Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

After a successful 7-2 West Coast road trip, the Tigers came home for a crucial three-game series against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians. A solid-enough team pitching performance, nice defence, and timely hitting — with runners in scoring position, no less! — ended up with a 6-4 win which got a little tight at the end.

Drew Anderson, who is now definitely part of the rotation, got his second start in said role. His previous start went well, sprinkling three hits across 3 2/3 innings in Seattle. Out of the bullpen he’s been pretty good, striking out a little more than one per inning and getting plenty of ground balls. The goal is to stretch him out to a full start; he probably wasn’t going to go the distance or anything, but maybe 70 pitches or so would be about his limit.

Old nemesis Tanner Bibee got the start for Cleveland. He had a 4-11 record coming into tonight’s game but his ERA and WHIP are better this year than last year, in which he went 12-11; thus, won-loss records don’t mean a whole lot. He’s spent his entire career in Cleveland, and when you look at his results against his AL Central rivals, the Tigers have easily the worst OPS-against (a meagre .597). I mean, Bibee’s no slouch, either: his career WHIP is a nifty 1.165.

Zack McKinstry made a nice running catch on the first batter of the game.

Anderson got into a speck of trouble in the top of the second: the recently-acquired Jo Adell walked to lead off the inning, and Travis Bazzana singled. But then he reached back and struck out the next three batters; the middle one, Patrick Bailey, looked at what he thought was ball four, but Anderson himself challenged the call and got it overturned. You don’t see pitchers challenging calls too often, but there you have it, and the Tigers would successfully challenge several pitches all night.

In the bottom of the second the Tigers got on the board: Riley Greene got hit on the right knee and took his base, and Spencer Torkelson followed with a double to the left-centrefield wall. Greene came around to score all the way from first, but he felt some hamstring tightness and was replaced in the field for the third inning by Ben Malgeri.

Chase DeLauter evened the score with a long home run to the right-centrefield bleachers with one out in the top of the third. Like a hyperactive squirrel, he would be tough to contain all evening.

Scary moment in the bottom of the third: Kevin McGonigle was at the plate, and an up-and-in Bibee sinker sure didn’t sink, as it took quite a move for McGonigle to move his head out of the way. The ball ricocheted off something, and his helmet went flying… but, as it turns out, the ball hit McGonigle’s bat, and it was just a scary foul ball.

Anderson’s pitch count was climbing, and at the end of the fourth inning he’d hit 70 and he got the handshake. His final line: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K. The walks are a bit annoying, but otherwise that’s not bad at all, especially against such a pesky team as the Guardians. He mixed both a slider and a sinker into his repertoire, which he didn’t really need as a reliever. Jacob Waugespack took over in the fifth and gave up a two-out single to DeLauter but promptly stranded him; meanwhile, Bibee was settling in, retiring a bunch of guys in a row since the Torkelson double.

However, with one out in the bottom of the fifth, Max Clark singled the other way and Javier Báez singled up the middle. McKinstry lined-out for the second out, but McGonigle doubled to the right-field corner to score both Clark and Báez for a 3-1 lead.

Gleyber Torres followed with a single up the middle of his own for a 4-1 lead, and holy mackerel, have the Tigers broken Bibee’s magic spell he seemed to have cast upon them?!

Waugespack carried on into the top of the sixth, and after a Nathaniel Lowe single and another Adell walk, he got into some trouble of his own. Chris Fetter paid a visit, and of course, within the next six pitches: foulout to the catcher, soft lineout to right, foulout to left field on a nice running catch by Malgeri. It ended up being a nice shutdown inning after the Tigers scored three runs, and you’ve gotta love that.

