Angels’ Mike Trout sent for further evaluation after a setback in his rehab

• July 31, 2024

ANAHEIM — A week after Mike Trout seemed to be on the verge of returning to the Angels, it’s now unclear how much longer he’ll be out.

General Manager Perry Minasian said on Tuesday that Trout had “a setback” and was being sent for further evaluation on his left knee.

Trout had surgery in early May for a torn meniscus. The rehab time is typically one or two months, but Trout has now missed three months, with no return in sight.

“I’m not going to get into details,” Minasian said when asked to elaborate. “He had a setback.”

Trout, who turns 33 in just over a week, has now missed significant time in each of the last four seasons. Trout suffered a strained calf in 2021, a back injury in 2022, a fractured hamate in 2023 and now this knee injury. In all of those cases except for the back injury, his rehab time took significantly longer than expected.

The news came on the same day that the Angels had to place third baseman Anthony Rendon on the injured list because of back tightness.

Rendon had been out for more than two months with a torn hamstring, returning for a few weeks before the latest injury.

Minasian said “hopefully it’s a shorter-term thing,” referring to Rendon’s back.

Rendon has also missed significant time four years in a row.

“Obviously these two guys, they’ve been banged up and I understand that they’re both disappointed they both want to play,” Minasian said. “It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. We’ll just keep going.”

The Angels called up infielder Michael Stefanic to replace Rendon one the active roster.

SETBACK FOR SILSETH

Right-hander Chase Silseth has been shut down at Triple-A to get an evaluation on his elbow, Minasian said.

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Silseth missed a couple of months with an elbow issue earlier this season, and since returning he’s posted a 6.35 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A.

NOTES

Manager Ron Washington said right-hander Ben Joyce will get some closing opportunities now that Carlos Estévez and Luis Garcia have been traded, but he won’t necessarily be the full-time closer. Veteran right-hander Hunter Strickland could also get some chances, Washington said. …

The Angels offered third-round draft pick Ryan Prager well above the $948,000 slot value for his spot before Prager turned them down to return to Texas A&M, a source said. The Angels will get a compensation pick at the end of the third round in next year’s draft because of failing to sign Prager. They still have around $400,000 they can spend on the draft before Thursday’s deadline. Mississippi State shortstop David Mershon, their 18th-round pick, also remains unsigned.

UP NEXT

Rockies (LHP Kyle Freeland, 2-4, 6.23 ERA) at Angels (RHP Davis Daniel, 1-2, 5.82 ERA), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

​ Orange County Register 

This week’s bestsellers at Southern California’s independent bookstores

• July 31, 2024

The SoCal Indie Bestsellers List for the sales week ended July 28 is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of Southern California, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. All Fours: Miranda July

2. The God of the Woods: Liz Moore

3. Long Island Compromise: Taffy Brodesser-Akner

4. James: Percival Everett

5. The Book of Elsewhere: Keanu Reeves, China Miéville

6. Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver

7. The Women: Kristin Hannah

8. Funny Story: Emily Henry

9. The Bright Sword: Lev Grossman

10. Sandwich: Catherine Newman

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. The Creative Act: A Way of Being: Rick Rubin

2. Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World: Anne Applebaum

3. Play a Bigger Game: Seven Universal Principles to Experience True Fulfillment and Win at Life: Markus Kaulius

4. The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir: Griffin Dunne

5. The Art of Encouragement: How to Lead Teams, Spread Love, and Serve from the Heart: Jordan Montgomery

6. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder: David Grann

7. The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality: Amanda Montell

8. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War: Erik Larson

9. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness: Jonathan Haidt

10. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse: Charlie Mackesy

MASS MARKET

1. 1984: George Orwell

2. Mistborn: The Final Empire: Brandon Sanderson

3. Fire & Blood: George R.R. Martin

4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams

5. Dune: Frank Herbert

6. And Then There Were None: Agatha Christie

7. The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

8. True Love: Thich Nhat Hanh

9. Hyperion: Dan Simmons

10. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: Agatha Christie

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: Gabrielle Zevin

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses: Sarah J. Maas

3. The Midnight Library: Matt Haig

4. The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: Taylor Jenkins Reid

6. Never Let Me Go: Kazuo Ishiguro

7. The Exchange: John Grisham

8. The Thursday Murder Club: Richard Osman

9. Pineapple Street: Jenny Jackson

10. Trust: Hernan Diaz

TRADE PAPERBACK NONFICTION

1. Hillbilly Elegy: J.D. Vance

2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession: Michael Finkel

3. All About Love: New Visions: bell hooks

4. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017: Rashid Khalidi

5. Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir: Dolly Alderton

6. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI: David Grann

7. The Artist’s Way: 30th Anniversary Edition: Julia Cameron

8. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted: Suleika Jaouad

9. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir: Michelle Zauner

10. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life: Anne Lamott

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​ Orange County Register 

Andy Benesh, Miles Partain looking to end U.S. men’s beach volleyball medal drought

