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

Today’s Reflections

I wanted to wax more poetic, on and on, about the enjoyment of watching four pitchers perform at their very best.

Instead, the headlines all talked about PCA’s angry reaction to a balk that wasn’t called. Turns out he was right. Quintin Berry was right. Craig Counsell was right. Even myself, from 22 rows up, was right.

From an ESPN article: “After the game, crew chief Alfonso Márquez confirmed that the balk call, which was not reviewable, was missed. We just didn’t see it,” he said. “After looking at the video, it looked like [Rodriguez] stepped off.”

Thanks, Alfonso.

Matthew Boyd nearly matched Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes (as well as Eduardo Rodiguez) pitch-for-pitch. Except for one, the CSPSHR*. Outside of that pitch, Boyd pitched six innings, allowed two other hits, two walks and struck out five.

Boyd’s performance was plenty enough to put the Cubs on the right track for a win. But the hitters only managed two hits — PCA’s lazy double off the top of the first baseman’s glove, and a nondescript single by Tyrone Taylor — and were struck out 10 times (nine by Rodriguez). There are a number of situations where a RISP of 0-5 wouldn’t be much of an issue. But it was huge Wednesday. PCA was standing on third with one out. That’s really all I have to say.

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Wednesday’s Game Stories:

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): ‘It’s obvious to anybody’: Umpires’ missed balk call costs Chicago Cubs in 2-0 loss to Arizona Diamondbacks. “Two hours after the Chicago Cubs’ 2-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Pete Crow-Armstrong was still fuming about a costly missed balk call.”

• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs fume over umps missing balk: ‘They find new ways to screw something up every day’. “For the second time in a week, the Cubs were fuming over balk-related drama after a tough loss, with Crow-Armstrong’s emotional outburst coming after umpires missed a balk call that could have earned the Cubs a run.”

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong furious after blown balk call, blasts umpires for missing ‘obvious play’. ““I saw four umpires miss a pretty obvious play,” Crow-Armstrong told reporters at his locker afterward.“

• Andrew Joseph (For The Win): What a livid Pete Crow-Armstrong said to the umpires after a blatant missed balk: “MLB umpires should never miss a call like that.”

Assorted Pitching Stories:

• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib): Craig Counsell debunks erroneous Hoby Milner report that raised eyebrows. “A tough look for a national MLB writer. Here’s what it means.”
• Zachary Draves (ClutchPoints): Edward Cabrera’s expected role once he returns to Cubs. “Edward Cabrera will be sent into the bullpen as he makes his return to the Chicago Cubs rightt before the playoffs.”
• Rich Eberwein (Cubbies Crib): 3 Cubs relievers who need to step up with Ben Brown’s season in jeopardy. “These Cubs pitchers need to deliver with Ben Brown likely done for the season.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic’s {$}): This next month is all about the Cubs figuring out who they can trust in their bullpen. “So much will happen over these next 28 games. Players can wear down, bounce back and make adjustments. The performances of relievers are inherently volatile. The key is peaking at the right time.”
• Elias Schuster (Chicago Cubs On SI): Cubs May Have Bullpen Saviors After Updates on Hoby Milner, Shelby Miller. “The Chicago Cubs’ bullpen could be getting some much-needed help in the coming days and weeks.”
• Brian Kelder (North Side Baseball): The Cubs Will Go As Far As the Bullpen Allows. “Was the Cubs’ sad swing out west a preview of October?”
• Casey McAleer (DaWindyCity): The Brewers have not seen the best version of the Cubs yet. “Chicago was piecing together a battered pitching staff the last time it faced Milwaukee, and the next seven meetings could look very different.”
• Mike Axisa (CBS Sports): Five top prospects who could be called up to help contending teams when rosters expand in September. “The stuff is very lively.”

Assorted Hitting Stories:

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): A Very Positive Visual Dansby Swanson Recovery Update. “The Cubs are getting Matt Shaw back today, and have a number of very good, very interchangeable pieces to cover the positional group while starting shortstop Dansby Swanson is out.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Shaw returns from lengthy stay on IL; Alcántara optioned. “One of the ideas behind moving Matt Shaw into a super utility role this season was that it enhanced the Cubs’ bench, improving the team’s overall depth and manager Craig Counsell’s in-game maneuvering. ”“He just makes the roster better,” Counsell said of Shaw.“
• Carson Wolf (Just Baseball): Seiya Suzuki Is Hitting His Way to a Massive Payday. “Since coming over to Major League Baseball from Japan, Seiya Suzuki has been one of the best and most consistent players in the game.”
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN): Inside Nico Hoerner’s unique path to stardom with Cubs. “In an era of big-money youth baseball, the Cubs’ second baseman took an unusual route to stardom.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Chicago baseball report: Pedro Ramírez filling void for Cubs — and how Grant Taylor stays fresh for White Sox. “Pedro Ramírez’s calm demeanor and preparedness is paying off with his sudden increase in playing time as the Chicago Cubs’ everyday second baseman.”
• Brandon Glick (Cubbies Crib): Cubs fans can’t ignore Pete Crow-Armstrong may have fixed Mariners’ Cal Raleigh mystery. “You’re welcome, Seattle.”

Assorted Stories:

• Alexander Rosquez (Last Word On Sports): Cubs Loss to D-Backs Exposes Their Thin Margin for Error. “When Jordan Lawlar broke the tie with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs were suddenly chasing a game they had been in position to control.”
• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Losing trip out West can’t ding Cubs’ confidence in championship chase: ‘Everybody knows what the mission is’. “The Cubs dropped four of their six games during a swing out West, losing three times in walk-off fashion. But despite Pete Crow-Armstrong throwing his equipment all over Chase Field, the team’s confidence in their championship ability wasn’t damaged.”
• Sarah Langs (MLB.com): Here are 6 fun facts in celebration of Cubs’ 150th anniversary. “With the Cubs celebrating their 150th anniversary as a National League franchise this weekend, it’s a great time to take a look back at the rich history of the team.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): MLB Proposes Free Agency Dead Periods to Compress Signing Windows. “Rob Manfred has long been jealous of the way other leagues are able to essentially weaponize free agency to generate huge media buzz, which stands in stark contrast to baseball’s drawn-out winter slog.”
• Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): Anthony Rizzo takes next step in broadcasting as booth analyst for Reds-Cubs on NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Baseball’. “Rizzo will be the Cubs analyst alongside Reds analyst Jeff Brantley and play-by-play voice Jason Benetti. Former Reds first baseman Joey Votto will be the “Inside the Pitch” analyst.“

Food For Thought:

Celebrating 30 years of his career, Big Chico is considered one of the most complete blues artists in Brazil with his excellent voice, harmonica and guitar. His recent album demonstrates the range of influences, including traditional Blues, the sophistication of Jazz and all the energy and Swing of Soul, always interpreted with great charisma and emotion. Big Chico has participated in many Blues and Jazz festivals in Brazil and the United States.

D.K. Harrell was born D’Kieran Harrell in Ruston, Louisiana in 1998. He first heard B.B. King at age two and responded by singing along. He sang in his church choir as a boy while continuing to be drawn to the blues. He received his first guitar at 12, and by 16 was writing his own songs. Initially inspired by B.B. King, the youthful Harrell spent hours studying every video of King he could find, learning not just King’s licks but ultimately his tone, his finesse, his stage craft, and his band leadership skills. Harrell’s first paying gig was as an invited guest to the B.B. King Symposium in Indianola, Mississippi—where he played The Thrill Is Gone on King’s iconic guitar, Lucille—backed by members of King’s touring band.

