The Sports Report: Angels acquire a couple of familiar faces to help postseason run

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

From Sarah Valenzuela: Angels general manager Perry Minasian wasted little time looking for help following a major injury to the team ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

Roughly six hours after their 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, the Angels announced they had acquired outfielder Randal Grichuk, infielder C.J. Cron and cash considerations from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for minor league pitchers Mason Albright and Jake Madden.

The Angels made the move with Taylor Ward set to be out for an extended period. The left fielder sustained multiple facial fractures after he was hit with a 92-mph pitch from Toronto starter Alek Manoah on Saturday. Hunter Renfroe and Mickey Moniak were their two everyday outfielders before the trade. Their healthy fill-in options include Luis Rengifo and Andrew Velazquez.

When announcing the trade for Grichuk and Cron, the Angels said that Ward was going on the 60-day injured list and Kevin Padlo, whose contract the Angels had selected before Sunday’s game, was designated for assignment. In sending Ward to the 60-day IL, it seems for now that Ward’s season could be finished.

Grichuk was drafted by the Angels in 2009, but was traded in 2013 to St. Louis, where he made his major league debut.

Grichuk played 64 games for the Rockies this season, starting the season on the injured list after undergoing sports hernia surgery. He has been nursing a groin issue this month that has limited his playing time. Grichuk is batting .308 with an .861 on-base-plus-slugging rate this season.

The Angels also reunited with Cron, who they drafted in 2011 and who played for their big league team from 2014 to 2017. The Angels traded Cron to the Tampa Bay Rays in February of 2018 for a player to be named later. That player later became Luis Rengifo.

Cron gives the Angels another option at first base. He has played just 56 games because of back issues and is batting .260 with a .780 OPS.

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Commentary: Angels decide there’s no time like the present to go for it

Angels box score

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AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 60-46
Houston, 59-47, 1 GB
Angels, 55-51, 5 GB
Seattle, 54-51, 5.5 GB
Oakland, 30-77, 30.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Tampa Bay, 64-44
Houston, 59-47
Toronto, 59-47

Boston, 56-49, 2.5 GB
New York, 55-50, 3.5 GB
Angels, 55-51, 4 GB
Seattle, 54-51, 4.5 GB
Cleveland, 53-53, 6 GB

For full standings, go here

DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: The backbone of so many playoff teams, the Dodgers rotation was so out of whack this month that it finished July with a 6.18 ERA, the club’s second-worst mark in any month of at least 15 games since the earned run became an official National League statistic in 1912 and the worst since the Brooklyn Dodgers posted a 7.31 ERA in July 1944.

On the plus side, the Dodgers are off Monday, the final day of July, so their starting pitchers won’t have to suffer another indignity like the one they endured Sunday, when rookie right-hander Michael Grove was rocked for eight runs and 10 hits — three of them homers — in six innings of a 9-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds in Chavez Ravine.

It marked the 10th straight Sunday loss for the Dodgers, a stretch of week-opening games in which they’ve been outscored 73-33, and the fourth loss in six games of a homestand in which they’ve been outscored 37-18 by the Reds and Toronto Blue Jays.

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Dodgers’ Lance Lynn happy for clean slate, but ‘you don’t forget the last four months, either’

Dodgers box score

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NL WEST STANDINGS

Dodgers, 59-45
San Francisco, 58-48, 2 GB
Arizona, 56-50, 4 GB
San Diego, 52-54, 8 GB
Colorado, 41-64, 18.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

San Francisco, 58-48
Miami, 57-49, GB
Milwaukee, 57-49

Philadelphia, 56-49, 0.5 GB
Arizona, 56-50, 1 GB
Chicago, 53-52, 3.5 GB
San Diego, 52-54, 5 GB
New York, 50-55, 6.5 GB

For full standings, go here

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: The losses were dramatic, certainly, even historic, the Chargers’ last two seasons ending in ways difficult to conceive.

But Brandon Staley is one who can relate, can relate to being repeatedly crushed, to being finished in both mind and body. Can relate to the pain of progress.