• July 31, 2024

PARIS – For Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, the road to Centre Court at the Eiffel Tower Stadium and the Olympic Games beach volleyball competition is marked by a series of missed exits.

“We’ll start talking about volleyball when we’re driving and we’ll get so into the conversation,” Benesh said, “that before we realize it, we’ve missed our exit.

“That’s happened multiple times.”

Benesh and Partain stayed on course to advance to the Round of 16 in what Partain has called “the Games of a lifetime” with a 21-12, 28-26 win against Morocco’s Mohammed Abicha and Zouheir Elgraoui Tuesday afternoon as temperatures reached the upper 90s.

“I think we were ready for a three-set battle if it went there (but) it’s always nice to get it done in two,” Benesh said.

The Americans needed just 19 minutes to dispatch Abicha and Elgraoui in the first set. But the Moroccans hung tough through a second set that was extended on a controversial ruling following a video review of what initially appeared to be match point for Team USA.

The video review concluded that Benesh’s arm touched the net on what appeared to be a match-winning block.

“I am almost positive the ball came off my arm and then took the top of the tape,” Benesh said. “I was trying to re-challenge it and try to get a different angle because I am positive that I did not touch the net.

“But it happens, they are doing the best they can and there are some optical illusions where maybe it looks like I did (hit the net).

“It’s pretty easy to roll over when stuff like that happens but Miles was supporting me and I think I did a good job of staying in the moment.”

With Cuba beating both Benesh and Partain and Brazil’s George Souto Maior Wanderly and Andre Loyola Stein in its first two matches, Thursday’s match between the U.S. and the Brazilians, the bronze medalists at the 2022 World Championships, will likely decide which team advances to the Round of 16 with the second spot out of Group D.

The U.S. men haven’t won a beach volleyball Olympic medal since 2008.

“The rest of the world has gotten really good at beach volleyball since the last time we won a medal,” Benesh said.

But Benesh and Partain’s fifth place finish at last year’s World Championships suggest the Southern California natives are headed in the right direction.

“It was big,” Benesh said. “We shot up really quick last year. It’s sort of crazy to think about the trajectory we took last year. I think at Worlds it wasn’t too unexpected but taking a step back it’s pretty cool to get fifth at World Champs.”

The pair also had six top 10 finishes on the Beach Pro Tour in 2023 including winning the Gstaad tournament and finishing second in Montreal.

Dain Blanton, who won the Olympic beach gold medal with Eric Fonoimoana in 2000, calls Benesh, 29, “one of the best blockers in the world.”

“Definitely a force to be reckoned with,” Blanton said.

Partain is the best young American beach talent in years. At 22, Partain is the youngest U.S. beach player ever to compete in an Olympic Games, breaking the record of 23 years, 48 days set by Misty May-Treanor at Sydney 2000.

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Andrew Benesh of Team United States looks on during the Men’s Preliminary Phase – Pool D match against Team Morocco on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Eiffel Tower Stadium on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Benesh grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula where he is remembered as a standout athlete and student at Silver Spur Elementary and Palos Verdes Intermediate School. He focused on volleyball at Palos Verdes High School after getting cut from the basketball team for as he put it, being “too short and scrawny.”

It was at Palos Verdes High Benesh met Cole Fiers. The two bonded over volleyball.

“We played backyard grass volleyball all the time,” Benesh said.

Benesh grew to be 6-feet-8 and as Fiers headed off to Stanford, Benesh stayed closer to home at USC. After USC he played half a professional indoor season in Lausanne, Switzerland, before back injuries sent him home.

“I thought I would get a normal big boy job,” he said, “but it took a different course.”

Benesh was living at home with his parents while starting out as a financial advisor.

