sport world

CLEVELAND >> The Cleveland Indians added a walk-off win to a streak that has had everything. Jay Bruce hit an RBI double in the 10th iing as the Indians rallied for their 22nd straight win to extend their AL record, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Thursday night to move within four wins of matching the 1916 New York Giants for the longest streak in major league history. After blowout...

After a dogfight in the first half, the No. 2-seeded Sparks pulled away from the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury, and the defending WNBA champions won their playoff opener and the first game of their semifinal series Tuesday. The Sparks defense helped them stifle Phoenix in the second half of a 79-66 victory. “It went just like I thought it would, you’ve got champions over there,” said Sparks coach B...

LOS ANGELES >> Just before Rams quarterback Jared Goff disappeared into the Coliseum tuel late Sunday afteoon to celebrate his first win as an NFL quarterback, he paused, peeked over to a hundred or so fans shouting his name from the stands and raised his right arm to the sky. The roar that immediately erupted was unlike anything we’ve heard from the Coliseum for an NFL team in what seem...

Christian McCaffrey torpedoed USC’s defense the last two seasons. As Stanford upended the Trojans three times in 2016 and 2015, McCaffrey tallied 970 all-purpose yards. How tough was it to bring down the elusive ruing back? Reporters covering the Pac-12 championship game in 2015 overheard then-USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and other coaches swearing in an adjacent press box booth at Le...

LOS ANGELES >> Scott Quessenberry’s phone blew up with congratulatory messages after UCLA pulled off the second-biggest comeback in NCAA history on Sunday night. It took the better part of two days for the UCLA center to respond to every text and tweet. He didn’t finish until Tuesday. When he finally did, it was just in time for practice. The Bruins (1-0) are trying to move past the euphoria...

OAKLAND >> This time, Garrett Richards walked off the mound alone, perhaps only disappointed at the hanging slider he’d just thrown. It was better than the last time he’d walked off the mound at the Oakland Coliseum, that time accompanied by trainer Eric Munson. Although no one knew it at the time, it would be the start of a five-month hiatus for the Angels’ ace because of biceps nerve irrit...

ANAHEIM >> C.J. Cron came to the plate in the eighth iing with one goal: Phoenix Suns tickets. With the Angels comfortably on their way to an 8-2 victory over the Oakland A’son Tuesdaynight, and Cron having one homer in the books, he could focus on making good on a challenge from teammate Mike Trout before the game. Trout, riding Cron a bit because he hadn’t hit a homer in 10 games, made...

LOS ANGELES >> Canelo Alvarez on Monday was asked what a victory over middleweight champion Geady Golovkin would mean to him, and to his native Mexico. Alvarez pulled no punches. “It’s very important for me, it’s very important for Mexico - for my people, for my country,” said Alvarez, who Sept. 16 will challenge Golovkin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). “My team and I...

Jeremy Clements battled Matt Tifft down the stretch at Road America before pulling away to the finish line after the two leaders spun out near the end of the second-to-last lap for his first career Xfinity Series victory at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Working with fresh tires down the stretch, Clements chased down Tifft after pitting with nine laps left to surrender the lead. Clements finally caught ...

PITTSBURGH >> If Hyun-Jin Ryu keeps wiing immunity challenges, he might not have to leave the island after all. While other Dodgers starters pass the time on the DL or search for their mechanics, Ryu has become the Dodgers’ most consistent starter. He held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run on four hits in six iings of a 5-2 victory Thursday, the eighth time in his past nine starts Ryu ha...

LOS ANGELES >> It looked ominous. When Kenechi Udeze, USC’s defensive line coach, left the Portland airport in his rental car on a snowy January day, he noticed other cars were tued over aside the interstate. Udeze had arrived amid the city’s biggest snowstorm in two decades, and he still needed to drive almost 70 miles south to Independence, Ore., to visit a five-star defensive lineman na...

PACIFIC PALISADES >> Doc Redman is the U.S. Amateur champion. Just like Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Aold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Mark O’Meara, Matt Kuchar, Craig Stadler and Lay Wadkins. And just like David Gossett, Bill Sander, John Fought, John Harris, Bubba Dickerson, and Chris Patton. The guys on the first list are known for what they did after they won the Amateur. The guys on the second list are not. At Riviera on Sunday, Redman proved he might belong on the first list, not the second, even though it took him 37 holes on a scheduled 36-hole day to do it. Redman, f...

