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The recent surge by the Mets hasn’t changed president of baseball operations David Stearns’ plans to conduct a managerial search after the season.

Stearns said Monday he still expects that interim manager Andy Green will return to the front office next season.

Green was the Mets vice president for player development before replacing fired manager Carlos Mendoza in the dugout in June.

The Mets have won 10 of their past 13 games. Overall, they are 23-22 under Green’s guidance.

“My expectation, Andy’s expectation, is he’s going to rejoin the front office, and I have no reason to believe otherwise right now,” Stearns said before the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Padres at Citi Field.

Are there any qualities Green has displayed that will inform Stearns as he looks to fill the position?

“When we get to that point, I will be able to talk more broadly and holistically about what we would be looking for in the next manager,” Stearns said. “I don’t think right now is the right time to have those conversations.”

Green’s familiarity with the young Mets players has been beneficial, according to Stearns.

“They know him, he knows them,” Stearns said. “He also has some familiarity with our veteran players and that wasn’t completely new to anyone as well. I think any time a manager steps into a new role, having those preexisting relationships is definitely beneficial.”

Jorge Polanco has played only two games on defense after arriving last winter as the primary first baseman. But Stearns said he doesn’t necessarily have to see Polanco, who has been slowed by ankle ailments, play the position this season to form an opinion for next year.

“I think the most important thing for [Polanco] is to get him on a path where he is physically in a much better place in 2027 than he has been this year, and that’s our focus,” Stearns said.

Luis Robert Jr. returned to center field a day after starting his first major league game in left field. Robert didn’t receive any chances in the field Sunday. The next step in the progression for Robert will be receiving consecutive starts in left, according to Green.

The Dodgers needed a get-right game, and apparently all they needed to do was come to Coors Field.

After going 5-11 in their last 16 games, being swept by the Red Sox and Cubs, while also dropping series to the Diamondbacks and Brewers, the Dodgers looked their regular selves on Monday, hitting three homers, while Blake Snell held the Rockies to two hits and one run in six innings on the way to a 11-5 blowout.

To summarize the vibe of the night, through eight innings, the Rockies had as many hits — two — as fielding errors and the best part of the broadcast was the footage from the Savannah Bananas takeover of Coors Field over the weekend.

At least the Rockies tried to come back, putting up a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Good 1, then downhill

It only took nine pitches for Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之) to retire the mighty top of the Dodgers lineup — Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages — on three ground balls in the first.

The Dodgers got on the scoreboard in the second and again in the third and a familiar Rockies killer was behind it all: Max Muncy. In the second inning, Muncy drew a walk and came around to score on a double by Mookie Betts. Sugano was able to prevent further damage in the second, but it got worse in the third.

With one out, Ohtani, Freeman and Pages hit back-to-back-to-back singles to put the Dodgers up 2-0. Then Muncy did what he does best – hit homers and drive in runs at Coors Field. His towering shot went 461 feet to the second deck of the right field stands, increasing L.A.’s lead to 5-0.

“I saw [Sugano get] behind in counts, which is abnormal for him, and then missing over the heart of the plate a little much for that lineup. They are not going to bite,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said of Sugano’s performance. “Everybody knows that those guys bring you in the zone. And I think that was the case early on with some offspeed pitches that borderline navigated their way out of the zone, and they didn’t bite. They got in good counts and that’s how they do their damage.”

Sugano left after five innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk. He’s now 0-3 against the Dodgers this season in three starts. The good news is that he won’t have to face them again in 2026.

Juan Mejia didn’t fare much better in the sixth when he gave up another homer to Ohtani, an RBI double to Freeman and an RBI single to Pages. Just like that, it was 10-1.

Wasting walks and chances

When a team faces Snell, despite this being only his third start in an injury-riddled season, it’s going to be tough, and you can’t afford to miss your chances. But the Rockies missed a big chance in the third. Adael Amador, Brett Sullivan and Ezequiel Tovar drew three consecutive walks to lead off the inning to bring Jake McCarthy to the plate. Usually a clutch hitter with runners in scoring position, McCarthy was only able to muster a fielder’s choice to score Amador. Jordan Beck flied out to shallow center and Cole Carrigg struck out to end the threat.

“Snell is really good. So he’s going to make an adjustment,” Schaeffer said. “Against a guy like that, you get a shot to have a big inning off of him and then it’s tough to get that shot again. We just didn’t get the job done.”

After three innings, Snell had held the Rockies hitless and surrendered the one run on three walks. The Rockies finally got their first hit in the fourth inning when TJ Rumfield and Connor Norby hit back-to-back singles with one out. The Rockies again weren’t able to capitalize as Amador struck out and Sullivan popped out.

The Rockies had seven total base runners through the first eight innings, but went 0-for-6 with RISP and left four on base. Norby reached once on an error, but it was an uneventful night at the plate for the Rockies vs. Snell and the Dodgers bullpen. That was until the ninth when Edwin Díaz came in.

