The Detroit Tigers dropped the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, 11-1, at Target Field on Monday night in a game that everyone wants to quickly forget. Jackson Jobe managed to escape trouble through the early innings, but it finally caught up with him in the fifth, when a three-run dinger opened the gates for the eventual rout.
Taking the mound in Game 2 for the Olde English D is right-hander Troy Melton, who has given up as many earned runs over his last two outings as he had in his 10 starts prior. After a stretch of absolute excellence, the 25-year-old has posted a 4.26 ERA and 4.98 FIP over 12 2/3 innings, allowing 14 hits (two home runs) and three walks while striking out seven and hitting a batter.
Melton’s only appearance this summer against the Twins back on June 9 in Detroit was his worst game of the season, surrendering eight hits — four of them solo homers, representing all of the runs he gave up — but no walks while striking out five over five frames. He still managed to earn his third win as the Tigers ultimately prevailed, 10-4.
For Minnesota, left-hander Connor Prielipp will toe the rubber for the 20th time of his rookie campaign. The 25-year-old has had a brutal August, putting up an ugly 7.76 ERA but a less-offensive 4.73 FIP over five games stretching across 26 2/3 innings, allowing 31 hits (five home runs) and 13 walks while striking out 30 batters. He earned a pair of losses while his team was defeated in all five starts.
Here is a look at how the two match up for Tuesday night’s American League Central battle.
Detroit Tigers (63-74) vs. Minnesota Twins (66-72)
Time (ET): 7:40 p.m. Place: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota SB Nation Site:Twinkie Town Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 138: RHP Troy Melton (7-3, 1.86 ERA) vs. LHP Connor Prielipp (3-7, 5.55 ERA)
Jonah Tong of the Syracuse Mets delivers a pitch during a MiLB baseball game at Coca-Cola Park in the United States on June 26, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
It’s too bad that the roster construction of the Mets works out that MJ Melendez is left high-and-dry. He wasn’t good in the limited at-bats he got earlier this season, but he wasn’t particularly bad, either. Likewise, his performance isn’t so exceptionally good in Triple-A that David Stearns needs to figure out how to get Melendez back to the majors, but he’s having a nice little run. The veteran outfielder seems like a generally cool dude and apologized to fans for not being good enough when he was sent back down to Syracuse, which makes the fact that he hasn’t really found his footing more annoying.
If nothing else, I wouldn’t be against bringing Melendez back as minor league depth next season.
Jonah Tong
Week: 1 G (1 GS), 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K (Triple-A)
In Game One of a double-header against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Jonah Tong set batter after batter after batter down at the plate, and before we knew it, it was the seventh inning and Tong had yet to allow a hit. I’m not a fan of treating the two the same, but 7 innings is a regulation game in minor league double-headers, just like 9 innings is regulation under normal circumstances, and Tong was three outs away from throwing a no-hitter. The first batter he faced, right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., flew out to left field. The second batter he faced, third baseman Otto Kemp, struck out on three straight fastballs down-and-away. With one out to go, centerfielder Kameron Misner laced a cutter down and in into right field for a hit. With the no-hit bid over, Tong struck out the next batter, Carter Kieboom, on four pitches and had to settle for a one-hit shutout.
It was obviously a great game for Tong, and overall, August has been a strong month for him. Coming into August, batters were hitting .238/.349/.447 against Tong, but in August, they hit .170/.271/.436 against him. A big reason for that was his fastball and cutter both being more effective than they have been all season, especially his cutter; batters hit .125/.239/.325 against his fastball and .158/.238/.158 against his cutter in August as opposed to .213/.353/.386 and .300/.386/.540 entering the month.
I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but since none of the underlying metrics for either pitch, such as velocity or spin rate or movement, are appreciably different, I think the recent success is more a case of a .148 BABIP than Tong finally compensating for his velocity/IVB dip stemming from his arm angle change or his change from a traditional slider grip to a traditional cutter grip, but it would be great if I was wrong.
With September here, the right-hander having a strong month or two, and the Mets not exactly having a fifth starter, it is all but guaranteed that Tong gets called back up the Queens and appears in a few games. I’m not sure how well he will perform- honestly, I do have a bit of trepidation, since International League hitters have hit him hard- but here’s hoping he performs well enough to avoid the Mets analyzing the small sample of his MLB performance and switching him to sidearm while having him scrap his changeup for a gyroball.
Oh, man, I was really wanting this article to be a celebration of PCA, the MVP(?) and a win of the series and start another streak of series wins.
But, Shota. Craig Counsell said, “We need Shota. We need Shota. We need him to have good starts.” That’s good to say, but there needs to be a replacement ready to go for the playoffs — and maybe before to make sure they even make the playoffs. The comfortable Wild Card lead is no longer comfortable, especially with the Brewers the focus over the next 10 games.
Counsell is not wrong — Imanaga has not had a bad season. He’s had a season full of CSPSHRs*, but now they are turning into two- and three-run home runs. “Needing him to have good starts” would be a drastic improvement from recent results, and a lot to hope for.
Yeah, that took a bit of the air out of the PCA bubble, but he can handle all the self-promotion with that magic bat of his. There’s been 40-40 talk for a few weeks now, and it was natural to assume that getting the homers are the hardest part. After Sunday, he’s two homers away. You can’t tell him to walk or turn every hit (inside the park) into a single just to steal eight more bases, especially with the playoffs are on the line. But I’m sure there will be opportunities for him to stack a couple of SBs here and there, so we’ll see.
You know all of PCA’s stats for each game, but for posterity, in the two games, PCA went 6-for-11 with six runs scored, five home runs and eight RBI. The Cubs need to keep him in bubble wrap between games.
For the other hitters this weekend — most of the action was on Saturday (obviously) but these two had a good pair of games. Alex Bregman went 4-for-9 with a run scored, two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Nico Hoerner quietly went 3-for-8 with two RBI.
Saturday saw Carson Kelly go off — 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run and 4 RBI. Tyrone Taylor keeps impressing, going 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored. Seiya Suzuki went 3-for-5 with a walk, three runs scored, a home run and two RBI. And Pedro Ramirez went 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored.
Sunday had Ian Happ adding a 2-for-3 day with a walk and two runs scored.
It’s a good thing that the Cubs scored so many runs Saturday. Kevin Gausman allowed five runs over five innings, with five hits and two walks, but two of those hits were home runs. He did strike out seven. Hope it was just a little blip.
In the two games, the bullpen was (cautiously) good after the meltdown Friday. Over eight IP, the bullpen allowed one run (on Trent Thornton’s HR allowed), four total hits, three walks and six strikeouts.
