Toronto Maple Leafs fans breathed a sigh of relief when Anthony Stolarz unexpectedly took the ice as Joseph Woll’s backup goaltender in their Game 7 defeat against the Florida Panthers in May, especially as the goaltender later confirmed he was fully cleared from the concussion he sustained from an incident with Panthers forward Sam Bennett in Game 1 of their second-round series. A further positive sign was seeing the goaltender take the ice in full gear with his off-season goaltending coach George Bosak, a moment shared on the coach’s Instagram account on Friday.
Stolarz has been working with Bosak for a number of years when heading home for the off-season and has credited the coach for getting the most out of the goaltender in recent years. “Over the years, he has worked with me to sharpen my fundamentals and help me grow my game,” Stolarz said as a testimonial on the goalie coach’s website.
Stolarz signed with the Maple Leafs as a free agent last summer to a two-year deal worth $5 million. It’s safe to say he has provided excellent return on investment thus far. The goaltender played in a career-high 34 games where he posted a 21-8-3 record with a .926 save percentage in his first season with Toronto.
There was talk of him getting consideration for the Vezina with the numbers he was putting up until the discovery of a small foreign body in his knee forced the goaltender to miss approximately seven weeks.
Stolarz and Woll are expected to share the net next season, but beyond that, it’ll be interesting to see what the Leafs do. Stolarz is eligible to sign a contract extension although it doesn’t appear as though there is anything imminent on that front. From a numbers standpoint, Stolarz could see a big raise; however, his injury history and a lack of a consistent starter's workload may be a stumbling block in figuring out a term that is fair.
Stolarz’s absence in the playoffs was particularly evident to the Leafs. Although Woll performed well in goal, Stolarz’s puck-moving ability was missed by Toronto’s skaters, and Florida successfully capitalized on that by rimming pucks in Toronto’s zone with high velocity beginning with the latter stages of Game 2 and beyond.
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In July 2024, Montmagny, PQ native Alex Barre-Boulet signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Montreal Canadiens. With 68 NHL games under his belt, the 28-year-old left-shot center was hoping to be able to make the team in October. He made the opening night roster, played the first two games, but was kept off the scoreboard and was swiftly waived and assigned to the Laval Rocket when he went unclaimed.
In 64 games with the AHL team, he put up 63 points, leading the team, seven points ahead of veteran Laurent Dauphin and 18 points ahead of Jared Davidson. He was also fourth in goals with 22, just four short of Dauphin’s team-leading 26 lamplighters. The numbers were there, but the recalls never came.
Owen Beck played 12 games with the Canadiens, just like Joshua Roy and Oliver Kapanen had, before being loaned back to their Swedish Teams. Veteran Lucas Condotta also got two games, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard got one. It made one thing clear: the Canadiens were prioritizing youngsters rather than more mature players, and it was easy to see Barre-Boulet’s departure coming.
He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Colorado Avalanche that will pay him $775,000 if he remains in the NHL and $475,000 if he is assigned to the minors. His deal with the Canadiens last season was a one-way contract, meaning he received his full NHL salary for the entire year, even though he spent almost all of it in the minors. Interestingly, he chose to sign a two-way contract elsewhere; perhaps he feels like he’ll have better opportunities to get some NHL action in Colorado.
Losing its leading scorer will hurt the Rocket, but at the same time, players like Beck and Kapanen need to step up and move forward. More ice time won’t hurt them, and in the long run, it will be better for their development. Hopefully, Barre-Boulet lands on his feet with the Avs and gets to see some NHL action.
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
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Canadian
defenseman Madison Bowey, 30, has signed a one-year contract with the
Augsburger Panther, the DEL club announced on Friday.
"During
my scouting trip, Madison was one of the players I focused on, said
Panther sports director Larry Mitchell. “(Head coach) Bill Peters
and I have been working hard on him over the past few weeks. We see
Madison as the missing piece of the puzzle for our defense, which we
desperately wanted to add to with a tough, right-shooting, two-way
defenseman.
“He's
a tall, solid player, yet a good skater who can also contribute
offensively,” Mitchell continued. “Madison is in the prime of his
career and is excited about his new role with the Panther under Coach
Peters in the DEL.”
Born
and raised in Winnipeg, Bowey played junior hockey for the Kelowna
Rockets, where he was part of the team’s 2014-15 WHL
championship team and played in that year’s Memorial Cup.
