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Sometimes baseball is weird. Sometimes it’s sloppy. Sometimes, neither team looks exceptionally sharp. But all of the time, someone has to win. The way this game started, it looked like it would last as long as those classic four-hour Yankees-Red Sox July marathons at Fenway, and although this one clocked in at three hours and 15 minutes officially, it felt the same as a 2026 version of a slog.

Both starters struggled early in a mess of baserunners, command, defense and baserunning woes, and a few dingers. Locked up at three in the seventh, Pete Alonso seemingly crushed his second homer of the game for the lead, but the umpires took a page out of the book of last April’s controversy at George M. Steinbrenner Field with an Aaron Judge home run and decided to refute what seemed like obvious video evidence to keep the call on the field.

In keeping the call on the field, Alonso and all Baltimore fans were furious, but were left eating sour grapes as the Yankees scraped two runs across in the eighth in an untraditional fashion, taking the lead on a George Lombard Jr. infield RBI single to win this one, 5-3, to secure this series and the season series against Baltimore.

The Yankees haven’t scored a run in the first inning since the four-run first-inning explosion against Davis Martin and the White Sox on July 30th, but it briefly looked like it might end tonight after consecutive ground-ball singles by Trent Grisham and Ben Rice led off the game. You’d hope, with the heart of the order up, that you’d get at least one of them in, but Luis García Jr. hit into a 4-6-3 double play, and Heliot Ramos hit a weak groundout to strand Grisham. That’s been how it’s going.

Will Warren came out struggling to throw strikes, and it would be something that would bite him later in the inning. A beautiful strikeout of Pete Alonso was sandwiched between a pair of walks and another 3-2 count that ultimately culminated in runners on the corners with two outs. On 1-1, Gunnar Henderson bolted for second base, and Austin Wells made the unwise decision to throw through. That move, coupled with Jazz Chisholm Jr. committing to the tag, allowed Jackson Holliday to scamper home on a delayed double steal, a rarity in the big leagues. ‘Twas a rough defensive inning for Wells, as the runner got to third because he didn’t challenge a crossed-up 2-2 pitch to Samuel Basallo one pitch before a flyout.

Bassitt got away with some poor pitching in the first, but he didn’t in the second. Chisholm worked a nice, six-pitch walk, Spencer Jones chopped a single through the right side, and Ryan McMahon laced a ball to right for a game-tying RBI single before being thrown out trying to get to second, his third baserunning miscue in the last week. Oof. Thankfully for him and the Yankees, George Lombard Jr. got Jones in anyway with a 350-foot sac fly to right-center to give them a 2-1 lead.

More shenanigans ensued in the bottom half, as Leody Taveras’ beautifully executed bunt caused a minor collision between McMahon and Warren that thankfully didn’t lead to anything bad in-game or injury-wise. Grisham almost picked Taveras off on a glove-flash deke in center with one out, but Warren ended the inning himself anyway with a strikeout of Carlos Narvaez.

This slow-moving affair rolled into the third, where Rice worked a long at-bat against Bassitt before absolutely pulverizing a fastball on the outer half for his 34th home run of the season, and his second in the last three games, to make it 3-1 Yankees. García and Ramos added singles later in the inning, but Chisholm was robbed of a hit by Basallo before Jones struck out to end the inning.

Warren continued to labor through this one, getting the first out of the third before being dragged into a long at-bat by the Polar Bear, who answered Rice with his own towering shot to right-center to cut it to 3-2. A double by Henderson and a hit-by-pitch threatened to have things unravel further, but the right-hander got the next two to end the inning.

After taking about 90 minutes to get through three innings and change, things finally sped up in the fourth. Bassitt settled in and looked much better over the back half of the game, getting through 5.2 innings before being lifted for Grant Wolfram, who’d strand Chisholm on second after a single and a stolen base. Warren finished up a four-inning, two-run outing that simultaneously felt like it should’ve been better, but could’ve been worse.

Tim Hill got the fifth and one out of the sixth before giving way to Fernando Cruz. He got the first out, but got into a bad count against Dylan Beavers before having a 3-1 fastball mashed for a game-tying home run. Cruz has really been struggling of late, finally seeming to be bitten by his shoddy command. Even though he wound up stranding him, he got ahead of Leody Taveras 1-2 before hanging him a cookie of a splitter for a double. His fastball has never been highly regarded, so the regression in splitter command is really hurting him.

One-time Yankee Rico Garcia was rudely greeted by a 108 mph bullet single by Lombard, who advanced to second on a diving play by Basallo at first to retire Wells, but he bounced back to escape unharmed. Brent Headrick got the ball in the eighth, and all seemed well until Alonso smashed a ball down the left-field line for a go-ahead… foul ball? It looked fair live; it looked fair on replay too, but it was inexplicably called foul both on the field and in the replay room. That’s a bizarre one, but it kept the game tied after Pete struck out three pitches later.

Cam Sanders was next up for Baltimore, getting in trouble with his command. Two hit batsmen and a walk in between loaded the bases with two outs, prompting Craig Albernaz to go to the bullpen. Yennier Cano came in to face Lombard and got what he wanted, a weak ground ball, but with Lombard’s blazing speed, it was too slow. He beat out the go-ahead RBI infield single to make it 4-3 Yankees.

Two pitches later, Chisholm added some insurance on a ball that barely got away from Yohel Pozo, sliding in to make it 5-3. It looked like he hurt his hip/oblique on a back pick after the Lombard single (which would be the second infield injury of the game), but he looked fine on that play. While an insurance run is always appreciated, this one was especially so, as the Alonso would-be-homer now would not have changed the result of this game.

Suddenly, with the lead, Aaron Boone called on Paul Blackburn for the eighth. Basallo snuck a slow grounder through the left side with one out, and Beavers worked a two-out walk to put the tying run on base for Taveras, but Blackburn induced a first-pitch pop fly to send this baby to the ninth.

