Dodgers

From Tim Willert: Jessica Clements hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the seventh inning early Friday morning to carry ninth-seeded UCLA past No. 16 Oregon 4-2 at the Women’s College World Series, after the Ducks tied the game in the top of the inning on a call at home plate that was overturned.

Catcher Alexis Ramirez also hit a two-run homer in support of Bruins’ starter Kaitlyn Terry, who pitched a four-hitter and gave up one earned run. UCLA (55-11) will play No. 12 seed Texas Tech on Saturday at 4 p.m. (PDT) for a spot in the semifinals. Oregon (53-9) will face unseeded Mississippi in Friday’s elimination game.

Oregon’s Paige Sinicki doubled inside the third-base line to lead off the seventh, but the ruling was challenged by UCLA. The call was upheld, but the next hitter, Dezianna Patmon bunted Sinicki to third with one out. Emma Cox followed with a ground ball to third baseman Jordan Woolery, who tried to throw Sinicki out at home. The throw to Ramirez was on time and Sinicki was ruled out at home for the second out.

Oregon challenged the call, and it was overturned after a video review showed obstruction by Ramirez.

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
at New York 111, Indiana 94 (box score)
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

NBA FINALS

West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. NY/Ind.

Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday, June 8 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 11 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 13 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Thursday, June 19 at NY/Ind, 5:30 p.m., ABC*
Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Before the start of the season, Dodgers first base and infield coach Chris Woodward pulled Mookie Betts aside one day, and had him envision the ultimate end result.

“You’re gonna be standing at shortstop when we win the World Series,” Woodward told Betts, the former Gold Glove right fielder in the midst of an almost unprecedented mid-career position switch. “That’s what the goal is.”

Two months into the season, the Dodgers believe he’s checking the requisite boxes on the path toward getting there.

“I would say, right now he’s playing above-average shortstop, Major League shortstop,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “Which is amazing, considering he just took this position up.”

Betts has not only returned to shortstop this season after his unconvincing three-month stint at the position last year; but he has progressed so much that, unlike when he was moved back to right field for the stretch run of last fall’s championship march, the Dodgers have no plans for a similar late-season switch this time around.

“I don’t see us making a change [like] we did last year. I don’t see that happening,” Roberts said. “He’s a major league shortstop, on a championship club.”

“And,” the manager also added, “he’s only getting better.”

Continue reading here

Shaikin: ‘Another log on the fire.’ Yankees eager to avenge World Series meltdown against Dodgers

Dodgers acquire former All-Star closer Alexis Díaz in trade with Reds

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Tutu Atwell played quarterback. He played receiver, and he also played on defense.

Years before diminutive and speedy Atwell matured into an NFL prospect, the Rams receiver played flag football.

Could anybody stop him?

“Nah, nah,” Atwell said, chuckling.

So Atwell, a 2021 second-round draft pick who will earn $10 million this season, said he would be cool and fun if he got the opportunity in a few years to try out for the 2028 U.S. Olympic flag football team.

Atwell echoed the feelings of Minnesota Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson and other players in the league since NFL owners last week approved a resolution that would allow them to try out for flag football. The resolution limits only one player per NFL team to play for each national team in the Los Angeles Games.

NFL players would compete for spots with others already playing flag football.

“It’s great,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “If that’s something that players say they want to be able to do, then I think it’s a really cool experience for them to be able to be a part of while also acknowledging that, man, there are some other guys that have been doing it.”

Continue reading here

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced next week.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
at Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 (summary)
Edmonton 6, at Dallas 3 (summary)

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Carolina 3, at Florida 0 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 3 (summary)

STANLEY CUP FINALS

P3 Edmonton vs. A3 Florida
Wednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday, June 6 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday, June 9 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1903 — Flocarline becomes the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes.

1908 — Jockey Joe Notter misjudges the finish of the Belmont Stakes and eases up on his mount, Colin, whose career record to that point was 13-for-13. Notter recovers from his mistake and holds off Fair Play, who came within a head of defeating Colin. When he retired, Colin’s record stood at 15 wins in as many starts.

1911 — Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds with an average speed of 74.59 mph.

1912 — Joe Dawson wins the second Indianapolis 500 in 6:21:06. Ralph Mulford is told he has to complete the race for 10th place money. It takes him 8 hours and 53 minutes as he makes several stops for fried chicken. The finishing rule is changed the next year.

1951 — Lee Wallard wins the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first driver to break the 4-hour mark with a time of 3:57:38.05.

1951 — Ezzard Charles beats Joey Maxim in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1952 — At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes the youngest driver to win the Indianapolis 500.

1955 — Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500. Bill Vukovich, seeking his third consecutive victory, is killed in a four-car crash on the 56th lap.

1957 — European Cup Final, Madrid: Alfredo Di Stéfano and Francisco Gento score as defending champions Real Madrid beats Fiorentina, 2-0.

1974 — 17th European Cup: Ajax beats Juventus 1-0 at Belgrade.

1985 — The Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year with an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5.

1987 — Mike Tyson beats Pinklon Thomas by TKO in round 6 in Las Vegas to retain WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing titles.

1993 — Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500, by 2.8 seconds. Fittipaldi takes the lead on lap 185 and holds on, outfoxing Formula One champion Nigel Mansell and runner-up Arie Luyendyk.

2004 — In Cooper City, Fla., Canada easily beats the United States in a three-day cricket match, the first competition on American soil sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.

2005 — Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years, beating Duke 9-8 to complete an undefeated season.

2009 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,391): Chelsea beats Everton, 2-1; Frank Lampard scores 72′ winner.

2010 — Dario Franchitti gets a huge break from a spectacular crash on the last lap to climb back on top of the open-wheel world to win the Indianapolis 500. Franchitti’s second Brickyard victory in four years helps his boss, Chip Ganassi, become the first owner to win Indy and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 in the same year.

2011 — Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns amid NCAA violations from a tattoo-parlor scandal that sullied the image of one of the country’s top football programs.

2012 — Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins by beating Adrian Ungur of Romania 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in the second round of the French Open. Federer, who owns a record 16 major championships, is 234-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments. Connors was 233-49. The Open era began in 1968.

2015 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,283): Arsenal beats Aston Villa, 4-0; Gunners’ 12th title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1894 — Boston’s Robert Lowe became the first player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game, leading the Beaneaters to a 20-11 win over Cincinnati. After hitting four straight homers, all line drives far over the fence, Lowe added a single to set a major league record with 17 total bases.

1922 — Between the morning and afternoon games of a Memorial Day twin bill, Max Flack of the Chicago Cubs was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Cliff Heathcote. They played one game for each team.

1927 — In the fourth inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, shortstop Jim Cooney of the Chicago Cubs caught Paul Waner’s liner, stepped on second to double Lloyd Waner and then tagged Clyde Barnhart coming from first for an unassisted triple play.

1935 — Babe Ruth made his last major league appearance. He played one inning for the Boston Braves against the Philadelphia Phillies. Jim Bivin retired Babe Ruth on an infield grounder in the Babe’s final major league at-bat.

1940 — Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants threw 87 pitches in a 7-0 one-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers. He faced the minimum 27 batters. Johnny Hudson, who singled, was caught stealing.

1956 — Mickey Mantle hit a home run that came within a foot-and-a-half of leaving Yankee Stadium. It hit the face of the upper deck in right field, 370 feet from home plate and 117 feet in the air. Mantle became the first player to hit 20 home runs by the end of May as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 4-3.

1961 — Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Bill Skowron each hit two homers to lead the New York Yankees to a 12-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox. Yogi Berra also added a homer.

1962 — Pedro Ramos of the Cleveland Indians tossed a three-hitter and hit two home runs, including a grand slam, for a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

1977 — Cleveland’s Dennis Eckersley pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the Angels.

1982 — Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. began his record consecutive games streak by starting at third base against the Toronto Blue Jays.

1987 — Eric Davis hit a grand slam in the third inning, breaking two National League records and leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Davis became the first NL player to hit three grand slams in a month and his major league leading 19 homers broke the NL record for most homers in April and May.

1992 — Scott Sanderson became the ninth pitcher to beat all 26 major league teams as New York defeated Milwaukee 8-1. Sanderson joined Nolan Ryan, Tommy John, Don Sutton, Mike Torrez, Rick Wise, Gaylord Perry, Doyle Alexander and Rich Gossage as those who have defeated every club.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit two home runs, moving past Willie McCovey and Ted Williams into 11th place on the career list with 522. Bonds with 17 home runs in May, surpassed the mark set by Mark McGwire in 1998 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.

2003 — Ken Griffey Jr. hit a game-tying home run in the ninth and a go-ahead homer in the top of the 11th to lead Cincinnati over Florida 4-3.

2006 — Vernon Wells hit three home runs and Troy Glaus added two more in Toronto’s 8-5 victory over Boston.

2009 — Travis Tucker hit an RBI single with one out in the top of the 25th inning, leading Texas to a 3-2 victory over Boston College in the longest game in NCAA history. The game eclipsed the previous record of 23 innings, set in 1971 when Louisiana-Lafayette defeated McNeese State 6-5.

2010 — Albert Pujols hit three long home runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Pujols homered in the first, fifth and ninth innings for his fourth career three-homer game.

2011 — Jo-Jo Reyes won for the first time in 29 starts by throwing his first career complete game to lead Toronto to an 11-1 rout of Cleveland. Reyes avoided becoming the first pitcher to go winless in 29 starts. Oakland’s Matt Keough went 28 starts between wins in 1978 and 1979, matching the dubious mark first set by Boston’s Cliff Curtis in 1910 and 1911. Reyes went 0-13 with a 6.59 ERA in his 28 starts between wins.

2011 — Arizona’s Kelly Johnson became the second player in the majors this year to have four extra-base hits in a game as the Diamondbacks beat the Florida Marlins 15-4. Johnson hit solo home runs in the third and sixth, doubled in the fourth and tripled in the seventh.

2015 — The Dodgers snap a 42-inning scoreless road streak in beating the Cardinals, 5-1. They are held hitless for five innings by Michael Wacha to beat an unenviable club record dating back to 1908, until a run-scoring single by Howie Kendrick in the 6th puts the team on the board and a three-run homer by Yasmani Grandal gives them the lead. It is Wacha’s first loss after opening the year with seven straight wins.

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.

Before the start of the season, Dodgers first base and infield coach Chris Woodward pulled Mookie Betts aside one day, and had him envision the ultimate end result.

“You’re gonna be standing at shortstop when we win the World Series,” Woodward told Betts, the former Gold Glove right fielder in the midst of an almost unprecedented mid-career position switch. “That’s what the goal is.”

Two months into the season, the Dodgers believe he’s checking the requisite boxes on the path toward getting there.

“I would say, right now he’s playing above-average shortstop, Major League shortstop,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “Which is amazing, considering he just took this position up.”

Betts has not only returned to shortstop this season after his unconvincing three-month stint at the position last year; but he has progressed so much that, unlike when he was moved back to right field for the stretch run of last fall’s championship march, the Dodgers have no plans for a similar late-season switch this time around.

“I don’t see us making a change [like] we did last year. I don’t see that happening,” Roberts said. “He’s a major league shortstop, on a championship club.”

“And,” the manager also added, “he’s only getting better.”

It means that now, Betts’ challenge has gone from proving he belongs at shortstop to proving he can master it by the end of the season. The goal Woodward laid out at the beginning of the year has suddenly become much more realistic now. And over the next four months, Betts’ ability to polish his shortstop play looms as one of the Dodgers’ biggest X-factors.

“Getting to that, even when he’s as good as he is now, there’s still a lot to learn,” Woodward said. “He’s done good up to this point. So how do we maintain that [progress]?”

In Year 1 of playing shortstop on a full-time basis last season, Betts’ initial experience was marked by trial and (mostly) error. He struggled to make accurate throws across the diamond. He lacked the instincts and confidence to cleanly field even many routine grounders. In his three-month cameo in the role — one cut short by a midseason broken hand — he committed nine errors and ranked below-league-average in several advanced metrics.

“Last year,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said when reflecting on Betts’ initial foray to the shortstop position, “it was like a crash course.”

In Year 2, on the other hand, Betts has graduated to something of a finishing school.

Unlike last year, when the former MVP slugger switched positions just weeks before opening day, Betts had the entire offseason to prepare his game. Over the winter, he improved the technique of his glovework while fielding balls. He trained on how to throw from lower arm slots than he had in the outfield. He focused on keeping a wider and more athletic base in order to adapt to funny hops and unexpected spins. He established a base of fundamentals that, last year, he simply didn’t have; providing renewed confidence and consistency he’s been able to lean on all season.

“Preparation,” Betts said recently about the biggest difference in his shortstop play this year. “[I have been able] to prepare, have an idea of what I’m doing, instead of just hoping that athleticism wins. At this level, it doesn’t work like that. So you have to have an idea of what you’re doing. And I work hard every day. I’m out there every day early. Doing what I can to be successful.”

Such strides have been illustrated in Betts’ defensive numbers. He currently ranks seventh among qualified MLB shortstops in fielding percentage, his three errors to this point tied for the fewest among those who have made at least 50 starts. His advanced metrics are equally encouraging, ranking top-five in outs above average and defensive runs saved.

“He looks like a major league shortstop right now,” Roberts said, “where last year there were many times I didn’t feel that way.”

A finished product, however, Betts is still not.

There are subtle intricacies he has yet to fully grasp, such as where to position on relay throws from the outfield. There are infrequent, higher-difficulty plays he’s yet to learn how to handle.

One important teaching moment came early in the season, when Betts’ inability to corral a hard hooking one-hopper in a game against the Washington Nationals led to him and the coaching staff adding more unpredictable fungo-bat fielding drills into his daily pregame routine.

“It just kind of prompted a conversation of, ‘You’re gonna get different types of balls, and those are pretty rare. But what’s the process of catching that ball? And what do we need to practice?’” Woodward recalled, leading to changes that were enacted the next day.

“The drills we do now, I don’t know if anybody else can make them look as easy as he now does,” Woodward added. “When he first started, you could tell, ‘Oh man, it’s uncomfortable.’ But now, I smoke balls at him … and he’s just so under control.”

Another moment of frustration came last Sunday in New York, when Betts athletically snared a bouncing ball on his forehand up the middle … but then airmailed a backhanded, off-balance flip throw to second base while trying to turn a potential double play.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts throws to first base during Monday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians.

(David Dermer / Associated Press)

“That was the first time ever in my life I’ve had to do that,” Betts said days later, prompting him to seek out more advice from Woodward and veteran shortstop teammate Miguel Rojas. “Miggy was telling me I can’t stress about it, because he got to mess that play up in high-A [when he was first learning the position]. Woody told me he got to mess that play up in double-A. I’m messing this play up for the first time ever in my life — in the big leagues.”

