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As a reminder, last weekend, Colorado Rockies president of baseball operations talked with media about where the Colorado Rockies are at this point in the season. On Monday, we ran DePodesta’s comments related to prospects. Tonight, here are his comments on a range of other subjects.

Some comments that have been lightly edited for clarity.

Pitching

DePodesta addressed Rockies pitching with a focus on Kyle Freeland and Michael Lorenzen.

Kyle Freeland and Michael Lorenzen 

We have a lot of belief in those guys, and we’re sticking with them. There’s no doubt about it. They have long track records of success, and we don’t expect them to have super-low ERAs. They’re pitching in this environment. This is going to be challenging — there’s no doubt — but we know there’s more in there with both those guys.

I think stuff-wise, Michael Lorenzen, it’s all there. He’s throwing hard.

Kyle still is getting strikeouts and whatnot, so we know it’s still in there, and we’re sticking with him, and we believe in him. We know it’s going to better at some stretch. This is just their lull right now, and they’re fighting through it, and we’re going to be right there with them, fighting through it.

I think both those guys are fantastic competitors. It’s part of the reason they’re here. I think I think Free has always embraced this challenge and always wanted it. Michael absolutely did. He wanted to attack this challenge.

They’re intense competitors, so I think it’s tough for them to not be as successful as they expect to be, and they’re trying to figure it out. But the least we can do is be right there by their side and fighting along with them and believe in them, and we do.

Look, again, this is a tough challenge, I think, for anybody, and there are going to be some tough stretches, but that’s just part of it. Again, we’ve talked about some of these other guys already, they’ve had some ups and downs through the course of the season, and these guys may have had some down moments recently, but there are going to be ups here coming. We believe that.

Pitching depth

I think we certainly felt we were going to need it through the course of the season, and even as we get into the summer here at Coors, and I think the elements are even tougher on the on the pitching staff.

We didn’t expect to have this many injuries in the rotation, but it certainly has proved to be helpful in that circumstance. But even now, it gets to a point where it’s just hard to come up with that many guys that are that are prepared and ready to either take on the starting role or the or the bulk roll. We certainly feel like we have a couple more in Triple-A, but not as many as we’d like right now.

Baseball at elevation & improved hitting

In addition, DePodesta was asked if he had been surprised by anything when experiencing baseball at elevation up close and personal. He also answered a question about the best kind of hitter for Coors Field.

I don’t think [there were any unexpected surprises about playing baseball at elevation], but largely that’s because I’m pretty close with a lot of people who’ve been here for a long time, so I think they prepped me pretty well for what this was going to be like.

Undoubtedly, there are some real challenges, not only on the field but even off the field. I think that might be the one that doesn’t get talked about very much, is just the recovery aspect of this — not just for pitchers, but even for position players.

I’ve actually been really pleased with our position player club, especially recently, going on the road. I think they’ve outperformed what they’ve done in recent years, especially those first couple days on the road, which can be really taxing.

But, like I said before, there are unique challenges, but I don’t think they’re ones that are at this point unexpected.

—

I’m not entirely sure [about the Rockies’ improved road numbers]. I wish I could pinpoint it exactly.

I do think our hitting coaches have done a terrific job with our guys trying to get them locked in. I do think plate discipline certainly does have something to do with it as well.

We saw it certainly on this last road trip, those first — really all six — games. I think we showed as good discipline as we had all year, and we scored a lot of runs as a result.

But I think our preparation, and I — this isn’t a comment on what it was ever like in the past because I have no idea what it was like or even the players we’ve had in the past — but I do think our hitting coaches have done an excellent job of getting our guys prepared, both mentally and physically, when we get on the road.

And they’ve tried a lot of different things, and I think we’re going to continue to try more, even in terms of drill packages and things like that, once we first get on the road, just to acclimatize as best we can.

—

Ideally we’d have both — walks and homers. Let’s do it, right? I’m all for it.

You know, it’s interesting. You go back to the Blake Street Bombers — everyone talks about the power of those clubs. I think that’s absolutely right.

What sometimes doesn’t get talked about is those guys were great hitters. They were great hitters first, right?

