Aviation: A look at flying car technology and other new aircraft

• July 8, 2023

Drive and fly

Flying cars are not just something you see in “Star Wars” anymore. There are several in development, but it may be years before you see them regularly in the sky.

Flying Car Terrafugia Transition video:

Flying car market

There are many companies with prototypes ready. Here are a just a few of the players:

Jaoby Aviation’s Air Taxi (backed by Toyota and Intel).

DeLorean Aerospace: Yes, Delorean of “Back to the Future” fame. John DeLorean’s nephew Paul is working on the DR-7, an autonomous electric propelled flying car.

PAL-V Liberty: In production in the Netherlands, it looks like a foldable helicopter you can drive.

Uberair: A project in development since 2016. Uber invested about $125 million in Joby Aviation Inc. to build vertical takeoff taxis.

Sources: NASA, Interesting Engineering, Alef, Samson Sky, Terrafugia, Lockhead Martin

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Brandon Drury goes for MRI to check still-ailing shoulder

• July 8, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Brandon Drury’s time on the injured list might not be ending as soon as the Angels had hoped.

When the team placed the second baseman on the injured list with a left shoulder contusion last week, the expectation was that he would use the All-Star break to get healthy and be ready to go immediately afterward.

On Friday night, Drury conceded that he is still having enough discomfort that he went for an MRI exam.

“I’m just gonna wait and see what it says to have more of a plan of attacking it,” Drury said. “I thought I just jammed it really bad and needed some time, but we got a look at it today, so we’ll see what’s going on.”

Manager Phil Nevin said Drury still hasn’t done any baseball activity since he was hurt. He said they expect to “have some answers for you on that soon.”

The Angels are currently without center fielder Mike Trout, third baseman Anthony Rendon, shortstop Zach Neto, infielder Gio Urshela, catcher Logan O’Hoppe and Drury. Urshela is out for the season. Trout and O’Hoppe could be back sometime in August.

Drury, who is hitting .277 with 14 home runs and an .822 OPS, has been one of their most productive offensive players since mid-April.

At this point, it looks like the next player to come back will be either Rendon or Neto.

Rendon, who fouled a ball off his shin on Tuesday, was not even placed on the injured list because the Angels held out some hope that he would be able to play this weekend against the Dodgers.

Nevin said Rendon “is still pretty sore,” on Friday.

The Angels could have placed Rendon on the injured list retroactive to Wednesday and he would have been eligible to play a week from Saturday, the second game out of the break.

When asked why the Angels didn’t do that, Nevin said: “It’s an opportunity for other guys and we just don’t really feel like we need the extra player right now.”

The news on Neto is better.

Neto, who is out with a strained oblique, has been doing defensive work and hitting off the high-velocity pitching machines. He could face live pitching as soon as Saturday.

It’s possible that he could be activated for the first game after the break, next Friday.

“It’s just a matter of how he feels,” Nevin said. “He’s been out a little bit of time. As you know, hitting is a timing thing. How he feels coming out of this week, we’ll certainly have some better answers in the next few days.”

ALL-STAR ESTEVEZ

Closer Carlos Estévez was named to the All-Star team as a replacement for Cleveland Guardians right-hander Emmanuel Clase, who is missing the game because of the impending birth of his child.

Estévez got the news when Nevin surprised him by announcing it during a team meeting before Friday’s game.

“It feels amazing,” Estévez said. “I’m really excited. I’ve lost words for the feeling. It’s really amazing.”

Estévez, who is in the first year of a two-year, $13.5 million contract with the Angels, has converted 21 saves without a blown save. He has a 1.85 ERA.

Asked the difference between this year and the rest of his career, when he posted a 4.59 ERA in six seasons with the Colorado Rockies, Estévez said: “Finally got a lot more consistent with my slider and honestly, sea level man. It’s really rough to pitch up there in Colorado and now that I’m away from Coors, I see it even more. Because I don’t have to do the adjustment every seven days, every time we go out on the road, and that’s a big, big key and a big jump for me.”