Complimentary Starting Pitcher Solo Home Run*
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Combo PCA-Mania — Sammy Sosa’s Magic Prediction — Cubs and MLB History — OH! and MVP Race:
Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): The anatomy of Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong’s potential MVP season. “While working with assistant hitting coach John Mallee at Citi Field, Crow-Armstrong walked out of the cage and essentially said, “I found something that I’m going to be able to repeat for a long time.” He has.“
Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Even Cubs legends are in awe of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s MVP campaign. “Jake Arrieta said, “For his third at-bat, his fourth at-bat, his fifth at-bat, we were glued to the actual gameplay live. I didn’t want to just watch it on TV. I wanted to see it happen live. We’re all standing there and you’re kind of shaking your head.”“
Pete Crow-Armstrong joins Mookie Betts (2018) as the only players in MLB history to accomplish these feats in one season: • Hitting a lead-off home run • Hitting a walk-off home run • Hitting for the cycle • Hitting 3 home runs in one game pic.twitter.com/kHPkXRjqzg
Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): Cubs’ key relievers might be regressing to mean at worst time. “After David Peterson at least gave the Cubs a chance to win, Trent Thornton all but removed it, allowing five runs in the sixth inning of a 10-8 loss to the Reds.”
Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune {$})): Sammy Sosa basking in rebuilt relationship with Cubs. “Of his relationship with the team he defined for 13 seasons, Sosa said he and the Cubs have put their old differences to the side.”
Jordan Bastian and Adam McCalvy (MLB.com): Cubs’ divisional fate rests on the results of their next 10 days. “With seven games between the Cubs and Brewers over the next 10 days, this is Chicago’s chance to try to swing the momentum in this year’s division race before it is too late.”
Altered Five Blues Band (originally known as Altered Five) is an American five-piece blues band. Formed in 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, they have released six albums since 2008. Altered Five smokes, smolders and burns like a swig of good whiskey. The hip Milwaukee quintet is known for its strong brew of tough, original blues and hard-hitting live shows. Blues Blast raves that barrel-chested front man Jeff Taylor possesses a “smooth, warm-toned voice as monumental and undeniable as Howlin’ Wolf with the finish and flourish of B.B. King.” Downbeat declares stealth guitarist Jeff Schroedl “reaches the high bar of mixed invention and fluidity.” Fueled by a rhythm section laying down the deepest grooves this side of the MGs, the award-winning group has remained at the forefront of contemporary blues for more than two decades, performing in 13 countries around the world.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
Aug 25, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (88) gestures after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters. We made it to September!
The Orioles are still out west for the last few games of their long road trip. I personally find this stretch of games to be a touch on the ridiculous side. After an off-day on Monday, August 24th, the Orioles traveled to St. Louis. That kicked off 16 straight days without a day off. That is a really long stretch of games, but the travel on top of that is too much.
The Orioles traveled St. Louis (Central time zone) to Sacramento (Pacific) to Denver (Mountain). When their series with the Rockies is over, they will travel home to Baltimore (Eastern). They will play seven games in Baltimore before an off day. Sixteen games, four time zones, zero off days. I’m sorry, that’s bonkers.
Yesterday afternoon, the Orioles claimed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets. The Mets are currently a last-place team with a bloated payroll, and the move saves them millions of dollars. Robert is still owed about $3 million of this year’s salary, which the Orioles will now cover. His contract also holds a $20 million club option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout. The Orioles are also on the hook for that. And because the Mets payroll is so large, they were paying 110% luxury tax on Robert’s salary. Getting another team to take Robert for 25 games is saving them north of $8 million.
The Orioles, for their part, are hoping that Robert can harness some of the talent that he showed earlier in his career. The White Sox signed Robert to a six-year contract with two club option years back in January 2020, when he had never played a single Major League game. That year, Robert came second in AL Rookie of the Year voting and locked up a Gold Glove for his defense in center field.
Since then however, he has been unable to stay healthy and productive. He has played over 100 games just twice. In 2023, he hit 36 doubles and 38 home runs in 145 games, racking up a 5.4 bWAR. And in 2025, he played in 110 games with a drop in both power and OBP. His offensive production dropped off significantly of his last three injury-marred seasons.
The White Sox picked up the first of Robert’s two options last November. In January, they traded him to the Mets. In six seasons with the White Sox, Roberts played in 577 games. He hit .253/.313/.455. He has always been considered a strong defender.
Robert broke camp with the Mets in March and was an everyday player until he went on the IL at the end of March with a lumbar spine disc herniation. He was not playing well when he went on the IL, and he got off to a slow start upon his return on July 2oth.
But for the month of August, he has been much improved. In 24 games, Robert had six home runs and seven walks in 84 plate appearances. His hitting line was .267/.321/.520 (.841 OPS). Once a pretty good base stealer, that has dried up. But he is still fast on the base paths.
With Tyler O’Neill on the IL and Leody Taveras atrocious against left-handed pitchers, the Orioles need a right-handed bat in the outfield. They just spent a lot of money to try and improve over the final 25 games of the season (and playoffs!), and it’s a risk I appreciate. I don’t care about their money; they should spend it all, as far as I’m concerned. But I know that some other clubs wouldn’t in the same position. That includes the John Angelos era Orioles.
Will it make a difference? None of us really knows. But it has the potential to, which makes it exciting. Let’s all hope Luis Robert Jr. stays healthy and productive and keeps Taveras where he belongs against lefties: on the bench.
Because You Asked – The Bone Temple – MASN Sports Roch Kubatko has a Q&A for the fans. He says it’s a mailbag, but is someone out there really asking about Nick Raquet? (Get well soon, Nick Raquet)
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies, although neither is particularly memorable for their time in Baltimore. Eduard Bazardo is 31 years old today. He pitched 2.1 forgettable innings for the 2023. The Orioles traded him to the Mariners at the trade deadline of that year and he’s spent the last three-plus seasons in Seattle. He’s been particularly good out of the bullpen in the last two years. The trade return, Logan Rinehart, is no longer playing professional baseball.
Also born on this day in history is another pitcher, Dean Stone (b. 1930, d. 2018). Stone pitched in eight Major League seasons, the last of which was 1963 with the Orioles. A relief pitcher, Stone had a 5.12 ERA in 17 games. Cool name, though.
On this day in 1999, Albert Belle hit his 40th home run in a 3-1 win over the Rays. It marked his eighth straight season with 30+ home runs. It was also his final season with 30.
In 2000, the Orioles turned a triple play in Cleveland. With runners on first and second, Sandy Alomar Jr. hit a pop-up into shallow left-center field. Shortstop Melvin Mora raced out to catch it, but at the last second let it drop. The infield fly rule was not called. Mora threw to second base where Jerry Hairston applied the tag to Travis Fryman and stepped on second base to retire Wil Cordero. The third out came from Alomar, who assumed it was an infield fly and went right into the dugout.
In 2005, the Orioles released pitcher Sidney Ponson. He had one year and $10 million remaining on his contract, but the Orioles contended that his off-field conduct (multiple DUIs, one judge punching) warranted termination. MLBPA filed a grievance on Ponson’s behalf, and the two sides later settled.
In 2007, Clay Buchholz no-hit the Orioles in his second career start. That was embarrassing.
In 2011, the Rangers and Orioles completed the trade that sent Mike González to Texas at that year’s trade deadline. The PTBNL turned out to be Pedro Strop.