“And I was not a very good salesman,” he said laughing. “A lot of rejection.”

Nine months into the job, Fiers called and asked him to play in a qualifying tournament for an AVP event.

“I was working 12 hours a day. We had a tracker system. We had to cold call 300 people a day,” Benesh said. “Living at home in RPV. It was all on commission and being a bad salesman, I wasn’t really getting paid anything. I know that beach volleyball players don’t make a lot of money but I’m not making a lot of money doing this so I might as well try it.”

Benesh first spotted Partain, when he was playing beach while still at Palisades High School. Partain was just 15, when playing alongside older brother Marcus, then 17, he became the youngest player to make the main draw of an AVP Tour.

Partain was an All-American as a UCLA sophomore but left the Bruins 10 matches into the 2023 season to pursue the beach game, joining Benesh.

“He kept getting better and better every year,” Benesh said of Partain. “It was kind of a no brainer to try and get him. He was the best defender and the World tour is really young too. So he had the youth and the athleticism and physicality. Definitely more modern playing style than a lot of other American players.”

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Partain and Benesh in October 2022 in Dubai became the first American players to win on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, the successor to the FIVB World Tour, and the first men’s team on the tour to win after going through qualifying.

“We feel really close,” Benesh said. “We spend a lot of time together. Miles has become a really good friend. And that’s a huge blessing. There are a lot of teams where the partners don’t enjoy spending time together. It’s almost 50 percent of the chemistry. You have the on-court chemisty and the off-court chemistry and they kind of bleed into each other sometimes.

“We’ve gone through a lot together. But a lot of good and but some harder times. But we’ve been there for each other so it’s been a blessing to have him on my team.”

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: By bringing Jack Flaherty home, Dodgers saved the trade deadline

• July 31, 2024

“Organizational failure.”

We’ve heard that phrase – we’ve used that phrase, in fact – in describing the Dodgers the last two Octobers, for obvious reasons. But that phrase could also be applied to the trade deadline in those seasons, when the front office of Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes and Co. made moves on the margins but couldn’t swing an impact deal befitting a team aiming for a World Series championship.

This year? The story is still to be written, of course, but with five minutes left before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT deadline the news that Jack Flaherty was coming home to L.A. provided the sort of shakeup that they’d failed to make the last two deadlines.

In fact, this might be a little bit of overstatement but consider: By getting Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers for the No. 8 and No. 22 players in their farm system, high-A catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo and triple-A shortstop Trey Sweeney – neither among the top 100 prospects on the MLB.com list – the Dodgers stole him from the Padres in much the same way that Friedman swooped in and acquired Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from Washington before the Padres could get them in 2021.

Scherzer was a future Hall of Famer when the Dodgers got him, and Flaherty would probably acknowledge he’s not in that class. Kevin Kiermaier, acquired from Toronto for Ryan Yarbrough right before the buzzer, is a left-handed hitter with serious defensive chops in center field but not the five-tool player Turner represented when he arrived in Los Angeles.

But San Diego, 6½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West going into Tuesday night’s head-to-head series opener, is gearing up for another run at the Dodgers. Padres general manager A.J. Preller bolstered the Padres’ bullpen significantly by adding left-hander Tanner Scott in the Marlins’ fire sale Tuesday, and also acquired right-handed reliever Jason Adam from Tampa Bay. And the chatter, at least among the MLB Network pundits following the last day swap meet, was that Preller was also trying to land Flaherty (7-5, 2.95 ERA, 0.956 WHIP in 18 starts for the Tigers), only to have Friedman get him first.

Again.

There are a couple of other ways to look at this. Flaherty was not the most enticing pitcher on Detroit’s staff, but landing Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal (12-3, 2.35, 0.923 WHIP) would have required more of a haul in prospects than the Dodgers, or anybody else, were willing to spend.

And as for White Sox left-hander Garret Crochet? His usage limit in his return from Tommy John surgery likely had teams shying away, since he’s already made 22 starts with a 3.23 ERA and 1.006 WHIP (disregard the 6-8 won-loss record, considering the team he’s pitching for). But his apparent determination to not pitch in the postseason without a contract extension made him not worth the risk to any team pointing for October.

I wouldn’t have traded for him, either.

