PHOENIX — The Dodgers have done everything they can to make Yu Darvish’s transition to a new team easy, showering him with good will and run support.

It was Darvish who made things hard on himself Thursday night. The right-hander was far from sharp and threw 106 pitches in just five innings. But the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-6, anyway.

“I couldn’t get ahead in a count, so it was a struggle,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “They battled on the pitches that were borderline. They made me work.”

Darvish is unbeaten in his two starts with the Dodgers. But those two starts were as different as the two opponents.

Against the sagging New York Mets in his debut, Darvish was dominant. He allowed just three hits and one walk in seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and cruising to the finish. He retired 20 of the final 22 batters he faced.

Against the much more combative Diamondbacks, however, Darvish was forced to fight for every out.

“I think we just fell behind a lot of hitters,” Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes said. “They’re a good lineup, tough at home. They battled tonight.”

Darvish went to the full count on each of the first six batters he faced and seven of the first eight, searching for the strike zone with his two-seam fastball in particular. The Diamondbacks had seven baserunners in five innings against Darvish (five hits, two walks), including the leadoff man in three of his five innings – twice on leadoff walks.

But the Diamondbacks went 2 for 12 with runners on base. Seven of Darvish’s 10 strikeouts came in those situations.

That’s two straight 10-strikeout games for @faridyu! 🔥 #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/rnADr7QSFm

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 11, 2017

“I struggled to throw first-pitch strikes. I had to battle through all night,” Darvish said. “I was struggling to throw my sinker, but I was able to cover it up because my slider was good.

“I had a really good four-seamer. I felt really good about it going into today. But my sinker, I couldn’t command it. Physically, I felt really good so maybe I was overthrowing it today early in the game and that’s when I just got off my rhythm because I was feeling really good, maybe too good.”

Indeed, Darvish has pitched just twice in 15 days since his farewell performance with the Rangers.

“He was working from behind a lot tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it just boils down to trying to get Strike One and get ahead. He labored tonight.

“Obviously when he’s not at his best and still goes five innings and strikes out 10, that’s very encouraging for us.”

The game plan to get ahead with his two-seam fastball “just wasn’t there tonight,” Roberts said, and called for a course change sooner than Darvish and Barnes made it.

“That’s something that is a conversation that might be had,” Roberts said.

The only thing easy about Darvish’s night was the offensive support. Only four times in his 22 starts with the Texas Rangers this season did the Rangers score more than four runs for him – and one of those was a 22-10 loss in his final Texas start

But the Dodgers have scored 14 runs in Darvish’s two starts since they acquired him at the non-waiver trade deadline and Darvish has not thrown a pitch as a Dodger without the lead.

They put three runs on the board before he took the mound Thursday. Kike’ Hernandez drove them all in with a two-out, bases-loaded double. Hernandez has 29 hits against left-handed pitchers this season – 20 of them went for extra bases (nine doubles, two triples and nine home runs).

Clear the bases, @kikehndez! 👌 #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/XBb0ygXSch

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 11, 2017

The Diamondbacks chipped away at that with single runs off Darvish in the third and fourth innings (including a solo home run by J.D. Martinez) but undid their own work in the fifth inning. Chris Taylor led off the inning with a solo homer, but a walk, a throwing error by catcher Chris Iannetta and two infield singles led to two more runs.

Justin Turner drove in two more with a double in the sixth inning and the Dodgers needed every bit of the offense.

Brock Stewart gave two of the runs back on a homer by Iannetta in the bottom of the sixth. Ketel Marte drove in two more with a single off Brandon Morrow in the eighth. But Tony Cingrani came in to strike out back-to-back lefties, Gregor Blanco and David Peralta, with a runner on and Kenley Jansen closed it out in the ninth.

SANTA ANA — An armed man is suspected of taking an undisclosed amount of cash and electronics from a Verizon Wireless store on Thursday night, Aug. 10, police said.