And on this day last year, the Orioles beat the Padres 4-3. They got to Dylan Cease for two runs in four innings, then added on two more against the bullpen. Kyle Bradish allowed two runs in four innings as well, but Baltimore’s bullpen was better. Jeremiah Jackson had three hits, including a home run. Samuel Basallo doubled twice.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 31: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 31, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The dog days of August are over and the final month of the MLB regular season has arrived. Leading the Wild Card race, the Yankees are in good shape to return to the playoffs for the ninth time in the last decade (and 27th time in 32 years dating back to 1995), but they have a tall task ahead if they want to run down the surprising Rays for the division title and a first-round bye. Otherwise, a likely Wild Card Series rematch with the Red Sox awaits, with the winner behind the eight-ball in terms of pitching before they square off with Tampa Bay in the ALDS — the same scenario that the Yankees got burned by in 2025 with Toronto.
But let’s ponder the AL East for a second and be hopeful. FanGraphs gives the Yankees a 16.9-percent chance of winning the division. That’s not great, but 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh is hitting .171, so consider the odds about the same as Raleigh getting a hit in a given at-bat this year. Unlikely, but not impossible! Here’s how Yankees’ September lines up:
September 1-2: @ Angels
September 4-6: @ Padres
September 8-10: vs. Rockies
September 11-13: vs. Mets
September 14-16: @ Twins
September 18-20: @ Diamondbacks
September 22-24: vs. Rays (doubleheader on 9/23)
September 25-27: vs. Orioles
That’s 24 games. If they win, say, two-thirds to take 16, then they’ll need the Rays to only win 11 of their 25 to fully make up the deficit (unless they can sweep that four-game set against Tampa Bay to get the tiebreaker, which I’m not counting on). It’s a tall task, and while I have skepticism about the Rays, in my gut, I don’t think they’re a team that will have a losing month. I actually am optimistic enough on the Bombers that they can get a 16-win month against that batch. My concern is that—like their 18-win September 2025—it might not be enough.
But despite that missed opportunity last night, I can hope! Remember when the 2017 Dodgers were on an absurd win pace and then utterly bombed in September? And this Rays team is no 2017 Dodgers. What do you think?
Today on the site, Dani will discuss the new SB Nation app that just came out to help make your experience on the site (and others around SBN) much smoother! We’ll also have Michael’s weekly minor league report, Madison on the Rivalry Roundup, Kento on the birthday of a forgotten Yankee who starred at Dartmouth long before Ben Rice, Peter’s monthly GM poll, and Jonathan and Matt on our monthly check-ins on the AL Central and AL West, respectively.
As a programming note, there’s no minor-league recap today because none of the Yankees’ affiliates were in action.
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 30: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees high fives teammates during the game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 30, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MLB.com | Ian Browne: Sunday’s blowout win over the Red Sox came with some minor controversies, but one of them was generated by a broadcast booth. Red Sox radio play-by-play commentator Will Flemming became irate with Jazz Chisholm Jr. stealing a pair of bases in the eighth inning with the Yankees up 7-1 at the time, calling first for Boston’s pitcher to drill Austin Wells (who was at the plate at the time) before turning his temper to Jazz as he walked over to home plate after Wells hit a home run and saying that the pitcher should start a fight with the Yankee second baseman. The Rivalry can certainly cause a flare of emotions from time to time, even if nowhere close to as often as the 2000s teams did, but Flemming truly crossed a line when he called Chisholm a “bush league player” for stealing those bases and adding that he “didn’t play the game the right way,” invoking the type of commentary that less than stellar folks tend to direct at Chisholm over a decision to swipe some bags in a game that was still very much up for grabs.
Aaron Boone, when asked about the incident on Monday, added that he was the one who told Chisholm to go for the steals since the Sox weren’t holding him at first and he wanted to rule out needing David Bednar in that game, even yelling at the Sox’ dugout that he would let Chisholm loose if they didn’t care to hold him. Boone also added that Flemming reached out to apologize about the incident, though he didn’t give that apology to Jazz. Chisholm, to his credit, took it in stride saying he didn’t care about an apology as he didn’t know who Flemming was until he was told about it Monday morning, and he’d forget about him soon after.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: The Yankees are keeping a watchful eye on Shoki Oda, an 18-year-old Japanese pitching prospect turning lots of heads as he weighs a decision to declare for the Nippon Professional Baseball draft or become an international free agent. The NPB draft is on October 22nd, effectively serving as Oda’s deadline, but if he chooses to go stateside teams wouldn’t be able to sign him until January 15, 2027. That pushes him into the 2027 signing class as opposed to the 2026 period, the latter of which the Yankees still have a rare pile of money to spend after previous agreements they made under international scouting director Donny Rowland fell through after he was let go by the organization. The Yankees are one of many teams highly interested in Oda, but they’re also showing a renewed effort in making connections with the Japanese market — an area they’ve been largely absent from since signing Masahiro Tanaka way back in 2014.
NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: Heliot Ramos didn’t get off to the most impressive start in his Yankees tenure, hitting 2-for-32 in his first 13 games in pinstripes. He’s turned it on of late though, encapsulated by his three-run homer on Sunday to break open the scoring in what became a rout, and having Ramos contributing goes a long way towards making the Yankee lineup a more balanced threat. Ramos was the right-handed addition to the offense at the deadline, and being able to slot him in around Aaron Judge once the captain returns will go a long way to building the deepest threat they have for October.
NY Post | Greg Joyce: In case you missed it, the Yankees continued their roulette spinning in the relief market by picking up John Schreiber off of waivers from Kansas City. Schreiber has been a solid enough reliever this year, owning a 3.65 ERA in 55 games, but his numbers come with a very obvious split: right-handed hitters have a .414 OPS against him while lefties have crushed him for a 1.024 OPS. He’ll get a chance to pick up innings against righty-dominant stretches of opposing lineups and carve out a niche for himself with the potential to earn a postseason roster spot if he succeeds, but the biggest impact he could carry is simply lightening the load a little bit from the Yankees’ top three arms in David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, and Brent Headrick.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 31: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks greets Dave McKay #36 in the dugout before the MLB game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Chase Field on August 31, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Record: 73-66. Pace: 85-77. Change on 2025: +5.
The Diamondbacks won the series against the Phillies on the East coast, but all three games there were decided by one run. Tonight’s game at Chase Field was just as close, neither side exactly taking advantage of their scoring opportunities. Arizona and Philadelphia combined to go 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. But it was the “1” which proved the difference maker, Bryce Harper’s RBI double off the outfield wall turning out to be enough. It gave D-backs’ pitcher Brandon Pfaadt his first loss since April 11th, ending his streak of unbeaten starts at ten, though it was definitely a tough loss.
Of course, the major storyline tonight was the return of Ketel Marte to the Diamondbacks’ line-up. It came after ten days on the Injured List for a knee issue, and a few more on the Restricted List after he failed to show up at Fenway Park for a game. How would he be greeted by the fans at Chase? Listening at home, it seemed a genuinely mixed greeting, but reporting from the ballpark, Jack said, “Many more booing than cheering, booers were louder, and booed again as he grounded out.” However, the reception for his subsequent at-bats seemed to be kinder. Maybe it’s like family: you can’t stay angry at them forever. You still have to live with them, after all.
