victory

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared victory after early results show his pro-EU ‘Civil Contract’ party with around 54% of the vote.

When her team needed her the most, JSerra High pitcher Liliana Escobar delivered a gritty 12-strikeout effort in the Southern Section Division 1 finals against La Mirada, leading the Lions to a 3-2 win and their first CIF title.

Her ability to rise to the occasion time and again while playing in the highest division is why Escobar is The Times’ high school softball player of the year, and no one is more proud of the senior than JSerra head coach Katie Stith.

“Liliana’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached,” Stith said. “She’s talented, of course, but what stands out is the type of teammate she is. She’s so wise for her age and always made it a point to look out for the team. She wanted to win for them.”

Escobar did her fair share of winning in her prep career. She had 14 victories as a junior was selected the Division 2 player of the year after posting a 1.20 earned-run average while striking out 239 batters in 140 innings. This spring she improved to 18-5 and gave up only 26 earned runs with 264 strikeouts and 47 walks in 153 innings pitched. She signed with the University of Florida on Nov. 12, one month after committing to one of the most successful SEC programs.

“What she’s accomplished the last two years is just incredible,” Stith said of Escobar, who plays travel ball for the OC Batbusters. “After battling an injury and having to sit out her sophomore season she could’ve let that defeat her, but she fought hard to be at her best.”

Escobar recorded 10 or more strikeouts 15 times this season and outdueled Orange Lutheran ace Rylee Silva twice in Trinity League action, but perhaps her most impressive performance was a three-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals against defending champion Norco — her second win in three outings versus the Cougars this spring.

She threw a five-hitter in the Lions’ playoff opener against Yucaipa and lasted all eight innings with 10 strikeouts in a 5-4 triumph over Ayala in the second round. She struck out 10 again and gave up only three hits in a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Garden Grove Pacifica.

“Liliana becomes so courageous and competitive when she gets in the circle,” Stith added. “She believes in herself and executes every pitch, trusting the coaches every step of the way. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend coaching her and the example she set for those to follow. This is just the beginning for her. … I think she’ll do great things for the Gators.”

Jared Grindlinger was right where he wanted to be Saturday afternoon at the end of his last high school baseball game — on the mound with a chance to clinch a championship for the orange and black.

Huntington Beach had a 5-0 lead with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning when the Oilers’ highly touted left-hander came in to relieve Jared Marchbank. The cushion was narrowed to two with runs scored on an error, an uncaught third strike and a wild pitch, but Grindlinger struck out the fourth batter to tie the bow on his team’s 5-3 victory over San Diego Cathedral in the Southern California Regional Division I final.

“I knew I’d be facing the top of their lineup and those guys are all great players but I was ready for it,” Grindlinger said. “To do this with my best friends who I’ve grown up with my entire life means everything to me.”

Grindlinger graduates Wednesday with plenty to be proud of and much to look forward to. The 6-1, 170-pound pitcher/outfielder reclassified in February to make himself eligible for next month’s Major League draft and is a potential first-round pick. Having just turned 17, the University of Tennessee commit has a bright future, but he wants to savor his final days on campus following in the footsteps of older siblings Bradley and Trent, who were back at their alma mater Saturday to cheer on Jared.

“I’ve known him since he was in second grade and he has two brothers who played for me too,” Oilers coach Benji Medure said upon wrapping up his 26th season. “Jared loves to compete and he fell in love with the culture and the family aspect of our program.”

In the first round of regionals on Tuesday, Grindlinger went four for four at the plate with a double, a home run, two singles and a run batted in plus he pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a 10-3 victory over Patrick Henry in San Diego. Two days later, he singled, tripled and scored two runs in an 11-3 semifinal victory at Corona.

Grindlinger blasted the fourth pitch he saw over the right-field fence to put the Oilers up 2-0 in the first inning Saturday — a lead they held until tacking on three more in the bottom of the sixth. He also patrolled left field and snared a line drive to end the top of the fourth.

“He came with two really good fastballs but then he hung a changeup and I knew I got it,” Grindlinger said of his 41st hit and second homer this season. “I’ve been working on discipline to look for my pitch.”

Medure noted Jared’s similarities to Bradley, the oldest, and Trent, whom he may soon be playing with in Knoxville.

“Bradley was a terrific pitcher and Trent was a super hitter and they’re all very close,” Medure said. “I think Jared picked Tennessee because he wants to be with his brother.”

He could be a Volunteer with his brother Trent next season.

“Jared’s got the best traits from both me and Bradley,” said Trent, who just completed his first season in Knoxville, where he made the SEC All-Freshman team as a catcher. “He has an aura about him and I’m super proud of him.”

“Jared’s a lot better than I was at his age,” admitted Bradley, a 2023 Huntington Beach alum who played at Long Beach State but is entering the transfer portal. “He’s barely 17 and getting to the upper 90s. He’s more polished, plus he’s a lefty.”

The hardest part about skipping his senior year to graduate early was not the extra classes he had to take but knowing he would be missing out on a chance to see his coach reach another milestone.

“He was a freshman and the second game that season I got my 400th win and Jared said, ‘I’m gonna be part of 400 and 500,’” added Medure, who is 28 wins away. “That year, we won 23 and 25 the next year. We had it all planned that 500 would be for the CIF title. When he decided to reclass to make millions of dollars he told him, ‘I feel bad I can’t win that 500th game for you.’ That’s the kind of kid he is.”