The Yanks would get a chance to tack on against Alex Hoppe, but went down in order after a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. David Bednar would take the ball, looking for save No. 29. He got a groundout from Colton Cowser, struck out a pinch-hitting Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and got a flyout from Holliday to win it. After being robbed in his last at-bat, Alonso was left in the on-deck circle.

The Yankees go for their first three-game sweep at Camden Yards since August 2019 tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. It’ll be Gerrit Cole against Kyle Bradish on YES.

Box Score

Sometimes when a ship is floundering, sitting dead in the water with no momentum, they just need a little help from a tugboat to make it safely into the harbor. In 2026, the San Francisco Giants are that sinking ship. Wednesday night in Cleveland, Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson was that tugboat.

Beefy 23-year-old rookie left-hander Wilkinson made his first major league start, delivering two efficient shutout innings against the lefty-heavy top of the Cleveland Guardians lineup. That set the table for a strong tandem outing from Adrian Hauser (4-7), who threw five shutout innings and lowered his ERA to 1.50 since being relegated to the bullpen June 26.

Then, after Hauser walked Steven Kwan to lead off the 8th, Dylan Smith entered the game and struck out five in a dominant two-inning save. Throw in a Superman catch by Victor Bericoto to end Cleveland’s biggest threat in the 4th inning and the Giants had just enough pitching and defense to pull out a win against one of the American League’s best starters, Parker Messick (9-8), who probably deserved better after striking out 10 Giants in 6.2 innings.

Victor Bericoto is EVERYWHERE 🦸 pic.twitter.com/0m0TMkk2IM

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 19, 2026

Wilkinson already looks like a folk hero. He’s 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds and his face gets completely red when he pitches. Leaping out the way of a Nathaniel Lowe grounder in the first, which led to a hilariously poor Willy Adames throw, you could already see the stuffed tugboats glimmering in the eyes of the Giants marketing department.

A nice play by Adames closes out a 1-2-3 first inning for Tugboat 👏 pic.twitter.com/unuyHgczRj

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 19, 2026

With Brandon Belt retired and Klay Thompson cruising the waters of Texas, there’s a serious nautical vacancy in the Bay Area. That is, until Brandon Aiyuk announces he’s going to jet ski to Washington D.C.

Tugboat came over in the Patrick Bailey trade earlier this season, along with the 29th pick in the draft, that became Carson Bolemon. He’s not considered one of the Giants’ top prospects and probably needs more time in the minors, after making just 10 starts for the Sacramento Rivercats in AAA (43Ks in 43.2 innings, 5.15 ERA). Still, he misses bats, he’s still only 23, and he got a lot of outs with his four-seam fastball Wednesday night.

The Giants had to add him to the 40-man roster this fall anyway, so there was no downside in giving him a shot — especially when slotted to face four left-handed hitters and two switch-hitters.

Houser was throwing quite hard after entering the game in the 3rd, touching 98 MPH on his fastball. He ended up giving up only four hits and two walks in 5+ winnings, but two of those hits were ground balls to second where Osleivis Basabe couldn’t quite make a play. The Guardians’ only extra-base hit of the game followed one of those singles in the 4th, but Bericoto’s catch ended the threat.

He got clutch pitches when he needed to. Houser induced a double-play ball to end the 5th, and got Brayan Rocchio to pop out after an Adames error extended the 7th inning. Tony Vitello probably shouldn’t have had him start the 8th, but in the end it only made Smith look more awesome when he struck out the side, culminating in a very weird play where Angel Martinez tried to argue a called strike three while also running to first.

Dylan Smith strikes out the side 👊 pic.twitter.com/8WpGq7eFLu

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 20, 2026

Adames returned to the lineup after missing a week and delivered three of the Giants’ seven hits in his four at-bats. Rafael Devers doubled in the 4th and came around to score the game’s only run on Bericoto’s grounder into the hole that Rocchio couldn’t handle, for an RBI single.

Bericoto got just enough of this one for an RBI single 🙌 pic.twitter.com/DTmtYUdbdz

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 19, 2026

That 4th inning could have been more promising for the Giants had it not been for their abject fear of Kwan’s throwing arm. After Devers advance to third on a wild pitch, he held on Bryce Eldridge’s medium-deep fly ball to Kwan. Two batters later, Jung Hoo Lee doubled into the left field corner and Bericoto opted not to test Kwan’s arm by trying to come home.

Lee had two hits in his return from a one-game absence, showing promising signs of life against a difficult lefty. Devers seems to face nothing but lefties these days, going 1-for-4 with that all-important double. Drew Cavanaugh struck out twice but did very well on his ABS challenges.

The one Giants left in the fog was Jonah Cox, who left the field wearing the Golden Sombrero after striking out in all four trips to the plate. Bessick tortured him with high fastballs all night before whiffing him the third time with a truly unfair changeup on the inside corner. For his 4th K, it was a curve in almost the same spot, made crueler by the ABS reversal of the original call.

Houser got a win, Smith got his most impressive save of the season, and the Giants won for just the fifth time in their last 16 games. But it makes sense that in a city where the river used to regular catch on fire, filling the town with smoke, it was a Tugboat that righted the ship.

A series of unfortunate events in the 7th and 8th innings sent the Orioles to their second straight loss to the Yankees with a 5-3 defeat.

With the game tied at 3-3, Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the 7th. Lefty reliever Brent Headrick’s first pitch to the Polar Bear was a hanging slider that Alonso launched toward the left field foul pole. From the broadcast angle, it looked too close to call, and the on-field call was a foul ball. When the Orioles challenged the call, the replays sure made it look like the ball sailed over the top of the foul pole and should have been a home run. New York (the replay center) declined to overturn the call, and after Alonso struck out, the game went to the 8th still knotted at three.