And now pitching for the Rockies …

TJ Shook, who was just recalled by the Rockies earlier on Monday, pitched must better, only allowing one run on two hits  — which were made worse by a fielding error by Cole Carrigg — in two innings.

For the ninth, with the Rockies regular pitching position player Sullivan behind the plate, Troy Johnston entered the game to pitch. The utilityman gave up a hit by a pitch and a walk, but didn’t allow a run.

“Usually that’s Sully, but with Goody [Hunter Goodman] being hurt, we didn’t want to put him in the ball game. I think that would probably be malpractice,” Schaeffer said. “So Troy’s the next man up and I thought he did a really nice job. He got to pitch in the big leagues.”

A rally in the ninth

Not only did Johnston put up a scoreless frame on the mound, but he also hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. After Willi Castro led off with a single and Rumfield reached after being hit by a pitch, Johnston came up clutch. Amador followed suit with an RBI single of his own, while Sullivan followed with a single, which set up a sac fly from Tovar. Zac Veen then continued his hot start with the Rockies since being called up from Triple-A Albuquerque on Aug. 11 with an RBI double.

Unfortunately, Beck then flied out to end the rally and game.

In the ninth, the Rockies tripled their hit count and more than doubled their runs compared to the previous eight innings.

Up next

The Rockies and Dodgers will be back in action on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. at Coors Field. Colorado will send RHP Ryan Feltner (5-6, 5.59) to the mound, while LHP Eric Lauer (6-1, 3.48) will start for Los Angeles.

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Nolan McLean allowed seven consecutive batters to reach base in the first and second innings Monday night.

Only one run scored over that stretch.

It was a charmed life indeed for the right-hander, who watched two other rookies — Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing — combine to nail three runners at the plate in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Padres at Citi Field.

“That fires me up,” McLean said. “It’s saving not only the team runs, but me as well.”

McLean survived the rocky terrain to pitch six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Jonathan Pintaro, Nate Lavender and Daniel Duarte handled the final three innings, scoreless.

Benge threw out Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado at the plate in succession to conclude the first inning. In the frame, McLean surrendered four straight singles after snagging Fernando Tatis Jr.’s line-drive comebacker.

McLean was spotted a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Bo Bichette’s RBI single and Luis Robert Jr.’s sacrifice fly.

In the second, McLean walked Xander Bogaerts (his second walk of the inning) to load the bases with nobody out after drilling Gavin Sheets. McLean escaped, allowing one run, after fielding a comebacker, throwing home for the force and then getting Tatis to fly out for an RBI. But the big play was Ewing scooping up Cronenworth’s single and throwing out Bogaerts at the plate to conclude the inning.

McLean’s start was his 10th in his past 11 in which he pitched at least six innings. It was also his 12th start in his past 14 of allowing two earned runs or fewer. Over that stretch, he’s pitched to a 2.55 ERA.

“He was a little lucky at the outset,” interim manager Andy Green said. “But the competitor that he is, he didn’t let his first two innings dictate the next four. He was really good from that point.”

McLean pitched to soft contact early in the first inning when he surrendered four straight singles.

“Some pretty unlucky hits early from a how-hard-they-were-hit standpoint,” McLean said. “I had a hard time getting a grip on the ball early in the game. I was able to find it a little bit later, which helped me get through it.”

Yesterday against the Phillies, the Twins scored four in the first, failed to add on in the middle innings, and ended up losing the game after the bullpen blew the lead. Tonight, the Twins scored four in the first, failed to add on in the middle innings, but won the game when the bullpen was able to preserve the lead. Though, they were one nice Kody Clemens play away from this being almost exactly the same as yesterday.

Let’s start at the beginning.

After a short rain delay, the Twins came into this outing with a clear strategy against old friend Martín Perez: don’t swing at anything low if you don’t have two strikes, and it worked very well as Perez couldn’t find the bottom of the zone early. The first six Minnesota batters reached to give the Twins an early advantage.

Luke Keaschall led off the bottom of the first with a hustle double, then Perez walked both Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers to load the bases for the middle of the lineup. Josh Bell then hit a two run double to give the Twins an early lead, but however you’re picturing this Bell double came to pass, you’re almost definitely wrong.

The broken bat double had an exit velo of 70 MPH and a 44 degree launch angle, an easy fly out if the ball was placed literally anywhere else on the field. A little BABIP luck spun it into the stands and, after some of the bad breaks Minnesota got yesterday, they’re surely happy to even the score in that department. Royce Lewis and Kody Clemens singled on the next two pitches to make it 4-0 Twins, but weren’t able to add on from there as Perez was suddenly able to find the bottom of the zone, rendering their initial strategy moot.

On the other side, things were once again shaky for Bailey Ober, who struggled to crack 87 MPH with his fastball which somehow continues to trend downward. Ober has always been a pitcher who relied more on control than stuff, but back when he was sitting 92-93 MPH, it was much more manageable. The separation he could get between that and his changeup was elite. Now, the changeup is still good, but his four seamer being so slow gives these hitters plenty of time to react and adjust, especially ones as star-studded as this Atlanta lineup.

