SPORT

Mirra Andreeva thanked a fan for gifting her a “lucky charm” before her French Open third-round victory against Yulia Putintseva.

The Russian world number six had a small colourful fabric patch with floral patterns on her bench during her 6-3 6-1 win over Kazakh 32nd seed Putintseva.

“When I was walking on court a little girl put a drawing on my bench and I kept it. It’s my lucky charm,” the 18-year-old said.

“Wherever that little girl is, I want to thank her because it is my lucky charm.”

Andreeva is playing in her third French Open, having lost to Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals last year.

She is one of the in-form players in Paris, claiming titles at Indian Wells and the Dubai Open earlier this season.

She broke Putintseva’s serve three times in the first set and again for a 2-1 lead in the second before a brief rain delay.

After the players returned Putintseva briefly rallied to lead 3-2, but Andreeva won the next four games to cruise into the fourth round, where she will face good friend Daria Kasatkina.

Kasatkina, competing in her first Grand Slam since switching allegiance to Australia from Russia, beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-1 7-5.

They don’t know what their rotation will look like in October, and they don’t know how worn down their bullpen will look like.

What the Dodgers know is this: They have Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani will give them a chance in October regardless of what their roster looks like, just as he did on Friday night in an 8-5 victory over the New York Yankees.

How can a player who takes four or five at-bats on most nights have such an oversized influence on games? How can a player who bats once only two or three innings bring opponents to their knees? How can a three-time MVP be a better offensive player than he was in his historic 50-homer, 50-steal season last year?

“I have no words for it,” outfielder Michael Conforto said.

When Aaron Judge homered in the top of the first, Ohtani answered with a homer of his own in the bottom half of the inning.

When the Dodgers were down by three runs, Ohtani led off the sixth inning with another homer, this one making Yankees starter Max Fried strike the Kershaw Pose, back to the plate, hands on knees, head down. The blast one ignited a four-run surge by the Dodgers that produced their first lead of the night.

This was on a night in which Mookie Betts was sidelined with a broken toe, Evan Phillips was ruled out for the remainder of the season because of an upcoming elbow reconstruction, and the Dodgers had no choice but to start the unreliable Tony Gonsolin because three pitchers of their opening-day rotation were on the injured list.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, left, watches his solo home run leave Dodger Stadium as New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried, center, reacts and catcher Austin Wells watches during the sixth inning Friday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Playing with a diminished roster, manager Dave Roberts did what he could before the game to downplay the significance of the World Series rematch against the Yankees, but Ohtani recognized the contest for what it was.

This was a statement game, and Ohtani made a statement.

“We try to win each and every game, of course, but I think it’s a special atmosphere [against the Yankees,]” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I think it was huge to have taken the [first game] of the series.”

The homers were Ohtani’s 14th and 15th of May, which tied a single-month franchise record previously shared by only Pedro Guerrero and Duke Snider. The homers were Ohtani’s 21st and 22nd of the season, meaning Ohtani is on pace for a career-high 63 bombs.

The value of Ohtani’s homers extend beyond the numbers, however.

They inspire awe.

“You don’t want to miss any of his at-bats,” Conforto said. “You want to be in the dugout. You want to see it in person. That’s kind of what it is being his teammate. You want to be there.”

They inspire confidence.

“Every time he comes up to the plate, we’re expecting something awesome to happen,” Gonsolin said. “And he doesn’t let us down a lot of the time. Really cool to have someone like that on our team.”

They inspire a contagious form of courage.

“He would probably say it’s like any other game, but I do think when you see the reigning MVP [Judge] on the other side going out there and performing, that brings out even more of a competitor in Shohei,” Roberts said.

They inspire victories — the Dodgers are 14-6 when Ohtani homers.

“We always seem to play really well when Shohei’s playing well,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I heard the chants for MVP and he’s really well on his way to doing that again.”

This is what the Dodgers will need in October, especially in a season in which little has gone according to plan. At this point, they can’t count on Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow to both be healthy for the remainder of the year. They can’t expect their bullpen to be as spectacular as it was last year. But they can rely on Ohtani to make up for their shortcomings.

He will soon be able to affect the game from the mound, as the Dodgers expect him to return to pitching after the All-Star break. Rather than revel in the victory Friday night, Ohtani said in an on-field postgame interview with Apple TV that he was already looking ahead to his next day’s assignment.

“Live bullpen is scheduled for tomorrow,” Ohtani said. “The game is over now and I’d like to get my body in order for the live BP.”

Fast bowler Jamie Overton has been ruled out of England’s remaining two one-day internationals against West Indies with a broken finger.

Overton suffered a broken little finger while attempting to take a return catch during England’s huge win in the series-opener at Edgbaston on Thursday.

