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

The Athletics faced the Boston Red Sox looking to even the series and force a rubber-game tomorrow. The A’s finally ended their nine-game losing streak, defeating the Red Sox 7-3. Starter Gage Jump turned in a terrific performance, the offense woke up against a good Red Sox pitcher and the bullpen sealed the deal, although not without some late-game drama.

Red Sox Strike Early

Jump, faced some early traffic, as the Red Sox got two runners on with one out in the bottom of the first. Following a double steal, shortstop Andruw Monasterio hit a two out, two-run single to put the hosts up 2-0 early in the game. Boston had a chance to add on in the second, but Jump stranded a runner at second base.

Meanwhile, Red Sox starter Jake Bennett eased through three scoreless innings. He needed just two pitches to record the first two outs of the third, as Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy both swung at the first pitches they saw.

A’s Come Back

Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson led off the fourth inning with a double, the visitors first hit against Bennett. With two outs, first baseman Tommy White hit an infield single, with Wilson holding at third base. Brian Serven followed with a high chopper in front of home plate that Bennett bobbled, allowing Wilson to score the visitors’ first run. Bennett kept his team in front by retiring Butler on a hard-hit lineout to end the inning.

With two outs in the fifth inning, Wilson hit his second double in as many at-bats, advancing Alika Williams to third. Designated hitter Jonah Heim hit a single off the Green Monster, driving in both runners and giving the A’s their first lead of the series. The Athletics had a chance to score more with two runners on, but Bennett got White to hit into an inning-ending groundout.

Pitching with the lead for the first time, Jump gave up a leadoff double to Jahmai Jones in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jump buckled down, stranding the tying run at third base. Through five innings, he had recorded a career-high tying nine strikeouts.

A’s Add On

In the sixth inning, with one out, Butler worked a walk after a 12 pitch at-bat. That was the last batter Bennett faced, as right-handed reliever Justin Slaten entered out of Boston’s bullpen.

Butler wasted no time, promptly stealing second and third. Jeff McNeil, who had walked as a pinch-hitter, moved to second on the double steal attempt. Fellow pinch-hitter Donovan Walton delivered, lining a ground-rule double into the gap to score both runners and put the A’s up 5-2.

Jump Dealing

The Red Sox threatened again in the bottom of the sixth, putting two runners on with one out against Jump. The A’s electric southpaw stopped the threat by striking out the next two batters to keep the visitors up three. Jump showcased his ace potential, allowing just two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out a career-high 11 batters.

Sodey Blast

The Athletics kept the good vibes going. Facing left-handed reliever Raymond Burgos, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit his 19th home run of the season and second in as many games, a solo shot to right field that put his team ahead 6-2.

A’s In Control

Right-hander Luis Medina replaced Jump in the seventh inning, firing a scoreless frame. In the bottom of the eighth, A’s reliever Seth Johnson ran into some trouble in his second appearance with the Green and Gold, allowing a walk and then a ground-rule double with two outs.

The A’s challenge on that hit proved huge, as it turned an RBI double into a ground-rule double, forcing the runner who had scored from first to return to third base. Left-hander Hogan Harris replaced Johnson and struck out Jarren Duran, stranding the two inherited runners.

Sensing the game still hung in the balance, A’s center fielder Henry Bolte led off the ninth inning with a 440-foot solo home run to center field, his fifth long ball of the season, increasing his team’s advantage to five runs.

Harris returned to the mound to pitch the bottom of the ninth, but the Red Sox did not go down quietly. With two outs, third baseman Caleb Durbin hit an RBI single, reducing the hosts’ deficit to four. Boston then loaded the bases against Harris, bringing the tying run to the plate. It would have been fitting had Harris allowed a game-tying grand slam. However, he earned his tenth save of the season by getting Eli White to hit a game-ending lineout right at Bolte.

Tomorrow, the Athletics will look to win their first series since June. J.T. Ginn will start the rubber match for the A’s, while Boston has yet to announce its starter, with signs pointing toward a bullpen game.

PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani played catch on Saturday before the Dodgers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, his first time throwing a baseball outdoors in more than two weeks.

Ohtani previously said he wouldn’t take this step until he was certain his sore left knee was ready for it.

“I think throwing with intensity and taking a step back would be the worst thing,” Ohtani said in Japanese earlier in the week. “I think it’s important to be able to have confidence that I can throw with a certain amount of effort without any problem and gradually build up from there.”