He’s a fighter who, still today, summons the competitive acid that swells inside a gut trying to accept losses suffered on an AAU hoops court as a 12-year-old.

And he’s a son, too, a son who watched his mother somehow cut daylight through the impossible — a winding, gnarled cancer battle that he’d eventually have to face himself.

“Because of the tough losses, the endings to the past two seasons, you’re closer to the right path,” Staley said. “It’s exactly what my mom used to always say to us.”

Linda Staley’s message has shaped his life. Her words are, as Staley explained it, “what drive me from these experiences.”

He used them years ago when Hodgkin lymphoma invaded his chest and demanded a response to a regimen that gives life and hope but takes so much else.

“Every one of those chemo treatments was like a football game to him,” Jason, Staley’s twin brother, remembered. “It was going to be a grind … and he was going to grind the cancer right out of him.”

So now, Staley is in another fight — one that isn’t life or death just a whole lot of life, his life. For the second consecutive summer, he will try to steer the Chargers back from the darkest of defeats.

Understanding cancer and its ravages long before his diagnosis — the way the disease slowly consumed his mother and twice took runs at his father — Staley finds himself empowered by perspective.

“When you go through chemo, a treatment, afterward you have nothing left,” he said. “It feels like losing a game. It takes the air out of you. But 13 days later you have to be ready to go do it again.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams, moving to fill the void left by Sony Michel’s retirement, have agreed to contract terms with veteran running back Royce Freeman, the team announced Sunday.

Freeman, 27, will join a running back corps that includes starter Cam Akers, Kyren Williams, Ronnie Rivers and rookie Zach Wilson.

Coach Sean McVay said on Saturday that Michel was retiring.

The 6-foot, 238-pound Freeman, a sixth-year pro, played last season for the Houston Texans. He rushed for 117 yards in 41 carries.

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BOXING

From Tyler R. Tynes: The entire bowl stood to their feet at 8:18 Saturday night in Sin City, ready for a show as unprecedented as the men walking to the ring. The folks paid in public relations dollars to spread their version of the truth told the corral that just under 20,000 people came to see Terence “Bud” Crawford duke it out with Errol Spence Jr. Hell, if that’s to be believed. This joint was rockin’ and rollin’ from the first howl in the undercard. It mighta’ been more plausible that another few thousand sneaked in when the sun went down, making the upper levels of T-Mobile Arena burst from the seams and the center with silhouettes shoving to see the fight of the decade.

When Spence walked from the tunnel, accompanied by regional rapper BigXThaPlug, slurring off beat about the greatness of the state they were from and riding ATVs with diamond chains, folk started shimmying in the crowd.

But, then came Bud.

The crowd’s noise distinctively shifted. They were roaring long before Crawford appeared unmovable in the tunnel, head bowed trying to excise himself from the superstitions and butterflies that latch onto us all. Fighter superstition, at least in the cage, forbade any man who put on the mitts to play “Lose Yourself” by Eminem during a ring walk. It was taboo. How corny could it be, draped in the finest trims and leathers, to walk down to an ass whippin’ and lose after hearing ‘Em rapping about your “mom’s spaghetti.”

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SPARKS

Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 13 boards and New York never trailed Sunday in the Liberty’s 87-79 win over the Sparks.

Marine Johannes made five of seven from three-point range and finished with 15 points for the Liberty (19-6). Sabrina Ionescu added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists and Courtney Vandersloot scored eight points with nine assists and six rebounds.

Los Angeles (9-16), which had won back-to-back games over the Indiana Fever, has lost nine of its last 11.

Dearica Hamby scored 21 points, Jordin Canada added 17 and Azurá Stevens 13 for the Sparks.

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NASCAR

Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go to win at Richmond Raceway on Sunday and snag one of the final spots in NASCAR’s playoff field.

Buescher led 88 laps and was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his lead over Virginia native Denny Hamlin, who was booed by his hometown crowd in pre-race.

But Hamlin got a poor final restart and Buescher easily pulled away for his first Cup Series win of the season, third of his career.

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WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

From Kevin Baxter in Auckland, New Zealand: Near the bar at the D.E.S. Portuguese Hall in Artesia there are two famed photos.

