Minnesota United has spent the last five weeks in desperate need of its best players contributing on the field.

Without upwards of 10 stars and contributors in matches, the Loons had lost a club-record five straight going into Sunday.

Striker Teemu Pukki returned from a knee injury to sub in and score the equalizer in the 73rd minute, but it wasn’t enough as Los Angeles forward Gabriel Pec scored in the 90th minute for a 2-1 loss at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

MNUFC (8-9-5, 29 points) lull reaches sixth straight defeats, while Pec’s two goals aided Galaxy (12-4-7, 43 points) to three points.

Pukki had dribbled at the Galaxy defense and ripped a shot from outside the 18-yard box to beat goalkeeper Jonathan McCarthy.

Pukki needed that positivity. The Loons highest-paid player hadn’t been on the field for Minnesota since June 1 and hadn’t scored in a span of a dozen games since March 9.

Minnesota was cut open by quality playmaking from the Galaxy. Riqui Puig with a diagonal pass to Miki Yamane, who crossed it to Pec for a tap-in on his first goal. Devin Padelford was a step slow and appeared to be watching Yamane as Pec passed him in on goal in the 27th minute.

The Loons appeared to get back in the game five minutes later but Bongi Hlongwane was ruled offside on Alejandro Bran’s goal.

Loons made only one change to its starting XI coming out of 3-1 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday: right wingback DJ Taylor replaced Caden Clark. That switch didn’t last as Taylor appeared to pull his hamstring in the first half and Clark replaced him.

By MARK VANCLEAVE and VALERIE GONZALEZ

MATAGORDA, Texas (AP) — Beryl made landfall on the Texas coast near Matagorda early Monday with a dangerous storm surge and strong winds, knocking out power to more than half a million homes and businesses.

The storm’s center hit land as a Category 1 hurricane around 4 a.m. Central Standard Time about 85 miles southwest of Houston with top sustained winds of 80 mph (128.7 kph) while moving north at 12 mph (19.3 kph), the National Weather Service reported.

High waters quickly began closing roads around Houston, which was again under flood warnings after heavy storms in recent months washed out neighborhoods and knocked out power across the nation’s fourth-largest city.

More than 750,000 customers were without power, many of them around Houston, before daybreak Monday, according to CenterPoint Energy in Houston. More than 1,000 flights have been canceled at Houston’s two airports, according to tracking data from FlightAware

Beryl dumped soaking rains across Houston after coming ashore and was expected to bring damaging winds into East Texas, near Louisiana, as the storm pushed north after making landfall.

“Beryl’s moving inland but this is not the end of the story yet,” said Jack Beven, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

Beryl strengthened and became a hurricane again late Sunday. The storm had weakened after leaving a path of deadly destruction through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean.

A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Texas coast from Mesquite Bay north to Port Bolivar, the center said.

Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical storm Monday and a tropical depression Tuesday, the weather service said, forecasting a turn to the northeast and increase in speed Monday night and Tuesday.

The storm’s center is expected to move over eastern Texas on Monday and then through the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather service said.

People on the Texas coast boarded up windows and left beach towns under an evacuation order. As the storm neared the coast Sunday, Texas officials warned of power outages and flooding but also expressed worry that not enough residents and beach vacationers in Beryl’s path had heeded warnings to leave.

“One of the things that kind of trigger our concern a little bit, we’ve looked at all of the roads leaving the coast and the maps are still green,” said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as the state’s acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is travelling overseas. “So we don’t see many people leaving.”

Tropical storm winds extended 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the center and the hurricane center warned residents to be prepared for possible flash flooding in parts of middle, upper and eastern Texas as well as Arkansas as the storm gradually turns to the north and then northeast later Monday.

Along the Texas coast, many residents and business owners took the typical storm precautions but also expressed uncertainty about the storm’s intensity.

In Port Lavaca, Jimmy May fastened plywood over the windows of his electrical supply company and said he wasn’t concerned about the possible storm surge. He recalled his business had escaped flooding in a previous hurricane that brought a 20-foot (6-meter) storm surge.

