The Sports Report: Tyler Anderson almost makes history as Dodgers beat Angels

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

From Jack Harris: It was a no-hit bid that began with a base hit.

In the very first at-bat of a memorable night at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, Angels outfielder Taylor Ward hit a shallow fly ball to right-center field.

Dodgers teammates Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts collided while tracking it down.

The ball briefly nestled into Betts’ glove, but was jarred loose as he crashed to the ground. Initially, it was ruled a single by official scorer Jerry White. A few minutes later, however, the official decision was switched to an error.

It would be nine more innings before Tyler Anderson gave up a hit again.

In front of 50,812 at Chavez Ravine, Anderson flirted with history all the way until the ninth, when Shohei Ohtani laced a first-pitch triple into the right field corner in the Dodgers 4-1 win against the Angels.

Up until then, Ward’s blooper appeared to be the closest the Angels would come to recording a hit.

Mike Trout drew a walk later in the first, before Shohei Ohtani and Matt Duffy both struck out. Jared Walsh was hit by a pitch to leadoff the second, only to be stranded after Anderson recorded three straight outs.

From there, the left-hander with the 90-mph fastball, unrelenting changeup and herky jerky delivery was unstoppable. He retired 17 batters in a row over the next six innings, a stretch that was only snapped by another uncertain scoring decision.

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GOLF

From Sam Farmer: Consider the uphill climb facing the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

No TV deal. The audience is minuscule. The shotgun starts are a joke. The team concept is confusing and distracting. Aside from a few stars, the players are either has-beens or never-weres.

And yet the PGA Tour is terrified.

Because LIV Golf has billions to burn. Unlike other startup leagues that at some point have to face a financial decision about whether to carry on, this one appears to be a mile-deep well, and paid a reported $200 million to Phil Mickelson, $150 million to Dustin Johnson, and a $25-million purse to be split among the 48 players per tournament in the eight-event series — not to mention the winner of each collecting $4 million.

It’s all the talk of the U.S. Open this week, with Mickelson playing his first competitive golf on American soil in more than four months. Boston sports fans have never been shy, and Mickelson — once beloved by the galleries — surely will be heckled as he makes his way around the Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

CHARGERS

From Dylan Hernández: Five months after he called the most infamous timeout in franchise history, Brandon Staley was as puzzled as everyone else.

He just wasn’t asking the same question.

“I’m not sure why that [got] magnified,” Staley said.

The Chargers opened minicamp Tuesday, by which time Staley had plenty of time to reflect on the Week 18 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that kept his team from making the playoffs.

He remained comfortable with his choices. He also still was bothered by how they didn’t work out.

“I’m not over it,” Staley said.

The failure drove him to do some soul-searching and offer his ideas on how the Chargers could rebuild their defense.

“I’ve never poured more into a season than that one in my entire life,” Staley said. “I haven’t poured myself into anything, other than my marriage, [more] than that. So you can imagine how I felt. I’ve been working every day since to make sure that it’s different.”

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It’s safety first for rehabbing Derwin James at practice but not for a new contract

USC

From Ryan Kartje: Amid the ongoing arms race around name, image and likeness in college football, USC didn’t exactly burst out of the gates flaunting its NIL firepower. Even as the football program emerged as a central figure in the spring’s NIL drama, USC stayed on the sidelines as the race intensified elsewhere, with coaches quarreling, schools ceding influence to donor collectives and top recruits purportedly signing million-dollar deals.

USC still doesn’t intend to wade into those murky waters. It still doesn’t have a donor collective, much to the chagrin of its fans. But almost a year into this new NIL era, USC believes it took a major step forward on that front Wednesday, announcing a partnership with media company Stay Doubted that establishes a third-party agency, BLVD LLC, to represent USC athletes and help facilitate NIL deals on their behalf.

“There is simply nothing else like this in our sport,” USC football coach Lincoln Riley said.

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NHL PLAYOFFS

STANLEY CUP FINALS
All times Pacific
All games on ABC

Colorado vs. Tampa Bay
Colorado 4, Tampa Bay 3 (OT)
Saturday at Colorado, 5 p.m.
Monday at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Wednesday at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
*Friday, June 24 at Colorado, 5 p.m.
*Sunday, June 26 at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
*Tuesday, June 28 at Colorado, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary

NBA PLAYOFFS

From Dan Woike: Cynthia Amerio knows better. She swears.

