The Sports Report: The Dodgers believe they can win big without aces
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who’s probably sorting through Dodgers Dugout reader emails. Let’s get right to the news.
From Dylan Hernández: They think they’re smarter than everyone else.
Here’s their chance to show it.
They think they can reinvent a 100-plus-year-old game.
Here’s a stage on which they can prove it.
With Julio Urías on administrative leave in the wake of his arrest for suspicion of domestic violence and Walker Buehler officially ruled out from pitching this season, Andrew Friedman and his assistants are dealing with a major crisis.
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The Dodgers don’t have starting pitching. More precisely, they don’t have the kind of starting pitching necessary to win in the postseason.
This is my opinion, of course, not Friedman’s or his front office’s.
They think they can win without a front-line starter.
They think they can win with an assembly line of openers, swingmen and relievers.
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DODGERS
From Mike DiGiovanna: Lance Lynn’s seven-inning, two-run, five-hit effort in Tuesday night’s 11-2 victory over the San Diego Padres wasn’t the kind of dominant start that will fuel hopes that the burly right-hander can front the Dodgers’ playoff rotation or carry the team to the World Series in October.
But it provided a much-needed shot in the arm to a staff that has been ravaged by season-ending elbow injuries to Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw’s velocity-sapping shoulder injury, Walker Buehler’s aborted comeback from Tommy John surgery and Julio Urías’ recent arrest on suspicion of domestic violence.
Lynn gave an overworked bullpen a respite with a 111-pitch effort in which he struck out three and walked two, and first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Will Smith provided the bulk of the offense to help the Dodgers reduce their magic number to clinch their 10th National League West title in 11 years to five games.
MORE DODGERS:
— Dodgers’ Lance Lynn’s propensity for allowing homers puts him in Hall of Fame company
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: J.P. Crawford hit a three-run double that broke open the game, Eugenio Suárez homered and had an early RBI single, and the Seattle Mariners scored seven runs with two outs in an 8-0 win over the Angels on Tuesday night.
The Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak and took advantage of Houston’s loss to last-place Oakland to pull within 1½ games of the AL West-leading Astros. Seattle also tied Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot.
A night after losing to the Angels in part because of their failure to get two-out hitting, the Mariners put together two big innings centered around clutch hits with two outs.
RAMS AND CHARGERS
From Gary Klein, Jeff Miller, Helene Elliott and Dylan Hernández: According to the betting lines, the Rams pulled an upset in Week 1 of the NFL season with a road win over the Seahawks in Seattle. More should be revealed when another NFC West rival, the San Francisco 49ers, comes to town next week. The Chargers played some good offense but little defense as the Miami Dolphins came to L.A. and won, 36-34. They could not stop the pass against the Dolphins and next have to deal with imposing running back Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans on the road. Rams beat writer Gary Klein, Chargers beat writer Jeff Miller, and columnists Helene Elliott and Dylan Hernández discuss what happened and upcoming prospects:
What was the most surprising aspect of the Rams’ upset victory over the Seattle Seahawks?
Miller: If I were a jerk, I’d make a joke about the most surprising thing being that Matthew Stafford on Sunday didn’t also find time to complete three long passes against the Chargers. But that’s not who I am.
Elliott: Simply winning might be the biggest surprise. Holding Seattle to 12 net yards in the second half was also noteworthy, along with how well the newly assembled offensive line protected Stafford and gave him the time he needed to make reads and throw.
Klein: Plus, the Rams won convincingly. The Rams and Seahawks typically play closer games but the Rams took over in the second half on offense and defense. There were legitimate questions about the Rams before the game — and despite their performance I would say many of the same questions remain. But for one week they proved most observers wrong.
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Angel City didn’t lose a game last week, mostly because the team didn’t play last week.
But then Angel City hasn’t lost a game in the last 10 weeks in which it did play. And that is mostly because of interim coach Becki Tweed.
“There’s a new confidence,” said general manager Angela Hucles Mangano, a two-time Olympic champion. “That’s what wins start doing to you.”
Tweed replaced Freya Coombe, the only manager Angel City had known, in mid-June after the team lost its fourth game in a row in all competition, leaving it winless in six straight. Angel City beat the league-leading San Diego Wave that weekend in Tweed’s head coaching debut, winning for just the second time in 11 games on the road dating to last summer.
It hasn’t lost anywhere since, going 7-0-3.
