The Sports Report: The Angels need to trade Mike Trout

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

From Dylan Hernández: Mike Trout’s latest pledge of allegiance to the Angels raised eyebrows around baseball. If Trout really wanted to win as much as he said he did, how could he make another verbal commitment to such an obviously dysfunctional organization?

That was one way to view the remarks Trout made to reporters at Angel Stadium on Monday.

Here was another: Trout demonstrated character by refraining from any attempt to whine his way out of town. He accepted the consequences of a decision he made years ago, when he bound himself to this loser franchise in exchange for a record $426.5 million.

“I got seven years left on the contract,” Trout said.

Trout will collect more than $248 million over those seven years. He doesn’t have the shamelessness to demand a trade, not when he’s averaged 79 games played over the last three seasons. In his case, a trade request would be more than a trade request. He would also be asking the Angels to continue paying a significant portion of his contract while he plays for another team.

But Trout’s loyalty — or inertia, depending on the perspective — presents a dilemma for the Angels. They couldn’t win with a healthy version of Trout and they certainly can’t win with a broken-down version of him. They can’t win paying more than $35 million annually to a part-time player.

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From Sarah Valenzuela: The Angels beat the Texas Rangers 9-3 on Tuesday at Angel Stadium.

Reid Detmers was efficient over his seven innings on the mound, likely his final start of the season, which comes to a close in five days (four games) for the Angels. He held the Rangers to a single run — in the first inning — on four hits while striking out seven batters over 100 pitches thrown.

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Angels box score

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AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 88-69
Houston, 86-72, 2.5 GB
Seattle, 85-72, 3 GB
Angels, 71-87, 17.5 GB
Oakland, 48-109, 40 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

y-Tampa Bay, 96-62
Toronto, 87-70
Houston, 86-72

Seattle, 85-72, 0.5 GB

y-clinched wild-card berth

Note: The Angels have been eliminated from postseason contention.

For full standings, go here

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: It was a memorable swing, followed by an even more meaningful understanding.

On July 18, in the second inning of a scoreless game against the Baltimore Orioles, Jason Heyward squared up a low fastball from right-handed starter Tyler Wells.

He launched a three-run homer a projected 414 feet, his longest drive in almost two calendar years.

And, in one of many highlight moments during his resurgent season with the first-place Dodgers, he gave the team an early cushion in an eventual 10-3 win at Camden Yards.

“He’s one of the key pieces,” Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis said on the SportsNet LA broadcast as Heyward returned to the dugout. “Not just with what he’s done production-wise, but what he’s meant for the guys around him.”

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From Jack Harris: The Dodgers pieced together 18 strong innings on the mound at Coors Field, following a 4-1 loss in the afternoon matinee with an 11-2 defeat of the Rockies in the nightcap.

In the first game, the lone blip came at the start, when opener Caleb Ferguson surrendered three quick runs while collecting only two outs.

From there, however, it was smooth sailing.

Ryan Pepiot followed Ferguson as the bulk pitcher in Game 1, also a preview of how he could be used in the playoffs.

Over the six innings that followed, the rookie right-hander was dominant. He struck out a career-high nine. He gave up only one run, on a solo blast from Nolan Jones at the very end of his outing. And he lowered his ERA over 39 innings (he missed the first half with an oblique injury) to a minuscule 1.85, building his case to handle extended innings as a starter or bulk pitcher in October.

Fellow rookie Bobby Miller was equally impressive later in the night.

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Dodgers Game 1 box score

Dodgers Game 2 box score

All MLB box scores

NL WEST STANDINGS

x-Dodgers, 97-60
Arizona, 83-74, 14 GB
San Francisco, 78-80, 19.5 GB
San Diego, 78-80, 19.5 GB
Colorado, 57-100, 40 GB

x-clinched division

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

y-Philadelphia, 88-69
Arizona, 83-74
Chicago, 82-75

Miami, 81-75, 0.5 GB
Cincinnati, 81-77, 1.5 GB
San Francisco, 78-80, 4.5 GB
San Diego, 78-80, 4.5 GB

y-clinched wild-card berth

For full standings, go here

USC BASKETBALL

From Ryan Kartje: In the minutes after Bronny James collapsed on the Galen Center court in July, as Boogie Ellis and his teammates waited anxiously in the locker room, he was mired in a state of disbelief. It had been barely a year since another highly touted teammate, center Vince Iwuchukwu, suffered sudden cardiac arrest in strikingly similar fashion, collapsing during a summer run of five-on-five.

“I was like, ‘This can’t be happening again,’ ” Ellis said Monday.

DJ Rodman had a similar thought in that moment. The fifth-year senior wing had just transferred to USC after four years at Washington State. During his time in Pullman, two teammates suffered similar cardiac events. Witnessing a third life-threatening event was too overwhelming to take.

“I couldn’t handle it,” Rodman said. “I had to run out because I couldn’t handle another one.”

