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From Jack Harris: For most of this season, the Dodgers looked nearly invincible.
But in the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres, they looked completely different.
The Dodgers lost 4-0 to the Padres in Sunday's rubber match at a packed Petco Park, dropping the series against their division rival for the second time this season.
The reason for this defeat was not difficult to diagnose. Shohei Ohtani was absent due to lower back tightness. Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings. And to top it all off, Walker Buehler struggled in his second start back from Tommy John surgery, giving up three runs in just three innings.
In the big picture, this weekend's dip should be only temporary.
Ohtani injured his lower back on Monday night, so he is expected to return to action on Monday after just one day of rest. There's no doubt that the Dodgers' lineup will heat up again, especially if Mookie Betts can put an end to his slump over the past two weeks. Buehler's lump is no surprise for the 29-year-old, who is coming off a second surgery that required nearly two years of rehabilitation.
Read more here
Hernandez: “Dave Roberts does his job: protect Shohei Ohtani from himself”
Inside young Clayton Kershaw's battle to save his career and master his unique pitching style
dodgers box score
MLB score
MLB standings
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nba playoff schedule
always pacific
2nd round
western conference
1st place Oklahoma City vs. 5th place Dallas
at Oklahoma City 117, Dallas 95 (box score)
Dallas 119, Oklahoma City 110 (box score)
at Dallas 105, Oklahoma City 101 (box score)
Monday, Dallas, 6:30pm, TNT
Wednesday, Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., TNT
*Saturday, Dallas, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., TNT
2nd place Denver vs. 3rd place Minnesota
Minnesota 106, at Denver 99 (box score)
Minnesota 106, Denver 80 (box score)
Denver 117, Minnesota 90 (box score)
Denver 115, vs. Minnesota 107 (box score)
Tuesday, Denver, 7:30pm, TNT
*Minnesota Thursday, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Sunday, Denver, TBD, TNT
eastern conference
1st place Boston vs. 4th place Cleveland
at Boston 120, Cleveland 95 (box score)
Cleveland 118, Boston 94 (box score)
Boston 106, Cleveland 93 (box score)
Monday, Cleveland, 4pm, TNT
Wednesday, Boston, 4pm, TNT
*Friday, Cleveland, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Sunday in Boston, TBA, TBA
2nd place New York vs. 6th place Indiana
at New York 121, Indiana 117 (box score)
at New York 130, Indiana 121 (box score)
Indiana 111, New York 106 (box score)
Indiana 121, New York 89 (box score)
Tuesday, New York, 5pm, TNT
Friday at Indiana, TBA, ESPN
*Sunday, New York, 12:30 p.m., ABC
*-If necessary
angels
In Sunday's game between the Kansas City Royals and the Angels, Seth Lugo had a career-high 12 strikeouts and allowed one run in eight innings, and Hunter Renfroe also allowed two runs against his old team.
Freddie Firmin and Michael Massie also had RBIs in the Royals' fourth inning, giving Lugo (6-1) plenty of help as Kansas City got three of four points from the Angels.
Willie Calhoun hit an RBI double in the 6th inning and a solo home run in the 9th inning, but the Halos had 14 players on the disabled list, the worst in the major leagues, and had lost 17 of 23 games. Los Angeles has lost all six Big A series this season and has never won back-to-back home games.
Read more here
angels box score
MLB score
MLB standings
University of California Water Polo
From Thuc Nguyen: UCLA won its first NCAA women's polo title since 2009 with a 7-4 win over California on Sunday, completing its first undefeated season since 2008 and the program's seventh Won the U.S. Championship. The Bruins (26-0) are the first team since USC in 2016 to finish a perfect season and only the fifth team in NCAA women's water polo history.
After leading the UCLA men's program to four national titles in 15 seasons as head coach, Adam Wright won his first NCAA championship at the helm of the women's team. He took over both programs in 2017 after the women's teams reached the national championship game three times in four seasons but had no trophies to show for it.
Wright took off his sneakers at the final horn and placed them on the bench with the calmness of a coach who had once jumped into a championship. He gathered several players and assistant coaches on the pool deck for a group hug, wrapped Cal State head coach Coralie Simmons in a comforting embrace and dove headfirst into the pool.
