wimbledon

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ first few innings Tuesday night were riddled with strikeouts and missed opportunities. But the work they did racking up Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale‘s pitch count culminated in Kiké Hernández’s big fourth-inning moment in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

“I felt hitting at the bottom of the lineup, my responsibility was to not chase him around, not give in to what he was trying to get me to do, which was roll over and hit into a double play,” Hernández said after the Dodgers’ 3-1 win against the Braves. “So my mentality was to grind out the at-bat, try to get a good pitch to hit. If not, just be patient so I could turn the lineup over to Mookie [Betts] at the top.”

Hernández let Sale’s first pitch, a changeup in and off the plate, go for a ball. Then, he recognized the pitch again, heading toward the inner third of the plate. And Hernández demolished it, taking three slow steps out of the batter’s box before dropping the bat.

Hernández has too many big postseason moments — a three-homer game against the Cubs in Game 5 of the 2017 NL Championship Series, for example — for a single homer in a non-elimination game to rank at the top. It was his 17th career postseason home run, which accounts for 11% of his home runs over 13 years in the majors, putting him in a category of his own.

It was, however, the biggest offensive moment of the Dodgers’ postseason so far. As the series teetered, in a matchup of rotation aces, all tied up and in Atlanta for the first time, he got his first at-bats of the 2026 postseason and immediately delivered.

“We played tonight like an elimination game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Collectively it was probably one of our better performances, certainly with the [opposing] starter, as far as 1 through 9.”

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Dodgers-Braves box score

MLB scores

Dodgers in control against Braves

Kiké Hernández celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning of the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS at Truist Park on Tuesday.

(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)

From Bill Plaschke: Scared straight.

Faced with a reality check, the Dodgers got real. Confronted with the end, the Dodgers are just getting started.

Stepping warily into Atlanta’s Truist Park with their five-game division series tied at one game apiece and Braves’ ace Chris Sale waiting for them on the mound Tuesday, the Dodgers marched out three hours later on the verge of another champagne shower.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was brilliant, showing everyone that they were focusing on the wrong ace.

The Dodger bats were reborn, showing everyone that they still know how to hit in October.

And, yes, the Dodgers finally have a closer, Edwin Díaz entering the ninth and allowing a leadoff double to Ozzie Albies before retiring the next three hitters for the biggest save of his brief Dodgers career.

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Shaikin: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s playoff dominance impresses everyone, especially Tarik Skubal

Swanson: The Braves let Freddie Freeman go. Now he’s making them pay in the NLDS

Remembering Fred Claire

General manager Fred Claire, left, celebrates the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series win over the Oakland Athletics with manager Tommy Lasorda.

(Bill Beattie / Associated Press)

From Bill Plaschke: The Dodgers were spiraling.

Their general manager had been fired for racist comments. Their famous manager had loudly lost his touch.

They had not won a full-season championship in more than two decades. They were just a blip on a Los Angeles sports landscape dominated by Showtime.

The Dodgers were plunging into a purgatory of irrelevance from which seemingly nobody could save them.

A sportswriter saved them.

Fred Claire saved them.

The most forgotten hero in Dodger history stepped out of the shadows in 1987 as their instant general manager and created the miraculous monster that came to be in 1988.

Kirk Gibson’s home run? He contrived it. Tommy Lasorda’s Hall of Fame career? He enabled it. The infamous championship Stunt Men? He formed it.

The resuscitation of a Dodger brand during what was quite possibly its darkest moment? It all started with Fred Claire, the longtime Dodger executive who died Monday in his Pasadena home on his 91st birthday.

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Fred Claire, former Dodgers GM whose team won the ’88 World Series, dies

Bob Chesney urges UCLA to ignore hype

UCLA coach Bob Chesney reacts during a win over San Diego State at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 12.

(Griffin C. Hooper / Getty Images)

From Connor Dullinger: No. 21.

Look at it once.

And do not talk or worry about it again.

That is what UCLAcoach Bob Chesney told his team when he showed them their Associated Press Top 25 ranking during Sunday’s team meeting, reminding the Bruins what their priorities are as they come off their bye week and prepare for a showdown in Eugene, Ore., against the No. 13 Ducks.

“If you pay attention to this number it will go away,” Chesney said. “If you pay attention to what you did to get that number, and only focus on that and improve that, maybe the number even gets better. Who knows as time goes on, but that can’t be anything we talk about or worry about, and that’s why I wanted to bring it up one time and that was the end of it.”

The commitment to the process remains Chesney’s top priority as his team stares down its biggest test of the season to date.

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Kings fall in home opener

Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper makes a glove save during the first period against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

From Kevin Baxter: Before the first home game of their upcoming 60th anniversary year Tuesday, the Kings honored their past by unveiling a modest Hall of Fame on the concourse of Crypto.com Arena.

An hour later, this season’s Kings took the ice and made some history of their own, though not the kind they had hoped for, falling to the Florida Panthers 2-1 to open a season with three consecutive losses for the first time since 2020.

For Peter Laviolette, the history was even more unwanted since the team’s 0-2-1 start makes him the first Kings coach to go winless in his first three games since Robbie Ftorek in 1987.

Laviolette was a 23-year-old defenseman with the U.S. national team then. He would go on to win 934 NHL games as a coach, the most ever for an American, but he has yet to add to that total with the Kings. It didn’t help that two of the first three games with his new franchise came against Colorado and Florida, popular picks to finish the season in the Stanley Cup Final.

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Kings-Panthers summary

NHL scores

NHL standings

Adou Thiero stands out for Lakers

Lakers forward Adou Thiero looks to pass around Golden State forward Yaxel Lendeborg during the Lakers’ 124-98 preseason loss Tuesday.

(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: This was never going to be a game for the Lakers to remember. But with nearly half of the roster sidelined because of injuries or resting, Adou Thiero at least tried to inject some life into a sleepy preseason back-to-back.

Thiero’s towering one-handed dunk over two Golden State defenders provided a highlight in the Lakers’ otherwise forgettable 124-98 preseason loss to the Warriors at Chase Center on Tuesday. The Lakers leaned on their depth to get through their second short-handed preseason game in as many nights.

Guard Quentin Grimes, the only player starting a second consecutive game for the Lakers, had 12 points and three assists. Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili started at center and had 15 points and a trio of three-pointers. Thiero, getting a rare starting moment, scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds while Bronny James had four points and five assists in a starting role.

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Lakers-Warriors box score

NBA scores

MLB postseason schedule

DIVISION SERIES

National League

No. 2 Dodgers vs. No. 3 Atlanta
at Dodgers 5, Atlanta 3 (box score)
Atlanta 3, at Dodgers 2 (box score)
Dodgers 3, at Atlanta 1 (box score)
Wednesday at Atlanta, 3 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Friday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One

No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 4 San Diego
at Milwaukee 3, San Diego 2 (box score)
at Milwaukee 4, San Diego 3 (box score)
at San Diego 4, Milwaukee 3 (box score)
Wednesday at San Diego, 7 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Friday at Milwaukee, 1:30 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One

American League

No. 1 Tampa Bay vs. No. 4 New York
at Tampa Bay 1, New York Yankees 0 (box score)
at Tampa Bay 5, New York Yankees 2 (box score)
Wednesday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Saturday, Oct. 10 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox 3, at Cleveland 0 (box score)
Chicago White Sox 4, at Cleveland 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Chicago, 1 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Thursday at Chicago, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Saturday, Oct. 10 at Cleveland, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

* if necessary

NLCS starts Sunday, Oct. 11
ALCS starts Monday, Oct. 12
World Series starts Friday, Oct. 23

This Day in Sports History

1904 — Jack Chesbro registers his 41st victory of the season as New York defeats Boston 3-2.

1916 — Georgia Tech, coached by John Heisman, beats Cumberland 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in history.

1933 — Baseball World Series: NY Giants beat Washington Senators, 4-3 at Griffith Stadium to clinch 4 games to 1 series victory.

1935 — Baseball World Series: Detroit Tigers beat Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Navin Field for 4 games to 2 series win; Tigers win first championship in 5 WS appearances.

1945 — The Green Bay Packers score 41 points in the first quarter in a 57-21 win against the Detroit Lions.

1950 — Baseball World Series: New York Yankees beat Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium to sweep series, 4-0 for 13th WS title in team history; MVP: NY 2B Jerry Coleman.

1952 — Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-2 at Ebbets Field in Game 7 to tie own record 4th straight WS; MVP: NY 1B Johnny Mize.

1962 — Judy Kimball wins the LPGA championship with a four-stroke victory over Shirley Spork.

1967 — Tulsa wide receivers Ricky Eber and Harry Wood have the best day by a receiving duo in college football history. Eber has 20 receptions for 322 yards and three touchdowns, while Wood grabs 13 passes for 318 yards and three scores in Tulsa’s 58-0 win over Idaho State.

1970 — Willie Shoemaker wins his 6,033rd race to pass Johnny Longden as the winningest jockey. His first race was won on April 20, 1949.

1984 — Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown’s career rushing mark of 12,312 yards and Brown’s career mark of 58 100-yard rushing games in a 20-7 victory over New Orleans. Payton breaks the record on Chicago’s second play from scrimmage in the second half.

1985 — Lynette Woodard, captain of the women’s basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, is chosen to be the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

1995 — Coach Eddie Robinson gets his 400th victory as Grambling beats Mississippi Valley State 42-6.

2000 — Zamir Amin of Menlo College sets an NCAA all-divisions record, passing for 731 yards in the Division III school’s 37-32 loss to Cal Lutheran. Amin, 39-of-66 with four TDs and three interceptions, breaks the mark of 716 set by David Klingler of Division I-A Houston against Arizona State on Dec. 2, 1990.

2001 — San Diego’s Rickey Henderson becomes the 25th player with 3,000 hits with a bloop double in a 14-5 loss to Colorado.

2001 — Barry Bonds wraps up his record-breaking season with his 73rd homer and shatters the slugging percentage record that Babe Ruth had owned for 81 years. He finishes with a slugging percentage of .863, easily surpassing the mark of .847 that Ruth set in 1920.

2006 — Denis Hopovac’s fifth field goal of the game, in an NCAA record-tying seventh overtime, gives North Texas a 25-22 victory over Florida International. The other two seven-overtime games involved Arkansas — against Mississippi in 2001 and Kentucky in 2003.

2011 — Minnesota Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 73-67 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA championship series.

2012 — Drew Brees finishes 29 for 45 for 370 yards with four TD passes and an interception in New Orleans’ 31-24 win over San Diego. Brees breaks the NFL record by throwing a touchdown pass in his 48th straight game. His 40-yard pass to Devery Henderson eclipses the mark of 47 consecutive games set by Johnny Unitas from 1956-60.

2017 — Jarvion Franklin runs in from the 12 to give Western Michigan a 71-68 victory over Buffalo in a record-tying seven overtimes with a record-breaking 139 total points.

2017 — Backup Khalil Tate rushes for 327 yards, an FBS record for a quarterback, and accounts for five touchdowns to help Arizona hold off Colorado 45-42.

2017 — Alex Ovechkin scores four goals to become the first player in 100 years with back-to-back hat tricks to open a season, and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-1.

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Football forfeits have been happening. Athletic directors and coaches have been scrambling to make sure players are eligible and parental paperwork is accurate. That’s just a small part of the ethical dilemmas taking place in the high school sports world.

Let the debate begin on ethics

Nobody likes to be told what to do. Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Nobody likes bureaucracy because it moves slowly. Everybody likes to find shortcuts and to be told they are right. It’s almost a daily experience working in the high school sports world, figuring out ethical dilemmas and how to proceed.

Coaches are supposed to tell their players every season that hazing is wrong and won’t be tolerated. Then hazing happens, and the coach is the one held accountable, sometimes even losing their job.

There always are internal politics at play. A winning coach will be treated differently from a losing coach. That’s a fact. In my job as a sportswriter, I’ve been monitoring decisions on ethics for decades. I was around when the California Interscholastic Federation adopted lessons from the influential Michael Josephson, who created the Character Counts coalition. Awards continue to be given out to those who hold their ground and choose the ethically right decision to make.

Do you go out and check the address of transfer student or trust the paperwork submitted? Do you report another team using an ineligible player immediately or hold it back until right before the playoffs, causing the entire team to lose out on the playoffs because of forfeits?

Here’s a look at some of the challenges.

Tahj Skinner of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame accounted for four touchdowns — throwing for three and returning an interception for another— in a 28-21 win over Chaminade.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Tahj Skinner of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame intends to play safety for UC Davis. But he’s been doing such a fantastic job playing quarterback for the unbeaten Knights that being a wildcat quarterback could be in his future. He had three touchdown passes and returned an interception for a touchdown in a win over Chaminade. Here’s the report.

In a battle of very good defenses, Santa Margarita defeated Mater Dei 14-7. Here’s the report.

Another week, another historic win for unbeaten Cleveland in the City Section. The Cavaliers defeated longtime power Birmingham 14-9 in the West Valley League opener. Here’s the report.

In a battle of unbeaten teams, Corona del Mar got past Villa Park, 24-10. Here’s the report.

Granada Hills Kennedy (6-0) has won 20 consecutive Valley Mission League games.

Ceasar Reyes of Garfield continues to pile up rushing yards. He had 374 yards in 39 carries and scored five touchdowns in a 42-28 win over Bell. He‘d better bring doughnuts to his offensive linemen on Monday mornings.

Quarterback Shawn Sanders of Paracete had a game for the ages in a 56-36 win over St. Paul. He was 14 for 15 passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He kicked seven PATs and seven balls into the end zone for touchbacks. Did he bring out the water bottles too?

Corona Centennial has nine players in its football program with variations of the same first name. Here’s the report.

Here are this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s a look at top individual performances from the past week.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s games.

Here are this week’s top 10 rankings by The Times.

One of the great teams from the 2026-27 school year is going to end up being JSerra flag football. The Lions won the Southern Section Division 1 title last season and are even better this season with 21 consecutive victories. If any opponent gets close, that will be news.

You need to go watch the duo of quarterback Kate Meier and receiver Tessa Russell.

Carson has taken over as No. 1 in the City Section.

Girls’ volleyball

There’s a clear pecking order in the Southern Section. Mater Dei and Sierra Canyon have been the top teams all season. Mira Costa, Los Alamitos and Marymount are right behind.

Here are the latest Southern Section rankings.

Sierra Canyon, at 26-1, plays host to Marymount on Tuesday in a huge Mission League matchup.

Venice, Cleveland, Palisades and Chatsworth hold down the top spots in City Section rankings.

Notes…

Left-handed pitcher Joe Bell of La Cañada has committed to the Naval Academy….

Pitcher Ricky Aguilar from Gahr has committed to Cal State Bakersfield….

Sean Compton of Bonita has committed to play baseball at UC Riverside….

Offensive lineman Adam Fogleson of Mater Dei has committed to UC Davis….

Junior softball standout Scarlett LaBriola of Santa Margarita has committed to Stanford….

Junior softball standout Anna Plotke of Santa Margarita has committed to Maryland….

Gunner Welch is the new boys’ volleyball coach at Campbell Hall….

Senior basketball guard Cole Holden from Harvard-Westlake has committed to UC Riverside….

Defensive back Dean Gibson from Corona Centennial has committed to San Diego….

Leah Reynolds of Bonita has committed to play softball at Colorado State…..

Junior catcher Annabel Raftery of JSerra has committed to Stanford for softball….

It’s strange times at Van Nuys High, where baseball coach Andres Sepulveda was dismissed for building an illegal batting cage. The softball program also faces scrutiny for an unapproved fence and dugouts…

Yorba Linda’s football team has been forced to forfeit four victories, which means its record is 0-6 and making the playoffs would require earning an automatic berth from the Alpha League. The school district indicated there were violations involving bylaws 503.B (1) and 510, which involve administrative oversight and undue influence….

Todd Therrien, a former football coach at St. Bonaventure who won two state Division III championships, died on Sept. 30, the Ventura County Star reported. He was 47. He recently had a stroke and was a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury from a car accident in 2022. He succeeded Jon Mack in 2007….

Newport Harbor is No. 1 in the first Southern Section boys’ water polo rankings….

Freshman Emiliano Plascencia of Whitter has more than 100 goals for his water polo team this season.

(Los Angeles Times)

Whittier has a freshman water polo player scoring goals in bunches. Here’s the report. …

JSerra made it to the championship game in water polo at the Elite 8 tournament before losing to Cathedral Catholic….

The Southern Section football playoff pairings will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. That’s also the end of daylight savings time when the clocks move back one hour, so no sleeping in for coaches, parents or players….

The Luderer twins, Keira and Kelsey, from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame committed to Florida State for softball. Here’s the report….

Chaminade has begun construction of a $66-million project that will include new baseball and softball diamonds. Here’s the report.

From the archives: Jamie Dixon

Jamie Dixon was a star guard at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, went on to Texas Christian, became a top assistant to Ben Howland at Northern Arizona, then an assistant at Pittsburgh before becoming coach. He has been TCU’s coach since 2016.

Here’s a story from 2019 when Dixon was being considered for the UCLA coaching opening.

From Pittsburgh Magazine, a story on Dixon’s past in 2015.

Recommendations

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on Inglewood football coach Mil’Von James saying he played three ineligible players in Texas because he didn’t know they were ineligible outside of California.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how unbeaten Sierra Canyon’s football team has found a top sophomore linebacker in Eli Zamorano, who spent nearly three months living on Easter Island when he was 15.

From Yahoo, a story on former Mater Dei receiver Cooper Barkate having a breakout performance for Miami.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @latsondheimer.

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All season long, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase has been begging her team to empty the tank. In the winner-take-all Game 3 win over Dallas on Friday, it seems she took that too literally.

“The stress at this time of year is real,” said Becky Hammon, Las Vegas Aces coach and Nakase’s former mentor. “The pressure, you don’t get a lot of sleep. You’re not eating as well as you probably should. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. That was kind of scary actually to watch, and just you know, that little sucker popped right back up, though. Got right back up on that marker and kept it pushing.”

Nakase said Sunday she is fine and just battling exhaustion, something she is taking seriously in her quest to prioritize self-care.

“[My father] told me about 10 years ago when I never knew what I was going to do with my career, and he just said, ‘do not let your career ever get involved if your mental health or your health gets complicated,’” she said. “So when that happened, it definitely was like a wake-up call for me.”

But anyone who knows Nakase is not surprised to see her truly empty the tank like this. Ever since the Huntington Beach native and Marina High graduate was a walk-on to UCLA’s team in 1998, she has had an unwavering intensity.

“She has that [intensity] but with a smile on her face,” said her high school coach Pete Bonny. “From the get-go, this is who she is.”

In her second season as a WNBA coach, those around her have seen her willingness to adapt to the situation.

“She has always found ways to keep us winning,” Valkyries assistant coach Landon Tatum said. “Her ability to change in real time and make adjustments I think is the biggest difference for her this year.”

Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase talks with Kaitlyn Chen during Game 1 of a WNBA semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces in San Francisco on Sunday.

(Tony Avelar / Ap Photo/tony Avelar)

Nakase walked on at UCLA after turning down a scholarship offer from UC Irvine. With the Bruins, she became a starter and captain, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors in 2002 and finishing her career ranked 10th in program history with 358 assists.

The Bruins made two NCAA tournament appearances during Nakase’s four seasons.

In her first year as a WNBA head coach, Nakase led the Valkyries to the postseason, the first time an expansion team ever accomplished that feat. It earned her the league’s coach of the year award.

“If you put all 44 games together, all 44 of the regular season, I don’t know if there’s a team that played harder than her team every [game] for the 44 games, and that’s that’s a tribute to her,” Hammon said. “That’s the highest compliment I can give someone.”

This year, Golden State went even deeper with a first-round series win over Dallas after finishing the regular season with the league’s second-best record. After top seed Minnesota was upset in the first round, the Valkyries now have home court throughout the postseason.

“She always sticks to her plan,” said Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton about how she has seen Nakase grow this season. “Every single game she approaches with the utmost respect. I think it says a lot about her as a coach, and then what she expects of us. I think every single game I know what to expect going in, and I know what she wants of me, and I know what she expects of me. She makes us feel prepared.”

Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase raises the WNBA Coach of the Year award before a playoff game against the Minnesota Lynx on Sept. 17, 2025, in San José.

(Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)

Nakase was back on the sidelines on Sunday to face Hammon, wearing a heart monitor and trying to practice what she preaches about recovery. She ultimately led Golden State to a 71-60 win in Game 1 of the series.

Nakase does not plan on tempering her trademark fervor, even if this was an important learning experience. After all, she built an unlikely UCLA career and surging WNBA coaching career by sticking with who she is.

“She’s never been afraid that she knows she is going to mess up sometimes,” Tatum said. “Her ability to create a culture that fast, like that’s not easy. I think that’s when you kind of knew off top in training camp, like, oh yeah, I think she’s ready for this. She’s got this.”

Bruins’ Canada also thriving in WNBA playoffs

Dream guard Jordin Canada dribbles between New York Liberty center Han Xu, left, and guard Marine Johannes, right, during Game 1 of a WNBA semifinal series Sunday in Atlanta.

(Colin Hubbard / Associated Press)

The Associated Press’ Alan Cole highlighted a banner Sunday for UCLA alum Jordin Canada:

Jordin Canada scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half and had five steals to help the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals series.

DeWanna Bonner added 23 points and helped fill the void when Allisha Gray went down with a left hand injury in the second quarter. Atlanta once again played stellar defense, scoring 32 points off 21 forced turnovers, including 16 in a dominant third quarter. The 32 points off turnovers tied an all-time WNBA playoff record.

“Everybody stepped up, and that’s what we need,” Canada said. “Next-man up mentality. I just tried to do what I do best. I tried to be aggressive, find my shots and take my shots with confidence.”

Gray’s injury was the key moment of a very even first half. Neither team led by more than six points in a half that had 14 lead changes. New York went into the locker room with a slim 40-37 advantage. But Atlanta outscored New York 32-15 in the third quarter, seizing control with relentless defensive pressure.

“We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half,” Canada said. “We gave up a lot of defensive assignments, we weren’t playing up to our schemes and we just weren’t being aggressive enough on the offensive end.”

Angel Reese and Canada had three steals apiece in the third, keying a 13-3 run to start the half which gave Atlanta a lead it never surrendered. Seven New York players recorded at least one third-quarter turnover, and the team shot just four of 14 from the floor in a stretch that created a margin too big to overcome.

Oregon’s Lanning compares UCLA to national champs

Oregon coach Dan Lanning dodged questions this past week about the health of quarterback Dante Moore following a brutal hit during a win over USC by trying to focus on UCLA.

USC linebacker Desman Stephens II charged forward to tackle Moore on a run play on Sept. 26. Moore slid late and Stephens didn’t change course, lowering his shoulder and running into Moore’s head. Oregon players and fans were more offended after Stephens celebrated the play that nearly triggered a fight among the two teams and he was captured by NBC cameras smiling on the sideline while Moore was treated on the field before being transported to the hospital by ambulance. Stephens was ejected for targeting, but new NCAA rules allowed him to remain on the sideline and try to fire up his team during the second half.

A day after USC coach Lincoln Riley said he did not see Stephens’ sideline behavior and defended keeping him on the sideline in the second half, the school issued statements from Riley and Stephens apologizing for the hit and Stephens’ behavior while Moore received treatment. Stephens was suspended for one game.

Lanning called the play “disgusting” during his postgame news conference.

Oregon announced that Moore was diagnosed with a concussion, but tests showed no further injuries. Lanning said the team would be cautious as Moore recovers from the head injury.

Oregon, like UCLA, had a bye this past week and Lanning didn’t see reporters again until Wednesday. When asked for updates on Moore and for his thoughts on USC’s apologies and discipline, Lanning punted and instead compared UCLA to last year’s national champion.

“We’re about to play a UCLA team that reminds me a lot of Indiana from last year,” Lanning told reporters. “…Let’s just be honest. We’re not remotely close to what we need to be. We’re not remotely close.”

Lanning also said UCLA coach Bob Chesney texted him after the Ducks’ win over USC, offering to visit Moore if he had to remain in the hospital in Los Angeles. Moore instead was released and allowed to fly back to Oregon with his teammates.

Men’s water polo splits top-four matchups

The No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo split its marquee matchups to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play during the weekend.

The Bruins fell 19-15 to No. 2 Stanford on Saturday, but they rebounded for a 13-11 win over No. 4 California Sunday. Junior Ryder Dodd had five goals and three assists during the victory over the Golden Bears.

The Cardinal set a tougher pace on Saturday, leading by one goal at the end of the first, second and third quarters before extending their lead during a pivotal 7-4 fourth quarter. Dodd again paced the Bruins with four goals and five assists.

UCLA hosts Golden West College and California Baptist this weekend before the pressure rises again with a match at No. 3 USC on Oct. 17.

Bruins on deck

Here are all UCLA games scheduled to be played this week across all sports, with all times Pacific:

Tuesday, Oct. 6

Men’s soccer vs. Westmont, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 8

Women’s soccer vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 9

Men’s tennis at UC Santa Barbara Fall Classic, All day

Cross country at Wisconsin’s Nuttycombe Invite, Time TBA

Women’s volleyball at Maryland, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 10

Men’s tennis at UC Santa Barbara Fall Classic, All day

Football at Oregon, 12:30 p.m.

Men’s water polo vs. Golden West College, 1 p.m.

Women’s volleyball at Rutgers, 4 p.m.

Men’s water polo vs. California Baptist, 6 p.m.

Men’s soccer vs. Ohio State, 6 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 11

Men’s tennis at UC Santa Barbara Fall Classic, All day

Women’s soccer vs. Illinois, 1 p.m.

In case you missed it

How UCLA built one of the most dominant rushing attacks in the country

Ultimate SoCal college football sports bar guide: Where to watch your team

UCLA Unlocked: Bob Chesney’s Bruins enter bye week with momentum

Have something Bruin?

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

Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this report.

How the Dodgers get ready for the Braves

From Maddie Lee: The deciding game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves played silently on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard Thursday as Dodgers players practiced below.

The Dodgers were less than 48 hours away from the first pitch of the National League Division Series. The “2026 Postseason” decals had been freshly painted up the baselines that afternoon. All that was left to be decided was their opponent — the winner of the game serving as the backdrop of their intrasquad scrimmage.

About a half an hour after the Dodgers cleared the field, the Braves advanced to the NLDS with a 6-2 win over the Phillies. The Dodgers and Braves will open the best-of-five series at Dodger Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.

The Atlanta Braves finished off the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild-card round in three games and move on to face the Dodgers in the NLDS.

“We are the team to beat,” veteran utility player Kiké Hernández said. “We are the team that you have to go through. And that’s all nice words and everything, but we got to take care of business on the field. But I feel great about my team.”

The Dodgers are the reigning back-to-back champions and are aiming to become the first National League team to win three World Series in a row.

“Obviously it’s there, but it’s not something we’re really focused on,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said of the three-peat chase. “We’re trying to focus on ourselves getting ready this week, paying attention to whoever we might be playing and just trying to get ready for a postseason series the same way we’ve always gotten ready for it.”

Continue reading here

Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Braves in the NLDS

Shaikin: ‘Hired gun’ Tarik Skubal opens up on the pressure, pain and lessons of October

Lakers hire new PA announcer

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Derrin Horton’s first job was in public address announcing. His first passion was the Lakers. The longtime sports broadcaster’s new job is the marriage of both.

Horton will take over the mic as the Lakers’ home public-address announcer, the team announced Thursday, stepping into the role for legendary Lakers announcer Lawrence Tanter, who died last week.

“There’s no way you can fill his shoes,” Horton said in an interview with local reporters. “And so you just come here with a passion and a goal to be informative and entertaining and be a part of Showtime.”

Tanter, who provided the smooth, baritone soundtrack for Lakers home games for 43 seasons, suffered a stroke on March 17 and missed the final six regular-season home games and the playoffs last season. Tanter announced his retirement in June, transitioning to a game-day advisory role with the team. Horton, a former KTLA broadcaster who has worked as an anchor, reporter, host, play-by-play announcer and voice actor, reached out to the team about the opportunity.

Continue reading here

How UCLA build a formidable rushing attack

From Connor Dullinger: How you do one thing is how you do everything.

UCLA running backs coach A.J. Steward preaches it and it is the mantra adopted by the Bruins’ prolific running backs.

UCLA’s three-headed backfield, composed of fifth-year players Wayne Knight and Anthony Woods and senior Jaivian Thomas, is hailed for its undeniable impact on the ground, ranking first nationally in rushing touchdowns, third in yards per carry and fifth in yards per game this season.

Steward, who works in tandem with offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Smith, said it’s what his tailbacks do without the ball and the group’s commitment to each other that separates the group from the rest of the pack.

“The way we play without the ball in our hands is no different. It should be no different than what we do when we have the ball in our hands in terms of trying to make a play for our offense,” Steward said. “You cut the film on any of these guys, you’ll see they’re downfield making blocks. They’re there at the end of the play in case somebody puts the ball down [on] the ground and that’s because they hear it every day how you do anything’s how you do everything.”

Continue reading here

Ducks sign defenseman to big deal

The Ducks have signed promising young defenseman Tristan Luneau to a six-year contract extension worth $43.2 million after just 14 NHL appearances.

The Ducks announced the deal Thursday with the 22-year-old Luneau, whose promising career has been slowed by injury. Now healthy and ready for a full-time NHL role, he inked a long-term deal with the team that drafted him in the second round in 2022.

Luneau was the Quebec major junior league’s top defenseman in the 2022-23 season and he made the Ducks’ roster out of training camp the next fall. But Luneau came down with a viral infection that winter while practicing with Canada’s national junior team, forcing him to miss the rest of the year.

Continue reading here

MLB postseason schedule

Wild-card series
National League
No. 3 Atlanta vs. No. 6 Philadelphia
at Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3 (box score)
Philadelphia 4, at Atlanta 3 (10) (box score)
at Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 2 (box score)

Division series
National League

No. 2 Dodgers vs. No. 3 Atlanta
Saturday at Dodgers, 1 p.m., FOX/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Sunday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Tuesday at Atlanta, 3 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Wednesday at Atlanta, 3 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Friday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One

No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 4 San Diego
Saturday at Milwaukee, 5:30 p.m, FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Sunday at Milwaukee, 1 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
Tuesday at San Diego, 6:30 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Wednesday at San Diego, 7 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One
*Friday at Milwaukee, 1:30 p.m., FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes/FOX One

American League

No. 1 Tampa Bay vs. No. 4 New York
Saturday at Tampa Bay, 3:30 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Monday at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Wednesday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Saturday, Oct. 10 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

No. 2 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Chicago White Sox
Saturday at Cleveland, 10 a.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Monday at Cleveland, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
Wednesday at Chicago, 1 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Thursday at Chicago, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max
*Saturday, Oct. 10 at Cleveland, 2 p.m., TBS/truTV/UniMas/HBO Max

NLCS starts Sunday, Oct. 11
ALCS starts Monday, Oct. 12
World Series starts Friday, Oct. 23

This day in sports history

1906 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs American challenger ‘Fireman’ Jim Flynn in 15 rounds to retain his title in Los Angeles.

1950 — Jim Hardy throws six touchdown passes, including five to Bob Shaw, as the Chicago Cardinals pound the Baltimore Colts 55-13.

1970 — Fourteen members of the Wichita State football team are killed in a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains.

1980 — Larry Holmes registers a technical knockout in the 11th round against Muhammad Ali to win the world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

1983 — The Green Bay Packers score 49 points in the first half, including 35 in the second quarter, in a 55-14 rout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

1988 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, representing Canada, wins super-heavyweight gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; beats American Riddick Bowe by 2nd round TKO.

1991 — Steffi Graf becomes the youngest woman to win 500 matches as a pro when she beats Petra Langrova of Czechoslovakia 6-0, 6-1 in the Leipzig International Tournament.

1993 — In the first all-British world heavyweight title fight, Lennox Lewis retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seven-round knockout of Frank Bruno in Cardiff, Wales.

1993 — California rallies from a 30-0 deficit to beat Oregon 42-41. Dave Barr throws three second-half touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Iheanyi Uwaezuoke with 1:17 left in the game.

1994 — North Carolina’s 92-game winning streak in women’s soccer ends with a scoreless tie in overtime against Notre Dame.

1994 — Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins beat son Dave’s Cincinnati Bengals 23-7 in the first meeting between father and son coaches in pro sports.

2004 — Rice and San Jose State play in the highest-scoring regulation game in Division I-A history, with the Spartans winning 70-63. The 133 points surpass the total from Middle Tennessee’s 70-58 victory over Idaho on Oct. 6, 2001. The schools combine for 19 touchdowns to break the Division I-A record of 18.

2006 — Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth is given a five-game suspension — the longest for on-field behavior in NFL history — for stomping on Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s head and kicking him in the face.

2009 — Ninth-grader Alexis Thompson shoots a 3-under 69 for a share of the lead with top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and three others after the second round of the Navistar LPGA Classic.

2011 — Dallas has its largest lead blown in a loss in franchise history, frittering away a 24-point third-quarter cushion in a 34-30 loss to Detroit. The Lions turned a 20-point halftime deficit into an overtime win at Minnesota the previous week.

2016 — The United States win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008. Ryan Moore two-putts on No. 18 for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, giving the Americans a 15-10 lead that seals the win over Europe. The 17-11 victory over Europe is their biggest rout in 35 years at the Ryder Cup.

2016 — Atlanta’s Matt Ryan passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns, while wide receiver Julio Jones has 12 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown in Atlanta’s 48-33 win over Carolina.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1969 — Seattle Pilots’ last game in Seattle; crash to 98th season loss, 3-1 to Oakland in front of just 5,473; move to Milwaukee as the Brewers next season.

2001 — Sammy Sosa becomes the first player in major league history with three 60-homer seasons, but the Reds hold on for a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Sosa’s solo shot comes in the first inning.

2004 — Jeff Kent becomes all-time home run leader for MLB second basemen when he hits two in Astros’ 9-3 win over the Rockies; 302 overall HR to break Ryne Sandberg’s major league record established in 1997.

2004 — Montreal Expos earn the last win in the franchise’s MLB history, beating New York Mets, 6-3 at Shea Stadium; Brad Wilkerson hits the Expos’ final home run in ninth inning, his 32nd of the year.

2016 — Vin Scully calls his final Dodgers game after a record 67 MLB Seasons.

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.

Who’s ready (or not) for the Dodgers?

From Maddie Lee: Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker has never shied away from just how bad his performance at the plate was for much of his first season in Los Angeles.

For the first five months of the season, when he’d show brief glimpses of progress before sinking back into an extended slump, Tucker’s .683 OPS was the third-worst among Dodgers hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, better than only Hyeseong Kim and Kyle Freeland, who both spent time in triple A.

In September, however, he found a sustainable adjustment. He fixed his bat path, extending through the ball more consistently instead of pulling off of it. He posted a .889 OPS in September, on par with his four straight All-Star seasons before signing with the Dodgers.

Now, all of a sudden, he looks like a potential difference-maker in the postseason.

“The last month or so is more or less what I expect out of myself,” Tucker said in a recent conversation with The Times. “The biggest thing is we have an opportunity now being in the playoffs to win another World Series. Once the playoffs start, you can forget about any stats or personal numbers. The only one that really matters is the win column. So that’s just what I’m gonna try and contribute towards.”

Here’s how some other key players are trending going into the postseason:

Continue reading here

The Dodgers have an old roster. But that isn’t necessarily a drawback in October

Much competition to make Lakers’ roster

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Walker Kessler wasn’t focused on the stats. He wasn’t really counting the number of shots he swatted — “one or two” — or lobs he dunked — “like four probably” — in his official Lakers practice debut Tuesday.

The only thing the star center cared about was the competition on the court. He and his teammates delivered on that, Kessler said with a smile.

The Lakers opened training camp Tuesday with a focus on competition as the new-look team takes shape. Six of the team’s top nine players from last season are gone. A month’s worth of practices and five preseason games are the stage as players audition to fill the vacant roles.

“This is a meritocracy,” coach JJ Redick said. “You got to earn your minutes, and you cheer for your teammates while you’re doing it.”

Redick can confidently lock in three starters in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Kessler. The other two starting positions, and even the last spots on the roster as the Lakers need to trim at least one player to reach the NBA-maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts by the Oct. 21 season opener, remain up for grabs.

Continue reading here

Swanson: Lakers paid Austin Reaves to be a star. Now they need him to prove his durability

Olympic torch relay to start in Atlanta

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: She became an Olympic champion in Seoul. Janet Evans then won her fourth gold medal in Barcelona. But the star swimmer’s greatest Olympic moment came outside of a pool in Atlanta.

LA28 announced Tuesday it will begin the U.S. portion of the 2028 Olympic torch relay in Atlanta in a return to the city that hosted the United States’ last Summer Games and provided the Olympic movement with one of its most iconic torch relay moments. The city where Evans passed the Olympic flame to Muhammad Ali changed the swimming champion’s view on the Games and fueled her desire to bring the torch back as LA28 hopes to write an equally influential chapter of Olympic history.

“I realized when I carried that torch that the flame represents so much more than medals,” said Evans, now LA28’s chief athlete officer. “It certainly represents victory and all those attributes about the Olympics. But it also brings people together, and it’s a symbol of hope and what the Olympic movement really does for everyone.”

Continue reading here

MLB postseason schedule

National League
No. 3 Atlanta vs. No. 6 Philadelphia
at Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3 (box score)
Wednesday at Atlanta, 11 a.m., NBC/Peacock
*Thursday at Atlanta, 11 a.m., NBC/Peacock

No. 4 San Diego vs. No. 5 Chicago
at San Diego 8, Chicago 0 (box score)
Wednesday at San Diego, 7 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN
*Thursday at San Diego, 7 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN

American League
No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Chicago
Chicago 6, at Houston 3 (box score)
Wednesday, 2 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN
*Thursday, 2 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN

No. 4 New York vs. No. 5 Boston
at New York 9, Boston 0 (box score)
Wednesday, 5 p.m., NBC/Peacock
*Thursday, 5 p.m., NBC/Peacock

*-if necessary

Note: NLDS and ALDS start Saturday.
NLCS starts Sunday, Oct. 11
ALCS starts Monday, Oct. 12
World Series starts Friday, Oct. 23

This day in sports history

1939 — Fordham participates in the world’s first televised American football game. In front of the sport’s first live TV audience, the Rams defeats Waynesburg College, 34-7.

1984 — The Rams set an NFL record with three safeties in a 33-12 victory over the New York Giants. Two of the safeties are on blocked punts in the end zone.

1995 — Prairie View A&M sets the college football record for consecutive losses with a 64-0 loss to Grambling State. It is the team’s 51st straight defeat, an NCAA record for any level.

2007 — Osi Umenyiora has six of the New York Giants’ NFL record-tying 12 sacks in a 16-3 victory over Philadelphia.

2007 — Detroit scores an NFL-record, 34 points in the fourth quarter of a 37-27 victory over Chicago. The Lions combine with Bears for 48 points — also a league record.

2007 — Brett Favre passes Dan Marino to become the NFL leader in career touchdown passes, throwing Nos. 421 and 422 in Green Bay’s 23-16 victory over Minnesota.

2007 — Germany defeats Brazil 2-0 in the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Shanghai, China.

2012 — New England beats Buffalo 52-28 to become the first team since the 1950 New York Giants (48 points) to score at least 45 second-half points in a game in which it trailed at halftime (14-7). The Patriots become the second team in NFL history with a 300-yard passer (Tom Brady, 340 yards), two 100-yard rushers (Brandon Bolden, 137 and Steven Ridley, 106) and two 100-yard receivers (Wes Welker, 129 and Rob Gronkowski, 104). The only other team to accomplish the feat was the 2008 Packers.

