Dodgers hold off the Diamondbacks
From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers had managed to cling to their lead over the Diamondbacks despite the comeback attempt the home team had mounted in the late innings.
Now it was up to left-hander Tanner Scott, coming off his first blown save of the season, to finish the job.
With the would-be tying run standing on first base and one out, Scott crashed hard on Geraldo Perdomo’s sacrifice bunt and zipped a throw across the diamond just in time for the out.
Then to tie a bow on the outing, Scott got Pavin Smith to lunge after an outside slider and ground into the final out of the game.
“It was good to see,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 6-5 win Tuesday. I thought from pitch one he was pitching with a purpose. Obviously there was no margin with a one-run lead. I just liked the way he was going after those guys.”
Though the Dodgers led for the game from Freddie Freeman’s first-inning homer on, it was a nail-biter. The Diamondbacks rallied against a Dodgers bullpen that had been practically flawless for weeks. Roberts made five pitching changes. But with an offensive bounce-back and strong pitching performances on the front and back end, the Dodgers evened the series at Chase Field.
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Dodgers box score
MLB standings
Angels use their heads in loss to Rockies
TJ Rumfield got a gift when his long flyball bounced off Jo Adell’s head for a most unusual home run, and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Angels 8-2 on Tuesday night.
Willi Castro hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Hunter Goodman had a solo shot in the second. Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4) gave up two runs in five innings for the win.
Castro and Rumfield hit back-to-back homers in the fourth off starter Grayson Rodriguez (2-2), who gave up eight runs, eight hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.
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Angels box score
MLB standings
Why don’t the Rams have more fans?
From Mirjam Swanson: What a thrill for the Rams. For Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay. And for Myles Garrett, the generational defensive talent who finally got out of Cleveland and into a situation in which everyone cares as much about winning as he does.
But what about you, L.A. sports fan?
Are you hyped about the Rams’ latest blockbuster trade?
Or is LeBron James’ future dominating that part of your brain? Are you worried about getting home in time to catch the start of the Dodgers’ game?
Do tell: Were you shook by the Rams’ move Monday to acquire Garrett, the five-time All-Pro, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and all-time single-season sacks leader?
How long until the Rams seriously, lastingly move the needle? Until all of their home games feel like Dodgers games — like home games?
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From ‘Fearsome Foursome’ to Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett aims to become a Rams legend
Sparks fall to Aces
From Marisa Ingemi: The Sparks were expected to turn a corner this season.
Through nine games, it’s been more of the same frustration and Tuesday’s 79-69 loss to the Las Vegas Aces might have been a gut check.
The Sparks trailed by as much as 15 in the second half and came back to trail by five with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t nearly enough after a 30.8% shooting night. It was the fewest they have scored in a game since Aug. 9 of last season when they scored 59 points.
Rae Burrell netted a career-high 22 points, but coach Lynne Roberts was unhappy with the offense overall.
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Sparks box score
WNBA standings
This day in sports history
1944 — Bounding Home, ridden by G.L. Smith, wins the Belmont Stakes by one-half length over Pensive, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
1959 — European Cup Final, Stuttgart: Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 2-0; 4th consecutive title for Los Blancos.
1961 — Sherluck, ridden by Braulio Baeza, wins the Belmont Stakes. Carry Beck, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, finishes seventh.
1972 — French Open Women’s Tennis: American icon Billie Jean King wins her only French singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong of Australia 6-3, 6-3.
1984 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by a record 10 strokes over Beth Daniel and Pat Bradley.
1991 — Thomas Hearns becomes a world champion for the sixth time, capturing the World Boxing Association’s light-heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Virgil Hill.
1992 — Chicago’s Michael Jordan scores a record 35 points, including a record six three-pointers, in the first half as the Bulls beat Portland 122-89 in the opening game of the NBA Finals. Jordan finishes with 39 points and Chicago is only two points shy of the largest victory margin in the finals.
1999 — Four days after her first LPGA Tour victory, Kelli Kuehne ties the Women’s U.S. Open record with an 8-under 64 in the first round to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster.
