Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark tied after U.S. Open’s third round

• June 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Like commuters on the 405 freeway at rush hour, the players at the top of the leaderboard at the start of play found it difficult to make much forward progress during Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Among the final 10 players to tee off on Saturday, the best score posted during an extremely difficult day of golf was a 2-under 68 posted by Scottie Scheffler. As a result, six players will start Sunday’s final round within six shots of the lead held by Murrieta native Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark, who are tied at 10-under 200. Rory McIlroy, looking for his first major title in nine years, sits in third place following his 1-under 69 on Saturday that leaves him at 9-under par 201. Scheffler is alone in fourth at 7 under.

Through 16 holes Scheffler was among the crowd feeling extremely frustrated, primarily because of his inability to convert any of the birdie opportunities he gave himself that could have propelled him closer to the players above him on the leaderboard.

Scheffler’s outlook and his position heading into Sunday’s final round dramatically changed when his second shot on 17 bounced on the green and proceeded to roll into the cup for an eagle, putting him back in red numbers for the first time since a birdie on the first hole. He followed the eagle by making a long birdie putt on 18, giving the former Masters champion some strong momentum heading into Sunday.

“I was fighting all day today, trying to just get myself back in position, just trying to make some birdies and avoid the bogeys,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t do a great job of that for most of the day but I grinded it out pretty hard. I felt like today was one of the days where I got punished for my mistakes, whereas yesterday I felt like I wasn’t getting punished at all. Today it seemed like every time I got offline, I was really fighting for par. Just fortunate to see that shot go in on 17 and then a nice birdie on 18 to kind of get myself back into it.”

After grinding so hard for much of the round, Scheffler’s big finish could very well provide the jump start he needs to rally from behind on Sunday and win his second career major championship.

“I’m standing there on 17 tee looking up at the board and I’m seven shots back and I’m thinking maybe I can steal one shot coming in, but really I’m just trying to hit the fairway there just to give myself some sort of chance, because if you miss that fairway on 17, I am going to be fighting for par again,” Scheffler said. “Then I hit a nice drive and the (second) shot goes in and it’s a huge boost. Then I hit another two good shots into 18, nail the putt, and all of a sudden instead of seven shots back I’m only three. So definitely a huge momentum boost going into tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll just keep it rolling.”

Before the leaders had even showed up at the course to begin preparing for their rounds, Tom Kim provided some hope for those needing to post a really low round when he went out and fired a 6-under 29 on the front nine. Kim started with a birdie on one and added four more birdies over his next five holes. After a par on seven, he birdied eight and nine, making the turn at 6 under. But three bogeys on the back nine led to a 2-over 37, leaving Kim with a 4-under 66.

“That back nine is really hard. You just don’t really have any bailouts,” Kim said. “Those three bogeys really don’t feel like bogeys because I barely missed it by a yard or two. But major championship golf, U.S. Open really brings it out of you. Would have been nice to kind of par in and see that bogey-free or see one or two more birdies, but if you told me at the start of the day, I’d take that score.”

Fowler will be attempting to go wire-to-wire when he tees off Sunday in search of the first major championship title of his career. Unlike Friday’s roller-coaster second round which saw Fowler post eight birdies and six bogeys, Fowler’s third round was much less frantic. Throughout the 18 holes he was never more than one shot higher or lower than his starting score of 10 under.

“A little bit of a grind out there today,” Fowler said. “Still hit some good shots, but with the firmer conditions and the pins being some kind of tucked front pins. When you miss the fairway, it makes it very hard to make par. I had to accept some bogeys there in the round early on, but I feel like we did a good job of kind of staying present, moving forward, and like I said, still a lot of quality shots. Through three rounds we’re in the spot that we want to be in.”

It appeared as if Fowler would finish the day alone at the top of the leaderboard but his short par putt on the final hole lipped out, dropping him into a tie with Clark. The miss seemed to surprise Fowler, who gestured with his hands in disbelief.

“You could see from the first putt, there’s a lot of slope there,” Fowler said. “I’m not sure why it didn’t move. It should have. I hit a good putt, just a bummer. It would be nice for that one to go in. Really doesn’t matter, having the lead, being one back, two back. You’re going to have to play good golf tomorrow.”

While Fowler said he has experienced the usual nerves that go with trying to win a golf tournament, he feels overall he’s been able to handle the pressure that goes with chasing a major championship better than he has in quite a while.