2015 — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees that the NCAA’s use of college athletes’ names, images and likenesses in video games and TV broadcasts violate antitrust laws but strikes down a plan to allow schools to pay players up to $5,000.

2017 — Troy’s defense forces four turnovers and the surging Trojans upset No. 25 LSU 24-21. Troy is the first team from outside the Southeastern Conference to win in LSU’s Death Valley since UAB in 2000.

2018 — The Ryder Cup is won by Europe 17½-10½ at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines, France. The home team secures the victory when Phil Mickelson knocks one in the water at the par-3 16th hole, conceding his match to Francesco Molinari right on the tee box. Molinari becomes the first European player to go 5-0 in the competition since the current format was adapted in 1979. Tiger Woods loses all four of his matches, capped by a 2-and-1 loss to 23-year-old Jon Rahm of Spain, the youngest player in the event.

2018 — Brittney Griner scores 15 points to help the United States beat Australia 73-56 and win the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1904 — Doc White of the Chicago White Sox pitched his fifth shutout in eighteen days, a 4-0 win over the New York Yankees.

1915 — The Boston Red Sox clinched the American League pennant when St. Louis beat Detroit 8-2, giving Boston a 2 1/2-game margin.

1916 — New York’s Rube Benton pitched a 4-0 one-hitter over the Boston Braves to give the Giants their record 26th straight win in the first game of a doubleheader.

1927 — Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season in the eighth inning off Tom Zachary to lead the New York Yankees to a 4-2 victory over the Washington Senators.

1934 — Dizzy Dean beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-0, for his 30th victory of the year as the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL pennant.

1934 — New York’s Babe Ruth played his final game as a Yankee, going 0 for 3 with a walk, in a 5-3 loss to the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium.

1945 — Hank Greenberg’s grand slam in the top of the ninth inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Browns and the American League pennant on the last day of the season.

1947 — In the first televised World Series, the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 5-3, in the opening game.

1951 — Jackie Robinson homered in the 14th inning to give the Brooklyn Dodgers a 9-8 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, tying the New York Giants for first place in the National League and forcing a playoff.

1962 — Willie Mays homered to give the San Francisco Giants a 2-1 victory over the Houston Colt 45s in the season’s final day. That, coupled with the Dodgers’ 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, forced a playoff for the NL pennant.

1972 — Roberto Clemente doubled off Jon Matlack during Pittsburgh’s 5-0 victory over the New York Mets. The hit was the 3,000th and last for the Pirates star, who was killed in a plane crash during the offseason.

1984 — Mike Witt of the Angels tossed 97 pitches in a perfect game against the Texas Rangers, winning 1-0.

1988 — Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays lost a no-hit bid with two out in the ninth for the second consecutive start and finished with a 4-0 one-hitter over the Baltimore Orioles.

1992 — George Brett became the 18th player to get 3,000 hits in the Kansas City Royals’ 4-0 win over the Angels at Anaheim. Brett went 4-for-5 and got the milestone with a single in the seventh off rookie reliever Tim Fortugno.

2007 — The New York Mets missed the playoffs when Tom Glavine was tagged for seven runs during the first inning of a season-ending 8-1 loss to Florida. No major league team had owned a lead of seven games or more with 17 to play and failed to finish in first place. New York, which had that margin on Sept. 12, matched the largest lead blown in September.

2014 — The Kansas City Royals overcame a 7-3 lead to force extra innings and outlasted Oakland 9-8 in 12 innings in the AL wild-card playoff. This was the first wild-card game to go extra innings.

2017 — Detroit’s Andrew Romine became the fifth player in baseball history to play all nine positions in one game, helping the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Minnesota.

2022 — Pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens with two out in the 9th, Cal Raleigh blasts a 406-foot homer against Domingo Acevedo to give Seattle a 2-1 win over Oakland and clinch a postseason spot for the first time since 2001, the longest active drought in the majors.

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. League play begins this week in high school football for the best of the best. That means get ready for some great matchups in the Trinity League, the Mission League, the Alpha League, the Marine League and many others.

League play begins

Coach Carson Palmer of Santa Margarita will try to help his team win a Trinity League title.

(Craig Weston)

St. John Bosco’s Koa Malau’ulu looks to pass while pressured against Bishop Gorman.

(Ian Maule/ LA Times)

It’s time for a dose of reality. Lots of teams are off to great starts with nonleague schedules designed to get them enough early wins to be able to get an at-large playoff berth in case they stumble in league play.

League play begins, so some of the unbeaten teams are about to be no longer unbeaten.

Santa Margarita was the best team in the state in 2025, but the Eagles didn’t win the Trinity League. St. John Bosco was the champion, and with league play beginning Friday, both schools have ambitions to finish on top.

Santa Margarita (5-0) plays Mater De (3-2) in its opener at Saddleback College and St. John Bosco (4-1) hosts JSerra (4-1). The other league game is Servite (3-2) facing Orange Lutheran (3-2) at Orange Coast College.

What’s different this season is that any of the six Trinity teams look capable of winning on a given night. But some of the teams are about to be strengthened by the addition of sit-out period transfer students that become eligible effective Monday.

The Mission League is all about which team will finish second to unbeaten Sierra Canyon (5-0). A good Friday opener has Chaminade (5-0) hosting Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (5-0).

The new Alpha League will feature weekly battles with Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Edison, Yorba Linda, Los Alamitos and San Juan Hills. The likely title decider on Oct. 16 has Mission Viejo at San Clemente.

Harvard-Westlake has started 5-0, but the Wolverines receive their first major test with a Del Rey League opener against Salesian on Friday.

In the City Section, Birmingham, which has won every West Valley League title since 2018, faces unbeaten Cleveland on Friday at home in a West Valley League opener. San Pedro and Banning have their annual Marine League rivalry game Friday at Banning.

Marshall takes a 5-0 record into the start of Northern League play at Franklin.

Freedom day arrives

It’s freedom day on Monday for Southern Section football players who have been sitting out the first half of the season after transferring without moving.

St. John Bosco can’t wait to insert offensive tackle Elisha Mueller, a transfer from Servite and one of the top prospects from the Class of 2028. Also becoming available is sophomore defensive back Kingston Fatu, a transfer from Tustin who will help a secondary that has been struggling in trying to deny big plays.

Santa Margarita adds 6-foot-3, 285-pound sophomore transfer Karras Vandermade, a defensive lineman. Servite has six players who could compete for major roles, with four on defense that will add much needed depth. Orange Lutheran gains 6-5 tight end Hudson Ploog and linebacker Jamaal Fay, who started for two years at Leuzinger. JSerra adds 6-7, 315-pound offensive lineman Wyatt Martin.

Other schools are also about to be strengthened. Unbeaten Sierra Canyon adds physical wingback/linebacker Fletcher Thomas. Unbeaten Chaminade, hoping to challenge the Trailblazers in the Mission League, picks up sophomore receiver Champ Ross and junior cornerback Jayden Woods.

Long Beach Poly fans will get their first look at Mater Dei transfer Trevor Scott, a sophomore quarterback. Quarterback Daniel Mielke becomes eligible at Chino Hills. Corona Centennial gains Brody Black, an offensive lineman from Servite. San Clemente picks up receiver Titus King, a speedster from Santa Margarita. Amir Morton, a junior running back who transferred from Sierra Canyon, is expected to provide immediate help for Crespi.

Cornerback Tadd Mitchell, a Montana commit, joins Oxnard Pacifica along with lineman Miguel Macias Santiago.

Matix Frithsmith demonstrated his versatility in Hart’s 34-17 Foothill League win over Saugus. He rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns, including a 91-yard run. Here’s the report.

Corona Centennial traveled to Northern California to take on De La Salle and what a game it was. De La Salle won 35-32 behind Duece Jones-Drew, who rushed for 211 yards. Here’s the report.

Centennial has lost three close games to Santa Margarita, Mater Dei and De La Salle. As soon the Huskies get back to full strength with the return of standout safety/kicker Jaden Walk-Green and others, beware.

Cleveland High running back Moyosoreoluwa Odebunmi gives the thumbs-up after the Cavaliers defeated Crenshaw on the road.

(Joel Beers / For The Times)

Cleveland pulled off the upset of the week in going on the road to improve to 5-0 and beat Crenshaw. Here’s the report.

Also here’s a look at how 34-year-old Cleveland head coach Mario Guzman came up with one of the biggest wins in school history.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The TImes.

Here’s top individual performances from the past week.

Here’s the the Week 6 schedule.

Midseason report

Receiver Andrew Cordero (left) and quarterback Jeremy Mellalieu have led Chaminade to a 5-0 start.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

It’s midseason in high school football, so it’s a good time to check who has lived up to expectations or come out of nowhere to be a major contributor.

Here’s a look.

Is CIF powerless?

When a coach takes his team out of state and plays two players who are listed on the Southern Section transfer portal as not being cleared to play and are also missing from the team’s MaxPreps roster to possibly prevent others from knowing who’s playing, is a two-game coach suspension adequate punishment?

That’s the scenario involving Inglewood football coach Mil’von James, who missed two games after the Southern Section alerted the school that James played two ineligible players during a game in Texas last month. Since Inglewood lost, forcing the school to forfeit was moot. James returned to coaching the team on Friday and told the Daily Breeze that it was an “administrative decision” for him to sit out two games.

The Southern Section has no power to discipline James, but schools and districts are expected to impose appropriate punishment for violating CIF rules.

Here’s a look at what’s at stake.

Oxnard quarterback Ryanna Harris has scored 33 touchdowns and thrown for 13 more in 16 games.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

JSerra is 19-0 with few teams being able to give the Lions much competition these days.

Here’s a look at this week’s top 10 flag football rankings by The Times.

Huntington Beach won its own tournament championship.

Los Angeles Wilson is off to a 9-1 start and could be the favorite in the City Section. Wilson at defending City Section Open Division champion Marshall on Monday is a big Northern League opener.

Carson is 8-3 and has handed the only loss to Wilson.

Girls golf

Santa Margarita keeps producing low scores in girls golf.

The defending Southern Section Division 1 champions are stronger than ever. The team is 6-0 and 3-0 in the Trinity League.

All-female officiating crew

An all-female officiating crew for Orange County game on Thursday: Kristi Wilson (left, head linesman), Sarita Stamps (back judge), Mary Margaret Montgomery (referee), MaryAnne Menlove (umpire), Nina Berbiglia (line judge).

(Orange County Officials Assn.)

An all-female officiating crew is set to become a first for the Orange County Football Officials Assn. when they work a Thursday game between La Quinta and Garden Grove Santiago on Thursday night at Garden Grove High.

Notes . . .

There’s trouble brewing at Van Nuys High, where the baseball coach has been removed for building an unauthorized batting cage during the summer. Also the softball field had a protective fence demolished earlier this week that was a safety measure to protect fans and dugouts could be next demolished. Here’s the report.

Here’s the latest Southern Section girls volleyball rankings….

El Camino Real’s boys’ soccer team, going for a third straight City Section championship, has three players committed to Cal State Northridge. Here’s the report….

In girls’ tennis, Corona del Mar defeated Portola in a rematch of last year’s Division 1 final. Here’s a report….

Orange Lutheran baseball player Evan Dugdale has committed to Oklahoma….

Junior catcher Jordan Lindsay of Birmingham has committed to Wake Forrest….

Junior pitcher Eli Martinez of Aquinas has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

Jaylen Maroney of Edison has committed to Sacramento State for women’s soccer….

Junior pitcher Julian Pardinas of La Mirada has committed to UCLA….

Junior pitcher Jayden Singer of Calabasas has committed to USC….

Junior outfielder/pitcher Noah Esquival of South Hills has committed to St. Mary’s….

Left-handed pitcher Charlie Hoye of Palos Verdes has committed to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo….

Standout guard Davey Smith from Windward has committed to San Diego State….

Shooting guard Jeremiah Profit from Rancho Christian has committed to Northwestern….

Junior softball player Bailey Holder from Long Beach Poly has committed to Washington….

Junior slapper Makayla Encinas of Chino Hills has committed to UCLA….

Devon Richardson is the new basketball coach at Sun Valley Poly, replacing Joe Wyatt, who’s now the coach at North Hollywood. He was an assistant coach at L.A. Valley College and former head coach at Blair….

Joe Heinz, the commissioner of the CIF San Diego Section, has died. He was 56….

The Southern Section has announced its playoff schedule for fall sports. Here’s the link.…

Southern Section schools are required to pick a 14-day dead period each summer that all their sports teams have to follow. Now there’s a proposal to allow basketball players participate in CIF-approved recruiting events known as Section 7 and CaliLive. It will be voted on next year by the Southern Section Council….

Sophomore quarterback Marcus Washington of Cajon has committed to Kentucky….

Offensive lineman Kaden Franco of St. John Bosco has committed to Brown….

From the archives: Vernon Adams

Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. in 2014.

(Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)

After being a star quarterback at Bishop Alemany, Vernon Adams went on to play quarterback at Eastern Washington and Oregon and has made a strong career in the Canadian Football League. They season playing for the Calgary Stampeders, he has passed for 3,261 yards and 27 touchdowns.

He’s 33 and has been playing in Canada since 2016.

Here’s a story from 2010 about his talent against Crespi.

Here’s a story from 2014 when he was putting up big numbers for Eastern Washington.

Recommendations

From Frontofficesports, a story on how private equity can be helpful for youth sports.

From San Gabriel Valley Tribune, a story looking at USC-bound Gavin Williams of Damien.

From The Times, a look at Orange junior quarterback Star Thomas III.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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Season on the brink for Pelinka, Redick

From Bill Plaschke: They mentioned “The Odyssey,” they talked about “Lord of the Rings,” they referenced “The Hobbit,” they cited the hero’s journey, they predicted a season filled with mythological tales of triumph.

What they didn’t promise was that their Lakers’ team would contend for a championship.

What they couldn’t mention was what will happen to them if they don’t.

The bard Rob Pelinka? Off with your head!

The soothsayer JJ Redick? Drawn and quartered!

In their annual pre-training camp news conference at their practice facility Thursday, Pelinka and Redick talked about fictional characters perhaps because the reality is too grim for words.

Their jobs are on the line with a rebuilding team that might not be good enough to save them, and no amount of cute Gandalf references can change that.

Lakers’ new era opens with a thanks for the LeBron James era

Continue reading here

Dodgers lose to Padres

From Kevin Baxter: The Dodgers didn’t win Thursday. But they got something far more valuable before they even took the field for their 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.

With the Atlanta Braves’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds earlier in the day, the Dodgers clinched the second seed in the National League playoffs and the first-round bye that goes with it. That means the Dodgers will get five days off next week to prepare for their playoff opener, a godsend for a bruised and bloodied team that has stumbled to the finish of the regular season.

“I think we all know why it’s important,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said of the break. “There’s a lot of us kind of limping toward the end here, a lot of aches and pains this year.”

For the Padres (89-70), the victory was important because it clinched a wild-card berth and a franchise-record third consecutive trip to the postseason.

In addition to Freeman, who has been hobbled all month by a sore right knee, the Dodgers are rushing to get designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, starting pitcher Blake Snell and closer Edwin Díaz healthy.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: For the Dodgers, the varsity will take it from here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels defeat Athletics

Christian Moore hit a two-run double and had three RBIs, Bryce Teodosio drove in two runs, and the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Thursday night.

Moore’s RBI single in the second gave the Angels a 1-0 lead, and Teodosio’s one-run groundout pulled the Angels within 3-2 in the fifth before Zach Neto drove in the tying run.

Moore plated two more runs in the sixth with a double to put the Angels back on top for good, 5-4. Teodosio capped the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Nneka Ogwumike stars in final game

From Marisa Ingemi: The Sparks’ season was mere seconds away from ending on a high note. Then, the Golden State Valkyries scored 13 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to dissolve a double-digits Sparks lead.

Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike concluded her WNBA career with 17 points and 15 rebounds in the 76-75 loss to the Valkyries. Her double-double was her 19th this season, which set a Sparks single-season record.

Immediately after the game, the Sparks announced that they would name their new practice facility in El Segundo after Ogwumike, who retires as the Sparks’ all-time leading scorer.

The loss itself mattered little. The Sparks were eliminated from postseason contention nearly a month ago after beginning with championship aspirations. In one of their most disappointing seasons to date because of the expectations attached, the Sparks go into the offseason trying to put the pieces together again

Continue reading here

Aaron Donald wants to earn his spot

From Gary Klein: Aaron Donald is still earning his spot.

In his mind, anyway.

During defensive line drills, the Future Hall of Famer continues to go third — even when groups are split — rather than lead.

“Earning my keep right now,” Donald said after Rams practice Thursday. “I’m a guy that likes to work and earn everything I get.”

Donald, 35, has one game under his belt after returning from a two-year retirement to rejoin the team that selected the three-time NFL defensive player of the year in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.

Donald played 33 snaps in the Rams’ 28-6 victory over the New York Giants on Monday. He made three tackles, including one for a loss.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1866 — Jerome Park, named for its founder Leonard Jerome, opens in the Bronx in New York. Jerome, seeking to emulate the British racing system, also establishes the American Jockey Club, precursor to the present Jockey Club, formed in 1894.

1920 — Molly Bjurstedt Mallory wins her fifth title in six years with a two-set victory over Marion Zinderstein in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships.

1926 — Walter Hagen wins his third straight and fourth overall PGA Championship. Hagen beats Leo Diegel 4 and 3 in the championship match at Salisbury Golf Links in Westbury, N.Y.

1949 — Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women’s Open by 14 strokes over Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

1962 — Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson at 2:06 of the first round at Comiskey Park in Chicago to win the world heavyweight title.

1966 — Gloria Ehret wins the LPGA Championship by three strokes over four-time champion Micke Wright.

1982 — Ricky Edwards rushes for 177 yards and four touchdowns to help Northwestern end its 34-game losing streak in a 31-6 victory over Northern Illinois.

1988 — Americans sweep the medals in the long jump at the Seoul Olympics; Carl Lewis wins his second gold of the Games with leap of 8.72m ahead of teammates Mike Powell & Larry Myricks.

1988 — Super swimmer Matt Biondi wins his fifth gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious American 4 x 100m medley relay team.

1994 — Oliver McCall scores a major upset by stopping Lennox Lewis 31 seconds into the second round to capture the WBC heavyweight title in London.

1995 — Jerry Rice has 181 yards receiving in San Francisco’s 27-24 loss to Detroit. It’s his 51st 100-yard game, which breaks Don Maynard’s NFL record.

1997 — WNBA announces it will add Detroit & Washington, D.C. franchises.

2000 — American basketball player Vince Carter jumps over 7 foot 2 Frédéric Weis in 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as “le dunk de la mort” (the dunk of death).

2004 — Bobby Seck of Hofstra throws eight touchdown passes to tie an Atlantic 10 mark and set a school record in the Pride’s 62-43 victory over Rhode Island.

2005 — Fernando Alonso becomes Formula One’s youngest champion by finishing third in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Alonso, 24, a six-time winner in his third full season in Formula One, ends Michael Schumacher’s five-year hold on the title.

2010 — Collingwood and St. Kilda plays to a 68-68 tie, the first in an Australian Rules football grand final since 1977, setting up a rematch to decide the league title.

2011 — The Detroit Lions snap a 13-game losing streak with a 26-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions, who won in the Metrodome for the first time since 1997, are 3-0 for the first time since 1980.

2013 — Skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA win the America’s Cup with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history to keep the oldest trophy in international sports in the United States. Spithill steers Oracle’s space-age, 72-foot catamaran to its eighth straight victory, speeding past Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand in the winner-take-all Race 19 on San Francisco Bay. All but defeated a week ago, the 34-year-old Australian and his international crew twice rallies from seven-point deficits to win 9-8.

2016 — Rory McIlroy rallies to enter a three-man playoff and win the FedEx Cup. After trailing by three shots with three holes to play in the Tour Championship, McIlroy holes a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole to win the playoff and claim the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus.

2022 — Laver Cup Men’s Tennis, London: Team World sweeps final day for 13-8 victory over Team Europe; tournament marks retirement of Roger Federer.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1941 — Pete Reiser’s homer and Whitlow Wyatt’s five-hitter helped Brooklyn beat the Boston Braves 6-0 and clinch the Dodgers’ first pennant in 21 years.

