Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably spending his vacation working on his next Dodgers Dugout newsletter. Let’s get right to the news.
From Jack Harris: On a night of imperfection in all facets of their game, the Dodgers found a way to remain perfect anyway.
Those two early throwing errors by Max Muncy? Didn’t matter.
Andy Pages’ dropped ball in center? No sweat.
Blake Snell, the centerpiece of the half-billion-dollar offseason spending spree, not having his best stuff? A worry for another time.
And the early five-run deficit they faced as a result of it all? Turned out, it wouldn’t last.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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Instead the Dodgers mounted a stirring comeback that pushed their record to 8-0, the best start by any defending champion in MLB history. They took a game in which they seemed destined to beat themselves and found a way to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Wednesday.
And, on a night fans lined up outside Dodger Stadium hours early to receive his bobblehead, Shohei Ohtani walked it off with a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth.
From Bill Plaschke: 162-0?
Why not?
Shohei Ohtani is rounding the bases with his right fist in the air and Dodger Stadium is shaking with its roar filling the sky and anything is possible.
162-0?
It could never happen. But after Wednesday night, are you willing to say it can’t happen?
The Dodgers were seemingly destroying their season-opening, seven-game win streak with their worst game in several seasons, stumbling to a 5-0 deficit against the Atlanta Braves and apparently ready to pack it in until …
Until Tommy Edman homered in the second inning.
Until Michael Conforto homered in the fourth.
Until Max Muncy clawed back from two errors to blast a game-tying two-run double in the eighth.
Until Ohtani celebrated his bobblehead night with a walk-off home run in the ninth.
Anything is possible? Everything is possible.
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LAKERS
From Dan Woike: The stakes here in early April for the Lakers are easy to see, the trophies that sit in owner Jeanie Buss’ window overlooking the practice courts a constant reminder of what the goals are for the team, particularly at a time when the talent on the roster looks formidable.
But for a player like center Jaxson Hayes, there are other things at play, the free-agent-to-be in the most important role of his career on the best team for which he’s played.
“I just view it as opportunity to make a name for myself, an opportunity to go win some games and win a ring,” Hayes said after the Lakers held a rare practice Wednesday. “And I just look at it as I gotta come in locked in every day and just try to make the most out of every day, be the best version of myself.”
CLIPPERS
From Broderick Turner: The teams the Clippers are chasing for a top-six spot in the Western Conference standings keep winning and that means the Clippers have to continue their pursuit of wins until the final seedings are decided.
His team understands “what’s at stake” and “what’s at risk,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, and that has kept his group on high alert as it seeks to avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament by earning a top-six seed.
As it stands, even after the Clippersdefeated the depleted New Orleans Pelicans 114-98 on Wednesday night at the Inuit Dome, the Clippers remain a play-in team.
LAFC
From Kevin Baxter: A sold-out crowd braved chilly skies and a late-night kickoff to watch Lionel Messi, a soccer legend, play Wednesday night at BMO Stadium. But what many fans went home talking about was the play of LAFC Academy product Nathan Ordaz, whose goal in the second half was the difference in LAFC’s 1-0 win over Inter Miami in the first game of a two-leg CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal playoff.
The teams will meet next Wednesday in South Florida with aggregate goals determining which will advance to the semifinals. LAFC reached the final of the CONCACAF tournament in its first two appearances, making it the only MLS club to play for the title twice this century.
LAFC drew less than 25,000 combined for its first two Champions Cup games with Colorado and Columbus. It drew nearly that many — 22,207 — for Miami. And many of those fans dutifully rose to their feet and lifted their phones each time Messi stood over the ball.
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Iván Herrera hit his first three home runs of the season to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Angels 12-5 on Wednesday.
Herrera hit his third off Brock Burke to cap a seven-run eighth inning for the Cardinals. Herrera hit a two-run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the fourth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi for his first multihomer game.
Willson Contreras drew a bases-loaded walk off Burke to break a 5-5 tie after Ian Anderson (0-1) gave up three straight hits to open the eighth inning. An inning earlier, Contreras stroked an RBI double to left for his first hit of the season to score Masyn Winn, and Lars Nootbaar scored on shortstop Nicky Lopez’s errant throw to tie the game at 5-all.