One is a picture of a young Cristiano Ronaldo wearing a red No. 17 Portuguese national team uniform while running toward the camera. The other is a woman in a pink headband and a blue U.S. kit, pumping her first after scoring in the 2018 U-20 World Cup. That’s Savannah DeMelo.

Ronaldo is the greatest scorer in soccer history, winner of five Ballon d’Or, three world player of the year awards, a European championship and a starter in five World Cups. DeMelo has two international appearances with the U.S. senior national team.

Guess which one the folks in Artesia are most proud of?

“Judging by attendance and the atmosphere at the sports bar, there seems to be more excitement and hope for Savannah to do well,” said Roger Silveira, a coach with Artesia D.E.S. Futebol Clube, which plays in the third-tier National Independent Soccer Assn.

That might be tested Tuesday when DeMelo and the U.S. face off against Portugal, which is essentially an elimination game at the women’s World Cup. With a win or a draw, the U.S. advances to the knockout phase and Portugal goes home. A Portuguese victory, on the other hand, would knock the Americans out of the tournament in the group stage for the first time.

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Sunday’s Results

Group A
Norway 6, Philippines 0
Switzerland 0, New Zealand 0

Group H
Colombia 2, Germany 1
Morocco 1, South Korea 0

Standings
Top two in each group qualify for Round of 16
x-qualified for Round of 16
All times Pacific

Group A
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts
x-Switzerland, 1-2-0, +2, 5
x-Norway, 1-1-1, +5, 4
New Zealand, 1-1-1, 0, 4
Philippines, 1-0-2, -7, 3

July 20
New Zealand 1, Norway 0
Switzerland 2, Philippines 0

July 24
Philippines 1, New Zealand 0

July 25
Switzerland 0, Norway 0

July 30
Norway 6, Philippines 0
Switzerland 0, New Zealand 0

Group B
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

Nigeria, 1-1-0, +1, 4
Canada, 1-1-0, +1, 4
Australia, 1-0-1, 0, 3
Ireland, 0-0-2, -2, 0

July 20
Australia 1 Ireland 0
Nigeria 0, Canada 0

July 26
Canada 2, Ireland 1

July 27
Nigeria 3, Australia 2

Monday
Canada vs. Australia 3 a.m. FS1, Universo
Ireland vs. Nigeria 3 a.m. Fox, Telemundo

Group C
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

x-Spain, 2-0-0, +8, 6
x-Japan, 2-0-0, +7, 6
Costa Rica, 0-0-2, -5, 0
Zambia, 0-0-2, -10, 0

July 21
Spain 3, Costa Rica 0

July 22
Japan 5, Zambia 0

July 25
Japan 2, Costa Rica 0

July 26
Spain 5, Zambia 0

Monday
Japan vs. Spain 12 a.m. Fox, Telemundo
Costa Rica vs. Zambia 12 a.m. FS1, Universo

Group D
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

England, 2-0-0, +2, 6
Denmark, 1-0-1, 0, 3
China, 1-0-1, 0, 3
Haiti, 0-0-2, -2, 0

July 22
England 1, Haiti 0
Denmark 1, China 0

July 28
England 1, Denmark 0
China 1, Haiti 0

Tuesday
China vs. England 4 a.m. Fox, Telemundo
Haiti vs. Denmark 4 a.m. FS1, Universo

Group E
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

USA, 1-1-0, +3, 4
Netherlands, 1-1-0, +1, 4
Portugal, 1-0-1, +1, 3
Vietnam, 0-0-2, -5, 0

July 21
U.S. 3, Vietnam 0

July 23
Netherlands 1, Portugal 0

July 26
U.S. 1, Netherlands 1

July 27
Portugal 2, Vietnam 0

Tuesday
Vietnam vs. Netherlands 12 a.m. FS1, Universo
Portugal vs. U.S. 12 a.m. Fox, Telemundo

Group F
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

France, 1-1-0, +1, 4
Jamaica, 1-1-0, +1, 4
Brazil, 1-0-1, +3, 3
Panama, 0-0-2, -5, 0

