened its U.S. headquarters in L.A. in 1959 and is now based in Torrance, will work with LA28 on an accessible vehicle fleet that maximizes electric vehicles for the Games to help move athletes and officials around Southern California. The partnership will support U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and the Summer Games in 2028.

Financial terms of the top-tier partnership were not announced. Honda joins Delta and Comcast as LA28’s founding partners expected to lead the way in covering the estimated $2.5 billion in corporate sponsorship needed to stage the first Summer Games held in the United States since 1996.

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NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1944 — Bounding Home, ridden by G.L. Smith, wins the Belmont Stakes by one-half length over Pensive, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

1959 — European Cup Final, Stuttgart: Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 2-0; 4th consecutive title for Los Blancos.

1961 — Sherluck, ridden by Braulio Baeza, wins the Belmont Stakes. Carry Beck, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, finishes seventh.

1972 — French Open Women’s Tennis: American icon Billie Jean King wins her only French singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong of Australia 6-3, 6-3.

1984 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by a record 10 strokes over Beth Daniel and Pat Bradley.

1991 — Thomas Hearns becomes a world champion for the sixth time, capturing the World Boxing Association’s light-heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Virgil Hill.

1992 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan scores a record 35 points, including a record six 3-pointers, in the first half as the Bulls beat Portland 122-89 in the opening game of the NBA Finals. Jordan finishes with 39 points and Chicago is only two points shy of the largest victory margin in the finals.

1999 — Four days after her first LPGA Tour victory, Kelli Kuehne ties the Women’s U.S. Open record with an 8-under 64 in the first round to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster.

2001 — Karrie Webb wins the U.S. Women’s Open in a runaway for the second year in a row. Webb shoots a 1-under 69 for an eight-stroke victory, the largest margin at a Women’s Open in 21 years.

2004 — Calgary ties an NHL record with its 10th road win of the playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa Bay in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. The New Jersey Devils also won 10 road playoff games during their championship seasons of 1995 and 2000.

2006 — Jeff Burton has the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch race, overcoming a 36th-place starting position in the Dover 200 for his second victory of the season.

2006 — Russia’s Nikolai Valuev retains his WBA heavyweight title in Hanover, Germany, stopping Jamaican challenger Owen Beck with a right uppercut in the third round.

2011 — Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic’s perfect season and 43-match winning streak, beating him 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the French Open semifinals. Federer advances to the title match against five-time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal reaches his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros by defeating Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

2012 — Tiger Woods won his 73rd PGA tour victory with a two-stoke win over Andres Romero and Rory Sabbatini in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course.

2017 — UEFA Champions League Final, Cardiff: Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice as defending champions Real Madrid thrash Juventus, 4-1 for 12th title; Juventus loses 5th consecutive final.

2018 — Stephen Curry, Golden State, broke Ray Allen’s NBA Finals record for the most 3-pointers with nine in the Warriors 122-103 Game 2 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1918 — Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitched his second no-hitter, blanking the Detroit Tigers 5-0.

1932 — Lou Gehrig became the first American League player to hit four home runs in a game, helping the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia A’s 20-13. The event was overshadowed by the resignation of John McGraw as manager of the New York Giants.

1954 — Henry Thompson of the New York Giants hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 13-8 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Willie Mays drove in the other five runs with two homers.

1971 — Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitched his second no-hitter, beating the Cincinnati Reds 1-0.

1978 — Dave Johnson became the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season. His grand slam in the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers.

1989 — The Dodgers and Houston played 22 innings at the Astrodome in the longest night game in National League history — 7 hours and 14 minutes. The Astros won the game on Rafael Ramirez’s RBI single off Jeff Hamilton, normally the Dodgers’ third baseman. When the game ended, Fernando Valenzuela was playing first and Eddie Murray was at third.

1989 — Nolan Ryan pitched his 11th career one-hitter and struck out 11 as Texas beat Seattle 6-1. It was Ryan’s 16th low-hit game (no-hitter or one-hitter), breaking Bob Feller’s record of 15.

1995 — Pedro Martinez of Montreal pitched nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos 1-0 win.

2003 — Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Chicago’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.

2006 — Damion Easley hit three homers and had seven RBIs in Arizona’s 13-9 victory over Atlanta.

2008 — Randy Johnson took sole possession of second place on baseball’s career strikeout list after getting the Milwaukee Brewers’ Mike Cameron to go down swinging in the first inning. It was Johnson’s 4,673rd career strikeout, breaking a tie with Roger Clemens and leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks’ veteran ace behind only Nolan Ryan, who had 5,714 strikeouts in his career.

2017 — Albert Pujols hits his 600th home run of his career, the historic blast being a 4th-inning grand slam off Ervin Santana of the Twins in a 7-2 Angels win. He is the ninth player to join the exclusive fraternity.

