Sports
Mookie Betts continues his torrid start to lead Dodgers past the Nationals
There was a lull in early April, when he went two games without a hit and seven games without a run batted in, but other than that, Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts has been on an opening-month rampage, one that continued with a career-high-tying five hits in Tuesday night’s 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals.
A sellout crowd of 52,718 in Dodger Stadium saw Betts hit two doubles, three singles, score twice and drive in two runs to provide a jolt to a team that had lost four of five games. Betts now is batting .388 with a 1.190 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, six homers, five doubles, 18 RBIs and 22 runs in 20 games,
“He’s pretty locked in right now–it’s fun to watch,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “He’s so locked in to what he’s trying to do with his defense that I feel like that’s carrying over to his offense. He’s fully in tune with what his body’s doing right now, and I feel that’s allowing him to get the most out of what he’s trying to do on both sides of the ball.”
Betts is a six-time Gold Glove Award-winning right fielder who was moved to second base over the winter and then to shortstop–a position he hadn’t played regularly since high school–in early March.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder is determined to mold himself into a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, so he goes through grueling pregame workouts every day, taking dozens of ground balls–to his left, to his right, directly at him with pace, slow rollers he has to charge–throwing to first base and working on double-play feeds and pivots.
And his offense has not suffered one bit.
“I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as he works before a game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know how he does it. You would think that he expends too much energy, but he’s just so mentally tough that he can handle it. He’s not a very physical guy, but it certainly hasn’t affected performance.”
Does Betts worry that, over the course of a six-month, 162-game season, he might work so hard before games that his tank is not full for the games?
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s a balance, but I can’t not put in the work,” Betts said. “That’s me. I’m always going to put in work. I’ll overwork before I take a day off. I just gotta figure it out.”
Betts singled to right field to open the first inning Tuesday night and eventually scored on Teoscar Hernández’s double-play grounder.
He followed a single by center fielder Andy Pages, who was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday and smacked the first big-league pitch he saw into right field, and an RBI single by Austin Barnes with an RBI double to left-center for a 3-0 lead in the second.
Kiké Hernández’s 431-foot solo homer to center gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the fifth. Betts doubled to right-center and scored on Teoscar Hernández’s RBI infield single for a 5-2 lead in the seventh, and his RBI single to right made it 6-2 in the eighth.
“I think the thing that stands out most is his plate discipline,” Roberts said of Betts. “He’s just not chasing. He really is controlling the strike zone. Even to be able to get a hit the other way, he’s using the big part of the field.”
The score would have been more lopsided if the Dodgers’ $700-million man had delivered in the clutch.
Three times, Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate with runners in scoring position, and three times the slugger swung at the first pitch, producing a 108-mph groundout to second base in the second, a routine grounder to second in the fourth and a fly ball to center field in the seventh.
Ohtani is now one for 19 (.053) with runners in scoring position this season, paltry numbers for a guy who entered Tuesday with a .289 career average, a .618 slugging percentage, 1.036 OPS and 45 homers with runners in scoring position.
“Shohei is obviously a very aggressive hitter, but he can do a better job of getting into a count,” Roberts said. “Right now, he’s been super aggressive, more than he’s ever been with runners in scoring position. So we’ve got to temper that back, make these guys continue to make pitches. We’ll address that.”
The Nationals cut the lead to 3-2 in the third when Jacob Young singled and stole second and Jesse Winker crushed a 73-mph curve from left-hander Ryan Yarbrough 429 feet into the right-center field seats for a two-run homer.
But Yarbrough, pitching in a bulk role after Kyle Hurt opened the game with two scoreless innings, shook off the homer and retired 12 straight batters from the fourth through seventh innings.
“The biggest difference was getting ahead, keeping them off-balance and getting quick outs,” Yarbrough said. “With Young and Winker, I was falling behind.”
The promotion of Pages, the 23-year-old Cuban native who had season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder just three weeks into 2023–an injury suffered on a swing in his first triple-A game–headlined a flurry of pregame moves on Tuesday.
The Dodgers also recalled Hurt and right-handed reliever Eduardo Salazar and optioned right-hander Ricky Vanasco and left-hander Nick Ramirez, who each threw two perfect innings of relief Monday night.
