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The Athletics opened this weeklong road trip by losing two out of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Following an off day yesterday, the A’s are back in action today as they begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, who at 51-53, are 4 1/2 games back of the American League Central lead and 2 1/2 games behind the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
Before the game. the team shook up its bullpen.
Right-handed reliever Yunior Tur’s MLB debut did not go well, as he allowed 14 runs in his first 2 2/3 innings. Hopefully Tur can work on what wrong at Triple-A, so he comes back to the majors more prepared to succeed.
The player replacing him, right-hander Luis Morales, has been one of the team’s biggest disappointments this season, struggling both in the big leagues and the minor leagues. With the A’s out of contention, getting Morales, a former top prospect, back on track would be a big boost for the pitching staff moving forward.
Left-hander Jacob Lopez will make the start for the A’s to kick off the series in the Twin Cities. The 28-year-old enters his 16th appearance and 13th start of the season with a 4-4 record, a 6.64 ERA, a 1.73 WHIP and 49 strikeouts over 59 2/3 innings.
Lopez made a successful return to the starting rotation in his most recent appearance, allowing just two runs on two hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. In that outing against the Washington Nationals, his pitch count was limited because it was his first true start since being recalled from Triple-A. Tonight, the A’s need Lopez to provide more length given the concerns surrounding their beleaguered bullpen. A quality start against a Twins lineup that has scored the seventh-most runs in the league would be a welcome sight for an A’s pitching staff that has endured significant struggles this season.
He’ll be opposed by Minnesota’s third-year right-hander Zebby Matthews, who enters his 13th start of the season with a 4-7 record, a 5.40 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP and 58 strikeouts over 70 innings. The 26-year-old is coming off a rough outing against the Chicago Cubs, allowing eight runs on nine hits in just three innings.
This will be Matthews’ second career start against the A’s. On June 4, 2025, he earned the win after holding the A’s to one run on four hits over five innings. However, he enters tonight’s game in poor form, so the Athletics’ injury-depleted offense must capitalize on any mistake pitches the young right-hander leaves over the plate.
The A’s will send out the following lineup against Matthews:
Nothing too surprising about this Athletics starting nine. Shortstop Jacob Wilson and third baseman Tommy White will look to continue their strong performances on this road trip. If the A’s want to win this Friday night contest, they will need production from the bottom of the order, where struggling right fielder Lawrence Butler and center fielder Henry Bolte will look to provide a spark.
Lopez will take on this Twins’ lineup:
Byron Buxton, one of the best center fielders in the sport, is the leader of the Twins offense. Lopez will also have to be careful when pitching to well-traveled designated hitter Josh Bell and catcher Ryan Jeffers, who could be a trade candidate at the upcoming deadline.
Time to get back on the winning side of things and generate some good vibes heading into the weekend. Let’s go A’s!
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Athletics – NBCSCA
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Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Dodgers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Even great teams have room for improvement, and for the Dodgers in 2026, one of those paths is in the acquisition of a catcher. Will Smith has been out since early June with neck inflammation, and updates on his condition have put into question if and when the veteran might be back. We asked the fans if the Dodgers should proceed with the current depth chart believing in Smith’s return or plan for the worst while they still can.
All in all, with the resources that this team possesses and the lack of holes to fill, to look for a catching addition feels like a given. Perhaps more than what we may see with the bat, the Dodgers ought to look at adding a steady presence, a catcher who can be relied on to not only do his job but also excel behind the plate defensively.
What adds layers to this debate is that for a team on the market for a catcher, there are legit game-changing options to at least call about. Although none of them are explicitly on the block, controllable beyond just this current campaign, Hunter Goodman, Shea Langeliers, and Adley Rutschman each could be seen within reason as trade candidates. Acquiring any of them, though, would inevitably back the Dodgers into a corner down the line since Smith is going nowhere long-term.
Perhaps in Minnesota, the Dodgers might find targets that are more their speed in Ryan Jeffers or Victor Caratini. Quietly, one of the better-hitting catchers in the AL over the last four seasons, Jeffers has been phenomenal with a .933 OPS in a short sample (44 games) due to missed time this year. With Caratini, who is under contract through next season at a reasonable rate, the Dodgers would be getting stability above all else, adding a player perfectly willing to fade into a backup role down the line. Caratini might even provide Rushing insurance if the youngster hits his way into staying on as a starter in the playoffs.
Taking into account the experience, or lack thereof, of players such as Eliezer Alfonso and Chuckie Robinson, adding a backstopper who’s been there in a postseason environment for the off chance Smith doesn’t return is good business.
Mets president of baseball ops David Stearns met with the media prior to Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers to discuss a number of different topics…
With Thursday's complete off day in the schedule, there had been some hope that we could potentially see some trade deadline moves start to take shape.
