Dodgers

MILWAUKEE — His breaths were heavy. His answers were interrupted by deep inhales. And beads of sweat were dripping from his forehead.

Tired? Perhaps.

But personally invigorated? There seemed little doubt.

For the newly turned 31-year-old Shohei Ohtani, the deep breaths and sweat drips were just a sign of another day’s work in his return to full-time two-way duties, coming as he spoke to reporters following his latest game as both starting pitcher and designated hitter for the Dodgers on Saturday.

“As long as I can play the way I want to play,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton as he celebrated his birthday, “I usually spend my birthday just like any other day.”

The way Ohtani wants to play, of course, is exactly how he’s been doing it for the last month. After being unable to pitch for the first year and a half of his Dodgers tenure — limited only to hitting while recovering from a second career Tommy John surgery — he is finally back to being a fully healthy two-way star, taking the mound once per week in addition to leading off the lineup every day.

Four weeks into his return to pitching, the results have been (mostly) positive for the reigning National League MVP.

In six innings as a pitcher, he has given up just one run, four hits and four walks while striking out six batters (a quality start by any definition of the term, if considered as one pitching outing).

And as a hitter, he is still posting MVP-caliber numbers, entering Monday leading the National League with 30 home runs and a .610 slugging percentage, while ranking second in OPS (.990, behind only teammate Will Smith), 13th in RBIs (56) and 23rd in batting average (.278).

“He’s just handling it the right way,” manager Dave Roberts said a few weeks ago, personally amazed at watching Ohtani’s two-way talents up close for the first time. “He’s just unflappable.”

The most encouraging signs over the last month have been with Ohtani’s progression on the mound.

Even after a second major elbow surgery, he is still routinely eclipsing 100 mph with his fastball, while commanding it in different parts of the strike zone. He has quickly rediscovered the feel for his breaking stuff, generating whiffs with his sweeper and traditional slider. He’s also doing it with a new, slightly lowered arm angle, one that Roberts said he didn’t develop by accident.

“He understands his delivery and what he’s trying to do,” Roberts said. “So obviously coming off the second Tommy John, I think this probably puts his arm in the best position, [where he] feels best. I like where he’s at.”

The only missing piece to Ohtani’s pitching remains the length of his outings.

So far, he has yet to pitch past the second inning. And while Roberts called it “feasible” for him to get stretched out to five or six innings, the team still doesn’t “know what that’s going to be,” he said.

“In a rehab progression, it’s really important to just take one step at a time,” Ohtani echoed. “There are times when I may be able to go another inning, but it’s really important not to take unnecessary risks and make sure that I can progress consistently. It’s always been this way in terms of my rehab progression. So I’m following what the team is also asking me as well.”

The big question, to this point, is how much Ohtani’s return to pitching has impacted his potency with the bat.

At various points since June 10, when Ohtani ramped up to three innings in his final simulated live session before returning to game action as a pitcher, Roberts has noted some normal instances of fatigue that Ohtani has felt.

The slugger’s hitting numbers have ticked down in that span as well, with Ohtani batting only .239 since that day — albeit with seven home runs in 24 games and a robust .919 OPS.

On days he pitches, Ohtani has still gone 5 for 16 with a double, triple and home run. On the days immediately after a pitching outing, however, he is 0 for 12 with less hard contact than his thunderous swing usually produces.

There have also been incremental drops in some of Ohtani’s underlying numbers, including exit velocity (95.5 mph average before May 10; 93.3 mph average since) and swing speed (76.3 mph before; 75.8 mph since) according to data from Baseball Savant.

The decline hasn’t been lost on Ohtani.

On Saturday, he said he doesn’t “feel too bad at the plate” physically, but acknowledged he hasn’t punished mistakes as well as he typically does.

“Usually, it’s a matter of just a little bit of a difference in the way that I’m swinging,” he said. “So just have to find it in the cage work, and hopefully be able to apply that on the field.”

Roberts also downplayed the notion as the product of a small sample size, insisting he hasn’t seen “much of a difference” in Ohtani at the plate since he resumed his two-way duties.

“I think he’s still taking good at-bats,” Roberts said. “I still don’t mind where he’s at right now.”

It will, nonetheless, be a dynamic the Dodgers closely monitor as Ohtani continues to try and maximize his dual talents. The longer his offensive numbers drag down, the more caution the club could exercise in his long-term pitching plan.

His bat, after all, remains the single most valuable tool on the team’s entire roster — with the Dodgers wanting to ensure, above all else, he can be a force at the plate as they try to defend their World Series title.

But, on the whole, his pitching progress has been stark during his first month back as a two-way player, and his overall production is still among the best in baseball; with his 4.4 total wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, trailing only breakout Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong for the best mark in the NL.

“[I’ve been] really, really impressed,” Roberts said Saturday, after getting his latest look at two-way Ohtani, “how he’s continuing to get better and better each time out.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s time to start previewing top football players for the coming season. The Times’ nine-part series looking at each position begins Aug. 12, but let’s start providing a sneak peek.

Quarterbacks to watch

Newbury Park quarterback Brady Smigiel throws a pass during a 43-14 nonleague win over Ventura on Sept. 26, 2024.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Quarterbacks can be broken down into three groups — exceptional returnees, rising players entering their senior seasons and newcomers with potential.

Brady Smigiel of Newbury Park returns for his senior year having thrown 147 career touchdowns. Bryson Beaver of Vista Murrieta surged in the off season as a college prospect before committing to Oregon after passing for 3,214 yards. Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo is an Ohio State commit with big ambitions for his senior season. Brady Edmunds of Huntington Beach enters his junior season after passing for 3,222 yards as a sophomore. He’s also committed to Ohio State.

Corin Berry of Charter Oak passed for 3,034 and committed to Purdue. Oscar Rios of Downey is committed to Arizona and one of the best passers and runners. Jackson Taylor of Thousand Oaks committed to Boise State.

Alexander Lundsberg of Anaheim Canyon was one of the state leaders in passing at 3,646 yards. Travis Frazier of Esperanza is a 6-foot-4 senior who passed for 2,600 yards.

Ryan Hopkins of Mater Dei moves from JSerra as one of the fastest quarterbacks in the state and is a Wisconsin commit. Koa Malau’ulu of St. John Bosco should continue his rise after a freshman season that saw him get the Braves into the Division 1 final. Wyatt Brown moves from Santa Monica to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame ready to test himself against Mission League competition. Cathedral’s Jaden Jefferson had 2,641 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore. Edison’s Sam Thomson led his team to a state title as a sophomore.

Santa Margarita turns to Tulane commit Trace Johnson, a transfer from Florida. Agoura gets back from injury Gavin Gray, who had more than 1,100 yards passing in four games. Chaparral’s Dane Weber completed 67% of his passes as a sophomore. Dominik Hardy of Calabasas passed for 2,100 yards as a sophomore. Deshawn Laporte of Burbank had 2,600 yards passing as a sophomore for a 9-3 team. Joseph Mesa of Paraclete passed for 3,414 yards and 30 touchdowns. Isaiah Arriaza of Damien passed for 2,892 yards and was Baseline League MVP.

Russell Sekona of Leuzinger is coming off a freshman season in which he passed for 1,600 yards. Caden Jones of Crean Lutheran might be the best football/basketball athlete in the Southland entering his junior season. Jacob Paisano of Hart and Brady Bretthauer of Valencia are both senior quarterbacks with strong arms and proven performances from the Foothill League.

The City Section could have its best collection of quarterbacks in years, led by Eagle Rock’s Liam Pasten, who had 3,602 yards passing last season. There’s also Chris Fields at Carson, Jack Thomas at Palisades, Elijah McDaniel at Dorsey, Diego Montes at Kennedy, Seth Solorio at San Pedro and freshman Thaddeus Breaux at Hamilton.

Speaking of freshmen, the class of 2029 quarterbacks look promising. Evan McCalister of Valencia, Ezrah Brown of Orange Lutheran and Marcus Washington of Cajon have already made positive impressions this summer.

Orange Lutheran quarterback Makena Cook throws a pass.

(Steve Galluzzo For The Times)

In girls flag football, Makena Cook of Orange Lutheran, injured during the girls’ soccer season, is expected back this fall to lead the defending Southern Section champion Lancers. Here’s the report.

San Pedro is up to nearly 30 players going out for flag football. The Pirates have lost in the City Open Division finals the last two seasons. King/Drew is joining the Pirates in the Marine League this season.

Summer competition

It’s my favorite week of the summer, because Edison’s Battle at the Beach seven on seven passing tournament is set for Saturday. The 9 a.m. games are some of the best matchups, with Cathedral vs. St. John Bosco and Edison vs. Santa Margarita.

St. John Bosco, Mission Viejo, Santa Margarita, Servite, Los Alamitos, Palos Verdes, Long Beach Poly and L.A. Cathedral are among the schools scheduled to participate. Mission Viejo gets the favorite nod, having beaten Mater Dei in its own tournament on June 28. Action starts at 9 a.m. and ends by early afternoon. Bring a lawn chair, then sit back and enjoy lots of outstanding skill-position players.

Ocean View is hosting its own tournament on Saturday.

The transfer portal continues nonstop. Matt Smith, who took over starting quarterback duties during last season’s playoffs as a sophomore, has left Loyola for Villa Park. Two other Loyola players have also left, defensive back Brandon Lockhart to Sierra Canyon and running back Sean Morris to Orange Lutheran. The Cubs have lost at least eight players since January.

Richard Dunn, a linebacker and running back who was All-City selection as a freshman at Hamilton, has transferred to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Jordan Spigarelli, a 6-foot-3 junior quarterback, has left JSerra for Newport Harbor. Here’s the transfer tracker.

New stadiums

Garfield’s new all-weather football field will be ready for games this fall.

(Garfield HS)

Rivals Garfield and Roosevelt will unveil new football fields and stadiums this fall. Construction could be finished by the end of this month.

Here’s a report.

City Section pride

Andrew Williams of Fremont is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior who committed to USC.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Unsung defensive end Andrew Williams of Fremont should serve as inspiration for City Section players this season after committing to USC last February. It’s a story that gives others hope.

Here’s the report.

Basketball

The Section 7 tournament in Arizona revealed lots of top boys basketball teams for the coming season.

Among the teams winning bracket championships were Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Crespi, Crean Lutheran, Sierra Canyon and Orange Lutheran. Among the new stars emerging were junior Davy Harris of Windward and junior NaVorro Bowman of Notre Dame. Bowman received a scholarship offer from UCLA.

Brentwood’s girls’ team made a positive impressive at the CaliLive competition.

Guards were standouts in the CaliLive boys competition. Jason Crowe Jr. (Inglewood), Luke Barnett (Mater Dei), Joe Sterling (Harvard-Westlake), Kaiden Bailey (Santa Margarita) all indicated they are ready for big senior seasons. Notre Dame or St. John Bosco will be the the No. 1 team to start the season.

