wednesday night

TORONTO — As soon as Blake Treinen entered for the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Clayton Kershaw dropped his guard and began to look around.

For the previous three hours, the future Hall of Fame pitcher had been locked in on the game, mentally preparing for a potential relief appearance from out in the bullpen.

But when that didn’t come, the 37-year-old Kershaw then let himself relax, took in the scene of an October night at Chavez Ravine, and soaked up the final moments of what was his final game ever at Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a weird thought, of like, ‘This is your last game ever there,’” said Kershaw, who announced last month he will retire at the end of this season. “And not a sad thought. Honestly, just a grateful thought. Just like, ‘Man, we spent a lot of great times here.’”

Win or lose in Games 6 and 7 of this World Series, Kershaw’s overall career will end this weekend at Rogers Centre in Toronto. But on Wednesday night, he closed the book on the ballpark he has called home for all 18 seasons of his illustrious MLB career.

Dodger Stadium is where Kershaw first made his big-league debut back in May 2008, as a highly anticipated left-handed prospect with a big curveball and quiet demeanor. It was the stage for his rise to stardom over the nearly two decades that followed, as he went on to capture three Cy Young Awards, 2014 National League MVP honors and a career 2.53 ERA that ranks as the best among pitchers with 1,000 innings in the live ball era.

It is where he experienced some of the most defining moments of his career, including a no-hitter in 2014 and his 3,000th strikeout earlier this year. It’s also where he suffered repeated October disappointments, none bigger than the back-to-back home runs he gave up in Game 5 of the 2019 National League Division Series.

In other words, it was always home for Kershaw, the place he would return to day after day, year after year, season after season — no matter the highs or lows, aches and pains, successes or failures.

“I just started thinking about it when the game ended,” said Kershaw, who elected to traverse the field to get back to the clubhouse after Wednesday’s game instead of the connected bullpen tunnel. “I was like, ‘Man, I might as well walk across this thing one more time.’”

About an hour later, Kershaw would linger on the field a little longer, joined for an impromptu gathering by his wife, Ellen; their four children; and other family and friends in attendance for his last home game.

“Ellen just texted after and was like, ‘Hey, we got a big crew,’” Kershaw said. “So I was, ‘Well, just go to the field. I’ll try to shower fast so we can hang out.’”

Television cameras caught Kershaw laughing as his kids ran the bases, tried to throw baseballs at a hovering drone and enjoyed a diamond that had become their own personal childhood playground over the years.

At one point, Kershaw posed with the Dodger Stadium grounds crew for a picture — standing on a mound they had manicured for all of his 228 career starts in the stadium.

“Honestly, it was awesome,” Kershaw said. “It was the perfect way to do it. Just have everybody out there, running around … It was unplanned, unprompted, but a great memory.”

Kershaw, of course, is hoping to add one more Dodger Stadium memory next week. If the team can reverse its three-games-to-two deficit in the World Series this weekend in Toronto, it would return to Chavez Ravine for a championship celebration.

If not, though, he’ll have a couple parting moments to cherish, from Wednesday’s postgame scene down on the field, to his final career Dodger Stadium outing back in Game 4 in which he stranded the bases loaded in the 12th for one of the biggest outs in his entire career.

“I’m super grateful with how that went, as opposed to the last time before that,” he quipped, having given up five runs in his only other Dodger Stadium appearance this postseason. “You can’t plan any of that stuff. Who knows if it ever works out. But yeah, to get that one last out was pretty cool.”

So, too, was his one last night Wednesday.

Jake LaRavia is not a household name.

A first-round pick out of Wake Forest in 2022, the Lakers forward has played for three NBA teams without garnering too much attention — at least not until Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Starting in his second straight game for injury-depleted L.A., which has been without LeBron James all season and Luka Doncic the last three games, LaRavia scored 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting, including five of six from three-point range).

Even then, LaRavia seemed to be toiling in obscurity. A number of fans at Minneapolis’ Target Center started shouting, “Who is No. 12?” — a genuine question as to the identity of the sharpshooter torching their team.

LaRavia, who was born in Pasadena and grew up in Indianapolis, took notice of the puzzled fans and more than once gave them a smile and a slight wave in acknowledgment.

When one fan yelled “Who is No. 12?” early in the fourth quarter — after LaRavia hit a three-pointer to give the Lakers a 105-89 lead — it caught the attention of injured Minnesota star Anthony Edwards on the bench. Edwards responded by spreading his arms above his head and shouting “That’s what I’m saying! I don’t know!”

FanDuel Sports Network broadcast the interaction between Edwards and the fan, and video clips of it have been circulating on social media. Again, LaRavia rolled with it all, writing “lol” in the comments of one such clip and posting the video on his Instagram Story, along with the caption “Cap” (slang for when someone is lying) and two laughing emojis.

The Lakers won the game 116-115 on a last-second floater by Austin Reaves, who had a team-high 28 points and 16 assists. Afterward, LaRavia credited Reaves for setting up most of his shots.

“Yeah, I mean, Austin has 16 assists, so I think they all came from him,” LaRavia told reporters. “But yeah, I was knocking down shots and kind of just getting my rhythm and kept shooting. So when they’re falling, they’re falling.”

LaRavia previously played his best basketball late in the 2023-24 season with Memphis, scoring a career-high 32 points against Cleveland, 28 against the Lakers and 29 against Denver in the final three games of the season. He also scored 25 against the Lakers during a late-March game that season.

Sent to the Sacramento Kings at the trade deadline last season, LaRavia became a free agent after his option was not picked up this summer. He was a career 42.9% three-point shooter, averaging 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, when he was signed by the Lakers to be a complementary player to the team’s bigger names.

Necessity has given LaRavia a greater role. His first start for the Lakers, which came Monday in a 122-108 loss to Portland, didn’t go so well (three points on one-for-six shooting, 0-for-three from three-point range). LaRavia said a conversation with coach JJ Redick and general manager Rob Pelinka helped him get in the proper mindset for Wednesday’s game.

“They have just been wanting me to be more aggressive scoring,” LaRavia said, “especially with everyone that we have out…. Our conversation with both of them [was] to just come out here and kind of play how I play. I think I did just that.”

He added: “It’s pretty much just like having a scorer’s mentality. A lot of times, I feel like when I’m in the game, I’m looking for an AR or someone else to get off the ball to, like hitting [Deandre Ayton] or whoever it is, and then to just come out tonight and be like, ‘I’m going to go score. I’m gonna be more aggressive myself so that when I am making shots, I can collapse the defense and then kick it out and stuff like that.’ Just to go out there and kind of have that scorers mentality.”

In addition to his scoring against Minnesota, LaRavia also had eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block, although Redick said his contributions were even greater than the numbers show.

“For Jake as a Laker, this game now is a reference point,” Redick told reporters after the game. “Not only for the offense — again, two out of the last three games, he’s been phenomenal defensively. … He had six or seven deflections tonight. He ended up with one steal and a block, but that doesn’t really capture his level of activity defensively. And then just continuing to have confidence in his shot and belief in that was big.”

Times staff writers Broderick Turner and Thuc-Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.

Injuries nearly swallowed the Lakers whole Monday night, leaving them short on ballhandlers, key role players and star power.

They were down seven players and they were playing on back-to-back nights to top it off, leaving the task daunting for the Lakers.

