Kings ouplay Kraken, close in on playoff spot

• April 2, 2023

SEATTLE (AP) — Despite a string of injuries and absences, the Kings are on the cusp of wrapping up another trip to the postseason.

Pheonix Copley made 25 saves, Sean Durzi, Carl Grundstrom and Kevin Fiala scored, and the Kings created separation in the Pacific Division standings with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.

Durzi scored at 11:45 of the second period thanks to a deflection that left an open goal, and Grundstrom stole the puck from Brandon Tanev and beat Martin Jones glove side with 14:38 remaining to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

Fiala added an empty net goal with 45 seconds left, his 23rd of the season.

“I didn’t think there was a lot of ice for either team. Both teams played a very tight, I don’t want to say conservative, but smart game. There wasn’t space to make plays and if you had a chance to get it to the net, you’d better take advantage of it,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “Fortunately for us, we got the lead and there was only going to be one or two tonight.”

The victory by Los Angeles likely ended Seattle’s hopes of catching the Kings in the standings. Los Angeles moved eight points ahead of the Kraken with six games remaining while Seattle has a game in hand. The Kraken’s path to the playoffs is likely one of the two wild cards in the Western Conference.

“It’s a real disappointing loss, but in saying that this group knows what it takes,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s enough guys that have been in here. They know what it takes.”

Copley faced a limited number of dangerous chances with most of Seattle’s shots coming from well away from goal. But when he needed to make a big save, Copley was solid. He stuffed Eeli Tolvanen on a breakaway in the opening moments of the third period and later mater a sprawling glove save on Jordan Eberle during a delayed penalty against the Kings.

“We were working really hard in our (defensive) zone for the full 60 and I think that’s how we’re gonna have to win games here coming down the stretch,” Copley said. “They’re gonna be tight games. They’re gonna be hard fought battles. So I think that’s just kind of how we wanted to play defensively.”

Seattle ended up capitalizing on the penalty and ended Copley’s shutout hopes as Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on a rebound with 11:35 left, his 18th goal of the season. Copley came up with a key stop on Daniel Sprong with about 5 minutes left and withstood Seattle’s charge in the closing moments with an extra attacker leading to Fiala’s clinching goal.

Fiala was one of those injury concerns for the Kings. He had missed seven of the previous nine games for Los Angeles due to injury, including Thursday’s loss to Edmonton.

“He had a huge game for us tonight and it doesn’t affect him. He’s still making plays and still controlling the puck,” said Los Angeles’ Alex Iafallo, who picked up his 200th career point assisting on Durzi’s goal.

Seattle goaltender Martin Jones made 16 saves, but it was a completely different outcome than the last time the division foes met back in late November in Los Angeles when the Kraken escaped with a wild 9-8 victory.

NOTES: Los Angeles D Mikey Anderson was scratched after leaving Thursday’s game against Edmonton with an undisclosed injury after his first shift. … Tanev skated in his 400th career game. … Only two of Seattle’s seven remaining games come against a team currently in playoff position, both against Vegas. Los Angeles has three of its six remaining games against likely playoff teams.

UP NEXT

Kings: At Vancouver on Sunday.

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC stays unbeaten, plays to scoreless tie with Colorado

• April 2, 2023

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — John McCarthy finished with four saves for Los Angeles FC and William Yarbrough saved two shots for the Colorado Rapids as the two clubs played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night.

It was just the second time in nine all-time meetings where the home team wasn’t victorious. The only road win in the series was a 3-0 victory by LAFC in 2018.

LAFC (3-0-2) has gone unbeaten through five matches in four of the last five seasons.

Colorado (0-3-3) entered play with three straight home wins in the series. The Rapids have scored just two goals through six matches, their lowest total in club history.

The Rapids outshot LAFC 14-11 with a 4-2 edge in shots on goal.

LAFC returns home to host Austin on Saturday.

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​ Orange County Register 

UConn reaches title game with beatdown of Miami

• April 2, 2023

HOUSTON (AP) — UConn doled out another drama-free basketball beatdown Saturday, getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from Adama Sanogo to dispatch Miami 72-59 and move one win from the school’s fifth national title.

