Sports
Shohei Ohtani stays hot, crushing another homer as Dodgers split series with Angels
The Dodgers continued two important trends Saturday night.
Shohei Ohtani stayed hot, hitting another home run against his former team in the Dodgers’ 7-2 win over the Angels at Dodger Stadium.
The bottom of the Dodgers’ lineup remained productive, too, getting six hits and five runs from the last four spots to split a two-game weekend Freeway Series.
Ohtani’s home run continued his scorching week at the plate. In seven games since last Sunday — the last six of which, he has been the team’s leadoff hitter in place of the injured Mookie Betts — the slugger is batting .481 (13 for 27) with seven home runs, 12 RBIs, seven walks and only two strikeouts.
His two-run homer Saturday was a line-drive rocket that landed halfway up the right-field pavilion. Traveling an estimated 459 feet, it marked his fourth blast of at least 450 feet this week. And it gave him big flies in both of this weekend’s games against the Angels — his first against the club since signing with the Dodgers in the offseason.
“It definitely goesn’t get old,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Where he’s at right now, if the ball is in his hitting zone, it’s gonna be hit hard somewhere.”
While Ohtani might be at the wheel of the Dodgers’ offense, though, it’s a once-struggling bottom-half of the order that is helping fuel the team’s recent resurgence at the plate.
A month ago, the club’s Nos. 6-9 hitters were among the worst in the majors, compiling a .194 batting average over the season’s first 46 games that ranked better than only the Oakland Athletics.
“It’s still a really good lineup, and we know it’s gonna flip,” second baseman Gavin Lux, one of the culprits behind the group’s early-season struggles, said in late May. “But yeah, I think we all expect more out of ourselves.”
Fast forward a month, and the Dodgers (48-31) have seen their fortunes indeed change.
Entering Saturday, the team’s bottom-half hitters were batting .243 since May 17, ranking a solid 14th in MLB during that stretch.
Gavin Lux gets a face full of sunflower seeds after hitting a solo home run against the Angels in the third inning Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Then, in their win over the Angels (30-46), they had one of their best collective games yet, getting two hits each from Lux, Miguel Rojas and Cavan Biggio, plus two walks from Jason Heyward.
“This is it,” Roberts said. “It just takes the pressure off the top.”
Lux, the No. 8 hitter, opened the scoring with a towering leadoff home run off a nine-pitch at-bat in the third inning, recording just his second long ball of the season and first since May 7.
Rojas, batting seventh, extended one of the season’s more intriguing statistical trends: In games he has a hit, the Dodgers are 22-0.
Biggio had his best game as a Dodger in the nine-hole, continuing to fill in for injured third baseman Max Muncy — whose return from an oblique strain remains unclear, lasting much longer than initially anticipated (Muncy said one issue is that his entire oblique was affected, not just one isolated area).
The No. 6 hitter Heyward, whose return from a back injury on May 17 has been a key factor in the recent bottom-half production, also aided the cause with his two walks, keeping his OPS this season above .800.
“A lot of this year, we’ve been very top-heavy,” Roberts said. “But when you get those guys at the bottom collectively [hitting], it just makes our offense tough to navigate.”
The lineup was so good, it allowed Roberts to begin a new trend that figures to become more common over the remainder of the season.
Staff ace Tyler Glasnow had a stellar start, giving up only two runs (one earned) on two hits in a seven-inning, 10-strikeout gem. However, with the Dodgers up 7-2 at the end of the seventh, Roberts decided to pull him after just 74 pitches.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers during the seventh inning against the Angels on Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
The reason: Glasnow is now at 100 innings this season, just 20 short of the career-high he set a season ago.
The Dodgers aren’t planning to have the right-hander skip starts or take any break before October. But they are going to be “mindful” of his workload in smaller ways, Roberts said.
Thanks to Ohtani’s blast at the top of the lineup, and the continued ample production at the bottom, Saturday provided the perfect opportunity.
“It’s just about longevity, trying to stay healthy and do this thing until playoffs,” Glasnow said. “The long game is what we’re after.”
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The 2026 UFL season kicked off on March 27 on FOX UFL Friday, and it consists of a 10-week regular season ending on May 31, followed by playoffs starting the week of June 7 and the championship game later that month.
