Connect with us

Sports

Listless Dodgers lose to the Diamondbacks again

Published

on

Listless Dodgers lose to the Diamondbacks again

Leadoff man Corbin Carroll driving balls into the gap and racing around the bases. Slugger Christian Walker crushing home runs into the left-field seats. Second baseman Ketel Marte delivering big hits and starting rally-killing double plays. A no-name pitcher shutting down their high-powered offense.

If this had a familiar ring to the Dodgers and a crowd of 46,593 in Chavez Ravine on Wednesday night, it was because it was all too familiar, the Arizona Diamondbacks cruising to a 6-0 victory to win two of three games in a series that was reminiscent of their three-game sweep of the Dodgers in last year’s National League Division Series.

Carroll keyed a three-run fifth inning with a two-run triple that helped send Dodgers ace Tyler Glasnow to his second straight loss; Walker did his usual Dodger damage with a solo homer in the sixth and a double in the eighth, and Marte started a quirky and timely double play to help extricate the Diamondbacks from a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth.

And it was bulk reliever Ryne Nelson who reprised the role of Brandon Pfaadt from Game 3 of that division series, the 26-year-old right-hander entering the day with a 2-3 record and 7.06 ERA in seven starts but blanking the Dodgers on five hits over five innings, striking out five and walking three.

The Dodgers, at the end of a 13-day, 13-game stretch in which they went 7-6, went hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position and lost their first regular-season home series to Arizona since April 13-15, 2018, a span of 13 series. It was Arizona’s first shutout in Chavez Ravine since a 13-0 win on Sept. 4, 2017.

Advertisement

Teoscar Hernández gets caught in a rundown as Arizona catcher Gabriel Montero tags him out in the sixth inning

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Diamondbacks, with some key players hurt and others underachieving, were still two games under .500 (24-26) and eight games behind the Dodgers in the NL West after the win.

But as they showed during their surprising World Series run last October and again this week in Los Angeles, they could present problems for the Dodgers.

Advertisement

“Oh, yeah. I think we know that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, when asked if Arizona was better than its record might indicate. “It seems like everyone around the league is going through a lot of injuries–certainly those guys with their starting pitching.

“But their bullpen has been really good, they took good at-bats against us and they got big hits when they needed to. We know how good of a ball club they are. They certainly play us very well.”

Glasnow was dominant through four scoreless innings in which he gave up two singles, struck out six, walked none and induced 14 swinging strikes, but the Diamondbacks snapped the scoreless tie with three runs in the fifth.

Gabriel Moreno drew a one-out walk. No. 9 hitter Kevin Newman grounded a single to center field to advance Moreno to third, and Newman took second on the throw.

Carroll, the 2023 NL rookie of the year who is off to a brutal start in 2024 — he entered Wednesday with a .191 average, two homers and 14 RBIs — drove a hanging 1-and-2 curveball from Glasnow into the right-center field gap for a two-run triple for a 2-0 lead. He then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Advertisement

“I thought the stuff was really good early and through that fourth inning,” Roberts said of Glasnow, who gave up three runs and four hits in five innings, striking out six and walking one, to fall to 6-3 with a 3.09 ERA.

“He was getting the swing and miss. The command was good. The breaking ball was good. The slider was good. And then in that fifth inning, it seemed like he just couldn’t find his mechanics and lost his command. … He got Carroll into a leverage count and hung the breaking ball.”

The Dodgers had a similar threat in the top of the fourth when Teoscar Hernández walked and Gavin Lux laced a double to right to put runners on second and third with one out. But Nelson struck out Andy Pages on three pitches and got Jason Heyward to ground out to first.

The Dodgers failed to score again after putting two on with no outs in the fifth when Shohei Ohtani hit a mile-high fly ball to center field, Freddie Freeman struck out on a 96-mph fastball from Nelson and Will Smith flied to the wall in right.

“We had a couple of situational opportunities that we didn’t cash in on, even after we saw [Nelson] a couple of times,” Roberts said. “In those situations, he went after us with the fastball, and we couldn’t catch up to it. Just really uncharacteristic of us.”

Advertisement

The Diamondbacks pushed the lead to 4-0 in the sixth when Walker crushed a 417-foot solo homer to left-center field off reliever Elieser Hernández, giving the Arizona first baseman 22 homers in 87 games against the Dodgers, 14 of them coming in Chavez Ravine.

“He’s one of my favorite players to watch,” Roberts said of Walker. “He plays the game the right way. He uses the whole field. He doesn’t give away pitches. He’s a Gold Glover on defense. He runs the bases. He’s one of the guys I really respect as a ballplayer. You just don’t like it when he’s in the batter’s box, for sure.”

The Dodgers had one final chance to make a game of it in the bottom of the sixth when Teoscar Hernández singled to right and Lux singled to left, putting two on with no outs.

Pages followed with a broken-bat bloop up the middle that Marte alertly let drop near the second-base bag. Marte fielded the ball, stepped on second for the force out and started a rundown that ended with Hernández being tagged out between second and third for a double play. Heyward flied out to the warning track in left to end the inning.

“There was really nothing our baserunners could have done,” Roberts said. “We had a chance to kind of build an inning, and then Andy gets sawed off, Ketel made a heady play and just killed the rally right there.”

Advertisement

Arizona scored twice off reliever Ryan Yarbrough in the eighth when Marte led off with a homer off the left-field foul pole and Walker doubled and later scored on a passed ball.

Short hops

Left-hander James Paxton and right-hander Walker Buehler will start the first two games of a three-game series at Cincinnati beginning Friday night, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Sunday’s series finale, marking the fourth time this season the right-hander will pitch on five days’ rest. … Closer Evan Phillips, out since May 5 because of a mild right-hamstring strain, will throw live-batting practice with Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday and is scheduled to begin a rehabilitation assignment with the club on Sunday.

Advertisement

Sports

Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

Published

on

Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.

It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.

We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

Advertisement

10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)

After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.

9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)

How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.

8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)

This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.

Continue Reading

Sports

UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

Published

on

UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.

During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.

“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”

Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.

“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”

Advertisement

South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.

The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.

Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.

“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.

South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.

Advertisement

The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.

Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.

Continue Reading

Sports

Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America

Published

on

Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.

But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.

Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Advertisement

Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)

He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.

“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.

“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”

Advertisement

Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.

He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.

“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.

Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)

“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”

Advertisement

Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.

“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.

National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”

Advertisement

Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending