Mookie Betts lifts the Dodgers |
From Maddie Lee: It was a welcome sight for the Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani donning a helmet and elbow guard, hovering by the dugout steps with a bat in hand. |
If Alex Freeland or Max Muncy had reached base in the eighth inning, he would have pinch-hit for Alex Call, manager Dave Roberts confirmed after the Dodgers’ 7-5 comeback win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday. |
Instead, after two consecutive outs, Ohtani removed his gear and headed for the tunnel. |
The Dodgers wouldn’t have to rely on Ohtani to sweep the Nationals. Later in the inning, Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead, three-run home run into the left-field pavilion to help secure the Dodgers’ fourth consecutive win. |
“I think it gave us some confidence, but we’ve still got a lot of baseball left,” Betts said. “We have to continue to just put good games together, figure out how to get some more big hits and keep pitching. Really just play solid baseball throughout September and not worry about any standings or anything of that nature.” |
A major piece of that puzzle will be getting Ohtani back to health, back in the lineup, and ideally back to hitting like himself. |
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Dodgers box score |
MLB standings |
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UCLA gives fans reason to believe |
From Mirjam Swanson: The competency alone had to make UCLA football fans want to cry. |
To say nothing of their team’s resolve. |
Or the multitude of explosive plays. Big plays. Timely plays. |
The six rushing touchdowns! Two fewer than the Bruins had all last season. |
UCLA applied pressure! UCLA provided protection! UCLA played with pace, with tempo. |
UCLA played well. It had been too long. |
With UCLA’s season-opening 45-24 win over old Pac-12 Conference rival California on Saturday, the Bob Chesney era bolstered the Bruins’ belief in the future. Yes, it’s only one game, but as first impressions go, this was impressive. |
The schedulers saved Week 1’s best matchup for last, giving the nation a late-night peek at two programs with new coaches promising hope and change. |
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Rams will finish season undefeated |
From Bill Plaschke: The season will begin 7,921 miles from home, and end in their own backyard. |
They will be untouched through it all. |
The Rams upcoming 22-week journey will take them far and wide, from Melbourne, Australia to Washington, D.C. and back to SoFi, a circuitous and challenging journey with but one consistent stop. |
The win column. |
The Rams are not losing a game. |
Seventeen-and-oh in a favorable regular season schedule. |
Three-and-oh in a postseason conducted entirely at home. |
An NFL record combined 20-0 culminating in a Super Bowl LXI victory on Valentine’s Day at SoFi Stadium. |
This obviously sounds crazy. This clearly sounds like a blazing hot take that will chill soon and embarrass often. |
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Rams poll |
Two questions for you: Will the Rams win the Super Bowl and how many games will they win, counting the playoffs? Click here to vote in our survey. Results announced on Friday. |
Myles Garrett returns to Rams practice |
From Gary Klein: Rams star edge rusher Myles Garrett, who had been sidelined for weeks while nursing a left knee problem, participated in drills at the start of practice on Sunday. |
Garrett, the reigning NFL defensive player of the year, took part in stretching and individual drills during the portion of practice that was open to reporters. |
The Rams are preparing for their opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia (Thursday, 5:30 p.m. PDT). |
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Roger Goodell’s contract extended through 2030 season |
From Sam Farmer: With the NFL season set to begin this week, the league completed a significant piece of off-the-field business by extending commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract through the 2030 season. |
The league announced the four-year extension Sunday, with Goodell’s deal running through March 31, 2031, which would secure his 25th year on the job. |
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, chair of the compensation committee, said in a memo sent to the 32 teams that the group worked with an independent compensation consultant and outside counsel to structure a deal tied to performance. |
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Angels lose to Pirates |
Paul Skenes pitched 5⅓ scoreless innings for his first win since July 19 and Henry Davis hit a home run to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Angels 1-0 on Sunday. |
Skenes (10-11) gave up four hits, struck out two and walked one. The 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner had gone seven consecutive outings without a win since beating Cleveland in his first start after the All-Star break. |
Gregory Soto, Carmen Mlodzinski, Camilo Doval and Mason Montgomery finished the five-hitter. Montgomery earned his 10th save. |
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Angels box score |
MLB standings |
This day in sports history |
1892 — Jim Corbett knocks out John L. Sullivan in the 21st round in New Orleans to win the first world heavyweight title fought with gloves under the Marquis of Queensberry rules. |
1941 — Bobby Riggs wins his second U.S. men’s national title by beating Frank Kovacs, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. |
1952 — Australia’s Frank Sedgman wins the men’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships for the second year with a three-set victory over Gardnar Mulloy. Maureen Connolly wins the women’s title. |
1953 — Maureen Connolly becomes the first woman to complete the Grand Slam when she beats Doris Hart, 6-2, 6-4, in the U.S. Open women’s singles final. |
1958 — Australia’s Ashley Cooper beats countryman Malcolm Anderson in five sets to win the men’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Assn. championships. Althea Gibson comes back to beat Darlene Hard for the women’s title. Cooper beats Anderson, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6. Gibson beats Darlene Hard, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. |
1969 — Margaret Court beats Nancy Richey, 6-2, 6-2 to capture the U.S. Open women’s singles title. |
