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Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
The Sports Report: Max Muncy, Tanner Scott are key to Dodgers' victory
From Jack Harris: It was a night of redemption at Dodger Stadium. For the struggling home team, its recently beleaguered closer and its enigmatic third baseman most of all. In a 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Tuesday, Max Muncy atoned for a costly fifth-inning error with a two-home run performance, including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth. Left-hander Tanner Scott snapped out of his recent funk, throwing a scoreless 10th inning a night after taking a loss in the same situation. And after two consecutive frustrating defeats, the Dodgers finally bounced back on Freddie Freeman's walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th; earning a win that kept them in sole possession of first place in the National League West, and chased a few demons for both Scott and Muncy in the process. 'We needed every bit of it,' manager Dave Roberts said. 'It's good to see the resilience from a lot of our guys.' Continue reading here Dodgers star Freddie Freeman's family appreciated kind gesture from slain Baldwin Park officer Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball legend with ties to the Dodgers, dies at 89 Judge orders woman who accused ex-Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault to pay damages by default Dodgers box score MLB scores MLB standings All Times Pacific NBA FINALS Oklahoma City vs. Indiana Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABCSunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABCWed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCFriday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCMonday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC* *if necessary Automatic runner Zach Neto scored on Taylor Ward's bases-loaded double-play groundout to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings on Tuesday night. Nolan Schanuel had two RBIs and Neto added two hits and an RBI to give the Angels consecutive wins for the first time since capping an eight-game win streak on May 23. Kenley Jansen (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win a night after getting a save and Reid Detmers got his first save. Continue reading here Angels box score MLB scores MLB standings From Gary Klein: Puka Nacua is using organized team activities to hone his craft and prepare for his third NFL season. But the Rams' star receiver also recently took time to help others prepare to avoid potential health challenges. Nacua last week returned from a trip to Samoa, where he and his mother joined medical professionals from Utah Valley University to provide testing, clinics and education about diabetes. Nacua said his father, who died when Nacua was a youngster, experienced complications from the disease. So the opportunity to travel with his mother to his maternal grandmother's village was 'kind of a full-circle moment' for his family, Nacua said Tuesday. 'To be able to go and improve the situation in the homeland was something sweet,' Nacua said after the team went through a workout. Continue reading here From Kevin Baxter: It doesn't seem that long ago that Christen Press was helping the national team to consecutive World Cup titles. She was unstoppable then, a key cog in the greatest women's soccer team in history. Yet she played her 155th and final match for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics. It doesn't seem that long ago that Press, just 18 days removed from those Olympics, became the first player signed by expansion club Angel City. She was bringing the NWSL to her hometown and was being rewarded with what was then the richest contract in league history. Yet she's started just 10 games since then, losing most of the last three seasons to a stubborn anterior cruciate ligament injury that took four surgeries to repair. Press eventually will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, but she isn't ready for that trip just yet. If her body isn't always willing, her mind and her heart are still keen on the sport, so Press makes her most valuable contributions now in the quiet of the locker room. Continue reading here From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Already slated to be the first venue in the world to host events from three different Olympic Summer Games, the Coliseum will help break new ground for the Paralympics in 2028. The iconic stadium is at the center of the first Paralympic Games in L.A. as it hosts the para track and field competition, LA28 announced Tuesday in an updated venue plan that placed 23 disciplines into their future Paralympic homes. 'This is a momentous occasion for the city of Los Angeles,' para swimmer and Inglewood native Jamal Hill said in an interview with The Times. 'Being a native Los Angeleno, you always hear about this melting pot of Los Angeles and many times, that melting pot, the default is to really thinking like, ethnic or racial or even cultural based. … I think it's really, really beautiful and inclusive now that that melting pot is really starting to cover ability.' Continue reading here All times Pacific STANLEY CUP FINALS Edmonton vs. FloridaWednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNTFriday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNTMonday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNTThursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNTSaturday, 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 1870 — Ed Brown becomes the first Black jockey to win the Belmont Stakes, with Kingfisher. 1927 — The United States wins the first Ryder Cup golf tournament by beating Britain 9½-2½. 1932 — Faireno, ridden by Tommy Malley, wins the Belmont Stakes by 1½ lengths over Osculator. Burgoo King, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, doesn't race. 1966 — Ameroid, ridden by Bill Boland, wins the Belmont Stakes by 2½ lengths over Buffle. Kauai King, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, finishes fourth. 