Go get ‘em, David.
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The long-awaited results of the NBA's investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers' alleged salary cap circumvention practices were finally released on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and the fallout is just beginning.
Among the punishments handed out, the Clippers must forfeit five first-round draft picks and pay a $30 million fine. Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers' superstar at the heart of the scandal, has been fined $700,000. Additionally, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of business operations Gillian Zucker have been suspended by the league for one year. Lawrence Frank, the team's president of basketball operations, has been suspended for six months.
The official investigation report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz explicitly lays out why the organization is facing the brunt of the penalties. Throughout the 36-page document, investigators state the three individuals most responsible for the Clippers’ rule-breaking are Ballmer, Zucker and Frank, and call out the organization for obfuscating the investigation's efforts.
The report also notes investigators "continue to receive information relevant to the subjects discussed in this report" and will supplement their findings as appropriate. Wachtell Lipton said it conducted 73 interviews of 60 people and reviewed 200,000 pages of documents.
Here are 13 must-read segments from the investigation. Each is quoted directly from the report.
The NBA never rests, and USA TODAY is keeping tabs on the league all year long with reporters on the ground covering every team. Follow the news on our NBA hub. Get our USA TODAY Sports newsletter in your inbox every morning and join our WhatsApp channel to get the latest updates right in your texts.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The 13 most damning details you must read from NBA's report on Clippers
Time/Place: 7:40 p.m., Target Field
SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (4-5, 3.87 ERA) vs. RHP Dean Kremer (2-5, 5.60 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | 45 | 86.0 | 26.0 | 9.5 | 47.6 | 4.18 | 0.5 |
| Kremer | 12 | 62.2 | 23.5 | 8.5 | 36.6 | 5.30 | 0.0 |
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TONIGHT’S GAME: The first-place Houston Astros (70-69), who hold a slim 1.0-game lead in the AL West, will play the third game of their four-game series with the Chicago White Sox (73-65) tonight at Daikin Park.
RHP Hayden Wesneski (4-1, 3.86 ERA), who’s won his last two starts, will get the start for the Astros tonight opposite RHP Davis Martin (9-6, 4.32 ERA) and the White Sox.
SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 50-38 (.568) in their last 88 games (since May 22). That is the second-best record in the AL in that span, behind the Red Sox (53-36).
MEASURING UP: The Astros are within a streak of playing four straight teams with winning records (CWS, ARI, PHI, TB). The Astros are a Major League best 26-15 (.634) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. Some clubs that the Astros have winning records against include BOS (5-1), CHC (3-0), CWS (3-2), CLE (4-2), MIA (3-0), and TB (2-1).
VS. THE WHITE SOX: The Astros are 3-2 against the White Sox on the season, which includes winning two of three in Chicago from July 24-26. The Astros are 23-15 vs. CWS over the past six seasons (2021-26), posting winning records in each of those years. Houston is 56-48 all-time vs. the White Sox.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Astros are 36-33 on the road and 34-36 at home. Since going 1-9 on the first road trip of the 2026 season, they have gone 35-24 (.593) on the road since April 14, which ranks third in the Majors in that span. More recently, they are 19-12 (.613) on their last five road trips.
BAGGY IN THE BOOTH: Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell will be on the Space City Home Network telecast tonight, alongside play-by-play man Todd Kalas and sideline reporter Julia Morales. Geoff Blum will return to the telecast for tomorrow’s day game.
TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have returned RHP Mike Burrows from his rehab assignment. He will remain on the 15-day Injured List.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Among AL teams, the Astros rank second in home runs (184), second in total bases (1,909), third in runs scored (631), third in slugging (.409), and fifth in OPS (.724).
TRIPLE THREAT: DH Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently owns at least a share of the lead in all three Triple Crown categories. He enters tonight leading the AL in batting avg. (.316) and RBI (94), while ranking tied for first in HR (37).
Rare Feat: Since Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, there has been just one Triple Crown winner in the Majors, Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (AL).