NOTES

Trout rejoined the team with his left hand in a cast after undergoing surgery to have his fractured hamate bone removed on Wednesday. Trout said “it feels good.” He also said he decided not to attend next week’s All-Star Game. He’s been selected for the All-Star Game 11 times, but this will be the fourth time that an injury prevents him from playing. He last played in 2019. …

Left-handed reliever Matt Moore (strained oblique) is scheduled to face hitters on Saturday. If all goes well, the Angels could get Moore back next Friday. …

The Angels used a non-traditional lineup on Friday, with Shohei Ohtani in the leadoff spot. Nevin said he realizes that Ohtani might not see as many strikes without Trout protecting him. “We’ve seen him walk a lot lately,” Nevin said. “If that’s going to happen, you might as well have him on base to get it going.”

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-5, 3.72 ERA) at Dodgers (TBD), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Top seeds face different paths at AVP Tour’s Hermosa Beach Open

• July 8, 2023

HERMOSA BEACH — The stakes are as high as ever going into the AVP Hermosa Beach Pro Open this weekend, and no one knows that better than the tournament’s top seeds.

Upsets are always part of the double-elimination tournament, something this year’s top-seeded women’s team learned on Friday afternoon.

Hailey Harward and Kelley Kolinske were upset by ninth-seeded Brook Bauer and Katie Horton in the second round, 19-21, 21-15, 15-11. Harward and Kolinske can still play their way into Sunday’s semifinals, but instead of needing to win one quarterfinal on Saturday to secure a final four berth, they now need to win three contenders’ bracket elimination matches (two Saturday and one Sunday) to get there.

Bauer and Horton next face the 13th-seeded duo of Megan Rice and Savannah Simo, who outlasted 12th-seeded Macy Jerger and Megan Rice, 18-21, 21-16, 15-11, in their second-round match.

The other women’s teams to start 2-0 were second-seeded Megan Kraft and Emily Stockman and sixth-seeded Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn, who defeated third-seeded Deahna Kraft and Zana Muno, 21-19, 21-17.

The top-seeded men’s duo of Chaim Schalk and Tri Bourne avoided any missteps and advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals with a pair of 2-0 victories. They next face 12th-seeded Billy Allen and Alison Cerutti, who took down fourth-seeded Chase Budinger and Miles Evans in their second-round match, 21-17, 27-25.

Second-seeded Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb and the third-seeded team of Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander also started 2-0 and will square off in the other winner’s bracket quarterfinal.

Schalk was happy to start strong Friday, but his goals are much bigger.

“I love playing in Hermosa. Obviously, I live right here and we train here all the time. If I was able to repeat, that’d be incredible, so that’s the goal,” said Schalk, who teamed with Brunner to win the 2022 Hermosa title. “Obviously it’s a long ways away still, but we just gotta keep going one match at a time.”

Schalk is an accomplished volleyball player no matter the setting.

He won two indoor national championships at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada before transitioning to beach volleyball full-time in 2010. Schalk participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he finished ninth with partner Ben Saxton.

Schalk’s partner has Olympic experience as well. Bourne, a former USC indoor standout, teamed with four-time Olympian Jake Gibb to finish ninth at the 2020 Tokyo Games (delayed until 2021 because of the pandemic).

“(Tri Bourne) is super. He’s very motivated and takes care of himself really well,” Schalk said. “It’s nice to be playing with someone who just checks all those boxes.”

Schalk and Bourne breezed through their first-round matchup against former Penn State volleyball player Spencer Sauter and Dylan Maarek, 21-10, 21-17, then survived a tight battle with ninth-seeded Chase Frishman and Bill Kolinske, 29-17, 21-19.

Schalk said his experience winning the Hermosa Open last year is helpful, but this year’s tournament brings new challenges and adjustments.

“I feel confident playing here personally. But obviously, it’s a new team this year though, so everything’s kind of a little bit different,” Schalk said. “But I think since it’s a whole new team dynamic. It’s all about just building and trying to figure it out. Our goal is to win.”

The tournament is a homecoming for Harward and Kolinske. Harward earned All-American honors while playing for USC’s dominant beach volleyball program from 2017-2022.

Kolinske (formerly Larsen) was an accomplished indoor and beach player while at Pepperdine, helping the Waves win a pair of AVCA national championships in 2012 and 2014 before it was an NCAA-sanctioned sport. Kolinske is also the winningest player in Pepperdine beach volleyball history.

“It’s so much fun just to have a lot of family members, friends, just bike down here and not have to hop off a plane,” Kolinske said. “It’s just so awesome playing in your hometown and just having this atmosphere, nothing beats it.”