They did have good plate discipline, they did put the ball in play, they also happened to hit the ball over the wall. So I think that would be the ideal scenario.

But I think foundationally, we as an organization needed to have more plate discipline. This past year, our chase rate was the highest in baseball — not just in the big leagues, but also in Triple-A, also in Double-A, also in High-A, also in Low-A. So we have a lot of room to make up just to be on par with some of our competitors in that space.

And, again in this field, we just need to take advantage of all the holes that are out there in the outfield. We need to be able to put more balls in play. In order to do that, we need to swing at better pitches to hit, and we’ve started to do that, which I think has been really encouraging.

The trade deadline

The nearing trade deadline was also a topic of conversation, but DePodesta wasn’t showing his cards.

This is probably around the time of year where those conversations are beginning. They’re still very preliminary, so we certainly haven’t canvassed the league or anything like that, but we’re starting to have some conversations out there to see if there’s a potential match.

I think we just need to be opportunistic, so whatever might be available to us — whether it’s helping the big-league team, whether it’s helping the upper levels, or whether it’s something dynamic at the at the lower levels — I think we have to be open to all of them.

There would be certain guys that would be really, really hard for us to move. I think that’s probably true for any team.

There are guys that we feel are, hopefully, foundational players for us going forward. At the same time, like I just said, I think we need to be opportunistic. We’re not where we want to be, right? So, if there are opportunities for us to get better, certainly both in the short term and long term, I think we need to look at that. I think it’s our responsibility to look at that. But there are a lot of guys that we’re not going to be active in shopping, that’s for sure.

Where the Rockies are now

DePodesta also attempted to assess the current state of the Rockies.

Probably right around now, 10 weeks in, or thereabouts, I think our biggest problem is we just have a lot of guys out. And that’s not an excuse. It’s just that’s our reality.

So, we haven’t really been able to see our team together as we viewed it, and we hope maybe what it will be before the end of the year, but we’ll see.

I think we have a decent feel for a handful of players. As you can see through the course of these first two-and-a-half months, there are players who’ve been up and down at different times, but I think they’ve shown certainly what they’re capable of. And I think what we’re anxious to see is when our pitching, our hitting, defense, it sort of all comes together because we’ve had stretches of each of those performing really well.

For the first month, I thought our pitching did an excellent job, really carried us to a large degree. I think, in the last, even the last week-and-a-half or so, I’ve really been pleased with what our offense looks like, but our pitching hasn’t been as good as it was early. And part of that student injury and whatnot.

But so I am anxious to see us put it all together because I think we flashed it on both sides of the ball.

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PITTSBURGH –– Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani left the team’s 8-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday with left knee inflammation, but is not believed to have suffered any serious injury and could be back in the lineup as soon as Friday, manager Dave Roberts said.

“Not high,” Roberts said when asked about his concern level with the four-time MVP. “Just wanted to be smart and not push it. So I feel good about him being in there tomorrow.”

While it wasn’t exactly clear when Ohtani got hurt, Roberts said he believed it happened on a stolen base attempt in the fourth inning, when Ohtani broke hard from first on a pitch that wound up being fouled off.

Around the sixth inning, Roberts said he got word from the training staff about Ohtani’s discomfort –– which was in the back of his leg around where the knee meets the hamstring.

At that point, the Dodgers decided to be “proactive,” Roberts said, and remove Ohtani from the game.

When Ohtani’s spot in the batting order came up in the seventh, it was Santiago Espinal who came to the plate as a pinch-hitter.

“We’ll just kind of see how he comes in [tomorrow],” Roberts said, with the Dodgers set to travel to Chicago for the start of a three-game series against the White Sox on Friday. “He’ll get there, do his routine, play catch, push off, land on it, see how it reacts. And then obviously take swings and see how it reacts, too.”

Ohtani’s injury was the second one to force a Dodgers player from Thursday’s game, after starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited in the fifth following a comebacker that struck him in the leg.

The team announced that Wrobleski, who was charged with four runs in his 4 ⅔-innings start, had suffered a right hamstring contusion.