MATCHING HIS BEST: DH Yordan Alvarez has matched his career high by smacking 37 home runs on the season, reaching his total from 2022.. His career-high in RBI is 104, set in 2021 (currently has an AL-best 94 RBI).
WALK OF FAME: DH Yordan Alvarez has been issued 29 intentional walks on the year, which is a franchise record, besting the 27 intentional walks for 1B Jeff Bagwell in 1997. Alvarez leads the Majors in intentional walks, topping second-place DH Shohei Ohtani (16) by a whopping 11 IBB. Lastly, the AL record for intentional walks in a season is in play for Alvarez, a record that’s currently held by RF Aaron Judge (36 IBB in 2025).
THE HIT MAN: Jose Altuve enters tonight’s game needing just six hits to reach 2,500 for his career. Among active players, Altuve ranks second in hits, trailing only 1B Freddie Freeman (2,584).
BIG WES: Tonight will be the seventh Major League start of the season for RHP Hayden Wesneski, who rejoined the Astros rotation on July 29 after missing 14 months while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Since his return, he’s been one of the Astros best starters, leading the club in wins and ranking second in innings (32.2), while pitching through the 5th inning in five of his six starts.
THE CLOSER: LHP Josh Hader has worked 18 consecutive scoreless appearances, spanning 19.0 innings. This is the longest streak by an Astros hurler this season and the second-longest active streak in the Majors. Opponents are just 5×62 (.081) vs. Hader during the streak. Hader is also 21-for-21 in save opportunities in 2026. Hader in August: 1-0, 13 G, 0.00 ERA, 14.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 15 SO.
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH: IF/OF Logan Hughes and RHP Alex Santos II have been named the Astros minor league Player and Pitcher of the Month for August. Hughes, 21, batted .343 (24×70) with 12 extra-base hits, 25 RBI, eight stolen bases and a 1.073 OPS, while hitting safely in all 18 August games. Santos, 24, went 1-0 with 24 strikeouts and a 0.68 ERA (1ER/13.1IP) in August between Double A Corpus Christi (six appearances) and Triple A Sugar Land (four appearances).
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:2017 – The Astros sweep both games of an emotional doubleheader against the Mets in the club’s first games in Houston following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. In Game 1, the Astros score seven times over the first 2.0 frames en route to a 12-8 win. A four-run 4th in Game 2 gives the Astros a 4-1 win. Newly-acquired ace RHP Justin Verlander joins the team in the dugout during Game 1.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, September 2, 7:10 p.m. CT
Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
A team that wants to stay in the postseason race can’t lose a game like this one. The Orioles faced a Rockies starting pitcher, in Coors Field, with an ERA over 5. They had their own starting pitcher, Trevor Rogers, set a career high with 11 strikeouts over an excellent start that took him into the seventh inning. They had the lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. They scored two runs in the top of the eleventh inning. All of these things were true and they still lost the game, and with it the series, in Colorado.
The only thing that had to happen, when it came down to the end, was for reliever Grant Wolfram, the sixth Orioles reliever used in the game, to get three outs before he gave up two runs. This is not a difficult ask, even for a Wolfram-level pitcher and even when, in extra innings, the Manfred Man starts out on second base to begin each inning. It’s an even easier ask to have Wolfram get the third out when the tying run is merely on first base and two men are already retired.
Wolfram could not do it. He could not get the third out. He could not get the third out even when he got bailed out by the extreme good fortune of having a fly ball hit by Colorado’s Rookie of the Year candidate first baseman, TJ Rumfield, bounce up into the seats for an automatic double, stopping the man on first from scoring. He could not get the third out even when the next batter after this was Brett Sullivan, the stereotypical poor-hitting backup catcher for the Rockies.
Even after getting two strikes, Wolfram could not finish off Sullivan even when he threw strike three, because the umpire missed the pitch and the Orioles had their challenge wasted by Jackson Holliday in the top half of the eleventh inning. Any of these things could have gone differently, would have gone differently for a better team. Sullivan hit a walkoff single, scoring two runs; new Oriole Luis Robert Jr.’s throw in from left field went way wide of home plate as he tried to stop the game-winning run from scoring. A better throw might have at least made it interesting. Robert did not make a good throw.