Grindlinger credits his mom for helping him meet all of his academic requirements and his brothers for teaching him everything he knows about the sport they all play.

“Whatever happens — whether it’s the draft or college — I’m good,” he said.

Medure is thrilled how the season ended considering he did not believe his team would even be in the regional bracket after losing early in the section playoffs. He is grateful for the three seasons he got to coach his superstar.

“Jared came in to let us know that scenario was on the table and every coach in that room said, ‘Awesome!’” Medure recalled. “He was scared to tell us because he thought we’d be upset. Usually it’s done to buy another year, not to lose one. Of course I’d like to coach one of the best players in America for four years, but ultimately I want him to do what’s best for him.”

PARIS — Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva was already a tennis phenom at age 15.

At 19, she’s a Grand Slam champion.

The eighth-ranked Andreeva ended the run of 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska by 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open final on Saturday.

Andreeva became the youngest player to win the women’s singles title since Monica Seles, who was 18 when she landed her third straight French Open in 1992.

“You’re so young and talented. It’s so annoying,” Chwalinska told Andreeva during the awards ceremony.

When Andreeva executed a backhand cross-court winner on her first match point, she threw her racket into the air and dropped on her knees to the clay to celebrate.

Mirra Andreeva returns a shot against Maja Chwalinska during the French Open women’s final on Saturday.

(Thibault Camus / Associated Press)

During the trophy presentation, Andreeva took the unusual step of thanking herself “for believing in myself, always giving my 100%, even when it’s tough, trying every day to be better as a person and as a player, believing that I can do this, fighting so many demons inside of me.

“Only I know how tough it was for me,” Andreeva added. “How nervous I was throughout these two weeks.”

Chwalinska was attempting to become the first qualifier to capture the Roland Garros title.

Andreeva was born in Siberia and moved to Sochi and eventually France to develop her tennis career.

She drew loud applause from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier when she spoke a few words of French during the trophy presentation.

“Thanks for your support today and over these past two marvelous weeks here in Paris,” Andreeva said. “It was very important for me.”

Alexander Zverev plays Flavio Cobolli in the men’s final on Sunday to conclude the wildest Grand Slam in recent memory.

Andreeva has been considered a Grand Slam contender since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at the 2023 Madrid Open, where she became the third-youngest player to win a main draw match at a WTA 1000 tournament and made the quarterfinals.

Lately, Andreeva has had to contend with playing under neutral status and without her country’s flag due to the war with Ukraine.

When she beat Marta Kostyuk in the semifinals, Kostyuk refused to shake her hand, as has been the custom for Ukrainian players facing Russians ever since the war started in 2022.

Andreeva has gone a step further than her coach, Conchita Martinez, who lost the 2000 French Open final to Mary Pierce.

Pierce presented the winner’s trophy to Andreeva.

The final was played under mostly sunny skies but wind was a factor in the first Grand Slam final for both players.

Chwalinska double-faulted on the opening point of the match but she was the first player to hold serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.

But then Andreeva won nine straight games to take control as she found a way to hit through the wind and answer Chwalinska’s array of spins and drop shots.

Andreeva produced 25 winners to Chwalinska’s 10 and also had fewer unforced errors: 26 to 29.

There was a strong Polish presence in the crowd.

When Chwalinska was introduced, fans held aloft red-and-white Polish flags and chanted her name: “Ma-ja, Ma-ja.”

Andreeva had little support from the crowd, although there was a shout of “Davai Mirra!” (“Go Mirra”) in Russian late in the match.

In men’s doubles, top-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos retained their title with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.

Dampf writes for the Associated Press. Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.

Freddie Freeman battled in the batter’s box.

No stranger to coming through in a big moment, the Dodgers star was hoping to see a fastball up in the zone from Angels reliever Kirby Yates.

So Freeman stayed patient, working his way into a full count.

Then Yates gave him what he wanted — and Freeman delivered the 20th walk-off hit of his career.

The Dodger Stadium crowd erupted in celebration as Freeman watched the ball soar over the right-center field wall in the ninth inning of a 1-0 victory over the Angels.

Freddie Freeman hits a walk-off home run for the Dodgers in a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

Freeman grinned as he rounded the bases. He threw a thumbs up at his teammates before they swarmed him in celebration. He finally had given the Dodgers something to cheer for after being held to just two hits over 25 at-bats.

“I’ve been feeling good lately,” Freeman said. “I was tweaking things early on, just trying to find a consistent feel for things. Sometimes it’s just get a couple of hits, get confidence and get going. Nothing really crazy. It’s the same routine, hitting some soft line drives at the shortstop, and things have been working.”

Through most of the game, the excitement was contained to a pitcher’s duel — a chess game of defensive plays, waiting to see who flinched first.

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki was red hot in what would tie for his longest outing of the season. Sasaki, for the first time this season, threw triple digits in back-to-back appearances, topping 100.6 mph. The Japanese pitcher threw all three of his pitches harder than his yearly average.

Freddie Freeman watches his walk-off home run clear the wall in right-center field to cap a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve been experiencing a lot of good and bad since 2024,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But I feel like I’m able to maintain this velocity. I think I’m confident about that, but I’m just keeping working on it to make sure I’m in a better place.”

With the speed uptick, Sasaki has also seen an inverse downtick in the earned runs column on his statline. His monthly ERA reached its zenith at 7.23 in his April starts, descending to its current 4.03 ERA.