Drew Sommers, who has looked good lately, took over for Waugespack in the seventh. After striking out Brayan Rocchio, Steven Kwan walked and DeLauter collected his third hit of the night, a single to right field. Sommers’ first pitch to José Ramírez went off Dillon Dingler’s glove, allowing the runners to move up a base; Ramírez then grounded out with the infield back to trade a run for the out at first base. That was it for Sommers, and Kyle Finnegan came in to face pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins, who grounded out to Báez at shortstop to end the inning with a 4-2 score.

With one out in the seventh both Báez (huh.) and McKinstry walked, and that was the end of Bibee’s night. On the first pitch from Matt Festa, Báez and McKinstry took off on a double steal; the throw to Ramírez at third clanked off his glove, allowing Báez to score and McKinstry moved up to third.

McGonigle then singled, scoring McKinstry for a 6-2 lead; he took off to steal on a foul ball by Torres, so he was in Festa’s head, and this was proven on the next pitch when Festa balked and McGonigle advanced to second. Alas, Torres struck out and Dingler fouled-out to first, but those insurance runs sure were nice.

Finnegan pitched the eighth and Adell smashed a long leadoff solo home run to narrow the gap to 6-3. Bazzana followed with a long flyout to right, and you had to wonder if Finnegan would finish the inning as his control seemed to elude him. After a groundout to second and a walk it was indeed the end of Finnegan’s night, as Tyler Holton — who has been used a lot lately, but had retired 15 straight hitters coming into the contest — was brought in to deal with Rocchio. He hit a grounder to Báez’s right; Báez scooped it up and bounced a throw to McKinstry, now playing second base, to get the forceout and end the inning, and that’s sixteen batters in a row retired by Holton.

After a quick bottom of the eighth, Kenley Jansen was summoned for the save, which ended up being quite the adventure. Kwan led off with a single to left, because of course he did, but Jansen got the dangerous DeLauter to pop up to Báez for the first out. He walked Ramírez, and pinch-hitter Angel Genao, a rookie doing very well, batted for Hoskins. Jansen missed with a couple of pitches by a wide margin, and ended up walking Genao as well to load the bases, as several different body parts of various Tigers fans clenched-up real tight-like. Adell then hit a fly ball to right which was deep enough to score Kwan and narrow the gap to 6-4 with two out. Against the next batter Bazzana, Jansen was chucking shoulder-high cutters to go 3-0 on him, but after a foul ball Bazzana hit a grounder to second for the third out. Various body parts un-clenched, everyone took a deep breath, and that was the ballgame. Somehow, Jansen was credited with the save, and the Tigers continue to test their theory that having great high leverage relievers isn’t actually important.

Final score: Tigers 6, Guardians 4

Notes and Numbers

• Coming into tonight’s game, Spencer Torkelson’s August may have been bereft of home runs but he was 12-for-34, for a .353 batting average and a .788 OPS.
• By OPS, though, Torkelson’s June has been his best month this year: 103 plate appearances, 6 home runs, and a .797 OPS.
• Coming into tonight’s game, the Tigers had the best run differential in the American League at +87. (Yes, that’s better than any team in the AL East, too.)
• A solar eclipse will take place on August 12; if you’re in Greenland, Iceland or Spain you might see a total eclipse, but for the northern US and Canada it’ll only be a partial eclipse. I’m in Toronto and it’ll peak here around 1:40 pm EDT, and it’ll only be a small bite out of the Sun’s disk, but that’s still pretty fun. As always, don’t stare directly at the Sun, and wear ISO-certified eclipse glasses.
• On this day in 3114 BCE, the Long-Count Mesoamerican Calendar, often known more simply as the Mayan Calendar, started. Remember back in 2012 when there was a minor hubbub about the world ending because this calendar was reaching the end of its cycle? Well, like every other world-ending prophecy that has been floated over the millennia, that one was a load of malarkey too.

In a push toward returning Anaheim to the name of his hometown Angels, Assemblyman Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) last March introduced what he called the “Home Run for Anaheim Act.”

Five months later, the bill has cleared both houses of the state legislature without a single vote against it. Gov. Gavin Newsom has two months to sign the bill into law, barring a veto that would be surprising because of the lack of opposition.

