The Dodgers look to get back in the win column as they take on the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. Roki Sasaki faces A.J. Smith-Shawver.
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The San Francisco Giants wisely decided to become extreme sellers at this year’s trade deadline, swapping six major-leaguers in five separate trades. While the players coming back are all in the minor leagues, besides reliever Anthony Molina, the ex-Giants are all over the playoff race. Here’s how these old friends are faring in their new homes.
Luis Arraez
The Giants second baseman is hitting almost exactly the same for the Philadelphia Phillies as he did for the Giants, slashing .305/.318/.439 in 20 games, compared to .324/.360/.440 (he’s walking less). The Phillies have gone 13-7 since trading for Arraez, including nine-game win streak (what’s that?). He still holds a comfortable lead in the race for the batting title, hitting .321, 14 points clear of Nick Gonzales.
Arraez has been hitting cleanup for the Phillies as protection for Bryce Harper, who seems to have been inspired by the Contact King by significantly cutting his rate of chasing pitches since Arraez arrived. Even shuffling their defensive alignment to accommodate Arraez at second base has worked, with Harper shifting to right field, Alec Bohm moving to first base, and Bryson Stott going to third.
Caleb Killian
The erstwhile Giants closer made only four appearances for the Phillies before going on the injured list with a left oblique strain. He had a nightmarish outing in his second appearance with the Phils, giving up four runs in the top of the 11th inning for his 7th loss of the season. He did get his fourth win in his final appearance in the City of Brotherly Love in an extra-inning win.
Robbie Ray
Robbie Ray has made four starts for the San Diego Padres, going 1-1 with a 3.98 ERA and going about five innings per game. It’s a small sample size, but the biggest change is that Ray has given up a home run about every five innings, as opposed to every eight innings with the Giants. He’s not working as far into games, which seems tied to walking about a third more hitters, as well as the Padres’ bullpen full of flame throwers.
The Padres remain a game up in the NL wild-card race, just ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Adding Ray could prove crucial for their injury-plagued starters, though they should be getting Joe Musgrove back soon.
Heliot Ramos
Former Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos has not had much success since joining the New York Yankees. He’s slashing .113/.230/.189 with 18 strikeouts in 16 games. Ramos has six hits in 53 at-bats, scoring one run and delivering just one RBI. It’s terrible timing for a Yankees lineup that already skews heavily left-handed with Aaron Judge out, but Ramos isn’t hitting anyone who throws with either hand right now.
Erik Miller
The Giants lefty specialist has been awesome for the Boston Red Sox. He’s thrown 10 1/3 innings and struck out a whopping 18 batters, walking three and giving up seven hits. He’s given up a single run, unearned, and hit one batter. Facing his old team last weekend, Miller got into one game and struck out Jonah Cox and Willy Adames in his one inning of work.
Tyler Mahle
The Atlanta Braves have gotten solid work from Tyler Mahle, who is 2-1 in four starts with a 1.52 ERA. He got a no-decision after throwing six shutout innings in his first Braves start, and has gone at least five innings in each start, with 23 strikeouts against five walks. He’s stopped using his cutter as much and relied on a splitter more, while also benefiting from the Braves’ superior defense.
It’s nice to see some beloved Giants succeed, and even some less beloved Giants do well. If anything, the better traded Giants do, the easier it might be to make future trades. It’d be nice to see Ramos pull things together, because someone from the 2026 Giants should get to enjoy the playoffs at least.
Game Two of Three with the Royals, who are now on a 9 game win streak. Ending it would be a good idea.
Also it would be nice if we were make fewer mistakes. Vlad throwing wide of first (he leads first basemen with eight errors, for a .990 fielding average). And Lukes….well, we’ve talked about that enough. Baseball is much better when it is the other team making the mistakes.
We are going to see a few different pitchers for the Jays today, putting to test the line about ‘if you use enough pitchers, sooner or later you are going to find the one that doesn’t have it today’. But we have done well on bullpen days.
Go Jays Go
Breaking up the no-no: Jhonny Pereda, 0.01 WPA
A mistake pitch to the home-run leader: Bryan Woo, -0.38 WPA
The Atlanta Braves could secure a series win tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers that could go a long way in boosting confidence that the Braves are in fact a serious contender for the World Series.
AJ Smith-Shawver will be making his third start of the season having not surpassed 4.1 innings in start so far. Roki Sasaki is scheduled to take the mound for the Dodgers in the midst of a season where he is eating a ton of innings, but has struggled to keep runs off the board with a 4.42 ERA.
