Los Angeles Times - 25.08.2019

D4 SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019 S LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

HOUSTON — Angels
starter Dillon Peters snatch-
ed one baseball out of the air
with his glove as a different
one landed 356 feet away
from Minute Maid Park’s
home plate on Saturday eve-
ning. Houston’s Alex Breg-
man, the All-Star infielder
who finished fifth in Ameri-
can League MVP voting last
year, had just homered in the
third inning on a fastball that
caught the inside edge of the
plate. Three runs scored on
the blast.
Peters’ frustration was
palpable, and it seemed to
simmer below the surface
hours later, after the Astros

completed their 5-2 defeat of

the Angels.

Peters struggled to stay

ahead of hitters in a start on

Monday against the Texas

Rangers. He did so again Sat-

urday. He walked just two

batters, but the issues mani-

fested themselves in two-

strike counts. Jose Altuve, for

example, tripled in a 2-and-2

count in the first inning and

Peters paid for it when

Michael Brantley smashed a

pitch for a home run and a 2-0

lead.

Two innings later, Altuve

ended a seven-pitch battle

with Peters by dumping a

double in left field. The left-

hander then hit Brantley

with an errant pitch. Both

scored on Bregman’s homer.

“Those two pitches were

big mistakes,” said Peters,

who has been charged with

nine earned runs and 13 hits

in his last 8^2 ⁄ 3 innings. “I have

to just get better and in a 1-2

count execute it, and have it

be a ball, not a home run.

“That’s a good-hitting

team. They hit mistakes. It’s

just time to get back to work.”

Two ripe opportunities to

bail Peters out and get back

in the game passed by the

Angels. After Luis Rengifo

crushed his sixth home run of

the season with two out in

the fifth, his teammates

loaded the bases in front of

Mike Trout. Trout could have

tied the 5-1 game with a grand

slam; he instead drove a

pitch from Houston starter

Wade Miley on a line to center

field for an out. In the next in-

ning, rookie Matt Thaiss

worked a 2-and-2 count

against reliever Chris

Devenski with three runners

on base. He struck out to end

the sixth.

Manager Brad Ausmus

did not consider pinch-hit-

ting Brian Goodwin in

Thaiss’ spot because it would

have forced him to bring

shortstop Andrelton Sim-

mons, who returned from the

injured list a day earlier, into

the game. At this point in the

season, six games under .500

and all but mathematically

eliminated from the playoff

picture, risking a third in-

jured list stint seemed un-

necessary.

“I was willing to use [Sim-

mons] to pinch-run in the

ninth inning, but I was trying

to avoid using Simba,” Aus-

mus said. “I didn’t want to get

stuck in that same rut as we

did last time, where he was

not getting time off and

ended going back on the DL.”

Goodwin led off the sev-

enth and eventually scored

the Angels’ second run of the

night on Trout’s single.

The Angels drew three of

their seven walks in the final

two innings but mustered

nothing else. The American

League West-leading Astros

tied the New York Yankees

for the best record in the AL

at 84-47, while the Angels lost

their fourth in a row.

“We lost some tough ones

in Texas,” said Trout, who

has two hits in his last 19 plate

appearances. “Obviously we

had chances tonight and

yesterday. We just gotta stay

positive and try to win a ball-

game tomorrow.”

CATCHERRobinson Chirinos tags Albert Pujols after the Angels slugger struck out on Saturday in Houston.

Eric Christian SmithAssociated Press

Angels hit downward spiral

Dog days of August

arrive amid much

frustration as losing

streak reaches four.

HOUSTON 5
ANGELS 2

By Maria Torres

HOUSTON — The mo-

ment he stepped into the

visiting clubhouse at Minute

Maid Park after his bullpen

session Saturday, Shohei

Ohtanimade a beeline for his

Angels teammate Andrelton

Simmonsand said, in Eng-

lish, “Congratulations.”

Simmons, a native of Cu-

racao, smiled and laughed.

His young countrymen had

only two hours earlier de-

feated a squad from Ohtani’s

native Japan, which had been

undefeated, to advance to the

Little League World Series

championship game against

River Ridge, La., on Sunday

in Williamsport, Pa.

There was no bet between

the two players, Ohtani said

through his interpreter, but

the tournament win gave the

Angels’ Gold Glove shortstop

bragging rights over last

year’s AL rookie of the year.

Japan had won five champi-

onships in the previous nine

years; a team from Curacao

had not competed in the

tournament finale since win-

ning the championship in

2004.

Simmons still makes his

offseason home on the Carib-

bean island that is located

some 40 miles off the north-

ern coast of Venezuela. He

hosts clinics for young play-

ers there. It’s likely he has

even worked with some of the

members of the Willemstad

squad that made their way

out of the losers’ bracket and

now have a chance to win the

World Series. Simmons

couldn’t help but gush about

the group, for whom he re-

corded a video message.

