The Sports Report: Shohei Ohtani hits his first home run for the Dodgers
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From Bill Shaikin: The official folks in the yellow windbreakers scrambled into the right field pavilion — high and deep into the pavilion, following the arc of the ball. Shohei Ohtani had his first home run as a Dodger, and Team Yellow Windbreaker was on a mission to secure the milestone ball.
After eight games on two continents without a home run, the $700-million man — the one who led the American League in home runs last year — hit his first home run Wednesday, in the seventh inning, in his 37th at-bat this season. Not to say Los Angeles had been anxious or anything, but Miguel Rojas had hit his second home run of the season earlier in the game.
The home runs — the 430-foot one from the designated slugger, and the one from the light-hitting shortstop — highlighted the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Team Yellow Windbreaker delivered the fan who caught Ohtani’s home run to Ohtani himself, who happily swapped a bat, a ball, two caps and a few moments of conversation with the fan for what he called “a very special ball.”
The adjective everyone used in the Dodgers clubhouse to describe Ohtani was “relieved.” Rojas used it. Manager Dave Roberts used it. Ohtani himself used it.
“Honestly, very relieved that I was able to get my first homer,” he said via interpreter Will Ireton. “It’s been a while.”
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: The challenge, the Lakers said, was as much mental as anything else. Six games in nine days including contests against some of the worst teams in the league, a stretch that closed Wednesday against the Wizards.
“Those are teams, respectfully, that we should beat,” D’Angelo Russell said the night prior.
Road weary from a trip that took them from Milwaukee to Memphis to Indiana to Brooklyn and to Toronto before reaching Washington, D.C., the Lakers needed to find some last bit of reserve fuel to finish things off.
Having seen their 17-point lead reduced to just two in the fourth quarter, LeBron James made sure the offense would be flat-footed no more. He attacked the Wizards zone. Soared for a two-handed dunk and triggered a run that gave the Lakers a 125-120 win and a 5-1 late-season trip.
ANGELS
Taylor Ward homered and Nolan Schanuel extended his career-starting consecutive on-base streak to 35 games as the Angels beat Miami 10-2 on Wednesday for their fourth win in a row.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings and overcame an opening day outing in which he allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings. Sandoval (1-1) limited Miami to two runs and four hits. The left-hander absorbed a 101.9-mph comebacker to his left foot hit by Miami’s Vidal Brujan in the third, but he remained in the game.
“Felt a lot better about that one. Kept the ball in the zone and good things happened,” Sandoval said. “Just build off of it. Have to keep this one going.”
HORSE RACING
From John Cherwa: Is it possible that Bob Baffert will have at least one horse in this year’s Kentucky Derby? Maybe, it will all rest with a judge in Jefferson County, Ky., Circuit Court.
On Wednesday, Amr Zedan, one of Baffert’s biggest clients, filed suit in Louisville seeking a temporary injunction that would allow Zedan horses, and others trained by Baffert, to run in the May 4 Kentucky Derby. Baffert is not a party to the lawsuit. In a mostly procedural move, motions will be presented on Monday afternoon.
All the previous litigation, which has gone against Baffert and his owners, has been directed at the merits of the case against Medina Spirit, the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby until he tested positive for a legal medication that was not legal on race day. Churchill Downs Incorporated suspended Baffert from all Churchill tracks for what was believed to be two years. But, despite no violations in those two years, Churchill Downs added at least one more year to Baffert’s suspension. CDI said the hall of fame trainer didn’t show enough contrition.
KINGS
Trevor Moore scored three goals for his second career hat trick and the Kings ended their three-game skid while eliminating Seattle from the Stanley Cup playoff race with a 5-2 victory over the Kraken on Wednesday night.
Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala also scored and Cam Talbot made 21 saves for the Kings, who pulled within one point of Nashville for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference by ending their longest losing streak since the 1-6-4 midseason skid that cost coach Todd McLellan his job.
The Kings took control with two goals in just over four minutes of the second period by Moore, who then secured his first hat trick since November 2022 on a slick breakaway with 3:03 to play.
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: Mick Cronin’s first offseason acquisition could find a spot alongside Dylan Andrews in UCLA’s starting backcourt.
The Bruins snagged Louisville’s leading scorer Wednesday after sophomore combo guard Skyy Clark announced on the social platform X that he was headed back to his hometown.
“Home is where the heart is!!” Clark, a native of Los Angeles, wrote atop a photo illustration showing him dribbling a basketball outside Pauley Pavilion and below the Hollywood sign and the words “I’m coming home.”
