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From Jack Harris: First, a caveat. The Miami Marlins are not a good Major League Baseball team.
This season, the rebuilding club has MLB’s second-most losses and second-fewest runs scored. On Wednesday night, their lineup featured only one hitter with a batting average above .262. Dominating them does not exactly portend future postseason success.
Still, what Landon Knack did at loanDepot Park, in the Dodgers’ 8-4 win over their middling hosts, was impressive.
Especially for a rookie pitcher auditioning for the Dodgers’ potential postseason rotation.
In one of his best starts of the season, Knack pitched five scoreless innings while giving up just two hits. He struck out seven batters, just one off his season-high, while only walking two.
In one of the more unexpected developments of the season, Knack has been one of the more reliable pitchers on the Dodgers’ banged-up staff — one that has grown suddenly more clear in recent days.
After announcing that Tyler Glasnow is expected to miss the rest of the season over the weekend, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts offered similar news Wednesday about right-hander Gavin Stone, saying the rookie star is “very unlikely” to pitch again this year as he continues to battle a shoulder injury.
Hernández: Video of former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías gives teams reasons not to sign him
Witness video in former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías’ domestic battery case released
Dodgers option Bobby Miller to triple-A again after another choppy outing
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ANGELS
Eric Wagaman scored with one out in the 13th inning when Jordyn Adams’ grounder deflected off the glove of third baseman Miguel Vargas, and the Angels dealt the Chicago White Sox their 117th loss, rallying for a 4-3 victory on Wednesday.
Instead of winning consecutive series for the first time in four months, the White Sox tied the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics for the third most losses since 1900.
Chicago (36-117) needs to go 7-2 in its final nine games to avoid the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: It is not a season-ending injury, and it will not require surgery or any other procedure.
That is the upside for the Rams and injured receiver Cooper Kupp based on coach Sean McVay’s comments Wednesday.
On a day the Rams placed safety John Johnson III and offensive lineman Jonah Jackson on the team’s seemingly never-ending list of players on injured reserve, the Rams did not take that step with Kupp, who suffered an ankle injury Sunday during a defeat to the Arizona Cardinals.
“As of right now, we won’t do that,” McVay said before the Rams began practice for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. “But it’s not like that decision has been finalized. But as of right now, we’re not going to go that direction.”
CHARGERS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert missed practice Wednesday after suffering an ankle injury during Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers.
Herbert “got rolled up on” during the 26-3 victory, but he was able to finish the game, throwing for 130 yards on 14-of-20 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.
After the team’s off day in Charlotte, N.C., where the Chargers are training for one week before facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Herbert told head coach Jim Harbaugh he was “feeling much better” during a meeting Wednesday morning at the team hotel, Harbaugh said.
WNBA
The WNBA is headed back to Portland with the Oregon city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026.
The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise.
“This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Bhathal said. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves. Portland is this incredibly diverse, enthusiastic community. We saw the passion firsthand when we started looking into the Portland Thorns [their NWSL team] and this is Basketball City. So we’re very excited about the future.”
Is star rookie Caitlin Clark ‘dominating’ the WNBA? Sheryl Swoopes doesn’t think so
GALAXY
Evander scored a pair of goals and the Portland Timbers remained in play for the postseason with a 4-2 victory 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 conference with five games remaining.
The Galaxy (16-7-7) remained atop the conference standings. The team already clinched a playoff spot, becoming the West’s first team to make the postseason.
LAFC
Teenager David Martínez scored early in the second half to help LAFC rally for a 1-1 draw with Austin FC on Wednesday night.
Austin (9-12-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime when Jáder Obrian used the first career assist from Osman Bukari to score in the second minute of stoppage time — his sixth goal this season. Bukari made his fifth appearance, all starts.
Martínez scored the equalizer for LAFC (14-7-7) in the 62nd minute with assists from defender Ryan Hollingshead and Eduard Atuesta. It was the second goal for the 18-year-old in his 11th career appearance — all as a substitute. Hollingshead’s helper was his fourth of the season and Atuesta’s was his fifth.
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THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1925 — Bill Tilden wins his sixth straight U.S. Open tennis championship with a five-set victory over Bill Johnston. Tilden wins 4-6, 11-9, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. It’s the fourth consecutive year that Tilden beats Johnston in the final.
1948 — Pancho Gonzales, 20, wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title with a 6-2, 6-3, 14-12 victory over Eric Sturgess.
1951 — Ford C. Frick, president of the National League, is elected baseball commissioner by the team owners.
1988 — U.S. Olympic diver Greg Louganis hits his head on diving board at the Seoul Olympics. Louganis hits the board on his ninth dive. He has four temporary stitches put in the top of his head so that he could come back and perform his last two dives. Less than 30 minutes later, he completes a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 3 1/2 twists and, in the final round, a reverse 3 1/2 somersault in tuck position to secure his place in the medal round.
1992 — Barry Bonds joins Willie Mays, Howard Johnson and Ron Gant as having two 30-HR/30-steal MLB seasons.
1993 — Nigel Mansell overpowers the field in the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix to become the first rookie to win the Indy car PPG Cup championship.
2000 — In the Sydney Olympics, the U.S. softball team strands a staggering 20 baserunners in an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to Japan, which ends a 112-game winning streak. It’s the first loss for the Americans since the 1998 world championships.
2000 — Ken Griffey Jr. pinch-hits his 400th home run becoming the first major league player to reach the mark as a pinch-hitter.
2001 — Roger Clemens becomes the first pitcher in major league history to go 20-1, pitching the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
2004 — Jerry Rice’s run of 274 straight games with a catch is ended in the Oakland Raiders’ 13-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The last time Rice didn’t catch a pass was Dec. 1, 1985, at Washington.
2010 — Matt Schaub is 38 of 52 for a franchise-record 497 yards with three touchdowns in Houston’s 30-27 overtime win over Washington. Donovan McNabb of the Redskins is 28 of 38 for 426 yards. It’s the first time two quarterbacks throw for 400 yards in an NFL game since 1994.
2015 — Greyson Lambert of Georgia throws for 330 yards, three touchdowns and sets an NCAA record by completing all but one of his 25 passes to lead the to a 52-20 victory over South Carolina. Lambert posts the highest percentage (96.0) in FBS history for a minimum of 20 completions, breaking the mark of 95.8 (23 of 24) shared by Tennessee’s Tee Martin and West Virginia’s Geno Smith.
2015 — Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, sets a school record with 572 total yards, throws four TD passes and runs for two more scores in the Sooners’ 52-38 victory over Tulsa.
2017 — A new MLB record for the most home runs in a season as number 5,694 is hit by Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