1955 — Detroit’s Al Kaline, at the age of 20, became the youngest player to win a batting title, finishing his second season with a .340 average. Ty Cobb was one day older when he won the crown, batting .350 in 1907, also playing for Detroit.

1956 — Sal Maglie of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

1960 — The New York Yankees clinched manager Casey Stengel’s 10th and last American League pennant with a 4-3 victory over Boston.

1965 — Satchel Paige, at 60, became the oldest player in the majors, taking the mound for Kansas City and pitching three scoreless innings over the Boston Red Sox. He gave up one hit, to Carl Yastrzemski.

1965 — Willie Mays, who hit 51 home runs in 1955, joined Ralph Kiner as only the National Leaguers to have more than one 50-home run season.

1974 — Dr. Frank Jobe transplanted a tendon from Tommy John’s right wrist to the Dodger pitcher’s left elbow. The revolutionary ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction allowed John to win an additional 164 games, more than half of his career total of 288 victories.

1980 — Oakland’s Brian Kingman lost his 20th game when the A’s were defeated by the Chicago White Sox 6-4. Kingman was the first pitcher to lose 20 games with a winning team since Dolf Luque went 13-23 for the 1922 Cincinnati Reds.

1984 — Rusty Staub of the Mets became the second player to hit homers as a teenager and past his 40th birthday. Staub’s game-winning home run off Larry Anderson to give the Mets a 6-4 victory over Philadelphia at Shea Stadium. Ty Cobb was the other major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

1987 — San Diego’s Benito Santiago set a modern major league record for rookies by hitting safely in his 27th consecutive game in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers.

1998 — The New York Yankees set the AL record for wins with their 112th, beating Tampa Bay 6-1 to break the victory mark held by the 1954 Cleveland Indians.

2001 — Richie Sexson and Jeromy Burnitz became the first teammates to hit three home runs apiece in a game as Milwaukee defeated Arizona 9-4.

2003 — Toronto’s Carlos Delgado became the sixth player to homer in four straight at-bats in one game as the Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-8 at SkyDome. Delgado tied the game at 8-8 in the eighth with his fourth homer, a solo shot off Lance Carter.

2007 — Prince Fielder, at 23 years, 139 days old, became the youngest major league player to hit 50 home runs in a season, connecting twice in Milwaukee’s 9-1 rout of St. Louis.

2013 — The New York Yankees failed to make the playoffs for only the second time in 19 years, getting mathematically eliminated during their 8-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

2016 — Jose Fernandez, 24, ace right-hander for the Miami Marlins, was killed in a boating accident.

2017 — Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s major league record for home runs by a rookie, hitting a pair for the second straight day to raise his total to 50 and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 11-3.

2018 — Max Scherzer became the 17th pitcher since 1900 to strike out 300 batters in a season, reaching that milestone by fanning 10 in seven innings during Washington’s 9-4 win over Miami.

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.

Dodgers lose to Padres

From Maddie Lee: Shohei Ohtani’s swing was a little out in front of a slider delivered by Padres left-hander Robbie Ray. But Ohtani held back his hands long enough to extend them to the pitch and shoot it through the right side of the infield.

It wasn’t flashy. But considering it was his first at-bat in more than two weeks, in a tough matchup no less, it was a promising sign.

“It’s been a while since he’s played in a game, but it just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 5-1 loss to the Padres. “And I think he came out of it pretty well.”

The good news quickly dried up for the Dodgers after that, as they missed a chance to clinch a first-round bye with a win. But Ohtani’s return was still significant, and the success of his end-of-season tune-up will have playoff implications.

Ohtani did not address reporters Wednesday and has only done so once in the last five weeks, despite multiple requests.

The Dodgers activated Ohtani, who went one-for-four Wednesday, from the 15-day IL before the game and optioned rookie Josue De Paula to Triple A. De Paula is still under consideration for the National League Division Series roster as a bat off the bench.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Lakers icon Lawrence Tanter dies

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Lakers’ longtime public address announcer Lawrence Tanter died Wednesday, the team announced. He was 76.

Remembered for his smooth, baritone voice, Tanter served as the voice of the Lakers for more than four decades. Tanter narrated chapters of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and now Luka Doncic. After a stroke suffered in March forced him to retire from his game day role, he transitioned to an advisory role in June.

“For 43 years, LT’s voice served as the soundtrack to Lakers games at the arena,” the team said in a statement Wednesday. “He will be remembered as a cherished member of the Lakers family.”

Tanter started with the team in 1982 when the Lakers played in the Forum. His signature calls — “toooo many steps,” “Kobeee Bryant,” “Lllaker Girlsss” — were not boastful or over the top. For a franchise that came to embody old Hollywood glamour, Tanter’s voice became the ideal soundtrack.

Continue reading here

Angels lose to Athletics

Donovan Walton hit a three-run homer and rookie Henry Bolte had his first four-hit game to help the Athletics beat the Angels 7-3 on Wednesday night.

The Angels (60-98) are trying to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history.

Lawrence Butler had an RBI single and Walton hit his ninth home run, a two-out shot off rookie Walbert Ureña (9-11) for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Bolte went four for five, scored two runs and had an RBI double in the second that put the Athletics (63-95) up 5-0.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Is Oregon game a big one for USC or not?

From Ryan Kartje: When USC and Oregon meet Saturday at the Coliseum, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Trojans coach Lincoln Riley. A win could catapult USC into serious contention for the College Football Playoff. A loss could send its season into a sudden spiral. And looming over it all are questions about the coach’s future — questions that could be answered, at least in part, by the Trojans’ performance this week.

“It’s definitely an important game,” Riley said Tuesday. “There’s no question about it.”

But ask his star quarterback if there’s any extra motivation this week to beat Oregon, and you won’t exactly get the same sentiment.

“Eh, not really,” Jayden Maiava said. “We’re just kind of attacking it the same every single week.”

Or what about the Trojans starting left tackle?

“It’s the exact same [this week],” senior Elijah Paige said. “We treat every opponent the exact same.”

Continue reading here

Our new Trojans podcast has launched

Why has it been so hard for USC football to compete for a national title after setting the standard in college football during Pete Carroll’s tenure?

Times USC beat reporter Ryan Kartje spent the past four years conducting more than 100 interviews, gaining new insight into the football program’s dramatic rise, fall and difficult push to return to national relevance.

Today, we begin sharing that story with you in “House of Troy,” a new narrative podcast from L.A. Times Studios available now on Spotify and Apple.

Check out Episode 1: “Win Now.”

In the late 1990s, USC football was in desperate need of a revival. The school turned to an unpopular choice: Pete Carroll, a former NFL coach. What happened next would transform USC into a college football powerhouse and Carroll into the face of a modern dynasty. In the first episode of “House of Troy,” Kartje takes us back to the beginning of the Carroll era and the drama that unfolded on and off the field.

Listen to “House of Troy” now on Spotify and Apple.

Puka Nacua still questionable for Sunday

From Gary Klein: Rams star receiver Puka Nacua remains sidelined because of groin soreness and his status for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos is unclear, coach Sean McVay said Wednesday.

Nacua was not scheduled to participate in a light team jog-through. Asked if he expected Nacua to play against the Broncos, McVay said, “I’m not sure.”

Will Nacua practice this week?

“I would say it’s more likely than not, but we’ll see,” McVay said.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1930 — The Portsmouth Spartans beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 12-0 in the first NFL game played under floodlights. More than 6,000 fans turn out on an unseasonably warm evening to watch the game at the new University Stadium.

1950 — Philadelphia’s Russ Craft has four interceptions to lead the Eagles in a 45-7 rout of the Chicago Cardinals. Chicago quarterback Jim Hardy sets an NFL record by throwing eight interceptions.

1953 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Rolando La Starza in the 11th round at the Polo Grounds in New York to retain his world heavyweight title.

1967 — Jim Bakken of St. Louis Cardinals kicks an NFL-record seven field goals to give the Cardinals a 28-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. His longest field goal is 33 yards.

1971 — The World Hockey Assn. announces its formation with 12 teams to start play in October 1972.

1988 — American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets new world record 7,291 points to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; East Germans Sabine John & Anke Behmer take the minor medals.

1988 — American swimmer Matt Biondi sets world record 22.14 to win the 50m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; his fourth of five gold medals for the Games.

1988 — Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson breaks his own 100m world record with a time of 9.79 at the Seoul Olympics; disqualified three days later for use of drug stanozolol; Carl Lewis awarded gold and world record 9.92.

1993 — Juniata’s women’s volleyball team beats Washington of St. Louis to end Washington’s NCAA-record winning streak at 59 matches.

1994 — Washington ends Miami’s NCAA-record home winning streak at 58 with a 38-20 victory against the Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl.

1995 — On the final day of competition, Europe rallies past the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y. Europe takes seven singles matches to win its first Ryder Cup since 1989.

2001 — Green Bay’s 37-0 shutout of Washington ends the Redskins’ NFL record of scoring in 231 consecutive road games.

2006 — The Europeans turn the Ryder Cup into another rout, winning 18 1/2-9 1/2 and becoming the first European team to win three straight times.

2006 — Washington’s Mark Brunell breaks the NFL record for most consecutive passes completed in a game when he connects on his first 22 throws in a 31-15 win over the Houston Texans.

2011 — Dwayne De Rosario scores the quickest hat trick in MLS history, leading D.C. United to a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake.

2012 — Russell Wilson throws a disputed 24-yard touchdown to Golden Tate on the final play of the game, and the Seattle Seahawks rally to beat the Green Bay Packers 14-12.

2013 — Skipper Jimmy Spithill and defending champion Oracle Team USA extend their winning streak to seven to force a winner-take-all America’s Cup finale against Emirates Team New Zealand.

2016 — Daniel Carlson kicks six field goals and Auburn beats No. 18 LSU 18-13 after a ruling that Danny Etling’s apparent last-gasp scoring pass comes after time expired.

2017 — Peter Sagan of Slovakia becomes the first man to win three straight road race titles after holding off Norway’s Alexander Kristoff at the World Cycling Championships.

2017 — Diego Valeri scores twice to extend his MLS-record scoring streak to nine straight games and Portland beats Orlando City 3-0. Valeri moves in front of NYCFC’s David Villa for most goals this season with 20.

2017 — Jake Elliott kicks a 61-yard field goal as time expires to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 27-24 victory over the New York Giants. It is the longest by a rookie in NFL history.

2017 — Laver Cup Men’s Tennis, Prague: Roger Federer is unbeaten as Team Europe dominates Team World, 15-9 in the inaugural teams event.

2018 — Real Madrid midfielder & Croatian World Cup captain Luka Modrić is named world’s best male player at the FIFA Awards in London; Brazil & Orlando Pride forward Marta best female player; France’s Didier Deschamps best men’s coach.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1940 — Jimmie Foxx of the Red Sox hit his 500th career home run off Philadelphia’s George Caster in the first game of a doubleheader at Shibe Park. Foxx’s homer came in the sixth inning after Ted Williams homered. Joe Cronin followed with a homer and, later in the inning, Jim Tabor also homered. The four homers in the inning were a first in the AL.

1969 — The New York Mets clinched the NL East title, with Gary Gentry pitching a four-hitter in a 6-0 victory over St. Louis.

1974 — Detroit’s Al Kaline doubled down the right-field line off Dave McNally of Baltimore for his 3,000th career hit. The Orioles beat the Tigers 5-4 at Memorial Stadium.

1977 — Jack Brohamer of the Chicago White Sox had four extra base hits and hit for the cycle in an 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome.

1984 — Rick Sutcliffe threw a two-hitter and led the Chicago Cubs to the NL East title with a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

1988 — Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays, one strike from a no-hitter, gave up a bad-hop single to Julio Franco. Stieb settled for a 1-0, one-hit victory over Cleveland.

1998 — Boston’s Tom Gordon set a major league record for most consecutive saves with his 42nd to preserve the Red Sox’ 9-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

2004 — The Atlanta Braves clinched their 13th consecutive division title, winning the NL East with an 8-7 victory over the Florida Marlins. The Braves’ record streak of division championships began with the 1991 NL West title and excludes the 1994 strike-shortened season.

2006 — Trevor Hoffman became baseball’s career saves leader, earning No. 479 to pass Lee Smith and help NL West-leading San Diego beat Pittsburgh 2-1. It was his NL-leading 43rd save in 48 chances.

2008 — Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth inning of the Angels’ 6-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners to end the season with a major league record 62 saves.

2014 — The New York Yankees were eliminated from postseason contention after losing to the AL East champion Orioles 9-5. The Yankees missed the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1992 and ’93.

2016 — Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3-0 to send New York to its third consecutive shutout defeat — the first time that has happened to New York since 1975.

2022 — The Braves’ Kyle Wright, who had only won two regular season games in four seasons, becomes the first 20-game winner in the majors this year with a 6-3 win over Philadelphia. The win moves Atlanta within one and a half games of the Mets, holders of first place in the NL East.

2025 — Seattle clinches its first AL West division title since 2001 with a 9-2 win over Colorado. Cal Raleigh has a two-homer game for the 12th time this season to become only the seventh player in history to reach the 60 mark.

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.

Dodgers win, Shohei Ohtani to return

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers have less than a week left of the regular season to round into playoff form. And their roster moves for this series reflect that time crunch.

Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Tuesday that Shohei Ohtani (right biceps, left knee) was set to be reinstated from the 15-day injured list on Wednesday. Ohtani is feeling “considerably” better than he was before the IL stint, according to Roberts.

“I would say if he was a five, he’s probably an eight or a nine right now,” Roberts said before eight pitchers led the Dodgers’ 7-0 win against the San Diego Padres in the series opener.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers trimmed their magic number to clinch a first-round bye to one. And before the game, they returned two other important postseason pieces, reinstating center fielder Andy Pages (fractured left hand) and right-hander Roki Sasaki (right middle finger blister) from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Dodgers optioned right-hander Emmet Sheehan and catcher Eliézer Alfonzo to triple-A Oklahoma City.

Continue reading here

Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing will have chance to make case for postseason roster spot

The Dodgers’ Josue De Paula can hit. Now he’s out to prove he can play defense, too

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to Athletics

Carlos Cortes and Zack Gelof each hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Athletics rallied past the Angels 9-7 on Tuesday night.

Cortes launched a drive to right-center off Sam Bachman (1-3) to give the A’s a 7-6 lead, and Gelof cemented the comeback from a 6-0 deficit they faced just two innings before.

Cortes came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and finished two for two with a triple and three RBIs. He also scored twice.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Our new Trojans podcast has launched

Why has it been so hard for USC football to compete for a national title after setting the standard in college football during Pete Carroll’s tenure?

Times USC beat reporter Ryan Kartje spent the past four years conducting more than 100 interviews, gaining new insight into the football program’s dramatic rise, fall and difficult push to return to national relevance.

Today, we begin sharing that story with you in “House of Troy,” a new narrative podcast from L.A. Times Studios available now on Spotify and Apple.

Check out Episode 1: “Win Now.”

In the late 1990s, USC football was in desperate need of a revival. The school turned to an unpopular choice: Pete Carroll, a former NFL coach. What happened next would transform USC into a college football powerhouse and Carroll into the face of a modern dynasty. In the first episode of “House of Troy,” Kartje takes us back to the beginning of the Carroll era and the drama that unfolded on and off the field.

Listen to “House of Troy” now on Spotify and Apple.

Nneka Ogwumike grateful for her career

From Marisa Ingemi: Nneka Ogwumike answered the same question she’s been facing for almost two months.

Why now? Why leave the WNBA when she still leads the Sparks in scoring and rebounding, has played a central role in helping the league negotiate a transformative new collective bargaining agreement and returned to the city where her pro career began?

Ogwumike is at peace with her decision. And when she steps onto the court in a Sparks jersey for the last time Thursday, she will do it without regrets.

“I’m mostly grateful,” Ogwumike said. “I haven’t really been thinking much else besides just being grateful for the opportunity to have had a 15-year career in the WNBA and also to finish in a Sparks jersey.”

Continue reading here

Sparks fall to Aces

Four-time MVP A’ja Wilson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Aces to an 89-79 victory over the Sparks on Tuesday night and clinch at least a No. 3 playoff seed for Las Vegas.

The Aces (30-13), on a six-game winning streak, will get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Sunday. If the standings hold, they would face No. 6 seed Washington (27-16) in the best-of-three series.

Chelsea Gray scored 17 points of for the Aces, Stephanie Talbot had 14 points and Jackie Young totaled 14 points and 11 assists.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

Puka Nacua’s status uncertain for Sunday

From Gary Klein: The Rams aim to ride the momentum gained from Monday night’s victory over the New York Giants into Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos in Denver.

But it remains to be seen whether star receiver Puka Nacua will be available.

Nacua sat out against the Giants because of groin soreness.

“I’m not sure what his status is as far as this next coming week,” coach Sean McVay said Tuesday during a video conference with reporters. “I’m hopeful that he’ll play. … If he’s ready to go, great. If not, then we’ll continue to roll.”

Continue reading here

Some insight into the next men’s World Cup squad

From Kevin Baxter: The U.S. bowed out of this summer’s World Cup with an uninspired loss to Belgium in the round of 16, the same place it has exited the three previous World Cups in which it has played. For U.S. Soccer’s much ballyhooed “golden generation,” it was a performance that hardly shone and a sign that whatever progress the federation has made over the past two decades hasn’t gone as far as hoped.

That leaves Mauricio Pochettino, coach of the national team, in a bit of a quandary heading into the new four-year World Cup cycle. Should he continue building on a foundation that has proven to be structurally weak? Or should he raze that foundation and start anew?

Turns out the answer to both those questions is yes. Because the 28-man roster Pochettino called up for the first training camp of the new cycle is a little bit of both, featuring 13 players from the World Cup squad and 12 others making their first appearance with the senior national team.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1926 — Gene Tunney beats Jack Dempsey with a 10-round decision to retain the world heavyweight title.

1952 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round to retain the world heavyweight title.

1979 — The Houston Oilers overcome a 24-0 deficit to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 in overtime.

1983 — Gerry Coetzee knocks out Michael Dokes in the 10th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Richfield, Ohio.

1992 — Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in one of the four major pro sports leagues when she takes the ice in the first period for the NHL expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game. The 20-year-old goalie faces nine shots and allows two goals in St. Louis’ 6-4 victory.

2000 — Ben Matthews ties an NCAA record with five interceptions as Bethel beat Gustavus 14-13. Matthews ties the all-division record shared by eight players.

2007 — For the first time in NFL history, two players have 200-plus yards receiving in the same game — whether they were opponents or teammates — in Philadelphia’s 56-21 rout of Detroit. Philadelphia’s Kevin Curtis has 11 receptions for 221 yards and Detroit’s Roy Williams catches 9 passes for 204. Detroit’s Jon Kitna sets a franchise record with 446 yards passing.

2012 — The Tennessee Titans become the first team in NFL history to score five touchdowns of at least 60 yards in a game in their 44-41 overtime win over Detroit. The scorers are Tommie Campbell with a 65-yard punt-return; Jared Cook’s 61-yard reception from Jake Locker; Darius Reynaud’s 105-yard kick-return; Nate Washington’s 71-yard reception from Locker; and Alterraun Verner’s 72-yard fumble-return. The Lions also become the first team in NFL history to score two touchdowns in the final 18 seconds of regulation to either take the lead or force overtime.

2012 — Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles rushes for 233 yards, including a 91-yard TD run in the Chiefs’ 27-24 overtime win over New Orleans. Ryan Succop kicks six field goals, one to force overtime in the final seconds and a 31-yarder in overtime for the Chiefs.