In 2022 Harrell won the B.B. King Of The Blues Award for Preserving Traditional Blues Heritage from the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation. In addition to B.B. King, Harrell fell under the spell of blues masters including Albert King, Freddie King, Elmore James, Muddy Waters and others, and made their styles part of his musical vocabulary. People all over the world can’t get enough of D.K. Harrell’s high-energy and always unpredictable live shows. In 2024 alone he performed across the U.S. and Canada, and toured all over the European continent.

EDIT: I saw D. K. Harrell in January and he was fantastic. The B.B.-connection is quite evident, down to the suit, the guitar almost tucked under his arm and playing it across his slightly-ample belly. But he’s more than B.B. and a fantastic artist on his own to see. As an aside, I met one of the many B.B. King’s grandsons, Christopher, at that concert — just a little plus to the night.

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.

Triple A: Syracuse Mets (65-63)

LEHIGH VALLEY 6, SYRACUSE 4 (BOX)

Three ‘cuse pitchers, six earned runs. Only Zach Franklin, one of the Mets’ trade deadline acquisitions , didn’t allow an earned run in his time on the mound. Jose Ramos hit a solo shot and MJ Melendez drove in two in the Syracuse loss.

• LF Nick Morabito: 1-5, R
• 2B Émilien Pitre: 1-3
• 3B Mark Vientos: 0-2, R, BB, K, E
• 3B Nick Lorusso: 0-1
• SS Ronny Mauricio: 3-4, R
• DH MJ Melendez: 1-4, 2B, RBI
• 1B Billy Amick: 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 K
• RF Jose Ramos: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, BB
• C Hayden Senger: 1-3
• CF D’Andre Smith: 1-4, SB
• P Justin Hagenman: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• P Jack Wenninger: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
• P Zach Franklin: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• P Ben Simon: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Double A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (55 – 68)

BINGHAMTON 5, READING 1 (BOX)

Chris Suero drove in four runs and the Bingo bullpen was perfect over six innings. Marco Vargas went 3-5 with a double and triple, along with a stolen base.

• SS Marco Vargas: 3-5, R, 2B, 3B, K, SB
• 2B Jefferson Rojas: 0-4, R, BB
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB
• CF Chris Suero: 2-4, R, HR, 4 RBI
• DH Eli Serrano III: 0-4, RBI, 3 K
• LF John Bay: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• 1B Corey Collins: 0-4, 2 K
• C Kevin Parada: 1-4, 2 K
• RF JT Benson: 1-4
• P Will Watson: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• P Bryce Jenkins: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• P Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• P Douglas Orellana: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• P Carlos Guzman: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• P Garrett Stratton: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (55 – 67)

HUDSON VALLEY 5, BROOKLYN 2 (BOX)

Local boy Sammy Stafura hit a double and drew a walk in the Cyclones’ 5-2 loss. Yonatan Henriquez went three for four with two RBI, while the Brooklyn bullpen allowed two runs over four innings, striking out five and walking three.

• SS Sammy Stafura: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, K
• 2B Trey Snyder: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• 1B Ronald Hernandez: 0-2, R, 2 BB
• CF Yonatan Henriquez: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• RF John Spikerman: 0-4, BB, K
• DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 2-4, BB, 2 K
• 3B Antonio Jimenez: 1-5, 2 K
• C Chase Meggers: 1-4, 2B
• LF Heriberto Rincon: 1-4, 3 K
• P Jose Chirinos: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• P Luis R. Rodriguez: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• P Calvin Ziegler: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• P Hunter Hodges: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Low-A: St. Lucie Mets (53 – 70)

DAYTONA 6, ST. LUCIE 5 (BOX)

Jonathan Jimenez gave up four earned runs on five hits in two and a third innings pitched, as St. Lucie dropped a close one to Tortugas. Yovanny Rodriguez provided most of the offense, driving in three, with Branny De Oleo adding a solo home run.

• CF Vladi Gomez: 1-4, BB, 3 K, SB
• 2B Jake Ogden: 2-5, 2 R, SB
• C Ryan Tayman: 1-4, R, 2B
• RF Kuhio Aloy: 1-2, R, 3 BB, SB, E
• DH Yovanny Rodriguez: 1-4, 3 RBI, K
• 1B Julio Zayas: 0-4, 2 K
• SS Dylan Carey: 0-4
• 3B Branny De Oleo: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, 2 K
• LF Wyatt Vincent: 1-3
• LF Jack Toomey: 0-1, K
• P Aidan Keenan: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• P Nate Isler: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• P AJ Krodel: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• P Jonathan Jimenez: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• P Brett Banks: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• P Ernesto Mercedes: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Marco Vargas

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Jonathan Jimenez

The Detroit Tigers dropped the weekend home series opener to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, 2-1. Tarik Skubal threw six frames of one-run ball for the visitors, but that was all the offense would score, leaving no room for error for the relief corps — and of course with this group, there is always a hiccup or two.

Taking the mound for the Tigers on Saturday afternoon looking to even the series is right-hander Keider Montero, who has produced mixed results in his seven games since returning to the starting role. Cumulatively, the 26-year-old has put up a solid 3.22 ERA along with a 4.46 FIP, but three of those outings saw him get tagged for three or more runs, resulting in all three of his losses over that stretch.

Most recently, Montero gave up three runs on four hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out three Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4-1 loss at PNC Park.

For the Dodgers, left-hander Blake Snell will make his fifth start of the season after missing three months following surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. The 33-year-old was roughed up in his first appearance of 2026, but since then has thrown three straight six-inning quality starts, posting a microscopic 1.00 ERA along with an impressive 2.08 FIP on seven hits and walks while striking out 21, along with a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch.

Here is what Saturday’s matchup between the two hurlers at Comerica Park looks like on paper.

Detroit Tigers (62-72) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (81-54)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:True Blue LA
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 135: RHP Keider Montero (9-8, 3.30 ERA) vs. LHP Blake Snell (2-1, 2.57 ERA)

MONTERO

SNELL

Good morning Birdland,

You may not have been dreaming, but while you slept the Orioles did win their opener in Sacramento and gained a game in the AL wild card standings.

The 4-3 win on Friday night required extra innings and a pair of clutch hits from Coby Mayo and then Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the 10th. That was after Brandon Young twirled yet another gem, and Rico Garcia had his first slip up in a few weeks.

Young was great. Over seven innings he gave up just one run, which came on a solo homer in his final frame. The month of August has been something of a slog for the big right-hander. It seemed like maybe he was hitting a wall this late in the season, but then he delivers an outing like that and wipes those concerns away. When the season is all said and done, Pete Alonso is likely to be named “Most Valuable Oriole,” but Young will deserve serious consideration all the same.

Alex Hoppe earned his first career big league save. He has been a nice addition, huh? 8.1 innings, no earned runs, five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Taylor Ward has been…less good for the Mariners, who are now two games behind the Orioles in the AL standings.

Blaze Alexander returned to the lineup for the first time since July 12, playing shortstop and hitting out of the lead-off spot. He went 1-for-5 as Gunnar Henderson’s stand in. Henderson sat the bench for most of the evening, only stepping in as a pinch runner in the 10th inning. A day off here and there might be a welcome development for a player that continues to struggle at the plate.