Bowey
was chosen in the second round, 53rd
overall, by the Washington
Capitals in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Between 2015 and 2022, he
played 158 NHL regular-season games with the Capitals, Detroit
Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks
and Vancouver Canucks,
recording 40 points and 104 penalty minutes.
Although
he did not play in any playoff games, his name is engraved on the
Stanley Cup as part of the 2017-18 Capitals, for whom he played 51
regular-season games that season.
Bowie
spent the 2022-23 season in the Montreal
Canadiens organization, playing the entire season with the AHL’s
Laval Rocket. He then spent the 2023-24 season in the KHL, splitting
his time with Dinamo Minsk, Traktor Chelyabinsk and Torpedo Nizhny
Novgorod.
Last
season, Bowie returned to the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters, the
top affiliate of the Columbus Blue
Jackets, recording 18 points in 63 regular-season and playoff
games.
Augsburg
has never won a DEL title and
hasn’t made the playoffs since reaching the semifinals in 2018-19.
In the last three seasons, the team has finished last twice and 13th
once in the 14-team league.
Like many teams around the NHL, the New Jersey Devils have had a busy start to July. They notably brought in Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov through free agency to improve their forward depth. However, they also quietly made a trade.
On July 2, the Devils acquired forward Thomas Bordeleau from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Shane Bowers. While this is a small trade, fans should be keeping an eye on Bordeleau next season.
Not too long ago, Bordeleau was considered one of the Sharks' most promising prospects. While his stock dropped in recent years, a change of scenery could be exactly what helps the 2020 second-round pick get things back on track.
Bordeleau also showed promise at the NHL level with the Sharks during the 2023-24 season. In 27 games with the Pacific Division club, he recorded six goals and 11 points. While these are not jaw-dropping numbers, they do demonstrate that he has the potential to provide decent depth offensive production if given the chance to play at the NHL level. He also had five assists in eight games for the Sharks in 2021-22.
With Bordeleau being just 23 years old, there is still time for him to take another step forward and prove that he can be a full-time NHL player. He has skill, so there is no real harm in the Devils taking a shot on him, especially when noting that they only gave up an AHLer in Bowers to get him.
It is going to be very interesting to see how much of an impact Bordeleau can make for the Devils. from here. At a minimum, he should be a good addition to the Utica Comets' roster, but the possibility of him making the jump to New Jersey's roster should not be ruled out.
Former Red Wings winger Todd Bertuzzi makes return to pro hockey at 50 years old with Cambridge area team.
The Red Wings haven't seen winger Todd Bertuzzi lace up since 2014 but a report on Friday may shock some fans. At 50 years old, it was announced that Bertuzzi would be joining a senior AAA team called the Cambridge Hornets in the Allan Cup Hockey League.
After playing 1,159 NHL games and recording 770 points, he now joins a local hockey club close to where he coaches a youth team called the Cambridge Redhawks.
Bertuzzi played his entire junior career in the Cambridge area as he played for the Guelph Storm of the OHL for four seasons. He would go on to get drafted 23rd overall by the New York Islanders in the 1993 NHL entry draft.
Besides playing for the Red Wings and Islanders, Bertuzzi also saw time with the Canucks, Panthers and Flames.
His most memorable season was back in the 2002-03 season, when the Sudbury native put up 46 goals and 51 points for 97 points through a full 82-game season with the Canucks. He was named an all-star and would continue to produce in the 60-70 point range before maturing to a 30-40 point player in old age.
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts visits with relief pitcher Noah Davis (56) and catcher Will Smith (16) on the mound after hitting Davis hit the Astros' Christian Walker (8) during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday. The Dodgers lost 18-1. (Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)
Muncy is expected to be sidelined for six weeks with a bone bruise in his left knee but that won’t push them into the market for another third baseman between now and the July 31 trade deadline.
“I don’t think that changes much, knowing the certainty of Max coming back at some point,” manager Dave Roberts said.
The faith in Muncy is justified by his track record, the former All-Star missing three months last year but setting an all-time playoff record by reaching base in 12 consecutive plate appearances on the team’s World Series run.
This doesn’t mean the Dodgers shouldn’t be looking to strike a major deal over the next three-plus weeks.
They still have to address their greatest obstacle to become their sport’s repeat champions in 25 years. They still have to address their starting pitching.
Every sign points to the Dodgers taking a passive approach in dealing with the issue, as they continue to point to the anticipated returns of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell.