In the end, Marte went 1-for-3 with a walk (we’ll cycle back to that later). Hopefully, this entire situation is something the team can now put behind them for now, and just concentrate on the battle for a wild-card spot. Regardless of what does (or does not) happen in the off-season, the month of September is something which deserves absolute focus and commitment from everyone on the roster the rest of the way. Hopefully, it shouldn’t be too hard for everyone to pull in the same direction over the remaining games. Except in the absence of a relapse, I’m inclined to draw a line under everything for the balance of this season. So, moving on…
After a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the first, the Phillies took the lead with one out in the second. It came on an absolute monster shot by Bryson Stott off Pfaadt, estimated at 464 feet. That’s the second-longest hit at Chase Field this year, trailing only a ringworm-powered one which went one foot longer. It was also the third-longest allowed by Pfaadt at Chase, the record belonging to a 472 footer by Oneil Cruz. In case you’re wondering, in the Statcast era, the record is a Franchy Cordero blast in 2018 off Matt Koch, tracked at 489 feet. Of course, like the blast tonight, it still only counted as one, the Stott shot giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
They were then able to double their tally in the third, though things could have been a lot worse. A single and a walk started the inning, then Harper’s double with one out put two in scoring position. Luis Arraez did Luis Arraez things, putting the ball in play. However, it was firmly hit to Ildemaro Vargas, who came home for Gabriel Moreno to apply the tag at home for the second out. Pfaadt was able to escape further damage, and got through six innings on 87 pitches, allowing five hits, with one walk and just the one strikeout. While he did take the L and there were only five swinging strikes, it was a better performance than his outings against the Red Sox or Cubs.
After the second Phillies tally, the D-backs were able to get on the board in the bottom of the third. Though they had already stranded their first runner in scoring position in the second inning, after a Lars Nootbaar walk and Nolan Arenado legging out an infield hit (no, really!). Tim Tawa and Ildemaro Vargas came up empty, but definitely weren’t the last Arizona hitters to do so. But in the third, a two-out double just fair down the left-field line by Moreno, and an aggressive send by third-base coach J.R. House, got Geraldo Perdomo all the way from first across home-plate, narrowing the deficit to 2-1.
While the visitors would not be able to score over the remaining six innings, neither could the home team. Arizona’s best chance perhaps came in the sixth, where Moreno singled and Marte walked, to put two on with nobody out. But Nootbaar, Arenado and Tawa couldn’t move the runners. The most egregious mistake might have come in the seventh, where Vargas’s lead-off hit was erased on an ill-advised attempt to start running for second while the pitcher still had the ball. There were two more Arizona men on base with one out in the eighth, but Arenado and Tawa were, again, unable to do anything.
The last chance came in the ninth against (as Sneeks pointed out in the GDT) former D-backs prospect Jhoan Duran, now the Phillies’ closer. He was part of the haul sent by Arizona to Minnesota in 2018 for Eduardo Escobar, and after becoming the Twins closer, was traded to Philadelphia in 2025. Tonight, the D-backs almost got to him. Ryan Waldschmidt and Corbin Carroll each got infield hits (Carroll avoiding an 0-for-5 night), to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Moreno came up, with Marte lurking in the on-deck circle, ready to speed-run the Redemption Arc storyline. But Gaby grounded out, and another one-run game went the Phillies’ way.
Click for details at Fangraphs Redemption, of a kind: Ketel Marte, +10% Damnation: Tim Tawa, -26% Perdition: Arenado, -18%; Vargas, -18%; Perdomo, -12%
Interesting to see Ketel Marte leading the Win Probability on his return tonight. Of note, after the game:
Ketel Marte after the game said he misunderstood the question asked to him pregame on if he had any message for the fans, a question he shook his head no to.
Comment of the night to AzDesertLovr (one of these days, I will both spell and capitalize that correctly first time – but today is not that day!) for coming oh-so close to a correct prediction about Ketel Marte’s performance on his return.
With the Padres winning, Arizona drops out of a wild-card position by one-half of a game. We will see what tomorrow brings, in the second game of the series. It’s another 6:40 pm pitch, with Eduardo Rodriguez taking the mound for the Diamondbacks.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — After his first four big league starts were all fairly similar — meaning not particularly effective — Elmer Rodríguez dazzled his last time out, offering hope the young right-hander had figured things out in his time back at Triple-A.
Then came another dud Monday, with most of his teammates following suit.
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Rodríguez walked three batters, hit two more and gave up four runs in 3 ²/₃ innings as the Yankees fell flat all around following their big weekend against the Red Sox, losing 10-1 to the Angels, who came into the night tied for the worst record in baseball.
“Obviously an ugly one for us tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s just a great reminder that in this league, you got to play well or you get it handed to you.”
Coming off a high-stakes series win over the Red Sox, with four games in three days and then a cross-country flight Sunday night, the Yankees (78-60) were not sharp in any area Monday in a lifeless performance.
“That’s an excuse. That’s an excuse,” Boone said. “It’s obviously been a tough stretch. We’re coming out here, we know we got to play well. We were ready to go today, we just played poorly.”
New York Yankees pitcher Elmer Rodriguez comes out of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in the fourth inning on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. AP Photo/Wally Skalij
They wasted a chance to pick up a game on the Rays, remaining 4 ¹/₂ games behind them for the division, while the Red Sox moved back within three games of the Yankees for the top AL wild card.
Any chance the Yankees had of coming back after Rodríguez spotted the Angels (53-85) a 4-0 lead was sabotaged by some sloppy play late with three errors, two charged to José Caballero on one play.
Rodríguez had actually flown ahead of the rest of his teammates, landing in Los Angeles around 7:30 p.m. local time Sunday to get him a good night’s rest, though it did not make a difference. After tossing six innings of three-run ball against the Astros last week, Rodríguez needed 91 pitches to record 11 outs Monday, with his velocity falling off late in addition to his poor command.
“Just falling behind a lot of hitters,” Rodríguez said. “I feel like if I just attacked from the start — I know when I was ahead, I was getting my outs and executing good pitches.”
In relief, Michael Fulmer, Luis Gil (in his first career appearance out of the bullpen) and David Bednar (who got hit around in a 28-pitch eighth after pitching just once in the last 10 days and the rest of the seven-man bullpen taxed) each gave up at least one run, allowing the game to get out of hand.
The Yankees, who scored 25 runs in their last two games against the Red Sox, made plenty of loud contact early against Angels right-hander Walbert Ureña with little to show for it before he settled into a groove. They let him off the hook in the first inning, when Trent Grisham — moved out of the leadoff spot against a righty (in favor of Ben Rice) for only the second time since May — struck out to end the threat.
Michael Fulmer of the New York Yankees reacts to a run from Christian Moore of the Los Angeles Angels after a failed pickoff attempt at second base during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Getty Images
Their only run in seven innings against Ureña came on Spencer Jones’ moonshot in the fifth inning. In each of the first three innings, Rodríguez issued a two-out walk. He worked around the first two but the third, which came after a leadoff double, eventually gave way to the Angels’ first run on Vaughn Grissom’s RBI single.