Harward and Kolinske leaned on their experience to survive a gritty first-round match against the UCLA duo of Devon Newberry and Jaden Whitmarsh, the daughter of late beach volleyball legend Mike Whitmarsh. The Bruins won the first set, 21-19, but the experience of Harward and Kolinske proved to be the difference-maker as they won the final two sets, 21-16 and 15-8.

Before their second-round loss, Kolinske said the pressure of being a top seed can be beneficial.

“It’s a good pressure because I believe in our team and we want that pressure. We welcome that pressure. So we know every match out here is gonna be a fight. Doesn’t really matter what the seeds are. Everyone at this level is super competitive,” Kolinske said.

Saturday’s men’s and women’s quarterfinal losers will still have a chance to reach the semifinals via the contenders’ bracket as well. Both finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

​ Orange County Register 

The Book Pages: The story of an audiobook narrator

• July 8, 2023

Gerard Doyle can tell a good story.

Considering he’s narrated more than 400 audiobooks, that’s probably to be expected.

The award-winning actor has voiced Mick Herron’s Slow Horses novels, Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy books, and Christopher Paolini’s Eragon adventures along with multiple titles in Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap collection. He’s also recorded fiction and nonfiction from Val McDermid, Colum McCann, Timothy Egan and many more.

And he’s got a couple of new ones on the way: Doyle narrated McKinty’s long-awaited, “The Detective Up Late,” coming in August, and he raves about Herron’s “brilliant” upcoming novel, “The Secret Hours,” which arrives in October.

“Part of the fun of it for me is just to play all the different characters really; it’s like a one-man show for 12 hours,” he says, adding that he tries to be a vehicle for the author’s intentions. “The big thing always is don’t get in the way.”

Or lose focus. “Becoming detached from the book,” he says. “That’s what I try not to do. …It’s really difficult to record a book that you’re not engaged in.”

So yes, Doyle knows how to spin a yarn, which he did throughout a Zoom conversation from his home in Sag Harbor, New York. Doyle, who’s Irish but was raised in England, came to the States nearly 25 years ago to understudy in Conor McPherson’s play “The Weir.” Not long after, he and his wife decided to make their life in America to be closer to her parents and raise their two children here.

Doyle hadn’t planned to get into audiobooks. And based on his first job, recording “A Star Called Henry” by Roddy Doyle (no relation), he almost didn’t.

“I was so bad at it that Claudia Howard, who ran Recorded Books at the time in New York City and was very kind, led me through the first 60 pages,” he says.

But as Doyle worked on the book, he grew confident and finished strong. So he was a little surprised when the producer called him back in.

“She said, you’re going to re-record the first 60 pages of the book,” Doyle recalls, because the latter half of the book sounded more accomplished, which made the opening pages seem tentative. “We needed the beginning to match up with the end. So we did it and apparently it was seamless. I’ve never listened to it.”

Really? Nope. “I can’t stand listening to my own stuff,” he says.

Someone must have been listening, though: He won his first Earphone award from AudioFile Magazine for that project, and he’s since won dozens more, eventually, he says, cajoling Blackstone Audio into installing an audio booth in his garage to make the process easier.

“For the last 18 years, I’ve been doing that,” he says. “Very fortunate, sitting there in my pajamas and making money. It’s lovely.”

Doyle recalls some of the unique challenges of the work, such as having to pause while narrating an intimate, in-progress love scene to track down the pronunciation of a rare plant mentioned. It took weeks, but he got the answer from an expert. “That put us both” – he and the paused character – “out of our misery,” he says.

Or the time he was narrating a novel that had a character who spoke a dialect used by just a few thousand people. After hitting dead ends for how to voice it, Doyle phoned a college located near the book’s setting, asking to speak with someone who might provide some insight.

Only one professor was available to talk to him. Thankfully, it was the right one.

“This guy came on the line and he said, ‘Do you realize how lucky you are?’ I am the world’s authority,’” Doyle recalls the scholar telling him. “So I sent him all my questions.”

Crisis averted.

Audiobook narrator Gerard Doyle has more than 400 books to his credit. (Courtesy of Blackstone Audio, Simon & Schuster, Recorded Books, Brilliance Audio)

But it’s not all about pronunciations, it’s acting. He recalled McKinty providing the backstory to an intense scene and the difference it made.

“I was recording that particular passage and it was just gold. I was almost crying as I was reading it. I remember I had to stop a few times and just gather myself because it was so powerful,” Doyle says, then adds, “He’s an extremely funny man, and I love the humor.”