1974 — NFL grants franchise to Seattle Seahawks. 1984 — 1960 champion Arnold Palmer fails to qualify for the US Open Golf Championship for the first time in 32 years. 1987 — Danny Harris defeats Edwin Moses in the 400 hurdles at a meet in Madrid, ending the longest winning streak in track and field. Moses, had won 122 consecutive races dating to Aug. 26, 1977. 1988 — West Germany's Steffi Graf beats 17-year-old Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union in 32 minutes with a 6-0, 6-0 victory to win the French Open for the second straight year. 1990 — Penn State is voted into the Big Ten. The school becomes the 11th member of the league and first addition to the Midwest-based conference since Michigan State in 1949. 1994 — Haile Gebrselassie becomes the first Ethiopian to set a world track record with a time of 12:56.96 in the men's 5,000 meters at Hengelo, Netherlands. 1998 — Harut Karapetyan of the Galaxy scores three goals in five minutes for the fastest hat trick in MLS history in an 8-1 rout of the Dallas Burn. The seven-goal margin sets an MLS record. 2005 — Justine Henin-Hardenne beats a rattled and fumbling Mary Pierce 6-1, 6-1 to win the French Open, capping a comeback from a blood virus with her fourth Grand Slam title and her second at Roland Garros. 2005 — Eddie Castro sets a North American record for most wins by a jockey in one day at one track, winning nine races on the 13-race card at Miami's Calder Race Course. 2008 — The Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in 11 seasons with a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 . 2011 — Li Na becomes the first Chinese — man or woman — to win a Grand Slam singles title. She beats Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the French Open final for her fifth career title and first on clay. 2016 — Garbine Muguruza wins her first Grand Slam title by beating defending champion Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open, denying the American her record-equaling 22nd major trophy. 1940 — The Pirates beat the Boston Bees 14-2 in the first night game at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. 1940 — The St. Louis Cardinals play their first night game at Sportsman's Park, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-1. 1951 — Pittsburgh's Gus Bell hit for the cycle to lead the Pirates to a 12-4 victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia. 1964 — Sandy Koufax pitched his third no-hitter, striking out 12, as the Dodgers beat the Phillies 3-0 in Philadelphia. 1968 — Don Drysdale of the Dodgers blanked the Pirates 5-0 for his sixth straight shutout en route to a record 58 2-3 scoreless innings. 1972 — A major league record eight shutouts were pitched in 16 major league games: five in the American League, three in the National League. The Oakland Athletics swept a pair from the Baltimore Orioles by identical 2-0 scores. 1974 — The game between the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium was forfeited to Texas. Umpire Nestor Chylak had problems with fans all night on 10-cent beer night. The crowd got out of control when Cleveland tied the score 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth. 1989 — Toronto beats Boston 13-11 in 12 innings after trailing 10-0 after six. Red Sox starter Mike Smithson threw six scoreless innings before leaving in the seventh because of a foot blister. The Jays then scored two in the seventh, four in the eighth and five in the ninth and two more in the 11th on Junior Felix's home run. It was the biggest lead the Red Sox have blown and their 12th consecutive loss to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park. 1990 — Ramon Martinez struck out 18 and pitched a three-hitter, sending the Dodgers past the Atlanta Braves 6-0. 1996 — Pamela Davis pitched one inning of scoreless relief and got the win in a minor league exhibition game. She is believed to be the first woman to pitch for a major league farm club under the current minor league system. The 21-year-old right-hander pitched for the Jacksonville Suns, a double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, against the Australian Olympic team. 2000 — Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays becomes the 77th major league player to hit a home run in his first at bat, but just the fourth American League pitcher and the first since the Angels' Don Rose in 1972, the year before the designated hitter rule took the bat out of AL pitchers' hands. 2005 — Rafael Palmeiro and Melvin Mora each hit grand slams to help Baltimore rally for a 14-7 win over Detroit. 2007 — Mark Ellis hit for the cycle and Eric Chavez had a two-out homer in the 11th inning to lift Oakland to a 5-4 win over Boston. 2009 — Randy Johnson became the 24th major league pitcher to win 300 games by leading San Francisco to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader. 2012 — Mike Scioscia of the Angels became the ninth manager in AL history to manage 2,000 games with one club. The Mariners beat the Angels 8-6. 2018 — In a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge sets a record by striking out eight times. 2019 — San Francisco Giant Manager Bruce Bochy wins his 1,000th game as the manager of the Giants with a 9-3 victory over the New York Mets. 2022 — The rule preventing position players from pitching in a close game is invoked for the first time when Crew chief C.B. Bucknor objects to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts calling on OF Zach McKinstry to pitch the 9th inning against the Mets with his team trailing, 9-4. The rule, adopted before the 2020 season but not implemented until this year due to the upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic, states that a team cannot use a position player on the mound unless there is a difference of six or more runs between the two teams. Roberts is thus forced to use a real pitcher, Evan Phillips, to pitch the final inning. Compiled by the Associated Press That concludes today's newsletter. 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Los Angeles Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