Jordan Hawkins overcame his stomach bug and scored 13 for the Huskies, who came into this most unexpected Final Four as the only team with any experience on college basketball’s final weekend and with the best seeding of the four teams in Houston — at No. 4.

Against fifth-seeded Miami, they were the best team on the court from beginning to end. Starting with three straight 3s — one jumper from Hawkins and two set shots from Sanogo — UConn took a quick 9-0 lead and never trailed.

On Monday in the title game, the Huskies will face San Diego State, which became the first team to hit a buzzer-beater while trailing in a Final Four game for a 72-71 victory over Florida Atlantic.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “And I think it’s fitting that both of us kind of earned our way into this title game.”

But while the early game was an all-timer, the nightcap was simply more of the same from the Huskies (30-8).

The semifinal victory was UConn’s closest win in five tournament games, and it became only the sixth team since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to reach the title game after winning its first five in the tournament by double digits. It’s an impressive list with a daunting epilogue: Four of the previous five teams won the championship.

Some thought Miami (29-8), with four players who have scored 20 points at least three times this season, might be the team to slow this Huskies steamroller. Not to be.

Isaiah Wong led the ’Canes with 15 points on 4-for-10 shooting. Harassed constantly by Sanogo, 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan and the rest of Connecticut’s long-armed, rangy perimeter players, Miami, which came in with the nation’s fifth-best offense, shot 25% in the first half and 33.3% for the game.

UConn did enjoy its own sort of buzzer-beater. It was a 3 from Alex Karaban that sent the Huskies jogging into the locker room with a 13-point halftime lead.

They built it to 20 before the first TV timeout of the second half. By then, Jim Nantz, calling his last Final Four, could start saving his voice for Monday.

Miami did get it under double digits a few times, but this never got interesting.

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Not helping: Hurricanes guard Nijel Pack missed about five minutes after managers had trouble locating a substitute for a malfunctioning shoe. Pack finished with eight in this one, and Jordan Miller, who hit all 20 shots he took from the floor and the line in Miami’s Elite Eight win, went 4 for 10 for 11 points. Only one Miami player made more than half his shots.

“I’m a defensive guy first and foremost,” Hurley said. “I just love the way we guarded them. They’re one of the best offenses in the country, and we really disrupted them.”

UConn had five blocks, including two from Sanogo, and 19 assists, led by eight from Tristen Newton — both signs of the sort of all-around effort the Huskies have been putting in since the start of February, after a six-loss-in-eight-games stretch halted their momentum.

That cold stretch is a big reason they were seeded only fourth for March. Now, it’s April and the number UConn is thinking about is “5” — as in a fifth title that will come if it can keep this up for one more game.

​ Orange County Register 

Trayce Thompson drives in 8 runs with 3 homers in Dodgers win

• April 2, 2023

LOS ANGELES – Trayce Thompson served up bangers and mashed Saturday.

Thompson – who spent part of his spring playing for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic – drove in eight runs with three home runs as the Dodgers hammered the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-1.

“That’s a good month right there. You could sit on that for a while,” Clayton Kershaw said of Thompson’s night.

Thompson became the third player in franchise history to hit three or more home runs and drive in eight or more runs in the same game. He joined Gil Hodges who did it in 1950 (four home runs and nine RBI against the Boston Braves) and Adrian Gonzalez who did it in 2016 (three home runs and eight RBI against the Cincinnati Reds). Shawn Green only drove in seven runs with his four-home run game in 2002.

After his third drive made it 1,263 feet of home runs from him, Thompson was coaxed out of the dugout by Freddie Freeman and Tony Gonsolin for one of the most sheepish curtain calls on record.

“That doesn’t happen a lot so that was pretty cool,” Thompson said after the game, still reluctant to revel in his moment. “I remember when Yasiel (Puig) first got called up here. I feel like he did that every week or something. It’s stuff you think about when you’re little, when you’re young in this game. So to have it happen tonight is pretty cool.”

