Sports
Yoshinobu Yamamoto shines and Dodgers' offense shows some life in win over Rockies
A steady stream of hits and walks and quality at-bats did not translate into a massive amount of runs for the Dodgers on Saturday night, but when combined with a strong Yoshinobu Yamamoto start and some stout relief, it was enough for a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies in front of 50,182 at Dodger Stadium.
A struggling Dodgers offense racked up 11 hits, including three by Andy Pages and two each by Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández, and four walks but was unable to build more than a three-run cushion.
Thanks to Yamamoto and relievers Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen and Evan Phillips, the Dodgers didn’t have to. Yamamoto navigated through heavy traffic to complete six innings, giving up one run and seven hits, striking out seven and walking one to improve to 6-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 12 starts.
“The starting pitchers are dealing right now, keeping us in the game, giving us the opportunity to score runs so we can get back in the game and win,” Hernández said. “We’re not going to put 10 runs on the board every day, but we try to maximize every single thing to make our lead bigger.”
Yamamoto gave up his only run after a minor wardrobe malfunction — a broken shoelace that he returned to the dugout to replace — caused a delay before the start of the second inning. Brendan Rodgers led off with a double, took third on Elehuris Montero’s groundout to second and scored on Brenton Doyle’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto yells out as he throws a pitch in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But that was all the Rockies would muster against Yamamoto, who stranded two runners in each of the first, third and sixth innings and, with his season-high 101st pitch of the night, got Montero to ground out to shortstop with runners on second and third to end the sixth, preserving a 4-1 lead.
Hudson retired the side in order in the seventh, Treinen gave up two hits in a scoreless eighth and Phillips, making his first appearance since May 3 after missing four weeks because of a right-hamstring strain, retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.
The Dodgers scored twice in the second for a 2-1 lead, the first run coming when the Rockies committed two errors on the same play and the second on Pages two-out single and Jason Heyward’s RBI double to right-center.
Pages singled with two outs in the fourth, Heyward walked, and Kiké Hernández hit an RBI single to left-center for a 3-1 lead. Freeman tripled into the left-field corner and scored on Will Smith’s RBI double to left for a 4-1 lead in the fifth.
“Up and down the lineup, we saw good productive at-bats,” Roberts said. “It seemed like we took better at-bats with two strikes, used the big part of the field, had [Rockies starter Cal] Quantrill on the ropes and got into their bullpen, which was good to see.”
The Dodgers were an offensive force for seven weeks, batting .263 with a .792 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and averaging 5.4 runs through May 14, a stretch in which they went 29-15. But in their next 15 games through Friday night, they hit .230 with a .672 OPS and averaged 3.5 runs, going 7-8 in that span.
Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freeman and Smith have manned the first four spots in the lineup all season, but with the team in an extended funk, manager Dave Roberts said he was considering tinkering with the alignment.
“I’ve thought about potentially splitting up the two lefties,” Roberts said before the game, alluding to Ohtani and Freeman. “Not against right-handed [starters], but maybe against lefties.”
If Roberts flip-flopped Freeman and Smith, the Dodgers would go right-left-right-left-right in the first five spots, with Teoscar Hernández batting fifth. That would give them a more balanced lineup in general and leave the top of the order less vulnerable to shut-down left-handed relievers in the later innings.
Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar tags out Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani during the third inning Saturday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Roberts said he won’t make that switch against Austin Gomber on Sunday because the Rockies left-hander is “a neutral guy,” meaning he is equally effective against right-handed and left-handed hitters.
“But against a lefty who has more [extreme] splits, I might think about it,” Roberts said. “If I do, I would certainly have Freddie be part of that conversation.”
If Ohtani was crushing the ball the way he did for the first six weeks, Roberts might not even be considering that conversation, but the slugger is batting .204 (11 for 54) with a .627 OPS, two homers and eight RBIs in his last 14 games.
Ohtani went one for three with a single, a walk, a strikeout and a stolen base Saturday night, but he cost the Dodgers a run when he was picked off second base before Freeman’s single in the third inning.
Ohtani was hitting .364 with a 1.108 OPS on May 15. He is now batting .326 with a .999 OPS. Not coincidentally, Ohtani suffered a right-hamstring bruise when he was hit by a pickoff throw from Reds left-hander Brent Suter on May 16.
“His words, he doesn’t feel it when he’s swinging the bat,” Roberts said. “But he’s a finely tuned machine, and sometimes, in the context of a sports car, when it’s not firing on all cylinders, it just doesn’t run right.
“When his back was bothering him a little bit [in early May] you saw some funkier swings, a little bit more chase. His hamstring is bothering him a little bit, you see a little bit of the same thing. But I think that he’s getting close to where he needs to be physically. I think that staying to the big part of the field is a remedy.”
Rehab report
Clayton Kershaw’s fastball touched 88 mph during a 20-pitch simulated inning in which he faced three batters Saturday, a workout the veteran left-hander, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, likened to “basically the first step of spring training.”
Kershaw will throw a two-inning simulated game with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga later this week while the Dodgers are on the road. If he follows a normal six-week spring training progression without setback, he could return in mid-July.
“Right now, we’re way ahead of schedule, which is really encouraging,” Roberts said. “He came out of it feeling good, feeling strong. There was no tentativeness. I didn’t see him guarding anything. He felt free and easy.”
Bobby Miller, out since April 13 because of shoulder inflammation, gave up four earned runs and five hits in 3 ⅓ innings with no strikeouts and one walk in his second rehabilitation start for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga at Lake Elsinore on Saturday.
The right-hander threw 65 pitches, 38 for strikes. He will make at least one more rehab start for triple-A Oklahoma City before being considered for the Dodgers’ rotation.
“Early on, I heard that the velocity was down,” Roberts said, “a couple miles per hour lower than what is typical for Bobby.”
Was the dip caused by a physical setback?
“No, because I would have heard that,” Roberts said. “So it’s nothing too concerning.”
Miller was scheduled to make at least one more rehab start for triple-A Oklahoma City before being considered for the Dodgers rotation, but Roberts said his rehab stint could be extended.
Sports
Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America
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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.
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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.”
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.”
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)
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“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.”
Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.
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 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.
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.
“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.
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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