Up in Cleveland, the Guardians lost for the first time in more than a week, dropping their series opener to the Royals 3-0. The Rangers fell for the third time in a row, following up a pair of L’s against the White Sox with another to the Brewers. Those two results, paired with the O’s win, puts our guys just two games back of the Guardians for the final AL wild card spot. If they can keep on winning on this road trip they have a chance to head home in command of that playoff spot. Fingers crossed!

More late night baseball awaits us. The O’s and Athletics face off at 10:05 p.m. tonight in Sacramento. Shane Baz (4-14, 4.04 ERA) is on the mound, so we should expect the Orioles to score very few runs, even though A’s starter, Jack Perkins (3-9, 6.68 ERA), hasn’t had the best season.

Links

Mancini to retire as an Oriole, to be honored Sept. 19 | Orioles.com
It’s difficult to find an athlete that is more universally adored than Trey Mancini. I’ve never heard a bad word spoken about him, and I don’t think I will. This should be a special night at the Yard.

Why does Albert Suárez keep re-signing with the Orioles? ‘I like it here.’ | The Baltimore Banner
The quotes here are from Suárez, but they are a few months old. Why? Because he has bounced on and off the Orioles roster several times this season, and keeps coming back for more anyway. It sounds like he also gets a little more padding on his minor league salary every time it happens, which doesn’t hurt. The Orioles have to be happy about it too. He’s a useful veteran arm capable of going multiple innings, and doesn’t cause a fuss when he has to ride the bus between minor league cities every month or so.

Orioles’ options for adding September players | Baltimore Baseball
Félix Bautista will be back at some point, but right on September 1 feels a bit rushed given his lengthy absence, even for a reliever. I would like to see Enrique Bradfield Jr. up here. The hitting numbers at Triple-A have not been great, but he offers plus defense and speed, which would come in handy late in games, and you wouldn’t have to worry about growing pains as much in those two facets of the sport.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Eddie Rogers turns 48 today. He was an occasional utility option with the Orioles for parts of three seasons in 2002 and then again from 2005-06.
• Doug DeCinces is 76 years old. From 1973-81, he was a dependable third baseman for the Orioles. His best season in Baltimore came in 1978 when he hit .286/.346/.526 with 28 home runs and a 149 OPS+ while playing superb defense at the hot corner. He was inducted into the team Hall of Fame in 2006.
• The late Frank Zupo (b. 1939, d. 2005) was born on this day. The catcher appeared in 16 games for the O’s, spread across three seasons (1957-58, ‘61).
• A posthumous birthday for Dave Nicholson (b. 1939, d. 2023). His big league career began in Baltimore, where he played parts of two seasons (1960, ‘62) in the outfield.

This day in O’s history

1954 – The Orioles beat the Senators 5-0, led by their glasses-wearing catcher Clint Courtney, who goes 5-for-5 at the plate.

1979 – Eddie Murray hits three home runs (two right-handed, one left-handed) to drive in all of the Orioles runs in a 7-4 win against the Twins.

1996 – Third baseman Todd Zeile and outfielder Pete Incaviglia are traded from the Phillies to the Orioles in exchange for two players to be named later

1999 – Albert Belle ties a major league record with four doubles, leading the Orioles to an 11-4 win over the Tigers.

If you’ve checked the standings anytime recently, you’ve probably noticed the Yankees sitting a couple games back of the Rays in both the AL East and the Junior Circuit in general. The exact number they’ve been behind has gone back and forth, but they still haven’t been able to completely erase the deficit. Meanwhile, thanks to the Red Sox hot last couple months, they’re within reach of the Yankees.

At time of writing, those three teams have the three best records in the American League. Yet due to the playoff structure that MLB currently has in place, if that holds, those three would all end up on one side of the AL bracket. Whoever ends up winning the AL East seems fairly certainly to get the No. 1 overall seed. Plus, if second and third in the division end up being the second and third best in the AL too, then they would be the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. That would lead to them facing each other with the winner then guaranteed to face No. 1. The AL Central and AL West have both been fairly mediocre this season, yet there’s a decent chance one of those teams would be guaranteed a spot in the ALCS.

On one hand, it’s somewhat random that the top three in the East have ended up as far ahead as the rest as they are. The postseason is also fairly random, and it’s entirely possible that a Central/West team goes into the ALCS and just beats the East team straight up, and we’ll just have to shrug it off. However, as a fan of a team currently in this jam of potentially being stuck in this AL East playoff gauntlet, I can’t help but feel a little frustrated that the Yankees would have to deal with at least one of the Rays/Red Sox, even if they play extremely well down the stretch.

Not that I expect that MLB would immediately hop on and change their format after one wonky season, but I decided to brainstorm some potential fixes.

Seeding done by record, regardless of division winner status

This is the main one fans of all sports turn to when trying to change their sports’ playoff format. In this one, you would just seed the teams by straight record one through six. If the standings going into the week held, the Yankees would be the No. 2 seed, get the bye, and play the winner of the Red Sox and Astros/Rangers/Guardians in the ALDS. (The AL West/final Wild Card standings are a bit of a mess, hence not knowing who Boston’s opponent would be exactly.)

On its face, doing that seems completely fair. The one drawback is that the schedule is still unbalanced with teams playing a good chunk of games against the other teams in their own divisions. While it’s not the case with the AL East this year, there have been seasons in the past where a team’s record got a bit inflated by beating up on a truly terrible team in their own division. Letting the champion that comes out of each division get preferential seeding makes some degree of sense, but doing this could offset scenarios like this year where things get really wonky the closer you get to the bottom of the playoff picture.

Reseeding

A six-team bracket with reseeding was how the NFL playoffs worked for many years. The idea here would be that if the No. 6 seed takes out the No. 3, the No. 1 is rewarded with playing them instead of the No. 4/No. 5 winner. This wouldn’t necessarily change the issues with this year’s AL mess, but if the last team in manages to knock off the No. 3 seed, the Yankees/Red Sox/Rays wouldn’t all have to immediately face each other.

Reseeding with a twist

This one might be a bit confusing, but it’s something I brainstormed up and kinda like. Under this plan, here’s what would happen. The Wild Card round of the playoffs would be exactly as it is now. The top two division winners in each league get byes. The third division winner still gets to play the No. 6 seed, while the top two Wild Cards have to face each other.

However after the first round is complete, the seeding for the LDSes are then done by records. For example, if we take the AL standings going into Monday, and then assume the higher seed won, the seedings for the ALDS would then go like this:

1. Rays
2. Yankees
3. White Sox
4. Astros/AL West winner

The Rays would face the Astros/AL West winner in the ALDS, while the Yankees would jump up to the No. 2 seed and get home-field advantage over the White Sox, who they have a much better record than at time of writing. This may be needlessly confusing, but it would still give each division something to play for in the unbalanced schedule era. However, if two teams (in this year’s case three) teams from one division separated themselves from the pack, they can still get some sort of advantage in the later rounds. It’s probably dumb, but I came up with it while in the shower and thought it might work.

Get rid of divisions, balance the schedule, shrink the playoff field so only the cream of the crop makes it and teams have to actually spend to try and competeto make the playoffs

Rob Manfred just appeared outside my window wearing a Michael Myers’ mask. I gotta go.

I think it’s great that the Rays are going to stay in Tampa Bay. I hate seeing teams relocate franchises regardless of the sport, so seeing that they are basically at the finish line to build a new stadium is good for Major League Baseball.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Jesus Luzardo has been fantastic this year, perhaps a little under the radar. How he is making hitters look is just plain silly ($).
• The front office times, they are a’changin’. The team announced a slew of moves to the front office, including one that admits player development is a problem.
• Andrew Painter has gotten his fastball to a better place. It’s not great yet, but he talks about how he has put the work in ($).