Rodríguez then got himself in trouble again with two outs in the fourth after hitting ex-Yankee Oswald Peraza and Tyler Heineman in back-to-back at-bats, both on curveballs. Zach Neto and Mike Trout followed with back-to-back singles that made it a 4-0 game.
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Fulmer gave up a pair of runs in an ugly fifth, which were not entirely his fault. With a runner on second and one out, Christian Moore hit a bloop to right field that Jones tried to make a sliding grab on, only to come up short, with his glove flicking the ball back toward the infield and allowing the run to score and Moore to take second on a double.
Fulmer then tried to pick off Moore, but Caballero could not catch the throw and it got worse from there, as Grisham lobbed the throw in to no one in particular. That allowed the advantageous Moore to come all the way around to score for the 6-1 lead.
Caballero later committed two errors on one play in the sixth inning behind Gil, who gave up one run in two innings. First, Caballero bobbled a grounder to cost him a shot at a double play, then tried to just get the out at first, which did not happen either after he bounced the throw there, as the Angels made it 7-1.
“Couple mistakes we made, including me,” Caballero said. “Just need to clean that up and play better baseball.”
Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees began a weeklong trip on the West Coast on Monday with Aaron Judge in tow — and not just so he could be back in his home state.
If his ramp-up continues to go well this week as he adds more activity, “it’s possible” Judge could return to the Yankees during their next homestand that runs Sept. 8-13, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged Monday.
“I’m not going to put a date on it, but I think those things are in play now,” Boone said before a lackluster 10-1 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium. “It’s about getting the durability and the workload built up on him, which is the biggest thing now.”
Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels. Getty Images
As the Yankees took batting practice Monday, Judge was out in right field doing defensive drills. The back-to-back AL MVP has been hitting inside over the past week, not yet against high velocity but responding well as he comes back from the right rib stress fracture that has sidelined him since the end of May.
Judge has said he hopes to avoid a rehab assignment, instead making up for one by facing the equivalent of live pitching against the Trajekt machine — which simulates exact pitches of big leaguers.
“He’s doing well,” Boone said. “He’s here, to continue to ramp up baseball activities. We’re getting closer, but feel good about where he’s at.”
The Yankees took another flier on a veteran reliever Monday, claiming John Schreiber off waivers from the Royals for the price of roughly $600,000 that he has left on his contract. The righty sidearmer had a 3.65 ERA in 55 appearances this season with the Royals and was especially good against right-handed batters, whom he held to a .143 average and .414 OPS. Lefties, meanwhile, hit .326 with a 1.024 OPS against him.
“We think he has a lot to offer, especially in some of these righty lanes,” Boone said. “We’re pretty familiar with him, having faced him a lot over the years with Boston and Kansas City, Kansas City’s playoff run [in 2024]. So familiar with him and kind of that unique angle. He’s still really handling right-handed hitters at a high level. Feel like he can certainly come in and help us.”
Because of Schreiber’s low slot, pitching coach Matt Blake described him as a “complement to Timmy [Hill] in some ways to get some of these heavy righty lanes.”
George Lombard Jr. remained out of the lineup Monday for a second straight game due to right knee inflammation. But the shortstop tested it early Monday afternoon, going through some running and agility drills on the field to see if he could make himself a player off the bench.
“Definitely continues to improve,” Boone said. “We’ll see on the level of availability as the day unfolds.”
Ryan Weathers is early in the second week of what the Yankees said would be a two-to-four week shutdown from throwing because of a left forearm flexor strain, but Boone is hoping he could begin playing catch this week.
“Looks like he’s trending in a better way than that,” Boone said of the initial target. “There’s check marks that tell us he’s ready to go throw. Seems like he’s getting close to that.”
Ryan McMahon (left thumb sprain) will be activated Tuesday when rosters expand from 26 to 28. … Reliever Justin Topa, after being designated for assignment Saturday, elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to Triple-A.
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 31: Colton Cowser #17 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with Leody Taveras #30 after robbing Jake McCarthy of the Colorado Rockies of a home run in the ninth inning that would have won the game at Coors Field on August 31, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. Baltimore Orioles won the game 2-1. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For a few moments, it looked like Jake McCarthy had hit a walk-off home run that would have given the Rockies a 3-2 win in a game that ended four hours and 33 minutes after it started.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
McCarthy’s bomb with two outs in the bottom of the ninth was headed into the water feature beyond the center field fence at Coors Field, but Baltimore’s Colton Cowser timed his jump perfectly and reached over the wall to rob the homer and bring the Orioles to .500 (69-69) on Monday night.
“It’s like a knife to the heart. The boys played hard all game long,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “That’s a great play to end the game. Jake had a heck of a swing in a big-time, big moment. Three more inches, we win. But we lose. And we’re going to come up tomorrow and try to win that ballgame.”
The Rockies took a 1-0 lead before Baltimore tied it up 1-1 in the fifth. A one-hour and 38-minute rain delay then changed the course of the game and sent the Rockies to their fifth straight loss and 10th consecutive at Coors Field.
Raining on Gordon’s parade
Rain cut Tanner Gordon’s night short, and we’ll never know if he could have had a longer night, but he made the most of the five innings he had. Through four innings, Gordon was rolling. He gave up one infield single in the second, but no damage was done. In the second, he recorded the first of his three strikeouts.
In the third, Gordon walked Leody Taveras, who was then thrown out attempting to swipe second base by Goodman. Back-to-back doubles from Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo to lead off the fifth inning tied the game at 1-1. Gordon bounced back with two groundouts sandwiching a strikeout to end the inning.
When the rain ended Gordon’s night prematurely, he’d given up one run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk. After a seven-inning, one-run performance in his last outing, Gordon seems to be settling into his starter role, according to Schaeffer.
“I thought TG stacked another good one on top of the last one. I thought he was really good,” Schaeffer said. “I thought he pounded the strike zone. His spin was good, change was good, heater was good. He got ahead in counts. He did everything you want your starter to do.”
Blame it on the rain?
The Rockies relievers who came in after Gordon really struggled with control. At first, Mark Manfredi looked sharp, walking one but then getting Gunnar Henderson to ground into a double play to end the inning. In the seventh, the walks came. Manfredi got one flyball out in between walking Coby Mayo and Basallo, which was enough for Schaeffer to pull him from the game.
Unfortunately, Nick Frasso was also in walk mode. He issued a free pass to Blaze Alexander to load the bases. It seemed like the Rockies might escape unscathed when Cowser hit a grounder to Connor Norby. Norby tried to turn a double play, but his throw wasn’t as quick as it needed to be and Ezequiel Tovar threw a hopper to Rumfield at first. Initially, the umpire called Cowser out, but Baltimore called for a review and the decision was overturned, allowing the Orioles to go up 2-1.
Shockingly, despite walking four Orioles, the Rockies didn’t give up a hit in the seventh and were able to prevent any more runs.