Speaking of humor, McKinty provided the following when I messaged him about his go-to narrator: “Doyle is nothing but trouble. I’ll throw in a random Estonian composer I heard once and liked and he’ll badger me for days about the exact pronunciation of the work. Love/hate the guy. Kidding, mostly love, a complete professional and perfectionist!”

During my conversation with Doyle, I mentioned that the audiobook for Susanna Clarke’s “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” which kept me company on my drive home when I used to work a late shift, turned me into a fan; Simon Prebble’s narration – rich with nuance and subtle cues that enriched the understanding of the story – sold me on audiobooks.

Turns out, Doyle and Prebble are friends.

“He was a huge mentor of mine. He and [narrator] Barbara Rosenblat really took me under their wing. I met them at Recorded Books one November day, and they stood on the street with me in freezing cold conditions and gave me a dialect workshop right there on the street because I was recording something the next day that was problematic,” he says. “We’ve been friends ever since.”

Doyle, who just retired from his job teaching theater, perks up as he discusses his two children – his daughter is a potter and his son a sound engineer who will be working with him in the coming months.

He’s looking forward to reading and recording more.

“I can count on the fingers of two hands the books that I didn’t enjoy recording or that I really thought were not good,” Doyle says. “All I’m trying to do is be true to it. And if I can achieve that, then, you know, I’ve done my job.”

• • •

What are you looking forward to reading, or listening to, this summer? Please feel free to email me at [email protected] with “ERIK’S BOOK PAGES” in the subject line and I may include your comments in an upcoming newsletter.

And if you enjoy this free newsletter, please consider sharing it with someone who likes books or getting a digital subscription to support local coverage.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

John Wray says one author towers over Roth, Mailer and Updike

John Wray is the author of “Gone to the Wolves.” (Photo credit Julio Arellano / Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

John Wray is the author of “Gone to the Wolves,” “Lowboy” and other novels. He spoke with Michael Schaub about book recommendations and more for the Book Pages Q&A.

Q: Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?

Incongruous as it might seem — given that my novel is about three teenage metal kids from small-town Florida — the book I’ve recommended more than any other is probably “The Transit of Venus,” by the late, great Shirley Hazzard. It manages somehow to feel both classic (in the best, most elegant sense) and deeply, unapologetically weird. And it has some of the most virtuosic individual sentences, on the level of pure language, that I’ve ever read. Shirley was one of the great ones. I’ll take her over the big men of her generation, like Roth or Mailer or Updike, any day.

Q: Is there a book you’re nervous to read?

I’m always nervous to read anything new by Catherine Lacey, whose novel “Biography of X” came out in March. She never fails to do things with narrative and style and structure that I kick myself for not having thought of first.

Q: Can you recall a book that felt like it was written just for you (or conversely, one that most definitely wasn’t)?

When I was a child I was complacent in the certainty that “Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass” had been expressly written with me in mind, and I haven’t changed my opinion since.

Q: Do you have any favorite book covers?

So many! I’m a big fan of the original edition of “Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer” by Kenneth Patchen, and of the first U.S. edition of “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” by Amos Tutuola. In terms of recently published books, I was pretty dazzled by the U.S. cover of “Moon Witch, Spider King” by Marlon James.

Q: Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?

For the entirety of my childhood, my mother would go to bed shockingly early — hours before the rest of the family — just to have enough time to read. Her bedside table was always covered by a ziggurat of orange-spined Penguin Classics; I don’t think I ever actually saw what it looked like. “In Search of Lost Time,” “War and Peace,” “The Man Without Qualities” — she read them all, multiple times. That had to have had some sort of effect.

Q: What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?

I’m a big believer in the first paragraph. I’ll give almost any book a page or so — I’ll stand there and read it right in the bookstore, then put it down and read another first page, and so on, until I find one that I really like. The employees must love me.

Q: What’s something about your book that no one knows?

The character of Leslie Z — one-third of “Gone to the Wolves’” central friendship — was directly inspired by a very well-known novelist who happens to be a friend. I’ve said too much already!