The result of all of this, of the Orioles scoring a total of nine runs across 29 innings played at Coors Field, of the Orioles going seven straight innings without scoring a run in this game, of all of the other stupid things that happened in this game and on Tuesday night, is that the Orioles are back down to two games below .500, potentially staring down a 2.5 game deficit with 22 games to play, nearly all of which will be against contending teams.
They needed a series win. They needed batters to stop wasting challenges. They needed to score more than three runs off of Tomoyuki Sugano. They needed Mike Elias to not trade away Tyler Wells at the trade deadline. They needed Andrew Kittredge to be up to the task of closing. They needed to not leave ten men on base. They have needed a lot of things that they didn’t get this year. It’s just who they are.
It all could have gone differently. The Orioles had a 3-0 lead at one point in the game! They built this lead up in the third inning, when Blaze Alexander led off with a single. This was one of three hits by Alexander in the game. It’s good to have him back. With one out, Jackson Holliday singled, and Pete Alonso scored Alexander with another single. These guys both ended up scoring as Robert delivered an RBI double in his second at-bat with the team.
The Orioles didn’t score again after this until the eleventh inning. They didn’t manage to get multiple runners on base again until the seventh. This series was such a poor and frustrating output at – and I can’t stress this enough – Coors Field, the stadium that is legendary for its being a hitter-friendly environment, against the Rockies, a team that is legendary for not being able to have good pitchers. It’s bad!
Colorado pulled one of the runs back in the bottom of the third inning. Rogers gave up a leadoff single before getting two strikeouts. Outfielder Jake McCarthy tripled to easily score the runner, Adael Amador. In the course of this play, the throw coming in from the outfield went to third base and bounced past Coby Mayo. McCarthy tried to help himself to a Little League home run. Rogers, backing up the play, threw a strike in to Samuel Basallo, who tagged out McCarthy for the third out. The home plate umpire initially blew this play, though replay review thankfully corrected the error promptly.
The fourth inning saw the Rockies get another two-out run when Rogers couldn’t finish off Cole Carrigg with Hunter Goodman standing on second base. The score held at 3-2 until the ninth inning. That’s when Kittredge got involved.
Perhaps Yennier Cano, who got the last out of the eighth inning, should have pitched to more than one batter. I’m sympathetic to why this was not done, since Cano has fallen down in the ninth in recent weeks. Still, Kittredge. He got two outs without any problems. Carrigg doubled on the first pitch he saw, then Kittredge worked a 1-2 count on pinch hitter Zac Veen. A hanging slider later and the game was tied. Kittredge got the hook. Josh Walker had to finish the ninth, which only ended when Basallo used an ABS challenge to get the inning-ending strikeout.
Nobody scored in the tenth inning. One reason why the Orioles did not score is that Holliday, who was the Manfred Man for that inning, inexplicably chose to run from second base to third base on a ground ball hit to the shortstop. That’s not a difficult baserunning rule. Don’t advance from second base on a ground ball to the left side! But Holliday was thrown out, Henderson wasted a challenge while striking out, and Robert grounded out. The Rockies didn’t score in the tenth either, so the agony continued.
In better pitching circumstances, Basallo and Alexander would have been the heroes of the game for their eleventh inning RBI hits. We did not witness those better circumstances.
The Orioles fly back to Baltimore to start a four-game set with the Red Sox on Thursday night. The O’s have yet to list a starter. Boston is expected to send lefty Jake Bennett to the mound. The 7:15 game will air only on Fox.
The Red Sox have gotten everything they could’ve wanted in the returns of Roman Anthony and Trevor Story, who have not stopped hitting in the first four games back in action. That goes for the offense as a whole in the series with 17 runs across, though a clearly-gassed pitching staff struggled again in an 8-3 loss.
Not time for panic yet, they had some cushion for the second AL Wild Card spot to begin with, but the Red Sox do need some wins stacked in September soon, even as they give valuable veterans a breather this month.
Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday afternoon’s loss.