Still, the Lakers had to press on against the odds, which they were unable to overcome in falling 122-108 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Austin Reaves did his best to keep the Lakers in the game, scoring 41 points one night after scoring a career-high 51 at Sacramento. Reaves now has scored 143 points in the first four games this season, tying him with Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor (1962) for the most points in Lakers’ history over that span to start the season.

Rui Hachimura (16 points) and Deandre Ayton (16 points, eight rebounds) tried to help out.

But with guard Luka Doncic (left finger sprain, lower left leg contusion) and LeBron James (right sciatica) out, it was going to be tough for the Lakers. Then with guards Marcus Smart (right quad contusion) and Gabe Vincent (left ankle sprain) down, it meant the Lakers were in deeper trouble without much of their backcourt. Add Maxi Kleber (abdominal muscle strain), Jaxson Hayes (right patellar tendinopathy) and Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) sitting the bench in street clothes, and it was too much for the Lakers to deal with.

The Lakers have two more games this week, at Minnesota on Wednesday night and at Memphis on Friday, meaning L.A. will have played four games this week while not being whole.

Along with Reaves and Ayton, the Lakers started Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia.

The Lakers’ bench consisted of Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, Chris Manon and Christian Koloko, the last two of whom are on two-way contracts — leaving them with nine available players.

“I don’t expect anybody to do more than they’re doing,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “What we challenged the guys on before the game was playing with an edge. And that’s a habit that I think takes time to form. We saw glimpses of it throughout the preseason. You’re just kind of waiting on it. You hope you get it opening night. And then you finally start seeing it when we’re in Game 2 against Minnesota. And I thought the guys throughout the game yesterday [in Sacramento] just had a terrific competitive edge. That’s what we need. And that’s regardless if we have a full roster or … how many guys are out? Six? Seven? Seven. Seven guys out. Yeah, we gotta do it.”

Taking care of the basketball was one of the problems the Lakers had. Then again that wasn’t a total surprise, considering the Lakers really had just one ballhander in Reaves and he was harassed all night by Portland.

The Lakers turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 28 points for the Trail Blazers.

The Lakers didn’t do it from the three-point line in the first half, missing 11 of their 12 attempts. They finished the game going seven for 27 from the three-point line.

The Dodgers aren’t ready to call Roki Sasaki their closer, but who are they kidding?

Sasaki is their closer.

When the 23-year-old rookie from the Japanese countryside stepped onto the October stage on Wednesday night, he revealed himself to be more than the team’s best late-inning option.

He showed he was special.

He was Reggie-Bush-exploding-through-the-Fresno-State-defense special.

He was Allen-Iverson-crossing-up-Michael-Jordan special.

He was Yasiel-Puig-doubling-off-a-runner-for-the-final-out-in-his-debut special.

“Wow,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Really, all you can say is wow.”

Watching Sasaki pitch the final inning of a two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in their National League wild-card series, the patrons at Dodger Stadium at once recognized the novelty of his act. The same crowd that can’t distinguish home runs from fly balls was chanting his first name throughout the ballpark after just two pitches.

Sasaki threw seven fastballs in the perfect inning, and six of them were faster than 100 mph. The other was clocked at 99.8 mph.

With a forkball that looked as if it were dropping perpendicular to the ground, he struck out the first two batters he faced. Spencer Steer and Gavin Lux had no chance.

“That guy is gross,” reliever Tanner Scott said.

The 11-pitch performance by Sasaki was why the 8-4 victory in Game 2 felt so different from the 10-5 win in Game 1. In both games, the bullpen created messes in the eighth inning. Game 1 left the Dodgers questioning how they could defend their World Series title with such an unreliable group of relievers. Game 2 offered them a vision of how they could realize their ambition.

“That’s what we need right there,” Muncy said.

Sasaki was the last card in the deck for the Dodgers, who gave up on Scott before the playoffs even started. They experimented with some less experienced arms, but none of them performed well. Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer were part of a dispiriting three-run eighth inning against the Reds in Game 1. Converted starter Emmet Sheehan was part of another eighth-inning meltdown in Game 2, as he retired just one of the five batters he faced, and that was on a sacrifice fly that drove in a run. Sheehan was charged with two runs.

By the time Sasaki started warming up in the bottom of the eighth inning, he might as well have already inherited the closer role by default. The other candidates had pitched their way out of consideration.

Never mind that Sasaki had never pitched in relief in either the United States or Japan until he did so on a recent minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Sasaki pitched out of the bullpen twice in the major leagues in the final days of the regular season, and he was about as promising a bullpen possibility as they had.

So when Sasaki emerged from the bullpen against the Reds, fans in every section of Dodger Stadium stood to applaud. Sasaki represented their final hope.

Once on the mound, Sasaki delivered a performance that was as aesthetically pleasing as it was effective.

The high leg kick. The athletic delivery. The velocity and precision of his fastball.

Words couldn’t accurately describe what he did, so his teammates didn’t bother trying.

“You guys saw the same thing I did,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said.

Dodgers management was reluctant to say anything definitive about Sasaki’s role moving forward.

Was Sasaki the new closer?

“He’s going to get important outs for us,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman replied.

Asked the same question, manager Dave Roberts offered an equally ambiguous answer.

“I trust him,” Roberts said, “and he’s going to pitch in leverage.”

As guarded as Friedman and Roberts were, they couldn’t conceal the truth. Something fundamentally changed for the Dodgers on Wednesday night: They found their ninth-inning pitcher.

Sasaki is their closer.

Taylor Ward homered, Kenley Jansen earned his 475th career save and the Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Wednesday night to avoid a series sweep.

Only four pitchers have at least 475 saves: Jansen, Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601) and Lee Smith (478).

Yusei Kikuchi (7-11) gave up just one hit while striking out six over five innings. He was removed with a left forearm cramp before the sixth. Jansen struck out two in the ninth for his 28th save of the season.

Luis Rengifo doubled and scored on Oswald Peraza’s groundout in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Ward added a 320-foot solo home run in the third to became one of just three MLB players this season with at least 35 homers, 100 RBIs and 30 doubles.

Royals’ starter Stephen Kolek (5-7) went six innings, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out two. In the fourth, Kolek tried to cut down Peraza at second, but his throw sailed wide of second baseman Jonathan India, allowing Peraza to score for a 3-0 lead.

Randal Grichuk’s homer in the fifth was the only hit given up Kikuchi.

Carter Jensen scored to bring the Royals within a run of Los Angeles in the seventh inning.

The Angels entered the night with the worst save percentage (51%) in the majors and the highest bullpen ERA in the AL at 4.87. They won for just the second time in their last 12 games.

Key moment

Second baseman Christian Moore laid out for a diving stop, then fired to first for the third out of the seventh, preserving the Angels’ 3–2 lead.

Key stat

The Royals came into the night averaging the third-fewest team errors per game in the majors (0.37), but had three against the Angels.

Up next

Mitch Farris (1-2, 6.52 ERA) takes the mound for the Angels while Michael Lorenzen (6-11, 4.70) gets the start for the Royals in a series-closing matchup Thursday.