The bill does not mandate the Angels — playing under a Los Angeles name in Anaheim’s city-owned stadium — revert to the Anaheim Angels name.

However, at a time teams in all sports seek to boost profits by surrounding venues with shops, restaurants, hotels, and other attractions, the bill provides Anaheim with an inducement for the Angels: If the city obtains an exemption from a state law requiring affordable housing to be prioritized in any such development — potentially maximizing revenue for the team — then the team must be called the Anaheim Angels.

Angels owner Arte Moreno has twice reached deals with the city to develop the land, only to see the city walk away both times. In the last deal, he rejected the city’s request to rename the team the Anaheim Angels.

Read more:Angels fire pitching coach Mike Maddux and two assistants in staff shakeup

Moreno has shown no public interest in a third negotiation with the city, and the Angels’ current stadium lease extends through 2032, with the team having options to extend the lease through 2038.

By year’s end, the city has said it anticipates the release of a long-awaited property assessment, which is expected to show Angel Stadium needs hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades to remain viable for the long-term. The city and team may not agree on who should pay for them, and real estate development around the stadium could be part of the solution for funding a new or renovated stadium.

Moreno turns 80 this week. Should he decide to sell the Angels, the city could use the exemption as leverage in discussions with a new owner. Any new owner could have leverage of his own: Once the Angel Stadium lease expires, the owner would be free to move out of Anaheim.

The bill required five votes between the Assembly and Senate. The final vote came on Monday on a consent calendar, the place for matters considered so routine that no legislator even wishes to discuss them.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Go Rays!

The San Francisco Giants continue this three-game home series against the Houston Astros tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Carson Whisenhunt, who enters tonight’s game with a 7.25 ERA, 5.64 FIP, with 20 strikeouts to 15 walks in 22.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 6-0 loss to the Texas Rangers last Wednesday, in which he allowed four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in three and a third innings.

He’ll be facing off against Astros right-hander Hunter Brown, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.53 ERA, 4.33 FIP, with 63 strikeouts to 32 walks in 58.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Astros’ 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, in which he allowed three runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

Game #120

Who: San Francisco Giants (49-70) vs. Houston Astros (61-59)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Jefferson Rojas continues to impress in his new organization.

The Mets' new No. 1 prospect had himself a day at the plate on Tuesday night with Double-A Binghamton. The infielder went 3-for-5, including a home run, his first with the Mets organization.

After getting the scoring started with a first-inning solo shot, Rojas hit back-to-back RBI doubles in his next two at-bats. 

In six games since arriving in Binghamton, Rojas is 7-for-23 with three-hit games in two of his last three games. 

Billy Amick, another new Mets prospect, went 2-for-5 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. In his eight games since being traded to the Mets organization, Amick is 10-for-29 with five home runs. 

Jefferson Rojas tonight for Double-A Binghamton:

3-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B

Rojas was acquired from the Cubs in the deal that sent Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to Chicago

Rojas is @PSLtoFlushing's top-ranked prospect in the Mets' system pic.twitter.com/9ZOXs1BOfD

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 12, 2026

Up with the Triple-A club, Jonah Tong made his latest start and was very effective. 

The right-hander allowed a run on four hits and three walks while striking out six batters in his four-plus innings of work (94 pitches/53 strikes). He worked around a leadoff double in the first inning but was victimized by the home run ball in the second, allowing a solo shot to Bennett Hostetler on a changeup down in the zone. He allowed a double immediately after, but worked around it. Tong also worked around two walks in the third inning. 

Tong's fourth inning was his "easiest" inning, getting the first two batters out before Maximo Acosta was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double. 

Syracuse's defense failed Tong in the fifth. Ronny Mauricio's fielding error allowed the leadoff runner to reach before a throwing error by Andy Ibanez at third put two runners on with no outs. Tong walked the next batter to load the bases before he was pulled.