And while it’s neither here nor there competitively, it’s nice that the Dodgers have now brought two former SoCal high school stars back home. Hart High alumni have Tyler Glasnow to root for, and in the moments after Tuesday’s trade was announced this went up on Reddit: “Welcome home Harvard Westlake alumni Jack Flaherty.”

Welcome home Harvard Westlake alumni Jack Flaherty
byu/G24all2read inDodgers

This deal was mom approved, too. Eileen Flaherty posted a photo of the infant Jack, in a Dodger outfit, on X with this message: “Circa 1997 … Let’s Go!!!”

⁦@Dodgers⁩ ⁦@jflare_⁩

Circa 1997 …. Let’s Go!!! pic.twitter.com/YlI39KIx3Q

— Eileen Flaherty (@JackandGradyMom) July 30, 2024

Clearly, this is different from the Dodgers’ attempted trade with the Tigers a year ago, when Eduardo Rodriguez exercised his contractual rights and blocked the trade.

Overall, the Dodgers added Flaherty and Kiermaier on Tuesday, and reliever Michael Kopech and utility players Tommy Edman and Amed Rosario on Monday. Not necessarily impact additions – and in one sense Edman fits right in because he’s been hurt all year, too – but they’ll help a team caught between needing reinforcements right now and knowing that (a) there will be players returning from the injured list, and (b) at some point the biggest decision will involve where to play Mookie Betts.

(For the record: Going into Tuesday night, 16 players on the major league roster have spent 841 man-games on the Dodgers’ injured list so far this season. They currently have nine players on the injured list, plus a 10th in Bobby Miller trying to straighten out his mechanics in the minor leagues.)

And while you’re wondering, since there’s still no indication if or when third baseman Max Muncy might actually be able to swing a bat: Yes, I was also wondering if the Dodgers might have taken a stab at reacquiring Justin Turner before the Toronto Blue Jays traded him to Seattle on Tuesday. However, while Turner can still play third, he’s no longer considered a full-time third baseman. His other positions, first and DH, are already spoken for in Los Angeles.

If I had to grade Friedman and Gomes for their deadline efforts – knowing, of course, that the only true grade is “incomplete” until the season ends – I’d give them a B-minus. That’s still a full grade point above last year’s effort. (Thanks, Lance Lynn!)

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We do grade on the curve, and since the Dodgers have more at stake their deadline performance will be assessed with a more critical eye. The Angels, sellers basically since the start of June, got a pair of promising prospects out of the Philadelphia system in exchange for closer Carlos Estévez on Saturday. Pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri are already the No. 3 and 8 players in the Angels’ system, respectively, according to MLB.com.

Tuesday the Angels added a journeyman reliever from the San Francisco Giants, Mike Baumann, for cash considerations, and later traded reliever Luis Garcia to Boston for four minor leaguers. Only one of those, Triple-A infielder Matthew Lugo, was among Boston’s top 30 prospects according to MLB.com’s rankings.

But the Angels’ position was more clear-cut this year, and there was no pre-deadline hot streak that seduced General Manager Perry Minasian into rolling the dice as he did a  year ago, acquiring players that he subsequently had to put on waivers less than a month later to reduce payroll.

So give Minasian a B-minus, too, because of the Estévez trade.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Olympics 2024: The chocolate muffin Olympians can’t get enough of on TikTok

• July 31, 2024

The Olympics have been off to an exciting start. Team USA has been winning medals left and right. But if you’re only watching the summer games on your television, you’re missing out on half the fun.

Related: Check out our full coverage of the 2024 Olympics

Popularized during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Olympians are taking over TikTok to share their behind the scenes experiences and what it’s really like to be an athlete living in the Olympic Village.

Some of the popular videos so far have been room tours, merchandise hauls and dining hall food reviews, the later of which has inspired a new craze of its own.

@henrikchristians1

Olympic Village food review! A little surprise at the end too! Smash like and subscribe for part 2 #fyp #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #foodreview @Olympics @paris2024 @Mr.Nicho

♬ original sound – Z7duckx_Music – Z7duckx_Music

Shortly after arriving to the Olympic Village, Henrik Christiansen, an Olympic Swimmer for Norway, shared a video of him reviewing the different foods he had tried so far in the dining hall. One of the items? A chocolate muffin. “Insane. 11/10,” he rated it.

@henrikchristians1

I don’t think you guys realize how good this stuff is #fyp #zipline #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins @Mr.Nicho

♬ original sound – I think you should leave shop

Since that initial video, Christiansen has posted 9 TikToks just about the chocolate muffins, which is over half of the 16 videos he’s uploaded since arriving in Paris.

