Newsletter: The Sports Report: Dodgers complete four-game sweep of Cubs

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

From Mike DiGiovanna: The Dodgers and Chicago Cubs combined for 17 runs, 12 hits, six walks, two hit batters, two misplayed balls in the outfield, one error and 187 pitches thrown by five hurlers by the time Sunday’s game dragged into the midafternoon.

And then the fourth inning started.

“The worst,” Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner said, when asked to describe the first three innings of an 11-9 come-from-behind victory over the Cubs in front of a crowd of 41,824 at Dodger Stadium. “That was terrible. But at least we were able to scrape back and win, so that helps a little bit.”

The Dodgers didn’t earn many style points. Starter Julio Urías was rocked for five runs and three hits, including a P.J. Higgins grand slam, in a 45-pitch first inning, and the left-hander lasted only two innings, his shortest start of the season.

Left fielder Gavin Lux had one ball sail over his head and another drop in front of him — both with catch probabilities of 90%, according to Statcast — for key hits in the first.

After the Dodgers scored three runs in the bottom of the first, reliever Phil Bickford gave up a three-run homer to David Bote in the third, pushing the deficit back to five. It took almost two hours for the teams to complete three innings.

But the offense pounded out 14 hits in all, including a homer, double and two singles by Freddie Freeman, and relievers Yency Almonte, Caleb Ferguson, Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol combined for 5 2/3 hitless innings to push the Dodgers (56-29) to their 11th win in 12 games and their National League West lead over San Diego to eight games.

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Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin are selected to All-Star team

USC FOOTBALL

From Ryan Kartje: The plan that propelled Caleb Williams to the forefront of a new college football era first came into focus long before the landscape changed, years ahead of his arrival at USC, when the notion of an amateur quarterback making millions off his name, image and likeness still felt impossible.

Carl Williams had a knack for seeing into the future. As a commercial real estate developer in the Washington D.C. area, Carl always tried to stay two steps ahead, considering every variable, anticipating every tectonic shift before the ground shook beneath him.

He wanted the same for his son. That had been their plan ever since 10-year-old Caleb cried in the backseat of their car after a deeply frustrating loss, telling his father how desperately he wanted to be great. Twice, Carl asked his son if he really meant it, and twice Caleb assured he did. And from that moment forth, his father did everything in his power to propel Caleb to those heights, surrounding him with a team of experts, coaches and mentors, sparing no expense in helping him reach his potential as a quarterback.

Caleb swam regularly. He did hot yoga. He kept a special diet. He saw a sports psychologist. Anything for him to get closer to his dream.

They applied the same principle to NIL. But with NIL there were no guardrails, no precedents, no templates to help a family prepare. So Carl and his business partners, who together own a D.C. area gym, sketched out their own plans with Caleb’s help while he was still a junior in high school. They compiled lists of brands, built pitch decks and wrote mission statements, all geared toward not only maximizing Caleb’s marketability but keeping him “above the chaos” they expected was inevitable when pay restrictions finally lifted.

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USC QB Caleb Williams is comfortable leading the Trojans on and off the field

ANGELS

The Baltimore Orioles rolled to their eighth straight victory Sunday, using successive four-run innings and three RBIs by Ramon Urias in a 9-5 victory over the Angels.

Baltimore fell behind 2-0 before storming back to complete a 7-0 homestand and its first four-game sweep of the Angels since 2003. The Orioles had not won eight consecutive games in a season since April 22 to May 1, 2005, though they won 12 straight across two seasons in late 2015 and early 2016.

Baltimore (43-44) moved with one game of .500 for the first time since it was 0-1.

Monte Harrison and Max Stassi homered for the sinking Angels, who now sit a season-worst 11 games under .500 at 38-49 after a 1-8 swing that began in Houston and Miami.

KINGS

All-Star forward Adrian Kempe has agreed to a four-year, $22-million contract extension with the Kings.

The club announced the deal Sunday with Kempe, who set career highs with 35 goals and 54 points last season while earning his first All-Star Game selection.