Austin Warren came on to strike out the next three batters to end the threat and put a bow on Tong's night. 

Tuesday was a good start for Tong, who is looking to make his way back to the big leagues. Mets interim manager Andy Green talked about Tong's progress this season and what he needs to show to warrant a call-up.

If the right-hander continues to show progress as he did on this night, he may force the Mets' hand. 

A nice little break for the bullpen yesterday. The early surge from the offense meant that Torey Lovullo did not need to push Michael Soroka further than necessary, and was able to hand the ball off to Zack Littell for the rest of the game without worrying. It helped that the Rockies were being very aggressive, and the double-plays behind him were also very helpful. In the end, Zack needed only 45 pitches to record 14 outs. That’s among the most economical long relief outings in franchise history. Here’s the list of all those over two innings, but less than ten pitches per inning. You have to go back to Mike Koplove (25 pitches for 8 outs) in 2005 to find a lower P/IP ratio.

The limited pitch count does also mean Littell won’t need as much recovery time. With an off-day guaranteed on Thursday, he should probably be good to go again, when we start the road-trip on Friday, which goes through Atlanta and Boston. That’s going to be a tough one, and it’ll be nice to everyone in our bullpen fully rested and available for action. Towards that end, it’d help if Mitch Bratt can deliver the same kind of performance tonight he did last time out: seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball against the Padres at Chase Field last Wednesday. The Rockies should be slightly easier – OPS+ of 94, compared to 95 for San Diego – so, fingers crossed.

Lars Nootbaar back to the top of the order. So far, he hasn’t exactly been the offensive force we expected: 3-for-2o, though does have more walks (5) than strikeouts (3). Him and Max Kepler seem almost to be involved in a race to the bottom, attempting to make Arizona fans look forward to the return of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The $42 million Lourdes signed for, covering the 2024-26 season isn’t looking like a great investment. With one-quarter of a season left, he’s been just a total of 1.9 (bWAR or fWAR, it doesn’t matter). Looks like paying Gurriel $5 million at the end of the year to go away, is going to be close to a no-brainer.

After a rough start to the series yesterday, the Brewers are looking to bounce back in game two against the Padres. They will try to do that behind Kyle Harrison tonight.

The revolving door of the bullpen continued moving as they made another roster move before today’s game. Bryse Wilson is back on the roster just three days after being designated for assignment and one day after electing free agency. He signed a one-year contract and is back on the active roster for tonight’s game. To clear a space for him, Lyon Richardson was designated for assignment. Also, Drew Rom was selected off waivers by the Athletics.

Kyle Harrison makes his second start since returning from the IL tonight. This is his second start against the Padres this season. He pitched five shutout innings on May 14, allowing just five hits and striking out seven. Harrison is coming off another five-inning start last Wednesday, where he struck out 10 and allowed only one hit and one walk. He finished that start with eight straight strikeouts, but cramps prevented him from continuing that one.

For the Padres, Walker Buehler makes the start. He has a 5.07 ERA and 4.37 FIP over 23 starts and 108 1/3 innings this season, along with 95 strikeouts compared to 45 walks. In his last start against the Diamondbacks, he pitched just four innings and allowed one run and struck out three. The Brewers missed him the first time they played the Padres, and last faced him in 2024 when he was with the Dodgers. In three previous career starts, he has a 2.93 ERA and a .211 batting average allowed over 15 1/3 innings.

With the Brewers still hurting on the left side of the infield, they are going with a less traditional lineup for today’s game. Brice Turang will make his first start at shortstop since 2023 tonight. Meanwhile, Jihwan Bae will play second base and bat ninth in his first Brewers start. Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, and Jake Bauers are batting second through fourth. William Contreras and Christian Yelich move up to fifth and sixth in the lineup, and Luis Lara and David Hamilton round out the lineup. Joey Ortiz gets another day of rest, but was available if needed yesterday.

