The Sports Report: Dodgers rally for walk-off win over Rockies, extend lead in NL West
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is on vacation, probably tinkering with his MLB All-Star Game starting lineup. Let’s get right to the news.
From Jack Harris: First, they got Mitch White off the hook for a loss.
Then, they set the stage for a walkoff win.
Mookie Betts had the decisive swing Wednesday, hitting a single on a high chopper behind the mound with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
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But it was the bottom of the Dodgers lineup that did the heavy lifting, manufacturing a tying rally in the seventh inning before keying the dramatic finish that completed the team’s three-game sweep of their division rivals.
“Those guys have been really, really good,” Betts said. “They just continue to put good at-bats together. They’re the reason we are where we are now.”
Both times, Cody Bellinger got the threat started from the No. 7 spot in the batting order.
With the Dodgers trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, he hit a two-out, two-strike single to right, went to third on a Gavin Lux single in the next at-bat, then scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch — sliding across safely after Betts initially put up the stop sign on a ball that rolled only a few steps away from the plate.
“[It was] kind of hard to read, just because there is a catcher in the way,” Bellinger told SportsNet LA after the game. “But I saw the ball hit the grass and I just decided to go. Took the chance.”
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ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Shohei Ohtani gave up one unearned run in seven dominant innings and had the go-ahead hit in the Angels’ 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
The reigning AL MVP won his fifth consecutive start, limiting the Marlins to two hits. Ohtani (8-4) walked three and struck out 10 before 18,741, the fourth-largest crowd at loanDepot Park this season.
“I didn’t change much, the most important thing is I made my pitches when I needed to,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I think it’s huge when we’re winning and I’m pitching because I’m part of the ball club.”
Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout was hitless in four at-bats and had an RBI. Trout is one for 21 with 13 strikeouts through the first five games of the Angels’ nine-game trip.
Max Stassi doubled and reached base three times to help the Angels snap a four-game skid.
LAKERS
From Broderick Turner: When asked about a dip in his three-point shooting percentage last season, the look in the eyes of Lonnie Walker IV was one of assuredness in his stroke as he spoke Wednesday during his introductory news conference with the Lakers.
Walker showed no sign of wavering in confidence when he discussed his 31.4% three-point shooting during the 2021-22 season with the San Antonio Spurs, the lowest of his four-year career.
The Lakers were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA last season, ranking 22nd by shooting 34.7%. So, they identified and then signed Walker as a free agent to help the Lakers improve in that department.
“I mean, last year, you can look at the percentages, but I kid you not: Leave me open, we’re going to see what’s happening. All right,” Walker said.
ALSO:
— Lakers finish 2-1 in California Classic after loss to Kings
WIMBLEDON
From Sam Farmer, reporting from Wimbledon, England: The emerald grass courts were glistening with dew Monday morning as Rufus the hawk made a big circle, then — like a fighter jet descending on an aircraft carrier — swooped down for a perfect landing on the gloved hand of Wayne Davis.
The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club wouldn’t be open to spectators for a couple of hours, and the Wimbledon ball boys and girls were helping prepare the courts for a day of matches. Those in the flight path of Rufus flinched and ducked as he soared in. Others reached for their phones to capture the moment or maybe grab a selfie before Davis transported the now-tethered hawk to another area of the club.
The transfixed young workers clustered around him like pigeons. And as for the actual pigeons?
Long gone.
Thanks, Rufus.
It’s a tradition that started in 1999 and has become as much a part of these storied two-week championships as strawberries and cream. It isn’t the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London or the grand Trooping the Color at Queen Elizabeth’s recent jubilee celebrations, but this being England, the unleashing of the hawk carries its own sense of tradition, ceremony and spectacle.
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More from Sam Farmer: Early in his Wimbledon quarterfinal match Wednesday, Rafael Nadal hobbled off Centre Court and winced in pain. It was clear he had aggravated an abdominal injury that had bothered him all tournament. He asked the umpire for a medical timeout.
Nearby, in the player’s box, his father and sister gestured to him, urging the Spaniard to retire from his match against Taylor Fritz of Rancho Palos Verdes, the same player who had beaten him the in final of the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells earlier this year.
So uncomfortable was Nadal that he gave fleeting but serious consideration to calling it a day. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“I did it a couple of times in my tennis career,” he said. “Is something that I hate to do it. So I just keep trying, and that’s it.”
That — and some medical attention — proved to be enough, as Nadal slogged through the pain to rally to victory in a marathon match, four hours and 21 minutes. He held off the 11th-seeded American 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, finally winning in a 10-4 tie-break.