July 23
France 0, Jamaica 0

July 24
Brazil 4, Panama 0

July 29
France 2, Brazil 1
Jamaica 1, Panama 0

Wednesday
Panama vs. France 3 a.m. Fox, Universo
Jamaica vs. Brazil 3 a.m. FS1, Telemundo

Group G
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

x-Sweden, 2-0-0, +6, 6
Italy, 1-0-1, -4, 3
Argentina, 0-1-1, -1, 1
South Africa, 0-1-1, -1, 1

July 22
Sweden 2, South Africa 1

July 23
Italy 1, Argentina 0

July 27
Argentina 2, South Africa 2

July 29
Sweden 5, Italy 0

Wednesday
Argentina vs. Sweden 12 a.m. Fox, Telemundo
South Africa vs. Italy 12 a.m. FS1, Universo

Group H
Team, W-D-L, GD, Pts

Colombia, 2-0-0, +3, 6
Germany, 1-0-1, +5, 3
Morocco, 1-0-1, -5, 3
South Korea, 0-0-2, -3, 0

July 24
Germany 6, Morocco 0
Colombia 2, South Korea 0

July 29
Morocco 1, South Korea 0

July 30
Colombia 2, Germany 1

Thursday
Morocco vs. Colombia 3 a.m. FS1, Telemundo
South Korea vs. Germany 3 a.m. Fox, Universo

SPORTS ON TV

Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific

4:20 p.m. Angels at Atlanta, Bally Sports West

12 a.m. (Tuesday), U.S. vs. Portugal, Women’s World Cup, Fox

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

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1954 — Joe Adcock hits four homers and a double to lift the Milwaukee Braves a 15-7 victory over Brooklyn.

1963 — The Cleveland Indians become the first American League club to hit four straight home runs. No. 8 hitter Woodie Held hits a two-out homer off Paul Foytack and pitcher Pedro Ramos follows with his second homer of the game before Tito Francona and Larry Brown’s first major league homer finish this odd power surge. Foytack is the only major league pitcher to give up four straight home runs.

1973 — Julius Erving, the American Basketball Association’s leading scorer, is traded by the cash-strapped Virginia Squires to the New York Nets for forward George Carter and cash.

1983 — Jan Stephenson beats JoAnne Carner and Patty Sheehan by one stroke to win the U.S. Women’s Open.

1990 — Nolan Ryan wins his 300th game, reaching the milestone in his second try, as the Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.

1993 — Mike Aulby becomes the third player in PBA history to win a tournament by rolling a 300 game in the title game. Aulby beats David Ozio 300-279 in the Wichita Open.

1994 — Sergei Bubka sets a world pole vault record for the 35th time in his career at a meet in Sestriere, Italy. Bubka soars 20 feet, 1¾ inches, adding a half-inch to his mark set in Tokyo in 1992.

2000 — Dorothy Delasin becomes the LPGA’s youngest winner in 25 years by beating Pat Hurst on the second extra hole to win the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic. The 19-year-old Delasin is the youngest winner on the tour since Amy Alcott took the Orange Blossom Classic at age 19 in 1975.

2007 — All-Star Kevin Garnett is traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to Boston for five players and two draft picks. The Celtics obtain the former MVP and 10-time All-Star from Minnesota for forwards Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff and two first-round draft picks.

2011 — Yani Tseng wins the Women’s British Open for the second straight year, beating Brittany Lang by four strokes and becoming the youngest woman to capture a fifth major title. The 22-year-old top-ranked Taiwanese shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 16-under 272.

2012 — Michael Phelps breaks the Olympic medals record with his 19th, helping the U.S. romp to a 4x200-meter freestyle relay victory at the London Games. With 19 medals spanning three Olympics, Phelps moves one ahead of Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who got her haul in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

2012 — The team of Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber lives up to the hype, winning the first U.S. Olympic title in women’s gymnastics since 1996.

2021 — Katie Ledecky wins the women’s 800m gold in Tokyo. This is the third consecutive Olympics she has won the race.

—Compiled by the Associated Press