The Sports Report: Walker Buehler will not be back this season

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Jack Harris: Walker Buehler will not return for the Dodgers this season.

The team announced Monday that the pitcher, who has been out since June with an elbow injury, will undergo season-ending surgery on his elbow next week.

The procedure will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

Buehler suffered what the team called a flexor tendon strain in his right elbow during a start against the San Francisco Giants in June.

Buehler was shut down for six weeks — he also had an unrelated bone spur removed from his elbow during that time — and then began a throwing program late last month.

He had hoped to return in some capacity for the stretch run and postseason, targeting a late-September return that might have given him a chance to at least pitch out of the bullpen in October.

However, those hopes have now been dashed with Monday’s news, dealing the Dodgers’ pitching staff a major blow less than two months before the start of the playoffs.

“We took a chance to try and take time off, start a progression to get him back for this year,� manager Dave Roberts said. “Then as he went through it, we couldn’t get over the hump. We took a shot at it and now we have to go in [for surgery].�

While the implications of Buehler’s injury are clear, Roberts’ explanation Monday of the exact issue was vague.

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Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers recap: Dodgers shutout Brewers in 4-0 win

ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: There are 46 games left in the Angels’ season after Monday, which means 46 games left for Shohei Ohtani to add to his resume and complete his case for why he should repeat as American League most valuable player. His main competition for the accolade, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

To some, the case is a no-brainer. Yankee fans on Twitter have no problem declaring Judge the rightful winner. Ask the Angels’ fanbase, and you’ll get a similar answer, but with Ohtani’s name. Ask some of the people who’ve worked with or played alongside Judge and Ohtani, and the answer has more deliberation.

“Nobody can do what [Ohtani] does. Not saying that somebody could do what Judge is doing,� shortstop Andrew Velazquez said before the Angels played the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

“That’s why they’re both in contention,� Velazquez continued. “It’s gonna come down to the wire. In my opinion, it’s gonna take Judge doing something historic, which he’s already kind of doing. But I mean, every day is something historic for Ohtani.�

RAMS

From Gary Klein: Matthew Stafford, and an elbow issue that has plagued him since last season, will be tested again Tuesday when the Rams scrimmage for the first time.

The Rams’ veteran quarterback and other starters and key players will not play in preseason games, so the scrimmage in Thousand Oaks should provide the Rams with another marker as Stafford plays through tendinitis while preparing for the Sept. 8 opener against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium.

Coach Sean McVay said Stafford was a full participant in Monday’s workout, which was closed to reporters after 20 minutes. Stafford will be a full participant Tuesday when the first-team offense runs more than 60 plays, McVay said.

SPARKS

From Chuck Schilken: When Liz Cambage abruptly walked away from the Sparks late last month, the team was half a game out of a playoff spot with nine games remaining.

The Sparks won only one more game before ending the season with a 116-88 loss to the Dallas Wings on Sunday and missing the postseason for the second straight year.

On Monday, Cambage apologized to her former team for the manner in which she ended her tenure.

“Playing for the Sparks was a dream come true and I’m honored to have shared the court with such amazing ladies for as long as we did,� Cambage wrote on Instagram. “I’m sorry to have left abruptly and I wish it would have ended on a different note.�

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What’s next for the Sparks’ unrestricted free agents?

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head with a pitch by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffers a fractured skull and dies the next day. It’s the only field fatality in major league history.

1924 — Helen Wills Moody beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory again, 6-1, 6-3, to win her second straight singles title at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.

1954 — The first Sports Illustrated magazine is issued with a 25-cent price tag. The scene on the cover was a game at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. Eddie Mathews of Braves was swinging with Wes Westrum catching and Augie Donatelli umpiring.

1970 — Dave Stockton wins the PGA Championship by two strokes over Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

1976 — Dave Stockton edges Raymond Floyd and Don January by one stroke to win his second PGA Championship. Stockton hits a par-saving 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole to finish with a 1-over 281 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Md.

1989 — Tom Drees pitches his third no-hitter of the season for triple-A Vancouver, leading the Canadians over Las Vegas 5-0 in a seven-inning, first game of a doubleheader in the Pacific Coast League. Drees became the first pitcher in the PCL or the major leagues with three no-hitters in a year.

1992 — Nick Price holds off a comeback bid by Nick Faldo with a 1-under 70 in the final round and captures his first major title with a three-stroke victory in the PGA national championship.

1995 — Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie shatters Kenya’s Moses Kiptanui’s record in the 5,000 by nearly 11 seconds with a time of 12 minutes, 44.39 seconds at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Switzerland.

1998 — Jeff Gordon drives into the record book, becoming the seventh driver in modern NASCAR history to win four straight races as he comes from far back to take the Pepsi 400.

2008 — In Beijing, Michael Phelps touches the wall a hundredth of a second ahead of Serbia’s Milorad Cavic to win the 100-meter butterfly. The win gives Phelps his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games, tying Mark Spitz’s performance in the 1972 Munich Games. Usain Bolt of Jamaica runs the 100-meter dash in a stunning world-record time of 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that he starts celebrating a good 10 strides before the finish line.

2009 — Usain Bolt shatters the 100-meter world record at the World Championships in Berlin. Bolt finishes with a stunning time of 9.58 seconds, bettering his own record of 9.69 seconds set in last year’s Beijing Olympics.

2009 — Y.E. Yang of South Korea becomes the first Asian player to win one of golf’s majors with a three-stroke win over Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship.

2015 — Jason Day leads wire-to-wire in the final round at Whistling Straits to close out a record-setting PGA Championship and capture his first major title. The 27-year-old Australian finishes at 20-under 268 to beat Jordan Spieth by three shots. Day becomes the first player to finish at 20 under in a major.

2015 — Brooke Henderson wins the Cambia Portland Classic by eight strokes to become the third-youngest champion in LPGA Tour history at 17 years, 11 months, 6 days.

2018 — The Davis Cup gets a radical makeover beginning in 2019. The top team event in men’s tennis will be decided with a season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Usain Bolt runs the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. Watch and listen here. Michael Phelps’ amazing comeback to win the 100 butterfly at the 2008 Olympics. Watch and listen here.