Sports
Dodgers striving for repeat victory over Angels
May 15, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández (37) runs after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Dodgers did something they hadn’t done since before winning the first of back-to-back World Series in their Freeway Series opener with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday night.
Beat the Angels.
Despite having to put scheduled starter Blake Snell on the injured list because of loose bodies in his left elbow a few hours before the first pitch, the Dodgers’ bullpen patched together an impressive two-hitter in a 6-0 victory, striking out 11 batters in the process.
The win snapped the Dodgers’ seven-game losing streak to their Southern California rivals dating back to Sept. 3, 2024.
“Yeah, it does (feel good),” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “Couldn’t beat these guys last year, couldn’t beat the Brewers last year. So yeah, it was nice to beat these guys.”
Trying to make it two in a row figures to be a tough task, however.
Right-hander Jose Soriano (6-2, 1.66 ERA) will try to snap the Angels’ four-game losing streak Saturday night and will be opposed by left-hander Justin Wrobleski (5-1, 2.42).
Soriano was the American League’s Pitcher of the Month for March/April after compiling an 0.84 ERA with 49 strikeouts in seven starts. He comes in off one of his better starts of the season, a 6-1 victory at Toronto on Sunday that saw him retire 20 in a row at one point. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings.
His only two losses of the season came against the Chicago White Sox. Take out the eight earned runs Chicago scored against him in nine innings, and Soriano would be undefeated with an ERA of 0.40.
Soriano is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in two career appearances against the Dodgers. He allowed two hits while striking out six over six shutout innings in a 7-4 victory last August in his lone career start against the Dodgers.
After using eight relievers on Friday, Roberts will be counting on Wrobleski to provide some length in his start Saturday. He did just that his last start, a 7-2 loss to Atlanta on Sunday, allowing seven runs over 8 2/3 innings.
Prior to that, Wrobleski, who is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in one career relief appearance against the Angels, had allowed just two earned runs over his previous 32 innings.
“They did a fantastic job. All of them,” Roberts said of his bullpen after the game on Friday. “We got through tonight. Tomorrow we’ve got a couple guys down but we’ve got ‘Wrobo’ going who can take down a lot of outs, so we couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”
The Angels are 1-6 in their past seven games and have lost four in a row since Soriano’s gem against the Blue Jays. After a solid 11-10 start to the season, the Angels have won just five times in 24 games.
Offense continues to be the main problem for first-year manager Kurt Suzuki’s team. The loss to the Dodgers marked the 15th time in the past 24 games that the Angels scored two runs or fewer.
“Bullpen games you get different looks every inning,” Suzuki said. “I thought we swung the bats OK, hit some balls hard right at guys and had nothing to show for it. We couldn’t muster anything up. It was tough tonight.”
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to the game after suffering a small fracture in his left wrist on April 26, left the game at the start of the sixth inning with wrist irritation after getting hit on the same wrist blocking a wild pitch in the fourth inning.
“We’ll check him out today, see how he is and see how he feels tomorrow morning,” Suzuki said. “It was more precautionary to get him out of there instead of making him play through something and have something bad happen.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nationals ban individual who displayed white nationalist sign at game
May 12, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; The Washington Nationals logo on the sleeve of outfielder James Wood (29) as he prepares on deck in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images The Washington Nationals are investigating an incident during Sunday’s game at Nationals Park when individuals unfurled a sign that directed fans to a white nationalist website and called for the deportation of “100+ million.”
The individuals resisted removing the banner before fleeing the ballpark.
The team has identified and banned at least one individual from Nationals Park and are working with the Metropolitan Police Department on a follow-up investigation, according to a team spokesman. They did not make public the identity of the banned individual.
“The Washington Nationals vehemently condemn discriminatory and hateful rhetoric, and we strive to make our home field a safe space for our fans,” the team said in a statement to multiple media outlets.
The Nationals, who lost the game 7-3 to the Baltimore Orioles, have a daily “Salute to Service” honoring veterans and military personnel before the fourth inning. It was at that time when the banner was unfurled in the upper deck down the first-base line.
An usher attempted to confiscate the banner but the three individuals holding the sign pulled it back and fled, according to a team spokesperson.
Jake Lang, a Jan. 6 rioter and conservative influencer, took credit for the banner on social media.
The Athletic reported that it is not clear at this time how the banner got through security, with the stadium’s magnetometers able to detect weapons but would not flag something like a nylon sign.
The Nationals’ policy includes guidelines that “signs, banners and fan activities do not distract from the enjoyment of sports games or other forms of entertainment …” and includes restrictions on size and material.
The policy on subject matter is that as a baseball park, the stadium complex “is not a forum or place for use by the public at large for assembly and speech, for use by certain speakers or for the discussion of certain subjects.”
Messages must relate to Major League Baseball, Nationals players and/or management and staff, the entity broadcasting the game or specific family-friendly messages about occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries and engagements.
“Additionally, banners and signs may not bear a message that (i) is slanderous, (ii) is obscene, vulgar or indecent and inappropriate for viewing by children, (iii) contains “fighting words” likely to provoke a breach of the peace, (iv) is presented for a commercial purpose, or (v) contains derogatory matter relating to race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, age, personal appearance, familial status, familial responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, source of income, status as a victim of an intrafamily offense, place of residence or business or any other category protected by D.C. law.”
The Nationals, in their posted guidelines, reserve the right to remove a non-conforming banner/sign or require a guest to immediately stop displaying it.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Natus Vincere dominates competition for IEM Atlanta title
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Natus Vincere completed an unbeaten playoff run with a 3-0 victory over GamerLegion on Sunday in the grand final of the Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta event.