LEFT FIELD DEFENSIVE = DECISIVE
Randy Arozarena threw out Mickey Gasper when he never should have been sent home in the first inning.
Jarren Duran airmailed third base and allowed two runs to score in the fourth inning.
Two throws by each left fielder made a rather profound impact on the outcome in this one.
SANDOVAL SHAKY
Patrick Sandoval looked excellent in The Bronx on Friday with just one earned run allowed with seven strikeouts against the Yankees. He had a different story Wednesday as his velocity ticked down and he fell into deep counts consistently.
The lefty surrendered four runs in four innings in an ill-timed short outing for Boston, giving way to a similar fate to Brayan Bello and the bullpen.
WORRIED ABOUT ADLEY?
The Red Sox played the entire series without Adley Rutschman, who continues to deal with an elbow issue as Chad Tracy discussed on WEEI this week. The talented catcher has hit just .170 in 15 games since joining Boston at the trade deadline. To go deep in October, the ballclub has to find a way to get Rutschman by and contribute alongside other talented hitters in the middle of the order.
Australia’s No 1 beats Andrea Guerrieri 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 after delays
Taylah Preston and Daria Kasatkina bow out after first-round defeats
After having his tournament opener against Andrea Guerrieri postponed until day four, Alex de Minaur had to endure another two-hour rain delay before putting away the Italian qualifier in straight sets.
The world No 7 advanced with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory to set up a second-round clash with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
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For the first time since June 22, the Colorado Rockies delivered a walk-off win as they defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 in extra innings.
After quality pitching from both starters, the Rockies ended up rallying multiple times down to their last strike to secure the victory and win the series.
After struggling through his last three starts, Tomoyuki Sugano got back on track with what he’s done for the majority of the 2026 season. He delivered his eighth quality start of the season, allowing just three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk over six innings.
After navigating the first two innings, the Orioles got after Sugano in the third inning. Blaze Alexander led off the inning with a single, and Colton Cowser then struck out. Jackson Holliday then delivered a single followed by an RBI single from Pete Alonso to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Later, with two outs, newly acquired Luis Robert Jr. hit a sharp line drive to right field to score two runs and make it 3-0 Orioles. Unlike his recent starts, Sugano didn’t let things get out of hand.
He responded with three more scoreless innings, allowing just three base runners.
What helped Sugano was that his secondary pitches were working well.
The curveball had a 27% whiff rate while his splitter had a 22% whiff rate. The fastball was also spotted well and had a 25% whiff rate and a 62% strike rate. He threw 90 pitches, with 61 going for strikes. An important factor was that he threw a first-pitch strike 73% of the time, allowing him to work ahead of hitters. He also induced eight groundouts against five flyouts.
“I thought Tomo was awesome,” said manager Warren Schaeffer. “I thought his stuff played up today, velo was really good, the stuff was sharp. When they adjusted to him, he adjusted right back.”
While Sugano was working his way through the Orioles lineup, Trevor Rogers was carving up the Rockies for Baltimore.
Through 6.2 innings, Rogers allowed just two runs on six hits while recording a career-high 11 strikeouts in the game. He also didn’t walk a single batter.
What made Rogers so effective was that he pounded the zone. Of the 94 pitches he threw, 71 were strikes. He only induced three groundouts and had two flyouts. He relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it 54% of the time and generating a 29% whiff rate. In total, he had 15 swing-and-misses as the Rockies just couldn’t figure him out.
The Rockies’ first run came in the third inning when Adael Amador singled to lead off the inning and came in to score on a two-out triple by Jake McCarthy. The Rockies had a chance at a second run on the play as the throw into third base got away and McCarthy headed for home. He was initially called safe on the slide, but after a review challenge, the call was overturned to end the inning.
The following inning, Hunter Goodman hit a one-out double and came in to score on a two-out infield single for Cole Carrigg, which snapped an 0-for-17 stretch for him. Unfortunately, Rogers retired nine of the next 10 batters and left with a 3-2 lead.
Once the starters left the game, hits became a premium neither team could afford.