MLB news:

• Legalized gambling has taken its toll on some of the players in the game. This is a fascinating story that is also kind of sad ($).
• Tampa Bay has decided to give the Rays a little over $2 billion to build a new stadium, a pretty large step in actually getting that stadium built.
• George Lombard, Jr. was supposed to be a solid defensive shortstop for the Yankees upon promotion. Now he has a six-game error streak.

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Saturday’s MLB slate is a loaded one, with two doubleheaders adding even more opportunities to a card featuring a strong mix of short favorites and massive underdogs in appealing individual and team matchups.

Read on for my MLB moneyline predictions and MLB picks for Saturday, Aug. 29.

MLB moneyline picks for August 29

Matchup	Pick
BOS vs NYY	54%
LAD vs DET	62%
CWS vs MIN	46%
PIT vs STL	54%
CIN vs CHC	65%
SEA vs TOR	51%
MIA vs  WAS	49%
ARI vs SF	56%
COL vs ATL	66%
HOU vs NYM	46%
KAN vs CLE	57%
SD vs  TB	54%
BOS vs NYY	56%
TEX vs MIL	60%
ARI vs SF	52%
BAL vs ATH	58%
PHI vs LAA	71%

Prices courtesy of Polymarket as of 8-29.

Expert MLB moneyline picks for August 29

Red Sox vs Yankees Game 1: Yankees (54¢)

Yankees win probability: 54%

Taking the Yankees here. Two teams are basically mirror images record-wise, but NYY's bats have been a touch hotter, and Rodon's got the better recent stuff than Bennett. Not a blowout, just a small, real edge in a tight one.

Dodgers vs Tigers: Dodgers (62¢)

Dodgers win probability: 62%

Dodgers, easily. Detroit's offense has been an actual disaster the last week, ranking dead last in baseball. Doesn't matter that LA's bats are cold too; this gap is too wide to ignore. Honestly surprised it's not higher given how badly Detroit's swinging it.

White Sox vs Twins: White Sox (46¢)

White Sox win probability: 46%

Going against the room on this one and rolling with the White Sox. Chicago's had the best bats in baseball this week, and Minnesota's bullpen has completely fallen apart, with an ERA north of 11. I think their bullpen collapse gets exploited today, so I like the underdog here.

Pirates vs Cardinals: Cardinals (54¢)

Cardinals win probability: 54%

I like the Cardinals here. Pittsburgh's pitching depth is fine, but their lineup has been historically bad lately, posting the league's worst wRC+. Hard to score zero runs and win baseball games. Feels like a fair number for St. Louis, maybe even a little light.

Reds vs Cubs: Cubs (65¢)

Cubs win probability: 65%

I'm rolling with the Cubs. Hot bats, sharp bullpen, and a clean matchup edge with Gausman on the mound. Cincinnati's respectable but not special. Everything in the recent numbers backs Chicago here, and nothing about this matchup surprises me.

Mariners vs Blue Jays: Blue Jays (51¢) 

Blue Jays win probability: 51%

Sliding with Toronto here. Records are almost identical (65-70 vs 64-70), and both offenses have been mediocre lately, but TOR's wRC+ sits a touch higher (98 vs 95) and their bullpen has been just as sharp. This one should be close, but every input points in the same small direction, so I'm not fighting it.

Marlins vs Nationals: Marlins (49¢)

Marlins win probability: 49%

I like Miami and am going against the room. Better record, and Washington's bullpen has been rough this week, posting an ERA over 6. I like the Marlins' pitching depth enough here to take the slight underdog and run with it.

Diamondbacks vs Giants Game 1: Diamondbacks (56¢)

Diamondbacks win probability: 56%

Arizona in both games. Season-long, they're just the better team with a much better record, sharper bullpen numbers, and that holds up even with San Francisco's bats running a little warm lately. I think that quality gap shows up today in Game 1. 

Royals vs Guardians: Guardians (57¢)

Guardians win probability: 57%

I'm going with Cleveland. Their bullpen has been the best in baseball this week, full stop, with a sub-1 ERA territory. That kind of shutdown relief covers for a lot, and this number tracks with just how dominant that pen's been lately.

Astros vs Mets: Astros (46¢)

Astros win probability: 46%

I'll roll with Houston, and fade the public again. They boast a better record, better recent bats, and a real gap in bullpen quality that favors Houston. I think that pen edge is the difference-maker in a tight one. 

Padres vs Rays: Rays (54¢)

Rays win probability: 54%

I'll roll with Tampa Bay. Both squads have nasty bullpens right now, so this comes down to overall team quality, and TB's record and ability to manufacture runs are just a level up. A modest number for how consistent the Rays have been all year.

Red Sox vs Yankees Game 2: Yankees (56¢) 

Yankees win probability: 56%

I'm going with the Yankees again in the nightcap. Same story as the opener; the Yankees' recent bat production and starting pitching depth tilt slightly in their favor. A touch higher number than the day game, which makes sense given how the roles and rest shake out between games in a doubleheader.

Rockies vs Braves: Braves (66¢)

Braves win probability: 66%

I'll take the Braves. Atlanta's a legitimate contender with a strong recent bat (95 wRC+) and a much better season record (79-55), while Colorado's been scuffling all year (52-82) and their pen has been shaky too. The gap in team quality is wide enough that I'm honestly a little surprised the price isn't higher.

Rangers vs Brewers: Brewers (60¢)

Brewers win probability: 60%

I'm taking the Brewers here. They've got the best record in baseball for a reason (83-51), and I'm not fading that at home even with Texas swinging it well lately (136 wRC+ last week). Their bullpen's been shakier than the Brewers' during this stretch, so I'm sticking with the more complete team.

Diamondbacks vs Giants Game 2: Diamondbacks (52¢) 

Diamondbacks win probability: 52%

I'll go with Arizona again in the nightcap. Same read as Game 1; they boast the better overall roster, better bullpen depth, and a close price on the board. I'm sticking with the better team in both matchups today rather than overreacting to San Francisco's recent hot stretch at the plate.

Orioles vs Athletics: Orioles (58¢)

Orioles win probability: 58%

I'll roll with the Orioles. They clearly have the better roster on paper, and their bullpen's been more reliable this week too. Lines up with the gap in overall team quality here. Nothing fancy, just the better team winning.

Phillies vs Angels: Phillies (71¢)

Phillies win probability: 71%

I like the Phillies to win. Better record, sharper bullpen, hotter bats; the Phillies check every box. Highest number on the whole slate, and nothing about the recent numbers makes me want to argue with that.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Sultan of Swat sounded exasperated. “I don’t know what things are coming to,” Babe Ruth sighed during spring training in 1931.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball,” he elaborated to reporters. “Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball everyday.”

The next day, Ruth and Lou Gehrig were struck out back-to-back by a 17-year-old girl.

Related: ‘I felt like Babe Ruth’: baseball’s 3ft 7in pinch-hitter, 75 years on

Making their way home from preseason in Florida, the New York Yankees had stopped off in Tennessee for an exhibition game against the minor-league Chattanooga Lookouts. The Lookouts handed a debut to a promising young pitcher with precise control, a quirky side-arm delivery and a vicious sinker. Her name was Jackie Mitchell.

The strikeouts of two all-time greats sparked still-ongoing debates over the legitimacy of Mitchell’s achievement and the general lack of opportunities for female players.

