The Chicago Sky climbed back from a 15-point deficit against the Indiana Fever to win 88-87 in a thrilling finish on Sunday evening.

Angel Reese put together her eighth consecutive double-double and led the charge for the Sky to get back into the game. Reese finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds as the Sky picked up their first win against the Fever this season and their sixth overall.

“I’m a dog,” Reese told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game. “You can’t teach that. I’m going to go out and do whatever it takes to win every single night. My teammates rely on my energy. So, being able to continue to the energy even if we’re down, even if we’re up, that’s what I do.”

Chennedy Carter made only her third start for the Sky this season and contributed big numbers as well. She had 23 points with five rebounds in the win. Reese’s fellow rookie teammate, Kamilla Cardoso, added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Reese, Carter and Cardoso were the only Sky players in double figures.

Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky reacts to a call during the first half against the Indiana Fever on June 23, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Indiana’s loss put a damper on a great performance from Caitlin Clark.

CAITLIN CLARK REVEALS SHE SUFFERED RUPTURED EARDRUM ON HARD SCREEN VS LIBERTY EARLIER MONTH

Clark had 17 points, 13 assists and four steals. Her 13 assists came through the first three quarters of the game. She didn’t have any assists in the fourth quarter but managed to set a Fever franchise record for most assists in a single game.

Even as Chicago led in the final moments of the game, the Fever still had a chance to win or send it into overtime. She had one shot in the final 2:19.

Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever brings the ball up court during the first half against the Chicago Sky on June 23, 2024, at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Aliyah Boston nailed a 3-pointer to bring the deficit to within one point with 19.1 seconds left. But the Fever didn’t score again after that.

Boston finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 24 points. NaLyssa Smith added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Indiana fell to 7-11 on the year.

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The $23.5 million that the Dodgers are paying Teoscar Hernández this season isn’t just for the power and run production he provides, his ability to play the corner outfield spots and his boundless energy and enthusiasm on the field and in the clubhouse.

It’s seed money.

Whenever a Dodgers player hits a home run, Hernández showers the batter with sunflower seeds as he returns to the dugout, a tradition the 31-year-old from the Dominican Republic with the bushy beard and toothy grin started in Toronto a few years ago and brought with him to Seattle in 2023 and Los Angeles this season.

And if Hernández goes deep — like he did when his dramatic three-run blast to right-center field capped a seven-run ninth inning in an 11-9 come-from-behind victory over the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field on Tuesday night — another player will grab a fistful or two of seeds and toss them at the slugger.

“This game is hard enough — it brings too much stress — so you have to have fun,” said Hernández, who signed a one-year deal in January after the Mariners did not extend a qualifying offer last winter. “I know hitting a home run is good, but this is just a little extra motivation for the guy who hits it and for the other players.”

Hernández, who played six seasons (2017-2022) for the Blue Jays, doesn’t remember the exact moment he started the tradition because it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.

“Everybody had something to celebrate the homer, but we didn’t have anything at that time,” he said. “There was a bucket with like 20 bags of seeds in the dugout, so I just grabbed one and threw it in the air, and then everybody started doing it.”

There is a proper technique to the sunflower-seed shower, though, one Hernández had to school his Blue Jays teammates on.

“Some guys at the beginning, they misunderstood, and they were throwing them hard,” Hernández said. “Sometimes you get them in the eyes, and sometimes you get them straight in the mouth. The key is to throw the seeds up and let them walk through them.”

Mookie Betts was the first Dodger to receive the sunflower-seed treatment after he hit the team’s first homer of the season, a two-run shot in a March 21 loss to the San Diego Padres in South Korea. The celebration quickly took root.

“I’ve seen a lot of home run celebrations, but I had never seen a sunflower-seed shower before,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said. “He started doing it the [second] game of the season with Mookie, and he’s been doing it ever since. It makes us feel really good. It makes everything more enjoyable. And that’s kind of what this team is about.”

It’s what Hernández has always been about. When Hernández hit a two-run double in the 11th inning of a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees on June 7 and a game-breaking grand slam in the eighth inning of an 11-3 win the following night in Yankee Stadium, the back-page headline of Sunday’s New York Post read: “Oscar the Grouch.”

But if Hernández were a Sesame Street character, he’d be Guy Smiley.

“I’m always laughing. I rarely get mad,” Hernández said. “You can go around and ask people, ‘Have you ever seen Teo mad?’ I don’t think they’re gonna say yes. Everybody knows the way I play on the field and act off the field. I’m the same person. I just like to bring joy and happiness to everybody so they can feel good and relax.”

Hernández’s exuberance seems to have rubbed off on his teammates, and his attitude and approach seem suited for pressure-packed situations, as he showed during the much-hyped series pitting a pair of historic rivals and potential World Series foes in Yankee Stadium two weekends ago.

Hernández went six for 12 with three homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in the three games against the Yankees.

“Teo was on another level [in New York], on the biggest stage of the season so far, and it makes you excited, because that’s where we want to go,” Rojas said. “We want to get to the playoffs, to the World Series, where the stage is going to be even bigger. And we have a guy who can put the team on his shoulders.”

The Dodgers don’t necessarily need Hernández to carry them in October — they’ve added two-time American League valuable player Shohei Ohtani to a star-studded lineup that includes Freddie Freeman and Will Smith and is waiting for dynamic leadoff man Betts and slugger Max Muncy to return from injuries.

Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández throws sunflower seeds at teammate Mookie Betts during a game against the Giants in April.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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But after their bats went cold in National League Division Series losses to the Padres in 2022 and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023, it can’t hurt to have another big bat with the potential to thrive on an October stage.

