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With Gavin Stone injured, who's left to carry Dodgers' starting rotation?

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With Gavin Stone injured, who's left to carry Dodgers' starting rotation?

The Dodgers spent $308 million last winter to compile a star-studded roster featuring four most valuable player award winners — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw — enough quality arms to fill not one but two major league rotations and a deep bullpen teeming with power arms.

The financial investments — more than $1 billion in Ohtani and Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto alone — have clearly paid off, as the Dodgers entered play Friday with an 84-56 record, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the best mark in baseball.

But as the Dodgers head into the final three weeks of the regular season, a time when they’re usually making their final push toward a National League West title, fine-tuning their roster and lining up their starting pitchers for the playoffs, they will enter October with a rotation of Jack Flaherty and … just who, exactly?

“We’re gonna have enough pitching,” manager Dave Roberts said, when asked if the Dodgers rotation will be good enough to make a deep October run. “The names might be a little bit different. I don’t think anyone knows who [will] and who won’t be a part of it.”

Gavin Stone threw the latest wrench into the team’s potential playoff pitching plans when the 25-year-old right-hander, the only member of the opening-day rotation who had not missed a start this season, was placed on the 15-day injured list because of shoulder inflammation on Friday.

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Stone, who is 11-5 with a 3.53 ERA in a team-leading 25 starts, is the 11th starter to go on the IL this season, and he joins a group that currently includes ace Tyler Glasnow (elbow tendonitis), Yamamoto (rotator-cuff strain) and Kershaw (left big-toe inflammation).

Yamamoto, who has not pitched since June 15, is scheduled to return for Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs, but he threw only two innings and 53 pitches in his rehab start for triple-A Oklahoma City last Tuesday and will need several starts to build up his endurance.

Glasnow, who is 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 22 starts, is scheduled to throw off a mound on Saturday for the first time since he went on the IL on Aug. 16, but Roberts admitted that “time is running out” for the right-hander to position himself for an impact October role.

“He’s getting off the mound [on Saturday] and he’ll probably have a more aggressive bullpen session [this week], but we just gotta know, we gotta get going,” Roberts said. “We only have so much time before he [can] get built up and he’s pitching in major league games. Time is certainly of the essence.”

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw walks off the field after giving up a home run to the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 30. Kershaw was placed on the injured list the next day.

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(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Kershaw, who returned from shoulder surgery in late June and went 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts before injuring the toe on his push-off foot, is playing catch to keep his arm active, but hasn’t been able to throw off a mound.

“He’s still trying to figure out the best way to provide relief [for his toe], and figuring that out is challenging,” said Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations. “There’s not a playbook for that … it’s just not a common [injury].”

Stone will not pick up a baseball for at least 10 days, after which he will resume throwing, but when asked if he was optimistic about Stone returning this season, Friedman said, “I’m not sure … there’s just so much unknown, it’s hard to speculate right now.”

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Friedman added that Stone’s injury is “really more symptom-based. It wasn’t something that was like, ‘Oh, we need to have surgery.’ It was, ‘Hey, let’s let everything calm down, pick up a ball and see where you’re at.’ If he comes back and feels good, I think we’re in a good spot. If he picks up a ball and has problems, then we’re in a tough spot.”

So, where does that leave the Dodgers? They’ll enter the homestretch with a rotation of Flaherty, Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, who showed promise in his last two starts after struggling in his initial return from elbow surgery and a hip injury, Bobby Miller, who is 2-4 with a 7.79 ERA in 11 starts, and rookies Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski.

“It’s been a really challenging year, certainly,” Roberts said of the starting pitching injuries. “I think other teams are going through it, and fortunately we have a lot of depth, we’re giving a lot of guys opportunities, and our guys have done a great job of not fretting, continuing to move forward and remaining positive.

“I think the main thing is whatever day we play baseball, you look at the locker room and see who is available, and you try to win a game that day. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but that’s just the way we have to look at it. I think that’s kind of the way to manage some of this stuff.”

A thin rotation could put even more strain on a bullpen that recovered from a rocky July in which it posted a 5.65 ERA and had a major league-leading nine blown saves to compile a 3.55 ERA and a major league-high 12 saves and 28 holds since Aug. 1. A prolific offense will also likely have to out-slug some of the rotation shortcomings.

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“Looking at our team big picture, I think this is arguably the deepest, most balanced lineup we’ve ever had,” Friedman said. “I think our bullpen is as deep and talented as I can remember. Now, we’ve got to figure out how to line up our starters, and as guys are coming back, making sure they get enough work under their belt to hit October in stride.

“We’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position going forward. All of our focus right now is on doing what we can to finish the regular season strong and be in the best position to go out and win, hopefully, 11 games in October.”

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Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

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Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

There’s no denying that Loyola’s lacrosse program is best in Southern California and could be that way for years to come with the number of elite young players participating.

On Saturday night, the Cubs (16-3) won their latest Southern Section Division 1 championship with a 14-6 win over Santa Margarita. The Cubs have won three title since the sport was adopted as a championship event in the Southern Section. Defense has been Loyola’s strength all season.

Senior defenders Chase Hellie and Everett Rolph and junior goalkeeper William Russo led one of the best defenses in program history under coach Jimmy Borell.

Senior Cash Ginsberg finished with five goals and junior North Carolina commit Tripp King finished with two goals.

In girls Division 1, Mira Costa upset top-seeded Santa Margarita 12-6.

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Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

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Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

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Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.

The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough. 

Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.

 

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A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations.  (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.

Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.

The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.

From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.

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“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE

Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.

The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.

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Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.

The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.

Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.

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High school boys volleyball: City Section Saturday finals

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High school boys volleyball: City Section Saturday finals

HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VOLLEYBALL

CITY SECTION FINALS

FRIDAY

At Birmingham

DIVISION I

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#1 Taft d. #3 Cleveland, 25-23, 25-14, 25-21

DIVISION IV

#7 Maywood CES d. #4 Math & Science College Prep, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23

At Venice

DIVISION II

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#4 Marquez d. #6 Narbonne, 23-25, 25-19, 29-27, 25-16

DIVISION III

#13 Birmingham d. #2 Legacy, 25-20, 17-25, 31-33, 25-21, 15-10

SATURDAY

At Birmingham

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OPEN DIVISION

#3 Chatsworth d. #1 Granada Hills, 24-26, 25-21, 25-14, 25-18

DIVISION V

314 Franklin d. #13 Rancho Dominguez, 25-18, 25-19, 25-16

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS

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THURSDAY

At Home Sites

DIVISION 9

Vasquez d. Tarbut V’ Torah, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-10

FRIDAY

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At Cerritos College

DIVISION 1

#1 Mira Costa d. #3 Loyola, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22

DIVISION 4

Sunny Hills d. Royal, 24-26, 25-22, 27-25, 25-23

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At Home Sites

DIVISION 5

Bishop Diego d. St. Anthony, 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23

DIVISION 8

Temescal Canyon d. West Valley, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23

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SATURDAY

At Cerritos College

DIVISION 2

Orange Lutheran d. Edison, 3-1

DIVISION 3

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Windward d. St, John Bosco, 24-26, 25–21, 25-22, 25-20

DIVISION 6

Culver City d. Garden Grove, 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-9

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