“This is the best I’ve felt all year and definitely in a long time,” Fowler said. “We all feel nerves at times, depending on certain shots or circumstances, but I mentioned it yesterday and then still stand by it. This is the best I’ve felt, let alone in a normal tournament but especially a major, and I would say really ever in my career.”

Early in the round, it appeared McIlroy might be ready to go low and distance himself from the pack. He birdied two of his first three holes and had good opportunities for birdies on several other holes on the front side. But time and time again his birdie putts just missed and over the final nine holes he, like everyone else in the field, found himself battling to keep from dropping strokes.

“The golf course definitely got a little bit trickier today than the first couple of days,” McIlroy said. “I felt like I played really smart, solid golf. Hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens. Overall, yeah, pretty pleased with how today went, and feel like I’m in a good spot heading into tomorrow.”

While he’s one of the few players near the top of the leaderboard who have won a major, McIlroy said he doesn’t believe his previous success gives him any type of leg up heading into Sunday.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve done it,” McIlroy said. “I’m going out there to try to execute a game plan, and I feel like over the last three days I’ve executed that game plan really, really well, and I just need to do that for one more day.”

As he strives to win the biggest tournament of his career, Fowler was asked what winning a US Open title would mean to him.

“I mean, obviously it would be huge, especially being here in Southern California, having a lot of people, family and friends that are out here this week,” Fowler said. “We have a chance tomorrow. I mentioned out there after going through the last few years, I’m not scared to fail. I’ve dealt with that. We’re just going to go have fun, continue to try to execute, leave it all out there, see where we stand on 18.”

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Bobby Miller’s magic runs out as Dodgers are routed by Giants

• June 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES – Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller has been checking off firsts at a rapid clip since making his big-league debut less than a month ago.

He checked off a couple more Saturday – first big-league home run allowed and first loss.

LaMonte Wade Jr.’s three-run homer was the big blow in a four-run fifth inning against Miller as the San Francisco Giants routed the Dodgers 15-0.

Miller hadn’t given up more than a run in any of his first four big-league starts and had kept the powerful lineups of the Braves, Yankees and Phillies in the park. But the Giants’ four-run fifth put an end to his 20-inning scoreless streak (and 27-inning homerless streak).

The rookie right-hander looked set to continue the magical start to his big-league career when he allowed just two hits through the first four innings against the Giants – one a ground ball that ricocheted off his back. But there were signs that his command wasn’t as sharp as it had been in his first four starts.

It got worse in the fifth. He walked Luis Matos to start the inning. Matos stole second and went to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Miller. The Dodgers brought the infield in and Brandon Crawford flared a single (57.5 mph off the bat) just over their heads and onto the outfield grass.

That snapped Miller’s scoreless innings streak and broke a scoreless tie in the game. It got worse.

Miller hit No. 9 hitter Casey Schmitt with a pitch then left a first-pitch curveball over the plate to Wade. He crushed it, sending it 399 feet into the back of the visiting bullpen.

Miller got out of the fifth but only after giving up a double to Thairo Estrada.

Another walk started the sixth inning. An infield single and another RBI single from Crawford followed to make it 5-0. When Miller’s pitch count reached 92, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ended the rookie’s day.

Things didn’t get better from there. Alex Vesia came in and walked the first batter he faced, Wade, then gave up a first-pitch grand slam to J.D. Davis. Seven of the Giants’ runs were charged to Miller whose ERA went from 0.78 after his first four starts to a more mortal 2.83 now.

The Giants scored eight more runs against a Dodgers’ bullpen that has allowed 48 runs in 57 2/3 innings in June, showing no signs of shaking off its status as the team’s biggest problem.

One run allowed would have been too many on a day that saw the Dodgers’ offense get shut out for the first time since April and only the third time this season.

The Dodgers entered the game averaging six runs per game over their previous 27 and had been held under five runs just six times during that stretch. But a familiar face, Alex Wood, held them scoreless for five innings.

The Dodgers got just one baserunner as far as second with Wood on the mound. Michael Busch led off the third inning with a double and went no farther.

Reliever Tristan Beck completed the shutout, allowing just one hit after the sixth inning.

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U.S. Open: Par 3s at Los Angeles Country Club are having a big impact

• June 18, 2023

Among the top seven players entering the weekend, only Rory McIlroy and Harris English finished in the black versus Par-3s on the north course at Los Angeles Country Club.

Collectively, the leaders shot 28-under on par-4s and 28-under on par-5s. But the five eclectic par-3s, which in Round 3 featured the shortest hole in U.S. Open history? Two-over.