@henrikchristians1

We have chocolate muffin before GTA 6 #fyp #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins #gta #gta6

♬ GTA San Andreas Theme (Remake) – Ben Morfitt (SquidPhysics)

From what Christiansen has shared, these aren’t your ordinary chocolate muffins. In addition to being a chocolate batter with chocolate chunks on top, the inside appears to have melted chocolate, similar to a molten lava cake.

@henrikchristians1

When bae is looking like a snack #fyp #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins @Olympics @paris2024

♬ original sound – mywatchhistory

Christiansen’s videos are inspiring fellow Olympic athletes to try the dessert themselves and share their own reviews.

@henrikchristians1

Yet another beautiful day in the Olympic Village #fyp #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins @Olympics @paris2024

♬ La belle vie – Sacha Distel

Olympic Swimmer Lewis Clareburt from New Zealand shared a video of him and Christiansen with a chocolate muffin in hand.

@lewis_clareburt

Guys i found him @Henrik Christiansen #olympics #paris2024

♬ Muffin Man – The Kiboomers

American rock climber Colin Duffy also shared a photo post of the treat with the caption reading “You do not understand how good these muffins are.”

U.S. track and field star Gabby Thomas shared it was the best muffin she ever had, giving it a 9.8/10 rating, clarifying in her caption that she would’ve rated them higher but they had run out of them when she tried to get them earlier so she deducted points for that.

@itsgabbythomas

Replying to @olivia random id rate it higher but they ran out when i tried to get it earlier so minus points for that

♬ original sound – Gabby Thomas

@aleahfinn

They are so good like ??? #olympics #olympicvillage #paris2024

♬ original sound – Lorena Pages

@nikita.ducarroz

@Henrik Christiansen the #OlympicVillage chocolate muffins really are 11/10 ! #Olympics #paris2024 #olympicgames

♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Billie Eilish

@marslikethebar

this is a joke and i am an aid, not an athlete. Still at the olympics tho which is super cool #olympics #paris2024 #jo #jo2024 #teamusa #italy #olympics2024

♬ original sound – Princess Bunnyboo

As for viewers at home who aren’t able to visit the Olympic Village dining hall, some have taken it upon themselves to find out where they can get the chocolate muffins. Others are sharing recipes that fans can make at home to soothe the craving.

@j.stucky

needing @Henrik Christiansen to get some deets on where the muffins are from, who makes them, how we can buy them, ANYTHING #olympics #parisolympics #olympics2024 #muffins #muffinman #olympicswimming #olympicvillage

♬ original sound – jules

@kelin.online

@Henrik Christiansen wdyt is it the same ?? #greenscreen #olympics #muffinman #baking

♬ original sound – kelin

@elaina.bell

@Henrik Christiansen get this man a chocolate muffin sponsorship and stat

♬ original sound – elaina

@elaeatz

waiting for the next chocolate muffin vid @Henrik Christiansen Recipe: Best Chocolate Muffins Adapted from twopeasandtheirpod.com and Eat What You Want by Gaby Dalkin *Makes 6 jumbo muffins + 2 standard muffins – 1 2/3 cups all pupose flower – 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder – 1 tsp instant espresso powder – 2 tsp baking powder – 1/2 tsp baking soda – 1 tsp salt – 1/2 cup hot water – 1/2 cup granulated sugar – 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed – 1/3 cup avocado oil – 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk – 2 tsp vanilla extract – 3/4 cup greek yogurt – 2 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare a jumbo muffin tin or 12-cup cupcake tin with liners. 2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, ¼ cup of the cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 2 cups of chocolate chips. Make sure the chocolate chips are coated in flour so they distrubute evenly in the muffins. 3. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup cocoa powder and espresso powder with the hot water until smooth. 4. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, avocado oil, sugar, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Whisk in the cocoa powder mixture until combined. Then, fold in the flour mixture until just combined. 5. Divide the batter into the muffin tins and top with the remaining chocolate chips. 6. Bake jumbo muffins for 25 minutes and bake regular muffins for 15 minutes. 7. Enjoy! #ParisOlympics #chocolatemuffin #olympicvillage #easyrecipes #foryou

