The Dodgers might be sprinting toward the finish line this year, trying to edge out the San Diego Padres in a tight National League West race.
But on Tuesday night, they made a 6-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds feel more like a nice, leisurely stroll.
Clayton Kershaw continued his renaissance season, pitching five innings of one-run ball to earn a fifth-consecutive victory (his longest such streak since the end of the 2022 season). The offense steadily wore the Reds’ pitching staff down, answering a first-inning Cincinnati run with one of their own before taking the lead for good in the fourth.
And it all added up to a third-straight win for the Dodgers (76-57), keeping them alone in first place atop the division.
Kershaw provided the bedrock for Tuesday’s victory.
The left-hander was pitching on four days’ rest for the third time this season (more than anyone else on the team), so that Shohei Ohtani could be lined up to start ahead of an off day on Wednesday. And early on, the Reds (68-65) tagged him with a quick run, after Spencer Steer led off with a double and later scored on Miguel Andújar’s groundout.
Starting with that grounder, however, Kershaw proceeded to retire the last 14 batters he faced. Six came via strikeout, marking his second-highest strikeout total this season. And of balls put in play, only four were “hard hit” (with an exit velocity greater than 95 mph). Not one left the bat at more than 100 mph.
It was the latest example of the 37-year-old left-hander’s newfound recipe for success: Once again hitting his spots with an 88-mph fastball, leaning heavily on a slider that generated five whiffs and four outs, and mixing in his trademark curveball and newfangled splitter to keep an entirely right-handed Reds lineup off-balance in a 72-pitch outing.
Given the low pitch count, Kershaw might have been able to go past the fifth. He and manager Dave Roberts appeared to have a brief conversation in the dugout before shaking hands, a sign his night was over. But between his quick (by modern-day standards, at least) four-day turnaround, and the team’s careful management of his workload overall this season, Kershaw’s five innings were plenty.
On the season, Kershaw is 9-2 with a 3.06 ERA, third-best among Dodgers starters this year. He also finishes August with a 1.88 ERA in five starts, third-best among National League starters for the month.
While Kershaw cruised, the Dodgers’ offense also found a groove.
They erased the early 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the first, when Mookie Betts walked, Freddie Freeman doubled and Betts scored on a throwing error by Reds left fielder Austin Hays.
They took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, after a leadoff double from Teoscar Hernández, an infield single from Michael Conforto on a scorching comebacker that ripped the glove right off the hand of Reds pitcher Nick Martinez, and a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández (who returned to the lineup for the first time since early July after being out with an elbow injury).
Then, in the sixth, they broke the game open with a four-run rally.
Will Smith turned around a center-cut fastball for an opposite-field, leadoff home run, a positive sign for the slumping catcher who entered the night with a .150 batting average in August and only one long ball in his previous 25 games.
Miguel Rojas came off the bench for a two-run double later in the inning, smoking a flyball to deep center that got Noelvi Marte (who was making his first career MLB start in the middle of the outfield) turned around at the warning track.
Ohtani followed that with an RBI single to right, helping him break a one-for-16 skid.
The only bad news for the Dodgers on Tuesday came pregame, when left-handed reliever Alex Vesia was placed on the injured list with a right oblique strain. The severity of his injury was not immediately known.
But even without him, the Dodgers’ bullpen largely coasted in relief of Kershaw. Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott, both having recently returned from the IL, pitched scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth (giving Scott his first save since returning). And though Hays hit a two-run home run in the seventh off Ben Casparius, it did little to make Tuesday feel like anything more than a late-season cakewalk — even amid a mad dash down the season’s closing stretch.
Sasaki’s latest rehab start
In triple-A Oklahoma City, rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki made the third start of his minor-league rehab stint, giving up three runs in 3 ⅔ innings on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. The most encouraging takeaway from the outing was Sasaki’s fastball velocity, which averaged 96 mph for a second-straight outing and topped out at 98.8 mph — the hardest he has thrown in his recovery from a shoulder injury. Sasaki is expected to make at least one more rehab start before being ready to be activated.
From Benjamin Royer: Venice Beach carried all the traits of a party Sunday evening: 90s R&B tunes from DJs, social influencers — with tripods in tow — showing up to get a view of the basketball courts to find out what the fuss was all about and enough flashing lights to grab any European tourist’s attention.
Much of what you would have found during Legends Weekend in Venice — celebrating 20 years of basketball culture and community — had the classic hallmarks of the antics found on the boardwalks, down to the crowds surrounding performers such as “2K The Clown” and his posse dancing in clown makeup at the half-court logo as the blue and orange sunset faded from day to night.
Marcus Henry spins the golden ball he received after winning the three-point contest at the Veniceball’s 20th annual “Legends Weekend” at Venice Beach on Sunday. At the center of all the madness, a weekend honoring Kobe Bryant — who once broke his wrist in 2000 attempting a dunk at the courts — and many other late street-ball icons who made their impact on the boardwalk was Nick Ansom. Ansom, who rollerskated up and down the basketball court with a plastic orange top hat atop his head, is the founder and chief executive officer of Veniceball.
Ask the legends — who have been playing physical, hard-nosed basketball on the courts for half a century — or up-and-coming basketball players who have made Venice their own with their slick style on the courts, Ansom is the heart and soul of modern-day Venice basketball, the man who’s kept the mission — of basketball and family — moving and growing year by year.
“This is the goodness of people right here,” Ansom said, before the finals of the Venice Basketball League kicked off on Sunday night. “Look where we are. We’re a legendary place, the most iconic basketball courts in the world. I call it the hoopers’ paradise.”
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DODGERS
From Kevin Baxter: The Dodgers continued their season-long celebration of last year’s World Series triumph by handing out championship rings Monday. The 49,702 people who brought tickets got replicas while Gavin Lux, who played for the Dodgers last season and is now with the Cincinnati Reds, got a real one.
If the team hopes to win more jewelry again this fall, the next five weeks will be key. Because after Monday’s 7-0 win over the Reds, the Dodgers lead the Padres by a game in the National League West with 30 left in the regular season for both teams.
And if the Dodgers (75-57) continue to play as they did Monday, when Andy Pages homered twice, driving in four runs, and Emmet Sheehan threw a career-high seven scoreless innings, they’ll be tough to catch.
The Reds nearly went ahead in the second after Lux doubled to the wall in right-center with one out. But Michael Conforto took extra bases away from Spencer Steer with a leaping catch in left field and Teoscar Hernández made a running catch of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ drive to the foul pole in the right-field corner to end the inning.
Zach Neto homered on the game’s first pitch and the Angels, with manager Ron Washington present for the first time in more than two months, beat the Texas Rangers and All-Star pitcher Jacob deGrom 4-0 on Monday night.
José Soriano (9-9) struck out six over 5⅓ innings and gave up four hits in his first start since coming off the paternity list. Four relievers finished off the Angels’ sixth shutout this season.
Washington hasn’t managed the Angels since June 19, and revealed before the game that he is recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery eight weeks ago. He won’t return to managing this season, but wants to be with the Angels, and watched from a booth upstairs after being with them pregame.
From Gary Klein: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford appears on track to start the season opener against the Houston Texans — and now perhaps his primary protector will join him in the preparation.
Left tackle Alaric Jackson, who has been sidelined because of blood-clot issues in his legs, will participate in full-team drills for the first time next week, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
“We’ve got a good plan in place,” McVay said.
Jackson, 27, signed a three-year, $35-million extension in March. But in June, he was diagnosed with blood-clot issues for the second time in his career, and the Rams hurriedly signed veteran tackle D.J. Humphries.
That Venus Williams lost her first Grand Slam match in two years — and what she says will be her last match of 2025 — didn’t really matter Monday night.
Certainly not to the thousands of supportive spectators in the Arthur Ashe Stadium seats who roared for her best shots and, in a way, for everything her career means to them, before sending her off the court with a standing ovation after a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 defeat against 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova at the U.S. Open.
The result also sure seemed beside the point to Williams herself, at 45 the oldest singles player at Flushing Meadows since 1981. She smiled and laughed and joked through her postmatch news conference — until, that is, a reporter asked something that made her think back to all of the injury and illness issues she dealt with for years.
“Oh, what did I prove to myself?” Williams began, repeating part of the question. “I think for me, getting back on the court was about giving myself a chance to play more healthy. When you play unhealthy, it’s in your mind. It’s not just how you feel. You get stuck in your mind too. So it was nice to be freer.”
1933 — Helen Hull Jacobs captures the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association singles title when Helen Wills Moody defaults in the third set because of back and hip pain.
1950 — Australia wins its third straight Davis Cup by beating the U.S. 4-1.
1961 — The International Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto.
1972 — The New York Cosmos win the NASL championship by defeating the St. Louis Stars 2-1.
1995 — Greg Norman sinks a 66-foot chip on the first playoff hole, to capture the World Series of Golf and become the leading money winner in PGA Tour history. Norman wins $360,000 in his third tour victory this year to raise lifetime earnings to $9.49 million and overtake Tom Kite.
1997 — Carl Lewis finishes his track-and-field career anchoring star-studded team to victory in the 400-meter relay to cap the ISTAF Grand Prix meet in Berlin. The team of Olympic 100-meter champion Donovan Bailey, former world record-holder Leroy Burrell and Namibian sprint champion Frankie Fredericks, win in 38.24 seconds.
1999 — Michael Johnson shatters another world record at the world championships — this time, breaking the 400-meter mark with a time of 43.18. He cuts 0.11 seconds off the record of 43.29 set by Butch Reynolds in 1988 and ties Carl Lewis for the most gold medals at the championships with eight.
2004 — Lindsay Tarpley and Abby Wambach score as the U.S. beats Brazil 2-1, maintaining an undefeated record to win the women’s soccer gold medal at the Athens Olympics.
2011 — The Tulsa Shock snap the longest losing streak in WNBA history with a 77-75 win over the Sparks. The Shock (2-25) had 20 straight losses before Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds left.
2011 — Kyle Busch records his record-breaking 50th NASCAR Busch Series victory, edging teammate Joey Logano in the Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch breaks a tie with Mark Martin for the record in NASCAR’s second-tier series.
2012 — Lydia Ko wins the Canadian Women’s Open to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and only the fifth amateur champion. The 15-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander closes with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Inbee Park.
2016 — San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick kneels in protest during the U.S. national anthem at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium while playing against the San Diego Chargers, objecting to racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S.
2016 — Dan Raudabaugh throws six touchdown passes and the Philadelphia Soul win their second ArenaBowl title, beating the Arizona Rattlers 56-42.
2017 — Kyle Snyder scores a late takedown of Olympic gold medalist Abdusalim Sadulaev in the deciding match, and the U.S. wins the world freestyle wrestling title for the first time in 22 years.
2017 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. stops UFC champion Conor McGregor on his feet in the 10th round in Las Vegas. The much-hyped 154-pound fight is more competitive than many expected when an unbeaten, five-division world champion boxer takes on a mixed martial artist making his pro boxing debut.
2020 — Milwaukee Bucks forfeit their NBA playoff game after the shooting of Jacob Blake, leading to the NBA postponing more games.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1916 — Philadelphia’s Joe Bush pitched a no-hitter, to beat Cleveland 5-0.
1939 — The first major league baseball game was televised as WXBS brought their cameras to Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field for a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Dodgers.
1947 — Brooklyn’s Dan Bankhead became the first Black pitcher in the majors. He homered in his first major-league plate appearance, but didn’t fare well on the mound. In 3 1-3 innings of relief, he gave up 10 hits and six earned runs to the Pirates. Pittsburgh won 16-3.
1962 — Minnesota’s Jack Kralick pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Kansas City Athletics at Metropolitan Stadium. Lenny Green drove in the Twins’ run with a sacrifice fly off Bill Fischer in the seventh inning.
1987 — Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor went 0-for-4, ending his 39-game hitting streak, and the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 1-0 in 10 innings on pinch-hitter Rick Manning’s RBI single. With Molitor waiting in the on-deck circle for a possible fifth at-bat, Manning singled in the game-winner.
1989—Chris Drury pitches a five-hitter and Trumbull, Conn., becomes the first American team since 1983 to capture the Little League World Series, defeating Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 5-2.
1991 — Kansas City’s Brett Saberhagen pitched a no-hitter to lead the Royals to a 7-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. Saberhagen struck out five and walked two.
1993 — Sean Burroughs, the son of former major leaguer Jeff Burroughs, pitches his second no-hitter of the Little League World Series and hits two home runs, sending defending champion Long Beach, Calif., past Bedford, N.H., 11-0 in the final of the U.S. bracket.
1999 — Randy Johnson reached 300 strikeouts in record time, notching nine in seven innings to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins 12-2. Johnson achieved the milestone in his 29th start.
2004 — Ichiro Suzuki homered in the ninth inning for his 200th hit of the season, but Seattle fell to Kansas City 7-3. Suzuki became the first player to reach 200 hits in each of his first four major league seasons.
2007 — Dalton Carriker’s home run in the bottom of the eighth gave Warner Robins, Georgia, a thrilling 3-2 victory over Tokyo to win the Little League World Series title.