2017 — The St. John’s-St. Thomas rivalry game obliterates the NCAA Division III attendance record with a crowd of 37,355. The Tommies use a stingy defense to hang on for a 20-17 win over the Johnnies at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins. The previous mark was set on Oct. 8, 2016, with 17,535 fans watching Wisconsin-Oshkosh play at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

2017 — Juwan Johnson catches a seven-yard TD pass as time expires and fourth-ranked Penn State rallies to stun Iowa 21-19 in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Saquon Barkley has 211 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving for the Nittany Lions, who outgain Iowa 579-273 but nearly blew the game. With the Hawkeyes leading 19-15, Penn State goes 80 yards on 12 plays to close out the game, and Trace McSorley finds Johnson in a crowded end zone on fourth down.

2018 — Tiger Woods caps off one of the most remarkable comebacks in golf history. Woods ends his comeback season with a dominant victory at the Tour Championship. He taps in for par and a 1-over 71 for a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel. It’s the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his first in more than five years.

2018 — Drew Brees sets the NFL record for career completions while passing for 396 yards and three touchdowns and running for two scores to lift New Orleans past Atlanta 43-37 in overtime. Brees breaks the record of 6,300 career completions set by Brett Favre.

2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer plays his final pro match during Laver Cup in London; teams with friend and rival Rafael Nadal but loses to Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1908 — In a crucial game with the Chicago Cubs, Fred Merkle of the New York Giants failed to touch second base as the apparent winning run crossed home plate. This resulted in a great dispute and the game was eventually declared a tie and played over on Oct. 8 when the Cubs and Giants ended the season in a tie.

1939 — Brooklyn’s Cookie Lavagetto went 6-for-6 to lead the Dodgers’ 27-hit attack in a 22-4 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Lovagetto had four singles, a double and a triple and scored four runs. He was the only Dodger without an RBI. Dixie Walker, Gene Moore and Johnny Hudson each drive in three runs.

1952 — The Brooklyn Dodgers clinched the NL title, the first time since 1948 that the pennant wasn’t decided in the season’s final game.

1957 — Hank Aaron’s 11th-inning homer gave the Milwaukee Braves a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and the NL pennant. It was the first time since 1950 that a New York team hadn’t finished first.

1979 — Lou Brock stole base No. 938, breaking Billy Hamilton’s record, as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets 7-4 in 10 innings.

1983 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia recorded his 300th victory with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 4-1, making Sparky Anderson the first manager to win more than 100 games in each league.

1986 — Rookie left-hander Jim Deshaies set a major league record by striking out eight batters to start the game and finished with a two-hitter and 10 strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros past of the Dodgers 4-0.

1987 — Albert Hall of the Atlanta Braves hit for the cycle in 5-4 win over the Houston Astros.

1988 — Jose Canseco became the first major leaguer to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in one season as the Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-8 in 14 innings.

1992 — Bip Roberts tied the NL record with his 10th consecutive hit, then grounded out against Pedro Astacio to end his streak in the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Dodgers.

1998 — Houston’s Craig Biggio became the second player this century to have 50 steals and 50 doubles in a season, joining Hall of Famer Tris Speaker.

2001 — Sammy Sosa became the first player to hit three home runs in a game three times in a season, but Moises Alou’s two-run shot rallied Houston to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

2008 — The New York Yankees’ streak of postseason appearances ended. Boston beat Cleveland 5-4, minutes before the Yankees’ win. The Red Sox victory clinched at least the AL wild card and eliminated New York, which had made 13 straight postseason appearances.

2013 — Alex Rios of Texas hit for the cycle in a 12-0 rout of Houston. Rios finished off the cycle with a triple to right-center field in the sixth inning.

2016 — David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the first inning to set the RBIs record for a player in his final season, and the AL East-leading Boston beat Tampa Bay 2-1 for its ninth straight victory. Ortiz’s 37th homer came off Chris Archer and raised his RBIs total to 124, one more than Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1920. The 40-year-old’s 540th homer, his 300th on the road, struck an overhanging catwalk above the right-field seats.

2022 — Albert Pujols, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season no matter what happened, becomes the fourth player to reach the 700-home run mark — after Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. He does so by going deep twice, first off Andrew Heaney in the third inning and then off Phil Bickford in the fourth for No. 700. The Cardinals win handily, 11-0, over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

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.

Rams get back on track

From Sam Farmer: Aaron Donald made his triumphant return to NFL relevance on Monday night, and notably so did the Rams.

The team that looked lost in its Down Under debut returned to form against the New York Giants, even with star receiver Puka Nacua watching in street clothes because of hip pain.

Matthew Stafford was surgical with his passing, throwing four touchdown passes in a 28-6 victory. Receiver Davante Adams made several acrobatic catches befitting of the retina-burning yellow “Classic Sol” jerseys that turned the Rams into human highlighter pens.

“Played with a bunch of passion, energy, excited to be back home,” Stafford said, speaking about the team as a whole and especially the defense.

“We did enough offensively, but we still left some plays out there. I wasn’t as efficient as I would have liked in certain areas. Some plays that we can make that we didn’t make. We’ll keep working on that. But it was nice to get a win as we’re finding a way to get better.”

Adams had eight catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

“To be here with Matthew, just to be able to bond a little bit, be a part of his deal…,” Adams said. “It’s just a blessing.”

Continue reading here

Rams summary

NFL standings

Chargers’ offense is a disaster

From Mirjam Swanson: Be careful what you wish for when you’re wishing for a new offensive coordinator.

Chargers fans were so over Greg Roman. Anything would be better than his run-heavy scheme stunting quarterback Justin Herbert’s anticipated ascension. Anyone would be preferable to the man holding the reins while the Chargers scored just three points in last season’s wild-card loss to the New England Patriots, after which Roman was fired.

Anyone such as, say, former Miami Dolphins coach and purported offensive guru Mike McDaniel?

Yeah?

About that.

Somehow, after just two games, the Chargers’ offense under McDaniel has Bolts fans wishing anyone else was running the show. Roman included.

Because Roman wouldn’t have overcomplicated a third-and-inches play-call. He wouldn’t have had the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Herbert line up in shotgun and call for motion.

And the subsequent snap wouldn’t have hit receiver Tre’ Harris before it got to Herbert. And instead of losing five yards and having Herbert, in a rare show of emotion, slapping the turf in frustration, the Chargers probably would have gotten a fresh set of downs.

So far, McDaniel’s brief Chargers’ tenure hasn’t just been a disappointment. It has, through two games, been a disaster. Because the Chargers really needed these first two wins against opponents who both won only three games last season.

Instead, the Chargers’ offense looked as disjointed and discombobulated in Sunday’s 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders as it did the previous week in their 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Continue reading here

Calling all Dodgers fans

Times sports reporter Kevin Baxter wants to talk to a few Dodgers fans for an upcoming story. If you are interested in speaking with him, please email him at kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Clippers hire interim CEO

The Clippers hired John S. Gibson as interim chief executive and governor on Monday, taking over the roles previously held by team owner Steve Ballmer, who is serving a one-year ban by the NBA.

Ballmer recently said he won’t fight the league’s salary-cap circumvention punishment in a reversal of the team’s initial defiance and vow to fight against what it called “a heavily biased investigation.”

The league suspended Ballmer for one year, fined the team $30 million and forced it to forfeit five first-round draft picks. Ballmer said the team has paid the fine.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1905 — Willie Anderson wins the U.S. Open for the fourth time in five years, beating Alex Smith with a 314-total at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Mass.

1927 — Gene Tunney wins a unanimous 10-round decision over Jack Dempsey at Soldier Field in Chicago to retain his world heavyweight title. The fight is marred by a long 10-count in the seventh round. Dempsey knocks Tunney to the mat, but Dempsey doesn’t go to a neutral corner. The referee doesn’t start counting until four or five seconds after Tunney is down. Tunney regains his feet and goes on to win.

1974 — The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos are the first teams to play to a tie, 35-35, with the new overtime rule in effect.

1984 — Mississippi Valley State’s Willie Totten passes for 526 yards in a 49-32 victory over Jackson State. Wide receiver Jerry Rice has 285 yards receiving.

1987 — The 1,585-member NFL Players Assn. goes on strike after the New England-New York Jets Monday night game. The strike lasts 24 days.

1990 — Illinois’ Howard Griffith sets an NCAA record when he scores eight rushing touchdowns in a 56-21 rout of Southern Illinois. Griffith gets touchdowns in three consecutive carries in the second quarter and ties an NCAA record with four touchdowns in the third quarter. Griffith doesn’t play in the fourth quarter. It’s the most points scored in an NCAA game by a player other than a kicker.

1991 — Miami coach Don Shula gets his 300th career victory in the Dolphins’ 16-13 win over Green Bay.

2002 — New England’s Tom Brady completes 39 of 54 passes for 410 yards and throws touchdown passes to four different receivers, leading the Patriots to a 41-38 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

2007 — Graham Harrell of Texas Tech completes 46 of 67 passes for 646 yards, the fourth-best total in major college history, in a 49-45 loss to Oklahoma State.

2007 — Kentucky’s Andre Woodson sets a major college record for consecutive passes without an interception, breaking the mark of 271 held by Fresno State’s Trent Dilfer.

2012 — Cobi Hamilton of Arkansas has 10 catches for a Southeastern Conference record 303 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-26 to Rutgers.

2012 — Old Dominion’s Taylor Heinicke smashes NCAA Division I records by throwing for 730 yards. He completes 55 of 79 attempts without being intercepted and leads the Monarchs back from a 23-point, third-quarter deficit to a 64-61 victory against New Hampshire.

2018 — Anthony Joshua retains his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles by stopping Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round at Wembley Stadium.

2018 — Jess McDonald scores two goals and the North Carolina Courage win the National Women’s Soccer League championship with a 3-0 victory over the Portland Thorns.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1911 — Cy Young, 44, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 for his 511th and final major league victory.

1936 — The Detroit Tigers swept the St. Louis Browns 12-0 and 14-0 to record the biggest double shutout in major league history.

1954 — Karl Spooner of Brooklyn became the first pitcher in the majors to strike out 15 in his first game as the Dodgers beat the New York Giants 3-0.

1966 — The Baltimore Orioles clinched their first AL pennant in 22 years with a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City A’s. Their last pennant came in 1944 when they were the St. Louis Browns.

1968 — Cesar Tovar played one inning at each position for the Minnesota Twins, becoming the second major leaguer in history to do it. Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A’s was the other.

1969 — Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants became the second player to hit 600 home runs, joining Babe Ruth. The two-run shot off San Diego’s Mike Corkins in the seventh inning, gave the Giants a 4-2 win.

1973 — Baltimore’s Al Bumbry tied the major-league record with three triples as the Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 and clinched the American League East title.

1977 — Bert Blyleven tossed a 6-0 no-hitter for Texas against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium.

1986 — Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers became the first Mexican to win 20 games, beating the Houston Astros 9-2 while giving up two hits.

1990 — Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs stole his 300th base in an 11-5 loss to the New York Mets, to become the second player with 300 homers, 300 steals and 2,000 hits. Willie Mays was the other.

1993 — Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers faced three Seattle batters before hurting his right elbow. He never pitched again. Ryan finished his career with 324 wins, 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters.

2000 — Houston’s Jose Lima set an NL single-season record by giving up his 47th homer in the Astros’ 12-5 loss to Cincinnati. The major league record for home runs allowed in a season is 50, set by Minnesota’s Bert Blyleven in 1986.

2003 — Detroit set an AL record with its 118th loss, falling 12-6 to Kansas City. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117) set the record.

2003 — Second baseman Alfonso Soriano broke a major league record by hitting his 13th leadoff homer of the year in the New York Yankees’ 10-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox.

2006 — Alfonso Soriano became baseball’s first 40-40-40 player in Washington’s 3-2 win over the New York Mets. Soriano hit his 40th double and stole his 41st base. With 45 homers, he already was only the fourth major league player with 40 homers and 40 steals in a season.

2018 — The Atlanta Braves capped a most surprising season by clinching their first NL East crown since 2013, with Mike Foltynewicz taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. A year after going 70-92, manager Brian Snitker and his Baby Braves surged back into the playoffs.

2023 — By hitting his 40th homer of the season, Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes just the fifth member of the exclusive 40-40 club consisting pf players who have hit 40 homers and stolen 40 bases in the same season. He already has over 60 steals, the first player to ever combine the two totals, and has a chance to reach 70. The Braves defeat the Nationals, 9-6. For the second time in a month, Aaron Judge hits three homers in a game to lead the Yankees to a 7-1 lead over the Diamondbacks. Judge had never had such a game before this year, and becomes the first player in Yankees history to have two in one season.

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.

Struggling Chargers lose again

From Sam Farmer: Once is a hiccup.

Twice is a habit.

Maybe this is what the Chargers are — lurching, sputtering and unable to consistently move the football, despite an offensive overhaul packed with lofty expectations.

Just as they did in their abysmal season opener, the Chargers struggled at home Sunday and failed to establish a rhythm on their way to a 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 26-14 on Sunday, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier for them moving forward.

The Chargers lost their opener to the Arizona Cardinals by an identical score — 26-14.

In another bit of sad synchronicity, both the Raiders and Cardinals won just three games and fired their coaches last season.

“Not deterred,” said Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, off to his first 0-2 coaching start in college or the pros. “No one in that locker room is deterred.”

If so, the Chargers are showing far more determination off the field than on it. Because their play Sunday could buckle the resolve of even true believers.

Continue reading here

Chargers summary

NFL standings

Dodgers sweep the Giants

From Kevin Baxter: Only the Pirates and Cubs have met more often than the Dodgers and Giants, who faced off for the first time in 1889. And over all that time, the Dodgers are just two games better, with 1,294 wins to the Giants’ 1,292.

The Dodgers and Giants have also won more pennants, made more World Series appearances and have more players wearing their caps in the Hall of Fame than any other National League teams, all of which fueled a rivalry that was once among the most visceral and passionate in American sports.

But that was then and this is now.

After Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Giants, the Dodgers’ 14^th win in their last 17 games, the team could finish a season with 100 wins for the fourth time in six years. The Giants have had just one winning record in that time.

The Dodgers (96-60), who have won five straight division titles, are headed to the postseason for a record-tying 14^th consecutive year. The Giants will miss the playoffs for a fifth straight season.

So is the rivalry dead? That depends on who you ask.

“It’s always a rivalry,” Giants pitcher Logan Webb. “We’d like to make it a little closer when it comes to the standings. But I definitely feel it when I throw against them.”

But then Webb, who is from Northern California, grew up with the rivalry and, as the longest-tenured Giant, pitched against the Dodgers in games that mattered. Giants coach Ron Washington, who made his major league debut with the Dodgers when the rivalry was still a thing, said many players on San Francisco’s roster don’t know that background.

Continue reading here

Dodger Stadium has a botanic garden tour. Meet the man entrusted with making it a draw

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Calling all Dodgers fans

Times sports reporter Kevin Baxter wants to talk to a few Dodgers fans for an upcoming story. If you are interested in speaking with him, please email him at kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Angels shut out by Twins

Alan Roden hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high four runs, and Dean Kremer yielded one hit over six stellar innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 8-0 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Josh Bell had three hits and two RBIs for the Twins (73-83), who have won three of five overall after splitting four games at Angel Stadium with two shutout victories. Brooks Lee added three hits and scored three runs.

Roden had three hits in his first major league game this month, punctuated by a shot to right in the seventh for his third career homer, his first since Aug. 6, 2025.

The game also was likely their last at Angel Stadium during the 24-year tenure of owner Arte Moreno, who intends to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke before next season begins.

Continue reading here

‘I try to bring the energy.’ Michael Araujo living his dream as the voice of Angel Stadium

Angels box score

MLB standings

Angel City routs Utah

Angel City cruised to a 3-0 road victory over a shorthanded Utah team that received two red cards in the first half.

Defender Paige Cronin and midfielder Ana Tejada were ejected by the 24th minute. Two minutes later, Ally Sentnor converted the resulting penalty kick past goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn to put Angel City (11-8-6) ahead in Sandy, Utah.

Two minutes after coming off the bench for the second half, Taylor Suarez made it 2-0 with a one-touch finish off a pass from Gisele Thompson.

Continue reading here

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

Sparks unveil Lisa Leslie statue, then win

From Jordan Puente: Sparks legend Lisa Leslie has officially been immortalized in Los Angeles.

Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, became the first female professional athlete to receive a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. After the ceremony, the Sparks earned a 105-84 win over the Portland Fire.

Leslie’s friends and family gathered outside the arena for the unveiling of the statue Leslie dubbed “The First Lady,” celebrating her 12-year pro basketball career in Los Angeles. Many speakers, including former Sparks coach Michael Cooper and Lakers legend Magic Johnson, noted Leslie’s accomplishments while also saluting her as a kind person.

Leslie became the second WNBA player to be honored with a bronze statue outside of a U.S. pro basketball arena, joining the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1940 — For the first time in the history of photo finishes a triple dead heat for first place is recorded, at Willow’s Park, Victoria, British Columbia.

1955 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1980 — Richard Todd of the New York Jets completes an NFL record 42 passes and throws for 447 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-27 loss to San Francisco.

1982 — NFL players begin a 57-day strike.

1985 — Michael Spinks wins a 15-round unanimous decision over Larry Holmes Las Vegas to win the world heavyweight title.

1985 — Montana State’s David Pandt catches 21 passes for 169 yards against Eastern Washington to set an NCAA record.

1986 — Ken O’Brien’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Walker at 2:35 in overtime ends one of the highest scoring games in NFL history as the New York Jets defeat the Miami Dolphins 51-45. O’Brien passes for 479 yards and four touchdowns, all to Walker. Miami’s Dan Marino passes for 448 yards and three touchdowns as both quarterbacks set a record with 884 combined yards passing.

1991 — U.S. Basketball announces “Dream Team” for the 1992 Olympics.

1994 — The North Carolina women’s soccer team wins its 89th straight game, setting the unofficial record for the longest winning streak in college sports. The 5-1 victory over rival N.C. State broke the mark of 88 in a row set by the UCLA men’s basketball team during the early 1970s.

1997 — The Buffalo Bills stage the third-biggest comeback in NFL history, overcoming a 26-0 deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts 37-35. The Bills made the greatest comeback in the 1992 AFC playoffs, wiping out a 35-3 deficit to beat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in overtime.

2003 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins the fastest open-wheel race in history at California Speedway. Hornish’s Chevrolet-powered Dallara averages 207.151 mph in the Toyota Indy 400 — breaking the previous closed course race record of 197.995, set here last year by Jimmy Vasser in a CART Champ Car event.

2008 — The United States take back the Ryder Cup with a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory over Europe. It’s the largest margin of victory for the Americans since 1981.

2008 — Miami wins for just the second time in 22 games, ending New England’s NFL record 21 straight regular-season wins with a 38-13 win over the Patriots. Ronnie Brown scores a Miami-record four rushing touchdowns and passes for another. The 25-point loss is New England’s biggest in seven seasons at Gillette Stadium.

2014 — Tom Brady passes for 234 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ 16-9 win over Oakland. The win is Brady’s 150th career victory as a starting quarterback, joining Brett Favre (186) and Peyton Manning (169) as the only quarterbacks to accomplish the feat.

2018 — English golfer Oliver Fisher shoots the first round of 59 in the 46-year history of the European Tour. Fisher makes an eagle and 10 birdies on a par-71 course in the second round of the Portugal Masters held at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1934 — Daffy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers for 3-0 victory in the second game of an Ebbets Field doubleheader. Daffy’s brother Dizzy, held Brooklyn hitless until the eighth inning in the opener and won 13-0.

1947 — Boston’s Johnny Pesky had two hits in each game of a doubleheader and finished the day with 202 hits. Pesky surpassed the 200-hit mark for the third time in as many major league seasons. He is the only player to lead a league in hits in his first three seasons in the game.

1964 — Manager Gene Mauch’s first-place Phillies lost 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds on Chico Ruiz’s steal of home in the sixth inning. It was Philadelphia’s first of 10 straight losses, a streak that cost them the NL pennant.

1970 — Oakland’s Vida Blue pitched a no-hitter in his eighth major league start, beating Minnesota 6-0.

1995 — Colorado’s John Vander Wal set a major league record with his 26th pinch-hit of the season with a home run in the seventh inning against San Francisco.

