The Sports Report: Chargers barely hang on to win

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

From Jeff Miller: Their offense had a 400-yard passer and a 200-yard receiver. They gained 475 yards and yielded 475 more. They had an 11-point third-quarter lead and a three-point fourth-quarter deficit.

F-i-n-a-l-l-y, they secured their first win of the season Sunday when Kenneth Murray Jr. snatched a tipped ball inches above the end-zone turf on the 78th play the Chargers had to defend.

“I was so happy,” safety Alohi Gilman said, “because I was tired as hell.”

In a game that featured five lead changes and so much else that was too numerous to count, the Chargers beat Minnesota 28-24 to avoid an 0-3 start that might have buried their season.

They won on an afternoon during which they lost wide receiver Mike Williams to a potentially serious knee injury and safety Derwin James Jr. to a hamstring strain, though James afterward said, “I’ll be good.”

Keenan Allen’s ‘maestro performance’ paints better picture as Chargers finally win

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Chargers box score

NFL standings

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Kyren Williams already was a dedicated, detail-oriented rookie running back for the Rams.

But a 2022 midseason body-maintenance session inspired and pushed him even more.

It was early evening, and all the Rams except Williams and veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner were gone from the team’s Thousand Oaks training facility.

“Why are you still here?” Williams asked Wagner, a six-time All-Pro. “Why aren’t you at home?”

Wagner told Williams he stayed in the building until 8 or later every night to study film, to break down opponents individually, to hone a craft he had been mastering for more than a decade in the NFL.

“I’ve always watched film,” Williams said, “it’s just taking it to the next level like Bobby did.”

Cam Akers was traded to the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday, so Williams will be the starter when the Rams play the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on “Monday Night Football.”

It is a role Williams has dreamed about since growing up in St. Louis and playing at Notre Dame. But he is not overwhelmed.

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Girls’ flag football: Rams jamboree hosts more than 1,200 players

NFL standings

DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: Once Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn got every ounce of his 6-foot-5, 270-pound body moving in the right direction in the third inning of Sunday’s 3-2, 10-inning walk-off victory over the San Francisco Giants, there was no stopping the right-hander.

The Giants, trailing 2-0 at the time, had loaded the bases with two out when Thairo Estrada, a No. 5 hitter with 13 homers and 48 RBIs on the season, inexplicably tried to bunt for a hit, popping his attempt into the air toward third base.

It took a moment for the shock to wear off and for Lynn to realize third baseman Max Muncy was playing too deep to make the play. Lynn then bolted off the mound and made a nice running catch near the line to end the inning, his momentum practically carrying him into a laughter-filled third-base dugout.

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Plaschke: The Clayton Kershaw Crusade is making a stirring last stand

Dodgers box score

All MLB box scores

NL WEST STANDINGS

x-Dodgers, 96-59
Arizona, 82-73, 14 GB
San Francisco, 77-79, 19.5 GB
San Diego, 77-79, 19.5 GB
Colorado, 56-99, 40 GB

x-clinched division

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Philadelphia, 87-69
Arizona, 82-73
Chicago, 82-74

Miami, 81-75, 1 GB
Cincinnati, 80-77, 2.5 GB
San Francisco, 77-79, 5 GB
San Diego, 77-79, 5 GB

For full standings, go here

ANGELS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Mike Trout will not be returning to play this season for the Angels, manager Phil Nevin told reporters Sunday morning before a 9-3 loss in Minnesota.

Trout went on the injured list Aug. 23 in an effort to allow himself to further heal and recover from the hamate bone he fractured and had surgery on in July. The hope was that he could return before the season ends on Oct. 1, but Nevin said that Trout would be going on the 60-day injured list.

This is the third consecutive year that Trout, 32, has missed significant time because of injury.

In 2021, a right calf strain in May sidelined Trout for the remainder of the season. And last year, he missed 30 games while recovering from a back injury.

Angels box score

All MLB box scores

AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 87-68
Houston, 85-71, 2.5 GB
Seattle, 84-71, 3 GB
Angels, 70-86, 17.5 GB
Oakland, 48-108, 39.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS

top three teams qualify

y-Tampa Bay, 95-62
Toronto, 87-69
Houston, 85-71

Seattle, 84-71, 0.5 GB

y-clinched wild-card berth

Note: The Angels have been eliminated from postseason contention.

For full standings, go here

SATURDAY’S UCLA FOOTBALL GAME

From Ben Bolch: Limping into the interview room, his white jersey rolled up at the chest, Dante Moore took a seat and sighed deeply before answering the first question.