2007 — Boston defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-1 to complete a four-game sweep. For the series, the Red Sox outscored Chicago 46-7. Boston scored at least 10 runs in every game of the series, which is only the fourth time that has happened in a four-game series since 1900 and the first time in the American League in 85 years.
2008 — Major League Baseball announced umpires will be allowed to check video on home run calls starting Aug. 27. Video will be used only on so-called “boundary calls,” such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs.
2010 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis hits the 400th homer of his career, off Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals in the 4th inning. Pujols becomes the 47th major leaguer to hit that many and is the third-youngest to do so after Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.
2018 — Mana Lau Kong homered to center field on the first pitch his team saw and Ka’olu Holt pitched a complete game to lead Hawaii to a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the Little League World Series championship.
2018 — Toronto’s Kendrys Morales became the seventh player in major league history to homer in at least seven consecutive games, going deep in the third inning of the Blue Jays’ 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
2018 — Matt Carpenter tied a St. Louis record with four doubles, pitcher Austin Gomber had a two-run infield single in a six-run first inning, and the Cardinals routed Colorado 12-3.
2024 — Danny Jansen becomes the first player to appear for both teams in the same game. He had started the June 26th game between the Blue Jays and Red Sox at Fenway Park as Toronto’s catcher and was at bat with an 0-1 count when the game was suspended by rain in the 2nd inning. When the game resumes today, he has since been traded to Boston, and takes over behind the plate for Reese McGuire, who has been released, while Daulton Varsho steps in as a pinch-hitter to complete the at-bat he started. Toronto eventually wins the game, 4-1, and also wins the regularly scheduled game, 7-3, as George Springer homers in both contests. The only known minor leaguer to accomplish Jansen’s feat had been Dale Holman 38 years earlier.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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The Dodgers continued their season-long celebration of last year’s World Series triumph by handing out championship rings Monday. The 49,702 people who bought tickets got replicas while Gavin Lux, who played for the Dodgers last season and is now with the Cincinnati Reds, got a real one.
If the team hopes to win more jewelry again this fall, the next five weeks will be key. Because after Monday’s 7-0 win over the Reds, the Dodgers lead San Diego by a game in the National League West with just 30 more left in the regular season for both teams.
However, if the Dodgers (75-57) continue to play as they did Monday, when Andy Pages homered twice, driving in four runs, and Emmet Sheehan threw a career-high seven scoreless innings, they’ll be tough to catch.
“The defense was just engaged, every single guy out there. The at-bats, one through nine, were great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s probably one of the better games, complete games, that we’ve played in months. I’m really, really excited about the way we played.”
Excited, too, because what started as a marathon six months ago is now a different kind of race.
“We’re in a sprint now,” said Michael Conforto, who had two hits and made two outstanding plays in left field. “We’re in a race for the division.”
And they’re a step ahead in that race with the Padres, who, like the Dodgers, have 10 series remaining, five at home and five on the road. But San Diego has the easier schedule, based on the combined winning percentage of its opponents (.474) entering the week. The Dodgers have the fourth-easiest schedule.
For Roberts, his team’s narrow margin for error is something to be embraced since it has the potential to steel his team for the postseason, as opposed to simply coasting into the playoffs.
“Competition should bring out the best in you,” he said. “So where the margins are smaller and everything matters more versus you have a big lead and you’re not playing with urgency because you don’t need to, and then have to kind of flip the switch, that’s tough.”
The Dodgers also are rapidly adding reinforcements for their playoff push. Over the weekend, relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates returned from the injured list and utility player Kiké Hernández was activated Monday. Third baseman Max Muncy and infielder/outfielder Hyeseong Kim could be back by the next road trip, if not before. Utilityman Tommy Edman and pitcher Roki Sasaki likely aren’t far behind.
Then there’s Sheehan (5-2), who was brilliant Monday, pitching a career-best seven innings and matching a career high with 10 strikeouts to win his third straight decision. Sheehan gave up just two hits and walked one.
“I definitely have to build on it. Try to just keep the same progress we’ve been doing, keep that going for the next one,” Sheehan said. “It’s pretty fun. It’s a lot more fun than watching the ball go over the fence, for sure.”
For Roberts, it’s as if his team acquired a half-dozen new players.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, left, celebrates with right fielder Teoscar Hernández after hitting a home run in the seventh inning against the Reds on Monday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
“Those are kind of deadline trades in themselves,” he said. “I do appreciate the guys that have been here, kind of grinding through. But it’s nice looking out on the horizon, seeing the guys that we got coming.”
Pages put the Dodgers in front to stay in the third Monday, driving a 102-mph fastball from Hunter Greene into the bullpen in left field. He hit another in the fifth inning for his 23rd homer of the season, second-most on the team behind Shohei Ohtani’s 45.
In the sixth, a double by Freddie Freeman and walks to Will Smith and Teoscar Hernández loaded the bases for Pages, whose two-out grounder to short got under Elly De La Cruz for a two-run error. A Mookie Betts’ homer, his second hit of the game, with one out in the seventh and a Pages’ sacrifice fly in the eighth closed out the scoring.
Relievers Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda followed Sheehan, pitching an inning each to complete the shutout, the team’s fourth in the last 23 games.
The Dodgers had only three shutouts in the first 109 games.
Now come the reinforcements, although Kiké Hernández said he almost didn’t make it. After going on the injured list July 6 with left elbow inflammation, he tried three injections and non-invasive rehab procedures, but nothing seemed to work.
“I got to a point where I didn’t know if it was going to happen. We were pretty close to it not happening,” he said of his return. “There are some procedures that I went through that didn’t do anything. I went through four shots in a month, and [the] first three didn’t do anything, and luckily the fourth one was the answer.
“After the last shot, I was pain free.”
Hernández said he expected to start in left field Tuesday. He joins the Dodgers just in time for their sprint to the finish.
“It’s playoff-atmosphere games from here on out,” he said. “Hopefully it brings out the best in people and also teaches the younger guys that when the time comes and we’re in October, the moment doesn’t get too big for them.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Let the bidding begin. A 15-year TV contract that the CIF signed with Time Warner Cable in 2011 ends in 2026. What will happen next?
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CIF seeks new TV deal
The California Interscholastic Federation is about to open up bidding for its television broadcast rights because a 15-year deal with Time Warner (now Spectrum) is ending on July 31, 2026.
Signed in 2011, the $8.5-million deal gave Time Warner Cable the rights to televise state championship games and playoffs. It turned out to be a boon for the CIF, because game rights fees for high school sports ended up declining. Charter Communications acquired Time Warner in 2016 and rebranded to Spectrum, which has struggled at times as to how to maximize its investment in the TV package. Spectrum recently signed a three-year deal to broadcast Southern Section games.
CIF executive director Ron Nocetti.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
This year, the final payment of $952,422 is being made and will go into the CIF general operating budget. The deal started with a $550,000 payment and has gone up 4% each year. The CIF, which runs high school sports in California, uses money from membership fees, championship events and corporate sponsorships for its budget. The TV package is the largest financial deal among the sponsorships and helps reduce dues charged to schools.
Executive Director Ron Nocetti said the CIF will soon initiate a request for proposals and put it out for bidding. The market has changed considerably since 2011, with online streaming coverage of high school events surpassing linear coverage.
It will be interesting to see which media companies decide to bid, how much money they are willing to pay and how long the contract might last.
Another contract ending next year is with SBLive, which originally was trying to compete with MaxPreps and help the CIF design a way for fans to get immediate scores from games. SBLive changed its focus, entered into a partnership in 2021 with The Arena Group and in 2024 joined Minute Media, which runs Sports Illustrated sites. MaxPreps has moved to take further control of the prep sports scene after being acquired in April by PlayOnSports, the owner of GoFan and the NFHS Network, which started streaming a national game of the week.
This changing world of high school sports offers opportunities for the CIF to expand its media reach but also possible pitfalls depending on how media companies view the future.
How it started
Eric interviewing Sophomore Tajh Ariza after a basketball game. Son of Trevor Ariza. Taken December 2022.
(Nick Koza)
Starting with John Elway as a high school student at Granada Hills High in the 1970s, my journey covering prep sports has been going on for 49 years. It’s been quite a journey.
My mission has always been to entertain, inform and make a difference. There’s no reason to quit something you enjoy as long as the challenges keep coming and the athletes keep getting better and better with personalities that make you laugh and cry.
The opening weekend of Southern Section football saw a terrific matchup of top 10 teams: Mission Viejo vs. Santa Margarita. It turned out to be a defensive struggle until Ohio State-bound quarterback Luke Fahey struck late in the third quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jack Junker to give the Diablos a 7-3 victory. Here’s the report.
Three Trinity League teams — Mater Dei, St. John Bosco and Orange Lutheran — traveled to Florida for games, and each one came home with a victory. Here’s the report. Mater Dei plays Bishop Montgomery on Friday at home. Bishop Montgomery went to Hawaii and lost to St. Louis in Honolulu 34-27 in a game that ended with 51 seconds left when players from both sides left benches. Here’s the report.
Huntington Beach showed off its passing attack in a win over Orange. Here’s the report.
Corona Centennial defeated Servite 42-14 to give coach Matt Logan victory No. 296 in his 29 years with the Huskies.
Granada Hills Kennedy quarterback Diego Montes, right, and Eagle Rock quarterback Liam Pasten stand next to each other after Kennedy’s 59-56 win on Friday night.
(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)
The best high school football game of the weekend belonged to City Section teams Kennedy and Eagle Rock in a battle of All-City quarterbacks. After more than three hours, 15 touchdowns and the game ending past 11 p.m., Kennedy prevailed 59-56 on a late touchdown by Diego Montes. Here’s the report on the drama.
Granada Hills’ Troy Versa makes interception in 50-16 win over North Hollywood.
(Craig Weston)
Granada Hills rushed for 420 yards with no passing yards or attempts in an impressive 50-16 win over North Hollywood. Here’s the report.
Birmingham knocked off Hart 24-14 in a sign the Patriots are clearly the No. 1 team in the City Section. Quarterback Kevin Hawkins ran for more than 150 yards and Jimmy Renteria had a touchdown on a fake punt, catching a pass and also recovered a fumble.
Crenshaw defeated Fairfax 37-6 to give coach Robert Garrett victory No. 291.
Teams will be playing Thursday this week, with Dorsey at Carson a big one for future playoff seedings. Also Hamilton opens up its new stadium Thursday against Gardena Serra.
These three City Section football teams have forfeited their opening games: Dymally, Maya Angelou and West Adams. Sotomayor may not have a team this season. No Sotomayor games scheduled until Oct. 3. Teams can either take forfeit or schedule another opponent.
JSerra is unbeaten and looking like a challenger to Orange Lutheran. The Lions won their own tournament championship with a 19-0 win over Carlsbad.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team remained undefeated and claimed the Surf Division championship at the inaugural Surf & Turf Invitational on Saturday, as the Lions blanked the Carlsbad Lancers 19-0 in the title game at JSerra Catholic High School.
Redondo Union hosts Long Beach Poly on Tuesday in a big nonleague match in preparation for a showdown against Marymount on Sept. 2.
Prep talk
Athletic trainer Jonathan Rivas of Culver City helped save an athlete who went into cardiac arrest last spring.
(George Laase)
Every day, there’s positive information coming from high school sports. That’s Prep talk. Here are last week’s stories.
Athletic trainer Jonathan Rivas saved an athlete last spring in cardiac arrest. Here’s a report.
Mira Costa’s special teams trio of punter Jackson Shevin (left), snapper Jackson Reach and kicker Nico Talbott.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Mira Costa has a trio to make its special teams pretty good this football season. Here’s a report.
Harvard-Westlake started the girls’ volleyball season 7-0 under a first-year coach. Here’s a report.
John Michael Flint is quite a two-sport star at Bishop Diego with a 38-inch vertical leap. Here’s a report.
Ty Plinski of Corona Centennial became a media sensation with his one-handed catch on Friday night. Here’s a report.
Notes . . .
High school sports participation has risen to record levels aided by one of the new sports, girls flag football. Here’s the report. . . .
Last season’s Southern Section singles tennis champion, Sophie Suh of Orange Lutheran, will not be playing for the team this season. The sophomore will be focusing on the International Tennis Federation circuit. . . .
Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf championship. He’s also a photographer for the Yearbook.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Crespi golfer Grant Leary, the winner of the Southern Section individual title last season, has committed to San Jose State. . . .
The Downey vs. Warren football game on Oct. 24 has been moved to Dignity Health Sports Park at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 p.m. . . . .
Richard Schroeder is the new baseball coach at San Marcos. . . .
Beverly Hills basketball coach Jarvis Turner announces he is stepping down as coach. A tough loss to the basketball community. pic.twitter.com/Ulj8OgXreR
After 16 years as basketball coach at Beverly Hills, Jarvis Turner announced he has stepped down. . . .
Orange Lutheran girls water polo coach Brenda Villa has resigned to become associate head coach at Stanford. She’s a former Olympian and won two Open Division championships coaching the Lancers. . . .
