LA Lakers defeat Dallas Mavericks 112-108 (OT). more ›

LA Angels defeat New York Yankees 7-1. The Angels jumped on Yankees' starter Phil Hughes, Chris Ianetta opening the scoring with a two-run homer in the second inning. Albert Pujols hit an RBI double in the third inning, and Howie Kendrick hit a three-run bomb in the fourth that ran Hughes out of the game. more ›

LA Kings defeat Vancouver Canucks 4-2. I don't know what to say. I understood why the Kings won Game 1 with the Canucks all but being no-shows. But Game 2? more ›

Against a more formidable opponent than the Golden Gophers of Minnesota, it looked to be more of the same for the Trojans: the Trojans should have had a commanding lead in the fourth quarter only to be denied by their own hubris. more ›

On this Friday night, we were treated to two pitching duels with both the Angels and the Dodgers defeat the Yankees and Giants respectively 2-1. It seemed like a karmic gift for suffering through this little heat wave in Southern California this week. more ›

It was a rough introduction to the Major Leagues for Angels’ 23-year old starter Garrett Richards. Called up during his first year in Double-A ball to fill in for the suspended Jered Weaver, Richards certainly got a baptism by fire. more ›

Just a cursory look at the box score, and nothing would seem amiss in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies’ starter Cliff Lee was his usual transcendent self pitching eight innings of shutout ball. But a closer look would show how strange a night it was at Dodger Stadium. more ›

NY Yankees defeat LA Angels 10-6. It was a slugfest, but the Angels’ rally didn’t have enough oomph. It turns out the six runs Joel Pineiro (L, 10-7) gave up in the first four innings was just too much to overcome for the Angels’ offense. Kevin Frandsen’s RBI single and Bobby Wilson’s two-run homer made it 6-3 in the fifth inning, and Hideki Matsui’s two-run homer made it 6-5 in the sixth inning. But Juan Miranda hit a solo homer and Colin Curtis hit a three-run homer, his first homer of his career, in the seventh inning off of Scot Shields to pull away from the Angels. Javier Vazquez (W, 8-7) got the win for his five innings of work despite giving up five runs. It’s not a so-called quality start, but it was good enough for the win. more ›

LA Angels defeat NY Yankees 10-2. Making his first start for the Angels since September 29, Sean O’Sullivan (1-0) filled in from the bullpen for a struggling Scott Kazmir and did a good job. It didn’t look good in the first inning when Sullivan gave up two runs including a Nick Swisher solo homer, but the only thing he gave up the rest of the way was a walk in the fifth inning to Brett Gardner that was erased by a double play ball hit by Derek Jeter. Meanwhile the Angels busted out of the yard with two-run homers by Maicer Izturis in the fourth inning, Mike Napoli in the sixth inning and Hideki Matsui in the seventh inning. The impressive Phil Hughes (11-3) was anything but giving up six runs his five-plus innings pitched. more ›

Dodgers manager and former Yankees manager (1996-2007) Joe Torre: I will always remember George Steinbrenner as a passionate man, a tough boss, a true visionary, a great humanitarian and a dear friend. I will be forever grateful that he trusted me with his Yankees for 12 years. My heart goes out to his entire family. He will be deeply missed in New York, Tampa and throughout the world of baseball. It’s only fitting that he went out as a world champ. more ›

“I will never have a heart attack,” George Steinbrenner once said. “I give them.” No one claimed him as an oracle. At 6:30 am EDT after suffering a massive heart attack, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, FL at the age of 80. Say what you will about his sometimes tempestuous relationship to his players, managers and employees, but there is no way anyone can accuse him of not wanting to win. more ›

Ghana defeats US 2-1 (ET). Read my recap of the game. Perhaps the most disheartening development is that the US played four matches in the World Cup without putting together a great game. more ›

Both teams quickly forgot about last night’s low scoring pitcher’s duel as the Dodgers walloped the Yankees 9 - 4 in front of a capacity crowd of 56,000 at Dodger Stadium, many home fans waving towels as though the playoffs were here. more ›

NY Yankees defeat LA Dodgers 2-1. Both starters were on their A game, but it was the Yankee’s starter CC Sabathia (9-3) outlasting Vicente Padilla (1-2) in the opening game of this interleague series. Just as the sell-out crowd of 56,000 were making their way to their seats, Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers struck first in the bottom of the first with an RBI single that scored Furcal for the 1-0 lead. Padilla gave up the tying run when Jorge Posada singled Alex Rodriguez home. Both pitchers put up zeroes on the scoreboard thereafter until Alex Rodriguez hit an “A-Bomb” off of Padilla for the winning run in the sixth inning. Sabathia wound up pitching eight innings striking out seven while Mariano Rivera struck out Manny, Matt Kemp and James Loney for the save. Incidentally after Loney struck out home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi ejected him after he threw his helmet in disgust. more ›