That pretty much said it all.

Whipsawed from the opening play, when the UCLA quarterback threw a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, he finally allowed himself a moment to exhale. Moore had been sacked seven times and lost a fumble under relentless Utah pressure that forced him to repeatedly peel his body off the artificial turf Saturday afternoon at a rollicking Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Knowing he would face moments like this, Moore blamed himself for not responding better, even as a freshman in one of the country’s most hostile environments.

“I can put this loss on me for sure,” Moore said after the No. 22 Bruins’ 14-7 loss to the No. 11 Utes. “I know me being so young, not many people would say that, but I’ll put this loss on me for sure and we’ve just got to bounce back from it.”

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UCLA box score

Growing pains and the rise of a stout defense: Takeaways from UCLA’s loss to Utah

Commentary: Chip Kelly era at UCLA hasn’t had a breakthrough moment. The wait might soon be over

SATURDAY’S USC FOOTBALL GAME

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: USC wanted to be road villains. For most of Saturday night, it looked like the type of antagonists that spoil their own dastardly plans with silly mistakes.

Akin to cartoon characters who step on rakes or slip on banana peels, USC’s self-inflicted wounds piled up in missed tackles, dropped passes and basic procedure penalties before the No. 5 Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12 Conference) finally pulled away for a 42-28 win over Arizona State (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) at Mountain America Stadium.

The No. 5 Trojans started off like they extended their bye week against a team that was coming off an embarrassing home shutout against Fresno State. Playing on the road for the first time after three home crowd-fueled blowouts, USC fumbled twice in the first quarter, gave up a 25-yard pass by a running back on fourth-and-five in the second quarter and committed a false start that left star quarterback Caleb Williams doubled over in pain in the third quarter.

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USC box score

USC vs. Arizona State takeaways: Will defense once again shatter CFP dreams?

SOCCER

Megan Rapinoe got a triumphant sendoff, and the United States beat South Africa 2-0 on Sunday.

Trinity Rodman and Emily Sonnett scored, and the U.S. sent its captain toward retirement with one final victory as a member of the national team.

The 38-year-old Rapinoe was presented a framed jersey representing her 203 games with the United States prior to the win, and she raised her arms as the crowd roared.

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Dejan Joveljic scored in the 89th minute, Michael Barrios’ first goal with Los Angeles came in stoppage time and the Galaxy rallied for a 3-3 draw with Austin FC on Sunday night in a match that started three hours late because of a thunderstorm.

Austin ends a club-record four-match losing streak at home in all competitions and ends a three-match skid against the Galaxy with the tie. L.A. was trying to become the first team to beat Austin four times in a row but will have to settle for a 4-1-1 record in the last six matchups.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — Molly Bjurstedt Mallory wins her fifth title in six years with a two-set victory over Marion Zinderstein in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.

1926 — Walter Hagen wins his third straight and fourth overall PGA Championship. Hagen beats Leo Diegel 4 and 3 in the championship match at Salisbury Golf Links in Westbury, N.Y.

1949 — Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women’s Open by 14 strokes over Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

1962 — Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson at 2:06 of the first round at Comiskey Park in Chicago to win the world heavyweight title.

1966 — Gloria Ehret wins the LPGA Championship by three strokes over four-time champion Mickey Wright.

1988 — Americans sweep the medals in the long jump at the Seoul Olympics; Carl Lewis wins his second gold of the Games with leap of 8.72m ahead of teammates Mike Powell & Larry Myricks.

1988 — Super swimmer Matt Biondi wins his 5th gold medal of the Seoul Olympics anchoring the victorious American 4 x 100m medley relay team.

1994 — Oliver McCall scores a major upset by stopping Lennox Lewis 31 seconds into the second round to capture the WBC heavyweight title in London.

1995 — Jerry Rice has 181 yards receiving in San Francisco’s 27-24 loss to Detroit. It’s his 51st 100-yard game, which breaks Don Maynard’s NFL record.

2005 — Fernando Alonso, 24, becomes Formula One’s youngest champion by finishing third in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

2013 — Skipper Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA win the America’s Cup with one of the greatest comebacks in sports history to keep the oldest trophy in international sports in the United States. Spithill steers Oracle’s space-age, 72-foot catamaran to its eighth straight victory, speeding past Dean Barker and Emirates Team New Zealand in the winner-take-all Race 19 on San Francisco Bay. All but defeated a week ago, the 34-year-old Australian and his international crew twice rallies from seven-point deficits to win 9-8.

—Compiled by the Associated Press