The 31-year-old immediately left the field for treatment but came back on to bowl and took three wickets.

Overton is expected to be out for about a month, so will also miss the three T20s against West Indies that follow the ODIs.

No replacement has been called up for the second ODI in Cardiff on Sunday, when England could secure the series.

To say that St. John Bosco and Santa Margarita engaged in a championship baseball game on Friday night that will be remembered for a lifetime would be an understatement.

“This game was special, something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. You really had to fight for it,” said St. John Bosco left fielder Noah Everly.

It was a Southern Section Division 1 final filled with drama. Teenagers came through with big play after big play until finally in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the bases loaded, Miles Clark hit a walk-off single up the middle to give St. John Bosco a 3-2 victory and its first baseball championship before a sold-out crowd of 3,010 at Cal State Fullerton.

“It hurts a lot,” Santa Margarita coach Chris Malec said. “It was a great effort by both sides. There were so many amazing moments.”

Let’s start with Santa Margarita pitcher Brennan Bauer, who threw five scoreless innings of relief and somehow escaped twice with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game going. First he had a 3-and-1 count to Everly and got a pop fly with one out. Then he had a 3-2 count with Moises Razo and got a fly out to the warning track.

“That’s all Brennan,” Malec said.

In 22 1/3 playoff innings, Brenann won four games and gave up one earned run.

Then there was Everly coming through with a stunning catch on the run in left field in the top of the ninth inning to prevent a Santa Margarita extra base hit with a runner on first.

“That was an extraordinary catch,” Malec said.

Said Clark: “Oh my goodness, Noah came through.”

Coach Andy Rojo raises the championship plaque after St. John Bosco’s 3-2 win over Santa Margarita.

(Nick Koza)

So did Clark against relief pitcher Ethan Russell in the bottom of the ninth. Bauer had run out of innings, having reached his 10-inning max after throwing five innings against Crespi in the semifinals. Russell walked Razo on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases, setting the stage for Clark.

“We were locked in the whole game,” Clark said. “We didn’t lose our mental focus. I kept telling my guys we have to stay focused.”

Razo had a two-run double in the first inning to give the Braves an early lead. Santa Margarita took advantage of an error and closed it to 2-1 in the second on Brody Schumaker’s second hit. The Eagles tied tied it at 2-2 in the fifth with a squeeze bunt by Blake Ankrum, the third sacrifice of the game.

After Gavin Cervantes started on the mound and freshman Brayden Krakowski pitched into the sixth inning, St. John Bosco turned to its closer, Jack Champlin, who was magnificent. In four scoreless innings, he gave up one hit with four strikeouts. At one point, a Santa Margarita batter appeared to challenge Champlin after the count went to 3-0. Champlin struck him out, unleashing a fist pump.

St. John Bosco ended up being the most consistent team in the Southland for the 2025 season. The Braves went 27-4 and became the first Trinity League champion to win a Division 1 title. All the other Trinity League teams that have won Division 1 never won the league title. And beating top-seeded Corona 2-0 on Tuesday was quite an accomplishment itself.

Will it be Paris St-Germain or Inter Milan?

Only one team can walk away with the Champions League trophy on 31 May in Munich.

Both have entertained us with thrilling matches, spectacular goals and brilliant drama.

But who among the two teams has scored the most goals across this European campaign? Registered the most assists? Put in the most tackles?

Test your knowledge with our head-to-head quiz!

CLOVIS, Calif. — Call them the “Fab Four.”

Servite’s boys’ 4×100-meter relay team, consisting of freshmen Jace Wells, Jaelen Hunter, Kamil Pelovello and Jorden Wells got Friday’s CIF State Track and Field Championships off to a blazing start by winning the first heat in 40.28 seconds and earning the top qualifying time — not bad for the foursome’s first go around the oval.

Robert Gardner ran the anchor leg behind Jace Wells, Hunter and Pelovello six days earlier when the Friars clocked 40.40 to win the Southern Section Masters Meet and fellow sophomore Benjamin Harris joined Jorden Wells, Hunter and Gardner when Servite set a state and meet record at the Arcadia Invitational in April.

Justin Hart of Granada Hills ran the 400 meters in 47.72 seconds on Friday to earn the final qualifying spot for the CIF state final.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Friday was all about the “youth movement.” They left Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High believing that they could return Saturday to break the state meet record of 40.24 set by Hawthorne in 1989.

“This is the first time that all four of us have been in the same relay,” Hunter said. “We’re going after the record tomorrow.”

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame won Heat 2 in 40.83, the second-fastest time.

Hunter showed why he’s the fastest freshman in the country one hour later when he looked like he was saving his energy for the finals even while winning his 400-meter heat in 47.43, the third-fastest prelims time behind Temecula Valley senior Jack Stadlman (46.99) and Culver City’s Duaine Mayrant (47.38).