♬ original sound – michaela ʕ； •`ᴥ•´ʔ

@freyja19

ignore my weird af hair, I’m working from home #olympics #olympicvillage

♬ suono originale – 𝙎𝙉𝙀𝘼𝙆𝙔𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊𝟵𝟯

@curioustatum

extreme olympic fomo @Henrik Christiansen #olympics #olympics2024 #parisolympics2024 #paris2024 #olymipicmuffinman #olympicmuffins #swimming #2024 #fyp #foryou #foryoupage

♬ sonido original –

While there hasn’t been an official statement of where the muffin’s are from just yet, some eagle eye fans have noticed that there is a strong resemblance to the Coup de Pates “Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense“

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​ Orange County Register 

Jo Adell’s late homer lifts Angels to comeback victory over Rockies

• July 31, 2024

ANAHEIM — A fairly somber day for Angels fans at least ended with a victory.

On a day when the Angels didn’t make enough trades to suit many of their fans and got disappointing injury news on Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and even Chase Silseth, the good news came in the form of a come-from-behind 10-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Jo Adell snapped a tie with a seventh-inning homer, the third time in the last two weeks he put the Angels ahead late in a victory. Matt Thaiss also had a career-high five RBIs.

While the larger stories all point to a miserable season, the Angels can take some solace in the fact that they’ve now been holding their own for two months. The Angels (47-60) are 26-22 since June 2.

They’ve overcome deficits of at least four runs in each of their last two games.

Griffin Canning put them in a 6-2 hole by the second inning, but the Angels took a one-run lead by the fourth. After the Rockies tied it in the seventh, Adell put them back on top with his 16th homer in the bottom of the inning.

After Adell’s homer, Ben Joyce pitched a perfect eighth. Joyce is going to get some save opportunities now that both Carlos Estévez and Luis Garcia have been traded, but this time Manager Ron Washington had him set up right-hander Hunter Strickland.

The Angels had added two insurance runs before Strickland then worked the ninth, finishing off a game that they seemed destined to lose in the second inning.

Canning gave up six runs within the first 12 batters of the game. He allowed two runs in the first and then four in the second, three on a Ryan McMahon homer just inside the left field pole.

After that, though, Canning locked down. He retired the next 17 hitters in a row, getting through the sixth inning.

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That gave the Angels time to erase the early 6-2 deficit.

Thaiss drove in two with a double in the third, including Neto coming home on a nice head-first slide.

In the fourth, Nolan Schanuel was able to extend the rally with an athletic “swim move” to get around a tag as he slid into third. Schanuel had led off the inning with a single, and the Angels followed with three more hits and a hit batter.

The final two runs came home on a Thaiss two-out single. His RBI in the eighth gave him a career-high.

José Quijada cost Canning the opportunity to become the first Angels pitcher since 2012 to get a victory when he allowed six or more runs. Quijada gave up a game-tying homer to Ezequiel Tovar in the seventh.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Potential jurors to be asked about ‘RHOBH’ star Erika Jayne in estranged husband Tom Girardi’s trial

• July 31, 2024

By FRED SHUSTER

Prospective jurors in the forthcoming federal criminal trial of disbarred attorney Tom Girardi will be asked if they are fans of true crime television and whether they’ve seen the defendant’s estranged wife, Erika Jayne, on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” according to court papers filed Tuesday.

The questionnaire will be administered to potential jurors Thursday in advance of voir dire the following week when Girardi is scheduled to stand trial. Girardi, a former plaintiff’s lawyer and owner of the law firm Girardi Keese, is charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud the now-defunct firm’s former clients by stealing portions of their settlement money and lying about it.

Attorney Tom Girardi smiles outside the Los Angeles courthouse on July 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Along with common queries about education, employment history and previous jury experience, more than 100 possible Girardi jurors summoned to the downtown Los Angeles federal courthouse will be asked about their diet of news and celebrity gossip, and which blogs, chat rooms and/or social-media accounts they might subscribe to.

The questionnaire also asks if the potential juror has seen or heard any video or audio content or read any articles that mentioned Girardi, Erika Jayne, or “Real Housewives.” It also asks if the possible juror has any opinions about the truth or accuracy of the allegations in the case.

The set of questions also asks about exposure to the Bravo network, which broadcasts “Real Housewives,” and whether the respondee tunes into true-crime podcasts or documentaries and, if so, which ones.