Glasnow pitched 4 ⅓ innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday and Roberts said he expected the 6-foot-8 right-hander to rejoin the rotation on the Dodgers’ upcoming trip to Milwaukee and San Francisco.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow throws in the outfield before a game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 4. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Snell pitched to hitters in live batting practice on Wednesday and is scheduled to do so again on Saturday. The left-hander could be on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment by next week.
Glasnow and Snell are former All-Stars, but how much can the Dodgers rely on them?
Unironically nicknamed “Glass,” Glasnow hasn’t pitched since April. The $136.5-million man has never pitched more than the 134 innings he pitched last year, and even then, he wasn’t unavailable for the playoffs.
Snell made just 20 starts last year with the San Francisco Giants but was signed by the Dodgers to a five-year, $182-million contract over the winter. He made only two starts for them before he was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell throws the ball against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on April 2. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Ideally, the Dodgers’ postseason rotation would consist of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. There’s no guarantee that will materialize, considering that Yamamoto and Ohtani have their own complicated medical histories.
Yamamoto pitched heroically in the playoffs last year but only after missing three months in the regular season. Ohtani returned from his second elbow reconstruction last month but has been used as an opener so far. Ohtani is expected to pitch two innings on Saturday against the Houston Astros, and the team doesn’t envision using him for more than four or five innings at a time in the playoffs.
Every pitcher is an injury risk, and the Dodgers know that. But just because they won the World Series last year with three starting pitchers — they resorted to bullpen games when Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler couldn’t pitch — doesn’t mean they can lean as heavily on their relievers and expect the same results. The approach has resulted in more postseason disappointments than championships, so much so that when Ohtani was being recruited by the Dodgers before last season, Mark Walter told him he considered his previous 12 years of ownership to be a failure.
Ohtani will celebrate his 31st birthday on Saturday. He might not be showing his age yet, but Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts have. Freeman will be 36 in September and Betts 33 in October. The window in which the Dodgers have three MVP-caliber players in the lineup is closing, which should inspire a sense of urgency.
The front office’s reluctance to shop in a seller’s market is understandable, considering the most attractive possibilities are by no means sure things. Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves is on the 60-day injured list with a fractured rib. Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins has been up and down in his return from Tommy John surgery. Then again, the Dodgers made a smart buy in Flaherty last year and the gamble resulted in a World Series.
At this point, it’s up to Glasnow and Snell to perform well enough to convince the Dodgers they don’t need any more pitching. Until Glasnow and Snell do that, the team should operate as if it has to do something.
With an open battle brewing amongst wingers for an NHL roster spot with the Philadelphia Flyers, don't discount Nikita Grebenkin.
The affable 22-year-old Russian isn't drawing as much hype as counterparts Alex Bump and Porter Martone these days, but Bump and Martone are benefitting from being the shiny new toys of the prospect pool.
Both players are attending and skating at development camp this week, Bump is about to turn pro, and Martone is the No. 6 overall pick in the most recent NHL draft with a skillset that arguably should have seen him get picked much higher.
There's room on the Flyers' roster for all three, of course, in the wake of the injury to Tyson Foerster, but Grebenkin is inherently the dark horse of the group... for now.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect has the benefit of having already played seven NHL games in addition to 143 KHL games and 57 AHL games.
Grebenkin also won the Gagarin Cup with Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2023-2024 and won the Aleksei Cherepanov Award as the KHL's most outstanding rookie the season prior.
Plus, Grebenkin nearly debuted for the Flyers once already. Fans may recall that Grebenkin was re-called on an emergency basis on April 13, only to be re-assigned back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms roughly 30 minutes later.
He's hoping that the next time he sees the NHL, he actually plays for the Flyers and remains with them.
"When I was traded to the Flyers, I only saw [Aleksei Kolosov] there from the Russians. I just changed the environment, the atmosphere for myself. I couldn’t play in the NHL, according to the rules, because after the deadline, only five [sic] people from the AHL can play. And at the deadline, five people were already called up," Grebenkin told Nikita Plokhikh of Sovetsky Sport. "But it happens. I think this will benefit both me and the team in the future."
The four AHL call-ups that preceded Grebenkin's emergency call-up were Kolosov, ironically; Emil Andrae, Rodrigo Abols, and Olle Lycksell.
Andrae, Abols, and Lycksell were re-called the same day the Flyers acquired Grebenkin from the Maple Leafs, so he didn't have much of a claim to a roster spot at the time.