Omari Cuffe, a 6-foot-4 junior basketball player who’s played sparingly the last two seasons at St. Pius X-St. Matthias, has transferred to Loyola. So has senior guard Deuce Newt from Campbell Hall. Newt started at times. Loyola has a new coach, Cameron Joyce. . . .
St. Francis basketball coach Todd Wolfson said his school has received a 7-foot-4 transfer in Cherif Millogo from Burkina Faso. Mater Dei has transfers from IMG Academy and the state of Oregon. . . .
Corona del Mar water polo standout Nathan Simoncelli has committed to USC. . . .
Pitcher Colten Rainer of Royal has committed to UCLA. He was throwing in the 90s this summer in a major improvement. He’s the younger brother of former Harvard-Westlake star Bryce Rainer, a first-round pick of the Detroit Tigers last season. Other UCLA commitments include pitchers Garrett Jacobs (Mira Costa) and Robert Zimmerman (Redondo Union) and outfielder Jaden Jackson (St. John Bosco). . . .
Rob Loehle is the new boys basketball coach at Simi Valley. . . .
Nareg Kopooshian, head coach of AGBU, has been appointed as the head coach of the FIBA Armenia U16 National Team by the Armenia Basketball Federation. The Eurobasketball competition is scheduled for the summer of 2026. . . .
Pitcher Jake Chung of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Brown.
From the archives: Lars Nootbaar
St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar celebrates with teammates in 2021.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Former El Segundo and USC standout Lars Nootbaar has been in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2021.
He was a much decorated athlete during his days at El Segundo as the school’s quarterback in football and star baseball player.
From Texas A&M, a story on how youth sports can create future leaders or future cheaters.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how Carson Palmer views coaching high school football.
From the Daily Pilot, a story on two Huntington Beach surfers creating a documentary.
From the Washington Post, a story on premium seating in high school sports.
From the Los Angeles Times, a question and answer with former USC quarterback and Orange County legend Todd Marinovich.
Tweets you might have missed
True freshman Bear Bachmeier is going to start at QB for Brigham Young. Here’s a profile from 2023 that explains his talent and instincts. https://t.co/oAt91fNknt
The Mission League keeps getting stronger in all sports. Arriving at Harvard-Westlake is freshman Calvin Portley, who’s run a 10.74 100 meters. Also plays baseball, so beware catchers trying to throw him out stealing.
Who knew that cutting hair has become such a lucrative business for high school students. Besides Eagle Rock All-City QB Liam Pasten cutting his teammates’ hair, Kennedy All-City QB Diego Montes gets his hair cut by receiver Miguel De La Torre. There’s an MTV show in this.
Here’s a first: No fight reports from the officials in City Section 11-man football in the opening week. But there was one fight for girls flag football. The boys behaving. The girls, well . . .
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Here we are, right back where we started.
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You play 131 games only to end up where you were before Game 1 began: tied with the Padres. OK, technically, the Dodgers are in first place right now because they hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Padres. But it feels like a tie.
Before we get to the main topic here, there are a couple of points worth mentioning, with all due respect to the players involved:
Unless there is an injury involved, Buddy Kennedy should not be starting any games over Alex Freeland or Miguel Rojas. Let’s look at those numbers, shall we?
And it’s not like Kennedy is Ozzie Smith with the glove out there, while Rojas makes plays like this one from last week. Freeland hasn’t played much, but he was ranked as their No. 3 prospect, so there’s little reason to play Kennedy over him.
—Michael Conforto has gotten plenty of runway now. Time for him to hit the bench and for Alex Call to play every day. There are 161 players who have at least 400 plate appearances this season. Where does Conforto rank among those players? Let’s look:
Batting average 158. Ryan McMahon, NYY, .216 159. Anthony Volpe, NYY, .208 160. Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh, .207 161. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .183
Not only is Conforto last, he is 24 points behind the next-worst player.
On-base% 151. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .293 158. Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers, .277 159. Anthony Volpe, NYY, .274 160. Michael Harris II, Atlanta, .273 161. Adolis Garcia, Texas, .270
Gee, two Dodgers in the bottom 10. Perhaps Hernández didn’t want Conforto to feel so bad.
Slugging % 158. Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee, .328 159. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cincinnati, .317 160. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, .314 161. Victor Scott II, St. Louis, .312
WAR (which also factors in defense) 158. Agustín Ramírez, Miami, -0.2 159. Eric Wagaman, Miami, -0.6 160. Michael Conforto, Dodgers, -0.9 161. Nick Castellanos, Philadelphia, -1.1
So, please, he might be the nicest guy in the history of the universe and I know he’s getting paid $17 million, but it’s not like you have to pay him more if you don’t play him. Until Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández get back, let’s send Call out. I don’t care what hand the pitcher throws with.
With the two teams tied with 31 games remaining, let’s do a few more comparisons:
Longest winning streak Dodgers, 8 Padres, 7
Longest losing streak Dodgers, 7 Padres, 6
Most runs scored Dodgers, 19 Padres, 21
Most runs allowed Dodgers, 18 Padres, 14
Times shut out Dodgers, 6 Padres, 8
Times opponent was shut out Dodgers, 6 Padres, 15
Comeback wins Dodgers, 40 Padres, 33
Walkoff wins Dodgers, 8 Padres, 6
Walkoff losses Dodgers, 7 Padres, 6
Run differential Dodgers, +94 Padres, +57
Home Dodgers, 41-24, .631 Padres, 43-22, .662
Road Dodgers, 33-33, .500 Padres, 31-35, .470
Before the All-Star break Dodgers, 58-39, .598 Padres, 52-44, .542
After the All-Star break Dodgers, 16-18, .471 Padres, 22-13, .629
Extra-inning games Dodgers, 7-5, .583 Padres, 6-4, .600
One-run games Dodgers, 21-20, .512 Padres, 26-19, .578
Games decided by 5+ runs Dodgers, 21-9, .700 Padres, 18-14, .563
vs. NL West Dodgers, 25-11, .694 Padres, 24-18, .571
So what’s going to happen? No idea. Will the Dodgers’ offense remain erratic? Will the bullpen improve? Will the Padres get even better (because they have holes too)? I don’t what’s going to happen over the next 31 games. No one does. So don’t give in to pessimism or false hope. Enjoy each game as it happens. Get frustrated at times, sure. But these next 31 games will be exciting. A division race that comes down to the wire. It doesn’t get any better than that.
An interesting race
The race for the NL batting title is going to be interesting to follow. Here are the leaders after Sunday’s games:
Freddie Freeman, .302 Trea Turner, Philadelphia, .300 Sal Frelick, Milwaukee, .298 Will Smith, .297 Manny Machado, San Diego, .292 Xavier Edwards, Miami, .291 Nico Hoerner, Chicago, .291
Smith was leading the NL for quite a while this season, but the rigors of playing catcher have caught up to him, as he is hitting just .158 in August (9 for 57). That’s not meant as a criticism. Playing catcher is taxing, especially in the heat, and we’ve had a lot of warm nights in Los Angeles this month. The hope was that by releasing Austin Barnes and bringing up Dalton Rushing, the Dodgers could give Smith more days off, which they have, but it hasn’t helped.
In major league history, a catcher has won the batting title only seven times (Bubbles Hargrave in 1926, Ernie Lombardi in 1938 and 1942, Buster Posey in 2012 and Joe Mauer in 2006, 2008 and 2009.) All the foul balls you take off your body also take a tremendous toll.
Will Freeman hold on to win? Will Turner win another batting title? Tune in next week to find the answers, same Bat-time, same Bat-… wait wrong show.
And isn’t it amazing that only two players who qualify for the title are hitting .300?
Lou Johnson homers in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series to give the Dodgers the lead. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
SAN DIEGO — When he was finished rounding the bases at Petco Park on Sunday, Shohei Ohtani made a detour on his return to the Dodgers’ bench.
Seated by the visiting dugout was a fan in a San Diego Padres cap and brown Fernando Tatis Jr. jersey. The spectator had spent most of the afternoon reminding Ohtani of how much he’d stunk in the three-game series.
These were like scenes from the good old days, the Dodgers hitting bombs and laughing as they celebrated.
But was this a mirage?
Even after avoiding a sweep by the Padres with an 8-2 victory, even after moving back into a tie with them for the lead in the National League West, the Dodgers continued to be an enigma.
Who were they? The team that trampled the Padres in the series finale? Or the team that rolled over in the two previous games of the series?
“They’re gettable,” said a scout from a rival NL team who was in attendance.
The kind of game the Dodgers played on Sunday, however, prompted the same scout to attach this qualifier: They can’t be counted out.
One of baseball’s worst offensive teams over the last two months, the Dodgers blasted four home runs, including two by Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers claimed the lead on a three-run blast in the seventh inning by Dalton Rushing.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto did his part on the mound, picking up his 11th win by limiting the Padres to two runs over six innings.
The Dodgers have 31 games remaining in the regular season and they expect a number of their injured players to return over that period. The form they take will dramatically affect their chances in October.
Freddie Freeman, right, celebrates with Mookie Betts after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Padres on Sunday.
(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)
Winning their division could position them to secure a top-two seed in the NL, which would grant them a first-round bye. Failing to do so would subject them to a dangerous best-of-three wild-card series.
Because of the alarming number of injuries they have sustained this season, the Dodgers have already cycled through a variety of identities, from a team without starting pitching to a team without a reliable bullpen to, most recently, a team without a consistent offense.
In their previous two games, the Dodgers scored a combined two runs, leading Roberts and some players to question the team’s collective approach at the plate.
Just a week earlier, the division race looked as if it could be over. The Padres entered a three-game series at Dodger Stadium as the hottest team this side of Milwaukee. The Padres had bolstered their lineup, rotation and top-ranked bullpen at the trade deadline while the Dodgers did almost nothing.
But their inconsistency on offense kept them from protecting the two-game lead they’d built. They inexplicably dropped two of four games against the last-place Colorado Rockies. By Saturday, after their second loss to the Padres in as many days, they were in second place.
Just as the Dodgers looked as if they could be written off, just as they looked as if they could relinquish control of the division to the Padres, they responded with a performance worthy of their $320-million payroll.
“Today was a game we couldn’t drop no matter what,” Yamamoto said in Japanese, “so I went into the game with more focus than usual.”
The hitters also went into the game with a heightened focus, resulting in more extended at-bats that gradually wore down the Padres’ pitchers. The Dodgers scored seven of their runs in the last four innings.
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The Dodgers don’t play the Padres again this season but Freeman said his team should be more concerned about their improvement rather than what its division rivals do.
Asked when he would start to scoreboard watch, Freeman replied, “Maybe in mid-September.”
Reminded only 31 games remain in the regular season, Freeman replied, “It is a sprint. I’ll be honest with you there. It’s a sprint now. You can’t worry about other teams if, like the last couple games, we don’t fix our offense, how our at-bats were going the last couple days. We fixed it today, we did better today. If you’re worrying about other things, that’s just not conducive, it’s not going to lead to quality things in the clubhouse. So maybe mid-September. When I turn 36, we’ll start scoreboard watching, all right?”
Freeman’s birthday is on Sept. 12. Will the Dodgers know who they are by then?
SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers finally landed a lot of little jabs as an offense Sunday against the San Diego Padres.
And in a pivotal, sweep-evading 8-2 win at Petco Park — which once again tied the two teams for first place in the National League West standings — it allowed their slumping lineup to deliver some badly needed knockout blows.
For the first time this weekend, the Dodgers looked like themselves at the plate.
They bashed four home runs, none bigger than a tie-breaking three-run shot from backup catcher Dalton Rushing in the seventh that ultimately decided the game.
They strung together seven hits and four walks, cracking a Padres pitching staff that had smothered them over the first two games in this rivalry’s final renewal of the season.
Most importantly, however, they did all the little things that have too often gone missing during their recent two-month funk; one in which they’ve ranked 24th in the majors in scoring since the start of July, and let what was once a nine-game lead in the division turn into a dogfight down the stretch.
They extended at-bats. Battled with two strikes. And, at long last, earned the kind of pitches their star-studded roster could wallop.
“For us to come out here and execute as an offense, way better than we did the last couple days, that’s a big boost for us,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who had two home runs to help the Dodgers salvage the series finale.
“When you expand the zone, the slugging percentage is going to go down, because pitchers are going to continue to expand,” manager Dave Roberts added. “But when you earn good counts and get good pitches, control the zone, then slug happens. You can’t always chase it. Which, I thought, today we did a really good job of.
Ahead of first pitch, Roberts spoke at length about the team’s recent offensive struggles — following up on his Saturday night critique of the club’s increasingly all-or-nothing approach.
“We haven’t really been in-sync,” Roberts said. “It’s been disjointed a lot, as far as the offense.”
Freddie Freeman, right, is congratulated by third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a home run in the sixth inning Sunday.
(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)
When asked if that meant his team needed to adopt more of a small-ball mentality, however, Roberts pushed back.
“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “But I couldn’t disagree more.”
After all, his team is still stocked full of All-Stars, MVPs and future Hall of Famers. At their core, they are built to bludgeon opponents — not slap singles and drop down sacrifice bunts.
“Slugging is still a part of it,” he said. “I definitely don’t want guys to hit like I did.”