The Braves were hitting the ball hard off of Ober, but the Twins got lucky as most of those ended in singles or outs. Ober looked to finally be getting into a groove in the third and fourth, but ran into trouble in the fifth when an Austin Riley single and Drake Baldwin double put two in scoring position for Ronald Acuña Jr., who promptly drove them in to get the game to 4-2. Derek Shelton turned to veteran lefty Taylor Rogers, who channeled his old self to get Matt Olson and Michael Harris II to get his team out of the jam.

The Twins had a few chances to add on, but the biggest came in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with no outs. Brooks Lee was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Kaelen Culpepper had a long AB that ended in a hard hit single, and then Alan Roden laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that the pitcher misplayed, allowing Roden to reach as well and juicing the bases with the top of the lineup coming around. Unfortunately, the NOBLETIGER population is robust in Minnesota in the summer months. Keaschall and Buxton both popped up to first base and Jeffers hit a sharp grounder right at Ozzie Albies to end the threat.

It wouldn’t be a Twins win without a touch of disappointment, right?

Jeff Hoffman and Yoendrys Gomez provided some nail-biting moments toward the end of the game as well. All-Star Matt Olson doubled off of Hoffman with one out in the eighth. Michael Harris then hit a hard grounder to second base, where Clemens made one of the best defensive plays of his career to keep Olson from scoring and record the second out.

Hoffman walked one more Brave to bring up Ozzie Albies as the go-ahead run, who proceeded to hit a deep fly ball to left that stayed in the park. No harm, no foul, three outs, next inning.

Gomez saw what Hoffman did and wanted in on that action, walking the leadoff batter in the ninth inning to make sure he had no room for error to every other batter. He got the next two Braves out, but that turned the lineup back over the All-Star catcher Drake Baldwin, who just missed a game-tying home run, hitting it 369 feet out to Kody Clemens in left field where the wall measured about 370 feet.

No harm (barely), no foul (a foulout would have been preferred), no more innings (phew). Twins hang on to beat one of the best teams in baseball and move a half game out of the third Wild Card spot, which is currently a three way tie between the Orioles, Rangers, and Tigers at 61-64.

STUDS

• Luke Keaschall: 2-5, R, 2B, has reached base at least twice in 10 of his past 14 games
• Josh Bell, 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B
• Travis Adams: 2 perfect innings after a short Ober start, 3 K, looked absolutely electric in both innings

DUDS

• NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!

We’ll see you tomorrow night where the Twins will be facing Minnesota legend Tyler Mahle.

Shohei Ohtani paused to admire the flight of his no-doubt home run as it sailed to right-center field.

Clearly on a home-run trajectory, it was headed toward the visitor’s bullpen. From among the trees, Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt’s glove shot up and secured the ball.

As Ohtani circled the bases, the bullpen turned into a mosh pit around Hurt.

In what has been a brutal August for the Dodgers, the vibes were undeniably high.

Maybe all the Dodgers needed was a trip to the Mile High City.

En route to an 11-5 win over the Rockies, Ohtani’s two-run blast in the sixth inning — his second homer of the game — widened the Dodgers’ lead to eight runs, a comfortable lead even at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Read more:Swanson: Tarik Skubal's gritty starts would pay off if slumping Dodgers would wake up

Even with Monday’s win, the Dodgers have a 6-10 record in August. And they entered Monday with a paltry .672 OPS, on pace for their worst offensive month of the season. For comparison, it posted a .710 OPS in July — its worst complete month.

There are plenty of asterisks to put on Monday’s victory. The altitude in Denver elevates any offense. And the Rockies have the worst record (50-75) in the National League.

Maybe what the Dodgers (75-51) needed most — after dropping three of four to the Brewers at Dodger Stadium and handing over the season series (and tiebreaker if it comes down to that) — was a lighter series to loosen them up.

It was already working by the second inning when Max Muncy scored from first on Mookie Betts’ double into the left-center gap of the expansive Coors Field outfield.

The next inning, Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages singled one after another for a second run.

Then Muncy demolished a sinker that Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano left over the center of the plate, giving it a ride to the second deck in right-center.

It was Muncy’s third home run in five games, and they’ve all been momentum-swingers. His pinch-hit home run Thursday gave the Dodgers the lead over the Brewers — before Edwin Díaz’s blown save. On Sunday, his solo shot temporarily tied the score before the Dodgers’ loss.

On Monday, his three-run blast put the Dodgers up 5-0 in the third.

Dodgers starter Blake Snell, who held the Rockies to one run and two hits in six innings, dominated the first two innings. Even with the altitude affecting the shape of his pitches, he was getting whiffs on his curveball. And he paired it with his four-seamer (and threw just one changeup) to retire six straight batters.