In Sasaki’s best starts, the elevated velocity and pitch mix makes the right-hander lethal, giving him extended runway to pitch further into the game. Against the Angels (24-40), the elevated velocity allowed him to throw 4⅓ hitless innings in his career-high 11th appearance of the season. He pitched seven innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out 10.

It’s a return to how Sasaki looked when he played in Japan, manager Dave Roberts said. Confidence might be the clearest sign things are clicking. Sasaki thumped his chest after striking out Adam Fraizer in the fifth inning, a rare show of emotion.

“I certainly think we can all agree that the floor for Roki is much higher, and the expectation every time he takes the ball is high, and he’s earned that,” Roberts said. “If you look at the last six or seven stats, it’s been as good as any starter in the big leagues in the consistency of performance. So really proud of him and I know that he wants more, and the floor has just been raised.”

Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki delivers in the first inning of a 1-0 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Some quick thinking from second baseman Miguel Rojas also helped preserve Sasaki’s strong start. On Nick Madrigal’s sharp line drive in the third inning, the pitcher reached for the ball and popped it up with the tip of his glove. The ball ricocheted off its intended course, but Rojas nabbed it with his bare hand, throwing it to first where a lunging Freeman caught it. The play was initially ruled as an infield single, but it was overturned on review.

“When it hits off a pitcher — you’re already going, committed to one way, then you gotta make another,” Freeman laughed. “The old guy’s still got it.”

Madrigal would break the Angels’ hitless run in the fifth with a double off the left-field wall. But, he was left stranded when Sasaki induced a groundout before his strikeout of Frazier.

The Dodgers (41-23) didn’t fare much better against Angels starter Reid Detmers. In the fourth, Freeman singled and moved to third on a forceout on Kyle Tucker. But, with two outs on the board, Will Smith struck out.

Andy Pages squandered a potential scoring opportunity when he was caught stealing in the sixth. The center fielder, who went one for four, has struggled at the plate in recent games. Against Arizona this week, Pages batted .176, collecting only three hits.

As the innings dragged, both the Dodgers and the Angels failed to find momentum. Reliever Chase Silseth took over in the seventh for Detmers, who gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. Silseth silenced the opposing batters, issuing only a walk to Smith.

Edgardo Henriquez took over in the eighth, striking out the first two batters he faced. Then, he hit Zach Neto with a pitch, and after Neto stole second, the Dodgers found themselves in a precarious position with Mike Trout at the plate. Not for long, though, as Henriquez struck out Trout.

Roberts, who had watched Rojas and Santiago Espinal go a combined 0 for 4, pinch-hit for both in the eighth. To a roaring applause, Max Muncy entered the batter’s box, his first plate appearance since a scary collision with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ildemaro Vargas on Thursday. Muncy, though, went down swinging.

Tanner Scott took the mound in the ninth a day after he gave up a walk-off home run to Arizona’s Ketel Marte. Jo Adell hit a one-out single then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Donovan Walton. Roberts then put Blake Treinen into the game, and he got Oswald Peraza to ground out to first.

With Freeman’s sixth career walk-off home run, the Dodgers beat the Angels for the fourth consecutive time this season.

“Freddie just has aura,” Roberts said. “There’s not too many guys in baseball that you’d want in a game-winning situation, and Freddie does it once again.”

Angels second baseman Oswald Peraza walks back to the dugout after grounding out during the ninth inning against the Dodgers.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

June 4 (Asia Today) — The biggest upset of Wednesday’s local elections came in Seoul, where People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon overcame early expectations of defeat and won a dramatic late comeback victory in the mayoral race.

Oh’s win allowed the conservative bloc to hold South Korea’s capital despite a strong nationwide showing by the Democratic Party. The result immediately raised Oh’s standing as a potential conservative contender in the next presidential race.

Oh narrowly defeated Democratic Party candidate Jung Won-oh after an extremely close vote count that continued into early Thursday morning, becoming the first person to win a fifth term as Seoul mayor.

“Citizens have once again upheld the democratic principle of checks and balances,” Oh said at a press conference Thursday. “They have left Seoul as the last safeguard of democracy so that South Korea does not tilt completely to one side.”

Political observers said Oh’s victory significantly changes his political status. Holding the capital while the People Power Party struggled nationwide could become a major asset for a future presidential bid.

Oh’s campaign strategy also drew attention because he kept some distance from the party leadership under Jang Dong-hyeok and focused on his own record as incumbent mayor. Analysts said that approach may allow Oh to emerge as an independent center of gravity in any future conservative realignment.

A People Power Party official said Oh had now fully risen as a national political figure representing the conservative camp.

“This Seoul victory is virtually close to a ticket toward the presidency,” the official said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260605010001627

Reaching the summit is a dream. But staying there? That’s an altogether different challenge.

Maja Stark has a special appreciation for that now, a year after winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and feeling the hefty weight of expectation that came along with it.

For her, the aftermath of that victory brought heightened anxiety, and searing criticism from outsiders when the Swedish professional’s play took a dip.

“You get comments and stuff saying, ‘What happened? You just won a major; why do you suck all of a sudden?‘” Stark said at the Chevron Championship in April. “That does take some energy and just makes you focus on the wrong things. Then I got even more stressed and anxious.”

Maja Stark plays a shot from a bunker on the 17th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship on April 25.

(Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

Stark said she sought professional help in the form of a mental coach, sports psychologist and therapist and now believes she’s better able to withstand the scrutiny that comes with winning at the highest tier.

That career-shaping pressure will be on display again this week when the USGA brings the U.S. Women’s Open to Riviera Country Club for the first time, merging the game’s most prestigious women’s championship with a historic venue celebrating its centennial year. The tournament takes place Thursday through Sunday.

Riviera is a theater, sitting low beneath high hillsides that almost serve as balconies. Players have described the course as a stage because it can feel as if you’re being watched even when you’re alone.

“I think there’s something very nostalgic about the facility,” said Jim Richerson, Riviera’s general manager. “The golf course has never had any major renovations or changes. The clubhouse is the exact same footprint today as it was when it was built in the 1920s.”

The U.S. Women’s Open is the oldest of the LPGA Tour’s five majors, and has long served as the standard by which women’s golf measures itself. It’s open to professionals and elite amateurs through a qualifying process, and the tournament is known for identifying the player who can withstand the most pressure under the most demanding conditions.

NBC will televise the championship and although Mike Tirico will not call the event, he knows the significance of holding it at Riviera.

“Without there being a Masters for women’s golf, that tournament really is the crown jewel of the sport,” Tirico said. “It has become the event people dream of winning. … It’s just appropriate that it’s contested at a place like Riviera that for so many generations has come to define a great championship test of golf.”

A look at some of the players to watch:

Nelly Korda

Nelly Korda celebrates after winning the Chevron Championship on April 26.

(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

The world’s No. 1 player is a major needle mover for women’s golf and is a significant source of ratings when she’s in contention. She had a record five consecutive victories last season and seven overall. Her missing major is the U.S. Women’s Open. She finished in a runner-up spot last year and left Erin Hills firmly believing a win was within reach.

Jeeno Thitikul

Jeeno Thitikul plays a shot from the fairway during the first round of the Queen City Championship on May 14.

(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)

The former World No. 1 is still in pursuit of her first major championship. She’s a big question mark in the field.

Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko hits from the fairway during the second round of the LPGA Honda Thailand on Feb. 22.

(Kittinun Rodsupan / Associated Press)

This Hall of Fame player is the only golfer in modern Olympic history to win a complete set of medals — gold, silver and bronze — across three different Olympic Games. She’s still looking for her first U.S. Women’s Open win.

Charley Hull

Charley Hull hits off the 16th tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

A colorful character who went viral during the 2024 Open for smoking a cigarette while signing autographs and playing. She was among a cluster who finished second in that tournament. She has three victories on the LPGA Tour but has yet to win a major.

Rose Zhang

Rose Zhang hits from the ninth tee during the final round of the Queen City Championship on May 17.

(Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Zhang, who has been splitting time between Stanford and the LPGA, amassed a remarkable collection of victories as an amateur and three years ago, became the first player in 72 years to win an LPGA Tour event in her professional debut.

Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee prepares to putt during the third round of the Chevron Championship on April 25.

(Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

Lee, an Australian star, has won three majors including the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022. Her younger brother, Min Woo, won the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur, making them the first brother-sister tandem to win the USGA’s junior championships.

Yuka Saso

Yuka Saso lines up a putt during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

She is the anomaly of anomalies, with zero wins on the LPGA Tour with the exception of two U.S. Women’s Open victories. She won the first of those at 19 years, 11 months and seven days — astoundingly tying her for the youngest player to win the Open with Inbee Park, who was precisely that old when she won in 2008.

Lilia Vu

Lilia Vu watches her shot from the seventh tee during the third round of the Queen City Championship on May 16.

(Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Vu grew up in Fountain Valley and was a standout at UCLA. She won two majors in 2023 but lately has been battling back problems.

Michelle Wie West

Michelle Wie West of the United States hits from the third tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open on May 7.

(Sarah Stier / Getty Images)

Wie West retired three years ago after the Open at Pebble Beach, but is coming out of retirement to use her last year of exemption to play at Riviera. Her husband, Jonnie West, son of late NBA icon Jerry West, will be caddying for her.

T.J. Rumfield got a gift when his long flyball bounced off Jo Adell’s head for a most unusual home run, and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Angels 8-2 on Tuesday night.

Willi Castro hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Hunter Goodman had a solo shot in the second. Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4) gave up two runs in five innings for the win.

Castro and Rumfield hit back-to-back homers in the fourth off starter Grayson Rodriguez (2-2), who gave up eight runs, eight hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.

With the Rockies holding a 7-0 lead, Rumfield sent a flyball to deep right-center, where the ball grazed the outside of Adell’s glove before hitting his head and bounding over the wall.

There was brief confusion on the field when the ball caromed back into the outfield. Rumfield stopped at second base, initially unsure of the ruling, before proceeding around the bases.

Soccer Aid has raised an eye-watering and record-breaking amount of money for Unicef with their annual charity match that saw the likes of Joe Marler and Angry Ginge compete

Soccer Aid have raised a huge sum of money for Unicef. The annual charity football match raised a staggering £16.5million for the children’s aid organisation.

The match, which was created by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes in 2026, aims to raise millions for Unicef every year but has never raised as much as it did this year. By raising over £16m, the celebs taking part have increased the total ever raised from the event to £137million.

The grand total was revealed in the last few moments before Soccer Aid went off air, in an announcement made by Robbie, who also performed his song Feel for the halftime performance.

