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3 years ago

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2:45 AM ET

She lit the fire to start the Olympics, but Naomi Osaka‘s Tokyo 2020 dreams were extinguished far too soon on Tuesday in just over an hour by Marketa Vondrousova. With a flurry of unforced errors and growing frustration, Osaka’s Olympics ended with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Vondrousova, ranked No. 42 in the world.

Osaka looked out of sorts throughout against Vondrousova, her serve failing to produce the goods (winning just 25 of 43 points on her first serve). She made 32 unforced errors compared to Vondrousova’s 10.

When asked afterward what went wrong, she responded: “Everything — if you watch the match then you would probably see. I feel like there’s a lot of things that I counted on that I couldn’t rely on today.”

It wasn’t meant to be like this for Osaka. Chosen to light the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony, Osaka was essentially the face of these Games, which were going to plan for the hosts, who were tied with the United States for most gold medals as a country.

Osaka took an eight-week break before the tournament and had looked so comfortable through the first two rounds with victories over Zheng Saisai and Viktorija Golubic, but then it unraveled on Tuesday as Typhoon Nepartak came hammering down on the roof of Ariake Tennis Court.

It has been a rollercoaster 2021 for the four-time Grand Slam champion. Having won the Australian Open in February, Osaka was the player to beat on the women’s tour. But when the French Open rolled around, she announced she was going to skip the tournament’s press conferences, citing her mental health.

After winning her first-round match at Roland Garros, she withdrew from the tournament and later decided not to participate at Wimbledon, focusing on bringing back the gold medal for Japan.

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” Osaka said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it) was a bit much. I think I’m glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had.”

It looked like it was all laid out perfectly for her when Ash Barty, the world No. 1, went out in the opening round of the Olympics, opening the door for Osaka to continue Japan’s gold medal run at its home Games.

By the time Osaka took the court on Tuesday, Japan was up to eight gold medals: two in skateboarding, four in judoka and one each in swimming and table tennis. Osaka dreamt of adding another.

But that dream did not come to fruition. She dropped the first set in 24 minutes, and though she staved off three match points in the second set, her backhand sailed wide, sending Vondrousova to the quarterfinals.

“How disappointed am I? I mean, I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others. I do know that my expectations were a lot higher,” Osaka said. “I feel like my attitude wasn’t that great because I don’t really know how to cope with that pressure, so that’s the best that I could have done in this situation.”

Still, while the loss will surely hurt Osaka, she has already left a strong legacy off the court in her home country. The image of her lighting the torch was a symbol of hope for a country that has gone ahead and put on an Olympic Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

She has also made an impact in ending the stigma surrounding mental health. In her self-penned piece in TIME Magazine, which came out before the Games, she spoke of wanting to make Japan’s people “proud,” and that didn’t necessarily need to be accomplished with a medal.

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Trout slugs HR in first leadoff at-bat since 2020

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20 mins ago

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April 24, 2024

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Trout slugs HR in first leadoff at-bat since 2020

  • Associated Press

Apr 23, 2024, 10:28 PM ET

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington was hoping to get a spark by putting Mike Trout in the leadoff spot.

The three-time AL MVP quickly obliged.

Hitting leadoff for the first time since 2020, Trout drove a fastball from Baltimore‘s Grayson Rodriguez off the auxiliary scoreboard above the wall in right-center field in the first inning to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead Tuesday night.

It was the sixth leadoff homer of Trout’s career and first since Sept. 28, 2012. Trout’s ninth home run of the season tied for the major league lead.

“I’m just trying to shake things up and trying to see if I can get some different cohesiveness with my lineup,” Washington said before the game.

The Angels entered it on a five-game losing streak.

Trout struggled at the plate over the previous seven games. He had gone 3 for 27 with eight strikeouts, including getting caught looking for the final out with the bases loaded in Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Orioles.

Trout had a .236 batting average, on pace to be his lowest average in March and April in his career. He hit over .300 through the end of April the past three seasons.

It was the 163rd time in Trout’s 14-year, big league career that he topped the lineup, the first since the second game of a doubleheader against Houston on Aug. 25, 2020.

He hit leadoff in 138 games during his first full season in the majors in 2012, when he was voted AL Rookie of the Year.

Trout had batted first in only five games since 2014.

“He’s done it before, so it’s not foreign to him. If we can put him in there and get a run in the first inning I’m all for that. I’m just looking to try different things and see what works,” Washington said.

The three-time AL MVP was a career .321 hitter when in the leadoff spot with 33 home runs and a .398 on-base percentage.

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Roberts working with Ohtani on plate discipline

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3 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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Roberts working with Ohtani on plate discipline

  • Associated Press

Apr 23, 2024, 06:21 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Dave Roberts thinks Shohei Ohtani can be even better with more plate discipline with runners in scoring position.

The Los Angeles Dodgers manager approached the two-time AL MVP about a week ago to discuss how Ohtani could better control the strike zone.

“I thought he was expanding a little bit more than he needed to,” Roberts said Tuesday. “So, I just wanted to have a conversation with him.”

Ohtani hit his 176th home run Sunday, surpassing Hideki Matsui for the most in Major League Baseball among players born in Japan. Ohtani entered Tuesday night’s game in Washington leading the major leagues in batting average (.368), hits (35), doubles (11) and total bases (63).

“Any time he swings the bat he can change the game, and now being even more disciplined in the strike zone just makes him more scary,” Roberts said.

Ohtani left the Los Angeles Angels and joined the Dodgers in December for a record 10-year, $700 million contract. The two-way star had elbow surgery in September and won’t pitch this season.

Roberts has noticed Ohtani getting comfortable in his surroundings, acclimating with his new teammates and coaches.

“He is doing a great job with everyone,” Roberts said. “The hitting coaches are kind of building a really good relationship and trust. I see him more [now]. Before you sort of just see him when he gets in the batter’s box. So, he’s around a lot more, which is a good thing, too.”

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Cueto eyes 17th MLB season, signs with Rangers

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3 hours ago

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April 24, 2024

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Cueto eyes 17th MLB season, signs with Rangers

  • Field Level Media

Apr 23, 2024, 07:33 PM ET

With a goal of participating in his 17th major league season, veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto agreed to a minor league deal with the World Series champion Texas Rangers, according to multiple reports.

Cueto, 38, will be trying to pitch in the major leagues for his fourth organization in four seasons, and sixth overall, after he made 13 appearances (10 starts) for the Miami Marlins last season and 25 appearances (24 starts) for the Chicago White Sox in 2022. He finished the last of his six seasons with the San Francisco Giants in 2021.

In 368 career appearances (363 starts), Cueto is 144-111 with a 3.50 ERA for the Cincinnati Reds (2008-15), Kansas City Royals (2015), Giants, White Sox and Marlins. He was 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA for Miami in 2023, missing time with a biceps injury and a viral infection.

Cueto finished in the top six of National League Cy Young Award voting three times, including a runner-up finish in 2014 as a member of the Reds, when he earned one of his two All-Star Game nods.

With the Royals, Cueto made just 13 starts but helped the club to the 2015 World Series title.

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