Acquired by the Dodgers last summer because of his ability to hit left-handed pitching, Thompson flipped his splits over the final four months of the season, batting .308 with a 1.010 OPS against right-handers and just .174 with a .621 OPS against the lefties he was supposed to own.

Thompson was just 3 for 35 (.086) against pitching of any kind in Cactus League games this spring. Nonetheless, he made the Dodgers’ roster this spring as the right-handed half of a platoon in center field with James Outman and got his first start Saturday against Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner.

“I’m probably the worst spring training player in here I would imagine,” Thompson said. “You’ve just got to ride it out, stick to the process and know that this environment is different. … I do feel like I was hitting the ball well I just wasn’t getting hits. That’s this game.”

The Dodgers got to Bumgarner early. Mookie Betts nearly cleared the left field wall but settled for a double after it was determined a fan had interfered with his drive. Chris Taylor eventually drove him in with a sacrifice fly and the Dodgers loaded the bases for Thompson with two outs.

Thompson said this spring that his difficulties with lefties last year were mainly about struggling to catch up to fastballs. He didn’t have to worry about that with Bumgarner whose fastball doesn’t break 90 mph at this point in his career. Instead, Thompson hammered an 0-and-1 changeup into the pavilion in left-center field for a grand slam.

“I’ve never hit Bumgarner very well,” Thompson said. “The only time was 2020 when I was a Diamondback and we faced each other a lot in practice and stuff. But I haven’t had a ton of success against him so just try to keep it simple, try not to overthink it, try not to do too much. I feel like that approach especially against these really good guys, really established guys, that usually works well for me.”

Bumgarner was gone by the fifth inning when J.D. Martinez led off with a double off right-handed reliever Kevin Ginkel. Miguel Vargas drew a two-out walk (his MLB-leading seventh walk in three games) and brought up Thompson.

Thompson had no trouble catching up to Ginkel’s fastball, driving the 2-and-0 pitch 417 feet over the wall in center field for a three-run homer.

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When Thompson went deep again, it was even deeper. His third homer of the game, a solo shot, came in the eighth inning off another right-handed reliever, rookie Carlos Vargas and traveled 440 feet. The multi-homer game was Thompson’s first since May 2016 against the Angels and the eight RBI are a career-high.

“What a special night. I couldn’t be happier for Trayce,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Spring training was a grind for him, but when the lights came on, it was the best swings he’s taken since last year and couldn’t be happier for him. Hitting three homers in a game is something that is unforgettable and couldn’t be happier.”

It also prompted Roberts to joke that he had adopted “a new three-homer rule — if you hit three homers, you’re in there the next day.” So Thompson will start Sunday against a right-hander, Zach Davies.

Thompson’s early blasts took the steam out of a throwback matchup between Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw. The two were matched up for the 12th time in their careers — this one with another pretty good left-hander, Sandy Koufax, watching from the owner’s seats. It was their first matchup since 2018 and the first since Bumgarner’s move to Arizona.

Time has been kinder to Kershaw who allowed just one run on four hits over six innings. The lone run came on a solo home run by Christian Walker. If that sounds familiar, it should be. Walker has 10 hits in 30 career at-bats against Kershaw, half of them home runs. Among active players, only Nolan Arenado has as many home runs off Kershaw (also five).

“I have a lot of respect for Bum,” Kershaw said. “We’ve done it a lot now and we’re still trying to do it. I think there’s a level of respect on both sides. It’s fun to compete against him — and I’ll probably do it again here in a few days (when the Dodgers go to Arizona next week).”

Kershaw struck out nine in his season debut, raising his career total to 2,815. That moved him past Mike Mussina into 23rd place all-time.

Martinez added a solo home run in the seventh, his second hit of the game after starting the season 1 for 8.

​ Orange County Register 

WWE star power shines in front of 80,000 for WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium

• April 2, 2023

INGLEWOOD — Professional wrestling fans swarmed to SoFi Stadium on Saturday, April 1, with championship belts, bright-colored shirts and luchador masks for Night 1 of the WWE’s two-day WrestleMania 39 event.

