The Sports Report: Dodgers take care of business in Arizona
Howdy, I’m your host, Austin Knoblauch, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Jack Harris: It’s probably safe to put the T-shirts in production.
Because barring an epic September collapse, the Dodgers now seem to be on a glide path to another National League West title.
In one game that effectively counted for three in the standings, the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6 at Chase Field on Monday afternoon — a victory that not only moved the team six games clear of Arizona in the NL West race, but also clinched their season series (and potential end-of-season tiebreaker) against the club in their 13th and final meeting of the campaign (the Dodgers finished 7-6 against the Diamondbacks this year).
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“For us to win three here is a tough feat,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It took some big hits, some big pitching. Overall, to come out of here up six games on these guys — we took care of business.”
No one was rolling out champagne bottles yet.
With four weeks to go, and important absences remaining on the mound, much can still go awry for a currently shorthanded Dodgers team.
But with only 24 games left in their schedule — and some relatively easy ones at that, with series against the Angels, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies (twice) still remaining — the Dodgers (83-55) have put all the pressure on the Diamondbacks (77-61) and the San Diego Padres, who were 5½ games back in the standings ahead of their series opener against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
Even if the Dodgers go just .500 the rest of the way, the Diamondbacks and Padres (who come to L.A. for three games the last week of September) would have to win roughly 75% of their remaining games, if not more, to catch them.
By taking three of four games at Chase Field this week, the Dodgers basically put one hand on what would be their 11th division crown in the last 12 years.
“If you’re looking at division leads this early in September, you’re doing the wrong thing,” first baseman Freddie Freeman cautioned.
Dodgers-Diamondbacks box score
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USC FOOTBALL
From Ryan Kartje: D’Anton Lynn walked along the perimeter of Allegiant Stadium hours before his anticipated USC debut, headphones on, shutting out the noise around him for one lap around the sideline, then another … then another. In a loud stadium, on a crowded sideline, Lynn walked as if totally alone, talking to no one, entranced in a silent, steely focus.
The Trojans’ new defensive coordinator had certainly earned a few moments of calm before the chaos of a new college football season, his most critical yet as a coach. He’d carried on the past nine months amid constant noise and persistent questions about how quickly he’d turn around a dismal USC defense after doing the same in a single year at UCLA. All throughout, he’d kept an even keel, making no promises other than to assure his team would come prepared Sunday.
“He’s actually a lot more relaxed [of a coach],” safety Akili Arnold said. “Because he knows we’re going to play good ball. He trusts in us.”
That quiet confidence was felt throughout Sunday’s 27-20 season-opening win over LSU as USC’s defense delivered in its coordinator’s debut, clamping down against the run and making key stops at critical times, two things the Trojans rarely managed under his predecessor, Alex Grinch.
UCLA FOOTBALL
From Ben Bolch: Milling about outside UCLA’s locker room, sweat trickling from his forehead after a scorching afternoon in the Hawaiian sun, Martin Jarmond stopped briefly near a group of reporters to put an upbeat spin on a stickier-than-expected victory.
“Do you know what the best part of going 1-0 is?” the Bruins athletic director asked. “It gives you a chance to go 2-0.”
Indeed it does. But this team will have to play significantly better than it did in coach DeShaun Foster’s debut to get there.
There were breakdowns across the board as the Bruins eked out a 16-13 victory over Hawaii that left their fans going eek! Quarterback Ethan Garbers played more like a freshman than a redshirt senior in the first half. The run game ran a rocket-fueled reverse from seasons past. Foster and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy made some extremely cautious decisions as part of their game management.
NFL
From Sam Farmer: The NFL is making changes this season from start to finish, from so-called dynamic kickoffs to the way some defenders finish tackles.
Even casual observers will notice the difference in kickoffs, a one-year change aimed at making the play safer and more relevant. The new rules put the majority of opposing players much closer together for kickoffs, limiting those violent, full-speed collisions.
The league is also cracking down on “hip-drop” tackles in which ball carriers are wrangled down from behind by a tackler who unweights — fully lifts his body off the ground — to generate the required pull-down force.
That doesn’t mean officials will always be able to spot those tackles in games, but the league will be on the lookout to fine offenders in the aftermath.
“There’s going to be a lot of these that might end up occurring where there might not be a flag on the field because it’s so hard for the officials to see it,” said Walt Anderson, longtime referee turned NFL officiating rules analyst. “But you have to have a rule on the books to at least be able to deal with it during the week in the discipline process. That’s how most of them will be dealt with.”
RAMS
From Gary Klein: The season opener at Detroit is less than a week away.
After more than six weeks of training camp and preseason workouts, the Rams on Monday practiced before an audience that included owner Stan Kroenke and began the countdown and final run-up to playing the Lions on “Sunday Night Football.”
“This is a different sense of urgency, in a good way,” coach Sean McVay said. “You want it to be uplifting and elevating, but it’s real now.”
On Monday, offensive tackle Rob Havenstein took a step toward possibly playing in the opener by going through individual drills for the first time since suffering an ankle injury during training camp.
Havenstein’s status for Sunday night’s game is still to be determined. But his participation was a positive for a Rams team returning to Ford Field, where last season ended in a 24-23 NFC wild-card defeat by the Lions.
“We’re going to use every day,” McVay said, “and that’s the truth, especially as it relates to him.”
CHARGERS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Taylor Heinicke wanted to unwind and celebrate making the Atlanta Falcons’ initial 53-man roster last Wednesday. The veteran quarterback clicked on a Netflix documentary that featured the University of Michigan.
