Sports Report: Dodgers win is good news and bad news

Hello, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell, and I’ll get straight to the news.

From Jack Harris: First, a disclaimer: The Miami Marlins are not a good major league team.

This rebuilding team has the second-most losses and the second-fewest runs scored in MLB this season. Their lineup on Wednesday night had just one batter batting above .262. Their dominance doesn’t bode well for future postseason success.

Still, Landon Knack was impressive in the Dodgers’ 8-4 win over a middling team at LawnDepot Park.

That’s especially true for rookie pitchers hoping to break into the Dodgers’ postseason starting rotation.

Knack had his best game of the season, pitching five scoreless innings and allowing just two hits, striking out seven batters – one shy of his season high – and walking just two.

In one of the unexpected developments this season, Nack is one of the most reliable pitchers on an injury-riddled Dodgers pitching staff, and that has suddenly become much more apparent in recent days.

After announcing over the weekend that Tyler Glasnow is expected to miss the rest of the season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts delivered similar news about right-hander Gavin Stone on Wednesday, saying it’s “highly unlikely” the rookie will pitch again this year as he continues to battle a shoulder injury.

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The Dodgers demoted Bobby Miller to Triple-A after another shaky game.

Dodgers box score

MLB Score

MLB standings

angel

Eric Wagaman scored with one out in the bottom of the 13th when Jordyn Adams’ grounder deflected off third baseman Miguel Vargas’ glove and the Angels handed the Chicago White Sox their 117th loss, winning 4-3 on Wednesday.

Instead of the White Sox recording their first winning streak in four months, they tied the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the third-most losses since 1900.

Chicago (36-117) needs a 7-2 record in its final nine games to avoid matching the record of 120 losses since 1900, set by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.

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Angels box score

MLB Score

MLB standings

Rams

From Gary Klein: It is not a season-ending injury and will not require surgery or any other procedure.

Based on comments from coach Sean McVay on Wednesday, that’s a positive for the Rams and injured receiver Cooper Kupp.

The Rams added safety John Johnson III and offensive lineman Jonah Jackson to the team’s never-ending injured list but did not take that action for Kupp, who injured his ankle in Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals.

“At this point, we don’t have any intention to do that,” McVay said before the Rams began practice for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, “but the decision hasn’t been finalized. But at this point, we’re not going to move in that direction.”

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Chargers

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert missed practice on Wednesday after injuring his ankle during Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers.

Herbert was “overwhelmed” during the 26-3 victory, but finished the game completing 14 of 20 passes for 130 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The Chargers are in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a week of training ahead of Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and during a meeting at the team hotel on Wednesday morning after the team had an off day, Herbert told head coach Jim Harbaugh that he was “feeling a lot better,” Harbaugh said.

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WNBA

The WNBA will return to Portland, Oregon, as the city gets an expansion team that will begin play in 2026.

The team will be owned and operated by Raji Sports, led by Lisa Bassal-Meraj and Alex Bassal, who paid $125 million for the franchise rights.

“This is a big thing for Portland, and we’re honored and humbled to be the vessel to bring this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Vassal said, “And that’s exactly what we see. Portland is an incredibly diverse and passionate community, and when we started looking into the Portland Thorns (their NWSL team), we saw that passion firsthand. This is a basketball city, so we’re really excited about the future.”

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Is star rookie Caitlin Clark “dominating” the WNBA? Sheryl Swoopes doesn’t think so

Galaxy

Evander scored two goals and the Portland Timbers clinched a spot in the postseason with a 4-2 win over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.

Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora also scored for the Timbers (12-10-7), who are in eighth place in the Western Conference with five games remaining.

The Galaxy (16 wins, 7 losses, 7 ties) remain atop the conference standings and have already qualified for the playoffs, becoming the first team from the West to reach the postseason.

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Galaxy box score

MLS Standings

Los Angeles FC

Teenager David Martinez scored early in the second half to help LAFC to a 1-1 draw with Austin FC on Wednesday night.

Austin (9 wins, 12 losses, 8 draws) took a 1-0 lead into the first half when Yader Obrian scored in the second minute of added time using the first career assist from Osman Bukhari. It was his sixth goal of the season. Bukhari was in his fifth appearance, all starts.

Martinez scored the tying goal for LAFC (14-7-7) in the 62nd minute with assists from defenders Ryan Hollingshead and Eduardo Ateesta. It was the 18-year-old Martinez’s second goal in his 11th appearance, all of which came as a substitute. Hollingshead’s assist was his fourth goal of the season and Ateesta’s was his fifth.

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LAFC Box Score

MLS Standings

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Sports Day

1925 – Bill Tilden beat Bill Johnston in five sets to win his sixth consecutive U.S. Open title. Tilden won 4-6, 11-9, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It was Tilden’s fourth consecutive victory over Johnston in the final.

1948 – 20-year-old Pancho Gonzales beat Eric Sturgess 6-2, 6-3, 14-12 to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title.

1951 – National League President Ford C. Frick is elected Commissioner of Baseball by team owners.

1988 — U.S. Olympic diver Greg Louganis hits his head on the diving board during the diving competition at the Seoul Olympics. Louganis hits the board on his ninth dive. He receives four tack stitches on the top of his head and is able to return to perform his final two dives. Less than 30 minutes later, he completes a one-and-a-half-reverse flip with a three-and-a-half twist, and in the final round, he completes a three-and-a-half-reverse flip in a tuck position to secure a spot in the medal round.

1992 – Barry Bonds joins Willie Mays, Howard Johnson and Ron Gant as the first MLB player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in two separate seasons.

1993 – Nigel Mansell dominates the Bosch Spark Plugs Grand Prix to become the first rookie driver to win the IndyCar PPG Cup championship.

2000 — At the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team loses 2-1 in the 11th inning to Japan with an astounding 20 runners on base, ending a 112-game winning streak. It is the U.S.’ first loss since the 1998 World Championship.

2000 – Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 400th career home run as a pinch hitter, becoming the first major league player to reach this milestone as a pinch hitter.

2001 – Roger Clemens leads the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, becoming the first pitcher in major league history to go 20-1.

2004 – Jerry Rice’s streak of 274 consecutive games with a catch was ended in the Oakland Raiders’ 13-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. The last time Rice did not catch a pass was on December 1, 1985 at Washington.

2010 – Matt Schaub completed 38 of 52 passes for a franchise-record 497 yards and three touchdowns in Houston’s 30-27 overtime win over Washington. The Redskins’ Donovan McNabb completed 28 of 38 passes for 426 yards. It was the first time since 1994 that two quarterbacks threw for 400 yards in an NFL game.

2015 – Georgia’s Grayson Lambert sets an NCAA record by completing all but one of 25 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-20 win over South Carolina. Lambert becomes the first player in FBS history to complete 20 or fewer passes (96.0), breaking the record of 95.8 (23-of-24) held by Tennessee’s Tee Martin and West Virginia’s Geno Smith.

2015 – Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield sets a school record with 572 total yards and throws four touchdown passes, while also running for two more scores as the Sooners beat Tulsa 52-38.

2017 – Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals hits his 5,694th home run, setting a new MLB record for most home runs in a season.

The Associated Press compiled