However, that ended up not being the case.
So, Stearns was asked when we could potentially see some reach the finish line.
"Every deadline moves a little at its own pace," he said. "A week and a half is an eternity at deadline season; we see it every year -- there are active discussions going on throughout the industry, that is certainly the case.
"When deals ultimately get across the finish line, it's tough to tell, but there's always the acceleration of deals at the deadline; we see that every year -- but when exactly we make our first deal would be tough for me to predict."
With so many contenders looking to add catching ahead of the deadline, there has been some buzz that the Mets could look to move on from one of their backstops.
Francisco Alvarez is still just 24 years old and is under club control through the 2029 season.
Luis Torrens is one of baseball's more steady backups, and he just signed a two-year extension with the club.
While both would likely net a relatively decent return, Stearns doesn’t exactly sound too eager to move on from either with the team still looking to contend next year.
“Catching is really important,” he said. “We’re very fortunate to have two really good ones.”
Stearns also broke down what he’s seen from the group from a long-term lens.
“We have some young starters who are performing really well that we are very excited about -- we have some pitching coming behind it, some of which has progressed nicely and some have hit some speed bumps,” he said.
“So from a young starting perspective, we still feel pretty good about where we are as an organization -- but it’s also an area that we’ll have to look to supplement as we head into 2027, but we’ll get to that as we get to planning for 2027.”
The performing youngsters, of course, are Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton, who have been putting their talents on full display in the majors of late.
That is a solid trio for the Mets to build around, but there's no denying they need more.
When you are trying to chase down several other teams in the playoff race, and games between now and the trade deadline are running short, every series feels big. This weekend’s clash with the Atlanta Braves is no different. Our very own John Beers provided a run down of the matchup earlier today.
The Orioles lineup lacks some bite without Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, but they put up a fight against the Red Sox earlier in the week, which included snapping their rivals’ 15-game winning streak. A win for the Orioles tonight will make it two in a row for them, en route to another streak of their own.
They have the right pitcher on the mound to make it happen. The Orioles have won each of Trevor Rogers’ last five starts. The lefty has done a lot of the heavy lifting, allowing three total runs across 30.2 innings in that stretch. That translates to a 0.88 ERA. Pretty good!
Grant Holmes, the Braves starter, allowed three runs in his last start alone. So, the momentum is with Rogers. Holmes is a good pitcher, though. He just doesn’t tend to go very deep into a game. The last time he threw more than five innings in an appearance came seven starts ago on June 3rd.
It’s worth noting that Dylan Beavers will bat leadoff in this one. That’s the first time he has had that role this season and just the third time he has ever done it as a big leaguer. Tony Mansolino used him atop the order twice in late September last year. The outfielder is batting .462 over his last five games, including a 2-for-4 performance in the finale with Boston. Craig Albernaz has been more willing to change the lineup to find something that clicks. Beavers makes just as much sense as anyone else right now.
Orioles lineup
LHP Trevor Rogers (6-7, 4.28 ERA)
Braves lineup
RHP Grant Holmes (6-4, 3.70 ERA)
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Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Royals Review
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Tarik Skubal (6-5, 2.83 ERA) vs. RHP Beck Way (1-0, 3.22 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skubal | 14 | 82.2 | 30.5 | 3.4 | 46.5 | 2.85 | 2.2 |
| Way | 18 | 22.1 | 21.4 | 10.2 | 56.7 | 4.90 | -0.1 |
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There’s no rest for the wood bats as the run of 17 games in 17 days out of the All-Star break continues for the Atlanta Braves as they kick off a three-game series at Baltimore Friday night at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Grant Holmes gets the start for Atlanta, while Baltimore counters with Trevor Rogers.
Follow along as the Braves look to continue to re-extend their NL East lead, which is back up to 4.5 games behind a 5-2 start to the second half paired with the Phillies dropping series to the Mets and Dodgers.
The “phantom push” ruling in Wednesday’s loss to the Kansas City Royals derailed the team’s momentum and led to a five-run rally and an eventual San Francisco Giants loss. While it’s true that the umpires should have reviewed the call, and likely that said review would not have ruled the oversliding Vinnie Pasquantino out, what stood out was the performance of manager Tony Vitello, who ended up drawing his third ejection of the season in the 5-4 loss.
It was an unusual ejection. Vitello’s ire was correctly aimed at second base umpire Mike Estabrook, but he was thrown out of the game by third base umpire Lance Barrett. Dave Flemming said Barrett “talks to players like they’re his children,” and perhaps that’s especially true for the handsome and youthful Tony V.
But Vitello didn’t get his money’s worth. He wasn’t especially vehement in his arguments, getting rung while he was heading to the dugout. No dirt was kicked, no equipment was thrown, no umpire’s parentage was called into question. Instead, Vitello simply got bounced, Landen Roupp got out of rhythm, and the Giants lost a fifth straight game.