For today, and today only, the Dodgers are allowing fans to purchase individual game tickets to this weekend's Yankees-Dodgers showdown as a part of the #TwitterTuesday promotion. Just go to the page, use promo code NYTWEET, et voila! Tickets are still available to all three games. The Dodgers will be down in Anaheim beginning tonight with a three-game interleague series against the Angels before facing the Yankees for the first time since 2004 when the Dodgers won the series 2-1. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Sacramento Kings 106-100. The penultimate game for the Lakers marked a new look for Ron Artest and DJ Mbenga. They bleached their domes seemingly to generate some amount of interest in the game. It worked for Mbenga who scored seven points and knocked down the only free throw. But in Kobe’s absence Pau Gasol led the way in the paint with 28 points and eight rebounds while Shannon Brown added 24 points. Sasha Vujacic continued to show he can still play scoring 13 points and being the defensive pest, however Jordan Farmar shut things down after straining his hammy in the first half. For the Kings rookie of the year candidate Tyreke Evans had ten points until he was thrown out of the game with back-to-back technical fouls in the third quarter for arguing a non-foul call which ended his season. The Lakers will head on the road to nowhere for one final game against the Clippers. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Houston Rockets 103-102 (OT). Kobe Bryant scored 41 points, his 98th career game with over 40 points and Andrew Bynum scored 17 points and 17 rebounds as the Lakers clung on for the win. As in the playoffs last season, the Lakers allowed the Rockets easy points in the paint. However they managed to play good defense at the end of the overtime period to take out the Rockets. This was the first game for Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza facing their former teams. Both scored 15 points. Here's a very telling stat for the Lakers that should be of concern. Derek Fisher in 34 minutes scored 0 points going 0-for-5 from the field. Now for some good news. Pau Gasol could return to the starting lineup on Friday in Memphis. more ›

Washington Nationals defeat LA Dodgers 5-4. Chad Billingsley made his first start in since September 13, and he didn’t look to shabby. In fact in five innings he had a no-hitter going. But in the sixth inning, his usual trouble inning, he walked two and then gave up his first hit to Ryan Zimmerman. Unfortunately that hit was a homer that screamed its way out into the Dodgers bullpen. After the Nationals took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth, shortstop Christian Guzman committed two errors to allow the Dodgers to tie the game. With a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth, Pete Orr hit a sac fly to Andre Ethier in right field who muffed the ball which is inconsequential since the runner was going to score anyhow. Thanks to the Rockies losing, the Dodgers REAL magic number is reduced to six. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat Washington Nationals 14-2. The danger of this series against the Washington Nationals was demonstrated last season. The Dodgers were swept on the road by the Nats. I normally would have been worried about this, but having been in the Dodger clubhouse for a lot of the season I know these guys are focused. And boy did they show it when they batted around the fourth and seventh innings. Rafael Furcal went 4-for-5 driving in four runs and scoring twice, and the scoring parade allowed Jason Repko, Blake DeWitt, Chin-Lung Hu and Juan Castro to play some extended innings. more ›

LA Angels defeat NY Yankees 5-2. While the Angels probably won't overtake the Yankees for the best record in the American League, they showed they can still dominate the bombers. Aside from solo home run shots from Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui, Angels starter Joe Saunders kept the Yankees quiet through 8 1/3 innings. In fact the Yankees were 0-for-11 with runners on base. The Angels got to Yankees starter Andy Pettitte in the first inning with back-to-back RBI doubles by Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. At a 90-60 record, both the Angels and the Dodgers have identical records. If both teams make the playoffs it will mark just the third time both teams have played in October. They previously did this in 2004 and 2008. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 8-5. James McDonald is a young pitcher, and it has shown so far this season. In this game he got into trouble in the first inning but was able to get out unscathed. But the second inning was a different story altogether when he couldn't find the strike zone. He walked four giving up three runs and was pulled after two outs in the second inning for 2006 World Series Champion Jeff Weaver. I was half expecting to see Jim Tracy in the dug out there for a second. But Weaver pitched four scoreless innings after being called up earlier in the day from AAA Albuquerque. Meanwhile the Dodger offense did what it does coming through for the win. The Dodgers are now 7-0 at home to start the season for the first time since 1947 when they went 9-0 at Ebbets Field. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Atlanta Hawks 96-83. Well it wasn't exactly just like the first half for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant scored a season-low 10 points in the rout of the Hawks. However Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar more than made up for it. Gasol got his third career triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists while Lamar Odom scored 15 points while securing a season high 20 rebounds. Farmar cleaned things up for the second unit scoring 10 points. The only negative for the Lakers in the game was they gave up 23 turnovers. more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Clippers 113-88. The Clippers were hoping it would be like their last meeting up in Portland where the Clips escaped with a one-point victory, but with almost all their starters in the infirmary there was no chance. Brandon Roy led the way for the Blazers with 33 points while Al Thornton led the Clips with 23 points. Amazing the Clippers were very much in the game trailing by only six points in the fourth quarter. But the Blazers blew the Clippers out 36-15 in the last quarter. more ›