The same group was plus-one on the three-shot holes during moving day.

Playing 81 yards on Saturday, No. 15, the last of the bunch, produced plenty of discussion and action.

Three aces on the 15th this week — Matthieu Pavon and Sam Burns on Thursday, Matt Fitzpatrick on Friday — ranks one shy of the U.S. Open record set in 1989 on the 6th hole at Oak Hill Country Club.

Playing off its third-round yardage, several 15th holes would fit neatly between the tees and greens on each of the other Par-3s.

From the tips in descending order, No. 11 (290 yards), No. 9, (171 yards), No. 7 (284 yards) and No. 4 (228 yards) have continually challenged the field.

“It’s miles better than the other two long par-3s,” said Fitzpatrick, last year’s U.S. Open champion, of No. 15. “It’s not even a contest. For me, I just think that you got a sand wedge or a lob wedge or a gap wedge in your hand and you’re nervous, and I think that’s the thing. That’s why you’re always hitting 3-wood in, and 7-wood. You’re not nervous.”

Through 54 holes, however, only the 15th has yielded more birdies than bogies (105 to 33) among the par-3s.

Taken together, they have surrendered 219 birdies in addition to the three hole-in-ones.

But they have claimed 441 bogies and 55 doubles or worse.

A FOX AND A GARDNER

A USGA record 10,187 entries were accepted for the 2023 U.S. Open.

Of the 156 players who qualified for LACC, 61 at +2 or better made it to the weekend.

Tournament rules require golfers to have company on the course because not only are they responsible for keeping their own score, they need to be monitored, too.

Enter LACC’s director of golf, Tom Gardner.

Early last week, Jeff Hall, who oversees “inside the ropes” activities for the USGA, approached Gardner about being a non-competing marker in case an odd number of players got through.

When Frenchman Paul Barjon finished with a double bogey on the 18th Friday to miss the cut, 36-year-old New Zealander Ryan Fox lost a playing partner for the third round.

Going off the No. 1 tee in the first group at 9:33 a.m. on Saturday, Fox and Gardner completed 18 holes in three hours and four minutes, more than two hours faster than the average pace of play on Thursday and Friday.

“I’m not a competitor,” said Gardner, whose caddie, LACC head professional Rory Sweeney, fell short in his attempt to qualify for the 123rd U.S. Open. “But to be able to say that I got to play a U.S. Open setup on the weekend and see what it’s like and see the energy of the crowd and see the pins and the firmness and the rough and everything that goes along with it, it’s — I can’t really describe it.”

As confirmed by Gardner, Fox carded 1-under, 69.

Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa (+10) has the solo honors on Sunday.

BLAME THE EQUIPMENT

Scottie Scheffler, golf’s No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, hasn’t made putts the way he wanted the past few months so he put a new putter in his bag this week.

But the game’s best ball striker has driven the daylights out of the ball. So why would the 2022 Masters champion trash his driver on Friday night?

“I kept hitting it left,” Scheffler said following his third straight round in the 60s. “Then I grabbed the backup and it started going straight. And then I just tossed it away.”

This wasn’t a case of operator error. The face of Scheffler’s 8-degree TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus driver had flattened or caved in, he said.

After finding 6 of 13 fairways in the second round, the Texan, who turns 27 next Wednesday, hit 10 of 13 fairways in Round 3 and is three off the lead.

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Carlos Vela helps LAFC end skid with victory over Sporting KC

• June 18, 2023

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Carlos Vela scored in the final minute of regulation to rally Los Angeles FC to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night, snapping the club’s six-match winless streak in all competitions.

Alan Pulido scored on a first-half penalty kick and Sporting KC (5-9-5) took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Pulido’s PK score gave Sporting KC the lead in the 17th minute. Pulido has four goals in his last three matches after scoring just once in his previous 19 appearances.

LAFC (8-3-5) pulled even early in the second half when rookie defender Denil Maldonado took a pass from Mateusz Bogusz in the 48th minute and scored his first career goal.

Vela scored for a fifth time this season, using a pass from Aaron Long in the 90th minute to help the defending champions earn a much-needed victory. The three points pull LAFC into a tie with expansion team St. Louis City for the top spot in the Western Conference, one point in front of the idle Seattle Sounders.

John McCarthy had six saves for LAFC. Kendall McIntosh saved two shots for Sporting KC.

