The Sports Report: Trayce Thompson makes a splash, helps the Dodgers beat the Rockies

Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is in on vacation and likely preparing his final MLB All-Star Game ballot. Let’s get right to the news.

From Steve Henson: A Dodgers starting pitcher made a strong case for an All-Star berth for the fourth day in a row.

A journeyman outfielder known primarily as a member of a decorated basketball family struck the key blow.

And an injury-ravaged bullpen wobbled its way through the ninth inning in a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night that marked the Dodgers’ 50th win two games ahead of the season’s halfway point, keeping them on pace for a 100-win season.

On our holiday that celebrates the land of the free, the Dodgers let Freeland reign into the fifth inning. Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland retired the first 13 batters in order before the Dodgers changed the course of the game.

Dodgers Justin Turner, Trayce Thompson and Chris Taylor celebrate Thompson’s three-run home run during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies Monday.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

Trayce Thompson, brother of NBA star Klay Thompson and son of former Lakers forward Mychal Thompson, followed Justin Turner’s single and Chris Taylor’s walk with a three-run home run to left field that put the Dodgers ahead 3-1.

Cody Bellinger promptly stroked a ground-rule double, and with two out Mookie Betts scored him with a single. The Dodgers added a fifth run in the seventh inning on Trea Turner’s RBI double.

Thompson played with the Dodgers in 2016 and 2017, last hitting a home run at Dodger Stadium six years ago nearly to the day, on July 3, 2016, against the Rockies. He blew a kiss to his mother in the stands after touching home plate Monday.

“I’m blessed to be back here,” he said. “I don’t take it for granted.”

The fifth-inning rally made a winner of Julio Urías (7-6), who went six innings for the 10th time this season. He has pitched five or six innings in 15 consecutive starts since lasting only two innings in his first start April 10.

MORE ON THE DODGERS:

— Hernández: Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw deserves the All-Star start

— Dodgers vs. Rockies: How to watch, streaming options and start times

— Catcher Austin Barnes agrees to two-year, $7-million contract extension with Dodgers

— Commentary: He made a name tossing peanuts at Dodgers games. That’s a no-no now

— How do you feel about the ban on tossing peanut bags at Dodger Stadium?

WNBA

Bill Plaschke writes: From the hell of a Russian penal colony, an American basketball superstar pleas for her freedom.

“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” writes Brittney Griner.

From the quiet of Cyrpto.com Arena, Griner’s Phoenix Mercury teammates wonder whether anybody is listening.

“There’s not enough outcry, no, period, there’s not enough outcry,” says forward Brianna Turner.

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing in Russia Friday.

(Alexander Zemlianichenko / Associated Press)

From where she sits in a concrete converted orphanage in her 137^th day as essentially a hostage, an American basketball superstar begs for help.

“On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran,” writes Griner. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year.”

MORE ON THE WNBA:

— Nneka Ogwumike scores 23, Sparks beat Mercury for third straight win

COLLEGE SPORTS

From Ben Bolch: A Southern California native and veteran of several Big Ten winters, Myles Johnson knows the first words likely uttered by former Pac-12 athletes once their new conference smacks them like a midwinter Lake Michigan breeze.

“Help! Help!”

Johnson, the onetime Rutgers center who spent his final college basketball season at UCLA as a graduate transfer, recently retweeted a meme showing a man in a burly winter coat standing in a subway door pleading for help.

The caption: “UCLA players when they get off the plane in Minnesota in December.”

While Ohio State and Michigan play in the snow nearly every football season, most UCLA and USC football players who grew up on the West Coast might find it a big adjustment when switching to the Big Ten Conference starting in 2024.

(Tony Ding / Associated Press)

Yes, it’s going to be brutally cold. It’s also going to be jarring in another way.

Bruins guard Jaylen Clark retweeted a meme of a frightened boy being roused from bed, alongside a caption that read, “USC and UCLA players waking up for their 9 a.m. Big Ten games.”

Beyond the givens of brutal weather and earlier start times that await UCLA and USC upon their 2024 defection to the Big Ten, scores of questions remain. Here are some answers more than two years before the move.

MORE ON COLLEGE SPORTS:

— USC hires Grand Canyon’s Andy Stankiewicz to rebuild Trojans’ baseball program

— USC athletic director Mike Bohn has a history of punching first in realignment fights

— Analysis: UCLA’s move to Big Ten is a win before kickoff for Martin Jarmond and Bruins

— Breaking down what a move to the Big Ten means for UCLA and USC Olympic sports

— Big Ten expansion: Will Notre Dame be the next to join?