2017 — Endinson Volquez of the Mets throws the first no-hiitter of the year, defeating the Diamonbacks 3-0.

2018 — Blake Snell ties an American League record by striking out the first 7 batters he faces for the Rays against the Mariners.

2022 — With a disappointing 22-29 record after splurging on free agents over the past few years, the Phillies fire manager Joe Girardi, who has failed to take them to the postseason in his two-plus seasons at the helm. Bench coach Rob Thomson is named manager on an interim basis to finish the season.

2024 —Padres player Tucupita Marcano faces a lifetime ban from baseball after an investigation by MLB found that he has placed bets on a large number of major league games, in contravention of very clear rule. He is suspected of having bet on Pirates games while injured last season; he has not played this season, also due to injury. The lifetime ban will be confirmed tomorrow and four other players will receive one-year suspensions for placing bets while they were in the minor leagues: Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank.

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.

From Tim Willert: UCLA‘s run at the Women’s College World Series ended Sunday, two innings after Bruins slugger Megan Grant extended it.

Laura Mealer‘s bases-loaded, walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the ninth propelled Tennessee to a 5-4 win and a semifinal meeting with Texas at 9 a.m. PDT Monday.

The Volunteers (47-16) did what UCLA couldn’t in the ninth: deliver with the bases loaded. The Bruins got singles from Savannah Pola and Jordan Woolery followed by an intentional walk to Grant. But Alexis Ramirez grounded out to first to end the inning.

Taylor Pannell hit a deep fly to left field to lead off Tennessee’s half of the ninth, a ball that caromed off Rylee Slimp’s glove and hit the white padding on the top of the wall but didn’t leave the field. The play was reviewed and ruled a double.

Mealer, who knocked in two runs in the first inning to give the Volunteers an early 2-0 lead, delivered again, this time on a 2-2 pitch from Taylor Tinsley, who came on in relief of UCLA starter Kaitlyn Terry.

“Just a great battle to the end,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “I could not be more proud. Period. Just the ability for us to be able to fight, the ability for us to come back, the epic [rally], just down to the last pitch … there’s something about what UCLA softball can do, with your backs against the wall and just rising to the occasion creates some amazing memories.”

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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
at New York 111, Indiana 94 (box score)
at Indiana 125, New York 108 (box score)

NBA FINALS

West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. Indiana

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Dave Roberts downplayed the easy narrative on Sunday afternoon.

“No,” he said when asked if his Dodgers had the New York Yankees’ proverbial number, having followed up their defeat of the Bronx Bombers in last year’s World Series with two impressive wins to start this weekend’s rematch at Dodger Stadium.

“I think we’ve had their number the last two nights,” Roberts said, “but today’s a different day.”

Was it ever.

Twenty-four hours after a total annihilation of the Yankees in a 16-run rout on Saturday, the Dodgers suffered the kind of setback that has so often plagued them this season, squandering the chance to build further momentum in a 7-3 loss that prevented a series sweep.

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Going bananas: Why Savannah Bananas tickets cost more than a Dodgers-Yankees rematch

Hernández: How Japan media track down Ohtani’s home-run balls

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

José Ramírez homered during a three-run fourth inning, Gavin Williams gave up only one hit in 6⅔ innings and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Angels 4-2 on Sunday.

Ramírez extended Cleveland’s lead to 2-0 when he connected on a slider from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz (3-7) and put it into the stands in right-center for his team-leading 11th homer to lead off the fourth.

Nolan Jones added a two-run single with the bases loaded for the other runs in the inning as the Guardians took two of three games in the weekend series.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA BASEBALL

From Benjamin Royer: UCLA baseball is one step closer to earning a trip to Omaha.

The Bruins continued to roll in every facet of the game in the Los Angeles Regional final, scoring early and trusting their bullpen to defeat UC Irvine 8-5 on Sunday night. The Bruins advance to the super regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and will host the Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week.

UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional.

If UCLA beats UTSA, it’ll advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 2013.

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USC BASEBALL

From Shotgun Spratling: USC baseball wanted to be aggressive knowing it was entering a hostile environment, playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,347 at Goss Stadium.

The Trojans tried to set the tone early.

Instead, it backfired, costing them early opportunities, early momentum and ultimately Sunday night’s matchup in a 14-1 loss to Oregon State in the Corvallis Regional final.

USC has a chance for redemption Monday as Oregon State’s win forces a winner-take-all regional final at 3 p.m. PDT (ESPNU).

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UC IRVINE BASEBALL

From Benjamin Royer: In the game early Sunday that advanced UC Irvine to the Sunday night game against UCLA….

Under threat of elimination, UC Irvine‘s bats emerged once again.