Then in the third, he temporarily lost command. Snell walked three straight, throwing 21 pitches. Snell got Rockies leadoff hitter Jake McCarthy to ground into a fielder’s choice, but it pushed a run across. But Snell avoided further damage by inducing Jordan Beck to fly out and Cole Carrigg to strike out.

He threw three straight curveballs to Carrigg, bouncing the first and last in the dirt, and Carrigg swung at all three.

Getting back on track, Snell navigated around a pair of singles in the fourth inning, before retiring the Rockies in order in the fifth.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers added two more insurance runs in the fifth with a solo homer from Ohtani, a double from Pages and a couple of defensive bobbles by the Rockies.

Read more:'Rare accomplishment': How Max Muncy went from being cast off to longest-tenured Dodger

Ohtani’s three-run homer in the next inning, followed soon after by an RBI single from Pages, made the Dodgers’ lead insurmountable.

The Rockies got one back in the seventh, with some help from Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker, who dropped a flyball. Then in the eighth, the Dodgers took advantage of an error by Carrigg in center field that allowed Ohtani to advance to second. Freeman drove him in with a double.

With an 11-2 lead, the Dodgers sent Díaz, who hadn’t pitched since Friday, to the mound for the ninth. Still working through delivery problems, he gave up four hits, three runs and hit a batter.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

I’d say “stop me if you heard this one before,” but you can’t stop me, because I have a recap to write. The Braves fell behind early, and didn’t hit any homers, losing a close-ish game on the margins to the Twins. When you don’t hit homers, you need BABIP, and when you don’t get BABIP, chances are you’re going to lose. That’s pretty much what happened on Monday night at Target Field.

This game was a weird one in many ways. After a 45-minute rain delay, the Braves grinded Bailey Ober for 26 pitches, but ultimately came up short. Both Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II singled, but Mauricio Dubon fouled out weakly to right on the eighth pitch he saw from Ober. Then, the Twins pulled off some high-wire only-in-baseball garbage, aided by Martin Perez’ inability to keep the ball in the zone. Look, I’ll just post the snip from the Baseball Savant gamefeed:

Basically, a soft double, two walks, a bloop double that basically kissed the chalk that no one was able to run down, a very soft bloop, and then a perfectly-placed slow roller. Put that together, and it’s four runs. Yeah, Perez shouldn’t be walking two guys in an inning if he’s not going to strike anyone out, but… help us out a bit, BABIP gods, eh?

They would not. The funny thing is, the Twins didn’t manage to get much of anything going the rest of the way, but neither did the Braves. Perez basically cruised until the fourth, when the Twins managed two hard liners, but Ryan Jeffers had a weak flyout to strand them. Perez completed five innings with a 3/2 K/BB ratio — no walks after those two to the second and third batters he faced. Victor Mederos had a 1-2-3 sixth, and then Tyler Kinley came on (white flag?), hit a batter, walked another, and gave way to Ray Kerr, making his first MLB appearance since June 15, 2024. Kerr threw literally one pitch, a down-the-middle sinker to Kody Clemens, which turned into a groundout. For the eighth, the Braves left Kerr in the game, and somehow, the Twins loaded the bases with none out again (somehow equals a hit-by-pitch, a single, and a bunt that Kerr threw too high for Ozzie Albies to flag down at first and still touch the base). But, despite me looking very askance at the Braves for deciding to throw Kerr in for an up-down in a close game while still recovering from Tommy John Surgery, he somehow got out of it with no runs scoring, thanks to two pop-outs and a groundout.

That was the pitching slate for Atlanta; the hitting slate was a lot more frustrating. The Braves made Ober throw a ton of pitches, a la the first inning, but to little avail the first two times through the order. After that first inning, they got a leadoff single in the second and a two-out walk in the third, but didn’t do anything with either. They finally broke through in the fifth: Austin Riley singled to start the frame, and Drake Baldwin pulled a double down the right-field line. Ronald Acuña Jr. got a fastball down the pipe on 2-1 at a sad 85.6 mph and yanked it down the left-field line to make it a 4-2 game. The Twins then immediately yanked Ober for lefty Taylor Rogers, and the Braves obliged with two outs in the air.

Atlanta went down in order twice against Travis Adams in the sixth and seventh. In the eighth, Olson hit a dribbler down the right-field line against Jeff Hoffman for a double. Harris followed with a very hard grounder, but Clemens made a great diving play and on-target throw. Hoffman walked Dubon and Albies could have played hero… but hit a weak fly ball the other way for the third out.

In the ninth, it looked like the Braves might make a game of it against Yoendrys Gomez, who walked Mike Yastrzemski to start the inning. But, Riley bounced out, and pinch-hitter Dominic Smith tried to slap a ball on the outside edge the other way and hit it too high, making it an easy play for the left fielder. So, it was all up to Baldwin and he hit the only barrel of the game… except he hit it to left field, where again, it went for a relatively easy out. Basically, the Braves had seven opposite-field fly balls go for outs in this game, four of which would’ve probably changed the game to a substantial degree had they found grass. Maybe pull the ball next time, guys.

