Sports
Gavin Lux is a key contributor in Dodgers' rout of Nationals
Back in the spring, Gavin Lux’s biggest problem was throwing the ball.
Then the regular season started, and the Dodgers’ once highly touted infielder suddenly looked unable to hit.
A month into his return from missing 2023 with a knee injury, Lux arrived at Nationals Park this week with just nine hits in 19 games, a .148 batting average that ranked 10th-worst in the majors among hitters with 50 at-bats, and a seemingly dwindling amount of time to reaffirm his place as a core member of the team.
Manager Dave Roberts hadn’t lost faith in Lux, the former first-round draft pick who underwent knee ligament surgery last March after a spring training injury.
But Lux’s own self-belief seemed to be wavering, after his defensive struggles in camp this year cost him his starting shortstop spot, and his poor start at the plate raised questions about his role as the regular second baseman near the bottom of the lineup.
“Baseball is so much mental,” Lux said
Which is why, in an 11-2 Dodgers win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, Lux’s pair of ground-ball singles felt like something much more important to the trajectory of his season.
In a nine-run beatdown that featured four hits each from Mookie Betts and Will Smith, three doubles from Shohei Ohtani — who continues to lead the majors in batting average (.371), slugging percentage (.695) and OPS (1.128) — and a first career win for rookie pitcher Landon Knack, Lux wasn’t exactly the star of the night.
His first single came on a bouncing ball the other way in the second inning, finding a hole through the left side of the infield for just his third hit in the last two weeks.
His second knock was courtesy of even quieter contact, with Lux pulling a ground ball that bounced five times before evading the diving glove of second baseman Luis García Jr.
Still, in what was his first two-hit game since the opening week of the season, Lux’s hits carried a weight of significance.
He came around to score his first time on base, helping the Dodgers jump to an early 3-0 lead. Then, he all but ended the game with his two-out hit in the fifth, driving in a pair of runs — his first RBIs since April 13 — to turn a 4-2 nailbiter in a comfortable four-run Dodgers lead.
“That second hit with two outs was huge,” Roberts said. “That was a back-breaker for them.”
More than that, it was the first time in weeks — if not all season — Lux looked like the steady contributor he had been before his injury in 2022, coupling his improved defense at second (where he has yet to commit an error this year) with his once-signature ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field.
“I’d like to think today was something he could build on going forward,” Roberts said. “It was a really good step in the right direction.”
It was the kind of night Dodgers coaches had sensed was coming from the Lux; optimistic that despite his poor numbers — Lux also entered the game with 16 strikeouts, six walks and an OPS of just .388, seventh-worst in the majors — his swing was finally starting to trend positively.
During batting practice sessions in Washington on Tuesday (when Lux was off in the Dodgers’ series-opener) and Wednesday, Lux started hitting more line drives consistently to left field — a sign to hitting coach Aaron Bates he was rediscovering his pre-injury mechanics.
“He’s getting his feels back and seeing, mobility-wise, what he’s capable of doing,” Bates said, noting the difficult physical recalibration that comes with the torn ACL Lux suffered last year. “He’s a twitchy guy. So when’s comfortable staying on fastballs the other way, or staying through something soft [to the pull side], that’s what you want to look for.”
Lux had also been trying to reframe his mindset. He knew there would be rust after a year spent in rehabilitation mode. But as his early-season slump stretched into its fourth week, he tried to treat any little positive, such as a hard-hit out or clean defensive plays at second, as needed sources of self-belief.
“Especially when you’re slumping, you just trying to keep building momentum and then hopefully bring it into the next day,” said Lux, who has still started all but one game against opposing right-handed pitchers. “It’s a tough mental game, so you just gotta keep rolling.”
The Dodgers are giving Lux continued leeway to try and gain a head of steam.
Before the game, Roberts praised Lux’s work ethic, and said he wanted the infielder to get 150 plate appearances before making a sweeping evaluation about his game.
“Given that he hasn’t played in a year, I don’t think that any less is a fair gauge,” Roberts said. “I just don’t. It’s almost in line with a rookie. Not to say that he’s a rookie because he’s clearly not. But … you need a sample.”
By the end of Wednesday night, Lux was up to 72 plate appearances. And after most of the early ones had been mostly forgettable, he finally enjoyed one game of productive reprieve.
“You just got to keep going with it,” Lux said. “It’ll eventually even out.”
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Now the NBA playoffs are in the swing of things.
Let’s check out the odds for the second round of the playoffs, at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 11.
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EAST SECOND ROUND
No. 7 PHILADELPHIA vs. No. 3 NEW YORK
NYK wins 4-0
No. 4 CLEVELAND (+200) vs. No. 1 DETROIT (-250)
DET leads 2-1
GAME 4 — DET @ CLE (May 11)
Spread: Cavs -3.5
Moneyline: Pistons +140, Cavs -166
O/U: 213.5
What to know: This has been a weird series. Each team has yet to lose on its home court, and the games haven’t seen much domination on either side. Take Game 3 for example: Cleveland held Detroit to 18 points in the second quarter and took a 16-point lead into halftime. Then, in the third quarter, the Pistons held the Cavs to 19 points, cutting that deficit to two heading into the fourth. But Cleveland put together its highest-scoring quarter of the game in the final frame to emerge with a seven-point win.
