The Sports Report: Angels sweep the Yankees

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

From Sarah Valenzuela: For three days in a row, the Angels matched stellar starting pitching with big offense to power over the New York Yankees.

It was pitcher Chase Silseth’s turn Wednesday, called back up ahead of the Angels’ 7-3 win. They improved to 49-48 after sweeping New York.

Silseth pitched 5 ⅔ innings, shutting out the Yankees through five until Giancarlo Stanton connected on a solo home run to start the sixth. It was the only run Silseth gave up on the four hits and two walks. He followed the home run by striking out his next two batters, finishing with a career-high 10 strikeouts.

“Just able to pound zone,” Silseth said. “And when you pound the zone and you can mix it up, like offspeed breaking balls in the zone, you can keep hitters off balance. That was the key to the game.”

He was pulled for José Soriano to get the final out of the sixth, having thrown 85 pitches. Silseth last pitched in triple A on July 5, so it had been two weeks since he threw so many.

Soriano gave up one run after hitting a batter and giving up two singles. He walked the bases loaded but escaped the jam by striking out Oswaldo Peraza to get out of the inning. Matt Moore gave up a solo home run to Franchy Cordero in the eighth.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

What’s Shohei Ohtani’s trade value? A look at what contenders have in their farm systems

AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 58-39
Houston, 54-43, 4.5 GB
Angels, 49-48, 9 GB
Seattle, 47-48, 10 GB
Oakland, 27-71, 31.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Tampa Bay, 60-39
Toronto, 53-43
Houston, 53-43

Boston, 51-46, 2.5 GB
New York, 50-47, 3.5 GB
Angels, 49-48, 4.5 GB
Seattle, 47-48, 5.5 GB
Cleveland, 47-49, 6 GB

For full standings, go here

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: In the first inning, he kicked at a soggy mound in frustration.

In the third, he snapped at himself while shouting into his mitt.

In the fifth, he simply hung his head and walked somberly to the dugout.

By then, the damage already had been inflicted.

In perhaps the worst start of his career, Julio Urías ran the full gamut of emotions Wednesday in the Dodgers’ 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

In five innings, he gave up a career-high eight runs. Of his 93 pitches, few were executed with command or precision.

Continue reading here

Dodgers box score

NL WEST STANDINGS

Dodgers, 55-40
San Francisco, 54-42, 1.5 GB
Arizona, 54-42, 1.5 GB
San Diego, 46-50, 9.5 GB
Colorado, 37-59, 18.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

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

Miami, 53-45, 0.5 GB
Cincinnati, 51-46, 2 GB
San Diego, 46-50, 6.5 GB
Chicago, 45-50, 7 GB
New York, 45-50, 7 GB

For full standings, go here

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter: A gunman using a pump-action shotgun opened fire along Auckland’s scenic harbor Thursday morning, killing two people and wounding half a dozen others less than 12 hours before the women’s World Cup was scheduled to kickoff less than three miles away at Eden Park Stadium.

The shooter, identified as a 24-year-old male who was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on one ankle, was also found dead after engaging with police in an elevator shaft. At least one officer was among the wounded.

According to authorities, the incident began at about 7:22 a.m. local time at a construction site near where Queen Street, Auckland’s main thoroughfare, ends at the city’s ferry terminal. Three of the wounded were hospitalized in serious condition.

Continue reading here

Ali Riley cares about the World Cup maybe more than the country she plays for does

SPARKS

From Annika Johnson: The Sparks emerge from the All-Star break with a six-game losing streak and half the season left to answer: Will they participate in the playoffs or the 2024 draft lottery? Layshia Clarendon might be able to help with that.

The Sparks (7-13) will have a boost when Clarendon, who shot 40% from the three-point line and averaged 7.8 points with 3.7 assists in 26.7 minutes before partially tearing their right plantar fascia in June, returns Thursday for L.A.’s game against the Minnesota Lynx (9-12) in Minneapolis.

An experienced veteran with 11 seasons under their belt — the same as All-Star Nneka Ogwumike who is matching her 2016 MVP year statistics, averaging 19.8 points with 9.6 rebounds in 32 minutes — Clarendon also brings intangibles to the court.

Continue reading here

SPORTS ON TV

Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific

5 p.m., Sparks at Minnesota, Amazon Prime Video

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

1958 — The PGA championship calls for medal play for the first time and Dow Finsterwald beats Billy Casper.

1963 — Mary Mills wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by three strokes over Sandra Palmer and Louise Suggs.

1975 — Sandra Palmer wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by four strokes over Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner and Sandra Post.

1976 — Hank Aaron hits his 755th and last home run.

1980 — Tom Watson wins the British Open by four strokes over Lee Trevino. Watson shoots a 13-under 271 at Muirfield Golf Links at Gullane, Scotland. Watson becomes the fourth American to win three Open titles, joining Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

1997 — Justin Leonard closes with a 65 to win the British Open at 12-under 272 at Royal Troon. Leonard, whose closing round is one of the best in major championship history, takes the lead from Jesper Parnevik with a birdie on No. 17.

2002 — Tiger Woods, trying to win the third leg of the Grand Slam, shoots his worst round (81) as a professional, knocking himself out of contention.

2008 — Padraig Harrington is the first European in more than a century to win golf’s oldest championship two years in a row. Harrington pulls away from mistake-prone Greg Norman and holds off a late charge by Ian Poulter for a four-shot victory in the British Open.

2009 — Lauren Lappin homers to start a three-run rally in the third inning, and the United States beats Australia 3-1 in the World Cup of Softball championship game at Oklahoma City.

2014 — Rory McIlroy completes a wire-to-wire victory in the British Open to capture the third leg of the career Grand Slam. McIlroy closes with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. McIlroy, winner of the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship, joins Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players with three different majors at age 25 or younger.

2015 — Zach Johnson rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and outlasts Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a three-man playoff to win the British Open. Jordan Spieth, looking to win his third straight major, falls one shot short of joining the playoff.

2020 — Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first man to score 50 goals in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.

2021 — The Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns 105-95 in game six of the NBA Finals to win their second NBA Championship. It was the fourth win in a row after falling behind 2-0 in the series.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Hank Aaron hits his final home run. Watch and listen here.