On paper this game should be the highest scoring of the three, but outcomes are rarely guaranteed in MLB. Follow along in the comments.
First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.
The game got started early today— much to the relief of us East Coasters— and so did the Phillies—much to the relief of all of us. Kyle Schwarber doubled to begin the game, and Bryce Harper ensured he wouldn’t have to wait around on base for long, scoring the both of them with a gopher ball over the fence in left-center. Not content to simply have a homer, Harper decided to take one away, too, leaping to snatch a Julio Rodríguez ball out of the air to end the Seattle 1st. The seas remained treacherous in the second for Seattle and their starter, Bryan Woo, as the Phillies once more led off an inning with a double, this one courtesy of Bryson Stott; he was soon joined by Brandon Marsh via walk. Justin Crawford bedeviled Woo across nine pitches, four of them with two strikes, then singled to right to score Stott. Woo made the mistake of offering a fastball right down the middle to Schwarber, an event that can only have one conclusion; the only question was which fan would take home the souvenir. The score was 6-0, and Schwarber had become the first player to hit 40 homers in the 2026 campaign.
While Woo wondered if someone in the Seattle lineup might’ve shot an albatross (bad luck for sailors), Jesús Luzardo had sunny skies and fair winds, navigating the first four innings without allowing a hit. He walked Randy Arozarena to open the fourth, then struck out the next two Mariners and induced a fly out from the third. It looked, for a moment, like his first surrendered hit would come on an infield single in the 5th, as J.P. Crawford chopped one to Trea Turner such that only a heroic throw would beat him. But Turner did indeed make such a throw. Alec Bohm was pulled far enough off the bag that the Mariners thought they might be able to get it overturned; review upheld the call. In the end, the ball that finally beat Luzardo wasn’t a homer or an infield single, but just an ordinary line drive hit, in this case at the hands of Jhonny Pereda.
The Phillies put their first two batters of the sixth aboard (Bohm and Stott, both via single). The inning ought to have ended on a double play, but a high throw from keystone man Brock Rodden on the relay instead put the Phillies in a two-out, runners at the corners situation. Seattle didn’t pay a price for the mistake, ending the inning on a ground out soon after.
Luzardo’s day ended after the 7th, with his final line being one hit, three walks, nine Ks, and no runs. Tim Mayza took the 8th, and the Mariners fared no better against him than they did against Luzardo. They fared slightly better against Jhoan Duran in the 9th, in that they did get a hit against him. But they didn’t get anything else.
The Phillies are 74-60. They’ll return to action Friday night against the Angels.
After a much-needed offensive outburst on Tuesday, the White Sox are back at it, looking to capture their second straight series with another victory tonight.
Last night’s win kept the South Siders clinging to a 2 1/2-game edge in the AL Central, with the Guardians refusing to go away after stealing one in extra innings out in Anaheim. Cleveland is on a roll, going 8-2 over its last 10 and riding a six-game heater, while the South Siders have been stuck in neutral at 5-5. It’s time for the Good Guys to string together a streak of their own, and after dropping 11 runs yesterday, there’s no better time to start.
The White Sox will send Sean Burke to the bump. After an outstanding July in which he went 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA and 0.76 WHIP in five appearances, Burke has come back to Earth a bit in August. The righthander is 0-1 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over four outings this month, and he has failed to make it through the fifth inning twice. With the Guardians refusing to cool off, the Sox could use both length and a return to July form from Burke tonight.
Burke’s Baseball Savant profile provides a fairly clear blueprint for how he can succeed. His four-seam fastball has been his greatest weapon, ranking in the 97th percentile in run value, while his cutter sits in the 87th percentile. Those two pitches have helped his overall fastball run value reach the 97th percentile. Burke also ranks well in chase rate, strikeout rate and walk rate, so his best path against Texas will be to establish the fastball, get ahead and use the cutter to keep hitters from sitting on the four-seamer. His breaking pitches have been much less effective — including a curveball in the 21st percentile in run value — and his low ground-ball rate makes mistakes particularly dangerous. Against a Rangers lineup with several potent bats, Burke cannot afford to fall behind and leave hittable pitches over the heart of the plate.
