Shohei Ohtani leaves mound with cramping after bout of wildness

Published

1 month ago

July 31, 2025

CINCINNATI (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is hopeful that he will be able to make his next mound start after his outing Wednesday night was cut short by cramping in his right hip.

Ohtani was scheduled to go four innings on a hot, humid night against the Cincinnati Reds, but he left without recording an out in the fourth after he threw six straight balls, including two consecutive wild pitches.

The 31-year old reigning NL MVP said he started to cramp in the first inning.

“Just tried to work around it. I was able to do so up until the third and it didn’t quite work out in the fourth,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after the Dodgers’ 5-2 loss.

Ohtani and manager Dave Roberts both blamed the cramping on the weather. The temperature at first pitch was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) with a heat index near 100.

Roberts went out with the trainer after Ohtani threw a 86.3 mph sweeper that was low and outside the strike zone for a 2-0 count to Spencer Steer. After a conference on the mound, Ohtani left with the trainer.

“I just saw a funky throw. The follow-through just didn’t look right. And then he threw another pitch and I just didn’t see the finish the right way,” Roberts said. “It was very concerning because I didn’t know what it was. He said it was his hip. I talked to him and he said it was the humidity. So I feel better knowing that.”

Ohtani — who leads the NL with 38 home runs — remained in the game at designated hitter, but went 0 for 5, a day after he struck out four times. He hit a line drive to Cincinnati center fielder Will Benson for the final out.

“I don’t play defense. That helped, but at the same time we were playing a close game and I wanted to help the team win,” Ohtani said.

This was Ohtani’s seventh mound start in his comeback from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, which occurred after the 2023 season. He did not pitch at all last season, his first for the Dodgers after signing a 10-year, $700 million contract, but he starred at DH — finishing with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases — and won his third MVP award.

Even though it was cut short, it still was Ohtani’s longest outing of his pitching comeback.

He threw 51 pitches, 32 for strikes, and allowed two runs on five hits in three-plus innings. He struck out four and walked two.

“A good thing about today’s outing is my pitch count was where I wanted it to be. I think this is a step forward in a sense,” said Ohtani, who has a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings. “I didn’t feel great to be honest physically the past couple days.”

Ohtani has allowed four runs, three in the first inning. He has faced 63 batters, striking out 17 and walking five.

Ohtani’s most-used pitch in his first six outings was the fastball (49%), followed by the sweeper (25%). Against the Reds, he threw only 14 fastballs and 29 sweepers. All eight of the Reds’ swing-and-misses came on the sweeper.

“Rather than pitch type it was manipulating the way I was throwing. Just not trying to get too deep on my delivery. Just trying to focus on mechanics,” Ohtani said.

Noelvi Marte led off the Reds’ fourth with a single and advanced to third on Ohtani’s two wild pitches to Tyler Stephenson, who then walked.

Ohtani threw two balls to Steer and was replaced by Anthony Banda, who walked Steer and gave up Will Benson’s sacrifice fly that tied the game at 2-all.

As long as everything checks out, Ohtani’s next start would be Aug. 6 against St. Louis at Dodger Stadium.

“He’ll have a week and it will be at home, so there won’t be humidity to deal with,” Roberts said.

Ohtani might start having second thoughts though about facing the Reds on the mound. Prior to Wednesday, his last pitching appearance against Cincinnati was Aug. 23, 2023, for the Los Angeles Angels. He left in the second inning with a torn ligament in his elbow, an injury that led to his second Tommy John surgery.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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‘Rock of Love’ Star Kelsey Bateman Dead at 39

Published

1 hour ago

September 1, 2025

TMZ Staff

‘Rock of Love’
Kelsey Bateman Dead at 39 …
Starred on Season 3 of Reality Show

Published August 31, 2025 5:21 PM PDT

Kelsey Bateman — a contestant on Bret Michaels‘ reality show ‘Rock of Love’ — has died … TMZ has learned.

A family sources tells us … Kelsey passed away unexpectedly recently — though it’s unclear at this time exactly what caused her untimely death. We’ve reached out to local authorities for more information.

If you don’t know “Rock of Love with Bret Michaels,” it was a reality television show that ran from 2007 to 2009 … and followed 25 contestants as they all vied to be Michaels’ girlfriend.