For the Rockies, Juan Mejia, Jimmy Herget, and Jaden Hill combined to allow just one hit over three innings with one strikeout and two walks.
On the opposite side, the Orioles duo of Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano limited the Rockies to just one hit over 1.1 IP with no walks and one strikeout.
However, the Rockies finally broke through in the ninth.
Facing Andrew Kittredge, there was a brief moment where it looked like Goodman tied up the game with a lead-off home run, but the ball hooked foul. Goodman ended up striking out, followed by a lineout from TJ Rumfield.
Down to their final out, Carrigg then narrowly missed a home run himself as the ball hit off the yellow foam at the top of the fence, settling for a double. The Rockies turned to Zac Veen off the bench, and he sent a ball into the gap for an RBI double to tie the game 3-3.
The Orioles turned to reliever Josh Walker and they immediately put Amador on with an intentional walk before striking out pinch-hitter Troy Johnston and sending the game into extras.
Heading into extra-innings, the Rockies caught an immediate break in the top of the 10th inning with new reliever Nick Frasson on the mound.
Alonso bounced a ball on the infield to the shortstop Carrigg. Holliday was the runner on second and had taken off on contact. Carrigg fired the ball to third base, and the Rockies were able to retire him while Alonso reached. Gunnar Henderson then struck out, and Robert grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, Walker then retired Mickey Moniak by getting him to pop up a ball that was caught near the Orioles dugout by Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Alex Hoppe then entered the game and intentionally walked McCarthy to then strike out Connor Norby. Unfortunately, Goodman grounded out to send the game to the 11th.
Colorado turned to Blas Castaño in the top of the 11th, and he immediately surrendered the go-ahead run courtesy of a single by Samuel Basallo. Two batters later, Dylan Beavers singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Alexander then drove in another run to make it 5-3 with a single to center field. Castaño retired the next two batters, including a strikeout of Holliday.
The Rockies got a run back in the bottom half of the inning when Rumfield lined a ball to left field to score Norby and make it 5-4 against new reliever Grant Wolfram.
Carrigg struck out swinging for the first out of the inning, which brought Veen to the plate in a crucial situation again. Unfortunately, Veen also struck out, this time looking, bringing the Rockies to their final hope, Amador, with two outs. Amador blasted a ball into the gap that one-hopped the fence for an automatic double, preventing Rumfield from scoring the tying run.
Brett Sullivan, who had entered the game in the top of the 11th behind the plate, found himself in a situation with the winning run at second base. On a 3-2 pitch, he singled into shallow left field where Robert had no chance to throw out the speedy Amador, winning the game 6-5.
Baltimore ended the game with 10 hits and struck out just seven times with three walks while going 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Rockies tallied 12 hits while striking out 17 times against just two walks. They went 4-for-11 with RISP as well, but did so in the clutch. Carrigg ended up with three hits while Amador, Rumfield, and McCarthy each had two.
The Rockies are off Thursday before welcoming the St. Louis Cardinals for a weekend series. Ryan Feltner (5-9, 5.84 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rockies while the Cardinals have not yet announced a starter.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm MDT.
See you then!
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The first two contests in Houston have produced a split, with the Astros taking Monday’s opener and the White Sox bouncing back for a 5-1 victory on Tuesday. Now, with two games left in the series, both clubs have an opportunity to gain ground in a race that carries major implications for American League playoff seeding and a potential first-round bye.
Before tonight’s game, the White Sox returned Davis Martin from his injury rehab assignment, reinstated him from the 15-day injured list and optioned Tanner McDougal to Triple-A Charlotte. Martin goes directly back into the rotation and makes his first major league start since Aug. 13.
The 29-year-old righthander is 9-6 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.33 WHIP this season. Martin was outstanding during April and May but has struggled considerably since, culminating in three particularly ugly starts in August. He was placed on the injured list Aug. 14 with a blister on his right middle finger.
Martin made one rehab start for the Knights on Aug. 27 and could hardly have been better, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and one walk with five strikeouts. Let’s hope that version of Martin followed the team to Houston.