Legacy swept BetBoom Team 2-0 in the best-of-three third-place match.
Winning the best-of-five grand final earned Natus Vincere the $125,000 first prize. GamerLegion collected $50,000. Third place was worth $30,000 and fourth $20,000.
The $300,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 16 teams divided into two groups for the double-elimination opening round. The top six teams reached the single-elimination playoffs.
Natus Vincere had downed Team Vitality 2-1 in the quarterfinals and BetBoom Team 2-0 in the semifinals.
They started fast against GamerLegion, winning 13-3 on Mirage, then 13-9 on Anubis before closing out with a 16-13 victory on Nuke.
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov of Ukraine was voted the Player of the Match with a match-high 60 kills to a match-low 34 deaths for Natus Vincere. Fredrik “REZ” Sterner of Sweden paced GamerLegion with a 54-49 K-D ratio.
Legacy cruised past BetBoom Team 13-4 on Mirage and 13-3 on Nuke for third place.
Bruno “latto” Rebelatto of Brazil led Legacy with a match-high 41 kills and a match-low-tying 12 deaths. Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko led the all-Russian BetBoom Team with 21 kills.
Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta prize pool
1. $125,000 — Natus Vincere
2. $50,000 — GamerLegion
3. $30,000 — Legacy
4. $20,000 — BetBoom Team
5-6. $12,500 — Team Vitality, paiN Gaming
7-8. $7,000 — B8, Astralis
9-12. $5,000 — FUT Esports, FaZe Clan, SINNERS Esports, Team Liquid
13-16. $4,000 — BC.Game Esports, NRG, Passion UA, M80
–Field Level Media
Sports
Thieves surge through lower bracket, beat OpTic in CDL Major 3 grand final
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. After losing their playoff opener, the Los Angeles Thieves reeled off five straight wins, culminating in a victorious battle over OpTic Texas on Sunday in the grand final of the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major in Atlanta.
Los Angeles won the best-of-seven final 4-3 to earn $150,000 and 100 CDL points. OpTic Texas, which had advanced to the final with a 3-2 win over Toronto KOI earlier Sunday in the upper-bracket final, collected $90,000 and 75 points.
All 12 CDL teams began play on Friday along with four outside qualifiers in the double-elimination opening round, split into four groups. The group champions and second-place teams advanced to the playoffs which started on Saturday.
Matches were all best-of-five until the best-of-seven grand final on Sunday.
The Thieves’ path began with a 3-2 setback to FaZe Vegas in the upper-bracket quarterfinals. That dropped them to the first round of the lower bracket, where they dispatched GS Minnesota 3-1. A 3-0 sweep of the Riyadh Falcons in the quarterfinals matched them up with FaZe Vegas in Sunday’s lower-bracket semifinal, which Los Angeles won 3-1.
A 3-0 sweep of Toronto KOI in the lower-bracket final advanced the Thieves to the grand final and a meeting with OpTic Texas.
OpTic opened with a 250-219 win on Colossus Hardpoint before Los Angeles responded with victories on Raid Search and Destroy (6-3) and Den Overload (8-3).
Texas surged ahead with wins on Den Hardpoint (250-242) and Scar Search and Destroy (6-4), only for the Thieves to win the final two maps, 5-4 on Scar Overload and 6-2 on Den Search and Destroy.
Jeremiah “Nium” Harrison of the United States was the Match MVP for Los Angeles with a match-high 130 kills and a plus-13 kills-death differential. Brandon “Dashy” Otell of Canada paced OpTic with 124 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential.
OpTic Texas defeated Toronto KOI 3-2 in the upper-bracket final earlier on Sunday. Texas won 250-152 on Gridlock Hardpoint, then Toronto drew even with a 6-1 win on Raid Search and Destroy.
The back-and-forth continued, as OpTic won 5-4on Exposure Overload, then KOI triumphed 250-212 on Scar Hardpoint. Texas won 6-2 on Scar Search and Destroy to capture the match.
OpTic’s Otell was Match MVP with 83 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential. Tobias “CleanX” Jonsson of Denmark paced Toronto with a match-high 106 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential.
Toronto KOI dropped down to the lower-bracket final, where they were swept 3-0 by the Thieves. Los Angeles won 250-93 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-4 on Den Search and Destroy and 4-0 on Den Overload.
Harrison was Match MVP with 59 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential. American Joseph “JoeDeceives” Romero was the only Toronto player not in negative numbers, as he was even with 51 kills and 51 deaths.
Los Angeles began the day with a 3-1 victory over FaZe Vegas in the lower-bracket semifinal. The Thieves started strong with wins on Gridlock Hardpoint (250-245) and Den Search and Destroy (6-4) before Vegas stayed alive with a 5-4 win on Den Overload. LA closed out with a 250-164 victory on Den Hardpoint.
The Thieves’ Thomas “Scrap” Ernst of the United States was Match MVP with 87 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential. Chris “Simp” Lehr of the United States paced Vegas with 84 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential.
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major prize pool, with money winnings and CDL points
1. $150,000, 100 — Los Angeles Thieves
2. $90,000, 75 — OpTic Texas
3. $50,000, 60 — Toronto KOI
4. $30,000, 45 — FaZe Vegas
5-6. $15,000, 30 — Paris Gentle Mates, Riyadh Falcons
7-8. $7,500, 15 — Miami Heretics, G2 Minnesota
9-12. no money, no points — OMiT, Carolina Royal Ravens, Boston Breach, Cloud9 New York
13-16. no money, no points — Vancouver Surge, Huntsmen, Project Notorious, ROC Esports
–Field Level Media
Nationals ban individual who displayed white nationalist sign at game
Natus Vincere dominates competition for IEM Atlanta title
