TALKING POINTS

Angels put starting pitcher Chase Silseth on 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation

ANAHEIM — The Los Angeles Angels placed right-hander Chase Silseth on the 15day injured list Monday with right elbow inflammation.

The 23-year-old starter has been hit hard in his first two appearances this season, yielding six runs on eight hits and four walks over eight innings for a 6.75 ERA. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over five innings Sunday in a loss to Boston, and he reported elbow pain to the Angels’ training staff Monday.

Silseth (0-1) earned the fifth spot in the Angels’ rotation during spring training to begin his third year in the big leagues. He is 5-5 with a 5.06 ERA in 25 major league appearances, including 17 starts.

José Soriano will take Silseth’s turn in the rotation starting Wednesday in Los Angeles’ series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. Soriano made his major league debut last season, earning a regular role as a setup reliever for the Halos.

Soriano was a starter in the Angels’ minor leagues from 2016 to 2019 before having Tommy John surgery in 2020. He had a second Tommy John surgery in 2021, but recovered and pitched his way into the big leagues as a reliever.

Current defeats Angel City FC

Kansas City remained perfect this season with a 4-2 victory over Angel City on Saturday at the Current’s new CPKC Stadium.

The Current are 3-00 and sit atop the National Women’s Soccer League.

Vanessa DiBernardo opened the scoring for the Current in the 7th minute. Teammate Bia Zaneratto won the ball high up the field and crossed it to Temwa Chawinga in the middle, who flicked the ball to her right with the outside of her foot. DiBernado shot it into the upper right corner.

The Current scored again just before halftime when Alexa Spaanstra headed in DiBernardo’s cross on the far post.

Sydney Leroux headed in Claire Emslie’s cross in the 50th minute for Angel City, but the Current responded a minute later. After her teammate won a clearance, Zaneratto collected the ball and passed to Chawinga on her right. The forward sent a powerful shot into the back of the net, becoming the first Malawian player to score in the NWSL.

Angel City (0-2-1) put some pressure on the Current to close out the match. In the 79th minute, Madison Curry pounced on a loose ball from a corner kick, bringing Angel City to within one.

A few minutes later, Rocky Rodriguez scored what looked to be the tying goal on a similar play

off a corner, but a video review disallowed the goal for offside.

The Current got an insurance goal late in the match when Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson came far off her line to punch a ball away, but it fell to Zaneratto, who slipped her shot into the upper right corner.

Veteran midfielder Desiree Scott subbed into the match late, marking her return after being sidelined with an injury all of 2023.

18.7 million: Early figures from NCAA women’s title game make it mostwatched hoops game in 5 years

BRISTOL, Conn. — South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday’s women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers on Tuesday. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million.

It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Monday night’s men’s final between UConn and Purdue was being shown on TBS and TNT. It’s possible that this will be the first year the women’s title game has a bigger audience.

The 2015 Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky on TBS is the only college basketball game on cable to draw over 18.7 million. That game averaged 22.63 million.

The 2022 men’s final, which matched Kansas and North Carolina on TBS, averaged 18.1 million.

Kentucky coach John Calipari talking with Arkansas about open job, according to multiple outlets

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported late Sunday.

Arkansas officials have been in discussions with Calipari about the opening, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing anonymous sources. ESPN, also citing anonymous sources, reported that Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal.

The 65-year-old Hall of Fame coach has spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart recently said Calipari would return, despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky was seeded third in March Madness, but fell 80-76 to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round. This latest loss in Pittsburgh came a year after the Wildcats were ousted in the second round, and two years after they were upset as a No. 2 seed by 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s in their NCAA opener.

Kentucky’s quick exit drew immediate calls for Calipari’s firing on sports talk shows and social media, with many criticizing his reliance on so-called “one and done” freshmen and Kentucky’s defensive weaknesses. Calipari’s dismissal would’ve triggered a $33 million buyout under terms of a lifetime contract signed in 2019; there is no buyout if he leaves for another job.

Calipari has a 410-122 record at Kentucky, including the 2012 national championship and three other Final Four appearances (2011, 2014 and 2015 ). His teams have reached the tournament 12 times in all.

NCAA president: prop betting on college athletes ‘enormously problematic’

GLENDALE, Ariz. — NCAA President Charlie Baker has already been pushing for states with legal wagering to ban betting on individual performances for college athletes.

Yet he’s getting constant reminders of how pervasive it has become and how big of a challenge it will be to manage — even during the high point of a women’s Final Four featuring Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark that generated huge TV ratings.

“Did any of you notice how much time is spent on cable TV about Caitlin Clark’s prop performance in the first game, and leading into the second game?” Baker told reporters Monday night, shortly before the NCAA men’s championship game between UConn and Purdue.

“Is that really what we should be talking about in the middle of a women’s Final Four?”

Baker had posted a statement on social media during the middle of March Madness expressing concerns about threats to the integrity of competition and harassment of athletes by bettors angry with their results. Shortly before the final game of the men’s basketball season, Baker called prop betting “enormously problematic” for college athletes and highlighted a successful push to get some states like Ohio, Vermont and Maryland to remove prop betting on college athletes online and in sports books.