Ohtani has exercised patience in his latest push to return to the mound, but he now finds himself in a race against time. Only seven weeks remain in the regular season.

Because of time constraints and uncertainty over Ohtani’s condition, the Dodgers are uncertain of what they can expect from their two-way player.

Manager Dave Roberts said he would consider any future contributions from Ohtani to be “bonuses.”

Roberts has said the plan is for Ohtani to gradually build up his arm strength in major league games, as he did last year when he returned to pitching after his second Tommy John surgery. When Ohtani made his pitching comeback in early July last season, he pitched an inning in each of his first two starts and two innings in each of his next two. His first time completing six innings was in his final start of the regular season.

Considering that Ohtani might not pitch in another game this year until September, he is unlikely to be sufficiently built up to start games in the playoffs. In that scenario, the Dodgers would have the option of using him as an opener to take down the first couple of innings of a game.

Even without Ohtani, the Dodgers are expected to have four Cy Young Award-caliber starters in the postseason: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning World Series Most Valuable Player; Tarik Skubal, who was acquired last week from the Detroit Tigers; Blake Snell, who is scheduled to be activated on Tuesday; and Tyler Glasnow, who just started a minor-league rehabilitation assignment.

For Ohtani to be part of the Dodgers’ pitching plans, he will have to overcome the discomfort he has experienced in his landing leg since at least mid-June. Ohtani blamed the problem on pitching mechanics.

Ohtani registered a 0.74 ERA in his first 10 starts of the season. His ERA in the four starts he made after that: 4.38.

He started his last game on July 3. He struck out nine batters in six innings that day but gave up three runs in a no-decision.

Ohtani was scratched from his final start before the All-Star break. He received a lubricant injection in his knee and skipped the All-Star Game.

He threw a bullpen session in Philadelphia on July 22, but his knee and right biceps flared up. Since then, he’d been limited to throwing weighted balls indoors.

This one feels big.

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Here’s the White Sox lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

It’s time for Game 2 in the three-game series between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers.

Righty Landen Roupp takes the mound for San Francisco, as the 27-year old makes his 23rd start of the year. Roupp is 7-10 with a 4.34 ERA, a 3.47 FIP, and 120 strikeouts to 52 walks in 118.1 innings. Roupp, who has the most losses in the National League, gave up five runs in 4.2 innings against the San Diego Padres his last time out.

For the Tigers, it’s righty Jackson Jobe, a 24-year old taken third overall in 2021. Jobe is making his season debut in his return from Tommy John surgery. In 10 starts last year, he went 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA, a 5.18 FIP, and 39 strikeouts to 27 walks in 49 innings.

Enjoy the game, everyone!

Lineups

Giants

1. Bryce Eldridge — DH
2. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
3. Willy Adames — SS
4. Rafael Devers — 1B
5. Osleivis Basabe — 2B
6. Drew Gilbert — CF
7. Eddys Leonard — LF
8. Drew Cavanaugh — C
9. Christian Koss — 3B

RHP. Landen Roupp

Tigers

1. Kevin McGonigle — 3B
2. Gleyber Torres — 2B
3. Dillon Dingler — C
4. Riley Greene — LF
5. Colt Keith — DH
6. Spencer Torkelson — 1B
7. Max Clark — CF
8. Javier Báez — SS
9. Zach McKinstry — RF

RHP. Jackson Jobe

Game #117

Who: San Francisco Giants (49-67) vs. Detroit Tigers (56-60)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 4:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: n/a

National broadcast: FOX

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

Detroit Tigers (56-60) vs. San Francisco Giants (49-67)

Time/Place: 7:15 p.m., Oracle Park
SB Nation Site:McCovey Chronicles
Media: FOX, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup:Game 117: RHP Jackson Jobe (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Landen Roupp (7-10, 4.34 ERA)

The Orioles are back on national television for the second straight game. Last night was Apple TV. Tonight, it’s FOX. Perhaps it is my own neurosis, but it feels like the O’s rarely do well on the big stage. Hopefully that isn’t the case tonight.

If this team wants to stay close in the playoff race, they need to win these games with the Rangers. The short-term schedule will only get tougher with series against the Rays and Yankees looming.

Kyle Bradish will be on the bump. His last appearance was brief as the rain washed him out of the game against the Phillies on Sunday. He will be raring to go since he hasn’t turned in a “good” start since July 22, when he held the Red Sox to one run over six innings.

