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In what’s been a Cinderella summer for the Red Sox, the clock on the wall suddenly appears to read four minutes after midnight. No, the season is not over, but the magic carpet ride that transported this team through a wormhole and into the thick of the playoff race is almost certainly fading into the fabric of history.

Instead of everything breaking Boston’s way and almost everybody being hot at the same time, we’re suddenly seeing a brand of baseball where every mistake is magnified, every clutch play ripples, and every little thing makes a huge difference. In other words, welcome to meaningful baseball in August, where the goal for the next three months is to make that July matter as much as possible.

Nowhere is the reality check more evident than in the way the last four games have ended. They’re not just losses, they’re losses to subpar pitching performances all ending with with men on base in the ninth inning and the tying run either at the plate or stranded somewhere aboard the broken carousel.

Tonight in particular was filled with lowlights. Here’s some of the most glaring:

• The team was 0-7 with runners in scoring position (part of a 3-36 stretch with 38 men left on base over their last four games).
• Caleb Durbin, usually one of the more surehanded defenders, made a costly error that led to a pair of unearned runs in the fifth.
• Jarren Duran got thrown out representing the tying run trying to steal second base in the eighth inning.
• Willson Contreras went hitless again and looked like he belongs closer to the IL than the cleanup spot. (I wonder if one of the reasons it took so long to get the corresponding roster moves to Adley Rutschman getting activated is because one of the options may have been to IL Contreras.)
• Wilyer Abreu struck out in a key spot to end the seventh to a guy who trotted out from the bullpen with a 10.20 ERA.
• Adley Rutschman made the final out of the game in his Red Sox debut, missing a very hittable pitch during the second offering of the at bat.
• The team collectively failed to score a run against the soft underbelly of Toronto’s gassed bullpen despite the Blue Jays bullpen usage looking like this in terms of innings pitched over the last week:
  • Tuesday (8/4): 6.0 innings
  • Wednesday (8/5): 6.0 innings
  • Thursday (8.6): 3.1 innings
  • Friday (8/7): 4.1 innings
  • Saturday (8/8): 5.2 innings
  • Sunday (8/9): 5.2 innings
  • Monday (8/10): 5.0 innings
• Speaking of bullpen work, how about this 0-2 pitch by Seth Martinez in the bottom of the eighth with a chance to get out of the inning without any damage?

But all of this doesn’t even get to what I think might be the biggest big picture problem from this game: Patrick Sandoval kind of sucks. He doesn’t throw enough strikes, he struggles to go deep into games, and he’s flirted with all out disaster in at least half his starts despite not yet having a signature meltdown.

Over The Monster’s own pitching guru Jake Roy noted during the game that “Sandoval’s fastball velocity was down about 1.5 mph, and he had a ton of arm side misses, which tells (him) he was probably fatigued.”

Well, that’s kind of an enormous problem, because he’s already not giving the Sox enough length, and they don’t really have anywhere else to go with Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett already at career highs in innings pitched, Connelly Early traded away, and reinforcements from the likes of Garrett Crochet, Johan Oviedo, Kutter Crawford, and Tanner Houck nowhere to be found on the immediate horizon.

Compare this to the more fixable nature of everything else that went wrong tonight: I know the Sox offense is going to be streaky. I know Caleb Durbin is a better defender than his misplay showed. I know Willson Contreras is a better hitter than the last week indicates. I know Adley Rutschman is going to come through his fair share of the time when his spot comes up in the ninth, and I know Seth Martinez isn’t going to be pitching in the eighth inning all that often. You know what I don’t know? How the Sox are going to manage the bottom of this rotation over the next few weeks if anything else cracks.

Chad Tracy knows he’s stuck with Sandoval for the foreseeable future too, because oh boy was he putting lipstick on this pig after the game:

“I thought he was really good. Just two earned runs and a few walks. I thought he controlled counts much better. Didn’t have many spurts where he lost control. I thought he had a pretty good outing.”

I like Tracy and think he was just covering for his guy, but this here is not at all what I want to see from my starter:

Way too many uncompetitive balls that proved easy takes for the opponent, and not nearly enough swing and miss stuff. If it wasn’t for a pair of double plays and Wilyer Abreu’s assist in the fifth, there’s almost no way he makes it through six innings. Going forward, this is a ticking time bomb.

And yet, do you know what’s worse? The obvious second guess of leaving Sandoval in this game too long isn’t all that obvious given the broader circumstances. If this was a “gotta have it game” down the stretch, Tracy could’ve pulled Sandoval after five innings and just used some combination of Justin Slaten, Tyron Guerrero, Erik Miller, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman for the final four frames.