The Kolosov one was a little more bizarre, but he did end up starting two games in the last week of the season, including the season finale loss to Buffalo.
In any event, after acclimating to the Flyers organization and familiarizing himself with some current and future teammates, Grebenkin knows what to expect going forward.
"My role in the team is the third or fourth line. I need to take my place in the lineup, work on it. I hope for more, of course," Grebenkin said. "but for now, this is my goal, what I'm striving for, to secure a place in the lineup and help the Flyers win every match."
At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and with his aggressive playing style, Grebenkin may have the edge over a player like Bump and the inexperienced Martone.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw looks toward his family after his 3,00th career strikeout. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Bill Plaschke has decided that Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history. Given the distinct eras in which they both pitched, and the completely different roles starting pitchers have today, it is really impossible to definitively conclude who is the absolute greatest. I think the best we can say is that, without much doubt, Sandy Koufax had the greatest five-year stretch of any pitcher in baseball history, and at his peak, was the most dominant pitcher in the history of the game. Kershaw, on the other hand, has had the greatest career and consistency of performance by any Dodger pitcher ever. And perhaps, Bill, it is best if we just leave it at that.
Drew Pomerance Tarzana
With all due respect to Bill Plaschke, why does Clayton Kershaw have to be "greater" than Sandy Koufax, or Don Drysdale for that matter? Can't we just enjoy all their greatness as part of Dodgers history without anointing one greater than another? Don't forget, Drysdale pitched six consecutive shutouts and 58 scoreless innings. What's greater than that?
Rhys Thomas Valley Glen
In what should have been the easiest article to write in Mr. Plaschke’s illustrious career, Bill completely whiffs when comparing Kershaw to Koufax. Baseball’s dramatic evolution over the last 60 years makes it impossible to compare the greatness of both men. Sandy and Clayton represent the best in Dodgers baseball and there is no need to celebrate the greatest Dodgers pitcher of the 21st century at the expense of the greatest Dodgers pitcher of the 20th century.
Rob Demonteverde Brea
Special 'K ' night
In the game when Clayton Kershaw got his 3,000th strikeout, the Dodgers had a Hollywood ending when Freddie Freeman drove Shohei Ohtani in for a walk-off victory. It was fitting that strikeout number 3,000 came at the expense of Vinny Capra — Vinny as in Vin Scully, and Capra as in legendary filmmaker Frank Capra.
Ken Feldman Tarzana
Discriminating concern
The Dodgers are going to lose on their defense of their DEI programs for the simple paraphrasing in the reason set forth by Chief Justice Roberts that the way to end discrimination is not more discrimination … which is what the Dodgers engage in. They have touted it over and over again publicly.
The irony is that DEI is the absolute last thing the organization would think about in assembling and paying those on its 40-man roster.
Strangely, the Dodgers' supposedly brilliant owners and management fail to realize that absent DEI, just hiring the best applicants would produce plenty of diversity in their baseball organization.
Kip Dellinger Santa Monica
All credit to the Dodgers for their DEI programs. I hope that they don’t back down. I have not been a fan of billionaire hedge fund CEOs. However, if Stephen Miller’s stooges are going after Mark Walter, I can only have new respect for him. Good for you, Mr. Walter.
Noel Park Rancho Palos Verdes
The king's return
LeBron James maxed out his pay, taking $52 million for next season, leaving the Lakers with $6 million to spend on free agents and trades, which won’t get much in today’s NBA.
Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan and Tom Brady are examples of superstars who took pay cuts to help their teams build a championship roster.
Such is the difference between a team player and, well, whatever LeBron is. I guess he must be more worried about making his next mortgage payment than winning championships.
Jack Nelson Los Angeles
Breaking news: LeBron James has decided he will allow his employer, the Los Angeles Lakers, to pay him a reported $52.6 million next season.
In other news, the sun once again rose this morning and Earth continues to rotate properly on its axis.
Richard Turnage Burbank
Let me get this straight. Two weeks ago LeBron James decried the "ring culture" in the NBA. Fast-forward to James opting into his $52-million player option and his proxy, Rich Paul, releases a cryptic statement indicating James expects the Lakers to make the necessary improvements to make them a championship team. Thought rings didn't matter, LeBron?
A new broom does not have to sweep clean! Even with their flaws and mistakes, Rob Pelinka and rookie coach JJ Redick earned at least a stay of execution. They have accomplished “enough” to earn the eventual trust of the new boss in town.