For Betts, it can be a frustrating dynamic, having to endorse inevitable such struggles as he seeks his desired defensive progress.

“I definitely feel I’ve grown a lot, just from the routine perspective,” he said. “But I don’t want to hurt the team, man.”

Which is why, in the days immediately afterward, he then incorporated underhand flip drills into his pregame work as well.

“You’re going to have to go through those moments to learn, to understand,” said Rojas, who has been a sounding board for Betts since last year’s initial position switch. “I don’t consider that an error. I consider it a mistake that you’re gonna learn from. Because that play is gonna happen again.”

“It’s like life in general. It’s about learning from your mistakes,” Freeman echoed. “And not that that [flip play] was a mistake. But it’s like, ‘Now I know how to adjust off of that.’ If he was not even trying to attempt things, then you’ll never know what you can really achieve out there. I think he’s learning his limits of what he can do. And I think that’s the key to it.”

Such moments, of course, also underscore the inherent risk of entrusting Betts (who still has only 132 career MLB games at shortstop) with perhaps the sport’s most challenging position.

It’s one thing for such a blunder to happen in a forgettable late May contest. It’d be far less forgiving if they were to continue popping up in important games down the stretch.

There’s also a question about whether Betts’ focus on shortstop has started to have an impact on his bat, with the 32-year-old hitting just .254 on the season while suffering incremental dips in his underlying contact metrics.

The root of those struggles, Betts believes, stems more from bad habits he developed while recovering from a stomach virus at the start of the season that saw him lose almost 20 pounds. Then again, even though he has been able to better moderate his daily pregame workload compared with the hours he’d spend every day fielding grounders last season, he is still “learning a whole new position at the big-league level,” Freeman noted, “and all his focus has been on that.”

It all creates a relatively tight needle for Betts and the Dodgers to thread the rest of the year. Betts not only has to make continued strides on defense (and prove, at a bare minimum, he won’t be a downgrade from the team’s other in-house options, such as Rojas or Tommy Edman), but, he also needs to get his swing back in a place to be an impact presence at the top of the lineup.

“It’s a lot to take on, to be a shortstop in the big leagues,” Freeman said. “But once he gets everything under control, I think that’s when the hitting will pick right back up.”

It figures to be an ongoing process, one that could have season-defining implications for the Dodgers’ World Series title defense.

Still, in the span of two months, Betts has shown enough with his glove for the Dodgers not to move him — making what started as a seemingly dubious experiment into a potentially permanent solution.

“People around baseball should be paying a little more attention to the way he’s been playing short,” Rojas said.

“He’s had a lot of different plays that he’s been able to kind of see in games,” added Roberts. “He’s a guy that loves a challenge, and he’s really realized that challenge and keeps getting better each night.”

Two years ago, Alexis Díaz was an All-Star closer with the Cincinnati Reds.

Now, the 28-year-old right-hander is set to become a Dodgers reclamation project.

Amid a wave of early-season injuries to their bullpen and rotation, the Dodgers agreed to acquire Díaz from the Reds on Thursday, the team announced.

Díaz, who was demoted to triple-A earlier this month by the Reds, won’t be joining the Dodgers’ big-league roster right away. He will instead report to Arizona to work with the Dodgers’ pitching group there.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred injured reliever Evan Phillips (who was initially expected to only miss 15 days with a forearm injury) to the 60-day IL.

Once a rising relief star who had a 1.84 ERA as a rookie in 2022, and 37 saves and a 3.07 earned-run average as an All-Star selection in 2023, Díaz has faded over the past two seasons.

In 2024, he was 28 of 32 in save opportunities, but posted a 3.99 ERA with 31 walks in 56 1/3 innings.

This season, he lost the closer’s job while battling a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the start of the season, then was optioned to triple-A after giving up eight runs, eight hits, four homers and five walks in his first six appearances. Five of the runs, and three of the homers, came in a single outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 30, the day before he was sent down.

Díaz, the brother of New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz, hasn’t experienced much greater success in the minors, holding a 4.61 ERA with 12 walks in 13 2/3 innings with the Reds’ Louisville affiliate.

Still, just two years removed from the early heights of his MLB career, the Dodgers were willing to take a flier on the once-promising talent, only giving up minor-league pitcher Mike Villani (a 13th-round pick in last year’s draft) in return.

Long before Clayton Kershaw donned No. 22 and Fernando Valenzuela wore No. 34, another number told fans it was time for Dodger baseball: 76.

Union Oil Co., the 76 gasoline brand’s former owner, helped finance Dodger Stadium’s construction. The brand’s current owner, Phillips 66, remains a major sponsor. Through six World Series titles, orange-and-blue 76 logos have been a constant presence at Chavez Ravine. They tower above the scoreboards and grace the outfield walls.

So when 76 recently posted on Instagram that it had begun sponsoring L.A.’s rivals in San Francisco — with an orange-and-blue logo on the center field clock at Oracle Park — some Dodgers fans weren’t pleased.

“THE BETRAYAL,” one fan wrote on Instagram.

“bestiessss nooooo,” another lamented.

76 was unfazed, responding: “Still a bestie, just spreading the love!”

Strange as the reactions may sound, it’s not unheard of for long-lived ad campaigns to take on a life of their own, evolving from paid promotions to cultural touchstones. Outside Fenway Park in Boston, Red Sox fans have fought to preserve the massive Citgo sign, with its logo of a Venezuelan-owned oil company.

Nor is it shocking that Houston-based Phillips 66 would market itself through another baseball team. The 76 gasoline brand, after all, evokes the patriotism of 1776 — a clever marketing ploy. And what’s more American than Major League Baseball?

Still, the timing of Phillips 66’s decision to start sponsoring the Giants is intriguing.

Since last summer, nearly 30,000 people have signed a petition urging Dodgers ownership to cut ties with the oil company. California is currently suing Phillips 66 and other oil and gas companies for climate damages, accusing them of a “decades-long campaign of deception” to hide the truth about the climate crisis.

Climate activists protest outside Dodger Stadium before a game May 15, 2025, calling on the team’s ownership to drop Phillips 66 as a sponsor.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter held its third protest at Dodger Stadium before a game against the Athletics on May 15. Activists cloaked in sackcloth marched outside the parking lots. One played a bagpipe.

“It was a bit hard for the fans to comprehend,” organizer Lisa Kaas Boyle acknowledged.

Still, she believes the cause is righteous.

A former environmental crimes prosecutor and a co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Kaas Boyle lost her home in the Palisades fire. She’s also a Dodgers fan, having caught the bug from her husband, whose 89-year-old mom grew up cheering for the team in Brooklyn. She has a special place in her heart for Kiké Hernández.

So when the Dodgers joined other sports teams in pledging $8 million to wildfire relief, she felt the organization was “speaking out of two sides of its mouth.” She pointed to a study concluding that the weather conditions that helped drive the Palisades and Eaton fires were 35% more likely due to climate change.

“If you really care about us fire victims, you wouldn’t be promoting one of the major causes of the disaster,” Kaas Boyle said. “If you really care, you wouldn’t be boosting their image, greenwashing it through baseball.”

At least one member of the Dodgers ownership group cares about presenting a climate-friendly image.

Tennis star Billie Jean King posted on Facebook, Instagram and X in the fall promoting a climate summit being held next week at the University of Oxford, co-hosted by an arm of the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all countries to ban fossil fuel advertising.

So, what does King think of the 76 ads at Dodger Stadium?

Hard to say. Her publicist didn’t respond to my request for comment.

Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas scratches a message in the dirt near second base at Dodger Stadium on May 18, with a 76 logo on the outfield wall in the background.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers also declined to respond. Same goes for the Giants and Phillips 66.

So why is the oil company “spreading the love” to the Bay Area?

Again, hard to know for sure. But Duncan Meisel has a theory. He runs the advocacy group Clean Creatives, which pressures ad agencies to stop working with fossil fuel clients. And he suspects that lawmakers and regulators based in Sacramento are less likely to attend a baseball game in L.A. than in nearby San Francisco.

“If you’re 76, and you’re worried about decision-makers in California, that’s where you’d want to be,” he said.

Indeed, Phillips 66 may have reasons to be worried.

The company plans to close its Los Angeles County oil refinery this year — a troubling sign of the economic times for Big Oil as California shifts toward electric cars. Lawmakers are also weighing a “polluters pay” bill that would require fossil fuel companies to help pay for damages from more intense heat waves, wildfires and storms.

Phillips 66, meanwhile, was arraigned this month on charges that it violated the U.S. Clean Water Act by dumping oil and grease from its L.A. County refinery into the local sewer system. (It pleaded not guilty.) That followed a win for climate activists in March, when state Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) wrote to Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, urging him to dump Phillips 66.

Hence, perhaps, the newfound relationship with the Giants.

“That’s why you advertise,” Meisel said. “If you’re a company like Phillips 66 that’s under threat from political and cultural pressures in California, it’s hard to get a better deal than sponsoring a local sports team.”

If you look closely, you can see the 76 ad on the digital clock high above the center field fence at San Francisco’s Oracle Park on May 4 (Star Wars Day, hence the Stormtroopers).

(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

It’s not just California turning up the heat on Phillips 66. Executives have been battling a pressure campaign from Elliott Investment Management, which won two seats on the company’s board last week.

As Elliott ramped up the pressure on Phillips 66 earlier this year, executives announced an expanded sponsorship deal with their hometown ball club — another Dodgers nemesis, as it happens, the cheating Houston Astros.

Phillips 66 now sponsors the home run train atop the high left-field wall at Houston’s Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid Park). The train is filled with 25 oversized baseballs, each representing a special moment in Astros history — yes, including the World Series title they stole from the Dodgers.

As Phillips 66 brand manager John Field said in an April news release: “Sponsorships like these are more than just fun — they’re a strategic investment.”

Fun and strategic, sure, if you’re mainly invested in oil industry profits. If you care about watching baseball games in safe temperatures, without choking on wildfire smoke, you might reach a different conclusion.

One thing’s for sure: Fossil fuel companies will keep pumping money into baseball so long as teams let them. The Astros, Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians all wear jersey patches sponsored by oil and gas companies.

In California, meanwhile, Phillips 66 will keep reminding Dodgers fans how much they love looking at 76 logos — a playbook so successful it once inspired a campaign to save the rotating 76 balls above gas stations.

“This is a heavy play on Americana,” Roberta J. Newman said.

A Yankees fan and professor in New York University’s Liberal Studies program, Newman wrote the fascinating book, “Here’s the Pitch: The Amazing, True, New, and Improved Story of Baseball and Advertising.” There may be nobody with a better understanding of the cultural and political power of baseball-linked advertising.

The former 76 gas station in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, seen in 2003.

(Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)

When a brand like 76 associates itself with the Dodgers — through special ticket deals, joint promotions with the team charity and TV commercials starring Vin Scully — it’s engaged in “meaning transfer,” Newman said.

“Your positive associations of the Dodgers will become positive associations with 76,” she said.

Most fans won’t drive away from Dodger Stadium and immediately choose 76 over a rival gasoline station. But in the long run, they’ll have good vibes when they see the orange-and-blue logo. It’ll feel familiar, friendly.

If that sounds nuts — well, you might want to tell business executives they blew $1 trillion on ads last year.

“People might think, ‘Oil is terrible. But 76 is the Dodgers,’” Newman said.

Now it’s the Giants, too — not that Newman thinks the dual loyalty will hurt the company. As one Instagram user, a Giants fan, wrote: “Hey Dodger fans, it’s OK! … 76 is a California icon and tradition from North to South!”

Fair enough. Wildfires are getting bigger and more destructive up there too.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our “Boiling Point” podcast here.

For more climate and environment news, follow @Sammy_Roth on X and @sammyroth.bsky.social on Bluesky.

From Gary Klein: As the Rams went through organized-team activities on Wednesday, the players on the field were not the most compelling storyline.

The distinction belongs to a certain NFL star player who potentially could be on the roster by training camp.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI, remains in play as a possible addition to a Rams team regarded as a Super Bowl contender, coach Sean McVay acknowledged after practice.

The Dolphins have made it known that they were open to trading Ramsey, who signed an extension in 2024 and is due to earn $24.2 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.

“We certainly haven’t closed the door on that,” McVay said when asked about Ramsey. “But there hasn’t been a whole lot of dialogue as of late…. We’ll see if that changes, but these things can happen quickly.”

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 124, Minnesota 94 (box score)

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*
Monday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Given the shorthanded state of the Dodgers’ current pitching staff, losses like Wednesday are the ones that hurt the most.

Seeking to end their East Coast trip with a three-game sweep against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, the Dodgers got a productive five-inning, one-run start out of Clayton Kershaw in his third outing back from offseason foot and knee surgeries.

They had a late-game lead on a day an ominous rainy forecast never came to fruition.

Most of all, they had most of their top current relievers available, able to call upon names they trusted over the final few innings.

Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia walks to the dugout after the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday in Cleveland. (David Dermer / Associated Press)

Such a perfect alignment has been rare for the Dodgers lately. Which means, when it does come around, “we’ve got to win these games,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Instead, the Dodgers lost 7-4 to the Guardians on Wednesday, wasting Kershaw’s five-inning outing with a five-run meltdown in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

From Benjamin Royer: The hope was that the Angels could use Tuesday’s ninth-inning rally to muster up something worth talking about at the plate.

On Tuesday, Yoán Moncada homered. Taylor Ward singled. Luis Rengifo brought home a run with a line drive up the middle. Despite falling a run short, stringing a few hits together showed that the Angels could build off each other to produce runs.

However, instead of breaking through as an offense, the Angels were shut out by the Yankees 1-0 on Wednesday night, securing a sweep and turning the Angels’ eight-game win streak of weeks past into more of a blip on the radar than a sign of life.

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe struck out looking to end the game on a breaking ball well off the strike zone. After the game, O’Hoppe was adamant that it was a ball, as was manager Ron Washington, but said it’s just part of the game and “out of our control.”

Regardless, the Angels were scoreless entering their final three outs again — Angel Stadium playing home to an offense in need of a pulse check

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA SOFTBALL

UCLA’s bid for a 13th national championship begins Thursday with a familiar opponent at the Women’s College World Series.

The Bruins (54-11) face Oregon at Devon Park at 6:30 p.m. (PST) on the first day of a double-elimination tournament featuring Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Texas Tech.

Two finalists will play a best-of-three series to determine the NCAA softball champion beginning June 4.

The matchup between UCLA and Oregon will be the 131st meeting between current Big Ten teams and former Pac-12 rivals. The Bruins have dominated the series with 97 wins.

The teams played once previously in the World Series in 2015, with UCLA winning, 7-1.

