Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have proven a resilient bunch, surging to a 19-6 record since May 17th after Tuesday’s extra innings win over the Texas Rangers (3-2 in 11 innings). They also might have found a better sense of camaraderie after a benches clearing scrum in the third inning.

Matt Kemp was barreling downhill to home plate of a 2-0 game, when the throw from center field to Rangers’ catcher Robinson Chirinos was there with plenty of time, allowing Chirinos to block the plate. Kemp took exception and hit Chirinos at full speed, resulting in a shoving match and teammates rushing the field. Both were ejected, but it gave a jolt of energy to an otherwise monotonous Wednesday night interleague game in June.

Los Angeles picked up six innings of scoreless relief pitching (Kenta Maeda went five with two earned runs in his return from the disabled list), and in the bottom of the eleventh inning Enrique Hernandez used a quick move to elude Carlos Perez at home plate for the walk-off victory.

Next up for L.A. is a three game tilt with the rival San Francisco Giants this weekend. The Giants own a 6-4 season series lead, but the Dodgers can erase it with a sweep. They are just two games back of the Diamondbacks for the NL West lead.

Ross Stripling (5-1, 1.65 earned run average) continues his career year against Derek Holland. First pitch is at 7:10.

2018 FIFA World Cup

The World Cup kicked off this morning in Moscow, Russia, as the host Russians defeated Saudi Arabia 5-0 in Group A play.

Russia used a vicious counter-attack to do their damage, surrendering possession to Saudi Arabia (61-39%) in favor of the quick counter.

Sadly, the opening match is the only game on Thursday, but the tournament starts to pick up on Friday.

Friday Schedule:

Egypt vs Uruguay at 5:00 a.m.

Morocco vs Iran at 8:00 a.m.

Portugal vs Spain at 11:00 a.m.

Reminder: four teams in each group (32-team tournament), top two teams advance to the second round; three points for a win, one point for a tie.

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