Jacob deGrom starts for Texas. That isn’t ideal for the Orioles. The veteran righty has dominated them in his career, to the tune of a 1.88 ERA over six starts. He has never taken a loss against the O’s and has piled up 46 strikeouts over 38.1 innings against them.

Go get that win, fellas!

Orioles lineup

1. Gunnar Henderson, SS
2. Pete Alonso, 1B
3. Jackson Holliday, 2B
4. Tyler O’Neill, DH
5. Dylan Beavers, LF
6. Leody Taveras, RF
7. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B
8. Colton Cowser, CF
9. Carlos Narváez, C

RHP Kyle Bradish (7-10, 3.79 ERA)

Rangers lineup

1. Joc Pederson, DH
2. Wyatt Langfrod, LF
3. Corey Seager, SS
4. Brandon Nimmo, RF
5. Ezequiel Duran, 3B
6. Evan Carter, CF
7. Jake Burger, 1B
8. Austin Wynns, C
9. Nicky Lopez, 2B

RHP Jacob deGrom (7-7, 3.96 ERA)

It’s game 2 of the St. Louis Cardinals 3-game series hosting the Colorado Rockies Saturday night. Matthew Liberatore will start for the Cardinals while the Rockies will give the ball to Kyle Freeland. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15pm central time and the game broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.

The Royals fell to the Cubs in the opener thanks to a terrific start from the Cubs’ newest acquisition, Kevin Gausman, but they get a chance at revenge against the Cubs’ newest acquisition, Clay Holmes, tonight.

I wrote about Holmes a bit last week when I pondered how the Royals could try to replace Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo if either or both were traded this year.

Clay Holmes is on the opposite side of the spectrum from most of the guys we’ve discussed so far. His 2.39 ERA is probably a performance a bit beyond his skis. That said, if you can pay him like the 4.00 SIERA guy he’s actually been, it could work!

I stand by that; his results have outpaced his efforts. But that doesn’t mean he can’t keep it going against the Royals tonight. Only time will tell.

Holmes threw six different pitches for the Mets this year ahead of the trade, though he only threw two four-seamers all year. He gets a fair amount of chase, but very few whiffs on anything but his sweeper. He throws his sinker more than half the time and gets a lot of groundballs with it. The Cubs have a tremendous defense, so the Royals will want to figure out how to avoid that fate.

Seth Lugo will go for KC in a matchup of former Mets now wearing blue who never played with each other. Lugo’s last start, against Colorado, saw him tie his career high in walks while also getting hit around. It ruined a stretch of three straight quality starts. He’ll try to get back on the horse against the Cubs tonight.

Lineups

Isaac Collins, cleanup hitter. Josh Rojas, Designated Hitter. Salvador Perez, a day off while slashing .280/.296/.480/.776 over the last week when he couldn’t buy one while OPSing in the .400s earlier this year. All you can do is laugh. To be clear, these aren’t criticisms. Salvy should get a day off; he hasn’t had one in about a month. Collins is as good a cleanup hitter as you’re likely to find in the current roster construction. And the remaining options for DH would be Luke Maile, Tyler Tolbert, and Starling Marte. They’re not really any better than Rojas.

It really just drives home, again, how laughable it is to me that the Royals are going to compete next year because they have a core. Sure, yes, they have Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone, Carter Jensen, and Maikel Garcia, plus Noah Cameron, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha as a core. But they have barely any supporting cast, and finding enough guys to do that competently in a single offseason sounds like sheer lunacy to me. I hope I’m wrong. Until then, I’ll be regularly checking out Zion Rose, David Shields, and friends in Quad Cities.

A Saturday afternoon dedicated to nostalgia for the past might have transitioned into a display of hope for the present and future. 

The Old-Timers — including members of the 1996 World Series team celebrating the 30-year anniversary and plenty of representatives from the 2009 champions, the last link to Yankees greatness — put on a show for 45,222 in The Bronx who came to pay tribute to yesterday’s heroes. 

And a few hours later, a pair of exciting rookies on the 2026 Yankees offered some hope that tomorrow’s — and maybe today’s — Yankees can reclaim some of that glory. 

On Old-Timers’ Day, it was George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones — who have played a combined 48 major league games — who carried a previously silent Yankees offense in a 5-4 victory over Chris Sale and the Braves. 

“I didn’t think about that,” Jones said about the rookies shining in front of the franchise alumni. “That’s pretty sweet. I think those guys lay the foundation of what this organization is.” 

