Sports
Ben Joyce's 105.5-mph strikeout pitch is the fastest. Angels closer says he can throw harder
The television broadcast radar gun reading drew gasps. Never before had it displayed a number this high: 106 mph.
Angels reliever Ben Joyce turned his back to home plate to take a peek at the scoreboard, then tugged at his belt buckle and allowed himself a smile. The now-you-see-it, did-I-actually-see-it fastball that struck out Tommy Edman of the Dodgers on Tuesday night was precisely 105.5 mph — the broadcast had rounded up — making it the third-fastest pitch recorded since radar guns were introduced in the 1980s.
Only reliever Aroldis Chapman has thrown faster pitches, touching 105.8 mph in 2010 and 105.7 mph in 2016.
Even in an era when extreme velocity is prized and more triple-digit fastballs are recorded than ever, Joyce is the most likely candidate to hit 106 mph — no rounding necessary. After all, he threw a pitch 105.5 mph while at the University of Tennessee in 2022, two months before the Angels selected him in the third round of the MLB draft.
He’s touched 104.8 mph twice this season and his four-seam fastball has averaged 102.1 mph.
“I think 105, any harder than that, good luck to anyone in that ball’s direction,” Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe said.
Can Joyce throw harder?
“I would like to think so,” he said. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Joyce’s pitch to Edman was the fastest thrown on a strikeout, a knee-high four-seamer that the Dodgers utility man swung through to end the ninth.
“I looked up right after and saw it,” Joyce said. “It was just a big-time game and all the fans were into it. So I feel like that helped a little bit. It was two strikes, so I kind of just tried to give everything I had.”
Joyce exited after the inning and the Dodgers scored four runs in the 10th — highlighted by Mookie Betts’ three-run homer after Shohei Ohtani was walked intentionally — to win 6-2 at Angel Stadium.
Since giving up five earned runs in his first three outings after being promoted from the minors in early June, Joyce, 22, has posted a 0.83 earned-run average in 28 appearances. He inherited the closer role when the Angels traded Carlos Estévez on July 27 and has four saves.
Throwing as hard as Joyce does invites peril, and the Angels are judicious in his usage. Only twice has he pitched on consecutive days and only twice has he thrown more than 30 pitches in a game.
Calculating velocity wasn’t precise until about 20 years ago, making it difficult to compare Joyce and Chapman to legendary flamethrowers such as Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan, who avoided injury while amassing staggering numbers. But the pitcher who threw hardest before Chapman isn’t exactly a household name.
Joel “Zoom Zoom” Zumaya pitched for the Detroit Tigers from 2006-2010 and hurled a 104.8-mph fastball to Frank Thomas in the 2006 American League Championship Series that was the fastest pitch recorded until Chapman’s 105.8 reading in 2010. Zumaya threw other pitches that touched 104 mph, including one that Ken Griffey Jr. crushed for a grand slam.
But Zumaya had control problems and was plagued by injuries on and off the field. He broke a bone in his elbow while pitching in June 2010 and re-injured the elbow while attempting a comeback two years later. He retired with a 3.05 ERA over 209 2/3 innings with 210 strikeouts and 114 walks.
Chapman, by contrast, has enjoyed a 15-year career. The Cuban left-hander has appeared in 786 games, and counting, and is still effective at 36. He was a 22-year-old rookie with the Cincinnati Reds mopping up in the eighth inning of a loss to the San Diego Padres when he unleashed the 105.8-mph pitch to Tony Gwynn Jr.
All 25 pitches Chapman threw in his 1 1/3-inning stint were fastballs and all were triple digits. Three were clocked at 104 mph.
“I didn’t see it until the ball was behind me,” Gwynn said of the record pitch. “I was trying not to look at the radar reading because I’d be intimidated.”
That’s probably good strategy against Joyce as well. On Aug. 22, he became the first to throw three pitches 103 mph or faster in the same at-bat when he struck out the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt. The first pitch was 104.8 mph, the second 104.5 mph and the third 103.2 mph. Witt, one of the best young hitters in baseball, swung through all three.
“Joyce is gonna be something special,” Angels manager Ron Washington said after Joyce notched first career save Aug. 3 by striking out J.D. Martinez of the New York Mets on a 104.7-mph fastball. “Every time you tell him something that educates him, he finds a way to use it.”