Outfielder Taylor Trammell was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Salazar. Top pitching prospect Landon Knack will be called up from triple-A to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Nationals.
With outfielder Jason Heyward’s recovery from a lower-back injury going much slower than expected and utility man Chris Taylor mired in a brutal 1-for-33 season-opening slump, manager Dave Roberts said Pages would start against Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin Wednesday and get a considerable “runway” to play over the next few weeks.
“I’ll try to get him in as much as I can to see what we have,” Roberts said of Pages, who hit .371 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 15 games for Oklahoma City this season. “He’s a complete player. A very heady player. He lives and breathes baseball. Very good defender. He’s got plus power.
“And coming back from this really traumatic surgery he had last year, he’s been nothing but fantastic since spring training. We’re really excited.”
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Conor McGregor has finally revealed what exactly happened to his right knee during a very short return to the UFC octagon on July 11 in Las Vegas.
McGregor, who lost by technical knockout to Max Holloway in UFC 329, called it “quite shocking” to learn what he injured during UFC 329.
“Update: it was acl and meniscus,” McGregor posted on X.
Conor McGregor of Ireland prepares to face Max Holloway in a welterweight fight during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“It is the same injury as the first Holloway fight, only this time the opposite leg. Quite shocking.”
McGregor previously fought Holloway 13 years ago before he gained worldwide stardom for his mixed martial arts. It’s a total coincidence this happened now over a decade later, but McGregor is trying to keep a positive mindset once again.
“With today’s regenerative medicine advancements and improved training methods it is well within my realm to return by next summer,” McGregor continued, confidently. “I am walking without a crutch. I done leg extension machine work the other day to no issue. So I can walk without aid, and activate my quad under resistance. All very positive. I am maximum discipline and have maintained it fully since the bout.
JOE ROGAN CALLS OUT ‘CRAZY’ KICK ATTEMPT BY CONOR MCGREGOR THAT LED TO INJURY: ‘YOU DON’T DO THAT’
“I wonder was I saved from something worse here. I believe so. I would have attended the after party as ‘the man’ and who knows then. I believe I was saved. Thank you God! On we go, no sad stories. Thank you for the support and well wishes everyone, your health is your wealth.”
It wasn’t much of a bout, as McGregor attempted a jumping roundhouse kick on Holloway. As McGregor landed on the canvas, he immediately grabbed at his right knee and hit the deck.
Conor McGregor kicks Max Holloway in a welterweight fight at UFC 329 on Saturday in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
Holloway took advantage of the situation, trying to get McGregor while he was down. But despite evading some serious punches from Holloway, McGregor clearly wasn’t right.
Referee Mike Beltran eventually called the fight just seconds into the first round, giving Holloway the victory and ending the UFC 329 co-main event in lackluster fashion.
After the match, McGregor was understandably upset.
“My head gasket is gone. Destroyed,” he wrote on X at the time. “I had no injury/injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.”
Conor McGregor of Ireland reacts after an injury stoppage in a welterweight fight during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2026. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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McGregor’s camp even showed pre-fight footage from the locker room, where the two-division champion was seen rehearsing his jumping roundhouse kicks. He was landing perfectly fine.
McGregor’s UFC career record is now 22-7 after this TKO finish, but it seems like the 38-year-old is still ready to recover and get back in the octagon. He doesn’t want to end his fighting career in that fashion.
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NEW YORK — Eliezer Alfonzo jumped on a first-pitch cutter, keeping his hands inside to send it into shallow center field.
Two weeks after making his major league debut under tragic circumstances, Alfonzo recorded his first hit.
“The guys have been supporting me, pushing me every day,” Alfonzo said. “And they told me, ‘You’re going to get it here at Yankee Stadium, it’s going to be really good.’”
It was a heartwarming moment early in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. By dropping the series finale after an 8-2 win in the opener, the Dodgers settled for a series win instead of sweep.
With starting catcher Will Smith sidelined indefinitely because of a neck injury, Alfonzo has served as the backup to Dalton Rushing for the last two weeks.
The morning of Alfonzo’s debut, his sister and stepmother, who had been missing since two powerful earthquakes devastated Venezuela last month, were found dead. Alfonzo still played, honoring them on the field.