Around the margins, though, there were ways Roberts felt the Dodgers (74-57) could better position themselves to do that. Like trying to work better counts, stay alive with two strikes, and striking a better balance between patience and aggression.
“I want my cake, and [to] eat it as well,” he quipped, a devilish smile on his face.
“I’d be shocked,” he added, “if we don’t see a different offensive output from here forward, starting today.”
The change started in the first inning, with the Dodgers putting Padres starter Nick Pivetta under immediate stress.
Shohei Ohtani drew a five-pitch leadoff walk. Mookie Betts shortened up his swing on an 0-and-2 slider to line a single up the middle. Freeman loaded the bases by grinding out a full-count free pass.
It was a string of small victories, that provided cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández the perfect chance to slug.
Hernández tried to, getting a fastball over the plate in a 3-and-1 count and launching a deep fly ball that seemed destined to be a grand slam. The drive, however, hung up just enough for Ramón Laureano to rob it at the wall.
The sacrifice fly brought in the Dodgers’ only run of the inning — giving them a 1-0 lead that would soon be erased on Elias Díaz’s two-run homer in the third off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only runs he allowed in a six-inning start).
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Padres in the first inning Sunday.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Still, it set the tone for a flurry of offense that would follow, when a weekend of non-existent offense finally started to turn.
“Getting the guys on and scoring in that first inning was huge,” Freeman sad. “Even though we could have got more out of it, just getting one run across was a good boost for us coming off the last couple games.”
In the sixth, Freeman hit his first home run of the day, crushing another center-cut fastball from Pivetta to right-center for a tying blast.
Then, against Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh, the club put all the pieces together in a five-run rally.
Andy Pages rolled a single through the left side to lead off. Michael Conforto came up next, fouled off a full-count slider, then took a borderline fastball at the top of the zone for a stress-inducing walk.
Miguel Rojas couldn’t get a bunt down after that, eventually swinging away for a fly out to center.
But, in what was easily his best moment of a trying rookie season, Rushing connected on the fatal blow seven pitches later — resetting after a bad first strike call, fouling off his own two-strike slider to keep the at-bat alive, then clobbering another slider to right for his go-ahead three-run homer.
“When I’m in the box and I get put in a hole, it’s almost like, ‘All right, I’m going to find my way out,’” said Rushing, who entered the day batting just .184 with two home runs. “I kind of played the game with him. He threw every pitch that he had, and I was totally banking on just being able to put a good swing on the ball whatever he threw.”
“I think today,” Roberts added, “was a big step in the right direction for him.”
The same, of course, was true of the Dodgers’ entire offense — which also got a second homer from Freeman later in the seventh, then another when Ohtani belted his 45th homer of the season in the ninth.
They got back to doing the little things right. They reeled off one big swing after another as a result.
“Today was more indicative of what we’re going to do, we expect, going forward,” Roberts said. “The fight, the grind, taking what the pitcher is giving you — and then if there’s slug there, it’s there. Just the byproduct of good at-bats all day.”
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres’ bullpen is considered one of the best in baseball. Their lineup, revamped by a couple of key trade deadline acquisitions, at least rivals the recently inconsistent version the Dodgers have gotten out of theirs.
But this weekend, with first place on the line in the teams’ final meeting this season, the Dodgers were supposed to have one distinct advantage.
Their starting rotation was healthy, fresh and lined up to throw three of its best arms at Petco Park.
The Padres, on the other hand, were banged up and starting three veterans with a collective earned-run average north of 5.00.
Yeah … so much for all that.
For the second-straight night on Saturday, in San Diego’s 5-1 win, a Padres starter unexpectedly dominated the Dodgers, while a Dodgers starter disappointingly stumbled in the fourth inning. This time, it was Nestor Cortes who was in cruise control, spinning six scoreless innings while retiring his first 16 batters. On the other side, it was Tyler Glasnow who ran into trouble, yielding three runs in the fourth to leave the Dodgers for dead.
Just like that, what was a two-game division lead for the Dodgers (73-57) at the start of this week, coming off their sweep of the Padres in Los Angeles last weekend, is a one-game advantage for San Diego in the National League West standings, with the Padres (74-56) primed to sweep the Dodgers right back.
A night after managing just one run and one hit off Yu Darvish on Friday (after he entered the game with an ERA close to 6.00), the Dodgers looked even more overmatched by the left-handed Cortes — who was out for redemption after giving up Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the World Series while playing for the New York Yankees last season.
Since that fateful October night, Cortes has switched teams twice. In the offseason, he was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers, where he made two early starts before suffering an elbow injury. At the deadline, he was one of seven players the Padres acquired to bolster their roster for the stretch run.
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Nestor Cortes delivers against the Dodgers in the third inning Saturday.
(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)
Cortes had offered minimal help in his first three Padres outings, giving up seven runs in 15 innings while averaging barely 90 mph with his fastball.
But on Saturday, he found a rhythm with his trademark cutter, throwing it more than any other pitch while recording at least one out with it in all six innings he pitched.
The Dodgers hardly threatened in the first, with Shohei Ohtani leading off with a strikeout and Mookie Betts rolling over a center-cut cutter to third base. In the second, Cortes won his rematch with Freeman; throwing a down-and-in fastball all so similar to the one that landed in the right-field pavilion of Dodger Stadium last year — only to turn and watch another deep drive die at the warning track, this time to straightaway center field at Petco Park.
From there, the outs kept coming.
In the sixth inning, Miguel Rojas finally broke up the no-no, adjusting to yet another cutter for a line-drive single to right.
But by then, Glasnow had already dug a hole too deep for the Dodgers’ slumping lineup to climb out of.
After retiring his first six batters, Glasnow started losing his command in the third. He issued a leadoff walk to Ramón Laureano, another to Fernando Tatis Jr., and only escaped the jam after a 10-pitch at-bat against Luis Arraez ended in a grounder.
In the fourth, the Padres wouldn’t come away empty-handed again.
Walks to Manny Machado (on four pitches to lead off the inning) and Xander Bogaerts (on a string of fastballs that missed the zone) were sandwiched around a single from Ryan O’Hearn. Then, with the bases loaded, Laureano lined a two-run single to right. Jake Cronenworth tacked on a sacrifice fly. And just like on Friday, the Dodgers stared down the deficit — and found no way to erase it.
Cortes stranded Rojas, with the inning ending on a fly out from Ohtani. After that, the Padres’ talent-rich bullpen kept things at an arm’s length, with a pinch-hit home run from Alex Freeland (his second in as many nights) representing the Dodgers’ only scoring for a second-straight night.
Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers against the Padres in the fifth inning Saturday.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
To do some quick math so far this weekend…
The Padres’ two starters have combined for 12 innings, one run and two hits compared to the 12 innings and five runs the Dodgers’ rotation has allowed.
The Dodgers have totaled five hits, three walks and 14 strikeouts. The Padres have 10 hits, eight walks and only 10 Ks against Dodger pitching.
And, most critically, the Padres have two wins — putting them back alone in first place by one game, and on the verge of a sweep that (at least based on the pitching matchups) few would have seen coming.
SAN DIEGO — The home team was one strike from victory Friday night, when the Petco Park video board suddenly erupted in hues of pink and mint, flashing the preferred accompaniment to any game against the Dodgers: BEAT LA.
Then came the 102-mph fastball, then a swing and a miss, and the San Diego Padres had indeed beaten the Dodgers.
For Dodgers fans who thought the National League West had been won last weekend at Dodger Stadium, this just in from San Diego: The NL West is tied.
These were words in this publication just five days ago: “The Dodgers now lead the National League West by two games, but it feels like 20.”
The Dodgers had just swept the Padres, their only competition for the division title. The Dodgers were 8-2 against the Padres this season. There was a blue wave of emotion. The thing that happened last is the thing you remember best.
“It’s natural,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s the great thing about fandom. People get excited. That’s a great thing about sports.”
The feeling in the clubhouse last weekend?
“In here? We played a great series, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to play,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t going to be won or lost then, and it’s not going to be won or lost this weekend.”
The trouble is not with the emotion. The trouble is with the schedule.
The number of games left after this weekend: 31. The number of Dodgers-Padres games left after this weekend: 0.
This is baseball’s best rivalry, with a division title and potential first-round playoff bye on the line. The Dodgers and Padres should be facing each other to wrap up the season, with all that emotion bursting forth.
Instead, the Dodgers finish the regular season against another traditional rival, the (checks notes) Seattle Mariners.
There has been plenty of emotion among the Dodgers and Padres fan bases already this year, mostly in the form of angst.
The Dodgers won the winter, and Padres fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.
The Padres won the trade deadline, and Dodgers fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.
For the Dodgers, the cliche is about to be put to a real-life test: Getting a player off the injured list is just like getting a player in a trade.
Reliever Tanner Scott was activated Friday. Reliever Kirby Yates could be activated as soon as Saturday.
On Friday, infielder Alex Freeland hit his first major league home run, but infielder Buddy Kennedy (.287 OPS) went hitless, and the Dodgers burned their backup catcher to bat for him. They trusted outfielder Justin Dean to pinch-run and play center field, but not to bat.
Alex Freeland celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of a 2-1 loss to the Padres on Friday.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
“This is our club right now,” Roberts said. “We have guys coming back.”
On a hot August night, Petco Park was its usual lively self, with its usual sellout crowd, with Dodgers fans drowning out chants of “Let’s Go Padres” and Padres fans returning the favor at the sound of “Let’s Go Dodgers.”
Amid intensity fit for October, the Dodgers and Padres each let a strong starting pitcher — Blake Snell for L.A., Yu Darvish for San Diego — continue rather than reflexively remove him for the third time through the lineup.
How do you win in October, with pitchers like Snell and Darvish lined up?
Is it with the home run?
Only one major league team has more home runs than the Dodgers. The Dodgers scored their only run Friday on a home run.
Is it with small ball?
Only one major league team has fewer home runs than the Padres. The Padres scored both their runs in one inning Friday, with a rally that included three singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly.
The Padres dropped three sacrifice bunts Friday. They have 40 this season, the most in the majors. The Dodgers have eight, the fewest of any NL team.
Before the game, I spoke with Mason Miller, the former Athletics All-Star closer turned Padres eighth-inning setup man. To this point in his career, Miller said, the biggest game of his career has been closing the A’s final game in Oakland last September.
“I think I said it after that game: until I play in the playoffs, that will probably be my all-time baseball memory,” Miller said. “Now it doesn’t seem like I’ll have to wait that much longer to get that playoff taste.”
Not much longer at all. As of Friday morning, Baseball Prospectus put the Dodgers’ chance of making the playoffs at 99.8% and the Padres’ chance at 99.6%.
Maybe this weekend won’t mark the last Dodgers-Padres game this season. What we really want is the first NL Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Padres, with the winner advancing to the World Series: SoCal vs. the World.
When will the Dodgers’ hierarchy finally come to the same conclusion as everyone else in Dodger nation? Teoscar Hernández is a hack in right field, Michael Conforto needs a one-way ticket to the waiver wire and the Dodgers are a better team with Mookie Betts in right field.
Ron Yukelson San Luis Obispo
Everyone is blaming Teoscar Hernández for the Monday night loss to the Rockies. It’s not Teoscar’s fault. A manager’s job is to put his players in the best position to perform at their best, Teoscar is not a right fielder, he’s better in left field. Everyone thinks that these are professional players and they should be able to play any position. Yeah, they can play any position, but it may not be their best performance. Quit juggling the players around and put them where they will perform at their best.
Paul Kawaguchi Rosemead
Teoscar Hernández was singled out for criticism over his poor defense in a game the Dodgers lost to the Rockies. Yes, he didn’t do well in that game, but he has been very productive with his bat, with 74 RBIs and 20 home runs. Instead of making him the scapegoat for losing a game, why not point out the often awful bullpen performances. We are ahead in a game, then the relievers come in and blow the lead. They do this far more than Teoscar commits errors.
Deborah R. Ishida Beverly Hills
If the Dodgers crashed the Little League World Series, no one would blink. Like the kids, their leather is leaky, their arms are toast, their best hitter is their best pitcher, their silly celebrations are pure playground — shimmy shakes and sunflower seed showers. What’s missing? A team mom and the minivan for postgame DQ runs.
Steve Ross Carmel
I think the heat is getting to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Not only was Michael Conforto in the lineup on Thursday with his .190 batting average but he was batting cleanup with his nine home runs and 27 RBIs while Andy Pages was further down the batting order. Since Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup, I was shocked that the Dodgers scored nine runs.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. The Dodgers play an important series against the Padres this weekend. It seems like that just happened.
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Well, here we are again. The Dodgers vs. the Padres. Last time, the Padres had a one-game lead on the Dodgers. This time, the Dodgers have a one-game lead on the Padres after splitting the series against the Rockies, while the Padres won three of four against the Giants.
Last time, the games were at Dodger Stadium. This time, Petco Park. Expect Padres fans to be loud and waving towels in support of their team. How will the Dodgers respond?
These are also the final three times the teams play each other this regular season. The Dodgers are 8-2 against the Padres, so no matter what happens, the Dodgers will hold the tiebreaker if the two finish with the same record.