The Baseball Savant numbers illustrate why Martin’s season has been such a mixed bag. His overall pitching run value sits in the 46th percentile, but his expected statistics are much less encouraging. He ranks in the 24th percentile in expected ERA, 11th in expected batting average and 28th in expected slugging percentage. He also sits in just the eighth percentile in hard-hit rate and the 16th in average exit velocity, meaning hitters have made plenty of loud contact against him.
The good news is that Martin has a couple of pitches capable of keeping Houston’s bats under control. His offspeed run value ranks in the 86th percentile, driven by a changeup that also sits in the 86th percentile. His sinker has been another strong offering, ranking in the 77th percentile in run value.
Martin will need both pitches working, particularly against the left-handed bats scattered throughout Houston’s lineup. The Astros have Yordan Alvarez, Daulton Varsho, Taylor Trammell and LaMonte Wade Jr. batting from the left side, giving Martin plenty of opportunities to use the changeup to keep hitters off balance. The sinker can help him generate weak contact and keep the ball on the ground.
The slider is another story. Its run value ranks in only the eighth percentile, while Martin’s breaking-ball run value is in the 13th. If he leaves sliders over the plate, a Houston lineup featuring Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve can make him pay quickly. Martin does a respectable job of inducing chase and limiting walks, but he does not miss a ton of bats. His success will depend on staying ahead, leaning on the changeup and sinker and avoiding the poorly located breaking pitches that have led to so much hard contact.
Alvarez enters tonight in a rare cold spell, slashing .158/.346/.316 over the past seven days. Of course, that does not make him any less capable of changing the game with one swing, especially if Martin gives him something hittable. Nick Allen has been Houston’s hottest batter during that span, producing a .455/.500/.545 line and 1.045 OPS, but thankfully he is not in tonight’s starting lineup.
Hayden Wesneski will make his seventh start of the season for Houston. The righthander has spent much of the past two years on the injured list and underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2025. He joined the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker trade with the Cubs in December 2024.
Through six starts, Wesneski owns a 3.86 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. The veteran earned the win in his most recent outing against the Yankees, surrendering one run on three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Wesneski’s Savant profile offers the White Sox a fairly obvious plan of attack: Do not help him. His chase rate ranks near the very top of baseball, but his strikeout rate is much closer to the bottom half of the league. His arsenal is built around getting hitters to expand the zone, with his sweeper and changeup grading as his best secondary pitches.
Chicago’s hitters need to recognize those pitches early and force Wesneski to come over the plate. His average exit velocity and hard-hit rate both rank in the bottom third of the league, suggesting hitters can do damage when they make contact against pitches in the zone. His fastball velocity is also below average, so the Good Guys should be ready to attack hittable four-seamers rather than chasing sweepers off the plate or changeups below the zone.
That sounds simple enough, but Chicago’s offense has not exactly been firing on all cylinders. Colson Montgomery and Andrew Benintendi have been the best South Side hitters over the past seven days, while Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas have also been seeing the ball reasonably well. Those are the only four players in tonight’s lineup hitting better than .200 during that span. Everyone else has been firmly aboard the struggle bus.
Sam Antonacci gets the start in the leadoff spot, followed by Munetaka Murakami and Vargas. Benintendi bats cleanup as the designated hitter, while Braden Montgomery returns to the lineup in right field. Colson and Meidroth follow, with Tristan Peters and Drew Romo rounding out the order.
With so many hitters searching for their timing, patience could be the key tonight. If the Sox can resist Wesneski’s chase pitches and make him work in the strike zone, there should be opportunities to generate hard contact. If they spend the evening fishing for sweepers and changeups, it could be a very long night for the offense and the fans.
Chicago’s lineup:
Houston’s lineup:
Let’s win two in a row!
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on CHSN and can be heard on ESPN 1000.
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September Mariners: Bryce Miller, +0.15 WPA
August Mariners: Nobody could possibly be that bad on the September Mariners
The NBA’s $30 million penalty was aimed at the Clippers.
The five missing first-round picks were a warning to every billionaire owner like Steve Ballmer.
