After spending the better part of two-a-day workouts pushing around UCLA offensive linemen, Datone Jones still had enough strength and energy left Saturday night to get some extra reps in by lifting and pushing giant 490-pound tires across Spaulding Field.

PHOENIX - Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda was carted off the field and taken to the hospital after being hit in the head by a line drive Saturday night.

Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow have been around a while, but they could do something they’ve never done before if UCLA starts two true freshmen on the offensive line this season.

It seems like the only thing that matters in USC training camp is the education of quarterback Matt Barkley, and that message was bludgeoned home again Friday during the first scrimmage of training camp.

The beard is back. Scruffy, thick and scraggly, which is usually a good thing as far as Baron Davis is concerned.

Michael Cooper can’t figure out his slumping Sparks, who blew another chance to move into the playoff picture against a team that is all but out of it. Rebekkah Brunson scored 19 points, Nicole Powell added 18 and the Sacramento Monarchs rallied in the fourth quarter for an 85-79 victory Friday night at Staples Center, their first in three meetings against the Sparks.

It seems like so long ago now, but there was a time when Russell Martin was the original Andre Ethier. With the game on the line these days, the Dodgers want nothing more than for Ethier to come up to the plate one last time. Manny Ramirez is a popular option too, but Ethier has five walk-off hits, including three home runs. Martin used to play that game.

ANAHEIM — With the Angels’ offense rolling and runs coming in bunches, it seems any day now hitting coach Mickey Hatcher will climb to the highest point of the stadium and take a deep breath.

The rush to anoint true freshman Matt Barkley as USC’s starting quarterback always is apparent, especially when fans cheer his touchdown passes at Howard Jones Field.

One of the many horses Bob Baffert has trained, 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm, already is in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and will be joined by a second today at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., when the sensational filly Silverbulletday is enshrined.