Watching the Dodgers sweep the Padres last weekend, then lose two to the lowly Rockies, brings up the question: How have the Dodgers fared against teams with winning and losing records this season? We did this just before the All-Star break, but let’s update it with a twist: How have the Padres done in those situations? Let’s look.
The Dodgers’ overall winning percentage is .570
Dodgers against winning teams (.500+) 29-28, .509
against losing teams 44-27, .620
How does that compare to the Padres?
The Padres’ overall winning percentage is .563
Padres against winning teams 33-34, .493
Padres against losing teams 39-22, .639
Last season, the Dodgers were 51-41 (.554) against winning teams and 47-23 (.671) against losing teams. They won 98 games. This season, they are on pace to win 92.
So, what is the schedule like the rest of the way for the two teams after this Sunday? Let’s take a look
Dodgers against winning teams vs. Cincinnati, 3 vs. Colorado, 3 vs. Philadelphia, 3 at Seattle, 3
against losing teams vs. Arizona, 3 at Arizona, 3 at Pittsburgh, 3 at Baltimore, 3 at San Francisco, 3 vs. San Francisco, 4
Padres against winning teams at Seattle, 3 vs. Cincinnati, 3 at NY Mets, 3 vs. Milwaukee, 3
against losing teams at Minnesota, 3 vs. Baltimore, 3 at Colorado, 3 vs. Colorado, 4 at Chicago White Sox, 3 vs. Arizona, 3
Both teams have 12 games left against teams that currently have a winning record and 19 against teams with a losing record. However, the Padres have 10 games left against the two worst teams in baseball, the Rockies and the White Sox. And the Dodgers have seven games with the Giants, who would love to play spoiler.
It’s going to be an interesting ride to the end of the season. Being a wild-card in the postseason is not fun, so the Dodgers need to avoid that.
That’s it?
You’ve gotten a lot of long newsletters the last couple of weeks, so we’ll keep this one short. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. A couple of things to clean up though: Buddy Kennedy was born in 1998, not 1988 (why do they put the 8 and 9 key right next to each other?). And Duke Snider hit 40+ homers in five consecutive seasons (because I can be dumb sometimes).
Up next
Friday: Dodgers (*Blake Snell, 3-1, 1.80 ERA) at San Diego (Yu Darvish, 2-3, 5.97 ERA), 6:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Saturday: Dodgers (Tyler Glasnow, 1-1, 3.12 ERA) at San Diego (*Nestor Cortes, 0-1, 4.20 ERA), 5:40 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Sunday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 10-8, 2.90 ERA) at San Diego (Nick Pivetta, 13-4, 2.81 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Kevin Baxter: When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors. Unfortunately, even with Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Rockies, the Dodgers only managed a split of the four-game series.
They now head to San Diego for a crucial three-game-series against the Padres with the division lead once again up for grabs.
“I wish we had won all four, but it just didn’t happen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just the way baseball is. So we’ve got to go out there and regardless of the standings, we’ve got to beat those guys.”
The standings, however, loom large. The margin over the Padres is just a game.
The Dodgers will have a bit of momentum on their side after scoring 20 runs on 30 hits in the two wins at Coors Field. Thursday’s matinee saw four players finish with multiple hits, including third baseman Alex Freeland, who was a career-best three for five with a run scored and another driven in. Freeland had six hits in the final three games in Denver.
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From Ben Bolch: Demetrice Martin built an early, practically insurmountable lead.
Landing six defensive backs by Christmas, the UCLA secondary coach added two more before the spring transfer portal window closed, making this race appear to be a runaway.
Before long, a formidable challenger emerged. Closing fast in the battle to become the Bruins’ top recruiter on an almost entirely new coaching staff was Andy Kwon.
Having helped snag four transfers — a few of whom committed before his hiring — the offensive line coach went on to secure verbal commitments from two four-star high school prospects from Florida, the kind of highly coveted out-of-region talent that UCLA had seen go elsewhere in recent years.
The heated duel to see who could secure the best players, which included every new assistant and holdovers Ikaika Malloe and Jerry Neuheisel, was a welcome surprise to coach DeShaun Foster.
From Ryan Kartje: Rising star USC wideout Ja’Kobi Lane suffered a broken foot in May, but was fully cleared this week and will be ready for the Trojans’ season opener against Missouri State, coach Lincoln Riley said Thursday.
The foot injury kept Lane limited through most of the summer. By the start of preseason camp, he was still being brought along slowly. During the portion of USC’s practices open to reporters, Lane wasn’t even running routes on air.
Lane wasn’t deemed fully healthy until the final week of USC’s preseason camp. Riley said that the junior wideout had actually “progressed a little bit ahead of schedule.”
From Gary Klein: As Matthew Stafford got to the podium on Thursday, he joked that he was sure reporters wanted to ask him questions about the paper cut he suffered.
The Rams star quarterback then fielded inquiries about the subject that clouds all conversation about the Rams: The back injury that sidelined Stafford until this week.
Stafford practiced for the fourth day in a row, another small milestone for the 17th-year pro and a team aiming to make a Super Bowl run.
“The good thing is I feel pretty good,” said Stafford, who practiced for the fourth day in a row. “The last couple days out there practicing, I was able to do even more than I thought I was going to be able to do the first day, and then I’ve just been trying to stack days.
1851 — The United States wins the first international yacht race. The schooner named “America” beats 14 British yachts.
1885 — Richard Sears beats Godfrey M. Brinley, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 to win the U.S. men’s national tennis championship held at the Newport (R.I.) Casino.
1898 — Malcolm Whitman beats Dwight F. Davis, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to win the U.S. men’s national tennis championship held at the Newport (R.I.) Casino.
1948 — The Chicago Cardinals beat the College All-Stars 28-0 in front 101,220 fans at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
1949 — The Philadelphia Eagles beat the College All-Stars 38-0 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. It’s the largest shutout in the series, later matched by Green Bay in 1966.
1950 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black tennis player to be accepted in competition for the national championship.
1957 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Pete Rademacher in the sixth round to retain his world heavyweight title at Sicks Stadium in Seattle.
1984 — Evelyn Ashford sets the world record in the 100-meter dash with a clocking of 10.76 seconds in a meet at Zurich, Switzerland.
1987 — Brazil snaps the 34-game winning streak of the U.S. men’s basketball team with a 120-115 victory in the Pan Am Games. Oscar Schmidt scores 46 points to lead Brazil. Cuba wins a record 10 of 12 gold medals in boxing and beats the U.S. 13-9 in the baseball final.
1999 — Jenny Thompson breaks Mary T. Meagher’s 18-year-old 100-meter butterfly record at the Pan Pacific swim championships. Thompson with a time of 57.88 seconds lowers the mark of 57.93 set by Meagher.
2004 — American sprinter Justin Gatlin wins the coveted Olympic 100m gold medal in Athens in 9.85 ahead of Francis Obikwelu of Portugal & American Maurice Greene.
2008 — Usain Bolt helps Jamaica win the 400-meter relay final in 37.10 seconds for his third gold medal and third world record of the Beijing Games. Bolt becomes only the fourth man, and the first since Carl Lewis in 1984, to win all three Olympic sprint events. Bryan Clay wins the decathlon, the first American to win the 10-discipline event at the Olympics since Dan O’Brien at Atlanta in 1996.
2018 — Ohio State suspends football coach Urban Meyer three games for mishandling repeated professional and behavioral problems of an assistant coach, with investigators finding Meyer protected his protege for years through domestic violence allegations, a drug problem and poor job performance.
2018 — The NCAA ditches the RPI for its own evaluation tool to select teams for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Evaluation Tool will rely on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and quality of wins and losses. NET will be used for the 2018-19 season by the committee that selects schools and seeds the tournament.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1917 — Pittsburgh’s Carson Bigbee set a major league record — since tied — with 11 at-bats in a 22-inning game against Brooklyn. Pirate Elmer Jacobs pitched 16 2-3 innings in relief. The game was also the fourth consecutive extra-inning game by the Pirates for a total of 59 innings, a National League record.
1934 — Pitcher Wes Ferrell hit two home runs to give the Boston Red Sox a 3-2 triumph over the Chicago White Sox in 12 innings. Trailing 2-1, Ferrell hit a home run in the eighth inning to tie the score and with two out in the 12th, Ferrell connected again for the game-winner.
1961 — Roger Maris, en route to his 61-home run season, became the first player to hit his 50th homer in August. He connected off California pitcher Ken McBride in a 4-3 loss to the Angels.
1965 — In the third inning of a game against the Dodgers, pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants hit catcher John Roseboro of the Dodgers in the head with his bat. A 14-minute brawl ensued and Roseboro suffered cuts on the head. Marichal thought Roseboro threw too close to his head when returning the ball to Sandy Koufax.
1971 — The Oakland Athletics opened and closed the game with solo homers to beat the Boston Red Sox 2-1. Boston pitcher Sonny Siebert gave up both, Bert Campaneris lead off the game and Reggie Jackson ended it with two out in the ninth inning.
1984 — New York Mets right-hander Dwight Gooden, at 19, fanned nine San Diego Padres to become the 11th rookie to strike out 200 batters in one season.
1989 — Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers became the first pitcher to strike out 5,000 batters. Ryan struck out 13, walked two and allowed only five hits in a 2-0 loss to Oakland. Ryan began the night needing six strikeouts and fanned Rickey Henderson swinging, leading off the fifth inning, for the record.
1999 — Mark McGwire became the first player to hit 50 homers in four consecutive seasons, hitting Nos. 49 and 50 in the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets.
2007 — The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader. It was the ninth time a major league team scored 30 runs, the first since the Chicago Colts set the major league mark in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897.
2012 — Oakland A’s P Bartolo Colon is suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone, eight days after Giants OF Melky Cabrera was also suspended for using the same performance-enhancing substance.
2016 — Adrian Gonzalez hit three of the Dodgers’ seven homers — driving in a career-high eight runs — to lead Los Angeles to an 18-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
2021 — Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers becomes the 28th player to hit 500 home runs with a solo home run off of Steven Matz of the Blue Jays.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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DENVER — When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors. The best they could do was hold serve, needing Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Rockies to earn a split of the four-game series.
Now they head to San Diego for a crucial three-game series against the Padres with the division lead once again up for grabs.
“I wish we had won all four, but it just didn’t happen,” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just the way baseball is. So we’ve got to go out there and regardless of the standings, we’ve got to beat those guys.”
The standings, however, loom large. On July 7, the Dodgers led the division by six games. The margin is now just a game.
The Padres, who have won 12 of 19 games in August, are the third-hottest team in the National League this month. The Dodgers are a game over .500.
“It is what it is,” Roberts said. “It’s where we’re at right now and I can’t change it. I feel good about our club going into San Diego.”
His club will have a bit of momentum on its side after scoring 20 runs on 30 hits in the two wins at Coors Field. Thursday’s matinee saw four players finish with multiple hits, including third baseman Alex Freeland, who was a career-best three for five with a run scored and another driven in. Freeland had six hits in the final three games in Denver.
“It’s just like I’m building confidence now,” said Freeland, who entered Thursday hitting .180 since his call-up from Triple A Oklahoma City three weeks ago. “I’ve kind of spent a little time here now and I’m getting comfortable.”
The Dodgers also got a fourth straight strong effort from starter Clayton Kershaw (8-2), who gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings. Kershaw has allowed just five runs over 23 2/3 innings this month, dropping his season ERA nearly 50 points to 3.13.
That was also good enough to keep his team in first, something he noted afterward.
Fans applaud as Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw heads to the dugout after being pulled from the mound in the sixth inning Thursday.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
“You can’t take anything for granted in Colorado, obviously,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we’re [one] up going in [to San Diego]. So we feel good about it.”
Freeland agreed.
“We definitely could have produced more. But you know what? We’re going to take this one today and take this momentum and bring it into San Diego,” he said.
After Kershaw won the opener of a three-game series with the Padres at Dodger Stadium a week ago, the teams were even atop the N.L. The Dodgers wound up sweeping that series and have won eight of 10 with the Padres overall this year.
“We’ve played well against those guys this year,” Roberts said. “They’re going to give us everything they have this weekend.”
The Dodgers got started early Thursday with Mookie Betts, who reached base four times, opening the game by walking on five pitches. Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run home run, his 16th of the season, to center field.
The Rockies cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a popup that got lost in the sun, a sacrifice bunt, a balk and an RBI groundout. But they would get no closer, with the Dodgers scoring in each of the first five innings to take an 8-2 lead.
Freeland had his first career triple along with a double and single, falling a homer shy of the cycle. He had six hits in the final three games in Denver. Betts finished two for three with two walks and two runs scoring while Freeman, who was two for five, raised his season average to .304 and is hitting .328 for August.
Notes: Roberts said pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is fine after taking a line drive off his right thigh in Wednesday’s game. Ohtani was scheduled to have Thursday off and Roberts said he’ll be back in the lineup Friday. … The Dodgers will activate reliever Tanner Scott before Friday’s game in San Diego and reliever Kirby Yates on Saturday. Scott has been out a month with inflammation in his left elbow while Yates has missed three weeks with lower back pain. … Right-hander Roki Sasaki made progress in his second rehab start Wednesday, going 3 1/3 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and struck out two before leaving after 60 pitches. He will make another rehab start next week before the Dodgers make any decision on his role in September. The team had talked about using Sasaki in a relief role.