Over £1million of the total amount was raised by Olly Murs. The singer had taken on a mammoth challenge that involved cycling, rowing and running the 400km distance from Old Trafford to the London Stadium. Prior to the match beginning, Tom Hiddlestone revealed on air that Olly had raised £1,342,214 for the total pot.

The rest of the funds were raised throughout the event, including the build up to kick off. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen came out to the pitch to deliver the football and revealed that before play had even begun, the event had raised over £4.6million. Tim delighted fans as he said his Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase: “To infinity and beyond!”

Roughly 15 minutes before the teams headed out, GK Barry caught up with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen with the latter catching many off guard courtesy of his comments.

While stood in the tunnel, upon GK Barry asking for their attention, the latter stated: “I’m just just b****ing about penalty shots.” The comment went unacknowledged by ITV, despite airing pre-watershed.

As Americans, the pair aren’t used to European football. Tim continued to say he was going to “try to work out how you win or lose a game on a penalty shot”. Tom, who said he did have some knowledge of the UK game, jokingly hit back: “You cannot use your hands.”

Soccer Aid celebrated its 20th anniversary this weekend with a massive showdown at the London Stadium. The fixture occurs every year and its mission is to raise vital funds for UNICEF while bringing together a unique mix of world-class football legends and beloved celebrities.

Former United captain Wayne Rooney led the line for England. Big football names taking to the pitch included Jill Scott, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott.

Other huge names making up the England side were Tom Hiddleston, Danny Dyer, Paddy McGuinness, Olly Murs and Joe Marler. They were joined by Toni Duggan, Steph Houghton, Jordan North, Angry Ginge, GK Barry, Jack Wilshere, Joe Hart, Sam Thompson, Chloe Burrows, Jack Whitehall and Owen Cooper.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

May 31 (UPI) — Police in France arrested hundreds of people late Saturday after celebrations for the Paris Saint-Germain soccer team turned violent, local authorities said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the riots injured 57 police officers in Paris and other cities across the country, The Guardian reported. Some of the soccer fans also set fires, vandalized businesses and attempted to storm a Paris police station.

Police arrested 780 people and deployed tear gas to break up the riots, Politico reported.

“Most of the celebrations took place peacefully, Nuñez said, adding that most of the violent clashes took place near the Parc des Princes stadium where fans had gathered to watch the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal for the Champions League title.

French leaders took to social media to criticize the rioters and call for peace.

“Only in France does a football club’s victory spark riots,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen wrote in a post on X. “Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes on the evening of a victory to avoid being confronted with violence.”

Valérie Pécresse, the head of the Île-de-France region, said those involved in the riots should be punished.

“The brainless thugs who think they can smash everything are tarnishing the image of Paris and France!” Pécresse said in a post on X. “We must be able to celebrate on victory nights peacefully in Paris and the Île-de-France Region!”

Amanda Serrano equalled the record for the most knockouts in women’s boxing history with a second-round stoppage of Cheyenne Hanson in Texas to retain her WBA and WBO featherweight titles.

The American dominated the encounter and, having pinned Germany’s Hanson, 28, in the corner, unloaded a flurry of unanswered punches that lead to the fight being waved off in El Paso, Texas.

The 37-year-old, who now has 32 wins by knockout – tying with women’s boxing pioneer Christy Martin – was the first fighter to stop Hanson inside the distance.

In the co-main event, former UFC star Holly Holm was again narrowly defeated by Stephanie Han to miss out on claiming the WBA lightweight title.

One judge scored it even at 95-95, but the other two saw it 96-94 for the undefeated champion.

Prior to the fight, Holm said she wanted to make a statement and then challenge Taylor in Ireland, but instead it was Han who called for that fight.

“The next fight I want, and I know every fighter wants it, is Katie Taylor,” Han said ringside.

On the undercard, Desley Robinson retained her IBF and WBO middleweight titles by winning a wide unanimous decision against Mary Spencer, while Mexican Lourdes Juarez retained her WBC light-flyweight title with a split decision against Yokasta Valle.

Elsewhere, O’Shaquie Foster impressed to beat Raymond Ford by a majority decision to retain his WBC super-featherweight title at the Fertitta Center, Houston.

Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard launched an attack during the tough final climb to clinch victory in Saturday’s stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia.

It ensures the 29-year-old from Denmark will win the race as long as he safely finishes Sunday’s final stage in Rome and become just the eighth man to complete the triple crown of road cycling’s three-week showpieces.

The two-time Tour de France winner, who also won last year’s Vuelta a Espana, is making his first appearance in the Giro.

He started the penultimate stage covering 200km from Gemona del Friuli to Piancavallo four minutes three seconds ahead of second-placed Felix Gall of Austria in the general classification.

Vingegaard was happy to ride safely in the peloton for the first two-thirds of the stage between two Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates, before launching his attack in the final 10km.

Gall tried to chase him down during the attack, but the Dane pulled more than a minute ahead going into the final 5km to secure a sensational solo victory, one minute 15 seconds ahead of second-placed Gall with local favourite Giulio Ciccone completing the podium.

WASHINGTON — Shrey Parikh felt the pressure of arriving at the Scripps National Spelling Bee as a favorite, but his confidence showed every time he got a word he knew. And when the bee came down to a lightning-round tiebreaker against Ishaan Gupta, Shrey left no doubt.