LAFC entered play 0-5-1 in its previous six matches in all competitions. The club had just three losses in its previous 26 matches. LAFC’s longest run without a victory came in 2021 when it had a 0-3-5 stretch.

Sporting KC had won four straight at home entering play after a 0-3-1 start.

LAFC lost by shutouts in four straight matches in all competitions coming into play. The club had failed to score in five of its last six matches after being shut out five times in its previous 67 matches in all competitions.

Sporting KC snapped a three-match skid against LAFC with a 1-1 draw earlier this season in LA.

LAFC returns home to host the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday. Sporting KC travels to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday.

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Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks, Sunday, June 18, 2023

• June 18, 2023

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Sunday, June 18, 2023.

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Santa Anita: Tranche upsets Mirahmadi and Fasig-Tipton Futurity field

• June 18, 2023

All the hoopla heading into Saturday’s $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Futurity at Santa Anita was centered around first-time starter Mirahmadi, a $1,050,000 yearling purchase named after track announcer Frank Mirahmadi.

Mirahmadi, a 2-year-old Into Mischief colt who was the 3-5 betting choice, didn’t run poorly, but he was no match for 20-1 longshot winner Tranche. Sired by Collected, Tranche won by 7 1/4 lengths after shipping in from Kentucky for trainer Luis Mendez.

Tranche, seventh in his debut at Keeneland on April 7 after a slow start and runner-up to the very impressive Youalmosthadme in the ungraded Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs on May 4, broke quickly in the 5-furlong race and was never headed while carving out fractions of 22.15 and 45.36 en route to a final clocking of 57.68 seconds.

Ridden by Edwin Maldonado, Tranche collected the winner’s share of $60,000 to improve his earnings to $81,000. Mirahmadi held second, 1 1/4 lengths in front of Refocus. Going Mobile and Next Level completed the order of finish in the five-horse field.

“He ran a big race in Kentucky at Churchill and I really liked the horse today,” said Maldonado, who rode Tranche at Churchill. “In Kentucky, the horse that won (by 9 3/4 lengths) was a monster … I knew we had a shot in here, but I didn’t think he was going to run this big today. I was feeling great when I was turning for home by myself. I thought, ‘Yes, we got a good shot.’”

Maldonado and the colt’s owner, William Peeples, were more bullish about their chances heading into the race than the trainer.

“To be honest I wasn’t really (confident),” Mendez said. “In this business when you think you’re going to win it can sometimes go the other way. I mean, everybody on the team loved him, but I was not convinced. That beautiful field of horses was against him so I was a little worried.”

When did Mendez feel confident?

“When I saw him turning for home he made me excited,” he said.

Fasig-Tipton Debutante

Northern California invader Grand Slam Smile, who won her debut by four lengths at Golden Gate Fields on May 14 for trainer Steve Specht, tracked pacesetter Becky’s Dream from second much of the way before rallying for a half-length victory in the $100,000 race for 2-year-old fillies.

Ridden by Frank Alvarado, the daughter of Smiling Tiger was sent off as the 7-2 third choice in the short field of four. Crazy Hot, the 3-5 favorite, finished third, 5 1/4 lengths in back of Becky’s Dream (9-5).

Final time for the 5 furlongs was 58.41 seconds as the winner padded her career earnings to $83,400.

There was about a 10-minute delay to the start of the race when longshot Motet tried to sit down in the gate with jockey Kyle Frey, who was injured and taken off the track by stretcher. Motet was scratched.

According to track security, Frey was complaining of ankle pain and was taken to a local hospital for precautionary x-rays.

“Everyone was in the same boat at the gate,” Alvarado said. “Everyone (was) walking and waiting. I was worried a little bit because it is hot and she had never been in this kind of heat, but she handled it pretty good.”

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Swanson: Murrieta homeboy Rickie Fowler leading the U.S. Open? What we always expected

• June 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES – I’ve been following the guy with a share of the lead at the U.S. Open for a long time, and let me tell you: He was always a big deal.

I covered golf at the Riverside Press-Enterprise back in the mid-2000s, which is to say: I was on the Rickie Fowler beat. He was the headliner. The best player and brightest star — even before he was rocking all that bright orange Oklahoma State-inspired Puma attire.

It’s impossible to overstate how much he meant to golf in the Inland Empire, where I know folks will be tuned in to see Fowler’s charge toward a possible U.S. Open title Sunday. After shooting a three-birdie, three-bogey even-par 70 Saturday, the 34-year-old heads into the fourth and final round at L.A. Country Club tied for the lead with Wyndham Clark at 10-under par. Rory McIlroy is a shot behind them.

