The Sports Report: Clayton Kershaw will start the All-Star game

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

From Jack Harris: He has won three Cy Young Awards and been named to nine All-Star teams.

He is a five-time ERA champion and a former MVP.

He has started 388 regular season games, and 23 in the postseason.

And on Tuesday night, in the only big league ballpark he’s ever called home, he’ll add one more start — and one more accolade — to his future Hall of Fame career.

Clayton Kershaw will be the starting pitcher for the National League in this year’s All-Star Game, Major League Baseball announced during a Monday morning news conference at Dodger Stadium, giving the Dodgers left-hander his first career start in a midsummer classic.

“Now that it’s finally here and I get to start that game tomorrow night, it means a lot,” Kershaw said, adding with a laugh: “Hopefully I don’t screw it up too bad.”

It was a choice many around baseball saw coming for weeks, especially as Kershaw finished his injury-abbreviated first half on a tear that included seven perfect innings in his last start Friday against the Angels.

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker, who is managing the National League team because the Braves won the National League pennant last year, came to the same conclusion this week.

“Clayton’s name just kept coming to the forefront,” Snitker said. “What he’s meant to the game of baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, I think it’s just perfect that he starts this game.”

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SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: The U.S. women’s soccer team doesn’t rebuild so much as it reloads. It’s a circle of life that goes back nearly a generation, to when Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm were replaced by Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd, who then gave way to Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.

What doesn’t change, though, are the results, something a youthful, inexperienced U.S. team proved Monday night when it beat Canada 1-0 in the final of the CONCACAF W Championship at Estadio BBVA, earning an automatic berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The victory was the 31st consecutive in CONCACAF World Cup and Olympic qualifiers dating to 2010 and the 31st consecutive to come by way of shutout. The Americans have outscored teams 149-0 in that span.

And while Monday’s victory wasn’t as dominant as past wins — the only goal came on Morgan’s 78th-minute penalty kick — it christened a new wave of players who have rejuvenated what was an aging team.

OLYMPICS

From David Wharton: The 2028 Summer Olympics are now — officially — six years away as Los Angeles organizers have set the dates for the massive international competition that will take place at venues throughout Southern California.

The Games will begin with a dual opening ceremony at the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium on July 14 and continue through July 30. The Paralympics will follow, starting on Aug. 15.

The announcement was made at a Monday afternoon news conference attended by Mayor Eric Garcetti and International Olympic Committee leaders.

“Los Angeles is a special place for sport,” IOC executive Nicole Hoevertsz said in a statement. “The confirmation of the Games dates now gives L.A. a firm deadline when it will need to be ready to welcome the world.”

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Rams defensive lineman Bobby Brown III has been suspended without pay for the first six games of the 2022 season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy, the league announced Monday.

Brown, 21, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2021 who played in 10 games last season.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1877 — Spencer Gore beats William Marshall in 48 minutes (6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in the first men’s singles tennis championship at the All England Club, Wimbledon.

1909 — Cleveland shortstop Neal Ball pulls off the first unassisted triple play in modern major league history.

1910 — Cy Young wins his 500th game as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators 5-4 in 11 innings.

1922 — Johnny Weissmuller is the first swimmer to break the 1 minute barrier for the 100 meter freestyle; 58.6s.

1936 — Future Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller makes his MLB debut.

1957 — Don Bowden is the first American to break the four-minute mile with a 3:58.7 time at Stockton, Calif.

1980 — The Summer Olympics open in Moscow without the United States and 64 other boycotting countries.

1987 — Nick Faldo of England wins the British Open by one shot when American Paul Azinger bogeys four times on the back nine.

1990 — Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, is sentenced to five months in prison and an additional three months in a halfway house for cheating on his taxes.

1997 — Daniel Komen of Kenya shatters the 8-minute barrier for the 2-mile run and sets a world record of 7:58.61 at the Hechtel Night of track in Belgium. Haile Gebrselassie had set the world record of 8:01.08 on May 31.

2008 — In the WNBA’s first outdoor game, the Indiana Fever overcomes the heat and humidity in New York to beat the Liberty 71-55. Arthur Ashe Stadium, home of the U.S. Open, had a basketball court laid on top of the tennis court.

2009 — Tom Watson squanders a chance to become golf’s oldest major champion. The 59-year-old misses an 8-foot putt on the 72nd hole of the British Open, then loses a four-hole playoff by six shots to Stewart Cink.

2009 — Eighty-one-year-old Hershel McGriff becomes the oldest driver to take part in a national NASCAR series race, finishing 13th in a Camping World West Series event at Portland International Raceway.

2014 — Shoni Schimmel, a rookie who doesn’t start for her own team, puts on a record-breaking performance — scoring 29 points to help the East beat the West 125-124 in the first WNBA All-Star game to go to overtime. Tamika Catchings makes a layup with 6.9 seconds to go to give the East the lead and then knocks the ball away from Skylar Diggins on the defensive end to seal the victory.

2020 — World Formula 1 drivers champion Lewis Hamilton wins a record 8th Hungarian Grand Prix.

And finally

Juan Soto wins the Home Run Derby. Watch and listen here.