Shrey turned a tense, high-quality final into a blowout Thursday night, racing through the 90-second “spell-off” and getting 32 words right to be crowned the best young speller in the English language. Ishaan spelled 25 words correctly in the tiebreaker.

A 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Shrey finished third in 2024 but lost his school bee last year when he was battling a fever. He has dominated the bee circuit since, winning several highly competitive online competitions against many of the same kids he outlasted this week in the nation’s capital.

Ishaan, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Jersey City, N.J., was a semifinalist this year, outperformed some veteran spellers in the finals, and has another year of eligibility left.

Sarv Dharavane, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Dunwoody, Ga., finished third for the second consecutive year and has two more years to improve that placement.

For the first time in the bee’s history, second- and third-place finishers from the same year have gone on to win. Faizan Zaki won last year, and two years ago he was the runner-up, just ahead of Shrey.

Sporting a business-casual look with a dark, long-sleeve collared shirt, khakis and sneakers, the lanky Shrey strode to the microphone with a dour, apprehensive expression that instantly vanished when he heard his word from pronouncer Jacques Bailly and nodded vigorously — his tell that, yes, he knew it.

Upon hearing the announcement confirming his victory in the spell-off, Shrey turned and shook his competitor’s hand.

He can credit his victory to intense preparation. Shrey’s coaching team included Sam Evans, who has tutored each of the past three champions, and Sohum Sukhatankar, a co-champion himself in 2019. He competed nonstop against other top spellers, pored through advanced study guides and tried to eliminate the variables that had led to the few unexpected exits of his long spelling career.

Former spellers, coaches and other observers described this group of finalists as unusually strong, and they showed off their skills early by going 18 for 18 to start, breezing through the first spelling and vocabulary rounds. Aiden Meng of Orinda, Calif., ended that streak when he was tripped up by “catometope” to start the second spelling round.

Then the crowd gasped when the bell rung on two thought to be capable of winning it all: Oliver Halkett for “Faesulae” and Zwe Spacetime for “vaesite,” words with tricky combinations of origins and vowel sounds.

The bee’s move to Constitution Hall, a point of contention for spellers and their families because of the inconveniences it caused, helped imbue the event with a lively atmosphere, with more intimate seating and better sight lines bringing the crowd closer to the action.

New television host Mina Kimes of ESPN narrated the action smoothly alongside longtime bee analyst Paul Loeffler.

Nuckols writes for the Associated Press.

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” ― Coco Chanel

Apropos of Paris. Apropos of the French Open.

That’s all the context necessary to appreciate Naomi Osaka removing a ceremonial black skirt and sleeveless beaded bodice ahead of her opening match at the Roland-Garros Complex this week, revealing a sequined gold playing dress.

Osaka was playing all right. With sensibilities. With tradition. With her opponents, who she summarily dispatched with victories in the first and second rounds.

Naomi Osaka arrives on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to play her singles match against Laura Siegemund.

(THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

And it was clear the four-time Grand Slam champion was playing with all of us when she said of her dress, “It’s very couture. You know the Eiffel Tower at night when it’s sparkly? I kind of think I look like that a little bit.”

Countless LinkedIn pages spout something about residing at the intersection of sport and fashion. Osaka locates that intersection at tennis tournaments worldwide, looks both ways and boldly steps into the street.

Last year at the U.S. Open she adorned her ponytail with red roses and attached a Labubu to her tennis bag that she named Billie Jean Bling.

At the Australian Open in January, she entered the court in a tie-dye turquoise and green palette with flowing tendrils. Her face was concealed by a veil, a wide-brim hat and a white parasol that she said was inspired by an image of a jellyfish that excited her 2-year-old daughter.

Naomi Osaka walking onto the court in a jellyfish-inspired ensemble ahead of her first-round match at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne.

(Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

It’s all great fun. Yet continued fashion statements depend on her performance on the court. Osaka wins, she earns another grand entrance. She loses, nobody cares what she wears on the ride home.

At the U.S. Open, Osaka shined, reaching the women’s singles semifinals. Seeded as an also-ran at No. 23, she upset Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova before falling in a tight three-set match to Amanda Anisimova.

Seeded No. 16 in Australia, she won two matches before withdrawing because of an abdominal injury suffered during her three-set victory against Sorana Cîrstea.

Fast forward to the French Open. Osaka advanced to the third round for the first time in seven years Thursday with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win against Croatia’s Donna Vekic and will take on teenager Iva Jovic on Saturday.

What she will wear walking in is anybody’s guess. An effortless chic aesthetic courses through Paris. Advancing to the French Open round of 16 for the first time would require the opposite, Osaka toiling through another step in her return to form after giving birth to her daughter.

And creating another opportunity to have fun with fashion.

It will be JSerra taking on La Mirada for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship next weekend in Irvine after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday.

JSerra, behind 14 strikeouts from Liliana Escobar, defeated No. 2-seed Norco 2-0 to advance to its first championship game. Annabel Raftery hit a solo home run and Magenta De Arte added an RBI single.

Alison Ortega threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in La Mirada’s 5-1 win over La Habra. Freshman Rylee Thurmond had three hits.

Whittier Christian 11, St. Paul 8: A grand slam by Danni Lopez in the seventh powered the Heralds to victory in a Division 2 semifinal game. Whittier Christian will face Mater Dei in the final.

Mater Dei 4, San Clemente 2: Tulutululelei Salue hit a two-run home run and Aly Carrillo added a solo home run for the Monarchs in a Division 2 semifinal.