In a town that has become accustomed to giant football games and massive music concerts, this time it was WrestleMania goes Hollywood as more than 80,000 filled the state-of-the-art stadium — perhaps no surprise really, since in the first 24 hours after tickets went on sale, fans bought 90,000 of them for Night 1 and Sunday night.

The sheer pilgrimage of the wrestling faithful to SoFi itself was almost as much of a spectacle as the wrestling action.

Jonathan and Juan Rodriguez were part of the masses who made the trek on Saturday.

They traveled from Riverside County to experience their first WrestleMania event in person and were among the many others dressed as their favorite wrestler.

John Cena and Austin Theory in the opening match of WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo courtesy of WWE)

Both dressed as different versions of Hulk Hogan, the company’s top star during the 1980s and into the early 90s.

After finishing a transaction at the concession stand, the duo was met by several other fans who wanted to take photographs of them and with them.

Both have intentions of returning for Night 2 of WrestleMania and attending RAW on Monday at Crypto.com Arena but remain undecided on plans for another costume.

“We might come as Hogan or just come as our regular selves,” Juan said. “We might do Stone Cold (Steve Austin) tomorrow,” Jonathan said. “We already have the bald caps and everything ready there’s just a small tweaks I have to make that I didn’t like.”

A look around SoFi Stadium from the ground level during #WrestleMania 39. pic.twitter.com/4cJmnyRh4u

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) April 2, 2023

The match between wrestler Seth Rollins and media personality Logan Paul had the attention of Jonathan, who is a self-proclaimed fan of Rollins.

Rollins’ match drew a reaction from the crowd after he caused Paul to jump through the broadcast table and on top of friend and media personality KSI.

Javier and Jadn Cortez traveled from Texas to take in WWE-related shows, including Smackdown on Friday night.

The father-and-son combo, wearing matching shirts with WrestleMania logos, attended their first WrestleMania in Arlington last year for what appears to be the start of a tradition.

“We had a great time (last year) and already planning on being there in Philadelphia for next year once the tickets go on sale,” Javier said. “As long I’m alive we are going to go every year.”

Lil Uzi Vert is here at #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/OAJebrIZ66

— James H. Williams covers UCLA football (@JHWreporter) April 2, 2023

Javier has been a fan since 1984 and remembers rooting for Hulk Hogan but never attended an event until he and his son went to watch an episode of Smackdown in December of 2013.

Jadn grew up watching the likes of John Cena and Edge, both of whom were featured on the WrestleMania card this weekend.

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While the duo purchased tickets before the lineup was announced, Jadn was excited for the two matches that featured the veteran wrestlers he watched earlier in their careers.

John Cena returned from the silver screen to add a mainstream element to the card. He has been one of the company’s top stars and won his first world championship at WrestleMania 21 in 2005.

Before making his entrance to the ring, Cena embraced a group of Make-A-Wish children on the stage.

The WWE invited 20 families from the foundation to attend WrestleMania. Cena is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for the most wishes (650) granted through the foundation.

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Rey Mysterio, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Friday, was accompanied by rapper Snoop Dogg in a low rider before his match against his son, Dominik Mysterio.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny also the Spanish-language commentary team at ringside. The crowd would quickly erupt with cheers as Bad Bunny would get involved and distracting Dominik long enough for Rey to get the upper hand and secure the victory in the family feud.

Both Rey’s wife Angie and daughter Aalyah joined him in the ring to celebrate.

All told, Saturday’s was the first WrestleMania in California since WrestleMania 2015 with an estimated 76,000 in attendance at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. The last WrestleMania in Los Angeles County was in 2005 with a crowd of 20,193 people inside the Staples Center.

The Cortez and Rodriguez families were not going to wait that long between events. No way.

They will be among the many to file back in on Sunday with a strong interest in the main event as Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns compete for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

“I want Cody to win,” Jadn Cortez said.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump indictment ends decades of perceived invincibility

• April 2, 2023

By JILL COLVIN

NEW YORK — When Donald Trump steps before a judge this coming week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges. It will also be a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,” who until now has managed to skirt serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of legal scrutiny.

