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LAFC and Galaxy each won something notable in their El Tráfico draw

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LAFC and Galaxy each won something notable in their El Tráfico draw

It was the kind of showdown MLS has long dreamed of to sell the league.

Marco Reus, a three-time Bundesliga player of the year, standing over the ball 25 yards from where Hugo Lloris, the most-capped goalkeeper in World Cup history, waited for his free kick. With less than three minutes left in regulation, the league’s most intense rivalry was hanging in the balance.

For Reus, however, the moment felt far from unique.

“I had these kind of situations a thousand times in my career. So I know what I have to do,” said Reus, who then did it, chipping a shot inches over LAFC’s five-man defensive wall and inches wide of a diving Lloris to give the Galaxy a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s El Tráfico.

For all the drama, the result was one neither team wanted, but one that both accepted.

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“The feeling in the locker room is just pure disappointment. And we’ll learn from this moment and get better,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said.

But, he added, “it’s also really important not to lose games, not just always to look to win, win, win. Yes, we all want to win. We do everything we can to win. It’s also important to understand we’re away and we got a point tonight.”

The result extended LAFC’s unbeaten streak to seven games. However the Reus goal, with less than three minutes left in regulation time, kept the team from winning back-to-back games for the first time since March 1.

“The result is fair,” Cherundolo said.

“In a couple of key moments we weren’t good enough to win. We didn’t have our best day. But we didn’t have a poor day.”

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For the Galaxy (0-10-4), the tie extended their winless streak to 14 games, the longest ever by a reigning MLS Cup champion. However it also ended their five-game losing streak, the team’s longest in five seasons.

“It probably is somewhat of a fair result,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney agreed.

Nobody won, nobody lost, everybody had a good time.

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Well, not exactly. Because both sides missed opportunities to take a big step forward and wound up running in place instead.

For LAFC (6-4-4), the draw continued a trend that has seen the team play well enough not to lose but rarely well enough to win. Reus’ goal prevented it from ending that mediocrity and building some momentum heading into next week’s Club World Cup qualifier with Mexico’s Club América.

“I definitely wanted to win so bad. The competitive juices were flowing,” said midfielder Mark Delgado, whose last game at Dignity Health Sports Park was the MLS Cup final, when he helped the Galaxy to their sixth league title and their last victory before being traded up the 110 Freeway to LAFC.

For the Galaxy, the winless streak remains an albatross hanging around their necks. Injuries have plagued the team, but the Galaxy were healthier Sunday than they’ve been all season. They were also playing in Carson, where they haven’t lost to LAFC in more than two years. And when Reus scored his first goal in the sixth minute, they led for just the third time all season.

“I told the guys in the dressing room that it doesn’t feel like a draw,” said Reus, whose first two-goal game in MLS won him the league’s player of the week honors. “We should win this game, especially 1-0 ahead after six minutes.”

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On Friday the team signed Vanney to a multiyear contract extension that makes him the best-paid manager in MLS. If the announcement, two days before the rivalry game, was meant to take some pressure off the coach, another week without a win left Vanney once again searching for silver linings on the black cloud hovering above his team.

This time he pointed to the determination the Galaxy showed after losing both the lead and an apparent tying goal to an offside call.

“Tonight is a positive night that hopefully we need to think about using as a springboard,” he said. “This is as good of a team as we’ve played against and we played them very even up.”

Cherundolo, like Vanney, thought his team looked good in a tie — especially at the end of a week in which it played three times in two countries in seven days.

So maybe it’s more appropriate to call Sunday’s game a tie in which both teams won something.

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For LAFC, Denis Bouanga’s first-half wonderstrike from well outside the box gave him seven goals in his team’s seven-game unbeaten streak. He led MLS in scoring the last two seasons but was goalless through his team’s first seven games this season, four of which LAFC lost.

For the Galaxy, the two scores from Reus gave him four goal contributions in two games — and he lost another assist on the offside call that negated Gabriel Pec’s second-half goal. More importantly, he played 90 minutes in consecutive games for the first time since coming to MLS last summer.

Even MLS won with the Reus-Lloris showdown.

“We can’t lose sight of the journey that we’re on for the entire season,” Cherundolo said. “The steps we’ve made as a group have been very positive. I’m seeing this as one of 34 league games, plus the Champions League games. We’re on a good path.”

You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.

As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.

The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.

Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.

JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.

The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.

Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.

As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.

Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.

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Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.

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Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

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Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

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(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

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“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

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He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

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The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

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“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

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Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.

While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.

The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”

Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.

WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

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Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”

Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.

“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.

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