The Sports Report: Cam Akers is basically no longer a Ram

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

From Gary Klein: Sean McVay and Rams running back Cam Akers found a way last season to work out some differences.

That does not appear to be the case after two games this season.

On Monday, McVay indicated Akers’ time with the Rams was over, regardless of whether general manager Les Snead can find a trade partner to deal the fourth-year pro, who was inactive for the Rams loss to the 49ers on Sunday.

During a videoconference with reporters, McVay was asked if Akers would return to the team if no trade is consummated.

“That won’t be an opportunity,” McVay said, adding, “I feel good about the opportunity to move him, but we won’t go back and forth on it.”

Second-year pro Kyren Williams started in Akers’ place against the 49ers and scored two touchdowns for the second time in as many games.

McVay on Monday continued to say that he had had good dialogue with Akers and his agent, David Mulugheta.

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DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: Eduardo Rodriguez could have taken the mound in Chavez Ravine for the National League West-champion Dodgers on Monday night in what would have been a tuneup for a probable Game 1 start in the NL Division Series in early October.

Instead, because he nixed a trade to the Dodgers in early August, Rodriguez started for the Detroit Tigers, who are eight games behind Minnesota in the American League Central and 11½ games back in the wild-card race.

The Dodgers gave Rodriguez a taste of what he’s missing out on, as his former Boston Red Sox teammate and almost Dodgers teammate J.D. Martinez crushed a solo homer in the second inning and hit a three-run homer in the third off the 30-year-old left-hander to push the Dodger toward an 8-3 victory before a crowd of 37,239.

Miguel Rojas added a solo homer in the seventh, and Martinez capped a five-RBI game with a two-out RBI single in the seventh, as the Dodgers (92-57) moved to within 3½ games of the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the NL.

Dodgers right-hander Lance Lynn gave up three runs and six hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two, to improve to 12-11 with a 5.92 ERA, leaning heavily on a lively 93-mph fastball to induce 14 swinging strikes among his 93 pitches.

Lynn was working on a three-hit shutout when he allowed two-out singles to Miguel Cabrera and Kerry Carpenter and a three-run homer to left field by Jake Rogers in the fifth, cutting Detroit’s deficit to 5-3. It was the major league-leading 42nd homer allowed by Lynn, tying him for ninth for the most homers allowed in a single season.

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Dodgers box score

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NL WEST STANDINGS

x-Dodgers, 92-57
Arizona, 79-72, 14 GB
San Francisco, 76-74, 16.5 GB
San Diego, 73-78, 20 GB
Colorado, 56-94, 36.5 GB

x-clinched division

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Philadelphia, 82-68
Arizona, 79-72
Chicago, 78-72

Cincinnati, 79-73
Miami, 78-73, 0.5 GB
San Francisco, 76-74, 2 GB
San Diego, 73-78, 5.5 GB

For full standings, go here

ANGELS

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AL WEST STANDINGS

Houston, 84-67
Texas, 82-68, 1.5 GB
Seattle, 82-68, 1.5 GB
Angels, 68-82, 15.5 GB
Oakland, 46-104, 37.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

y-Tampa Bay, 92-59
Toronto, 83-67
Texas, 82-68
Seattle, 82-68

New York, 76-74, 6 GB
Boston, 75-76, 7.5 GB

y-clinched wild-card berth

Note: The Angels have been eliminated from postseason contention.

For full standings, go here

UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: Chip Kelly freely spoke about a starting quarterback dilemma. It probably helped that it wasn’t his.

Unlike UCLA, which has found its guy in Dante Moore, Utah faces uncertainty heading into a showdown of unbeaten teams Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the Pac-12 opener for the No. 22 Bruins (3-0) and No. 11 Utes (3-0).

Is this the week that Cam Rising returns from the torn knee ligament that has sidelined him since the Rose Bowl? Or will the Utes continue to go with redshirt freshman Nate Johnson, who replaced season-opening starter Bryson Barnes to rally his team against Baylor earlier this month?

“Nate Johnson played really well in the last couple of weeks,” Kelly said Monday, “but I think you have to prepare for all three of them.”

While Rising has been practicing without limitations for several weeks, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham recently told reporters that his veteran quarterback regaining confidence in his knee was the final hurdle he needed to clear before making his season debut.

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USC FOOTBALL

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Macen Williams had big plans for 2018. Then a junior at Gardena Serra High, where his older brother Max was already a star senior, Macen envisioned a dominant season for the brothers who trained together their whole lives for a moment like this. Macen would cement his spot in the starting lineup and boost his recruiting profile. Max would put a perfect ending on a dominant four-year varsity career.

Then Max tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the season opener.

“I was really hurt,” Macen said, “because there wasn’t anything I was looking forward to more than balling out with my brother.”

Five years later, the brothers get a final chance to share the field on the college level as Max’s fifth-ranked USC Trojans visit Macen’s Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.

The timing hasn’t always been ideal for the siblings. They missed each other in 2020 while Macen redshirted. Max sat out in 2021 because of his second torn ACL.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1925 — Bill Tilden wins his sixth straight U.S. Open tennis championship with a five-set victory over Bill Johnston. Tilden wins 4-6, 11-9, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It’s the fourth consecutive year that Tilden beats Johnston in the final.

1948 — Pancho Gonzales, 20, wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title with a 6-2, 6-3, 14-12 victory over Eric Sturgess.

1951 — Ford C. Frick, president of the National League, is elected baseball commissioner by the team owners.

1988 — U.S. Olympic diver Greg Louganis hits his head on diving board at the Seoul Olympics. Louganis hits the board on his ninth dive. He has four temporary stitches put in the top of his head so that he could come back and perform his last two dives. Less than 30 minutes later, he completes a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 3 1/2 twists and, in the final round, a reverse 3 1/2 somersault in tuck position to secure his place in the medal round.

2000 — In the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team strands a staggering 20 baserunners in an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to Japan, which ends a 112-game winning streak. It’s the first loss for the Americans since the 1998 world championships.

2000 — Ken Griffey Jr. pinch-hits his 400th home run becoming the first major league player to reach the mark as a pinch-hitter.

2001 — Roger Clemens becomes the first pitcher in major league history to go 20-1, pitching the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

2004 — Jerry Rice’s run of 274 straight games with a catch is ended in the Oakland Raiders’ 13-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The last time Rice didn’t catch a pass was Dec. 1, 1985, at Washington.

2010 — Matt Schaub is 38 of 52 for a franchise-record 497 yards with three touchdowns in Houston’s 30-27 overtime win over Washington. Donovan McNabb of the Redskins is 28 of 38 for 426 yards. It’s the first time two quarterbacks throw for 400 yards in an NFL game since 1994.

2015 — Greyson Lambert of Georgia throws for 330 yards, three touchdowns and sets an NCAA record by completing all but one of his 25 passes to lead the to a 52-20 victory over South Carolina. Lambert posts the highest percentage (96.0) in FBS history for a minimum of 20 completions, breaking the mark of 95.8 (23 of 24) shared by Tennessee’s Tee Martin and West Virginia’s Geno Smith.

2017 — A new MLB record for the most home runs in a season as number 5,694 is hit by Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Greg Louganis hits his head on the diving board at the Olympics. Watch and listen here.