Trump, who is the early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, is expected to turn himself in Tuesday. He faces charges including at least one felony offense related to hush money payments to women during his 2016 campaign. Like any other person facing trial, he will be booked, fingerprinted and photographed before being given the chance to enter a plea.

The spectacle that is sure to unfold will mark an unprecedented moment in American history that will demonstrate once again how dramatically Trump — who already held the distinction of being the first president to be impeached twice — has upended democratic norms. But on a personal level, the indictment pierces the cloak of invincibility that seemed to follow Trump through his decades in business and in politics, as he faced allegations of fraud, collusion and sexual misconduct.

“Boy, after all this time it’s a bit of a shock,” Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio said of the indictment. “You know I always thought of him as the Gingerbread Man, shouting, ‘You can’t catch me!’ as he ran away.”

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“Given his track record,” he said, “I had trouble imagining he would ever be held accountable.”

“These are not things that Donald Trump ever thought in his entire life, nor I, for that matter, that he would ever be confronted with,” Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime fixer and a key witness in the case who served jail time for the payments, told CNN.

Of course, some of the celebration by Trump’s detractors may be premature. Trump could seek to have a judge quickly dismiss the case. Even if it moves forward, there’s no guarantee of conviction. Intensifying investigations in Atlanta and Washington are seen as potentially more serious legal threats.

Still, Trump and his team were caught by surprise when word of the New York indictment broke Thursday evening, following news reports that the grand jury hearing the case was set for a weekslong hiatus. As the deliberations dragged on, some in Trump’s orbit had become convinced that the case had stalled and that charges might never be brought. That included Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina, who said Friday morning he had hoped the “rule of law would prevail.”

Trump, he said on the “Today” show, was “initially was shocked” by news of the charges, but quickly pivoted to his usual pushback playbook.

“After he got over that,” he said, Trump “put a notch on his belt and he decided we have to fight now. And he got into a typical Donald Trump posture where he’s ready to be combative on something that he believes is an injustice. … I think he’s now in the posture that he’s ready to fight this.”

In the meantime, Trump and his team have tried to use the news to his advantage, hoping to energize his loyal base by painting the investigation as part of a larger plot to derail his candidacy.

Already, the charges have been a boon to his struggling fundraising. The campaign announced Friday evening that it had raised over $4 million in the 24 hours after the indictment became public, far smashing its previous record after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

More than 25% of donations, according to the campaign, came from first-time donors. The average contribution: $34.

His campaign also continued to blast out supportive statements from dozens of top Republicans who have rallied behind Trump, including several of his declared and likely challengers, underscoring his continued hold on the party.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a speech Saturday to conservatives meeting in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, accused the Democratic prosecutor in New York, Alvin Bragg, of weaponizing the law “for political purposes” in bringing a case against “a former president.” DeSantis said the district attorney had indicted “a former president on misdemeanor offenses” that he was “straining to try to convert into felonies.”

Trump has been in contact by phone with key congressional allies, including members of House leadership and top committees, according to people familiar with the conversations, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the response.

Trump ally Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who formally endorsed the former president Friday, said Trump “doesn’t back down” and was going to “fight back,” telling a local radio show it was “yet another chapter where Donald Trump is going to come back on top in the end.”

The media maelstrom has catapulted Trump back into the spotlight he craves, at least temporarily limiting attention being paid to his rivals, including DeSantis, who is widely expected to challenge Trump for the nomination, and has been holding events across the county to promote his book.

Trump aides have been discussing other ideas to maximize the situation, including the possibility of holding a press event either before or after the arraignment. Trump is expected to travel from Florida to New York on Monday and stay overnight at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan before heading to the courthouse early Tuesday. He will return to Florida after the arraignment.

Trump has long denied that he had a sexual encounter with the porn actor known as Stormy Daniels and has blasted Bragg for pursuing the years-old case.

Trump is also facing continued investigations in Georgia, over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and in Washington, where a special counsel is probing the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as well as Trump’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and potential obstruction of the investigation.