Mitchell was summoned from the bullpen in the first inning. In front of a 4,000-strong crowd, Ruth, an Associated Press reporter wrote at the time, came to the plate with “a wry smile playing at the corners of his mouth”. A New York Times writer implied that it was all theater: “The Babe performed his role very ably. He swung hard at two pitches then demanded that Umpire Owens inspect the ball, just as batters do when utterly baffled by a pitcher’s delivery.”

Ruth struck out looking and was said to have hurled his bat while somehow “registering disgust with his shoulder and chin”. Gehrig then struck out after “three hefty swings”. Mitchell came out of the game after walking the next batter, Tony Lazzeri, and the Yankees went on to win 14-4.

Asked in a postgame press conference if the strikeouts were genuine, Mitchell was reported to have “retorted with a gaze of utter scorn and a contemptuous silence”. As Lapham’s Quarterly noted, Ruth and Gehrig enigmatically kept mum on the matter.

There is cause to be suspicious. The occasion had been scheduled for April Fool’s Day, though it was postponed by a day because of bad weather. And the Lookouts were run by a tireless promoter and showman known as the Barnum of the Bush Leagues. A former Major League Baseball pitcher and scout, Joe Engel became president of the Lookouts in 1929 and opened a new ballpark - Engel Stadium - the following year.

Desperate for publicity as he sought to boost attendance during the Great Depression, Engel made the Lookouts the Savannah Bananas of their era.

He famously traded his shortstop, “Binky” Jones, for a turkey “because the turkey was having a better year”. He then served the bird to critical sportswriters, offering them a free lunch and telling them, “You’ve been giving me the bird, so now have one on me.”

So Mitchell’s signing was undoubtedly an exploitative publicity stunt, but that does not necessarily mean that the strikeouts were staged. (Though Engel did have an affinity for hoaxes: he would later pretend to carry out a phone call with Adolf Hitler at home plate for the entertainment of a wartime crowd.)

One explanation promulgated at the time by male sportswriters was chivalry: it would have been ungentlemanly to have humiliated the kid by launching the ball into the stratosphere. “Babe Gallantly Strikes Out For Benefit Of Girl Hurler,” read one headline. But that explanation does not take into account professional pride. While being struck out by a girl might have appealed to the media-savvy Ruth’s sense of fun, Gehrig was a more earnest character. And Mitchell clearly had talent.

Born in Chattanooga on 29 August 1913, the 5ft 8in lefty was a gifted all-round athlete who learned baseball basics from her father and played for Engel’s all-female team (somewhat inevitably named the Engelettes). The story goes that she was taught to throw her signature “drop” pitch by a neighbor in Memphis - “Dazzy” Vance, a Hall of Famer who led the National League in strikeouts for seven seasons in a row.

The 36-year-old Ruth would go on to smack 46 home runs in the 1931 regular season with 162 runs batted in; Gehrig, who turned 28 that summer, also hit 46 homers, with an American League-record 185 RBI. Mitchell, though, did not feature for the Lookouts again - at least not until she was invited to throw a ceremonial first pitch in 1982.

Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a federal judge and commissioner of baseball, was reported to have voided her contract on the basis that professional baseball was too physical for women and for their own safety they should stick to playing recreationally among themselves. While reports of Landis’s verdict have not been definitively confirmed, Mitchell herself thought it was the case. “I believe I could qualify and might be signed by a major league team and might someday get to play in a World Series if Judge Landis hadn’t ruled against my playing in major league ball,” she told the St Louis Post-Dispatch in 1933.

Capitalizing on her fame, she played in exhibitions and, curiously, for the House of David – a barnstorming outfit that was a side hustle for a Michigan religious cult that forbade male members from cutting their hair. She retired in 1937 and went to work for her father, an optician.

Organized women’s baseball in the US had started in 1866 when Vassar College in New York state, then an all-female institution, founded a team, the Resolutes. The first known female professional teams, the Blondes and the Brunettes, started play in Illinois in 1875, but they were essentially theatrical troupes performing a novelty act and their rosters were stuffed with actresses, according to the author and historian Debra Shattuck.

Barnstorming Bloomer Girls - so called because of their baggy trousers - were common in baseball from the 1890s and Lizzie Arlington, the first woman to take part in a professional minor-league men’s game, pitched a scoreless ninth inning (two hits, no runs) in 1898 for the Reading Coal Heavers in an Atlantic League win over the Allentown Peanuts in front of a thousand-strong crowd.

This long history did not dissuade sexist newspapers from treating Mitchell as a novelty act. “The curves won’t all be on the ball when pretty Jackie Mitchell … takes the mound,” one preview declared. “It might be supposed that having adopted the exciting and strenuous profession of baseball, Miss Mitchell has abandoned the usual feminine arts, but the contrary is true. She can sew and make a dress, she cooks with skill and success and even plays the piano,” another report observed.

Three years after Mitchell’s moment in the spotlight, the celebrated multi-sport athlete Babe Didrikson Zahariaspitched two scoreless innings for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Cleveland Indians in a spring training game, days after pitching one inning for the Philadelphia Athletics against the Brooklyn Dodgers (giving up a walk and no hits) and for the St Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox (conceding three runs on four hits). One of three women to play in the Negro Leagues, and the only pitcher, 5ft3in Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, compiled a 33-8 record for the Indianapolis Clowns between 1953 and 1955.

When shortstop Eleanor Engle signed for the struggling minor-league Harrisburg Senators in 1952 it was the kindling for a media firestorm. Acting with the support of MLB commissioner Ford Frick, the boss of the minor leagues, George Trautman, cancelled her contract shortly before her scheduled debut, forcing her to change out of her uniform and watch the game from the press box. Trautman issued a statement asserting that “such travesties” would not be tolerated and clubs attempting to sign women in the future would be “subject to severe penalties”.

In 1993 the Chicago White Sox made history by selecting a female player, pitcher Carey Schueler - the daughter of Ron Schueler, a former major league pitcher and a White Sox executive at the time - in the 43rd round of the MLB draft. She did not sign and instead played college basketball. Four years later, Ila Borders pitched for the St Paul Saints and went on to appear in 52 minor league games for four professional clubs over four seasons.

Whether Ruth and Gehrig struck out intentionally in 1931 remains an enduring mystery, though the self-assured Mitchell herself had no doubt: “Why, hell, they were trying, damn right,” she told a reporter shortly before her death in 1987. “Hell, better hitters than them couldn’t hit me. Why should they’ve been any different?”

• Rangers manager Derek McInnes has lost five of his past six away league games against former side Aberdeen, including the latest three in a row since a 1-0 win with Kilmarnock in December 2023.
• Rangers could fail to win their opening three games of a league season for the second successive campaign (drawing three in 2025-26). Before this, they had not failed to win any of their opening three matches in 35 seasons from 1990-91 to 2024-25.
• Aberdeen have won four of their past five home league games (losing the other), including their first this season, 2-1 over Hearts. It is as many wins as their previous 16 at Pittodrie in the Scottish Premiership (W4 D5 L7).
• Rangers have won the past four league games against Aberdeen, but have not won five in a row over the Dons since October 2011 (when they won six).
• Aberdeen have only lost one of their past five home league games against Rangers (winning two of them), although that was their most recent, a 2-0 defeat in January last season.

Not everything has to be a nailbiter! But that’s what last night became, as the Yankees’ pitching staff had to settle for merely a Paul Goldschmidt solo shot of support and go from there. Cam Schlittler, Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar made it hold up, enabled by a huge outfield assist from Cody Bellinger to nail Ceddanne Rafaela at the plate.