However, the left-hander also appeared to avoid anything serious, with Roberts saying he was “very, very confident” that Wrobleski would be able to start in his next turn through the rotation.

“I’ll get some treatment, get the swelling to go down and I’ll be good to go,” Wrobleski echoed. “It’s a little bruise right now, but I’ll be fine.”

Prior to Ohtani’s departure, the two-way star was putting together another banner night.

He led off the game with a walk in the first, then lined a solo home run to right field to open the scoring in the third inning –– giving him his 13th home run of the year, and two in as many nights.

Ohtani then got a two-run rally started in the fourth with a two-out single; beginning the sequence that Roberts believes led to his injury. 

With Andy Pages at the plate, Ohtani attempted his steal of second early in the at-bat. Then, after the foul ball sent him back to first, he raced all the way to third on a single Pages hit to left field.

“I haven’t talked to Shohei yet, but my assumption is it was trying to steal second base,” Roberts said. “Obviously, I think that you just gotta be smart on the bases and not take chances we don’t really need to. But if that was the cause, I don’t really know right now.”

Ohtani later scored in the inning on another base hit from Freddie Freeman, able to jog across the plate without a throw coming home.

He took one more at-bat in the top of the fifth, when he drew a two-out walk and was left stranded at first.

Thursday marked the first time in more than a month that Ohtani was playing the day after a pitching start. On Wednesday, he pitched 6 ⅔ innings in a loss to the Pirates, and also had a home run in the ninth inning as a hitter. Unlike his past four trips to the mound, the Dodgers decided not to rest him the day after, a decision Roberts said earlier this week was based in part on the team having just recently had a day off on Monday.

Ohtani’s left leg is the one he lands on when he pitches, though Roberts noted “you could argue that it’s better [being] the landing leg versus the push off.”

Ohtani also has had an injury to his left knee before, undergoing surgery in September 2019 to repair a bipartite patella.

However, Roberts said Thursday’s issue was in a different spot.

“He’s the best player in the world, [so] hopefully he’s okay,” Freeman said. “I have no idea about anything. I just saw Santiago go up there. Hopefully he’s alright.”

The source of Wrobleski’s injury was much easier to pinpoint, as he took a 96.2 mph comebacker from Bryan Reynolds off his leg in the fifth inning before getting tangled with Reynolds at first while covering the base.

Wrobleski immediately bent down in discomfort, then walked off the field alongside a trainer.

“He’s fine,” Roberts said. “He’s just more frustrated with his performance tonight, and wanted to go deeper in the game.”

Indeed, in the at-bat prior to getting hurt, Wrobleski had allowed a three-run home run to Brandon Lowe. And after Reynolds came around to score later in the inning, what had once been a 5-0 Dodgers lead was trimmed to 5-4.

Alas, the team held on to secure its first series victory at PNC Park since 2021, getting a couple of insurance runs from Miguel Rojas in the seventh (on a run-scoring grounder) and the eighth (on a sacrifice fly) before Tanner Scott locked things down with a four-out save.

“It’s always good to win a series,” Roberts said.

Even better when –– they hope –– they were able to avoid two potential injury concerns to two starting pitchers, one of whom is also their most fearsome bat.

There hasn’t been a better White Sox debut since Wilson Álvarez kicked off his Chicago career by throwing a no-hitter at Baltimore in 1991, so BreakingT broke out the big art guns with their newest bit of Soxwear: Welcome to the Show, Kid!

This design, even by the high BreakingT standards, is outstanding: Braden jogging home after taking in the fact that he just become the only player in MLB history to debut and hit a walk-off homer to win a game in which his team was trailing. Mix in Chase Meidroth with his come-to-papa squat and Mike Vasil ON THE WAND. I mean really, you gotta have this.

And remember, it’s not just this shirt but anything else you buy with our link, whether a Phillies mug or Dodgers sweatshirt, gives South Side Sox a commission and helps us continue to provide the best coverage we can for you.

We have also skipped posts on a number of other White Sox items produced recently by BreakingT, so if you click to buy Braden’s tee make sure to check out the other South Side-inspired items now live at the site.