Foul ball https://t.co/0hkhGXcgFQpic.twitter.com/jckZewJ2Xu

— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) August 20, 2026

The Orioles’ fortunes went from bad to worse as Cam Sanders took the mound in the top of the 8th. After Luis García Jr. lined out to start the inning, Sanders plunked Heliot Ramos and walked Jazz Chisholm to put the winning run in scoring position. The relief hero from the Rays series struck out Spencer Jones, but then grazed pinch hitter José Caballero to load the bases.

At that point, manager Craig Albernaz decided he’s seen enough from Sanders, and brought in Yennier Cano to get the final out of the inning. Against George Lombard Jr., Cano ran a sinker in on his hands, and the Yankees’ rookie weakly tapped the ball down the third base line. The ball was hit so slowly that Coby Mayo had no place at first and the Yankees took a 4-3 lead. Cano then bounced a splitter to Austin Wells and Yohel Pozo couldn’t find the ball as Chisholm raced home for the Yankees’ fifth run.

The Orioles would get the tying run on base in the bottom of the 8th after a one-out Samuel Basallo single and a two-out Dylan Beavers walk. However, Leody Taveras could only pop up a changeup to strand both runners. The Yankees couldn’t extend the lead in the top of the 9th, ending the inning on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play.

Facing New York closer David Bednar for the second night in a row, the Orioles couldn’t muster a comeback attempt. Colton Cowser grounded out to second for the first, pinch hitter Christian Encarnacion-Strand struck out for the second and Jackson Holliday lifted a lazy fly out to left to seal the loss.

For the second night in a row, sustained offense was hard to come by for the O’s. They took a lead in the first without getting a hit. Walks by Holliday and Gunnar Henderson turned into a 1-0 lead after Holliday moved to third on a Basallo fly out before the middle infielders executed a double steal of second and home.

Baltimore’s only other offense came via the long ball. Alonso hit his 14th opposite-field homer of the season in the 3rd to cut a two-run Yankees lead in half. Dylan Beavers tied the game in the 6th with a solo shot of his own, sending a towering fly into the left field bullpens. Outside of the two home runs, the offense was familiarly stagnant, with the Orioles going 0-for-6 with RISP and striking out 11 times.

Starter Chris Bassitt wasn’t especially sharp Wednesday night, but he did enough to keep the Orioles in the game. Early on, it seemed like the Yankees would put up a crooked number against the 37-year-old right-hander. Trent Grisham and Ben Rice started the game with nearly identical bouncing singles to right field. The early traffic didn’t faze Bassitt, however, getting García to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play before Heliot Ramos grounded out to second to end the inning.

The veteran righty couldn’t pull off a similar escape act in the 2nd inning. After being staked a 1-0 lead, Bassitt started the second frame by walking Jazz Chisholm Jr. on six pitches. Spencer Jones then continued the theme from the 1st inning, bouncing a single into right to move Chisholm to third.

Ryan McMahon then continued to pepper the baseball to right field, singling on a hard line drive to right that brought home Chisholm but was hit hard enough that McMahon got gunned down at second. With the game now tied and Jones at third, rookie George Lombard Jr. stepped up and launched a sac fly to right that put the Yankees up 2-1.

New York tagged Bassitt for another run in the 3rd thanks to the bat of the All-Star Rice. After a Grisham groundout started the inning, Rice got a 3-2 fastball and sent a towering blast 431 feet over the right-center fence. It looked like things would go from bad to worse after back-to-back singles from García and Ramos. However, Basallo came up with a diving snag at first for the second out, and then Bassitt struck out Jones to end the frame.

The Orioles’ righty then became a different pitcher. He worked a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th, including strikeouts of McMahon and Lombard. Bassitt struck out Grisham to begin the 5th and then rolled back-to-back unassisted ground outs to first for another scoreless frame. His streak of nine straight Yankees retired ended on a Chisholm single in the 6th. Bassitt finished his outing with a strikeout of Jones for his sixth punchout of the night. After Grant Wolfram entered and got the final out of the inning, it closed Bassitt’s line at 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 6 Ks.

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The Orioles’ third-straight loss drops them 1.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot. Baltimore will try to avoid a sweep when Kyle Bradish faces Gerrit Cole tomorrow night.

Jays 6 Rays 7

So, the game changed on two fly balls to left.

In the bottom of the first, with one out, Junior Caminero hit a fly down the left field line, Jesús Sánchez was going into foul territory to get it, then it landed fair. Very weird, because a ball going foul will spin/slice further foul. Apparently it hit one of the lovely catwalks or something, landed fair and bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. It was weird. Not so much Sánchez’s fault, but it looked so strange.

A homer followed and it was 2-0 Rays.

In the fourth, after Max Scherzer loaded the bases on a walk, single, and walk, Richie Palacios popped one up to left. Sánchez was coming in on it, all looked good, and ummm he sort of ran by it, missing where the ball landed by 5 feet. Replays showed him glancing at at Andrés Giménez as he came in. Perhaps, he couldn’t find the ball again when he looked back. It is a white roof, and it would be hard to find the ball again. But…..it didn’t matter what Giménez was doing, it was Sanchez’s ball all the way. He should have been ignoring Andrés, calling him off, taking charge. There was no sign that he was calling the ball, and it almost looked like he was letting Giménez take it.

The inning went down hill from there, the Rays scored five, making it 7-1.

It seemed to put Scherzer off, there were a couple of run scoring bunts in the inning.

Scherzer went 4 innings, allowed 5 hits, 7 earned, 3 walks and 1 strikeout. I hate how baseball is scored. That Sanchez play should have been called an error, but it was too big a mistake to be called an error. Baseball scoring is stupid.

Braydon Fisher pitched a quick fifth with a strikeout.

Brendon Little got the first two outs of the sixth, giving up a ground ball single and getting a strikeout.

Paul Sewald got the last out, Junior Caminero on a strikeout.