But Sam Nunberg, a longtime former aide who broke with Trump years ago, said that while he no longer supports Trump, he believes the Manhattan case is “a waste of time,” given the allegations, which remain under seal. And he said he was skeptical it would ultimately matter.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said of the indictment. “What would surprise me is if he actually ended up behind bars in prison and I don’t see that happening.”

D’Antonio said that sentiment — and a continued belief that Trump will somehow prevail and dodge the charges — continues among the many people who have reached out to him in the last 24 hours, despite the charges.

“They’re like, he’s going to get away with it,” he said. “Somehow, he’s going to get it thrown out.”

Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Miguel Vargas might have learned value of not swinging

• April 2, 2023

LOS ANGELES – Miguel Vargas has never been much of a walker.

During his four seasons in the Dodgers’ minor-league system, he drew one walk for every 10 plate appearances. In his first taste of the big leagues last season, he walked just twice in 50 plate appearances.

Then he had to stop swinging after suffering a hairline fracture in his right pinkie this spring. Like a bite from a radioactive spider, that injury seems to have given Vargas a new superpower – or at least a greater appreciation for plate discipline.

“Yeah, for sure. It makes me be more patient at the plate. I saw more pitches,” Vargas said of playing his first handful of Cactus League games this spring while being prohibited from swinging the bat.

“I’m still going to do that (be an aggressive hitter). But they’re not pitching me strikes sometimes.”

Even though it was no secret that he wouldn’t be swinging in those early Cactus League games, Vargas was walked four times in his first eight plate appearances and five times in his first 12. Since then, the walks have continued to pile up – four more in 39 plate appearances after he began swinging this spring, five in the first two games of the regular season and two more in his first three times up Saturday, taking over the MLB lead with seven in the first three games.

That is the most walks in the first three games of a season by a Dodgers player since at least 1901, according to MLB statistician Sarah Langs.

“I think there’s a combo of, early on Miguel was forced to just take and see the baseball, taking some walks. That’s one part of it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think the other part of it is he got his feet wet (at the big-league level) so he’s just more not ‘hair-on-fire’ in the batter’s box.

“He’s a smart baseball player. He swung the bat more, didn’t walk as much in the minors. But I think he understands the value of 90 feet, taking walks, swinging at strikes and taking balls. I think that combo has led to that.”

BIG SCREEN TIME

When left-hander Julio Urias started for the Dodgers on Opening Day, it was such big news in his native Mexico that the game was shown on a giant screen at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, drawing crowds to watch the left-hander from Culiacan.

“I saw it on the news,” Urias said. “I had no idea (they were going to do that).”

Urias said Team Mexico’s games during the World Baseball Classic were also shown in Mexico City like that. He didn’t know if the rest of his starts for the Dodgers this year will get the big-screen treatment.

“I hope they do it for the other Mexican players (in the majors),” Urias said. “Soccer is No. 1 in Mexico. Growing up, my dad never watched baseball. It was always soccer. I hope this way we can grow the game of baseball in Mexico.”

LEFTY LINEUP

The Dodgers faced their first left-handed starting pitcher of the season Saturday when the Diamondbacks sent Madison Bumgarner to the mound. That meant a different Dodgers lineup including first starts for Chris Taylor, Trayce Thompson and Austin Barnes. In the middle of the order, JD Martinez and Max Muncy swapped places with Martinez batting third.

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Martinez had an RBI single on Opening Night but was 1 for his first 9 with five strikeouts to start the year after striking out in his first at-bat against Bumgarner Saturday.

“He’s still trying to work through some things,” Roberts said of Martinez. “He’s a very mechanical type player and does a lot of studying. So if there’s guys he doesn’t know, I think that’s something that is a little bit of a challenge. As he gets to know pitchers more and gets more familiarity, he’ll be better suited.

“So if you look at these first couple games, there’s some guys he wasn’t familiar with. Not to make any excuses for JD. But he’s still gathering information and working through some mechanical things.”

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks (RHP Zach Davies, 2-5, 4.09 ERA in 2022) at Dodgers (RHP Noah Syndergaard, 10-10, 3.94 ERA in 2022), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks, Sunday, April 2, 2023

• April 2, 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, April 2, 2023.

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​ Orange County Register