Hatred isn’t a positive emotion — empty calories for the soul. But there’s knowing you shouldn’t be hateful and knowing that the Boston Celtics are playing for their 18th NBA championship.

“I don’t like the uniform. I don’t like anything to do with them,” said Amerio, a 55-year-old from Sierra Madre. “… If Boston were the last team in the NBA, I’d pick up cricket.”

It’s been a tortuous few months for Lakers fans like Amerio, the team’s bitter rivals authoring a Finals run built around a likeable core of players. If they wore different colors and only played in a different zip code, Amerio would be cheering for them, especially against a Bay Area team such as the Golden State Warriors.

But instead, they’re doomed to the coldest corners of her heart.

“I don’t like Golden State as much, but Boston cannot get No. 18. They cannot,” Amerio said. “It took us years for us to get to No. 17 and I can’t see this two years later, them getting 18 and us sitting on the sidelines.”

Schedule and results
NBA FINALS
All times Pacific
All games on ABC

Boston vs. Golden State

Boston 120, Golden State 108
Golden State 107, Boston 88
Boston 116, Golden State 100
Golden State 107, Boston 97
Golden State 104, Boston 94
Tonight at Boston, 6 p.m.
*Sunday at Golden State, 5 p.m.

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1927 — Tommy Armour wins the U.S. Open with a three-stroke victory over Harry Cooper in a playoff.

1946 — Lloyd Mangrum edges Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi to win the U.S. Open by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff.

1951 — Ben Hogan captures the U.S. Open for the second straight year with a two-stroke comeback victory over Clayton Heafner.

1956 — Cary Middlecoff wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Ben Hogan and Julius Boros.

1968 — Lee Trevino becomes the first golfer to play all four rounds of the U.S. Open under par as he beats Jack Nicklaus by four strokes.

1974 — Hale Irwin beats Forrest Fezler by two strokes to win the U.S. Open. In what becomes known as the “Massacre at Winged Foot,” not a single player breaks par in the first round. Irwin’s 7-over 278 is the second-highest score since World War II — Julius Boros was 9-over in 1963.

1985 — Andy North wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Taiwan’s Tze-chung Chen, Canada’s Dave Barr and Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson.

1993 — Michael Jordan scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 111-105 victory and a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.

1998 — The Detroit Red Wings become the first team to win consecutive Stanley Cups since Pittsburgh in 1992, completing a sweep of Washington with a 4-1 win behind two goals by Doug Brown. It’s the fourth straight NHL finals sweep, a first in major pro sports history.

1999 — Maurice Greene smashes the 100-meter world record at 9.79 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 9.84 set by Donovan Bailey at the 1996 Olympics.

2002 — A runaway winner again in the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to capture the first two major championships of the year with a three-stroke victory at Bethpage Black.

2006 — Tiger Woods returns from his longest layoff by making his earliest departure at a major, missing the cut in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time as a pro. Woods, with rounds of 76-76, misses the cut at the U.S. Open by three strokes.

2008 — Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate, his 14th major title.

2013 — Justin Rose captures his first major championship and becomes the first Englishman in 43 years to win the U.S. Open. Rose shoots a closing 70 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. for a 1-over 281 total and two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day.

2013 — Greg Biffle gives Ford a milestone victory with his second straight Sprint Cup win at Michigan International Speedway. It’s the 1,000th victory for Ford Motor Company across NASCAR’s three national series — Cup, Nationwide and Truck.

2015 — The Golden State Warriors win their first NBA championship since 1975, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6. Stephen Curry and Finals MVP Andre Iguodala each score 25 points for the Warriors, who won the final three games after Cleveland had taken a 2-1 lead.

2016 — LeBron James scores 41 points, Kyrie Irving adds 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 to even an unpredictable series and force a decisive Game 7.

2018 — Video Assist Referee (VAR) technology used for the first time in a World Cup soccer match.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Tiger Woods wins the 2008 U.S. Open. Watch and listen here.