The Sports Report: Phil Nevin is out as Angels manager

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Sarah Valenzuela: The Angels have declined the option on Phil Nevin’s contract for next year, the team announced Monday, marking the end of his managerial tenure in Anaheim.

The Angels finished 73-89 and fourth in the AL West. The team will begin its search for a new manager for 2024 — its fifth different manager in seven seasons.

General manager Perry Minasian is scheduled to speak to members of the media on Tuesday.

Nevin initially joined the Angels coaching staff for the 2022 season as the third base coach. He was promoted to manager on an interim basis, his first at the major league level, following Joe Maddon’s firing amid a 14-game losing streak during late May and early June 2022.

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DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: The Dodgers relief corps was reeling in mid-June, with back-to-back shellackings at the hands of the San Francisco Giants exacerbating the struggles of an already ailing bullpen.

There was a Friday night meltdown in the wake of Emmet Sheehan’s brilliant big league debut, the bullpen following the right-hander’s six no-hit innings by giving up six earned runs in five innings of a 7-5, 11-inning loss on June 16.

And a Saturday night beatdown in which relievers were torched for six earned runs in 3⅓ innings of a 15-0 loss that dropped the Dodgers four games back in the National League West.

That Sunday, as San Francisco completed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers with a 7-3 win, setup man Brusdar Graterol initiated a relievers-only meeting in which a relatively young and inexperienced group aired its thoughts and concerns and beefs.

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DODGERS’ NLDS SCHEDULE

Game 1: at Dodgers, Saturday
Game 2: at Dodgers, Monday
Game 3: at opponent, Wednesday
Game 4: at opponent, Thursday
Game 5: at Dodgers, Saturday

All games will be on TBS. Start times have not been announced, but if the TBS website is to believed, it looks like the games will start at either 5:30 p.m. or 5.

THE WILD-CARD SERIES

If you want to keep track of all the wild-card series, here’s how. They are best-of-three, with the higher seed hosting every game:

Arizona at Milwaukee (winner plays Dodgers)

Game 1: Tuesday, 4 p.m., ESPN2
Game 2: Wednesday, 4 p.m., ESPN2
*Game 3: Thursday, 4 p.m., ESPN2

Miami at Philadelphia (winner plays Atlanta)

Game 1: Tuesday, 5 p.m., ESPN
Game 2: Wednesday, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Game 3: Thursday, 5 p.m., ESPN

Texas at Tampa Bay (winner plays Baltimore)

Game 1: Tuesday, Noon, ABC
Game 2: Wednesday, Noon, ABC
*Game 3: Thursday, Noon, ABC

Toronto at Minnesota (winner plays Houston)

Game 1: Tuesday, 1:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 2: Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., ESPN
*Game 3: Thursday, 1 :30 p.m., ESPN

*-if necessary
All times Pacific

LAKERS

From Dan Woike: The interview table sat in the middle of the Lakers’ El Segundo practice facility, championship banners overhead and title trophies on their usual perch inside co-owner Jeanie Buss’ upstairs office.

One by one, the 14 players on the Lakers’ roster sat behind the microphone Monday, the absence of controversy or any bad vibes notably keeping things vanilla.

The stars all said they were healthy, happy with the offseason training and rebuilding of the roster. The role players talked about finding ways to impact winning. Laughter and smiles outnumbered any eye-rolls or double-meanings.

The Lakers were focused Monday and free of the drama that can dominate early-season storylines.

The team that made it to the West finals last season was largely back together in the building, and everyone seemed to be genuinely excited about that.

“We’re not going to shortcut any corners or whatever the case may be. But there should not be much teaching when it comes to us getting back on the floor,” LeBron James said Monday at media day. “We have that chemistry. Obviously, we have some guys that we are bringing into the fold, but we returned a lot of our core. … we have a lot of guys that know the system that can pick up right where we left off with just a little refresher, and I believe the guys that were brought in are smart enough to be able to catch on very fast.”

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CLIPPERS

From Andrew Greif: The new NBA policy pushing its All-Star and all-league-caliber players to play more often won’t change the way Clippers star Kawhi Leonard prepares, he said Monday, adding that he will continue to play whenever healthy.

Leonard and Clippers teammate Paul George have become the face of the new NBA player participation policy, which takes effect this season. Leonard’s regimen of so-called “load management” coming off a leg injury helped him lead Toronto to the 2019 NBA championship and the Clippers have been cautious with managing his workload in his four seasons since then.

Leonard tore the meniscus in his right knee in April during the team’s first-round playoff loss to Phoenix, two years after tearing the ACL in the same knee.

During the team’s media day at their practice facility, Leonard said at first he did not know what the new rules were. Given an example by a reporter, Leonard said, “I’m not a guy that’s sitting down because I’m doing load management. Well, when I was with the Raptors, it was different. Like, I was coming off an injury. And you have to know the details from the doctor.

“But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors it should stop because I was injured during that whole year. But other than that if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball. I work out every day in the summertime to play the game not to sit and watch people play. So no league policy is helping me to play more games.”

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Matthew Stafford-Cooper Kupp connection, one of NFL’s most dynamic passing combinations, appeared on track to resume this week with both veterans physically sound.

Not so fast.