Bringing the power for a second straight game, the Anteaters connected for five home runs Sunday, eliminating Arizona State 11-6 in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Needing to win four straight games to advance to the super regionals after losing to Arizona State on Friday, UC Irvine is halfway to its goal.

Alonso Reyes — who had just one home run in 2025 entering Sunday’s game — ripped a two-run home run off of Sun Devils starter Derek Schaefer in the fourth inning. Later in the inning, after Arizona State coach Willie Bloomquist went with Lucas Kelly out of the bullpen, Chase Call cleared the batter’s eye in dead center field for a two-run home run to give the Anteaters a 6-1 lead.

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SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: Sunday’s matchup between the Sparks and Phoenix Mercury felt like déjà vu. When the Sparks faced Phoenix last month, the game ended with a failed Sparks comeback.

In a twist of fate, Sunday’s comeback belonged to Phoenix.

Unable to stay ahead after building an 18-point lead, the Sparks fell 85-80 to the Mercury at Crypto.com Arena for their third consecutive loss.

As with the first meeting, the third quarter proved to be the Sparks’ undoing. After scoring just seven points in the third quarter of their loss to Phoenix on May 21, the Sparks were outscored 24-9 in the third Sunday.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

We asked readers of of our Sports Report and USC newsletters: Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the USC-Notre Dame rivalry?

After 1,154 votes,

Yes, 17.6%
No, 82.4%

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

STANLEY CUP FINALS

P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday, June 6 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday, June 9 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1896 — Hastings, ridden by H. Griffin, edges Handspring by a neck to capture the Belmont Stakes.

1908 — Royal Tourist, ridden by Eddie Dugan, posts a four-length victory over Live Wire in the Preakness Stakes.

1909 — Joe Madden, ridden by Eddie Dugan, wins the Belmont Stakes by eight lengths over Wise Mason.

1935 — French Championships Men’s Tennis: Englishman Fred Perry wins his only French title, beating Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

1947 — After a six-year layoff, 13-year-old Honey Cloud wins the second race at Aqueduct. His jockey, Clarence Minner, takes his first ride in 10 years.

1962 — French Championships Women’s Tennis: In an all-Australian final Margaret Smith beats doubles partner Lesley Turner 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

1971 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Ajax beats Panathinaikos, 2-0; Dutch champions begin 3-year period of domination.

1985 — Nancy Lopez beats Alice Miller by eight strokes to win the LPGA championship.

1991 — Andrettis finish 1-2-3 in the Miller 200 at Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway in Milwaukee. Mario Andretti finishes third, his son Michael wins the race and his nephew John finished second.

1996 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 4-under 66 to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open. Sorenstam’s 8-under 272 is the best ever in the Open.

2002 — Annika Sorenstam matches the LPGA record for margin of victory in a 54-hole event while winning the inaugural Kellogg-Keebler Classic. Sorenstam finishes at 21-under 195 to win by 11 strokes.

2005 — Jockey Russell Baze records his 9,000th career victory aboard Queen of the Hunt in the eighth race at Golden Gate Fields.

2007 — Daniel Gibson scores a career-high 31 points as Cleveland beats Detroit 98-82 to advance to the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are the third team to come back from an 0-2 deficit in a conference finals, joining the 1971 Baltimore Bullets and 1993 Chicago Bulls.

2008 — Pittsburgh outlasts Detroit 4-3 in three overtimes of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Petr Sykora scores at 9:57 of the third overtime ending the fifth-longest finals game in NHL history.

2011 — Dirk Nowitzki makes the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Dallas Mavericks roar back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece. The Mavs outscore the Heat 22-5 down the stretch and pull off the biggest comeback win in an NBA finals since 1992.

2019 — US Open Women’s Golf, CC of Charleston: Lee Jeong-eun of South Korea wins her first major title; beats runners-up Lexi Thompson, Agel Yin and Ryu So-yeon by 2 strokes.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1928 — Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit three home runs and a triple at Braves Field, but the Cincinnati Reds came away with a 20-12 triumph.

1928 — The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1. All the runs came from three pinch-hit home runs.

1941 — Lou Gehrig died in New York at age 37.

1949 — The Philadelphia Phillies hit five homers in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds. Andy Seminick hit two and Del Ennis, Willie Jones, and Schoolboy Rowe hit one apiece. Seminick had homered earlier in the game.

1959 — The Baltimore Orioles-Chicago White Sox game at Comiskey Park was delayed for nearly half an hour as a swarm of gnats overcame the field. Groundskeepers tried using bug sprays and torches, but the gnats wouldn’t budge. A postgame fireworks display was brought in from center field and a smoke bomb was attached to the framework. The gnats left and the Orioles defeated the White Sox, 3-2.