But at some point, you need length out of your starters at this stage of the season, so Tracy took a chance with Sandoval in the sixth given his low pitch count (60 pitches entering the inning). It obviously didn’t work, but there’s going to be nights where Tracy has to do this because he can’t get to the end of September with his bullpen completely gassed. Sadly, tonight is a good example of what’s generally going to happen whenever he has to ride with Sandoval too long. It’s a true damn if he does and damn if he doesn’t situation when it comes to squeezing out that last inning from Sandoval.

So at this point, the second guess needs to branch further out. Specifically, did the front office add enough pitching at the deadline? One way or another, Sandoval is going to play a big role here for at least the next few weeks, and that feels like a very dangerous proposition.

Let’s ask the OTM community:

Three Studs

Wilyer Abreu: Despite that crummy at bat against Little that proved extremely costly, we’ll still give it to him with a low bar tonight thanks to a home run in the fourth inning, a walk, and this outstanding throw to end the fifth.

Ceddanne Rafaela: A home run, a sac fly, and a bit unlucky on this very sharp ground ball in the ninth that could’ve made things really interesting. (Great play by Andres Gimenez’s)

Tyron Guerrero: Looked fantastic again in his scoreless inning of work in the seventh.

Three Duds

Patrick Sandoval: Unlike Chad Tracy, I thought this outing sucked. He coughed up a lead, got worse as the night went on, was bailed out early by an overaggressive Toronto lineup, still fell behind plenty of batters, and only generated five swing and misses the whole game. His velocity was also down, which is a huge problem for a guy who certainly won’t be getting people out from great command anytime soon.

Willson Contreras: 0-4 tonight and has just one hit since missing a few days with illness. He looks like a guy who should be on the IL right now with that barking hamstring, and it also feels like he just needs some time to refresh after getting hit in the head in LA and missing games due to an illness.

Caleb Durbin: 0-4 at the plate with two strikeouts and an uncharacteristic error in the field.

Up Next:

The Sox turn to Ranger Suarez to stop the losing streak on Wednesday. He’ll toe the rubber against Jose Soriano and a still exhausted Blue Jays bullpen.

After getting trounced 9-0 by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the series opener, the Colorado Rockies looked to get back on track in Game 2.

And they did that in a close game that found the Rockies defeating the D-backs 3-2.

The offense got key hits (with a big thanks to Kyle Karros)

The Rockies (again) started off in the hole when Tomoyuki Sugano gave up a one-run homer to Corbin Carroll (17).

Two batters later, Ketel Marte (21) repeated his teammates’s feat and sent one over the right-field wall.

Those were the only runs Sugano allowed — though he did surrender a triple to noted speedster Nolan Arenado — and the Rockies came out of the first inning with a 2-0 deficit. (For those keeping score at home, the Rockies have allowed more first-inning runs than any other team in MLB.)

As for the Rockies, they continued to struggle offensively and could not figure out D-backs lefty starter Mitch Bratt.

In the third inning, the Rockies finally had their first base runner when Jordan Beck smacked a double. Connor Norby followed that up with a walk in his first Rockies at-bat. However, the Rockies were unable to capitalize and headed into the bottom half of the third still down 2-0.

The offense took another run at getting on the board in the fourth inning. Cole Carrigg hit a double (14) with one out, but the Rockies were, again, unable to capitalize, and the score remained 2-0 D-backs.

The game dragged along until the sixth inning when Ezequiel Tovar got on base with a single. And then Kyle Karros stepped to the plate and slammed his 10th homer of the season, tying the game and got the Rockies on the board for the first time since an 8th-inning Hunter Goodman homer on Sunday in St. Louis.

The bottom half of the inning, however, found a swift change in Karros’ fortunes when he collided with Tovar while both were attempting to field the same ball. Karros took a blow from Tovar’s shoulder to his head before leaving the game with Willi Castro moving to third and TJ Rumfield entering the game to cover first.

One pitch later, however, Arenado hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the game tied at two.

Bratt left the game after the sixth inning. He allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits while walking one and striking out five. For the seventh, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo went to his bullpen.

With Kevin Ginkel entering the game in relief, Hunter Goodman kicked things off with a lead-off triple.

Mickey Moniak hit a fly ball to left field to score the run and give the Rockies a 3-2 lead.

The Rockies went to their bullpen in the seventh. Jimmy Herget allowed one hit, but the runner did not score, and the Rockies headed into the eighth with a one-run lead.

Brennan Bernadino handled the eighth inning.

The Rockies came into the ninth inning hoping to tack on another run (or two). Carrigg hit a single with one out and stole second base, his seventh steal of the season. With two outs, Castro walked, and designated hitter Mickey Moniak came to the plate. However, a fly ball to center ended the threat.

Closer Jordan Romano came in for the ninth looking to preserve a 3-2 Rockies lead. After getting Ketel Marte to pop out, Arenado hit a single. However, Romano finished the side to end the game and give the Rockies a win.