Great Oak 4, North Torrance 3: Regan Spillers delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning in a Division 3 semifinal. Isabella Paun finished with three hits. Great Oak will face Riverside Prep, a 4-2 winner over Dos Pueblos.

Oxnard 1, Monrovia 0: Sophomore Destinee Herrera threw the shutout, striking out eight with no walks, in a Division 4 semifinal. Oxnard will face Mission Viejo, a 5-3 winner over Burbank Burroughs.

Verdugo Hills, the fourth-place finisher in the Valley Mission League with a 10-18 record entering the City Section Division I playoffs, completed a remarkable turnaround on Saturday, winning its fourth consecutive playoff game to take home the Division I title with a 3-1 victory over Taft at Dodger Stadium.

No one was picking the Dons in this one. They had used their two best pitchers in a 10-inning semifinal win over top-seeded Sylmar. But coach Angel Espindola had a plan.

“I’ve got tricks up my sleeve,” he said.

Anthony Velasquez threw a complete-game one-hitter while relying on his defense to make the routine plays and deal with six walks and only one strikeout. At the plate, the hero was first baseman Cutlor Fannon. He had an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI single in the seventh.

But there was drama in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Toreadors’ Victor Jara represented the tying run at the plate with two outs. He hit probably the hardest ball of the day to deep left field.

“The last one scared me,” Velasquez said as he watched left fielder Moises Rodriguez stick out his glove running to catch it and start a victory celebration.

Rodriguez said he “felt all my emotions running through me” as he chased down the fly ball.

“It was surreal,” he said.

Verdugo Hills pitcher Anthony Velasquez threw a complete game in 3-1 win over Taft at Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Espindola’s best coaching moment came in the bottom of the sixth inning. Taft drew consecutive walks from Velasquez with one out. Espindola went to the mound for a pitcher conference.

“Relax,” is what he told Velasquez.

Then Taft hit into an inning-ending double play.

Verdugo Hills’ fielders more than handled the Dodger Stadium environment. Catcher Miguel Wong threw out a runner trying to steal second. Outfielders Rodriguez, Jack Iafrate and Jessie Olmos combined to catch seven fly balls. And third baseman D’Angelo Duran and shortstop Ethan Sanchez were flawless on ground balls.

As for what happened in the playoffs, Rodriguez said, “We changed our perspective to playing baseball instead of doing baseball. It was let’s have fun.”

New York Knicks use an explosive third quarter to take a 2-0 lead over Cleveland in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Josh Hart scored a playoff career-high 26 points, Jalen Brunson had 19 points and 14 assists, and the New York Knicks moved halfway to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93.

Mikal Bridges also scored 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 13 rebounds to help the Knicks win their ninth straight game on Thursday night.

That is the NBA’s longest postseason winning streak since the Boston Celtics won 10 straight on their way to the 2024 championship.

Hart went 5 from 11 from 3-point range, burning a defensive strategy that seemed built around leaving him open from long range, and also had seven assists.

“Just a whale of a game from Josh,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.

Two nights after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Knicks made sure they would be in control late with an 18-0 run in the third quarter that gave them a 71-53 lead. Fans chanted “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!” in the final minute, long after the starters had gone to the benches.

“In our mind it’s 0-0. We’ve got to win the next game. It’s the most important game of the year and that’s how we treat it,” Towns said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and James Harden had 18 for the Cavaliers, who will have to climb out of a 2-0 deficit for the second straight round. They host Game 3 on Saturday.

“Nothing to hang our head about,” Mitchell said. “They protected home court, and we’ve seen this before so we’re going to go to Game 3.”

The Knicks are in the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year but have not played for the championship since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.

Brunson scored 38 points and led the Game 1 comeback. He had only two points in the first half Thursday before making the first basket of the run that broke open the game and finished with the highest assist total of his playoff career.

Hart was benched for the rally in Game 1, playing just three minutes combined in the fourth quarter and overtime. The forward had been shooting just 26.7 percent from 3-point range and after a third straight miss from long range early Thursday, he put his jersey in his mouth and bit it, bouncing the ball down hard in frustration three times. But he kept firing.

“I knew I had to just keep shooting and if I did that I’d be good,” Hart said.

Mitchell got off to a slow start with just seven points in the first half, triggering more of the questions that followed Game 1 about whether he was injured. His 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left gave Cleveland a 27-24 lead after one.

The Knicks led 53-49 at halftime. The Cavs got the first two baskets of the third to tie it, but Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to start the 18-0 run. He had two more buckets in the burst and Hart hit a pair of 3-pointers, the latter capping it to make it 71-53 with 5:36 remaining in the third. After the Cavs scored five straight, Hart made another 3 and Towns scored to restore the 18-point advantage.

Cleveland cut it to single digits with just under eight minutes left but ruined any chance of getting closer with poor free throw shooting, missing 10 in the game and finishing at 68.8%. The Knicks eventually pushed their lead to 19 points.

“It’s difficult when you’re not making shots,” Harden said. “It puts twice as much pressure on you defensively to get stops.”

Dodgers beat the Padres

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

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

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels walloped by the Athletics

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

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

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

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

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Billie Jean King graduates

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

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

1900 — The second modern Olympic games open in Paris.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

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

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

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

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

The right-hander was perfect through 4 1/3 innings and came within three outs of the first major league no-hitter since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers for a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024.