1990 — Randy Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in the Seattle Mariners’ history as he beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. The 6-foot-10 left-hander, walked six and struck out eight while pitching the first no-hitter at the Kingdome, which opened for baseball in 1977.

1996 — Houston starter Darryl Kile tied the modern major league record by hitting four batters in a 2-0 loss at St. Louis, and the first to do it in the NL since Moe Drabowsky in 1957.

2000 — Tampa Bay’s Fred McGriff hit his 400th career home run, but the Devil Rays lost to the Mets 5-3.

2000 — Rick Aguilera of the Chicago Cubs became the 13th pitcher with 300 saves in a 2-0 win over Detroit. Aguilera reached the mark in 614 career appearances, third quickest.

2002 — Philadelphia pitcher Robert Person drove in seven runs with a grand slam and a three-run homer in an 18-3 win over Montreal. Person had just come off the disabled list and collected his first win of the season.

2005 — Kansas City completed a sweep of the New York Yankees with a 5-2 victory. The Royals, who have the worst record and second-lowest payroll in the major leagues, finished their first three-game sweep of the Yankees at home in 15 years.

2009 — Dan Uggla of the Marlins became the fastest second baseman to 100 homers in Florida’s 10-3 win over Milwaukee. Uggla’s two-run shot in the bottom of the second came in his 502nd game as a second baseman, beating Alfonso Soriano to 100 by 34 games.

2010 — Ken Griffey Jr. announces his retirement after 22 seasons in the major leagues. Hitting only .184 in part-time duty for the Mariners, he retires with 630 career home runs and six seasons of 40 or more homers. Most of his career was spent with Seattle and the Cincinnati Reds.

2010 — Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers lost his bid for a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning on a call that first base umpire Jim Joyce later admitted he blew. First baseman Miguel Cabrera cleanly fielded Jason Donald’s grounder to his right and made an accurate throw to Galarraga covering the bag. The ball was there in time, and all of Comerica Park was ready to celebrate the 3-0 win over Cleveland, until Joyce emphatically signaled safe.

2011 — Aubrey Huff hit three home runs and matched his career best with six RBIs and the San Francisco Giants posted a 12-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Huff hit two-run homers in the fourth and ninth and a solo shot in the seventh.

2015 — In a memorable major league debut, Rangers 3B Joey Gallo hits a two-run homer in his second at-bat on the way to collecting 3 hits and 4 RBIs in leading Texas to a 15-2 beating of the White Sox.

2017 — Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers records his 2,000th career strikeout.

2018 — Jacob deGrom matches a career high set just two weeks earlier by racking up 13 strikeouts in 7 innings in a start against the Cubs.

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.

From Tim Willert: Jessica Clements hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the seventh inning early Friday morning to carry ninth-seeded UCLA past No. 16 Oregon 4-2 at the Women’s College World Series, after the Ducks tied the game in the top of the inning on a call at home plate that was overturned.

Catcher Alexis Ramirez also hit a two-run homer in support of Bruins’ starter Kaitlyn Terry, who pitched a four-hitter and gave up one earned run. UCLA (55-11) will play No. 12 seed Texas Tech on Saturday at 4 p.m. (PDT) for a spot in the semifinals. Oregon (53-9) will face unseeded Mississippi in Friday’s elimination game.

Oregon’s Paige Sinicki doubled inside the third-base line to lead off the seventh, but the ruling was challenged by UCLA. The call was upheld, but the next hitter, Dezianna Patmon bunted Sinicki to third with one out. Emma Cox followed with a ground ball to third baseman Jordan Woolery, who tried to throw Sinicki out at home. The throw to Ramirez was on time and Sinicki was ruled out at home for the second out.

Oregon challenged the call, and it was overturned after a video review showed obstruction by Ramirez.

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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
at New York 111, Indiana 94 (box score)
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

NBA FINALS

West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. NY/Ind.

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Before the start of the season, Dodgers first base and infield coach Chris Woodward pulled Mookie Betts aside one day, and had him envision the ultimate end result.

“You’re gonna be standing at shortstop when we win the World Series,” Woodward told Betts, the former Gold Glove right fielder in the midst of an almost unprecedented mid-career position switch. “That’s what the goal is.”

Two months into the season, the Dodgers believe he’s checking the requisite boxes on the path toward getting there.

“I would say, right now he’s playing above-average shortstop, Major League shortstop,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “Which is amazing, considering he just took this position up.”

Betts has not only returned to shortstop this season after his unconvincing three-month stint at the position last year; but he has progressed so much that, unlike when he was moved back to right field for the stretch run of last fall’s championship march, the Dodgers have no plans for a similar late-season switch this time around.

“I don’t see us making a change [like] we did last year. I don’t see that happening,” Roberts said. “He’s a major league shortstop, on a championship club.”

“And,” the manager also added, “he’s only getting better.”