Kelsey starred in the third and final season of the show — titled “Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels” — on which the ladies lived on tour buses and traveled with Michaels.

Kelsey made it all the way to the final nine women … but was eliminated in dramatic fashion in the 7th episode.

Bateman showed up to the elimination drunk with several other contestants … telling the cameras she laid on a speed bump and broke down in tears because of the pressures of the show before showing up to the elim.

Bret said he felt Kelsey’s actions showed she simply wasn’t making smart decision for herself before sending her back to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bateman was 39.

RIP

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Notre Dame vs. Miami live updates: Carson Beck leads Hurricanes into battle with Irish in top-10 showdown

Published

2 hours ago

September 1, 2025

David Cobb

No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami are set for a Sunday night showdown as college football’s Labor Day weekend marathon continue with a seismic clash between two iconic brands. It will mark just the fifth meeting since 1990 — and first since 2017 — between a pair of storied programs with lofty 2025 aspirations.

The Fighting Irish are coming off an appearance in the 2025 CFP National Championship and boast an elite running back tandem and loaded defense. Miami, now in Year 4 under coach Mario Cristobal, appears to have amassed the talent and physicality needed to break through after it was was left just outside of the 12-team CFP last season.

But now it’s time to show it on the field, and there are questions for both teams to answer, particularly at quarterback. Notre Dame is turning to redshirt freshman CJ Carr, the grandson of legendary former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr. Miami is going with Carson Beck, the Georgia transfer who is coming off surgery on his throwing elbow.

The winner will earn a leg up in the CFP race while the loser will see their margin for error shrink with a long season still ahead.

Keep it locked here as CBS Sports provides you with live updates, highlights and analysis as LSU battles Clemson to open the 2025 season in Week 1.

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Judge blocks Trump administration move to deport Guatemalan children

Published

3 hours ago

August 31, 2025

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu

A US judge has temporarily blocked an attempt by the Trump administration to deport dozens of unaccompanied Guatemalan children back to their home country.

District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s order on Sunday was in response to reports children had been put onto planes and were about to be sent to Guatemala, where lawyers argued they would be at risk of abuse and persecution.

The children arrived in the US alone and are in government custody while their immigration claims are assessed.

Lawyers for the US justice department said the children were not being deported, but rather repatriated so they could be reunited with family.

The legal proceedings were sparked early on Sunday when immigrant advocacy groups asked for an emergency injunction, claiming around 600 children could be put on planes in Texas and deported.

Judge Sooknanan then issued a temporary restraining order barring officials from sending a group of 10 migrant children between the ages of 10 and 17 to Guatemala.

At a hastily arranged hearing on Sunday afternoon, Judge Sooknanan, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden, expanded the order to cover all unaccompanied children said to be at risk of deportation. The order will be in place for 14 days.

At the hearing, Judge Sooknanan sought assurances from Trump administration lawyers that planes had not already departed with the children on board.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign said all planes were “on the ground” in the US. He told the judge one plane may have taken off but had returned.

Ensign said the flights were not part of a deportation effort but for family reunifications with parents and other relatives in Guatemala.

He also said the Guatemalan government and the children’s relatives had requested the reunifications. Advocacy groups said that was untrue in at least some cases.

In court filings, lawyers for the children argued the action was in violation of federal laws designed to protect children who arrive in the US alone. They said some of the children had pending cases before immigration judges and expressed credible fears about being returned.

“In the dead of night on a holiday weekend, the Trump administration ripped vulnerable, frightened children from their beds and attempted to return them to danger in Guatemala,” Efrén C Olivares of the National Immigration Law Center, which filed the suit, said in a statement.

“We are heartened the court prevented this injustice from occurring before hundreds of children suffered irreparable harm.”

White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller criticised the judge for blocking the flights.

“The minors have all self-reported that their parents are back home in Guatemala,” he wrote on X. “But a Democrat judge is refusing to let them reunify with their parents.”

Since the start of his second term, Trump has embarked on sweeping efforts to remove undocumented migrants – a key election promise that drew mass support during this campaign.

In June, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump to resume deportations of migrants to countries other than their homeland without giving them the chance to raise the risks they might face.

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