Welcome to the Show, Kid, from South Side Sox and BreakingT!

In response to the fever that has broken out all over the South Side, our friends at BreakingT have come up with a nifty little design celebrating the awesomeness of slugger Munetaka Murakami:

You gotta admit, it’s a pretty impossibly clever design, with the moon “O” and a bit of a nod to silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune. No doubt it will make a snappy addition to your closet.

And remember, anything else you buy with our link, whether a Pirates mug or Yankees sweatshirt, gives South Side Sox a commission and helps us continue to provide the best coverage we can for you.

So go ahead a book your trip to the Mune, from South Side Sox and BreakingT!

(Every purchase you make with our link drops a few pennies in the jar here at South Side Sox, so a list of all our prior BreakingT collaborations follow, below. Yes, some of the designs are now hilariously outdated collector’s items. But most, if not all of these, should still be available, so click a link and see!)

Over the weekend, Tim Anderson silenced the Yankees boo-birds — and perhaps those who have been doubted the potency of the Chicago White Sox. Now, Breaking T commemorates his power:

This link takes you to this newest T-shirt, plus our entire line of White Sox wear!

While several members of the Chicago White Sox will need your votes for the July All-Star Game, fans are encouraged to punch the Robert/Jiménez ticket for a dominant South Side outfield all season long!

Whether you’re voting offense (what say, 70 homers among them?) or defense (Luis already has a Gold Glove, Eloy is … still alive), there’s no better campaign to get behind.

With everyone now aware that on his 23rd try, Minnie Miñoso was elected to the Hall of Fame. And Breaking T has commemorated the nickname that manager Paul Richards bestowed on Minnie almost immediately after his arrival on the South Side:

Celebrate Minnie’s White Sox immortality with this wonderful creation!

Celebrate the White Sox moments of your life with the entire Chicago W Collection at Breaking T, where you can peruse everything available. Or, if you want to read all my terrific catalog copy for each item, just scroll down and enjoy!

The White Sox indeed did make a free agent acquisition or two before the lockout, so it’s well past time to raise our glasses to the Legend himself: Leury Legend, that is.

He’s the longest-tenured current White Sox player, and when he’s done, he could well crack the list of all-time White Sox. Can you believe it? Welcome back, Leury!

To celebrate the division title for 2021, Breaking T offers two new T-shirt designs commemorating the feat:

Certainly, we hope there will be more than just a division title to enjoy over the next month or so, but we have to start somewhere!

Contrary to the cynics among you, we haven’t featured every Breaking T White Sox design here at South Side Sox, for various reasons. But I’ve never seen one more confounding than the José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez Sugar Skulls designs.

That said, they are sort of insane, and I’m digging them. Definitely different.

If you scroll down far enough, I think you can see the original Yasmani Grandal Breaking T piece, Yaz We Can, which I think was pretty clever and should have pulled a lot of fans in with purchases. It was definitely different, as far as Breaking T fare.

But I don’t remember it doing all that well, which was a shame. Maybe Yaz isn’t sexy. Walks aren’t, as someone on Twitter wants to tell you every day.

Here’s another chance to wear your Yaz fandom, playing off of his casual drops on 400-foot blasts:

Yasmani really is the bad boy of the White Sox. He’ll snark you. He’ll roll his eyes. He’s not out to please anyone. He’s just gonna be a badass catcher who drops the bat after clocking one a mile, thank you very much.

Holy man, that Field of Dreams game win was so big, Breaking T rolled out three shirts to commemorate it!

The middle model even comes with TA’s “it’s all over, baby” gesture, which is fun.

Well, that was a titanic, game-winning home run if ever there was one!

Brian Goodwin told Cleveland to kick rocks, then sent a ball over the fence — and his bat into orbit — with his Sunday heroics, and Breaking T captures it in all its multicolored glory.

In just his second game back after a season-long stint on the IL, Eloy Jiménez announced his presence in the White Sox lineup with authority, hitting a home run and providing whirling dervish defense in Tuesday’s win at K.C.