The Yankees (66-51), who have seen 18 of their past 24 games get decided by one or two runs, will try to sweep a series against the class of the NL East on Sunday after moving 1 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild-card spot. 

They survived another nail-biter in part because Gerrit Cole (seven innings, two runs) continued what has been a remarkable run for Yankees starting pitchers, who sport a 1.67 ERA (64 ²/₃ innings, 12 earned runs) in their past 11 games. 

But Cole was dented in the fifth, which meant he needed some support. He found it mostly through a pair of rookies who are untested but have undeniable ability. 

Jones and Lombard finished a combined 4-for-6 with two walks, a homer, a triple, three runs scored and three RBIs. The rest of the lineup went 4-for-24. 

The game was ultimately decided in the fifth, in which the Braves tagged Cole for two runs in the top half of the inning to take a 2-1 edge before the Yankees provided an immediate answer. 

Lombard — who seemingly does everything well — appeared to strike out on two consecutive pitches to lead off the frame, but in both instances he used challenges to earn balls three and four of the plate appearance. 

After the walk, up stepped Jones, who against Sale — a big lefty famously dominant against same-sided hitters — cranked an RBI triple that split the outfielders in right-center to tie the game. 

“Excellent, really excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said of Jones, who had snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a first-inning RBI single against Sale. “He’s shown here over the last 10 days, I feel like he’s gaining experience and you can see it up there — you can see some adjustments he makes.” 

A Yankees team that has scored more than five runs just four times in its past 45 games needs to score any way it can, and so it will not apologize for the go-ahead run then coming on a balk from Sale, who was irate but less outraged than his manager, Walt Weiss, who was ejected from the game. 

The next Yankees runs came more traditionally: Lombard visited the short porch in the seventh inning for his second career home run and Ben Rice added one of his own in the eighth, both solo shots mattering because Brent Headrick (who let up a dinger to Ronald Acuña Jr. in the eighth) and David Bednar (one run on a hit and a walk in the ninth) were not perfect. 

For too long, just about perfection has been required from the Yankees staff, so inept have been the bats. Jones, cartoonishly talented but with extreme swing-and-miss weaknesses in the minors, showed enough to replace Jasson Domínguez on the roster. Lombard, just 21, is asserting on a daily basis that his glove is not just ready but elite and his bat seems to be improving. 

“We were confident that he’s ready for this,” Boone said of Lombard, who is just the fifth Yankee in the past 46 years to record a hit in each of his first four games. “He’s certainly shown that here through his first … [four] games.”

TODAY’S GAME: The first-place Houston Astros (60-57) continue their six-game road trip with the second game of three-game series against the San Diego Padres (60-57) at Petco Park.

RHP Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.06 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros for his 20th start of the season today, opposite RHP Michael King (6-8, 3.45 ERA) and the Padres.

THE TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 40-26 since May 22, which is the second-best record in the AL in that span. On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark for the season.

THAT’S OFFENSIVE: The Astros lead the AL in SLG (.418), and OPS (.740), while ranking second in runs scored (546), home runs (159), OBP (.323) and hits (976). In the Majors, the Astros rank third in homers, trailing only the Nationals (170) and Yankees (164).

THE LAMBO: Today’s Astros starter RHP Peter Lambert leads the club in wins (8), starts (19), innings (108.2) and strikeouts (108). Among AL pitchers with at least 100 IP, Lambert ranks fourth in opponent average (.206) and seventh in ERA. In July, he recorded a 1.88 ERA (6ER/28.2IP) with 32 strikeouts, a .204 opponent batting average and a 1.05 WHIP. Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 starts.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Astros continue a six-game West Coast road-trip with the second game of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. Following their series with Padres, the Astros will travel to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants. The Astros went 5-1 on their last road trip. Houston is also 23-13 (.639) on their last five road trips and are 29-19 (.604) on the road since going 1-9 on their first road trip of the season. Houston is 30-28 overall on the road in 2026.

THE LINEUP: The Astros have used 115 different lineups in their 117 games, repeating a lineup just twice on the season, which includes using the same lineup on Monday and Tuesday. DH Yordan Alvarez has the most starts at any spot in the lineup among Astros, hitting second 104 times.

VS. THE PADRES: The Astros and Padres have faced off vs. each other 616 times with the Astros leading the series 322-294. The Astros last faced the Padres in a three-game series at Daikin Park from April 18-20, 2025 (Astros went 2-1). The last time the Astros were at Petco Park was from Sept. 16-18, 2024 at SD (Padres went 2-1).