Texas will counter with lefthander MacKenzie Gore, who joined the Rangers in a January trade with the Washington Nationals and has settled into the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind Jacob deGrom. Unlike Burke, Gore has been at his best lately, compiling a 1.57 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across four August starts. His Savant numbers largely support that success: His four-seamer ranks in the 98th percentile in run value, while his changeup sits in the 83rd percentile and his slider in the 74th. Gore can miss bats and collect strikeouts, but the contact he allows gives the Sox a possible opening. He ranks in only the 23rd percentile in hard-hit rate and the 25th percentile in barrel rate, while his cutter and curveball sit in the 17th and 10th percentiles, respectively, in run value. The Sox will need to avoid chasing his best secondary pitches, force him into the zone and be ready to punish the cutter or curveball when either catches too much of the plate.
Miguel Vargas and Tristan Peters have led the regulars offensively over the last seven days, with Peters entering tonight after homering in four consecutive games. Meanwhile, Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami continue to struggle, and with the southpaw on the mound, Colson will get the night off. Gore’s four-seamer and changeup can both produce excellent results, so Chicago’s hitters cannot simply hunt fastballs and expect another output like Tuesday. Patient at-bats and damage against his weaker offerings will be essential if they want to keep the offense rolling.
The Rangers present a much different challenge at the plate, with four players batting better than .300 over the last seven days. Ezequiel Duran leads the way, hitting the cover off the ball with a .476/.577/.810 slash line and 1.387 OPS over that span. Burke has the weapons to slow down this lineup, but his fastball command will need to be sharp from the opening pitch.
Another win would secure the series and, more importantly, allow the White Sox to begin building some momentum of their own while the Guardians remain directly on their heels.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on CHSN and can be heard on ESPN 1000.
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Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox
Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 6:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)
Rate Field
LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. RHP Sean Burke
Go Rangers!
The Yankees lost in gut-punch fashion last night, the offense continuing to claw their way out of the summer swoon by putting up seven runs, only to see the bullpen blow multiple leads en route to a loss to the Astros, 9-7. The bats face a tougher test today relative to yesterday’s replacement level starter Ethan Pecko, Peter Lambert leading all Astros pitchers with 2.1 fWAR.
Elmer Rodríguez got the call up back to the big leagues as the Yankees weather the injury absences of Max Fried and Ryan Weathers. He last pitched in the majors on June 21st, giving up three runs in four innings against the Reds. He has pitched well in the intervening nine starts at Triple-A, with a 2.13 ERA across 46.1 innings thanks to an uptick in sinker velocity and curveball usage rate. In four starts with the big league club, Rodríguez is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA, 5.14 FIP, and ten strikeouts in 17 innings.
After four seasons with the Rockies and a year with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of NPB, Peter Lambert is finally finding a lane in the majors in his age-29 season. Signed from Japan on a minor league deal over the winter, Lambert manufactures success with the uncertainty generate from his expansive seven-pitch arsenal rather than possessing any one good pitch. He leads with a four-seamer that averages 94 mph before throwing a kitchen sink of changeups, sliders, cutters, sinkers, sweepers, and slurves. In 22 starts, Lambert is 8-7 with a 3.68 ERA (113 ERA+), 3.80 FIP, and 120 strikeouts in 122.1 innings.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Yankees roll out the exact same lineup that broke out for seven runs last night. Luis García Jr. and Cody Bellinger each homered and drove in three, the former as part of a four-hit night. Every member of the starting lineup reached base last night, only Trent Grisham and Austin Wells failing to register a hit.
The Astros meanwhile make a pair of changes to their lineup from last night. Catcher Yainer Diaz went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs, so it’s a relief to see him on the bench with Christian Vázquez taking his place behind the plate. Cam Smith collected a triple last night after entering as a pinch-hitter and he gets the start tonight over the man he replaced, LaMonte Wade Jr.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: Amazon Prime Video, Space City Home Network
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, KLTN-TUDN 102.9 FM (HOU)
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
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Following a disappointing loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday night, the Brewers will look to bounce back on Wednesday evening, with right-hander Dustin May on the mound opposite Robert Stock for New York.
May has made three starts since joining the Brewers, with last Wednesday’s outing against the Mariners representing his first real stumble. After allowing just three earned runs with 11 strikeouts over 13 innings in his first two starts, May was tagged for seven runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out one over just two innings in Milwaukee’s 7-5 loss. For the season, he’s 6-8 with a 4.57 ERA, 3.36 FIP, and 118 strikeouts across 124 innings.