Natch, Breaking T is here to celebrate the Big Baby’s return:

It’s great to have Eloy back with the club in any capacity, and him starring in just his second game back is extra sweet. Now you can wear that sweetness!

It was a quite a moment on Monday, seizing a win from the jaws of a doubleheader sweep. When you’re running away with a division, tension can seem manufactured, but Len Kasper gave us a classic moment that our own Joe Resis likened to A.J. Pierzynski’s walk-off against the Dodgers during the 2005 season. Listen to Len last night:

So naturally, Breaking T gives us a snapshot of Sheets’ homer, classically titled Holy Sheets!

Way to go, rook. Every player on this roster is stepping up and helping the White Sox win.

The White Sox just keep humming along, with great pick-me-ups from the most unlikely of places. Waiver-wire pickup Billy Hamilton has managed to become a core bench and spot-start piece for the club as it ascending in the AL Central, and the veteran made his defensive presence known, with authority, in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win at Minnesota:

Breaking T is on the scene, with some Billywear commemorating the catch:

I mean, incorporating that defensive brilliance with the hilarious Go Ham tagline? That’s a winner.

Well, hey there, we are in a moment, so Breaking T is kicking ass to gear up in support of Yermín Mercedes. Next up is a more general statement about the dumbness of unwritten rules, in a classic White Sox road script:

You don’t usually expect to have to persuade your manager to defend his own player, but here we are. And in the Tony La Russa-Yermín Mercedes kerfuffle, we (and all of the White Sox players) are Team Yermín.

So is Breaking T, who’s issuing this “I’m Yermín” wear in solidarity with the rookie sensation:

Simple, classic, and oh-so-83licious.

Peruse all the White Sox offerings at Breaking T, or use this post (and all entries below) to shop your own SSS catalog!

Well, perhaps you’ve been waiting for a more “authentic” Yerminator T-Shirt, something more “as seen on TV.” Well, here you have it!

Terminator vibe? Check. Super cool uniform easter egg in the shades? Check. Money actually going to the players association to benefit minimum-salaried players like Yermín himself? Check.

They may have had to scratch “perfecto” out of the original design after Roberto Pérez’s ninth-inning toe-tap, but Breaking T is delivering big for you after Carlos Rodón’s no-hitter!

It’s a sharp piece, with the clever use of accent mark, complete with high socks! (If only it was a warmer night, we’d have Rodón dressed in his full Grant Park 16´´softballer mode … #JulyGoalsForLos.)

As you well know, you don’t have to go 5-for-5 in your first MLB start or start a season 8-for-8 to merit a cool Breaking T shirt. But it doesn’t hurt!

Celebrate our Yermín Spring with The Yerminator, a delightful play off of everyone’s favorite killer robot-turned-sweet hero. Hoodies, Ts, we’ve got the gear.

Perhaps because he was injured for half of his first season, or he doesn’t have a snappy nickname yet, or he’s such a grinder he doesn’t lend himself to chest-emblazoned graphics, Nick Madrigal has to date missed the cut as a T-shirt subject.

No longer.

Boy howdy, Madrigal is part of Breaking T’s inaugural and collectible Prospects to Pros line. (Image approximating, but not actual Madrigal size.)

Celebrate the start of the season, and one of our most promising young players, with this great Sox-wear.

Peruse the offerings at Breaking T, or take a look at the full line (with links) below!

To welcome our new, colorful closer, Liam Hendriks, Breaking T has gone positively Greek with the Australian, with Hercu-Liam!

Breaking T put together four great purchase options for Hercu-Liam, from petite to husky, winter bundling to summer sunning.

And click here to view everything in Breaking T’s White Sox collection in one spot.

Individual links below should get you to other White Sox products on site, including the Classic Collection that features the Ed Farmer and Mark Buehrle T-shirts.

To welcome our newest (and top WAR) starter into the rotation, Breaking T has drawn up some Lance Lynn-wear sure to please the bearded fan on your holiday shopping list, with Lynnsanity!

The big man is in town and ready to push the rotation toward a World Series!

I first got word of this shirt just as José Abreu was homering and singling in runs during the 2020 season.