Continue reading here

GALAXY

Substitute Ousseni Bouda scored in the 74th minute, and the San José Earthquakes extended the Galaxy‘s MLS-record season-opening winless streak with a 1-0 victory Wednesday night.

Bouda slipped between two defenders and got his third goal of the season on a precise pass from fellow substitute Preston Judd for the Quakes, who ended a four-game losing streak in the California Clasico rivalry.

The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy (0-12-4) are edging toward historic ignominy after dropping yet another game at the stadium where they went unbeaten in 2024 and won their league-record sixth title in December.

Continue reading here

GOLF

From Jad El Reda: Saint Monica Prep students Macayla Story, Johnnie García and Nicolás Vallejo received life-changing scholarships thanks to golf.

Story vividly remembers the moment she received the acceptance letter. She was in Palm Springs when her mother called to tell her that a large envelope had arrived. The envelope contained a letter informing her she would be receiving the $125,000 Chick Evans Scholarship, a program supported by the Western Golf Assn. that will allow her to attend a university without having to worry about housing costs or tuition for four years.

“When I came back, I opened it with her by my side. I showed her the letter and she started crying. It was an incredible moment,” Story told L.A. Times en Español.

Story traveled to Chicago to work as a caddie for two months at Skokie Country Club, and Garcia and Vallejo did the program locally with Los Angeles Country Club. All they were guaranteed was pay for their work and a chance to apply for the lucrative scholarships.

Continue reading here

TRANSGENDER ATHLETES

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether California, its interscholastic sports federation and the Jurupa Unified School District are violating the civil rights of cisgender girls by allowing transgender students to compete in school sports, federal officials announced Wednesday.

The Justice Department is also throwing its support behind a pending lawsuit alleging similar violations of girls’ rights in the Riverside Unified School District, said U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, who oversees much of the Los Angeles region, and Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Transgender track athletes have come under intense scrutiny in recent months in both Jurupa Valley and Riverside, with anti-LGBTQ+ activists attacking them on social media and screaming opposition to their competing at school meets.

Essayli and Dhillon, both Californians appointed under President Trump, have long fought against transgender rights in the state. Their announcements came one day after Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California for allowing transgender youths to participate in sports.

Continue reading here

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced next week.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
at Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 (summary)
Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*
Monday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Carolina 3, at Florida 0 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 3 (summary)

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1946 — Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta become the first thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They’re flown from New York to Inglewood by the American Air Express Corp., a 2,446-mile trip that lasts 20 hours due to bad weather.

1968 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Bobby Charlton scores twice as Manchester United beats Benfica, 4-1; first English club to win the trophy.

1971 — Al Unser wins his second straight Indianapolis 500 with a record mark of 157.735 mph and finishes 22 seconds ahead of Peter Revson. The pace car, ridden by Eldon Palmer, crashes into the portable bleachers and injures 20 people.

1977 — A.J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win four Indianapolis 500s and Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman in the race. Guthrie is forced to drop out after 27 laps with mechanical problems.

1977 — Australian Sue Prell first female golfer to hit consecutive holes-in one; 13th and 14th holes at Chatswood Golf Club, Sydney.

1980 — Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.

1983 — After three second-place finishes, Tom Sneva wins the Indianapolis 500 by 11 seconds over three-time champion Al Unser.

1985 — 29th European Cup: Juventus beats Liverpool 1-0 at Brussels.

1988 — Rick Mears overcomes an early one-lap deficit, then overpowers the rest of the field on the way to his third Indianapolis 500 victory. Mears gives team-owner Roger Penske an unprecedented seventh victory and fourth in five years.

1990 — Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the top two seeds, are bounced in the first round of the French Open by two European teenagers, the first time the top two men’s seeds are eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Edberg is swept easily in straight sets by 19-year-old Sergi Bruguera of Spain, and Becker loses to 18-year-old Yugoslav Goran Ivanisevic.

1991 — 35th European Cup: Red Star Belgrade beats Marseille (0-0, 5-3 on penalties) at Bari.

1993 — Wayne Gretzky’s overtime goal gives the Kings a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Western Conference finals. The Kings become the first NHL team to play the full 21 games in the first three rounds.

1998 — Eighteen-year-old Marat Safin, ranked 116th in the world and playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, beats defending champion Gustavo Kuerten, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open.

2005 — Dan Wheldon wins the Indianapolis 500 when Danica Patrick’s electrifying run falls short. Patrick is the first woman to lead at Indy, getting out front three separate times for a total of 19 laps. But Wheldon passes her with seven laps to go and easily holds on.

2006 — Rafael Nadal passes Guillermo Vilas as the King of the clay courts and begins his pursuit of a second successive French Open trophy. Nadal earns his 54th consecutive win on clay, breaking the Open era record he shared with Vilas by beating Robin Soderling in straight sets in the first round at Roland Garros.

2011 — JR Hildebrand, one turn from winning the Indianapolis 500, skids high into the wall on the final turn and Dan Wheldon drives past to claim an improbable second Indy 500 win in his first race of the year.

2011 — Roger Federer sets another record by reaching the French Open quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic closes in on a pair of his own. Federer extends his quarterfinal streak at major tournaments to 28 with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic maintains his perfect season to 41-0 and stretches his overall winning streak to 43 matches by beating Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

2012 — Serena Williams loses in the first round of a major tournament for the first time, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the French Open. Williams enters the day with a 46-0 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments.

2016 — Alexander Rossi wins the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

2021 — UEFA Champions League Final, Porto: Kai Havertz scores just before halftime to give Chelsea a 1-0 win over Manchester City in an all-English final; Blues’ second CL title.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1916 — Christy Mathewson defeated the Boston Braves 3-0 for the New York Giants’ 17th consecutive road win.

1922 — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled organized baseball was primarily a sport and not a business, and therefore not subject to antitrust laws and interstate commerce regulations. The suit had been brought by the Federal League’s Baltimore franchise.

1928 — Bill Terry hit for the cycle to lead the New York Giants to a 12-5 win over Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. Terry became the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.

1942 — New York’s Lefty Gomez, self-described as the worst-hitting pitcher in baseball, banged out four hits while pitching a 16-1 four-hitter against Washington.

1946 — Edward Klep became the first white to play in the Negro leagues in a game played in Grand Rapids. Klep pitched seven innings for the Cleveland Buckeyes against the American Giants in his debut with the Negro American League team.

1956 — Dale Long went hitless for the Pirates, ending his major league record streak of home runs in eight consecutive games. The Brooklyn Dodgers beat Pittsburgh, 10-1.

1965 — Philadelphia’s Richie Allen hit a 529-foot home run over the roof of Connie Mack Stadium off Chicago’s Larry Jackson in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory.

1976 — Houston’s Joe Niekro was the winning pitcher and hit a home run off his brother, Phil Niekro. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1. It was the only home run hit by Joe in his 22-year major league career.

1990 — Oakland’s Rickey Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s 62-year-old American League stolen base record, but the Toronto Blue Jays still beat the Athletics 2-1. Henderson’s 893rd steal came in the sixth inning.

2000 — Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde turned the 10th unassisted triple play in regular-season history during a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. With runners on first and second in motion, Shane Spencer hit a line drive to Velarde who caught the ball, tagged out Jorge Posada (running from first) and stepped on second to beat Tino Martinez.

2002 — Roger Clemens recorded the 100th double-digit strikeout game of his career, fanning 11 in seven innings against Chicago. Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (175) were the others to have 100 double-digit strikeout games.

2002 — In an article in Sports Illustrated former NL MVP Ken Caminiti stated that about 50% of current major league players used some form of steroids.

2003 — Colorado, behind Todd Helton’s three home runs and Ron Belliard’s five hits beat the visiting Dodgers 12-5. Helton added a single and drove in six runs.

2010 — Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in major league history, beating the Florida Marlins 1-0. It was the first time in the modern era that there were a pair of perfect games in the same season. Halladay faced three Marlins pinch-hitters in the ninth. Mike Lamb led off with a long fly ball, Wes Helms struck out, and Ronny Paulino to hit a grounder to third for the 27th out. Halladay struck out 11 and went to either 3-1 or 3-2 counts seven times, twice in the game’s first three batters alone.

2013 — Chris Davis went 4 for 4 with two home runs, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame three homers by Ryan Zimmerman to beat the Washington Nationals 9-6.

2013 — Dioner Navarro had the first three-homer game of his career, connecting from both sides of the plate at Wrigley Field to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. Navarro drove in a career-high six runs and scored four times.

2014 — Diamondbacks pitcher Josh Collmenter faces the minimum 27 batters in spite of allowing three hits in a complete game shutout defeat of the Cincinnati Reds. The three Reds baserunners were erased on double plays.

2015 — Lewis-Clark State wins their 17th NAIA baseball title.

2021 — The Twins’ Josh Donaldson scored the two-millionth run in major league history.

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.

CLEVELAND — The Dodgers got five good innings out of Clayton Kershaw on Wednesday. Then they let it go to waste in a five-run eighth inning.

Despite leading most of the day at Progressive Field, seeking to end their East Coast road trip with a three-game sweep against the Cleveland Guardians, the Dodgers instead lost 7-4 after an eighth-inning meltdown.

It was three ground ball singles, one walk to load the bases and one mighty Angel Martínez swing that changed the game.

Leading 4-2 entering the eighth, Dodgers left-hander Tanner Scott took the mound for his second inning of work, manager Dave Roberts asking for an up-and-down outing out of his recently up-and-down closer.

Scott’s appearance had started well, striking out Gavirel Arias to escape a jam in the seventh inning.

But, in what was charged as already his fifth blown save of the season, he failed to limit damage as a threat began to brew.

Jhonkensy Noel led off the frame with a ground ball up the middle, after second baseman Kiké Hernández got to it in the hole but had no chance to make a throw. Will Wilson followed that with a spinning ball up the third base line, its awkward hop off the edge of the infield grass tripping up Max Muncy for another infield single.

Scott only hurt his own cause from there, walking Daniel Schneemann in a left-on-left matchup to load the bases.

And though he fanned Austin Hedges for the first out of the inning, Nolan Jones hit a one-out bouncer that found a hole through the left side of a shifted infield. Two runs came around to score. A lead the Dodgers had held since the fourth inning had suddenly evaporated.

The final blow came in the next at-bat, when left-hander Alex Vesia entered the game and quickly fell behind 2-and-0 to Martínez. Vesia tried to get back in the count with a fastball up in the zone. Martínez instead delivered a knockout blow, belting a three-run homer to left to complete the Guardians’ five-run rally.

The ending meant that Kershaw, who gave up just one run in five innings despite generating only three strikeouts, was left with a no-decision — and that the Dodgers had to settle for only a 3-3 record on this New York-Cleveland road trip, stumbling to another frustrating loss during a stretch of the season that has recently been full of them.

From Jack Harris: For a few weeks now, the Dodgers have been in the “treading water” portion of their season, trying to work through injuries in their pitching staff and inconsistencies in the lineup to remain atop the National League West standings.

On Tuesday, in a 9-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field, two of their coldest hitters finally gave them some comfortable space to breathe.

In a game that was close until the final few innings, Michael Conforto and Max Muncy both showed long-awaited signs of life at the plate, each reaching base three times and each hitting late home runs to help the Dodgers pull away on a cool night in Cleveland.

“It’s big,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It adds the length [to the lineup] that we expected coming into this season.”

For much of this year, that length had been missing, the Dodgers forced to navigate around subpar production from both veteran sluggers — both at the plate and in the field.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Oklahoma City 128, at Minnesota 126 (box score)
Wednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
at Indiana 130, New York 121 (box score)
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*
Monday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

ANGELS

From Bill Shaikin: The adjective hit me like a line drive.

Wayne Randazzo, the television voice of the Angels, was detailing just how poorly the team’s relievers had performed. He recited the Angels’ earned-run average in the late innings, inning by inning. Over 5.00. Over 6.00. In the ninth inning, at that time, over 7.00.

“The numbers,” Randazzo said, “are gargantuan.”

What a colorful, descriptive and absolutely apt adjective. Not the “struggling” or “scuffling” or “slumping” a broadcaster typically offers, bland adjectives presented with the assurance that better times are ahead. No team can win with that kind of bullpen performance, and no one can guarantee that better times are ahead for a relief corps where only the closer has a successful track record.

For all that has gone wrong on the field for the Angels in modern times, they have struck gold in the broadcast booth. In pairing Randazzo with longtime analyst Mark Gubicza, the Angels just might have their best broadcast team since Dick Enberg and Don Drysdale half a century ago.

Continue reading here

————

Carlos Rodón pitched seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball, and Devin Williams barely survived a perilous ninth inning to earn his first save since April 17 in the New York Yankees’ 3-2 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.

Yoán Moncada homered in the ninth as the Angels ended a stretch of 16 scoreless innings in the series with two runs and three hits off Williams, the Yankees’ embattled new reliever. Williams lost the closer role last month after a shaky beginning to his New York tenure, and he hadn’t had a save opportunity since April 25.

After Moncada led off the ninth with a homer on his 30th birthday, Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Ward scored when Jo Adell grounded into a forceout, but Williams got pinch-hitter Logan O’Hoppe on a foul popup to secure his fifth save and the Yankees’ seventh straight series win.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: When the Sparks traded for Kelsey Plum, the buzz around her reunion with former championship teammate Dearica Hamby centered on one thing: their pedigree elevating the franchise.

On Tuesday night, fans got a glimpse of the potential that the duo could attain. The chemistry. The comfort. The way they fed off each other’s energy — stepping up when the Sparks needed it most, looking to build momentum off a previous hard-fought victory.

By the fourth quarter of an 88-82 loss to the Atlanta Dream (4-2) on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, the Sparks (2-4) were on the verge of a comeback. A steal by Hamby near midcourt turned into an outlet on the fastbreak to Plum, who quickly dished it back for the finish, trimming the deficit to 66–63.

The second half belonged to them. Plum and Hamby combined for 39 points to rally the Sparks from a 40–31 halftime hole. Like clockwork, Plum buried a clutch three-pointer to cut the lead to 71–70 — the closest L.A. would get. Hamby’s late free throws pulled them to within two in the final minutes.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

LAFC

From Kevin Baxter: Carlos Vela, the first player signed by LAFC and still the club record-holder in goals, assists, games and minutes played, announced his retirement Tuesday. The team said in announcement that Vela will work with LAFC as its first Black and Gold Ambassador. He will also be honored on Carlos Vela Night at BMO Stadium on Sept. 21.

“Helping to build LAFC and winning trophies for the club is a highlight of my career,” Vela, 36, said in a statement issued by the team. “This club means so much to me and my family, and I am proud of everything we have accomplished together with the great fans of Los Angeles. I am excited to begin this next chapter in my journey here in L.A.”