You can make a strong case that as the manager of a 42-60 team, only two games better than the worst team in baseball, Vitello isn’t getting ejected enough. It’s been a season full of weird calls and strange decisions. Rafael Devers was the only person on the field to notice he hit a home run in Seattle on Saturday. The team vacillates wildly between under-managing and over-managing. Vitello failed to challenge a play in April where TJ Friedl dropped a Luis Arraez liner, though I would not call it a “freaking disgrace.”
Vitello needs to be angrier about how bad his team is playing. It really doesn’t matter to the outcome of a game if the manager gets thrown out. Hell, it might improve these Giants. But what a managerial ejection often does is snap a team out of complacency. He’s got three ejections so far, which is far down the list of rookie managers in history.
The most ejections ever recorded by a first-year manager is a tie between Roger Bresnahan in 1909 and Johnny Evers in 1913, both of whom got kicked out 10 times in just 154 games. Evers’ legendary double-play partner, the high-strung Joe Tinker, got tossed out of seven games in 1913 in his own first season as a skipper. Completing the triumvirate, Frank Chance got ejected only 15 times in 11 seasons as a manager, maxing out at three in 1914.
Many of the top rookie ejection seasons happened before World War I, when many managers doubled as players, increasing the opportunities for conflicts. The game was also significantly more contentious. For example. when Bresnahan argued with home plate umpire Bill Klem at the end of a 1911, Klem punched him out. Does that count as an ejection? Sadly the record books don’t say.
The modern leader is 2022 National League champion David Bell, who got kicked out of eight games in 2019, which is pretty impressive given the more genteel nature of today’s game. Eight is the Giants’ franchise record for a rookie manager, achieved by Bill Rigney in 1956. John McGraw is easily the Giants’ all-time ejection king, racking up 121 ejections and hitting 11 in a season twice.
Other notably argumentative rookie manager include Burleigh Grimes, who was kicked out of nine games in 1937. Cal Ripken, Sr. was ejected eight times in his first season with the Baltimore Orioles in 1987, a year where his son Cal Ripken, Jr. only sat for eight innings. In 1978, George Bamberger led the Milwaukee Brewers to 93 wins, their first winning season in history, but didn’t make it to the end of seven of those contests.
Whitey Herzog got tossed six times in 1973, even though he got fired after 138 games. It didn’t stop him from going on to a Hall of Fame career. In modern times, Rick Renteria was ejected six times in 2014 and Larry Rothschild inaugurated the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays in 1998 with six ejections.
Bobby Cox is the all-time Ejection King of baseball, and he showed that potential early by being sent to the showers four times in 1978. He got thrown out of six games in 1980 but didn’t start putting up double-digit ejection numbers until the late 90’s with the Atlanta Braves, maxing out with 11 at age 60 in 2001. In a 30-year career, Cox never went a single season without getting tossed and had just one season with only one: The strike-shortened 1994 season. Fittingly, he finished with 162 ejections, a whole season’s worth.
Vitello was hired thanks to the focus he showed at Tennessee when it came to process and preparation. That’s why we’re attacking a video of Cox’s ejections during his prime, so Vitello can study the game tape to bone up on the fundamentals of umpire arguing, which include:
There are 60 games to go in the season and we are confident that Tony V. can get kicked out of at least three of them. Other teams may push the Giants around, but he shouldn’t let those dastardly umpires do it, too.
I remember, when I was young and playing sports, the parents, who we called coaches, said ‘give 110%’. Well, you can’t/shouldn’t do it all the time. You go all out, you are likely to injury something,
Addison Barger is going to have season ending elbow surgery. He’ll either have Tommy John or an internal brace surgery. Either way, he’s likely to be out until the start of the 2027 season. If it is Tommy John, he’ll likely miss the first part of the season.
Apparently, his elbow had been bothering him for a while, then he threw that 101.2 mph throw to get Jorge Soler at the plate on May 9th.
All the best in your recovery Addison.
Tonight’s game is only on Apple. 7:15 start time.
Lineups:
It’s been a bit of a janky week for Yankee baseball, with a pair of rain-induced doubleheaders and a scheduled offday in the past six. We return to what is hopefully normal programming today, with the Bombers coming into Philadelphia for a three-game set against the second-place Phillies.
It’s Cam Bump Day, as the ace Cam Schlittler looks to pull himself over the 4.0 fWAR mark if he can really strut on the Phils tonight. I’ve remarked a number of times this year how Cam will variate between “real good” and “meh” starts this year, with a handful of dominant performances and only one real stinker in the mix. His last outing was certainly in the “meh” column, as the Dodgers were able to chase him before the end of the fifth last Sunday.