Transfers have moved into Crespi, JSerra, Campbell Hall, Sierra Canyon, La Mirada and St. John Bosco, adding to already talented teams. But plenty more transfers are expected before school begins next month.

Cleveland has added St. Bonaventure’s Charlie Adams, who was a star freshman last season.

MLB draft

Corona High’s Seth Hernandez circles the bases after hitting a two-run home run.

(Jerry Soifer)

The MLB amateur draft begins Sunday in Atlanta, and it should be a good draft for Southern California products.

Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez and Corona shortstop Billy Carlson are both likely first-round picks, if not top 10 picks. Hernandez was the Gatorade national player of the year and is a two-time player of the year by The Times.

Great Oak infielder Gavin Fien is another likely first-round selection. Shortstop Quentin Young of Oaks Christian is another potential first-round pick. Pitcher Angel Cervantes of Warren, a UCLA commit, is expected to be taken in the first three rounds and sign.

Here’s a look at ESPN writer predictions.

Here’s an MLB mock draft.

Also, for the first time, two Harvard-Westlake grads have earned spots in the MLB All-Star Game. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs and Max Fried of the New York Yankees can wear their old Wolverine caps.

Volleyball

The Manhattan Beach volleyball club team, MB Surf.

(Olivia Duval)

Good things happen when volleyball players from Loyola and Mira Costa join together. The MB Surf club team won the 18 Open division championship at the AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships in Florida. It’s owned by Loyola coach Mike Boehle. His sons, Parker and Davis, coached the team.

The MVP was Mira Costa’s Andrew Chapin. All-tournament picks included Grayson Bradford from Mira Costa and Blake Falbusch from Loyola. MB Surf also won the 12 Open division title, so watch for future Loyola and Mira Costa players.

Kendall Omoruyi, the top-ranked girls’ volleyball player from the class of 2027, has enrolled at Sierra Canyon. She’s a Nebraska commit who attended Casteel High near Phoenix.

Notes . . .

Jackson Eisenhower, the pitcher of the year in the Mission League from Crespi, has committed to Colorado Mesa. . . .

Megan Hall has become an athletic director at Harvard-Westlake. She previously was at Notre Dame Academy. . . .

Defensive end Richard Wesley of Sierra Canyon, previously committed to Oregon after a fancy social media video of taking a swim with Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, has committed to Texas. . . .

Huntington Beach receiver Troy Foster has committed to Colorado State. . . .

Crespi defensive lineman James Moffat has committed to Princeton. . . .

Cathedral receiver Jalen Ross has committed to Idaho State. . . .

Corona Centennial offensive lineman Jakob Mckindley has committed to Northern Arizona. . . .

Servite tight end Luke Sorensen has committed to Nebraska. . . .

Mission Viejo defensive back Jeron Jones has committed to Washington. . . .

Khary Wilder, the standout defensive lineman from Gardena Serra, has committed to Ohio State. . . .

Offensive lineman Mateo Bilaver of Chaminade has committed to UNLV. . . .

Kyle Sanders, a 6-10 sophomore at St. Bernard, has transferred to Campbell Hall. . . .

Trinity League boys basketball has decided to hold a post-regular season tournament and will play each league team once during the regular season. . . .

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has completed a project adding new bleachers to its gymnasium. . . .

AJ Garcia, the former football coach at Ayala, is the new athletic director at Chino. . . .

Former Bishop Montgomery and UCLA guard David Singleton is the new assistant coach at UCLA. . . .

Joe Hoggatt, the baseball coach and athletic director at Bishop Amat, is leaving to become an assistant commissioner with the Southern Section. . . .

The City Section is up to 85 schools planning to have flag football teams this fall. . . .

Jesse Mercado is the new boys basketball at Villa Park. . . .

Here’s the All-CIF softball team. . . .

Senior Kai Staniland of Ventura has committed to Point Loma Nazarene for women’s basketball. . . .

The South Bay will be the site for the LA Throws Cup on Friday. . . .

A new skatepark has opened in San Juan Capistrano. . . .

From the archives: Nico Young

Nico Young representing Newbury Park in 2019.

(Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)

Nico Young was the premier distance runner in Southern California running for Newbury Park, and now he’s one of the best in the world. He set an American record in the 5,000 meters on June 12, running 12:45.27.

Here’s a story from 2019 on his climb through the high school record books.

Here’s an interview from 2020 with Young discussing the future after the pandemic ended his season.

Recommendations

From The562.org, a story on Long Beach Poly’s campus beginning a six-year, $450 million upgrade.

From ESPN.com, a story on the rise of former Harvard-Westlake outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Chatsworth guard Alijah Arenas discussing his accident.

From ESPN.com, a story on the rise of former Thousand Oaks shortstop Jacob Wilson, who made the All-Star Game.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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What would a baseball team in Los Angeles want from a retired artist and designer in New York?

Janet Bennett wasn’t sure.

Generations of Angelenos are familiar with her signature project. You probably have walked right past it. Those colorful tile mosaics that decorate the long corridors toward baggage claim in five terminals at Los Angeles International Airport? She designed them.

You might have seen them in the movies or on television: “Airplane!,” “Mad Men” and “The Graduate,” just for starters.

You might have memorized the trivia: When you passed the red tiles, you were halfway down the corridor. “Red means halfway” was shorthand for locals in the know, just like “E Ticket” or “the #19 sandwich.”

“It just says L.A. in so many ways,” said Janet Marie Smith, the Dodgers’ executive vice president of planning and development.

For the clubhouse walkway, Dodgers executive vice president of planning and development Janet Marie Smith and architect Brenda Levin opted for multiple shades of blue tiles.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers wanted to get in touch with Bennett because they were about to install a similar tile wall at Dodger Stadium. Smith could not find Bennett, but she reached out to someone who had liked an article about Bennett that had been posted on LinkedIn. Same last name, same spelling. Smith crossed her fingers.

Turned out to be a relative of Bennett. The Dodgers sent some sketches of their project and asked Bennett for her thoughts.

“I was a little disappointed I didn’t work the project,” Bennett said over the telephone, chuckling, “but I don’t think I could have done it at this stage.”

“Once we got tile in our head, how could you not think of the LAX walls?” said Janet Marie Smith, the Dodgers’ executive vice president of planning and development.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Bennett is 96, happily living one block from Central Park. The LAX project was completed in 1961 — the year before Dodger Stadium opened.

What the Dodgers really were offering was the recognition denied to Bennett six decades ago.

“I realized they just wanted my blessing,” Bennett said. “They wanted the connection. And that was very satisfying.”

And, yes, she had some thoughts for the Dodgers. She wrote them a letter by hand, the old-fashioned way. The letter got lost in the old-fashioned mail, but Bennett’s daughter had thought to take a picture of the letter, and she sent it to the Dodgers via email.

Bennett’s advice for the colors of the tiles?

“Don’t limit it,” she wrote, “to the Dodger blue.”

On game days, Dodgers players take an elevator to the lowest level of Dodger Stadium. As they exit, they look to their right to see the Dodgers’ World Series championship trophies and most valuable player awards, to their left to see the Gold Glove awards.

When they turn toward the clubhouse, they see Cy Young and Silver Slugger and manager of the year awards on the right, rookie of the year awards and then the Dodgers’ retired numbers on the left.

“It’s meant to be uplifting and motivating, and a reminder to everyone — our players included, who take that path — of what a storied franchise this is,” Smith said.

The fans in the fanciest seats, the ones you see on television right behind home plate, can take that path too — but only until they reach the double doors, the ones with “DODGERS CLUBHOUSE” painted above them.

Pass through those doors, and you used to see a gray wall decorated with signage pulled from storage — signs from events held at Dodger Stadium long ago, and others commemorating milestone seasons. As part of the clubhouse renovations last winter, Smith and her team imagined how to freshen up that walkway.

“We wanted to try to get it out of its funk of just being a concrete wall,” she said. “And, once we got tile in our head, how could you not think of the LAX walls?”

Tile mosaic wall designs line departure halls in various LAX terminals.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers’ clubhouse features a tile wall “in the hydrotherapy area,” Smith said. The tiles there are all Dodger blue.

For the clubhouse walkway, Smith and architect Brenda Levin opted for multiple shades of blue tiles, interspersed with white tiles — a decision reinforced when they received Bennett’s suggestion to go beyond Dodger blue. The wall includes more than 714,000 individual tiles, Smith said.

“I think they did an excellent job,” Bennett said. “They got the rhythm of vertical stripes, which has a very athletic look.”

To Smith, a fierce advocate of sports venues reflecting their host cities, the tile wall reflects home.

“In many ways, that is a symbol: not just of L.A., but of ‘Welcome to L.A.’ ” she said. “That felt right to us.

“It’s not screaming at you. But, if you know, you know. We’ve always wanted that area to feel like a ‘Welcome to L.A.’ to our players.”

If you know, you know, but the players may not know. Dave Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager, said he did not know the story behind the wall until Smith explained it to him.

“It’s a great little touch,” Roberts said.

Smith said players and team executives have asked about the wall. Many of them did not know about the LAX walls, but she understood why.

“They don’t fly commercial,” she said.

If you merit an obituary in the newspaper, the first sentence generally includes your claim to fame. In 2007, The Times published an obituary with this first sentence: “Charles D. Kratka, an interior designer and graphic artist whose Modernist projects included the mosaic walls in tunnels at Los Angeles International Airport, has died.”

Said Bennett: “I just about freaked out.”

After Bennett had finished the LAX mosaics, she left town. By the time the airport unveiled them, she said, she was in Latin America. Until she saw that Times obituary, it had not occurred to her that anyone else might have gotten the credit for the LAX project.

In the obituary, the airport historian credited Kratka with the design, and so did the director of volunteers at the airport museum. In 2017, so did an official LAX document: “Completed in 1961, Charles Kratka’s mosaic murals have become iconic symbols of Los Angeles International Airport.”

At the start of the Jet Age, when airplane travel was a glamorous affair and even passengers in the cheaper seats enjoyed in-flight meals served with silverware, Bennett said the murals were designed to evoke the wonder of a cross-country trip: blue for the ocean at each end of the corridor, and in between green for the forests, and yellows, oranges and browns for farmland, prairies and deserts.

Tile mosaic wall designs line departure halls in various LAX terminals.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Bennett freely admits that Kratka was involved in the project. The city hired Pereira and Luckman as architects for the LAX expansion, and Kratka was the firm’s head of interior design.

“He was my boss,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the mosaic design was hers, although she said she did not recall whether she had chosen to use glass for the tiles.

“Everything from that point on was mine,” she said.

Bennett and her family have pushed for LAX to recognize her as the designer. Airport officials acknowledge Bennett’s participation in the project but, amid a search for records from six decades ago and without Kratka to provide his version of events, they believe a conclusive determination would be difficult. And, back in the day, credit was more commonly attributed to a firm rather than to an individual designer.

When I asked for a statement saying whom LAX currently credits with the design, an airport spokeswoman said, “LAX has no official comment.”