By hammering Los Angeles for circumventing the salary cap through off-court opportunities for Kawhi Leonard, the NBA did more than punish one franchise. It drew a boundary around one of the biggest advantages available to modern owners: the enormous business networks surrounding their teams.
According to the 36-page report from independent investigator Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, that boundary was hardly ambiguous.
NBA rules prohibit teams from actively creating endorsement opportunities for players. Investigators found the Clippers crossed that line, steering Leonard toward four companies doing business with the franchise and using Clippers business to help induce those deals.
The clearest example involved Daktronics. While competing for the Intuit Dome scoreboard contract, the company was encouraged to include a Leonard endorsement worth $3 million annually. Investigators said Daktronics believed refusing could jeopardize its Clippers business.
That is exactly the type of leverage that poses a problem for a salary-capped league — and the potential danger had already surfaced while the NBA was still investigating the relationships between Leonard, the Clippers and team sponsors.
The cap is designed to keep the richest owners from simply buying better rosters. But modern sports billionaires possess financial power far beyond payroll: sponsors, corporate relationships, arenas, real estate and multiple franchises.
That concentration was on display in Los Angeles just one day before the Clippers ruling, when Rams owner Stan Kroenke agreed to purchase the Angels for a record price of more than $3.9 billion.
There is no suggestion Kroenke has done anything improper. But adding the Angels to an empire already featuring the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, Rapids and Arsenal illustrates how much business influence can surround a single ownership group.
Private equity is accelerating the same trend. As franchise valuations soar — highlighted recently by the Lakers’ record $12.5 billion sale — leagues have increasingly opened their doors to institutional capital, further connecting teams to sprawling networks of investors and businesses.
The result is a sports economy populated not simply by rich owners, but by interconnected webs of billionaires, investment firms, sponsors and corporate partners.
The Clippers had also been warned about this territory before. The NBA fined them $250,000 in 2015 for improperly facilitating an endorsement opportunity for DeAndre Jordan.
After Dennis Robertson made prohibited requests during Leonard’s 2019 free agency, the league launched a broader enforcement initiative and personally trained Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker on its circumvention rules. All three later told investigators they understood them.
That history helps explain why the NBA eventually dropped one of its harshest organizational punishments ever: five first-round picks, suspensions, five years of monitoring and the $30 million fine.
Draymond Green predicted the stakes before the ruling.
“If the punishments aren’t steep, everybody should do it,” Green said.
The NBA clearly saw that as a concern.
It can’t cap an owner’s wealth. But it can make sure that wealth doesn’t become a second payroll.
Step right up and meet the ex-Mets.
Fresh off being claimed by the Orioles earlier this week, outfielder Luis Robert Jr. teamed up with a fellow ex-Met to make a strong first impression.
Batting cleanup Wednesday afternoon in Colorado, Robert ripped a booming two-run double to right-center field in the top of the third inning off Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano — just moments after Pete Alonso kicked off the scoring with an RBI single.
Robert’s extra-base hit — which scored Alonso from second base — gave Baltimore an early 3-0 lead at Coors Field.
Robert went 1-for-5 with two RBIs in his Baltimore debut, including scoring the go-ahead run as a ghost runner in the top of the 11th inning on a Samuel Basallo RBI single.
However, the Orioles fell to the Rockies in the bottom half of the frame on a bloop two-run single to left field that fell in front of Robert, with him failing to throw out the winning run at home, in a crushing 6-5 loss.
The loss put the Orioles two games back of the third American League Wild Card spot.
The waiver claim of the 29-year-old Robert allowed the Mets to shed $5 million — between the money left on his contract and a buyout — and gave the surging Orioles a potent bat for the final month of the regular season.
Acquired from the White Sox in the offseason, Robert got off to a strong start with the Mets before a back injury sidelined him for three months.
Even with a torrid stretch in August, Robert managed just a .223/.303/.399 slash line with 10 home runs and 23 RBIs in 58 games.
“I think he closed out the chapter really well,” interim manager Andy Green said Monday at Tropicana Field.
“Certainly, the chapters that preceded the last one were frustrating from an availability perspective.”