“You feel the adrenaline, and you obviously get up for those kinds of games, when you play in the big moments, the big situations,” Hernández said. “But I try to be the same guy, to be myself, and to not put pressure on myself. I’m not trying to do too much, because that’s when everything starts to go the opposite way that you want it to go.”

Hernández, who entered Friday night’s game against the Angels with a .261 average, .834 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 18 homers, 16 doubles and a team-high 54 RBIs, has been solid in the clutch, batting .225 (20 for 89) with an .823 OPS, six homers, five doubles and one triple with runners in scoring position.

He’s batting .308 (four for 13) with a 1.154 OPS, two homers, one double and 12 RBIs with the bases loaded, his other grand slam coming in the sixth inning of a 5-1 win at San Diego on May 11.

“I’ve said it before, he reminds me a little bit of Manny Ramirez in the sense that when guys are on base, certainly with runners in scoring position, he’s even better,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve seen that all year from him. He’s sneaky been the MVP of our club.”

Teoscar Hernández hits a two-run home run against the Texas Rangers on June 11.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Hernández hit two homers and drove in four runs in a 6-3 win over St. Louis on March 29 homered and drove in all three runs of a 3-1 win over Miami on May 8. He was named NL player of the week after hitting .260 (nine for 25) with a 1.389 OPS, four homers, 10 RBIs, three doubles and six runs in six games from June 3-9.

“He’s been big, especially with Max being out,” right fielder Jason Heyward said, referring to Muncy, who has been sidelined since May 16 because of a rib-cage strain. “He had some big hits to start the season, some big at-bats, some big homers for us. No doubt, he’s helped hold things down.”

The Dodgers thought the right-handed-hitting Hernández would benefit from a change of scenery. Hernández hit just .217 with a .643 OPS, 12 homers and 44 RBIs in Seattle’s pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park last season and .295 with an .830 OPS, 14 homers and 49 RBIs on the road.

“When you look back at last year, I was hitting the ball hard, but everybody knows how the ball travels at T-Mobile Park,” Hernández said. “Now, I’m hitting the ball hard and getting the production that I expect.”

While his plate discipline will never rival that of Yankees star Juan Soto, Hernández has been more selective than he was in 2023, when he hit .258 with a .741 OPS, 26 homers, 29 doubles, 93 RBIs, 211 strikeouts–third most in baseball — and just 38 walks.

His 92 strikeouts this season are the fifth-most in the major leagues, but he’s walked 27 times, lowering his strikeout rate from 31.1% last season to 28.4% this season and boosting his walk rate from 5.6% in 2023 to 8.4% in 2024.

According to Fangraphs, Hernández’s 29.3% chase rate, the percentage of pitches he swings at outside the strike zone, is down from last year’s 34.5%.

Teoscar Hernández watches from the dugout during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on May 20.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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“They’re going down, little by little,” Hernández said of his strikeout and chase rates. “I think it’s experience, understanding everything you need to do to get better and to execute a game plan. One of my goals for this year is to bring the strikeouts down and increase the walks so I can get on base more. That way, I can help the team get better.”

Hernández’s productive bat has been a constant in the middle of the lineup — he and Freeman are the only two Dodgers who have started all 77 games — and his effervescent smile rarely takes a night or an at-bat off.

“I’ve seen him get frustrated about chasing a pitch, striking out in a big spot or making a mistake in the field, but he goes back to normal real quick, faster than anybody that I’ve ever seen,” Rojas said. “Then he’ll get excited when he does something really good for the team. That’s why it’s important to have a guy like Teoscar. He brings the energy.”

The United States men’s national soccer team took care of its first Copa América opponent on Sunday night in a 2-0 victory over Bolivia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun found the back of the net as Team USA dominated Bolivia throughout the 90 minutes on the pitch. 

The U.S. was looking to make a statement in this Copa América, and taking an early lead against Bolivia, a team they were expected to beat on Sunday night, was the objective. 

Pulisic, the USMNT veteran, was the one who made it happen with just over two minutes gone in the match after the Stars and Stripes were awarded a corner kick.

Instead of sending a cross into the box, Pulisic made a short pass to Timothy Weah, who started to make his way toward the net. He dropped it to his right for Pulisic, who decided to take his first strike of the tournament toward the net, and it couldn’t have been better. 

Pulisic, trying to bend it from right to left, got the perfect height on the ball as he watched it sail over Bolivia’s goalkeeper and into the right side of the net. 

EURO 2024 DAILY RECAP: GERMANY, HUNGARY CLOSE OUT GROUP A WITH STOPPAGE TIME STUNNERS

The U.S.-heavy crowd was raucous as Pulisic celebrated his 30th international goal of his career with his teammates. 

The first half was slow from there, but things picked up again late when Pulisic got a through ball and ran quickly with 22-year-old Folarin Balogun in stride with him on his left. Pulisic dropped a pass to Balogun, who was trying to work against his Bolivia defender one-on-one.

Christian Pulisic of the United States kicks the ball during the Copa América 2024 Group C match with Bolivia at AT&T Stadium on June 23, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

After stepping to his left, Balogun drove a shot low, and it went through the defender’s legs and got past the keeper, who couldn’t stretch far enough for the save. 

Balogun’s 44th minute goal was the fourth of his international career, and it was all the offense the U.S. would need to come away with the victory.

There were multiple chances in the second half to tack on more, especially when Ricardo Pepi, who subbed in, had two chances right near the goal line, but Bolivia’s keeper made two incredible saves to keep the score intact.

But the United States was all smiles when the final whistle sounded, knowing they got the job done and earned the first three points of the tournament. 

Christian Pulisic of the United States celebrates scoring with teammates during the first half against Bolivia at AT&T Stadium on June 23, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (John Todd/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Their next test comes later this week against on Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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