In 2017, Design Observer investigated and ultimately supported Bennett’s claims, citing two primary findings: one, an acclaimed designer of the same era “vividly recalls Bennett doing the murals,” and, two, Bennett installed similar tile murals for two Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations in San Francisco.

That was good enough for Smith and the Dodgers.

At LAX, there is no sign crediting anyone — not Bennett, not Kratka, not Pereira and Luckman, not anyone else — for the murals. However, the Dodgers have given Bennett her due at Dodger Stadium, on a sign directly across from their tile wall.

“This mosaic wall draws inspiration from architect Janet Bennett’s iconic mosaic murals at Los Angeles International Airport,” the text begins, “that transformed a transit space into a work of art.”

From Kevin Baxter: When the Dodgers left Los Angeles for their final road trip before the All-Star break last summer, they had a 55-36 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West.

That team went on to win the World Series.

When this year’s Dodgers land in Milwaukee on Sunday night to begin the last road trip before the All-Star break, their record will be a game better and their division lead about the same, pending the results of San Diego’s game Sunday night.

But if you take a good look under the hood, there are obvious — and worrying — differences between this year and last year.

In 2024, the Dodgers had one of the best records in baseball against teams with a winning record. After Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros, this year’s team is just a game over .500 — 20-19 — against teams over .500. Those are the only kind of teams the Dodgers will face in the playoffs.

And it’s not just that they lose, it’s how they lose that’s troubling.

Continue reading here

Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto named to all-star game roster

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Bo Bichette homered and scored the deciding run to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to their season-high eighth straight victory, 3-2 over the Angels on Sunday.

The American League East-leading Blue Jays improved to 52-38, sweeping a homestand of seven of more games for the first time since 1994 and second in franchise history.

Toronto drew even on with Bichette’s leadoff homer in the fourth inning. His 12th homer came after his error in the top of the inning loaded the bases for the Angels. Davis Schneider drove in Bichette in the sixth inning with a single down the left-field line.

Mike Trout homered for the Angels with two out in the first.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

GOLD CUP

Edson Álvarez scored a tiebreaking goal in the 77th minute after a video review reversed an offside call, and Mexico beat the United States 2-1 on Sunday night for its record 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup title.

Chris Richards put the U.S. ahead in the fourth minute, heading in a Sebastian Berhalter free kick for the second time in the tournament, but Raúl Jiménez tied the score in the 27th with his third goal of this Gold Cup.

Mexico was awarded the free kick when Diego Luna fouled Alexis Vega on a flank. Johan Vásquez flicked the restart across the goal mouth and Álvarez burst past the defense, redirecting the ball from three yards just inside Matt Freese’s far post. While the play was initially called offside, the goal was awarded by the VAR, and Mexico defended its title from 2023 while improving to 6-2 in Gold Cup finals against the U.S.

Continue reading here

U.S.-Mexico summary

REMEMBERING ROLANDO GONZALEZ

From Jad El Reda: The Los Angeles sports world mourned the loss of one of its most beloved voices, Rolando “El Veloz” González, the longtime Galaxy broadcaster and a pioneer of Spanish-language sports radio, who died June 25.

His legacy transcends generations on the microphone.

González’s career began almost accidentally. Although his dream was to play soccer, life had other plans for him and turned him into a storyteller.

“One day on March 6, 1962, I was playing soccer in the local league and the radio play-by-play broadcaster who was assigned that game of my team Escuintla against Universidad, Dr. Otorrino Ríos Paredes, had a car accident,” González recalled in 2017. “The owner of the station ran to tell me, ‘[get dressed, get dressed]’ and I replied, ‘Who are you to tell me to get dressed? Let the trainer tell me.’ He said, ‘I need you because they told me that you narrate soccer.’ I replied that I do that there among the guys.”

He later moved to Los Angeles, where former Dodgers announcer Jaime Jarrín gave him his big break during the 1984 Olympics.

Continue reading here

LAKERS

From Micheel Alharazy: Bronny James made his 2025 summer league debut, scoring 10 points in 10 minutes during the Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat in the California Classic at the Chase Center on Sunday.

The Lakers led for most of the game, rolling to a 103-83 victory.

The Heat went on a 10-0 run to start the third quarter, but the Lakers responded with strong perimeter shooting to maintain a double-digit lead.

Cole Swider was the Lakers’ leading scorer for the second consecutive game, finishing with 20 points against the Heat. Swider shot seven of 10 from the field, including two of five from three-point range.

Continue reading here

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1911 — Dorothea Lambert Chambers sets the record for the shortest championship match at Wimbledon — 25 minutes — by disposing of Dora Boothby 6-0, 6-0 in the women’s finals.

1912 — American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics, medal stripped 1913 (played pro baseball), reinstated 1982.

1934 — Elizabeth Ryan teams with Simone Mathiau and wins her record 12th women’s doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating Dorothy Andrus and Sylvia Henrotin 6-3, 6-3.

1953 — Walter Burkemo beats Felice Torza to win the PGA Championship at Birmingham (Mich.) Country Club.

1973 — In the first all-U.S. women’s Wimbledon final, Billie Jean King beats Chris Evert, 6-0, 7-5.

1974 — In Munich, West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win soccer’s World Cup.

1978 — NBA approves franchise swap; Buffalo Braves owner John Y. Brown and Harry Mangurian acquire Boston Celtics, while the Celtics owner Irv Levin gets Braves, later moved to San Diego to become the Clippers.

1980 — Larry Holmes retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round TKO of Scott LeDoux in Bloomington, Minn.

1982 — Steve Scott of the Sub 4 Club sets a United States record in the mile with a time of 3:47.69 in a track meet at Oslo, Norway.

1985 — West Germany’s Boris Becker, 17, becomes the youngest champion and first unseeded player in the history of the men’s singles at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Kevin Curren.

1986 — American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets world heptathlon record of 7,148 points in the inaugural Goodwill Games at Moscow.

1990 — Martina Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon women’s singles championship, beating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1, to break the record she shared with Helen Wills Moody.

1991 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to capture her third Wimbledon women’s title.

1992 — South Africa beats Cameroon 1-0 in Durban in first FIFA sanctioned match after nearly 20 years of international isolation because of apartheid.

1993 — Tom Burgess tosses three touchdown passes, and Wayne Walker scores twice as Ottawa spoils the debut of the CFL’s first American-based team by beating Sacramento 32-23.

2002 — Juli Inkster matches the lowest final-round score by an Open champion with a 4-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Annika Sorenstam in the U.S. Women’s Open. It’s her seventh major.

2007 — Venus Williams claims her fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli.

2007 — Wladimir Klitschko beats Raymond Brewster with a technical knockout after six rounds, to successfully defend his IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in Cologne, Germany.

2012 — Serena Williams dominates from start to finish, beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to win a fifth championship at the All England Club and 14th major title overall.

2013 — Andy Murray becomes the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final. The last British man to win the Wimbledon title before was Fred Perry in 1936.

2018 — Kristi Toliver scores 18 points to help the Washington Mystics beat the Sparks 83-74 for coach Mike Thibault’s 300th career regular-season win. Thibault becomes the first WNBA coach to reach that milestone.

2019 — U.S. Women’s National Team win their record 4th FIFA Women’s World Cup title with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands.

2021 — The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup and third overall. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is named Finals MVP.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1923 — Lefty O’Doul, pitching for the Boston Red Sox, allowed 13 runs in the sixth inning to the Cleveland Indians, who won 27-3. In 1928, he was to return to the majors as a great hitting outfielder.

1936 — The NL won its first All-Star game 4-3 at Braves Field in Boston.

1937 — Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double to pace the AL to an 8-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game at Washington’s Griffith Stadium. In attendance was President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1959 — At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, the first of two All-Star games played that season went to the NL, 5-4. The NL scored the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth when Hank Aaron singled in a run and scored on a triple by Willie Mays.

1964 — The NL beat the AL 7-4 in the All-Star game on Johnny Callison’s two-out, three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the bottom of the ninth inning at New York’s Shea Stadium. The win pulled the NL even with its rivals (17-17-1) for the first time since the series began.

1998 — Coors Field lived up to its billing as a hitter’s haven as the American League beat the Nationals 13-8 at Coors Field in the highest-scoring All-Star game in major league history. The 21 runs broke the record set in the AL’s 11-9 win in 1954.

2006 — Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner became the first player in major league history to hit five grand slams before the All-Star break when he connected in the second inning of a 9-0 win over Baltimore. He finished the season with six.

2009 — Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado’s 5-4 victory over Washington without throwing a pitch. He entered with two out in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. It was the first time a major leaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003.

2011 — Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run shot and Boston added three consecutive home runs in the seventh in a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Six Boston players homered, including three straight by David Ortiz, Josh Reddick and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

2011 — A Texas Rangers fan died after falling about 20 feet onto concrete reaching out for a baseball tossed his way by All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton during a game. Shannon Stone, 39, was at the game with his young son, who watched as his dad tumbled over the outfield railing after catching the ball. The accident happened in the second inning after Oakland’s Conor Jackson hit a foul ball. Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the stands as players routinely do.

2016 — Colorado’s Trevor Story tied an NL rookie record for most home runs before the All-Star break, homering twice and boosting his total to 21 as the Rockies beat Philadelphia 11-2.

2018 — Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 18-4. Reynolds (5 for 5) tied his career high for hits and equaled the Nationals’ RBI record.

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.

When the Dodgers left Los Angeles for their final road trip before the All-Star break last summer, they had a 55-36 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West.

That team went on to win the World Series.

When this year’s Dodgers land in Milwaukee on Sunday night to begin the last road trip before the All-Star break, their record will be a game better and their division lead about the same, pending the results of San Diego’s game Sunday night.

But if you take a good look under the hood, there are obvious — and worrying — differences between this year and last year.

Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim strikes out in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

In 2024, the Dodgers had one of the best records in baseball against teams with a winning record. After Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros, this year’s team is just a game over .500 — 20-19 — against teams over .500. Those are the only kind of teams the Dodgers will face in the playoffs.

And it’s not just that they lose, it’s how they lose that’s troubling.

In losing three in a row for the first time since mid-May, the Dodgers were outscored 29-6 by the Astros. The sweep was Houston’s first in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium since 2008, when the team played in the National League.

Manager Dave Roberts, however, pronounced himself unconcerned.

“I know we’re a good team,” he said. “The point is to win as many games in the regular season as possible. I really don’t care who we beat, I just want to win more games than anyone.

“So right now, or even going forward, I don’t pay too much attention to that.”

Look a little deeper, though, and there are other concerns. The Dodgers’ injured list, already as crowded as a Beyoncé concert — it swelled to 12 players with Max Muncy’s addition Thursday — could get even larger this week depending on the health of outfielder Teoscar Hernández and utility player Tommy Edman.