ALSO:
— Novak Djokovic overcomes two-set deficit to advance to Wimbledon semifinals
WNBA
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: A basketball wearing a crown, a second table of standings and half a million dollars mark what the WNBA hopes is its next big thing.
The Commissioner’s Cup is an in-season tournament meant to rally fans through cross-conference rivalries and boost revenue opportunities for the WNBA. You would be forgiven if you haven’t taken notice in its two-year existence. Some players are caught forgetting. But for a history of the WNBA’s newest vocabulary word, look no further than Sue Bird.
The Seattle point guard, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike and Mercury star Diana Taurasi were masterminds behind the WNBA’s latest innovation by pushing for the unique event during the 2019 collective bargaining agreement negotiations. A year after the Commissioner’s Cup debuted in the WNBA, the NBA is now considering an in-season tournament to spice up its regular season.
For Bird, the growth of the new event is just another contribution to her long list of game-changing achievements. The 41-year-old’s on-court accolades are nearly unmatched: five-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion, two-time NCAA champion, the WNBA’s winningest player and all-time leader in assists.
As the WNBA progresses, those records may one day fall. But Bird’s influence will last in her role as a key member of the players’ union who contributed innovative ideas to lay the foundation during a critical time for the WNBA’s growth.
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: The Galaxy have acquired Uruguayan midfielder Gastón Brugman from Parma Calcio of Italy’s second-tier Serie B. Financial details of the transfer and of Brugman’s 3 ½-year contract were not released but it was finalized with the use of allocation money.
The contract includes a club option for 2026 and before completing the deal the Galaxy sent $200,000 in general allocation money to Charlotte FC in exchange for an international roster spot.
Brugman, who will turn 30 in September, plays primarily as a central midfielder, a position of need for the Galaxy. A native of Rosario, Uruguay, the same city that produced defender Diego Godín, Uruguay’s all-time leader in international appearances, Brugman spent last season on loan to Real Oviedo of Spain’s second division, where he had three goals and six assists in 34 games in all competition.
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This date in sports
1911 — Dorothea Lambert Chambers sets the record for the shortest championship match at Wimbledon — 25 minutes — by disposing of Dora Boothby 6-0, 6-0 in the women’s finals.
1934 — Elizabeth Ryan teams with Simone Mathiau and wins her record 12th women’s doubles title at Wimbledon, defeating Dorothy Andrus and Sylvia Henrotin 6-3, 6-3.
1953 — Walter Burkemo beats Felice Torza to win the PGA Championship at Birmingham (Mich.) Country Club.
1973 — In the first all-U.S. women’s Wimbledon final, Billie Jean King beats Chris Evert, 6-0, 7-5.
1974 — In Munich, West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win soccer’s World Cup.
1980 — Larry Holmes retains his WBC heavyweight title with a seventh-round TKO of Scott LeDoux in Bloomington, Minn.
1982 — Steve Scott of the Sub 4 Club sets a United States record in the mile with a time of 3:47.69 in a track meet at Oslo, Norway.
1985 — West Germany’s Boris Becker, 17, becomes the youngest champion and first unseeded player in the history of the men’s singles at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Kevin Curren.
1990 — Martina Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon women’s singles championship, beating Zina Garrison 6-4, 6-1, to break the record she shared with Helen Wills Moody.
1991 — Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to capture her third Wimbledon women’s title.
1993 — Tom Burgess tosses three touchdown passes, and Wayne Walker scores twice as Ottawa spoils the debut of the CFL’s first American-based team by beating Sacramento 32-23.
2002 — Juli Inkster matches the lowest final-round score by an Open champion with a 4-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Annika Sorenstam in the U.S. Women’s Open. It’s her seventh major.
2007 — Venus Williams claims her fourth Wimbledon title with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marion Bartoli.
2007 — Wladimir Klitschko beats Raymond Brewster with a technical knockout after six rounds, to successfully defend his IBF and IBO heavyweight titles in Cologne, Germany.
2012 — Serena Williams dominates from start to finish, beating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to win a fifth championship at the All England Club and 14th major title overall.
2013 — Andy Murray becomes the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the final. The last British man to win the Wimbledon title before was Fred Perry in 1936.
2018 — Kristi Toliver scores 18 points to help the Washington Mystics beat the Los Angeles Sparks 83-74 for coach Mike Thibault’s 300th career regular-season win. Thibault becomes the first WNBA coach to reach that milestone.
2019 — US Women’s National Team win their record 4th FIFA Women’s World Cup title with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands.
2021 — The Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup and third overall. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is named Finals MVP.
And finally
Watch Mookie Betts’ walk-off single that sealed the Dodgers’ sweep of the Rockies Wednesday night.
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.
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