And Breaking T’s hunch became reality, as José Abreu became the first White Sox MVP since Frank Thomas and only the fourth player, after Nellie Fox, Dick Allen and Thomas to win the award.

Celebrate a little early by ordering here.

And peruse the rest of the collection below to add to your order and combine shipping.

Clubbing homers and scoring runs like there’s no tomorrow, the Chicago White Sox Murderer’s Row of Eloy Jiménez, José Abreu, Tim Anderson and Luis Robert is the subject of a new BreakingT shirt:

South Side Hit Men

Some real nice details in this one: Each players’ expression, the gangster pinstripes, and the exotic player numbers among them. Grab one at BreakingT.

With Luis Robert not only staking his claim on AL Rookie of the Year but MVP, it makes sense that BreakingT is working overtime to present the best Panterawear out there.

Dig this supercool 1983 nod, which you can order here.

Looking for Luis Robert to assume his La Pantera form? BreakingT has you covered. Order here and celebrate the future MVP!

I’m digging the silhouette.

The 19th no-hitter in White Sox history is in the books, by none other than ace Lucas Giolito. So it’s time to celebrate the Gio No-No! It’s a quick, and slick, commemoration of an incredible, 101-pitch masterpiece, dated and suitable for a Gio auto!

Snag one here, and take a look at numerous other wonderful Breaking T offerings below.

So, it was bound to happen, but BreakingT is first on the scene to promote the latest dance party sweeping Soxdom: DANCING FOR DUBS

Featuring the boogie-down duo of Zack Collins and Danny Mendick, the T-shirt and/or hoodie is available in all sizes, so take a look now.

BreakingT has nominated a very young, boisterous ticket for 2020: Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez.

Running on speed and power, folded into the Change the Game platform, we’re now making these sweet Ts available so you can elect them to a six-year term lasting until 2026.

He’s only the hottest rookie — nay, the hottest player — in baseball heading into 2020.

La Pantera!

Is there anything left to say? This BreakingT-South Side Sox joint is TIGHT.

Order it up before they’re all gone!

So, BreakingT was watching ESPN on Sunday and said, “hey, that’s right, Tim Anderson speaks the truth: the preeminent sports network in America is sleeping on the White Sox again.”

Thus: Y’all forgot about us:

Order this latest design here.

All shapes and sizes are available, in T-shirt or hoodie.

Stay tuned for some excellent new merch dropping on Friday as well.

How about pairing it with the original classic?

Our best seller, the incomparable Tim Anderson neck-bow of STICK TALK!

BreakingT has a bunch of terrific ideas they’ve collaborated with us on for their newest designs in conjunction with the MLB Players Alumni Association. This one is, simply, Mister Perfect, commemorating Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009:

Order it here, and take a look at the entire Classic Collection as well.

The first White Sox product from BreakingT’s Classic Collection was a beautiful tribute to our Ed Farmer:

Order it here. When you click on our link to buy, we will donate a portion of the proceeds we see from these shirt sales in Farmer’s name to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation (support.pkdcure.org).

GM Rick Hahn’s new catch phrase out of SoxFest, Ask Me After the Parade, from BreakingT.

Uh, hello, Eloy and his red gloves vow to clock one off of the scoreboard one day. Until then, we have Pinwheel Power!

Have you heard? We got a catcher, and he’s the best in the biz: Yaz We Can!

With Dallas Keuchel’s beard barely trimmed on the White Sox, this T-shirt not only rocks, it remains anatomically correct: Kid Keuchy!

Just as Shohei Ohtani was rounding into peak form on both sides of the ball, the Los Angeles Dodgers' global superstar was felled by an unforeseen ailment: Left knee inflammation.

Ohtani was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of the Dodgers' Thursday, June 11 game at Pittsburgh, four innings after hitting his fifth home run in 13 games.

The Dodgers held a 6-4 lead and two runners were on when Ohtani was lifted for pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal. After homering in the third, he drew a two-out walk in the fifth, but did not need to run the bases as Andy Pages struck out to end the inning.