Kempe became just the third player to score 35 goals for Los Angeles since 2004. The right wing also led the Kings with six points in seven postseason games after Los Angeles qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2018.

WNBA

A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and the rest of the WNBA All-Stars lined up along the sideline after halftime, the No. 42 and the name Griner on the back of their jerseys.

Brittney Griner was everywhere Sunday, everywhere except where the league’s best players felt she should be — playing alongside them in the marquee WNBA All-Star Game, in which Team Wilson pulled away from Team Stewart for a 134-112 victory.

Griner is in Russia, where she’s been detained since February after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage. The eight-time All-Star pleaded guilty Thursday to drug possession charges that could see a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

While advocating for Griner’s release, the WNBA also honored Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles in the final All-Star Game for both of the retiring players. Fowles had the day’s biggest highlight, picking up a steal and slamming down a dunk for Team Wilson with 4:04 left in the first half.

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‘Fly is fly’: Inside the WNBA’s thriving fashion scene

WIMBLEDON

From Sam Farmer: Sure, he was facing the toughest serve in tennis, but Novak Djokovic has a devastating return.

Return to Wimbledon. Win it all. Four times in a row.

After a match Sunday that felt both raucous and routine, the Serbian star lifted another championship trophy, winning his seventh Wimbledon men’s singles title by beating Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Centre Court, where Djokovic has not lost since 2013.

“This tournament has a special place in my heart because it’s always been my childhood dream tournament,” said Djokovic, who collected his 21st Grand Slam event championship, topped only by Rafael Nadal’s 22 among men’s players all time. Only Roger Federer owns more Wimbledon men’s titles than Djokovic with eight.

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Elena Rybakina defeats Ons Jabeur for Wimbledon women’s title

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1914 — Babe Ruth makes his major league pitching debut for the Boston Red Sox against Cleveland, getting the 4-3 victory over the Indians.

1950 — Red Schoendienst hits a home run in the 14th inning to give the NL a 4-3 victory in the All-Star game.

1967 — Tony Perez homers in the 15th inning off Catfish Hunter to give the National League a 2-1 win in the longest game in All-Star history.

1979 — Renaldo Nehemiah of the United States sets a Pan American Games record in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.20 seconds.

1981 — Britain’s Sebastian Coe breaks his own world record in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:12.18 in a meet in Oslo, Norway. Seven runners shatter the 3-minute, 51-second barrier in the mile led by Steve Ovett at 3:49.25. Steve Scott finishes third and sets an American record in 3:49.68.

1985 — Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros becomes the first pitcher in major league history to reach 4,000 strikeouts when he fans New York’s Danny Heep in the sixth inning.

1992 — Treboh Joe, a 9-year-old gelding, makes harness racing history by losing his 162nd consecutive race. Treboh Joe finishes fourth to break the North American record of 161 straight losses held by Shiaway Moses.

1993 — Alain Prost gets his 50th Formula One victory by taking the British Grand Prix.

1995 — Maryland quarterback Scott Milanovich, the most prolific passer in school history, is suspended for eight games by the NCAA for gambling on college sports.

2008 — Spanish cyclist Manuel Beltran tests positive for the performance-enhancer EPO and is immediately kicked out of the Tour de France and suspended by his team, Liquigas.

2011 — So Yeon Ryu wins the U.S. Women’s Open, defeating Hee Kyung Seo by three shots in a three-hole playoff. Ryu becomes the fifth South Korean to win the Open and the fourth in the last seven years.

2015 — Serena Williams wins her sixth title at the All England Club, beating Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the women’s final. For Williams, it’s her second “Serena Slam” — holding all four major titles at the same time. Overall, it’s the 21st major title for Williams, one shy of Graf’s Open era record.

2017 — Venus Williams reaches the semifinals at Wimbledon for the 10th time. The five-time champion at the All England Club advances by beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 7-5 under a closed roof on Centre Court.

2021 — Novak Djokovic beats Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, to win the Wimbledon Title. The win is Djokovic’s 20th Grand Slam title.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Nolan Ryan gets his 4,000th strikeout. Watch and listen here.