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Shaikin: ‘Another log on the fire.’ Yankees eager to avenge World Series meltdown against Dodgers

Dodgers acquire former All-Star closer Alexis Díaz in trade with Reds

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Tutu Atwell played quarterback. He played receiver, and he also played on defense.

Years before diminutive and speedy Atwell matured into an NFL prospect, the Rams receiver played flag football.

Could anybody stop him?

“Nah, nah,” Atwell said, chuckling.

So Atwell, a 2021 second-round draft pick who will earn $10 million this season, said he would be cool and fun if he got the opportunity in a few years to try out for the 2028 U.S. Olympic flag football team.

Atwell echoed the feelings of Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson and other players in the league since NFL owners last week approved a resolution that would allow them to try out for flag football. The resolution limits only one player per NFL team to play for each national team in the Los Angeles Games.

NFL players would compete for spots with others already playing flag football.

“It’s great,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “If that’s something that players say they want to be able to do, then I think it’s a really cool experience for them to be able to be a part of while also acknowledging that, man, there are some other guys that have been doing it.”

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USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced next week.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
at Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 (summary)
Edmonton 6, at Dallas 3 (summary)

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Carolina 3, at Florida 0 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 3 (summary)

STANLEY CUP FINALS

P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday, June 6 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday, June 9 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1903 — Flocarline becomes the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes.

1908 — Jockey Joe Notter misjudges the finish of the Belmont Stakes and eases up on his mount, Colin, whose career record to that point was 13-for-13. Notter recovers from his mistake and holds off Fair Play, who came within a head of defeating Colin. When he retired, Colin’s record stood at 15 wins in as many starts.

1911 — Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds with an average speed of 74.59 mph.

1912 — Joe Dawson wins the second Indianapolis 500 in 6:21:06. Ralph Mulford is told he has to complete the race for 10th place money. It takes him 8 hours and 53 minutes as he makes several stops for fried chicken. The finishing rule is changed the next year.

1951 — Lee Wallard wins the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first driver to break the 4-hour mark with a time of 3:57:38.05.

1951 — Ezzard Charles beats Joey Maxim in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1952 — At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500.

1955 — Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500. Bill Vukovich, seeking his third consecutive victory, is killed in a four-car crash on the 56th lap.

1957 — European Cup Final, Madrid: Alfredo Di Stéfano and Francisco Gento score as defending champions Real Madrid beats Fiorentina, 2-0.

1974 — 17th European Cup: Ajax beats Juventus 1-0 at Belgrade.

1985 — The Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year with an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5.

1987 — Mike Tyson beats Pinklon Thomas by TKO in round 6 in Las Vegas to retain WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing titles.

1993 — Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500, by 2.8 seconds. Fittipaldi takes the lead on lap 185 and holds on, outfoxing Formula One champion Nigel Mansell and runner-up Arie Luyendyk.

2004 — In Cooper City, Fla., Canada easily beats the United States in a three-day cricket match, the first competition on American soil sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.

2005 — Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years, beating Duke 9-8 to complete an undefeated season.

2009 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,391): Chelsea beats Everton, 2-1; Frank Lampard scores 72′ winner.

2010 — Dario Franchitti gets a huge break from a spectacular crash on the last lap to climb back on top of the open-wheel world to win the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti’s second Brickyard victory in four years helps his boss, Chip Ganassi, become the first owner to win Indy and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in the same year.

2011 — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.

2012 — Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins by beating Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the second round of the French Open. Federer, who owns a record 16 major championships, is 234-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments. Connors was 233-49. The Open era began in 1968.

2015 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,283): Arsenal beats Aston Villa, 4-0; Gunners’ 12th title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1894 — Boston’s Robert Lowe became the first player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game, leading the Beaneaters to a 20-11 win over Cincinnati. After hitting four straight homers, all line drives far over the fence, Lowe added a single to set a major league record with 17 total bases.

1922 — Between the morning and afternoon games of a Memorial Day twin bill, Max Flack of the Chicago Cubs was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote. They played one game for each team.

1927 — In the fourth inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, shortstop Jim Cooney of the Chicago Cubs caught Paul Waner’s liner, stepped on second to double Lloyd Waner and then tagged Clyde Barnhart coming from first for an unassisted triple play.

1935 — Babe Ruth made his last major league appearance. He played one inning for the Boston Braves against the Philadelphia Phillies. Jim Bivin retired Babe Ruth on an infield grounder in the Babe’s final major league at-bat.

1940 — Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants threw 87 pitches in a 7-0 one-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers. He faced the minimum 27 batters. Johnny Hudson, who singled, was caught stealing.

1956 — Mickey Mantle hit a home run that came within a foot-and-a-half of leaving Yankee Stadium. It hit the face of the upper deck in right field, 370 feet from home plate and 117 feet in the air. Mantle became the first player to hit 20 home runs by the end of May as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 4-3.

