CHICAGO — Dodgers left-hander Jack Dreyer rubbed a new baseball between his hands as he walked back to the mound, a sold-out Rate Field coming alive around him.

Fireworks crackled over the center-field scoreboard. Digital pinwheels spun. Dreyer had just surrendered his second home run of the inning, transforming a low-scoring battle into a lopsided White Sox advantage.

The Dodgers’ recent bullpen problems persisted in a 6-4 loss Sunday, overshadowing a bounce-back effort from Emmet Sheehan. The Dodgers tried to come back in the ninth, but fell short.

“We’ve gotten bit by the long ball, obviously in Pittsburgh, and here tonight,” said bench coach Danny Lehmann, filling in Sunday for manager Dave Roberts while he attended his daughter’s college graduation. “But overall, it’s more the strike throwing and just getting ahead of guys and doing what they’re supposed to do.”

The Dodgers dropped the series 2-1, marking their first series loss since May 8-10 against the Braves.

Sheehan was charged with three runs in five-plus innings, a massive turnaround coming off the second-shortest start of his career, only rivaled by a planned one-inning outing at the end of last season.

Against the Angels last week, Sheehan threw 49 pitches and recorded just four outs before being pulled.

On Sunday, he didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning.

“He got strike one and then understood when to leave the zone when he needed to,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “He did a great job of that. I think a couple of those guys picked up on tendencies, jumped on a pitch. I felt they were good pitches. I thought he did his job today and gave us a chance to win.”

Sheehan’s velocity has been an indicator of how synced up his delivery has been on any given start this season.

On Sunday, his 95.1-mph average fastball velocity was 0.7 mph above his season average, according to Statcast — a promising sign. Results followed.

Sheehan retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, just a hit batter away from perfection. With two outs in the fourth, he gave up a double to Colson Montgomery, on a low line drive up the first-base line, just out of reach of Freddie Freeman as he made a diving attempt.

Then against Braden Montgomery, Sheehan worked back from a 2-1 count for an inning-ending strikeout.

Out of Sheehan’s hand, the pitch looked like it was going to cross the plate on the inside corner, about belt high. But as Montgomery started his swing, the firm changeup veered away from his bat at a sharp downward angle.

Montgomery swung over the pitch. A fired-up Sheehan buried his fist in his glove and shouted. With that strikeout, he preserved the Dodgers’ one-run lead.

Freeman provided that run with a solo homer in the first inning. And Sheehan gave the Dodgers plenty of time to extend that lead. In the sixth inning, however, the White Sox finally got to him.

“I definitely felt better early,” Sheehan said. “And then more of the same towards the end. Just pretty frustrating.”

Sheehan’s fastball to Sam Antonacci wasn’t in a bad spot. But in an 0-2 count, he could have put it a little higher or farther inside. Antonacci drove it over the right-field fence.

A single, a stolen base and an RBI double later, Sheehan walked off the mound, the Dodgers trailing 2-1.

Just a few weeks ago, turning the ball over to the Dodgers’ bullpen was a promising move. They were still riding a franchise-record streak of 38 consecutive scoreless innings.

Lately, however, it’s been a rocky ride. The bullpen entered Sunday with a 6.71 ERA since ending that scoreless streak on May 25. Only the Giants and Rockies produced a worse mark over that stretch.

None of the Dodgers’ relievers have been dominant in recent games. Tanner Scott has been credited with three saves but also two losses. Kyle Hurt’s ERA has risen from 0.60 to 4.22. Dreyer, who went 10 straight games without giving up a run before landing on the injured list with left shoulder discomfort, has surrendered five home runs in seven appearances since returning on May 31.

Dreyer gave up three runs and three hits. Then Blake Treinen and Jonathan Hernández held the White Sox the rest of the way.

The Dodgers tacked on three more runs, on a sacrifice fly and an RBI double from Alex Freeland, and a solo homer from Mookie Betts. They stranded runners at the corners in the ninth.

Former NFL pass rusher Aldon Smith spent time on what would be the final day of his life donating food to a charity that feeds the homeless.

The San Francisco 49ers announced on Saturday that Smith, who played in 50 games during his six-year career, died at the age of 36. Just hours before he was found unresponsive, Smith unexpectedly dropped off 10 pizzas to CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a San Jose, Calif., charity that feeds the homeless.

Amir Shirazi, a friend of Smith’s who picked up on Saturday to make the surprise delivery, spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about the charitable donation before sharing the details of finding him unresponsive in his car.

49ERS ANNOUNCE DEATH OF ALDON SMITH AT 36, ONCE THE FASTEST PLAYER TO REACH 30 SACKS IN NFL HISTORY

“He was a very sweet, caring, loving giant,” Shirazi said. “That if you really knew him, you’d know who he truly is.”

After dropping off the pizzas, Shirazi drove them to a grocery store and then back to his home. He explained to the outlet that he quickly ran inside to turn on some lights, and when he returned to the car, Smith was slumped over in his seat.

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“I came out and he was basically dead in my front seat,” Shirazi said. “I’m just in shock.”

While Smith has a history of substance abuse, Shirazi said that he had not seen the former NFL player use drugs on Saturday and had only seen him smoke marijuana occasionally over the years. He said he believed that Smith’s death was a “natural death.”

“My impression was that this is a young man that wanted to help the homeless, which was great,” Scott Wagers, the co-founder of CHAM Deliverance Ministry, told the outlet. “When the 49ers and people like that want to help the community, that’s everything.”