Stock, 36, is a former second-round pick who spent time in the Brewers organization in 2023. He debuted with the Padres in 2018 and later had brief stints with the Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets through 2021 before pitching overseas. Stock returned to the majors with two appearances for Boston last season before rejoining the Mets this year. He has made four starts in 2026, posting a 5.40 ERA and 4.10 FIP with 19 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Those numbers are skewed by one particularly rough outing, when he surrendered eight of his 10 earned runs in a 9-0 loss to the Pirates in early August. The Mets have won in both of his last two starts, as he’s totaled 8 2/3 innings with two runs allowed (one earned) and 11 strikeouts against the Nationals and Padres.
Sal Frelick makes his return to the lineup after being activated from his IL stint yesterday, as he’ll start in left field and bat leadoff. Garrett Mitchell follows, with Brice Turang, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras in the 3-4-5 spots. Luis Lara moves up to bat sixth, with Andrew Vaughn, David Hamilton, and Cooper Pratt rounding things out, meaning Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chourio will start this one on the bench.
First pitch is at 6:10 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (66-66) and New York Yankees (74-57) play the 2nd game of this 3-game series tonight.
RHP Peter Lambert (8-7, 3.68 ERA) starts for the Astros vs. Yankees RHP Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.76 ERA).
ASTROS-YANKEES: The Astros are 2-2 vs. NYY this season, with the Yankees taking 2 of 3 at Daikin Park, April 24-26. In their last visit to the Bronx, the Astros took 2 of 3 from the Yankees, Aug. 8-10 of 2025.
All-Time: In the regular season, the Astros are 38-54 vs. NYY.
Postseason: The Astros have won all 4 postseason series that they have played vs. the Yankees (2015, ‘17, ‘19, ‘22) and have a combined record of 13-5 (.722) in those games.
NY STATE OF MIND: Tonight is the 2nd game of a 6-game road trip for the Astros, with all 6 games being scheduled in the Big Apple. After this 3-game series vs. the Yankees in the Bronx (Tues.-Thur.), the Astros will take on the Mets for a 3-game series at Citi Field in Queens over the weekend (Fri.-Sun).
Last Time It Happened: The Astros had a similar road series in NYC, June 2329 of 2022, during which they played 4 games at Yankee Stadium (2-2) and 2 games at Citi Field (2-0), respectively.
LAMBO: RHP Peter Lambert, who will make his 1st career start/app. vs. the Yankees tonight, has been the Astros most consistent starter in 2026. He leads the club in wins (8), starts (22), innings (122.1) and strikeouts (120). Lambert is looking to rebound from his last start on Aug. 20 vs. LAA (3.2 IP, 9 ER). Prior to that start, he had allowed 2 ER or less in 8 consecutive starts. He posted a 1.88 ERA (6ER/28.2IP) in his 5 starts in July with 32 K’s in 28.2 IP.
Road Success: Lambert has pitched well on the road, going 3-2 in 8 road starts with a 2.98 ERA (14ER/42.1IP). A minor league signing by Houston this offseason, Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 starts.
Note: The Yankees, Rockies and Royals are the only clubs Lambert has not faced in his career.
RECENT STROS: The Astros are 3-3 in their last 6 games and 5-6 in their last 11 games.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Among AL teams, the Astros rank 1st in SLG (.412), T-2nd in HR and 3rd in runs scored (605) and OPS (.730).
MEASURING UP: The Astros are 24-13 (.649) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. Some clubs that they have winning records against include BOS (5-1), CHC (3-0), CWS (2-1), CLE (4-2), MIA (3-0), TB (2-1), TEX (9-4).
TRIPLE THREAT: Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently leads the AL in several categories, including all three Triple Crown categories. He enters tonight leading the AL in batting avg. (.323), HR (36) and RBI (91). Additionally, Alvarez also leads the Majors in OPS (1.055), SLG (.618), OBP (.438) and TB (289).
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).
SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 46-35 (.568) in their last 81 games (since May 22). That is the 2nd-best record in the AL in that span, behind only the Red Sox (51-32)
ROAD WARRIORS: Since posting a 1-9 record on the 1st road trip of the 2026 season, the Astros have been one of the best road teams in the Majors. They are 32-22 (.593) on the road since April 14, which is 3rd-best in the AL in that span. More recently, they are 16-10 (.615) on their last 5 road trips combined (includes current trip). Overall for the season, HOU is 33-31 on the road.