Shohei Ohtani clubs his second homer in as many games! pic.twitter.com/EPYEbU8pBF

— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026

Ohtani, who turns 32 July 5, had recently returned to two-way duty on nights he pitches after manager Dave Roberts aimed to lighten his load just a bit this season. Ohtani pitched 6⅔ innings, giving up three earned runs, a night earlier and has a 1.06 ERA.

Ohtani has been virtually healthy since injuring his left shoulder in Game 2 of the 2024 World Series. He underwent off-season shoulder surgery and was already prepared to slowly ramp up to pitching duty in 2025 thanks to recovery from a second Tommy John surgery. He took on a full-time starter's load by the second half of the 2025 season while playing in 158 games in the Dodgers' repeat run, starting Game 7 of the World Series on the mound.

This season, he started slowly in the power department but now has 13 homers in 63 games, a .305 batting average and .940 OPS.

The Dodgers couldn’t have asked for better timing, as Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot came back around.

In a game the Dodgers would go on to win 8-6 over the Pirates, they were clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning against the Pirates on Thursday. With one out and runners on first and second, the Dodgers superstar, who had already reached base four times, was due up.

Instead, Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.

Ohtani left the game with inflammation in his left knee, the Dodgers announced.

“Just wanted to be smart and not push it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So I feel good about him being in there [Friday]. But obviously with the travel [to Chicago Thursday night], we’ll just kind of see how he comes in.”

Roberts described the injury as “discomfort” at the back of Ohtani’s knee, around where the hamstring attaches. Though Ohtani underwent surgery on the same knee in 2019, that was to address bipartite patella, on the other side of the knee.

It was not clear exactly how Ohtani hurt his knee Thursday. Ohtani was not available after the game to provide his account.

Roberts speculated that it likely happened when Ohtani took off to steal second in the fourth inning, before a foul ball sent him back.

“Didn’t hear about it last night,” Roberts said. “Didn’t hear about it today until about the sixth.”

Before leaving, Ohtani hit a solo home run — his second homer in as many games — a single and drew two walks.

It was an impressive performance, coming a day after he took on two-way duties. On the mound Wednesday, he allowed three earned runs in 6⅔ innings.

He’s been on an offensive tear. He entered Thursday with a .400 batting average and 1.207 OPS in his last 25 games — dating back to May 12, the day before manager Dave Roberts gave him two consecutive days off from hitting.

“[Friday], he’ll get there, do his routine, play catch, push off, land on it, see how it reacts,” Roberts said. “And then obviously take swings and see how it reacts too.”

Ohtani was one of two members of the Dodgers starting rotation who left the game injured.

Earlier in the game Thursday, Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited with a bruised right hamstring. But Roberts and Wroblkeski both said they don’t expect it to impact his next start.

The fifth inning had already begun to spiral on him. After throwing four scoreless innings, he surrendered two solo home runs to Rafael Flores Jr. (the first of his major-league career) and Brandon Lowe.

Read more:How the Dodgers plan to shuffle catchers with Will Smith on the injured list

Then Bryan Reynolds hit a line-drive comebacker off the inside of Wrobleski’s right leg. The ball ricocheted to the edge of the infield grass, where first baseman Freddie Freeman picked it up.

Wrobleski was already racing toward first base. But after turning to catch the throw, he missed the base and stumbled backward into Reynolds, who tripped over Wrobleski’s extended left foot.

“Thankfully he kind of got out of the way enough that we barely touched each other,” Wrobleski said. “He’s okay. I’m okay. So all’s good there.”

Wrobleski limped away, finally able to react to the pain where the ball hit him. An athletic trainer followed him, circling back to the mound. But as he was setting up to throw a warm-up pitch, Roberts came out to make a pitching change.

Wrobleski was charged with four runs in 4 ⅔ innings. He gave up six hits and a pair of walks.

“Just one of those outings where I didn’t feel I threw it that great,” Wrobleski said. “It happens. That’s part of the game. That’s what keeps you coming back. I didn’t feel I had the command I usually have, especially early in counts and I think it cost me.”

The Dodgers bullpen bent but did not break, with the help of late-inning insurance runs from the offense. Right-hander Tanner Scott recorded the final four outs, striking out the side in the ninth.