Teoscar Hernández, who fouled a ball off his left foot Saturday, spent 13 days on the IL with a groin problem in May and has been troubled by that injury and a nagging hip-flexor issue that could be behind a slump that has seen him hit .188/.240/.321 over his last 30 games. Edman didn’t play Sunday after a ball off the small toe on his right foot over the weekend. Both players had MRI scans Sunday with Edman’s showing a fracture of the toe.

Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is called out by umpire Paul Clemons during the eighth inning of a loss to the Astros at Dodger Stadium Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Kiké Hernández has been battling a sore left elbow that affects his swing for about a month. He may have to be shut down to let it heal.

“There is talk about one of those guys potentially going on the IL,” Roberts said. “I don’t see it being Tommy but we’re still kind of trying to figure that out. And then who would we bring [up]?”

With those three unavailable, the only player Roberts had on the bench Sunday was catcher Will Smith. And with the rotation still missing four starters to injury, he gave the ball to right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who had thrown just four big-innings all season.

That left manager Dave Roberts with a short bench. And with the rotation still missing four starters to injury, he gave the ball to right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who had thrown just four big-league innings all season.

Sheehan went one better Sunday, yielding just a run on five hits over five innings. But his teammates did little against Houston starter Ryan Gusto (6-3), who gave up four hits — including a run-scoring double to Dalton Rushing — over a season-high six innings.

Will Klein came on in favor of Sheehan to start the sixth and after two quick outs, the Astros loaded the bases on a double, a hit batter and an infield single. Klein (1-1) then walked Zack Short on a 3-2 pitch to force in the go-ahead run.

The Astros padded their lead with back-to-back homers from Christian Walker and Yainer Díaz to start the seventh off reliever Tanner Scott.

Jose Altuve closed the scoring with another solo homer off Anthony Banda in the ninth.

Clayton Kershaw was named to his 11^th All-Star Game on Sunday by Commissioner Rob Manfred, who used his “Legend Pick” to select the Dodgers’ left-hander. Kershaw (4-0) is one of just 20 pitchers in baseball history to strike out 3,000 batters.

He’ll be joined on the N.L. team by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who leads the Dodgers in wins (8), strikeouts (109), innings (96 2/3) and ERA (2.51). First baseman Freddie Freeman, catcher Will Smith and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani were chosen as NL starters last week. The All-Star Game will be played July 15 in Atlanta.

Injury update

The Dodgers’ injury-battered pitching staff could soon be getting healthier. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow threw a bullpen Sunday in preparation for what Roberts will be a return to the rotation during the Dodgers’ six-game roadtrip. Glasnow has been out sine April 28 with shoulder discomfort. He had a 4.50 ERA in five starts before going on the IL.

Left-hander Blake Snell and reliever Blake Treinen are both scheduled to make minor-league rehab assignments this week in advance for their return to the roster. Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, as been sidelined since April 2 with a shoulder injury, is expected to pitch for Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Treinen, who last pitched in mid-April, is expected to make a one-inning outing with Triple A Oklahoma City. He is recovering from a right forearm strain.

The Dodgers’ starting pitcher had no problems on Saturday afternoon.

It was the bulk guy who followed him who ran into issues.

In a 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium, Shohei Ohtani showed more encouraging signs as a pitcher, throwing two scoreless innings that included a double play in the first and a strikeout of the side in the second.

But, in a reminder of the still-tenuous pitching depth the Dodgers have relied on for much of this first half, long man Justin Wrobleski came back down to earth in a five-run, 4 ⅔-inning outing thereafter, sending the team to a defeat that clinched a series loss to the Astros.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is tagged out by Houston Astros third base Isaac Paredes while trying to stretch a double into a triple at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

In the big picture, this weekend has offered hope for the Dodgers’ long-term pitching plans.

On Friday, manager Dave Roberts said injured $136.5-million right-hander Tyler Glasnow is on track to return from his shoulder problem during next week’s road trip.

Before Saturday’s game, injured $182-million left-hander Blake Snell threw his second live batting practice of the week, striking out four of the eight hitters he faced in what is expected to be his final simulated session before going on a minor-league rehab assignment. Both he and injured reliever Blake Treinen, who also threw an inning of live batting practice Saturday, are lined up to be activated from the IL “at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break,” per Roberts.

Then there was Ohtani, who despite once again being limited to a short workload in his fourth pitching start of the season, was also once again dominant in a 31-pitch display.

After Isaac Paredes singled to lead off the game, Ohtani broke Cam Smith’s bat on a 96-mph fastball for a double-play grounder to second. In the second inning, Ohtani fanned Christian Walker with a slider, then Victor Caratini and Yainer Díaz on a pair of big-breaking sweepers — all while also touching 101 mph on the radar gun.

In his six total innings this year, Ohtani has given up just one run, one walk and four hits while striking out six batters on what was his 31st birthday.

And though it remains unclear exactly when he’ll be fully stretched out — or exactly how built up he will eventually get this year, coming off a second career Tommy John surgery — the Dodgers are inching steadily closer to having the rotation they envisioned this year: One with Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow joining likely All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a star-studded quartet the club has spent lavishly the last two offseasons to build.

“We can see a little squint of light,” Roberts said. “It’s taken a little longer than we’ve all expected or hoped for, as far as getting our guys together. So we haven’t gotten there yet. But we’re hopeful and excited.”

In the short term, however, the Astros have put a dent in the optimism the club had clung to among its stable of young pitching depth.

After Ben Casparius was knocked around in a historic blowout on Friday night, Wrobleski suffered a similar fate against Houston’s surging lineup. Upon entering the game at the start of the third, he quickly blew an early 2-0 Dodgers lead, giving up a leadoff single to Cooper Hummel and back-to-back two-strike doubles to Mauricio Dubón (who fouled off fastball after fastball before whacking a full-count heater the other way) and Zack Short (who got three-straight off-speed pitches, pulling the last one down the third-base line to score two runs).

Miguel Rojas, tapped to play third base Saturday in place of the recently injured Max Muncy, made matters worse by misfiring on a tough throw to first on a soft ground ball from Smith with one out, allowing a run to score. Then Walker, an unlikely Dodgers killer over his career, lined a two-out single to right to make it a four-run inning and a 4-2 Astros lead.

Wrobleski did eventually settle down, but not before Díaz homered at the start of the third to put the Astros up there.

That deficit proved insurmountable for the Dodgers. They made it 5-4 when Rojas homered in the fourth (he also had an RBI single in the second inning, and drew a walk in the fifth) but stranded a string of opportunities down the stretch, finishing the day one-for-five with runners in scoring position and with nine men left on base.

The Dodgers are counting on Max Muncy to be ready to produce in October.

As they should.

Muncy is expected to be sidelined for six weeks with a bone bruise in his left knee but that won’t push them into the market for another third baseman between now and the July 31 trade deadline.

“I don’t think that changes much, knowing the certainty of Max coming back at some point,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The faith in Muncy is justified by his track record, the former All-Star missing three months last year but setting an all-time playoff record by reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances on the team’s World Series run.

This doesn’t mean the Dodgers shouldn’t be looking to strike a major deal over the next three-plus weeks.

They still have to address their greatest obstacle to become their sport’s repeat champions in 25 years. They still have to address their starting pitching.

Every sign points to the Dodgers taking a passive approach in dealing with the issue, as they continue to point to the anticipated returns of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell.

Glasnow pitched 4 ⅓ innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday and Roberts said he expected the 6-foot-8 right-hander to rejoin the rotation on the Dodgers’ upcoming trip to Milwaukee and San Francisco.

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow throws in the outfield before a game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 4.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Snell pitched to hitters in live batting practice on Wednesday and is scheduled to do so again on Saturday. The left-hander could be on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment by next week.

Glasnow and Snell are former All-Stars, but how much can the Dodgers rely on them?

Unironically nicknamed “Glass,” Glasnow hasn’t pitched since April. The $136.5-million man has never pitched more than the 134 innings he pitched last year, and even then, he wasn’t unavailable for the playoffs.

Snell made just 20 starts last year with the San Francisco Giants but was signed by the Dodgers to a five-year, $182-million contract over the winter. He made only two starts for them before he was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.

Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell throws the ball against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on April 2.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Ideally, the Dodgers’ postseason rotation would consist of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. There’s no guarantee that will materialize, considering that Yamamoto and Ohtani have their own complicated medical histories.

Yamamoto pitched heroically in the playoffs last year but only after missing three months in the regular season. Ohtani returned from his second elbow reconstruction last month but has been used as an opener so far. Ohtani is expected to pitch two innings on Saturday against the Houston Astros, and the team doesn’t envision using him for more than four or five innings at a time in the playoffs.

Every pitcher is an injury risk, and the Dodgers know that. But just because they won the World Series last year with three starting pitchers — they resorted to bullpen games when Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler couldn’t pitch — doesn’t mean they can lean as heavily on their relievers and expect the same results. The approach has resulted in more postseason disappointments than championships, so much so that when Ohtani was being recruited by the Dodgers before last season, Mark Walter told him he considered his previous 12 years of ownership to be a failure.

Ohtani will celebrate his 31st birthday on Saturday. He might not be showing his age yet, but Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts have. Freeman will be 36 in September and Betts 33 in October. The window in which the Dodgers have three MVP-caliber players in the lineup is closing, which should inspire a sense of urgency.

The front office’s reluctance to shop in a seller’s market is understandable, considering the most attractive possibilities are by no means sure things. Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves is on the 60-day injured list with a fractured rib. Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins has been up and down in his return from Tommy John surgery. Then again, the Dodgers made a smart buy in Flaherty last year and the gamble resulted in a World Series.

At this point, it’s up to Glasnow and Snell to perform well enough to convince the Dodgers they don’t need any more pitching. Until Glasnow and Snell do that, the team should operate as if it has to do something.

They are two longtime Dodger villains, hated for two vastly different reasons.

As the last remaining position player from the Houston Astros’ trash-can-banging, and (in the eyes of most Dodgers fans) World Series-stealing 2017 championship team, Jose Altuve always receives a rude welcome from the fans at Chavez Ravine.

As one of the most productive visiting players in Dodger Stadium history, Christian Walker often shuts them up.

In the Houston Astros’ 18-1 Independence Day rout on Friday, both added another tortured chapter to the Dodgers’ history against the team. Altuve went three for three with a double, two home runs, two walks and five RBIs. Walker went four for five with one long ball and four RBIs.

The Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve celebrates with Christian Walker after hitting a two-run homer against Dodgers in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday.

(Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)

On a day starting pitcher Ben Casparius once again struggled (giving up six runs in three innings), reliever Noah Davis gave up 10 runs in the sixth inning alone (the most the Dodgers had surrendered in one inning since 1999), and most of a sold-out crowd stuck around for every painful minute (waiting in somber silence for a postgame fireworks show), that was plenty to lift the surging Astros to most lopsided defeat the Dodgers have ever suffered at Dodger Stadium.

Six weeks ago, the retooled Astros were one game above .500 and 3 ½ games out of first place in the American League West; seemingly missing the other 2017 stars who have departed the franchise since their sign-stealing scandal came to light five years ago.