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On Friday, Argentina looked to continue its quest for back-to-back World Cup titles, and to do it, they had to get through one of the darlings of this year’s tournament, Cape Verde.
The small island nation off the coast of West Africa came into the match as the No. 64-ranked team in the world, and they managed to hold Argentina — the No. 2 team behind France at the moment — scoreless for almost thirty minutes.
But in the 29th minute, Lionel Messi scored to give Argentina the lead.
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That was the 20th World Cup goal of his career, and it also made him the first player to score seven or more goals in multiple World Cups, having done it in Qatar as well.
It was also Messi’s eighth-straight World Cup match with a goal.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi scored in his eight-straight World Cup match and potted the 20th World Cup goal of his career. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images))
Well, typically when Argentina takes the lead, they don’t cough it up, but early in the second half, Cape Verde’s Deroy Duarte pulled off a stunner and tied the game at 1-1.
HARRY KANE RESCUES ENGLAND FROM SHOCK WORLD CUP EXIT WITH TWO GOALS IN 11 MINUTES AGAINST DR CONGO
While there was some late pressure from Argentina, that included an always-dangerous Messi free kick from just outside the box that Cape Verde managed to stop.
And with that, it was off to extra time.
Cape Verde celebrates after scoring one of their two tying goals against Argentina. (Photo by Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
However, it only took moments for Cape Verde to find themselves once again battling from behind.
Lisandro Martinez found the twine in the 92nd minute to give Argentina the lead.
It looked like that would be all she wrote… but Cape Verde had other plans.
They stuck with the defending World Cup champs, and in the 103rd minute, Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an unbelievable goal to tie the game again.
Coming into this game, Argentina had given up just two goals in their ten-match World Cup winning streak.
Cape Verde did that in one match.
Argentina’s Cristian Romero gets his head on what proved ot be the game-winning goal. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
But in the 111th minute, Messi took an Argentina corner kick and put it in the perfect spot for Cristian Romero to head it to the back post and into the back of the net.
This was eventually updated to an own-goal, as it went off the Cape Verde defender’s arm, but it counts the same on the scoreboard.
Despite a late flurry of chances, Argentina held on to avoid what would have been potentially the biggest upset in World Cup history.
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What a match, and what a run Cape Verde had in the tournament.
Argentina will now have to recompose and get ready for a tough Round of 16 match against Egypt, which will take place on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Like a good striker, Folarin Balogun never loses sight of the goal. And the goal for the U.S. team in this summer’s World Cup hasn’t been just to win, which they’ve done, but to inspire.
And that’s how Balogun found himself on the field, shaking hands with Brazilian referee Raphael Claus, about 45 minutes after Claus gave him a controversial red card in Wednesday’s win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, a red card that will keep him out of Monday’s round-of-16 game with Belgium.
“Little kids are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust,” Balogun said Friday.
“It’s not an excuse to be disrespectful, to not do the right thing. I’m aware that the World Cup might be the first time a lot of American viewers are tuning in. So it’s important, whether things happen to you good or bad, just to continue to be yourself.”
That doesn’t mean Balogun didn’t think the red card was unjust. He does. And he definitely thinks something bad happened to him and his team since Balogun, the Americans’ leading scorer with three goals in as many games, will have to sit out the team’s most important game in a generation.
It’s just means that Balogun, who celebrated his 25th birthday Friday, is also mature enough to understand a game — even a World Cup elimination game — is just a game.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” he said before the team’s training session at the University of Washington. “There’s been lots of different emotions. I’ve been upset, I’ve been happy. But for me, it was just important to stay calm. I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion.”
Balogun, who had given his team a 1-0 lead in the waning seconds of the first half, collided with Tarik Muharemovic 16 minutes into the second half, and when the Bosnian defender planted his right leg below Balogun’s right foot, the American inadvertently stomped on his right ankle, twisting it awkwardly.
U.S. forward Folarin Balogun steps on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic’s foot and received a red card.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Both players went down and Claus did not signal a foul or pull card. But after the video assistant referee urged him to watch a replay, Claus walked away from the monitor and flashed the red card. That left the U.S. to finish Wednesday’s game with just 10 men and disqualified Balogun for Monday’s game. U.S. Soccer said Friday FIFA’s disciplinary committee did not add any games to Balogun’s suspension.