“I was proud of them for

making it there,” Simmons

said. “[I told them] keep do-

ing what they’ve been doing

and keep making us proud.”

Baseball on the small

Dutch nation of about 160,000

has grown exponentially in

popularity since Simmons

was a kid turning double

plays in the backyard with his

older brother. Gold Glove-

winning center fielder An-

druw Jones, the first native

of Curacao to stick in the big

leagues, paved the way for a

baseball boom after debuting

with the Atlanta Braves as a

teenager in 1996.

But it was the Little

League World Series success

of teams from Curacao, cer-

tainly composed of kids who

were inspired by Jones, that

led to an increase in MLB

players hailing from the small

island. A run of nine consecu-

tive tournament appear-

ances began in 2001. A group

led by Oakland’s Jurickson

Profarand Minnesota’s Jon-

athan Schoop won the na-

tion’s only title in 2004.

Ten Curacao natives have

played in the major leagues

since 2006, including the

Dodgers’ Kenley Jansenand

Atlanta Braves second base-

man Ozzie Albies. Five were

on opening day rosters this

year, matching their highs

from 2014 and 2018.

Simmons never had the

chance to play in the youth

tournament himself — “I

wasn’t good enough,” he

joked — but he appreciated

the effect continued expo-

sure has had on his home

country. “When I was a kid, it

was a dream to be on that

stage,” he said. “It was a

dream to make it here. Now

it’s more real. It’s more pos-

sible. It’s like, ‘OK, if you’re

good enough, you’re gonna

get there.’

“I think they like their

chances of playing baseball

against any team in the world

just because we’ve won the

Little League World Series,

we’ve done a good job in the

World Baseball Classic,

there’s guys in the big leagues

that are doing a really good

job. There’s more guys to

come. It’s always exciting

when you see that little island

represented.”

Short hops

Ohtani hasn’t introduced

his signature split-fingered

fastball into his bullpen ses-

sions, but that is no cause for

alarm. The Angels have not

yet instructed him to work on

that pitch, which teams such

as the Angels discouraged

their pitchers from devel-

oping this decade because of

the strain it’s believed to

cause on the elbow. It is just a

precaution. Ohtani has

thrown breaking pitches and

fastball successfully as he has

ramped up his recovery from

Tommy John surgery as a

pitcher. ... The Angels rein-

stated catcher Kevan Smith

from the injured list and sent

fellow backstop Anthony Be-

mboomto triple-A Salt Lake.

... Reliever Justin Ander-

son’sshoulder injury is not

considered serious. He

tossed in the outfield for a

short period on Saturday.

ANGELS REPORT

Simmons feeling

pride for Curacao

By Maria Torres

Chip Kellyhad a curious
greeting for reporters before
taking the first question Sat-
urday.
“Good morning,” the
UCLA coach said. “Happy
Monday.”
Game week had finally ar-
rived, with a twist.
Everything on the Bruins’
schedule was moved up by
two days as a result of playing
their season opener on the
road against Cincinnati on
Thursday. Kelly said his
team began formal prepara-
tions for the Bearcats on Sat-
urday, when they completed
an abbreviated practice in
shorts and jerseys without
pads.
A large group of players
wore black jerseys to signify
they were part of a scout
team intended to mimic Cin-
cinnati’s starters. Presum-
ably, extra attention was
paid to whoever wore No. 9.
That would be quarterback
Desmond Ridder, who
helped guide the Bearcats to
a 26-17 victory over UCLA in
the opener last season at the
Rose Bowl.
Ridder relieved strug-
gling starter Hayden Moore
during Cincinnati’s third se-
ries and never let go of the job
for the rest of the season,
leading the Bearcats to an
11-2 finish that included a vic-
tory over Virginia Tech in the
Military Bowl.
Ridder, a redshirt sopho-
more, is similar to UCLA
counterpart Dorian Thomp-
son-Robinsonin that he’s
not one-dimensional.
“He’s a really good
quarterback,” Kelly said of
Ridder, “but I think what sets
him apart from some other
guys is he actually runs like a
running back. Sometimes it’s
almost like a two-back of-
fense back there” because of
Ridder’s presence.

Ridder threw for 20 touch-

downs and had only five

passes intercepted on the

way to becoming selected the

American Athletic Confer-

ence’s newcomer of the year.

He also ran for 583 yards and

five touchdowns.

He’ll be able to hand the

ball off to a bevy of talented

running backs. Michael

Warrenran for 1,329 yards

and a school-record 19 touch-

downs last season, including

142 yards and three touch-

downs against UCLA.

Tavion Thomasaveraged 5.6

yards per carry last season

and Gerrid Doaksreturns

after sitting out all of 2018 be-

cause of a groin injury.