For everyone in the Bronx’s own sanity, it was vital to win the opener of this four-game set. It could easily get nutty and turn into an absolute disaster from here of course, but if the Yankees were starting off on the back foot? Boy, it would be an uncomfortable couple days. Now, to see how the Yanks handle this twin bill. Let us hope that they score more than a single run in each game.

Today on the site, Matt will ponder the playoff format given the imbalance across the American League, Peter will run through the Rivalry Roundup, and Nick will write up our second consecutive 76th birthday, this time saluting a forgotten late-’70s teammate of the just-discussed Ron Guidry, George Zeber. Later, Matt will return to assemble a team of all-August birthdays. Then it’s doubleheader time!

Today’s Matchup(s):

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

Time: 1:05 p.m. EST (Game 1); 7:15 p.m. EST (Game 2)

TV: YES/NESN/MLB Network (Game 1); Fox (Game 2)

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Questions/Prompts:

1. What’s your prediction for this doubleheader? Yankees sweep? Red Sox sweep? Split? Midday armageddon?

2. Who has the better start today, Carlos Rodón or Max Fried?

MLB Trade Rumors | Connor Byrne: When the Yankees placed pitcher Max Fried on the IL, the starter hoped he would only end up missing the minimum amount of time. Well, Saturday will mark 15 days, and the team will indeed activate Fried today! They confirmed the news yesterday, and in the postgame, they clarified that he will start the nightcap of the doubleheader, with fellow southpaw Carlos Rodón getting the nod in the opener against Jake Bennet.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Although there no longer are any marquee trades to be made, the Yankees have been looking into the relief pitcher market in the wake of Fernando Cruz’s injury. While Cruz himself is hopeful that he will not need Tommy John surgery, the team have looked at pitchers John King and Zack Littell, both recently released, in the wake of Cruz’s IL trip. Littell is a former Yankees prospect (acquired for James Pazos in December 2016 before going to Minnesota in the Jaime García deal that followed at the 2017 Trade Deadline), while King was almost traded by the Rangers to New York as part of the 2021 Joey Gallo trade.

Newsday | Erik Boland: Rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. has made some unfortunate history with his streak of making an error in six consecutive games, the first Yankee shortstop to do that since Roger Peckinpaugh in 1915. However, the Yankees aren’t worried about it and are confident these are just growing pains that sometimes come with playing a youngster. And hey, Peckinpaugh did eventually become an MVP!

Tampa Bay Times | Nicolas Villamil: This is not explicitly Yankees-related, although this bit of news while have an effect on the Bombers. Earlier this week, Tampa city officials and Hillsborough County approved a deal for the Rays to build a new stadium in the city. While it obviously won’t be done in time for next season, dreaded trips to “The Trop” should soon become a relic of the past — perhaps as soon as 2028 since the Rays want to break ground with the goal of opening in 2029.

A.J. Ewing’s results have lagged, but Mets officials do not seem alarmed by his drop-off in production this month.

The rookie outfielder entered Friday with a .165/.240/.209 slash line for August that had dropped his OPS for the season to .667 before going 0-for-4 in the Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Astros at Citi Field.

And yet, interim manager Andy Green has accentuated the positives.

Green said he approached Ewing during Thursday’s game to compliment him on his at-bats, despite the fact his hits weren’t accumulating.

Green cited the bad luck into which Ewing was hitting.

“If you are watching the at-bat quality, he’s kind of returning to what he has done for us the first part of the season,” Green said before the Mets’ loss. “We have got to acknowledge those things when they’re happening, rather than just because the box score doesn’t acknowledge that sometimes, because this is a cruel game at times. It was right for us to acknowledge he’s had a number of really good at-bats here recently.”

Entering play Ewing’s last multihit game was Aug. 7.

Jorge Polanco underwent ankle surgery Wednesday, according to Green, and is expected to begin spring training in normal baseball progression.

Polanco appeared in just 37 games this season as he battled bursitis in his left ankle.

Green compared Yordan Alvarez (who is the American League MVP front-runner) to Barry Bonds for his ability to scare an opponent.

“[Alvarez] is right up there with Juan [Soto] as the best hitter in baseball and he has been the best hitter in baseball this year,” Green said. “He’s not far off where Barry Bonds was when I was sitting on the bench and watching him play a lot. There are very few people that get into that category, and he has been that this year.”

Alvarez began the day with an MLB-leading 1.043 OPS. He led the AL in homers (36) and batting average (.319) and was tied with Pete Alonso for the lead in RBIs with 91.

He went 0-for-2 with two walks in the Astros’ win on Friday.

The Mets selected Chris Devenski to the major league roster and optioned Xzavion Curry to Triple-A Syracuse.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks offense had scored 8 runs in their last 4 games combined, but came out and ambushed Giants starter Blade Tidwell for 6 runs in the first 3 innings of the game. They then added another 4 against the Giants bullpen, but 10 runs was not enough to turn this game into a laugher because Kohl Drake, fresh off the Reno Express, had another rough outing.

The Diamondbacks got things started off right with a leadoff homer by Lars Nootbaar, a direct contrast to how last night’s game started with a leadoff dinger for the Giants, and that kicked off an offensive night that saw all but 2 D-Backs starters get a hit and the entire team combined for 12 hits and 2 BB. Nootbaar led the way finishing a triple short of the cycle, but Tim Tawa (3 RBI), Nolan Arenado, and James McCann also had multi-hit games. Ildemaro Vargas also got a 2 RBI base knock, turning his bat into kindling in the process. A total effort from the lineup, including great situational hitting indicated by going 4/7 with RISP and a Sac Fly, was sorely needed because the starting pitching was less than ideal.

Kohl Drake wasn’t terrible tonight, but his final line of 5 ER across 4 IP is terrible. It was great to see Drake consistently throwing strikes for much of the night, but he really had issues getting the third out of the inning. Of the 5 runs Drake allowed, 4 came with 2 outs. There was a pair of 2 out homers accounting for 3 of those runs and the 4th came home via 2-out double to score a runner who was at first thanks to a HBP. The only run Drake didn’t give up with 2 outs was an inning of perfectly executed small ball by the Giants. The Giants were really good at maximizing their scoring opportunities early on in this game because it never really felt like Drake was in a stressful situation.

What is probably going to catch a lot of comments will be the bullpen usage tonight. Part of this is on Drake for not being able to soak up more innings when then the offense staked him to a 6-2 lead halfway through the 3rd inning, but I suspect many will find issue with Torey’s bullpen usage on the day before a double-header. It’s not like we have Pfaadt and E-Rod going in this twin-bill tomorrow, either. The Merrill and Bratt the probable starters, we would reasonably expect the bullpen to need to cover 9+ innings tomorrow. After tonight, I hope that’s not the case.

The bullpen did well tonight, but Torey threw every pitcher who didn’t toss in last night’s loss (with the exception of J-Mart), plus burning Loaisiga for the second night in a row. Unfortunately, the pitchers who went tonight weren’t economical with their pitches, so now we’re looking at the prospect of all of these guys having to come back out at some point tomorrow after throwing 20+ pitches. The good thing is, unless there are some nagging injuries that the staff is protecting, everyone but Loaisiga will probably be available tomorrow. I was certainly hoping that Drake could’ve gone back out for the 5th to try and shave one more inning off the bullpen’s load tonight, but Torey managed the game in front of him first, which is likely the correct call, and he came away with W today. Tomorrow may be interesting, but that is tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, the Diamondbacks got a win and gained ground in the Wild Card.