MVP-CALIBER: Yordan Alvarez leads the AL in all three Triple Crown categories, ranking first in batting average (.328), HR (35), and RBI (86). Additionally, he leads MLB in OPS (1.078), OBP (.442), SLG (.636), and TB (266). In the AL, he ranks first in hits (137), extra-base hits (59), and runs (79), and second in walks (82).

HEAVY TRAFFIC: DH Yordan Alvarez has reached base safely in 22 straight games (since July 10), batting .405 (32×79) with 17 runs, eight doubles, six home runs, 19 RBI, 23 walks, a .544 OBP and a 1.278 OPS during the streak. Alvarez also has on-base streaks of 25 games (May 22-June 19) and 22 games (April 4-28) this season.

STREAKING: 1B Christian Walker has hit safely in season-high 10 consecutive games at a .325 (13×40) clip with seven runs, four doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a .988 OPS during the streak. It is his second-longest hitting streak of his career, behind a 13-game hitting streak from June 16-29, 2023, as a member of the Diamondbacks.

DOWN ON THE FARM: The Astros 2026 first-round pick 1B Logan Hughes went 1×4 with two RBI in his minor league debut last night with Single A Fayetteville. SS Kam Durnin (0x2, 2 BB, R), LF Owen Nowak (2×4, 2B, R) and 2B Aaron Piasecki (1×4) also made their minor league debuts with the Woodpeckers.

MULTI-HOMER MADNESS: RF Cam Smith went 3×4 with two solo home runs last night at SD. Marked his fourth career multi-homer game (last, June 29 vs. MIN). Was also his second career multi-homer game against the Padres (also, April 18, 2025).

ON THE DEFENSIVE: 1B Christian Walker has not commited an error in his 111 games at first base this season, which is the longest errorless streak in the Majors this season.

HEART & HUSTLE: Yesterday, OF Cam Smith was named the Houston Astros 2026 Heart and Hustle Award winner. This prestigious honor, which is awarded by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA), is presented yearly to players who exemplify a passion for the game and who best embody the values, spirit, and traditions of the game.

BRYAN’S BACK: RHP Bryan Abreu has a 1.02 ERA (2ER/17.2IP) in his last 17 apps. with just seven hits allowed and 22 strikeouts in that span. Additionally, since May 1, he has a 1.93 ERA (7ER/32.2IP) in 34 apps., and is 6-for-6 in save opp. in that span. Prior to May 1, Abreu had a 12.54 ERA in his first 11 apps. of the season.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: 2B Jose Altuve went 2×5 with a solo home run on Wednesday vs. Toronto. This marked his 247th career home run as a second baseman, surpassing Joe Gordon and Ian Kinsler for the 8th-most home runs by a second baseman in MLB history.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1986 – In the Dome, longtime fan favorite Jose “Cheo” Cruz collects his 1,000th career RBI in a 5-0 win over the Padres. Cruz went 2×4 with 2 RBI on the night. RHP Mike Scott goes the distance for the CG shutout.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 8, 6:15 p.m. CT

Location: Petco Park, San Diego, CA

TV: SCHN

Radio: KTRH 740 AM; KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Well before he became the San Francisco Giants' president of baseball operations, Buster Posey helped the club become recognized as one of the rare dynasties in baseball's modern era.

Posey, along with Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik and Pablo Sandoval were enshrined into the club's esteemed Wall of Fame.

Inductions were held before the Giants' contest against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, August 8. The Wall of Fame ceremony began at 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET), the team announced. The first pitch of the game is at 4:15 p.m. (7:15 p.m. ET).

In a five-year span, the Giants captured three World Series pennants from 2010 to 2014, winning in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Here's everything you need to know about the Giants' Wall of Fame inductees.

Houston Astros (60-57) at San Diego Padres (60-57), August 8, 2026, 4:15 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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The Colorado Rockies (45-71) and St. Louis Cardinals (58-58) meet again tonight at Busch Stadium after the Cardinals took the series opener 3-2.

Colorado is tied for the worst record in baseball and sits four games behind the San Francisco Giants for fourth place in the NL West.

St. Louis has worked its way back to an even .500 despite carrying a minus-9 run differential. The Cardinals are 14 games behind in the NL Central, but remain just 3.5 games out of the final National League Wild Card spot.

