Manchester United are, of course, in the United States for Tour 2024, presented by Snapdragon. And our own aforementioned Captain Marvel, club legend Bryan Robson, is in tow.

Our first tour game took place in Los Angeles at the weekend – a narrow 2-1 defeat to Arsenal – but now the Reds are ready to head south, down Interstate 5,  towards what is known in some quarters as ‘America’s Finest City’. There, in San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium, Erik ten Hag’s team will face La Liga’s Real Betis.

For the Red Devils of San Diego, our dedicated Manchester United Supporters’ Club in the area, it’s a hugely exciting moment. During the season, the group’s members will gather together to watch matches at the Liberty Call Distilling Company, but on Wednesday evening, the 20-times champions of England will be there, in the flesh, right on the front doorstep.

A daily update of athletes from San Diego County competing at this summer’s Olympics:

Sunday’s results

Archery: The U.S. women’s team with Chula Vista-based Catalina Gnoriega and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez lost in the elimination round 5-1 against Chinese Taipei.

Basketball: Isaiah Pineiro (USD) started for Puerto Rico and had four points in a 90-79 loss against South Sudan in group play. Isalys Quinones (Otay Ranch High School) came off the bench and had five points for the Puerto Rican women in a 58-55 loss against Serbia.

Rowing: Azja Czajkowski (Bonita Vista High School) and partner Jess Thoennes finished third in their preliminary heat behind the Netherland and Lithuania, advancing to the Wednesday’s semifinals.

Rugby sevens: The Chula Vista-based women’s team beat Japan 36-7 and Brazil 24-5 to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. Sarah Levy (University City High School) scored a try against Japan.

Sailing: Hans Henken (Coronado High School) and partner Ian Barrows are in 12th place after the first three races of the 49er skiff class in Marseille.

Soccer: The U.S. women beat Germany 3-1 in Marseille to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. Wave defender Naomi Girma started but forward Jaedyn Shaw was out with leg injury. Australia, with Wave players Kaitlyn Torpey and Emily van Egmond, beat Zambia 6-5 in a wild game in Nice. And in St.-Etienne, Canada and Wave goalie Kailen Sheridan won 2-1 against France, which has new Wave signee Delphine Cascarino.

Water polo: Alex Bowen (Santana High School) scored two goals for the U.S. men in a 12-8 against Italy in their group play opener.

Monday’s action

Basketball: Kelsey Plum (La Jolla Country Day) and the U.S. women’s team opens group play against Japan at noon PDT.

Beach volleyball: Chase Budinger (La Costa Canyon High School) and partner Miles Evans open the men’s tournament against Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat of France in the stadium in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

Field hockey: Megan Valzonis (Canyon Hills High School) and the U.S. women’s team continue pool play against Spain.

Rugby sevens: The Chula Vista-based U.S. women close group play against host France, then advance to the quarterfinals no matter the result. The semis and final are Tuesday.

Skateboarding: Tokyo bronze medalist Jagger Eaton (Encinitas) is in the men’s street competition that was postponed from last Friday by rain.

Tennis: Taylor Fritz (Torrey Pines High School) and partner Tommy Paul play their first-round doubles match against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Roanic of Canada.

Originally Published: July 28, 2024 at 10:07 p.m.

BALTIMORE — The Padres shook loose the dust two days before the trade deadline. They chased down a late-innings setup arm in the Rays’ Jason Adam, someone to help bridge the gap to closer Robert Suarez.

As the clock ticks until Tuesday’s deadline, it’s still not enough.

The Padres need a starter or risk reliving 2021, when whispers about Max Scherzer and others led nowhere.

That’s when Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers all finished as sub-100 ERA+ starters, meaning all were considered below-average big-leaguers that season.

Everything imploded during a 46-game finish — the fourth worst train wreck of that length by a winning team since the 1800s — to kneecap a once-promising season.

“You want to round your team out,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said Sunday in a hallway of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. “We’re still in conversation. We feel like we have internal options that we like. (Adam) Mazur coming up the other day and battling through, getting us in a position to get a win. Jhony Brito.

“We’ve got some guys that we feel good about from that standpoint.”

Internal options?

No, they don’t. Not real, bankable ones.

The Mazur Experiment has been a bust to this point. Preller tried to polish the pseudo-opener role he played in the first game of this series against the Orioles, holding things together.

Faint praise, that.

It was 2 2/3 innings, allowing an earned run in a game that began with back-to-back walks and an ERA that now stands at 7.49. No active arm outside of locked-in starters Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron has thrown more than 45 2/3 innings for the Padres this season.

They now have one fewer internal option after this season, considering former first-round pick Dylan Lesko became part of the price tag for Adam.

The Padres could have been guilty of living an illusion that they had four starters because of the recent run of Randy Vásquez. That was before he coughed up six earned runs in two innings Sunday during a wild 8-6 loss to the Orioles.

A few weeks ago, you know the conversations in Camp Padre felt more like this: We have three starters, so we’ve really got to beat the market bushes and find another arm or two.

Then Vásquez rode the wave of historic Padres pitching on this road trip, jumping in the wipeout Conga line with Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron.

And if you think you suddenly have four starters, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re not that far from five.

Momentum math can be dangerous math.

“The starting pitching, the offense, we’re shutting teams down late in the game,” Preller said of the team, which has roared out of the gates since the All-Star break. “We’re playing good teams. You have to play well, so that’s a good test for our group.

“I think we knew it was gonna be a test coming out of a break, and these guys have answered it.”

Now, it’s time for Preller to answer.

The Padres have done too much on the field, especially without platinum All-Star Fernando Tatis Jr., and starters Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, to watch this thing wither on the vine as innings pile up.

When Tatis returns, when Musgrove returns, if Darvish returns, patching up the rotation now could pay playoff-level dividends later. Preller is enough of a baseball junkie to understand the precarious pitching ledge his team is walking.

Adam represents a piece, but should only represent a start.

The ex-Rays reliever fills a hole the Padres have struggled to patch beyond Jeremiah Estrada and, at times, Adrian Morejon. Adam also is not a free agent until 2027.

Lesko, outfielder Homer Bush Jr. and another prospect represent a hefty price. It also illustrates how many teams are scrambling for arms.

Wrangling a starter will require some elite needle-threading. There’s still the competitive balance tax reset the Padres have worked so hard to reach.

Creativity in the face of roadblocks is Preller’s specialty, however, as early-season deals for Cease and hitting machine Luis Arraez illustrated.

Doing nothing, though, could derail it all.

The 2021 deadline became known for a major swing and miss on Adam Frazier of the Pirates, who promptly forgot how to hit when he arrived in San Diego after leading baseball in hits before the trade.

The year also should be known for skipping the arms and a stretch run too thin on pitching.

This team three years later has shown pop and promise, outstanding yet taxed starting pitching and an ability to fight back that recent seasons lacked.

Short-circuiting that potential now with Tatis and Musgrove waiting in the wings would be tough to swallow.

Trade partners and deals need to make sense, of course, and decisions cannot be driven by deadline panic. Preller, though, has shown the ability to make seemingly complex things happen.

He needs to do it again.

Originally Published: July 28, 2024 at 3:09 p.m.