1961 — Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Bill Skowron each hit two homers to lead the New York Yankees to a 12-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox. Yogi Berra also added a homer.

1962 — Pedro Ramos of the Cleveland Indians tossed a three-hitter and hit two home runs, including a grand slam, for a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

1977 — Cleveland’s Dennis Eckersley pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Angels.

1982 — Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. began his record consecutive games streak by starting at third base against the Toronto Blue Jays.

1987 — Eric Davis hit a grand slam in the third inning, breaking two National League records and leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Davis became the first NL player to hit three grand slams in a month and his major league leading 19 homers broke the NL record for most homers in April and May.

1992 — Scott Sanderson became the ninth pitcher to beat all 26 major league teams as New York defeated Milwaukee 8-1. Sanderson joined Nolan Ryan, Tommy John, Don Sutton, Mike Torrez, Rick Wise, Gaylord Perry, Doyle Alexander and Rich Gossage as those who have defeated every club.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit two home runs, moving past Willie McCovey and Ted Williams into 11th place on the career list with 522. Bonds with 17 home runs in May, surpassed the mark set by Mark McGwire in 1998 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.

2003 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit a game-tying home run in the ninth and a go-ahead homer in the top of the 11th to lead Cincinnati over Florida 4-3.

2006 — Vernon Wells hit three home runs and Troy Glaus added two more in Toronto’s 8-5 victory over Boston.

2009 — Travis Tucker hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the 25th inning, leading Texas to a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the longest game in NCAA history. The game eclipsed the previous record of 23 innings, set in 1971 when Louisiana-Lafayette defeated McNeese State 6-5.

2010 — Albert Pujols hit three long home runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Pujols homered in the first, fifth and ninth innings for his fourth career three-homer game.

2011 — Jo-Jo Reyes won for the first time in 29 starts by throwing his first career complete game to lead Toronto to an 11-1 rout of Cleveland. Reyes avoided becoming the first pitcher to go winless in 29 starts. Oakland’s Matt Keough went 28 starts between wins in 1978 and 1979, matching the dubious mark first set by Boston’s Cliff Curtis in 1910 and 1911. Reyes went 0-13 with a 6.59 ERA in his 28 starts between wins.

2011 — Arizona’s Kelly Johnson became the second player in the majors this year to have four extra-base hits in a game as the Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins 15-4. Johnson hit solo home runs in the third and sixth, doubled in the fourth and tripled in the seventh.

2015 — The Dodgers snap a 42-inning scoreless road streak in beating the Cardinals, 5-1. They are held hitless for five innings by Michael Wacha to beat an unenviable club record dating back to 1908, until a run-scoring single by Howie Kendrick in the 6th puts the team on the board and a three-run homer by Yasmani Grandal gives them the lead. It is Wacha’s first loss after opening the year with seven straight wins.

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.

From Gary Klein: As the Rams went through organized-team activities on Wednesday, the players on the field were not the most compelling storyline.

The distinction belongs to a certain NFL star player who potentially could be on the roster by training camp.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI, remains in play as a possible addition to a Rams team regarded as a Super Bowl contender, coach Sean McVay acknowledged after practice.

The Dolphins have made it known that they were open to trading Ramsey, who signed an extension in 2024 and is due to earn $24.2 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.

“We certainly haven’t closed the door on that,” McVay said when asked about Ramsey. “But there hasn’t been a whole lot of dialogue as of late…. We’ll see if that changes, but these things can happen quickly.”

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*
Monday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Given the shorthanded state of the Dodgers’ current pitching staff, losses like Wednesday are the ones that hurt the most.

Seeking to end their East Coast trip with a three-game sweep against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, the Dodgers got a productive five-inning, one-run start out of Clayton Kershaw in his third outing back from offseason foot and knee surgeries.

They had a late-game lead on a day an ominous rainy forecast never came to fruition.

Most of all, they had most of their top current relievers available, able to call upon names they trusted over the final few innings.

Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia walks to the dugout after the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday in Cleveland. (David Dermer / Associated Press)

Such a perfect alignment has been rare for the Dodgers lately. Which means, when it does come around, “we’ve got to win these games,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Instead, the Dodgers lost 7-4 to the Guardians on Wednesday, wasting Kershaw’s five-inning outing with a five-run meltdown in the bottom of the eighth inning.

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Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

From Benjamin Royer: The hope was that the Angels could use Tuesday’s ninth-inning rally to muster up something worth talking about at the plate.

On Tuesday, Yoán Moncada homered. Taylor Ward singled. Luis Rengifo brought home a run with a line drive up the middle. Despite falling a run short, stringing a few hits together showed that the Angels could build off each other to produce runs.