First pitch is at 8:40 p.m. It will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

UPDATE: Manager Pat Murphy provided an update on Cooper Pratt before the game. He’s making solid progress with his hamstring injury and is expected back in late August.

Milwaukee Brewers (74-45) at San Diego Padres (63-57), August 11, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
• Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
• Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our thread

In Game 1, the Colorado Rockies found themselves on the wrong end of a 9-0 Arizona Diamondbacks thrashing.

Tonight, they will look to even the score.

Starting for the Rockies is Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之). This will be his 21st start for the Rockies in 2026.

The righty has a 4.51 ERA in 107.2 IP. He’s struck out 61, walked 26, and given up 22 home runs. Sugano has a 1.26 WHIP. 

Taking the mound for the Dbacks will be LHP Mitch Bratt.

Currently, he has an ERA of 3.90 in 27.2 IP. He’s struck out 21 while giving up 18 walks and four home runs with a 1.52 WHIP.

And now to the details.

First Pitch: 7:40 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups:

For the visiting Rockies:

And the home Diamondbacks:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Texas Rangers @ Anaheim Angels

Tuesday, August 11, 2026, 8:38 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Angel Stadium

LHP Cody Bradford vs. RHP Ryan Johnson

Go Rangers!

The Pittsburgh Pirates caused a bit of a stir Tuesday night when they lifted starter Paul Skenes after just 65 pitches.

It marked the fifth-shortest outing of Skenes' career by pitch count.

The Pirates' ace, who has been battling to find his Cy Young form in the second half of the season, exited after five innings with the Pirates down 2-0 to the Miami Marlins.

Skenes gave up a home run to Esteury Ruiz in the bottom of the third inning, then his fifth inning unraveled a bit when he hit Ruiz with a pitch. Ruiz would score the next batter, racing around from first to score thanks to shortstop Jacob Gonzalez's throwing error.

Skenes' last pitch of the night was nearly a home run, with Bryan Reynolds coming up with the robbery to end the inning and keep the score 2-0.

Bryan Reynolds with ANOTHER home run robbery this year

What a catch pic.twitter.com/VyU3ga4Upc

— Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) August 12, 2026

But Skenes did not come back out for the sixth inning, yielding to Yohan Ramirez.

The Pirates have not provided any public updates on if Skenes' removal was injury related. Codify Baseball noted that Skenes' top pitch Tuesday night maxed out at 96.5 mph.

Paul Skenes' postgame comments

When asked if he was surprised he was pulled after 65 pitches, Skenes said "not really."

"If I were the manager I'd probably do it too," Skenes said. "He walked me through everything and it all made sense.

"Wish I could have gone more but, you know, it kind of is what it is."

Skenes' postgame scrum can be seen below:

POSTGAME: Paul Skenes on tonight's 2-0 shutout loss to the Marlins.

Final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, BB, 4 K

Pulled after 65 pitches, third fewest of his season. pic.twitter.com/OX1F4s1afs

— Tyler Boronski (@TylerBoronski) August 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pirates pull Paul Skenes from start vs. Marlins after just 65 pitches

Okay, last night was tough to swallow. You don’t expect to blow a 6-2 lead with just a few outs to go, but that’s just how this season has gone for the A’s. A bit fitting in a way. Starting strong, before fading late. Hopefully that doesn’t follow this club into next year as well.

The series continues tonight and the A’s have a chance to make things right with a win this evening. At-72 the A’s are only better than one other team in the American League: the Los Angeles Angels. The playoffs aren’t happening but the goal the rest of the season should be to finish above them. Who knows. Maybe the Mariners collapse and third place is a possibility in September.

Taking the ball for the home team will be youngster Mason Barnett. The right-hander is making his third start since seemingly rejoining the rotation. He had a terrific first start against the Red Sox last week but got tagged for five runs his last time out against the Reds. Most of the damage from those two teams came later in the game so keep an eye on how Barnett is faring after the first time or two through the Rays’ batting order.