Read more here
USC Baseball
From Bill Shakin: “Have you ever played Mafia?”
I asked Connor Clift, a senior catcher on the University of Southern California baseball team, about the Trojans' trying season.
“We play Mafia for hours and hours,” Clift said.
It's a video game.
“You have the sheriff, you have the townspeople, the mafia tries to kill the townspeople, and the sheriff tries to capture the mafia,” he said. “Nobody knows who's who. And we fight.”
The Trojans are on the bus for hours, so they play for hours. They are a team without a home.
They practice for an hour, 30 minutes from campus due to traffic. They play most of their home games an hour from campus, which means he's two hours away due to traffic.
Read more here
usc volleyball
From Ryan Cartier: Before Dane Blanton started building a beach volleyball dynasty, he decided to put coaching on the back burner in the summer of 2018.
After four years as a volunteer assistant, he felt like he had reached his limit at USC. Anna Collier, the only head coach in USC beach volleyball history, seemed unlikely to move on to head coaching any time soon. And ESPN, where Blanton used to broadcast volleyball, offered her the chance to commit to a career in broadcasting, not to mention financial security. Considering our new baby, it felt like the perfect time to move on.
Blanton loved coaching. But he was ready for something new, and his broadcasting career, which included work as a sideline reporter for the Clippers and an Olympic analyst, looked ready to take off. Still, the following year, Collier reminded Blanton not to close the door on coaching completely. Little did she know at the time that she would retire from USC the following summer.
Stunned when he heard the news, Blanton considered giving it a shot himself. “Everyone and my brother wanted the job,” he said.
Read more here
NHL playoff schedule
always pacific
2nd round
western conference
C1 Dallas vs. C3 Colorado
Colorado 4, at Dallas 3 (OT) (box score)
at Dallas 5, Colorado 3 (box score)
Dallas 4, Colorado 1 (box score)
Monday, Colorado, 7 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday, Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Friday in Colorado
*Sunday, Dallas, TBA
P1 Vancouver vs. P2 Edmonton
at Vancouver 5, Edmonton 4 (box score)
Edmonton 4, vs. Vancouver 3 (OT) (Box Score)
Vancouver 4, at Edmonton 3 (box score)
Tuesday, Edmonton, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
*Thursday, Vancouver, TBA
*Saturday, Edmonton, TBA
*Monday, Vancouver, TBA
eastern conference
M1 New York Rangers vs. M2 Carolina
at New York 4, Carolina 3 (box score)
at New York 4, Carolina 3 (2 OT) (box score)
New York 3, at Carolina 2 (OT) (box score)
at Carolina 4, New York 3 (box score)
Monday, New York, 4 p.m., ESPN
*Thursday, Carolina, 4 p.m., TNT
*Saturday, New York, TBA
A1 Florida vs. A2 Boston
Boston 5, Florida 1 (box score)
at Florida 6, Boston 1 (box score)
Florida 6, at Boston 2 (box score)
Florida 3, at Boston 2 (box score)
Tuesday, Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN
*Friday in Boston, TBA
*Sunday at Floria, TBA
*-If necessary
This date in sports
1950 – The first ever Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship race is held at Silverstone, England, and won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo.
1952 — In an Appalachian League game, Ron Netchai of the Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters during a 7-0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners.
1958 — Stan Musial hits a pinch-hit double off Chicago's Moe Drabowski at Wrigley Field for his 3,000th hit. The Cardinals won 5-3.
1976 — The New York Nets overcame a 22-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat the Denver Nuggets 112-106 and win their first ABA championship in six games.
1989 — Trinidad and Tobago draws 1-1 with the United States in the third round of the 1990 Soccer World Cup.
2005 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship, ending his streak of 142 consecutive starts on the PGA Tour over the past seven years.
2007 — Canada defeats Finland 4-2 to win the World Hockey Championship. Rick Nash led with two goals as Canada won its 24th world title and first since 2004.
2014 — Henrik Lundqvist sets an NHL record with five straight Game 7 wins. He made 35 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Edited by Associated Press
Until next time…
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