With NHL training camps starting to get closer, the Montreal Canadiens have been beginning to skate together.
However, one defenseman who recently skated on his own without his teammates was Canadiens blueliner Kaiden Guhle.
Guhle was the only player who skated on his own in track suit on the Canadiens' second rink while the rest of Montreal's players who practiced on Tuesday skated on their first rink.
The Canadiens have not provided an injury update regarding Guhle, but it is fair to wonder if something could be bothering the left-shot defenseman. Him skating on his own, not dressed in full gear, is interesting.
With Guhle being a key part of the Canadiens' blueline, they are certainly hoping that he will be good to go for the start of the season. This is an important season for the 2020 first-round pick, as he will be looking to have a big breakout year for the Habs.
Guhle has also dealt with injury trouble over the last few seasons, so it would be unfortunate if he injured again with training camp getting closer. He was limited to just 39 games last season for Montreal, where he posted two goals, 11 points, 86 hits, and a plus-5 rating.
We will now need to wait and see if the Canadiens end up announcing that Guhle is dealing with something. Here's to hoping that the 24-year-old defenseman is healthy.
Only 23 games to go on this Royal season and I guess the goal at this point is to win 11 of them an avoid 90 losses? Today offers another opportunity for a win with newly resurgent Noah Cameron trying to continue his run of dominance that started back on July 24th. Since then, he has had seven starts and a 1.29 ERA. We will see if he can take care of Miami’s very middle of the road offense. Eury Perez will start for the Marlins. He is a talented young righty, so it will not be an easy task for Kansas City tonight as the fish try to stay in the playoff hunt where they are still on the outside looking in. Game kicks off at 6:40 central.
Two nights ago, the Cubs demolished the Brewers. Yesterday, the Brewers fell behind early before they bounced up off the mat and won convincingly. Tonight, they’ll send Jacob Misiorowski to the mound as they look to ensure they’ll leave Chicago with no worse than a series split.
Miz will be for continued success against Chicago. On May 19th at Wrigley Field, Misiorowski pitched six shutout innings in which he walked one and gave up just three hits while striking out eight en route to a 5-2 Brewers victory. A little over a month later, Misiorowski walked four but allowed only two hits and a run in six innings while striking out eight at American Family Field. Including last season’s playoffs, Miz has pitched against the Cubs six times, for a total of 27 innings, with 35 strikeouts and just seven earned runs allowed, good for a 2.33 ERA. Tonight Misiorowski will also look to add another signature outing to bolster his Cy Young case, as Cristopher Sánchez and Chris Sale continue to pitch well and make cases for themselves.
On paper, the Brewers should have a significant advantage in the pitching department tonight. Taking the mound for the Cubs is lefty David Peterson, who was acquired from the Mets in late June. Peterson has had an odd season; with the Mets, he had an ugly 6.09 ERA but a 3.84 FIP in 68 innings, while with the Cubs that’s flipped a bit to a 3.90 ERA but 4.32 FIP in 55 1/3 innings. The peripherals on Peterson aren’t great, but he’s had somewhat surprising success in his career against Milwaukee: Peterson is 4-1 with a 3.44 ERA (despite a 4.28 career ERA) in 34 innings spanning seven outings (six starts) against the Brewers.
There’s a roster move to note today: Joel Kuhnel used up the maximum 30 days allowed on a rehab assignment and was not added back to the major-league roster. Since he is out of options, he has been designated for assignment.
Of some note, Cooper Pratt is fine after his wrist took a shot from Jackson Chourio in that three-way outfield collision last night. He’s back in the lineup. The lineup looks a little different with the lefty Peterson on the mound: Joey Ortiz is at third base, while Jackson Chourio, Luis Lara, and Jake Bauers go left to right in the outfield. Brice Turang remains near the top of the lineup (second) against the lefty, with Andrew Vaughn batting third, William Contreras catching and batting fourth, and Gary Sánchez in there as the designated hitter.
It’s a hot one in Chicago today, so expect some more offense. First pitch is at 6:40 on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.