The Sports Report: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw returns
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably making snacks to eat while watching the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
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From Bill Plaschke: Clayton Kershaw was crumbling again.
It was real. It was happening. It was October in July. It was deja boo.
It was the third inning of Kershaw’s long-awaited season debut against the San Francisco Giants on a sweltering Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, and the future Hall of Famer was melting.
Having pitched two scoreless innings, he suddenly lost his touch and was in danger of blowing his moment.
He gave up a line-drive single to left by Jorge Soler, a ricocheting triple into the left-field corner by Tyler Fitzgerald, a hard single up the middle by Heliot Ramos, then another single to center by Matt Chapman.
Four smashed pitches. Two runs scored. Two runners on base. No outs. Oh no.
The last time Kershaw stood on this mound, he gave up six runs in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in an October playoff-opening loss that led to offseason shoulder surgery.
Nine months later, at age 36, he was improbably attempting a comeback that suddenly appeared stunted just three innings after it began.
The crowd grew silent. The warm wind ceased. The pitcher breathed deeply.
MORE DODGERS:
Clayton Kershaw returns, Shohei Ohtani homers, Dodgers grab series win over Giants
How Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler aim to work their way back into Dodgers’ playoff plans
Hernández: How Shohei Ohtani could snap the Dodgers out of their complacency
See the special cleats Clayton Kershaw’s kids decorated for his comeback
How Brent Honeywell learned to throw a screwball, a pitch notable in Dodgers history
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CHARGERS
From Bill Plaschke: He strutted around the deep green football fields like a new father, shouting and gesturing and celebrating with cheers and compliments and a loudly blown whistle.
Then Jim Harbaugh explained.
His first official training camp practice as the Chargers coach was like…childbirth?
Yeah, childbirth.
“Just like being born,” he said after Wednesday’s inaugural training camp workout at the Chargers’ gleaming new El Segundo practice facility. “It was like coming out of the womb. It’s comfortable and safe, and now you’re born. The lights are on. It’s bright and there’s chaos. People are looking, people talking to each other and, just feels good to have it happen.”
MORE CHARGERS:
Camp takeaways: Chargers’ offense is a mystery for now, but starts from ground up
From Gary Klein: Two practices into training camp, the Rams secondary is at the forefront of concern.
Coach Sean McVay said Thursday that cornerback Derion Kendrick, who was expected to play a rotational role, will have surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered Wednesday in the team’s first workout.
McVay addressed Kendrick’s situation moments after helping to attend to cornerback Darious Williams, a starter who suffered what appeared to be a hamstring injury on the final play of practice.
“I’m not sure,” McVay said when asked if Williams was OK.
So a Rams defensive backfield already undergoing significant change might be in for more.
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Luis Rengifo had a two-run double during a five-run second inning for the Angels, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a loss to the visiting Oakland Athletics.
Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker both hit their ninth home run in July, and the Athletics continued their power surge with a 6-5 victory over the Angels on Thursday night.
The Angels had won four in a row entering the contest.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1859 — The first intercollegiate Regatta is held in Worcester, Mass., with Harvard beating Yale and Brown.
1928 — Gene Tunney beats Tom Heeney on a technical knockout in the 11th round at Yankee Stadium to retain the world heavyweight title.
1952 — Bob Mathias wins his second Olympic decathlon in Helsinki, Finland.
1955 — Doug Ford defeats Cary Middlecoff 4 and 3 in the final round to capture the PGA title.
1981 — Pat Bradley shoots a record 279 total to win the U.S. Women’s Open. Kathy Whitworth, who finishes third, becomes the first million-dollar golfer in LPGA history.
1987 — Stephen Roche of Ireland wins the Tour de France by 40 seconds over Spain’s Pedro Delgado. Jeannie Longo of France wins the women’s race, finishing 2:52 ahead of Italy’s Maria Canins.
1992 — Miguel Indurain of Spain, the holder of the yellow jersey as overall leader for the final nine days, rides in the pack to clinch his second straight victory in the Tour de France.
1996 — American swimmer Amy Van Dyken wins the 50-meter freestyle to become Atlanta’s first quadruple gold medalist and the first U.S. woman to win four in a single Olympics.
1998 — Three spectators are killed — the first fan deaths at a major race in the United States in more than a decade — and six are injured by flying debris from a one-car crash at the U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway.
2005 — Greg Maddux records his 3,000th career strikeout against San Francisco, striking out Omar Vizquel in the third inning of a 3-2, 11-inning victory for the Giants.
2009 — Alberto Contador wins the Tour de France for a second time. Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, Contador’s biggest rival among title contenders in the mountains, finishes second.
2013 — He Chong wins his record-tying third consecutive world title in the men’s 3-meter springboard at Barcelona, Spain, giving China its seventh gold medal in eight diving events. His victories in 2009, 2011, and 2013, matches Phillip Boggs’ record of three titles from 1973-78.
2015 — Christina Jones and Bill May of the U.S. win the first gold medal in new mixed duet technical synchronized swimming at the world championships in Kazan, Russia. The mixed duet is new to the world championships.
2015 — Kyle Busch’s incredible comeback continues with a weekend sweep at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He wins the Brickyard 400 a day after winning the second-tier Xfinity Series race. Busch, who missed the first 11 races of the season with a broken right leg and broken left foot, wins the fourth of the last five Sprint Cup Series races, including three straight.
2020 — Italian soccer team Juventus wins its 9th straight Serie A title in a 2-0 victory over Sampdoria.
2021 — Hidilyn Diaz becomes the first athlete from the Philippines to win an Olympic gold medal in the 55kg class of weightlifting at the Tokyo Games.
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, 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.