“In town, you know, if you’re in the low-lying areas, obviously, you need to get out of there,” he said.

At the nearby marina, Percy Roberts showed his neighbor Ken Waller how to properly secure his boat as heavy winds rolled in from the bay Sunday evening.

“This is actually going to be the first hurricane I’m going to be experiencing,” Waller said, noting he is a little nervous but feels safe following Roberts’ lead. “Pray for the best but expect the worst, I guess.”

The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean on its way to Texas. The storm ripped off doors, windows and roofs with devastating winds and storm surge fueled by the Atlantic’s record warmth.

Three times during its one week of life, Beryl has gained 35 mph (56 kph) in wind speed in 24 hours or less, the official weather service definition of rapid intensification.

Beryl’s explosive growth into an unprecedented early whopper of a storm indicates the hot water of the Atlantic and Caribbean and what the Atlantic hurricane belt can expect for the rest of the storm season, experts said.

Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind. The hurricane warning extended from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston.

Beryl lurked as another potential heavy rain event for Houston, where storms in recent months have knocked out power across the nation’s fourth-largest city and flooded neighborhoods. A flash flood watch was in effect for a wide swath of the Texas coast, where forecasters expected Beryl to dump as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in some areas.

Potential storm surges between 4 and 7 feet (1.22 and 2.13 meters) above ground level were forecast around Matagorda. The warnings extended to the same coastal areas where Hurricane Harvey came ashore in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, far more powerful than Beryl’s expected intensity by the time the storm reaches landfall.

Those looking to catch a flight out of the area found a closing window for air travel as Beryl moved closer. Hundreds of flights from Houston’s two major commercial airports were delayed by midafternoon Sunday and dozens more canceled, according to FlightAware data.

In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Residents were advised to secure homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding.

The White House said Sunday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had sent emergency responders, search-and-rescue teams, bottled water and other resources along the coast.

Several coastal counties called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas that are prone to flooding. Local officials also banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the Fourth of July holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.

Beryl battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane last week, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Before hitting Mexico, Beryl wrought destruction in Jamaica, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica.

___

Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press reporters Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Julie Walker in New York contributed.

When an artist starts their career singing primarily to a young audience, it can be exceptionally difficult to ever graduate to playing to adults.

Michael Jackson, George Michael and Justin Timberlake managed to make the transition — as did Paul McCartney and John Lennon, although boomers hate it when people call the Beatles a boy band — but they’re all very much the exception to the rule.

The English-Irish boy band One Direction, which was assembled from wannabe solo acts from “The X Factor” in 2010 and enjoyed six years of success before splitting, has already spawned Harry Styles, who has quickly ascended to the top of global pop stardom. So, from the start, Styles’ former bandmate Niall Horan has faced an even higher barrier than most in establishing himself as a solo act.

Yet Sunday night, the 30-year-old Horan filled St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center with an appreciative, well-mannered crowd full of women in their late teens and 20s. Without many little kids in attendance, the mood was celebratory but not as chaotic as it can get when there are screaming 14-year-olds in every other row.

The size of the audience speaks volumes about the devotion One Direction inspired, as Horan hasn’t really had any breakthrough singles that made a greater cultural impact beyond the fans. Horan’s performance hinted at the reasons why. He’s a handsome guy with a decent voice, an unobtrusive stage presence and a handful of pleasant enough pop songs that aim for, but never achieve, greatness.

Like Styles, Horan is a Fleetwood Mac fan. He took the stage to “The Chain” blasting over the loudspeakers and incorporated a snippet of Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” into his own “Small Talk.” (It is worth noting that while Horan covers Nicks, Styles is actually her good friend.)

In addition to hints of the Mac, much of Horan’s music dabbles in ’70s-style soft rock and more modern and tasteful mid-tempo pop and balladry. The set list drew from all three of Horan’s solo albums, the second of which he was set to tour in 2020, but never actually did due to the pandemic.

So Sunday was Horan’s first local concert since he drew just under 10,000 fans to the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in 2018. He acknowledged that between songs, and while introducing the crowd favorite “Black and White,” Horan thanked his fans for being patient as tickets for the show went on sale a year ago and they had a lot of catching up to do.