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Lars Nootbar has had a rough go of it at the start of his Diamondbacks tenure, but he got tonight started off with a bang when he deposited the first pitch of the game all the way in the D-Backs’ bullpen, 432 feet from home plate! 
• Jordan Lawlar showed good range and athleticism to make a foot-first sliding catch in left-center to record the first out of the game for Kohl Drake.
• Drake only needed 10 pitches to record his first 3 outs, but one of those pitches was an inner-third slider left thigh-high to Bryce Eldridge who sent it to the concourse above the right field wall for a game-tying solo homer, nearly splashing it into McCovey Cove. An efficient inning, but not a shutdown inning.
• Jung Hoo Lee led off the second with a seeing eye single past Ildemaro Vargas, then stole second just barely beating the throw from McCann before getting moved to third by a weak ground out to first base. That set up the Giants with a runner at third and less than 2 outs and they cashed in with a sac fly to right. Drake did nothing wrong, the Giants just did everything perfectly that half inning to get a run across.
• Lars doubled into the right-center gap in his second AB of the game. The exit velocities on his first 2 hits were 109.9 (HR) and 110.3 (2B).
• Corbin Carroll’s homer in the third came after he fell down in the count 1-2, worked his way to a full count, then smashed a middle-middle fastball to dead center.
• Nolan Arenado’s double in third was a bouncer that was ruled to bounce over third base in fair territory even though it landed in foul territory. Earlier in the game, the same umpire, standing about 10 feet behind third base on the foul line, had to duck underneath a high chopper down the line that he ended up ruling foul. Torey called him out on it from the dugout, and I think that the umpire was cognizant of that the next time a similar situation presented itself. Tony Vitello, the Giants manager, was tossed in between innings arguing that foul ball call.
• Tim Tawa’s 3-run homer, following the Arenado double, was a bomb into the left field bleachers that flew 419 feet.
• Kohl Drake came out in the bottom of the third, after being given a 4-run lead, and struck out the first 2 hitters and got up 0-2 on Rafael Devers before losing Devers to HBP, then letting him score on a Bryce Eldridge double to the wall in left-center. So close to shutdown inning, but “close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
• Kohl’s 2-run homer allowed in the 4th was set up, once again, by a 2-out free pass. Drake got the first 2 outs fairly easily, but then walked the 7-hole hitter on 5 pitches before allowing a first pitch homer just inside the left field foul pole to the next hitter. 
• Corbin earned a leadoff walk in the 5th, but then the Snakes’ 3-4-5 hitters all popped out to varying depths to render it harmless.
• After Gerrardo Carrillo walked the first batter he faced on 4 pitches, he struck out Devers looking on a full count Sweeper that appeared to be well outside the strike zone. Devers brought his hand up to his chin as if he were about to challenge, then decided against it and kept his hand pressed against his chest on his walk back to the dugout. A lucky break for the Snakes.
• More fair-foul shenanigans struck in the top of the 6th when Tim Tawa popped up into no man’s land down the first base line. Rafael Devers almost made a great over the shoulder catch but the ball hit off the heel of his glove. The play was made right on top of the foul line as Devers was sprinting into foul ground and the call was immediately fair ball. Very, very close, but we’ll take it.
• Ildemaro Vargas got a 2-RBI base hit on a broken bat bleater into shallow right field. The bat was completely sawed off and the exit velocity was in the mid-sixties, but it did the job.
• Ildemaro Vargas (and the coaching staff) can be credited with the third run that crossed the plate in the 6th inning for the Snakes. Lars Nootbaar smoked a single into right field which was being manned by JH Lee. Vargas was just reaching second when Lee fielded the ball but he obviously knew that Lee was unlikely to throw him out at third so Vargas made the hard turn and cruised into the extra base without a throw. Corbin paid that aggressiveness off with a sac fly to score Ildemaro right after.
• There were quite a few challenges in this game, with the Giants accounting for 5 by themselves through the first 5 innings and they had a 100% success rate. They finally missed their first challenge in the 6th inning challenging a called ball that was confirmed to miss by 0.1”.
• Geraldo Perdomo’s stolen base in the 7th was thanks to a VERY early takeoff from first. The catcher started to try and get the pitcher to step off, but the pitcher didn’t see it in time and proceeded with the pitch. Domo was in standing up without a throw. He then came around to score on a McCann RBI single.
• After the Giants runner at first base reached second on an errant pickoff throw in the 8th inning, Geraldo Perdomo gifted the Giants an extra out and runner when he misfired on what should’ve been a 6-3 putout for the 2nd out of the inning. Instead there were runners at the corners and 1 out. 

Comment of the Game

A light Friday night GameDay Thread with a total of 173 comments at time of publishing. Very few Sedona Red comments tonight which made COTG is fairly easily awarded to VW Beetle for his comment after Lars got our Friday night started off right:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Giants twice tomorrow to finish out this four-game set and the season series. The first game in the twin bill will start at 1:05pm and the second will start at 7:05pm. During the game, the broadcast speculated Merrill will be starting the nightcap and Mitch Bratt will be taking the mound in the first game. During the postgame coverage, it was announced that it will actually be Merrill getting the ball first and Bratt coming out for the late game. I’m not positive of the strategy one way or the other, perhaps it is just more likely that Merrill gives the Snakes a good outing and then Torey will know exactly who he can play with and how far he has to push Bratt if things aren’t going well.

Scoreboard Watching

Not a bad night on the NL Wild Card scoreboard:

• Cubs lost to the Reds at home. They are now 1 game ahead of Philly for the 1st WC and 4.5 games up on AZ.
• Phillies beat the Angels thanks to a 2 out Grand Slam in the 9th. The Phillies remain in the 2nd WC and are 3.5 games up on AZ.
• Padres lost to the Rays and are now just a half-game ahead of AZ for the final WC.
• Marlins lost to the Nationals and are now 3.5 GB of AZ.
• The Cardinals beat the Pirates are still 4 games back of AZ.

The Arizona Cardinals wrapped up their preseason tonight in Green Bay and now they prepare for the regular season.

Part of the preparation is getting the roster down to 53, and as that is happening, also working the waiver wire to add players they think can help them in 2026 and maybe even beyond.

How does the NFL Waiver Wire Work?

A nice explainer from our friends at Buffalo Rumblings:

Players with less than four accrued seasons who are waived are subject to the waiver wire, where any team that claims them picks up their current contract. Any player claimed off the waiver wire must added to the claiming team’s active 53-man roster. If they pass through waivers unclaimed, they become free agents and are free to sign with any team’s practice squad they choose, which includes their prior team.

The waiver order is set by the original 2026 NFL Draft order for the first three weeks of the season, one that does not include trades, which means the Arizona Cardinals are third in the waiver wire priority.

Full Waiver Order

1. Las Vegas Raiders
2. New York Jets
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Tennessee Titans
5. New York Giants
6. Cleveland Browns
7. Washington Commanders
8. New Orleans Saints
9. Kansas City Chiefs
10. Cincinnati Bengals
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. Atlanta Falcons
14. Baltimore Ravens
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Indianapolis Colts
17. Detroit Lions
18. Minnesota Vikings
19. Carolina Panthers
20. Green Bay Packers
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Los Angeles Chargers
23. Philadelphia Eagles
24. Jacksonville Jaguars
25. Chicago Bears
26. Buffalo Bills
27. San Francisco 49ers
28. Houston Texans
29. Los Angeles Rams
30. Denver Broncos
31. New England Patriots
32. Seattle Seahawks

Make sure to check out our friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook to get all your Arizona Cardinals season long props and picks in before the season starts.