The Evil Four-Letter's Buster Olney is reporting that Mark Teixeira has agreed to an eight-year $180 million contract with the New York Yankees. While the Angels, Red Sox, Nationals and Orioles were all in the hunt for Teixeira over the past couple of months, the Yankees hid on the sidelines ready to swoop in if the deal was right. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 10-1. It was over in the first inning when Padres starter Wade LeBlanc got his first out when the eighth man Angel Berroa came to the plate. By then the Dodgers had already scored five runs. Dodger's starter Chad Billingsley came to bat after that with a squeeze play for the second out and the sixth run. While Billingsley had a somewhat shaky performance, he only gave up one run. Meanwhile the Padres managed to get a hit in every inning but just couldn't string together the hits. It's much like it has been all season for them. With the Diamondbacks losing 7-4 to the Cardinals, the Dodgers magic number is down to three. more ›

LA Angels defeat NY Yankees 4-2. Andy Pettite had not notched a win since August 20. Wednesday afternoon would be no different. With the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Pettite was one strike away from getting out of the jam. Unfortunately that last strike was a two-run double by Robb Quinlan which also plated Vladimir Guerrero on a Xavier Nady error. Francisco Rodriguez got his 56th save, now needing one more to tie Bobby Thigpen. 74 minutes after Rodriguez threw his last strike the Seattle Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers 8-7 which sent the Angels players streaming out onto the field in front of the 5,000 faithful who stuck around to witness the Angels clinch their fourth AL West title in five years. This is the earliest in the history of the AL West that the division has been clinched. Now for the Angels: playoff positioning. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 6-2. Andre Ethier keeps on feasting on those fastballs. In the eighth inning with the Dodgers down 2-1 and Russell Martin on second, Ethier drove a ball out to left field for a game-tying triple. Then with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and the Dodgers leading 3-2, he hit a bases-clearing double that was barely fair down the right field line to give the Dodgers a 6-2 lead. Dodger's starter Hiroki Kuroda was shaky in this outing but managed to give up only two runs on nine hits and two intentional walks. Ethier helped Kuroda's cause by throwing Adrian Gonzalez out at the plate on a Chase Headley RBI double in the third inning. What doesn't Ethier do? With the Diamondbacks losing the Dodger's magic number is down to 16. more ›

San Diego Padres defeat LA Dodgers 4-0. It had to happen at some point. After winning eight straight games, the Dodgers go down to San Diego to be dominated by my countryman Cha Seug Baek in his first win at Petco Park. The only ray of light for the Dodgers was NL co-player of the week Andre Ethier who had a single and two doubles in the Dodger's four-hit effort. Blake DeWitt was the only other Dodger to get a hit. Greg Maddux meanwhile did not look good even showing some frustration in the sixth inning with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Fortunate for the Dodgers was the fact that Tim Lincecum dominated the Arizona Diamondbacks shutting them out for eight innings up in San Francisco. The Dodger's magic number is 18. more ›

LA Angels defeat Oakland A's 5-1. Angel's starter John Lackey pitched a complete game giving up only one run in the ninth on seven total hits while walking no one and striking out five. This is Lackey's third complete game since coming off the disabled list in the middle of May. And how about some run support? The Angels gave Lackey a lovely third inning where they got timely hits and had four runners come across home plate. The Angel's magic number is 15 to clinch the AL West. more ›

LA Angels defeat NY Yankees 12-6. The Angels continue to roll. This time they used three Earl Weavers hit by Torii Hunter, Juan Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero to put the beating on the Yanks. Jon Garland had a good outing for the Angels going six plus innings giving up three runs on seven hits. While Darren O’Day made the game more interesting than it needed to giving up three runs in the ninth, Jose Arredondo got things back under control getting the last three batters out. more ›