THE HIT MAN: Jose Altuve enters tonight’s game needing just 11 hits to reach 2,500 for his career. Among active players, his 2,489 hits rank 2nd to Freddie Freeman’s 2,576.
IN GOOD COMPANY: In MLB history, Altuve is one of just 3 players with a .300 career batting avg. to reach both 250 HR and 300 SB. The other 2 are HOFers Willie Mays and Derek Jeter.
WALK OF FAME: Yordan Alvarez’s ML-high 28 intentional walks this season are a franchise record. Jeff Bagwell had held the club record with 27 IBB in 1997. Alvarez was intentionally walked 3 times on Sunday vs. ATH (has drawn no walks vs. the Yankees in 4 games this season).
ONE OF THE BEST: LHP Josh Hader reached his 500th career app. recently, making him one of 12 active pitchers to reach that milestone. Hader has been stellar since returning from injury in June, going 4-1 with a 0.81 ERA (3ER/33.1IP), 44 strikeouts, a .115 opponent average (13×113) and a 0.72 WHIP, while converting all 19 of his save chances in 34 appearances.
REHAB START: RHP Mike Burrows is scheduled to make his 3rd rehab start for Triple A Sugar Land tonight…in his 2 previous starts: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 SO.
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:2007 – In a pregame ceremony, the Astros retire Jeff Bagwell’s #5 jersey in recognition of his stellar career, all spent in Houston. Bagwell would later be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017 and into the Astros Hall of Fame when it was established in 2019.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 26, 6:05 p.m. CT
Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; KTRH 740 AM; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
The Cubs outscored the Diamondbacks 11-7 in this three-game series.
Unfortunately, they don’t grant series wins that way. Arizona simply spread their runs out better than the Cubs did. and in Wednesday’s game, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandyn Garcia and Juan Morillo held the Cubs scoreless on just two hits, and the Cubs dropped the series finale 2-0, losing the series and finishing their road trip at 2-4.
It’s even more frustrating because the Cubs got excellent work out of all three of their starting pitchers in this series. Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and Matthew Boyd held the Diamondbacks to eight hits and one run in 20 total innings of work. That’s just outstanding. Unfortunately, one blown save and one excellent pitching performance by Rodriguez made this a Cubs series loss.
The Cubs were held hitless by Rodriguez for the first four innings until Tyrone Taylor singled leading off the fifth. Taylor eventually stole second, but was stranded.
More on that from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs went four innings before Tyrone Taylor made their first hit leading off the fifth. They had gone longer without a hit just once this season: 4.1 innings, on Aug. 14 at home vs. the Cardinals. Nico Hoerner delivered a single.
They had gone 4.0 innings twice before, both vs. the Brewers: May 18, at home (Carson Kelly singled), and June 26, at Milwaukee (Seiya Suzuki homered).
In the sixth, Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double [VIDEO].
PCA advanced to third on a ground out and one out later, an odd play happened.
That’s what the Cubs argued to the umpires, and as the social media post says, it does look like Rodriguez took a step off before he made the pitch, which would have been a run-scoring balk. The umpires conferred and basically said, “Well, we didn’t see it,” and that’s not reviewable. PCA was livid, and third base coach Quintin Berry had to physically restrain him from going at one of the umpires — good thing, contact would have resulted in an ejection and possible suspension.
Anyway, PCA was stranded, and in the bottom of the inning Jordan Lawlar homered off Boyd, the only run Boyd allowed. Homers have been a bit of an issue for Boyd; that makes 13 in 73 innings since his return from his knee injury. But overall this was a very good outing. More from John:
Today’s start was the fifth by a Cub this season of at least 6.0 innings with one run allowed on a homer and no more than three total hits. All have been exactly three hits.
Shōta Imanaga went 6.0 on April 15 at Philadelphia and 7.0 on April 21 at home vs. the Phillies. Ben Brown went 7.0 at St. Louis on May 30 and Matthew Boyd went 6.0 at home vs. the Twins on July 18.
The Cubs won all four of those games by scores, respectively, of 11-, 7-4, 6-1 and 6-2.
Imanaga lost in 6.1 with three hits at home vs. the Reds on Aug. 5 of last year. That was the Cubs’ only loss in their previous 24 games.
And here’s more on Boyd’s afternoon [VIDEO].
PCA’s double was the Cubs’ last hit of the game. The only baserunner they had after that was with two out in the eighth, when Seiya Suzuki walked.