Mason Fluharty pitched a clean eighth.

Tyler Rogers gave up a single in the ninth.

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We tried for a come back:

• One in the fourth: Alejandro Kirk homered.
• Four in the fifth: With one out in the fifth, Josh Smith, Brandon Valenzuela and Charles McAdoo all singled getting us a run. Myles Straw (in for Brett Bateman, who seemed to picked up a hamstring issue, I hope it isn’t serious) walked. Nathan Lukes hit a sac fly. Kirk singled in our third run of the inning. And Kazuma Okamoto singled in one more and it was 7-5.
• One in the sixth: Daz Cameron (pinch hitting for Sánchez, because a lefty was in, not as punishment) hit a leadoff single. Two outs later, Charles McAdoo double bringing in one. It was 7-6, and we three innings.

But we only managed one walk the rest of the way. It was nice to see the comeback. Too bad it came up short.

We had nine hits. McAdoo, batting ninth, had three. Kirk had two. Okamoto, Cameron, Smith and Valenzuela had one each.

As well as Bateman coming out of the game with an injury (he will get an MRI tomorrow), Smith, after scoring, was down on the field in pain, but he stayed in the game. Apparently it was cramping.

Jay of the Day: McAdoo (0.34 WPA).

Other Award: Scherzer (-0.36, some of that ), Giménez (-0.19), Springer (-0.11), and Valenzuela (-0.09). And, of course, Sanchez for the fielding. I try to be fair, the Trop is an awful place for outfielders. And there have been many many fly balls lost in that roof, but he should have never taken his eyes off the ball. Once you do, you’ll never find it again.

Tomorrow we finish with Tropicana for the season. It is a 1:00 PM start time, eastern.

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland left today’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.

Freeland threw 66 pitches, 43 for strikes while allowing four runs (all earned) on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Three of the four runs came on two homers — a solo shot by Mookie Betts and a two-run homer by Kiké Hernández.

Recently-recalled Mark Manfredi entered in relief to make his MLB debut against Shohei Ohtani. He walked the Dodgers’ DH and gave up a single to Andy Pages, but got Teoscar Hernández to fly out and end the inning.

The reasons for Freeland leaving the game are not known at this time, but Purple Row will continue to follow this developing story.

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Tyler Glasnow continued to run roughshod through his minor league rehab assignment, including nine strikeouts and pitching into the sixth inning in his likely final start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday night in Sugar Land, Texas.

Glasnow needed only 77 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings, of which 54 were strikes. He allowed a one-out double to designated hitter Zach Dezenzo in the second inning but stranded him. Then Collin Price worked a walk to open the sixth inning, but that was it against Glasnow, who retired 16 of 18 batters.

Tyler Glasnow shined in Sugar Land🔥

5.1 IP | 1 H | 1 R | 1 BB | 9 K pic.twitter.com/laV7wDcveA

— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 20, 2026

That walk came around to score in the sixth after Glasnow left, charged to his ledger.

Of Glasnow’s 12 swinging strikes, six were induced by his knuckle curve, a pitch he threw 20 times on the night.

After missing over three months on the injured list with back spasms, Glasnow in his four rehab starts — three with Oklahoma City, one with Class-A Ontario — allowed two runs in 13 2/3 innings with 19 strikeouts against just four walks.

Glasnow on rehab struck out 41.7 percent of batters faced, including a whopping 54.8 percent over his last two starts, both in Triple-A.

What’s likely next for Glasnow is rejoining the Dodgers rotation on next week’s road trip, especially now that Justin Wrobleski is on the injured list, likely lining up to start against the Atlanta Braves in a series that runs Tuesday to Thursday.

The Dodgers are carrying five starting pitchers at the moment, not counting Emmet Sheehan who is active for now in a bullpen role. Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list and the Dodgers opened a 40-man roster spot on Wednesday with reliever Jonathan Hernández getting designated for assignment.

Wednesday night was Jonathan Santucci's fourth start since being promoted to Triple-A, but it was his worst with Syracuse.

Going up against Worcester, the Mets' No. 2 prospect allowed six runs on six hits and four walks across four-plus innings while striking out three. In his first three starts in Triple-A, Santucci allowed a combined six runs. 

But the night started well for Santucci. The southpaw worked around a leadoff walk in the first and another walk in the second. After a 1-2-3 third inning, the Red Sox would get to Santucci for the first time. Nate Eaton led off with a double before Romy Gonzalez moved him over with a groundout. Allan Castro followed with a groundout of his own, but it pushed Eaton across. 

The wheels fell off for Santucci in the fifth. The first three batters reached (walk, single, double) as the Red Sox pushed across two more runs before a couple of major leaguers got to the left-hander. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled before Trevor Story singled to drive in a run, and Santucci was pulled. 

Chris Devenski came in and allowed two of Santucci's runners to score as the Red Sox pushed across six runs in that fifth inning. 

On the offensive side, Santucci had plenty of run support. Ronny Mauricio went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run, and MJ Melendez smashed a two-run shot. But on the prospects front, Nick Morabito finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Emilien Pitre (Mets' No. 13 prospect) and Billy Amick (No. 27) went a combined 0-for-9 with a walk in their second games with Syracuse. 

Offensive outburst in Double-A

The Rumble Ponies scored 10 runs on Wednesday night and a pair of prospects did a lot of the heavy lifting. Jacob Reimer (No. 8 prospect) went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while Marco Vargas (unranked) drove in three runs on three hits, including blasting his third home run of the season. 

Vargas has been on a tear since returning from the IL. In his last 10 games, Vargas is 18-for-44 with three home runs and 13 RBI. 

Jefferson Rojas, the Mets' No. 1 prospect, went 0-for-5. 