For those who stayed up well into Saturday morning to watch the opener of this Orioles-Athletics series, well, I wouldn’t exactly say you witnessed an instant classic. There was a whole lot of silly baseball going on. Baserunning blunders. Defensive butchery. Inexplicable managerial decisions. The Orioles couldn’t score more than two runs in regulation against the league’s worst pitching staff, and let a late lead slip away.

But in the end, Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand saved the Orioles’ bacon with back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the 10th, and Alex Hoppe hung on in the bottom half for his first career save, bringing a happy ending to an often bewildering game. To quote Camden Chat commenter Knightley: “This game was so stupid, but at least we won.”

If you were expecting the Orioles to storm into Sacramento and easily put away the third-worst team in baseball, well, you don’t know the Orioles. Every game seems to be a struggle for the Birds, no matter the quality of the opponent. You might think that the O’s, after scoring 26 runs in three games in St. Louis, could at least keep up their offensive momentum against an awful Athletics pitching staff, whose 5.75 ERA entering the game was the worst in the American League. Again, you’d be wrong.

In the first nine innings against these supposedly atrocious A’s pitchers, the Orioles scored two (2) runs. That’s it. Both came in a weird top of the second inning against Athletics starter Jacob Lopez. The lefty’s first pitch drilled Coby Mayo in the shoulder, and later he walked Leody Taveras on four pitches. With two down, Dylan Beavers — starting against a lefty for only the fifth time this year — delivered a clutch hit, roping an RBI single to right to plate Mayo with the game’s first run.

Then things went haywire. Carlos Narváez tapped a 43-mph dribbler down the first base line. It should have been a simple task for Lopez to simply pick the ball up and tag out Narváez on his way to first, but somehow the A’s hurler let the ball pop out of his glove, then collided with Narváez in the baseline, leading to visits from both team’s trainers (both players stayed in). Taveras scored on the error, extending the O’s lead to 2-0.

The Orioles nearly caught a break on the next play, too, when Blaze Alexander’s slow grounder to first bounced off the bag for a gift infield single, but Beavers foolishly tried to score from second on the play — first hesitating around the third-base bag, then ignoring Buck Britton’s stop sign and charging headlong into an easy out at the plate. What was that, Dylan? The wild and not particularly well played half-inning was over with the O’s ahead.

To be honest, the Orioles should have done way more damage against Lopez. His pitch count was inflated from the get-go. He was so covered in sweat that he looked like he’d just climbed out of the pool. The Orioles had traffic on the bases almost constantly. But somehow they didn’t score again versus Lopez, who managed to gut out five full innings on exactly 100 pitches. The Orioles’ luck didn’t improve against the Athletics’ league-worst bullpen, either. Former Oriole Scott Blewett kept them scoreless for two innings, and Luis Medina fired a perfect eighth. You just knew the Orioles’ inability to add on runs was going to come back to haunt them.

For a while, Brandon Young made the lack of run support not matter. The right-hander, who had been showing signs of fatigue in recent starts, tonight delivered his finest outing of the month. He worked seven full innings for the first time since July 19, shutting down an A’s lineup that is missing several of its key hitters due to injury.

Young set the tone for his excellent outing by throwing just five pitches in the first inning to retire the A’s 1-2-3. Three of his first four innings were perfect, and he worked through a second-inning jam by stranding two baserunners. It wasn’t until the sixth that Young showed any signs of tiring; he gave up a two-out infield single and walked Lawrence Butler after getting ahead 0-2 in the count. But after a quick meeting on the mound, Young retired Tommy White on a fly to center to keep the shutout intact.

That ended an inning later. Young was one out away from getting through seven scoreless when former O’s farmhand Jonah Heim laced a solo home run to right field, cutting the lead to 2-1. But Brandon finished the inning to complete his seven-inning gem: one run, five hits, four strikeouts. If the O’s bullpen could hold it, Young was in line for his 10th win of the year.

Spoiler: the O’s bullpen could not, in fact, hold it. Rico Garcia, who’s been pitching much better of late after his midseason swoon, sadly reverted to his ineffective form in the eighth. After getting ahead of leadoff man Henry Bolte 0-2, Garcia missed badly with a four-seam fastball and plunked it off of Bolte’s helmet. Scary stuff there, but Bolte was able to stay in the game. Jeff McNeil followed with a single, and suddenly the O’s were in all sorts of trouble.

After Zack Gelof bunted both runners into scoring position, Lawrence Butler lashed a sharp single to left. Bolte scored the tying run and McNeil too steamed homeward, intent on putting the Athletics ahead. But Beavers came up firing and uncorked perhaps the best throw he’s ever made in the majors, a cannon to the plate that nailed McNeil for a huge second out. The A’s had erased the O’s lead, but Dylan’s heroics prevented them from taking a lead of their own. Yennier Cano relieved Garcia to get the final out and keep the game tied.

Each team’s closer worked a scoreless ninth — Hogan Harris for the A’s, Andrew Kittredge for the O’s — to send the game to extras. And that’s when the Orioles’ bats finally woke up, though the inning featured its share of head-scratching decisions on both sides. The Birds’ free runner was Narváez, who’d made the final out of the ninth.

Despite Gunnar Henderson being available on the bench, O’s manager Craig Albernaz didn’t pinch-run for the lead-footed Narváez, who represented the go-ahead run. Even more bizarrely, Albernaz did have Henderson pinch-run for Pete Alonso at first base after he was intentionally walked with one out. Why would you put the speedy guy as the trail runner but leave a plodding oaf as the lead runner? And don’t get me started on Albernaz’s repeated failure to have Henderson or Samuel Basallo pinch-hit for Narváez in big spots throughout the game. This was not the finest game of Albernaz’s already not-great managerial career.

But enough complaining. It all worked out, because A’s manager Mark Kotsay (on his bobblehead night) made the bad decision to let southpaw Brady Basso face lefty-mashers Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand. Mayo was the first to come through, roping a single to right field. This is where Albernaz’s poor pinch-running tactics nearly cost him, as Narváez likely would’ve been cut down at the plate by any kind of decent throw. But the right fielder Butler got too excited and booted the ball, allowing the run to score.

Encarnacion-Strand was up next and, as usual, came through in a big spot. He ripped an opposite-field single of his own to plate Henderson, giving the Orioles an all-too-valuable insurance run (which they ended up needing). CES does it again! Remember when the O’s acquired this guy for cash considerations? I’d say they won that trade.

With all of the Orioles’ highest leverage relievers already used, it was up to Alex Hoppe to try to convert his first career save opportunity in the 10th. The rookie right-hander got the job done, though it’s a good thing he had the extra run. Hoppe dispatched Bolte on strikes and McNeil on a flyout before Gelof sizzled a single to center, scoring the free runner to make it a 4-3 game. But Hoppe recovered to retire Butler on a grounder to second, ending this exhausting but ultimately successful game. With the Guardians losing earlier in the day, the Orioles are now just two games back for the third wild card.

Who is your Most Birdland Player, Camden Chatters? Mayo? CES? Hoppe? Young? Maybe Beavers for the game-saving throw and the RBI single, if his baserunning blunder doesn’t disqualify him? Let us know in the comments.