sport world

DENVER >>Everything began rolling downhill after the drop. Five minutes into the Los Angeles Chargers’ first NFL season, Casey Hayward was poised to score. The 5-foot-11 coerback had gotten his hands on the ball, jumping a pass intended for Broncos ruing back C.J. Anderson. There was nothing in front of him except green grass. This was not exactly a surprise. A year ago, Hayward led the...

Mike McCoy was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. Then he became the Chargers’ head coach. And now? The Broncos’ offensive coordinator. Again. Not much of a move, geographically, but the changes have taken their toll. “Well, I’m gray,” he told Denver reporters on Friday with a laugh. “I’ve aged a little bit.” Thirty-eight losses in four seasons can do that to a man. When the Chargers hired McCoy ...

IRVINE >> It’s another first for Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff, who will play his first NFL preseason road game at Denver on Saturday. Goff hopes for another first: a successful first drive. “I’d love to go out there and score a touchdown,’’ Goff said after Thursday’s practice at UC Irvine. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.’’ Thus far, Goff hasn’t come close. On his initial series two weeks ago against Dallas, Goff was hit and threw an interception on his third play. Last Saturday against Kansas City, Goff tripped over a teammate’s foot and fumbled on his second play. So the bar is low for improvement, but there’s reason to believe Goff could be ready to take a step forward Satu...

DENVER — There is irony in every start Kenta Maeda makes these days. The pitcher whose health was considered so perilous his contract is loaded with rewards for staying healthy has become, by attrition, one of the Dodgers’ most dependable starting pitchers and the team leader in iings pitched. His predecessors the first two nights in Colorado allowed 12 runs in seven iings, neither able to dent the fifth iing in back-to-back losses to the Rockies. By contrast then, Maeda looked like a workhorse, pitching into the sixth iing as the Dodgers got out of town with a 4-2 win Thursday night. “You know what – it’s a grind here,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “To give us 5 2/3, it was a quality...

The Dodgers logged three transactions in the hours before baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline Monday, headlined by the acquisition of pitcher Rich Hill and right fielder Josh Reddick from the Oakland A’s. The trades they did not make were just as big. Yasiel Puig is still a Dodger, though he did not fly with the Dodgers to Colorado for today’s game. Chris Archer is still a Tampa Bay Ray. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana are still in Chicago. Jay Bruce (New York Mets), Matt Moore (San Francisco), Jeremy Jeffress and Jonathan Lucroy (Texas) all switched teams without the Dodgers’ involvement. “What we were looking for more than anything,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said, “were guys who...