The San Diego Padres promoted catching prospect Ethan Salas from Double-A San Antonio to Triple-A El Paso on July 29. Since then, the Padres’ top prospect has made up for the lack of extra-base hits that he had while in San Antonio. If a confidence boost was the goal for the promotion, that goal was achieved.

Salas has destroyed the baseball since arriving with the Chihuahuas. Over the past week, Salas hit .471/.524/.765 with eight RBI. Since his promotion, he has a .377/.453/.698 slash line with a 1.151 OPS, which includes six doubles, a triple, and three homers for 20 RBI. He is the youngest player in the league by four years.

The small sample size should temper expectations, but he has definitely announced his presence with authority. The league will adjust, given enough time, but with only a month left in the season, he could do real damage. 

His bio lists Salas at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds. In a recent interview with MadFriars.com, Salas reported that his growth over the past year has contributed to his power surge and stated that he is now 6-foot-3 and 210-215 pounds. The 20-year-old also reworked his approach during his time away from the field due to a back injury that robbed him of almost all of the 2025 season. 

More roster moves

There were more adjustments made to minor league rosters over the past week. After sending Gage Workman to Triple-A, the Padres released pitcher Misael Tamarez from the El Paso roster. Infielder Dylan Grego was activated and sent to Fort Wayne. 

Newly signed draftees were activated and infielder Joe Trioly and first baseman Chris McHugh were placed on the Lake Elsinore roster. Catcher Robbie Lavey was activated and assigned to Fort Wayne, a highly unusual skip of the first A-level for a new draftee. 

LHP Miguel Cienfuegos was released from the El Paso roster.

RHP Michael Salina, who was removed from his first start after one inning, was placed on the injured list for Lake Elsinore. He will probably see work in Arizona for the rest of the year. 

Free agent RHP Brent Honeywell was signed to a minor league and deal and placed on the El Paso roster.

Outfielder Alex McCoy, 24, the 6-foot-6, 275-pound undrafted free agent from 2024, was promoted from Single-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio on Aug. 14. After signing, McCoy missed much of the 2025 season with injuries. He had a short run with Lake Elsinore at the end of the year and McCoy started 2026 with Fort Wayne. He has had slumps but always bounced back after making adjustments. 

Since his promotion to San Antonio, McCoy has played in three games and is making a memorable first impression. Over his minor league career, he has 158 games played with 24 homers and 101 RBI. For those who would like to get to know this outfielder, who can also play first base, MadFriars.com had an interview on their site earlier this month.

El Paso Chihuahuas (49-70 record, last in PCL East)

Salas has been the highlight for this team since his promotion. They also hosted Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove for his past two rehab starts.

Otherwise, the team has been underwhelming. The past week showed a 2-4 record with some lopsided losses. After acquiring RHP Hunter Stratton in exchange for Andrew Moore at the trade deadline, the Chihuahuas have benefited from five good outings from the reliever. He has six innings pitched and allowed no runs with only four hits.

RHSP Jhony Brito continues to do well with El Paso. He has a 2.70 ERA in 33 innings pitched with 24 strikeouts to nine walks. 

The Triple-A season ends on Sept. 20.

San Antonio Missions (51-63 record, last in Texas League South)

Outfielder/first baseman McCoy was promoted on Aug. 14 and has played in three games with 14 plate appearances. He has two doubles and two home runs with six RBI since his arrival. His pattern over the past two levels has been a hot start and then a slump when the league gets a book on him and adjusts. He then struggles for a period of time but then gets hot again as he adjusts to the way he is being pitched. It will be interesting to note if that pattern repeats with Double-A San Antonio. The season ends Sept. 18, leaving a month to watch how this plays out.

RHRP Tucker Musgrove began the season with Fort Wayne and was promoted to Double-A at the break. He has pitched 15.1 innings with a 2.93 ERA and 28 strikeouts to 12 walks. For the season, Musgrove has 34.1 innings pitched with a 3.41 ERA and 68 strikeouts to 25 walks. He still needs a little more work on his command after his return from Tommy John surgery in 2025, but his fastball tops out in triple digits. He is expected to be added to the major league roster this offseason, as he will be Rule 5-eligible in December.

LHSP Luis Gutierrez, 23, is returning from a lat strain and has pitched in three games for the Missions. In his 12 innings pitched, he has a 3.75 ERA. For the season, after returning from injury, Gutierrez has appeared in games for the ACL and Lake Elsinore teams before being assigned to the Missions to complete his rehab. When complete, he will likely need to see more work after the season ends. He is Rule-5 eligible again this year after going unclaimed last December at the age of 22.

Outfielder Jake Cunningham went on the 7-day injured list on Aug. 14.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (46-65 record, last in Midwest League East)

Outfielder Kasen Wells leads the TinCaps with a .264 batting average, with first baseman Luke Cantwell hitting .262. Cantwell has a .404 OBP while outfielder Kavares Tears leads with a .471 slugging percentage. Tears also leads with 13 home runs, and infielder Rosman Verdugo has 49 RBI. This explains the poor record (they were 0-5 this week),  but they have had many issues with their pitching. 

After Kash Mayfield was traded at the deadline, RHP Carson Montgomery is the most effective starter. He has a 4.58 ERA in 78.2 innings pitched in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Allowing 45 walks to 67 strikeouts shows a lack of command that could improve after more work. He is Rule-5 eligible this offseason.

Outfielder Ryan Wideman continues to struggle after being a breakout performer in Lake Elsinore. He is hitting .258 with a .275 slugging percentage after 39 games and has only three doubles as extra-base hits. Wideman had a known issue with holes in his swing when drafted, and the toolsy outfielder will need to make adjustments

The Padres made the rare decision to start a college-level drafted player in the High-A level. Catcher/DH Robbie Lavey was drafted in the fourth round last month. He had an evaluation period in Arizona with the bridge league and was assigned to Fort Wayne when all the rest of the assigned draftees went to Lake Elsinore. The lefty-hitting catcher has an advanced approach with the bat but needs development behind the dish. In his four games and 15 plate appearances, Lavey has two home runs, including a homer in his first at-bat. 