But now, they have won 27 of their last 37, own the second-best record in the AL, and are suddenly looking like unlikely title contenders; even after turning over almost the entirety of the roster from that infamous 2017 season.

“Certainly, there’s been some history with our organizations,” manager Dave Roberts said pregame when asked if any lingering feelings remained from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. “But if you look at it in reality, most of those guys are gone. So it certainly doesn’t have any bearing on this series this weekend.”

Instead, in their most lopsided loss of the season, the Dodgers had bigger concerns to worry about Friday, with Altuve and Walker at the top of the list.

Altuve received his typical reception from the Dodgers faithful, serenaded with booming boos and loud chants of “cheater” during each of his at-bats. However, he followed Isaac Paredes’ leadoff homer in the first with a double off the wall. He took Casparius deep for a two-run home run on a curveball in the third. He added an exclamation point with a three-run homer in the Astros’ 10-run sixth — the most runs the Dodgers (56-33) had allowed in one inning since Fernando Tatis’ historic two-grand-slam inning in April 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Walker was every bit as dangerous.

A 34-year-old slugger who dominated the Dodgers (and, most confoundingly, Clayton Kershaw in particular) during an eight-year career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Walker was already emerging from an early-season slump in his first year with the Astros (53-35) entering this weekend’s series.

Then, back in the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, he orchestrated a monster performance of his own from the five-spot of the Houston order.

In his first at-bat, Walker plated Altuve with a single the other way. Then, two batters after Altuve’s big fly in the third, Casparius left a fastball down the middle that Walker whacked for his 28th career home run against the Dodgers — and 20th at Dodger Stadium.

Only nine other players have hit that many home runs as visitors at the ballpark during their careers, a list that includes Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell, as well as Barry Bonds.

Walker also made a contribution in the sixth-inning onslaught.

After Davis gave up one run on two singles and two walks, the recently called-up right-hander plunked Walker with the bases loaded to force in another score, losing his grip on an 0-and-2 sweeper that left him visibly rattled on the mound.

Sensing Davis’ frustration, Roberts came to the bump for a motivational pep talk; eliciting memories of the mid-game hug he delivered to journeyman reliever Yohan Ramirez last season in Cincinnati.

This time, however, the mound visit had little effect. In the next at-bat, Davis threw a hanging sweeper that Victor Caratini belted for a grand slam. What was already a laugher became a full-fledged Fourth of July disaster.

When Max Muncy first went down on Wednesday night, clutching his left knee and writhing in pain after a collision with Chicago White Sox baserunner Michael A. Taylor on a steal attempt at third base, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes couldn’t help but let his mind go to a dark place.

“Obviously, [there were] a lot of emotions,” Gomes said. “From a coping mechanism in my head, it was like, ‘OK, he’s done for the year. We’re gonna have to figure out what the next path is. We have to be prepared for whatever is coming.’”

What came the next day, however, was unexpectedly good news.

Despite having his knee bent awkwardly, gruesomely inward, Muncy escaped with only a bone bruise. There were no ligament tears. No structural damage. No season-ending catastrophe.

Dodger Max Muncy grimaces as he holds his left knee after colliding with White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“We’ve had a lot more [injury situations] where we’ve gone in optimistic and then come out the other side not as optimistic,” Gomes said. “So it was nice to have that turned on its head and know that, ‘Hey, he’s gonna be out there.’”

On Thursday, Muncy said he is expected to miss roughly six weeks. But even that timeline would give him a month-plus before the playoffs to try and rediscover the swing that made him one of the hottest hitters in baseball the past two months.

And because Muncy’s injury was to the lower half of his body, manager Dave Roberts noted, the hope is that “it’s not something that should affect the swing” when he does return.

“With the time we have, there’s nothing pressing as far as needing to rush him back,” Roberts said. “I think we’re in a good spot.”

That’s why, as of Friday, Gomes had shelved those contingency plans that were running through his mind 48 hours earlier. His front office wasn’t urgently scouring the trade market looking for an instant replacement.

Instead, Gomes and Roberts insisted the Dodgers’ trade deadline plans are unlikely to be altered in the wake of Muncy’s injury — with the team content to rely on internal options now, while awaiting Muncy’s return later this year.

“Knowing the certainty of Max coming back at some point,” Roberts said, “I don’t think that will really impact our thinking going into the deadline.”

“Even if [his recovery] is way slow,” Gomes added, “you have a full month of baseball before we hit the playoffs. So we’re giving him that time to get back into a good place and try to set a good foundation, like we try to do with all of our guys, to be prepared for that stretch run.”

Fans cheer after Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy hit a three-run homer against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium on June 22.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)

Trade speculation surrounding the Dodgers’ third base position is nothing new.

Earlier this year, when Muncy was struggling mightily through the opening month of the year, there were growing calls from the fanbase for the team to find a more productive replacement before the July 31 deadline.

Lately, however, Muncy had quieted such noise with one of the best stretches of his career. Before getting hurt, he was batting .308 over his past 46 games with 12 home runs, 48 RBIs and more walks (32) than strikeouts (26).

“When he’s not in the lineup,” Roberts said, “our offense tapers off.”

Whether Muncy can return to such levels of production, of course, won’t become clear until well after the deadline passes. But finding impact bats on this year’s trade market might not be an easy task, especially at third base.

Nolan Arenado has long been linked to the Dodgers in trade rumors. But he has career-lows in batting average (.247) and OPS (.701) this year, and is still due some $40 million over the next two-and-a-half seasons on his contract.

The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado watches his double in the sixth inning of a game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland on June 27.

(Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

Lower-profile names such as Eugenio Suárez, Ryan McMahon and Ramón Urías (who could be a better roster fit for the Dodgers as a utility weapon) could also be moved. But the Dodgers won’t be desperate to overpay for an impact bat knowing Muncy should be back well before the start of the playoffs.

“Obviously, he’s been so dialed in, one of the best hitters in the game over the last six weeks, so there’s always some [question of], ‘How are we going to get back to that spot?’” Gomes acknowledged of Muncy.

“But I don’t think that is something that Max has never done before,” he added, referencing Muncy’s ability to contribute to last year’s World Series run despite missing three months in the regular season with an oblique injury. “So there’s a comfort level. We have some time. We’ll make sure that he’s eased back in. We have enough technology that he can take at-bats and see pitches before he ever has to go out on rehab and is back in a major-league game. We should be getting some approximation of what his swing was, and then use that time to get into a rhythm.”

In the meantime, the Dodgers plan to incorporate Tommy Edman at third base, where he has 94 career big-league appearances (mostly in 2019 and 2020 with the St. Louis Cardinals, before Arenado’s arrival there).

“It’s a position I’m comfortable with,” Edman said Friday, after taking grounders at third at the start of his pregame work. “The hops [there] are weird, so you gotta play a little bit more one-handed … But it’s still the infield. You still gotta work on the footwork, just like you would at second and short. Catching the ball, getting behind your throws. It’s a lot of the same concepts.”

Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas will also see time at third, typically against left-handed pitching, while triple-A prospect Alex Freeland could offer depth from the minors if needed.

Hyeseong Kim, meanwhile, should also get a bump in playing time at second base on days Edman is at third.

“It’s gonna be a good opportunity for him,” Roberts said of Kim. “It’ll be good to know more and get him some more experience.”

When the deadline rolls around at the end of the month, the Dodgers will have more information to work with — not only on the state of Muncy’s rehab, but also about how their lineup fares without him.

With a top-five farm system in the sport, according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, they will have the ammunition to make a splash if needed.

But for now, their expectation is that Muncy’s injury won’t force them into a drastic midseason roster makeover. They are hopeful that what initially appeared to be a season-altering moment will be nothing more than a temporary speed bump in their pursuit of a second consecutive title.

“We’re playing good baseball as a team. We’re in a good position division-wise right now,” Gomes said. “So if we keep doing that, we can weather [Muncy’s absence].”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taylor also left the game with a left shoulder bruise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Etc.

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

Staff writer Ira Gorawara contributed to this report.

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández was not born and raised in Los Angeles.

A North Hollywood mural seemingly inspired by the San Juan, Puerto Rico, native’s stance on immigration sweeps shows that doesn’t matter.

Hernández began a June 14 Instagram post by stating, “I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own.”

Local artist Louie Palsino has cemented the second part of that statement in a new mural on the side of the Noho Tires & Wheels building on the 5600 block of Lankershim Boulevard. It features Hernández’s image surrounded by the words “Born X Raised” and “Los Angeles.”

Hernández said plenty more in the post, which seems to have inspired Palsino. The two-time World Series champion expressed support for his adopted city’s immigrants and dismay at how many of them were being treated in a series of sweeps by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sweeps in Los Angeles have sparked protests locally and elsewhere in the country.

“I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city,” Hernández wrote. “Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”

Under the name Sloe Motions, Palsino has painted a number of high-profile murals, including one in the Fashion District of Kobe and Gianna Bryant that was vandalized, restored, then vandalized again all within the last few months.

He declined to discuss the Hernández mural for this story, instead directing The Times to a statement he posted about it on Instagram last week.

“Thank you @kikehndez for standing up for what is right and for Los Angeles,” Palsino wrote. “this ain’t a political post or anything to stir up any government agenda to divide us. this is just paying homage to standing up for what is right and a real one.god over government.”

Palsino painted the Hernández mural on a building that already featured two of his other Dodgers-themed pieces — one of legendary broadcaster Vin Scully on an adjoining wall and one of iconic Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela on the gate in front of the garage’s driveway

When the gate is pulled open, a split image of Valenzuela and Hernandez is created.

Local artist Louie Palsino has painted several Dodgers-themed murals on the Noho Tires & Wheels building in North Hollywood, including images of (clockwise from left) Vin Scully, Kiké Hernández and Fernando Valenzuela.

(Chuck Schilken / Los Angeles Times)

Hernández has been a Dodgers fan favorite since his first stint with the team in 2015-20. In 2017, he hit three home runs, including a grand slam, in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs to help send the Dodgers to the World Series.

He signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent after the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series championship, but returned to L.A. in a July 2023 trade. Hernández hit .262 in 54 games with the Dodgers that season, helping him earn a one-year, $4-million contract for 2024.

Last postseason, Hernández was a key member of another Dodgers championship team. He hit one of the Dodgers’ two solo home runs in a 2-0 win against the San Diego Padres in the decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series. He then contributed seven hits and four RBIs in the NLCS against the New York Mets and five hits against the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series.

From Kevin Baxter: The Dodgers will be without Max Muncy for approximately six weeks after the third baseman was placed on the injured list Thursday with what the team is calling a bone bruise in his left knee. Muncy was injured in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Chicago White Sox when Chicago’s Michael Taylor slid headfirst into third on an unsuccessful attempt to steal third base.