Anyway, the loss is as costly in the standings as it could be at this point, which is to say not very much. The Phillies won a one-run game against the Marlins, so the division lead is down to 6.5. The Dodgers beat up on the Rockies, so they take over the second seed. I always just think to myself, “Well, that’s why they have this cushion.” Maybe the BABIP gods will be kinder next time, or maybe the Braves can just hit some homers so they don’t need to sweat another team out-BABIPing them by .100 or whatever.

The Athletics struck first, a Jeff McNeil homer on the first pitch of the game, to go ahead against Michael Wacha right at the start. But the Royals roared back, scoring in five separate innings, to win the game 9-5 in Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia’s return from the injured list.

The two returning players combined to go 3-9, but that was mostly Garcia. In the first inning, Bobby Witt Jr and Jac Caglianone got on base with a walk and a single then advanced on a wild pitch. In his first plate appearance back, Garcia singled to right field to score Witt. On the throw home, Garcia went to second. Vinnie then popped a weak flyout in his first plate appearance back, but Salvador Perez picked him up. With two outs and runners going on contact, Salvador Perez knocked in both runners with a trademark “reach a down-and-outside breaking pitch that was obviously a ball but get a hit anyway” to make it 3-1.

For once, that was a lead the Royals would NOT give away, as the Royals kept piling on more runs.

In the second inning, after a Kyle Isbel walk, Carter Jensen took a pitch well above the strike nearly to the right field bullpen. Unfortunately, Lawrence Butler caught it standing just in front of the fence. But then Bobby Witt Jr got Athletics starter, and former Royal, Mason Barnett – Witt lasered a line drive homer to left-center field to score two more runs to make it 5-1 (Isbel had reached earlier on a walk).

In a long third inning with some pitchcom delays, the bottom of the lineup strung together a single, a walk, and another single to score a run, which knocked out Barnett with the score 6-1 Royals.

After that first pitch home run, Wacha was cruising until the fifth inning, when the Athletics finally broke through. Tommy White led off the fifth with a home run off a pitch up high. Donovan Walton nearly hit another homer, but it bounced off the fence in left-center field. Alika Williams hit yet a third deep fly ball, but Cags caught it at the warning track. Brian Serven golfed a homer into the left field bullpen to bring the Athletics to a 6-4 deficit. Suddenly Wacha wasn’t cruising anymore. He managed to settle down and finish the inning, but that was it for Wacha. Too much loud contact; they were sitting on his pitches. Wacha made it through only five innings with four runs given up.

Another former Royal pitcher, Scott Blewett, gave up a run in the sixth inning. The stars – Witt and Cags – clawed back a run from all the homers. Witt singled and stole second for his 33rd of the season. He got a huge, sort of hopping lead as he waited for Blewett to deliver. I think he would have been out otherwise, as the pitch was roughly a pitchout designed to try to get Witt. But he’s too fast. With two outs, Witt ran on contact and scored on a flare from Cags into right field to make it 7-4.

The Royals plated another two runs in the bottom of the eighth with back-to-back doubles from Carter Jensen and Witt, and then another single from Cags. Witt put some charges into the ball tonight. Always nice to see him pummel the ball.

Connor Thomas, John Schreiber, and Nate Pearson combined for three scoreless relief innings. With the score 9-4, Quatraro gave Lucas Erceg a shot in the ninth, which was definitely a choice. Erceg loaded the bases with a single, walk, and a walk and got precisely zero outs. Q had enough and put in Steven Cruz, who allowed a run while ending the game with a double play and a groundout.

This game was a representation of what the offense, and what this season, could have been. The pitching was not amazing, but it hung in there while the offense plastered the ball all over the field. Witt, Cags, and Garcia were the engine that made the offense go, and it always seemed like they were dangerous tonight. Other guys filled in contributions for an all-around excellent offensive effort tonight. The Royals had 13 hits and went 7-13 with runners in scoring position – Isaac Collins was the only one without a hit, but he did reach on a walk. Honestly, despite the near-ninth-inning-meltdown, the game overall was pretty nice to watch.

The Royals are now 52-74. The Athletics are 49-76. They will play again tomorrow at 6:40pm US Central time.

The Los Angeles Dodgers started their road trip off on a strong note at Coors Field with an 11-5 win against the Colorado Rockies on Monday, Aug. 17, and it was none other than Max Muncy who broke open the floodgates at the plate.

In the top of the third inning, Muncy took full advantage of a sinker right down the middle of the plate from Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano and turned on it, sending the ball sailing into the second deck for a three-run home run to open up a five-run lead for LA. Coming in at a Statcast-projected 461 feet, it was the longest home run hit by a Dodger in 2026. The team's previous longest homer this season also belongs to Muncy at Coors Field when he hit one 452 feet on April 17.

Shohei Ohtani matched that with a 452-footer of his own in the top of the sixth on Monday.