“Four walks in the seventh, not good, obviously,” Schaeffer said. “And then a tailor-made double play is not turned. Colton Cowser won that game for them, getting down the line for a run and then obviously that play at the end.”
Brennan Bernardino threw a scoreless eighth, only allowing one single, while Jordan Romano threw a perfect ninth to give the Rockies a chance to win it.
Swinging before the rain
The Rockies got on the board first in the fourth inning when Hunter Goodman led off with a double. TJ Rumfield followed with a walk, but then Willi Castro struck out and Mickey Moniak grounded out, which at least moved the runners up. But a promising inning with no outs quickly had two. Luckily, Jordan Beck was able to cash in with a single up the middle to score Goodman.
Troy Johnston, who doubled in the ninth to start the would-be rally, drew a walk to load the bases, but Tovar followed up with a fly out with the bases loaded.
Bad luck followed in the fifth when Goodman drew a two-out walk only to be called out when a single off the bat of Rumfield hit him and turned him into the final out of the inning. Through five innings, the Rockies had five hits, but only one run to show for it because they left five runners on base.
Then the rain — and the delay — came.
The weather also ended the night for Orioles lefty Cade Povich, who only gave up one run despite surrendering five hits and three walks. He also struck out four Rockies in five innings.
Up next
The Rockies and Orioles will be back at it on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 6:40 p.m. Colorado’s RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-6, 6.61) will face off against Baltimore’s RHP Kyle Bradish (7-12, 4.03).
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 31: Colton Cowser #17 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates robs Jake McCarthy of the Colorado Rockies of a home run in the ninth inning that would have won the game at Coors Field on August 31, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. Baltimore Orioles won the game 2-1. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s just one of those things, I guess. The Orioles are playing some of their best ball of the season. The offense has been hot lately. They’ve been dispatching competitive teams, and moving up in the Wild Card chase. And so of course they’d travel to the thin air of Denver, where they’d face the worst team in baseball, and a 28-year-old starter with just 30 career starts and a negative bWAR for most of them, and do basically nothing at the plate.
It’s true, against Colorado’s Tanner Gordon, the Birds managed only one run on three hits over five innings, only spared from total futility by a run-scoring double from Samuel Basallo. We’d played five at that point when the skies opened up, at around 10 pm, and we got stuck in an hour forty-five minute delay. It was a long, weird game. Once the rain cleared, and despite getting outhit 8-4, the Birds pulled out a much-needed win and returned to .500 for the first time since April 30, while also gaining a half-game in the wild card race, now standing just a half-game back of Cleveland. They did it with style, too: centerfielder Colton Cowser made the catch of his life with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, stealing a home run and an otherwise-certain Colorado win.
Let’s beam back to the game’s antediluvian prehistory for a second. The Orioles came out with an aggressive approach, which, facing an inexperienced, strike-throwing pitcher like Gordon, makes some sense. But Gordon is also an offspeed guy, and the danger of selling out on the first pitch against someone like that is you end up just making bad contact. Like when Gunnar Henderson his a 55-mph squibber early in the first. He, and the rest of the Orioles’ hitters, looked very annoyed to make Tanner Gordon work so little early on. (I shared the sentiment.)
Then, after three innings of futility against Tanner Gordon, the Orioles were about two feet away from a 2-1 lead (and a de facto win, if the powers that be had decided to call the game due to rain after five). The fourth inning saw the mood of offensive futility lift as soon as Dylan Beavers got one of Gordon’s first bad changeups—a cement mixer, as Ben McDonald likes to say—and doubled. It should have lasted a little longer: Samuel Basallo connected on a changeup of his own, driving it 409 feet and off the center-field wall, just short of a home run in that part of Coors Field. Beavers, caught off guard, had to dig for home, but he made it, tying the game at one. But O’s hitters went down in order after that.
As for our guy, Cade Povich, meanwhile, has long been known for his Jekyll-and-Hyde tendencies. He either looks hittable—like when he leaves up fastballs, a couple of which sustained hard contact in the first and second innings—or swing-and-miss-worthy—as when he struck out catcher Hunter Goodman on a gigantic curveball.
But overall he did fine: five innings, five hits allowed, one run, three walks, four strikeouts. The fourth inning was trouble for him: he allowed a leadoff double to Hunter Goodman (on a hittable heater), then walked first baseman TJ Rumfield on four pitches. Then, he racked up two quick outs—a strikeout, then a stellar play from his shortstop, as Gunnar ranged to his right and threw off-balance to nab Mickey Moniak. But he left up a hittable fastball, and outfielder Jordan Beck singled to make it 1-0 Colorado. Disappointing, frankly. Povich walked the next guy on four pitches to load the bases. It was an ugly moment, but he got a butt-saving flyout to end the inning.
And that was there things stood when the rain set in.
Two hours later, after the rain had cleared (and while you were already in bed while I recapped this thing), the Rockies sent out one Mark Manfredi to the mound to face the top of the order. A recent call-up from Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate (the Albuquerque Isotopes—mentioned purely because of the great physics-themed name), Manfredi navigated through the sixth intact.
But he may have stayed in a bit too long, because in the seventh inning, he walked both Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo. His replacement, Nick Frasso, immediately walked Blaze Alexander, and we had ourselves a one-out, bases-loaded deal. Then, shenanigans: Colton Cowser grounded into a double play to end the inning. Or did he! The Orioles astutely challenged, and got the call overturned. Now Coby Mayo had actually crossed the plate, and it was 2-1 Orioles.
The O’s’ litigiousness paid off in other ways. An inning before, they’d challenged a play on Grant Wolfram’s watch, a strike-‘em-out/throw-‘em-out where Basallo would get credit for the caught stealing. That helped extend Wolfram’s longevity, as the righty ended up giving them a second clean inning.
The O’s could have attacked again in the top of the eighth, but they got a Gunnar Henderson single and then slunk back lamely to the dugout.
That left two innings left to cover before we could all go to bed for a win. Alex Hoppe took custody of the eighth. Immediately former Oriole Connor Norby burned him with a single. Hoppe got a flyout. But he walked TJ Rumfield to put the winning run on.
That earned Hoppe the axe, and saw Rico Garcia take over instead. Garcia has had his struggles, but he is so good in that mopman role. He got Willi Castro swinging on three pitches, and drew a flyball out on just two pitches more. Huge outing by Garcia.
After the O’s went down like meek little lambs in the top of the ninth, only three outs remained. Andrew Kittredge took over, the tension palpable (assuming you were still awake). Colorado pinch-hit Cole Carrigg, who flew out on one pitch. But Troy Johnston, also swinging at the first pitch, doubled, putting the tying run in scoring position. Colorado, playing this one aggressively, came out with another pinch-hitter (Zac Veen). Kittredge responded with several sinkers and a diving slider—and got the result he (we) wanted: a swinging strikeout. Centerfielder Jake McCarthy came up, the Rockies’ last chance: he, too, had gotten notes to be aggressive, and on most nights, what he did next would have been to hit a two-run, walkoff homer. Tonight, however, the ball flew all of 425 feet—and right into the glove of a leaping, felonious Colton Cowser. It was absolutely the catch of Cowser’s life to date, and not something I expected from the Milkman, if I’m being honest with you. Check if out for yourself. Game over. O’s win.