MILWAUKEE — Brandon Woodruff pitched five solid innings, Sal Frelick hit a three-run homer and Blake Perkins tied a career high with five RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Woodruff (7-2) gave up two hits and one run, struck out nine and threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes. He was pitching on 10 days rest to manage his workload after he missed last season while recovering from right shoulder surgery.

Angels starter José Soriano (10-11) exited with one out in the second after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Jake Bauers. Soriano sustained a right forearm contusion. X-rays were negative.

Connor Brogdon came on in relief and gave up an opposite-field single to Blake Perkins that drove in a pair. Frelick’s three-run homer later in the inning gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.

Taylor Ward provided the Angels offense with homers in the fourth and sixth.

The Angels (69-83) have lost six straight, while the major league-best Brewers (93-59) have won four of five.

Key moment

After Soriano departed, the switch-hitting Perkins, batting left-handed, came up next and hit a grounder between shortstop and third on a 2-2 pitch from Brogdon to get the Brewers on the board.

Key stat

Mike Trout remains stuck on 399 career home runs after going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Trout has homered just twice since Aug. 6, the last coming on Sept. 11.

Up next

LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.08 ERA) starts for the Angels against Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) in the series finale Wednesday.

Dave Roberts started out of the dugout with a walk.

Once Blake Snell caught his gaze, it turned into a trot.

With two out in the seventh inning, and Snell trying to put the finishing touches on his best performance in a Dodgers uniform, Roberts appeared to be coming to the mound after a pair of walks to turn to his shaky bullpen with a three-run lead.

As he usually does when removing a pitcher, his gait was slow — at least, initially.

Once Snell saw him coming, however, Roberts picked up his pace — as he will sometimes do when electing to leave a pitcher in the game.

This time, it was the latter.

After a brief discussion between manager and starting pitcher, Snell stayed in.

Five throws later, the $180-million offseason signee rewarded the decision, striking out Otto Kemp with a 95-mph fastball to put an emphatic ending on his scoreless seven-inning start, one that lifted the Dodgers to a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Entering Wednesday, all the discussion around the Dodgers had centered on the bullpen. The slumping unit was coming off two of its worst performances of the season. The majority of Roberts’ pregame address with reporters was spent dissecting how to fix it.

“Before the results, has to be confidence,” Roberts said, comparing the relief corps’ struggles to the second-half scuffles that the offense only recently emerged from. “It’s just kind of trying to reset a mentality, a mindset and expect that things happen. … You can’t chase a zero in an inning until you execute the first pitch, and then keep going like that. And I think that right now you can see that they’re kind of trying a little too hard.”

On Wednesday night, however, Snell made their job easy.

Efficient from the start with the kind of aggressive, attacking game plan he had acknowledged was missing in his last three outings, Snell went to work quickly against the Phillies, retiring the side on eight pitches (and two strikeouts) in the first inning, en route to setting down the first eight batters he faced.

Brief trouble arose in the third, when Bryson Stott and Harrison Bader had back-to-back singles.

But then Snell froze Kyle Schwarber with a curveball, one of the seven punchouts he recorded with the pitch. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts on the night.

And after that, the Phillies didn’t put another runner aboard until the seventh, with Snell breezing through the next 12 batters.

In the meantime, the Dodgers built a lead. Freddie Freeman homered to lead off the second. Ben Rortvedt (starting his third straight game behind the plate, even with Dalton Rushing back from a leg injury) added an RBI single later in the inning, following an Andy Pages hit-and-run single that put runners on the corners.

Another run came around in the fourth, after Pages worked a two-out walk, stole second, took third on a wild pickoff throw and scored on an RBI single from Kiké Hernández (who played third base in place of Max Muncy, who still felt “fuzzy” on Tuesday from a hit-by-pitch he took to the head over the weekend).

And from there, the Dodgers watched Snell cruise, with the $182-million offseason acquisition attacking the corners of the strike zone while also inducing misses on 24 of 54 swings.

The night culminated in the seventh, after walks to Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler drew Roberts out of the dugout. In the bullpen, left-hander Alex Vesia was getting warm. For a brief moment, it appeared the game would be in the hands of the relievers.

Snell had other ideas, signaling Roberts to hurry to the mound in the middle of his walk before seemingly pleading his case to stay in.

Whatever he said, Roberts listened.

Snell stayed on the rubber. A crowd of 50,859 roared in approval.

Against his final batter, Kemp, Snell fell behind, missing low with a changeup before pulling a fastball wide. Undeterred, he went back on the attack, getting one foul ball with a heater on the inner half, then another with a curveball that leaked over the plate. The count was 2-and-2. Chavez Ravine rose to its feet.

The next pitch — Snell’s 112th of the night — was another fastball, this time on the upper, outside corner at 95.3 mph. Kemp swung through it. Snell screamed and pumped his fist. In the dugout, Roberts raised an arm in the air, then began clapping as Snell walked off to a raucous ovation.

The next two innings were refreshingly simple. Alex Vesia retired the side in the top of the eighth. The Dodgers made it a five-run lead by scoring twice in the bottom half of the frame, including on Shohei Ohtani’s 51st home run of the season. Embattled closer Tanner Scott spun a stress-free ninth, pitching three consecutive scoreless outings for the first time since early July.

Come October, that’s the kind of blueprint the Dodgers (who maintained a two-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres) will have to try and replicate.

Their bullpen still needs fixing. Their relief issues aren’t solved. But more gems like Snell’s would certainly help.

With the terrible year they’ve had in MLS, expectations weren’t exactly high for Galaxy ahead of their Leagues Cup quarterfinal match against Pachuca.

The Galaxy suffered embarrassing defeats during their past two MLS games, falling at home to the Seattle Sounders and on the road against Inter Miami.

However, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney’s players put the losses behind them and continued to perform well in Leagues Cup play, surprisingly eliminating Pachuca 2-1 on Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Liga MX leading Pachuca entered the match as the favorite despite losing to Xolos de Tijuana at home last Saturday.

The Galaxy opened the scoring in the 27th minute thanks to an own goal by Pachuca defender Daniel Aceves, who seemed to be struggling with ball control and spacing.

Diego Fagundez took a short corner kick for Marco Reus, who sent in a low cross and Aceves, unfortunately for his team, pushed the ball into his own net to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.

The Galaxy kept pushing forward and their efforts soon paid off when Joseph Paintsil launched a swift attack down the left wing to Matheus Nascimento inside the box, who backheeled the ball to Reus to make it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

In the sixth minute of second half stoppage time, Pachuca found space to score a consolation goal. The goal came from a half-volley inside the box by Brazilian Alemao to make the score 2-1. The match ended a minute later, sending the Galaxy to the Leagues Cup semifinals.

All Mexican teams were eliminated from the tournament Wednesday night.

The Galaxy will play the Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami will play Orlando City for spots in the Leagues Cup final.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

WASHINGTON — The Washington, D.C., police chief stepped up cooperation between her officers and federal immigration officials as President Trump’s law enforcement takeover of the nation’s capital took root Thursday. National Guard troops watched over some of the world’s most renowned landmarks, and Humvees took up position in front of the busy main train station.

The police chief’s order establishes that Metropolitan Police Department officers may now share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody — such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. MPD officers may also provide “transportation for federal immigration employees and detained subject,” the order states.