HIGH SCHOOLS
From Eric Sondheimer: Having covered high school sports in Southern California since 1976, when there’s a Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it makes me go back in time to when they were teenagers showing early signs of greatness before people knew their names.
The City Section is holding its latest Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday, so let me offer some memories of several being inducted.
It’s 1999. Taft football coach Troy Starr is standing by the goal posts for a junior varsity game and pointing out a freshman receiver named Steve Smith, who’s too young to play on varsity. Starr insists the kid is going to be a phenom. Taft was already in the spotlight, having produced 1992 Olympic 400-meter champion Quincy Watts, so now the excitement is returning.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1923 — “Black Sox” sue White Sox (unsuccessfully) for back salary.
1930 — The Montreal Canadiens win the NHL Stanley Cup with a two-game sweep of the Boston Bruins.
1933 — Ken Doraty’s overtime goal gives the Toronto Maple Leafs and 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins in semifinals of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The goal comes at one hour, 44 minutes and 46 seconds of the overtime beyond the one-hour regulation game.
1966 — P Tom Seaver signs with the NY Mets.
1975 — Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it, title awarded to Russian Anatoly Karpov.
1977 — Jean Ratelle of the Boston Bruins scores his 1,000th point with an assist in a 7-4 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1982 — Buffalo’s Gil Perrault scores his 1,000th point with an assist in a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
1983 — 2nd NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: USC beats Louisiana Tech, 69-67.
1987 — Chicago Cubs trade Dennis Eckersley to Oakland A’s.
1988 — Louisiana Tech wins the NCAA women’s basketball championship with a 56-54 come-from-behind victory over Auburn.
1988 — Amy Alcott shoots a 1-under 71 to win the Dinah Shore by two shots over Colleen Walker.
1988 — Mario Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stopping Gretzky’s 7 year streak.
1989 — Michigan beats Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime to win the NCAA basketball championship. Rumeal Robinson hits two free throws with three seconds left for the Wolverines. It’s the first time that a first-year coach, Steve Fisher, wins the national title.
1991 — Bo Jackson signs 1-year contract with Chicago White Sox.
1993 — For the first time in its 157-year history, the Grand National steeplechase is declared void because of a false start. Esha Ness crosses the line first, but most of the jockeys are unaware a false start is called and the majority of the 39-horse field continue the 4½-mile race around the Aintree course even though nine stay behind at the start line.
1994 — Charlotte Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gives North Carolina a 60-59 victory over Louisiana Tech in the NCAA women’s basketball championship game.
1995 — UCLA wins its first national basketball championship in 20 years and record 11th NCAA title, keeping Arkansas from repeating with an 89-78 victory.
1996 — St Francis Fighting Saints scores college baseball run record with 71.
2000 — 62nd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Michigan State beats Florida, 89-76.
2004 — St. Louis clinches its 25th consecutive NHL playoff berth, the longest in major league sports, with a 4-1 win over Nashville.
2006 — Joakim Noah dominates UCLA with 16 points, nine rebounds and a record seven blocks to key a 73-57 blowout for Florida’s first national title in men’s basketball.
2006 — Steve Yzerman scores his final NHL goal (#692).
2007 — After a nine-year title drought, Tennessee and coach Pat Summitt are NCAA champions. The Lady Vols capture an elusive seventh national title, beating Rutgers 59-46.
2010 — Bernard Hopkins wins a brutal unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. in their long-delayed rematch, emphatically avenging his loss in the famed champions’ first fight nearly 17 years earlier.
2012 — Brittney Griner scores 26 points and grabs 13 rebounds to help Baylor finish off an undefeated season with an 80-61 win over Notre Dame in the women’s national championship game. Baylor becomes the first team in NCAA history to win 40 games.
2017 — Justin Jackson delivers the go-ahead three-point play and North Carolina scores the last eight points for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga and an NCAA title that heartbreakingly eluded the Tar Heels last year. It’s an ugly game, filled with 44 fouls and 52 free throws. Carolina was down 2 with 1:40 left when Jackson took a pass under the bucket from Theo Pinson, made a layup and got fouled. The free throw made it 66-65, and after a Gonzaga miss on the other end, Isaiah Hicks made a shot to help North Carolina start pulling away to the school’s sixth title.
2019 — San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich is ejected after an NBA record low 63 seconds in the Spurs 113-85 loss in Denver; receives 2 technical fouls in a verbal confrontation with a referee.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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