However, instead of breaking through as an offense, the Angels were shut out by the Yankees 1-0 on Wednesday night, securing a sweep and turning the Angels’ eight-game win streak of weeks past into more of a blip on the radar than a sign of life.

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe struck out looking to end the game on a breaking ball well off the strike zone. After the game, O’Hoppe was adamant that it was a ball, as was manager Ron Washington, but said it’s just part of the game and “out of our control.”

Regardless, the Angels were scoreless entering their final three outs again — Angel Stadium playing home to an offense in need of a pulse check

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA SOFTBALL

UCLA’s bid for a 13th national championship begins Thursday with a familiar opponent at the Women’s College World Series.

The Bruins (54-11) face Oregon at Devon Park at 6:30 p.m. (PST) on the first day of a double-elimination tournament featuring Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Texas Tech.

Two finalists will play a best-of-three series to determine the NCAA softball champion beginning June 4.

The matchup between UCLA and Oregon will be the 131st meeting between current Big Ten teams and former Pac-12 rivals. The Bruins have dominated the series with 97 wins.

The teams played once previously in the World Series in 2015, with UCLA winning, 7-1.

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GALAXY

Substitute Ousseni Bouda scored in the 74th minute, and the San José Earthquakes extended the Galaxy‘s MLS-record season-opening winless streak with a 1-0 victory Wednesday night.

Bouda slipped between two defenders and got his third goal of the season on a precise pass from fellow substitute Preston Judd for the Quakes, who ended a four-game losing streak in the California Clasico rivalry.

The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy (0-12-4) are edging toward historic ignominy after dropping yet another game at the stadium where they went unbeaten in 2024 and won their league-record sixth title in December.

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GOLF

From Jad El Reda: Saint Monica Prep students Macayla Story, Johnnie García and Nicolás Vallejo received life-changing scholarships thanks to golf.

Story vividly remembers the moment she received the acceptance letter. She was in Palm Springs when her mother called to tell her that a large envelope had arrived. The envelope contained a letter informing her she would be receiving the $125,000 Chick Evans Scholarship, a program supported by the Western Golf Assn. that will allow her to attend a university without having to worry about housing costs or tuition for four years.

“When I came back, I opened it with her by my side. I showed her the letter and she started crying. It was an incredible moment,” Story told L.A. Times en Español.

Story traveled to Chicago to work as a caddie for two months at Skokie Country Club, and Garcia and Vallejo did the program locally with Los Angeles Country Club. All they were guaranteed was pay for their work and a chance to apply for the lucrative scholarships.

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TRANSGENDER ATHLETES

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether California, its interscholastic sports federation and the Jurupa Unified School District are violating the civil rights of cisgender girls by allowing transgender students to compete in school sports, federal officials announced Wednesday.

The Justice Department is also throwing its support behind a pending lawsuit alleging similar violations of girls’ rights in the Riverside Unified School District, said U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who oversees much of the Los Angeles region, and Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Transgender track athletes have come under intense scrutiny in recent months in both Jurupa Valley and Riverside, with anti-LGBTQ+ activists attacking them on social media and screaming opposition to their competing at school meets.

Essayli and Dhillon, both Californians appointed under President Trump, have long fought against transgender rights in the state. Their announcements came one day after Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California for allowing transgender youths to participate in sports.

Continue reading here

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced next week.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
at Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 (summary)
Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*
Monday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Carolina 3, at Florida 0 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 3 (summary)

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1946 — Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta become the first thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They’re flown from New York to Inglewood by the American Air Express Corp., a 2,446-mile trip that lasts 20 hours due to bad weather.

1968 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Bobby Charlton scores twice as Manchester United beats Benfica, 4-1; first English club to win the trophy.

1971 — Al Unser wins his second straight Indianapolis 500 with a record mark of 157.735 mph and finishes 22 seconds ahead of Peter Revson. The pace car, ridden by Eldon Palmer, crashes into the portable bleachers and injures 20 people.

1977 — A.J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win four Indianapolis 500s and Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman in the race. Guthrie is forced to drop out after 27 laps with mechanical problems.

1977 — Australian Sue Prell first female golfer to hit consecutive holes-in one; 13th and 14th holes at Chatswood Golf Club, Sydney.

1980 — Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.

1983 — After three second-place finishes, Tom Sneva wins the Indianapolis 500 by 11 seconds over three-time champion Al Unser.

1985 — 29th European Cup: Juventus beats Liverpool 1-0 at Brussels.

1988 — Rick Mears overcomes an early one-lap deficit, then overpowers the rest of the field on the way to his third Indianapolis 500 victory. Mears gives team-owner Roger Penske an unprecedented seventh victory and fourth in five years.