2000 — Colorado’s Jeff Cirillo doubled twice in a 13-4 win over San Diego, giving him 51 doubles for the year. Cirillo and Todd Helton (57) became the seventh pair of teammates in major league history to reach 50 doubles in the same season.

2001 — Albert Pujols hit a grand slam and doubled in a run in St. Louis’ 9-5 win over Pittsburgh. The slam gave him the major league record for extra base hits by a rookie (83), one more than Johnny Frederick’s total for Brooklyn in 1929.

2001 — Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez hits his 47th home run tying the major league record for home runs in a season by a shortstop. Cubs legend Ernie Banks established the record in 1958.

2006 — David Ortiz hit his 51st and 52nd homers, breaking the Red Sox record for most homers in a season of 50 set in 1938 by Jimmie Foxx. The homers also set the major league record by a designated hitter at 45, two more than he hit when he set the record last season.

2008 — Baseball said farewell to Yankee Stadium, the home of baseball’s most famous team. What began with a Babe Ruth home run on an April afternoon in 1923 ended with Mariano Rivera retiring Brian Roberts on a grounder to first baseman Cody Ransom, completing a 7-3 victory over Baltimore.

2013 — Matt Carpenter broke Stan Musial’s team record for doubles by a left-handed batter in a season and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2. Carpenter’s fifth-inning double was his 54th of the season, one more than Musial’s total in 1953.

2016 — Rookie Gary Sanchez hit two more homers and drove in five runs to lead the New York Yankees to an 11-5 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays. Sanchez homered in his fourth straight game. The catcher hit a three-run shot in a four-run second off Alex Cobb and added his 19th homer in 43 games this season on a solo drive in the sixth against Justin Marks. Including two games last season, Sanchez became the first player in major league history to hit 19 homers in his first 45 games. Wally Berger, with the Boston Braves in 1930, went deep 19 times in his first 51 games.

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Teacher/coaches are always teaching lessons, but what lessons do they learn from players?

Coaches learning lessons

Tom Harp, the longtime girls’ volleyball coach at Granada Hills.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Coaches are trained to be good teachers, which means offering life lessons and sports lessons. But what do they learn from their players?

For months, a simple questions has been asked: What’s the best lesson a player taught you?

Very few coaches asked could immediately answer. They needed to think long and hard, which meant the question was good.

Here’s a look at what some coaches offered as lessons learned from their players.

It was the battle in the trenches between Orange Lutheran and Sierra Canyon, which won 28-10.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Sierra Canyon and Orange Lutheran engaged in a penalty-filled nonleague game that should get both teams ready for league play. Thanks to running back Jaxsen Stokes, Sierra Canyon won 28-10. Here’s the report.

Bishop Amat made JSerra pull out every trick before the Lions prevailed 37-28 behind quarterback Hayes Cloutier. Here’s the report.

One of the best games of the week was Corona del Mar holding off La Serna 30-24. Here’s the report.

The Long brothers growing up, with the youngest, Grady, now the quarterback at La Serna.

(Long family)

The quarterbacks in the game are youngest brothers from families that combined to produce six quarterbacks. Here’s the report.

Huntington Beach knocked off Yorba Linda to go to 5-0 for the first time since 1998.

Receiver Paul Turner had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns to help Birmingham win its first game against a Southern Section opponent, beating Burbank 23-18. The Patriots play unbeaten Harvard-Westlake on Friday before switching to City Section action.

Marshall improved to 5-0 with a 28-27 win over Marquez, stopping a two-point conversion try in the final minute.

San Pedro picked up a forfet win over Palisades when the Dolphins couldn’t field enough players after a breakout of COVID.

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

Here’s top individual performances from Week 4.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s games.

QB works all hours

Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet started work for his senior season on New Year’s Eve.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet was jump roping. He practices morning, afternoon and night trying to put himself in position to play college football. He has led his team to a 5-0 start.

Here’s a look at his passion and commitment to be a quarterback.

JSerra is 17-0 and keeps beating one challenger after another. The Lions will face Trinity League rival Orange Lutheran at home Tuesday. The Lancers’ only loss was to Orange Lutheran.

El Camino Real, which looked competitive with top City Section teams during the summer, will make its debut this week.

Here are the top 10 rankings by The Times.

Girls volleyball

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Southern California, Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei, played in the championship of the Durango tournaent in Las Vegas. Mater Dei handed the Trailblazers their first defeat by sweeping both sets.

Oak Park won the Chatsworth tournament.

Water polo

This was supposed to be the year another team in boys water polo was supposed to rise up and end Newport Harbor’s domination.

Last week’s South Coast tournament showed Newport Harbor isn’t going away without a fight.

The Sailors won the tournament title with lots of drama, beating Cathedral Catholic 16-15 in the semifinals, then winning the championship in three overtimes over Miramonte 11-10.

The DeShaun Jackson Story

A documentary on former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson debuts Sept. 24 on Prime Video.

(Amazon MGM Studios.)

Former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson gets the documentary treatment beginning Thursday when Amazon Video runs, “Going deep: The DeShaun Jackson Story.”

The story is told from his Pop Warner days through the NFL.

Notes . . .

Baseball coach Josh Lienhard was reinstated as a teacher and coach at El Camino Real and returned Wednesday. He was one of three coaches placed on administrative leave last month after school officials had questions why his CPR and first-aid courses he said he completed were not in the Red Cross database. The school spent thousands of dollars on an investigation that remains uncompleted. Two other coaches, tennis coach Jason Grider and girls soccer coach Eric Choi, also were allowed to return….

Junior Karl Robinson from Santa Margarita has committed to Notre Dame for lacrosse….

Catcher Logan Miller of Mater Dei has committed to San Diego State….

Shortstop Zion Avina of Orange Lutheran has committed to USC….

Junior pitcher Jax Janeski of JSerra has committed to USC….

Junior infielder/pitcher Griffin Doane of Santa Margarita has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

Junior Theo Swafford of Sierra Canyon has committed to Texas….

Standout guard Maxwell Scott of Corona del Mar has committed to Harvard….

Tess Oldenburg from Etiwanda has committed to Nevada for women’s basketball….

Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he’s a volunteer at Lawndale, where he “coaches the coaches.”…

Offensive lineman Dylan Felli of Mission Viejo has committed to the University of San Diego….

Eliana Corona from La Habra has committed to Cal Baptist for softball….

Longtime basketball coach Joe Reed has been reinstated as the head coach at Huntington Park. He had been coach since 1991, then lost his position when placed on administrative leave for 14 months because of an investigation. After being cleared to return, he was not given his coaching position back….

Evan Guadalupe from Summit has committed to Loyola Marymount for baseball….

Cody MacArthur has been promoted to interim football coach at Royal. He took over after the head coach was dismissed following an incident when he angrily kicked a football that struck a Royal player and was dismissed….

The Woodbridge Classic in cross country featured lots of race winner from outside Southern California. Here’s the results. …

Servite’s baseball team has one player signing with USC next month and another with UCLA. Let the rivalry begin.

From the archives: Cody Decker

Once a baseball player at Santa Monica High and UCLA, Cody Decker has taken his personality and ability to talk about anything to sports talk radio as a morning co-host for 97.1 with Crespi basketball coach Derek Fisher.

He had 11 at-bats in major league baseball with the San Diego Padres.

He showed off his entertainment and singing skills by getting the top role in the school production of “The Music Man.” He had 18 home runs when he was playing catcher, then singing, so he knows how to multi-task.

Here’s a story from 2005 about his baseball and off-the-field talents.

Recommendations

From the Star-Telegram, a story on a top high school baseball pitcher being ruled ineligible in Texas for transferring for athletic reasons.

From the Daily Bulletin, a story on a 6-7 tight end who’s overcome the death of his father when he was 4 to become a top athlete at Webb School.

From Wyomingnews, a story on former Banning football standout Steve Perez.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.

UCLA head coach Bob Chesney, offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy and starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava were all in alignment after UCLA’s Week 2 win over San Diego State.

The Bruins’ offense had to get better.

UCLA wasted no time following through on their promises, scoring 21 first-quarter points against Purdue — the most UCLA has scored in the inaugural quarter against a conference opponent since 2016 against Oregon State.

While the Bruins’ offense exploded, their defense imploded, giving up 38 points and 488 yards to the Boilermakers.

But in a homage to “Pac-12 After Dark,” it was only natural that UCLA outpaced Purdue, rumbling to a 52-38 win over the Boilermakers on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in the Bruins Big Ten opener.

Here are three key takeaways from UCLA’s third win of the season, matching its victory total from last season in just three games.

Running backs are elite

UCLA running back Anthony Woods is hoisted up by offensive lineman Julian Armella after scoring against Purdue at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

UCLA has returned to its roots.

With a rich history of churning out premier tailbacks, including Maurice Jones-Drew, DeShaun Foster and Zach Charbonnet, the Bruin offense has lacked a formidable rushing attack the last few years and finished as the nation’s third-worst ground unit in 2024.

But the Bruins may have struck gold in 2026.

UCLA ranks third in the country in rushing yards, first in rushing scores and fourth in yards per carry. Leading the charge is fifth-year tailback Wayne Knight who has 345 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in just three games — matching the Bruins’ total rushing touchdown mark from last season. Knight finished with his third multi-touchdown game of the season against Purdue, reaching the end zone twice to go alongside 200 all-purpose yards.

Through three games, Knight is exceeding the yardage and touchdown output from Reggie Bush’s 2005 season and Mark Ingram’s 2009 campaign — both of which featured Heisman Trophy wins.

But what makes UCLA’s ground attack so special is that it is a four-headed monster. And the Bruins proved it for the third straight week against the Boilermakers.

All three starting running backs — Knight, fifth-year Anthony Woods and senior Jaivian Thomas — reached the end zone and averaged more than six yards per carry in at least nine rush attempts. And Iamaleava added 55 rushing yards of his own to the 369 total the offense tallied.

After three games of consistent rushing dominance, it is becoming less of a coincidence and more of a pattern — UCLA may have one of the most potent rushing attacks in the country.

And one of its most valuable assets is the ground game’s ability to open up the passing offense.

Iamaleava answers the call

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava hurdles over Purdue defensive back Hudauri Hines during the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Iamaleava challenged himself to play better after a shaky start to the 2026 season.

After failing to complete a touchdown pass while throwing two red zone interceptions during the first two games, Iamaleava and Chesney knew that the signal caller left plays on the table.

“It’s not his best game, he knows it’s not his best game,” Chesney said after beating San Diego State. “I just think that the grit and the toughness that he played with though when he needed to get a couple first downs that really, really mattered to keep drives alive and put his body on the line and you know peeled himself off that ground and just kept fighting for his teammates, that’s special. But there’s a whole lot we got to do there.”

Iamaleava responded Saturday night, going 19-for-31 through the air for 276 yards and three touchdowns.

Not only did Iamaleava light up the stat sheet, but more important, he also passed the eye test. After looking impatient against San Diego State, consistently leaving the pocket early and failing to let plays develop downfield, he looked like a totally different player Saturday night.

Iamaleava looked poised in the pocket, going through multiple reads and hitting pass catchers across the field in an array of spots and formations. He also protected the ball against a solid Purdue defense.

But what was most impressive from the Bruin signal caller was his resilience and toughness on the field. After taking some bruising hits during the Bruins’ first two games, Iamaleava was fearless on scrambles and designed quarterback runs against Purdue, taking big hits downfield to gain extra yards. He also looked willing to take hits in the pocket to make deep or layered throws.

Although some of the hits led to time off the field — he cut a finger on his throwing hand and later took a crushing hit to his throwing shoulder that left him lying on the turf for some time — he always returned to the game. Chesney said he repeatedly asked Iamaleava whether he was sure he could continue playing and the senior kept insisting on returning to the game once he was cleared by the UCLA medical staff.

“He’s just a straight dog, there really isn’t much to say about that,” Knight said. “He’s battling. He gets hurt and he gets back up. He plays the next play. He’s doing this for his brothers.”

Same defense, different opponent

Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne scrambles out of the pocket while being chased by UCLA players Saturday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Purdue’s offense revealed glaring holes the San Diego State offense could not expose.

Aztec quarterback Jayden Denegal only threw for 45 passing yards against UCLA, consistently missing open receivers downfield that had gained considerable separation on the Bruins’ cornerbacks. And even when he did find them, the receivers were not able to haul in catches.

Boilermakers quarterback Ryan Browne, on the other hand, had no problem picking apart the UCLA secondary. Browne went 19-for-30 for 378 yards and three scores, and while he did throw an interception to cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, it came with less than six minutes remaining when the Bruins were already up two scores.

Purdue’s slot receivers tore through the UCLA secondary, running through multiple layers of coverage. Receivers Asaad Waseem and Xavier Townsend combined for 14 receptions, 311 yards and two touchdowns.

Not only did the Purdue offense score five touchdowns, but the pace at which the team scored illustrated the lack of resistance the Bruins’ secondary gave the Boilermakers. Three of the five touchdown drives took less than two and a half minutes, with the first touchdown coming on one play — courtesy of completely broken coverage.

When asked about the impact of Purdue’s receivers Wednesday, defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler said he would have to wait for the game to answer certain questions.

“When you have 10 personnel and that many receivers that can catch the ball, it can create mismatches, and we play a lot of man, so who’s going to fold first?” Hitschler said. “Are we going to be able to man them up or are we having to play more zone? Those are questions that will play out as the game dictates by who’s winning the one-on-one matchups. It’s the chess match that always happens in any game.”

It was obvious who won the chess match.

Two forced fumbles from linebacker Sammy Omosigho and a formidable run defense that held tailback Fame Ijeboi to 2.8 yards per carry helped mitigate the defense’s problems.

How many games UCLA can win the rest of Big Ten play may rest on the defense’s ability to rebound from a brutal win over Purdue the way the Bruins’ offense did after an ugly win over San Diego State.

What a difference a year makes

Last year, coach Deshaun Foster was fired after UCLA got off to an 0-3 start.

This year, Chesney is pushing to improve on a 3-0 start.

Few have felt the transformation quite as deeply as Iamaleava, who was the face of both teams.

“Shoot, it means everything,” Iamaleava said of the team’s 3-0 start. “I think that just speaks to the growth of the team and speaks to Coach Ches, of how he got us to buy into this process and his winning, his winning ways. It feels good to be 3-0, and we’ve got to keep going.”

Women’s soccer scores signature win

The UCLA women’s soccer team has take on grueling schedule, facing off with four teams ranked in the top 25 so far this season.

The No. 21 Bruins (5-3-1, 2-1-0 Big Ten) made the most of their fourth opportunity for a signature win, earning a 1-0 win at No. 5 Ohio State (6-1-1, 2-1-0) on Thursday night. It was the Buckeyes’ first loss this season.

Kara Croone set up Leena Powell for the game winner fired from just outside the box in the 25th minute. UCLA goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor recorded five saves to maintain the shutout victory.

“Amazing performance for the girls,” UCLA women’s soccer coach Gof Boyoko said. “We needed a solid performance, and they did it. We scored a good goal, we didn’t concede, and we were strong defensively.”

UCLA alums help lead WNBA teams

Two Bruins were at their best when the Atlanta Dream earned a 106-81 win over the Chicago Sky on Saturday.

UCLA alum Jordin Canada, who has dealt the ball with expert precision this season, had 11 points and 10 assists for the WNBA-playoff bound Dream.

UCLA alum Gabriela Jaquez, who has enjoyed a strong rookie season with a rebuilding Sky team, finished with 14 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist. Chicago was eliminated from playoff contention, but Jaquez has been a bright spot for the team all season.

Bruins on deck

Here are all UCLA games scheduled to be played this week across all sports, with all times Pacific:

Monday, Sept. 21

Women’s golf at Canadian Collegiate Invitational, All day

Tuesday, Sept. 22

Women’s golf at Canadian Collegiate Invitational, All day

Thursday, Sept. 24

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Women’s volleyball at Indiana, 4 p.m.

Women’s soccer at Rutgers, 5 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 25

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Men’s tennis at Sherwood Collegiate Cup, All day

Men’s soccer at Maryland, 4 p.m.

Men’s water polo vs. Fordham, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 26

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Football at Maryland, 10:30 a.m.

Men’s water polo at Pepperdine, 1 p.m.

Women’s volleyball at Northwestern, 5 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 27

USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championship, All day

Women’s soccer at Maryland, 9 a.m.

In case you missed it

Wayne Knight and UCLA bulldoze Purdue in Big Ten opener

UCLA braces for first Big Ten test of coach Bob Chesney’s tenure

UCLA to give all students free tickets to home football, basketball games

Have something Bruin?

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

Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this report.

Dodgers clinch NL West title

From Maddie Lee: Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.

He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.

“It’s not something that I ever take for granted,” Muncy said after the Dodgers clinched the division Thursday with an 8-2 win against the Reds. “This moment is as special as it gets. You get to pop bottles with the boys, celebrating. This is a long season.”

Sheets of plastic had been place in the Great American Ball Park visiting clubhouse since the day before, attached to the ceiling with binder clips and folded up above the lockers, ready to be unfurled after the game for the Dodgers’ celebration.

With their victory Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West division for the 13th time in 14 years. It was never much of a contest. The Dodgers maintained their division lead at nine games even after the Padres beat the Rockies Thursday afternoon.

“What’s funny is Los Angeles has always been looked at, as far as sports, a Laker town,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “I don’t know, I think we might have market share now in Los Angeles.”

Continue reading here

Plaschke: No more bubbly — NL West champion Dodgers appear headed for early fall

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Sean McVay doesn’t want a return to Australia

From Gary Klein: The Rams will be without edge rusher Myles Garrett for at least the next four games.

Will they have Aaron Donald for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants?

“We’ll see how this week goes,” coach Sean McVay said Thursday before practice.

The Rams are coming off an embarrassing 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.

McVay said the Rams have moved forward from the loss to the 49ers.

“It’s almost like you try and do the ‘Men in Black’ thing,” McVay said, referencing the movie franchise, “where you say all right, ‘hey I don’t remember what happened.’ That was so long ago. We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere. That will get taken out of context.”

Continue reading here

NFL Week 2 picks: Bills defeat Lions; Rams outlast Giants

Drew Doughty is named captain of the Kings

Drew Doughty was named captain of the Kings on Wednesday, inheriting the leadership position left vacant by Anze Kopitar‘s retirement.

Doughty is the 15th captain in team history. He served as an alternate captain since 2016-17, when Kopitar replaced Dustin Brown as captain.

The 36-year-old Doughty is the franchise leader among defensemen in numerous categories, including goals, assists, points and games played and was a key piece in their Stanley Cup victories in 2012 and 2014. He will start preparations for his 19th NHL season when the Kings open training camp on Thursday.

“Being named captain of an NHL team is something I’m truly honored by, and it’s something I take great pride in,” Doughty said in a statement released by the team.

Continue reading here

From Ryan Kartje: On Oct. 20, 1928, the William & Mary Indians and Catholic University of Washington Cardinals met under the lights at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Va. Just a year earlier, in 1927, the two football programs made history, taking part in the first night college football game played on the East Coast. Thousands had come to watch that night and marvel at the temporary lights illuminating the field.

Their rematch, by comparison, was largely lost to history. William & Mary used “a thrilling avalanche of forward passes” and “set their teeth grimly to stage a gigantic comeback” in the third quarter, according to a Newport News story at the time. But Catholic blocked the final extra-point attempt and prevailed 13-12.

The significance of their 1928 meeting, nearly a century later, really had nothing to do with the result. In fact, it wouldn’t be fully understood until much later, when the great-grandson of two men on opposite sides of that matchup emerged as one of college football’s most promising freshmen.

Best the Wafles can tell after sifting through family documents last year, Ferris Wafle had just begun playing at William & Mary in 1928, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He’d taken a year off college, to work, before William & Mary recruited him. He’d wrestled for the Indians in addition to his playing football.

Continue reading here

Angels lose to Mariners

Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning, and Wade Meckler followed with a RBI single to give the Angels a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Minnesota rookie Walker Jenkins hit a two-out, two-run homer in top of the ninth for a 3-3 tie, and the Twins (71-82) took a 4-3 lead in the 10th on Brooks Lee’s RBI single.