Jace Wells clocked a personal-best to win his 200-meter heat in 21.03 while Stadlman (21 flat), Antrell Harris (21.14) and Leo Francis (21.16) from Santa Margarita also advanced to the finals ahead of USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga, who raced Nicolas Obimgba of Torrance head-to-head at 11 p.m. for the last qualifying spot after they tied to the thousandth of a second for ninth.

Sermons won by 20 hundredths of a second in 21.11 in an empty stadium to secure his spot in the finals.

“I’ve never been in a run-off before,” Sermons said, shaking his head. “I had a bad start the first time. No one to blame but me.”

Rancho Cucamonga’s RJ Sermons, right, wins a run-off against Nicolas Obimgba of Torrance to earn the last spot in the boys’ 200-meter finals.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Servite capped its impressive day by winning its 4×400-meter heat in 3 minutes 10.94 seconds, holding off Cathedral (3:11.13) for the second-fastest qualifying time behind Long Beach Poly (3:10.70).

Maintenance crews will be working overnight trying remove the scorch marks on the track after the boys’ 100 meters. All nine sprinters who advanced to Saturday’s finals clocked 10.51 or under, led by De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson, whose wind-legal 10.01 bettered the California record of 10.14 by Rodrick Pleasant of Gardena Serra in 2022. Second in the heat was Obimgba (10.20) and third was City Section champion Antrell Harris of Birmingham, giving a single heat the first, second and fourth-fastest times in the state this year.

USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga bounced back from a subpar Masters race, where he finished fourth in 10.47, to win his heat in 10.40 and Demare Dezeurn, who repeated as Masters champion in 10.35 seconds, also topped his heat Friday in 10.43. Benjamin Harris won Heat 4 in 10.49.

“Today was all about qualifying for finals, said Dezeurn, a sophomore from Alemany. “It’s great competition. I have to go hard tomorrow. If I can beat [Jefferson] at the start I can beat him in the race. He is good, though. Seeing those times just makes me love the game even more. I want to prove I belong here. I run to win!”

Kyra Terry, left, receives the baton from Oaks Christian teammate Rayah Rodriguez in a girls’ 4×100-meter relay heat at the state preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Christina Gray anchored Carson’s girls’ 4×100 relay, which posted the fastest qualifying time (46.16) while Journey Cole’s late kick on the anchor leg in Heat 2 allowed Redondo Union (46.33) to clip last year’s state champion Oaks Christian, which posted the same time (46.39) as Long Beach Poly. Gray followed with a personal-best 11.47 in the 100, beating Chaparral’s Keelan Wright by two hundredths of a second for second in her heat.

Calabasas sophomore Malia Rainey yelled “C’mon” after winning her heat in a personal-best 11.57 while teammate Marley Scoggins won Heat 4 in 11.67. Wright bounced back to post the best time (23.58) in the girls’ 200 meters while Gray finished second in 23.71, the second-fastest time and much swifter than her 24.62 at City Finals.

“In the 100 I had a great start, now I just have to work on the finish,” Gray said. “It’s still a great time for me. I’m feeling pretty good, there was no negative wind and winning the relay gave me confidence as I was feeling doubtful before that but after the 4×100 I knew I’d do well the rest of the day.

Carson 4×100-meter relay anchor runner Christina Gray crosses the finish line during a heat at the CIF state track and field preliminaries on Friday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Reigning discus champion Aja Johnson Sherman Oaks Notre Dame struggled Friday but secured the 12th and last finals spot with an effort of 139 feet 3 inches. Camarillo’s Trinity Tipton was the top qualifier at 152-06. The 2023 shot put state champion, Johnson was the top qualifier Friday at 45-05, beating Aliso Niguel’s Jaslene Massey by six inches.

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley was the leading qualifier in the girls’ long jump (19-11.75), triple jump (40-09.75) and high jump (5-05.00).

Born in Vizzolo Predabissi, a village 15 miles away from San Siro and the site of his so-far most iconic moment, Acerbi’s sporting history began in 2006 at nearby Pavia in Serie C.

After a loan spell at Renate in Serie D, Acerbi began touring Italy with moves to Reggina, Genoa and Chievo, where he made his Serie A debut and emerged as one of the most promising defenders in the league.

AC Milan, the club he had supported since childhood, took notice of his qualities. In 2012 he made a permanent move to the Rossoneri where, however, things did not turn out as expected.

Acerbi had a problem, which in turn triggered others – an unresolved relationship with his father, his first admirer but also his first critic.

“He wanted to do me good, but without meaning to, he would go so far as to hurt me,” Acerbi recently said of his father’s constant criticism.