With Cleveland having the day off today, the Orioles are now back at .500 and a mere half-game out of a wild card spot. It wasn’t always pretty today, but it was a win. And it certainly ended with a bang—or, rather, didn’t, thanks to a gigantic Cowser.
So, who is your Most Birdland Player? Samuel Basallo, with his double, walk, RBI and near-homer? Coby Mayo, who is clobbering the ball day-in, day-out still? Grant Wolfram, for two clean innings after a two-hour rain delay? Rico Garcia, for cleaning up Hoppe’s mess? Or is it the Milkman himself, snatching Colorado’s win away with one huge leap?
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 31: Jonah Cox #53 of the San Francisco Giants celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning during the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Monday, August 31, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kathryn May/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
On paper, it looked like a big advantage that the Atlanta Braves got to play the makeup game for a June 18 rainout at the end of August. The San Francisco Giants would have to wait 10 weeks, fly across the country ahead of a six-game road trip, and trade away six veterans in the interim before facing a division-leading team on a seven-game win streak.
But waiting meant the Braves had to face a trio of rookies that weren’t on the roster three weeks ago. Monday night, Sluggin’ Jonah Cox, Nate “The Great” Furman, and Turner “King Of The” Hill rained on the Braves parade with three runs, five fits, and four RBIs in a 7-3 win. Their sad fans were Tomahawk-chopping their umbrellas as they walk out of the stadium in despair.
This means that, perhaps unofficially, the Giants have finally swept a series in 2026. And it only took them until the last day of August! Their rainy visit to Hotlanta Wetlanta in June saw one game cancelled and another postponed after a two-hour rain delay, but the Giants won both halves of an improvised doubleheader on the one day with ded=cent weather. This means the Giants technically have swept a series this season, won a series on the road in the process and are currently on a three-series unbeaten streak.
Former Brave Anthony Molina (2-0), acquired in the deadline deal for Tyler Mahle, won his second game in seven days by giving up three runs in five innings in his first start of the season and the third of his career. He struck out five straight Braves between the 3rd and 4th innings and escaped the 5th after giving up four hits but only one run, and leaving with the game tied 3-3.
The Giants broke things open in the top of the 6th thanks to Osleivis Basabe and a trio of rookies. Basabe led off the inning with his 4th home run of the season, bouncing it off the top of the center field wall just above the Papa John’s sign, which should probably earn him some free terrible pizza, right?
Losing pitcher Bryce Elder (8-8) proceeded to give up singles to Andrew Knizner and Furman, leaving the game with runners on second and third and one out. Furman is quite small at 5-foot-8 and 173 pounds, but in the minors, all he did was hit for average and get on base, so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise he’s finally getting a few hits in the majors.
Elder gave up eight hits and walked three, showing roughly the same level of command as Greg Maddux did with his ceremonial first pitch in Chicago this weekend.
The Braves brought in lefty Dylan Lee to face Drew Gilbert, but they only played into mad genius Tony Vitello’s hands with the gambit. He pinch-hit Turner Hill, who delivered a two-run double to right, then scored on rookie Bryce Eldridge’s RBI single with a gorgeous head-first slide.
A Turner succeeding in Atlanta? Well I’ll be. Hill has nine hits this season and five of them are doubles. He’s 2-for-4 with two walks off lefties this season, after an unsuccessful attempt to bunt for a hit in the 8th.
He may have been inspired by Cox, who surprised the Braves with a two-out bunt single in the 5th inning to score a hustling Rafael Devers, pushing the ball into a huge gap in the overshifted infield.
Cox hit it soft for one run and hit it hard for another, launching his 4th home run of the season in the top of the 9th. He’s slugging .556 on the season and hasn’t set foot on a scooter once!
Devers scored two runs and walked twice, blasting a massive first-inning home run that just barely stayed fair. It was the 30th homer of the season for Devers, the 5th time in his career he’s hit the 30-dinger mark. The Giants hadn’t had anyone hit 30 homers in 21 years before Willy Adames did it last year, and now they have had two players do it in consecutive years.
If Devers can go deep three more times this year, he’ll have one of the top 50 home run seasons in franchise history, joining a seven-way tie with Barry and Bobby Bonds, Hall of famers Jeff Kent and Mel Ott, Hall of Very Gooder Matt Williams, and Jim Ray Hart.
Next up is the Pittsburgh Pirates and a duel between Paul Skenes and Logan Webb. The marketing department will be excited that the Giants are starting a Blade and a Tugboat back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday and fans will be excited that the broadcast will almost certainly show a clip of Brandon Crawford’s grand slam from the 2014 wild card game, still perhaps the fastest we’ve ever heard a baseball crowd go from roaring to silent.
The only downside is that the loss put the Braves a half-game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race for the No. 2 seed in the National League and its accompanying bye. But that’s what they get for not approaching Nate Furman and Jonah Cox with appropriate respect.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 31: Cam Smith #11 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a two-run double in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Daikin Park on August 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
At approximately 830pm local time, you could hear the roar emulating at Daikin Park for miles. Nelson Velazquez had erased Chicago’s lead with one mega blast. 21,236 in attendance left the exits satisfied.
Astros 6 White Sox 3.
Even though Dana Brown was jettisoned a week ago, the waiver acquisition of Velazquez is firmly notched on the plus side of his ledger. Nelson’s two-run shot to left field traveled 415 feet, landing on the train tracks. As important as the runs were, of equal importance was generating some power from another left-handed bat in bottom third of the lineup.
As he’s prone to do, Peter Lambert had flashes of brilliance, but it wasn’t sustained for a deep outing. He’d strike out Vargas and Benintendi in the first, and for the night, recorded six punchouts. However, walks were also on the menu, five in total were served up before being pulled in the fifth. A 30-pitch, 4th inning pretty much told the story. 8 Sox batters would appear that frame, and when it concluded the Sox had their only lead of the night. Lambert has now gone winless in his last 9 starts.
Lambert’s counterpart, Anthony Kay, would also depart after going 4.2 innings. He’d leave with the bases loaded, and things only got worse from there. Trevor Richards came on in relief, and the game was busted open thanks to a Cam Smith 2-run double. At that point, the Astros were up 6-2. The White Sox would load the bases in the 6th but failed to score. However, in next inning, they’d inch closer on Colson Montgomery’s solo homer. It was Montgomery’s 29th of the season cutting things to 6-3. That would be the only run the White Sox would manage off of four different Astros relievers.
Bryan Abreu came on in the ninth to close the door.
Odds & Ends:
Peter Lambert’s 5 issued walks tied a career high. The Astros would allow 10 on the night.
September brings roster expansion. Expect the Astros on Tuesday to activate Mike Burrows from the IL.
Jose Altuve earned a rest day in the midst of a current 13 day stretch of contests.