Vela signed a designated-player contract with LAFC in August 2017, eight months before the team’s first game. He led LAFC to the playoffs in his first season, then set the MLS single-season goal-scoring record with 34 in 2019, when the team won the first of two Supporters’ Shields. Vela was named the league’s MVP that season

Continue reading here

GALAXY

From Kevin Baxter: The last time Bruce Arena and Dave Sarachan stood together on the sidelines at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Galaxy were beating the Colorado Rapids in the MLS Western Conference semifinals. That was 2016 and the win was the pair’s 18th playoff victory in eight seasons with the Galaxy.

It was also the last game they coached together in Carson.

They’ll be back on Wednesday, only this time Arena and Sarachan will be in the opposite technical area, standing in front of the San José Earthquakes’ bench. And in some ways it’s a bittersweet return. Because while both men have mostly fond memories of their time with the Galaxy, they return with the home team hungry and winless through 15 games, the longest drought in franchise history.

That makes the homecoming both welcome and challenging.

“I have nothing but good memories of my time in L.A. with the Galaxy. So it’s nice to go back,” Arena said.

“I like watching them and they’ve had tough times. But they’re better than their record indicates. We’re the next team up, which will be in some ways very, very challenging because you know they’re due to have success.”

Continue reading here

U.S. MEN’S SOCCER TEAM

From Kevin Baxter: With the World Cup, one the U.S. will play at home, just 380 days away, Captain America has decided to take a pass on the national team’s last major competition ahead of the tournament.

That’s Pulisic’s choice, of course. He’s played a grueling schedule with AC Milan this season, one that concludes Sunday, a week before the national team reports to camp in Chicago.

And he has permission.

“Christian and his team approached the Federation and the coaching staff about the possibility of stepping back this summer, given the amount of matches he has played,” said Matt Crocker, U.S. Soccer’s sporting director, noting that Pulisic has played more than 4,400 minutes for club and country the last 12 months.

Nor is Pulisic alone in his absence. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Josh Sargent and Yunus Musah, Pulisic’s teammate in Milan, were also left off the 27-man roster summoned to training camp ahead next month’s Gold Cup, although some of those players will be participating in the Club World Cup.

Yet even if reason and rules are strongly on Pulisic’s side, the optics are bad.

Continue reading here

USC-NOTRE DAME POLL

Let’s hear from you. Could a smoother path to the College Football Playoff be worth losing the Notre Dame-USC rivalry? Vote here and let us know. Results announced next week.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
at Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 (summary)
Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*
Monday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Carolina 3, at Florida 0 (summary)
Wednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT
Friday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Sunday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1901 — Parader, ridden by Fred Landry, overcomes a bad start to win the Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Sadie S.

1904 — Bryn Mawr, ridden by Eugene Hildebrand, wins the Preakness Stakes by one length over Wotan.

1958 — European Cup Final, Brussels: Francisco Gento scores the winner in extra time as Real Madrid beats AC Milan, 3-2; 3rd consecutive title for Los Blancos.

1969 — European Cup Final, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid: AC Milan striker Pierino Prati scores 3 in 4-1 win over Ajax; second title for I Rossoneri.

1975 — 19th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Leeds United 2-0 at Paris.

1978 — Al Unser wins his third Indianapolis 500, the fifth driver to do so, edging Tom Sneva by 8.19 seconds.

1980 — 24th European Cup: Nottingham Forest beats Hamburg 1-0 at Madrid.

1985 — The San Diego Sockers beat the Baltimore Blast 5-3 to win the MISL title in five games.

1995 — Jacques Villeneuve overcomes one penalty and wins by another in the Indianapolis 500. Villeneuve drives to victory after fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear is penalized for passing the pace car on the final restart.

1997 — 5th UEFA Champions League Final: Borussia Dortmund beats Juventus 3-1 at Munich.

2000 — Dutch swimming star Inge de Bruijn sets her third world record in three days, adding the 100 freestyle mark to the 50 and 100 butterfly marks she set previously at the Sheffield Super Grand Prix. De Bruijn becomes the first swimmer to finish under 54.00 in the 100 freestyle at 53.80 seconds.

2003 — Patrick Roy officially announces his retirement from the NHL.

2003 — 11th UEFA Champions League Final: Milan beats Juventus (0-0, 3-2 on penalties) at Manchester.

2006 — Sam Hornish Jr. overcomes a disastrous mistake in the pits and a pair of Andrettis — Marco and father Michael — to win the second-closest Indianapolis 500 ever, by .0635 seconds.

2007 — Duke has an almost unfathomable comeback fall short in a 12-11 loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA lacrosse championship game. The Blue Devils never finished their 2006 season, and then make it all the way back to the title game.

2011 — Novak Djokovic extends his perfect start to the season at the French Open, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 40th straight victory this year. Djokovic’s 40-0 start to 2011 is the second-best opening streak in the Open era, which started in 1968.

2011 — UEFA Champions League Final, London: FC Barcelona beats Manchester United, 3-1; 4th title for Barça.

2020 — The Boston Marathon canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. The race had originally been scheduled for April 20 before being postponed for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

2022 — UEFA Champions League Final, Paris: Carlo Ancelotti becomes first manager to win CL x 4 as Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 1-0.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1918 — Boston’s Joe Bush pitched a 1-0 one-hitter against the Chicago White Sox and drove in the lone run. The only Chicago hit was by Happy Felsch. It occurred when he threw his bat at the ball on a hit and run.

1939 — Philadelphia pitcher Robert Joyce was victimized two straight days by New York’s George Selkirk. Joyce gave up two homers to Selkirk a day earlier. Joyce came on in relief on this day and gave up two more homers to Selkirk. Selkirk ended with four homers in four at-bats against the same pitcher over two successive games. The Yankees won 9-5.

1946 — The Washington Senators beat New York 2-1 in the first night game at Yankee Stadium. The first ball was thrown out by General Electric president Charles E. Wilson.

1951 — After going 0-for-12 in his first three major league games, Willie Mays of the New York Giants hit a home run off Warren Spahn in a 4-1 loss to the Boston Braves.

1956 — Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a home run in his eighth consecutive game, a major league record. Long connected off Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine at Forbes Field.

1968 — The American League announced the league will be split into two divisions. The East division will consist of Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Washington. California, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland and Seattle will make up the West.

1979 — George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit for the cycle and added another home run to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 in 16 innings.

1986 — Joe Cowley of the Chicago White Sox set a major league record by striking out the first seven batters he faced. He lasted 4 2-3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Texas Rangers.

1995 — The White Sox and Tigers set a major league record with 12 homers, and combined for an American League-record 21 extra-base hits in Chicago’s 14-12 victory in Detroit.

1998 — Arizona manager Buck Showalter intentionally walked Barry Bonds with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the Diamondbacks held on to beat San Francisco 8-7.

2003 – Atlanta became the second team in major league history to start a game with three straight homers in its 15-3 win over the Reds. Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield hit consecutive home runs off Jeff Austin in the bottom of the first. The Padres did it against the Giants on April 13, 1987.

2006 — Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run during the San Francisco Giants’ 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies to slip past Babe Ruth and pull in behind Hank Aaron and his long-standing record of 755.

2007 — Adrian Beltre tied a franchise record with four extra-base hits, including two homers, as Seattle pounded the Angels 12-5.

2010 — Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera hit three homers in a 5-4 loss to Oakland. Oakland’s Ben Sheets gave up three runs — on Cabrera’s first two homers — worked seven innings in his longest start of the season.

2012 — The Cubs end a twelve-game losing streak, their longest since 1997, with an 11-7 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field.

2013 — The Mets honor Yankees great Mariano Rivera, who has announced his retirement at the end of the year, by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the two teams from the Big Apple at Citi Field, with retired Mets closer John Franco acting as his catcher for the occasion.

2016 — In the third inning of a game against the Dodgers, Mets P Noah Syndergaard is ejected for throwing at Chase Utley, in apparent retaliation for Utley’s aggressive slide which injured Mets SS Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS. Umpire Adam Hamari also tosses Mets manager Terry Collins for arguing his decision, then Utley gets his revenge when he opens the score with a solo homer off Logan Verrett in the 6th and adds a grand slam off Hansel Robles in the 7th. The Dodgers hit five homers in total as they win the game, 9-1.

2019 — Derek Dietrich continues his unlikely homer binge as he hits three, all two-run shots, in leading the Reds to an 11-6 win over the Pirates. With 17 homers this year, he has already topped his career high, and 12 of his last 17 hits have gone over the fence. For the Pirates, rookie Kevin Newman hits his first career homer, a grand slam off Lucas Sims.

2023 — Spencer Strider of the Braves becomes the fastest starting pitcher to record 100 strikeouts in a season, doing so in his 61st inning in an 11 – 4 win over the Phillies. Last year, Strider set the record for the fastest pitcher to reach 200 Ks in a season.

Compiled by the Associated Press

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. Whether you’ve been paying attention or not, high school football is changing. Let’s discuss.

Dealing with changes

Corona Centennial football coach Matt Logan.

(Jeremiah Soifer )

Rolling your eyes has been the theme if you follow college football and high school football. Changes keep happening because rules are in flux regarding name, image and likeness. Transfer numbers keep growing. Agents are picking up clients who are teenagers. Parents are examining options. Coaches are adjusting on the fly.

It’s the best of times and the worst of times. Many believe things will settle when court cases are finalized. Others believe amateur football has been changed forever.

Here’s a look at some of the issues, good and bad, that are affecting the high school football world.

Baseball

El Camino Real pitcher Devin Gonor celebrates after completing three-hit shutout over Venice on Saturday in a 2-0 win in the City Section Open Division final at Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston)

Devin Gonor of El Camino Real proved Saturday at Dodger Stadium that trusting the process still works. He played on the freshman team, then the junior varsity team for two years. He waited his turn, made his varsity debut last season as a junior and this season is 11-1 and pitched a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Venice to give El Camino Real its 10th City Section Open Division title. Here’s a look at how the Royals did it.

Carson players celebrate after a 3-1 win over Banning in the City Section Division I final at Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston)

Carson won its first ever City Section title in baseball by taking the Division I crown with a 3-1 comeback win over rival Banning at Dodger Stadium. Here’s the report.

Crespi players launch a victory celebration in the ninth inning of a 3-2 win over Mira Costa.

(Craig Weston)

The final week of the Southern Section season begins Tuesday with semifinals in Division 1 featuring Corona at St. John Bosco and Crespi at Santa Margarita. Here’s a report on the quarterfinals that saw four close games.

Seth Hernandez of Corona celebrates after hitting the first of his two three-run home runs.

(Nick Koza)

It also was the week Seth Hernandez of Corona hit two three-run home runs and struck out 10 in an impressive playoff performance. He’ll pitch Tuesday. Here’s a report. And Venice’s Canon King went five for five in a semifinal win over Sylmar. Here’s the report.

Here’s the complete Tuesday schedule.

Softball

El Modena players greet Kaitlyn Galasso after her first-inning home run against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

(Craig Weston)

It will be El Modena playing Norco for the Southern Section Division 1 softball championship this weekend in Irvine.

El Modena came through earlier in the week with a comeback semifinal win over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Here’s the report.

On Saturday, Norco defeated Ayala and El Modena knocked off Temescal Canyon to reach the final in a season where hitters have had the advantage over pitchers. Here’s the report.

The City Section has its semifinals Wednesday with Granada Hills hosting Venice and San Pedro hosting Carson. The championship game will be played Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

Track

Birmingham’s Antrell Harris (center) runs stride for stride with Granada Hills’ Justin Hart, left, in the boys 200-meter final at the City Section Track and Field Championships.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Birmingham football standout Antrell Harris was one of the stars at the City Section track and field championships, winning the 100 and 200. He’s headed this weekend to compete in the state championships at Buchanan High in Clovis. The weather report is for temperatures in the triple digits.

Here’s a report from the City championships.

The Southern Section held its Masters Meet, and RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga was the top qualifier in the 200 and has one more week of high school competition left before he heads off to play football at USC. Here’s the report.

Golf

Joseph Wong of Granada Hills won the City Section individual golf title.

(Steve Galluzzo)

Joseph Wong of Granada Hills won the City Section golf championship. Here’s the report.

Grant Leary of Crespi won the Southern Section individual golf championship with a 66 for a one-stroke victory. Here’s a roundup of Southern Section team champions. Here’s a look at Leary.

Volleyball

Mira Costa has qualified from Southern California to compete in the first state championship in boys volleyball Saturday at Fresno City College. The Mustangs will face Archbishop Mitty from San Jose.

Here’s the compete schedule of state championship matchups and results from regional finals.

Notes . . .

Catcher Trent Grindlinger of Huntington Beach has changed his commitment from Mississippi State to Tennessee. . . .

Former Bishop Amat football coach Steve Hagerty will become athletic director at West Covina. . . .

Ethan Damato is leaving Laguna Beach to become girls water polo coach at JSerra. . . .

Connor Ohl, a junior at Newport Harbor, has committed to Stanford for water polo. . . .

Oliver Muller is the new boys soccer coach at Oaks Christian. . . .

YULA and Shalhevet, two schools that pulled out of the Southern Section baseball playoffs to participate in a Jewish tournament in Ohio, have been placed on probation and banned from next year’s playoffs for violating Southern Section rules about outside participation during the season. Here’s an opinion piece on how the decision by the two schools will hurt coaches and athletes. . . .

Former Chatsworth football coach Marvin Street has accepted a teaching position at El Camino Real and will become the junior varsity head coach. . . .

Loyola running back Sean Morris has committed to Northwestern. . . .

Kevin Reynolds, the basketball coach at Villa Park for 30 years, died Friday morning, the school announced. He was 59. He had been diagnosed with cancer. His teams won 634 games in his coaching career. . . .

John Quick, who was a longtime basketball coach in the South Bay, has died. . . .

Loyola’s James Dell’Amico has committed to Pepperdine baseball. . . .

Former Tesoro football coach Matt Poston is the new athletic director at San Clemente. . . .

The CIF state championships in tennis will be held Saturday in Fresno. Irvine University has qualified. …

Darius Spates is the new athletic director at Verbum Dei. He’s a 2012 graduate.

From the archives: Pete Crow-Armstrong

Drew Bowser (left) won the home run derby and MVP honors at the Perfect Game All-American Classic and Harvard-Westlake teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong also played in the game.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Harvard-Westlake has produced some outstanding pitchers who went on to the major leagues, but Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs is the Wolverines’ first breakthrough every day player. As a center fielder with electric speed, he has come into his own this season to become an All-Star candidate.

He used to be a teammate of Drew Bowser, who went to Stanford instead of signing out of high school and is now working his way up in the minors.

