Cliff Pennington’s first career grand slam rallies Angels to sweep of A’s

ANAHEIM — On an unusually hot night at Angel Stadium, Cliff Pennington stopped to chat with Jed Lowrie about the one thing that has captivated their free time this week.

Not baseball. Harvey.

Pennington, the Angels’ shortstop, and Lowrie, the Oakland A’s second baseman, both live in Houston. In some way, each of them has been affected by the hurricane that made landfall last Saturday on Texas’ southeast coast. Harvey, which has since been downgraded to a tropical depression, could become the most costly natural disaster in United States history.

Lowrie had just advanced to second base when he and Pennington traded updates in the fourth inning Wednesday. Other than that moment, Pennington said, natural disaster was not on his mind during the Angels’ 10-8 win over the A’s.

“I thought about it afterwards a little bit,” said Pennington, whose grand slam in the eighth inning proved to be the game-winning hit. “I wasn’t trying to dedicate it to anything like that. I’m just trying to play as hard as I can every night, like I have every time. Sometimes you get it. Sometimes you don’t. When you have something like this going on, obviously it feels good because there’s a lot of not feeling good away from the field.”

Pennington has hit 36 home runs in a major league career that began in 2008. This was his first grand slam.

Comeback complete! @CliffPenn7 comes up with a HUGE slam for the @Angels. https://t.co/9B2XCZpcrB #PapaSlam pic.twitter.com/P6q2HO6QN2

— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2017

On a night when Mike Trout chased a cycle into his final at-bat, and Albert Pujols tied Jim Thome for seventh place on baseball’s all-time home run list, the Angels’ biggest hit came from a 33-year-old utility player with a wife and three children living in a federal disaster area.

Pennington said his family is OK. At his suburban home, his household now includes a cousin who was rescued from his Houston apartment complex Monday by a civilian on a jet ski. Some of his neighborhood was submerged by flood waters, but Pennington said his house is high enough that it avoided damage.

What did the grand slam mean to Pennington’s inner circle?

“I have 15 text messages,” he said after the game, “and probably 12 of them are flood pictures.”

The Angels’ four main opponents in the American League wild-card race all won Wednesday. The Minnesota Twins (69-63) routed the Chicago White Sox earlier in the day, forcing the Angels (69-65) to win to remain a game out of playoff contention.

Seven teams are separated by four games in the race for the final wild-card berth. The Angels have a day off Thursday before beginning a three-game series in Texas against the Rangers.

Oakland led 8-5 when the Angels struck for five runs in the seventh inning.

With one out, reliever Ryan Dull allowed a single to Trout and hit Pujols with a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Left-hander Daniel Coulombe relieved Dull and promptly allowed a single to Kole Calhoun, scoring Trout. Right-hander Chris Hatcher (0-2) relieved Coulombe and struck out C.J. Cron for the second out, then walked Luis Valbuena to load the bases.

On a 2-and-2 count, Pennington crushed a 95-mph fastball to right field over the fence in right field. The initial home run call was upheld by a video review, giving Pennington three home runs this season and giving the Angels a 10-8 lead.

Trout needed four plate appearances to hit a home run, a triple and a single, leaving him a double shy of his second career cycle. He then singled in his fifth plate appearance of the game. Trout scored four runs, matching a career high. His four-hit outburst snapped a rare 0-for-17 slump.

Pujols’ second home run against A’s pitcher Kendall Graveman gave him 612 in his career and 20 this season. His four RBI gave him 1,900, making Pujols the 10th player ever to reach that career milestone.

6⃣1⃣2⃣@PujolsFive mashes his way into a tie with Jim Thome for 7th on the all-time HR list. pic.twitter.com/SfwrI2Hodw

— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2017

In the third inning, Pujols followed Trout’s triple with a rare home run into the right field bleachers. His last opposite-field home run was on April 15 of last year.

“It’s great to see Albert having a great night tonight,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, “but we need to be more than those guys.”

Angels starter Parker Bridwell hardly struggled for three innings against the A’s, who were swept in Anaheim for the second time this season. But he began the fourth inning by walking Lowrie, lost his release point, and torpedoed his chance at a win.

The first seven A’s hitters all reached base against Bridwell. All of them scored, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 7-3 lead. The rookie right-hander was removed after throwing 34 pitches in the fourth inning without recording an out. Bridwell’s earned-run average rose from 2.79 to 3.52.