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USC FOOTBALL

From Ryan Kartje: Deion Sanders emerged as the larger-than-life epicenter of the college football universe during a thrilling four weeks, calling out any haters in his orbit, taking a flamethrower to the sport’s long-standing norms and attracting a level of attention to Colorado that would far exceed the otherwise rigid bounds of the sport. Sanders made a point of stacking whatever slights he could find to fire up his team.

When Colorado upset Texas Christian in its opener, Sanders told reporters after the game that he’d kept receipts and wondered aloud if now they believed. The next week, he riled his team over four-month-old comments Nebraska coach Matt Rhule made about the transfer portal, only for Nebraska to add fuel to the fire when it gathered on the Colorado logo at midfield before the game.

Before long, as the spotlight on Sanders and the Buffaloes brightened, opposing coaches simply couldn’t help themselves. Colorado State’s Jay Norvell took a shot at Sanders for not taking off his sunglasses and hat when talking to reporters. Oregon coach Dan Lanning made sure to invite cameras into the locker room before the game as he declared Colorado was “fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins.”

But as Lincoln Riley and USC prepared to share the stage Saturday with Sanders and Colorado, there were no potshots, no sarcastic slights, no bulletin board material of any kind.

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SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: Turns out winning the World Cup was the easiest thing the Spanish women’s team did this summer. Dragging the country’s misogynistic, neanderthal soccer federation into the 21st century has proved to be much more difficult.

Yet they might finally be on their way to making that happen after a players’ boycott of the national team led to the sacking of Andreu Camps, the federation’s general secretary, and a complete overhaul of the organization. The fact the first accomplishment, the World Cup title, had to be followed by the second is more proof — as if any more was needed — that simply winning isn’t enough for women athletes.

What a wasted opportunity. With the top-ranked U.S. reeling after its worst World Cup performance ever, Spain, which is also the reigning world champion at the U-17 and U-20 levels, should be ascending to the throne the Americans have vacated. Instead, the players are having to fight their own bosses for their dignity as women and professional athletes, the glory of their World Cup victory stolen. The moment has become a turning point.

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RAMS-CHARGERS

The Chargers finally came through with big plays in the fourth quarter to earn their first win, 28-24, over the Minnesota Vikings. The Rams struggled on offense in a 19-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Rams beat writer Gary Klein, Chargers beat writer Jeff Miller, and NFL columnist Sam Farmer discuss what happened and upcoming prospects:

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Rams-Bengals takeaways: Margin for error is razor-thin for Matthew Stafford, offense

Joe Namath says he’s ‘seen enough’ of Jets’ Zach Wilson: ‘Send him to Kansas City’

NFL standings

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1950 — Ezzard Charles wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title.

1973 — Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 in 11 innings, for record 383 of season.

1975 — Kansas quarterback Nolan Cromwell rushes for an NCAA record 294 yards in a 20-0 victory over Oregon State.

1987 — NFL players’ strike begins.

1988 — American diver Greg Louganis wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; wraps up diving double after also taking out the 3m springboard gold.

1988 — Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson is disqualified from the Seoul Olympics 100m after his urine sample found to contain steroid stanozolol; American Carl Lewis awarded gold medal and world record 9.92.

1992 — World champion Nigel Mansell sets a single-season victory record, leading from start to finish in the Portuguese Grand Prix for his ninth win of the Formula One season.

1998 — Mark McGwire gives baseball a new magic number, hitting two homers to reach No. 70 in the St. Louis Cardinals’ season finale against Montreal. It’s McGwire’s fifth homer in the season-ending, three-game series. McGwire’s 70th and final home run of the season was a line shot over the left-field wall on a first-pitch fastball from Carl Pavano in the seventh.

2000 — The Women’s British Open is elevated to major championship status on the LPGA Tour, replacing the du Maurier Classic. The other majors are the Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Championship and the U.S. Open.

2000 — United States baseball team, managed by Tommy Lasorda, wins Olympic Gold Medal in Sydney, Australia.

2003 — B.J. Symons of Texas Tech throws for 661 yards — a school and Big 12 record — and six touchdowns, in the Red Raiders’ 49-45 win over Mississippi.

2009 — Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm becomes the oldest winner of a WTA Tour tournament since Billie Jean King in 1983. Date Krumm, who turns 39 on Sept. 28, beats second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 for the Korea Open title. King was 39 years, 7 months, 23 days when she won at Birmingham, England.

2009 — With rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford leading the way, Detroit ends a 19-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory over the Washington Redskins. The Lions had not won since Dec. 23, 2007, and their skid matched the second longest in NFL history.

2018 — Jared Goff passes for career highs of 465 yards and five touchdowns, winning a scintillating duel with his Minnesota counterpart Kirk Cousins and leading the unbeaten Rams to a 38-31 victory over the Vikings. Cousins passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Mark McGwire hits his 70th homer of 1998. Watch and listen here.