WEST SECOND ROUND
No. 4 LOS ANGELES (+7000) vs. No. 1 OKLAHOMA CITY (-20000)
OKC leads 3-0
GAME 4 — OKC @ LAL (May 11)
Spread: Thunder -11.5
Moneyline: Thunder -520, Lakers +390
O/U: 214.5
What to know: It appears the Lakers just don’t have the firepower to compete with the Thunder. OKC has won the first three games of the series by a combined 59 points (19.7 points per game), including a 23-point win in Game 3 in Los Angeles. And consider this: SGA is averaging just 21 points per game on 46% shooting. The Thunder are stacked, and sit at 7-0 in the postseason so far.
No. 6 MINNESOTA (+320) vs. No. 3 SAN ANTONIO (-390)
Tied 2-2
GAME 5 — MIN @ SAS (May 12)
Spread: Spurs -10.5
Moneyline: Spurs -410, Wolves +320
O/U: 218.5
What to know: We’ve got a series on our hands. Now tied at 2-2, both of these teams have won once at home and once on the other team’s home floor, with the Wolves winning a crucial Game 4 in Minnesota. But that wasn’t the story of the night. Victor Wembanyama was assessed a Flagrant 2 in the first half of Game 4, and was ejected from the game, after hitting Naz Reid with a vicious elbow to the head. He will play Game 5, but how chippy might things be after that?
Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy is in stable condition after being shot at a concert early Sunday morning in Mississippi, the university’s football program said in a statement Monday morning.
Hardy underwent surgery after sustaining a gunshot wound, according to the team, which added that a timeline for his return to football activities is unknown at this time.
“Ahmad is deeply loved by his teammates, coaches, friends, family and fans,” the team’s statement said. “We will continue to stand beside him and his family through this difficult time, offering our love, prayers, strength and support.”
According to ESPN, Hardy is alert and moving around Monday morning.
Details from the shooting are unclear.
A native of Oma, Miss., Hardy spent his freshman season at Louisiana-Monroe, where he rushed 257 times for 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns.
He transferred to Missouri last season and rushed 256 times for 1,649 yards (second among FBS players) and 16 touchdowns. In addition, Hardy earned first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and was one of three finalists for the Doak Walker Award for college football’s top running back.
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The Indiana Pacers’ risky move backfired after the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery saw them lose their top pick altogether in a disastrous turn of events on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into the lottery, the Pacers, who went 19-63 just one season after reaching the NBA Finals out of the Eastern Conference, had a 52.1% chance of having a top-four pick.
However, when they didn’t see their team chosen in the first four picks – Indiana also had a 14% chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick – it was time to panic.
Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard speaks during a press conference to announce center Miles Turner’s contract extension at Gainsbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on Jan. 30, 2023. (Marc Lebryk/USA TODAY Sports)
The reason? The Pacers included their first-round pick in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers for Ivica Zubac, but they only made it a top-four protected pick. That means, if the Pacers were chosen in the lottery as a top-four selection, they would be able to keep it.
But the Pacers were chosen as the No. 5 pick, and the Clippers now own the selection in next month’s draft.
NBA LOTTERY CHAOS: WASHINGTON WIZARDS STRIKE GOLD, PACERS PAY FOR TANKING GAMBLE NIGHTMARE
As a result, Pacers team president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard took full responsibility for the move, apologizing on social media.
“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” he wrote on X. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck. But please remember – this team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year. We have always been resilient.”
Signage is displayed during the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois, on May 10, 2026. (Melissa Tamez/NBAE/Getty Images)
The Pacers were viewed as a team that were actively tanking despite the NBA’s attempt to crack down on such a season, with the lottery being one way of that. And it clearly worked this time around.
Pritchard was trying to be transparent and honest with the Pacers fan base, but people were quick to jump in the comments to make their thoughts, and gripes, known.
“You lose Myles Turner and add Zubac,” one X user began. “You lose [Benedict] Mathurin and the number 5 pick with absolutely nothing in return. This is why fans are upset, for a center who not even a top 5 center in the NBA. Who trades their future away for Ivan [sic] Zubac???”
Another X user called this a “generational draft,” and couldn’t fathom the Pacers won’t be picking from a deep class.
“If I were a Pacers fan and my team traded away a top 5 pick for Ivica Zubac in the middle of a tanking season I would be beyond devastated,” a fellow X user wrote.
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton shoots around on the court before an NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Indianapolis on April 7, 2026. (Doug McSchooler/AP)
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The Pacers were without their All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton all season long after he suffered an Achilles injury during the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Indiana still has key members of that team returning next season, including Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith.
However, this 2026 draft class is quite the spectacle, with many believing it to be deep considering the talent of BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, UNC’s Caleb Wilson, and Duke’s Cam Boozer, among others.
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