1970 — Jockey Willie Shoemaker rides Dares J to a 1½-length victory at Del Mar to become the winningest jockey. Shoemaker’s win breaks the all-time record of 6,033 set by Johnny Longden four years earlier. |
1974 — US Open Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Billie Jean King wins her fourth and final U.S. singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong Cawley of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. |
1980 —John McEnroe beats Bjorn Borg of Sweden 7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4 to win his second straight U.S. Open men’s title. |
1986 — Dan Marino throws his 100th touchdown pass, the fastest QB in NFL history to do so. |
1991 — Seventeen-year-old Monica Seles beats 34-year-old Martina Navratilova, 7-6 (1), 6-1, to win her first U.S. Open women’s singles title. |
1997 — In the new Arthur Ashe Stadium court, 16-year-old Martina Hingis and 17-year-old Venus Williams play the youngest Grand Slam final in the Open Era. Hingis wins her first U.S. Open title 6-0, 6-4. Patrick Rafter beats Greg Rusedski, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, to win the men’s crown. |
2001 — Venus Williams and Serena Williams reach the finals of the U.S. Open and become the first sisters to play for a Grand Slam championship in more than 100 years. Venus defeats Jennifer Capriati 6-4, 6-2, after Serena powers her way past top-seeded Martina Hingis 6-3, 6-2 in 51 minutes. |
2002 — Venus and Serena Williams meet in a prime-time U.S. Open women’s singles final for the second straight year. Younger sister Serena comes out on top, defeating the two-time defending champion, 6-4, 6-3, for her second U.S. Open women’s singles title. |
2003 — In the closest 1-2-3 finish in IRL history, Sam Hornish Jr. edges Scott Dixon and Bryan Herta at the finish line to win his second straight Delphi Indy 300. His margin of victory is .0099 seconds, and just .0100 separates first and third place. |
2003 — Andy Roddick wins his first Grand Slam tournament title, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in the U.S. Open men’s singles final. |
2012 — Aries Merritt of the U.S. sets a world record of 12.80 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels. He cuts 0.07 seconds off the mark of Cuba’s Dayron Robles from four years ago. |
2012 — Bob and Mike Bryan beat Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4 to win the U.S. Open men’s doubles title for a record 12th Grand Slam championship. The American twins break a tie with Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde for the most in the Open era, which started in 1968. |
2014 — Serena Williams wins her third consecutive U.S. Open championship and 18th major title overall. Williams takes 75 minutes to beat good friend Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-3 and matches Chris Evert’s total of six championships at the U.S. Open. Bob and Mike Bryan win a record-tying fifth U.S. Open doubles championship for their 100th tournament title. |
Compiled by the Associated Press |
This day in baseball history |
1908 — Walter Johnson pitched his third consecutive shutout in four days with a 4-0, two-hit victory over the New York Highlanders. |
1911 — Rookie Grover Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies took a 1-0 thriller from 44-year-old Cy Young, who was closing out his career with the Boston Braves. |
1914 — The Boston Braves had to move its home games to Fenway Park because Braves Field was not big enough to handle the crowds. The “Miracle Braves” played the rest of their home games and the World Series games at the home of the Red Sox. |
1923 — Howard Ehmke of the Boston Red Sox tossed a 4-0, no-hit victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Philadelphia’s Slim Harriss hit a ball to the wall for a double, but was called out for missing first base, preserving the no-hitter. |
1962 — Maury Wills of the Dodgers stole four bases and set a National League record with a total of 82 for the season. The Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1. |
1975 — The Cincinnati Reds, leading by 20 1/2 games, clinched the National League West flag with an 8-4 win over the San Franciso Giants. It was the earliest clinching date in league history. |
1984 — Dwight Gooden of the Mets struck out Ron Cey of the Chicago Cubs in the second inning for No. 228 to set a National League record for a rookie. Gooden passed Grover Cleveland Alexander, who set the mark with 227 in 1911. New York coasted to a 10-0 victory behind Gooden’s one-hitter. |
1993 — Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals has a great game at the plate in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Cincinnati. In the 15-2 win, Whiten hits four home runs and drives in 12 runs, becoming the only player to accomplish both feats in one game. |
2007 — Curtis Granderson hit his 20th home run in Detroit’s 6-1 win over Seattle, making him only the sixth major league player since 1900 with at least 20 home runs, 20 doubles and 20 triples in one season. |
2007 — Colorado used nine relievers after starter Elmer Dessens left with a strained left hamstring in the third inning of a 10-4 win over San Diego. The 10 total pitchers was a National League record for a nine-inning game. |
2013 — Mike Napoli hit two home runs, Jonny Gomes and prized rookie Xander Bogaerts also connected, and the Boston Red Sox kept up their dizzying scoring spree at Yankee Stadium, bashing New York 13-9. The AL East leaders became the first visiting team in more than a century to score at least nine runs on three straight days against the Yankees. The last time it happened, they weren’t called the Yankees — Boston did it in 1912 to the Highlanders at Hilltop Park. |
2017 — The Cleveland Indians set a franchise record with their 15th consecutive win, beating the Chicago White Sox 11-2 behind another terrific outing for Corey Kluber. Cleveland also belted five homers while becoming the first major league team with a 15-game winning streak since Oakland won 20 in a row in 2002. |
2019 — Pitcher Michael Pineda of the Twins receives a 60-game suspension for testing positive for a PED, dealing a major blow to his team’s postseason hopes, as he was one of their most consistent starting pitchers, going 11-5 on the year. |
Compiled by the Associated Press |
Until next time... |
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here. |
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