Good morning! The Padres came up the 5 with a seven-game run of double-digit hit totals and left Chavez Ravine shut out, the top five in their order a combined 1-for-17. The Dodgers didn’t even use a starter. Tonight is Game 2 — Robbie Ray against Yoshinobu Yamamoto at 7:10 p.m. — and the Dodgers get Ohtani back. Down the 5 in Anaheim, the Kings visit the Ducks a day after Mikael Granlund was named the 10th captain in franchise history, and the Angels close out their series in Sacramento looking to forget Tuesday. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
⚾ One more. Freeman drove in three as the Dodgers blanked San Diego 7-0 and moved one win from a bye — Fredo Cervantes at Dodger Stadium.
⚾ 1-for-17. The top of the Padres’ order had nothing for a Dodgers bullpen day — Eric Evelhoch at Dodger Stadium.
🏅 The first medals. LA28 unveiled a Venice Beach triathlon course that will award the Games’ first gold — Arash Markazi in Los Angeles.
🏀 Six straight. The Aces locked up the No. 3 seed and home court for Sunday’s playoff opener — Arion Armeniakos at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
🏒 Captain Granlund. The Ducks named the second Finnish captain in franchise history — Zach Cavanagh at Great Park Ice.
⚾ 6-0, then 9-7. The Angels blew a six-run lead in Sacramento — Jack Janes in Sacramento.
🏒 Five-hole. Braeden Bowman ended it in a shootout as Vegas beat the Sharks 2-1 — Derek Hegna at SAP Center.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — TUESDAY
⚾ MLB: Dodgers 7, Padres 0 · Athletics 9, Angels 7
🏀 WNBA: Aces 89, Sparks 79
🏒 NHL (preseason): Mammoth 6, Kings 3 · Golden Knights 2, Sharks 1 (SO)
⚾ ONE WIN FROM A BYE
The Dodgers didn’t need a starter Tuesday. They needed eight pitchers, a patient second inning and Freddie Freeman.
Padres right-hander Michael King walked consecutive batters in the second, and the Dodgers made him pay for it with a four-run inning keyed by Freeman’s two-run single. All five runs King allowed over four innings came with two outs, and his streak of eight straight quality starts ended. Tommy Edman homered in the sixth, Will Smith homered in the seventh, and the bullpen did the rest — eight Dodgers pitchers, zero Padres runs.
Freeman finished with two hits and three RBIs, and he made no secret of what the Dodgers are chasing with five games left.
“We need one more win for that bye,” Freeman said. “Get some rest, and then have a great week of practicing going into the playoffs.”
At 97-60, the Dodgers trail Milwaukee by one game for the top seed in the National League. The reinforcements are arriving on schedule. Roki Sasaki returned and threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts on 20 pitches. Andy Pages came back from four weeks out with a fractured hand, went 0-for-2 and reached twice on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. And Shohei Ohtani is set to be activated from the injured list today.
On the other side, Eric Evelhoch lays out a night the Padres (87-70) would like back. They had runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings. Fernando Tatis Jr. opened the game with a first-pitch single and was stranded. The top five in the order went 1-for-17, ending a seven-game stretch of double-digit hit totals.
Tonight: Robbie Ray (13-8, 3.60 ERA) against Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-8, 2.51 ERA). One team is playing for a week off. The other is playing for its October seeding. Both have reasons to treat it like a playoff game.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: Freeman eyes rest as Dodgers close in on first-round bye in postseason (The Sporting Tribune)
› Eric Evelhoch: Padres can’t generate much against Dodgers bullpen day in series-opening loss (The Sporting Tribune)
› TST Images: The Dodgers beat the Padres, 7-0, at Dodger Stadium (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏅 THE FIRST MEDALS
The first medals of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be handed out with the Pacific as the backdrop.
LA28 unveiled its Olympic and Paralympic triathlon courses Wednesday, and the women’s individual race on July 15, 2028, will award the Games’ first medals. Athletes will go through the surf, past the Venice sign and over the canal bridges on flat, loop-style courses built for speed — and built so fans see the field again and again.
The Olympic individual races open with a beach start, only the second time Olympic triathlon has used the format, according to LA28. That means a run into the ocean from the sand, a 1,000-meter lap, a 25-meter run and a dive back in for the final 500. Then eight 5-kilometer laps on the bike and four 2.5-kilometer laps on foot, finishing over the coastline.
“This iconic neighborhood will add another meaningful chapter to its storied history as the first LA28 medals of the 2028 Games are awarded here,” said Shana Ferguson, LA28’s chief of sport and Games delivery officer.
The men race July 16, the mixed relay follows July 20, and the Paralympic events — starting from a barge beyond the breakwater — are Aug. 18-19. The dress rehearsal comes next summer, when Venice hosts World Triathlon’s T50 event July 16-18, 2027.