Here’s how the Athletics’ lineup stacks up tonight for the middle contest against our AL East foe:

Jeff McNeil is back atop the lineup for the second straight day. No Soderstrom in the starting nine as he gets a full day off, with Zack Gelof taking his place in left field and batting second. Shortstop Jacob Wilson is back in the three hole followed again by Carlos Cortes, who will be the DH this evening after handling the outfield last night.

The back half of the lineup is also fairly similar to last night’s except infielder Tommy White returns to the lineup and playing third base this evening. The highly-rated prospect has encountered his first slump at the plate in his big league career, with just four hits in his last 27 at bats. Mark Kotsay gave him a day off yesterday and now he’s batting ninth so hopefully an extra day of rest and hitting in a low-pressure spot in the lineup can help spark him in the batter’s box. We’ll be seeing plenty more of White with Nick Kurtz’s injury.

Tampa Bay meanwhile has Nick Martinez getting the start for them this evening. An offseason acquisition for Tampa, Martinez has been an absolute steal for the Rays. In 22 starts the 26-year-old has a career-best 2.65 ERA, good for fourth in the American League. Signed to a one-year contract, Martinez is likely to get some down-ballot Cy Young votes thanks to his work with the Rays and is looking at a fairly sizable contract this coming winter. Possible A’s target if the wallets open up?

And Tampa’s lineup:

The same top of the order but a much different looking backend of the lineup. Hopefully that throws of their good juju from last night.

Let’s get back to our winning ways and play some spoiler. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

With the blink of an eye, years go by so fast covering high school athletes. It seems like only yesterday Jake Bauers was a senior at Marina High collecting 48 hits with a .571 batting average. Thirteen years later, Bauers has a beard, tattoos and is in his seventh major league season as the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The last time I saw him was the Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium. His team lost 1-0 to Harvard-Westlake and Jack Flaherty at Dodger Stadium.

Fast-forward to Tuesday afternoon. He’s in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park preparing to face the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 2017. He’s as levelheaded and as comfortable as he was living in Huntington Beach. He has 21 home runs this season. Not bad for someone who didn’t get to play varsity baseball until his junior season.

Wearing No. 11 on her cheek at Marina games was his girlfriend, Lauren Carr, now his wife and mother of his two children.

“Same one,” he said of his biggest fan.

Not playing varsity until junior year is now considered a little unusual for top players, but Bauers said it’s nothing to think deeply about.

“We had a good team,” he said. “Maybe it was frustrating at the time. In hindsight, it doesn’t really matter. If you’re a good player, you’ll keep playing.”

The Brewers can call themselves the best team with the most Southern California natives. Trevor Megill, a high school teammate of Bauers, joins Joey Ortiz (Garden Grove Pacifica), Brice Turang (Corona Santiago), Garrett Mitchell (Orange Lutheran) and Christian Yelich (Westlake) as the SoCal group.

“We got a lot of guys from Southern California,” Turang said. “It’s cool. A lot of guys played against each other in high school.”

The Brewers also drafted in the last two years the Ebel brothers from Corona, Brady and Trey, so when they make visits to Dodger Stadium, it’s a big deal.

“Crazy,” Turang said of the Southern California players getting asked for tickets.

Bauers, 30, certainly hasn’t lost his passion for fun. He was playing two Brewers in a video game before heading out to the field.

He said people change as they get older.

“Years of experiences, you gain perspective if you’re willing to look at yourself,” he said.

Turang was asked what high school kids today need to do to succeed in their journey to major league baseball.

“You have to practice every day. This doesn’t come easily,” he said.

Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It’s definitely been a frustrating road trip for the Orioles. They’ve had two series against wildcard contenders to stake their place in the playoff hunt, but the same flaws keep appearing. The offense just isn’t there, and the bullpen is wildly erratic.