There are new teams, new coaches, new players and new uniforms this season — and that’s just the beginning.
The league’s media partners — FOX, FS1, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — combine to broadcast all 43 games during the UFL’s third season. Select games in Spanish will also air across FOX Deportes and ESPN Deportes.
Here are the full 2026 schedules for all eight teams:
Week 1 (March 27-29)
Week 2 (April 3-7)
Week 3 (April 10-12)
Week 4 (April 16-18)
Week 5 (April 24-26)
Week 6 (April 30-May 3)
- St. Louis Battlehawks @ Louisville Kings (Thursday, April 30 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1)
- Houston Gamblers @ Columbus Aviators (Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Dallas Renegades @ DC Defenders (Saturday, May 2 at noon ET on ABC)
- Birmingham Stallions @ Orlando Storm (Sunday, May 3 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX)
Week 7 (May 8-10)
- Columbus Aviators @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Friday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Louisville Kings @ DC Defenders (Saturday, May 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Dallas Renegades @ Birmingham Stallions (Saturday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN)
- Orlando Storm @ Houston Gamblers (Sunday, May 10 at 6 p.m. ET on FS1)
Week 8 (May 15-17)
- Orlando Storm @ Dallas Renegades (Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- DC Defenders @ Louisville Kings (Saturday, May 16 at noon ET on ABC)
- Houston Gamblers @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Saturday, May 16 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC)
- Columbus Aviators @ Birmingham Stallions (Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET on FOX)
Week 9 (May 22-24)
- DC Defenders @ Orlando Storm (Friday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Birmingham Stallions @ Columbus Aviators (Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC)
- Dallas Renegades @ Louisville Kings (Sunday, May 24 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX)
- St. Louis Battlehawks @ Houston Gamblers (Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2)
Week 10 (May 29-31)
- Dallas Renegades @ St. Louis Battlehawks (Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX)
- Houston Gamblers @ Birmingham Stallions (Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2)
- Orlando Storm @ DC Defenders (Sunday, May 31 at noon ET on ABC)
- Louisville Kings @ Columbus Aviators (Sunday, May 31 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX)
At a school with the rich athletic tradition of Santa Ana Mater Dei, it is rare to be the first to achieve anything, but Matteo Huarte made history Saturday by becoming the Monarchs’ only CIF singles champion at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
After losing in straight sets to Rishvanth Krishna from Irvine University in last year’s final, Huarte was not about to squander his second chance. He raced to an early lead in the first-set tiebreaker, then broke to open the second set on his way to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Woodbridge’s Brayden Tallakson in front of a packed grandstand at Libbey Park.
Huarte had four service breaks — the last being a cross-court passing shot on match point. The final resembled Huarte’s semifinal win versus Irvine University’s JiHyuk Im in which he took the first-set tiebreaker 7-4 then cruised 6-2 in the second set.
“I’m happy I was able to do it for my school,” said Huarte, a junior who has committed to USC. “We’ve played each other a couple times and the key was to manage his serve and get into the rally. Once I got ahead of him in the tiebreak and then won the first game of the second set I was able to run away with it.”
Mater Dei’s only other title in the Ojai tournament’s long and storied history came in doubles in 2008 when Charlie Alvarado and Chris Freeman upset top-seeded Tyler Bowman and Jon Kazarian of Peninsula in three sets.
“It’s kind of hard to believe I’m the first to do it,” said Huarte about his singles title.
Last year, Huarte fell in the Southern Section semifinals to Palos Verdes ninth-grader Andrew Johnson, who went on to beat Tallakson 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Tallakson was trying to make history of his own Saturday at a venue near and dear to his heart.
Woodbridge’s Brayden Tallakson celebrates after his quarterfinal victory over Beckman’s Rohan Grewal at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I started playing tennis down in lower Libbey, my dad Steve grew up here and won the men’s tournament, so this place is like home for my family,” said Tallakson, who quickly downed Palisades freshman Kensho Ford 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals. “Matteo came out real aggressive, I made a couple errors on big points and he was just the better player today.”