A day after Stafford suffered a hip bruise in a dramatic victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday that the 15th-year pro “should be good to go” for practices and Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium.

But how the injury affects Stafford, 35, remains to be seen.

McVay sounded optimistic that Stafford would endure.

“He’s such a tough competitor, obviously you want him to be healthy,” McVay said during a videoconference with reporters. “Something about him, he always plays with a pretty good edge when he’s got something to work through.”

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NFL

Rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon scored on a 97-yard interception return late in the third quarter and the Seattle Seahawks tied a team record with 11 sacks in a 24-3 victory over the struggling and offensively inept New York Giants on Monday night.

Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, Witherspoon and Uchenna Nwosu each had two sacks. Wagner also had 17 tackles.

USC FOOTBALL

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Solomon Byrd sinks into a plush beige sectional. There are crayon scribbles on the floor, diapers neatly stacked on the couch cushion and toys piled near the wall. Taysia Byrd, Solomon’s wife, is holding their 9-month-old daughter Bleu. Messiah, the couple’s 2-year-old son, is rummaging through the utensil drawer in the family’s open-concept kitchen on the ground floor of their two-story Inglewood home. An off-day during the busy football season gives the family of four a rare moment together.

USC rush end Solomon Byrd is happy here.

“Not to say I have it all,” Byrd said, “but I have everything that I wanted.”

The redshirt senior has grown into the man he prayed to be. He is a husband. He is a father. He is a college football player taking the field in front of his hometown crowd on one of the best teams in the country.

The overlapping responsibilities could be enough to crush a 23-year-old. Instead, he is “playing at a different level,” USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. The rush end leads the No. 9 Trojans with 17 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

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UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: For a month now, UCLA’s defense has appeared vastly improved from the versions that hampered every previous team under Chip Kelly.

On Saturday at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins could find out if looks are deceiving.

They will face a Washington State offense that is among the nation’s best, particularly when it comes to throwing the ball. Quarterback Cameron Ward leads a passing offense that ranks No. 2 nationally with an average of 405.8 yards per game through the air.

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ANGEL CITY

Adriana scored in the first half and the Orlando Pride held on for a 1-0 victory over Angel City on Monday night in the National Women’s Soccer League.

The Pride earned their ninth win of the season, the most for the club since the 2017 season.

Both teams were still alive for the playoffs but sitting below the cutoff line in the standings with two regular season games remaining. With Orlando’s victory, the Kansas City Current were eliminated from playoff contention.

The loss snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak for Angel City (6-7-7).

KINGS

From Chuck Schilken: The Kings have never worn an advertising patch on their jerseys.

Mercury Insurance has never had its logo displayed on a team’s jersey.

That will change Tuesday when the Kings wear a patch featuring the Mercury Insurance logo when they host the Ducks in a preseason game.

The patch will continue to appear on the upper left portion of the jerseys during preseason, regular season and playoff games at Crypto.com Arena this season, the Kings and Mercury announced Monday, as part of a multi-year renewal agreement of a partnership between the two organizations that started in 2008.

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DUCKS

Trevor Zegras has proved he is one of the NHL’s most marketable young players. He will now have three years to prove he can be one of the league’s top-tier players.

Zegras agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Ducks on Monday worth $17.25 million, with an annual salary-cap hit of $5.75 million.

The 22-year old Zegras was a restricted free agent and was working out in New York. He will report to Ducks training camp Tuesday, giving him time to get ready for the Oct. 14 season opener at Vegas.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1951 — Bobby Thomson hits a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant.

1971 — Billie Jean King wins the Virginia Slims-Thunderbird tournament in Phoenix to become the first women tennis player to win $100,000 in one year.

1973 — The formation of the World Football League is announced.

1974 — Frank Robinson signs a $175,000-a-year player-manager contract with the Cleveland Indians, making him the first Black manager in major league history.

1974 — Future Basketball Hall of Fame guard Jerry West (“Mr. Clutch”) retires after 14 NBA seasons with the Lakers.

1976 — Future Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder Hank Aaron singles in his last MLB at-bat & drives in his 2,297th run as Milwaukee Brewers lose, 5-2 vs. Detroit Tigers.

1981 — USC’s Marcus Allen rushes for 223 yards against Oregon State, his fourth straight 200-plus rushing game.

1990 — George Brett, Kansas City Royals, become the first player in MLB history to win a batting title in three different decades.

1993 — The Toronto Blue Jays become the first team in American League history to have teammates finish 1-2-3 in the batting race. John Olerud leads the league with a .363 batting average, Paul Molitor finishes at .332 and Roberto Alomar at .326.

1997 — Sixty-nine-year-old Hall of Famer Gordie Howe skates the first shift with the Detroit Vipers in their International Hockey League opener, becoming the only professional in his sport to compete in six decades.

2004 — Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki finishes the season with a MLB record 262 hits.

2015 — Max Scherzer pitches his second no-hitter this season for Washington, striking out a team-record 17 and leading the Nationals over the NL East champion New York Mets 2-0 for a doubleheader sweep.

2021 — Tom Brady becomes the NFL’s all-time leader in career passing yardage eclipsing Drew Brees’ high of 80,358.

—Compiled by the Associated Press