The Angels’ bullpen offered atonement. Blake Wood allowed one run in two innings. Yusmeiro Petit (one inning), Cam Bedrosian (one), and Jose Alvarez (two-thirds) got the ball to Blake Parker with two outs in the eighth inning without allowing another run. Bedrosian (4-3) was credited with the victory.

Parker worked the final 1⅓ innings. The veteran right-hander has converted four saves this season, including the Angels’ last three opportunities.

Pennington started at shortstop on a rare day of rest for Andrelton Simmons. He considered his 42nd start of the season a welcome respite before it was back to the clubhouse, back to his phone, back to a dozen unfathomable pictures of his home state.

“There’s thousands and thousands of stories,” Pennington said. “Everyone is kind of dealing with it at some level. It’s tough.”

Big @MikeTrout games >>>. https://t.co/fQuWELY6qg pic.twitter.com/FVcyYrgvcZ

— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2017

The head coach from the crosstown rival gathered his players into a tight circle after defeating Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in the title game. He lifted a cup of water, took a large gulp and hollered loud enough for the local sportswriters to hear his proclamation.

“I don’t have the bad taste in my mouth anymore!”

Palo Verde had hurled a year’s worth of bitterness back across the football field, where a sullen group from Bishop Gorman was just beginning to digest the 50-14 season-ending loss in the Sunset Regional championship game.

That humbling defeat nine years ago didn’t settle very well at Bishop Gorman. The Gaels haven’t lost to a Nevada team since.

But that’s just their local domination.

As the only Catholic high school in Southern Nevada and with an enrollment of 1,500 students, Bishop Gorman has continued to build its program into one of the toughest to beat and most visible in the nation, taking on top teams from coast to coast and still winning its past 55 games.

The Gaels will take their show back on the road Friday when they face Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium, the seventh consecutive season Bishop Gorman has taken on a team from the Trinity League. The Gaels are 9-0 in those games, but they’ve never faced the Monarchs.

Most humans and computers rank Bishop Gorman and Mater Dei No. 1 and No. 2 in the country this week. Combined with the evolution of social media in recent years, this might be the most heavily hyped high school football game in Orange County history.

“Both teams have athletes all over the place,” Bishop Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez told MaxPreps earlier this week. “The fans are going to get their money’s worth.”

The Gaels have won 12 straight games against teams from California since a loss to De La Salle of Concord in 2010.

Bishop Gorman hasn’t played an Orange County team outside of the five against Servite and two against Santa Margarita.

The closest Servite came to beating Bishop Gorman was in 2011, when the Gaels kicked a 39-yard field goal with 1:03 left to win 31-28 on their home field.

Bishop Gorman traveled to Saddleback College to play Santa Margarita in 2013 and escaped with a double-overtime victory. The Eagles rallied from 10 points down in the final six minutes of regulation to tie the score, then missed a field goal that would have won the game in the first overtime. Santa Margarita missed another field goal in the second overtime that sealed Bishop Gorman’s 34-31 victory.

A month later, Bishop Gorman would notch the first win on its current winning streak.

Like any program, the Gaels have experienced their share of ups and downs in their history.

Frank Nails, a member of the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, led Bishop Gorman to its first large-school state title in 1970. The Gaels had a student-body of approximately 500 at the time, which made them vulnerable against large public high schools such as Rancho and Western.

Dave Gerber took over in 1972 and led Bishop Gorman to two more state championships before handing the reigns to his brother, Chuck, who won another three state titles before departing in 1987.

Horace Smith, a longtime football coach at Western and Bonanza high schools, said those were some of the toughest teams to play against.

“All I know is, when they turned up the lights on Friday night, and you were playing Bishop Gorman and one of the Gerbers, you had better pull up on your chin strap one notch tighter,” Smith told the Las Vegas Sun in 2009.

That was the year administrators at Bishop Gorman decided to go a different direction following the one-sided loss to Palo Verde and hired Tony Sanchez from California High School in San Ramon. Sanchez had turned California’s program around in just five years.

Sanchez wasted no time implementing his new style, leading the Gaels to 15-0 mark in 2009, including a 38-28 victory against Palo Verde in the rematch. That was the only team to finish within 24 points of Bishop Gorman that season.

Sanchez posted an 84-6 record and won a state title in all six seasons before he accepted the head coaching position at Nevada Las Vegas in 2014.

As the Gerber’s did before them, the Gaels kept the head coaching position in family and hired Tony’s brother, Kenny, to take over the program.

Bishop Gorman has continued to roll, posting a 30-0 record under Kenny Sanchez and three more state titles.

Any bad taste from the loss to Palo Verde nearly nine years ago has long since been washed away by a cascade of victories.