With the win on Monday Night, the Astros finished August with a mark of 14-13.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 31: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on August 31, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Aaron Nola continued his resurgence and Bryson Stott hit the bomb of his life to power the Philadelphia Phillies (78-60) to a 2-1 victory in the series opener against the Wild Card rival Arizona Diamondbacks (73-66) for their fifth straight win and 14th in their last 16 games.
Nola notched his sixth win of the season and third of August, lowering his ERA for the eight straight game to 4.93.
Bryce Harper extended the lead to two with an RBI double in the third, which also his extended his career-best on-base streak to 33 games. His single in the eighth made it his 25th multi-hit game over that span.
Nola entered the sixth inning at 92 pitches and left at 104 after giving up a hit and a walk with no outs. Alex McFarlane continued his dominant rookie campaign by bailing out Nola with a scoreless frame to lower his ERA to 0.87 in 10 appearances.
With 24 games to go, an Atlanta loss and a San Diego win earlier in the night, the Phillies sit 4.5 back from the Braves for the division and five games up on the Padres for the second wild card spot, with the Diamondbacks on the outside looking in.
Jesus Luzardo will face fellow southpaw all-star, Eduardo Rodriguez in the middle game of the series tomorrow night.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 31: Tyler Heineman #31 of the Los Angeles Angels scores behind Austin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees, to take a 1-0 lead, during the third inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 31, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees seemed to be a team that could do no wrong on Sunday when they sent the Red Sox home with a 16-1 thumping that left many among their commentariat more than a little salty. That’s a heck of a win to build some momentum on as the final full month of the regular season awaits. Better yet, they got to fly out to Orange County to take on the lowly Angels, riding a seven-game losing streak and playing obligatory, meaningless ball.
But momentum is a fickle thing. Just because a team can catch fire after a great game doesn’t mean they will. It doesn’t shield them from a ridiculously poor performance the following night. That was perhaps a nice way of putting the Yankees’ effort in the series opener. Elmer Rodríguez plunked two batters with two outs before allowing both runners to score, José Caballero committed a pair of ugly errors in the field, and the offense checked out early in a 10-1 loss best placed in a filing cabinet in a dingy basement somewhere. The Bombers lost a game to the Red Sox in the Wild Card race, and remain 4.5 games back of the Rays in the AL East.
Rodríguez encountered his first bit of adversity in the third inning, allowing a leadoff double to ninth-place hitter Tyler Heineman. Heineman had allowed two Yankees to advance into scoring position back in the first when he lost track of a ball in the dirt. His starter Walbert Ureña worked around it, and the double made up for the mistake. But Rodríguez appeared well on the way to working around that double until he issued a two-out walk to Wade Meckler to extend the rally. Vaughn Grissom followed with a jam shot to center which found plenty of room in front of Trent Grisham, allowing Heineman to score for a 1-0 Angels lead.
An inning later, Elmer re-established himself by grabbing a pair of routine outs, including his fifth strikeout of the night against Josh Lowe. Then, he plunked consecutive batters on runaway curveballs to bring up the top of the order for the third time and get the bullpen to warm up behind him. Zach Neto had gotten his ticket punched each of his first two times up against Rodríguez, but the third time was the charm as he punched a single through the left side to bring another costly two-out run home.
The Bombers tried to grab the final out at third, but were unsuccessful, and Neto was able to slink to second in the meantime, giving Mike Trout an opportunity with two runners in scoring position. Now fully untethered from any semblance of command he had shown in the first three innings, he let a fastball leak over the inner half; all Trout had to do was flip it around. Two runs scored on his base hit, the Angels suddenly led 4-0, and Elmer was out of the game.
Hitting consecutive batters with two outs is a particularly exasperating unforced error. It’s particularly strange that the curveball, a pitch he seemed to have on a string early in the evening, was the culprit both times. He churned out two absolute jalopies off the assembly line in quick succession. That those dud curves happened to strike the eighth- and ninth-place hitters only made it more inexcusable, since it gave RBI chances to two of the only guys in the Angels lineup who can reliably cash in on those mistakes.
Ureña, on the other hand, took the missed Yankee opportunity at the top of the show and ran with it, retiring 11 straight batters after that little wild pitch. I’m sure the Yankees had watched plenty of film on the 22-year old righty, but facing his tricky pitch mix capped off by a dastardly changeup that misses barrels and keeps balls in the yard. Ureña used his mix to clip the Yankees’ wings for half the night, until a rocket from Spencer Jones got the Yankees out of containment and on the board.
Jones’ eighth homer of the year was an impressive clout, but it was just a solo shot, and didn’t give the Bombers any additional kindling to roar back to life. The Halos promptly responded with a leadoff chalk-hugging double from Grissom and a sinking line drive from Christian Moore that Jones, even with his long strides, couldn’t make up enough ground to grab. In a flash, the solo homer was nullified.
But this loss felt just a little too dignified. We needed a true circus play to expunge all the good vibes that might have accompanied Sunday’s evisceration of the Red Sox.
Fulmer tried to pick the speedy Moore off at second base. Caballero appeared to be looking elsewhere as the ball clonked off his glove and into center field. Moore aggressively cut the bag at third and dashed for home the wishes of his base coach, daring a defense caught on its heels to make a play.
The thing about the Yankees is those kinds of dares tend to work without any trouble. This gamble from Moore was anything but. Trent Grisham’s throw in from center had no juice on it, so Luis Garcia Jr. dashed over from first in an attempt to relay it home. He threw the ball roughly fifteen feet wide of home. I wish I could say that sequence surprised me, but I’m not exactly new here.
Luis Gil entering in the sixth inning to make his first Major League appearance since April 26th only served to give this contest an even more ersatz quality. Gil did his job and appeared to induce a routine double play ball to shortstop, which would have ended the inning. But Caballero had not done anything good in the field tonight, and he wasn’t about to start here. He booted the grounder, then rushed a low throw to first that Garcia failed to scoop. Inning-ending double play? Try no outs and another run scored.
I remind you this team shoved their biggest rival—and closest peer in the Wild Card race—into a locker yesterday. But those sorts of rousing victories in the past have never stopped them from pulling this kind of malarkey shortly afterward. Such was again the case here.
Jones’ home run in the fifth marked Ureña’s only blip as he continued his splendid rookie campaign with seven strong innings. The Yankees appeared as desperate to get this game over with as the poor saps who had stayed up to watch them. The Angels understandably wanted to make this moment last, so they grabbed three runs off David Bednar in the eighth to put themselves in double figures. Truly awful stuff from everyone involved.
Good news came in before first pitch tonight, as the Mets eked out a 3-2 victory over the Rays in St. Petersburg. Even as the Mariners blew a late lead against the Red Sox and let them escape with a win in the 10th, the Yankees still had a great chance to gain ground in the divisional battle. Shockingly, they refused to take advantage of the opportunity, losing a laugher to one of the worst teams in baseball; a team playing out the string on an utterly lost decade, dead in the water. The Yankees played necromancers tonight.
At least it’s Gerrit Cole bump night tomorrow. The Orange County native and UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer will take the hill at The Big A against a major what-if guy: Grayson Rodriguez. First pitch is once again due for the refreshingly honest time of 9:38pm ET on YES.