Paolo Franchini, the psychotherapist who helped Acerbi make peace with his father over the years, said: “He was his number one fan, but also his number one pain in the neck. He was always pointing out the mistakes he made.”

Now, when Acerbi raises his arms to the sky at the start of each game, he does it for him, but his has been a long journey.

His father died shortly after his move to AC Milan. Acerbi lost his balance and fell into depression.

“Already at the beginning of my career I didn’t really have the right attitude for a professional player,” he later said.

“I would often arrive tipsy at trainings, without having fully recovered from the night before. I was physically strong, and that was enough for me.

“As my father died, however, I hit rock bottom. I no longer had any drive and could no longer play. I was sick and would drink anything.”

After just six months, the Rossoneri loaned him back to Chievo, then he moved on again to Sassuolo at the end of the season.

Marina won the Southern Section Division 3 softball championship with an 8-1 win over Westlake in Irvine on Friday.

Aviana Valbuena had three hits and four RBIs. Sister Mia Valbuena struck out 13 with one walk.

Marina improved to 19-13.

Los Alamitos won the Division 2 championship with a 3-0 win over JSerra that took 10 innings. Cienna Kowaleski hit a two-run home run in the 10th to end a great pitching duel.

JSerra’s Liliana Escobar struck out 16. Los Alamitos’ Jaliane Brooks threw all 10 innings, striking out five.

In Division 6, Irvine University defeated Rio Hondo Prep 4-1. In Division 7, Rancho Mirage defeated Culver City 7-3.

Alcaraz’s form during his second-round win over Fabian Marozsan had been patchy and Friday’s first meeting at ATP Tour level against Dzumhur looked set to be a much smoother affair.

Having shrugged off two early break points, he reeled off five successive games to wrap up the opening set inside 30 minutes, with his opponent looking exasperated at times as he struggled to contain the man seen as the one to beat on the Paris clay this year.

The second set followed in much the same fashion, and while Dzumhur, 33, did have his chances with break points in the second and sixth games, he lacked the weapons to cause Alcaraz any concern.

A double fault sealed the two-set lead for the Spaniard, but then the errors started to creep into his own game in the third as Dzumhur found another gear on the other side of the net.

After a brief pause to receive treatment on a knee injury, the Bosnian – seeking to reach the fourth round of a Slam for the first time – finally got the break he had been fighting for.

Alcaraz wasted three immediate chances to break back at 4-3 down, and a further two as his opponent served out the set.

Dzumhur’s resurgence continued into the fourth as he broke the frustrated Spaniard at the first time of asking, and Alcaraz was forced to watch more break points of his own come and go unconverted.

But Dzumhur was only ever going to hold him off temporarily.

Alcaraz, starting to show glimpses of the clinical form on show in the opening two sets, won four successive games, and while he was broken back when serving for the match, he again broke Dzumhur to close the tie as the clock neared midnight in the French capital.

CLEVELAND — José Soriano threw six scoreless innings, Mike Trout had a hit in his return to the Angels’ lineup in a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Jo Adell had three hits and an RBI and Jorge Soler hit a solo homer down the left-field line in the ninth inning as the Angels snapped a five-game losing streak.

Cleveland’s José Ramírez had his 21-game hitting streak snapped. He drew a walk in the eighth inning to extend his on-base streak to 26 games.

The Guardians, who have dropped four of their last five, avoided a shutout on Nolan Jones’ RBI single to right with two outs in the ninth.

It was the third time this season Soriano (4-5) has gone at least six innings and not given up a run. The right-hander yielded just four hits with two strikeouts and four walks.

Trout, activated off the injured list after he missed 26 games due to a bone bruise on his left knee, lined out to Ramírez at third in his first at-bat before he lined a base hit to left-center in the fourth inning.

Adell singled to right with one out in the second to drive in Soler, who drew a walk off Luis Ortiz (2-6) to lead off the inning.

The Angels added a pair of runs in the seventh when Scott Kingery scored on a passed ball and Soler had a run-scoring single to center.

Key moment: The Guardians had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning, but Soriano got Gabriel Arias to chase a 98-mph sinker for the strikeout.

Key stat: Trout went one for five and batted fifth as the designated hitter. It was the first time since Sept. 26, 2011, the three-time American League MVP started a game hitting lower than third.

Up next: RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.23 ERA) goes for the Angels while RHP Slade Cecconi (1-1, 3.27 ERA) takes the mound for the Guardians.

Canadian Nick Taylor shot an impressive four-under-par round of 68 to take a share of the lead at the Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

The 37-year-old made four birdies during his second round as he joined overnight leader Ben Griffin, who carded an even-par 72, at the top of the leaderboard.

Griffin’s fellow American Akshay Bhatia is a further two shots behind the pair in third at five under.

World number one Scott Scheffler is within striking distance after he finished the day at four under following back-to-back rounds of 70 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry is the heading the European challenge a further shot back, four off the lead.

Michael Barnett flipped a weighted baseball into his hand and threw it against the side of the strength-training room next to UCLA’s clubhouse.

Jostling through folding tables, water coolers, television stands and a postgame news conference podium, he resumed his starting pitcher routine, as he would for any start, moving inside the weight room to stretch his right arm with resistance bands.

The junior right-hander’s pregame obstacle course — navigating university staffers, media and more — before trotting down to the bullpen, was outside of the ordinary. Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium was different — from the energy on the concourse to the noise from the dugouts and ultimately, the power from the Bruins’ bats.

Hosting its first regional since 2019, national No. 15 seed UCLA posted season highs for hits and runs in a dominant, 19-4 victory over regional No. 4 seed Fresno State.

“It wasn’t the cleanest game — it didn’t feel like the cleanest game,” said UCLA coach John Savage, “but at the end of the day, at this time of the year, you win any way you can and certainly we did that today. So it was a good win.”

A six-run, seventh-inning sent the Bulldogs unknowingly waving a white flag. UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu’s line drive off the left-field wall cleared the loaded bases to provide the Bruins with a 12-2 lead. Fresno State’s nine players dejectedly walked off the field, as if they’d been walked off in a mercy-rule defeat.

But the field crew reminded the Bulldogs that in the NCAA tournament, no matter how many runs you trail by, both teams play nine innings. The Bruins still had seven more runs to score in the eighth inning Friday.

It wasn’t Big Ten player of the year Roch Cholowsky — the 20-year-old who dreamed of Omaha when he chose the Bruins over entering the MLB draft — who led the offensive barrage that gave UCLA a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The middle of the UCLA lineup helped produce a rally as they had all year.

UCLA’s Dean West makes contact during the Bruins’ blowout win over Fresno State on Friday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Levu — who led the Bruins in regular-season RBI with 74 and led UCLA with five RBI against Fresno State — singled into left field to start the rally. Cleanup hitter Roman Martin brought home the first run of the game with a single into left. Payton Brennan and Blake Balsz (who tallied his third-career, three-hit game) connected for back-to-back RBI base hits, solidifying a lead as the Bulldogs awaited the walk back to the dugout for a mid-inning reprieve.

“The nice part about today is I was just trying to simplify everything and trust that my teammates are gonna pick me up,” Balsz said.

Before Fresno State starting pitcher Jack Anker knew it, UCLA strung together four runs in the blink of an eye, creating distance against the Mountain West champions they never made up.

Martin connected for a third-inning solo home run — his seventh of the year — while Balsz joined his teammate with multiple RBI after a run-scoring single a few batters later.

“One of the huge things we talked about, one of our offensive goals is to score first, and that’s really a huge momentum shift for us,” Martin said. “It definitely kind of took a little bit off, especially during our first playoff game, kind of eased us into it a little bit.”

UCLA tagged Anker for six earned runs and 10 hits across five innings, holding the Bulldogs junior who entered the game averaging 10.5 strikeouts-per-nine innings to just two punchouts. The two strikeouts were the second-fewest Anker forced against an opposing team this season.

UCLA pitcher Michael Barnett delivers during the first inning Friday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Barnett’s outing on the mound was an obstacle much like his routine before toeing the Jackie Robinson Stadium mound. The sinkerballer struggled with command against the Bulldogs, throwing just 40 strikes among 74 pitches, and lasted just 4⅓ innings before UCLA coach John Savage pulled Barnett with runners on the corners and one out in the fifth.

Southpaw Chris Grothues, a junior in his first season of high-leverage pitching opportunities, broke Barnett out of the inherited jam with a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning. Grothues then spun a scoreless sixth — placing the Bruins in cruise control for the rest of the contest, earning the victory.

“They did a really good job against Barnett,” Savage said, adding that he felt lucky to be up 6-2 entering the seventh. “Our bullpen did a nice job. Grothues came in, got that double play. That was a big play — the 3-6-1 — that was a big momentum swing.”

Cholowsky, who also led the nation in wins-above-replacement with 6.36, according to D1Baseball, still collected two hits Friday.

Leadoff hitter Dean West was hit by a pitch three times by Bulldog pitchers, the last of which brought home a run to make it 9-2 in the bottom of the seventh.

Brennan hit a two-run home run in the eighth, while catcher Cashel Dugger also pulled a solo home run over the right-field wall for the Bruins’ 15th run.

UCLA advances to the winner’s bracket where it’ll face the winner of the UC Irvine-Arizona State game late Friday. The Bruins split midweek season series against both the Anteaters and the Sun Devils.

She had fielded questions regarding Earps’ retirement on Thursday, admitting it had been a “hard” start to the week.