461 feet 🤯

The longest @Dodgers homer of the season belongs to Max Muncy! https://t.co/WDvR6hWvokpic.twitter.com/v4fdOVm4DV

— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2026

Muncy continues to swing the bat well even as the Dodgers have collectively struggled at the plate since the trade deadline, hitting 10-for-44 with three home runs and 11 RBI with a .477 slugging percentage in the month of August while LA has dropped 11 of their last 16 games, including three of a pivotal four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers that could have postseason implications.

"We haven't been good," Muncy told reporters after Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Brewers. "It's one of those stretches. We need urgency. We need to fix some things. … Today really sucked. It was a big game. We kind of needed to win this one, and we didn't. But it's just how it goes."

So far in the thin air of Denver, it looks like Dodger Stadium's all-time leading home run hitter's words have reverberated through the clubhouse.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch Max Muncy crush 461-foot homer, Dodgers' longest of the season

A king can get knocked around. It can lose three straight games at home. It can even trail by two runs in the seventh inning with a four-game sweep creeping closer.

But, as D’Angelo Barksdale once explained on The Wire, “The king stay the king, aight.”

Jonny DeLuca helped the Rays remain atop the American League East, grounding a pinch-hit, two-run single into left field to complete a 7-6 comeback victory over the Orioles.

Getting there required Tampa Bay to overcome three separate deficits and another night in which Baltimore’s lineup kept finding the seats.

Shane McClanahan made his first start as he returned from the injured list with mid-back tightness and opened with a clean first inning. Yandy Díaz walked in the bottom half and advanced to second on Jonathan Aranda’s fly ball, but Gunnar Henderson’s glove made the next two outs to leave him there.

Coby Mayo provided Baltimore’s first lead in the second by sending a McClanahan fastball deep into the left-center-field seats. The ball left his bat at 114.2 mph and traveled 468 feet, which is generally enough distance to remove any suspense about whether an outfielder has a play. McClanahan recovered to retire the next three hitters, including a strikeout of Jeremiah Jackson.

Tampa Bay responded to even the score in the bottom of the second when Cedric Mullins reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s throwing error. Richie Palacios flew out to end the inning.

The Orioles threatened again in the third after Christian Franklin singled and stole second. McClanahan stranded him by striking out Tyler O’Neill and getting Pete Alonso to fly out.

Yandy Díaz tied the game in the bottom half, driving Brandon Young’s 2-2 pitch into right-center field for his 18th home run. Aranda followed with a double that was just inches away from being back-to-back homers and reached third on Junior Caminero’s groundout, but Liam Hicks struck out to leave the go-ahead run 90 feet away.

Baltimore made that missed opportunity matter in the fourth.

Jackson Holliday opened with a single, and Mayo followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. McClanahan struck out Gunnar Henderson before Kevin Cash turned to Casey Legumina. Encarnacion-Strand greeted the reliever with a ground-ball single through the middle, scoring both runners for a 3-1 Orioles lead.

McClanahan was charged with three runs on four hits over 3.1 innings. He struck out three without issuing a walk in his first appearance since July 30.

No lead was safe Monday night.

The Rays quickly turned the game around against Young. Chandler Simpson led off the fourth with a bunt single but was caught stealing after a replay review upheld the call and denied a Rays challenge that Ryan Vilade was hit by pitch. Vilade made the lost challenge and baserunner sting Later in the inning, Jorge Mateo then drove a two-strike pitch over the left-center-field wall for his first home run as a Ray, giving Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead.

It did not last long.

Tyler Wells entered for the fifth and watched Alonso send a pitch over the right-field wall to tie the game. Wells retired the next two hitters, but Henderson singled before Encarnacion-Strand lifted a two-run homer to left. His second run-producing hit of the night put Baltimore back in front, 6-4.

Lead taken, lead lost.

Tampa Bay went quietly in the fifth and sixth while Kevin Kelly worked around consecutive two-out singles to keep the deficit at two. Cam Booser did the same in the seventh, striking out three Orioles around a Henderson double.

Then the Rays finally built a rally without needing the ball to leave the park.

Taylor Walls opened the bottom of the seventh with an infield single, and Díaz was hit by a pitch. Aranda lined a single into left to score Walls before Caminero’s soft infield hit loaded the bases with nobody out only trailing by a run.

Baltimore replaced Yennier Cano with Josh Walker. Tampa Bay countered with DeLuca, who entered the night hitless in his previous 11 at-bats.

DeLuca fell behind 1-2 before working the count even. He then hit a chopper than bounced over the infield and into left field, scoring Díaz with the tying run and Aranda with the go-ahead run. Five consecutive Rays had reached, and a 6-4 deficit had become a 7-6 lead.

Holding it required one more escape.

Carlos Narváez walked to begin the eighth, advanced on a wild pitch and reached third on O’Neill’s single. Bryan Baker replaced Booser with runners at the corners and one out. He struck out Alonso on a foul tip before Holliday grounded to Taylor Walls, who handled the force play at second to end the inning.