Crow-Armstrong entered last week hitting .290 with 12 home runs. He hit a two-run home run Friday against former Sherman Oaks Notre Dame pitcher Hunter Greene of the Reds.

His senior year got cut short in 2020 because of the pandemic. Here’s an interview with Crow-Armtrong from that year and how he kept his focus on the future.

Here’s a story from 2019 on how he had become a hitting machine.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on what a rowing coxswain does.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on UC Irvine baseball coach Ben Orloff, a Simi Valley High graduate.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on the new Compton High campus opening this fall with fantastic athletic facilities.

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.

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

CLEVELAND — It had been a while since the Dodgers’ last stress-free win.

Over their previous nine games entering Monday, the team had won just three times — and needed extra-innings after blown ninth-inning saves in two of them, and a late-game go-ahead home run from Teoscar Hernández in the other.

Such theatrics underscored the club’s underwhelming play in recent weeks, with manager Dave Roberts bemoaning everything from poor fundamentals, to continued pitching injuries, to a lineup that had most of all gotten back out of sync.

“We’ve got to kind of lock in our hitting zone,” Roberts said Monday afternoon, “and continue to take good swings.”

In a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Memorial Day, the Dodgers finally did.

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto cruised through a six-inning, two-run start, the club’s lineup waking from a recent lull that had seen them fail to top five runs (excluding extra innings) in each of their last seven games.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, left, runs the bases after leading off the game with a home run against the Cleveland Guardians on May 26.

(David Dermer / Associated Press)

Shohei Ohtani provided an early spark, hitting a leadoff home run for the second-straight game to take the MLB lead with 19 long balls. Andy Pages added an RBI single in the second inning, before the Dodgers mounted two extended rallies in the fifth and sixth, scoring two runs in each inning.

The bullpen was shakier, Alex Vesia having to strand two runners in the seventh before Tanner Scott — coming off two blown saves in his previous three outings — worked around José Ramírez’s second double of the game in the eighth for Cleveland (29-24).

But in the top of the ninth, Will Smith punctuated the night with a home run over the tall left-field wall at Progressive Field to ensure the Dodgers (33-21) got back in the win column.

Former Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor signed a one-year, major league minimum contract with the Angels on Monday.

Taylor will start in center field against the New York Yankees on Monday and bat eighth.

Angels prospect Kyren Paris, who was struggling at the plate in recent weeks — hitting just .190 — was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake City to make room for Taylor on the roster.

“He’s been through the wars,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Taylor, adding that the Angels plan to use him in the outfield and the infield. “He’s a good piece for those young guys to talk to about how to handle a grind. He’s been in a grind over there with L.A., every day, winning, and we want that.”

Released by the Dodgers in the final year of his four-year, $60-million contract last week, Taylor was hitting .200 with seven hits in 35 at-bats before entering free agency.

A career .250 hitter and a one-time All-Star, the 34-year-old Taylor has experience playing in the infield and all three outfield positions, adding versatility and depth to an Angels team waiting for outfielder Mike Trout’s return from the injured list (knee). Angels closer Kenley Jansen, who played alongside Taylor on the Dodgers from 2016 to 2021, learned of Taylor’s signing while on his way to Angel Stadium.

“It’s nice to have him back,” said Jansen, who said he spoke to Angels general manager Perry Minasian about Taylor on Sunday. “I think once he gets more playing time here, I think, you know, it’s going to be great for the organization and help us win ball games.”

When asked about Taylor’s release Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his former longest-tenured position player was looking for an opportunity to play more often rather than accepting a demotion to triple-A.

“He wanted an opportunity, if it wasn’t going to be here to play more, to play somewhere else,” Roberts said. “So that’s kind of the thought behind how it played out, and I respect him for betting on himself and hopefully get an opportunity to play more somewhere else.”

Three times in the ninth inning last Friday night in New York, new Dodgers closer Tanner Scott made the same simplistic, save-blowing mistake.

In an inning that saw Scott blow a three-run Dodgers lead — forcing the team into a 13-inning marathon that, despite eventually winning, their overworked bullpen could ill-afford — Scott got to two strikes against a Mets batter, only to leave a mistake pitch over the plate.

To Starling Marte, it was a 1-and-2 fastball up and over the middle, resulting in a leadoff single.

After a one-out walk to Pete Alonso, Scott had Jeff McNeil 2-and-2 before throwing a belt-high heater on the inner half that was ripped for a two-run triple.

Another two-strike count followed to Tyrone Taylor, but Scott’s 1-and-2 slider hung up around the heart of zone, leading to a tying single that marked Scott’s fourth blown save in 14 opportunities this year and raised his ERA to 3.42 — hardly the numbers expected out of an All-Star left-hander signed to a $72-million contract this offseason.

“I think the stuff is still good,” manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “It’s just right now, it just seems like when there is a mistake, they find some outfield grass or put a good swing on it.”

And lately, such mistakes have been coming in more abundance than usual for Scott, highlighting one early-season trend the Dodgers are now working to address.

“Right now, he’s just kind of living in the middle, the midline of the zone,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “You leave it in that spot, more than likely they’re gonna put a good swing on it.”

Dodgers pitcher Tanner Scott embraces catcher Dalton Rushing after a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on May 21.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

For a pitcher who struggled with command issues early in his career — before blossoming into one of the top left-handed relievers in the sport of the last several seasons — Scott is now seemingly suffering from the opposite problem.

So far this year, more than 58% of his pitches have been in the strike zone, a rate that is easily a personal career high (well up from his previous high mark of 52.4% last year) and ranks 18th among qualified big-league relievers.

On top of that, hitters have been on such offerings as well, making contact on 80% of swings against Scott’s pitches over the plate (compared to his 76% career rate) and averaging almost 92 mph of exit velocity on balls put in play (leaving Scott in the seventh percentile of MLB arms when it comes to batted ball contact).

The good news is that Scott has 25 strikeouts and only two walks. Even with his fastball playing a tick down velocity-wise (averaging 96.1 mph this year compared to 97 mph last year), he converted nine of his first 11 save opportunities, squandering only a pair of one-run leads while posting a sub-2.00 ERA through his first 21 appearances.

This past week, however, Scott was knocked around twice: Giving up three runs on two homers to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week (in another game that necessitated extra innings before the Dodgers came back to win) before his ninth-inning meltdown at Citi Field on Sunday.

“He’s actually been pretty good for us,” Roberts said of Scott’s performance overall. “But the last couple, the last two of three, he’s obviously given up leads.”

Scott said his increased aggressiveness in the strike zone has not been by design.

“I don’t even look at it,” he bristled when asked about his rise in in-zone pitch percentage this weekend. “I don’t even look at it.”

But Prior acknowledged it is something on the coaching staff’s radar.

“Obviously, we want strikes; more strikes than balls,” Prior said. “But he gets in situations where he can get into counts, and I think we’re just leaving too many balls in the zone late in counts, instead of going for more miss.”

Friday’s blown save being Exhibit A.

“I’m not putting [guys] away,” acknowledged Scott, whose whiff rate has also dropped to 26.6% this season compared to his 34.7% career average. “I’m not getting the swing-and-miss, and I’m keeping the ball in the zone too much.”

To Prior, it’s even OK if Scott starts “to walk a few more guys,” he said, “[if] in turn he can get more chase out of the zone when you have leverage.”

“He’s still a really good pitcher,” Prior added. “So we’re going to bank on him.”

Dodgers pitcher Tanner Scott throws from the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 20 at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Right now, the Dodgers don’t have much of a choice.

Fellow high-leverage relievers Evan Phillips (forearm discomfort), Blake Treinen (forearm sprain), Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) and Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) are all out injured. And while Kopech is on a minor-league rehab assignment, and Yates and Treinen are both beginning throwing programs, Phillips’ absence is starting to become “concerning,” Roberts acknowledged this weekend, with the team’s former ninth-inning fixture now going on three weeks without throwing because of an injury initially expected to keep him out for only the minimum 15 days.

“I’m getting a little kind of concerned,” Roberts said of Phillips, “but hoping for the best.”

It all makes Scott’s performance in save opportunities particularly crucial for the Dodgers right now.

Given the team’s MLB-high bullpen workload this year, Roberts has been forced to be selective when it comes to the usage of the few high-leverage relievers still at his disposal. Having Scott blow games in which the team has already burned its best other relief bullets, and could potentially face the added burden of resulting extra innings, are all taxing side effects the Dodgers are not currently equipped to handle.

“To be quite fair,” Roberts noted of Scott, whose 23 ⅔ innings are only fourth-most in the bullpen, “the other guys have been used a lot more than he has.”

Thus, while Scott might only require simple adjustments, such as better locating his fastball up and out of the zone and more consistently executing his slider in locations that induce more chase, enacting such changes quickly is paramount.

After all, the Dodgers made him one of the highest-paid relievers in baseball this offseason to stabilize their bullpen. And lately, he’s instead been one more source of unneeded flux.

NEW YORK — It had been more than two weeks since Juan Soto, the only man in baseball with a richer contract than Shohei Ohtani, had recorded an extra-base hit for the New York Mets.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Saturday night at Citi Field, however, Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin provided him the perfect opportunity to get back on track.

After a solid opening three innings for Gonsolin, who was making an all-important start for the Dodgers a night after their 13-inning marathon victory in the series opener, the right-hander had made a mess for himself in the fourth.

With two outs, he issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to load the bases. The Dodgers’ early one-run lead then disappeared when Starling Marte reached on a half-swing infield single.

That brought up Soto, who had underperformed through much of his first two months in Queens after signing a $765-million mega-contract with the Mets. Gonsolin got ahead 1-and-2 in the count, before narrowly missing with a slider. He tried to come back with his trademark splitter. But Soto was all over it, crushing a two-run double that proved to be the decisive blow in New York’s 5-2 victory over the Dodgers.

“At the outset, I was pretty optimistic, getting a 2-0 lead,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And then there was that [fourth inning] where he sort of lost command, had two outs and the back-to-back walks. … And obviously the big hit from Soto with two outs. He just couldn’t kind of limit damage right there.”

In what likely will be a preview of what’s to come for the Dodgers (32-20) over a grueling portion of their schedule in the next month, the team’s fate Saturday was almost entirely reliant upon the performance of their starter.

On Friday night, their already overworked bullpen had been gassed again by their extra-inning gantlet. And though they won that game, and freshened up their pitching staff by calling up Bobby Miller on Saturday for some extra length, Roberts had his hands tied as Gonsolin started to lose command.

Juan Soto runs to first base after hitting a two-run double in the fourth inning Saturday against the Dodgers.

(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)

Over his first three innings against the Mets (31-21), Gonsolin had been fine, giving up one run in a two-out rally in the second by skirting more danger in the third by dialing up an inning-ending double-play with runners on the corners.

The fourth was a different story.

Luis Torrens led with a single. Tyrone Taylor clobbered a fly ball that seemed like a no-doubter off the bat before dying in a stiff breeze at the left-field warning track. Then, Gonsolin became erratic, throwing eight consecutive balls to Brett Baty and Francisco Lindor to load the bases for the heart of the Mets’ order.

“Very upset with the walks,” Gonsolin said. “Don’t walk those guys, potentially that inning looks a lot different. Just need to attack guys.”

Maybe on a night the Dodgers’ bullpen was fresh, Roberts could have considered summoning a lefty to face Soto once Gonsolin began floundering. But after using seven of his eight relievers the previous night, he had no choice but to leave Gonsolin in as the four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger came to the plate.

Five pitches later, Soto changed the game — sending Citi Field into euphoria with his go-ahead double that banged high off the wall in right center, the inning only ending when Marte was thrown out at home trying to score from first as the trail runner.

“Thought I executed a slider really well there,” Gonsolin said of a two-strike offering that Soto didn’t bite on. “He’s got a really good eye. Barely missed.

“Then yeah, the splitter, thought it was a solid one, just elevated it. And he didn’t miss it.”

Gonsolin did return to the mound and completed the fifth, saving at least one inning that otherwise would have fallen upon the Dodgers’ bullpen. Miller also contributed two innings at the end, giving up one run in the eighth and getting out of a bases-loaded jam.

But on the other side, Mets starter David Peterson had no trouble going deep, using sharp command with his sinker, seven strikeouts and three double plays to get through 7 ⅔ innings of two-run ball.

“There wasn’t much offensive energy tonight, as far as how we were swinging, the at-bats we were taking,” Roberts said. “So to try to chase and use leverage guys in a down game, it just didn’t make any sense for me.”

So goes things for the Dodgers right now; ever mindful of their MLB-leading bullpen workload, and needing better production from their starters than what Gonsolin provided.

Oklahoma City bound.

UCLA softball is heading to its 33rd Women’s College World Series after rallying from a game down to win the Columbia Super Regional, defeating South Carolina 5-0 in the series decider at Beckham Field on Sunday.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “To be able to be a final eight [team] is a goal, and the ability to overcome day one is because they [players] were so committed to the process and allowed them to take a trip back to OKC.”

After Jordan Woolery kept UCLA’s (54-11) season alive with a walk-off home run in Game 2, she picked up right where she left off with a first-inning RBI single off South Carolina (44-17) starting pitcher Sam Gress. The Bruins failed to tack on runs with the bases loaded, but Kaitlyn Terry made sure the early tally was enough.

Terry threw 5 ⅔ innings of two-hit shutout ball with four strikeouts before giving way to Saturday’s starting pitcher, Taylor Tinsley. She allowed only one runner into scoring position through the first five innings, handcuffing South Carolina’s powerful offense all day. Between Terry and Tinsley over the last two days, the Bruins only allowed four runs and 12 hits, all singles, across their two victories.

“I think honestly it was just spinning the ball and trusting my stuff,” Terry said.

From nine runs given up on Friday to four Saturday and a shutout in the rubber game, UCLA’s pitching only improved as the series went on.

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*
Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score)
New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score)
Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT
Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*
Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.

Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.

Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.

“I thought that infused some life into us,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Alas, it wouldn’t last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.

Continue reading here

Shohei Ohtani throws live batting practice session 19 months after Tommy John surgery

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

From Benjamin Royer: Angels manager Ron Washington knew his team needed cultural adjustments.

It wasn’t just handling the 40-man roster general manager Perry Minasian assembled. The 73-year-old skipper, in his second season leading the Halos, identified a characteristic missing from last year’s Angels. Washington said his goal was for the Angels to become a family.

Looking back on two weeks ago, when the Angels stumbled to a 17-25 record after a hot start to begin the season, Washington said he felt the buy-in to the family ideology already seeped into the walls of the clubhouse — featuring a roster makeup mixing veterans with postseason success along his young starters across his infield. The results, however, were yet to come.

“My clubhouse was already jelled,” Washington said. “We just had to start playing good baseball.”