The Bearcats’ offensive

line might not be as stout as

they had hoped. James Hud-

son, who took every repeti-

tion at starting left tackle

during spring practice, was

denied immediate eligibility

after transferring from Mich-

igan. That led to a public spat

between Cincinnati coach

Luke Fickelland Michigan

coach Jim Harbaugh, with

Fickell saying the Wolverines

refused to support Hudson

in his bid to play immediately

and Harbaugh countering

that the decision rested

solely with the NCAA.

It was reminiscent of the

verbal volley Kelly fired at

Washington this month, say-

ing the Huskies blocked

transfer quarterback Colson

Yankoff ’s attempt to be-

come immediately eligible at

UCLA.

The biggest question sur-

rounding Cincinnati is how

much of a drop-off it will suf-

fer on defense after the de-

partures of linemen Cortez

Broughton, Marquise

Copelandand Kimoni Fitz,

who combined for 15 sacks

and helped the Bearcats

rank No. 13 nationally by

holding opponents to 111

yards rushing per game. The

rest of the Bearcats’ defense

returns nearly intact.

“What stands out when

you look at them from a de-

fensive side is that the line-

backers and secondary are

really good players,” Kelly

said.

Depth charge

For the first time since

they resumed practice last

month, the Bruins did not

have anyone wearing a yellow

jersey to signal they were re-

covering from injury.

Receiver Theo Howard

and left tackle Alec Ander-

son, the final members of the

yellow brigade in recent days,

were wearing blue jerseys like

the rest of their teammates

on offense. Anderson, who

recently underwent surgery

on his right leg, worked off to

the side of the field with a

trainer, completing a series

of stretches and sprints dur-

ing the portion of practice

open to reporters.

Kelly said that linebacker

Tyree Thompson (foot

surgery) was the only player

ruled out for the opener.

Running back Joshua Kel-

ley, who returned last week

after being limited for most of

training camp by a knee in-

jury, appeared to move with-

out restrictions despite

wearing a bulky knee brace.

Howard wore a black wrap-

ping around his injured right

wrist, with Kelly saying the

receiver had transitioned to a

splint.

UCLA REPORT

Bruins begin preparations

for opener against Bearcats

By Ben Bolch

Feleipe Franks made up

for three inexcusable turn-

overs by accounting for

three touchdowns, doing

just enough to help No. 8

Florida beat Miami 24-20

Saturday night in the open-

ing game of the college foot-

ball season in Orlando, Fla.

Franks threw for 254

yards and two scores and

ran for another as the Gat-

ors won for just the second

time in their last nine meet-

ings with the Hurricanes.

It was a fairly fitting per-

formance for the junior who

has been benched five times

in three years. Franks looked

anywhere from good to

great, from lost to downright

awful.

He was clutch one min-

ute, dropping in a perfect

pass to Freddie Swain that

gained 65 yards and set up

the go-ahead score, and

looked confused the next,

throwing right to a defender

for his second interception

of the night.

Florida’s defense bailed

Franks out time and time

again, finishing with 10 sacks

and 16 tackles for a loss.

Miami converted a

fourth-and-34 play with 1:30

remaining when Marco Wil-

son was flagged for pass in-

terference. The Hurricanes

moved the chains again

thanks to another pass-in-

terference call against Trey

Dean. One official threw one

more flag in the end zone

with 20 seconds to play, but

it was picked up following a

discussion.

Florida suspended four

players, including safety

Brad Stewart and defensive

tackle Tedarrell Slaton, for

the opener. The Gators also

held out receiver Rick Wells

and walk-on defensive back

Pat Moorer for not living up

to “the Gator Standard.”

Miami, meanwhile, sus-

pended sophomore corner-

back DJ Ivey for a “violation

of team rules.”

Arizona at Hawaii, late

Notes

Backup quarterback

Jake Haener is leaving No. 13

Washington after losing a

camp battle for the starting

job to Georgia transfer Ja-

cob Eason. Washington re-

leased a statement on Sat-

urday announcing Haener

was leaving the program ef-

fective immediately. There

were no other details.

MIAMIrunning back Cam’Ron Harris (23) knocks Florida linebacker Ventrell

Miller to the ground as he is tackled during the season-opening game.

John RaouxAssociated Press

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Florida manages to beat Miami

associated press

SEASON OPENER

UCLA at

Cincinnati

AT NIPPERT STADIUM

Thursday, 4 p.m. PDT

TV:ESPN.

Saturday’s scores

EAST

Villanova 34, Colgate 14

SOUTH

Florida 24, Miami 20

Reinhardt 16, Webber International 6

Youngstown State 45, Samford 22

FAR WEST

Arizona at Hawaii, late