The final score was 8-3 in favor of the Colorado Rockies, although the game was far more one-sided than that. And the result, combined with San Diego’s win over the Giants, cut the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West to just a game.
Yet the word the team used most often to describe the night was lucky because two hours after Ohtani took a line drive off his right leg, the reigning National League MVP said he had dodged serious injury when the ball missed his knee and struck him in the thigh.
“I think we avoided the worst-case scenario,” he said through an interpreter. “So I’m going to focus on the treatment.”
“It was in the thigh, fortunately, and not off the knee,” added manager Dave Roberts. “But it got him square.
“We’ll see how it comes out. But I’m hopeful, confident.”
Bryce Teodosio doubled off reliever Graham Ashcraft (7-5) to open the eighth and took third on a wild pitch. Oswald Peraza grounded out, with Teodosio holding, and Rengifo fisted an RBI single over third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes’ head for the lead.
Reid Detmers (4-3) struck out two in a scoreless eighth for the victory. With Angels closer Kenley Jansen unavailable because of a left rib-cage injury, Luis Garcia retired the side in order in the ninth for his first save.
From Ira Gorawara: It was a night when defenders draped over Kelsey Plum, her path to the rim often crowded. And when she turned to the officials for relief, the whistles were elusive.
But when it mattered most — that being with 3.3 seconds to play and the Sparks trailing by one — Plum lowered her shoulder and slipped between swiping arms and lunging bodies.
One defender stumbled, another bit on a fake and Plum glided almost untouched into the lane, kissing a floater off the glass as the horn sounded in an 81-80 Sparks escape.
“Just a heck of a finish by her,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.
Plum’s teammates mobbed her, embracing the veteran who appeared unsatisfied during her seven minutes on the bench and frustrated after Dallas defenders batted away her attempts at the rim. All of it faded, though, once she poured in 10 fourth-quarter points en route to 20 on the night.
“I feel like that’s what basketball is all about — putting on a show for [fans],” the Sparks’ Rickea Jackson said. “Both teams truly did that and everyone enjoyed themselves and got their money’s worth tonight.”
From Patrick J. McDonnell and Jad El Reda: Julio César Chávez Jr., whose high-profile boxing career was marred by substance abuse and other struggles and never approached the heights of his legendary father, was in Mexican custody Tuesday after being deported from the United States.
His expulsion had been expected since July, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him outside his Studio City home and accused him of making “fraudulent statements” on his application to become a U.S. permanent resident.
In Mexico, Chávez, 39, faces charges of organized crime affiliation and arms trafficking, Mexican authorities say.
1901 — William Larned wins the first of seven men’s singles titles in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship.
1914 — Walter Hagen captures the U.S. Open golf title by edging Chick Evans.
1920 — Jock Hutchinson wins the PGA golf tournament with a 1-up victory over J. Douglass Edgar.
1932 — Helen Hull Jacobs beats Carolyn Babcock to win the women’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association.
1982 — Mystic Park becomes the first 3-year-old trotter to win the American Trotting Championship.
1985 — Mary Decker sets the world record in the mile run with a time of 4:16.71 in Zurich.
2003 — Paul Hamm puts together a near-perfect routine on the high bar to become the first American man to win the all-around gold medal at World Gymnastics Championships. Needing a 9.712 or better to beat China’s Yang Wei, Hamm strings together four straight release moves during his 60-second routine — one of the toughest feats in gymnastics — for a 9.975 and the gold.
2004 — American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 6th gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn’t swim the final of men’s 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68.
2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Yukiko Ueno pitches 28 innings in two days, including seven to shut down the U.S. softball team, 3-1, and give Japan the gold medal. It was the first loss for the Americans since Sept. 21, 2000 — 22 straight games. LaShawn Merritt upsets defending champion Jeremy Wariner to lead a U.S. sweep of the 400 meters track event. David Neville gets the bronze. The U.S. men and women both drop the baton in the Olympic 400-meter relays and fail to advance out of the first round. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown easily wins the 200 meters to cap the first sweep of all four men’s and women’s Olympic sprints in 20 years.
2010 — Kyle Busch makes NASCAR history with an unprecedented sweep of three national races in one week, completing the trifecta with a victory in the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the Nationwide race a day earlier and the Trucks race on Aug. 18, becomes the first driver to complete the sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995.
2011 — The Sparks run off 16 straight points to overcome a 15-point, second-half deficit and hand the Tulsa Shock their WNBA-record 18th consecutive loss with a 73-67 victory. The Atlanta Dream lost 17 in a row in their inaugural season of 2008.
2016 — Kevin Durant scores 30 points and helps the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal. That caps an Olympics in which the U.S. dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121). The 51-total-medal margin over second-place China the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century.
2018 — Liu Xiang of China sets a world record time of 26.98 seconds to win the women’s 50-meter backstroke gold medal at the Asian Games. Liu becomes the first woman to swim under 27 seconds in the event, breaking the mark of 27.06 set by fellow Chinese swimmer Zhao Jing at the 2009 world championships in Rome.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1926 — Ted Lyons of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 6-0 victory was achieved in 1 hour, 7 minutes.
1930 — Chick Hafey of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in a 16-6 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
1931 — Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 11-7.
1947 — The first Little League World Series was at Williamsport, Pa. The Maynard Midgets of Williamsport won the series.
1972 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia had his 15-game winning streak snapped when Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 2-1 in 11 innings.
1975 — Pitching brothers Rick and Paul Reuschel of the Chicago Cubs combined to throw a 7-0 shutout against the Dodgers. Rick went 6 1-3 innings and Paul finished the shutout for the first ever by two brothers.
1982 — Milwaukee pitcher Rollie Fingers became the first player to achieve 300 career saves as the Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2.
1986 — Spike Owen had four hits and became the first major league player in 40 years to score six runs in a game as the Boston Red Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 24-5 with a 24-hit attack.
2007 — Garret Anderson of the Angels drove in a team-record 10 runs in an 18-9 rout of the New York Yankees. Anderson hit a grand slam, a three-run homer, a two-run double and an RBI double to become the 12th player in major league history to have 10 RBIs in a game.
2007 — Arizona’s Mark Reynolds tied the major league record for consecutive strikeouts by a non-pitcher when he fanned in his ninth straight plate appearance in a 7-4 loss to Milwaukee. Reynolds struck out in his first two at-bats against Dave Bush to match the record. Bush hit Reynolds with a pitch in the sixth, ending the streak.
2011 — Johnny Damon lost a grand slam to a video review in the seventh inning, then hit a game-ending home run in the ninth that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays over the Seattle Mariners 8-7. Damon connected for a leadoff shot in the ninth on the first pitch from Dan Cortes. The Rays trailed 5-4 in the seventh when Damon launched a drive to right-center field. First ruled a home run, the umpires changed the call to a three-run double after a video review.
2015 — Mike Fiers pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers. Having never thrown a complete game in his five-year career, Fiers was dominant. He struck out 10 and walked three, retiring the final 21 batters. Fiers struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. On Friday, we’ll see how they did in the four games against the Rockies and look at the final Padres series of the season. But until then, here’s a bonus edition of the newsletter.
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Top 10 center fielders
Here are my picks for the top 10 center fielders in Dodgers history, followed by how all of you voted. Numbers listed are with the Dodgers only. Click on the player’s name to be taken to the baseball-reference.com page with all their stats.
1. Duke Snider (1947-62, .300/.384/.553, 142 OPS+, seven-time All Star)
Snider is known primarily as a power hitter, but he also led the NL in runs three times, in walks once and in OB% once. He also led the league in homers in 1956 with 43 and in RBIs in 1955 with 136. He hit 40 or more homers in five consecutive seasons and it can be argued that he is the greatest player in Dodgers history. He also hit four home runs in the 1955 World Series and 11 World Series homers overall. Snider grew up in Compton and went to Compton High, where the Dodgers discovered him and signed him for $750 after he graduated before the 1943 season. He was assigned to the minors and developed a reputation as a bit of a crybaby, once demanding he be sent to another team after a manager flashed him the take sign. He joined the Dodgers in 1947 and was a part-time player for a couple of seasons. Branch Rickey took him under his wing in 1948 and helped him improve his plate discipline and his footwork in center field. He became the starting center fielder in 1949 and quickly became one of the better players in the league. When the Dodgers moved to L.A. in 1958, injuries and the Coliseum, with its’ 430-foot distance to right-center, hurt his power somewhat. Snider hit only 15 homers in 1958 and 23 in 1959. He then became a part-time player again, but is the first Dodger to get a hit in Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers sold him to the New York Mets in 1963 and he retired after a season with the San Francisco Giants in 1964. It took him several tries to be elected to the Hall of Fame, finally breaking through with 86% of the votes in 1980. Snider died in Escondido on Feb. 27, 2011.
2. Willie Davis (1960-73, .279/.312/.413, 107 OPS+,two-time All Star, 3 Gold Gloves)
Davis was an outstanding defensive player who led the NL in triples twice (1962 with 10 and 1970 with 16) and whose offensive numbers don’t look as impressive as they should because he played during one of the biggest pitchers eras in baseball history. His best season was probably 1969, when he hit .311 with 23 doubles, eight triples and 11 homers, or it could have been 1962, when he hit .285 with 18 doubles, 10 triples and 21 homers, or 1971, when he hit .309 with 33 doubles, 10 triples and 10 homers. He didn’t walk much and had moderate power, but he caught everything hit to him (except for that one game in the 1966 World Series, but let’s not get into that). He is still the L.A. Dodgers’ career leader in runs (1,004), hits (2,091) and triples (110). He was traded to the Montreal Expos after the 1973 season for reliever Mike Marshall and retired after the 1979 season. Davis played in the majors for 18 seasons and had over 2,500 hits, but strangely never appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot. Not that he would have made it, but he certainly deserved to be up for consideration. He died in Burbank on March 9, 2010.
3. Pete Reiser (1940-42, 1946-48, .306/.384/.460, 132 OPS+, three-time All Star)
Pete Reiser never met an outfield fence he didn’t like crashing into and it may have cost him a Hall of Fame career. After playing in 58 games with the Dodgers in 1940, Reiser came into his own in 1941 when he hit a league-leading .343 to go with 117 runs, 39 doubles, 17 triples, 14 homers and 76 RBIs. He also played great defense in center. That got him second place in NL MVP voting behind teammate Dolph Camilli (Reiser should have won). Reiser led the league in nine categories. He followed that by hitting .310 with 33 doubles and 10 homers in 1942, leading the league with 20 steals and making his second straight All-Star team. However, on July 18 of that year, he crashed full speed into the center field fence while chasing a fly ball. He ended up with a separated shoulder and fractured skull. In those days though, you didn’t let little things like a fractured skull slow you down. He returned to the lineup a week later, but he wasn’t the same. He hit .244 the rest of the season. He then enlisted in the Army and spent three years there. Reiser returned to the majors in 1946 and broke his leg while stealing second. He crashed into the fence in St. Louis and missed some time. But he still led the league with 34 steals, though his batting average dropped to .277. In 1947, he was chasing another fly ball when he crashed into the wall face-first. This caused another fractured skull. He was given the Last Rites by a priest in the hospital before making a miraculous recovery. He ended up playing 110 games that season. He was a bench player the following season, as he had put on a little weight and had been slowed tremendously by his numerous injuries. The Dodgers traded him to the Boston Braves after the season for Nanny Fernandez and Mike McCormick. He retired after the 1952 season and came back to the Dodger organization as a roving minor-league hitting instructor. He joined Walter Alston’s coaching staff in L.A. in 1960 and helped tutor Maury Wills on how to steal bases. Reiser had a heart attack in 1965, went on as an assistant coach for other teams. Reiser, who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day throughout his adult life, died of emphysema in Palm Springs in 1981. He was only 62.
4. Matt Kemp (2006-14, 2018, .292/.348/.494, 127 OPS+, three-time All Star, two Gold Gloves)
I won’t write too much on Kemp since I assume everyone knows a lot about him. His arthritic hips robbed him of his speed, so if you only know him from his 2018 return, keep in mind that he stole 40 bases in 2011, 35 in 2008 and 34 in 2009. He never really had a bad season with the team, it’s just that his best seasons were so good that his other seasons looked bad in comparison. He was robbed of the MVP award in 2011, finishing second to Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, who was later suspended for 65 games for violating baseball’s drug policy. Kemp had a better season than Braun.
5. Mike Griffin (1891-98, .305/.399/.416, 125 OPS+)
It’s really hard to compare players from the 19th century to players much later, because it was such a different game. But Griffin was great and deserves a spot in the top 10.
Griffin score 100 or more runs in six of his eight season in Brooklyn, stole 264 bases and was considered the finest fielding center fielder of his day. In 1894, he hit a career-high .357. He was named team captain in 1895. But his career ended strangely.
Brooklyn fired manager Bill Barnie during the 1898 season and named Griffin as player-manager. He had that position for four games, decided he didn’t like it and asked to be just a player again. Team president Charles Ebbets became the manager.