“We always had good players, but he was the guy who took it to the next level,” said Joe Skovron, another Murrieta product who was Fowler’s caddie until last year. “He was a star on the national level and who kept doing it once he turned pro.”

But first Fowler was a quiet, driven kid whose coach Barry McDonnell used to call him “Little Hawk.” Because, Skovron said, “he’d get that look in his eyes when he had it going.”

Fowler’s game was downright loquacious, but in conversation, no, he wasn’t the most insightful golfer I covered. That was Brendan Steele, because I never had a conversation with the future PGA Tour player from Idyllwild that didn’t teach me something about the game.

Wasn’t the wittiest. That was Sydnee Michaels; never did an interview with the Murrieta golfer who’d spend a decade on the LPGA Tour that didn’t crack me up.

And, honestly, in the years since I stopped covering golf regularly, I think most often of Erica Blasberg, the LPGA golfer from Corona. She died by suicide in 2010.

Like Fowler, she wasn’t ever especially forthcoming, but she was, as Fowler was as a young golfing star, helpful, accommodating. And she also was marketable, someone with game and the ability to make golf look cool.

She was cool. And so was he.

Is he: “His reaction to everything is as cool as he was when he was a younger,” said Riverside’s Ed Holmes, a Southern California PGA board member and regional affairs director with the USGA who, like every golf fan in the Inland Empire, has kept up with Fowler.

See Fowler’s post-round demeanor Saturday: Even after closing with a bogey, he shrugged, smiled, said “tomorrow is when the tournament starts,” and then stepped out and signed autographs for anyone who asked.

That cool factor has always been a big part of Fowler’s appeal. He wasn’t a country club snob; rather a member of a multi-racial Murrieta family, a down-to-earth motorcycle-riding crew who were supportive but never pushy. At one of his first pro events, fans wore matching shirts that read: “Rickie is my homeboy” – a sentiment recalled a few times by members of his gallery Saturday.

He always seemed so at ease, so in his element on the golf course – even with the weight of the golf world, and so many heavy, heady expectations.

And we all – he and us – expected plenty.

How could we not? He’d been the high school freshman shooting 62 to win the CIF-SCGA High School championship. Skovron: “I was playing mini-tours and I called the shop and I had to ask three times, ‘No, what’d Rick shoot?’ Because it was so unheard of.”

He was named the SCGA Player of the Year at 16. He topped the world amateur ranking for 36 weeks. Twice qualified for the U.S. Open as an amateur, and made the cut once.

And even before any of that, he’d been the little boy dressing up as Fred Couples for Halloween. The 4-year-old nagging Valerie Skovron, who helped run the Valley Junior Golf Association, to let him play before he turned 5.

“He looked at me and he said, ‘I promise I will be good,’” she told me in 2009, as Fowler was embarking on his professional career. “From Day 1, he was always just so focused. … He was quiet and he got along with all the other kids, but he was out there to do something that the others hadn’t done.”

Josh Anderson, Fowler’s high school teammate, recalls the prodigy shooting in the 40s through nine holes only once in their Murrieta Valley tenure.

“I remember because he cried profusely after it,” Anderson texted Saturday from Scotland, where he’s hoping to qualify for the British Open. “At the time, we all thought he was being childish or acting like a kid. But looking back it shows how much desire and love for the game he has.

“People have always seemed to question that about him and I’ve always defended him because of that moment. Even just looking back on that, it shows just how much golf means to him.”

So, yes, we expected him to be leading the U.S. Open.

Just we expected it sooner.

But golf? Golf makes even its most devoted disciples earn it.

And since he beat out McIlroy for the PGA Tour’s 2010 Rookie of the Year, notched top-five finishes in all four majors in 2014 and finished second at the 2018 Masters, Fowler has been in a dogfight with the damn game.

He hasn’t won since the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open. He plummeted from No. 4 in 2016 to No. 185 in the Official World Golf Rankings last fall. And no, he has not won a major.

“There’s definitely been some love-hate at times,” Fowler acknowledged in January, when we talked after he played himself into contention at the Farmers Insurance Open on Torrey Pines’ South Course, an early sign that some alterations could pay off.

He went with a different caddie – Ricky Romano, another former Murrieta Valley High standout, is on his bag now – and reunited with Butch Harmon, the famed golf instructor who told Golfweek: “I think he’ll win this year.”