With this massive shift in ownership, having some semblance of continuity is not a bad idea.
Rick Solomon Lake Balboa
Mixed emotions
For over 20 years, there has not been a single NHL player I detested more than Corey Perry, especially when he played for that other local team. I have called him (words unsuitable to print here) more than any player in any sport. Hopefully his stay is no more than one season … unless he helps the Kings win the Stanley Cup. In that case — love ya, Corey. Always have and always will.
Erik Schuman Fountain Valley
As a die-hard Kings fan, I have mixed feelings on their signing Corey Perry. But, I suppose, in the team’s desperation to make it out of the first round, they signed a player that guarantees that they will be next year’s Stanley Cup Final runner-up!
Nick Rose Newport Coast
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Wales capitulate to their 18th successive Test defeat
Scotland beat Māori All Blacks; Georgia 5-34 Ireland
Will Jordan scored a try in each half and Beauden Barrett kicked to perfection as New Zealand overcame three cancelled tries to claim a nervous 31-27 win over France in the series-opener in Dunedin.
Fielding only three players from the Six Nations title-deciding win over Scotland, the depleted France side gave Scott Robertson’s team a huge scare in an entertaining match at a sold-out Forsyth-Barr stadium. However, a late Barrett penalty proved enough for the All Blacks to hold on, ending a three-match losing streak against Les Bleus.
Bernard Hinault was the last home champion as the sport has gone international, with winners from Colombia and Slovenia
Age is not just about the policemen getting younger and trying to figure out how to operate an iPhone. It may also be when you are able to tell your children that you once saw an actual French cyclist wearing the actual yellow jersey of the Tour de France having actually just won la grande boucle.
It’s 39 years, 11 months and about three weeks since I watched a tired and slightly diminished-looking Bernard Hinault get out of a car in a backstreet in Lisieux – once the massive crowd pressing on the car doors had been moved on by the heavies – before pulling on that maillot jaune, getting wearily on to his bike, before spinning past, time after time in the late-evening sunlight in the town’s annual post-Tour critérium, an exhibition race which still takes place on the first Tuesday after the Tour.
It’s been quite a fortnight for followers of the Florida Panthers.
Just about two and half weeks have passed since the Panthers claimed their second straight Stanley Cup title.
In that time, we’ve seen some spectacular celebrations, another epic parade, the NHL Draft and the start of free agency.
Similarly to last season, Florida followed up their Stanley Cup Final victory over the Edmonton Oilers by hitting the town and enjoying the victory with their fans.
One welcomed difference to last June was that at this year’s parade, there was no rain. The sun shined throughout as hundreds of thousands of Panthers fans lined A1A along Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Interestingly, the Panthers have been one of the busier teams during the offseason, somehow re-signing all of their big unrestricted free agents – Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand – among the many moves made to shore the team up at both the NHL and AHL levels.
Now that it’s been a couple weeks since Florida last played a hockey game, it felt like a good time to take a look back at the six-game series against Edmonton.
Tight, high-scoring overtime games eventually led to Florida taking over toward the latter stages of the series, slowly but surely breaking down the Oilers and showing that they were the better team for the second year in a row.
Take a few minutes and check out the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final recap video below:
Photo caption: Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) celebrates after his goal as Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) watches during the second period in game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)
Dodgers catcher Will Smith and pitching coach Mark Prior watch from the dugout during the ninth inning of the team's lopsided loss to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium on Friday. (Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)
They are two longtime Dodger villains, hated for two vastly different reasons.
As the last remaining position player from the Houston Astros’ trash-can-banging, and (in the eyes of most Dodgers fans) World Series-stealing 2017 championship team, Jose Altuve always receives a rude welcome from the fans at Chavez Ravine.
As one of the most productive visiting players in Dodger Stadium history, Christian Walker often shuts them up.
In the Houston Astros' 18-1 Independence Day rout on Friday, both added another tortured chapter to the Dodgers’ history against the team. Altuve went three for three with a double, two home runs, two walks and five RBIs. Walker went four for five with one long ball and four RBIs.
The Houston Astros' Jose Altuve celebrates with Christian Walker after hitting a two-run homer against Dodgers in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday. (Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)
On a day starting pitcher Ben Casparius once again struggled (giving up six runs in three innings), reliever Noah Davis gave up 10 runs in the sixth inning alone (the most the Dodgers had surrendered in one inning since 1999), and most of a sold-out crowd stuck around for every painful minute (waiting in somber silence for a postgame fireworks show), that was plenty to lift the surging Astros to most lopsided defeat the Dodgers have ever suffered at Dodger Stadium.