“There’s the scenarios that you simply can’t avoid,” he said, “and it has to be taken into context when it’s being reviewed. I felt it wasn’t on this occasion. There’s nowhere else to put your leg. It’s going to be unavoidable.
“I think a yellow card would have been fair. [But] it’s something that’s happened, so we have to move forward, and I have to accept it. The most important thing is just to focus on the bigger picture, which is Belgium.”
Replacing Balogun won’t be easy since he’s emerged as one of the team’s most effective and creative players, either scoring of setting up the go-ahead goal in all three of the U.S. wins.
“We’ve got guys that can fill in and have to be ready for the opportunity to step up,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “When you miss a player like Balo, obviously things change a little bit. But we’ve been flexible. Guys have shown that they’re ready to play.”
The most likely replacements are Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright. Pepi, who scored 16 goals for PSV in the Dutch Eredivisie this season, played 90 minutes in place of Balogun in the U.S. loss to Turkey in the final group-stage match. Wright, who had 17 goals for Coventry City in the English Championship, played in all four U.S. games in the 2022 World Cup, scoring once, but he has made just one appearance in this summer’s tournament.
“Balo is an important part of our team, and it’s a disappointing way for him to miss the next game,” said Wright, who grew up in Culver City and spent three years in the Galaxy academy. “But, I’ll always be ready and prepared for whatever comes.”
A victory over Belgium would send the U.S. to the quarterfinals of a World Cup for just the second time. It would also give it four wins in the tournament, double the number of victories in any previous World Cup and marking the first time the Americans have won twice in the knockout stages in the same tournament.
U.S. forward Ricardo Pepi pursues the ball during a World Cup match against Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara , Calif., on Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
It’s a moment, Adams acknowledged Friday, many players have waited for their whole lives.
“You need to embrace the moment, that’s for sure,” he said. “To have the opportunity to play in a round-of-16 game — which, obviously, last World Cup we did, but it was the first knockout game, not the second — it’s exciting. It was nice to get a little bit of a taste of what it feels like to play with something a little bit more on the line in the last game. I think that’s good preparation.
“Advancing and taking this thing as far as we can is the most important thing. We have a good opportunity here to do so.”
Sports
Knicks champion says he hopes ‘truth comes out’ after leaving team for Eastern Conference rival
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The New York Knicks’ first championship team in 53 years is now starting to look a little bit different.
They were able to hang on to Jose Alvarado, but the first domino to fall was defensive big man Mitchell Robinson, who signed a three-year deal with the Boston Celtics.
Several of Robinson’s now-former teammates, including Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, commented on his farewell post on Instagram, but Robinson’s response to Anunoby was rather telling.
Mitchell Robinson is seen outside City Hall at the New York Knicks ticker-tape parade on June 18, 2026 in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images)
Anunoby commented with a sad emoji, and Robinson said he “tried” to get back with the Knicks, hinting the feeling was not mutual.
“I tried brother I didn’t want this to happen hopefully the truth comes out at some point. I’m gonna miss you big dawg! Keep being great,” Robinson replied.
Team owner James Dolan said almost immediately after the Knicks won the title that he had no interest in going into the NBA’s second apron of payroll, calling it “suicidal.”
Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks celebrates after winning the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Jesse D. Garrabrant /NBAE via Getty Images)
KNICKS OWNER APPEARS TO TAKE SWIPE AT MAMDANI AT NBA CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION, STIFFS PHOTO OP WITH HIM
That alone was enough to tell fans that a roster reconstruction was en route, especially with Brunson eventually set to make up for the massive pay cut he took to help the Knicks win it all.
Robinson grabbed the final offensive rebound off a missed free throw that all but clinched the Knicks’ title against the San Antonio Spurs last month.
Robinson saw both the good and the bad with the Knicks as a second-round draft pick in 2018; in his first season, they were 17-65.
Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks talks to the media after the game against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 13, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Jacob Gonzalez/NBAE via Getty Images)
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But now, he will head to an apparent re-tooling Celtics team as a champion.
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