The Rockies finished the evening with three runs on six hits. They walked twice and struck out seven times.

“We kept grinding, just like we always do,” Schaeffer said of his team’s effort.

Schaeffer said that Karros is under concussion protocol. Additional updates will be provided tomorrow.

Stalwart Sugano (菅野 智之) kept the Rockies in the game (again)

It was a fairly typical Tomoyuki Sugano game.

He gave up two solo homers in the first inning (his 25th and 26th, respectively), and then settled in for the rest of the game. However, he battled against an elevated pitch count since he had already thrown 43 pitches by the end of the second inning.

Still, after allowing a hit in the third inning, Sugano retired nine consecutive batters.

He relied primarily on his splitter (24%), followed by his four-seamer (22%), and his sinker (20%). Once agin, Sugano’s extensive pitch mix coupled with elite control was enough to shut down a smoking-hot D-backs offense after the first inning.

Sugano’s final line was 6.0 IP with two runs (both earned) on six hits. He struck out five and did not issue a walk on 93 pitches.

“I thought the execution got better as the game went on,” Schaeffer said. “Tomo did what he does.”

It was another stellar Sugano outing that garnered him his 12th win of 2026.

The bullpen finished the job

After the sixth inning, Schaeffer turned the game over to the bullpen.

Jimmy Herget handled the seventh. He went 1.0 IP and gave up one hit, but no runs, walks, or strikeouts.

It was another sparkling eighth inning for Brennan Bernadino, who retired all three batters he faced on 13 pitches.

Jordan Romano earned the save by allowing one hit but no runs on 17 pitches.

Up next

The Rockies are now 47-73 while the Diamondbacks are 64-57.

Join us tomorrow for a Game 3 rubber match, which tees off at 1:40 pm.

Rockies starter Ryan Feltner will face Merrill Kelly.

See you then — at the snake farm.

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The Rays looked to make it eight straight against the Sacramento Athletics tonight, as Nick Martinez took the hill for Tampa Bay. Opposite him was 25 year old Mason Barnett, making just his eighth career start at the major league level.

The Rays offense didn’t take long to get things started, as Junior Caminero crushed his 35th homer of the year:

That was the second homer in as many games for Caminero. Dating back to August 5, his last three hits have left the yard.

Things stayed put until the top of the third when the Rays scored their third run on a sacrifice fly by *checks notes* Chandler Simpson. It would only take one more inning before the Rays would tack on two more from another unlikely source, as Taylor Walls hit his first home run of 2026:

But Walls’ moment would last long, as Yandy Diaz stole his thunder, mashing his 17th homer on the very next pitch. After an extended slump, it seems as if Diaz has returned to form, as he has now homered in consecutive games, and hit safely eight times in the last three.

The A’s had an answer in the bottom of the fourth, getting themselves on the board in the form of a two run homer off the bat of Lawrence Butler. Brady Basso came in to relieve Barnett. He would pitch a scoreless fifth, but ran in to the absolute buzzsaw in Walls, this time homering from the right side:

Believe it or not, this is the second time in his major league career he has homered from both sides of the plate, the first Ray to achieve this feat twice. Diaz wouldn’t steal his thunder a second time, though.

Victor Mesa, Jr. added to the home run barrage in the seventh, this time off of Elvis Alvarado, for his 10th of the year. Mesa, Jr. has made good on his first run at extended major league playing time, raising his wRC+ to a 106 mark:

Walls wasn’t the only Ray of the night to hit his first home run of the season, as Carson Williams wasted no time going deep pinch hitting for Caminero in the eighth, blasting a 420 foot bomb to right center. Hopefully, this is the swing that gets Williams’ bat going.

Martinez would go the distance, but not before the A’s scored two more in the bottom of the ninth. For the Rays’ starter, it was just the second complete game of his major league career. Additionally, it was his fourth consecutive start without allowing a walk, and just his third start this year allowing more than three runs.

Tomorrow the Rays go for their ninth win and their third sweep in a row, as ace Drew Rasmussen takes the ball opposite Jack Perkins in a Wednesday matinee.

Among 59 outfielders who had seen at least 10 opportunities in center this season, Trent Grisham ranked 59th in sprint speed. 

By the same metric, which measures a player’s top running speed, Spencer Jones entered play Tuesday No. 39 of 521 major leaguers, an elite athlete who would be one of the faster center fielders in baseball if he were a center fielder. 

Yet Grisham was back in center for a 97th time this season, having played zero games in a corner, as the Yankees won the series opener 4-1 over the Mariners in The Bronx while Jones, who has moved all around the grass, was in right field. 

“Feel like that’s the best way to go,” manager Aaron Boone said of an arrangement that speaks to the club valuing Grisham’s know-how over Jones’ sheer ability at one of the most demanding positions to play. 

