CINCINNATI >> Given the instability in their starting rotation and the health issues that have plagued that group this season, the Dodgers expecting Brett Anderson to retu from back surgery and morph into a workhorse was akin to buying exercise equipment from an infomercial. Disappointment was almost inevitable. Anderson couldn’t make it through four iings without another injury in his second start of the season. Things weren’t going very well before he left either as the Cinciati Reds pounded the Dodgers 11-1 Saturday night in a game interrupted for over an hour by rain. The Dodgers were outhit 18-3 in the loss, their third in a row. It is their first three-game losing streak since July 5-7 and they have been outscored 25-7 during this one. But the San Francisco Giants also lost Saturday, leaving the Dodgers just a half-game out of first place in the NL West. “Four ru

DEL MAR >> Remember when some were calling Califoia Chrome a weak Kentucky Derby wier in 2014? Some in Louisville cringed the day he won the country’s most famous horse race. He wasn’t a mile and a quarter horse, they claimed beforehand. Wonder what those same folks are saying today after Califoia Chrome toyed with arguably the toughest Pacific Classic field in the Del Mar race’s 26 ruings Saturday, demolishing a field that included three-time Eclipse Award wier Beholder and the highly respected Dortmund. Final tally? Califoia Chrome by five lengths under a perfect ride by Victor Espinoza, who guided the 5-year-old son of Lucky Pulpit to a gate-to-wire victory through fractions of 23.20, 47.29, 1:11.22 and 1:35.69. Final time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:00.13, but it could have been faster if Espinoza hadn’t taken a long hold late. Considering the opposition, it

ANAHEIM>> Garret Anderson knocked the dust of his 2002 World Series championship ring Saturday moing. The Angels all-time leader in seven offensive categories called it the only tangible thing from his 20-year baseball career. He wore it when he became the 14th individual inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, where Angels owner Arte Moreno presented Anderson with a couple more tangible reminders of his lofty place in Angels history, a Hall of Fame ring and a bright red jacket. “Even watching video (of my career), it still doesn’t feel real to me,” Anderson said before the ceremony. “I can drive by the stadium taking my kids somewhere and it still feels like I honestly didn’t play there. I wish I could hold onto something to let me know it was real. Even though I played 20 years of pro ball, snap, it was gone.” Anderson, 44, most fam

ANAHEIM >> A day after Angels owner Arte Moreno cited a lack of pitching in defense of manager Mike Scioscia’s role in the team’s dip 20 games below .500, Ricky Nolasco didn’t debunk the argument. The trade deadline acquisition, who Moreno owes $12 million next year, dropped his third game in four starts in an Angels uniform, surrendering an early lead to the Yankees in a 5-1 loss on Saturday at Angel Stadium. Entering Saturday, Angels starters had a collective 5.04 ERA, the fourth worst in the major leagues. Nolasco gave up five runs in six iings, swelling his ERA to 5.22 on the season, but allowed all seven of his hits with two outs. “I thought I was pretty good, just couldn’t finish two guys off with two outs,” Nolasco said. “That was the whole game.” In Nolasco’s defense, the Angels have scored a total of two runs while he’s been on the mound in his three

LA QUINTA >> The oldest living Ram is Jim Hardy. He’s been too busy living to notice. Every week Hardy drives two hours to watch USC practice. He quarterbacked two Rose Bowl victories for the Trojans, in 1944 and 1945. He and his wife Henrietta, whom he calls Hank, don’t miss USC home games either. He is 93. He drives, without glasses. He takes not one single pill. “My blood pressure is real low,” he said. He can sit in his handsome house at the La Quinta Golf Estates, and pull up obscure names from more than 60 years ago, as he did Wednesday. As the former general manager of the Coliseum Commission, he’s glad the Rams are back there. And he seems determined to stick around until USC wins another national championship. “I guess it’s sad that a guy my age hasn’t gotten over being a freshman,” Hardy said. So he goes to a health club in the desert, nearly every day,

Los Angeles Rams season ticket holder Jamaal Artis crawled down the 110 Freeway, inched for what seemed like an eteity on side streets toward Exposition Park, then drew a breath upon seeing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — billed as “the greatest stadium in the world.” As a teen, Artis had come to the Coliseum with his father, Andrew, for deafening USC Trojan games. Now he clutched the hand of his 5-year-old son, Evan, and squeezed into its narrow tuel jammed with fans. And emerged into the great bowl of cheering retuing Ramdom. “It felt like home,” said Artis, 36, a registered nurse who lives in Echo Park, of last Saturday’s preseason game, which drew a record-breaking 89,140 fans. “It brought back a flood of memories. “The pristine green gridiron. The old seats. The Coliseum like a grand old lady who had just bought a new dress … the quintessential L.A. expe

RIO DE JANEIRO >> He had just created a moment that lifted the entire country. But Neymar reacted by instead falling to his knees, raising his outstretched arms and sobbing. His score Saturday gave host Brazil a desperate 5-4 victory in a penalty shootout over Germany, after the teams had played to a 1-1 draw. The shot secured this soccer-crazed nation its first Olympic gold medal in its beloved sport. “This is one of the best things that has happened in my life,” Neymar said. “The only thing on my mind was I had to do this.” The victory came before nearly 65,000 inside Maracana Stadium, a place that has hosted its share of soccer history. It avenged Germany’s stuing 7-1 victory over Brazil in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, although no players from Saturday’s game participated in the blowout two years ago. Under Olympic rules, each team is permitted to have on

The enthusiasm in Mike Hopkins’ voice sounded clear as he spoke into the phone. He just finished another practice as a court coach for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, leaving him inspired about working with some of the NBA’s best players. That did not mark the only thing that made Hopkins feel excited, though. He expressed appreciation for being a Syracuse assistant under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim for the last 21 years. He sounded optimistic about remaining the expected head coach in waiting. Hopkins laughed as he charted his own jouey from a Syracuse benchwarmer to captain. He reflected with nostalgia on playing for his alma mater, Santa Ana Mater Dei, which he considered “one of the greatest high schools on the planet.” All of those moments featured a common thread that explained Hopkins’ endless trajectory despite encountering endless obstacles. “I’m th

RIO DE JANEIRO >> The Paralympics will go ahead in Rio next month but organizers say deep budget cuts mean one venue will close down, facilities will be dismantled and the workforce will be reduced. Poor ticket sales have compounded existing financial challenges in recession-battered Brazil that have already hit operations at the Rio Olympics, which close Sunday. Rio has less than three weeks to prepare for Paralympics, the piacle of the disability sport calendar where organizers hoped to build on progress made at the well-attended games in London four years ago. But Rio organizers have reported sales of just over 290,000 tickets for the Sept. 7-18 Paralympics. “At this point, it is difficult for us to expect the full venues that we saw in Beijing or London, or expect to see in Tokyo in four years’ time,” Inteational Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven said Frid

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Geno Auriemma and Diana Taurasi shared a long, emotional embrace. Mission accomplished. The U.S. women’s basketball team won a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal in dominant fashion, routing Spain 101-72 on Saturday. Taurasi, who is originally from Chino, and the Americans played nearly flawless basketball in Rio, and were never challenged. They have won 49 consecutive games in the Olympics with only one of those decided by single digits. With that kind of sustained success, no one wants to say this is the best women’s basketball team ever assembled. They won by nearly 40 points a game, but fell short of the record 102.4 points the 1996 team averaged. But if they aren’t the best ever, they’re close. There never really was any doubt that the U.S. would win the gold in Rio. The only question was by how much. Still, closure to their jouey Saturday had Au