The Sports Report: Dodgers rout the Orioles

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

From Jack Harris: As far as textbook wins go, the Dodgers’ performance Tuesday was pretty close.

The team scored five early runs in the second inning, got five innings out of starting pitcher Michael Grove and beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-3 to win for the fourth time in five games coming out of the All-Star break.

“Going into the break, we were playing good baseball,” said manager Dave Roberts, whose club is 16-6 since June 20. “You just hope you can keep that momentum coming out of the break. We certainly have.”

On Tuesday, the team surged ahead early, ambushing Orioles starter Tyler Wells by batting around in the second inning.

J.D. Martinez drew a leadoff walk. David Peralta followed with a single. Then Jason Heyward hammered a 2-and-0 fastball, launching his ninth homer of the season to straightaway center for a 3-0 lead.

“We talked about us lefties trying to hit a line drive back through the middle,” Heyward said. “Got ahead in the count and put a good enough swing on it to do some damage.”

Four of the next five Dodgers also reached safely, including RBI singles from Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.

Gifted a 5-0 lead, Grove delivered one of the better starts of his young career.

The right-hander gave up one run in the second after a leadoff walk and Aaron Hicks’ double, but blanked the Orioles the rest of the way for his first start of at least five innings and fewer than four runs since April 15.

“It’s great to get the results, but it’s the process for me,” said Grove, who lowered his ERA to 6.40 by mixing in more cutters to left-handed hitters. “Seeing the results proves that it’s working. So try to keep doing that.”

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Dodgers box score

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NL WEST STANDINGS

Dodgers, 55-39
San Francisco, 54-41, 1.5 GB
Arizona, 53-42, 2.5 GB
San Diego, 45-50, 10.5 GB
Colorado, 37-58, 18.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

San Francisco, 54-41
Arizona, 52-43
Philadelphia, 52-42

Miami, 53-44, 0.5 GB
Cincinnati, 50-46, 3 GB
San Diego, 45-50, 7.5 GB
Chicago, 44-50, 8 GB
New York, 44-50, 8 GB

For full standings, go here

ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: It all worked out for the Angels in their second game against the New York Yankees. The pitching was strong, the offense contributed, the little mistakes ultimately irrelevant.

The Angels took the series against the Yankees with a 5-1 win Tuesday at Angel Stadium. It was the first series win for the Angels since June 16-18 against the Kansas City Royals. The Angels returned to .500 with a 48-48 record.

Patrick Sandoval followed Griffin Canning’s momentum from the night before, pitching 7 ⅓ innings, holding the Yankees to just one run on two hits with three walks while striking out seven.

Mickey Moniak got the Angels on the board first with a two-run home run that scored Zach Neto in the bottom of the first inning.

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Angels box score

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How do the Angels turn things around? Keep the ‘same attitude, same effort, same focus’

AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 57-39
Houston, 52-43, 4.5 GB
Angels, 48-48, 9 GB
Seattle, 47-47, 9 GB
Oakland, 26-71, 31.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Baltimore, 57-37
Toronto, 53-42
Houston, 52-43

Boston, 51-45, 1.5 GB
New York, 50-46, 2.5 GB
Angels, 48-48, 4.5 GB
Seattle, 47-47, 4.5 GB
Cleveland, 47-48, 5 GB

For full standings, go here

CLIPPERS

From Bill Plaschke: Any other year, don’t go near James Harden.

Any other team, there’s just no room for James Harden.

But these are the desperate Clippers, and this is a last-gasp season, and the craziest idea in the NBA makes total sense.

James Harden would be the perfect addition to Los Angeles’ most imperfect franchise.

He wants to leave Philadelphia. They should let him. He wants to join the Clippers. They should welcome him.

A potential deal has been gaining steam this summer as quickly and furiously as Harden grows facial hair. It’s time both sides figure a way to do it. It’s time the Clippers realize they have no choice.

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SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: Mario Thompson knew his oldest daughter, Alyssa, was special before she started third grade.

During an orientation for new students at the private Wesley School in North Hollywood, the 8-year-old was matched in a race against the fastest boy in the school. The reason for the race has been lost to time, but not the result: Alyssa smoked the kid.

“The biggest thing I remember is being surprised by how fast she was,” said Marquis Gallegos, who lost the race but went on to become a highly recruited safety who will play football at USC this fall.

“We all knew,” added Alex Smith, a grade-school teammate of Gallegos, “that she was a great athlete and would do great things.”

But it was another 10 years before Thompson really understood the depth of his daughter’s gift and the unique path she would have to blaze if that talent was to be fully realized. It would eventually lead her to turn pro before she’d graduated high school and be named to a World Cup roster less than a month after her senior prom.

“I make this comparison, being very respectful about it,” he said. “But this is like a Kobe, LeBron type of athlete, right? She has the potential to be great. She has the potential to be the best.”

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SPORTS ON TV

Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific

10 a.m., Dodgers at Baltimore, Sportsnet LA

4 p.m., NY Yankees at Angels, Bally Sports West

Women’s World Cup schedule: Start times for every match and how to watch

The rest of today’s sports on TV listings can be found here.

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 career 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.

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.

1986 — Tim Witherspoon KOs Frank Bruno in 11 for heavyweight boxing title.

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

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.

—Compiled by the Associated Press