Sports
Clayton Kershaw returns, Shohei Ohtani homers, Dodgers grab series win over Giants
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was hardly dominant in a 6-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants before a sun-baked crowd of 52,291 in Chavez Ravine on Thursday, his first game back from the November shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the first four months of the season.
In fact, the 36-year-old left-hander described a start in which he gave up two runs and six hits in four innings, striking out six and walking two, as just “OK.”
But it was more than OK for the Dodgers, who aren’t expecting the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner to regain his 2014 NL most-valuable-player form but need him to pitch well enough to shore up an injury-ravaged rotation as they push toward another division title.
“He’s probably not happy he gave up some runs, but I thought his stuff looked good,” catcher Austin Barnes said. “I thought he was able to move the ball around and keep hitters off-balance. His fastball had that jump on it, that life. He probably wasn’t happy with some of the fastball locations, but I think his whole mix was pretty good.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw makes his season debut against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Kershaw threw 72 pitches, 47 for strikes. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.6 mph and topped out at 91.8 mph. He used his 86.6-mph slider to finish four of his six strikeouts. He threw some good looping curves and even mixed in six changeups, a pitch he has struggled to command in the past. He induced 14 swinging strikes.
“I was looking at the stuff and the arm speed, the hand speed, and that’s something he maintained for all of his pitches,” Roberts said. “When he starts to lose that, the slider isn’t sharp, the curveball doesn’t get there, and there’s a loss of fastball velocity, but today, it held. For me, that was a big positive. It shows that he’s strong, he’s healthy.”
A 32-pitch third inning, in which Kershaw gave up two runs but struck out three straight batters with runners on first and second, prevented Kershaw from pitching the fifth, and six relievers — Joe Kelly, Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen and Brent Honeywell — had to cover the final five innings.
But Kershaw gave the Dodgers a chance to win for the sixth time in seven games, which they did when Nick Ahmed, the veteran shortstop who was signed on Wednesday to replace the injured Miguel Rojas, and Shohei Ohtani hit back-to-back home runs off submarine-throwing right-hander Tyler Rogers to snap a 4-4 tie in the eighth.
Ahmed, who was released by the Giants on July 10, drove a 2-and-2 sinker 396 feet to center field for his second homer of the season.
“That was big — we needed it,” Roberts said. “To have essentially a Gold Glove shortstop fall in our lap, and we lose [utility man] Chris Taylor [to a left-groin strain] the same night we acquire him, and for him to hit the go-ahead homer against his old team … I’m sure that felt good for him.”
Ohtani then hit a first-pitch slider that left his bat at 112.6 mph with a launch angle of 46 degrees, producing a towering drive that seemed to hang in the air forever, his 31st homer of the season traveling only 360 feet, tied for the fourth-shortest of his career.
“I was just hoping it would stay fair,” Roberts said. “He hit like a sand wedge at 46 degrees and it went 20 rows deep. Look up the last time somebody hit a ball that far with a 46-degree launch angle. It just doesn’t happen. Those usually go 260 feet. So again, he never ceases to amaze.”
Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo homer in the eighth inning to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Kiké Hernández paced a 14-hit Dodgers attack with an RBI single in the second inning, an RBI double in the fourth and a single in the fifth, Barnes had two hits, including an RBI single in the fourth, and Gavin Lux walked and scored in the second, doubled and scored in the fourth and singled in the fifth.
After taking the mound to his familiar entrance song — ”We are Young,” by Fun — Kershaw struck out Patrick Bailey with an 88-mph slider with two on to end the first inning.
He wobbled in the third, giving up a leadoff single to Jorge Soler, an RBI triple to Tyler Fitzgerald, an RBI single to Heliot Ramos and a single to Matt Chapman, the Giants taking a 2-1 lead. There were still two runners on with no outs, and the Giants were threatening to blow the game open, but Kershaw remained calm.
“He’s the same, honestly, from the start of the game to the end,” Barnes said, when asked if he saw the “old” Kershaw emerge in the jam. “I think that’s one of his better traits. He just doesn’t let off the gas. He’s the same guy. He keeps coming at you.”
Kershaw didn’t give in. He struck out Bailey with an 87-mph slider, David Villar looking at a 73-mph curve and Thairo Estrada with an 88-mph slider.
“He’s pitched in so much stress throughout his career, he just defaults to having already been there,” Roberts said. “So it’s not about your first start back. It’s not about how you feel. It’s getting an out, getting out of that inning, minimizing damage. People who have been in those kinds of battles have that to fall back on.”
Kershaw struck out Mike Yastrzemski swinging at a 74-mph curve to open the fourth. He walked Soler with two outs but got Fitzgerald to fly to right field to end the inning.