The changes, which raise collaboration between the two forces in notable ways, erodes the district’s long-standing policy against cooperating with civil immigration enforcement. They are effective immediately.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, walking a tightrope between the Republican White House and the constituency of her largely Democratic city, was out of town Thursday for a family commitment in Martha’s Vineyard but would be back Friday, her office said.

In a city tense from days of ramp-up toward federal law enforcement intervention, volunteers helped homeless people leave long-standing encampments — to where, exactly, was often unclear. Trump told reporters that he was pleased at how the operation — and, now, its direct link with his immigration-control efforts — was unfolding.

“That’s a very positive thing, I have heard that just happened,” Trump said of Police Chief Pamela Smith’s order. “That’s a great step. That’s a great step if they’re doing that.”

A boost in police activity, federal and otherwise

For an already wary Washington, Thursday marked a notable — and highly visible — uptick in presence from the previous two days. The visibility of federal forces around the city, including in many high-traffic areas, was striking to residents going about their lives. Trump has the power to take over federal law enforcement for 30 days before his actions must be reviewed by Congress, though he has said he’ll reevaluate as that deadline approaches.

The response before Thursday had been gradual and, by all appearances, low key. But on Wednesday night, officers set up a checkpoint in one of D.C.’s popular nightlife areas, drawing protests. The White House said 45 arrests were made Wednesday night, with 29 people arrested for living in the country illegally; other arrests included for distribution or possession of drugs, carrying a concealed weapon and assaulting a federal officer.

Troops were stationed outside the Union Station transportation hub as the 800 Guard members who have been activated by Trump start in on missions that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts, the Pentagon said.

“They will remain until law and order has been restored in the District as determined by the president, standing as the gatekeepers of our great nation’s capital,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said. “The National Guard is uniquely qualified for this mission as a community-based force with strong local ties and disciplined training.”

Wilson said the troops won’t be armed and declined to give more details on what the safety patrols or beautification efforts would entail or how many Guard members have already been sent out on the streets.

National Guard Major Micah Maxwell said troops will assist law enforcement in a variety of roles, including traffic control posts and crowd control. The Guard members have been trained in de-escalation tactics and crowd control equipment, Maxwell said.

The White House said Thursday that Guard members aren’t making arrests but are “protecting federal assets, providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests and deterring violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.”

Although the current deployment is taking place under unprecedented circumstances, National Guard troops are a semi-regular presence in D.C., typically being used during mass public events like the annual Fourth of July celebration. They have regularly been used in the past for crowd control in and around Metro stations.

Trump on Thursday denied that the federal law enforcement officials he sent into Washington’s streets to fight crime have been diverted from priority assignments like counterterrorism. Asked if he was concerned about that, Trump said he’s using a “very small force” of soldiers and that city police are now allowed to do their job properly amidst his security lockdown.

For homeless residents, an uncertain time is at hand

Meanwhile, about a dozen homeless residents in Washington packed up their belongings with help from volunteers from charitable groups and staffers from some city agencies. Items largely were not forcibly thrown out by law enforcement, but a garbage truck idled nearby.

Several protesters held signs close by, some critical of the Trump administration. Once the residents had left, a construction vehicle from a city agency cleared through the remains of the tents.

The departures were voluntary, but they came in response to a clear threat from the Trump administration. Advocates expect law enforcement officers to fan out across D.C. in the coming days to forcibly take down any remaining homeless encampments. In Washington Circle, which still contains a few tents, city workers put up signs announcing “general cleanup of this public space” starting at 10 a.m. Monday.

For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered parts of the city. But more were present in high-profile locations Wednesday night, and troops were expected to start doing more missions Thursday.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations have patrolled the popular U Street corridor, while Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, with Guard members parked nearby. DEA agents also joined MPD officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue.

Khalil writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press journalists Jacquelyn Martin, Mike Pesoli, Darlene Superville and David Klepper contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — As a wary Washington waited, the White House promised a ramp-up of National Guard troops and federal officers on the streets of the nation’s capital around the clock starting Wednesday, days after President Trump’s unprecedented announcement that his administration would take over the city’s police department for at least a month.

The city’s Democratic mayor and police chief framed the influx as a plus for public safety, though they said there are few hard measures for what a successful end to the operation might look like. The Republican president has said crime in the city was at emergency levels that only such federal intervention could fix even as District of Columbia leaders pointed to statistics showing violent crime at a 30-year low after a sharp rise two years ago.

For two days, small groups of federal officers have been visible in scattered areas of the city. That is about to change, the administration says.

A “significantly higher” presence of guard members was expected Wednesday night, and federal agents will be out 24/7 rather than largely at night, according to the White House. Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.

In one neighborhood, officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI could be seen along with the U.S. Park Police searching the car of a motorist parked just outside a legal parking area to eat takeout and drop off a friend. Two blocks away, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers gathered in a parking lot before driving off on patrol.

In other parts of the city, including those with popular nightlife hot spots, federal patrols were harder to find. At the National Mall, there was little law enforcement activity aside from Park Police cruisers pulling over a taxi driver near the Washington Monument.

A variety of infractions are targeted

The arrests made by 1,450 federal and local officers across the city included those for suspicion of driving under the influence, unlawful entry, as well as a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the White House. Seven illegal firearms were seized.

Unlike in other U.S. states and cities, the law gives Trump the power to take over Washington’s police for up to a month. Extending Trump’s power over the city for longer would require approval from Congress, and that could be tough in the face of Democratic resistance.

The president has full command of the National Guard, but as of Tuesday evening, guard members had yet to be assigned a specific mission, according to an official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. As many as 800 troops were expected to be mobilized in a support role to law enforcement, though exactly what form remains to be determined.

The push also includes clearing out encampments for people who are homeless, Trump has said. U.S. Park Police have removed dozens of tents since March, and plan to take out two more this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said. People are offered the chance to go to shelters and get addiction treatment, if needed, but those who refuse could be fined or jailed, she said.

City officials said they are making more shelter space available and increasing their outreach.

Violent crime has dropped in the district

The federal effort comes even after a drop in violent crime in the nation’s capital, a trend that experts have seen in cities across the U.S. since an increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

On average, the level of violence in Washington remains mostly higher than averages in three dozen cities analyzed by the nonprofit Council on Criminal Justice, said the group’s president and CEO, Adam Gelb.

Police Chief Pamela Smith said during an interview with the local Fox affiliate that the city’s Metro Police Department has been down nearly 800 officers. She said the increased number of federal agents on the streets would help fill that gap, at least for now.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said city officials did not get any specific goals for the surge during a meeting with Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and other top federal law enforcement officials Tuesday. But, she said, “I think they regard it as a success to have more presence and take more guns off the street, and we do too.”

She had previously called Trump’s moves “unsettling and unprecedented” while pointing out he was within a president’s legal rights regarding the district, which is the seat of American government but is not a state.

For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement and National Guard troops is nerve-racking.

“I’ve seen them right here at the subway … they had my street where I live at blocked off yesterday, actually,” Washington native Sheina Taylor said. “It’s more fearful now because even though you’re a law-abiding citizen, here in D.C., you don’t know, especially because I’m African American.”

Whitehurst and Khalil write for the Associated Press. AP writers Konstantin Toropin and Will Weissert, photographer Jacquelyn Martin and video journalist River Zhang contributed to this report.