Taylor’s helmet hit Muncy’s knee, bending it sideways and flipping the infielder to the ground. The collision was so gruesome, SportsNet LA, which was broadcasting the game, did not show replays. Muncy writhed on the ground in obvious pain before being helped to the clubhouse.

Muncy, who entered the Dodger clubhouse Thursday afternoon wearing a blue elastic support bandage on his left leg, said he originally feared the worst, but an MRI found no structural damage.

“It was tough news, but it was also great news,” he said. “I still get to play baseball this year instead of coming back next year around April. So it was kind of best-case scenario.”

Muncy, who said his knee felt stiff but not painful, was scheduled to meet the Dodger doctors later Thursday but said he intended to embark on an aggressive rehabilitation process.

“Everybody’s body is different,” he said. “You know, some guys heal extremely fast, some guys heal extremely slow. Traditionally, I’ve always healed fairly fast.”

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‘Super grateful’ Clayton Kershaw, Dodger teammates bask in glow of 3,000th strikeout

‘I knew he was going to get it.’ Dodgers fans celebrate Clayton Kershaw’s big night

————

Dave Roberts had some goals in mind for starting pitcher Dustin May on Thursday. And they had little to do with the final result.

“The first thing is his ability to go deeper in games,” the Dodger manager said. “The sweeper has got to be a more effective pitch. His sinker has got to be more effective.

“I know he’s working through some delivery things with the pitching coaches. I’m kind waiting to see what to expect tonight.”

May would give Roberts far more than he asked for, setting down the first 16 batters in order and pitching into the eighth inning for the first time in his career in a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

The win was the Dodgers’ fourth in a row and ninth in their last 10 games.

The start was May’s 16th of the season and the seven innings he threw gave him 89.2 for the year, both career highs. Consistency, however, has been an issue. He won just once in June, when his 5.67 ERA was highest among Dodger starters.

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Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Zach Neto had three hits, including a homer, Nolan Schanuel added a two-run blast and José Soriano gave up only three hits in seven scoreless innings to lead the Angels to a 5-1 victory over the weak-hitting Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.

The Braves avoided a shutout on Jurickson Profar’s ninth-inning homer off left-hander Brock Burke. It was Profar’s second homer in two games since returning from an 80-game PED suspension.

Soriano (6-5) had seven strikeouts and did not allow a base runner to reach second base. Neto scored three runs.

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Angels put Christian Moore on injured list, pick up contract of Chad Stevens

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

LAKERS

From Dylan Hernández: The Lakers found their next starting center, and they didn’t have to give up Austin Reaves to land him.

There’s a reason why.

As athletic and skilled as Deandre Ayton is for a 7-footer, he’s better known at this stage of his career for his shortcomings.

His maddening inconsistency. His uninspired defense. His lack of motivation. His inability to stay healthy.

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton shoots under pressure from Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic on Feb. 10 in Denver. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
If you didn’t like Anthony Davis, you’re going to hate Ayton. Davis was always accountable or at very least not tone deaf, which Ayton apparently is.

“I got nothing to prove in this league,” Ayton once told veteran NBA reporter Mark Medina. “I’m a max player, and I’ll continue to be a max player.”

Little wonder the Portland Trail Blazers officially gave up on Ayton during the weekend by buying out his contract, opening the door for the Lakers to pick him up at a bargain price.

The Lakers are wagering they can do what the Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns before them, couldn’

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Lakers agree to terms to bring back Jaxson Hayes

SPARKS

Natasha Cloud scored 11 of her 23 points in the third quarter and sparked a huge run to lead the New York Liberty to an 89-79 victory over the Sparks on Thursday night.

Breanna Stewart added 17 points and 14 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu had 20 points for New York (12-5).

The defending champion Liberty trailed 53-42 midway through the third before Cloud and Ionescu got going. Cloud’s three-point play sparked a 13-0 run and then Ionescu scored 10 straight points for New York to give the Liberty a 63-59 advantage.

Dearica Hamby scored 25 points to lead the Sparks, who got a boost with the return of Rae Burrell. She saw her first action since injuring her knee in the opener. She checked in late in the first quarter and played 12 minutes, finishing with five points.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1907 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires of Australia in round 1 in Colma, Calif., his 6th title defense.

1910 — Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries in the 15th round at Reno, Nev., to retain the world heavyweight title and spoil Jeffries’ comeback.

1914 — The Harvard eight wins the Grand Challenge Cup to become the first American crew to capture the top event at the Henley Royal Regatta.

1919 — Jack Dempsey wins the world heavyweight title at Toledo, Ohio, when Jess Willard fails to answer the bell for the fourth round.

1923 — Jack Dempsey beats Tommy Gibbon in 15 for the heavyweight title. The fight almost bankrupts the town of Shelby, Montana, which borrowed heavily to stage it.

1930 — Helen Wills Moody wins her fourth straight singles title at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Elizabeth Ryan. Moody would go on to win four more Wimbledon singles titles.

1954 — FIFA World Cup Final, Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland: Helmut Rahn scores twice as West Germany beats Hungary, 3-2.

1964 — Maria Bueno of Brazil upsets Margaret Smith of Australia 6-4, 7-9, 6-3 for the women’s title at Wimbledon.

1975 — Billie Jean King beats Evonne Goolagong, 6-0, 6-1 for her sixth and final singles title at Wimbledon.

1982 — Jimmy Connors beats John McEnroe 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 for the men’s singles championship at Wimbledon. The match lasts 4 hours, 16 minutes.

1987 — Martina Navratilova wins her eighth Wimbledon singles title and sixth straight, beating Steffi Graf 7-5, 6-3.

1994 — FIFA World Cup: A Bebeto strike saves Brazil from embarrassment, beat USA 1-0 at Stanford.

1999 — Pete Sampras overwhelms Andre Agassi in three sets to capture his sixth Wimbledon title and tie Roy Emerson’s record with his 12th Grand Slam championship. Sampras is the first man in the Open era with six Wimbledon titles.

2002 — Venus and Serena Williams win in straight sets to set up their third title match at a major in 10 months — and the first all-sister Wimbledon final since 1884. Top-seeded Venus, the two-time defending champion, overpowers Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2. Second-seeded Serena routs Amelie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes.

2003 — Lakers star Kobe Bryant is arrested in Eagle, Colo., for sexual assault, charges eventually dismissed.

2004 — UEFA European Championship Final, Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal: In a huge upset Greece beats host nation Portugal, 1-0.

2004 — Meg Mallon wins the Women’s U.S. Open with a 6-under 65, the lowest final round by a champion in the 59-year history of the tournament. Mallon finishes at 10-under 274 for a two-shot victory over Annika Sorenstam.

2008 — Dara Torres completes her improbable Olympic comeback, making the U.S. team for the fifth time by winning the 100 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Neb. The 41-year-old wins in 54.78. A nine-time medalist, she already was the first U.S. swimmer to make four Olympic teams.

2009 — Serena Williams beats her big sister Venus 7-6 (3), 6-2 for her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam championship. In the fourth all-Williams final at Wimbledon, Serena comes out on top for the third time. Later, Venus and Serena win their fourth women’s doubles title at Wimbledon and ninth Grand Slam doubles title as a pair.

2010 — Rafael Nadal beats Tomas Berdych in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, to win his second Wimbledon title and eighth Grand Slam championship.

2011 — Tyler Farrar becomes the first American to win a July 4 Tour de France stage, dominating a sprint finish in the third leg as teammate Thor Hushovd of Norway kept the yellow jersey.

2014 — Germany becomes the first country to reach the semifinals for a fourth straight World Cup by beating France 1-0 in a quarterfinal match settled by a first-half header from Mats Hummels.

2015 — Copa América Final, Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago: Chile defeats Argentina, 4-1 penalties to win their first title; 0-0 after extra time.

2015 — Super Rugby Final, Westpac Stadium, Wellington: Otago Highlanders beat Wellington Hurricanes 21-14 for their first title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1905 — The Philadelphia Athletics scored two runs in the 20th inning, giving Rube Waddell a 4-2 victory over Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox. Both pitchers went the distance.

1908 — George Wiltse of the New York Giants pitched a 10-inning, 1-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

1912 — George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers celebrated his 32nd birthday by pitching a no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.

1925 — Two of the great left-handers of their time, Herb Pennock of the Yankees and Lefty Grove of the Athletics, hooked up in a pitcher’s duel that New York won 1-0 in 15 innings. Pennock gave up four hits and walked none.

1939 — Jim Tabor of the Boston Red Sox hit three home runs, including two grand slams, in an 18-12 triumph over the Philadelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader.

1945 — Augie Bergamo drove in eight runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to 19-2 rout of the New York Giants in the second game of a doubleheader. Bergamo, batting leadoff, went 5 for 6 with two home runs and four runs scored.

1976 — The Phillies’ Tim McCarver lost a grand slam when he passed Garry Maddox on the base paths. The Phillies still beat the Pirates 10-5 at Pittsburgh.

1983 — Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

1984 — Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees struck out five Texas Rangers to become the ninth pitcher with 3,000 strikeouts. No. 3,000 was Larry Parrish.

1985 — The New York Mets beat the Braves 16-13 in 19 innings at Atlanta. The game went until just before 4 a.m. on July 5, and was followed by a fireworks display for the 10,000 still left in the stands. Keith Hernandez of the Mets hit for the cycle in 10 at-bats. The score was tied 8-8 after innings. Both teams scored two runs apiece in the 13th. The Mets scored a run in the 18th to take an 11-10 lead, but Braves pitcher Rick Camp tied the score with a homer. Camp then gave up five runs in the top the 19th. Ron Darling, the seventh Mets pitcher, closed the game giving up two runs.

2006 — Victor Martinez went 5-for-6 and Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner each hit two of Cleveland’s six home runs, powering the Indians to a 19-1 rout of New York. The win was Cleveland’s largest at home in more than 56 years, since a 21-2 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics on June 18, 1950.

2006 — Jose Contreras tossed 6 2-3 scoreless innings to win his 17th straight decision and lead the White Sox to a 13-0 victory over Baltimore.

2008 — The Cardinals drop a 2-1 decision to the Cubs but Albert Pujols socks his 300th career home run. At 28 years, 170 days old, he becomes the fifth youngest player to hit 300, one day ahead of Mel Ott. The younger players were Alex Rodriguez, Jimmie Foxx, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones.

2008 — Colorado homered six times to rally from a nine-run deficit for the biggest comeback in franchise history and an 18-17 victory over Florida. Chris Iannetta singled home the winning run off Kevin Gregg in the ninth inning. The Rockies and Marlins combined for 35 runs and 43 hits, 21 of them for extra bases with eight home runs.

2010 — The rosters for the 2010 All-Star Game, to be played at Angel Stadium, are announced today. The top vote getters are Joe Mauer in the American League and Albert Pujols in the National League. Among the first-time All-Stars is 40-year-old reliever Arthur Rhodes of the Reds; he sports a sparkling 1.09 ERA in his 19th big league season.

2012 — Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz hit his 400th career home run, a leadoff drive to right in the fourth inning against Oakland’s A.J. Griffin.