The man entered the store at 1730 E. 17th St. about 9 p.m. and pulled up his shirt to reveal a handgun in his waistband, Santa Ana Police Department Cmdr. Matt Brown said.

The man ordered the employees to the back of the store and demanded that one of them open the safe, Brown said.

The robber fled in a dark-colored SUV with cash, cellphones and tablets, Brown said.

No injuries were reported. The number of employees in the store at the time of the robbery was unknown.

A detailed description of the robber was not available.

SEATTLE — For the past month, James Paxton has been one of baseball’s best starters and Edwin Diaz has been one of baseball’s best closers.

The Angels beat them both on Thursday.

After blowing a three-run lead they had taken against Paxton, the Angels came back and scored three runs on a Mike Trout bases-clearing double against Diaz, beating the Seattle Mariners, 6-3, in the first game of a four-game series.

The Angels are now just one game behind the Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays, who are tied for the second wild card.

“It’s huge,” Trout said. “We keep picking each other up. There’s not one guy in here who isn’t part of this. We come to the ballpark ready to win.”

They certainly would have preferred not to win this way though. It would have been so much tidier if they’d simply held the 3-0 lead they carried into the eighth, on the strength of Tyler Skaggs’ 6-1/3 innings and homers by C.J. Cron and Andrelton Simmons against Paxton, who had allowed only five homers all year.

But they had to do it the hard way, instead.

Bud Norris, who is struggling so much now that his role going forward is unclear, gave up a Jean Segura homer and a Nelson Cruz two-run homer, erasing the three-run lead in the eighth.

.@ncboomstick23 owes this ball an apology. pic.twitter.com/bMlSUGoVHl

— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2017

As the Angels jogged back into their dugout in a tie game, Diaz came jogging in from the bullpen. Thanks to a 100 mph fastball, Diaz can be dominating at times, as he has been lately. He had a 1.29 ERA and 21 strikeouts in his previous 14 innings.

Cliff Pennington, who had entered the game for defense, started the inning with a walk. Kole Calhoun also walked. After Martin Maldonado’s sacrifice attempt failed and Ben Revere grounded into a force, Cameron Maybin drew a walk.

“When a guy throws that hard, and you have the discipline to lay off some close pitches, you are seeing the ball well,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

With the bases loaded, Trout came to the plate.

“He’s the best player in the game,” Skaggs said. “You wouldn’t want anyone else up. He put the team on his back. Very simple. It’s a pleasure playing with him.”

Trout took the first pitch, and then he saw a slider and yanked it. He didn’t hit it hard, but he placed it perfectly, dropping it just inside the left-field line. It was the fourth time in Trout’s career he’s had a go-ahead hit in the ninth inning or later, and first since 2015.

Just @MikeTrout doing Mike Trout things. pic.twitter.com/oPEhdibssg

— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2017

This time, the Angels held the lead, with Cam Bedrosian pitching the ninth to get a critical victory in the first game of this four-game series.

It now seems that Bedrosian has taken over for Norris in the top spot in the Angels’ bullpen. Norris, who had been serving as the closer for most of the season, gave up two grand slams to lose games in late July, and he coughed up the final three runs in a blown five-run lead on Sunday.

“We’re going to sit back and try to take a look at some of the things with Bud,” Scioscia said. “We’ve been looking at some things. It’s just commanding counts. He’s getting behind some counts and having trouble. He’s got good stuff. He should be as effective now as he was earlier in the season. His stuff is still good. Hopefully he can take a half step back and exhale and get back out there. We’ll see how to use him.”

While the Angels rearrange their bullpen, they can now feel a little better about their rotation, with Skaggs pitching well in his second game after missing three months with an oblique injury.

Skaggs said his stuff was the same as when he gave up three runs in four innings in his last start, even though this time he did not give up a run in 6-1/3 innings. His defense helped him with three double plays and a diving catch by Trout. Skaggs struck out five and walked three. Angels starters have now allowed two runs in the last three games.