The Angels didn’t just play good baseball. They were the best in baseball across the last two weeks. With seven of eight victories coming on the road — a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and a four-game sweep of the Athletics — the Angels riddled off an eight-game winning streak.

After dropping Saturday’s game to the Marlins (21-30) in 6-2 fashion, the Angels (25-27) couldn’t respond Sunday, falling 3-0 to Miami to lose the weekend series. Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera sailed through 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 as the Angels’ offense struggled to produce for back-to-back days and tallied just three hits.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

From Anthony De Leon: Against the Chicago Sky, the Sparks found themselves in a must-win situation, not in the grand scheme of the standings, but for peace of mind. A win to help with confidence and morale.

After a week riddled with injuries and a three-game skid, Sunday’s matchup carried weight beyond the court — it mattered in the locker room. The pressure was starting to show, with visible signs of frustration from head coach Lynne Roberts down to the end of the bench.

The Sparks were a team searching for anything to swing the momentum back in their favor.

That shift came in the form of their superstar, Kelsey Plum, who took it upon herself to ignite the turnaround with a shooting clinic in the third quarter. Her flurry helped lift L.A. to a much-needed 91-78 win over the Sky at Crypto.com Arena.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

INDIANAPOLIS 500

Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of milk in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500. His wife had a sip, she in turn gave a sip to their baby, and team owner Chip Ganassi ended up with the bottle and took a drink, as well.

“Whole milk,” he said before switching to Spanish. “Esta muy, muy buena.”

Then, the first Spaniard to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” took a victory lap with them around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, Palou climbed onto its roof and raised his arms in triumph, the winning wreath draped around his neck. He briefly lost his balance and Ganassi instinctively reached out to grab his star driver.

No need.

Palou rarely makes a wrong move.

“All my family around, it’s amazing, honestly,” he said, smiling. “All the team around, they make me look really good on the track.”

Continue reading here

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary)
at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary)
Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*
Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary)
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Wednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Sunday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1963 — French Championships Men’s Tennis: Australian Roy Emerson beats home favorite Pierre Darmon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

1963 — French Championships Women’s Tennis: Australian Lesley Turner wins the first of 2 French titles; beats England’s Ann Jones 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

1972 — Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.

1982 — 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam.

1985 — Danny Sullivan misses almost certain disaster and holds off Mario Andretti and the rest of the fastest field in auto racing to win the Indianapolis 500. On the 119th lap, Sullivan spins his racer 360 degrees, narrowly avoiding both the wall and Andretti.

1987 — Boston’s Larry Bird steals an inbounds pass from Detroit’s Isiah Thomas and feeds over his shoulder to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the winning basket as the Celtics pulls out an improbable 108-107 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

1988 — The Edmonton Oilers, with MVP Wayne Gretzky leading the way, beat the Boston Bruins 6-3 to complete a four-game sweep and win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years.

1991 — Rick Mears passes Michael Andretti with 12 laps to go and wins his fourth Indianapolis 500, by 3.1 seconds. Mears joins A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only four-time winners.

1993 — 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich.

1994 — Haiti’s Ronald Agenor wins the longest match since the French Open adopted the tiebreaker. Agenor takes the 71st and final game of a second-round match with David Prinosil of Germany. His five-hour, 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 14-12 victory involves the most games in a French Open match since 1973.

1999 — 7th UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Barcelona.

2000 — New Jersey finishes the greatest comeback in a conference final when the Devils win the last three games of the series, beating the Flyers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Patrik Elias scores his second goal of the game with 2:32 to play for the win.

2004 — Andy Roddick loses at the French Open — to Frenchman Olivier Mutis, who is ranked 125th. With the five-set loss, Roddick joins Andre Agassi and eight other compatriots on the way home, making it the first Grand Slam tournament in more than 30 years without a U.S. man in the third round.

2005 — Americans Andy Roddick, James Blake and Vince Spadea fail to make it through the opening week at the French Open. For the second year in a row — and the second time at a Grand Slam event in more than 30 years — no American man makes it out of the second round.

2008 — Syracuse wins its 10th NCAA men’s lacrosse championship, beating defending champion Johns Hopkins 13-10 behind three goals from Dan Hardy. The crowd of 48,970 at Foxborough, Mass., is the largest to see an NCAA championship outdoors in any sport — the BCS football championship game isn’t an NCAA event.

2009 — NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Carolina Hurricanes, 4 games to 0.

2012 — Toronto FC ends its MLS record nine-game losing streak to open a season with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on a late goal by Danny Koevermans.

2013 — Tony Kanaan ends years of frustration by finally winning the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan drives past Ryan Hunter-Reay on a restart with three laps to go, then coasts across the finish line under yellow when defending race winner Dario Franchitti crashes far back in the field. The Brazilian finished second in 2004 and twice finished third.

2013 — Senior PGA Championship, Bellerive CC: Kōki Idoki of Japan wins his lone PGA event by 2 strokes from Jay Haas and Kenny Perry.

2015 — Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Eastern Conference.

2018 — UEFA Champions League Final, Kiev: Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 3-1 for third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles.

2019 — Indianapolis 500: 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud of France finishes just two-tenths of a second ahead of Alexander Rossi for Team Penske’s record-extending 18th victory in the event.

2019 — Senior PGA Championship, Oak Hill CC: American Ken Tanigawa wins his first career major title by 1 stroke ahead of Scott McCarron.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1916 — Benny Kauff of the Giants was picked off first base three times by Boston’s Lefty Tyler. The miscues didn’t hurt as New York won its 14th consecutive road victory beating the Braves, 12-1.

1925 — In Detroit’s 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Ty Cobb became the first to collect 1,000 career extra-base hits. He finished his career with 1,139.

1929 — Pinch-hitters Pat Crawford of the Giants and Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit grand slams in New York’s 15-9 victory.

1930 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians, who fanned only three times in 353 at-bats during the season, was struck out twice in the same game by Pat Caraway of the White Sox.

1937 — Billy Sullivan and Bruce Campbell appeared for the Cleveland Indians as pinch hitters. Each hit a home run, making this the first time two American League pinch hitters hit home runs in the same game. The Indians beat the Athletics, 8-6.

1956 — Cincinnati Reds pitchers John Klippstein, Hershell Freeman and Joe Black combined for 9 2-3 hitless innings, but lost 2-1 in 11 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies.

1959 — Harvey Haddix of Pittsburgh pitched 12 perfect innings before losing to Milwaukee 1-0 in the 13th on an error, a sacrifice and Joe Adcock’s double.

1962 — Sandy Koufax struck out 16 Phillies to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 victory.

1969 — Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 500th career double, becoming only the third major leaguer to reach 500 doubles and 500 home runs.

1995 — USC and Fresno State combined for an NCAA postseason baseball record of 39 runs in the Trojans’ 22-17 win in the West Regional. USC scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break the record of 37 set by the Trojans and Houston in 1990.

1996 — The Chicago White Sox became the 16th team in AL history to hit four homers in one inning in their 12-1 win over Milwaukee. Frank Thomas, Harold Baines and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers and Chad Kreuter added another in Chicago’s seven-run eighth.

1997 — Chicago’s Sammy Sosa and the Pirates’ Tony Womack hit inside-the-park homers in the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 2-1 win. It was the first time two inside-the-park homers had been hit in the same inning in 20 years.

2004 — Daryle Ward hit for the cycle and tied his career best with six RBIs in Pittsburgh’s 11-8 win over St. Louis.

2006 — Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.

2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5. The Phillies batted around three times and had season-highs in hits (19) and runs.

2011 — The hot-hitting Boston Red Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 14-1 in an eight-inning, rain-shortened game. The Red Sox, who beat Cleveland 14-2 the previous day, scored at least 14 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998.

2016 — Major League Baseball hands out a suspension of 82 games to Braves OF Hector Olivera, following a domestic violence incident in April. It is by far the most severe penalty yet handed out under baseball’s new domestic violence policy.

2018 — Mike Trout has the first five-hit game of his career and drives in 4 runs to lead the Angels to an 11-4 win over the Yankees.

2021 — Commissioner Rob Manfred issues his ruling following the completion of the investigation of allegations of improper behavior towards a number of women against former manager and coach Mickey Callaway. Callaway is found guilty of violating Major League Baseball policies and is declared ineligible for the remainder of this season and all of 2022, after which he may apply for reinstatement. For their part, the Angels fire him from his position of pitching coach, from which he has been suspended since the allegations surfaced in February, and the Indians, who were Callaway’s employer when some of the offensive incidents took place, state that they will take steps to ensure a more respectful environment in which employees feel empowered to denounce workplace harassement in the future.

2023 — Craig Kimbrel becomes the eighth pitcher to record 400 career saves in Philadelphia’s 6 – 4 win over the Braves, barely two weeks after Kenley Jansen became the seventh.

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.

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.

Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.

Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.

“I thought that infused some life into us,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Alas, it wouldn’t last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.

They were doomed by bad defense early, the Mets scoring three early runs with the help of two Dodgers errors. They were frustrated by wasted opportunities at the plate later, hitting into three double plays for a second consecutive game.

It sent the team to a series defeat in the weekend’s rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series. It also dropped them to 3-6 in their last nine games and 9-11 in their last 20.

Really, outside of their 8-0 start to the season, they’ve been little better than a .500 team, going just 24-21 since then (even with another seven-game winning streak mixed in to that stretch).

And while they’re still in first place in the NL West, and trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees for the best record in baseball, they aren’t playing like a team anywhere near that distinction.

“Tonight was one of those nights that we just gave them extra outs, and they took advantage,” Roberts said.

“It’s been pretty frustrating,” echoed third baseman Max Muncy. “Just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

There was no bigger self-inflicted wound than the one Muncy suffered in the bottom of the first.

After two strikeouts from Landon Knack to start the inning, Juan Soto hit a sharp grounder to third that Muncy bobbled on a high hop, recovering too late to throw Soto out at first.

It was Muncy’s eighth error of the season, second-most among MLB third basemen, and first not to come on a throw.

“It’s one of those things where I’m just really not good defensively right now,” Muncy said. “Not going to shy away from it, but all I can do is keep showing up every day, working on it, trying to figure things out, trying to get better. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

On Sunday, however, there was nothing Muncy could do.

One pitch later, Pete Alonso whacked a hanging curveball from Knack for a two-run homer. The Mets (32-21) wouldn’t squander the lead the rest of the way.

“We were trying to get it down a little bit, and obviously left it up,” Knack said. “I would say he’s a little more aggressive with runners on, so was able to take advantage of it.”

As Alonso rounded the bases, Muncy stared stoicly into the distance.

“It makes you feel like the game is on your shoulders. That’s how I feel, at least,” Muncy said. “It’s a play that needs to be made, and I should have made it. It’s just a frustrating one.”

There were plenty of other moments, however, that left the Dodgers (32-21) shaking their head.

After Ohtani’s leadoff homer, their offense had the chance to add on more. Mookie Betts reached on an error. Freddie Freeman moved him to third with a double. When Will Smith followed with a fly ball to center field, it was deep enough for Betts to break for home. At least, that’s how it seemed.

Instead, Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor delivered a strike to the plate. And after Betts was initially ruled safe on a feet-first slide, a Mets challenge got the call overturned. A chance to build some early breathing room for Knack had disappeared. And despite repeated opportunities to claw back later, the Dodgers failed to scratch anything else across the plate.

In the fourth inning, Freeman hit a leadoff single … only for Smith to promptly ground into a double-play.

Later in the inning, Teoscar Hernández doubled and Muncy walked to put two aboard … only for Andy Pages to hit a deep fly ball that died at the warning track in left.

In the fifth, the Dodgers generated their best chance against Senga … only for the right-hander to induce a two-out grounder from Smith that ended the threat.

In the sixth, Muncy drew a one-out walk … only for Pages to roll into another double play, the 42nd for the Dodgers this season (fifth-most in the majors).

“I think that the tale is we’ve just got to play clean baseball, have a good offensive approach, because we’re going to see some good pitching,” Roberts said, with the Dodgers in the midst of a 29-game stretch against nothing but playoff-contending teams.

“Case in point is Shohei didn’t get a fifth at-bat [tonight], because they made plays and they got a couple double plays and things like that. All that stuff matters. So that stuff that’s really highlighted when you’re playing against good ballclubs.”

The Mets scored their only other run against Knack — who delivered just the 14th six-inning start of the season for the club — in the third. With one on and one out, Mark Vientos hit a hard grounder up the middle that Betts impressively got to from shortstop. But then Betts misfired on a flip to second base, sailing the ball over teammate Tommy Edman’s head to put runners on the corner. A fielder’s choice from Soto in the next at-bat led to a run.

The 3-1 deficit proved too much for the Dodgers to surmount — ending a day that had begun with so much optimism around Ohtani’s two-way talents with a dud of a performance and frustrating series loss in Queens.

NEW YORK — It had been 641 days since Shohei Ohtani last threw a pitch to a live hitter from a big-league mound.

At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, inside an empty Citi Field on a cool afternoon in Queens, he did so again — this time, for the first time, in a Dodger blue uniform.

Nineteen months removed from a second career Tommy John procedure that has limited the two-way star to hitting-only duties during his first season and a half with the Dodgers, Ohtani threw a live batting practice session on Sunday in what was the biggest step in his pitching progression yet.

In five at-bats against Hyeseong Kim, Dalton Rushing and game-planning coach JT Watkins, Ohtani threw 22 pitches. He was 94-97 mph with his fastball, and used his full repertoire, including his sweeper. He had two strikeouts and one walk. He fielded a comebacker from Kim in his first at-bat. He gave up a line drive to right then next time Kim came to the plate.

But most of all, he seemed overjoyed to be throwing in a simulated environment again, joking with coaches and laughing with teammates throughout the first of several live sessions that precede his expected return to the rotation sometime after the July All-Star break.

“He’s looking forward to pitching,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “And I think today was great because he was able to keep the mood light, but be able to maintain real stuff. I think that’s always important. He didn’t look like he was having stress or [was] under stress to amp up, try to generate any of his power. He was loose and it was all free and easy. So that’s always a positive.”

Sunday had been a long time coming for Ohtani, the three-time MVP with a career 3.01 ERA in 86 career big-league starts.

Last year, at the outset of his pitching rehab, Ohtani progressed from simple catch play to regular bullpens by the end of the regular season. He wasn’t far off from being able to face hitters by the time the playoffs started, but the Dodgers decided to dial back his pitching progression so he could focus on his first career MLB postseason.

An offseason surgery on Ohtani’s non-throwing left shoulder further delayed his pitching plan entering spring camp this year, limiting him only to a handful of bullpens before the club departed for its season-opening trip to Japan.