More books, authors and bestsellers

Summer fiction (and beyond) coming in 2023. (Covers courtesy (Top row): Harper Collins, Penguin Press, Riverhead, Norton, Ecco; Bottom row: Simon & Schuster, Henry Holt, One World, Anchor)

The Summer TBR list

15 must-read books coming summer 2023 (and beyond). READ MORE

• • •

“Land of Broken Promises” author Jane Kuo. (Photo credit Jon Paris/Courtesy of Quill Tree Books)

Words and pictures

Jane Kuo explores an immigrant family’s life in “Land of Broken Promises.” READ MORE

• • •

“The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession” by Michael Finkel is among the top-selling nonfiction releases at Southern California’s independent bookstores. (Courtesy of Knopf)

The week’s bestsellers

The top-selling books at your local independent bookstores. READ MORE

• • •

Bookish (SCNG)

What’s next on ‘Bookish’

Find out about the upcoming Bookish event on July 21 with authors Eliza Jane Brazier and Jillian Lauren and hosts Sandra Tsing Loh and Samantha Dunn. If you missed the previous one with Mona Simpson and Peter Wohlleben, you can watch it here.

• • •

Sign up for The Book Pages
Miss last week’s newsletter? Find past editions here
Dive into all of our books coverage

​ Orange County Register 

Great Pyrenees Dudley is a sweet, affectionate boy who loves everyone

• July 8, 2023

Breed: Great Pyrenees

Age: 3 years

Sex: Neutered male

Size: 85 pounds

Dudley’s story: Dudley, Mr. Personality, loves people and other dogs. He is a sweet and affectionate boy, walks well on a leash and enjoys socializing. He loves toys and riding in the car. Although he is 3, Dudley still has a lot of puppy in him as he loves to play with anyone who’s willing. Dudley is up for anything and is especially good with children. Dudley is microchipped, current on vaccinations and has been tested for and found to not have heartworm or other parasites.

Adoption procedure: Contact Great Pyrenees Association of Southern California Rescue Inc. at 909-887-8201 or [email protected]. Fill out an application on the group’s website.

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​ Orange County Register 

Noah Syndergaard makes final tuneup before rehab assignment

• July 8, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― Noah Syndergaard didn’t allow a ball to clear the Dodger Stadium fences. He got a few whiffs and even helped his own cause by coming off the mound to catch a pop fly Friday.

The “umpire” was Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior. The backstop was Dodgers bullpen catcher Steve Cilladi. The hitters were Miguel Vargas, Jonny DeLuca and Yonny Hernandez – major leaguers all – and the paid attendance was zero.

In other words, it was a far cry from an actual major league game. Syndergaard’s three-inning, 50-pitch simulated start was encouraging nonetheless. Manager Dave Roberts said Syndergaard’s fastball touched 93-94 mph – just as he did in his last outing, a June 7 game against the Cincinnati Reds in which Syndergaard allowed six runs in three innings.

Syndergaard’s next stop: Oklahoma City. How long his minor league rehab assignment lasts with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate is “all contingent on health and performance,” Roberts said.

Plenty is riding on Syndergaard’s progress at Triple-A. If he can deliver the results the Dodgers expected when they signed him to a one-year, $13 million contract last December, Syndergaard could plausibly help a rotation that currently consists of three rookies (Michael Grove, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan) and is waiting on future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to return.

So far, those results have been elusive. Syndergaard was 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA in 11 starts when he was placed on the 15-day injured list with a finger blister.

“It’s hard because there are times where his velocity ticked up but the quality of contact against wasn’t good,” Roberts said of Syndergaard’s first 11 starts. “There were other times the velocity wasn’t there, but the secondary pitches were considerably better.”

If Syndergaard doesn’t improve, his next step is unclear. Internally, the Dodgers were discussing activating him from the injured list and moving him into a bullpen role for Thursday’s game against the Pirates. But relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol’s shoulder responded well enough to pregame throws that he was able to avoid the IL. Syndergaard’s simulated game was rescheduled for Friday.

Roberts wouldn’t say whether or not the bullpen would be an option for Syndergaard if his stuff isn’t major league-ready at the end of his rehab assignment.

“We just have to wait and see,” Roberts said. “We see him as a starter. I don’t want Noah’s head to kind of go to a different place until that conversation, when and if it needs to happen.”

GROWING PAINS

Miguel Vargas’ place in the Dodgers’ lineup has never been shakier.

The rookie second baseman is 5 for his past 61 entering the two-game series against the Angels. For the sixth time in the last 11 games, Mookie Betts started at second base in Vargas’ place in the series opener.