Grisham has only played center in three seasons with the Yankees after establishing himself at the position with the Padres, with whom he won Gold Gloves in 2020 and 2022. 

But in those days his foot speed was an asset, ranking 18th among all major leaguers in sprint speed in 2020, when he averaged 29.1 feet per second in his fastest one-second window. 

That number is now down to 26.6. Like a safety who can diagnose opposing offenses but lacks closing speed, Grisham’s limitation is most on display when he has to backpedal or race behind him for balls over his head, where the 29-year-old ranked dead last among center fielders according to Outs Above Average. 

“He’s been having trouble going back,” said outfield coach Luis Rojas, who also pointed at the hamstring injuries over the past few years that may have taken a toll. “He knows about it. He’s working hard on it. 

“But you can see, he’s really good coming in. He finishes plays coming in. … He’s got a really good athleticism as an outfielder to bend and make some shoestring catches or diving catches.” 

A strength in charging and route running and a weakness in retreating added up to Grisham ranking 39th of 40 by Outs Above Average. A competing metric, Defensive Runs Saved, saw Grisham rank 58th of 68 outfielders who had logged at least 100 innings in center. 

There is also the eye test, and a number of plays — most recently Thursday’s drive from St. Louis’ JJ Wetherholt, which Grisham could not reach, decided to play off the wall and then watched as it short-hopped the wall and scored two runs — also paint a picture of a center fielder whose legs are holding him back. 

Which is not the only trait Boone considers when writing his lineup. 

“Just really experienced at the position,” Boone said of Grisham, an eight-year veteran who has rarely played a corner in his career. “Generally speaking, routes, ball security, just the nuances of the position, he’s very good at.” 

There are no guarantees that Jones, who most often played center field coming through the Yankees minor league season, would immediately prove as savvy if given runway in center. Boone also pointed to Jones having played “a good amount in the corners” in the minors as contributing to the alignment. 

What it adds up to is the Yankees relying upon a center fielder who is older and slower than most center fielders while hoping that experience matters and speed, even a bit of it, can return. 

Grisham will not be among the fastest in the game again, but it is at least possible there is another gear to reach as he gets further away from his June hamstring strain and feels more comfortable going all out. 

“I think he’s fully healthy,” Rojas said. “But [an injury like that is] always in the back of your head when it happens during the season, and you want to stay in there for your team, right? Grish is a guy who wants to play.”

ATLANTA — Nate Lavender’s early returns have left the biggest impression on Mets officials just over a week since the bullpen was overhauled. 

The lefty entered Tuesday with three scoreless outings in as many appearances, spanning 3 ¹/₃ innings, with only one hit allowed and five strikeouts.

Lavender has joined Jefry Yan to replace A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley, the lefty relievers traded at least week’s deadline. 

“He’s pitched in a few tense situations,” interim manager Andy Green said before the Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Braves at Truist Park. 

Lavender, 26, was drafted by the Mets in 2021.

He returned to the organization this year after the Rays selected him in the Rule 5 draft following the 2024 season. 

“A lot of people were pretty sullen when he got claimed by the Rays,” Green said. “We were thrilled when he came back. We have always trusted the human and the competitor, and I think he has proven himself out here on a big stage pretty quickly.” 

The next step in Kodai Senga’s potential evolution into a closer (at least with Devin Williams sidelined) is availability on consecutive days.

Senga, who recorded his first MLB save Monday with a scoreless ninth inning, has never pitched in back-to-back games in his career. 

“We want to ensure he’s in a good spot physically the first time you ask him to do that,” Green said. 

Williams is on the IL with a shoulder strain that is expected to keep him out into September. 

Senga, after recording the third out Monday, wanted the ball as a keepsake, but Carson Benge had already flipped it to a fan. The fan came forward Tuesday and before the game exchanged baseballs with Senga, receiving an autographed one in return. 

Gabriel Arias received his first start for the Mets on Tuesday, as the first baseman. Arias gave the Mets an additional right-handed bat in the lineup against lefty Martín Pérez. He went 0-for-3 at the plate.

It was a costly night in the bay.    Not only would Houston lose by a score of 4-1, but they’d also witness an early exit from Jose Altuve who was hit in the left foot on an errant pitch from Carson Whisenhunt during his first AB.  Nick Allen would replace Altuve as a result.     It’s officially being listed as a left foot contusion.   

Whisenhunt labored early on.    In the opening two innings alone, he’d toss 55 pitches.  During that stretch, the Astros would strand a total of five baserunners.  The lone score was a sac fly from Yordan Alvarez, which was his 87th RBI of the season.     Aside from that run, the only other things that went right on this night were the Rangers and Mariners each losing and failing to gain ground.    