‘No one should forget.' How the manager of the AL's best team is shedding his asterisk
It has been eight years since the Houston Astros cheated their way through a year that included a World Series victory over the Dodgers. It has been five years since commissioner Rob Manfred publicly detailed the scandal and sanctioned the Astros and their leaders, if not their players. Does A.J. Hinch, the manager of those Astros, still hear about it? 'Every day,' he said. Hinch now manages the Detroit Tigers. 'As a manager, my name gets announced in every stadium, every night,' he said Friday at Angel Stadium. 'So it gives everybody an opportunity to remind me that no one has forgotten. 'And no one should forget.' We'll get back to those Astros. But, first, we ought to tip our cap to these Tigers, the team with the best record in the American League. The Tigers have surrendered the fewest runs in the AL and scored the third most through Friday's games. Their starting rotation includes defending Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (2.21 ERA), former Dodger Jack Flaherty (3.34) and former first-round pick Casey Mize (2.70). Mize preceded sluggers Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson as first-round picks in Detroit; Greene and Torkelson have combined for one more home run (17) than the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández (16). Hinch is something of an accidental manager. In 2009, he was the minor league director of the Arizona Diamondbacks when general manager Josh Byrnes asked him to manage the team. 'I thought he was crazy,' Hinch said. What Byrnes saw and many others in baseball did not: The traditional wall between the front office and the coaching staff was crumbling. The analyst or executive coming into the clubhouse might be there to help the manager and coaches, not to usurp their authority. 'I think the Diamondbacks, for the first time, were ahead of the curve,' said Angels pitching coach Barry Enright, then a Diamondbacks pitcher. 'It was rare back then to see a front-office member come into the coaches' room. Now it's all one big unit.' Innovation is great when you win. The Diamondbacks did not, and Hinch did not manage even one full season before he and Byrnes were fired. Look at Hinch now: The Tigers earned their first playoff berth in 10 years last season, with a fraying rotation held together by Skubal and duct tape. In the first round, they beat the — dramatic pause — Astros. Two ex-Dodgers on the current Detroit roster compare Hinch favorably to Dave Roberts. 'Two incredible managers,' Flaherty said. 'I've been lucky enough to play for both of them.' 'The Dodgers, they can just go out there and roll out their guys: We're here, we're going to beat you,' said utilityman Zach McKinstry, who ranks eighth in the AL with a .311 batting average. 'The way we play the game, the way we know the game, the way we know our opponents beforehand, it's just unmatched. It's something I've never been a part of. We have to strategize and bring our best game every night.' McKinstry is sensitive to the unfortunately common perception: How good a manager does Roberts have to be if he can write Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman atop his lineup card every night? 'Managing superstars like that definitely comes with different challenges,' McKinstry said. 'The way he uses his bullpen; he's really good at that. Super good manager. 'He can control the media. He controls his players. He controls that locker room. All good things.' When McKinstry was traded to Detroit in 2023, he was apprehensive about Hinch. McKinstry made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 2020, the year the Astros' scandal exploded into view and Dodgers fans gathered to jeer the Astros' team bus, even as pandemic restrictions prevented them from entering Dodger Stadium. 'You come over here and you're like, 'What am I going to think?'' McKinstry said. 'I just kind of erased all that and came over here with open eyes and an open heart.' Perhaps we all should, at least with respect to Hinch. Manfred suspended Hinch and Jeff Luhnow, then the Astros' general manager, for one year. Jim Crane, the Astros' owner, then fired Hinch and Luhnow. In his report, Manfred said Hinch did not devise, participate in or approve of the scheme to intercept the pitch calls of opposing teams on live video and communicate the upcoming pitch by banging on a trash can. However, Manfred said, Hinch did not put a stop to it. 'As the person with responsibility for managing his players and coaches,' Manfred said, 'there simply is no justification for Hinch's failure to act.' In a year the American League is down, the Tigers are up. Does Hinch believe a World Series championship in Detroit would confer legitimacy upon him that the title in Houston might not, at least not to some fans? 'I don't want to win for me, or for my story, or because of what we did previously in my career,' he said. 'I want to win because of all the work that we put into it, and I want everybody to experience the feeling of being on top of the sport.' His remorse sounds sincere, not coming in a scripted statement but as we talked in the visiting dugout Friday afternoon. Hinch could have declined to talk about the scandal, or he could have offered some version of 'I've put that behind me,' but he did neither. 'It was wrong, and I should have handled it better,' Hinch said. 'I understand my role in my time in Houston, but my goal is to always own it, and do everything I can to show people that I can impact a team.' If adversity reveals character, as those of us in the sports world like to chirp, consider the reaction of the three most prominent men Manfred cited in his report. Crane said: 'I don't think I should be held accountable.' Luhnow said he had been held out as 'the scapegoat for the organization' and sued the Astros. Hinch said he was wrong.