“He’s grinding. He’s playing hard. But it’s just not happening,” Roberts said of Vargas. “For him to sit back, take a respite, watch a game, is beneficial.”

Roberts did not rule out the possibility of Vargas returning to the minor leagues to get back on track, a scenario the team has already discussed internally.

“I do think the defense is getting better,” Roberts said. “The experience at the major league level is helpful. But it’s also helpful to feel yourself getting some hits and the confidence going. I do think he’s additive. But at what point could it be detrimental? I don’t know.”

ALSO

Pitching prospect Landon Knack will remain on the taxi squad through the weekend in case the Dodgers need relief help, Roberts said. … The Dodgers have not announced a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game, reserving the possibility that an opener will pitch the first inning in place of right-hander Michael Grove, who is expected to throw the majority of innings.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-5, 3.72 ERA) at Dodgers (TBD), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, Bally Sports West, 570 AM, 830 AM

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Los Alamitos horse racing consensus picks, Saturday, July 8, 2023

• July 8, 2023

The consensus box of Los Alamitos horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, July 8, 2023.

Trouble viewing on mobile device? See consensus picks

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Galaxy rides momentum from victory over LAFC into showdown with Philadelphia

• July 7, 2023

For what might seem like the first time this season, the Galaxy can see the playoff line in the Western Conference.

Thanks to a six-game unbeaten streak (2-0-4), the Galaxy has moved five points clear of last place and is now just six behind Vancouver, which occupies the ninth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“Like everything has been in the last six games, we’ve just been trying to focus on our process of getting better,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “Recognize and do the things that we think we’re doing well. Close the gap on one or two things each time we step out to be a little bit better on one or two things and just trying to show consistency in our performances.

“The keys to take out of the last game: one is just the confidence and joy that you get from winning games – A) against LAFC and B) in that type of environment and C) right now, taking three points is so big for us that it certainly gives you a boost of positivity in your emotion and it feels like your work is paying off.”

On Tuesday night, in front of a single-game MLS record crowd of 82,110 at the Rose Bowl, the Galaxy defeated LAFC, 2-1, for once turning in a complete 90-minute effort.

On Saturday, the Galaxy (4-9-7, 19 points) faces another challenge as the Philadelphia Union (10-6-4, 34 points) visits Dignity Health Sports Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV+).

“Everyone is in a good mood,” Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado said. “When you win, it helps everything. Everyone is in a good mood, guys are happy, vibes are good. Everyone is looking forward to Saturday against a good team.

“It feels like we’re turning the corner. We’ve started to grind out … we’ve had some unfortunate luck that continued from the beginning of the season, but I feel like we’re playing better. Relationships have been getting better on the field and overall performances from everyone as a group and as a team has been getting well. We all feel that. We can all see it. We got a big result in front of 80,000 fans so it definitely helps.”

This will be the first meeting between the teams since 2019. The Union, who lost to LAFC in last season’s MLS Cup final, is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Saturday’s game and a July 15 game in Vancouver are the final two league contests of the month for the Galaxy. If the club is able to pick up another result against the Union, then it would have to be considered a legitimate playoff contender.

“To put together two wins back-to-back against two very good teams, would be … I don’t even know if I could describe what it would mean to the group,” Vanney said. “It would almost signal like OK whatever happened earlier in the season is truly really behind us.”

The Galaxy will conclude the month with a pair of Leagues Cup matches (July 25 and 29) and will return to MLS play on Aug. 20.

TRANSFER WINDOW OPENS

The secondary transfer window opened Wednesday. MLS teams have a month to bring in players. The Galaxy, due to the sanctions dealt by MLS from the 2019 salary cap violation, is in wait-and-see mode.

With Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez on the season-ending injury list, the Galaxy have a roster spot open. Defender Martin Caceres is also likely to end up on the same injury list, allowing for two spots. As part of the sanctions, the Galaxy is not allowed to “register a player who requires the receipt of an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) from outside of the United States and Canada” during the window, which closes Aug. 2.

“We will look to make the team better. We’re having discussions around the league, some more accurate than others,” Vanney said. “We’re pretty specific on what we’re trying to find to add to our group. There’s a number of solutions that we’re looking toward to continue to build the group. We have our work cut out for us, but there’s a lot of work going on to help our group continue to move forward.”

PHILADELPHIA AT GALAXY

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park

TV/radio: AppleTV+, 1330 AM

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