Ohtani resumed bi-weekly bullpens once the regular season started — lighter sessions on Wednesdays followed by more intensive ones on the weekends — and had been increasing the number of pitches in his bullpens over recent weeks.

This past week, he also began reincorporating his sweeper for the first time since getting hurt, one of the last boxes he had to check before Sunday’s live BP.

While the Dodgers have been wary of laying out the specific checkpoints that remain before Ohtani can join the team’s rotation, manager Dave Roberts said it’s unlikely he pitches any big-league games until after the All-Star break.

“I just think that you’re talking about end of May, he’s doing his first simulated game,” Roberts said Saturday night. “And in theory, you got to build a starter up to five, six innings. And so just the natural progression, I just don’t see it being before that.”

Still, Sunday was the most tangible sign yet of Ohtani’s nearing return to pitching.

“He has taken a very methodical approach to this. We’ve tried to take a very methodical approach to this, understanding the uniqueness of the situation,” Prior said. “I will never, and I don’t think anybody in that room would ever, doubt what he can do. But, you know, still got a long way to go. We’ll see where it comes out at the end of this year.”

It would be nice if the Dodgers could schedule a special day to honor Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor, giving fans and teammates a chance to provide a proper farewell for this pair of beloved, true-blue Dodgers.

Anthony Moretti
Lomita

I’m sure Taylor and Barnes are nice guys, but they’ve been making millions of dollars and haven’t performed for years. I don’t think anyone has to feel sorry for them.

Mike Schaller
Temple City

Fans of ’70s-era sci-fi movies can see clear parallels between the classic “Logan’s Run” and the Dodgers’ front office behavior. Like the movie’s plot, the Dodgers have concluded that former impact players now over age 30 are expendable and must be immediately eliminated. The struggling Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández must be taking note.

Rob Fleishman
Placentia

NEW YORK — The upcoming month was already going to be tough for the Dodgers.

A rainy Friday night in Queens made it that much tougher.

In the fourth game of a 29-game stretch against playoff-contending teams, the Dodgers beat the New York Mets in a marathon contest at Citi Field, overcoming a three-run ninth-inning blown save from closer Tanner Scott by prevailing 7-5 in the 13th inning.

But, their already shorthanded pitching staff endured more unexpected obstacles in the process. A one-hour, 38-minute rain delay in the top of the third limited starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw to just two innings. A seemingly never-ending game forced their overworked bullpen to combine for 11 more innings in which every reliever was used except one.

Navigating this difficult portion of the schedule — which began in earnest with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week — will be a test for a Dodgers pitching staff missing three of its five opening-day rotation members and many other important arms in the bullpen.

Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has emphasized in recent days the need to push his starters to take down as many innings as possible.

On Friday, Kershaw seemed to be on his way to a decent start, pitching two scoreless innings in which his only baserunner reached via a walk that was quickly erased by a double play.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers in the second inning Friday against the Mets.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

But then, with the Dodgers mounting a rally in the top of the third, the New York skies opened up for a late May downpour. For the next 98 minutes, fans scattered for shelter and watched the Knicks’ playoff game on the stadium scoreboard. Back in the visiting clubhouse, Roberts watched the clock tick and tick and tick, eventually to the point where keeping Kershaw in was no longer a viable option.

By the end of the night, that was the least of the Dodgers’ problems.

Despite holding a 5-2 lead after getting three innings of two-run ball from Matt Sauer, and three scoreless innings from Ben Casparius, Scott couldn’t get the game across the finish line.

Starling Marte led with a single. Pete Alonso drew a one-out walk. Jeff McNeil got them both home on a triple hit just high enough to evade a leaping Freddie Freeman at first base. Tyrone Taylor then completed Scott’s fourth blown save in 14 opportunities with an RBI single to left.

Somehow, the Dodgers (32-19) still managed to prevail.

Alex Vesia got the game to extras, stranding two runners aboard to end the ninth. Both teams then traded wasted opportunities from there, failing to score their automatic runners in the 10th (when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs), the 11th (when Anthony Banda and Luis García combined to escape a bases-loaded threat) and the 12th (when the Dodgers turned an inning-ending double play while employing a five-man infield).

Finally, Teoscar Hernández put the Dodgers back in front in the 13th, hitting a leadoff RBI double before scoring on Andy Pages’ sacrifice fly.

García closed it out in the bottom half of the inning, completing a 2 ⅓ scoreless inning appearance just minutes shy of 1 a.m. local time.

It was a hard-fought win, but one that could come with future consequences for a pitching staff that was already running on fumes.

Grounds crew members cover the field during a rain delay at Citi Field on Friday night.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

NEW YORK — In the interest of doing things differently last October, the Dodgers made a subtle, but profound, change in their travel plans.

In previous postseasons — many of which ended with disappointing early eliminations — the Dodgers would use one wide-body plane to shuttle players, coaches, executives, staff, broadcasters and other members of their bloated playoff traveling party from city to city.

Last year, they opted for a different flight pattern.

Players took one plane, as part of a larger effort to promote a sense of togetherness in pursuit of a World Series title.

Everyone else, meanwhile, flew on a second, separate chartered commercial jet.

“I think it’s just [a way for us to make sure] more of the time we spend is together,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said during last year’s postseason. “Making sure we stayed together as a group.”

Given the results, the Dodgers decided to keep the change in place for this season.

What started as a one-month experiment then, has become a permanent routine for the defending champions now.

This year, in a significant shift to the way they travel, the Dodgers are using two planes on a full-time basis for their regular-season road trips: One for players, just like they did last October; and another for everyone else, from manager Dave Roberts and the rest of his coaching staff to the dozens of other team personnel that make up each trip.

“It was driven by them,” Roberts said of the players, noting their interest in continuing the two-plane itinerary this year. “And we facilitated it.”

“It’s reimagining team travel,” added Scott Akasaki, who as the Dodgers’ senior director of travel has overseen the transition. “It’ll be interesting to see what the positive things that come out of it are.”

Indeed, as club officials looked ahead to their 2025 title defense this winter, they quickly warmed to the idea of making the two-plane system permanent.

Already, they had bought into the positive impacts it had on team chemistry during the playoffs, believing it to be a contributing factor to the heightened level of camaraderie players cited as a driving force behind their 2024 championship.

But as they mapped out ways to ease the burdens of a grueling 162-game season, they recognized other logistical benefits that could result from the added travel investment.

“Our ownership was incredibly supportive of the idea,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “And yeah, it seems like it’s gone well so far.”

For starters, players now have more comfortable seating arrangements on flights, able to spread out on an aircraft that includes only a handful of additional clubhouse support staff.

“It’s providing an environment where our players are more apt to get rest and recovery, with just less people on the plane and more room to move around,” Akasaki said.

And after the team experienced several lengthy travel-day delays last year because of mechanical problems with their charter, they now have a “fail-safe” contingency plan, as Gomes described it; always having a second plane available to transport team members to their next city as scheduled.

“In theory, the players and critical staff can hop on the working plane and go,” Akasaki echoed, “while the remaining folks stay behind until the mechanical problem gets resolved.”

Four road trips into this year, however, no trickle-down effect has been as lauded as the changes the Dodgers have made to their actual travel schedule.

In the days of traditional single-plane travel, the Dodgers would typically wait to fly out of Los Angeles if they had an off day between the end of a homestand and the start of a road trip. It meant one extra night at home, but a later arrival into cities on the eve of an away series.

“When you’re spending your off day on the plane,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said, “you don’t ever feel like you’re as recovered.”

Using two planes for road trips has allowed the Dodgers players to leave right after the final game of a homestand, which so far this season has been followed by an off day. “When you’re spending your off day on the plane,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said, “you don’t ever feel like you’re as recovered.”

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

With the benefit of a second plane, the Dodgers can do things differently now.

Though each of the team’s first four homestands this year have been followed by an open date, the players’ plane has departed immediately after all four getaway-day games, getting them into road cities the same night (or, in the case of Wednesday’s flight to New York this week, early the next morning) before the rest of the traveling party arrives the following afternoon.

“I think it’s better,” Freeman said. “It gives us actually a whole day off.”

“It’s nice to just have the off day [without having to fly],” Muncy added. “You’re tired on the off day, but then you can get a full night’s sleep to rest and recover. That felt pretty good.”

Sometimes, that extra day affords players with rare additional personal time — giving someone like Muncy, a Dallas-area native, a full afternoon to see family before last month’s Easter weekend series in Texas.

But even for other guys, Muncy added, “it was, let me go lay out by the pool, or let me go grab some lunch somewhere, and then we’ll go get a nice dinner. It just gives you the whole day to kind of recover. I think it’ll be a better change for us.”

Accounting for a second plane, of course, does add complexities to the planning of each road trip. The truckloads of equipment the Dodgers travel with has to be specifically sorted and loaded onto the correct flight. The team has to coordinate between two airline partners, chartering a Boeing 757 from Delta and a Boeing 737-800 from United, to handle travel parties sometimes upwards of 100 in all. Akasaki now even has a bigger team of people who help with the planning process, too.

“From Andrew [Friedman, president of baseball operations] on down, it was like, ‘Hey, this is a big thing, and it’s a lot for one person to handle,” Akasaki said. “So [they asked], ‘What do you need to keep this all organized?’ That’s been very helpful.”

The team also had to account for potential other negatives. There were considerations made over the environmental impact of using a second plane, according to one person involved in the process but not authorized to speak publicly. There were more simple day-to-day changes to the rhythm of the team’s season as well.

“Like, you can’t have that organic conversation in the back of the plane between a staff member and a player like you used to,” Akasaki noted.

But, in the end, the pros outweighed the cons.

“You can still have that [conversation] in the clubhouse,” Akasaki noted.

Plus, for an organization that has long tried to maximize its monstrous financial resources to become a premier destination for star talent in baseball, being able to pitch prospective free agents on the luxury of using two planes certainly “doesn’t hurt” either, Gomes quipped.

With the Dodgers’ new travel system believed to be unique among MLB clubs, Roberts noted that “there’s a lot of other teams already asking about the two planes.”

And to this point, players said, the reviews have been positive.

“It’s still early,” Muncy noted. “I’ve only ever done it the one way since I’ve been here, so I don’t know what the other way is like” over the course of a full season.

But, Freeman joked with a grin, “I haven’t heard one complaint about it.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. One day it’s hot, the next day it’s cold. I think the Earth might have the flu.

Let’s face it, the Dodgers haven’t been playing all that brilliantly lately. They are 10-9 in May and had a four-game losing streak at one point. The fault for this is mainly the pitching, which has been in shambles lately. What’s gone wrong, and how can the Dodgers, uh, deshambleize?

One of the best things about baseball is they keep track of every conceivable stat. So let’s take a look at some numbers.

Most runs given up in the first inning this season:

1. Colorado, 53
2. Baltimore, 39
2. Athletics, 39
4. Dodgers, 38
5. Houston, 33
5. White Sox, 33
7. Angels, 32

The fewest number of runs given up in the first inning this season is three by Kansas City.

Most runs given up in the first three innings this season:

1. Colorado, 126
2. Athletics, 110
3. Baltimore, 108
4. Arizona, 87
5. Dodgers, 85
6. Angels, 84

The fewest: 33, by the Royals.

Most runs given up in the ninth inning this season:

1. Arizona, 35
2. Philadelphia, 29
3. Angels, 24
4. Mets, 23
5. Toronto, 23
6. Texas, 22
6. Pittsburgh, 22
7. Dodgers, 21

The fewest: Nine, by Minnesota and the Cubs

If you are near the lead in giving up runs at the beginning and end of games, then you are fortunate to be 31-19. It’s not sustainable, but it seems unlikely the Dodgers’ pitching will be like this all season, particularly when guys start making their way off the IL. And let’s look at the IL for pitchers again:

Dodger pitchers on the IL and when they are expected to return:

Tyler Glasnow, shoulder (before All-Star break)
Brusdar Graterol, shoulder surgery (September)
Michael Grove, shoulder surgery (2026)
Edgardo Henriquez, broken foot (June)
Kyle Hurt, Tommy John surgery (2026)
Michael Kopech, shoulder impingement (later this month)
Evan Phillips, elbow (unknown)
River Ryan, Tommy John surgery (2026)
Roki Sasaki, shoulder (unknown)
Emmet Sheehan, Tommy John surgery (around the All-Star break)
Blake Snell, shoulder (before All-Star break)
Gavin Stone, shoulder surgery (2026)
Blake Treinen, forearm (July)
Kirby Yates, strained hamstring (early June)

Shohei Ohtani is expected back as a pitcher soon after the All-Star break.

Three members of the season-opening rotation are on the IL. Three members of the season-opening bullpen are on the IL. Not a recipe for success.

Glasnow and Snell have begun throwing, so they could be back before the break. Kopech is close to a return. Phillips had a setback in his recovery, but all signs are positive for everyone else.

“It still doesn’t feel like last year, but we’re in May, so not gonna jinx it and get into any comparisons,” Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, told reporters. “For the most part, the things that we’ve gone through are shorter-term. Last year, they were significant and resulted in surgery. In some ways, maybe we’re over-indexing some and just being a little bit more cautious and trying to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.

“But I said this a lot, and I think anyone who doesn’t say it is not being honest, there’s a lot we don’t know about injury stuff, and I think it’s important not to pretend like we have all the answers. There’s a lot to it that is really challenging, and we’re hoping to continue to grow and learn from experiences and just try to make the smartest, best move we can, knowing we’re going to make mistakes. … It’s by far the No. 1 thing that keeps me up at night.”

Best starting rotation ERA this season:

1. Mets, 2.83
2. Texas, 2.87
3. Kansas City, 2.93
4. Philadelphia, 3.34
5. Minnesota, 3.41
23. Dodgers, 4.30
30. Colorado, 7.03

Best bullpen ERA this season:

1. San Francisco, 2.66
2. Houston, 2.86
3. Mets, 2.91
4. Minnesota, 3.09
5. Detroit, 3.19
16. Dodgers, 4.00
30. Angels, 6.67

Sometimes, a low bullpen ERA can be misleading. Let’s say a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and one out. He gives up a bases-clearing triple, then strikes out the last two batter. The reliever’s ERA is 0.00, but did he do his job? No, so we also need to check a stat called inherited runners who scored, or IRS%. In the example given, the reliever’s IRS% is 100%. The league average this season is 32.9%.