— Full coverage: USC, UCLA leaving Pac-12 to join Big Ten

— She’s gone viral and opened the Met Gala. What’s next for UCLA’s Nia Dennis?

SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: Galaxy midfielder Sacha Kljestan had long been among the most thoughtful and outspoken players in MLS, frequently using social media to comment on issues that go beyond soccer.

On Monday, after assisting on the final goal in his team’s 4-0 win over Montreal, Kljestan agreed to appear at a post-game news conference but declined to talk about the match.

Galaxy midfielder Sacha Kljestan called on Congress to “do something” following a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Illinois.

(Jacob Kupferman / Associated Press)

Instead, he gave an emotional plea for gun control after another mass shooting which left six dead and at least 30 wounded at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill.

“I’m actually going to keep this really brief and not answer any questions about the game. I’m not joking,” began Kljestan, whose 13-minute appearance off the bench was his first in nearly two months. “I’m sick to my stomach about what’s happened in Illinois today. And I think we need to talk about gun control. You guys can write about the game if you want, but I don’t really give a s—. It’s a sick, vicious cycle that keeps happening over and over and we’re doing nothing about it. And it makes me sick.

“I don’t know, Congress, senators — if anyone sees this — do something. Our kids get shot up and we say thoughts and prayers and it does nothing. And then we talk about it on social media and it does nothing. And then our government does nothing. And then somebody gets shot up again.”

MORE SOCCER:

— Rayan Raveloson scores two goals as Galaxy defeat Montreal

— Alex Morgan scores twice and USWNT down Haiti 3-0

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1919 — Suzanne Lenglen beats reigning champion Dorothea Lambert Chambers 10-8, 4-6, 9-7, in the challenge round to win her first women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1930 — Bill Tilden beats Wilmer Allison 6-3, 9-7, 6-4, to capture his third men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1947 — Larry Doby becomes the first black to play in the American League. He strikes out as a pinch-hitter for the Cleveland Indians in a 6-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

1952 — Maureen Connolly wins her first of three straight women’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Louise Brough 6-4, 6-3.

1968 — The Philadelphia 76ers trade Wilt Chamberlain, basketball’s greatest offensive player, to the Los Angeles Lakers after they are unable to sign him to a contract.

1968 — Australia’s Rod Laver wins the first open Wimbledon tennis championship, defeating countryman Tony Roche 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Laver becomes the first player since Fred Perry (1934-36) to win the men’s title three straight times.

1975 — Arthur Ashe beats Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. It’s the first all-American final since 1947. Connors, the defending champion, had not dropped a set in the previous six matches.

1980 — Bjorn Borg of Sweden wins his fifth men’s title at Wimbledon, defeating John McEnroe 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6.

1992 — Andre Agassi beats Goran Ivanisevic 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon men’s final to win his first Grand Slam title.

1996 — Frankie Fredericks edges Michael Johnson to win the men’s 200 meters at the Bislett Games in Norway, snapping the American world champion’s winning streak of 21 races.

1997 — Martina Hingis, 16, becomes the youngest player to win Wimbledon since 1887. Hingis comes back for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jana Novotna.

2003 — Serena Williams beats sister Venus 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 for her second straight Wimbledon title. It’s her fifth championship in the past six Grand Slams, each capped by a victory over Venus.

2008 — Venus Williams wins her fifth Wimbledon singles title, beating younger sister Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Defending champion Venus is 5-2 in Wimbledon finals, losing only to Serena in 2002 and ’03.

2009 — Roger Federer wins his record 15th Grand Slam title when he outlasts Andy Roddick for his sixth Wimbledon championship in a marathon match that went to 16-14 in the fifth set.

2012 — Harness racing driver Dave Palone breaks Herve Filion’s North American record for career victories when he pilots Herculotte Hanover to victory in the eighth race at The Meadows in Washington, Pa. The win is the 15,181st of Palone’s 30-year career.

2014 — Petra Kvitova overwhelms Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0 in less than an hour to win Wimbledon for the second time.

2015 — The United States wins its third Women’s World Cup title and first since 1999 with a 5-2 victory over Japan behind a first-half hat trick by Carli Lloyd.

And finally

Watch Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw trigger a version of the wave at Dodger Stadium as fans mimic his signature pre-throw motion.