Lake Elsinore Storm (61-53 record, first in California League South)

Lake Elsinore has benefited from the infusion of players after the draft. The arrival of outfielder Alex Conover, third baseman Nu’u Contrades, first baseman Chris McHugh, and second baseman Joe Tiroly has injected some energy and production into the team.

Catcher Augie Lopez has also been getting some playing time but has not had much success with the bat.

McHugh is hitting .409 with a 1.117 OPS in 5 games with three doubles and a homer. Tiroly is hitting .364 with a .937 OPS in 5 games. Contrades is hitting .324 with a .972 OPS, two doubles, two homers, and eight RBI in 10 games. Conover is hitting .235 with two doubles and two homers with nine RBI.

The Storm have two starters that are worth watching as they move through the system. Cameron Nohos, 23, is an undrafted free agent signed in 2025. He had a brief showing with Lake Elsinore at the end of last season and pitched in the ACL to start this year. The 6-foot-8, 235-lb righty was promoted to Lake Elsinore after the ACL season was completed. 

In five games/three games started, Nohos has a 4.58 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched with 28 strikeouts to 10 walks. In his last start with the Storm, he struck out nine in 5.2 innings with three hits and an earned run allowed. He also walked four in the outing. Over his last three starts, Nohos has allowed four earned runs with 22 strikeouts in 15.2 innings pitched.

Jesus Castro, 19, is a right-handed pitcher signed as an international player out of Mexico in January of 2025. He played for the DSL Gold team in the Dominican Republic last season, winning the DSL championship. He had a 2.91 ERA in 43.1 innings pitched.

He hasn’t been quite that dominant with Lake Elsinore, but the 3.96 ERA over 77.1 innings is still a good result for a teenager. Castro has made 18 starts in his 19 appearances and has 88 strikeouts to 28 walks. 

RHP Tyler Schmitt, 22, was drafted in the 17th round of the 2025 draft. He has quietly put together a good first pro season as a Padre. In 20 games/17 starts, Schmitt has a 4.76 ERA in 87 innings with 94 strikeouts to 46 walks.

DSL Gold and Brown

The Gold team has a 40-15 record, first in the Northwest Division. First baseman Sebastian Nadales has a .429 average in 78 plate appearances. C/1B/RF Dayquer Alfonzo is hitting .337/.470/.542 in 219 plate appearances and leads the team with four homers and 49 RBI.

LHP Carlos Alvarez has a 3.25 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched with 37 strikeouts and 20 walks.

Reliever Albert Perez leads all the pitchers with 40 strikeouts in 36.1 innings pitched. 

The Brown team has a 11-43 record, last in the West Division. 1B/LF/2B Gabriel Teran remains their best hitter. He has played in 23 games with a .382 batting average and 1.106 OPS. He leads the team with three home runs. IF/DH Osmy Osorio has a .653 OPS but leads the team in RBI with 23.

The pitching for the Brown team has struggled, with only one pitcher having an ERA below 4.00. Righty reliever Angel Gamarra has a 3.44 ERA in 18.1 innings, striking out 16 and walking 22. The strikeout leader, reliever Dioscaride Sarit, has 27 strikeouts and 39 walks with a 11.48 ERA. RHP Raudi Perez has the most innings with 37 IP but has a 6.81 ERA with only 19 strikeouts.

For the St. Louis Cardinals to have a good chance of taking down the Cincinnati Reds and their All-Star starter Chase Burns Wednesday night, they’d need the best version of Matthew Liberatore. They got that and some clutch two-strike hitting, too. Well, they got that for 5 innings. The 6th inning was a different story entirely. By the time the late innings arrived, even the Cardinals were helping to defeat the Cardinals. Let’s sort out this mess that eventually became a very dramatic ending.

Both pitchers were shutting down the opposing lineups for the first 3 innings, but the St. Louis Cardinals finally broke through in the top of the 4th inning. They almost scored in the top of the 3rd inning when JJ Wetherholt ripped a double to center with Blaze Jordan running on the pitch, but he did not live up to his first name and was easily thrown out at the plate. I’m not one to talk, but Blaze seriously looked like he was running in slow motion. The 4th inning would be different, though, as Alec Burleson drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Burns. He would fortunately run a lot faster (so to speak) than Blaze Jordan and scored when Nathan Church singled on a two-strike count giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

After Masyn Winn walked which moved Church up to second, Bryan Torres also singled with two strikes to score Church doubling the St. Louis lead to 2-0.

Matthew Liberatore accomplished many things Wednesday night. First, his game management was stellar as his pitch count was only in the 60’s by the time he reached the bottom of the 5th inning. He also surpassed his career high for strikeouts in a season. The one thing he did not accomplish was getting through the 6th inning without allowing damage. It all started innocently enough when McLain hit a one-out double to left. Next up was Elly De La Cruz who hit a shot up the middle that a leaping JJ Wetherholt could not snatch as it glanced off of his glove into centerfield giving the Reds runners at first and third with just one out. Matthew then unfortunately grooved a 94 mph four-seam fastball to Sal Stewart who blasted it 422 into the grass above the centerfield wall for a 3-run homer giving the Reds their first lead of the game at 3-2.

Matthew Liberatore’s night could be separated into the first 5 innings when he was the lights out shut down pitcher we all hoped he would become. He struck out 9 and didn’t walk anyone, but since he was allowed to enter the bottom of the 6th, we have to count that against him. Just a couple of meatball pitches, but that was enough to allow the Reds to takeover the lead which is a crying shame.

The Cardinals threatened to strike back in the top of the 7th when Herrera and Walker drew walks, but José Fermín popped out with runners at first and third to end the St. Louis 7th with no runs to show for it. Manager Oli Marmol brought in Luis Gastelum to handle the Reds in the bottom of the 7th. He was up to the task and set the Reds down 1-2-3.