Hunter Brown would give up that aforementioned lead moments later.    Rafael Devers led off the bottom of the second with a walk.   Devers proceeded to take second, and on a Drew Gilbert single, he’d score to tie things at 1.    San Francisco would add a run in the bottom of the fourth.    Gilbert once again was at the center of things, as he’d draw a walk and eventually come around to score on Drew Cavanaugh’s single to center field. That made the score 2-1.   

After initially being on the ropes, Whisenhunt would settle down and cruise through the next three innings.      At one point, he’d retire 11 in a row.    For the night, he’d allow 4 hits, issue 3 walks and strike out a pair while surrendering one run.    

Hunter Brown would go five innings.    In his final inning of work, Bryce Eldridge would take him deep with a solo blast to center field.     Brown issued 3 walks and only managed a total of six swing and misses against Giants hitters.      De Los Santos lasted mere minutes in relief of Brown.   With two outs in the 6th, Cavanaugh reached on a single and scored on a double from Christian Koss.    That made the score 4-1 and that would be your final. 

With the win, the Giants are now 50-70.     

Odds & Ends:

Nelson Velazquez made his debut with the Astros after being claimed off waivers from St. Louis.     He went 0-3.     

The Astros will complete their road trip with a day game on Wednesday.    First pitch is set for 2:45pm CT.     

The Giants are expected to start former Astros pitching prospect Adrian Houser who the Astros selected in the second round, back in 2011.   

West coast games have not agreed with the Brewers this season. For the sixth time this season, the Brewers gave up double-digit runs in a game, and three of those have happened on the west coast. This time, it was an 11-2 loss to the Padres on Wednesday night in San Diego.

The game started off well enough for Kyle Harrison, who needed just ten pitches to get through the first inning despite allowing a single. However, it all started falling apart in the second. The inning started with back-to-back singles by Jackson Merrill and Austin Hays. Then, with runners at first and second, catcher Luis Campusano hit a ground ball directly to David Hamilton at third base. It was a tailor-made double play at minimum, and potentially even a chance at a triple play. Hamilton stepped on third and threw to Jihwan Bae at second, but Bae missed the catch. It should have been a error, but is not counted as one since by rule, you can’t assume a double play will be turned.

That loomed large as the inning continued. Xander Bogaerts popped out for the second out, but then Jake Cronenworth hit a double to left to score a run. After that, Fernando Tatis Jr. worked a full count, and then drew a walk after a challenge on a called strikeout. That brought up former Brewer Luis Rengifo. On the second pitch he saw, Harrison threw a fastball right down the middle, and Rengifo sent it far out over the left field fence. The Padres had a 5-0 lead.

From there, it might as well have been an insurmountable lead as the Brewers flailed against Walker Buehler. In his six inning start, he threw just 58 of his 98 pitches for strikes, and that was with the Brewers’ hitters taking some bad swings. They did get a run off him in the third on a Jackson Chourio groundout with runners at second and third base, but that was all. That was the only run Buehler allowed, finishing his day with just one run, three hits, and two walks allowed while striking out five.

Meanwhile, Harrison had to keep pitching to not use up the bullpen, but his struggles were not done. He allowed a solo home run to Tatis Jr. on the first pitch of the fourth inning. The next inning, he allowed a two-run home run to Campusano. His day came to an end at 4 2/3 innings pitched, allowing eight runs on ten hits and three walks with just three strikeouts. His fastball velocity was notably down throughout the start, averaging between 92 and 94 mph, and topped out at 94.5 mph.

Bryse Wilson, fresh on a new contact after he elected to become a free agent, ended up as the bulk pitcher for the next few innings. The Padres scored three more runs off him in the sixth, but he made it through the seventh scoreless. He pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts.

Gary Sánchez came in to both pitch and hit in the eighth inning. Despite allowing two hits while featuring a 35 mph curveball and fastball that topped out at 87 mph, he made it through the inning scoreless.

The Brewers did get one run back in the ninth off of Griffin Canning. Singles from Luis Lara and Andrew Vaughn put two runners on base, and Brice Turang doubled to right to score one run. That was in as Brandon Lockridge grounded out to end the game.

Despite entering the game in the seventh inning, Vaughn led the offense with a two-hit day. The only other batter to reach base twice was Garrett Mitchell, who had a hit and a walk. As a whole, the offense managed just seven hits and three walks.

The Brewers will look to salvage a game in this series tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Dustin May will face Robbie Ray on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m.

EDIT: The injuries continue to build for the Brewers. Not only is William Contreras dealing with soreness after being struck on the arm, Brice Turang has a sprained thumb now as well.

The Yankees woke up Tuesday six games back of first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

It was their largest deficit of the season. 

They are still awaiting the return of three of their most important lineup fixtures in Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton. 

For a team that acknowledged in spring training and early in the regular season the importance of winning the division after falling just short a year ago, the Yankees have got their work cut out with just about a quarter of the season left. 

