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National anthem ‘standoff’ between Rays and Angels players leads to pregame ejections at Tropicana Field
The Los Angeles Angels rolled past the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. But the game was overshadowed by a pregame incident that resulted in three ejections before the first pitch was thrown.
The third-base umpire tossed Angels reliever Brent Suter and Rays pitchers Steven Wilson and Manuel Rodríguez from the late-afternoon game at Tropicana Field. The ejections stemmed from what appeared to be a “standoff” over the pregame national anthem.
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Moments after “The Star-Spangled Banner” concluded, Suter remained standing near the third-base dugout. On the opposite side of the field, Wilson and Rodríguez stood near the first-base dugout alongside Rays mascots.
All of it unfolded with Drew Rasmussen ready to take the mound and Angels leadoff hitter Zach Neto standing in the batter’s box awaiting the first pitch.
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The umpire eventually indicated that all three players involved in the pregame incident had been ejected. The game ultimately got underway as scheduled.
Suter pitched in Friday’s series opener between the Angels and Rays. It was unclear before Saturday’s game whether he would be available to pitch on consecutive days.
Rodríguez and Wilson have yet to make their season debuts. Rodríguez continues to recover from elbow surgery, while Wilson has been sidelined by lumbar disc inflammation.
The Angels went on to win 14-3. The Angels and Rays will meet Sunday afternoon in the series finale, with the three-game set tied at one game apiece.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder took on the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night to decide the Western Conference title, after a back-and-forth series that has seen both teams leading at various points.
But Game 7 was closely contested, with the Spurs outlasting the defending champion Thunder to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals and set up a rematch with the New York Knicks from the league’s 1999 championship series. San Antonio won that title in five games.
The Thunder-Spurs Game 7 marked the 160th winner-take-all game in NBA history and the fifth this season.
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Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio with 22 points and seven rebounds in the 111-103 victory. Two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a team-high 35 points for Oklahoma City.
The Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years.
In late April, New York trailed Atlanta 2-1 after back-to-back one-point losses in Games 2 and 3 of their first-round series. The Knicks are 11-0 in playoff games since, winning almost all those games by blowout.
No matter who wins this Finals series, it’ll be the eighth different franchise to win a title in the last eight seasons — extending the longest such stretch in NBA history.
Toronto won in 2019, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, then Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, Boston in 2024, Oklahoma City last year, and now either New York or San Antonio will be added to that list.
No defending champion has even made a repeat trip to the NBA Finals since Golden State won in 2018 and returned in 2019.
Entering Saturday, the Spurs had not reached the NBA Finals since winning the 2014 championship, defeating the Miami Heat in five games.
Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals is scheduled to tip off Wednesday in San Antonio.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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