Lawrence Butler had a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth that drove in Zack Gelof for the first run of the game, but the Angels rallied to win despite getting outhit 7-2.

Walbert Ureña tossed six scoreless innings for the Angels, giving up four hits and striking out four. Ryan Zeferjahn gave up the first run of the game and walked the bases loaded, but Chase Silseth (1-0) worked out of the jam by getting slugger Nick Kurtz to ground into a game-ending double play.

Kurtz’s fifth-inning double extended his on-base streak to 41 games, tying Eddie Joost (1949) for the sixth-longest in A’s history. Kurtz is also tied with Kyle Schwarber last year for the longest in the big leagues across the last four seasons.

Didn’t hit. Didn’t pitch.

But that didn’t make Shohei Ohtani not the story.

On the contrary. Seeing him chillin’ in a Dodger-blue hoodie — and not dressed for success in his white home uniform top — was the most striking part of the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Back on Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ fourth consecutive loss, with Ohtani having recorded just four hits in 36 at-bats, manager Dave Roberts announced plans to bench baseball’s best player.

To get him some R&R — rest and reset. “A good spa day,” Roberts would joke Thursday.

Of course, it’s Ohtani, so much is being made of the much-needed breather.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Maybe you hate it. Maybe you hate it for him. Maybe you think a $700 million contract doesn’t account for days off. Maybe you were among the unfortunate 51,048 paying customers who came to watch the Dodgers even their series with the Giants without Ohtani’s help, and you’re sad about it.

Maybe, though, you should give Roberts the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you should remind yourself Ohtani isn’t actually a unicorn. Not a myth, but a man.

“Mentally, the days that he does pitch, it’s tougher on him [to also hit],” Roberts said Thursday. “Physically, it’s the day after.”

And so the manager wasn’t joking; he wasn’t juking. Even after Ohtani homered for the first time in 53 plate appearances in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss, Roberts stuck with the plan and gave his superstar a whole day off Thursday after having him only pitch the night before.

Only. As in that he only pitched seven scoreless innings, only struck out eight and only lowered his ERA to a major-league leading 0.82. Yes, he only teed up the Dodgers for a 4-0 victory. An honestly exceptional day’s work for anyone else.

Then on Thursday, Ohtani contributed only vibes.

Which was weird. Which was good.

Instead of swinging a bat, Ohtani served as the welcoming committee after Will Smith led off the game with a home run. Ohtani was later an accessory to Smith’s prank filling Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s hood with wrapped pieces of bubble gum. And still, for the second consecutive game without him in the lineup, the Dodgers (26-18) finished the job.

For all of their recent scuffing and shuffling, these loaded, baseball-ruining Dodgers should be able to survive an Ohtani skip day every so often.

Even without Ohtani or Mookie Betts, a lineup with Smith, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, Andy Pages, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández should be able to overpower the lowly Giants, who have been outscored by 45 runs and now are 18-26.

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani laughs with teammates while sitting in the dugout before a game against the Giants Thursday.

(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)

But maybe you think: Here the Dodgers go again, making it too complicated, being too cute. They’re back to being too cautious, too careful.

But don’t think of it as load management. Consider it asset management.

The Dodgers are going to protect their personnel from as much wear and tear as possible — and from themselves.

Obviously, Ohtani — who came into the season appearing to really covet the Cy Young award — is capable of multidimensional greatness. He’s the Him who closed out the National League Championship Series with a wildest-dream-exceeding, 10-strikeout, three-home run game.

But it’s important that the Dodgers don’t let the 31-year-old burn himself out.

“The thing is with all players, once you get to a point where you’re exhausted and tired and that’s in the middle of the summer, it’s tough to recoup,” Roberts said. “So you kind of have to know how to push them but not get to the red line point. If we can kind of hold and get a good rhythm, which I think we’re getting a good grasp on now, then we’ll have more of a base, a foundation to push him when the time is right. It’s certainly not right now.”

Roberts said Ohtani is sharing in these decisions. If there are days that Roberts feels like Ohtani would benefit from a day off, he’s given the manager his blessing.

Sometimes less is more, even for the guy who can do it all.

TORONTO — Jo Adell hit a pair of solo homers, José Soriano struck out seven over 7⅔ innings to stop a three-start winless steak and the Angels avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1 on Sunday.

Oswald Peraza added a two-run homer as the Angels ended an eight-game road losing streak dating to April 16, while also ending a nine-game slump in Toronto.

Soriano (6-2) gave up two hits and a walk in the first inning, including Kazuma Okamoto’s RBI double, but didn’t allow another runner until Myles Straw reached in the eighth with an infield hit, ending a streak of 20 consecutive outs.

Sam Bachman replaced Soriano after back-to-back singles loaded the bases and got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground into a forceout.

Peraza hit a two-run drive in a the fifth and Adell homered in the sixth and the ninth. All three homers came off Eric Lauer (1-5), who allowed six runs and five hits in five innings. He hasn’t won since March 29 against the Athletics.

Vaughn Grissom added a two-run double.

Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger was scratched from the lineup because of a sore right shoulder. Barger returned Saturday after missing 29 games because of a sore left ankle and made a 101.2-mph throw to retire Jorge Soler at home plate.

Up next for the Angels: Cleveland LHP Joey Cantillo (2-1, 3.43 ERA) starts a series opener against the visiting Angels.