“Nothing changes,” Aaron Boone said Tuesday of the team’s objectives before before they beat Mariners 4-1 at the Stadium. 

That’s true even with Judge sidelined since the end of May and no timeline disclosed for his return from his fractured rib. 

Bellinger looks to be progressing in his comeback from a strained hamstring, and Stanton ran the bases Tuesday. 

Without that trio, the Yankees lineup has gone into the tank. But after initially withstanding the loss of Judge — when the Yankees built a 3 ½-game lead June 17 — they’ve slipped further behind the surging Rays. 

They’ve so far been able to fight off Boston for second place in the division. 

Despite the gap that exists between the Yankees and Rays, Gerrit Cole echoed Boone’s belief that a second division title in three years remains not just within reach but expected. 

“To be honest with you, I didn’t know how many games it was, but we’re not gonna change our mindset,” Cole said. “Our mindset is to win the division.” 

And that will continue to be the case until they’re eliminated. 

“The six games [deficit] is relevant statistically, in a sense, but we haven’t moved the goalposts,” Cole said. “You don’t do that till it’s over.” 

The blows to the roster don’t alter anything, according to Cole. 

“Regardless of who we have, that’s the standard we should be accountable to,” Cole said. “That’s always our focus.” 

For the Yankees to flip the standings, they’ll have to get more out of the lineup before their stars return. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has acknowledged his part in the struggling offense and said catching Tampa Bay was within reach. 

“It’s still a realistic goal to win the division,” Chisholm said. “If they go on a losing streak and we do well, it would be there for us. It’s baseball. Anything can happen.” 

The Yankees don’t have to go too far back for inspiration. 

On Aug. 23 last season, they were in third place, 6 ½ games behind first-place Toronto and also trailing the Red Sox. 

And even with just 12 games to play, they were still five games back of the front-running Blue Jays before going 11-1 to close to within one game. 

They fell short and Toronto knocked them off in the ALDS. 

“We just have to go day by day,’’ Chisholm said. 

Ryan Weathers’ time in the rotation may come to an end sometime this month, especially with Carlos Rodón possibly coming back into the rotation after one more rehab start.

But Weathers isn’t going to make the decision an easy one.

The lefty delivered his fourth straight excellent start in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Seattle. He gave up just one run over 5 ²/₃ innings, touched for a solo homer by Randy Arozarena with one out in the top of the sixth.

At that point, the lethargic Yankees offense still hadn’t scored, which seems to be a nightly occurrence in The Bronx.

But the solid work by Weathers allowed the Yankees to come back in the bottom of the seventh, when they finally broke through against the Mariners with four runs.

Weathers entered Tuesday having given up just one run over 18 ²/₃ innings in his previous three starts and was excellent again while facing a Mariners team that’s been in a similar scoring drought to the Yankees.

“I’m in this organization to win ballgames at this level,” Weathers said after the game. “Whatever that means, I think I’m a valuable asset in any role. That’s what I want [Aaron Boone] to know about me. If I’m in the bullpen, that’s fine.”

Despite his run of success, there has been the thought that Weathers’ stuff would translate to the bullpen better than right-hander Will Warren’s.

But pitching coach Matt Blake said the team hasn’t determined how they will handle the rotation once Rodón gets back from his inflamed elbow.

“Weathers is throwing the ball extremely well lately, and there are a lot of valuable innings to be had as a starter,” Blake said. “I don’t think we’ve made a decision one way or the other with Carlos coming back. We’ll let it play out. It usually sorts itself out, as it has so far this year.”

Another factor to consider is that Weathers has also had a much heavier workload than in any of his other five major league seasons.

Prior to this year, he’d never started more than 18 games or pitched more than 94 ²/₃ innings as a major leaguer. He pitched a combined 136 ²/₃ innings between the majors and minors in 2023.

After Tuesday’s performance, his 23rd start of the year, he’s up to 126 ²/₃ innings.

“I feel great,” Weathers said. “My arm is really good.”

Still, even Weathers is intrigued by the possibility of moving to a relief role, at least down the stretch.

“In the bullpen, who knows what I can do?” Weathers said. “It’s a shorter burst and you’re not setting up hitters. You just throw nasty stuff and get three outs. And in the playoffs, all bets are off at the end. I just want to be a Swiss Army knife.’’

He was good enough to throw 22 ²/₃ consecutive scoreless innings before Arozarena took him deep, which also ended his streak of having retired 11 batters in a row.

Weathers continued using a different pitch mix, featuring his sinker and slider more, with less of his four-seam fastball and sweeper.

The results have followed, with fewer homers allowed.

“He’s got a great handle on who he is and what he needs to do,’’ Aaron Boone said. “He’s executing at a high level right now.”

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the Anaheim Angels scored three runs.

The Rangers had two paths they could take tonight. They could win tonight’s game and inch a smidge further from being a .500 ballclub or they could lose and be right back at .500. It’s pretty easy to guess which direction they took.