An overpowering start it wasn’t, but it was in stark contrast to Kershaw’s last game here, when he retired one of eight batters in a six-run first inning in which he gave six hits, including three doubles and a three-run homer to Gabriel Moreno, in an 11-2 loss to Arizona in the first game of the NL Division Series last Oct. 7.
“There was some stuff I can get better at, but I felt overall, the breaking balls were good,” Kershaw said. “Fastball command left a little to be desired, but for the first time back, I’ll take it.”
That Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, and four kids, and Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the surgeon who repaired his shoulder last fall, were in attendance made the afternoon all the more special for Kershaw.
“There’s a lot of people here and people back home [in Texas] that spent a lot of time with me to help me get back, so it’s really cool that a lot of people cared so much,” Kershaw said. “They spent all this time helping me get back, and they want to see me back out there so all the work isn’t for nothing.”
Kershaw, who made his major league debut as a 20-year-old in 2008, also became the first Dodgers pitcher to play in 17 different seasons, a milestone of longevity that came after a grueling, 8 ½-month rehabilitation process.
“I think there was a point before the surgery, after the surgery, where he felt, ‘Is he ever going to throw another major league pitch?’ “ Roberts said. “I think over the last few years, he’s finally realized that he’s mortal, so then there comes the appreciation of every moment.”
Pitching in
The Dodgers added depth to their rotation by signing right-hander Jordan Lyles, who spent most of this season on Kansas City’s restricted list while tending to a “personal matter,” to a minor league deal. Lyles, 33, will report to the team’s Arizona complex to build up endurance before reporting to a minor league affiliate.
Lyles struggled after signing a two-year, $17-million deal with the Royals in 2023, going 6-17 with a 6.28 ERA in 31 starts, but he was a solid back-end starter for the Baltimore Orioles in 2022, going 12-11 with a 4.42 ERA in 32 starts. He did not allow a run in five relief appearances for Kansas City this season.
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The World Cup group stage can get complicated quickly.
With 48 teams participating for the first time ever, FIFA instituted new tiebreaker rules to determine the top two in each group along with the eight highest third-place finishers.
Below, FOX Sports Research has broken down what each team needs to advance, what results would send them through, and which scenarios could leave their fate hanging in the balance.
Here’s where every group stands heading into the next round of matches, and the simple scenarios for them to advance.
Note: Below scenarios are through all games played on June 25. Additionally, three points is now the minimum required for teams to advance as one of the eight third-place teams.
GROUP A SCENARIOS
- Mexico won the group and will face a third-place team from either Group C or E in the Round of 32 in Mexico City on June 30.
- South Africa finished as runner-up in the group, and will play Canada on June 28 in Los Angeles.
- South Korea finished third, and currently ranks eighth among the third-place teams.
- Czechia cannot advance to the knockout stage.
Mexico celebrates after securing the top spot in Group in the win vs. South Korea.
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GROUP B SCENARIOS
- Switzerland won the group and will play a third-place team from either Group G or J in the Round of 32 in Vancouver on July 2.
- Canada finished as runner-up in the group and will play South Africa on June 28 in Los Angeles.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina finished third, and will play USA in the Round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara.
- Qatar cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP C SCENARIOS
- Brazil won the group and will play Japan on June 29 in Houston.
- Morocco finished as runner-up of the group and will play the Netherlands on June 29 in Monterrey.
- Scotland finished in third, and currently ranks tenth among third-place teams.
- Haiti cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP D SCENARIOS
- USA won the group, and will play Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara.
- Australia finished as runner-up of the group and will play Egypt on July 3 in Arlington.
- Paraguay finished in third, and will play Germany on June 29 in Foxborough.
- Türkiye cannot advance to the knockout stage.
Folarin Balogoun of the U.S.
GROUP E SCENARIOS
- Germany won the group and will play Paraguay on June 29 in Foxborough.
- Ivory Coast finished as runner-up of the group and will play Norway on June 30 in Arlington.
- Ecuador finished in third, and clinched a spot as a third-place team.
- Curaçao cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP F SCENARIOS
- Netherlands won the group and will play Morocco on June 29 in Monterrey.
- Japan finished as runner-up of the group and will play Brazil on June 29 in Houson.
- Sweden finished third, and will play France on June 30 in East Rutherford.
- Tunisia cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP G SCENARIOS
- Belgium won the group and will play a third-place team from Group A, I, or J on July 1 in Seattle.
- Egypt finished as runner-up of the group and will play Australia on July 3 in Arlington.
- Iran finished in third and currently ranks sixth among the third-place teams.
- New Zealand cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP H SCENARIOS
- Spain won the group and will play the runner-up of Group J on July 2 in Los Angeles.
- Cape Verde finished as runner-up of the group and will play Argentina on July 3 in Miami.