“It was good to see him shorten up and get a knock,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously he has gone through a lot so it was good to get that first major league hit here. Behind the plate, he’s been great.”
Alfonzo’s familiarity with the Dodgers’ pitching staff from spring training has helped provide some stability in Smith’s absence. But he had yet to contribute at the plate, going 0 for 9.
Until the third inning of Sunday’s nightcap.
Alfonzo rounded first base, kissed his closed right hand and pointed to the sky. Then he turned to the visitors dugout, grinned and lifted both fists above his head.
“The first thing I said, as soon as I saw the ball going through, [was] ‘Thanks, God, for this,’” Alfonzo said.
A pitching change later in the inning, after Shohei Ohtani singled, gave Alfonzo a chance to grab a drink of water outside the dugout. His teammates flocked to him, reaching over the railing for high-fives.
Ohtani, who Alfonzo said had encouraged him with “Let’s get the first hit today” before the game, greeted him with: “Congratulations! I told you.”
Notching his first hit at Yankee Stadium was even sweeter, Alfonzo said, because of his grandmother’s affinity for the Yankees.
His teammates made sure to get the ball back. And Teoscar Hernández held it up to show him.
Alfonzo’s two-out single didn’t start a rally. But in the bottom of the fourth, he helped squash one.
Dodgers right-hander Edgardo Henriquez was on the mound as their third pitcher in a bullpen game, and his command was faltering, to the tune of back-to-back walks and a wild pitch. Then with runners on second and third, he induced José Caballero to hit a grounder to third baseman Max Muncy.
Anthony Volpe, the Yankees’ runner on third, took off on contact. Muncy threw on the run to Alfonzo, who was set up on the inside of the basepath. Alfonzo made a diving tag on Volpe to prevent a run.
Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo tags out Yankees runner Anthony Volpe at the plate in the fourth inning.
(Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
The Dodgers (63-37) used seven pitchers, the first six combining to limit the Yankees (55-44) to Cody Bellinger’s first-inning RBI single for seven innings. Brock Stewart had a standout performance, entering in the fifth with no outs and the bases loaded and retiring three straight batters. He then threw a clean sixth. Alex Vesia struck out the side in the seventh.
Utility man Tommy Edman’s pinch-hit homer in the eighth tied the score, but with two men on, Ohtani struck out and Andy Pages popped out against Yankees closer David Bednar. In the bottom half, Yankees star Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a solo homer off Evan Phillips to regain the lead. Freddie Freeman led off the ninth with a walk, but Bednar retired the next three Dodgers to end it.
“I think everyone’s pleased with the results of the series,” Phillips said. “But I think what we do well here as a team is treat games individually and just go out there and try to perform well as a group each and every game. So sure, you can look back on the series and reflect and say this was a quality series, but I think everybody’s disappointed about the loss.”
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President Donald Trump will present the FIFA World Cup trophy to the winner of the match between Spain and Argentina on Sunday, a White House official confirmed to Fox News.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last month on “Fox & Friends” that he and Trump would deliver the trophy to the winning team’s captain on the field of New York/New Jersey Stadium.
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Reece James of Chelsea lifts the FIFA Club World Cup trophy on stage with President Donald Trump after Chelsea’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2025 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Infantino also said at the time that Trump would attend the contest. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the president’s attendance “a fitting conclusion to a tournament that showcased America’s ability to host the world on the grandest stage.”
Trump was on stage during the FIFA Club World Cup trophy presentation after Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
Earlier in the World Cup, Trump got involved in one of the World Cup’s biggest controversies, calling Infantino and requesting a review of Folarin Balogun’s red card. Balogun was suspended for Team USA’s Round of 16 match, but he was later ruled eligible for the game.
President of FIFA Gianni Infantino and President Donald Trump prepare to present the trophy to Chelsea FC following the World Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on July 13, 2025. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Trump has yet to attend a World Cup match, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio was spotted at the U.S. Men’s National Team’s opener against Paraguay, a 4-1 win on June 12.
The president was awarded the first FIFA Peace Prize at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., during the World Cup final draw in December.
President Donald Trump speaks after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the World Cup 2026 Final Draw. (Amber Searls-Imagn Images)
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Trump recently attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, while the White House played host to UFC Freedom 250 last month. An IndyCar race will take place in Washington, D.C., next month.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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