Wiegman was visibly emotional, reflecting on the good times they shared together and unwilling to discuss how frustrating the sudden departure of the 32-year-old may be.

With only 13 caps for Hampton prior to kick-off, and none for the other two goalkeepers in the squad, fears were raised about their inexperience.

But when the team in front plays so well, it quickly becomes less of a concern.

Hampton spent the majority of the second half stood still, watching on as her team-mates tried to add to their five first-half goals, managing one more through Chloe Kelly.

Hat-trick hero Beever-Jones gave some insight into Wiegman’s talk before the Group A3 tie: “She said before the game, ‘it’s a new kit, it’s a new England, we have a new squad’.”

But it wasn’t a new England, it was a “vintage” England, according to Bardsley, who was waxing lyrical by the time the fifth goal came in only the 33rd minute, sealing a treble for Beever-Jones.

Lucy Bronze nodded in England’s second, while Beth Mead joined in on the action and substitute Kelly added the finishing touch with the sixth in the 62nd minute.

“This is reminding me of vintage England, casting myself back to 2022,” said Bardsley, who made 81 appearances for the Lionesses. “Portugal have been poor, but among the noise, it is so wonderful to see the girls with smiles on their faces.”

They were not the only ones with smiles on their faces as supporters danced and celebrated at full-time, clearly encouraged by what they had witnessed.

England’s form has dipped throughout the last 18 months. Just seven weeks ago they were beaten in Leuven by Belgium – who are bottom of the Women’s Nations League group – and two months after picking up a victory over world champions Spain at Wembley.

But the Lionesses showed they were up to the task when the pressure was on, buoyed by the return of key players Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood from injury.

“There has been a lot of noise [this week] and players wanted to put that to bed,” added Johnson.

“Questions in the press conference were relentless and they are going to be. They just want to talk about football and they made it all about the football.

“Mary [Earps] will be missed, but when you score six goals in the fashion they did, we are just talking about the football and how good England were.”

CLEVELAND — Mike Trout originally expected to return to the Angels’ lineup on Monday in Boston.

It turns out the timeline was moved up one series and three days.

Trout was activated off the injured list before Friday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. The Angels slugger missed 26 games with soreness in his left knee eventually diagnosed as a bone bruise. The three-time American League MVP had two operations last year on the knee after tearing his meniscus.

“I’m just itching to get out there,” Trout said before the game. “I think came out of the other day (of running bases) good. I wasn’t too sore or anything, I told them I was good enough to go out there and have some good at-bats.”

Trout’s return comes with something he hasn’t done in his 15-year big league career. This will be the first time in 1,532 starts that he will be hitting fifth in the lineup.

The only other time Trout batted fifth in 1,547 previous games was on May 14, 2022, against the Athletics, when he entered in the fourth inning and finished the game in center field.

“We know where Mike Trout is in the order. It doesn’t matter where he is hitting, he could be hitting ninth,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s got to be a different feeling for sure for them. I mean, he’s been in the two or three hole for what, 12 years now? But he’s still a really good player.”

Manager Ron Washington is happy to have Trout back, especially since he noted Trout wasn’t aggressive in rushing back. Washington also knows that Trout isn’t ready to return to his normal spot batting second or third.

“He hasn’t seen anything. So when you look at what we have, that’s where he sits,” Washington said. “It doesn’t make sense for him to protect (Logan) O’Hoppe. So I’ll put Mike behind him to protect O’Hoppe. He’s not ready to be at the top of the lineup, especially with those guys up there. As we go along the next couple of days, he’s not going to remain fifth.”

The 33-year old Trout was hitting .179 with nine home runs, 18 RBIs and a .727 OPS in 29 games before the injury. He will be the designated hitter for the weekend series against the Guardians before possibly returning to right field when the Halos head to Boston on Monday for a three-game series.

Even though Trout has shied away from wanting to be the designated hitter, he has done well in that spot. In seven games this season, he is eight for 28 (.286) with six home runs and nine RBIs.

Trout said whether or not he plays more games than originally planned at DH the remainder of the season is something that remains to be seen.

“Bone bruises are tricky. I know I am going to be sore but I can deal with it,” he said. “I definitely have to be cautious, especially the first couple games.”

Trout’s return comes with the Angels on a five-game skid after an eight-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Dodgers. Los Angeles were 25-30 going into Friday’s game.

“There’s so many games that any sense of newness or something to make you excited is something that you’d latch on to. So today is definitely a moment like that,” O’Hoppe said about Trout’s return. “He’s the heart of this organization. So we’re happy to have our heart beating again for sure.”

Trout has missed 404 of the Angels’ 664 games — almost 61% — since May 17, 2021, when he tore his calf muscle against Cleveland and was sidelined for the rest of that season. This is the fifth straight year he has had a stint of at least 25 games on the IL.