Through the first two weeks of USC’s preseason football camp, Prophet Brown had established himself as one of the early standouts in a crowded cornerback room.

But Brown’s breakout was cut short this week, when the redshirt junior suffered a noncontact injury during USC’s practice that’s expected to keep him out for the foreseeable future.

The timeline for his return remains uncertain. USC coach Lincoln Riley suggested the team would definitely be without him “for the first few games” but was still “hopeful to get him back here at some point.”

“Hate it for him because he’s been playing really well,” Riley said. “Obviously has had one of the more rapid ascents [this fall] in terms of all the years that he’s been here.”

USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn had just singled out Brown on Wednesday night as “one of the guys we trust most on defense.”

“He’s taken a big step,” Lynn said. “Outside of [safety] Kamari [Ramsey], I would say there’s no one on the back end that knows the defense quite like him.”

Brown had taken reps at all three corner spots since the beginning of camp, but was widely believed to be the favorite to start at slot corner. The only other player on USC’s roster with more than a handful of snaps in the slot during his college career is transfer corner DJ Harvey.

Lynn said on Wednesday that Harvey was getting some reps at slot corner.

“He’s a guy from a skill set standpoint that can do all three [corner positions],” Lynn said. “So we’re trying to get him as many reps at those slots as possible, to try to see which one is his best spot.”

Chasen Johnson, a transfer from Central Florida, and DeCarlos Nicholson were both expected to compete for outside corner spots and have minimal experience in the slot.

Until Friday, USC had felt pretty good about its depth at the position. But losing Brown is a significant blow, one that will put more pressure on young defensive backs to contribute early.

Riley also mentioned Braylon Conley and Marcelles Williams as corners who impressed in camp and could step up in Brown’s place.

Feeling good up front

At the start of camp, no position on USC’s roster appeared, on paper, to be as big of a concern as the offensive line, where the Trojans have to replace three starters from a group that already struggled a year ago.

But nearing the midway point of camp, Riley said he feels better about depth up front than he did in the spring.

“I like this group a lot,” Riley said. “Some young guys that have really come on fast. Give credit to Coach [Zach] Hanson for the development of these guys because we’ve got some guys who are rapidly improving.”

Among those who have surprised Riley: Guards Hayden Treter and Micah Banuelos, both of whom have dealt with injuries since coming to USC.

Both will likely be needed this season, given the lack of proven options otherwise.

Etc.

Star wideout Ja’Kobi Lane [unspecified injury] has yet to fully participate in USC’s preseason practices, but is expected to begin “ramping up” in the coming days, Riley said.

Denis Bouanga scored on a first-half penalty kick and Hugo Lloris made it stand up for his third straight clean sheet as LAFC edged Minnesota United 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Bouanga scored his 11th goal when he sent a right-footed shot past Dayne St. Clair in the 42nd minute. The PK was awarded after Jeremy Ebobisse was fouled by defender Nicolás Romero, who received a yellow card.

Lloris finished with three saves for his league-high-tying ninth clean sheet of the season for LAFC (10-5-5).

St. Clair entered with nine shutouts and totaled five saves for Minnesota United (11-5-7), which falls to 6-3-3 at home.

Minnesota United has just one home win over LAFC, which joined the league in 2018. That came in March of last season in the debut of Minnesota manager Eric Ramsay.

LAFC posted a 1-0 victory over Minnesota United at home in the season opener.

LAFC improves to 2-3-4 on the road. The club was coming off shutout wins at home over the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas by a combined 5-0 score.

LAFC will host the Galaxy on Saturday.

When Clayton Kershaw made his major league debut as a gangly 20-year-old with a devastating curveball, he was considered a one-in-a-million talent.

On Wednesday he entered a much smaller club, becoming the 20th pitcher in history to strike out 3,000 batters. The milestone came in the sixth inning on his 100th pitch of the night, a 1-and-2 slider the Chicago White Sox’s Vinny Capra took for a called strike.

Kershaw then walked off the mound alone with his thoughts before being mobbed by his teammates on the warning track in front of the dugout. The Dodgers marked the moment with a video of his considerable career highlights on the video boards above the outfield pavilions.

An hour later the Dodgers had even more to celebrate when Freddie Freeman’s two-out RBI single capped a three-run ninth-inning rally in a walk-off 5-4 win.

“It’s the last box for Clayton to check in his tremendous career,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who doubted many more pitchers will ever join the 3K club.

“You’ve got to stay healthy, you’ve got to be good early in your career, you’ve got to be good for a long time,” he said. “I’m a fan first and I’ve kind of appreciated longevity and moments like that, as opposed to one moment in time. The consistency is something that should be valued.”

Roberts said before the game he would manage differently as Kershaw approached the milestone and he did, allowing him to start the sixth inning despite having made 92 pitches, the most he’s thrown in a game in more than two years.

He would need just eight more. Capra was the 27th batter Kershaw faced and the 15th he took to a two-strike count.

“It’s a little bit harder when you’re actually trying to strike people out,” Kershaw said. “I never really did that before.”

But he could sense the sellout crowd of 53,536 pulling for him every time he got close.

“They wanted it for me so bad,” he said. “And strikeouts tonight, I didn’t really do my part. But you could feel the tension and the fans. They were trying to will me to do it.”

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The Dodgers entered the ninth trailing 4-2 but loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Michael Conforto and walks to Tommy Edman and Hyeseong Kim.

Shohei Ohtani drove in one run on a ground ball to second, hustling up the line to avoid the double play. Mookie Betts followed with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left-center to score Edman with the tying run.

Ohtani then stole second, scoring two batters later on Freeman’s single to right.

That kept Kershaw, who gave up a season-high nine hits, from taking his first loss of the season. But the Dodgers may have suffered an even bigger loss on the first pitch of the Capra at-bat when Chicago’s Michael Taylor slid hard into Max Muncy on an unsuccessful attempt to steal third.

Muncy, who hit a team-high .333 in June, writhed on the ground before being helped off the field, favoring his left knee. His condition was not immediately known.

Roberts said Muncy will undergo an MRI exam on Thursday but added “that we feel optimistic and our hope is that it’s a sprain.”

Taylor also left the game with a left shoulder bruise.

Nearly three hours earlier Kershaw had been greeted by a loud ovation when he stepped onto the field to stretch about 40 minutes before game time. But the loudest roar — aside the one for the record strikeout — came when Kershaw bounded out of the dugout to start the sixth.

“The energy in the crowd definitely palpable,” he said. “That ovation was something that I’ll never forget, for sure. And then the toast after the game with everybody. I’ll remember those things.”

The White Sox, meanwhile, wanted no part of the party. They forced Kershaw to labor through a 29-pitch first inning in which he faced six hitters, giving up a run and three hits. And it could have been worse, with a leaping Conforto robbing Lenyn Sosa of a three-run home run at the bullpen gate in left field for the final out.

Will Smith, announced as an All-Star starter along with Freeman and Ohtani earlier in the day, got that run back with two out in the bottom of the first, lining a full-count pitch into the left-field bleachers. White Sox opener Brandon Eisert did not return for the second inning and Andy Pages greeted his replacement rudely, driving Sean Burke’s first pitch over the wall in center for his 17th homer.