The Reds removed Chase Burns after 5 innings as his pitch count hit 104. Moll, Burke and Mey were their relievers Wednesday night with Mey facing the Cardinals in the top of the 8th. He struck out Masyn Winn to start the inning. Next up was Joshua Baez who had a great at-bat where he drew a very patient walk. Blaze Jordan was unable to advance Baez into scoring position when he struck out after a wise ABS challenge. Baez did steal second on the second strike to Jimmy Crooks to get himself into scoring position, but it would be all for naught when Crooks struck out to end the Cardinals 8th.

The Cardinals apparently decided to help the Reds defeat them in the bottom of the 8th inning when Trevino led off with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch by St. Louis reliever Justin Bruihl that he threw to the backstop. McLain then laid down a nearly perfect sacrifice bunt that Blaze Jordan double-pumped on and then threw the ball past Burleson at first into right field scoring Trevino and giving Cincinnati a 4-2 lead. Elly De La Cruz flew out to center which advanced McLain to third with just one out. The Cardinals intentionally walked Sal Stewart which was smart, but also ended up being useless when Myers laid down a sacrifice bunt that resulted in him at first when no one covered first scoring McLain and giving (literally) the Reds a commanding 5-2 lead. It could have been worse. If not for the pop-out by Friedl with the bases loaded, the game could have really gotten out of control.

The top of the St. Louis Cardinals order would need to dial up some heroism to make a comeback in the top of the 9th to salvage the dumpster fire that was the bottom of the 8th inning. JJ Wetherholt, who had 2 hits on the night, lead off the inning by being hit by a pitch. Iván Herrera flew out to left for the first out as the rain started to pick up again. Alec Burleson ripped a ball down the first base line, but his bat broke and the ball was grabbed by Stewart who stepped on first base for the second out. The Cardinals were not quite done as Jordan Walker blasted a pitch to the opposite field over the wall for a 2-run homer getting St. Louis within a run at 5-4.

José Fermín then ripped a double down the left field line to give the Cardinals the tying run at second base and the potential winning run coming up to the plate in the form of Masyn Winn. The Reds seemed interested in helping the Cardinals as Pagan threw a wild pitch that moved Fermín to third. With the tying run just 90 feet away, Masyn Winn grounded out weakly down the third base line that Pagan managed to grab and throw him out at first. So freaking close.

The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up the Cincinnati part of their road trip Thursday afternoon as they take on the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Michael McGreevy will start the game for the Cardinals while the Reds will turn to RHP Brady Singer. First pitch is scheduled for 11:40am central time and the game broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.

(Editor’s note: Welcome, Jake Brahney, to the CTC writing team!)

OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it’s called ‘two in a row’. If we win again tomorrow, it’s called a ‘winning streak’. It has happened before.

The Guardians entered Wednesday night looking for back to back wins for the first time since July 21st. They would need to do so well shy of full strength, as Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell were out of the lineup nursing injuries, and David Fry (fresh in from Columbus for injured Rhys Hoskins) just got back to Cleveland today. Unfortunate that 3 of our “best” options vs Lefties aren’t in the lineup, but that’s baseball, Suzyn…

A shorthanded lineup vs a LHP making his debut; what could go wrong?!

In any event, fans were treated to a Big Lefty Headliner of a Pitching Matchup tonight, as Cleveland’s Rookie All Star Parker Messick faced off against a former Guardian prospect making his MLB debut; Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson. To those familiar with Cleveland’s Farm System (or at least “Guards Twitter”), Wilkinson is hardly a new name. A 10th round pick in the ‘23 Draft, “Tugboat” had made waves in MiLB going from JUCO to dominating A/A+ ball in just a year. After a somewhat down 2025 (and knowing that Wilkinson would be Rule 5 eligible this upcoming Winter), the Guardians traded him and a Compensatory Draft pick to the Giants for Captain Clutch and Catching Savant, Patrick Bailey.

So far, it would appear that everyone is happy with the trade, as Bailey has shown his value behind the dish and at many times, at it, while Wilkinson has gone from AA to an MLB debut in just 3 months.

And how did that debut go?

I would call it “effectively wild”. Wilkinson struggled getting ahead in counts, but when he did get the Guardians to swing, he induced a lot of weak contact, often jamming guys inside and getting infield popups as a result. Tugboat left after 2 successful innings, facing 7 batters and giving up 1 hit. He was far from the story in game as many pumped him up to be beforehand.

Meanwhile, if Wilkinson is a Tugboat, Messick is an Aircraft Carrier. Through 3 innings he had 5 strikeouts on 9 swings and misses. He was cruising early, and it looked like another night where he might just need 1.

Unfortunately, the Guardians lack of focus this season reared its ugly head in the 4th. Devers lead off the inning with a double that could’ve been a single had Halpin picked up the ball cleanly (or not taken his time getting it in). Add in a Wild pitch that Hedges couldn’t get in front of, and the Giants had a man on 3rd without much doing. Messick was able to induce weak outs, however, with 2 outs, Rocchio couldn’t come up with one in the hole and the Giants took a cheap 1-0 lead. A quick double and fly out ended the threat at just 1, thanks in part to some great defense (or at least the threat of it) from Steven Kwan.

So the Guardians were trailing even though they had a great pitcher on the mound. Stop if you’ve heard this before. Would they do anything about it? Would the offense pick up the defense?

Well, in the bottom of the 4th, Cleveland started a 2 out rally when Angel Martinez squeaked under a glove and Bazzana rocked a double down the line in right. Bazz maybe hit it a little too hard (not a criticism, just an unfortunate happening) as the ball bounced right back to the RF, holding Martinez at 3rd. It was up to Angel Genao, who would hit a laser to LF but was caught on a dive by Victor Bericoto. A 2 run catch keeps the lead for San Fran after 4.

