The Sports Report: Shohei Ohtani, and his dog, share the moment as Dodgers win (2024)

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Jack Harris: Wednesday night wasn’t the first time Shohei Ohtani has stolen the show.

It was, however, the first time he had to snatch the spotlight away from his dog.

On a day fans began lining up outside the Dodger Stadium gates at 8 in the morning, staking out a spot in line to get a bobblehead with Ohtani holding his dog, Dekopin (aka Decoy), in his arms, both owner and pet put on a spectacle in the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Dekopin received the night’s first big ovation, delivering the ceremonial first “pitch” by picking up a ball in his mouth and running to home plate — where Ohtani was crouched down like a catcher waiting.

From there, though, it was Ohtani who guided the Dodgers through a back-and-forth game with a fellow World Series contender in Baltimore, going two for four with a home run (his 42nd of the season), two steals (giving him 42 on the season) and three runs scored.

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Watch Shohei Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, throw out first pitch at Dodger Stadium

Dodgers box score

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MLB standings

ANGELS

Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run home run in the second inning, and Kerry Carpenter added an RBI single in the third as the Detroit Tigers extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night.

The teams were forced to wait out a lengthy rain delay at the outset for the second straight night. This time, after a delay of 1 hour 50 minutes, first pitch took place at 8:30 p.m.

The Tigers moved two games over .500 at 68-66 for the first time since May 7, when they were 19-17.

The Angels (54-79) lost their seventh straight game and have dropped 13 of 15.

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Angels box score

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SPARKS

From Andrés Soto: It’s been a rough season for the Sparks, and they found themselves in another dogfight on Wednesday, this time against the New York Liberty, the team with the best record in the WNBA.

Instead of a second-half meltdown like the one they suffered against the Dallas Wings on Sunday, they punched back en route to a 94-88 win at Crypto.com Arena.

Every time Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu or Breanna Stewart made a play, someone on the Sparks would step up to get momentum back. Whether it was Rickea Jackson hitting a three, Dearica Hamby driving to the hoop for a tough layup or Rae Burrell knocking down a jumper, the Sparks always had an answer.

Jackson, who came off a career high 25-point performance on Sunday, got the Sparks off to a quick start with 13 points in the first quarter to help the team build a 26-14 lead.

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Sparks box score

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Troy Reeder left the Rams’ facility, returned home to see his wife and son and enjoyed dinner with the family.

It was a “nice normal” evening, Reeder said Wednesday.

Much had changed for the Rams and Reeder before that Tuesday night meal.

Hours earlier, the Rams traded starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV — a team captain and the team’s leading tackler in 2023 — to the Tennessee Titans.

Coach Sean McVay, defensive coordinator Chris Shula and Rams players now would look to Reeder, a sixth-year pro, to start and possibly take on the role of defensive signal caller.

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CHARGERS

From Anthony De Leon: The mystery behind the Chargers keeping just two quarterbacks on their roster has been solved.

A day after reducing the roster to 53 players and retaining just two quarterbacks, Justin Herbert and Easton Stick, the Chargers sent a conditional sixth-round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons for veteran Taylor Heinicke. The trade was first reported by the Athletic.

Entering his seventh season, Heinicke will be joining his fifth NFL team. He played one season with the Houston Texans, another with the Carolina Panthers and saw action in 14 games, including seven starts.

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UCLA

From Ben Bolch: The UCLA women’s cross country and track and field programs have reached an agreement with the NCAA to comply with a variety of penalties after acknowledging responsibility for recruiting violations.

As a result of impermissible communications, largely with parents of college athletes at other schools who were not in the transfer portal, the programs have agreed to one year of probation, a $5,000 fine, recruiting restrictions and the vacating of records from all competitions in which the involved athletes were ineligible.

According to the NCAA, UCLA fully cooperated with the investigation and worked with the organization’s enforcement staff to resolve the matter. But one former assistant cross country and track and field coach has disputed the violations in the agreement and is expected to resolve his part of the case through a separate hearing.

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PARALYMPICS

From David Wharton: Forty-five strokes.

McClain Hermes knows precisely what it takes to swim, as fast as possible, to the far end of a 50-meter pool. Keeping count is vital because she is blind.

“I have broken several bones running into the wall,” she says. “I’ve broken my fingers multiple times and broken my nose multiple times. I’ve gotten several concussions.”

Some of the athletes at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris will wear prosthetics, others will be in wheelchairs. Those who are visually impaired will face a different sort of challenge.

Swimmers will charge toward an unseen wall. Long jumpers will sprint down a narrow runway, aiming for the sound of a voice or clapping. Soccer players will continually yell “Voy” — I’m coming — so they don’t smack into each other.

“There is a lot of information that’s lost from having no vision,” says Liana Mutia, who latches onto opponents and relies on her hands to compete in judo. “It’s all based on touch, it’s all based on feel.”

This spring, The Times visited with Paralympic hopefuls in training. Some ended up making the U.S. team, some did not. All of them showed what is required to play a sport they cannot see.

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2024 Paris Paralympics live updates: Games are officially underway

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1885 — John L. Sullivan wins the first world heavyweight title under the Marquess of Queensbury rules when he beats Dominic McCaffrey in six rounds. The fight features 3-ounce gloves and 3-minute rounds.

1952 — Dr. Reginald Weir becomes the first Black man to compete in the U.S. Tennis Championships, Weir appears two years after Althea Gibson breaks the color barrier in the tournament and loses in four sets to William Stucki.

1968 — Open tennis begins at the U.S. Tennis Championships. Billie Jean King wins the first stadium match at the U.S. Open and amateurs Ray Moore and Jim Osborne have upset wins over professionals. Moore beats No. 10 Andres Gimeno and Osborne defeats Barry MacKay, each in four sets.

1974 — Nineteen-year-old high school basketball star Moses Malone, signs a contract with the Utah Stars of the ABA to become the first player to go directly from high school into major professional basketball.

1978 — The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. opens. Bjorn Borg beats Bob Hewitt in the first match 6-0, 6-2 in the best-of-three sets.

1987 — Nolan Ryan passes the 200-strikeout barrier for record 11th time.

1987 — Charlie Whittingham becomes the first trainer to surpass 500 stakes wins when he sent Ferdinand to victory in the Cabrillo Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack.

1993 — Laffit Pincay Jr. wins the 8,000th race of his career aboard El Toreo in the seventh race at Del Mar racetrack to become the second thoroughbred jockey to ride 8,000 winners.

1998 — Toms River, N.J., wins its first Little League World Series with a 12-9 victory over Kashima, Japan. Chris Cardone hits home runs in consecutive at-bats — including the game-deciding two-run shot.

2005 — Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova becomes the first U.S. Open defending women’s champion to fall in the first round, losing 6-3, 6-2 to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova on the first day of the U.S. Open.

2011 — Petra Kvitova becomes the first defending Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round at the U.S. Open, 7-6, 6-3 to Alexandra Dulgheru.

2012 — The USADA claims to have stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.

2013 — The NFL agrees to pay $765 million to settle lawsuits from thousands of former players who developed dementia or other concussion-related health problems they say were caused by the on-field violence. The settlement, unprecedented in sports, applies to all past NFL players and spouses of those who are deceased.

2018 — Wanheng Menayothin surpasses Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s 50-0 record, beating Pedro Taduran in a unanimous decision to improve to 51-0. The 32-year-old Menayothin (51-0, 18 KOs) won his 10th successful title defense of his WBC minimumweight belt that he won in November 2014.

Compiled by the Associated Press