He missed five weeks of the 2022 season with a back injury, and all but one game after July 3 in 2023 after he broke a bone in his hand on a foul ball. Trout played in 29 games last season before the meniscus injury.

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has been accused of raping and abusing a woman who says she dated the former Duke standout and No. 1 overall draft pick from 2018-2023.

In a civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, a woman identified as Jane Doe provides details of two alleged instances in 2020 during which Williamson raped her in a Beverly Hills apartment he was renting at the time.

“These two incidents were not isolated,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant continued to abuse, rape, assault, and batter Plaintiff in California and other states, including Louisiana and Texas, until the relationship ended in 2023.”

Williamson’s attorneys at Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, LLC, denied the accusations in a statement emailed to The Times on Friday.

“The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless,” the firm stated. “This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance.”

Williamson’s attorneys said he and the accuser “never dated, but did maintain a consensual, casual relationship.” The firm added that “Mr. Williamson also intends to file counterclaims and seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit.”

Williamson’s accuser is seeking unspecified damages for nine causes of action that include assault, sexual battery, domestic violence, burglary, stalking and false imprisonment.

“Our client and we do not want to litigate this case in the press. That’s not our intent,” attorney Sam Taylor from the Lanier Law Firm, which is representing the accuser, told The Times on Friday.

“However, I do say this is a very serious case, reflected in the allegations in the complaint. Our client just looks forward to her day in court where she can talk to a jury of her peers and tell them what happened to her and how bad it was and see justice against Mr. Williamson.”

Taylor said that “as of now,” his client is not planning to file lawsuits in any of the other locations where alleged incidents took place.

The Pelicans did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

According to the lawsuit, the two began dating during Williamson’s freshman, and only, year at Duke, where he played during the 2018-19 season.

“During the course of their relationship, Defendant engaged in a continuing pattern of abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior toward Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. “His wrongful conduct occurred in Louisiana and continued thereafter across several states. The abuse was sexual, physical, emotional, and financial in nature.”

Williamson moved to Beverly Hills for training and rented a house in the area during the fall of 2020, according to the filing. The lawsuit provides explicit details of two alleged instances in which Williamson raped the accuser, “on or about” Sept. 23, 2020, and on Oct. 10, 2020.

The lawsuit also alleges that Williamson committed many other “acts of criminal violence” against his accuser during their relationship, including strangling her multiple times to the point she lost consciousness, suffocating and/or smothering her, beating and kicking her, threatening to kill her and her family members, and pointing a loaded firearm to her head.

Williamson “was either drunk or on cocaine” while allegedly committing many of those acts, the lawsuit states.

“As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression, humiliation, loss of sleep, and other physical and emotional injuries,” the lawsuit states. “As a further direct and proximate result of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff has incurred expenses for medical and psychological treatment, therapy, and counseling.”

Linsey Smith becomes just the second England player to take a five-wicket haul on her One Day International debut to help England to a 108-run victory over West Indies in Derby.

MATCH REPORT: England Women v West Indies Women – first ODI

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LAFC has won an MLS Cup and played in two CONCACAF Champions League finals.

None of those games were worth as much as the team’s upcoming match.

Literally.

Next up for LAFC is the $10-Million Game, in which it will play Mexico’s Club América on Saturday at Banc of California to determine the final entrant in the Club World Cup. The 32-team tournament, which will be staged across the United States from mid-June to mid-July, has a record-breaking billion-dollar prize pool.

By simply qualifying for the event and playing in three group-stage matches, LAFC would be entitled to a participation fee of $9.55 million.

That might not be considered a significant prize for the Dodgers or Lakers, but it’s a major bounty for LAFC, which had a payroll of about $20 million last season.

“We know what’s at stake,” LAFC co-president John Thorrington said.

Imagine that, a Major League Soccer team playing a game with real consequences. The stakes are unusually high for a team in a league in which 18 of 30 teams reach the postseason and the threat of relegation is non-existent.

Real money will be on the line.

That’s money that could go toward covering the transfer fee or salary of the team’s next signature player, as one of LAFC’s three designated-player slots could open this summer.

Thorrington preferred to emphasize the symbolic importance of LAFC reaching the Club World Cup, how it would move the team one step closer to its long-stated ambition of becoming a global brand.

“The conversation here is not dominated by the financial benefit here, but rather the competitive opportunity that this game and the tournament present,” Thorrington said.

If LAFC advances to the Club World Cup, its opening game will be against Chelsea of the English Premier League. The other group-stage games would be against ES Tunis of Tunisia and Flamengo of Brazil.

“I think it would be something special,” defender Eddie Segura said in Spanish.