And, finally, Fowler, now dad to Maya, is where we all knew he’d end up when he was a kid.

Making a run at major success. Making history. His 18 birdies in the first two rounds were the most over any two-round span in a major over the past 30 years, per ESPN. And his 130 total in the first two days equaled Martin Kaymer’s record at the 2014 U.S. Open.

“I love that he’s making all these birdies and playing Rickie Fowler golf,” said Joe Skovron, now a caddie for Tom Kim. They happened to be on the 10th tee box in the first round Thursday, with a view of Fowler on No. 9, finishing off his U.S. Open-record 8-under 62.

“Special,” Skovron called it. “Getting to see everything he’s been through in the past three years and turning it around the last seven, eight months, it’s been great to see. There’s no one out there who deserves a major more than him.

“We’re definitely all pulling for him.”

Digging through the crates this morning. It was tough to write a golf notebook without mentioning the dude.

And this, from the morning of his pro debut in 2009: “Murrieta’s Fowler shows drive to become the best.”

Through two rounds at the U.S. Open, he is. pic.twitter.com/derIfafCX4

— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) June 17, 2023

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Dodgers’ Chris Taylor receives cortisone injection for knee injury

• June 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES – This might sound familiar.

Days after waiting to put Max Muncy on the Injured List, hoping he would recover quickly enough to make it unnecessary – only to put him on the IL – the Dodgers are going down that same road with Chris Taylor.

Taylor underwent an MRI on his injured right knee Saturday which revealed “wear and tear” and a bone bruise, according to Taylor.

“It had been bothering me for the last couple weeks or so. Then last night, coming out of the box (on his second-inning ground out) it got worse,” Taylor said. “With an MRI, you never know so I was a little relieved (that it was a bone bruise and not ligament damage).”

Taylor received a cortisone injection in the injured knee which will make him unavailable to play this weekend. But the Dodgers are not putting him on the Injured List yet, hoping he recovers well enough by Tuesday to play in the series against the Angels.

“I think that knee has been balky for quite some time. When you’re running around over years with time, that cartilage just breaks down,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think last night it came to a little bit of a head. I don’t think it’s longer term. I think it’s something we can manage.”

Utilityman Yonny Hernandez joined the Dodgers Saturday on the taxi squad. He would be activated if Taylor has to go on the IL. Hernandez has hit .265 in 46 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

David Peralta also left Friday’s game with an injury. He injured a hamstring on a play at first base that ended up with him tumbling to the ground. Peralta was out early Saturday afternoon testing his hamstring in the outfield.

“David feels better today. He said he could play today. So if there’s a situation to pinch hit that might be a possibility,” Roberts said, adding that he would avoid using Peralta in the outfield.

“I think I’d like to give him another day as far as running around. But in a big spot to have him hit might be viable.”

URIAS PROGRESS

Left-hander Julio Urias threw an “up-down” bullpen session Saturday afternoon, simulating an inning break and throwing 40 pitches in all.

“(Urias) used his entire pitch mix and was really good,” Roberts said.

The expectation now is that Urias will throw to hitters in a simulated-game setting in the next few days and could go on a minor-league injury-rehabilitation assignment shortly after that. Roberts said Urias could join Class-A Rancho Cucamonga for that. It would be the left-hander’s first game action since injuring his left hamstring on May 18.

PITCHING PLANS

Right-hander Michael Grove was officially optioned to the minor leagues in order to clear a roster spot for Emmet Sheehan to start Friday. But Grove has not left the Dodgers and went through his usual workout Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, throwing in the outfield.

“He’s going to hang around. We’re going to see what we have to do,” Roberts said. “Our pitching is in flux right now so Michael is in a holding pattern.”

The Dodgers have off days Monday and Thursday this week but they could decide to bring Grove back in order to avoid pitching Sheehan on four days’ rest Wednesday in Anaheim. In order to recall Grove that quickly, it would have to be paired with an IL move for another pitcher. Roberts said they are monitoring a number of pitchers in the bullpen who have been used heavily recently.

ALSO

After covering 11 innings in the previous two games, the Dodgers’ bullpen was in need of reinforcement Saturday so 6-foot-8 left-hander Bryan Hudson was promoted from Triple-A. Right-hander Tayler Scott was designated for assignment.

Hudson was 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA in 25 appearances for OKC and struck out 51 in 29 innings.

UP  NEXT

Giants (RHP Logan Webb, 5-6, 3.15 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin, 4-1, 1.93 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, AM 570

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