The Sports Report: Dodgers sweep the Mariners

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

From Jack Harris: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was already in “playoff mode” Wednesday, as his club continued to jockey for position in the crowded National League standings.

Once October actually arrives, however, he can only hope their potential postseason foes will make life as easy on them as the Seattle Mariners did Wednesday night.

In an 8-4, sweep-clinching defeat of the Mariners at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers got almost as much help from their opponents as they did themselves.

At the plate, the Mariners’ listless offense, which entered the night last in the majors in both batting average and strikeouts, continued to pose little discernible threat, allowing Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty to cruise through a 5⅔-inning, two-run (one earned) start.

In the field, the Mariners’ sloppy defense turned star pitcher Logan Gilbert into something of a piñata, giving the Dodgers extra chance after extra chance to take a whack at the All-Star right-hander.

The result: A stress-free victory that marked the Dodgers’ fourth straight win and 10th in their last 13 games.

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Hernández: The Dodgers hope Walker Buehler can pull off the impossible, but he’s struggling

Dodgers box score

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MLB standings

ANGELS

Michael Lorenzen pitched seven shutout innings, MJ Melendez homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 3-0 on Wednesday for their sixth win in seven games.

The Royals spoiled the season debut of Johnny Cueto (0-1), a 17-year veteran who helped Kansas City win the 2015 World Series.

Cueto hadn’t pitched in the majors since Sept. 27 last year with the Marlins. He signed a minor league contract with the Angels in July, and was called up from triple-A Salt Lake earlier Wednesday. He gave up three runs, eight hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings and left the mound to an ovation from the Kansas City crowd.

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Angels box score

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Sean McVay’s evaluation of Stetson Bennett is nearly complete.

McVay, preparing for his eighth season as the Rams coach, has not committed to Bennett as quarterback Matthew Stafford’s back-up for the Sept. 8 opener at Detroit.

So, the preseason finale Saturday against the Houston Texans at NRG stadium offers Bennett a final opportunity to not only win another preseason game but also, more importantly, win McVay’s confidence ahead of the 1 p.m. PT deadline Tuesday to trim the roster to 53 players.

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CHARGERS

From Anthony De Leon: In his first two years with the Chargers, JT Woods has worked to find his role as a safety.

Now, a few weeks into training camp, he is tackling a new challenge — shifting to cornerback.

Confident in his abilities and supported by the coaching staff, Woods is eager to embrace this new role for his own growth and to benefit the defense. Considering injuries affect each NFL season, position versatility becomes invaluable.

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UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: DeShaun Foster just gave away part of his first game plan.

Contrary to many of his counterparts who take their teams to Honolulu, UCLA’s new football coach said he would not wear a tropical shirt when the Bruins face Hawaii on Aug. 31 in their season opener.

“We’re not on vacay,” Foster said Wednesday. “You know, bowl games, it’s a different feel; this is our first game — people are always saying this is their Super Bowl [but] this is ours too, you know. We want to get this started off on the right foot.”

Might the Bruins be on the verge of a quick takeoff under their new coach? Here are five takeaways from training camp after Foster spoke with reporters for the final time before game week:

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USC FOOTBALL

From Ryan Kartje: Pete Carroll is coming home to USC.

Though, this time the legendary Trojans football coach will be back in a much different capacity.

As Professor Pete.

Fourteen years after he left USC to coach in the NFL, Carroll is returning to teach during the university’s spring semester, a school spokesperson confirmed to The Times. The university didn’t offer any further details and did not specify Carroll’s role on campus.

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LAFC

From Kevin Baxter: LAFC played the most challenging schedule in MLS history last year, a 53-game slog that saw the team play for six trophies. Yet it crossed the finish line in December exhausted and empty-handed.

The schedule has been far more forgiving this season and as a result it may prove much more rewarding as well.

With Wednesday’s 4-0 rout of the Colorado Rapids, LAFC advanced to Sunday’s Leagues Cup final against the Columbus Crew, which beat the Philadelphia Union in the other semifinal. That game, in Ohio, will be a repeat of last winter’s MLS Cup final, won by the Crew.

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LAFC box score

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1950 — Althea Gibson becomes the first Black tennis player to be accepted in competition for the national championship.

1957 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Pete Rademacher in the sixth round to retain his world heavyweight title at Sicks Stadium in Seattle.

1965 — In the third inning of a game against the Dodgers, pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants hits catcher John Roseboro of the Dodgers in the head with his bat. A 14-minute brawl ensues and Roseboro suffers cuts on the head. Marichal thought Roseboro threw too close to his head when returning the ball to Sandy Koufax.

1984 — Evelyn Ashford sets the world record in the 100-meter dash with a clocking of 10.76 seconds in a meet at Zurich, Switzerland.

1987 — Brazil snaps the 34-game winning streak of the U.S. men’s basketball team with a 120-115 victory in the Pan Am Games. Oscar Schmidt scores 46 points to lead Brazil. Cuba wins a record 10 of 12 gold medals in boxing and beats the U.S. 13-9 in the baseball final.

1989 — Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the first pitcher to strike out 5,000 batters in a 2-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Ryan fans Rickey Henderson swinging on a full-count, 96-mph fastball for No. 5,000.

1999 — Jenny Thompson breaks Mary T. Meagher’s 18-year-old 100-meter butterfly record at the Pan Pacific swim championships. Thompson with a time of 57.88 seconds lowers the mark of 57.93 set by Meagher.

2004 — American sprinter Justin Gatlin wins the coveted Olympic 100-meters gold medal in Athens in 9.85 ahead of Francis Obikwelu of Portugal and American Maurice Greene.

2007 — The Texas Rangers becomes the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader.

2008 — Usain Bolt helps Jamaica win the 400-meter relay final in 37.10 seconds for his third gold medal and third world record of the Beijing Games. Bolt becomes only the fourth man, and the first since Carl Lewis in 1984, to win all three Olympic sprint events. Bryan Clay wins the decathlon, the first American to win the 10-discipline event at the Olympics since Dan O’Brien at Atlanta in 1996.

2018 — Ohio State suspends football coach Urban Meyer three games for mishandling repeated professional and behavioral problems of an assistant coach, with investigators finding Meyer protected his protege for years through domestic violence allegations, a drug problem and poor job performance.

2018 — The NCAA ditches the RPI for its own evaluation tool to select teams for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Evaluation Tool will rely on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency and quality of wins and losses. NET will be used for the 2018-19 season by the committee that selects schools and seeds the tournament.

Compiled by the Associated Press