The disgraced attorney faces charges that, from 2010 to December 2020, he and his law firm’s former bookkeeper, Chris Kamon, embezzled and pocketed about $18 million that belonged to clients of the firm.

Girardi and Kamon were initially each charged with five counts of wire fraud, but on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton tossed one of the counts against Girardi. Kamon, 50, is set to face trial in January.

Girardi, now 85, was found competent to stand trial despite his claim that he has Alzheimer’s disease and is incapable of assisting with his defense. He is free on $250,000 bond and lives in the memory ward of an Orange County nursing home.

Once known as a defender of the powerless in class action lawsuits against corporations, Girardi represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile cases, including Brian Stow’s civil suit against Major League Baseball. Stow was the San Francisco Giants fan who sustained severe injuries during an attack at a Dodgers game.

Girardi also represented plaintiffs in the toxic groundwater case against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. dramatized in the 2001 Oscar-winning Julia Roberts movie “Erin Brockovich.”

Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in 2020 after a 21-year marriage. Following the split, the couple listed their Pasadena home for sale at a price of $13 million. Jayne has not been charged in the case against her husband.

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After he was disbarred in 2022, the State Bar of California reported it had received 205 complaints against Girardi alleging he misappropriated settlement money, abandoned clients and committed other serious ethical violations over the course of his four-decade career.

Girardi Keese, famous for representing plaintiffs in large-scale civil litigation against major corporations, collapsed in late 2020 after Girardi was accused in a Chicago lawsuit of embezzling money meant for clients the firm was representing in litigation over an airline crash in Indonesia. The lawsuit brought by plaintiffs’ firm Edelson PC has since been transferred to Los Angeles.

Girardi is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, as is the now-shuttered Wilshire Boulevard law firm that bore his name, which faces more than $500 million in claims.

​ Orange County Register 

Prominent sports coach Chris Flores convicted of sexually assaulting a teen and a young woman

• July 31, 2024

A prominent Southern California youth sports coach and trainer was convicted Tuesday, July 30, of sexually assaulting a teenager and a young woman

An Orange County Superior Court jury deliberated for several hours before finding Chris Flores guilty of seven felony counts, including sexual penetration by a foreign object and multiple lewd acts against a girl beginning when she was 14, and a sexual penetration by foreign object and force charge against a 22-year-old woman.

Flores — a Bellflower resident known to many in the local high school sports community as “Coach Frogg” — was a coach and a trainer at STARS academy in Orange. The training center is well-known in Orange County athletic circles, having been linked to several top high school football players and boasting a client list that ranges from junior high school athletes to professional players.

Prosecutors allege Flores used his position of trust to prey on children for his own sexual gratification. Along with the teen Flores is charged with abusing, prosecutors seeking to prove a pattern of unlawful conduct introduced during the trial two other young accusers who alleged that Flores committed similar acts against them.

Flores has flatly denied the allegations.

During closing arguments Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom, Flores’ attorney, Ed Welbourn, told jurors that false allegations from the young accusers spiraled out of control as they spread through their group. Welbourn noted that at least one of the alleged victims provided different dates for the alleged abuse during her testimony compared to when she initially spoke to law enforcement.

“Anyone can say anything at any time and then you tell your friends and you have a similar-ish story,” Welbourn said. “That doesn’t make it true.”

Prosecutors say the sexual assaults against the young teens occurred at various times in 2021, and included inappropriate touching, kissing and digital penetration. They also allege he sexually assaulted a young woman who was working for him during a party at a home in 2022.

Deputy District Attorney Sarah Rahman, during her closing arguments, cited a recorded call in which a man prosecutors have identified as Flores tries to persuade a 14-year-old to go with him to a late-night movie on a “date” and asks if she had “deleted everything.”

Rahman described Flores as a “manipulative” and “calculating” predator. The prosecutor asked what reason the accusers would have to lie about someone who had power within the sports they wanted to pursue. She also noted that it wasn’t unusual for a victim to not remember the exact dates when abuse occurred.

“Why would they blow up their futures for the one person who had those connections?” Rahman asked jurors.

STARS, where Flores was at one point listed as the COO, announced after Flores’ arrest that they had “severed all ties” with him and were cooperating with authorities.

Flores, who had been out on bail during the trial, was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately after the verdict. He is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 4 for sentencing.

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​ Orange County Register