Trout – fast on land. pic.twitter.com/n2OQh1medB

— MLB (@MLB) August 11, 2017

“I think we’re a team to reckon with,” Skaggs said. “Once our pitching staff puts it together like we have the last three or four starts, it’s going to be nice.”

…Well it is #WorldLionDay. @andrelton @Angels @MLBonFOX pic.twitter.com/sCe4ULnpgd

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 11, 2017

.@MikeTrout loves it, and the @Angels are ready to win some ball games! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/DaWc58BG2g

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 11, 2017

FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Officials are trying to determine why a 24-year-old man was found dead near a trail at Mile Square Park on Thursday afternoon, police said.

Fountain Valley Police and Fire Department responded at 12:58 p.m. to a person down on the jogging trail along Brookhurst Street, north of Warner Avenue, Sgt. Kham Vang said.

When officials arrived, they found the man wearing jogging attire lying on the grass just off the trail. The man appeared to have been running along the exterior of the park and collapsed during his run, Vang said.

The man, who has not been identified, is from San Diego and had been visiting a friend in the Fountain Valley area, authorities said.

The death does not appear to be suspicious at this time, Vang said.

The Orange County Coroner’s Office is continuing the investigation.

A motorcyclist was killed on Thursday, Aug. 10 after he crashed his motorcycle into a concrete wall on the 22 Freeway, authorities said.

The 22-year-old man was riding his motorcycle about 11:25 a.m. eastbound on the 22 Freeway toward the northbound 57 Freeway transition road, between the No. 1 and No. 2 lanes at approximately 60 mph California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera said.

For an unknown reason, the motorcyclist veered across the No. 2 lane and crashed into the concrete wall, Olivera said.

The Los Angeles resident, whose name is being withheld, was transferred to UCI Medical Center in Orange with major injuries.

The crash is under investigation. Any person with information should call 714-567-6000.

Jeremy Scott has long incorporated symbols of pop culture into his designs, and his latest project involves the ubiquitous furry boot. Scott and Ugg have linked on a set of limited-edition styles that will make their debuts on Sept. 13.
“Collaborations have been very popular for a long time, and we have done them in the past but never been that strategic in terms of what they can do for us as a business. This collaboration stretches what the brand stands for and what we can do design-wise,” said Andrea O’Donnell, president of Ugg.

UGG’s collaboration with Jeremy Scott. 

The tie-up with Scott is the first one that covers all categories — women, men, kids and babies. Ugg collaborated on a women’s style back in 2010 with Jimmy Choo, and in October will debut a men’s collaboration with 3.1 Phillip Lim.
The eight limited-edition styles will retail from $90 to $1,195 at select global retailers and at five North American retailers: Just One Eye, IntermixOnline.com, Serenella, Chuckies and David Lawrence.
“I was an undercover Ugg fan. They are so cozy and I love the way they look with pants and shorts,” said Scott. “It’s not known for men to wear them so much here even

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DALLAS — Veronica Beard is on a roll.
The seven-year-old sportswear maker unveils a 1,200-square-foot boutique today in Highland Park Village, the tony shopping center that sits squarely amid the mansions of Dallas’ wealthiest neighborhood. It’s the third store the company has opened since last August and more are to come.
“Retail is working for us, and we’re so fortunate to be bucking the trend,” said co-founder Veronica Swanson Beard. “We found the openings in New York really helped our business [at other stores that carry the brand.]”
Dallas runs neck and neck with Los Angeles as Veronica Beard’s second largest market after New York, she noted. It’s sold here by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Stanley Korshak and Canary.
Opening two doors a year is a comfortable pace, said Beard, noting the company has no intention of operating dozens of stores. Los Angeles is likely the next target.
Highland Park Village, which also hosts Hermès, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Fendi, Tory Burch and other marquee brands, was the obvious choice for Beard in Dallas.
“Our customer is here,” Beard affirmed. “We’ve really built a lifestyle brand.”
The core customer is a mom and career woman in her 30s and 40s, though the brand sells to a broader age range,

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The new collection consists of restyled versions of some of Klipsch’s most popular speakers.