The Sports Report: Bobby Miller gets some pitching help from a new teammate

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

From Jack Harris: Wherever Bobby Miller has gone so far during Dodgers spring training, Blake Snell has usually been nearby.

Over the first week of camp at Camelback Ranch, the two have walked to and from bullpen sessions together, in constant conversation with almost every step. They’ve been next-door neighbors in the clubhouse, spending more time together at their side-by-side lockers. Even when Miller was throwing his first live batting practice session of spring on Saturday, Snell was right there behind the mound, closely watching how Miller performed alongside club pitching coaches and front-office personnel.

It might seem an unlikely pairing: a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Snell, gravitating to a once-promising prospect in Miller coming off a disastrous 2024 season.

But over the last couple of years, as he watched the Dodgers from opposing dugouts, Snell had been intrigued with Miller’s high-octane stuff and tantalizing potential.

So, after he signed with the team this offseason and arrived for his first Dodgers spring training last week, the decorated veteran made a point of seeking out his new 25-year-old teammate.

“He said, ‘We’re gonna have a long spring together,’” Miller said with a laugh this weekend. “I’m trying to learn a lot from him. … But he’s been really cool to me. I’m really lucky to have him in my corner.”

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ANGELS

Angels oft-injured star Mike Trout is moving from center to right field in hopes of better preserving his health.

The three-time AL MVP played in 82 or fewer games in three of the last four seasons while dealing with an assortment of injuries. That doesn’t include the 53 games he played in 2020 because that season was shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trout approached the club about the position switch.

“I kind of threw everything on the table as in what’s best for me bodywise to keep me on the field,” he said Monday. “I came to the conclusion that I’m going to go to right field. I’ll try it out and see where it goes.”

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UCLA-USC BASKETBALL

Notre Dame is the new No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, ascending to the top spot Monday for the first time since 2019.

The Fighting Irish replaced UCLA, which lost its first game of the season last week, falling 71-60 to rival USC. Notre Dame was last No. 1 on Jan. 21, 2019.

“It’s definitely an honor to be the nation’s top team, but we are just focused on getting better every day,“ Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.

The Bruins had been No. 1 for 12 straight weeks after beating South Carolina in late November. UCLA fell to third and received six first-place votes.

USC moved up to fourth.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1924 — Theresa Weld Blanchard wins her sixth and final U.S. figure skating championship. Sherwin Badger captures his fifth straight and final men’s title.

1928 — Sonja Henie, 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating champion. She easily beats Fritzi Burger of Austria and Beatrix Loughran of the U.S.

1932 — Sonja Henie wins her sixth straight world title.

1961 — Bob Pettit of St. Louis scores a career-high 57 points in a 141-138 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

1964 — Wilt Chamberlain scores 52 points against Detroit, his second consecutive 50-point game.

1972 — Randy Smith of Buffalo plays the first of what would become 906 consecutive games, an NBA record which took more than 11 full seasons to accomplish.

1981 — Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores five goals and adds two assists to lead the Oilers over the St. Louis Blues 9-2.

1986 — San Antonio’s Alvin Robertson records the second quadruple-double in NBA history, with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in the Spurs’ 120-114 win over Phoenix.

1990 — Dale Earnhardt blows a tire with one mile remaining in the Daytona 500, giving Derrike Cope the biggest upset in stock car racing history.

1992 — Italy’s Alberto Tomba wins the giant slalom in Albertville, France, to become the first Alpine skier to win the same event at two Winter Olympics.

1995 — Utah guard John Stockton becomes the first NBA player with 10,000 assists in a 108-98 victory over the Boston Celtics.

2001 — Dale Earnhardt, the greatest stock car star of his era, is killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 as he tries to protect Michael Waltrip’s victory.

2006 — Shani Davis becomes the first Black athlete to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Olympics, capturing the 1,000-meter speedskating race. Joey Cheek makes it a 1-2 American finish, adding a silver to his victory in the 500 at the Turin Games.

2010 — Evan Lysacek becomes the first U.S. man to win the Olympic gold medal since Brian Boitano in 1988, shocking everyone with an upset of defending champion Evgeni Plushenko.

2012 — Shenneika Smith’s 3-pointer from the wing with 8 seconds left lifts St. John’s to a 57-56 win over No. 2 Connecticut, ending the Huskies’ 99-game home court winning streak. It’s the Huskies’ first home loss to an unranked opponent in nearly 19 years.

2013 — Brittney Griner scores 25 points, including the 3,000th of her career, to help No. 1 Baylor rally past third-ranked Connecticut 76-70.

2017 — Mikaela Shiffrin wins a third straight slalom title at the world championships to retain her unbeaten record at major events.

2022 — Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway wins his 4th biathlon gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics when he wins the men’s mass start.

Compiled by the Associated Press