PACIFIC PALISADES >> Eddie Merrins stood just off to the side of the 18th green at Riviera Country Club late Sunday afteoon, perhaps not even noticing that Doc Redman and Doug Ghim went right behind him with a purpose toward the 10th tee box at the 117th U.S. Amateur Championship. “That’s about as strong a finish as you’d hope to see,” said the 84-year-old legendary golf pro at Bel-Air Country Club and former UCLA coach who, in 1954, made it to the quarterfinals in a touament won by Aold Palmer. The thing was, this edition of the oldest USGA touament wasn’t even finished. Redman...

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. >> The bond between twin brothers can become stronger than most in the dynamic of the family. A twin brother can be both a best friend and brother at the same time. They can be motivators and they can even be there in the for the most important moments. They can also give their brothers an extra wardrobe just in case. The important things in life. For Santa Margarita, the bond between twins is on full display every practice, every game. The team has the rarity of two sets of twins in Nick and Matt Haddad and Bobby and Joey Gray. “We have the humblest group of boys I’ve...

BALTIMORE >> If the Angels’ offense can start slugging balls over the fence like this, maybe they can reach the postseason despite the continued stream of injured pitchers. The Angels’ 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night, headlined by Mike Trout and Luis Valbuena each hitting two homers, would have been a textbook victory if not for one significant issue. JC Ramirez had to leave the game in the sixth iing with what was initially diagnosed as forearm irritation. He is scheduled for an MRI exam on Monday. Ramirez said he felt tightness from his pregame warmups, and ...

DETROIT >> The Dodgers might want to stock up on bubble wrap. Hyun-Jin Ryu and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout of the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afteoon as the Dodgers won 3-0 and moved another day closer to playing games that really matter again. More important than their 21st victory in the past 24 games, 26th in 31 since the All-Star break, 52nd in 61 games since June 7 and – inhale – 87th of the season, they managed to peel another day off the calendar without suffering an injury to a key player that would hamstring their chances at living up to their regular season ...

OAKLAND >> This is the Jared Goff the Rams drafted, or thought they drafted, anyway. Goff didn’t look perfect in Saturday night’s 24-21 preseason victory over Oakland but, well, what’s a good word for almost perfect? Goff led the Rams on three scoring drives in four first-half possessions, and completed strong, accurate passes all over the field to seven different targets. The Rams intended for Goff to leave the game early in the second quarter, but who knew that he would — or could — lead a 16-play drive that lasted nine minutes and led to a go-ahead field goal? So, Goff played nearly ...

WILLIAMSPORT. Pa. >> It only took Joey Gray one swing of the bat to make his name ring throughout Little League circles at the World Series in Williamsport on Friday. A walk, a double from Drew Rutter, and another walk set the stage for Gray, who walked to the plate for a bases-loaded, first-iing at-bat against the Northwest’s Caiden Thomsen. Gray worked his way to a full count, then hit a towering shot over the right-field fence. It was the second grand slam of the Little League World Series, and it proved more than enough for Santa Margarita as Joey’s brother Bobby Gray took a no-hit...

LOS ANGELES >> He had just caught another comeback victory and hit another home run, Yasmani Grandal now standing in the Dodgers clubhouse and being asked to discuss his team’s astonishing and utter awesomeness. Yet, instead of effervescing with the sort of delight that must come from playing on a club not only chasing but routinely tackling history, Grandal’s rather somber tone suggested he was recounting the passing of a childhood pet. One that was fluffy and lovable and house broken from Day One. On the other side of the room Sunday, Justin Tuer was saying nothing at all of the win...

LOS ANGELES >> The Dodgers’ magic number is so low, they can clinch a playoff berth before the calendar tus to September. They are 50 games over .500 for the first time since 1953. Still, the schedule insists that the regular season lasts another six weeks. For Manager Dave Roberts, that means finding new ways to challenge his players. He batted Yasiel Puig sixth on Tuesday in a 6-1 win over Chicago White Sox, only the second time Puig has batted higher than eighth in the lineup since May. “It’s not necessarily a reward, but I think the opportunity for Yasiel to hit a little higher mak...