League

Galaxy VS. SPORTING KANSAS CITY When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: NBC Sports; Radio: 1150, 1330. Records: Galaxy 2-1-2; Sporting KC 4-1-2. Record vs. Sporting KC (2012): 0-1-0. Update: The Galaxy has its work cut out for it against Sporting Kansas City, which sits atop Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference, because Sporting Kansas City's tough defense has not allowed a goal in its last five games. In addition, several Galaxy players are dealing with moderate injuries, and it remains to be seen whether they can play the full 90 minutes.

Maybe it was a passing of the torch. Or maybe it was just two ships passing in the night. Either way, you can be sure Cristiano Ronaldo is well aware of the turn his career has taken since he and Lionel Messi tangled in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final. Ronaldo, then the reigning world player of the year, came into the match having led Manchester United to three consecutive Premier League crowns and the previous year's Champions League title. Messi, meanwhile, was finishing his third season as a first-choice forward for Barcelona.

Costa Mesa National Little League's vice president said that when he started mowing an outfield lawn Wednesday, he didn't notice the aluminum skeleton sitting just outside the right field fence. A maintenance worker from nearby TeWinkle Middle School had to ask what the league had done with the field's 12-foot-wide bleachers before Trent Christ realized what was wrong with the picture. Someone managed to unbolt five rows of aluminum benches, floorboards, backrests, side railings and cross beams and make off with them without anyone noticing.

The Angels take a major league-worst 5.43 earned-run average into Friday night's game against the Detroit Tigers, but pitching is by no means the only problem for an underachieving club that has won only four of 14 games. The offense has posted some decent numbers, hitting .268 (fourth in the American League) with a .326 on-base percentage (sixth) and .419 slugging percentage (third), but hasn't produced much in the clutch. The Angels are batting a major league-low .155 (16 for 103)

Teams in the English Premier League were divided over whether to hold a pregame moment of silence to honor the memory of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died this month. Not so with victims of Monday's bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Before the team's clash with Wigan on Wednesday at Etihad Stadium, staff from Manchester City laid two wreaths at midfield "for the victims and all those affected" by the bombing. And while the wreaths may have been small, the gesture was great, coming as it did in a city that was to be the target of a terrorist plot foiled in 2009.

MINNEAPOLIS - Mike Butcher is aware of the chatter. The pitching coach knows there are legions of fans who look at the Angels' major league-worst 5.43 earned-run average and think he should be fired. He also knows people above him in the organization might feel the same way. After hitting coach Mickey Hatcher was fired last May in the wake of the team's sluggish start, who's to say the Angels wouldn't make a similar move with Butcher if the pitchers continue to struggle? "It doesn't bother me, not at all," said Butcher, when asked before Wednesday's rainout whether Hatcher's dismissal, the first off Manager Mike Scioscia's coaching staff in 13 years, made him feel less secure about his job. "It's not going to make me do my job any different or make me feel any different.

When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: ESPN, TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 44-37; Rockets 45-36. Record vs. Rockets: 1-2. Update: Houston has lost three of its last five, including Monday's surprising 119-112 loss in Phoenix. The Rockets' offense, though, is potent and averages a league-best 106.1 points. Their defense? Not so awesome. The Rockets allow an average of 102.5 points, third-worst in the league.

The last time most of the players at Chase Field had the kind of game that Hyun-Jin Ryu had Saturday, they probably were still in high school. For Ryu, it was even before that. "Even in high school, I don't think I got three hits in one game," the Dodgers rookie said through an interpreter. As a hitter, Ryu was three for three with a double and a run in the Dodgers' 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. On the mound, he struck out nine and limited the Diamondbacks to a solitary run over the first six innings Midway through the game, the husky South Korean left-hander was being called "Babe Ryuth" by Diamondbacks television broadcasters Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly.

Desperate for backcourt help, the Lakers re-signed Andrew Goudelock, a second-year guard who averaged 4.4 points for them last season. Goudelock, 24, was never afraid to shoot the ball but was waived during exhibition season in October. He averaged 21.1 points and 5.2 assists with two Development League teams this season, the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He played almost exclusively at point guard in the D-League but would be mainly a shooting guard for the Lakers with some ball-handling chances.

The Angels came out of spring training with what they thought was a pretty stable roster. But as with so many things involving the Angels this season, reality has fallen far short of expectations. So Saturday the Angels made five transactions, finishing a five-day blitz that included them making nine personnel moves - two of which involved outfielder J.B. Shuck , who was optioned to the minors Friday afternoon then recalled the following morning. And that doesn't even include Saturday's signing of former major leaguer Kip Wells to a minor league contract.