After much cajoling, Ebbets convinced Griffin to try and become player-manager again for the 1899 season. He signed a contract for $3,500. What Griffin didn’t know was that Brooklyn was having financial problems, as was Baltimore, so Ebbets (who was wealthy) bought the Baltimore club and merged it with Brooklyn. Baltimore was managed by Ned Hanlon, considered a top manager. Ebbets no longer needed Griffin as a manager, and sent him a new contract for $2,800 as just a player. Griffin refused, saying he had a signed contract for $3,500. In March, 1899, Ebbets sent Griffin a telegram that stated: “You have been released to the Cleveland club. They wish you to report to Cleveland on Monday, to go with team to Hot Springs. Personally I wish you the best of luck in your new position.”
Griffin said he wouldn’t play for Cleveland. After two weeks of fighting over it, with various lawyers involved, Cleveland sold his contract to St. Louis. He never reported there, instead announcing his retirement and suing Ebbets for breach of contract. The New York State Supreme Court ruled in Griffin’s favor. But Griffin never played in the majors again. He died in 1908 of pneumonia. He was 47.
6. Cody Bellinger (2017-22, .248/.332/.487, 118 OPS+, two-time All Star, 2017 Rookie of the Year, 2019 NL MVP, one Gold Glove)
After his first four seasons, it seemed possible that Bellinger was going to be the best position player in Dodgers history and a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Then, while celebrating a home run in the 2020 World Series, he and Kiké Hernández high-fived so strongly that Bellinger separated his shoulder. He was never the same after that, hitting .165 in 2021 and .210 in 2022. The Dodgers had little interest in re-signing him as a free agent, and he has since played for the Cubs and Yankees, putting together solid seasons for both teams. But he has never again reached the heights he once reached.
There’s not a lot out there about Frederick. What is known was dug up by baseball historian Graham Womack: Frederick came into the league as a 27-year-old rookie in 1929 and led the league with 52 doubles (to go with 24 homers). He followed it up by hitting .334 with 44 doubles, 11 triples and 17 homers. Then Rawlings introduced a cork-cushioned baseball to the majors and Frederick’s power slowly began to slip. He was out of the majors for good when the Dodgers traded him to a minor-league team in 1934 for Frenchy Bordagaray. In 1935, he hit .363 for Sacramento. He then hit .322 over five years with the Portland Beavers, who made him player manager for his 19th and final professional season in 1940. Frederick finished his minor league career with 2,467 hits. Add that to his major league total, and Frederick had 3,421 hits in his pro career. He died in 1977 in Tigard, Ore., at the age of 75. You can read much more about Frederick here.
8. Jim Wynn (1974-75, .261/.394/.463, 144 OPS+, two-time All Star)
Wynn might be a little too high here, but he was my first favorite player on the Dodgers, so here he is.
The Dodgers acquired Wynn from the Astros before the 1974 season for Claude Osteen. Wynn got off to a fast start and became a fan favorite, with the bleachers in left center being dubbed “Cannon Country,” after Wynn’s nickname, “The Toy Cannon.”
Wynn hit .271 with 32 homers and 108 RBIs in 1974 while leading the Dodgers to the World Series. Honestly, he should have won the MVP award that season, but he finished fifth to Steve Garvey,
He got off to a good start in 1975, hitting .270 with 14 homers at the All-Star break, but slumped after that. The Dodgers, always ones at that time to trade a player a season too soon rather than a season too late, sent him to Atlanta for Dusty Baker.
Strangely, Wynn is probably best remembered by Dodgers fans for a play in the 1974 World Series.
Usually a standout defender, Wynn hurt his right shoulder making a diving catch near the end of the season, and his throwing arm after that had all the strength of a wet paper towel.
Knowing this, right fielder Joe Ferguson and Wynn had a deal. If a ball was hit between them and a runner was on third, Ferguson would make the catch with the hope his stronger arm would hold the runner, or that he could throw them out trying to score.
Game 1 of the World Series reached the eighth inning, with Oakland leading, 3-1. With Sal Bando on third for the A’s, Reggie Jackson hit a fly ball to right center. With a left-hander up, Wynn was playing toward right-center, and Ferguson was closer to the right-field line, so it looked like Wynn’s ball all the way.
Wynn set himself for the catch, when at the last second Ferguson, who started racing over as soon as the ball was hit, cut in front of him, made the catch, and threw a perfect strike to catcher Steve Yeager 300 feet away. Bando barreled over Yeager, who held on to the ball for the out.
Some Dodger fans, even now, think Ferguson was just trying to show up Wynn, which isn’t true.
“I called to him that I could take it and he said ‘Go ahead,’ ” Ferguson said.
Asked if that was true, Wynn responded “Yep. Wasn’t that one tremendous throw? It hurt my arm just to look at it.”
9. Brett Butler (.298/.392/.368, 112 OPS+, one-time All Star)
Butler was a pest. He seemed to be on base all the time, ran the bases with reckless abandon and scored 80-100 runs every season. Signed as a free agent, Butler made the All-Star team in his first season with the Dodgers and led the league with 112 runs and 108 walks. His on-base percentage topped .400 three times with L.A. and he played solid defense. He was caught stealing a little too often (28 times in 1991 compared to 38 stolen bases), but he’s the type of player you don’t see too often in the game today. In May of 1996, Butler was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils. He underwent treatment and returned to the lineup in September. He played one more season with the team and retired.
I’ve written tons about Hernández. With the Dodgers, he has played at least 50 games at every position for the Dodgers, except pitcher (where he has appeared 10 times) and catcher (zero). One of the biggest fan favorites in Dodger history, he becomes an entirely different hitter in the postseason, where he has hit .278/.353/.522 in 75 postseason games with the Dodgers, including 10 homers and 26 RBIs.
The readers’ top 10
1,302 ballots were sent in. First place received 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. For those of you who were wondering, I make my choices before I tally your results. Here are your choices:
The next five: Johnny Frederick, Joc Pederson, Juan Pierre, Mike Griffin, Don Demeter.
Top 10 right fielders
Who are your top 10 Dodgers right fielders of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list to [email protected] and let me know. Remember, we are considering only what they did with the Dodgers.
Many of you have asked for a list of players to consider for each position. Here are the strongest right fielder candidates, in alphabetical order.
Mookie Betts, Buzz Boyle, Hubie Brooks, Thomas Burns, Dick Cox, Willie Crawford, Mike Davis, J.D. Drew, Andre Ethier, Ron Fairly, Al Ferrara, Carl Furillo, Shawn Green, Tommy Griffith, Babe Herman, Teoscar Hernández, Frank Howard, Jay Johnstone, Fielder Jones, Willie Keeler, Harry Lumley, Mike Marshall, Raúl Mondesi, Yasiel Puig, Frank Robinson, Reggie Smith, Casey Stengel, Darryl Strawberry, Ed Swartwood, Dixie Walker, Paul Waner and Hack Wilson.
A reminder that players are listed at the position in which they played the most games for the Dodgers, which is why Frank Howard and Ron Fairly are listed here, for example.
And finally
Willie Davis homers off of Nolan Ryan in the 1973 All-Star Game. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
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DENVER — With the Dodgers in the midst of a stretch that will see them play a season-HIGH 19 games without a day off, manager Dave Roberts rested shortstop Mookie Betts on Wednesday and started Miguel Rojas in his place.
Shohei Ohtani, who was in Wednesday’s lineup as the starting pitching and designated hitter, is expected to sit out Thursday’s series finale, and outfielder Teoscar Hernández and catcher Will Smith probably will as well.
Relievers Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott both threw hitless innings in rehab appearances with triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Yates struck out one and gave up a walk, while Scott walked a batter and struck out two. Both could rejoin the Dodgers this weekend in San Diego, Roberts said.
Utility player Kiké Hernández, on the injured list since July 7 with left elbow inflammation, was expected to make his first rehab start Wednesday.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Dodgers also recalled right-hander Paul Gervase from Oklahoma City and optioned right-handed Alexis Diaz. Gervase, 25, acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, appeared in five games with the Rays this season, striking out six batters in 6.1 innings.
Díaz, 28, was 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA in nine games for the Dodgers. A former National League all-star, he was acquired on May 29 from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league pitcher Mike Villani.
DENVER — Edgardo Henriquez has a gift. He can throw a baseball faster than all but a few humans in history.
Yet he prefers to think of it as something he and God created together, not something that was just given to him.
“We’ve worked for that,” said Henriquez, who frequently uses the plural pronoun when talking about himself. “All the work, the effort, the physics. And God’s reward, most of all.”
Wherever the lightning in his right arm came from, he’s making good use of it. Of the 83 pitches he’s thrown this season entering Wednesday’s game, 28 have topped 101 miles per hour. The fastest hit 103.3 on the radar gun last Saturday, making it the hardest-thrown pitch by a Dodger since Statcast began tracking speed in 2015 and likely the fastest pitch in franchise history.
Henriquez, 23, shrugs and smiles at the numbers.
“Now we have to stay consistent,” he said in Spanish. “Even growing up in Venezuela, I always threw hard.”
What he didn’t do in Venezuela was pitch because when he signed as a 16-year-old in 2018, Henriquez was a catcher. The Dodgers moved him to the other side of the plate a year later, when they got him to their Dominican academy.
The process was not a smooth one. The right-hander allowed 22 runs in 30 innings in his first season then, after sitting out the summer of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, he came to the U.S. a year later and went 2-3 with a 4.93 ERA in 13 games split between the Arizona Complex League and Single A Rancho Cucamonga.
The Dodgers projected him as a starter but after Henriquez missed the 2023 season to Tommy John surgery, he came back throwing gas and the team moved him to the bullpen. The results were spectacular, with Henriquez climbing four levels, from Low A Rancho Cucamonga to the majors, in six months to make his big-league debut in the final week of the regular season.
And he announced his presence with authority, topping 101 mph twice to earn the save in his third game.
Henriquez grew up in Cumaná, a historic beach city of about half a million people wedged between the Manzanares Rivers and Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, 250 miles east of Caracas. The oldest continuously-inhabited Spanish settlement in South America, it has been the birthplace and poets and presidents. But baseball players? Not so much.
Pitcher Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game by an umpire’s call in 2010, is probably the best known of Cumaná’s big-leagues while Maracay, on the other end of the country, has produced more than two dozen players, among them all-stars Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera and Elvis Andrus.
“Maracay, yes. They say that is the birthplace of baseball in Venezuela,” Henriquez said. “But the truth is it’s Cumaná.”
Henriquez took to the game at an early age, playing on local fields and sandlots. And because he was among the biggest of the neighborhood kids, he was put behind the plate. The Dodgers liked his size — he looks much bigger than the 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds he’s credited with on the roster — and arm so they offered him $80,000 to sign as an international free agent with the intention of making him a pitcher.
Before the elbow-reconstruction surgery, Henriquez touched 101 mph with this fastball but he came back throwing even harder, averaging 99 mph and reaching 104 in the minors last summer. That earned him a September promotion and a spot on the roster for the Dodgers’ first two postseason series.
He was also in line for a spot on the opening day roster this season before a metatarsal injury in his left foot landed him in a walking boot, sidelining him for most of spring training.
Neither the Dodgers nor Henriquez will talk about how the injury happened.
“I’d rather keep that to myself,” the pitcher said this week.
Yet that setback proved just another obstacle for Henriquez to overcome, and after striking out 36 batters in 23 2/3 innings for Triple A Oklahoma City, he was summoned back to the Dodgers a month ago.
In some ways, he was a different pitcher.
“He looks much more confident,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he was confident last year, but there was like a fake confidence, understandably. He knows his stuff plays here, so it’s good to see.”
His record-setting pitch came in his sixth of seven scoreless appearances when he struck out pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn out on a four-seam fastball in the seventh inning of a win over the San Diego Padres.
His parents, Edgar and Erika, where visiting from Venezuela and in the stands at Dodger Stadium for the pitch to O’Hearn, one that has generated a lot of attention on social media. As a result Roberts said pitching coach Mark Prior and bullpen coach Josh Bard are making sure Henriquez understands there’s more to pitching that just lighting up the radar gun.
As good as the four-seamer is, however, it may not be Henriquez’s best pitch. His cutter, which sits in the mid-90s, can be all but unhitable and he also has a devastating slider. He’ll need every bit of that repertoire to succeed in the majors, said Chris Forbes, the senior director of player development for the Colorado Rockies, because the number of hard-throwers is growing.
“If there isn’t deception, there isn’t ride, [hitters] can catch up if you don’t have something else that they can think about,” he said.
So far the hitters aren’t catching up: In seven innings this summer entering Wednesday, Henriquez has allowed just three hits and walked one while striking out four. Opponents are hitting .120 against him.
It’s been a rapid rise for Henriquez, who has gone from teenage catcher to big-league reliever, surviving a global pandemic, Tommy John surgery and a fractured bone in his foot to pitch for a World Series champion. But there’s still one goal left, albeit one he talks about only grudgingly.
On a team without set bullpen roles, Henriquez wants to be a closer, using his blazing fastball not just to demoralize hitters but to shut down games as well.