Here are the best teams this season in IRS%:

1. Toronto, 20.8% (15 of 72 inherited runners scored)
2. Yankees, 23.1% (18 of 78)
3. Dodgers, 23.4% (11 of 47)
4. Baltimore, 24.7% (18 of 73)
5. Seattle, 27.3% (12 of 44)
30. San Francisco, 42.9% (21 of 49)

Dodgers’ ERA as a starting pitcher this season:

Ben Casparius, 0.00 (one inning)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1.86 (58)
Blake Snell, 2.00 (9)
Tony Gonsolin, 4.05 (20)
Dustin May, 4.09 (50.2)
Matt Sauer, 4.50 (4)
Tyler Glasnow, 4.50 (18)
Roki Sasaki, 4.72 (34.1)
Landon Knack, 6.61 (16.1)
Jack Dreyer, 6.75 (5.1)
Clayton Kershaw, 11.25 (4)
Justin Wrobleski, 14.40 (5)
Bobby Miller, 18.00 (3)

Yamamoto has carried the rotation this season.

Finally, the Dodgers are 10-9 this month. Have they had any months where they finished .500 or worse since 2017?

Ten worst months by the Dodgers since 2017:

September, 2017: 12-17, .414
April, 2018: 11-14, .440
July, 2024: 11-13, .458
May, 2018: 14-14, .500
June, 2023: 12-12, .500
August, 2018: 14-13, .519
May, 2025: 10-9, .526
June, 2022: 14-12, .538
July, 2021: 14-12, .538
April, 2017: 14-12, .538

Note: This does not include short months (March or October) when they may have gone 0-1 or 2-3.

So, except for 2019, every full season since 2017 has included one mediocre month. Maybe the Dodgers are getting it out of the way in May this season.

This stretch of games calls for patience. The Dodgers have made moves to improve their offense this month. But there’s not a lot to do to improve the pitching except wait for guys to get healthy. It’s hard to be patient when there are four teams playing so well in the NL West, with one of the four guaranteed not to make the playoffs. Think of it this way: They say patience is a virtue, and couldn’t we all use a little virtue in our life?

Who do you want to hear from?

We’ve been doing the “Ask…. “ series for quite a few years now, where Dodgers from the past answer questions posed by readers. I have a couple lined up that I won’t reveal just yet, but what I’d like to know is: Who would you like to hear from? Is there a former Dodger for whom you have a question? Email me at [email protected] and let me know. No promises, since the person has to agree to do it, but I can try.

And before you send me this name, Sandy Koufax is off the table. I’ve asked more than once, and he just doesn’t do interviews. And I respect that. But any other former Dodger is fair game. Except the ones who are no longer with us, I guess that technically makes them a member of the Angels now.

Previous interviews:

Ron Cey
Fred Claire
Carl Erskine
Joe Davis
Shawn Green
Mickey Hatcher
Orel Hershiser
Tommy John
Eric Karros
Tom Niedenfuer
Peter O’Malley
Jerry Reuss
Steve Sax
Mike Scioscia
Maury Wills

I’m probably forgetting a few, but you get the idea. And, now you know not to ask for the people listed. Again, email me at [email protected] and let me know who you’d like to hear from.

All-time leaders

The flip side of the previous leaders: Dodgers’ all-time worst in batting average with two out and runners in scoring position, minimum 150 at-bats, excluding pitchers.

Franchise
1. Dave Anderson, .179
2. Rick Monday, .185
3. Austin Barnes, .188
4. Steve Yeager, .190
5. A.J. Ellis, .193
6. Joc Pederson, .194
7. Yasmani Grandal, .198
8. Dave Hansen, .200
9. Ollie O’Mara, .200
10. Jim Bucher, .204

Los Angeles only
1. Dave Anderson, .179
2. Rick Monday, .185
3. Austin Barnes, .188
4. Steve Yeager, .190
5. A.J. Ellis, .193
6. Joc Pederson, .194
7. Yasmani Grandal, .198
8. Dave Hansen, .200
9. Greg Brock, .209
10. Tim Wallach, .211
11. Yasiel Puig, .215
12. Frank Howard, .217
13. Max Muncy, .218
14. Cody Bellinger, .220
15. John Roseboro, .222

Scheduling note

Memorial Day is Monday, so there will be no newsletter that day as we honor those who gave their lives for this country. Dodgers Dugout will return next Friday.

Up next

Friday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 0-0, 11.25 ERA) at New York Mets (Griffin Canning, 5-1, 2.47 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, 2-0, 4.05 ERA) at New York Mets (*David Peterson, 2-2, 2.86 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (Landon Knack, 2-1, 6.17 ERA) at New York Mets (Kodai Senga, 4-3, 1.43 ERA), 4 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Hernández: It’s tempting to rush Shohei Ohtani back on the mound, but the Dodgers shouldn’t do it

Reinforcements soon? Injured Dodgers pitchers, including Shohei Ohtani, are finally progressing

Why a tight NL West race factored into Dodgers’ decision to cut Chris Taylor, Austin Barnes

And finally

Vin Scully reflects on Roy Campanella. Watch and listen here.

Until next time…

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

From Dylan Hernández: Slow down.

Previously limited to fastballs and splitters, Shohei Ohtani threw a handful of sliders and curveballs in his mid-week bullpen session, but that doesn’t mean he will be a two-way player again before the All-Star break.

Ohtani is lined up to potentially face hitters in a simulated game Saturday in New York, but that doesn’t mean he will pitch in the upcoming four-week stretch that could determine the course of the Dodgers’ season.

As encouraged as the team is with his progress and as desperate as the Dodgers are for one of their sidelined frontline starters to return, they will continue to slow play Ohtani’s return to the mound, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers could use Ohtani’s arm, but they absolutely need his bat, and they don’t plan on jeopardizing his offense by exposing him to any unnecessary risks on the mound.

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

All Times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota
at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score)
at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score)
Saturday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*
Friday, May 30 at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN*
Sunday, June 1 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana
Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score)
Friday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT
Sunday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT
Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday, May 29 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*
Saturday, May 31 at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT*
Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*

*if necessary

ANGELS

Taylor Ward hit a go-ahead grand slam, Logan O’Hoppe also homered in a five-run seventh inning and the Angels rallied past the skidding Athletics 10-5 on Thursday for their seventh consecutive victory.

Ward and O’Hoppe both connected off reliever Grant Holman (4-1), sending the A’s to their ninth loss in a row. O’Hoppe had four homers in the series.

It was the second go-ahead slam in 10 days for Ward, who finished with three hits and five RBIs. He has an extra-base hit in eight straight games — one shy of the club record set by Darin Erstad in 1998.

Ward has 17 RBIs in his last 10 games. He and O’Hoppe each have 14 homers this season. Zach Neto also had three of the Angels’ 13 hits.

Continue reading here

Angels trade first baseman Ryan Noda to Red Sox for cash

Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

UCLA SOFTBALL

From Ben Bolch: The Bruin Bombers. The Bash Brothers. The Splash Brothers.

Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant are open to any nicknames that reflect their standing as college softball’s most formidable hitting duo.

“Whatever anyone wants to call us,” Woolery said, “we don’t even care.”

Any credible nickname must recognize their staggering power. Bonus points are available for a reference to their native Bay Area. What’s not negotiable is the conveying of their connection, both as the best of friends and their proximity in UCLA’s batting order.

Woolery hits third, followed by Grant in the cleanup spot. It has been that way in every lineup card this season except for the three games in which Grant was either limited to pinch-hitting duties or sidelined because of a minor hamstring injury.

The payoff of pairing them together has been historic, a combination as proven as peanut butter and jelly or Simon and Garfunkel.

Continue reading here

USC BASEBALL

From Ryan Kartje: The first thing that catches your eye as you enter new Dedeaux Field — once you’ve navigated the ground floor of the parking structure, past the temporary batting cages in the construction zone beyond center field, down the path strewn with electric scooters, around “CONSTRUCTION ACCESS GATE #3” and onto the warning track of USC’s soon-to-be baseball home — is the actual field itself.

A new playing surface wasn’t something Trojans baseball players were clamoring for. They loved old Dedeaux Field and its charms. But plans for a football practice facility necessitated speeding up the timeline for upgrades on the half-century-old venue, and USC’s baseball program, with twice as many titles as any other school in NCAA history during that time, was told to make the best of it.

Of course, no one within the program was complaining about the prospect of a shiny new ballpark — least of all Andy Stankiewicz, the Trojans’ coach. But with a blank canvas on which to build a new version of Dedeaux Field, there was some upside. One is that every square inch of the park, down to the dirt, could now be given careful, meticulous consideration — with no expense spared.

“Every detail, every material was hand-picked,” says Scott Lupold, USC’s director of turf. He believes there will be no equal in the ranks of college baseball fields when his work is finished. The grade of the infield, he says, is perfectly flat. The gleaming green grass — Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass — is the finest on the market, the same you find in Dodger Stadium. And the dirt? You might catch yourself wondering if it’s dirt at all. “We were literally able to design every aspect of the surface how we wanted it,” Lupold says. As sports turf goes, this is his Sistine Chapel.

Continue reading here

The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, placing teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions.

Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed Thursday to shift the model that drew complaints last season.

The new format was widely expected after last season’s jumbled bracket gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though those teams were ranked ninth and 12th by the playoff selection committee.

NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, RESULTS

All times Pacific

Conference finals

Western Conference

Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton
at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary)
Friday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at Edmonton, noon, ABC
Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday, May 29 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Saturday, May 31 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC*
Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*

Eastern Conference

Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida
Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary)
Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary)
Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Wednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
Friday, May 30 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*
Sunday, June 1 at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*

* If necessary

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1884 — Knight of Ellersie, ridden by S. Fischer, wins the two-horse Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Welcher.

1922 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney suffers his only professional defeat in 15-round unanimous points decision against Harry Greb at Madison Square Garden, N.Y.

1936 — Rushaway, ridden by John Longden, wins his second derby in as many days, taking the 1 1/4-mile Latonia Derby at Latonia in Covington, Ky. Rushaway had won the 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby, run at Aurora, Ill., the previous day.

1941 — In his 20th world heavyweight boxing title defense Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer in round 1 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

1953 — Native Dancer, ridden by Eric Guerin, avenges the loss in the Kentucky Derby by edging Jamie K. by a neck to win the Preakness Stakes.

1964 — Dale Greig runs female marathon world record (3:27:45).

1968 — AC Milan of Italy win 8th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Hamburger SV of West Germany 2-0 in Rotterdam.

1976 — Boston center Dave Cowens dominates the opener of the NBA Finals against Phoenix with a 25-point, 21-rebound performance and the Celtics defeat the Suns, 98-87.

1981 — Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez (22) becomes the youngest 3-division world champion in history by knocking out WBC World Super Welterweight champion Maurice Hope in 12 rounds in Las Vegas.

1991 — Paul Dougherty scores two goals and adds two assists to help the San Diego Sockers win their fourth consecutive Major Indoor Soccer League championship with an 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Crunch.

1997 — In the first all-freshman singles final in NCAA history, Stanford’s Lilia Osterloh beats Florida’s M.C. White 6-1, 6-1 to win the women’s singles tennis championship.

2001 — 9th UEFA Champions League Final: Bayern Munich beats Valencia (1-1, 5-4 on penalties) at Milan.

2005 — Anastasia Myskina is the first defending champion at the French Open to be eliminated in the opening round, losing to Spain’s Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

2007 — UEFA Champions League Final, Athens: Filippo Inzaghi scores twice as AC Milan beats Liverpool, 2-1 for 7th title.

2009 — Alabama sophomore Kelsi Dunne becomes the first player to throw back-to-back no-hitters in NCAA postseason play. Dunne holds Jacksonville State hitless for the second straight day in a 9-0 softball victory. The two no-hitters tie the NCAA postseason record. It’s Dunne’s fourth of the season and a school-record six for her career.

2013 — Patrick Roy is named head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, his former team where he won two Stanley Cups.

2018 — NFL owners approve new NFL national anthem policy whereby players required to stand if they choose to be on the field for pre-game presentations.

2021 — Phil Mickelson wins the 2021 PGA Championship by two strokes to become the oldest major winner (50) in PGA history.

THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1901 — The Cleveland Blues, later known as the Indians, scored nine runs with two outs in the ninth inning to beat the Washington Senators 14-13.

1910 — In the top of the ninth inning in a game against Boston, Cincinnati’s Dode Paskert stole second base, third base and home plate. The theft gave the Reds a 6-5 win.

1924 — Washington’s Walter Johnson struck out 14 in a 4-0 one-hitter over the Chicago White Sox for his 103rd shutout.

1925 — Cincinnati pitcher Pete Donohue had five hits — four singles and a homer — in beating the Philadelphia Phillies 11-2.

1935 — The first major league night game, scheduled for Cincinnati, was postponed because of rain.

1948 — Joe DiMaggio hit three consecutive home runs, the first two off Bob Feller, to lead the New York Yankees to 6-5 win over Cleveland.

1962 — New York’s Joe Pepitone hit two homers in the nine-run eighth inning of the Yankees’ 13-7 triumph over Kansas City.

1970 — The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants battled for 15 innings, with the Padres winning 17-16. Nate Colbert led San Diego with five hits and four RBIs.

1984 — The Detroit Tigers won their 16th consecutive road game, 4-2 at California, tying an AL record.

1991 — Tommy Greene, making the 15th start of his major league career, pitched a no-hitter and the Philadelphia Phillies beat Montreal 2-0.

2000 — The Orioles defeat the Mariners‚ 4-2. Seattle’s Rickey Henderson draws his 2‚000th career walk in the 9th inning‚ making him the third player to reach that level‚ after Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

2002 — Dodgers slugger Shawn Green became the 14th man in major league history to homer four times in a game and set a big league record with 19 total bases. He went 6-for-6, scoring six times with seven RBIs in a 16-3 win at Milwaukee.

2003 — Jeremi Gonzalez earned his first major league victory in nearly five years as Tampa Bay beat the Angels 3-1. Gonzalez won for the first time since June 28, 1998, while with the Chicago Cubs. He had elbow surgery in 1998 and ’99 before the Cubs released him in 2001.

2005 — Left-hander Mark Mulder of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes just the 12th National League pitcher since 1976 to throw a complete game shutout of 10 innings or more when he blanks the Houston Astros, 1-0, in 10 innings. Greg Maddux posted the last extra-inning shutout in the National League in 1988.

2009 — Jason Giambi hit his 400th homer in the Oakland Athletics’ 8-7 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming the 44th player to reach the milestone.

2011 — Corey Hart hit his first three home runs this season and drove in seven to tie both club records, lifting Milwaukee to an 11-3 win over Washington.

2018 — The Seattle Mariners sign a new 25-year lease to continue playing at Safeco Field. The lease will take effect at the expiration of the current 20-year lease at the end of the season, a lease which was signed when the ballpark opened in 1999.

2023 — Gerrit Cole records the 2,000th strikeout of his career when he fans Jorge Mateo of the Orioles in the 2nd inning, becoming the third-fastest pitcher to the mark in terms of both games pitched (278) and innings pitched (1,714 2/3).

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.