None of those wins came against Mater Dei, but the Monarchs are certainly aware of the task at hand.

They’d like nothing more than to play spoiler.

GAME OF THE WEEK PREVIEW
Mater Dei vs. Bishop Gorman 

This is where you can find the scores and stats for the Orange County high school games Wednesday, Aug. 30.

GIRLS GOLF
Canyon 217, El Modena 277
Medalist: Bui (C) 38, Cox (EM) 46

Yorba Linda 238, Orange Lutheran 281
Medalist: Ko (YL) 43

Northwood 224, Crean Lutheran 231
Medalist: Du (NW) 36, Hyun (CL) 36

Edison 210, Cypress 279
Medalist: Harris (E) 40, Halpin (E) 40, Kuo (E) 40, Abi Y. (C) 44

Aliso Niguel 205, Tesoro 216
Medalist: Neale (T) 38, Lorenz (AN) 39

Mater Dei 192, Huntington Beach 199
Medalist: Betancourt (HB) 35, Vazquez (MD) 37

Rosary 234, St. Joseph’s 241
Medalist: Dong (SJ) 36

BOYS WATER POLO
Yorba Linda 12, Fountain Valley 5
Goals: (YL) Pyne 4, Bartolo 3, Mintzer 3. Goalie saves: (YL) Walker 14

Harvard-Westlake 13, Dana Hills 2
Goals: (DH) Hanson, Likins. Goalie saves: Edward (DH) 7

Upland 14, Sunny Hills 11

GIRLS TENNIS
Dana Hills 17, Capistrano Valley 1

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
JSerra def. El Toro, 25-15, 25-13, 25-12
JS: Kennedy 17 kills, 6 digs, Schuyler 10 digs, Gonzales 24 assists, 6 digs

A spur-of-the-moment purchase of a Lottery Scratchers ticket during lunch turned into a $500,000 top prize winner for one lucky man.

Sen Xi, who declined to give his residence, won the $500,000 top prize on a California Lottery Money in the Bank Scratchers game recently.

The winning ticket was purchased at Al’s Market, 15456 Brookhurst St. in Westminster.

The date of when the ticket was purchased was not released.

Xi said it was the second time that he had won a major prize playing a Scratchers game. About 10 years ago, Xi said he won $3,000 playing a different Scratchers game.

IRVINE — Two men were arrested Wednesday night after police say they were armed and barricaded themselves in an empty Irvine church for two hours, authorities said.

Irvine police were dispatched to the Harvest Orange County Church at 17600 Gillette Ave. about 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, after a security guard at a neighboring business called authorities about suspicious activity at the church, said Kim Mohr, Irvine Police spokeswoman.

The two men, who the security guard reported were naked, entered the church with rifles and would not come out, Mohr said.

SWAT team members were on scene and monitored the men’s movements inside the church through a video feed. After a two-hour standoff, the suspects came out of the church at about 9:20 p.m. and were taken into custody.

Police don’t believe there are any other suspects or anyone else in the building, but after the men came out officers swept the facility for weapons, Mohr said.

Mohr said she didn’t expect the mens’ names to be publicly released until Thursday morning.

TV footage showed the men being escorted from the church, which had been surrounded by snipers and SWAT team members. Dozens of police cars and a large mobile command vehicle were seen about a block from the church.

Orange County Fire Authority had units on scene during the standoff because there was smoke seen coming from the building, Capt. Larry Kurtz said. The smoke was from possible smoke bombs being used by police, he said.

Police don’t yet know what the mens’ motivation might be.

The church’s leader is well-known pastor Greg Laurie. Riverside-based Laurie is known for the Harvest rallies each year at Angel Stadium. 

The nondenominational church, which Laurie began in Riverside 44 years ago, has seven locations, including Corona and Hawaii. Laurie is also an author and radio host.

Some of the surrounding streets, including Gillette, have been blocked off during the standoff.

Church officials could not be reached for comment early Thursday.