- Uruguay cannot advance to the knockout stage.
- Saudi Arabia cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP I SCENARIOS
- France won the group and will play Sweden on June 30 in East Rutherford.
- Norway finished as runner-up of the group and will play Ivory Coast on June 30 in Arlington.
- Senegal finished in third, and clinched a spot as a third-place team.
- Iraq cannot advance to the knockout stage.
GROUP J SCENARIOS
- Argentina won the group and will face Cape Verde on July 3 in Miami.
- Austria will advance with a win or draw; in a draw, the runner-up will be decided by tiebreakers.
- Algeria will advance with a win or draw; in a draw, the runner-up will be decided by tiebreakers.
- Jordan cannot advance to the knockout stage.
Lionel Messi of Argentina.
GROUP K SCENARIOS
- Colombia has advanced.
- Colombia will win the group with a win or draw.
- Portugal will advance with a win or draw, and will win the group with a win.
- Uzbekistan can advance with a win, but it is not guaranteed.
GROUP L SCENARIOS
- England will advance with a win/draw.
- England will win the group with a win AND a Ghana draw/loss.
- Ghana will advance with a win/draw.
- Ghana will win the group with a win AND an England draw/loss.
- Panama cannot advance to the knockout stage.
SAN DIEGO — The home run that Roki Sasaki gave up to San Diego’s Ty France was more dramatic than the two walks he issued to open the inning. But it was the free passes that really hurt him.
In the Dodgers’ 7-1 loss to the Padres on Friday, Sasaki was out of the game before he could record an out in the fifth inning. He gave up only three hits but issued five walks, tying his season high, and hit a batter.
“I actually felt different than I ever felt before, mechanically,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo, noting that his lower body felt a little off. “So I need to go over it and see what was really happening.”
Sasaki successfully pitched around traffic for much of his outing, other than the three-run homer to France in the second inning. But the inefficiency sent his pitch count past 80 before he exited with runners on first and second in the fifth.
“I’m not going to have it every time out, so that’s something I have to improve,” Sasaki said. “And also the game plan. I was able to execute some of the pitches, but some of the pitches I couldn’t, so that’s something I have to go through before next start.”
Earlier this month, when Sasaki held the Angels scoreless through seven two-hit innings, it seemed as if he’d had a breakthrough. But in three starts since, including a seven-run dud against the Chicago White Sox two weeks ago, he has yet to pitch through the sixth inning.
“I am a little surprised, because there was such good momentum going on,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Hopefully we can get him back to throwing the way he did in May.”
The Padres’ Walker Buehler walks off after holding his old team to one run for 5-1/3 innings Friday at Petco Park.
(Derrick Tuskan / Ap Photo/derrick Tuskan)
Sasaki’s command issues Friday showed up almost immediately. After striking out Padres leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr., Sasaki walked Samad Taylor on 10 pitches. But Sasaki bounced back by inducing a double play.
The next inning, there would be no such escape. Sasaki walked both Manny Machado, whom he also battled for 10 pitches, and Gavin Sheets to open the frame. Then Xander Bogaerts’ sharp line drive to center field found leather.
France’s long fly ball to left field, however, found the seats.
Sasaki’s only clean inning, the third, was made possible by catcher Dalton Rushing’s successful challenge of a called ball four against Tatís, flipping a walk into a strikeout.
“I know that there’s confidence in there,” Roberts said. “But when you feel good and you don’t feel good mechanically and can’t execute pitches, then the results are walks, and 1-2 [count] homers, and things like that. But I do think that we can kind of tackle the mechanical things that he’s probably looking for right now.”
The Padres piled on in the eighth inning against reliever Jonathan Hernandez, as the sold-out crowd chanted “Beat L.A.!”
Mookie Betts hit a home run off former teammate Walker Buehler for his second homer in as many games. Betts seems to have come out of his offensive funk, entering Friday with a 1.061 on-base-plus-slugging percentage over the previous 11 games.
Buehler earned the win, delivering five strikeouts in 5⅓ innings.
“[Buehler] is reinventing himself,” Roberts said. “He’s throwing the kitchen sink at you. Cutter, slider, changeup, two-seamers. He doesn’t just try to bully you, and he’s finding ways to just get guys out. So yeah, he’s gonna still go up there and compete.”
The Dodgers went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and squandered a bases-loaded opportunity with one out in the sixth inning after chasing Buehler. Max Muncy popped out and Kyle Tucker, back in the lineup after exiting Monday’s game because of back spasms, flied out.
The Dodgers have built such a big lead in the division that the loss barely made a dent. The Padres, in second place, trail by eight games.