Six weeks ago, the retooled Astros were one game above .500 and 3 ½ games out of first place in the American League West; seemingly missing the other 2017 stars who have departed the franchise since their sign-stealing scandal came to light five years ago.
But now, they have won 27 of their last 37, own the second-best record in the AL, and are suddenly looking like unlikely title contenders; even after turning over almost the entirety of the roster from that infamous 2017 season.
“Certainly, there’s been some history with our organizations,” manager Dave Roberts said pregame when asked if any lingering feelings remained from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. “But if you look at it in reality, most of those guys are gone. So it certainly doesn’t have any bearing on this series this weekend.”
Instead, in a historically harrowing defeat on their home diamond, the Dodgers had bigger concerns to worry about Friday, with Altuve and Walker at the top of the list.
Altuve received his typical reception from the Dodgers faithful, serenaded with booming boos and loud chants of “cheater!” for each of his at-bats. However, he followed Isaac Paredes’ leadoff homer in the first with a double off the wall, then took Casparius deep for a two-run home run on a curveball in the third.
Those low-lights marked another frustrating night for Casparius, whom Roberts said will likely return to the bullpen moving forward after posting an 8.24 ERA in his last five outings as a starter and bulk-inning pitcher.
“Obviously, when you're a starter, there's more preparation that goes into the other side, as far as preparing for a starting pitcher versus a reliever, so I think there's some [of] that,” Roberts said of Casparius’ struggles as a starter, compared to the 2.93 ERA he had as primarily a reliever to start the year. “But at the end of the day, he's just got to execute better. There might have been 60 throws tonight, and probably only a handful executed where he wanted them to be. And that's tough to do.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani looks subdued while watching from the dugout as his team loses 18-1 to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium on Friday. (Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)
Even when Casparius exited, however, Altuve wasn’t done, adding an exclamation point with a three-run homer in the Astros’ 10-run sixth — the most runs the Dodgers (56-33) had allowed in one inning since Fernando Tatis’ historic two grand slam inning in April 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Walker, meanwhile, was every bit as dangerous.
A 34-year-old slugger who dominated the Dodgers (and, most confoundingly, Clayton Kershaw in particular) during an eight-year career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Walker was already emerging from an early-season slump in his first year with the Astros (53-35) entering this weekend’s series.
Then, back in the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, he orchestrated a monster performance of his own from the five-spot of the Houston order.
In his first at-bat, Walker plated Altuve with a single the other way. Then, two batters after Altuve’s big fly in the third, Casparius left a fastball down the middle that Walker whacked for his 28th career home run against the Dodgers — and 20th at Dodger Stadium.
Only nine other players have hit that many home runs as visitors at the ballpark during their careers, a list that includes Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell, as well as Barry Bonds.
“It’s just one of those funny baseball things,” Walker told the Astros TV broadcast afterward. “No real explanation. Maybe good lights, I see the ball well? I honestly have no idea. It’s fun playing here.”
Walker also made a contribution in the sixth-inning onslaught.
After Davis gave up one run on two singles and two walks, the recently called-up right-hander plunked Walker with the bases loaded to force in another score, losing his grip on an 0-and-2 sweeper that left him visibly rattled on the mound.
Sensing Davis’ frustration, Roberts came to the bump for a motivational pep talk; eliciting memories of the mid-game hug he delivered to journeyman reliever Yohan Ramirez last season in Cincinnati.
This time, however, the mound visit had little effect. In the next at-bat, Davis threw a hanging sweeper that Victor Caratini belted for a grand slam. What was already a laugher became a full-fledged Fourth of July disaster.
The Anthony Beauvillier experiment was a success for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2024-25 season.
They signed him to a one-year deal last July with the hopes that he would bounce back after a rough 2023-24 season, and he did exactly that, scoring 13 goals and finishing with 20 points in 63 games. He spent the rest of the season with the Washington Capitals after they acquired him at the trade deadline from the Penguins for a second-round pick.
Beauvillier had two goals and five points in 18 regular-season games with the Capitals before finishing the playoffs with two goals and six points in 10 games.
The Capitals loved what they saw and signed him to a two-year, $5.5 million contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.75 million.
That's an excellent price for Beauvillier, who figures to slot into a middle-six role and can also play in the top six should injuries arise. The Capitals are coming off a second-round playoff exit at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