With the win, the Dodgers secured a series victory at PNC Park for the first time since 2021.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

TORONTO — Welcome back to the Yankees’ house of horrors.

For the first time since Game 2 of the ALDS last October, the Yankees will return to Rogers Centre on Friday night, hoping to exorcise the demons that followed them across nine games there last year and ultimately sunk their season.

The Yankees have already seen the Blue Jays this year, splitting a four-game series with them last month in The Bronx, and lead them by nine games in the division (while remaining in a virtual tie with the Rays for first place).

And while there is nothing the Yankees can do this weekend that would completely erase the stench of what happened to them last year in Canada, they at least have a chance to not give the Blue Jays any life, like they did a season ago.

“Playing in Toronto obviously can be a different animal,” Carlos Rodón said after the Yankees finished off a sweep of the Guardians on Wednesday. “It’s a fun place to play, but they play well there. We’re excited to go in and give it our best go.”

When the Yankees arrived north of the border for the first time last season, on June 30, they led the AL East by 1 1/2 games. By the time they got through customs on their way back to New York, after getting swept in four games, they had lost the division lead and never got it back the rest of the season, with the series proving to be a turning point in the Blue Jays’ season instead.

In seven regular-season games at Rogers Centre last season — two series within just over three weeks during their worst stretch of the season — the Yankees went 1-6. They were outscored 52-33 and committed 11 errors in seven games (compared to 83 in their other 152 games of the regular season).

Then in the ALDS, with the Blue Jays having earned home-field advantage after winning the regular-season series 8-5, they boat-raced the Yankees in Games 1 and 2 at Rogers Centre by a combined score of 23-8, helping make sure there would not be a Game 5 back in Toronto.

“I’m just playing baseball and trying to win and get to the playoffs right now, so I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said Wednesday. “But yeah, after they took us out last year, everybody has a little thing on their mind, just like the Dodgers when we lost in the World Series [in 2024]. We were coming back and that was the main thing: we got to go to the World Series again and beat the Dodgers. Then we lost to the Blue Jays. Now we got to beat the Blue Jays if they’re beating us.”

Both teams are different than the last time they saw each other at Rogers Centre. 

For one, the Yankees are playing without Aaron Judge, though they have shown during their four-game winning streak that they still have plenty of ways to survive without him. One of those is on the back of their strong rotation, with Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren scheduled to start the three games this weekend.

The Yankees’ pitching staff had a 6.95 ERA across the seven regular-season games at Rogers Centre last season, with the contact-heavy Blue Jays hitting .291 with a .872 OPS against them on their home turf. 

The Yankees’ defense was not much help, though, playing a key role in the two calamitous series there, including coinciding with Anthony Volpe’s brutal defensive slump (he had three of their 11 errors).

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have been beat up this season and are still trying to find their footing from a World Series hangover.

Yankee killers Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger are among those on the injured list — though Kirk could be activated on Friday, and Ernie Clement remains healthy and capable of giving them nightmares — while their big offseason signing, Dylan Cease, just got off of it on Tuesday, meaning he is not lined up to pitch in this series.

“I don’t know where they’re at in the standings right now [third],” Rodón said, “but barring that, they’re still a great club.”

The monsoons sweeping the Chicagoland area forced the cancellation of Thursday’s finale between Chicago and Atlanta. The storms were foreboding enough — with winds rippling the on-field tarp — to quickly dash hopes of a very late game start, which would have been the most convenient option given Atlanta is not scheduled to return to Comiskey Park until 2028.

However, the timing for the makeup game on August 20 is pretty miraculous. The White Sox return home to host a series with the New York Mets on August 21, making the trek from … the North Side … where they finish up the second Crosstown series on August 19. The Braves are in the area as well, having wrapped a series at Minnesota on August 19 and beginning their next in Milwaukee on the 21st.

The game, as such a one-game series, will be treated as a getaway game and thus will see first pitch thrown at 1:10 p.m.

Who knows, perhaps by the time Atlanta returns in two months, the White Sox will be looking down the standings at them, instead of vice-versa.