2014 — Brian Roberts hit three doubles and a triple, leading the New York Yankees to a 6-5 win over Minnesota.

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.

The Dodgers will be without Max Muncy for approximately six weeks after the third baseman was placed on the injured list Thursday with what the team is calling a bone bruise in his left knee. Muncy was injured in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Chicago White Sox when Chicago’s Michael Taylor slid headfirst into third on an unsuccessful attempt to steal third base.

The Dodgers now have 13 players on the injured list.

Taylor’s helmet hit Muncy’s knee, bending it sideways and flipping the infielder to the ground. The collision was so gruesome, SportsNet LA, which was broadcasting the game, did not show replays. Muncy writhed on the ground in obvious pain before being helped to the clubhouse.

Muncy, who entered the Dodger clubhouse Thursday afternoon wearing a blue elastic support bandage on his left leg, said he originally feared the worst, but an MRI found no structural damage.

“It was tough news, but it was also great news,” he said. “I still get to play baseball this year instead of coming back next year around April. So it was kind of best-case scenario.”

Muncy, who said his knee felt stiff but not painful, was scheduled to meet the Dodger doctors later Thursday but said he intended to embark on an aggressive rehabilitation process.

“Everybody’s body is different,” he said. “You know, some guys heal extremely fast, some guys heal extremely slow. Traditionally, I’ve always healed fairly fast.”

Taylor also left the game with a shoulder contusion. The White Sox have listed his status as day to day.

Muncy’s place on the roster was taken by outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who was acquired on April 2 from the Athletics in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Carlos Duran. Ruiz appeared in 66 games for triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .292 with eight homers, 37 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.

Muncy’s absence will leave a big hole in the Dodgers’ lineup. He led the team with a .333 average and 24 RBIs in June, when he matched Shohei Ohtani for the lead in home runs with seven. He is hitting .250/.375/.457 for the season and is third on the team with 55 RBIs.

“He’s huge,” pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who was on the mound when the injury happened, said of Muncy. “I don’t really know why he stole there. It just seemed unnecessary. We’re all holding our breath that Munc is going to be OK.

“He’s obviously a huge part of our team, especially the last two months.”

Michael Taylor’s helmet collided with Max Muncy’s left knee on his unsuccessful attempt to steal third base, injuring Muncy in the process.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Miguel Rojas, who hasn’t played since injuring his left hand on an attempted steal Sunday, started at third base Thursday. Kiké Hernández, who took Muncy’s place Wednesday, is also likely to see some time at third in Muncy’s absence.

Hernández is hitting .204/2.70/.383 while Rojas, primarily a second baseman, is batting .250/.289/.380.

Dave Roberts had some goals in mind for starting pitcher Dustin May on Thursday. And they had little to do with the final result.

“The first thing is his ability to go deeper in games,” the Dodger manager said. “The sweeper has got to be a more effective pitch. His sinker has got to be more effective.

“I know he’s working through some delivery things with the pitching coaches. I’m kind waiting to see what to expect tonight.”

May would give Roberts far more than he asked for, setting down the first 16 batters in order and pitching into the eighth inning for the first time in his career in a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

The win was the Dodgers’ fourth in a row and ninth in their last 10 games.

The start was May’s 16th of the season and the seven innings he threw gave him 89.2 for the year, both career highs. Consistency, however, has been an issue. He won just once in June, when his 5.67 ERA was highest among Dodger starters.

His first start in July was a different story, with May (5-5) giving up just two hits and striking out nine — one shy of his career high — in seven shutout innings before tiring in the eighth.

The Dodgers needed just three batters to give the right-hander the lead with Shohei Ohtani drawing a lead-off walk, then scoring on Freddie Freeman’s one-out double into the right-field corner.

Freeman padded that lead in the third, going the other way and looping a two-run double into the left-field corner. It was Freeman’s first three-RBI game in nearly two months. When Michael Conforto followed two batters later with a two-run homer, it was 5-0 Dodgers.

And the lead could have been larger: Freeman lost a homer of his own in his next at-bat when Chicago right fielder Michael Tauchman reached a couple of rows into the right-field bleachers near the foul pole to bring his fifth-inning drive back.

Mookie Betts closed the Dodgers’ scoring with a one-out solo homer in the seventh, just his second since May 19.

May, meanwhile, was cruising, talking a perfect game into the sixth before Brooks Baldwin singled sharply to right. He took a shutout into the eighth before Baldwin ended that, too, with a two-run homer.

May got help from a couple of sterling defensive plays, with Conforto taking a hit away from Miguel Vargas with a sliding catch in left to the start the fifth and Freeman diving to his right to stab Josh Rojas’ low line drive to start the sixth.

Relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates followed May to the mound, throwing a hitless inning apiece to close out the win.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Bill Plaschke: The slider was sizzling. The hitter was frozen. The strikeout was roaring.

With an 84-mph pitch on the black in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday at a rollicking Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra looking to become the 20th player in baseball history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

As impressive as the pitch itself was the cementing of a truth that has been evident for several years.

Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history.

Greater than even the great Sandy Koufax.

Gasp. Scream. Please.

I wrote this opinion three years ago and was deluged with a barrage of emphatic and mostly emotional arguments for Koufax.

How dare you diss our Sandy! Koufax won more championships! Koufax never choked in the postseason! Koufax was more dominant!

All true, as well as Koufax being a tremendous human being worthy of every syllable of praise. But as Wednesday so clearly proved in front of a history-thirsty crowd at Chavez Ravine, Kershaw has done something that any defense of Koufax cannot equal.

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Photos: Kershaw’s road to 3,000

Fans react to Clayton Kershaw reaching 3,000 career strikeouts

Clayton Kershaw reaches 3,000 career strikeouts, is 20th pitcher to do so in MLB history

Dodgers’ All-Star lineup record quest fizzles with 3 of 8 finalists voted as starters

Dodgers DEI efforts target of federal civil rights complaint filed by conservative group

North Hollywood mural lauds Dodgers’ Kiké Hernández ‘for standing up for what is right’

Hernández: The Dodgers have the best record in baseball. Why they still have room to improve

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Matt Olson had a grand slam among his three hits, and the Atlanta Braves used a seven-run sixth inning to beat the Angels 8-3 on Wednesday night.

Sean Murphy hit a three-run homer, and Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies each had two hits for the Braves, who received more bad injury news before the game when it was announced right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach was headed to the IL because of a broken elbow.

Braves left fielder Jurickson Profar returned from an 80-game PED suspension and was two for four with a home run and two runs scored.

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

LAKERS

From Broderick Turner: The Lakers finally got a center they have so desperately needed when they agreed to a deal with Deandre Ayton, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The Lakers were able to get Ayton after he received a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers of his $35-million contract, giving up about $10 million, according to reports. That opened the door for the Lakers to get Ayton for $16 million over two season after he cleared waivers Wednesday, according to people familiar with the deal. Ayton holds a player option for the second season.

Ayton averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds over 30.2 minutes per game for the Trail Blazers last season. But he played in only 40 games, missing every game after the All-Star break because of a calf injury.

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Lakers announce Summer League roster, schedule

Bronny James plays coy about father LeBron’s future with Lakers

NBA report: Knicks offer Mike Brown head coaching job

GOLD CUP

Diego Luna scored twice in the first 15 minutes, and the United States hung on to beat Guatemala 2-1 on Wednesday night to reach its first CONCACAF Gold Cup final since 2021.

Luna put the U.S. ahead with a left-footed shot in the fourth minute, then scored with his right in the 15th for his third goal in two games.

The U.S. plays defending champion Mexico for the title Sunday at Houston, the Americans’ last competitive match before their World Cup opener next June. El Tri has won nine Gold Cups, the U.S. seven and Canada one.

The 16th-ranked Americans advanced to the Gold Cup final for the 13th time. All five losses in finals have been to Mexico.

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U.S.-Guatemala summary

WIMBLEDON

Before Wimbledon began, Coco Gauff reflected on the significance of her breakthrough performance at the place six years ago — a run to the fourth round at age 15 — and what aspirations she harbored as she prepared to return.

“Even when I see videos of me during that time, it just doesn’t feel like it’s me. It felt like a dream. I’ll always have special memories from that run and, I guess, it definitely fueled the belief that I can be on tour and live out my dream,” she told the Associated Press.

“It’s something that always holds a special place in my heart. Obviously, I would love to win this tournament just for it to be like a full-circle moment,” she continued. “I feel like it would be like the start of the dream, and — I don’t want to say ‘the finish,’ because I obviously have a lot of career left, but — a full-circle type of situation.”

A week after that conversation, the No. 2-ranked Gauff was out of the bracket at the All England Club in the first round with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 loss to unseeded Dayana Yastremska at No. 1 Court on Tuesday night. Gauff was undone by serving troubles, including nine double-faults, and more than two dozen unforced errors in all, not to mention Yastremska’s hard, flat groundstrokes.

It was an abrupt, and mistake-filled, exit for Gauff, who so recently earned her second Grand Slam title — at the French Open via a three-set victory over No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1920 — Suzanne Lenglen beats Dorothea Chambers a second straight year (6-3, 6-0) to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1925 — Suzanne Lenglen wins her sixth and final women’s singles title at Wimbledon, easily beating Joan Fry, 6-2, 6-0.

1931 — Max Schmeling knocks out Young Stribling at 2:46 of the 15th round to retain the world heavyweight title in Cleveland.

1951 — Sam Snead wins his third PGA Championship with a 7 and 6 victory over Walter Burkemo at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.

1976 — Bjorn Borg beats Ilie Nastase 6-4, 6-2, 9-7, to win his first men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1981 — Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Chris Evert beats Hana Mandlíková 6-2, 6-2 for her third and final Wimbledon singles title.

1982 — Martina Navratilova begins her streak of six straight singles titles at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Chris Evert Lloyd. It’s the third Wimbledon singles title for Navratilova, all against Evert Lloyd.

1983 — Calvin Smith sets the 100-meter world record at Colorado Springs, with a run of 9.93 seconds. He breaks the previous record of 9.95 set by Jim Hines in 1968.

1983 — Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: American John McEnroe wins 5th career Grand Slam title; outclasses Chris Lewis of New Zealand 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

1994 — FIFA World Cup: In a huge upset Romania eliminates Argentina 3-2 from the round of 16 at the Rose Bowl.

2004 — Maria Sharapova, 17, wins her first Grand Slam title and instant celebrity by beating Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4. For the first time since 1999, none of the four major titles is held by a Williams.

2005 — Roger Federer wins his third consecutive Wimbledon title by beating Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Federer is the third man since 1936 to win three straight Wimbledon crowns, joining seven-time champion Pete Sampras and five-time winner Bjorn Borg.

2006 — Annika Sorenstam wins the U.S. Women’s Open after 10 years of frustration and wins her 10th major championship. Sorenstam, who shot a 1-under 70 in the 18-hole playoff, beats Pat Hurst by four strokes for the largest margin of victory in a playoff at the major since Kathy Cornelius won by seven shots 50 years ago.