The Dodgers’ lead was short-lived, however, with Chase Meidroth opening the Chicago third with a single, then trotting home on Austin Slater’s two-run homer. Chicago added another run later in the inning on a one-out double from Andrew Benintendi and an RBI single from Edgar Quero.

Kershaw and the Dodgers, however, endured and at the end of the night the team had a win and the pitcher had joined an exclusive club.

“It’s an incredible list,” Kershaw said. “I’m super, super grateful to be a part of it.”

Etc.

Before Wednesday’s game, pitchers Blake Snell and Blake Treinen threw to hitters for the first time since going on the injured list in April. Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, went on the injured list because of shoulder inflammation April 6 while Treinen has been sidelined because of forearm tightness since April 19. “They’ll go again in a couple days,” Roberts said. “But both guys looked really good.” Right-hander Tyler Glasnow, also out since April because of shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to make his third minor league rehab start for Oklahoma City on Thursday.

Staff writer Ira Gorawara contributed to this report.

The Angels placed rookie second baseman Christian Moore on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left thumb on Thursday.

Moore left the Angels’ 8-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night with the injury. Moore suffered the injury when he dove for Ozzie Albies’ ground ball in the sixth inning. Moore’s hand bent awkwardly when he hit the ground.

Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said he was grateful Moore would not require surgery, though he wouldn’t put a timetable on how much time the rookie might miss.

“Anytime you see somebody like him have an injury like that, you fear the worst,” Montgomery said, adding the hope Moore could miss two weeks might be “looking at the best-case scenario.”

Moore, a 2024 first-round draft pick from Tennessee, was hitting .189 in 53 at-bats following his promotion to the Angels on June 13.

Infielder Chad Stevens, whose contract was selected from triple-A Salt Lake, moved into the starting lineup at second base on Thursday night in his major league debut.

“He’s been playing really well,” Montgomery said of Stevens. “He’s done everything he can do to earn this opportunity.”

The 26-year-old Stevens was hitting .307 with 14 homers at Salt Lake.

The Angels released right-hander Héctor Neris, who had a 7.80 ERA in 23 games.

Fernando Urquiza screamed himself hoarse, slapping palms with strangers on the field level of Dodger Stadium. He’d waited six innings — each on the very edge of his seat. He refreshed flight options to Milwaukee in case Clayton Kershaw made him wait until his next start for strikeout No. 3,000.

Roderick Abram, a die-hard New York Yankees fan celebrating his 40th birthday, rejoiced when Kershaw reached the strikeout milestone. In enemy pinstripes, his team allegiance wavered long enough to clap for a man he often hopes gets shelled — particularly in the Bronx — but not on Wednesday night.

Kershaw’s historic game wasn’t necessarily a vintage outing, but to his dearest fans, that only deepened the meaning.

The Chicago White Sox didn’t make it easy for Kershaw. He labored. He gave up runs. It seemed he might fall one short of the three strikeouts he needed. And still, he managed to finally become the 20th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000 strikeouts.

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“Building the emotion and building it up to what it came to be,” said Urquiza, who has attended Dodger games for 38 years. “But Clayton Kershaw pitching, it wouldn’t have happened any other way than to be an emotional outcome.”

As Kershaw wrapped the fifth with just two strikeouts, the mood at Dodger Stadium tightened. Phones rose with each windup, fans stood between pitches and that rare postseason stillness crept in, nearly three months early.

And though some considered leaving early to beat traffic and others weighed booking Milwaukee flights, it didn’t seem as though hope fled Dodger Stadium.

“I know it took a little bit longer for him to get it, but I knew he was going to get it, and that’s why they kept him in. And he wanted it bad, and he got it,” said 34-year-old barber Steven Moreno, who said he “wouldn’t have missed the game for the world.”

Back in 2008, Daniel Palomera brought his kids to watch Greg Maddux pitch. Instead, a baby-faced 20-year-old with a towering leg kick took the mound.

A young fan holds a sign with the number “3,000” on the night Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw recorded his 3,000th career strikeout.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Palomera saw the early days of Kershaw’s career 17 years ago and returned Wednesday for what could be one of his last major milestones.

“Two years ago, I didn’t think he was gonna make it,” Palomera said. “And last year, I thought he might have thought of retiring with all the injuries, but him coming back just makes it that much more special. He’s getting to do it here — that’s really special.”

Jeremy Wasser stood a few rows behind home plate in a sky blue Kershaw Foundation T-shirt. He tilted his head back and paused for a moment when asked about Kershaw’s legacy.

“To see him be as successful as he’s been, as consistently great as he’s been, he’s represented the city and represented the team with class and with character,” Wasser said. “And the combination of that character and his performance on the field is an extraordinary achievement.”

Kershaw’s accompliment will forever be known as a major milestone in Dodgers history, but it meant more than a statistic to the fans who gave the loyal veteran pitcher a six-minute standing ovation.

“The way he cares and treats his own teammates like family,” Moreno said. “He’s made this organization like a family.”

No pop artist today has a more tangled relationship to a venue than the Weeknd has with SoFi Stadium.

First, he chose SoCal’s flagship stadium as the site to film the denouement of his cult-campy HBO series “The Idol” during one of his concerts. Unfortunately, during the set, he lost his voice four songs in and had to send fans home for the night so he could recover and make up the date. For such a perfectionist, that must have been a body blow.

He rebounded a few months later with a triumphal return and the concert doc “The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium.” But that nerve-racking experience stuck with him. He revisited it in his recent feature film (and album) “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” where a fictional version of the Weeknd loses his voice onstage, kicking off a surrealist, violent night with Jenna Ortega. A brief interlude from that LP is titled “I Can’t F— Sing.”

So Abel Tesfaye must have had a range of mixed feelings when he walked out at SoFi on Wednesday night, the first of four nights at the site of some of his greatest triumphs and most bitter disappointments as a live performer. “This is bigger than me — it’s a reflection of the power of music and its impact on people,” Tesfaye told The Times in a brief email just before the show.

The Weeknd performs during his After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour at SoFi Stadium.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

This slickly cryptic, immaculately performed 2½-hour set covered the whole of his era-defining catalog. But is this run of SoFi dates a swan song to one of the most successful recording projects of our time?

Since first emerging as an anonymous voice atop gothic, coked-up R&B productions on a trilogy of 2011 mixtapes, Tesfaye’s tastes and his unlikely commercial success grew together.

An underground fan base turned up for the nihilism of “Wicked Games” (“Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain”). But with assists from Max Martin and Daft Punk, he became a bona fide pop star. His mournful Ethiopian melodic lilt stood out like nothing else in Top 40, and he hung onto enough art-freak sensibility that he could headline the Super Bowl halftime show with dancers in full-face plastic-surgery bandages. His ’80s-noir, 2019 single “Blinding Lights” remains the most-streamed song on Spotify, ever.

Darryl Eaton, his agent at CAA, told The Times that the 200,000 tickets sold for this SoFi run alone is “like selling out an entire American city.”

Yet Tesfaye has recently hinted at retiring the Weeknd as a premise. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he told Variety recently. “It never ends until you end it.”

Whether he wants to release less conceptual, more personal music, or if he’s simply run out of gas with this all-consuming pop entity he’s created, this SoFi run is likely one of the last chances L.A. fans will get to see the Weeknd. Tesfaye will surely keep making music and films, but it makes cinematic sense that he’d come back to the scene of his most painful night onstage to put this all to bed.