Kody Clemens’ sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out, but Angels left-hander Blake Weiman (1-1) got Josh Bell to pop to second and, after intentionally walking pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, struck out Royce Lewis to end the inning.

Automatic runner Jose Siri took third on pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom’s fly to left to open the bottom of the 10th. Zach Neto walked, Trout singled off Yoendrys Gomez (2-4) for a 4-4 tie, and Meckler singled off left-hander Kody Funderburk for the win.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Sparks lose to Wings

Paige Bueckers scored 19 points, Jessica Shepard had her fifth triple-double of the season with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Dallas Wings beat the Sparks 97-77 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Both teams were returning from the break for the FIBA World Cup in Germany, where Bueckers helped lead the United States to the title.

Dallas (25-16) tied the franchise record for wins in a season set by the 2003 WNBA champion Detroit Shock (25-9). The Wings have three games remaining in the regular season.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

This day in sports history

1899 — The Cincinnati Open begins. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city and is now known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women’s Open.

1938 — The Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0. Left end Dick Plasman tackles Arnie Herber in the end zone in the fourth quarter for the win.

1946 — Joe Louis knocks out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1960 — Goose Gonsoulin intercepts four passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1965 — In his first collegiate game, quarterback Billy Stevens of Texas-El Paso gains 483 total yards in a 61-15 rout of North Texas State. Receiver Chuck Hughes has 349 of those yards.

1966 — Baltimore quarterback Johnny Unitas throws four touchdown passes in 38-23 win at Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as NFL’s career leader with 212; finishes career with 290 TD passes.

1967 — U.S. yacht Intrepid beats the Australian yacht Dame Pattie in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1977 — U.S. yacht Courageous beats the challenger Australia in four straight races to defend the America’s Cup.

1982 — In a rare father-son matchup, coach Jack Elway leads San Jose State to its second consecutive upset of quarterback John Elway and Stanford 35-31 in Palo Alto, Calif. John Elway completes 24-of-36 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Spartans quarterback Steve Clarkson, throws for 285 yards, three touchdowns and scores on a three-yard keeper for the win after a Cardinal fumble. Stanford reaches the Spartans’ 26-yard line, but Elway gets sacked on four consecutive plays to end the game.

2005 — Green Bay’s Brett Favre joins Dan Marino and John Elway with 50,000 yards passing and also breaks Elway’s single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left of a 26-24 loss to Cleveland at Lambeau Field.

2011 — At 16, Lexi Thompson becomes the youngest player to win an LPGA Tour event. The 16-year-old Floridian closes with a 2-under 70 to win by five strokes over Tiffany Joh at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Thompson shatters the age record for winning a multiple-round tournament held by Paula Creamer, who won in 2005 at 18.

2011 — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sets an NFL rookie record by throwing for 432 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Newton, who tied the record by throwing for 422 yards in last week’s loss at Arizona, completes 28 of 46 passes with one touchdown in the 30-23 loss to the Packers. Newton’s 854 yards passing is also the most yards for a player in his first two games.

2013 — American Jordan Burroughs earns another wrestling world title. Burroughs, a gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, extends his undefeated streak to 65 matches with a 4-0 victory over Iran’s Ezzatollah Akbarizarinkolaei in the 163-pound category at the Laszlo Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1903 — Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.

1908 — Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.

1930 — New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings.

1954 — The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.

1963 — The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds — 5-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.

1968 — Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals.

1980 — Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

1984 — Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

1985 — Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.

1987 — Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.

1996 — Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0.

2003 — Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.

2006 — The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.

2011 — Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

2012 — Dusty Baker managed his 3,000th game, guiding the Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.

2020 — Garrett Crochet becomes the first player in over a decade to go straight to the majors when the No. 11 pick from the 2020 amateur draft makes his maiden appearance pitching in relief for the White Sox against the Reds. After working out at the Sox’s alternate training site in Schaumburg, IL since being signed, he impresses by striking two of three batter he faces and regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.

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.

Blake Snell leaves Dodgers’ loss early

From Maddie Lee: The trouble started as Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell threw in the Great American Ball Park bullpen before the game.

“I felt good all day, and then the second-to-last pitch of the bullpen, I threw a slider and then I felt it grab,” Snell said of the groin tightness that would later take him out of the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss to the Reds early. “So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s see what we can do.’ ”

Guiding the ball without driving hard off his back leg, Snell’s velocity was down a tick or two through a 19-pitch first inning. He gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.

“I was going to try to get through five [innings],” he said, “but I just knew I didn’t really have a good shot at doing that and remaining healthy.”

In a conversation with manager Dave Roberts, pitching coach Mark Prior and head athletic trainer Thomas Alberts, they all agreed the best course of action would be to pull Snell from the game. Right-handed reliever Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.

With only 10 games left in the season, it’s unclear when Snell will be ready to pitch again.

“The next couple days are really going to decide,” Snell said. “But I’d love to throw on my next [scheduled start day]. Either there or a couple days after. But definitely, I want to try to get one more in the regular season.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

USC’s Trent Mosley to miss Rutgers game

From Ryan Kartje: Trent Mosley, USC’s rising star freshman receiver, will miss this week’s Big Ten opener against Rutgers and could be out an extended period of time after suffering an injury during the Trojans’ Week 2 win over Louisiana.

USC coach Lincoln Riley said that he doesn’t expect Mosley to be out “extremely long term,” but that any timeline for his return was “still a little inconclusive … depending on how he responds.”

Riley didn’t offer any details on the nature of the injury, but he said that it became clear after USC’s 49-30 win over Louisiana that “there was something we needed to get looked at.” Mosley still spoke to reporters after the game.

Continue reading here

UCLA to offer free tickets

From Connor Dullinger: In a bid to pack the Rose Bowl and Pauley Pavilion, tickets to all UCLA home football and men’s and women’s basketball games will be free for undergraduate, graduate and extension students going forward, UCLA athletics announced Wednesday.

Previously, the Bruins had to purchase a Den Pass for $199 to gain access to home football and men’s basketball games. Students who have already purchased the Den Pass for the 2026-2027 academic year will be reimbursed.

“We have an exciting team led by [head football coach] Bob Chesney and a lot of momentum surrounding UCLA Athletics,” new UCLA chief executive and athletic director Tim Harris said in a news release. “Now it’s time for our students to help set the standard. Arrive early. Be loud. Be relentless. We can’t wait to see a sea of Bruin Blue at the Rose Bowl this Saturday.”

The free student tickets are one of many changes Harris has made in an effort to bring new energy to the school’s signature sports that had struggled under previous athletic director Martin Jarmond.

Continue reading here

Forget defense, Rams need to fix offense

From Gary Klein: In the aftermath of the Rams’ humiliating season-opening defeat in Australia, the team’s defense is dominating the news cycle: edge rusher Myles Garrett’s knee surgery, lineman Aaron Donald’s potential season debut.

But as coach Sean McVay prepares his team for Monday night’s game against the New York Giants, the Super Bowl-favorite Rams’ suddenly not-so-super offense also demands scrutiny.

Consider: Every starter is back from a unit that in 2025 led the NFL in offense and scoring, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player.

And yet the Rams managed just 190 yards and scored one touchdown in their 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

That’s it.

Continue reading here

Angels lose to Mariners

Cal Raleigh had two hits and three RBIs, Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBIs and the Seattle Mariners kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-2 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Randy Arozarena also walked, singled and scored three runs for Seattle, which is 5 1/2 games behind Texas and Houston in the American League West and 6 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild-card spot with nine games left.

It was 2-2 when Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (1-6) walked Arozarena and Dominic Canzone with one out in the fifth. Raleigh roped an RBI double to left for a 3-2 lead, and Julio Rodriguez was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Angel City defeats Seattle

Ally Sentnor, Ary Borges and Taylor Suarez scored in Angel City’s 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.

In the 18th minute, Angel City midfielder Maiara Niehue’s volley attempt drew a handball on Seattle Reign midfielder Angharad James-Turner. Sentnor converted her second penalty kick in consecutive weeks to open the scoring.

Off a corner kick from defender Evelyn Shores in the 40th minute, an unmarked Borges headed it home to double the lead. Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.

Continue reading here

Angel City summary

NWSL standings

This day in sports history

1897 — England’s Joe Lloyd beats Scotland’s Willie Anderson by one stroke to win the U.S. Open in Wheaton, Ill.

1920 — The forerunner of the NFL, the American Professional Football Assn., is founded in an automobile showroom in Canton, Ohio. Twelve teams pay a $100 fee to obtain a franchise.

1938 — Don Budge completes the Grand Slam with a four-set victory over Gene Mako in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships.

1954 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Ezzard Charles in the eighth round at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain his world heavyweight title.

1955 — In the first color telecast of a football game by NBC, No. 10 Georgia Tech defeats No. 9 Miami 14-6 in Atlanta. The winning score comes in the final minute when linebacker Jimmy Morris returns an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

1961 — The Minnesota Vikings, the newest NFL franchise, beats the league’s oldest franchise, the Chicago Bears, 37-13 win in the season opener. Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton, playing his first NFL game, comes off the bench to become the only quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in his first game.

1966 — In his head coaching debut, coach Joe Paterno leads Penn State past Maryland 15-7.

1967 — Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-31 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

1977 — The U.S. wins the Ryder Cup 12½-7½ at Royal Lytham & St Annes England. It’s the last time that a Britain and Ireland team competes for the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup expands the GB&I to include golfers from all of continental Europe in 1979.

1994 — UNLV receiver Randy Gatewood catches 23 passes for 363 yards and a touchdown in a 48-38 loss to Idaho.

2000 — Dan Marino’s No. 13 jersey is retired by the Miami Dolphins.

2002 — Suzy Whaley becomes the first woman to qualify for a PGA Tour event, earning an exemption to the 2003 Greater Hartford Open by winning a PGA Section Championship. Whaley is also is the first woman to win a Section Championship.

2016 — Cam Pedersen kicks a 37-yard field as time expired and North Dakota State of the FC, rallies to beat No. 13 Iowa 23-21 for its sixth straight win over an FBS opponent.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Brooklyn’s Casey Stengel makes his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, finishing with four singles, two RBIs and two steals in a 7-3 win.

1920 — Bobby Veach of the Detroit Tigers hit for the cycle in a 14-13 12-inning win over the Boston Red Sox at Navin Field. Veach had six hits, achieving the cycle with a double in the ninth.

1930 — Cleveland’s Earl Averill drove in eight runs with three consecutive home runs to lead the Indians to a 13-7 victory over the Washington Senators in a doubleheader opener. Averill added another homer in the nightcap, setting an American League record with 11 RBIs in a doubleheader.

1941 — Stan Musial makes his major league debut.

1947 — Jackie Robinson named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News.

1968 — Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants pitched a no-hitter, a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson. Ron Hunt homered for the only run.

1984 — Reggie Jackson became the 13th player to hit 500 home runs. The milestone shot came off Kansas City pitcher Bud Black. His homer came exactly 17 years after his first career hit.

1984 — Rookie pitcher Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets struck out 16 Phillies in a 2-1 loss at Philadelphia. Five days earlier, Gooden fanned 16 Pittsburgh Pirates tying a major league record for 32 strikeouts in two consecutive games.

1988 — Jeff Reardon became the first pitcher to save 40 games in both leagues as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Reardon, who saved 42 games for the Montreal Expos in 1985, pitched the ninth inning for his 40th save in 47 opportunities.

1996 — Hideo Nomo pitched a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, leading the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory. Nomo walked four batters and struck out eight.

2004 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit the 700th home run of his career, joining Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) as the only players to reach the milestone. Bonds connected in the third inning at home, a 392-foot solo shot to left-center. San Francisco beat San Diego 4-1.

2004 — Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki broke Lloyd Waner’s season record for singles with his 199th in a 6-3 win over Oakland. Suzuki’s two hits gave him 235 for the season, 22 shy of the major league record set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920.

2008 — Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki matched Willie Keeler’s major league record of eight straight 200-hit seasons, beating out an infield single in the eighth inning for his third hit against Kansas City.

2018 — Christian Yelich became the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle twice in one season against the same team, driving in four runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Cincinnati Reds 8-0.

2024 — With a stolen base in the 1st inning, Bobby Witt Jr. becomes the first shortstop to have more than one 30-30 season, as he now has 30 steals and 32 homers; he also just the 8th player to accomplish the feat in consecutive seasons.

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.

Dodgers clinch postseason spot

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers celebrated clinching a postseason berth with a champagne toast. Simple. Restrained. Leaving room for larger celebrations to come.

“The message was, ‘We haven’t come close to playing our best baseball yet,’” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Reds on Monday. “And here we are with 12 games left, getting a ticket to the postseason. And that says a lot about this entire organization. And just to finish strong.”

It marked the Dodgers’ 14th straight playoff berth, tying a record set by the Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 2005.

“It’s different than anything I’ve experienced, for sure,” Tarik Skubal said of the understated celebration. “But I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team. That was cool. A little toast and move on. Forget it happened. We’ve got more to accomplish.”

Most teams don ski goggles to celebrate with champagne and beer showers. The Dodgers will save the messier celebration for clinching the division. Their win over the Reds (70-80) trimmed that magic number to three.

It was fitting that Skubal, the Dodgers’ big trade-deadline acquisition, was on the mound for the clincher. He’s progressively improved in his eight starts with the Dodgers. And on Monday, he breezed through seven shutout innings, allowing just four baserunners (three singles and a walk).

“I think a lot of the struggles have been me versus me,” Skubal said. “Thinking too much out there, not competing the way I know how to compete. Just thinking too much about pitch selection at times and trying to be too fine and not challenging guys.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Will Edwin Díaz be on postseason roster?

From Maddie Lee: Even as the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth with their 4-1 win over the Reds on Monday, bullpen uncertainty loomed.

When they get to the playoffs, who’s going to take the ball in high-leverage situations?

Their options are dwindling. Edgardo Henriquez landed on the 15-day injured list Monday with low back discomfort, ruling him out for the rest of the regular season. Edwin Díaz was so shaky in his rehab assignment Sunday that a spot on the postseason roster isn’t guaranteed.

“We have to go with our best pitchers, as far as performance, talent, all that stuff,” manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers opened a four-game series against the Reds. “So my bet is that he will be [on the roster]. But there’s got to be some kind of evidence or something for us to sort of bet on. And so my bet is, yes, but we’ve still got to see something.”

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Angels defeat the Mariners

Reid Detmers struck out eight over six innings, and Jose Siri and Denzer Guzman each drove in two runs to help the Angels beat the fading Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night.

Detmers (6-8) gave up three runs and seven hits and a walk as third-place Seattle (70-81) dropped 5½ games behind AL West-leading Houston with 11 to play.

Ryan Watson pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings and Ben Joyce walked two in the ninth before retiring J.P. Crawford on a lineout to first base for his fifth save.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

Steve Ballmer did the right thing for his team

From Kevin Baxter: Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his staff had spent the last 12 months loudly insisting they’d done nothing wrong.

The podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” first raised questions about payments star forward Kawhi Leonard received from Aspiration Partners without doing any endorsement work to benefit the company on Sept. 3, 2025. The NBA responded by starting an investigation.

In its findings — released Sept. 2 — an independent law firm reported “a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations” that benefited Leonard, who received $66 million in cash and equity from four companies through agreements facilitated by Ballmer and team executives at the request of Leonard’s uncle and then-agent. Those deals violated the league salary cap, which limits how much teams can pay players. The cap is $164.961 million for the coming season.

The Clippers released two statements that same day, protesting the finding and the stiffest sanctions in NBA history, including a $30-million fine and the loss of five future first-round draft picks. In addition, Ballmer, 69, was banned from all league activities for the next year.

After immediately calling the NBA’s investigation “biased” and vowing to “vigorously challenge these findings and penalties through every avenue available to us,” the Clippers were silent for 11 days.

On Sunday night, they surrendered.

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Swanson: Clippers avoid a death penalty with Kawhi Leonard trade, but only if they clean house

Chargers miss chance to seize spotlight in L.A.

From Mirjam Swanson: It’s just one game. And it’s a long season.

Maybe a loooong season, if you’re a Chargers fan.

Sunday’s season-opening debacle — a sloppy, uninspired and uninspiring 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium — was a first, giant step back for these Chargers.

You can’t call Game 1 of any season a must-win. But you can pan back and recognize that sometimes Game 1 is a really, really should-win affair.

Not only because the Cardinals represented as close to a gimme as the Chargers are going to get on their precarious schedule.

But the Chargers also missed a prime opportunity to fill a hole in the L.A. football plot, rare as those are.

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Rams give updates on Garrett, Donald

From Gary Klein: Sean McVay and the Rams thought the situation was under control, or at least manageable.

Star edge rusher Myles Garrett first experienced knee discomfort and swelling during training camp, a condition that caused him to sit out the majority of team workouts throughout the weeks leading up to the season opener.

But Garrett failed to record a tackle, and was clearly not himself, in an embarrassing defeat by the San Francisco 49ers on Friday in Australia.

On Monday, Garrett was scheduled to have surgery, and he will sit out at least the next four games on injured reserve.

Will lineman Aaron Donald, who has returned from a two-year retirement, make his season debut against the Giants?

“We haven’t decided that yet,” McVay said. “He’s going to continue to work his process and we’ll see what that looks like.”

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This day in sports history

1899 — Willie Smith wins the U.S. Open golf title, beating George low, Val Fitzjohn and W.H. Way.

1923 — Bill Tilden wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championship, beating William Johnston in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

1962 — Frank Tripucka of the Denver Broncos passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.

1971 — Stan Smith wins the U.S. Open title over Jan Khodes and Billie Jean King beats Rosie Casals for the women’s title. It’s the first time in 16 years both titles were won by U.S. players.

1973 — Three-year-old Secretariat wins the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in the then-world record time of 1:45 2-5 for 11/8 miles.

1973 — Archie Griffin of Ohio State starts his NCAA record string of 31 games of rushing for at least 100 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a 56-7 rout of Minnesota in Columbus.

1978 — Muhammad Ali becomes the first three-time heavyweight champion with a unanimous 15-round decision over Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans.

1991 — The United States women’s gymnastics team makes history with its first team medal — a silver — at the World Championships in Indianapolis.

2002 — Sam Hornish Jr. wins another incredible race at Texas Motor Speedway, and his second straight IRL title. Hornish side-by-side with Helio Castroneves for many of the last 25 laps in the season-ending Chevy 500, crosses the finish line 0.0096 seconds — only a few inches — ahead of the other driver in contention for the season championship. Hornish wins his IRL-record fifth race of the season and becomes the first driver to win two IRL championships.

2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon begins NFL record-tying (Kurt Warner, Steve Young) streak of six consecutive 300-yard passing games, throwing for 403 yards in Raiders’ 30-17 victory at Pittsburgh.

2004 — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.

2012 — LSU beats Idaho 63-14 to give the Tigers an NCAA FBS record 40th-straight non-conference regular season victory. LSU also set a Tiger Stadium mark with 20 straight home wins. Kansas State had 39 straight non-conference regular-season wins from 1993-2003.

2013 — Philip Rivers is 36 of 47 for 419 yards and three touchdown passes to Eddie Royal to lead San Diego to a 33-30 victory at Philadelphia. Michael Vick of the Eagles passes for a career-best 428 yards and two touchdowns and runs for a score.

2018 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores his 500th worldwide goal in the Galaxy’s 5-3 loss to Toronto FC. The 36-year-old Swede joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only active players with 500 goals for in club and international play.

2021 — U.S. gymnasts, including Simone Biles, testify against former team doctor Larry Nassar at a Senate Committee hearing, criticizing a system that allowed it to happen.

2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer announces his retirement from pro tennis at 41 with 20 grand slam wins and 103 ATP titles.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1902 — Chicago Cubs infielders Tinker, Evers and Chance turn their first double play together.

1912 — Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox pitched his 16th consecutive victory to tie Walter Johnson’s record as he beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1.