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: LA28 unveils Venice Beach triathlon courses, setting stage for Games’ first medals (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: SoFi Stadium adds new control room, immersive sound in push to elevate fan experience (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
Active today across Southern California — brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches, home of the world famous Arash Markazi sandwich, which has fried chicken, purple slaw, wasabi mayo, honey mustard, and cheddar on a Dutch Crunch roll. Just ask for the 500 at any Ike’s location. A Dodgers home shutout means the board is open.
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🧋 Sunright Tea Studio — BOGO Blue Heaven Frostie. Home win. Code ILOVELA.
🍟 McDonald’s — free 6-piece Chicken McNuggets with a $2 purchase. Seven runs against the Padres. Rewards & Deals in the app.
🍔 Jack in the Box — free Jumbo Jack with a large drink. Code GODODGERS26, through midnight.
🌮 El Portal, Pasadena — $12 combination plates and $7 house margaritas. Order online for pickup.
☕ Con Azúcar Café, Sylmar — free size upgrade and Dodgers latte art. Say “Dodgers win!” at the register.
🏟️ THREE GAMES, ONE WEDNESDAY.
Game 2 at Chavez Ravine. Ray vs. Yamamoto at 7:10 on SNLA, with Ohtani due back in the lineup and the Dodgers one win from clinching the bye.
The Freeway Faceoff, preseason edition. The Kings visit Honda Center at 7 on ABTV a night after a 6-3 loss to Utah in which they were outshot 27-11 through two periods. Alex Hutton’s notebook has the young line of Liam Lefebvre, Kenny Connors and Taylor Ward finding something late, and Brandt Clarke scoring on the power play with Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin on the ice. “If I’m being honest, I thought that we were slow out of the gate,” Peter Laviolette said. For the Ducks, it’s the first game since Joel Quenneville named Granlund captain.
Series finale in Sacramento. The Angels (60-97) and Athletics at 6:40 on ABTV, one night after Carlos Cortes and Zack Gelof homered in the eighth to finish off a nine-run comeback.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
A record night in the desert. Arion Armeniakos was there as the Aces won their sixth straight and wrapped up the No. 3 seed. A’ja Wilson’s first bucket broke her own franchise single-season scoring record; she’s at 1,039 and is the only player ever to score 1,000 in multiple seasons. Jackie Young added 11 assists and passed Kristi Toliver for 25th all-time. Becky Hammon still called it “kind of clunky.”
One more for Nneka. Rey Moralde writes that Nneka Ogwumike scored 17 in her final career road game, a 15-0 Aces run early was too much to climb out of, and her last WNBA game is Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.
Getting downhill. Micaela Begue has Tonie Morgan — cut by Chicago before the season, signed by the Sparks as a development player in June — scoring a career-high 14 on 6-of-7 shooting.
Hart and the kid. Derek Hegna writes that 18-year-old Juho Piiparinen broke up a Tyler Toffoli-Igor Chernyshov chance to save the tie, and Carter Hart stopped 28 of 29 before shutting the door in the shootout.
Behind the Infinity Screen. I spent time with SoFi Stadium’s Josh Mark on the new 17-position control room and spatial audio system built with Super Bowl LXI and LA28 in mind. “When they say it’s a great stadium, it’s not just the building,” Mark said. “It’s the whole experience.”
The monster, a little rusty. Mykell Mathieu has Aaron Donald’s first game in more than two and a half years: three tackles, one for loss, a 28-6 win and an honest self-scout. “You felt a little rust,” Donald said.
GO DEEPER
› Arion Armeniakos: Aces rattle off sixth straight win in regular-season home finale (The Sporting Tribune)
› Rey Moralde: Slow start dooms Sparks against Aces in last road game of the season (The Sporting Tribune)
› Micaela Begue: Tonie Morgan gets downhill, scores career high against Aces (The Sporting Tribune)
› Derek Hegna: Juho Piiparinen headlines impressive Golden Knights in shootout win over Sharks (The Sporting Tribune)
› Alex Hutton: Kings preseason notebook: young forwards and power play finding footing (The Sporting Tribune)
› Zach Cavanagh: Mikael Granlund named captain (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Janes: Angels blow six-run lead in loss to Athletics (The Sporting Tribune)
› Mykell Mathieu: Donald’s inspirational return sparks Rams 28-6 win over Giants (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
⚾ MLB: Angels at Athletics — Sutter Health Park — 6:40 p.m. — ABTV
🏒 NHL (preseason): Kings at Ducks — Honda Center — 7:00 p.m. — ABTV
⚾ MLB: Padres at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — 7:10 p.m. — SNLA
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California and Las Vegas — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚾ Padres at Dodgers — Dodger Stadium — $65
🏒 Kings at Ducks — Honda Center — $50
🏀 Sparks home finale, Ogwumike’s last game — Crypto.com Arena (Thursday) — $9
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Mikael Granlund is the second Finnish captain in Ducks history. Who was the first?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
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Trivia answer: Teemu Selanne, who captained the Ducks in 1997-98.
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