Despite leading 1-0 just three pitches into the game against a starter with a 7+ ERA on the year, the Rangers only scored one more run all game against a team so broken half their pitching staff have like single-digit big league careers and the entire pitching coaching staff was just fired.

The Rangers had plenty of chances to score, and indeed eight opportunities with RISP, but capitalized on just one of them when they had to send in Jarred Kelenic to pinch hit, a guy they didn’t think was as good as Jonah Bride like four days ago.

Despite leadoff man Joc Pederson reaching in each one of his PAs tonight, Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager went a combined 0-for-8 with several missed chances to plate runs. When the Angels got a runner on from the bottom of their lineup, the top of the order capitalized and that was ultimately the difference.

Scoring only two runs mattered because the Angels scored three of them. All three of them came in the bottom of the third when tonight’s starter Cody Bradford had one of those MacKenzie Gore-esque innings that got away from him with three of Anaheim’s five hits on the night coming in the frame.

Despite the three-run third, Bradford ultimately went seven innings on just 75 pitches. Allowing three runs to the Angels shouldn’t be demoralizing but for the Rangers, it apparently is.

The Rangers have now lost four of five games in Anaheim this season and five of eight games overall against the Angels. If they don’t make the playoffs, getting manhandled by a team the rest of the league wipes their shoes on is as good a reason as any for why.

Player of the Game: Pederson hit the lead off home run and then drew three walks. He only scored one run. You do the math.

Up Next: The Rangers and Angels will play again tomorrow night and hey, at an even later hour this time. RHP Cal Quantrill will make the start for Texas in Nathan Eovaldi’s stead while the Anaheims will turn to RHP George Klassen.

The Wednesday night first pitch from the Big A is scheduled for 9:10 pm CT and will be aired nationally on ESPN.

The Athletics dropped the second game of their three-game series against the Rays on Tuesday night, losing in embarrassing fashion to Tampa Bay 12-4 on a warm night in Sacramento. The A’s will now have their backs up against the wall tomorrow as they’ll hope to avoid the sweep in front of the home crowd. And with the Angels’ win tonight, they need a win to avoid the cellar of the American League. How did it come to this?

Tampa didn’t wait to get going against A’s starter Mason Barnett. Just two batters into the game the Rays were up 2-0 thanks to a two-run blast off the bat of Rays slugger Junior Caminero, his 35th of the year which puts him in a tie for the league lead.

Tampa would add on another in the third inning thanks to two walks and a wild pitch from Barnett, then three more in the fourth off back-to-back home runs, another two-run blast and a solo home run. After four innings the Rays had already tagged Barnett for six runs (five earned). That would be it for Barnett in this one, making way for lefty Brady Basso to start the fifth inning.

• Mason Barnett: 4 IP, 5 H, 6 R (5 ER), 3 BB, 0 K, 3 HR, 67 pitches

Not a great outing from Barnett and that’s back-to-back duds from the righty. There’s no guarantee he’s assured another start the next time through the rotation but with the lack of other options it’s likely he gets another go, which would come next against the team that traded him, the Kansas City Royals. Not a bad matchup to let the young pitcher go prove something.

Meanwhile the A’s were facing Tampa Bay right-hander Nick Martinez. The offseason acquisition has been a godsend for the Rays and is having a career year at age 36. That strong season continued tonight against the slumping A’s. Through the first three innings the club managed just one hit.

They would finally break through against Martinez in the fourth courtesy of a home run off the bat of Lawrence Butler, a two-run blast to cut into the Tampa lead:

That’s #8 on the year for Butler. Who else thinks the club rushed him back from double knee surgery this past offseason?

Tampa would add on another in the sixth off another solo home run off Basso, then two more off another two-run shot off Luis Medina in the seventh. And just for good measure a three-run home run off Yunior Tur in the eighth, their sixth long ball of the night.

That Butler homer was more or less it for the Green & Gold in this one. The A’s would add on two meaningless runs in the bottom of the ninth off a Carlos Cortes double but that was it as Martinez threw a 101-pitch complete game.

A tough night all around in every facet of the game. The pitching didn’t show up, the offense was silent outside of a Lawrence Butler home run, and now the A’s are facing the prospect of getting swept at home. Things are not going well in any sense of the word right now. Last place in the American League is a place we could possibly be by the end of the day tomorrow.

The series wraps up tomorrow afternoon in what’s expected to be a scorcher at the ballpark. Tampa Bay will go with right-hander Drew Rasmussen in the finale. Tampa’s ace is putting together another strong campaign leading the Rays’ pitching staff with a 2.75 ERA. It’s not going to be an easy task for the A’s bats to inflict damage against him. The Athletics meanwhile have yet to announce their starter but it lines up to be Jack Perkins. Perhaps we’ll have an opener for tomorrow’s series finale?