The tournament could also be a wake-up call for MLS, which has two other teams in the competition in Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders. The league has a salary cap, as well as paint-by-numbers roster compliance rules that permit minimal flexibility on how its teams can spend money. Soccer is a sport in which teams are only as good as their weakest links, but the regulations force clubs to construct top-heavy rosters.

As it was, the financial restrictions were already handicapping MLS teams in its competitions against its Mexican counterparts, with LAFC relying on its smarts instead of the economic might of its deep-pocketed owners to reach two Champions League finals. Now, MLS teams will be taking on opponents with virtually unlimited budgets. Just two years ago, Chelsea spent more than a billion dollars buying players in a single transfer window.

The Club World Cup’s cash prizes offer MLS a powerful incentive to loosen its rules. Group-stage wins are worth $2 million each. Teams will be paid $7.5 million for reaching the round of 16. The champion will take home more than $100 million.

The payouts could also force MLS to make changes to its collective bargaining agreement, which was signed when the Club World Cup was still a seven-team tournament. Under the current CBA, LAFC’s players would divide $1 million, with the remainder of the $9.55 million participation fee staying with the club.

Segura said the players are engaged in talks over their compensation.

“The club would benefit a lot, but I hope that we as players, as the ones who are there giving everything, will also have a chance to benefit,” Segura said.

The upcoming game has also offered LAFC a firsthand view of FIFA’s operations.

LAFC’s and Club América’s opportunity came at the expense of León, which was removed from the Club World Cup field because it was owned by the same group that owned another Mexican team in the tournament, Pachuca.

León qualified for the tournament by defeating LAFC in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League final. Rather than award León’s place to LAFC, FIFA basically invented a play-in game out of thin air, calling on LAFC to take on Club América, which was the region’s highest-ranked team that wasn’t already in the tournament.

LAFC was at least granted a chance. The Galaxy won the MLS Cup last season, but Inter Miami received the place reserved for the host nation before the MLS playoffs even started. The purported reason was that Inter Miami had the league’s best regular-season record. However, the widespread suspicion was that FIFA wanted Lionel Messi in the tournament.

After all, money is what is driving this tournament and money is what is driving the sport.

Visma-Lease a Bike rider Yates was visibly frustrated after finishing 24 seconds behind Del Toro in seventh.

“The plan was completely different from what we did today, so I will talk about that with the team,” he told Eurosport.

“I will not say anything more about that.”

However, team director Marc Reef said the day went “exactly as we agreed”, and added Carapaz and Del Toro were “just a bit stronger”.

Although Yates, 32, could still overhaul Carapaz and Del Toro, it looks most likely this year will again add to the heartbreak he has experienced in bids to win the Giro.

He led for 13 days in 2018 but cracked in the final week when Chris Froome launched an astonishing comeback to win the race.

After an underwhelming eighth-placed finish in 2019, Yates had to withdraw from the 2020 edition with Covid-19 and then had to recover from a difficult first two weeks to claim third in 2021.

Yates’ twin brother Adam sat up and dropped out of the top 10 overall in order to save himself to help team-mate Del Toro on Saturday.

Ecuador’s Carapaz, the 2019 Giro champion, tried to drop Del Toro on the final climb, but could not shake the 21-year-old, who is bidding to become the youngest winner of the Giro since 1940.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Del Toro, who won stage 17, showed impressive nous to grab the six bonus seconds for second place, with EF Education-EasyPost’s Carapaz, 32, having to settle for four bonus seconds in third.

Major League Baseball has been trying for years to increase the number of Black players participating in the sport, creating such programs as the Compton Youth Academy and the DREAM Series. There were 59 Black players on opening day MLB rosters, a slight increase from the previous year but far from the numbers in the 1980s.

St. John Bosco’s baseball team, which plays for a Southern Section Division 1 championship on Friday against Santa Margarita at Cal State Fullerton, offers hope for the future with five Black players in the starting lineup.

“Definitely something to be proud of,” center fielder Miles Clark said.

The sports of football and basketball have been taking away Black athletes, but St. John Bosco’s group of Clark, his twin brother James, Noah Everly, Jaden Jackson and Macade Maxwell have embraced baseball and put themselves in position to pursue college baseball and beyond.

Each player offers speed and athleticism. Maxwell had an RBI single in the semifinals against Seth Hernandez of Corona. James Clark and Everly lead the team in hitting at .394 and .347, respectively. St. John Bosco won its first Trinity League title since 2017 and is 24-5. …

Santa Margarita is much improved after getting players back from injuries, so ignore the fact it has 12 losses. Carter Enoch came back to add hitting to the Eagles’ lineup and Brennan Bauer has been the winning pitcher in all four playoff games. Seventeen seniors are graduating at 10 a.m. at the Honda Center.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].