The Latest Breaking News from Justin Turner

LOS ANGELES — Tommy John surgery is so common, with hundreds of pitchers from high school to the big leagues undergoing the elbow ligament replacement procedure every year, and its success rate (80% to 90%) so high that it almost seems routine.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers cleanup batter Will Smith hit an eighth-inning grounder to the left of Miami third baseman Jon Berti with runners on first and third and one out in a tie game Friday night.

The broadcasters could barely keep a straight face.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Put this guy in pictures. Kansas City Royals reliever Josh Staumont entered a pristine game in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers promptly lit him up with four hits and a walk en route to an 8-3 victory Friday night.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are averaging 6.9 runs per game during their nine-game win streak, batting .307 with an .865 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 11 homers, 31 doubles and two triples since July 31.

The legendary broadcaster had a self-effacing instinct that always failed. His humility is why everybody loved him.

LOS ANGELES — For the rest of the National League West, the view is very familiar.

"The brain" began three decades ago, when an up-and-coming junior college baseball coach from Southern California found himself with a Division I program for the first time.

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw's eight-inning, six-strikeout performance against the Angels on Friday was imperfect, but it was perfect in its excellence and efficiency and the enthralling drama he created on a warm summer night that was made for baseball and generous dashes of the improbable.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels and Dodgers renewed their Southern California rivalry in the opener of a two-game Freeway Series in Anaheim on Friday night.

LOS ANGELES — The tour starts at Section 1. At the top of Dodger Stadium. Where the mountainous backdrop, picturesque playing surface and 56,000 seats all come into view.