1990 — Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the top two seeds, are bounced in the first round of the French Open by two European teenagers, the first time the top two men’s seeds are eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Edberg is swept easily in straight sets by 19-year-old Sergi Bruguera of Spain, and Becker loses to 18-year-old Yugoslav Goran Ivanisevic.

1991 — 35th European Cup: Red Star Belgrade beats Marseille (0-0, 5-3 on penalties) at Bari.

1993 — Wayne Gretzky’s overtime goal gives the Kings a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference finals. The Kings become the first NHL team to play the full 21 games in the first three rounds.

1998 — Eighteen-year-old Marat Safin, ranked 116th in the world and playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, beats defending champion Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open.

2005 — Dan Wheldon wins the Indianapolis 500 when Danica Patrick’s electrifying run falls short. Patrick is the first woman to lead at Indy, getting out front three separate times for a total of 19 laps. But Wheldon passes her with seven laps to go and easily holds on.

2006 — Rafael Nadal passes Guillermo Vilas as the King of the clay courts and begins his pursuit of a second successive French Open trophy. Nadal earns his 54th consecutive win on clay, breaking the Open era record he shared with Vilas by beating Robin Soderling in straight sets in the first round at Roland Garros.

2011 — JR Hildebrand, one turn from winning the Indianapolis 500, skids high into the wall on the final turn and Dan Wheldon drives past to claim an improbable second Indy 500 win in his first race of the year.

2011 — Roger Federer sets another record by reaching the French Open quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic closes in on a pair of his own. Federer extends his quarterfinal streak at major tournaments to 28 with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic maintains his perfect season to 41-0 and stretches his overall winning streak to 43 matches by beating Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

2012 — Serena Williams loses in the first round of a major tournament for the first time, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the French Open. Williams enters the day with a 46-0 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

2016 — Alexander Rossi wins the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

2021 — UEFA Champions League Final, Porto: Kai Havertz scores just before halftime to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over Manchester City in an all-English final; Blues’ second CL title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1916 — Christy Mathewson defeated the Boston Braves 3-0 for the New York Giants’ 17th consecutive road win.

1922 — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled organized baseball was primarily a sport and not a business, and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations. The suit had been brought by the Federal League’s Baltimore franchise.

1928 — Bill Terry hit for the cycle to lead the New York Giants to a 12-5 win over Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Terry became the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.

1942 — New York’s Lefty Gomez, self-described as the worst-hitting pitcher in baseball, banged out four hits while pitching a 16-1 four-hitter against Washington.

1946 — Edward Klep became the first white to play in the Negro leagues in a game played in Grand Rapids. Klep pitched seven innings for the Cleveland Buckeyes against the American Giants in his debut with the Negro American League team.

1956 — Dale Long went hitless for the Pirates, ending his major league record streak of home runs in eight consecutive games. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat Pittsburgh, 10-1.

1965 — Philadelphia’s Richie Allen hit a 529-foot home run over the roof of Connie Mack Stadium off Chicago’s Larry Jackson in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory.

1976 — Houston’s Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher and hit a home run off his brother, Phil Niekro. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1. It was the only home run hit by Joe in his 22-year major league career.

1990 — Oakland’s Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s 62-year-old American League stolen base record, but the Toronto Blue Jays still beat the Athletics 2-1. Henderson’s 893rd steal came in the sixth inning.

2000 — Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde turned the 10th unassisted triple play in regular-season history during a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. With runners on first and second in motion, Shane Spencer hit a line drive to Velarde who caught the ball, tagged out Jorge Posada (running from first) and stepped on second to beat Tino Martinez.

2002 — Roger Clemens recorded the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) were the others to have 100 double-digit strikeout games.

2002 — In an article in Sports Illustrated former NL MVP Ken Caminiti stated that about 50% of current major league players used some form of steroids.

2003 — Colorado, behind Todd Helton’s three home runs and Ron Belliard’s five hits beat the visiting Dodgers 12-5. Helton added a single and drove in six runs.

2010 — Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. It was the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of perfect games in the same season. Halladay faced three Marlins pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, Wes Helms struck out, and Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out. Halladay struck out 11 and went to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.

2013 — Chris Davis went 4 for 4 with two home runs, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame three homers by Ryan Zimmerman to beat the Washington Nationals 9-6.

2013 — Dioner Navarro had the first three-homer game of his career, connecting from both sides of the plate at Wrigley Field to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Navarro drove in a career-high six runs and scored four times.

2014 — Diamondbacks pitcher Josh Collmenter faces the minimum 27 batters in spite of allowing three hits in a complete game shutout defeat of the Cincinnati Reds. The three Reds baserunners were erased on double plays.

2015 — Lewis-Clark State wins their 17th NAIA baseball title.

2021 — The Twins’ Josh Donaldson scored the two-millionth run in major league history.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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