1938 — Brothers Lloyd and Paul Waner hit back-to-back homers for the Pittsburgh Pirates off Cliff Melton of the New York Giants. This was the only time brothers hit successive home runs in a major league game. It was Lloyd’s last homer.

1946 — The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in five innings when the game was called because of gnats. The insects became such a problem for the players, umpires and fans that the game had to be stopped.

1963 — All three Alou brothers — Felipe, Matty and Jesus — played in the outfield at the same time for the San Francisco Giants in a 13-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1969 — St. Louis left-hander Steve Carlton struck out 19 Mets for a nine-inning game record. New York won the game 4-3 on a pair of two-run homers by Ron Swoboda.

1979 — Bob Watson of the Red Sox became the first player to hit for the cycle in both leagues as he led Boston to a 10-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He hit for the cycle with the Houston Astros against San Francisco on June 24, 1977.

1990 — Bobby Thigpen pitched one inning and became the first relief pitcher with 50 saves in a season as the Chicago White Sox beat the Red Sox 7-4.

1996 — The Baltimore Orioles set baseball’s season home run record with five against Detroit, including Mark Parent’s record breaking shot in the third inning and Brady Anderson’s 10th leadoff homer of the year. The homers gave the Orioles 243, three more than the 1961 New York Yankees.

1997 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 51st and 52nd homers in Seattle’s win over Toronto to become the sixth major league player to hit 100 or more home runs over two consecutive seasons. Griffey hit 49 homers last season.

1998 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his AL-leading 52nd homer and drove in five runs to become the fourth-youngest player to reach 1,000 RBIs, leading the Seattle Mariners over the Minnesota Twins 12-7.

2002 — Arizona’s Curt Schilling struck out eight to reach 300 for the season, joining Randy Johnson as the first teammates in baseball history to each strike out 300 in the same season. The Diamondbacks beat Milwaukee 6-5 in 13 innings.

2008 — In an unprecedented move, the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost. It marked the first time in major league history — except the strike-split 1981 season — that a manager was fired in August or later with his team in playoff position. The Brewers, 83-67, lost seven of eight and fallen into a tie with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead.

2009 — David Ortiz hit his record-breaking 270th homer as a designated hitter and had an RBI single in Boston’s 4-1 victory over the Angels. Frank Thomas had held the mark with 269.

2011 — Pablo Sandoval tripled in the sixth inning to complete the first cycle of his career and San Francisco beat Colorado 8-5.

2017 — The Cleveland had its AL record winning streak stopped at 22 as the Indians were beaten 4-3 by the Kansas City Royals, who became the first team to conquer the defending league champions since Aug. 23. The Indians came within four of matching the overall record held by the 1916 New York Giants.

2014 — The Mets’ Jacob deGrom ties a major league record when he strikes out the first eight batters he faces before his opponent on the mound for the Marlins, Jarred Cosart, singles to right. DeGrom ties the record set by Jim Deshaies in 1986. He strikes out 13 in seven innings but ends up with a no-decision as the Marlins win, 6-5.

2022 — On Roberto Clemente Day, the Rays make history by fielding an all-Latino line-up (excluding starting pitcher Shane McClanahan). It consists of C René Pinto, 1B Harold Ramirez, 2B Isaac Paredes, SS Wander Franco, 3B Yandy Díaz, LF David Peralta, CF José Siri, RF Randy Arozarena and DH Manuel Margot, with five countries being represented. All wear Roberto Clemente’s iconic uniform number, 21, as they go on to defeat the Blue Jays, 11-0.

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.

Rams lose to 49ers

From Gary Klein: Maybe, if the Rams still reach their intended destination at season’s end, they’ll look back at their very long trip to Australia — and purposely short stay — and be grateful.

A humbling punch in the face. A wake-up call. A rallying point that spurs them to even greater heights.

Until then, there is only one way to look at it:

The Rams embarrassed themselves, for a new part of the NFL world to see, in a humiliating 27-7 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams arrived here as the star-studded favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium. They left star-crossed, stunned and searching for answers on their long flight back to Los Angeles.

The Rams sleep-walked through nearly all of the opener before a sold-out crowd of 100,021 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the first NFL game in Australia.

Coach Sean McVay’s strategy of arriving the day before the game backfired and resulted in a dull performance by a team featuring some of the NFL’s biggest stars.

“I don’t believe that’s why we didn’t play well enough, I really don’t,” McVay said. “It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say that was a miss.”

Continue reading here

Rams summary

Rams poll

We asked, “Will the Rams win the Super Bowl and how many games will they win, counting the playoffs?”

After 1,172 responses:

Will the Rams win the Super Bowl?

Yes, 62.8%
No, 37.2%

How many games will the Rams win this season, including the playoffs?

18, 25%
17, 22.2%
16, 14.2%
15, 11.9%
14, 7.4%
20, 5.1%
9, 4.9%
19, 4%
12, 2.8%
Fewer than 10, 1.2%
10, 0.7%
11, 0.6%

Ohtani on IL raises questions

From Maddie Lee: When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.

What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?

It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.

If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of on the 15-day injured list?

Maybe.

Or maybe the injuries were significant enough that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.

Maybe not.

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Shaikin: Why it’s past time for MLB players, owners to get a 2028 Olympics deal done

UCLA confident a big Iamaleava game is coming

From Connor Dullinger: UCLA senior wide receiver Mikey Matthews expects the Bruins’ aerial attack to be as electrifying and dominant as their ground game was in a season-opening win over California.

The passing offense lived up to Matthews’ expectations against Cal — but only for a half.

After quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 12 of 18 passes for 179 yards in the first half, he completed just two more passes for five yards — the Bruins’ only yardage in the third quarter.

The rushing attack carried the Bruins to victory, breaking open a tied game with three fourth-quarter touchdown runs.

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Family values are key to Trent Mosley’s USC success

From Ryan Kartje: Since he was a boy, Trent Mosley was taught to live by the Five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

The Five Ps weren’t so much a lesson in the Mosley household as “a lifestyle,” father Emmett Mosley explains. He can’t recall when or from whom he first heard the phrase, but ever since, the Five Ps have stuck with him. To the point that he and his wife, Cindy, made it a core tenet of their family. All four Mosley kids — their daughter, Jalyn, and three boys, Emmett Jr., Trent and Grant — were brought up on the principle that preparation was paramount.

So then, no one in the Mosley family was surprised to see Trent sprinting wide open in the second quarter last Friday night at the Coliseum, well on his way to another impressive performance in his second college game. Just like no one at USC is batting an eye at the freshman’s staggering start, which has him leading the nation with three touchdown catches and the Big Ten with 222 receiving yards.

To those who know Trent best, it’s like this sudden ascent to stardom simply was … inevitable. That’s the Five Ps at work, his father explains.

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This day in sports history

1886 — The Mayflower defends the America’s Cup by beating Britain’s Galatea in two straight heats.

1937 — Don Budge beats Gottfried von Cramm in five sets to win his first U.S. Open men’s singles title. Budge wins 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

1964 — ABC television cancels Fight of the Week, ending 18 years of regularly scheduled prime-time boxing on U.S. broadcast network television.

1976 — In the third race at Latonia, jockey John Oldham and his wife, Suzanne Picou, become the first husband and wife riding team to compete in a parimutuel race. Oldham finishes second aboard Harvey’s Hope and Picou rides My Girl Carla to an 11th-place finish.

1977 — In the last U.S. Open match played at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, Guillermo Vilas beats Jimmy Connors, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0, for the men’s singles title

1982 — Chris Evert wins her sixth U.S. Open singles title, defeating Hana Mandlikova, 6-3, 6-1.

1982 — In a 23-16 loss to Illinois, Ralf Mojsiejunko of Michigan State kicks a 61-yard field goal in his first collegiate attempt.

1983 — Pittsburgh running back Franco Harris runs for 118 yards in Steelers 25-21 win at Green Bay to become only the third player in NFL history to rush for 11,000 yards.

1988 — Mats Wilander wins the longest men’s final in U.S. Open history, edging Ivan Lendl, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

1994 — Andre Agassi wins the U.S. Open with a three-set victory over Michael Stich and becomes the first unseeded player to beat five seeded players in a Grand Slam and the first unseeded champion since Fred Stolle in 1966. Andre wins 6-1, 7-6, 7-5.

1999 — U.S. Open Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams wins her first Grand Slam title; beats world No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6.

2001 — Sports comes to a standstill after terrorism in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, with major league baseball postponing a full schedule of regular-season games for the first time since D-Day in 1944.

2010 — James Madison, a top team in the Football Championship Subdivision, beats No. 13 Virginia Tech 21-16. The last time Virginia Tech lost to a I-AA team was 1985, when Richmond beat the Hokies 24-14 at Lane Stadium.

2010 — The Penn State women’s volleyball team has its record winning streak ends at 109 matches with a 28-26, 25-12, 25-18 loss to Stanford in a tournament at Florida. Penn State’s streak is the second-longest in Division I team sports, behind the 137 straight wins by the Miami men’s tennis program from 1957-1964.

2011 — Carolina’s Cam Newton becomes the first rookie to throw for more than 400 yards in his NFL opener in a 28-21 loss to Arizona. Newton, the No. 1 draft pick playing on the same field where he led Auburn to the BCS championship in January, completes 24 of 37 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

2015 — Roberta Vinci stuns Serena Williams to end her Grand Slam bid in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history. The 43rd-ranked Italian wins 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1912 — Eddie Collins set a major league record with six stolen bases for the Philadelphia Athletics in a 9-7 win over the Detroit Tigers. Collins stole six more in a game on Sept. 22.

1918 — The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 behind the three-hit pitching of Carl Mays to win the World Series in six games. This was Boston’s third championship in a four-year stretch — 1915, 1916 and this season.

1936 — Hod Lisenbee of the Philadelphia A’s tied a major league record for hits allowed, giving up 26 in a 17-2 rout by the Chicago White Sox.

1949 — The New York Yankees sent 18 men to the plate in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Washington. In the 50-minute half-inning the Senators walked a major-league record 11 batters as the Yankees went on to a 20-5 win. New York won the second game 2-1 in one hour and 22 minutes.

1959 — The Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4, putting an end to reliever Roy Face’s 22-game winning streak. It was his only loss of the season as he finished with an 18-1 record.

1974 — It took the St. Louis Cardinals 25 innings — seven hours, four minutes — to beat the New York Mets. There were a record 202 plate appearances. Felix Millan and John Milner had 12 appearances apiece.

1985 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds became the all-time hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb’s record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game in the majors.

1987 — New York Mets third baseman Howard Johnson, with 34 homers, became the first National League infielder to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. His 30th stolen base came in the fourth inning of a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

1996 — San Diego’s Ken Caminiti broke his own major league record by homering from both sides of the plate in a game for the fourth time this season. In a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Caminiti homered left-handed in the fifth inning, hitting a two-run shot. Batting right-handed in the seventh, he hit a solo shot to break his record set last year.

2008 — Albert Pujols drove in his 100th run with a sixth-inning double in the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the Cubs, becoming only the third player in major league history to reach the milestone in his first eight seasons. Pujols also extended his major league-record streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs in his first eight seasons, two more than any player in history.

2014 — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a pitch. Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball from Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers in the fifth inning of a 4-2 loss.

2021 — Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers throw a combined no-hitter to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.

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.

Dodgers edge the Reds

From Maddie Lee: Even Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who’d never be accused of wearing his emotions on his sleeve, was a little worried during his monthslong absence because of a persistent neck injury that he might not be healthy by the end of the season.

“‘It was kind of the ‘who knows how long it’s going to take,’” Smith said when the Dodgers activated him at the beginning of the month. “But at some point I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it.”

It apparently didn’t come to that. And in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, Smith’s fifth time in the lineup since returning from the injured list, he put the Dodgers ahead with a first-inning home run and guided Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal through 7 ⅓ innings of two-run ball.

“He called a great game,” Skubal said of his Team USA teammate. “And the targets that he sets up, and the way that he goes about it, he gives me a ton of confidence back there.”

A neck problem that was initially expected to resolve on its own in a few days turned into a nearly three-month IL stint. With the revolving door behind the plate in Smith’s absence, getting him back down the stretch and into the postseason was going to be key.

While Smith was on the IL, backup catcher Dalton Rushing was thrown into the starting role, learning how to balance the defensive responsibility of serving as the main backstop at the major-league level with a desire to also contribute offensively.

Continue reading here

Shohei Ohtani out of the Dodgers lineup, available to pinch-hit

Shaikin: An October bye-bye? Dodgers need bye to save Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Aaron Donald won’t play in Rams’ season opener

From Austin Knoblauch: Defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not travel with the Rams to Melbourne to play in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday.

Donald, who rejoined the Rams last month after a two-year retirement, wouldn’t confirm if he was planning to play in the season opener when asked multiple times by reporters on Monday, only saying he was “feeling really good. Feeling great.”

The development isn’t surprising considering McVay and his assistants weren’t pushing Donald to play. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said Monday that the team was taking a “day-to-day” approach regarding Donald’s status.

“I think he’ll be ready to go sooner rather than later, but we’re making a decision that we think is best for him and for our team,” McVay said. “He’s attacked this the right way, but it would have been a really quick turnaround.”

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More than just a coaching tree: Why Sean McVay is so good at forging NFL coaches

Rams poll

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Phil Jackson to get statue

From Chuck Schilken: Phil Jackson will be the next member of the Lakers to receive a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers announced on Tuesday that they have commissioned a statue of the coach who led them to five NBA championships — with help from Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and others — that will be unveiled April 9 when the Minnesota Timberwolves are in Los Angeles for the next-to-last game of the 2026-27 season.

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Angels defeat the Red Sox

Reid Detmers struck out nine and gave up one hit over six shutout innings, Zach Neto was four for five with a two-run homer, and the Angels beat the Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night to end Boston’s five-game winning streak.

Vaughn Grissom and Jose Siri hit RBI singles and the Angels scored twice on double-play grounders, providing ample offense for Detmers (5-8), who got his first win since a 1-0 decision over Kansas City on Aug. 15.

Detmers struck out at least one in all six innings he pitched and allowed only three runners. He retired the last 10 batters he faced after hitting Jahmai Jones with a pitch in the third, then was pulled before the seventh after throwing a career-high 112 pitches.

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Angels box score

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1909 — Jack Johnson retains his heavyweight boxing title when he fights Al Kaufman to a no decision in 10 rounds at Coffroth’s Arena in San Francisco.

1940 — Donald McNeil beats Bobby Riggs after losing the first two sets to capture the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. title. Alice Marble wins her third straight title with a two-set triumph over Helen Jacobs.

1956 — Australia’s Ken Rosewall wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. title with a four-set victory over Lewis Hoad. Shirley Fry beats Althea Gibson 6-3, 6-4 for the women’s title.

1960 — The Denver Broncos beat the Boston Patriots 13-10 in the American Football League’s first regular-season game. The game is played on a Friday night at Boston University’s Nickerson Field.

1968 — Arthur Ashe wins the U.S. Open by beating Tom Okker 14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Ashe is the first Black male to win a Grand Slam tournament. As an amateur, Ashe is ineligible to receive the $14,000 winner’s prize, but collects $280 in expenses for the two-week tournament.

1972 — UCLA’s Efren Herrera kicks a 20-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining to beat preseason No. 1 Nebraska 20-17 at the Coliseum.

1974 — Jimmy Connors romps to a 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ken Rosewall to win the U.S. Open.

1978 — Chris Evert beats 16-year-old Pam Shriver 7-5, 6-4 to win her fourth straight U.S. Open.

1979 — In an all-New Yorker U.S. Open men’s final, John McEnroe beats Vitas Gerulaitis, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Tracy Austin, at 16 years, 8 months and 28 days, becomes the youngest U.S. Open women’s singles champion, ending Chris Evert’s 31-match win streak at the Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win.

1984 — John McEnroe beats Ivan Lendl 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to win his fourth U.S. Open.

1990 — Pete Sampras, at the age of 19 years and 28 days, becomes the youngest U.S. Open men’s singles champion, defeating Andre Agassi, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

2000 — Venus Williams wins her first U.S. Open singles title, defeating Lindsay Davenport, 6-4, 7-5.

2006 — Top-ranked Ohio State tightens its hold on the No. 1 spot after beating the No. 2 ranked and defending champion Texas Longhorns 24-7 in Austin, Texas.

2007 — Asafa Powell sets another world record in the 100 meters, winning a heat at the Rieti Grand Prix in 9.74 seconds. The world’s fastest man improves his record by 0.03 seconds, having run 9.77 three times.

2012 — Serena Williams, two points from defeat, suddenly regains her composure and her game, coming back to win the last four games and beat No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her fourth U.S. Open championship and 15th Grand Slam title overall.

2015 — Japan’s Saori Yoshida wins her 16th world or Olympic freestyle title at the world wrestling championships. The most decorated athlete in wrestling history, the 32-year-old Yoshida wins her 13th title at worlds — to go with three Olympic golds in as many tries.

2017 — Sloane Stephens dominates Madison Keys in the U.S. Open final and wins 6-3, 6-0 for her first Grand Slam title. The 83rd-ranked Stephens is the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.

2018 — Alabama strengthens its hold on No. 1 over No. 2 Clemson. The Crimson Tide made its 106th overall appearance at the top of the AP football rankings, which started in 1936, passing Ohio State for the most by any school.

2018 — Green Bay Packers start 100th season with historic 24-23 comeback win over Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field; first ever Packer recovery from 17+ points deficit after three quarters (20-3).

2018 — Cleveland ends its 17-game losing streak with a 21-21 tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

2021 — Tom Brady becomes the first player in NFL history to start 300 regular season games. Brady and the Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 on opening day of the 2021 season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1914 — George Davis of the Boston Braves pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Davis’ no-hitter was the first thrown at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.

1922 — Baby Doll Jacobson hit three triples to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

1936 — The New York Yankees clinched their eighth American League pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3 and 12-9. The Yankees finished 19½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the largest margin in team history.

1945 — Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.

1948 — Rex Barney of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 2-0 no-hit victory against the New York Giants on a rainy day at the Polo Grounds. He walked two and struck out four.

1965 — Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers tossed his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley gave up one hit — a double by Lou Johnson.

1987 — Nolan Ryan strikes out his 4,500th batter.

1988 — Atlanta’s Bruce Sutter joined Rollie Fingers and Rich Gossage as the only pitchers to save 300 games as the Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 in 11 innings.

1992 — Robin Yount became the 17th player to reach 3,000 hits in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Yount singled to right center off Cleveland’s Jose Mesa in the seventh inning.

1998 — The New York Yankees officially clinched the AL East title, the earliest in AL history, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-5. The Yankees improved to 102-41 — 20½ games ahead of second-place Boston.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit three home runs to give him 63 for the season. The third homer was a three-run shot in the 11th inning lifting San Francisco over the Colorado Rockies 9-4. Bonds broke Roger Maris’ record of 61 for most homers in a season by a left-handed hitter.

2004 — Joe Randa had six hits and tied a major league record with six runs, and Alex Berroa hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs in Kansas City’s 26-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader. Randa became the first AL player to have six hits and six runs in the same nine-inning game.

2007 — Milwaukee became the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected off Cincinnati’s Phil Dumatrait in a 10-5 victory. Weeks and Braun each hit two home runs and J.J. Hardy homered and hit two doubles — all in the first four innings.

2017 — Jose Abreu became the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle in 17 years in Chicago’s 13-1 rout of the San Francisco Giants.

2020 — At the urging of Roberto Clemente’s family, Major League Baseball pays tribute to its first Latin American superstar by allowing Puerto Rican players and others to wear his uniform number, 21, in his honor, on this day. This is akin to the wearing of No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day. In addition, all members of the Pirates, Clemente’s former team, wear the number, the first time it has been worn by a team member since Clemente’s passing 48 years earlier.

2022 — Major League Baseball announces the adoption of a number of changes to the rules to be introduced at the start of the 2023 season. They include a pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, and larger bases. All of these changes have already been successfully tested in minor league games and aim to improve pace of play, reduce injuries and create more in-game action.

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.