That’s how Heinicke met his new coach.
For the Chargers’ last-minute additions and last-second survivors of last week’s roster cut down, making a 53-man roster is only the chaotic start to a competitive season as the team prepares for Sunday’s opener against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Heinicke, defensive back Elijah Molden and running back Hassan Haskins crisscrossed the country multiple times last week while settling into life with the Chargers and tying up loose ends from their previous teams. Heinicke was watching Netflix’s newly released documentary on Connor Stalions and the sign-stealing controversy at Michigan when Falcons head coach Raheem Morris called to alert him about the trade to L.A. With family members split between Michigan and Ohio State allegiances, Heinicke, a neutral Atlanta native, couldn’t help but chuckle at the timing of the call.
“Meeting Jim [Harbaugh], I think he exceeds every expectation,” Heinicke said Monday. “He’s really fun to be around and I’m excited to work with him.”
MLB
From Jack Harris: When Randal Grichuk was traded to the Angels last year, arriving as one of several veteran additions the club made during its all-in trade deadline buying spree, he quickly recognized his new club’s main objective.
Sure, the Angels were trying to make the playoffs, hopeful of erasing a three-game deficit in the wild card standings for their first postseason berth since 2014.
But really, the moves were all about Shohei Ohtani — serving as one last attempt to show the Japanese star and pending free agent that Anaheim was a place where he could compete for championships.
“I think they were trying to prove to him that they’re willing to do what it takes to be a successful organization and reach the postseason,” Grichuk, now an outfielder with the Arizona Diamondbacks, recalled this week.
Grichuk’s next recollection came with a sigh.
“Obviously,” he said, “it just didn’t work out.”
Indeed, much has changed in the calendar year since.
PARALYMPICS
From David Wharton: For the last three years, Ezra Frech has focused on winning the high jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games. On Monday, he ran into a surprise along the way.
Gold in the 100 meters.
The Los Angeles teenager, who runs with a prosthetic left leg, envisioned the sprint at Stade de France as merely a warm-up for his specialty Tuesday.
“I’m quite shocked,” he said. “I was definitely not expecting to go out there and win.”
Frech arrived in Paris as defending world champion and world-record holder in his classification for the high jump. Also an undisputed star in the para sports world.
His social media following has ballooned to more than a half-million. He has appeared on billboards and walked on fashion runways. Soon, he will enter USC as the first above-the-knee amputee to commit to a Division I track program.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1908 — Canadian world heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns KOs Australian Bill Lang in 6 rounds in Melbourne in a warmup fight for his famous title bout with Jack Johnson.
1921 — The U.S. defeats Japan in five straight matches to win the Davis Cup.
1928 — Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb records his 4,189th and final career hit, as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia A’s in 6-1 loss v Washington Senators.
1932 — Ellsworth Vines wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a three-set victory over France’s Henri Cochet.
1944 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title with a four-set victory over Bill Talbert in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Pauline Betz captures her third straight women’s title with 6-3, 8-6 victory over Margaret Osborne.
1945 — Frank Parker defends his U.S. Open title, defeating Bill Talbert 14-12, 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the first postwar U.S. Open.
1956 — Jockey John Longden surpasses Sir Gordon Richards’ then-record number of wins by riding Arrogate to victory in the Del Mar Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack to attain his 4,871st victory.
1974 — Future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson retires; leaves NBA with 26,710 points, 9,887 assists & 7,804 rebounds in 1,040 games.
1975 — Martina Navratilova, 18, defeats Margaret Court, who is 33 and competing in her 11th and final U.S. Open, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
1977 — Ken Rosewall, two months shy of his 43rd birthday, is beaten by 24-year-old Jose Higueras, 6-4, 6-4. The in a best-of-three-set third-round match marks Rosewall’s final U.S. Open singles match.
1989 — Chris Evert defeats 15-year-old Monica Seles, 6-0, 6-2, for her 101st and final U.S. Open singles win.
1994 — Miami beats Georgia Southern 56-0, breaking an NCAA record with its 58th consecutive home victory. The Hurricanes surpass Alabama’s record of 57 wins in a row at home set from 1962-82.
2001 — Jockey John Velazquez becomes the first jockey to ride six winners on a single card at Saratoga Racecourse. Velazquez guides Starine to a 5¼-length victory in the Diana Handicap, a 1 1-8 mile turf race, for his sixth win.
2006 — Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie wins the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award, joining Sheryl Swoopes as the league’s only three-time winners.
2007 — Pedro Martinez completes his comeback from major shoulder surgery, becoming the 15th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career. The New York Mets’ right-hander fans Aaron Harang for the milestone as the Mets post a 10-4 win over Cincinnati.
2016 — Serena Williams’ dominating third-round victory at the U.S. Open is notable for a milestone: 307 Grand Slam wins. Williams’ 6-2, 6-1 win over 47th-ranked Johanna Larsson of Sweden improves her major-tournament mark to 307-42, putting her one win up on Martina Navratilova among women and tying Roger Federer among all players in the Open era.
2017 — UCLA’s Josh Rosen fakes the spike and throws a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining and UCLA overcomes a 34-point deficit to stun Texas A&M 45-44. Rosen is 35 of 59 for 491 yards and throws four fourth-quarter touchdowns. UCLA scores on five straight possessions after trailing 44-10 with 4:08 to play in the third quarter.
2022 — 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams plays her final match at the US Open, going down 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in a third round match in New York.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Shohei Ohtani is pretty good at stealing bases. Check out the Dodgers star stealing three of them Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks here.
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
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You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