A gifted shooter who could also help Andrews with ballhandling duties, Clark made 35.3% of his three-pointers last season while averaging 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT
From Ryan Kartje: A new, 16-team tournament is coming to the postseason college basketball calendar in 2025, with major conference partnerships, backing from Fox Sports and AEG and its sights set on being the top alternative to the NCAA tournament and NIT.
The College Basketball Crown will unfold over a week in Las Vegas next April, featuring two automatic qualifiers apiece from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East that didn’t earn NCAA tournament bids, as well as 10 additional at-large teams selected by a committee. All games will be broadcast on either Fox or FS1.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman called the tournament “an exciting and innovative addition to the college basketball calendar.”
Men’s schedule
All times Pacific
FINAL FOUR
Saturday
No. 11 North Carolina State vs. No. 1 Purdue, 3:09 p.m., TBS
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 1 UConn, 5:49 p.m., TBS
Monday
Championship (Glendale, Ariz.), TBS
WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT
From Ryan Kartje: Caitlin Clark grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa, but was a Connecticut women’s basketball fan.
Her dream was to play for legendary coach Geno Auriemma, who has led the Huskies to a record 11 national titles.
As a standout player at Downing Catholic High, Clark was recruited by seemingly every major college program in the country, with one significant exception — UConn.
“They called my AAU coach a few times, but they never talked to my family and never talked to me,” Clark told ESPN.
Women’s schedule
All times Pacific
FINAL FOUR
Friday
No. 3 North Carolina State vs. No. 1 South Carolina, 4 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Connecticut vs. No. 1 Iowa, 6 p.m., ESPN
Championship: Sunday, noon (Cleveland), ABC
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1921 — The NHL champion Ottawa Senators beat the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champion Vancouver Millionaires 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup 3 games to 2.
1937 — Byron Nelson shoots a 283 to win the Masters by two strokes over Ralph Guldahl.
1938 — Henry Picard beats Ralph Guldahl and Harry Cooper by two strokes to capture the Masters.
1974 — Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth’s home-run record by hitting his 714th.
1983 — Lorenzo Charles scores on a dunk after Derek Whittenburg’s 35-foot desperation shot falls short to give North Carolina State a 54-52 triumph over Houston in the NCAA championship.
1986 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky breaks his own NHL single-season points record with three assists to increase his total to 214. He scored 212 points in 1981-82.
1987 — New York’s Denis Potvin, the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, scores his 1,000th point.
1988 — Danny Manning scores 31 points and grabs 18 rebounds as Kansas wins its second NCAA championship with an 83-79 victory over Oklahoma.
1993 — Sheryl Swoopes shatters the women’s championship game record by scoring 47 points to lead Texas Tech to an 84-82 victory over Ohio State.
1993 — Mario Andretti, at 53, wins the Valvoline 200 in Phoenix to become the oldest driver to win an Indy car race and the first driver to win a race in four different decades.
1994 — Arkansas wins its first men’s national championship with a 76-72 victory over Duke, depriving the Blue Devils of a third title in four years.
1997 — The Ducks Ducks clinch their 1st-ever playoff berth.
2001 — Hideo Nomo becomes the fourth pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter in both leagues in Boston’s 3-0 victory over Baltimore.
2003 — Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs becomes the 18th player to hit 500 career homers, connecting for a solo shot in a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati.
2004 — Carolina’s Brad Fast beat Florida goalie Roberto Luongo with a wrist shot to tie the game at 6-6 late in the third period. It’s the final tie game in NHL history.
2005 — North Carolina defeats Illinois to win the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship. Sean May has 26 points and the Tar Heels don’t allow a basket over the final 2 1/2 minutes to defeat Illinois 75-70.
2006 — 25th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Maryland beats Duke, 78-75 OT.
2011 — Kemba Walker scores 16 points and Alex Oriakhi has 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead Connecticut to a 53-41 win over Butler in the men’s NCAA championship game.
2015 — The United States defends their women’s world hockey championship with a 7-5 win over Canada.
2016 — Kris Jenkins hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Villanova to the national title with a 77-74 victory over North Carolina — one of the wildest finishes in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Jenkins’ shot comes moments after Marcus Paige hit a double-clutch 3 from beyond the arc to tie the score at 74 with 4.7 seconds left.
2021 — 39th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Stanford Cardinal defeat Arizona Wildcats, 54–53.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
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