The Rays could not add insurance in the bottom half after Palacios walked and stole second, leaving Baker with the same one-run margin in the ninth.

Mayo popped out, and Henderson grounded out before Encarnacion-Strand extended the game with a two-out single. Baker responded by striking out Leody Taveras on a foul tip to earn his 35th save.

Tampa Bay still avoided the sweep, ended a four-game home losing streak and snapped a six-game skid against Baltimore. The Rays are back at it tomorrow at home to open a series against the Toronto Blue Jays at 6:40pm.

Record: 66-60. Pace: 85-77. Change on 2025: +6.

Well, this was ugly in every conceivable way. However, the Diamondbacks can perhaps be forgiven for being “off” this evening in Boston, as matters off the field took center stage. Face of the franchise Ketel Marte no-showed at Fenway Park this afternoon, forcing a roster change with just minutes to go before first pitch, as he was placed on the restricted list. Mitch Bratt had a bad start, Zack Littell showed why he got DFA’d, and the offense was barely more present than Marte, as the D-backs lost the opening game of the series against the Red Sox, by a large margin, which accurately reflected the tenor and tone of this one.

The weirdness began with the late announcement of the team’s line-up. And when I say late, there was less than ten minutes to go before first pitch, and there was still nothing from the D-backs. Finally, a late, shocking roster move was announced. Ketel Marte had been placed on the restricted list, with Jose Fernandez replacing him. Fortunately, Fernandez was in town anyway, as possible coverage had Nolan Arenado had to go on the injured list. That was avoided – Arenado is officially day-to-day with his trunk issue (I’m going to keep calling it that!) – so he could take Marte’s spot on the roster.

But what had happened to Ketel? Everyone was stunned, even John Gambadoro, who usually is very good at having the pulse of the team, called the move “so unexpected.” It was known that Marte had flown to Boston with the team – his Instagram feed made that clear, with a report of teammate Corbin Carroll winning NL Player of the Week being the last post. But he wasn’t at Fenway for batting practice. The team gave him as long as possible, but eventually had to pull the trigger. Nick Piecoro had as much an explanation as anyone: “I’m told Ketel Marte is doing OK physically, he just didn’t show up to the ballpark tonight.”

While we all pondered what that might mean – especially given Marte’s previous willingness to go AWOL, necessitating a trip to the restricted list – there was still a game going on. Sort of. In the sense that only Boston seemed to turn up. From the first pitch, it seemed that starter Mitch Bratt was not on form, with his pitches a couple of miles per hour down on normal. Considering he has been a command and control guy, rather than a power one, this wasn’t good. But the command wasn’t there either. He walked two in the first and, though Bratt was able to strand them, a lead-off walk in the second came round to score, plus one more, for a 2-0 Red Sox lead.

After one more inning, and one more run, Bratt was done for the night after 65 pitches. His final line: three innings of work, allowing three earned runs on four hits and three walks. He was basically a shadow of his previous three starts, where he tossed 18 innings and allowed three runs. The team turned to Zack Littell as the long relief mop-up guy, and it’s safe to say his second outing wasn’t anywhere near as good as his previous one either. To be blunt, we kinda saw why Littell got DFA’d by the Nationals, though he did his job and largely saved the bullpen. But he allowed eleven hits while recording the same number of outs, leading to eight runs.

To be fair, he didn’t get helped by the Arizona outfield defense, with errors by Corbin Carroll and Ryan Waldschmidt on consecutive batters in the fifth inning. That led to a pair of unearned runs, as Boston scored in every inning from the second through the seventh inclusive. We did get to see Dennis Santana make his debut for Arizona, getting the final out of the eighth. Ildemaro Vargas came on in the ninth for his eighth career appearances, and third of the season, getting three outs after a lead-off single. He lowered his season ERA to 4.91, so that was nice.

It says a lot that the broadcast awarded the Cool Play of the Game to a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary at Fenway tonight. Because there was precious little “cool” about this one. The Diamondbacks were held to four hits and one walk. Two of the hits were by Tim Tawa, who also had the only extra-base hit of the night for Arizona, when they doubled. A slight chance of a comeback came in the sixth, where the D-backs loaded the bases with one out. Geraldo Perdomo just missed a bases-clearing double down the RF line, eventually plating our only run with a sac fly. Jordan Lawlar then struck out – he went 0-for-4 with three K’s in his return from the minors.

Speaking to the media after the game (above), manager Torey Lovullo didn’t shed much light on the Marte situation, beyond saying it was a “personal issue”, and that he was first aware of a possible problem this morning. Asked if Ketel was still in Boston, he replied “I believe so. I’m not sure.” It was notable that Lovullo definitely seemed quite emotional about the entire situation. Gambo recently tweeted that “No one in the organization at this time” knows what the personal issue is. De facto clubhouse captain Perdomo is similarly in the dark, telling Steve Gilbert, he hadn’t spoken to Marte today. There, for the moment, the matter rests.