Ryan Zeferjahn gave up a run in the eighth after allowing two singles. That run scored as the Cubs completed this neat double play [VIDEO].
So I suppose it would have been better if Zeferjahn hadn’t allowed that run, but in the end it didn’t matter because the Cubs offense got completely shut down by Diamondbacks pitching.
A couple more game notes from John:
This was the Cubs’ 13th shutout loss of the season. They had 10 all of last year, after having had 16 in 2024. Their record is 22, set in 1915 and matched in 1968.
…
The Cubs finished two previous games this year with two or fewer hits and at least three walks, as they did today: a 5-2 loss at Atlanta on May 12 and their 3-0 loss at home to the White Sox last Wednesday.This was their 56th consecutive loss with those totals, spanning more than half a century. since they beat the Mets at New York, 3-1, on May 8, 1966.
They had two hits and four walks in that game, the same as today. They won two other games with two and four, in 1909 at home vs. the Dodgers and 1964 at home vs. the Mets. They have lost 20.
At this writing it looks like the Phillies are going to defeat the Mariners in Seattle, so that would reduce the Cubs’ lead for the first wild card spot to two games. The Brewers, currently six games ahead of the Cubs, will face the Mets in New York again this evening. The only good news from this series in Arizona is that by winning Monday, the Cubs took the season series from the D-backs. Thus they own the tiebreaker against all three of the teams immediately behind them in the wild card race.
The Cubs have Thursday off and will hope to regroup after what has to have been a frustrating road trip. They will open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. David Peterson will start for the Cubs and Rhett Lowder goes for the Reds. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
After the Nats scored 13 runs on Monday, there was hope that the offense was getting back on track. However, they came thudding back down to earth yesterday with Daylen Lile’s solo homer being the only offense. Now they will look to bounce back and start scoring more frequently again.
This lineup is interesting to say the least. CJ Abrams was supposed to be back at shortstop but after pre-game warmups, it was determined he could only DH. That means the struggling Nasim Nunez is at shortstop. Andres Chaparro will make his first start of the season at third base, which I will be watching closely. Jose Tena will be at second. Knuckleballer Matt Waldron will be making his Nats debut on the mound.
The Rockies have a similar lineup to last night. Ezequiel Tovar is back at shortstop and is in the 9 hole. Troy Johnston is also in at DH which means Mickey Moniak is back in right field. Besides that it is the same personnel. Tanner Gordon gets the start for the Rockies.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Hopefully the Nats look more like the team we saw Monday because they need to take care of business at home against the Rockies. They have not been playing great baseball this month, but a strong last month can help bring back some optimism. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
29 games to go. I was thinking that going 18-11 would, likely, get the Jays into the playoffs. That’s a pretty high bar to clear. It does mean there can be more losses than we’d like.
The Jays say that Spencer Miles will open tonight’s game. They also say he won’t throw more than 30 pitches. I was surprised that they would go with Miles, since he’s thrown a lot of innings this year. He’s at 80.1 innings now. I didn’t figure they would let him go much past 90. But we are short of pitchers. My mother-in-law used to say ‘needs must’.
SWR is likely to be the bulk guy. He, Miles and Louis Varland are the only relievers who didn’t pitch yesterday. I guess there is Chad Dallas too (unless there is a last minute roster move). It really isn’t a grouping (other than Varland) that warms the cockles of my heart.
Then, no one has thrown two days in a row, since Monday was an off-day.
The team is giving Sean Keys some playing time in the outfield. He’s hitting .375/.475/.679 in August for the Bisons. We could use someone hitting like that.
Tonight’s lineup. We haven’t seen Charles McAdoo for a few days. Well, I guess since the 23rd, not all that long ago.
I’d be ok with a win. Let’s play a, more or less, mistake free game.
Game two in Toronto has the lineups set. The Royals will be going for their 10th win in a row while the Blue Jays continue clinging to hope of sneaking into the wildcard. It will be Randy Dobnak on the mound for the Royals. He has thus far put up a sparkling ERA despite mediocre underlying numbers. Can he continue to defy the math? For Toronto, Spencer Miles will open the game. He has gone as many as 4 innings at times this year, but has worked mostly as a bullpen arm.
The lineup has Jac Caglianone back in it after getting scratched on Tuesday. Matthew Lugo is still not in the lineup as he continues to be in the majors without ever debuting.