2006 — Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman officially retires from the NHL, finishing with 692 goals and 1,755 points.

2007 — The Alinghi team from Switzerland — a country more often associated with Alpine skiing and winter snowscapes — successfully defends sailing’s coveted America’s Cup, beating Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2.

2010 — Serena Williams wins her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship by sweeping Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in the women’s final. Williams, who finishes the tournament without dropping a set, takes 67 minutes to win 6-3, 6-2.

2011 — Novak Djokovic wins his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic, already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on July 4, extends his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head-to-head victory.

2016 — Serena Williams overwhelms Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 in just 51 minutes on Centre Court at Wimbledon, advancing to the fourth round with her 300th career Grand Slam match win.

2018 — Feliciano Lopez makes history just by taking to the court at Wimbledon. The 36-year-old Spaniard breaks Roger Federer’s record by appearing in a 66th consecutive Grand Slam singles tournament, continuing a run that started at the 2002 French Open. Lopez beats Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1912 — Rube Marquard of the New York Giants raised his season record to 19-0 with a 2-1 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. His winning streak ended five days later against the Chicago Cubs.

1939 — Cleveland’s Ben Chapman ties the modern major-league record with three triples in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

1939 — Johnny Mize of St. Louis hit two home runs, a triple and a double, leading the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Mize drove in three runs and scored three times.

1947 — The Cleveland Indians purchased Larry Doby from the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, making him the first Black player in the American League.

1966 — Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger became the first National League player to hit two grand slams in one game. He added a single for nine RBIs in a 17-3 triumph over San Francisco.

1968 — Cleveland’s Luis Tiant struck out 19, walked none in a six-hit 1-0, 10-inning triumph over Minnesota.

1970 — Clyde Wright of the Angels used only 98 pitches to no-hit the Oakland A’s 4-0 at Anaheim Stadium.

1973 — Jim Perry of the Detroit Tigers and brother Gaylord of the Cleveland Indians faced each other for the only time as opposing pitchers. Neither finished the game. Gaylord took the loss, 5-4.

2006 — Manager Felipe Alou picked up his 1,000th victory in San Francisco’s 9-6 win over Colorado.

2013 — Max Scherzer worked into the seventh inning to become the first pitcher in 27 years to get off to a 13-0 start, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

2016 — Stephen Strasburg was removed from a no-hit bid after 6 2/3 innings, and Ramon Cabrera singled against Matt Belisle leading off the eighth for Cincinnati’s first hit in the Washington Nationals’ 12-1 rout of the Reds. Strasburg (11-0) threw 109 pitches, five shy of his season high. Strasburg won a franchise-record 14 straight decisions and is the first NL starter to begin a season 11-0 since San Diego’s Andy Hawkins in 1985.

2016 — Wilmer Flores went 6 for 6 with two of New York’s five home runs, and the Mets romped to a 14-3 win and a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. Jon Lester gave up eight runs and nine hits in 1 1/3 innings, the shortest of his 301 career starts over 11 major league seasons.

2016 — New York’s Mark Teixeira hit his 400th and 401st home runs and Chad Green got his first big league victory as the Yankees avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-3 win over San Diego.

2020 — Major League Baseball announces the cancellation of the 2020 All Star game in Dodger Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw’s road to 3,000 strikeouts started in his very first game, when he struck out Skip Schumaker of the St. Louis Cardinals on May 25, 2008. His illustrious career reached another peak in 2015 when he became one of only 19 pitchers in baseball history to reach 300 strikeouts in a season.

(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Clayton Kershaw made his major league debut and pitched six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on May 25, 2008, striking out seven.

(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)

Clayton Kershaw delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Marlins on May 17, 2009, in Miami. Kershaw struck out nine in seven innings.

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1. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press) 2. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

Kershaw celebrates his no-hitter with his teammates against the Rockies on June 18, 2014. Kershaw struck out a career-high 15 batters.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Clayton Kershaw tips his cap to fans after being taken out in the fourth inning against the Padres on Oct. 4, 2015. Kershaw reached 300 strikeouts in a season during the third inning.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Clayton Kershaw drops to the ground after giving up a home run to the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo in the fifth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS at Wrigley Field on Oct. 22, 2016.

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1. Clayton Kershaw comes into the game for a relief appearance against the Astros in Game 7 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on November 1, 2017 (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 2. Clayton Kershaw (22) throws a strike against Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) in the fourth inning of Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 24, 2017. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 3. Clayton Kershaw strikes out Yuli Gurriel to end the third inning for the Astros in Game 7 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on November 1, 2017. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)) 4. Dodger fans cheer as pitcher Clayton Kershaw gets a strikeout against the Astros in the first inning in Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 24, 2017. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kershaw wasn’t able to lift the Dodgers past the Astros in the 2017 World Series. It was later discovered the Astros were cheating.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Clayton Kershaw celebrates after striking out the Washington Nationals’ Adam Eaton in relief to end the seventh inning in Game 5 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 9, 2019.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Clayton Kershaw throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the sixth inning in Game 5 of the World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 25, 2020.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Clayton Kershaw throws a strike to the White Sox’s Vinny Capra for his 3,000th strikeout during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.

The slider was sizzling. The hitter was frozen. The strikeout was roaring.

With an 84-mph pitch on the black in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday at a rollicking Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra looking to become the 20th player in baseball history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

As impressive as the pitch itself was the cementing of a truth that has taken nearly two decades to become evident.

Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history.

Clayton Kershaw records his 3,000th career strikeout as the Dodgers take on the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Greater than even the great Sandy Koufax.

Gasp. Scream. Please.

This opinion appeared here three years ago and was swarmed with a barrage of emphatic and mostly emotional arguments for Koufax.

How dare you diss our Sandy! Koufax won more championships! Koufax never choked in the postseason! Koufax was more dominant!

All true, Koufax being a tremendous human being worthy of every syllable of praise. But as Wednesday so clearly proved in front of a history-thirsty crowd at Chavez Ravine, Kershaw has done something that any defense of Koufax can not equal.

He’s endured. He’s taken the ball far more than Koufax while outlasting him in virtually every impact pitching category.

The Dodgers’ 5-4 victory Wednesday was the perfect illustration of the grinding that has lifted Kershaw to the Dodger heavens. He didn’t have his best stuff, he was battered by one of baseball’s worst teams for four runs on nine hits, but he fought through six innings to dramatically record his third strikeout and end his quest for 3,000 on his final hitter with his 100th pitch.

“I made it interesting, for sure,” Kershaw said afterward. “I made it take too long.”

When he took the mound at the start of the sixth, just one strikeout shy of 3,000, the crowd erupted in deafening screams previously only matched by a World Series win. When he breathtakingly struck out Capra — this was his last hitter regardless — he stalked off the mound and sighed and offered the thunderous crowd a sweaty wave.

“It’s a little bit harder when you’re actually trying to strike people out,” said Kershaw with a chuckle. “Running back out there in the sixth and hearing that crowd roar was up there for me, special moments…It was an amazing night.”

A young Dodgers fan holds up a sign that reads “3,000” to celebrate Clayton Kershaw’s strikeout milestone.

(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)

In all, it was pure Kershaw, and it has been unmatched even by his legendary predecessor.

Koufax was a meteor, streaking across the sky for the greatest five seasons of any pitcher in baseball history.

Kershaw, meanwhile, has become his own planet, looming above for 18 years with a permanent glow that is unmatched in Dodgers lore.

Koufax was an amazing flash. Kershaw has been an enduring flame.

Koufax was Shaq. Kershaw is Kobe.

When this was previously written, manager Dave Roberts waffled on the question of whether Kershaw was the greatest Dodger pitcher ever.

This time, not so much.

“Obviously, Sandy is Sandy,” he said Wednesday. “You’re talking about 18 years, though, and the career of the body of work. It’s hard to not say Clayton, you know, is the greatest Dodger of all time.”

When one talks about the GOAT of various sports, indeed, a key element is always longevity. Tom Brady played 23 seasons, LeBron James has played 22 seasons and Babe Ruth played 22 seasons.

One cannot ignore the fact that Kershaw, in his 18th season, has played six more seasons than Koufax while pitching 463 more regular season innings. With his 3,000 strikeouts he has also fanned 604 more batters than Koufax, the equivalent of 22 more games composed solely of strikeouts, an unreal edge.

In the great Koufax debate, Kershaw is clearly being punished for his postseason struggles, and indeed his 4.49 postseason ERA doesn’t compare to Koufax’ 0.95 ERA.

But look at the sample size. Kershaw has pitched in 39 postseason games while Koufax has appeared in just eight. Kershaw has had 13 postseason starts that have lasted past the sixth inning while Koufax has had five.

Kershaw has pitched in multiple playoff rounds in multiple seasons, while Koufax never pitched in more than one playoff round per season, greatly increasing Kershaw’s opportunity for failure.

Kershaw has indeed stunk up the joint in some of the most devastating postseason losses in Dodger history. But he has taken the mound for nearly five times as many big games as Koufax and, in the end, he has just one fewer World Series championship.

“I’ve been through it, a lot, ups and downs here, more downs that I care to admit,” said Kershaw. “The fans … it was overwhelming to feel that.”

In the end, the strongest argument for Koufax supporters is the seemingly obvious answer to a question. If you had to win one game, would you start Koufax or Kershaw?

Of course you’d pitch Koufax … if your parameters were limited to five years. But if you wanted to pick a starter and you had to do it inside a two-decade window, you would take Kershaw.

Then there are those rarely recited stats that further the argument for Kershaw over Koufax: Kershaw has a better career ERA, 2.51 to 2.76. Kershaw has a better winning percentage, .697 to .655. And despite playing in an era where individual pitching wins are greatly cheapened, Kershaw has 51 more wins than Koufax.

How rare is 3,000 strikeouts? More pitchers have won 300 games. Only three other pitchers have done so left-handed. Only two pitchers in the last 100 years have done it with one team.

Now for the intangibles. If this is indeed the golden age of Dodger baseball — as Andrew Friedman so deftly described it — then the guardian of the era has been Kershaw.

The clubhouse culture is borne of his constantly present professionalism. The work ethic starts with him. The accountability is a reflection of him. For 18 years, through injury and embarrassment as well as fame and fortune, he has never complained, never blamed, never pointed fingers, never brought distraction.

And he always shows up for work. Every day. Every game. Every season. Clayton Kershaw has always been there, which is why he will be there forever on a statue that will surely be erected in the center field plaza next to the bronze figures of Jackie Robinson and, yes, of course, Sandy Koufax.

It is unlikely the Dodgers would ever script the words, “The greatest Dodger pitcher” on the base of his statue. They are understandably sensitive to Koufax and his legacy and importance to a legion of longtime fans.

But they know, just as those fans lucky enough to be at Dodger Stadium Wednesday know it.

They weren’t just watching greatness. They were watching The Greatest.