“Whatever God has in store for me. We’ll work wherever and keep going,” he said. “But yes, I’d like to be a closer.”
DENVER — Mookie Betts was the first Dodgers position player out on the field Tuesday, walking to a spot near the third-base foul line and kneeling on a mat before a coach, who began hitting soft ground balls to his right and left.
It’s a drill Betts does regularly to improve his defense. Betts’ defense, however, really isn’t a problem for the Dodgers.
A six-time Gold Glove winner in right field, Betts moved to shortstop full-time this season, turning his old position over to Teoscar Hernández. And his defense has been a problem. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he isn’t planning any changes to his lineup for the time being.
“Are we playing our best defensive lineup? No,” Roberts said. “But I would say there’s very few teams in the big leagues playing their best defensive lineup every night. Even in a postseason race, you’ve still got to score.”
The Dodgers are definitely in a postseason race and Hernández absolutely helps them score, ranking second on the team in home runs (20) and RBIs (75) after going two for five with a run and an RBI in Tuesday’s 11-4 rout of the Colorado Rockies. He also made two nice running catches.
But then the Dodgers didn’t need much defense Tuesday, pounding out 18 hits with every player in the lineup reaching base as least once. Newcomer Alex Call led the way with a career-high four hits, including a home run and a double, scoring three runs and driving in two others while falling a triple shy of the cycle.
“I wasn’t thinking about it. I was really just trying to get on base another time,” Call, who struck out in his final at-bat in the eighth, said of the cycle. “But everybody else in the dugout was like, ‘if you hit this ball, you better keep running.’ It would have been fun to find a gap and see what would happen.”
The homer, a 453-foot blast in the second, was the longest by a Dodger this season. Yet Call still managed to get the ball back as a souvenir.
“I actually had some some friends in the stands that flew out from Wisconsin, and they tracked down the ball for me,” he said.
The homer helped Call snap out of terrible slump. He entered the game hitting .174 since coming over from Washington at the trade deadline, which wasn’t the kind of introduction he had hoped to have with this new team.
“I wanted to make a good impression. But I think you make a good impression by just showing how you work and showing how you play the game and just trusting in yourself to do what you do,” he said. “I would tell myself, ‘I’m just calibrating.’
“There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of new things going on. New coaches, new teammates, new situation, new city. You can go on. So it’s a lot.”
Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Betts and Miguel Rojas joined Hernández and Call with multiple hits for the Dodgers, who scored eight of their 11 runs with two out.
“Really, really pleased with tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “You saw a different ball club tonight.”
And a different Call as well.
“It’s certainly a big adjustment, especially when you walk into a clubhouse like ours,” Roberts said. “Coming from the Nationals, a bunch of young players, and you see our ball club in contention and trying to kind of figure out where you where you stand, right? He’s likable the way he plays, practices, and it was good to see him have some success.”
The Dodgers led 7-0 before the Rockies had their second baserunner, with one of those runs coming on Shohei Ohtani’s 44th home run of the season. That made it easy for starter Emmet Sheehan (4-2), who matched a career high by going six innings, striking out a season-best seven batters to earn the win.
“We just got on the board early,” Freeman said. “When you score runs, you want to keep it going as an offense.
“[But] I don’t think anybody’s going to think about how good we did today tomorrow. Every day is a new day. We’ll go out there and give it all again.”
Etc….
Reliever Kirby Yates walked one and struck out one in a one-inning rehab appearance for Oklahoma City on Tuesday. He threw 21 pitches, 13 for strikes. Yates went on the injured list Aug. 1 with lower back pain.
DENVER — Mookie Betts was back at shortstop and Teoscar Hernández remained in right field for the Dodgers on Tuesday, a day after two questionable fielding plays in the outfield led to two runs in a 4-3 walk-off loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies.
Hernández’s defense has increasingly become a matter of concern for manager Dave Roberts and Monday’s loss was followed by a meeting involving Roberts; Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations; and Betts, who has expressed a willingness to move back to right field where he was a six-time Gold Glove winner.
Hernández is ranked 64th among National League right fielders with a defensive WAR of -0.4 and his two errors are tied for fourth-most in the league.
“He’s got to get better out there. There’s just no way to put it,” Roberts said after Monday’s game of Hernández. “It’s not a lack of effort. But, you know, we’ve just got to kind of get better. We do.”
Betts, meanwhile, twice led the American League in fielding average and putouts as the Boston Red Sox’s right fielder. But he’s played shortstop full-time this season.
“Defense is a big part of postseason baseball and winning baseball,” Roberts said.
Betts’ move to the infield has arguably weakened the Dodgers in two ways: Hernández’s defense and Betts’ offense. Playing the infield, especially shortstop, is far more taxing mentally than playing in the outfield and Betts is slashing a career-low .242/.312/.370 this season.
Moving Betts back to right field would likely mean using Alex Freeland or Miguel Rojas at shortstop, at least in the short term. Freeland played nearly 300 games at shortstop in the minors while Rojas has played more than 940 games there in the majors.
Hernández, second on the team with 74 RBIs and tied for second with 20 home runs, would then move to left field — a less-demanding position defensively than right field — in place of Michael Conforto, whose .190 batting average is the worst in the majors among players with at least 300 at-bats.
Moving Betts back to the outfield could be easier for Roberts when utility players Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Kiké Hernández return from the injured list, giving the manager more depth and flexibility. Kim, who will begin a rehab assignment this week, is the furthest along and could be back by early next week.
From Kevin Baxter: The half-empty Dodger clubhouse was so quiet you could hear a winning streak snap Monday. But amid the silence there was one conversation that spoke volumes.
After a 4-3 walk-off loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies — a loss set up by two poor plays from right fielder Teoscar Hernández — Mookie Betts met with manager Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, in Roberts’ office.
Betts, the Dodgers shortstop, is a six-time Gold Glove winner in right field. Hernández is not. On Monday, Hernández threw to the wrong base in the third inning, allowing the Rockies to score their second run, and in the ninth he was unable to hold Ezequiel Tovar’s bloop double. Two pitches later, Warming Bernabel bounced a single up to middle, scoring Tovar to end the game.
The Betts conversation afterward was private. But the circumstances that led to it were not. Clearly the bullpen is not the Dodgers’ only problem.
“He’s got to get better out there. There’s just no way to put it,” Roberts said of Hernández. “It’s not a lack of effort. But, you know, we’ve just got to kind of get better. We do.”
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ANGELS
Gavin Lux hit an early two-run homer and the Cincinnati Reds used three leadoff triples to beat the Angels 4-1 on Monday night.
TJ Friedl had a leadoff single in the first inning off Victor Mederos, making his second career start, and Lux followed with his fifth homer for a 2-0 lead.
Elly De La Cruz led off the fifth with his fourth triple this season before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Austin Hays to make it 3-1. Hays tripled in the third but was stranded.
Scott Barlow replaced Luis Mey with two on and two outs in the eighth and struck out Jo Adell swinging to keep it 4-1. Barlow fanned three more in the ninth for his first save this season.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Great Depression threatened the 1932 Olympics. A pandemic raged during the 2021 Tokyo Games. Parisians planned a “poop protest” in the Seine before the 2024 Games.
From natural disasters, construction woes or unpopular opinion, every Olympics has faced threats in the planning process.
Yet nearly every time, the city, ready or not, still hosted the Games.
With less than three years before the L.A. Olympics, calls on social media for the city to withdraw or cancel have intensified. Wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena in January. L.A. had to balance a $1-billion deficit. Immigration raids have put communities on edge while President Trump has threatened further military intervention.
But Olympic preparations press forward. So invested in the success of the 2028 Games, the International Olympic Committee allowed venue naming rights for the first time in history. LA28, the private group responsible for organizing the Games, has contracted more than 70% of its $2.5-billion sponsorship goal, with more deals coming.
Stafford, sidelined since the start of training camp because of a back issue, practiced Monday for the first time.
That qualified as an unexpected and momentous development for the Rams as they prepare for their Sept. 7 opener against the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium.
Stafford, 37, went through individual and team drills with the first-team offense. The 17th-year pro was a full participant, but he did not speak to reporters afterward.
From Ryan Kartje: When they chose to continue their college careers, both USC offensive lineman DJ Wingfield and UCLA wide receiver Kaedin Robinson thought the courts and NCAA had cleared the way for them to play a fifth season of football.
USC had told Wingfield as much, offering him $210,000 in NIL to join the Trojans’ offensive line. UCLA, meanwhile, offered Robinson $450,000 to be one of the Bruins’ top wideouts.
But after first seeing their waivers rejected in the spring, then suing the NCAA this summer, a U.S. District Court judge has now shut the door on either Wingfield or Robinson suiting up this fall.
1909 — The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twelve-thousand spectators watch Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer win a five-mile race with an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour. The track’s surface of crushed rock and tar breaks up in a number of places and causes the deaths of two drivers, two mechanics and two spectators.
1934 — Helen Hull Jacobs wins the women’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.
1981 — Renaldo Nehemiah sets the world record in the 110 hurdles with a time of 12.93 seconds in a meet at Zurich, Switzerland.
1984 — Lee Trevino beats Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins by four strokes to take the PGA championship at Shoal Creek, Alabama.
1993 — Sergei Bubka wins his fourth consecutive pole vault title at the World Track and Field championships at Stuttgart, Germany.
1995 — Mike Tyson starts his comeback, knocking out Peter McNeeley in 89 seconds at Las Vegas. McNeeley’s manager Vinnie Vecchione jumps into the ring to stop the fight after his boxer is knocked down twice in the first round.
2001 — Michael Schumacher gets his fourth Formula One championship and matches Alain Prost’s series record of 51 victories by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2004 — American swimmer Michael Phelps wraps up the 200/400m individual medley double at the Athens Olympics when he wins the 200m (1:57.14 OR) ahead of teammate Ryan Lochte.
2016 — Usain Bolt scores another sweep, winning three gold medals in his third consecutive Olympics. At the Rio de Janeiro Games, Bolt turns a close 4×100 relay race against Japan and the United States into a typical, Bolt-like runaway, helping Jamaica cross the line in 37.27 seconds. Allyson Felix wins an unprecedented fifth gold medal in women’s track and field, running the second leg of the 4×100-meter relay team.
2018 — Novak Đoković beats Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Cincinnati Masters to become the first player to win all 9 Masters 1,000 tennis tournaments since the series started in 1990.
2018 — Jockey Drayden Van Dyke wins a record-tying seven races at Del Mar, including the $200,000 Del Mar Mile. He ties Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza for most wins in a single day in the seaside track’s history. Van Dyke’s only loss in eight mounts comes when he finishes second in the sixth race.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1909 — The Philadelphia Phillies were rained out for the 10th consecutive day, a major league record.
1913 — The Chicago Cubs tagged Grover Alexander for nine straight hits and six runs for a 10-4 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1921 — Detroit’s Ty Cobb got his 3,000th career hit at age 34, the youngest player to reach that plateau. The milestone hit was a single off Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox.
1934 — Moose Solters of the Boston Red Sox hit for the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.
1951 — Eddie Gaedel, a 65-pound midget who was 3-foot-7, made his first and only plate appearance as a pinch-hitter for Frank Saucier of the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel wearing No. 1/8 was walked on four pitches by Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain and then was taken out for pinch-runner Jim Delsing. The gimmick by Browns owner Bill Veeck was completely legal, but later outlawed.
1957 — New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham announced that the team’s board of directors had voted 8-1 in favor of moving to San Francisco. The Giants would start the 1958 season in Seals Stadium.
1965 — Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Cubs 1-0, in 10 innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Chicago. Leo Cardenas homered in the 10th for the Reds.
1969 — Ken Holtzman of the Cubs blanked the Atlanta Braves with a 3-0 no-hitter at Wrigley Field. Ron Santo’s three-run homer in the first inning provided the Cubs’ offense.
1990 — Bobby Thigpen recorded his 40th save as the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-2. Thigpen became the eighth — and fastest — to accomplish this feat.
1992 — Bret Boone made history when he became part of the first three-generation family to play in major league baseball. Boone is the grandson of Ray Boone, who played from 1948-60, and son of Bob Boone, from 1972-90. Bret, 23, completed the triangle when he started at second base for the Seattle Mariners against Baltimore.
2007 — Johan Santana finished with a franchise-record 17 strikeouts in eight innings to help Minnesota edge Texas 1-0.
2009 — Florida reached 10 hits for the 15th straight game in a 6-3 loss at Houston, matching the longest streak since the St. Louis Browns had one that long in 1937. The Marlins were held to four hits the next game.
2011 — LaGrange, Ky., starter Griffin McLarty struck out 12 and hit a homer in a 1-0 victory over the hometown favorites from Clinton County in the Little League World Series at South Williamsport, Pa. The game drew 41,848 fans, breaking the record of 40,000 set in the 1989 and 1990 championship games.
2016 — Jose Altuve homered and had five RBIs, and the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 15-8 despite allowing four home runs in the first inning. The Orioles became the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to open a game with four home runs before making an out. Adam Jones hit Collin McHugh’s first pitch into the seats in left field and Hyun Soo Kim singled before Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo homered in succession.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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