Tallakson won the boys’ 14s division at Ojai in 2022 and had he prevailed Saturday, he would have been the first player to capture CIF singles and doubles titles at Ojai since Santa Barbara’s Nathan Jackmon won the doubles in 1993 and the singles in 1994. Tallakson won the doubles crown in 2023 with older brother Avery, with whom he will reunite next year at Boise State.
Peninsula seniors Colin Bringas and Edward Feuer completed one of the most dominant runs through the doubles draw ever seen at Ojai by beating Harvard-Westlake’s Aaron Chung and Chase Klugo 6-4, 6-2 in the finals. The Panthers’ duo did not drop a set in six matches and did not give up more than three games in a set until the first set Saturday when they broke in the ninth game to go up 5-4 and then served it out.
Bringas and Feuer are the first Peninsula pair to reach the CIF final at Ojai since 2011 and the third tandem in history to win it, joining Rylan Rizza and Jeff Kazarian in 2001, and Kazarian and Tiege Sullivan the following year.
Peninsula seniors Colin Bringas, left, and Edward Feuer celebrate after winning the CIF boys’ doubles title at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“We’ve been playing together since second or third grade and we’ve been best friends since middle school at Ridgecrest Intermediate [in Palos Verdes],” Bringas said. “I always play the ad side, he’s always played the deuce court. I think the key was big serves … they make it easy for the net person to put balls away.”
Bringas and Feuer have partnered at Ojai the last three years, losing in the quarterfinal round as sophomores and juniors but steamrolling this year. They made a measly three unforced errors in a 6-1, 6-1 semifinal wipeout of Marina’s David Tran and Alejandro Hill. Tran was playing in his second straight final, having taken the runner-up prize with Trevor Nguyen in 2025.
“We were confident we’d win, but we felt the pressure and knew there are a lot of good teams here,” said Feuer, who plays No. 1 singles for dual matches while Bringas plays the No. 1 doubles spot with another teammate. “It’ll be really strange playing against each other next year.”
Bringas is bound for Westmont College and Feuer is headed to Point Loma Nazarene — rival NCAA Division II programs in the Pacific West Conference.
Harvard-Westlake, Woodbridge and University shared the Griggs Cup trophy, presented to the school with the most combined wins in singles and doubles. All three notched seven victories to force a three-way tie for only the fifth time since the award debuted in 1955 and the first since Santa Barbara, Palisades and Fresno Bullard were tri-champions in 1997. University has won it 13 times.
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If the Super Bowl marks the end of the NFL season, WrestleMania is when WWE’s year is over.
There is no offseason in WWE, and when waves of departures hit the company, it hits harder than a Gunther knife-edge chop.
Uncle Howdy, Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy, and Nikki Cross appear during SmackDown at First Horizon Center in Savannah, Ga., on May 23, 2025. (Rich Freeda/WWE)
Fightful and BodySlam both reported several superstars who left WWE on Friday ahead of “Friday Night SmackDown.” Some wrestlers confirmed their departures on social media.
Those who left included: Alba Fyre, Aleister Black, Alex Shelley, Andre Chase, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas, Chris Island, Chris Sabin, Dante Chen, Dexter Lumis, Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy, Kairi Sane, Luca Crusifino, Malik Blade, Nikki Cross, Santos Escobar, Sirena Linton, Trill London, Tyra Mae Steele, Tyriek Igwe, Tyson Dupont, Zelina Vegas and Zoey Stark.
The WWE roster is loaded as it is with several NXT stars getting called up this week.
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Sol Ruca made her presence felt on Raw on Monday when she challenged women’s champion Liv Morgan. The Fatal Influence faction of Jacy Jayne, Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley took aim at the women’s tag team division on SmackDown on Friday. Ricky Saints and Blake Monroe also had vignettes for their upcoming appearances.
Meanwhile, former NXT champion Oba Femi has been on main WWE programming for the last few weeks and beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42.
Kairi Sane enters the ring during Monday Night RAW at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on April 13, 2026. (Rich Freeda/WWE)
Aleister Black and Zelina Vega make their way to the ring during SmackDown at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 3, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
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It’s not the end of the road for any of the recent departures. Several former WWE stars have made waves elsewhere. Some have even returned over the course of time.
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