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Today's starting lineup

Home runs get the lion's share of attention, but plays at the plate can be pretty dramatic in a baseball game. Two such plays loomed large Monday night in Anaheim, playing a pivotal role as the Astros rallied past the Angels to win the opener of a six-game road trip.

Please scroll down for the rest of this morning’s headlines.

Greg Rajan, Weekend Sports Editor

greg.rajan@houstonchronicle.com

Astros / MLB

Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, right, slides into home base, but is called out during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, June 8, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Photo by: William Liang, Associated Press

Drama at the dish

Home plate was the site of two pivotal plays featuring Jose Altuve and Mike Trout that decided Monday's Astros-Angels game in the 10th inning.

Astros 5, Angels 4 (10): Christian Walker's clutch hit tied the score in the ninth before the Astros were able to eke out a win thanks to Jose Altuve's gamble on the bases. Read More
Not looking to sell: Astros general manager Dana Brown is still bullish on his team's chances in the AL West despite a losing record so far and doesn't envision selling at the trade deadline. Read More
Allen to IL: Nick Allen becomes the second Astros infielder in the past week to land on the injured list. Read More
Another accolade for Alvarez: Yordan Alvarez's torrid stretch against the Pirates and A's earned him his second AL Player of the Week award of the season. Read More
Streaming exclusives: Two more Astros games will require a streaming subscription to watch after being picked up on Apple TV's July schedule. Read More

Media

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. celebrates after the Astros won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, in Houston.

Photo by: Brett Coomer/Staff Photographer

Dusty tells his story

Dusty Baker revisits his memorable baseball life in a new autobiography, including insights on his successful tenure with the Astros.

during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Knicks 115-111.

Photo by: Sam Owens, San Antonio Express-News

Spurs draw closer

Victor Wembanyama scored 32 points to spoil the first NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden in 27 years, powering the Spurs to a Game 3 win over the Knicks.

Not thrilled to see him: President Donald Trump sat in the suite of Knicks owner James Dolan, but was greeted by boos before Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Read More

College Football

Brendan Sorsby of the Texas Tech Red Raiders passes during the Texas Tech Spring Game at Jones AT&T Stadium on April 17, 2026 in Lubbock, Texas.

Win for Sorsby

A Lubbock County judge granted Brendan Sorsby's injunction against the NCAA, meaning the Texas Tech QB will be suspended two games after his gambling admission, making him eligible to return against UH.

NHL

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi, right, is scored on by Carolina Hurricanes left wing Nikolaj Ehlers as defenseman Alexander Nikishin watches during the second overtime in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas.

Goalie mystery

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour is wearing his poker face well in Las Vegas. Brind’Amour has decided who will be in net tonight against the Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. He’s just not telling anyone as his team trails 2-1.

Who are Houston’s top high school athletes and coaches?

The Houston Chronicle is launching its inaugural Athlete of the Year polls, featuring 12 nominees for Boys Athlete of the Year, 12 nominees for Girls Athlete of the Year and 12 nominees for Coach.

Community All-Star voting: The Community All-Star Award honors athletes who demonstrate leadership, service and character both within their teams and beyond. Read More

Even Putin’s cheerleaders are souring on the war

No Russian thinker has worked harder than Aleksandr Dugin to “rationalise the invasion of Ukraine”, says Simon Shuster in The Atlantic. Long before it began, Dugin cooked up a whole philosophical system, “neo-Eurasianism”, to explain why Russia, the biggest country in the world, needed to steal even more land from its neighbours, killing thousands in the process. His work on the subject was so influential in the Kremlin it earned him the nickname “Putin’s brain”. But today, even Dugin seems to be having second thoughts. Interviewed on Russian TV last week by a propagandist widely rumoured to be Putin’s goddaughter, he was so unable to answer the basic softball question “what is worth fighting for?” that even his interviewer couldn’t keep a straight face. And at the end of last month, he posted that Russia’s chances “not only of achieving victory but simply holding the country together” were “critically low”.

In recent months, says Andrei Zakharov in The New York Times, criticism of the war, and of Putin, has reached corners of Russian society that never previously raised a murmur of dissent. Authorities have been blocking popular messaging apps and pushing users on to Max, a state-backed alternative. Messages are so widely understood to be visible to the FSB that a comedy show on Russia’s biggest TV channel did a joke in which a private message on the app began: “Hi everyone!” On previously pro-war Telegram chats the Russian president is now habitually referred to as “grandpa”, a derogatory term long used by his harshest critics. For years now, Russia’s social contract has been: stay out of politics, and the state will stay out of your lives. The Kremlin’s grandpas fail to see that cutting internet access breaks that contract, and “rage is boiling over”.

Art

Instagram/@Fullgrownfutureuk

Gavin and Alice Munro have spent the past 20 years trying to “grow trees into chairs”, says Sydney Page in The Washington Post. The process, which takes up to 12 years, involves planting oak, willow, beech and so on at their “Chair Orchard” in Derbyshire, then using specialised ancient techniques – coppicing, grafting, pleaching, espalier – to coax them into the correct shape. They then dry the trees indoors for a year and sand them down into their final form. Some of the chairs are usable as furniture but most are sold as works of art, fetching upwards of £65,000. Click on the image to order yours.

The right enemies

Apic/Getty

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