Caitlin Clark hit in throat during WNBA loose-ball scramble, sparking backlash and game suspension
WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark was hit in the throat during a loose-ball scramble, sparking outrage and a one-game suspension for Alyssa Thomas. Fox News’ Garrett Tenney reports on the ‘absolutely unacceptable’ incident and the coach’s reaction. Political analyst Gianno Caldwell discusses Clark’s immense impact on WNBA viewership, including a $2.2 billion deal, and the role of gender and race in the controversy.
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Phoenix Mercury All-Star Alyssa Thomas is the latest villain to Caitlin Clark fans after punching Clark in the throat during a game on Wednesday night.
The referees missed the punch in real time, but fans and the league office did not.
A viral clip of the punch in slow motion spread across social media, pouring gasoline on the ongoing culture war surrounding Clark’s physical treatment by opposing players, which has been a controversial issue dating back to Clark’s rookie season in 2024.
And Less than 24 hours after the incident, the WNBA slapped Thomas with a one-game suspension for what was deemed a “reckless” and “non-basketball act.”
Who is the woman behind the punch?
If Thomas wasn’t in the WNBA, she says she would go pro in combat sports
In a 2019 interview with Nike PLAYlist, Thomas answered what sport she would have gone pro in if she didn’t go pro in basketball.
“Either boxing or MMA,” Thomas said.
If Thomas never went pro in any sport, she said she would have gotten into dentistry.
“Since I was a kid, I loved going to the dentist. I just was fascinated with teeth and still am. I’m passionate about that whole process of cleaning,” according to a profile on WNBA.com.
The first time Thomas stepped on a basketball court, she threw a ‘hissy fit’
Thomas was signed up to try basketball for the first time at the age of five by her mother, Tina, per the WNBA.
Thomas said she “Threw myself all down the stairs, down the hallway,” while her mom said “She just threw an absolute hissy fit.”
WNBA SUSPENDS ALYSSA THOMAS FOR ‘RECKLESSLY’ HITTING CAITLIN CLARK IN THROAT DURING SCRAMBLE
Her parents didn’t let her win a popular board game
Thomas’ parents never took it easy on her when they played “Candyland” as she was growing up.
“We weren’t the parents that were just going to let you win,” Tina said, per the WNBA.
“In life, you have to fight, and how are you going to fight if you don’t teach your kids to fight? So if she fell over, ‘get up, you’re alright,’ and if she didn’t get up, you knew something was wrong.”
It was a parenting tactic also used by the father of New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who famously never let Jeter win in board games or card games when he was growing up, to instill harsh competitiveness at an early age.
Thomas added that her mom was especially hard on her and helped develop her toughness.
“By no means was it easy, and it’s still not easy,” Thomas said.
Thomas plays more physically because shoulder issues hinder her shooting ability
Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas scrambles to get up over Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark during a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on June 24, 2026. The Phoenix Mercury defeated the Indiana Fever 111-109. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Thomas currently plays basketball with torn labrums in both of her shoulders.
The injuries are so severe that she completely lacks the structural integrity to lift her arms and shoot a traditional, fluid jump shot. Instead, she is forced to use a rigid, one-handed pushing motion from her chest just to get the ball to the rim.
Because she cannot rely on outside shooting, Thomas adapted by leaning entirely into her physical frame. She drives directly into the teeth of opposing defenses, absorbing heavy contact in the paint to score closer to the basket.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark shown after falling in the lane while Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas watches the ball at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana on June 24, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
That brutal, driving style requires her to initiate intense physical collisions on nearly every single possession.
Despite the mechanical limitations and constant pain, the tactical shift worked. She transformed herself into a six-time All-Star, three-time First-Team All-WNBA, an Olympic gold medalist and the undisputed triple-double queen of the WNBA.
Thomas has been the center of immense criticism this week
The throat punch on Clark ignited a fierce wave of backlash.
Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White led the charge, completely unloading on Thomas and the league’s officials during her postgame press conference.
“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said, pointing directly at Thomas’s actions. “Absolutely unacceptable.”
White argued that Thomas regularly crosses the line from playing physical defense into inflicting dangerous, non-basketball contact.
“It’s absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful,” White continued to fume to reporters. “The fist in the throat is crazy. It’s crazy. It’s dangerous.”
On Thursday, Fever President Kelly Krauskopf released a statement praising the decision to suspend Thomas.
“Player safety should be paramount in our league. We appreciate the WNBA’s review of last night’s incident and the action taken. Right now our focus is on Caitlin and our entire team as we prepare for Saturday,” Krauskopf wrote.
Former Minnesota Vikings captain and prominent conservative activist Jack Brewer said the punch would be considered a “hate crime” if the roles were reversed.
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“This would be considered a hate crime if it were the other way around,” Brewer told Fox News Digital.
Other critics have expressed their own outrage on social media.
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