Actor Shawn Yue will appear as the first local brand ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger men’s wear in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for fall 2017 and spring 2018.
The exclusive partnership reflects Hilfiger’s continued commitment to expand in Asia, its fastest-growing region. The campaign goes live Friday.
“We’ve seen exciting growth in both the overall business and brand awareness in China over the past few years. Our partnership with Shawn will solidify our position in the market and introduce our men’s wear business to a new consumer,” Tommy Hilfiger said Wednesday.
“He is at the center of pop culture in China, known for his incredible talent and is celebrated by young fashion followers across Asia for his cool, sophisticated style. He truly is a reflection of today’s Tommy Guy,” he added.
Asia is a key market for Hilfiger, which it entered in 2002 as one of the first premium designer brands. The company’s overall business in China, including e-commerce and stores, increased 14 percent in 2016. The brand has expanded its current store count to 357 from 100 stores in 2011. By year-end, Hilfiger expects to have 405 stores. Having launched e-commerce in China in 2012, Hilfiger became one of the first international

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MILAN — Miu Miu will present its 14th short film as part of the Women’s Tales series in Venice on August 31 during the city’s international Film Festival. “The End of History Illusion” is directed by dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Celia Rowlson-Hall, best known for her choreography in the hit TV show “Girls” and her work on music videos by Alicia Keys and MGMT.
“I wanted to explore commercialism in the face of fear, creating a spectacle to distract and entertain, an escape from our present-day reality,” said Rowlson-Hall. She set the story during the Cold War era in a Las Vegas nuclear bunker, shaped as a picturesque family home, including a mini-golf course, a dance floor, a swimming pool and two Jacuzzis, designed to survive a nuclear war for an entire year. “When I saw the new Miu Miu collection, there was something about the textiles and colors that made me want to create characters which could come with this space,” she explained. Her vision of Miu Miu is reflected in the spirit of the film — “elastic, grounded, sensitive and risk-taking,” she said.
 

An image from the Celia Rowlson-Hall short film part of Miu Miu Women’s Tales series. 
Brigitte Lacombe

 
The prior Women’s Tales episode,

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When the news came in July that Joseph Altuzarra, too, would be among the American designers taking his runway show to Paris for the spring 2018 season with plans to show there indefinitely, it read as a bandwagon decision. By then, Proenza Schouler and Rodarte had already shown their spring collections in Paris during couture, and a few weeks earlier Thom Browne announced that his spring women’s show would be in the French capital, where he has been staging his men’s runway shows for years.
The simultaneous departure from New York Fashion Week of those labels, four of New York’s top talents, felt like an exodus, and stirred no shortage of conversation about the critical state of NYFW. For the most part, the on-the-record reasoning behind Paris over New York was international business growth, but Altuzarra contends that he is largely motivated by something else.
“The simple answer is that I’m French and I want to show in Paris,” he said during a late summer interview with his chief executive officer Karis Durmer in Altuzarra’s New York studio in the Woolworth Building. “I grew up in Paris. I’m half French. I feel very French in a lot of ways and it’s obviously a big

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Jean Atelier is a new denim-based ready-to-wear collection from Citizens of Humanity founder Jerome Dahan and designer Noam Hanoch. Launching at Barneys New York and FWRD Elyse Walker for fall 2017, the collection includes trousers, French lace tops, draped dresses, outerwear as well as elevated and embellished tailored denim shirts, jumpsuits, skirts and jeans.
Dahan and Hanoch worked together for 10 years at Citizens of Humanity before Hanoch launched a collection under his own name, which eventually shuttered. Working on a higher-end denim line was always their goal when they were together at Citizens, but they were hemmed in by the constraints of the contemporary market at the time. For the past year they’ve been working, along with Dahan’s wife Elsa, the brand manager, on Jean Atelier.
“Jean Atelier is more directional creatively and has a much sexier aesthetic [than Citizens of Humanity],” Hanoch said. “We felt like the premium denim space has become very saturated and price-point driven, so we saw a tremendous opportunity in the market for a designer denim brand with a strong point of view.”
“In the last few years the denim market became very oversaturated with basics,” Elsa said. “The retail market wasn’t great in the last few years,

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Ramy Brook, the advanced contemporary sportswear firm, is expanding into the cover-ups business.
Born out of the demand from its ready-to-wear customers, the cover-up offerings include halter maxidresses, eyelet embroidered off-the-shoulder dresses, two-tiered skirts, halter tops and textured tube tops.
Cover-ups wholesale from $39 to $131 and will be targeted to the company’s retail accounts which include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Shopbop, as well as key specialty stores and resorts. The cover-ups are produced in China and will start shipping for the resort season, beginning Nov. 1.
In other news, Lorraine Oddo has joined Ramy Brook as executive vice president of sales, where she oversees wholesale, specialty, international and direct-to-consumer sales. Most recently, she was president of Collection at Elie Tahari, prior to which she was senior vice president, retail at Alexis Bittar.
Ramy Brook’s sales had previously been handled by L’Atelier Group, which was absorbed by Milly, as reported earlier this week.

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