The standings suggest a fairly wide gap between these teams. The matchup itself is a little more interesting.

Colorado has been the better offensive team, while St. Louis has been more complete and efficient defensively. Neither bullpen has been a particular strength.

The Cardinals frustrated the Rockies throughout Friday’s opener. Colorado finished with 10 hits but went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, allowing St. Louis to win despite collecting only four hits of its own.

That puts some added weight on a starting pitching matchup featuring two left-handers coming off excellent outings.

Kyle Freeland will try to even the series for Colorado.

Freeland enters at 3-10 with a 6.81 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 93 strikeouts across 108.1 innings.

Those numbers look nothing like his last start.

Freeland threw the first complete game of his career against the Kansas City Royals, allowing one run on five hits while striking out eight in an 8-1 victory.

The way he did it was also notable.

Freeland generated 19 whiffs on 55 swings, well above his season norm. His knuckle curve did most of the damage, producing eight misses on 12 swings and accounting for five of his eight strikeouts.

He also changed his pitch distribution.

Freeland threw his sinker 22% of the time after using it only 7% this season. His four-seamer and sweeper usage both came down, while the cutter remained his most frequently used pitch.

Freeland has used six pitches this season, mixing the four-seamer, cutter, sinker, knuckle curve, changeup and sweeper. His fastball results have been poor overall, but his command has remained a strength. His 4.7% walk rate ranks among the best in baseball.

The question tonight is whether some of what worked against Kansas City carries into St. Louis.

Matthew Liberatore will make the start for the Cardinals.

Liberatore enters at 5-8 with a 4.97 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 107 strikeouts across 108.2 innings.

He is also coming off one of his best performances of the season.

Liberatore held the Toronto Blue Jays scoreless for six innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven.

Like Freeland, the shape of the outing was a little different from his season-long profile.

Liberatore’s four-seam fastball has been one of his least effective pitches this year, but Toronto missed five times on 11 swings against it. Four of his seven strikeouts came on four-seamers.

He also leaned more heavily on his slider and convinced Toronto hitters to chase 40% of his pitches outside the strike zone, well above his 29.8% season chase rate.

Liberatore works with six pitches, led by a 94.4 mph four-seamer and slider. He also mixes in a curveball, changeup, sinker and cutter.

The arsenal gives him ways to miss bats, especially when hitters help him outside the zone. The season results have been less convincing. His fastball and breaking-ball results have both been poor, while his offspeed pitches have been the strongest part of his profile.

Liberatore’s arsenal can still make the Rockies uncomfortable, particularly if they expand the zone and let his secondary pitches dictate the at-bat. But his season numbers also suggest opportunities if Colorado can force him back over the plate and handle the fastball when it comes.

That was the missing piece Friday. The Rockies created traffic but could not turn it into enough offense.

Tonight, the larger question sits on the mound. Does Freeland look more like the pitcher who dominated Kansas City, or the one who has struggled for much of the season? And does Liberatore carry over the version that overwhelmed Toronto, or fall back toward the uneven profile his season numbers suggest?

We’ll find out which versions show up tonight.

The details…

First Pitch: 5:15 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM

Cardinals SB Nation site:Viva El Birdos

Lineups:

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

Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers

Saturday, August 08, 2026, 6:15 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / FOX)

The Shed

RHP Kyle Bradish vs. RHP Jacob deGrom

Go Rangers!

After a big win last night, the Nats will look to build on that performance tonight. It will be a tough task though. The Nats are facing one of the best young pitchers in the game in Chase Burns. However, the offense has started to look a bit better the last three games.

The Nats are making a couple tweaks to the lineup. CJ Abrams is back at shortstop which means Nasim Nunez slides to second base. Jose Tena will take the DH spot tonight. Jorbit Vivas will be the third baseman in this one. Andrew Alvarez is looking to build on a good start last time out.

With a lefty on the Reds are making some lineup changes. Dane Myers is the big one, with the center fielder moving into the 3 hole. They will also make a change behind the plate, with Jose Trevino getting the nod. Eugenio Suarez is hitting higher in the lineup. As mentioned, Reds ace Chase Burns is on the mound. He has a 13-1 record with a 2.35 ERA.

Game Info:

Stadium: Nationals Park

Time: 6:45 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

After a brutal road trip, the Nats have a chance to shake that off here at home. Getting a quick series win would be a great way to do that. They can get that done tonight but with Burns on the mound it will be tough. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!