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Smith was drafted seventh overall in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Missouri, and made an immediate impact as a rookie, picking up 14.0 sacks and forcing two fumbles in 16 games. The next year he set a 49ers’ franchise record with 19.5 sacks and was named a First-Team All-Pro while leading the team to Super Bowl XLVII.

Smith reached 30 career sacks in just 27 games, making him the fastest player in NFL history to do so, breaking a record previously held by Hall of Famer Reggie White.

In 2013, Smith voluntarily entered rehab and missed five games. In 2014, he served a nine-game suspension for violations of the NFL’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies.

In 2015, the 49ers released Smith in August following his third DUI arrest before he was signed weeks later by the Oakland Raiders.

Smith remained indefinitely suspended from the NFL for four full seasons while dealing with legal and personal troubles. He made a return in 2020 and played a full season with the Dallas Cowboys, starting in all 16 games.

The U.S. men’s soccer team isn’t only trying to win games in this World Cup. It is trying to win hearts and minds as well.

“We want the game to grow,” star midfielder Christian Pulisic said. “We want to get Americans excited to watch this game, to watch our team. That’s obviously a big goal of ours. And being successful would give that the best boost.”

The Americans certainly got a great start Friday, opening the second World Cup played on U.S. soil with a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay. It was one of the most complete performances the American men have had on the sport’s biggest stage, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice, Pulisic setting up two goals, and just one momentary lapse on defense separating goalkeeper Matt Freese from a shutout.

The U.S. passed well, defended well and, most important, was clinical and dangerous in front of the net, finishing well.

“It was a real statement,” Balogun said. “And that’s what we wanted. I’m very delighted with the overall performance.”

The effort was warmly received by a sold-out crowd of 70,492 at SoFi Stadium, with record-setting crowds watching on TV throughout the country.

Fox Sports announced 15.99 million watched the win, making it the most-viewed U.S. World Cup match on English-language television.

And the Spanish-language broadcast drew a total audience of 8.9 million across Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo’s streaming platforms. It was the most-watched U.S. World Cup match on Spanish-language television network platforms, harking back to the 1994 World Cup, the first played in the U.S. that also attracted record TV audiences.

At 38, captain Tim Ream is the only member of the team who was alive in 1994, but he and his younger teammates repeatedly have been reminded of the impact that tournament had on soccer in the U.S. That 1994 team won just one game, though, scored just two goals and didn’t make it past the round of 16.

This team is convinced it can do better — on and off the field.

Fans cheer after U.S. beat Paraguay to open the World Cup Friday at SoFi Stadium.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

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“It’s trying to be an inspiration for the next generation and grow the game,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “I think we have the opportunity to do that.”

Part of that is kick-starting the kind of interest in soccer that briefly swept the country during the first U.S. World Cup 32 years ago. And this team certainly energized fans Friday.

“Having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white and blue, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It’s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.”

It will if Pulisic and Co. continue playing like that.

The U.S. controlled the ball for nearly an hour of the 90 minutes, completed more than twice as many passes as Paraguay and took almost twice as many shots. It was a game that was as attractive and inviting as it was one-sided, one that might turn the most skeptical viewer into a fan.

It was, midfielder Weston McKennie said, the kind of game that could push the U.S. closer to becoming a proper soccer nation.

American midfielder Weston McKennie outruns two Paraguay defenders.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

“Because it’s a World Cup and it’s in America, people came out,” McKennie said. “We’re OK with that. There’s a lot of people that maybe have never come out to support us. But hopefully today, with this performance, they can connect with us.

“You feel this electricity in the stadium and the passion. That’s one thing that’s going to change soccer here.”

Pulisic and McKennie helped put the U.S. in front to stay in the seventh minute, although the goal was credited to Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla, who got his right foot in front of a McKennie pass intended for Balogun and deflected it into the net for an own goal. Pulisic made the whole sequence happen, however, pushing the ball between a pair of defenders before poking it on to McKennie in the center of the box.

Balogun scored twice in the final 20 minutes of the first half, one-timing a perfect pass from Pulisic in from the penalty spot in the 31st minute, then running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Malik Tillman and avoiding two defenders to line a left-footed shot into the top left corner five minutes into stoppage time.

The brace was the first of Balogun’s international career and came in his World Cup debut before a crowd of family and friends, a cheering section he saluted from behind the goal line after scoring.

“I had to sort through a lot of ticket [requests.] It’s a dream night, you know? I’ve not been able to take it all in,” said Balogun, whose brace marked the first multigoal game by an American in the World Cup since 1930.

And that wasn’t the only history the U.S. made Friday. Defender Chris Richards, whose status for the opener was in doubt after he tore two ligaments in his left ankle a month ago, completed all 83 of his passes, the most without a miss in a World Cup game since 1966.

Mauricio pulled one of those goals back for Paraguay in the 73rd minute, before Gio Reyna closed the scoring with his first World Cup goal deep in stoppage time.

Pulisic, who said he took a kick to his left calf in the first half, was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter to start the second. Pulisic showed no signs of injury while talking with reporters after the match, and coach Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful the injury will not limit Pulisic during the next match Friday against Australia.

For the U.S., the commanding win over Paraguay was just the start. The best, the players promise, is yet to come.

Fans fill SoFi Stadium during the U.S. World Cup win over Paraguay on Friday.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

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“Today was a great starting point for us,” McKennie said. “But we know that’s just a start and this is something we don’t want to over-celebrate. Because we want this to be the normal for us.

“We have two more games to go in the group. Hopefully we improve.”

Added Pulisic: “There’s so much more we want to accomplish.”

And not all of that will take place on the field.