The Sports Report: Dodgers lose to Pirates again

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

From Steve Henson: The first occurrence was unprecedented. The second was unfathomable.

Utility player Tucupita Marcano hit a two-run home run off Julio Urías’ poorly located four-seam fastball in the second inning Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates an early four-run lead.

Just as he did Monday night against Walker Buehler. Second inning. Poorly located four-seam fastball. Three-run home run provided Pittsburgh with an early lead.

The home runs were the first of Marcano’s career.

And they both led to frustrating Dodgers losses, this one by a 5-3 score. Marcano’s home run followed a two-run shot by Michael Chavis in the first inning and the Pirates capped the scoring with a run in the ninth.

The early Bucs’ blasts muted what began as a festive evening for the sellout Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,686 with Urìas bobbleheads distributed and top-flight mariachi band Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéller featuring singer Lupita Infante playing between innings on the video screen.

The Dodgers mustered only four hits against starter Mitch Keller and four relievers. Trea Turner — whose first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 23 games — blasted a two-run home run in the third inning, but that was the only damage against Keller, who came in with a 1-5 record and 6.05 ERA but gave up two hits in five innings, stranding seven runners.

ANGELS

From Mike DiGiovanna: It’s too early in the season for a make-or-break series, but three road games against a team with the best record in baseball — with your own club reeling from a brutal stretch of late-inning meltdowns — qualifies as a benchmark of sorts for the Angels.

“There are measuring sticks of where you’re at and how good you are, and this is a perfect team to see how you measure up with right now,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said before Tuesday night’s game against the New York Yankees. “Coming to their town after a couple of tough games, it will be nice to see what we’re made of.”

If Tuesday night’s 9-1 loss before a crowd of 31,242 in Yankee Stadium is any indication, the Angels do not measure up to the American League East leaders.

Noah Syndergaard was roughed up for five runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, and the Angels managed only one run and four hits in seven innings off Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery.

The Angels have now lost six straight games, including a four-game home sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, and 10 of their last 13. They were 24-13 and tied for first place in the American League West on May 15. Their two-week tailspin dropped them to 27-23 and 4 ½ games behind Houston.

SPARKS

Brittney Sykes scored a season-high 25 points, Nneka Ogwumike had 16 points and 10 rebounds and the Sparks held off the Dallas Wings 93-91 on Tuesday night.

Sykes made two free throws with 18.2 seconds left for a five-point lead but Isabelle Harrison sank a 3-pointer to get Dallas within 93-91 with 5.5 remaining. Sykes was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds play, and after a timeout Arike Ogunbowale drove to the basket and was fouled with 0.8 left. She missed the first free throw and was called for a violation on the second.

Ogunbowale went over and kicked the scorer’s table out of frustration and the Sparks missed the technical free throw to end it.

Liz Cambage added 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Sparks (5-6). Katie Lou Samuelson scored 13.

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NHL PLAYOFFS

All times Pacific
Conference finals

Western
All games on TNT
Colorado (C1) vs. Edmonton (P2)
Colorado 8, Edmonton 6
Thursday at Colorado, 5 p.m.
Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m.
Monday at Edmonton, 5 p.m.
*Wed., June 8 at Colorado, TBD
*Friday, June 10 at Edmonton, TBD
*Sunday, June 12 at Colorado, TBD

Eastern
All games on ESPN
New York Rangers (M2) vs. Tampa Bay (A3)
Today at New York, 5 p.m.
Friday at New York, 5 p.m.
Sunday at Tampa Bay, noon
Tuesday at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
*Thursday, June 9 at New York, 5 p.m.
*Saturday, June 11 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
*Tuesday, June 14 at New York, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary

NBA PLAYOFFS

Schedule and results
All times Pacific
NBA FINALS
All games on ABC

Boston vs. Golden State

Thursday at Golden State, 6 p.m.
Sunday at Golden State, 5 p.m.
Wed., June 8 at Boston, 6 p.m.
Friday, June 10 at Boston, 6 p.m.
*Monday, June 13 at Golden State, 6 p.m.
*Thursday, June 16 at Boston, 6 p.m.
*Sunday, June 19 at Golden State, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1925 — Lou Gehrig bats for Pee Wee Wanninger in the eighth inning and replaces Wally Pipp at first base to start his streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

1946 — Assault, ridden by Warren Merhtens, wins the Belmont Stakes to become the seventh horse to capture the Triple Crown.

1968 — Stage Door Johnny, ridden by Heliodoro Gustines, wins the Belmont Stakes in a record time of 2:27 1-5 and spoils the Triple Crown bid of Forward Pass, who finishes 1 1/4 lengths behind.

1975 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels pitches his fourth no-hitter to tie Sandy Koufax’s record, beating the Baltimore Orioles 1-0.

1975 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA tournament by one stroke over Sandra Haynie.

1986 — Pat Bradley wins the LPGA tournament and becomes the first to win all four major women’s tournaments, beating Patty Sheehan by one stroke.

1992 — The Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 for a four-game sweep.

1996 — The LSU women win their 10th consecutive NCAA track team title with 81 points, the longest victory string in women’s college sports.

2002 — Detroit advances to the Stanley Cup finals for the fourth time in eight years with a 7-0 win over Colorado in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Colorado becomes the first NHL team to play in four consecutive Game 7s. Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek sets an NHL record by recording his fifth shutout of the playoffs.

2004 — Detroit and Indiana combine for just 60 first-half points in the Pistons’ 69-65 victory, breaking the NBA playoff record of 62 set by the Pistons and Nets during the second round.

2008 — Hillary Will is the 11th woman in NHRA history to win a national event when she takes the Top Fuel event at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals. Will drives her dragster to a 4.744-second run at a top speed of 304.53 mph, beating No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon for her first career win in Top Fuel.

2010 — French Open upset specialist Robin Soderling strikes again, rallying past defending champion Roger Federer in a rainy quarterfinal, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. The loss ends Federer’s record streak of reaching the semifinals in 23 consecutive major events.

2012 — Jonathan Crawford of Florida pitches the seventh no-hitter in NCAA tournament history, shutting down Bethune-Cookman in a 4-0 victory in the opener of the Gainesville Regional.

2012 — Alex Miklos hits a go-ahead RBI triple in the 21st inning as Kent State outlasts Kentucky 7-6 in the second-longest game in NCAA tournament history.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Lou Gehrig delivers his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. Watch and listen here.