I need to do the math on this, but it feels like because Cam throws so many pitches in the zone, he’s most vulnerable against teams that make contact and offer at pitches in-zone. The Phillies boast the sixth-highest strikeout rate in baseball and the 10th-highest Z-Swing percentage, along with the 16th-best Z-Contact rate. To me that sounds like this should be a good matchup for Schlittler’s game plan, but Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are still who they are.
Jesús Luzardo, who is still just 28 despite me feeling like I’ve heard his name for 15 years, goes for Philly. After a five-win season of his own last year, he’s returned that pace and then some in 2026, making the All-Star team with a 3.43 ERA and 2.90 FIP, led by a sparkling ability to keep the ball in the park. The Yankees have managed to induce some immediate regression in other homer-suppressing pitchers this year, if they can manage that tonight they’ll set themselves up well for a win.
Do note this game is on AppleTV+. I wish it were not.
How to watch
Location: Citizens Bank Park
First pitch: 6:45 pm ET
TV broadcast: N/A
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | YES, SportsNet Pittsburgh (PIT)
Streaming: AppleTV+
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The last time the Sox faced the Jays, the standings and this team looked WAY different. Can that help the Red Sox revive a win streak or will they start to regress at the hands of Toronto?
⚾️ First Pitch: 7:15pm — Fenway Park, Boston, MA
📺 TV: Apple TV (sorry)
📻 Radio: WEEI
This is the biggest series the Nationals have had in many years. They square off with a direct Wild Card competitor in the Diamondbacks. This is going to be a major test for the Nats, but also a monster opportunity. These next 10 days will tell us so much about the direction of this team.
With a lefty on the mound for the Snakes, the Nats have a righty heavy lineup. However, Luis Garcia Jr. will remain at first base, but hit 8th. Daylen Lile gets the day off as James Wood, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews make up the outfield. Harry Ford will get the start behind the dish. Carson Palmquist will be the opener for Zack Littell tonight.
The D-Backs are red hot right now and riding high. Their top two of Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll are very dangerous. Gabriel Moreno is also having a great year behind the plate. Nolan Arenado has had a late career resurgence as well. We will also see veteran Max Kepler for the first time. Eduardo Rodriguez is having a great season, and will be on the mound tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV and Fox 5 WTTG
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Get ready for some massive games at Nationals Park! This is such a monster series for this group. They have not been good at home, but this would be a great time to change that. This series could springboard the Nats towards a big playoff push. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
Even after last night’s disappointing loss, the Royals have still won five of seven coming out of the All-Star Break. That’s not nearly enough to get them back into contention, but at least potential trade pieces like Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Matt Strahm have performed well.
One player who sadly hasn’t rebounded is tonight’s bulk reliever, Noah Cameron. Beck Way will open the game for him as the Royals continue to push the righty into more important relief work while they scramble to see if they have anyone who can be counted on even half the time in their bullpen.
I tried looking into Noah’s body of work earlier this week to see if I could find a glaring flaw with him that led from his terrific May into the awful June and July, and I really didn’t see much of use. His sinker is awful, and I don’t understand why he throws it, but he’s not throwing it more than usual. His average arm angle has ticked back up after dropping nearly 10 degrees from last season at the start of this year. The curveball lost about 100 RPMs from the good stretch to this bad stretch, which is probably a big part of the problem. If it were up to me, I’d have him ditch his sinker and four-seam fastball, lead with the cutter, throw a lot of sliders and changeups, and try to figure out what happened to his curveball. But those are probably far too simple and far too significant changes to make, especially in the middle of the season. So we’re just going to have to hope Brian Sweeney has a better idea than me.
The Tigers are going to pitch Tarik Skubal instead, in what might be his final start in Detroit as a Tiger. Or it might not. The Tigers have been winning a lot lately and might decide to go ahead and see if they can finish off the miraculous comeback. Your guess is as good as mine. What is clear is that Skubal is still one of the best pitchers we’ve ever seen. So good luck to the offense.
The offense, in need of luck in the best of times, will still be without starters Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia. But Jac Caglianone will also miss a third straight game after injuring his shoulder in Tuesday’s contest. Salvador Perez, the third-worst qualified hitter in all of MLB, will bat third for the Royals today as he continues his hunt for career home run 318. I guess getting him some extra at-bats before his body completely falls apart to chase that record makes sense. Somewhere. Speaking of Salvy’s body falling apart, this will be his first start at catcher in almost a month. He’s been hurting but still played first or DH for almost that entire time. He did slash .250/.325/.485/.810 over that span.
Sean Manaea – LHP
Roki Sasaki – RHP
First pitch: 7:10pm EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
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San Diego Padres (50-53) at Miami Marlins (52-51), July 24, 2026, 4:10 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: loanDepot Park – Miami, Fla.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
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