After a brief and typically roiling set from Tesfaye’s recent collaborator Playboi Carti, Tesfaye emerged in black and gold, eyes lit with LED pinpicks, over a ruined cityscape. Opening with the “BoJack Horseman”-riffing “The Abyss,” he grimly promised, “I tried my best to not let you go / I don’t like the view from halfway down … I tried to be something that I’ll never be.” It sure felt like he was saying goodbye to this way of being an artist.

The show kicked into gear with Tesfaye surrounded by a trim live band and minimalist, moving-sculpture dancers in rose-colored robes. He didn’t need much more to let that once-in-a-generation voice carry everything. Tesfaye’s a uniquely dedicated live vocalist on the stadium circuit (it’s kind of honorable that any serious vocal troubles might mean the show’s over). For all his high-concept misdirections in videos and films, you could feel the troubled intimacy that’s kept fans invested in this music over so many aesthetics.

For all his close reads of Michael Jackson’s records on singles like “Can’t Feel My Face,” Tesfaye’s not an especially physical dancer onstage. But he knows exactly how to inhabit and set-dress this music to make it eerie and monolithic, even at its poppiest.

The Weeknd.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

“After Hours” made a seductive case for letting an obviously toxic man back into your life (“Different girls on the floor, distracting my thoughts of you”). After finally taking off his face mask, he played “Take My Breath” like a revving, neo-disco floor-filler that still winked at the darker choke-kinks of his old music.

When he cranked up the pyro on the midcareer lurker ballad “The Hills,” the front rows of SoFi got a bracing reminder of how volatile this music is even when it sits atop streaming charts. Alongside Carti on their collaborations “Timeless” and “Rather Lie,” Tesfaye grounded his pal’s smeary Atlanta noise with evilly pretty melody. This is a voice you just can’t help but believe, even when it’s calling you to self-destruction.

The Weeknd performs at SoFi Stadium.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

If this tour is indeed at the end of his tenure as the Weeknd, at more than three dozen songs, Wednesday’s set delivered every possible angle of valediction — the thrumming decadence of “Often,” the desperate sincerity of “Die for You” and “Is There Someone Else?” Newer material like “Cry for Me” and “São Paolo” showed that, whatever his exhaustion with this aegis, he’s got tons of startling ideas still brimming.

When Tesfaye buried the hatchet with the Grammys back in February, it was a generous gesture to an organization that inexplicably locked him out of honors for “Blinding Lights,” which he should, obviously, have contended for. When he played that double-time, neo-New Wave single toward the end of his Wednesday set, it felt like a strange pearl that he’d discovered — one of the biggest pop songs of all time, played by a guy whose music emerged from a murk of MDMA licks and mournful threesomes.

With perhaps the exception of his (exceedingly stylish if critically skeptical) film career, he’s always found his voice, over and over again. SoFi Stadium has dealt the Weeknd his greatest defeat and some of his finest hours as a performer. Now it’s sending him off to Valhalla, wherever that takes Abel Tesfaye.

The Lakers were busy making moves Thursday, doing all they could to move up in the second round of the NBA draft.

Moving up to No. 36 in the draft with their second trade of the day, the Lakers acquired Adou Thiero out of Arkansas.

To get what many with the Lakers and around the NBA view as a “super athletic wing” in the 6-foot-6 Thiero, the Lakers first traded their 55th pick and about $2.5 million in cash to the Chicago Bulls for their 45th pick. Then the Lakers sent that No. 45 pick and cash considerations to the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire the rights to Thiero (originally selected by the Brooklyn Nets), according to a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly.

The deal will be finalized at a later date.

Thiero averaged 15.1 points on 54.5% shooting from the field and 5.8 rebounds last season for the Razorbacks.

He needs to improve his shooting, as do many second-round wing players, but the Lakers think Thiero will improve on that over time.

Adou Thiero speaks on the phone after being acquired by the Lakers at the NBA draft on Thursday.

(Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)

The Lakers and other NBA scouts compare the 220-pound Thiero to Knicks forward OG Anunoby, a three-and-D player that L.A.’s scouts thought might be drafted in the first round.

Though the Lakers are in need of a center, they also need athleticism at the wing to play alongside Luka Doncic, and Thiero helps address that need.

One scout said Thiero is athletic and will “catch lob passes” from Doncic.

“It feels good. A dream come true,” Thiero said. “Just happy to be here. Playing for the Lakers, too, that’s a blessing for sure.”

When asked about the Lakers’ roster, Thiero said: “LeBron! It’s going to be fun learning from everybody. But you got Bron, you got Luka, AR (Austin Reaves). It’s a lot of people on that team. I’m just ready to get with the guys and work.”

And the Lakers were happy to go from No. 55 to No. 36 and not give up future assets to draft Thiero. The Lakers didn’t have a first-round pick in Wednesday night’s draft.

People around the league said the Lakers had their eye on Ryan Kalkbrenner out of Creighton, but the 7-foot-1 center didn’t last on the board long, going to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 34.

In other Lakers news, Austin Reaves declined the team’s maximum offer of four years for $89 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

Reaves, 27, still has two years left on his deal, for $13.9 million next season and $14.9 million in the 2026-27 season, and he holds a player option for the last year of his deal.

He was third on the Lakers in scoring last season, averaging career-highs in scoring (20.2), assists (5.8), rebounds (4.5) and minutes per game (34.9). He shot 46% from the field and 37.7% from three-point range.

Clippers move up to get Kobe Sanders

Nevada’s Kobe Sanders shoots a free throw during a game against Colorado State in December.

(Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)

The Knicks drafted guard Kobe Sanders out of Nevada at No. 50 and traded him to the Clippers for Mohamed Diawara, the No. 51 pick.

Sanders, 23, is a 6-9 wing player who averaged 15.8 points per game last season.

The Clippers chose Penn State center Yanic Konan Niederhauser with the 30th and final pick in the first round on Wednesday.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Djordje Mihailovic and Calvin Harris scored four-minutes apart in the first half and the Colorado Rapids beat the Galaxy 2-0 on Wednesday night in a game delayed two hours due to weather.

Colorado (7-8-4) snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Galaxy (1-13-5) lost to the Rapids for the first time since May 6, 2023.

Mihailovic headed in Sam Vines’ cross for his eighth goal of the season to end Colorado’s a 261-minute goal drought. Harris, in his first start of the season, scored his second goal in 12 appearances.

Harris nearly made it 3-0 in the 55th on a shot that hit off the post.

Rookie Nico Hansen, standing in for the injured Zack Steffen since May 17, recorded his third clean sheet in just seven starts.

More than a dozen religious leaders from an array of faiths marched to the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night, flowers in hand, calling for an end to the federal immigration raids they say have torn families apart and resulted in racial profiling.

At the start of the procession in Plaza Olvera, the Rev. Tanya Lopez, senior pastor at Downey Memorial Christian Church, recounted how last week she watched as plainclothes federal agents swarmed a constituent in the parking lot of her church. Despite her attempts to intervene, she said, the man was detained, and she doesn’t know where he is now.

“All of our faith traditions teach us to love our neighbor, to leave the world with less suffering than when we find it, and this is creating trauma that will be unable to be undone for generations,” Lopez said.