After dropping two of three to the Rangers last series, the Orioles got handled in Game 1 against the Twins, especially painful fashion by one of their former own, Dean Kremer, who held them to one run over seven innings, not even a week after being dealt at the Trade Deadline.

Orioles will try to get it going again with right0hander Brandon Young on the mound. With an 8-3 record and 3.43 ERA, the righty has unexpectedly been one of their most consistent starters, although his last two times out were not his best: he allowed four earned runs against the Phillies on July 31, and threw just 4 ⅔ innings last week in a loss to Los Angeles.

Facing Young is certified big guy Bailey Ober, who at 6’6” is more commanding than his 7-3 record and 4.45 ERA. Ober faced the Orioles once this season, allowing three runs in four innings back in April.

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson SS
2. Pete Alonso 1B
3. Jackson Holliday 2B
4. Tyler O’Neill RF
5. Christian Encarnacion-Strand 3B
6. Coby Mayo DH
7. Christian Franklin CF
8. Jeremiah Jackson LF
9. Yohel Pozo C

Twins lineup

1. Trevor Larnach LF
2. Ryan Jeffers C
3. Josh Bell DH
4. Kody Clemens 2B
5. Royce Lewis 1B
6. Brooks Lee 3B
7. Luke Keaschall CF
8. Alan Roden RF
9. Kaelen Culpepper SS

What was thought to be a normal Sunday of friendly summer softball turned into the shock of a lifetime for so many in Central Park.

Angry Orchard, a hard cider brand based in Walden, NY, approached Nick Swisher on Sunday to help bring some life to the Sons of Pitches, a rec softball team in New York City that appeared to have lost all hope of securing a victory.

They were set to face the Fattened Calves, one of the most dominant teams in the league, and had little idea how to break their 14-game losing streak. However, once the Angry Orchard team announced that Nick would be joining the Sons of Pitches, it was game on.

“I think it’s such a cool idea that Angry Orchard is not only investing in the winners, but also the underdogs,” Swisher said at the event. “Everybody gets frustrated, but there is always some fun to be found in frustration!”

It was unforgettable to witness the amazement on the faces of almost every player and spectator at North Meadow Ballfield #9. Crowds gathered around the area to watch the former Yankees first baseman take to the plate and crush a couple of home runs into the blaring sun.

Luckily for Swisher, the heat was giving the chunky ball a bit more height than initially expected.

“I learned to play this game through fun,” Swisher said. “If I’m going to go out there, I’m going to do it my way. I’m going to smile and have the best time ever because I know I’ve put the work in the back half. I know I’m prepared to go out and play. When I go out and play, my excitement is infectious.”

Since joining the Pinstripes after getting traded from the White Sox, Swisher contributed to the Yankees’ success both on and off the field. He takes pride in bringing a glowingly positive mentality to the clubhouse while also serving as a leader both at the plate and in the infield.

Despite Alex Rodriguez missing the first month of the 2009 regular season, Swisher stepped up and carried the Yankees’ offense through. At the end of April, Swisher had a 1.144 OPS with a .744 slugging percentage. He also adapted to play right field while Xavier Nady missed the remainder of the season with an elbow injury. As the Yankees continued to generate success and overcame injury challenges, Swisher made his mark as one of the most memorable 2009 World Series Champions. He finished the season batting .249 with 29 home runs and 82 RBIs.

As part of their campaign, Angry Orchard scoured the nation to find one of the worst rec softball teams in America that never stopped showing up and giving their all on the field. They recruited Swisher to participate as an Angry Orchard Super Sub and give the Sons of Pitches a much-needed morale boost.

Swisher ultimately helped the Sons of Pitches gloriously secure their victory, celebrating with cheers and several pours of Angry Orchard. It was an incredible day that helped shift the perspectives of so many players and inspire some tenacity to defy expectations and keep a positive attitude.