Will Ketel be back tomorrow? Tune in and find out…

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Boston Tea Party: Jose Fernandez, +0%
Boston Massacre: Mitch Bratt, -15%
Boston Molasses Flood: Zack Littell, -10%

There was no D-back in properly positive territory. Fernandez came in a +0%, which I’m guessing means between +0.0% and +0.5%. As opposed to Jorge Barrosa, James McCann and Tawa, who were all -0%, presumably -0.1 and -0.5%. Comment of the night, on a strange and awkward game all round, goes to ercil:

Same two teams tomorrow night at Fenway, with another 4:10 pm Arizona time first pitch. Merrill Kelly will be starting for the D-backs, as they seek to secure at least a split on this six-game road-trip.

The Athletics began the week with a Monday night matchup against the Kansas City Royals in the first game of this four-game series. The A’s dropped the series opener 9-5 in another game where a poor performance from the Green and Gold’s starting pitcher’s put them in an unrecoverable hole. The team’s offense battled back but ultimately came up short.

A’s Strike First

The A’s offense got to Royals starter Michael Wacha immediately. First baseman Jeff McNeil hit the first pitch of the game over the right-field fence. His sixth home run of the season and fourth career leadoff homer put the visitors up 1-0 before most fans had found their seats. The A’s had a chance to score more, but Carlos Cortes grounded into the first of two inning-ending double plays he hit into in this game.

Barnett Back to Barn ASAP

A’s starter Mason Barnett, pitching against the franchise that drafted him, allowed the Royals to answer right back. In his first game back from the injured list, Maikel Garcia’s RBI single scored Bobby Witt Jr. to tie the game at 1. Barnett was unable to stop the bleeding, as Royals designated hitter Salvador Perez hit a two-out, two-run single to put the hosts up 3-1 after the first inning.

Barnett’s struggles continued in the bottom of that inning. With one out, Witt Jr. hit his 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left center field, extending Kansas City’s lead to 5-1.

In the bottom of the third, Kyle Isbel’s two-out RBI single brought home the Royals’ sixth run of the night and ended Barnett’s outing. The A’s right-hander allowed six runs on seven hits, four walks, two wild pitches and one home run over just 2 2/3 innings. The Royals went 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position against the A’s starter.

Athletics right-hander Hayden Juenger replaced Barnett and escaped the jam by recording the final out of the inning. Meanwhile, Wacha kept the momentum on his team’s side, tossing three straight scoreless innings against the A’s injury-depleted lineup.

A’s Comeback Attempt

Following a scoreless inning of relief from Juenger, A’s third baseman Tommy White led off the fifth with his team’s first hit since the first inning. White hit his second homer in as many games, a solo shot to left-center that cut the deficit to 6-2.

The Athletics comeback attempt continued against Wacha. Second baseman Donovan Walton doubled and then scored on catcher Brian Serven’s third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field that cut the Royals’ lead in half.

Bullpen Time

Juenger kept the momentum on the A’s side, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings to stabilize the game after Barnett’s disastrous start.

The fifth was Wacha’s final inning. He allowed four runs on six hits over five innings while striking out three. Left-handed reliever Connor Thomas pitched a scoreless sixth inning as the hosts turned to their bullpen to protect a two-run lead.

Facing A’s reliever Scott Blewett, the Royals increased their lead to three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Witt Jr. singled, stole second and scored on Jac Caglianone’s RBI single. Through six innings, four of Kansas City’s seven runs came with two outs, highlighting the Royals’ offensive execution and the Athletics’ woeful pitching.

Late Game Action

In the top of the eighth inning, the A’s brought the tying run to the plate against Royals reliever Nate Pearson. He hit Henry Bolte with a pitch before walking Lawrence Butler. The Green and Gold failed to capitalize as Zack Gelof grounded out to end the frame.

Kansas City grabbed a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against A’s right-hander Seth Johnson. Witt Jr. recorded his third hit and third RBI of the game before scoring his fourth run, and his team’s ninth, on Caglianone’s second RBI single of the night.

Ninth-Inning Drama

Former A’s reliever Lucas Erceg pitched the top of the ninth inning. He did not record an out, as the only three batters he faced reached base on a single and a pair of walks. That trade is not working out well for either team, as Barnett also struggled tonight. Right-handed reliever Steven Cruz replaced Erceg with the bases-loaded and no outs.

Cruz earned his fifth save of the season by getting out of that stressful situation with only one run crossing the plate. The A’s had a chance to stage a dramatic comeback, but went down quietly. Pinch-hitter Jonah Heim, who replaced shortstop Alika Williams, grounded into the A’s third double play of the game. Serven followed with a groundout to end the game.

The Athletics will look to bounce back and even the series tomorrow night. Right-hander Jack Perkins will start for the A’s, while the Royals have yet to announce their starter.