Religious leaders from multiple faiths left flowers on the steps of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles in honor of people detained in recent immigration raids.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Federal enforcement actions have played out across Southern California this week as the Trump administration carries out its vows to do mass deportations of immigrants in the country without documentation. Initially, President Trump focused his rhetoric on those who had committed violent crimes. But shortly after he took office, his administration made clear that it considers anyone in the country without authorization to be a criminal.

The raids — which have spanned bus stops, Home Depot parking lots, swap meets, farms and factories — have prompted many immigrants to go into hiding, and in some cases, to self-deport.

The religious leaders marching Wednesday called for a halt to the raids, saying immigrants are integral to the Los Angeles community and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of documentation status.

They carried their message through downtown, marching from Plaza Olvera to the Federal Building, dressed in colorful garb reflecting Jewish, Sikh, Muslim and Catholic traditions, and uniting in song and prayer, in Spanish and English.

They called out to God, Creator, the Holy One, and prayed for healing and justice. They prayed for the hundreds of people who have been detained and deported and the families they’ve left behind.

Father Brendan Busse of Dolores Mission Church looks out over the crowd participating in an interfaith protest Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In the crowd, Talia Guppy held purple flowers to her chest as she sang along. Guppy said she learned that members of her Episcopalian church, St. Stephen’s Hollywood, had been detained during the raid of the Ambiance Apparel factory in downtown L.A. Her church has since moved its services online to accommodate people afraid to venture from their homes.

“We’re out here for them,” she said. “We’re going to keep the hope and keep the faith until we get justice for them.”

At the end of the procession, the marchers approached the steps of the Federal Building. Officers from the Department of Homeland Security poured out of the building and guarded the entrance as clergy leaders lined the steps. Inside, behind semireflective doors, rows of U.S. Marines stood at the ready.

The leaders called for peace and laid flowers on the steps in tribute to those who have been detained.

“We come with flowers, and we will keep coming with flowers as long as our loved ones are held in cages,” said Valarie Kaur, a Sikh leader. She turned her attention to the officers at the doors, who stood stoic, and questioned how they wanted to be remembered by history. Then she placed flowers by their feet.

Sikh leader Valarie Kaur leaves a flower at the feet of federal officers standing guard at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In the crowd, protesters held signs with images of the Virgin Mary and Mexican flags. The clergy asked them to be ready to defend their neighbors in the coming days.

Father Brendan Busse, a Jesuit priest at the Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, said he has felt the impact of the raids within his church. Devoted members are no longer in the pews. Others call asking whether it is safe to come to church. The fear is palpable.

“We need to be a safe space for people, not just in our church, but in the whole neighborhood,” he said. “I can’t guarantee to anybody that we are a totally safe space, but to at least give them a sense that in the difficult moment we’re at, that we stand together.”

This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.

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.

“I don’t know,” O’Hoppe said when asked about the skidding offense. “I don’t know, but we’re not gonna panic. We gotta have, what, 100 games left, so we’re not gonna panic.”

Entering the game, the Angels (25-30) walked the least and struck out the second-most in MLB. Wednesday was mostly more of the same. The Angels drew two walks, one of them with two out in the ninth, but were able to snap their three-game streak of double-digit strikeouts — punching out just eight times.

Washington managed the game as if his team needed the victory. He tried anything to salvage a homestand in which the Halos ultimately dropped five of six and scored just three runs. When Aaron Judge walked to the plate in the first and second innings, Washington greeted the Yankees slugger — owner of the top batting average (.391) in MLB — with a free base.

The strategy that made Judge the first Yankees player to intentionally walk twice in the first two innings of a game since Gene Woodling on Aug. 30, 1953, worked once, but led to the only run of the game in its other appearance.

“He’s dangerous — a lot of respect, lot of respect,” Washington said, referencing a moment in which Judge flashed four fingers to him in the seventh on the on-deck circle. “I don’t know what could have happened in that game if I wouldn’t have walked him those first two times. You don’t mess with that. I don’t care how he’s swinging the bat, you don’t mess with that if you don’t have to.”

After Judge was walked with a man on in the first, Cody Bellinger walked — one of Angels starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi’s five walks — to load the bases. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, hit a sacrifice fly to center field and brought home a run.

Kikuchi (93 pitches, 51 for strikes) struggled with command once again, with his league-high walk rate rearing its ugly head. The Japanese southpaw loaded the bases in each of the first two innings, but settled down to make it through five innings, giving up five hits and striking out four. Despite Kikuchi battling through the fifth — and the Angels bullpen tossing four scoreless innings — with how the Angels have been at the plate over their last five games, one run was all the Yankees needed Wednesday.

“It was tough navigating through the first couple innings there, but I think the fourth and fifth inning went really well,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “I think I ended off on a good note.”

In perhaps the biggest cheer of the night at the Big A, right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn struck Judge out looking with a 99.1-mph fastball in the seventh inning.

Those cheers, however, turned to boos as O’Hoppe trotted back to the dugout as the final out. Now, the offense will look to recover away from Anaheim and see if it can rediscover what made it click against the Dodgers and Athletics.

Cleveland and Boston await the Angels next as they’ll first face the Guardians at Progressive Field on Friday to begin their six-game trip.

Angels reshuffle roster

The Angels made a flurry of roster moves before Wednesday’s game, designating veteran infielder Tim Anderson and catcher Chuckie Robinson for assignment, while optioning left-hander Jake Eder to triple-A Salt Lake City.

In corresponding moves, right-handed relief pitcher Robert Stephenson — who’d been out after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024 — was activated off the 60-day injured list, and infielder Scott Kingery was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake City.

Washington said his hope for Stephenson, who signed a three-year, $33-million deal with the Angels before the 2024 season, is to be eased back into a high-leverage role. Stephenson said he is looking forward to the role he can play on the major league roster.

“To me, it’s like, probably just like, up there with making my debut,” said Stephenson, who made his season and Angels debut Wednesday, tossing a scoreless sixth inning. “I feel like it’s gonna be pretty special for me.”

Kingery, on the other hand, hasn’t appeared in the major leagues since 2022. Bursting on the scene as a top prospect with the Philadelphia Phillies, he featured heavily in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns after signing a six-year, $24-million contract extension before making his MLB debut.

The 31-year-old, who Washington said will play center field, second base and third base, put up 2.7 wins-above-replacement in 2019 before struggling to find any resemblance to his previous success — playing in just 16 combined games in 2021 and 2022 — and was eventually traded to the Angels in November 2024 after spending most of the last four seasons in the minor leagues.

“It’s hard, it’s a hard game,” Kingery said. “Stuff happens throughout your career, and you got to find ways to battle that and just keep on going. Just keep the foot on the pedal and find ways to make things work.”

Trout nears return

Mike Trout (left knee) continues to check the boxes as he nears a return from the injured list. The longest-tenured Angel and three-time MVP faced live pitching from a minor league pitcher on Wednesday, and performed baserunning drills with more intensity than earlier this week, Washington said.

Washington added that Trout began to cut and stop while running, but he still wasn’t going at 100%.

“Came out of it very well,” Washington said. “He looks good.”

Trout was hitting .179 with nine home runs and 18 RBIs before suffering a bone bruise in his left knee on April 30.