“She kind of knew what was missing to get us to this point and was able to instill that belief that we are good, we can get results,” forward Jasmyne Spencer said. “It’s all started to click.
“The vibe is different. It’s just been a shift in mentality.”
HORSE RACING
From John Cherwa: An investigation into the dramatic rise in deaths at Churchill Downs around the Kentucky Derby was released on Tuesday with a very familiar answer — we don’t know what happened.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its 197-page report on Churchill Downs, filled with graphs, charts and all the trappings of a thorough examination. The only thing it lacked was a conclusion.
“The absence of a singular explanation for recent equine fatalities at several racetracks across the country is extremely frustrating for the entire sport of thoroughbred racing, for fans and the public, and also for HISA,” according to the report. “Consequently, action must be taken in reaction to what we know and what we do not know, for the welfare of thoroughbred horses.”
Seven horses died at Churchill Downs in the 10 days leading up to the Kentucky Derby, two on Derby day. Two more horses died before racing, but not training, was suspended at the iconic Louisville track and moved to Ellis Park, two hours away in Kentucky. The move was made at the recommendation of HISA.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1930 — Tommy Armour beats Gene Sarazen 1 up to win the PGA Championship.
1964 — Roy Emerson beats fellow Australian Fred Stolle to win the men’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Brazil’s Maria Bueno wins the women’s title. Emerson wins in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and Bueno easily wins 6-1, 6-0.
1970 — Only 55 of 126 finish the first New York City Marathon, with Gary Muhrcke winning in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 38.2 seconds. The race is run counterclockwise on a 26.22-mile course in Central Park.
1981 — The Atlanta Falcons, trailing 17-0 with 13 minutes remaining in the game, score 31 points to beat the Green Bay Packers 31-17. The Falcons score touchdowns on a punt return, two by passes, an interception return and a fumble return.
1981 — John McEnroe defeats Bjorn Borg to win his third straight men’s singles title in the U.S. Open.
1989 — Pat Day breaks the record for most winners in one day when he scored with eight of his nine mounts at Arlington Racecourse in Illinois. It was the best day for one program in North American thoroughbred racing history. In his only loss, Day finishes second.
1991 — Joe Carter 1st baseball player with 3 consecutive 100 RBI seasons with 3 different teams (Indians, Padres, Blue Jays).
1992 — Buffalo’s Jim Kelly and San Francisco’s Steve Young throw for more than 400 yards and neither team punts, the first time in NFL history, as the Bills beat the 49ers 34-31.
1997 — Cade McNown throws a school-record five touchdown passes as UCLA routs No. 11 Texas 66-3. It’s the second-worst loss for Texas, which lost 68-0 to Chicago in 1904, and the biggest defeat of a ranked team in The Associated Press college football poll.
1999 — John Elway’s #7 jersey is retired by the Denver Broncos.
2003 — Tonya Butler makes a field goal and three extra points for Division II West Alabama. Butler, a 5-foot-5, 140-pound senior, kicks a 27-yarder in the first quarter to help the Tigers beat Stillman College 24-17. It could not be confirmed whether Butler was the first woman to kick a field goal because NCAA statistics do not differentiate between sexes.
2008 — Brigham Young quarterback Max Hall ties a school record with seven touchdown passes as the 18th-ranked Cougars hands UCLA its worst loss in nearly 80 years, 59-0.
2009 — Brandon Stokley only catches one pass — but it is a big one. He grabs a deflection and runs 87 yards with 11 seconds left to give Denver a 12-7 win over Cincinnati. Stokley even burns a few extra seconds by taking his time going into the end zone.
2010 — Rafael Nadal wins his first U.S. Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
2013 — Jim Furyk becomes the sixth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59 to give him a share of the lead at the BMW Championship.
2015 — Lydia Ko becomes the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history winning the Evian Championship. The South Korean-born New Zealander closes with an 8-under 63 for a six-stroke victory over Lexi Thompson. Ko, at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days old, eclipses the previous record of American Morgan Pressel, who was 18 years, 10 months and nine days old when she won the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
2020 — Alec Mills of the Chicago Cubs no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers 12-0 at Miller Park, Milwaukee.
— Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Watch three videos — Dodgers mariachis sing “Las Mañanitas” to celebrate Freddie Freeman’s birthday in the second inning Tuesday night, Freeman hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Freeman talked with SportsNetLA about his big night.
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, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