Dave Roberts said multiple times in recent days that Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell looks like a man “on a mission.”

Based on what happened Tuesday night, the veteran skipper might have actually been underselling it.

In his latest return from a long-term injury with the Dodgers, Snell quickly began making up for lost time with a six-inning, one-run gem against the Kansas City Royals in the Dodgers’ 5-4 walk-off win.

By striking out 10 batters and allowing only three hits, he offered a resounding reminder of his two-time Cy Young Award-winning skillset.

“With the talent that he has, that’s what can happen,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Added Snell himself, with a confident head nod: “I like where I’m at.”

Indeed, in the kind of outing he hopes will kickstart a dominant finish to his second season with the Dodgers, Snell showed no signs of rust, apprehension or lack of faith in his stuff.

He began the evening looking almost untouchable, retiring each of his first 10 batters including seven via strikeout. 

He gave up a run in the fourth (which only came after a broken-bat single, seeing-eye grounder and sacrifice fly) but stranded a couple of runners in scoring position later in that inning, then another at third base with no outs in the fifth.

And from there, he put a promising final touch on his 84-pitch performance, surpassing Roberts’ soft pregame limit of five innings for his return start by returning for sixth and retiring the side in order.

“Coming into this, I was going to go six,” Snell said. “I told Dave that. We were texting and I just told him, ‘I’m going six.'”

Still, he later added, “To be able to do that for six innings and feel like I had more left, I’m excited about that.”

It wasn’t only himself he impressed with immediate return to form, either.

“That’s the Snell that we’re used to seeing,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “And hopefully we have him for the next two, three months, for the long run, and look forward to playing behind him again.” 

Staying healthy for any long runs, of course, has been a challenge for the 33-year-old pitcher ever since he signed a $182 million contract with the Dodgers two offseasons ago.

In his first spring with the team, he developed a shoulder injury that would plague him throughout the 2025 regular season, limiting him to just 11 starts. And though he returned in time to play a key role in the playoffs –– making five starts, three of them gems, plus a relief appearance in Game 7 of the World Series –– his shoulder issue lingered into the start of this year, delaying his season debut until May 9.

“Last year, obviously he wasn’t completely healthy,” Roberts said, “as we found out later.”

More troubles arose immediately after that three-inning, five-run start against the Atlanta Braves earlier this year.

Snell experienced arm pain that led to a diagnosis of loose bodies in his elbow. He underwent a surgical procedure on May 19 (using the revolutionary and less-invasive NanoNeedle technique) that forced him to endure another elongated rehab process. He faced growing scrutiny over all the time he continued to miss.

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This go around, however, Snell came back feeling healthy and refreshed.

Even leading up to Tuesday, Roberts said he had noticed his “swagger” and that he “looks a little taller.”

The surgery, Snell recently explained, had alleviated not only his elbow discomfort, but also his ongoing shoulder pains as well as numbness in his fingers. 

His stuff, he felt during his recovery, was in as good of a spot as it had been in years, leaving him increasingly anxious for his activation from the injured list.

“I was more calm than I thought I was going to be, so that was good,” he said, later adding: “I think the biggest thing was just being aggressive, be in the zone, attack.”

That’s what Snell did from the moment he toed the rubber, striking out the side in the first inning with a clinical 13-pitch sequence.

He immediately had command of his fastball, dotting it at the top of the zone and to either side of his plate.

He used three different pitches to put batters away, snapping off a full-count changeup to Nick Loftin, a 98 mph heater that blew away Bobby Witt Jr., and a late-breaking, dirt-biting curveball that Jac Caglianone helplessly swung through.

“I know how good my stuff is, so I didn’t want to just be nibbling,” Snell said. “To strike out the side was good, but it’s just keeping the pace, keeping the velo where I need it to be, feeling strong. Those things matter a lot to me.”

Snell succeeded there as well, maintaining effeciency and effectiveness for the rest of the night.

None of the three hits he allowed came on hard contact (the third, a leadoff double in the fifth from Tyler Tolbert, was a blooper down the right-field line). None of the four times the Royals took an at-bat with a runner in scoring position could they find a way to solve him.

“I think I saw what everyone saw,” Roberts said. “Just going after guys, being on the attack.”

In the end, it added up to nothing short of an all-around masterclass; one that might have (once again) been a long time in the making, but could foreshadow a flurry of similar performances from Snell as he catapults himself back into the Dodgers’ season.

“I thought tonight everything was pretty easy, it really was,” Roberts added. “Just the finishing of his pitches. He didn’t seem like he was searching for feel, delivery, and he was very external.”

“And, yeah, the 10 punch[outs],” he later quipped, as if he’d almost forgotten. “So really electric stuff tonight.”

The Dodgers are counting on more to come.