The deeper we went into the game, the more important that catch would be. The Guardians would threaten again in the 7th, thanks to a 2-out error by Adames, but couldn’t take advantage. With 2 on and 2 out and a 2-0 count, Brayan Rocchio popped one up on the infield and the Guardians would head to the 8th down 1-0.

They would “threaten” one more time (threaten like a toddler with a knife is technically a threat, maybe more to themself but by definition, it’s a threat) in the 8th. To everyone’s surprise, Houser stayed in to start the 8th, quickly walking Steven Kwan. Next pitch was a pass ball and just like that, all we needed were productive outs or hits from Jose/Lowe/Martinez…. I’m sure you know how this story ends. All 3 would strike out and the Guardians would continue their struggles to even make contact with men in scoring position.

Like so many other games over the past few months, the pitching did everything they could to keep the Guardians in the game, but the offense just couldn’t string together anything meaningful. Adrian Houser fit the mold of a classic 2026 Guard Killer, throwing 5 shutout innings out of the bullpen, earning himself the Win. Messick was the tough luck Loser tonight, going 6.2 IP with a career high 10 strikeouts on just 6 hits and 0 walks.

The Guardians will go for the series Win tomorrow afternoon (1:10 PM) when Gavin Williams takes the mound vs Landen Roupp.

As I searched for pictures of Aaron Nola to use for this recap, I found a picture of a rhinoceros instead. It turns out that there’s a zoo in France that has a rhino named Nola; I choose to believe that this is not coincidental, and that somewhere out there is a Francophone cheering group for Nola: “Courbe de l’articulation! Courbe de l’articulation!”, they cry as he unleashes the knuckle curve on hapless opponents. At any rate, Nola was as tough as a rhino’s horn tonight.

After a quiet first, the Phillies got rolling in the second. Luis Arraez singled to lead off the inning, and after the next two Phillies made outs, Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford singled to load the bases. That brought up Garrett Stubbs, who grounded to short. He sprinted to first with the copious amount of enthusiasm he brings to every endeavor; the result was the umpire flinging his arms wide in that signal beloved by baserunners everywhere, and the Phillies leading 1-0. The next Phillies runs would come in more bombastic fashion: Arraez sent a ball flying into the right field seats for a two-run homer in the bottom of the third.

Meanwhile, Aaron Nola kept mowing down Marlins. Through five innings the Fish had two hits, and five of them had struck out at Nola’s hand, four on the knuckle curve. It couldn’t last forever: in the top of the sixth Javier Sanoja slapped a sinker over the left field wall; a textbook line-drive homer. But the solo shots won’t kill you, and this one was a survivable blow. What happened afterward was a little more worrying, as Nola allowed singles to the next two batters. Sequencing is a quiet but mighty force in baseball, and here it was the difference between a manageable solo shot and a tied game. Nola steadied himself, broke out the knuckle curve, and gave the next two Marlins bright red Ks to wear, Hester Prynnes for the national pastime. Nola pitched through the seventh, finishing, fittingly, by making a Fish flail at a knuckle curve.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kyle Schwarber singled and Trea Turner doubled. Schwarber headed home, but center fielder Jakob Marsee flung the ball homeward like an angler throwing a lure into the water; after a relay from the shortstop, Schwarber was called out at home. The Phillies challenged, and the replay showed that Miami backstop Joe Mack may have whiffed on his tag attempt. After a lengthy review, the umpires ruled that Schwarber had indeed made it home safely. Don Mattingly smiled serenely in the dugout as Citizens Bank Park erupted in cheers.

Jonathan Bowlan took over after Nola. He does have a curveball, but deploys it quite sparingly (just eight times this season); perhaps that’s for the best, as just about any curve would struggle to fill the shoes (tunnel?) of Nola’s tonight. He navigated through the seventh without allowing the Marlins to narrow the lead, thanks in part to an excellent catch by Marsh in foul territory.

With the Phillies up by a couple, the sequence that would follow was obvious to all: Jhoan Duran would emerge from the dugout with the traditional fanfare, he would bedevil the Marlins with his blazing heater, and would allow no more than perhaps a stray hit or two as he slammed the door. And that is exactly what happened. I take great pride, valued TGP reader, in writing each and every one of these recaps from scratch, but in truth I could copy-paste the Duran sections and nobody would notice. He is as predictable as a Christmas Story coming on TV every holiday season.

The Phillies are 70-58. They’ll return to action at 6:40 on Friday, as a series against the Cardinals begins.

Roki Sasaki faces Kyle Freeland as the Dodgers look to sweep the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup at Rockies: pic.twitter.com/nBQ7gZ1Ukk

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2026

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Stadium: Coors Field
• Time: 5:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The imaging Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz underwent in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning revealed a “best-case scenario,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series finale against the Rockies.

“There were no findings, so that was good,” Roberts said. “MRI was clean. It doesn’t change the fact that he had this sensation in his neck. But I think to keep working on it, give it some rest as far as throwing the baseball.”

Díaz officially went on the IL for “neck inflammation,” but early theories on the injury, before he went to a specialist on Wednesday, suggested the issue could be related to the area around the trapezius, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Roberts said Wednesday that the results suggested the injury was more muscular, rather than nerve related.

Read more:Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz heads back to injured list because of neck inflammation

“I think he’d been feeling the tightness in his neck,” Roberts said. “But I think where it went to the other night, he hadn’t felt that sensation. So that’s what really checked him up.”

Roberts said he didn’t know exactly how long Díaz would be shut down from throwing, but he estimated that it probably would be only a couple of days.

The bullpen shuffle continued Wednesday, when the Dodgers activated right-hander Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) from the 15-day IL. In a corresponding move, they designated right-hander Jonathan Hernández for assignment.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.