2001 — Karrie Webb wins the U.S. Women’s Open in a runaway for the second year in a row. Webb shoots a 1-under 69 for an eight-stroke victory, the largest margin at a Women’s Open in 21 years.
2004 — Calgary ties an NHL record with its 10th road win of the playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa Bay in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. The New Jersey Devils also won 10 road playoff games during their championship seasons of 1995 and 2000.
2006 — Jeff Burton has the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch race, overcoming a 36th-place starting position in the Dover 200 for his second victory of the season.
2006 — Russia’s Nikolai Valuev retains his WBA heavyweight title in Hanover, Germany, stopping Jamaican challenger Owen Beck with a right uppercut in the third round.
2011 — Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic’s perfect season and 43-match winning streak, beating him 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the French Open semifinals. Federer advances to the title match against five-time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal reaches his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros by defeating Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
2012 — Tiger Woods won his 73rd PGA tour victory with a two-stoke win over Andres Romero and Rory Sabbatini in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course.
2017 — UEFA Champions League Final, Cardiff: Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice as defending champions Real Madrid thrash Juventus, 4-1 for 12th title; Juventus loses 5th consecutive final.
2018 — Stephen Curry, Golden State, broke Ray Allen’s NBA Finals record for the most three-pointers with nine in the Warriors 122-103 Game 2 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1918 — Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitched his second no-hitter, blanking the Detroit Tigers 5-0.
1932 — Lou Gehrig became the first American League player to hit four home runs in a game, helping the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia A’s 20-13. The event was overshadowed by the resignation of John McGraw as manager of the New York Giants.
1954 — Henry Thompson of the New York Giants hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 13-8 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Willie Mays drove in the other five runs with two homers.
1971 — Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitched his second no-hitter, beating the Cincinnati Reds 1-0.
1978 — Dave Johnson became the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season. His grand slam in the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers.
1989 — The Dodgers and Houston played 22 innings at the Astrodome in the longest night game in National League history — 7 hours and 14 minutes. The Astros won the game on Rafael Ramirez’s RBI single off Jeff Hamilton, normally the Dodgers’ third baseman. When the game ended, Fernando Valenzuela was playing first and Eddie Murray was at third.
1989 — Nolan Ryan pitched his 11th one-hitter and struck out 11 as Texas beat Seattle 6-1. It was Ryan’s 16th low-hit game (no-hitter or one-hitter), breaking Bob Feller’s record of 15.
1995 — Pedro Martinez of Montreal pitched nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos 1-0 win.
2003 — Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Chicago’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.
2006 — Damion Easley hit three homers and had seven RBIs in Arizona’s 13-9 victory over Atlanta.
2008 — Randy Johnson took sole possession of second place on baseball’s career strikeout list after getting the Milwaukee Brewers’ Mike Cameron to go down swinging in the first inning. It was Johnson’s 4,673rd strikeout, breaking a tie with Roger Clemens and leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks’ veteran ace behind only Nolan Ryan, who had 5,714 strikeouts in his career.
2017 — Albert Pujols hits his 600th home run, the historic blast being a 4th-inning grand slam off Ervin Santana of the Twins in a 7-2 Angels win. He is the ninth player to join the exclusive fraternity.
2017 — Endinson Volquez of the Mets throws the first no-hiitter of the year, defeating the Diamonbacks 3-0.
2018 — Blake Snell ties an American League record by striking out the first seven batters he faces for the Rays against the Mariners.
2022 — With a disappointing 22-29 record after splurging on free agents over the past few years, the Phillies fire manager Joe Girardi, who has failed to take them to the postseason in his two-plus seasons at the helm. Bench coach Rob Thomson is named manager on an interim basis to finish the season.
2024 —Padres player Tucupita Marcano faces a lifetime ban from baseball after an investigation by MLB found that he has placed bets on a large number of major league games, in contravention of very clear rule. He is suspected of having bet on Pirates games while injured last season; he has not played this season, also due to injury. The lifetime ban will be confirmed tomorrow and four other players will receive one-year suspensions for placing bets while they were in the minor leagues: Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank.
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.