Over the course of 90 minutes, Horan offered a series of mildly enjoyable songs more focused on atmosphere and vibes than indelible hooks. And it seems his record company applied some pressure for more Styles-esque material, as “Save My Life” from his latest album “The Show” sounded like an obvious (and failed) attempt to recreate the pop perfection of Styles’ megahit “As It Was.” And the record’s title track wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Styles’ own debut album.

The crowd loved it all but perked up noticeably when Horan broke out the mirror ball for a run through One Direction’s “Night Changes,” which turned into a massive audience singalong. The group singing also returned for a trio of semi-acoustic numbers, the tender ballads “Flicker” and “This Town” from his debut and “You Could Start a Cult” from his new one. The latter’s title suggested some potentially sexy and/or edgy lyrics, but like everything else in his repertoire, it was yet another perfectly fine, if somewhat dull, song.

Again, Horan seems like a nice enough guy, and comparing him to Styles probably isn’t fair. But, then again, Horan is no Harry Styles.

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Power hitters have been long as described as being players who have some pop in their bat.

That phrase doesn’t do justice to what happens when the likes of Saints catcher Jair Camargo gets all of a baseball.

Camargo filled CHS Field with that unmistakable sound on Sunday afternoon with a tape-measure home run that helped propel the Saints to a 4-3 win over the Gwinnett Stripers.

The Saints trailed 3-2 in the sixth inning when Camargo led off the bottom of the inning with a drive to center field that carried over the batter’s eye. The ball traveled an estimated 450 feet. Chris Williams followed with his ninth homer of the season and third in three games to put the Saints in front to stay.

Like Williams, Camargo has had his struggles at the plate this season. He came into the game with a .217 batting average, having gone 1 for 16 in the series.

“It’s been a while,” Camargo said of his sixth home run of the season for the Saints. “I’ve been trying to get my timing back, get my confidence back. I can’t lie, it’s been a little frustrating for me. Obviously, I’ve been in this situation before at this level — at the beginning of the year.

“So, just trying to figure stuff out, trying to have conversations.”

While Camargo didn’t claim to have called his shot, he did say that something clicked on Saturday that made him feel like good things were coming.

“The at-bat that got me going was my last at-bat (which resulted in a walk),” he said. “It was a great at-bat. I was sticking to the plan, trusting the plan, trusting myself. That one gave me a feeling that, ‘OK, this is me.’ So, tomorrow come back and try to do the same in every at-bat.

“It showed up. If you look at my at-bats lately, I’ve been deep in counts, missing fastballs in the middle (of the plate), hitting breaking balls out in front a little bit. I hit that one, now hopefully more is coming.”

Part of Camargo’s struggles have to do with a right forearm strain that kept him on the injured list from May 1 to June 11.

“It’s tough when you have some time off, especially when you have a rhythm,” Camargo said. “I was trying to build it up quick (when he returned), and I had a little setback, too, with something in my calf.

“It wasn’t a big deal, it was more of a day-to-day thing. But it’s tough, especially mentally, when you’re trying to come back. It’s not about swinging in the cages or hitting off a tee. It’s more about game reps. Thank God, I’m starting to have good at-bats.”

The injury occurred just after Camargo returned to the Saints after making his major league debut with the Twins in mid-April.

“It was like a dream come true,” Camargo said of his nine-day stint with the Twins. “As we say in Latin America, once you taste that coffee you want to keep drinking it. The only thing you can do to go up there again is play good baseball and stay healthy.

“I’ve been a healthy guy, and this season I’ve had two injuries. It’s hard mentally, but you just have to ride the wave.”

Briefly

Reliever John Stankiewicz has been called up from Class AA Wichita. The 25-year-old right-hander signed with the Twins organization as an undrafted free agent in 2020 after a career at Fordham. Stankiewicz entered the game in the seventh inning and retired the Stripers in order. … Payton Eeles had an impressive four games after being called up from High-A Cedar Rapids. He batted .429 (3 for 7) and was on base 10 times. Eeles drew four walks and was hit by a pitch three times.