Sports
Los Angeles Dodgers Pitching Woes Threaten Their Postseason Success… Again
In theory, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3 1/2-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West seems fairly safe.
There’s only two weeks left in the season. Aside from Monday night’s series finale in Atlanta and a three-game set next week at home with San Diego, Los Angeles gets to dine on the National League’s dregs for the season’s remainder.
Three games in Miami and six games with Colorado not only should pave the Dodgers’ path to their 12th NL West title in 13 years, but also could help them get home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
With that glittering multi-zillion dollar top of the lineup of Ohtani, Betts and Freeman, Los Angeles should cruise to the World Series, right?
Well, you still have to pitch. And that’s going to be a real issue for this team in October, unless Jack Flaherty has the postseason of a lifetime and Japanese rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto is healthy enough to back him up as a No. 2 starter.
Beyond that, the options become bare in a hurry. With Tyler Glasnow out for the year after again displaying that he’s made of porcelain, what’s left? Clayton Kershaw, who’s at the end of the line of a Hall of Fame career and breaks down a little more every time he’s out there? Walker Buehler, who suddenly can’t command his pitches?
And the bullpen has been no better of late. Just this week, it melted down in two losses to the Chicago Cubs and then turned a competitive game into a 10-1 rout Saturday night in Atlanta.
Manager Dave Roberts resorted to a clubhouse speech before Sunday night’s 9-2 win against the Braves to inspire his team. A seven-run ninth inning restored order for an evening.
“There are certain times in a season that it’s a good reminder for the guys to know how good they are,” Roberts said. “But you also have to play like it too… It was good to play an overall really good baseball game.”
A lot of Marlins and Rockies the next two weeks might lead to more really good baseball games that allow Los Angeles to earn a first-round bye. But how will it get 27 outs to win 11 postseason games when it achieved that just once in the last two years with healthier pitching staffs?
Unless the answer is the return of Sandy Koufax in his prime or the 1988 version of Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers might be booking October tee times earlier than they (or the networks) would like.
Sports
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
Jul 3, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (48) throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Aroldis Chapman broke the record for most strikeouts by a reliever en route to his 17th save as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.
Caleb Durbin hit a home run and scored twice, Jarren Duran had two RBIs, Ceddanne Rafaela collected two hits and a stolen base and Willson Contreras doubled, singled and scored a run for Boston, which ended a two-game skid. However, the Red Sox won for the sixth time in eight games.
Red Sox starter Jake Bennett (3-3), who began the game throwing 4 1/3 perfect innings, allowed two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Chapman opened the bottom of the ninth by striking out Denzer Guzman with a 99 mph sinker for his 1,364th career strikeout, breaking the all-time reliever record previously held by Hoyt Wilhelm. Chapman then permitted two singles before inducing a game-ending double-play grounder from Jo Adell.
Jose Siri homered and Zach Neto had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which lost its fourth straight game. Reid Detmers (3-6), coming off a June that saw him allow just eight runs over 31 2/3 innings over five starts, permitted five runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and fanned five.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second when Gonzalez hit a sinking line drive for a triple under the glove of a diving Siri in center field, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Duran.
The Red Sox extended the lead to 4-0 in the third on a bases-loaded two-run single by Gonzalez followed by a safety squeeze bunt by Duran.
Durbin led off the fifth with his eighth home run, a 358-foot line drive inside the left field foul pole, to make it 5-0.
Los Angeles got back into the game with two runs in the eighth. Siri hit his fifth homer to right-center to cut the lead to 5-1. Josh Lowe followed with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Neto.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Without A'ja Wilson, Aces survive Sky in OT
Jul 3, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith (3) drives to the basket against Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) in the second quarter at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Las Vegas Aces may have been without perennial MVP A’ja Wilson, but the defending WNBA champions still survived at home despite a turbulent effort in a 98-90 overtime victory against the Chicago Sky on Friday.
Forward NaLyssa Smith picked up where her frontcourt partner Wilson was unable to, tallying a career-high 29 points for the Aces (15-5) on an efficient 11-of-14 shooting while also collecting eight rebounds. Jewell Loyd added 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Chelsea Gray chipped in 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Skylar Diggins paced the Sky (6-14) with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, making two of her four attempts from 3-point range. Natasha Cloud was the driving force behind Chicago’s fourth-quarter rally, adding 15 points and five assists in the loss. Kamila Cardoso also delivered an encore to her 24-point game against the Aces on Sunday, chipping in 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Trailing 86-84, Gray buried a mid-range pull-up jumper with 22.6 seconds remaining to knot the game at 86 and eventually send the game to overtime after an empty Sky possession ended regulation. Diggins gave the Sky an 88-86 lead to open the scoring in overtime, but the Aces answered with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 92-88 with 1:14 left in the extra period and didn’t look back.
After Gray put the Aces ahead by a game-high 14 points with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter, the Sky went on a 26-13 run to cut the lead down to 64-63 with 1:53 remaining in the frame. Loyd promptly answered with a rally of her own for Las Vegas, scoring seven of the Aces’ next nine points to push their lead back to 73-64 early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the fact that the Sky trailed by double digits in each of the first three quarters, they still managed to take their first lead of the game, 82-81, on a Cloud 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining and extended that lead to 84-81 on their next possession on a Diggins lay-in.
The Aces overcame a troublesome 4-of-22 clip from 3-point range (18.2%), while Chicago made 7 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc (35%). Despite that, Las Vegas still shot a superior 35-of-69 (50.7%) from the field overall, while Chicago made 28 of 65 field-goal attempts (43.1%).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Teoscar Hernandez belts grand slam as Dodgers rally past Padres
Jul 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) scores a run past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jon Endow-Imagn Images Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 victory Friday while sending the visiting San Diego Padres to a season-high seventh consecutive loss.
Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over six innings, while allowing three runs on seven hits, and Kyle Hurt (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning as the Dodgers won for the ninth time in their past 11 games.
Tanner Scott pitched the ninth inning for his 12th save while Los Angeles improved to 6-2 against San Diego this season.
Jackson Merrill hit a home run for the Padres and Michael King dominated over six innings before he was chased from the game in the seventh. King gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings.
San Diego’s losing streak is its longest since a seven-game slide late in the 2021 season.
The Padres were in control early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Ohtani on a Gavin Sheets single. Merrill made it 2-0 in the fourth with a home run to center field, his 10th of the season and second in the series.
A Xander Bogaerts RBI double put San Diego up 3-0 in the sixth.
King was cruising after retiring the first 11 batters he faced while not allowing a baserunner until Freddie Freeman singled in with two outs in the fourth inning. He gave up two hits through six scoreless innings.
The Dodgers’ seventh-inning rally started with a Mookie Betts walk, while Max Muncy followed with a single to right field to end King’s night. Kyle Tucker appeared to hit a double-play grounder against Adrian Morejon, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth misplayed the ball for an error that loaded the bases.
Hernandez’s grand slam came on the first pitch from Morejon (6-2) and was his eighth home run of the season and first since returning Monday from a month away because of a hamstring injury.
–Field Level Media
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
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