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

Any game that invokes optimism for the 2027 Mets rather than dismay regarding the 2026 version is a good game for the franchise. 

On Friday night, Robert Stock looked like a nice piece rather than a novelty. Each reliever behind him, including closer Kodai Senga, made a case that he belongs on next year’s Opening Day roster.

Jared Young continued to make the most of his playing time and strengthened his argument for that time to remain next year. 

It all added up to a nicely played, 4-1 comeback victory over the Nationals in front of 30,660 at Citi Field, where the Mets (54-69) offered the only thing they have left to offer this season: hope for the future. 

It began with Stock, a 36-year-old whose age is looking more like a quirk than a drawback. A journeyman who has pitched just about everywhere from indy ball to South Korea to Mexico; who was signed for a second time by the Mets as a late-career flier and then required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome this spring; and who is as well-versed in pitching technology and language as anyone in the game, Stock is not a regular case of a kid trying to make an impression late in a lost season. 

That impression was darkened in his previous outing, an eight-run blowup in Pittsburgh. On Friday, a pitcher and person known for bouncing back bounced back. 

“It’s really good stuff,” interim manager Andy Green said of Stock, who allowed one unearned run and struck out five in 4 ¹/₃ innings. “So if he gets in the zone, he has quite a bit of success.” 

He was in and out of the zone, walking three but typically relying on his movement to escape potential jams. Washington only scored in the third when Francisco Lindor did not stay down on a sharp ground ball from Abimelec Ortiz that skipped into the outfield to put runners on the corners, which led to a Brady House RBI single. 

Otherwise, Stock was unblemished, in part because Nate Lavender entered with two on and one out in the fifth and escaped. Behind the rookie lefty, Jonathan Pintaro (two scoreless innings and his first major league win), Daniel Duarte (a clean eighth) and ultimately Senga (second save) held down the Nationals. 

All are potential pieces of the Mets staff next year. 

“Pretty much all we want to do is we want to go out there and compete,” said Pintaro, another former indy baller who is trying to find a niche as a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen. “Just do everything we can to show the world that we deserve this chance and that we have a great opportunity here just to compete and help our teammates do everything they can to get the wins.” 

The Mets’ offense consisted of rallies in the sixth and seventh, the former including a Lindor homer that atoned for his error and an RBI knock from Carson Benge, and the latter featuring Young teeing off on former Yankee Jake Bird and Bo Bichette adding an RBI single. 

Barring something unforeseen, Lindor, Benge and Bichette will be members of the 2027 Mets. 

Increasingly, Young is building a case that he belongs within this offensive group, too. 

A complementary piece who has held his own at first base and consistently hit righty pitching, Young is under team control and only playing better with added playing time, now slashing .319/.396/.495 over his past 30 games. 

“He knows what he’s good at and he stays consistent with it,” Green said of Young, who has gone from the KBO to a legitimate Mets silver lining.

Game Summary

Full recap to post later this evening. For now, hit the comments and enjoy the W!

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Ketel Marte came up with Corbin on 3rd and 1 out in the first. He couldn’t cash in the runner but it wasn’t any fault of Marte’s since he smoked a liner at 103mph but the Atlanta shortstop was able to dive catch the ball on the fly, holding Corbin at third.
• Ketel allowed the Braves leadoff hitter to reach on a well-placed grounder between 2nd and 1st. Ketel was able to get to it but when he tried to throw while still in full run from shallow right, he dropped the ball from his hand. Official ruling was a single, though it probably could’ve been ruled an error. Marte later left the game with knee pain likely caused by that play.
• Brandon Pfaadt’s first inning was pretty dominant. 2 grounders that had exit velocities under 75mph and 2 strikeouts on pitches out of the zone. Great start!
• The D-backs were making solid contact against Sale early, even if the box score wasn’t showing it. Through the first 3 innings, 6/9 batted balls were classified as Hard Hit (>95mph). 5 of those were above 100mph. 
• Ronald Acuña hit a groundball right at Nolan Arenado at third in his second AB of the game and Nado made a surprising bobble. The grounder wasn’t hit particularly hard, but as Nolan brought the ball up off the ground with his glove, the ball popped up out of his glove. Nado kept his wits though and calmly found the ball, grabbed it out of the air fired across the diamond to complete to put out.
• Ryan Waldschmidt followed up that questionable play from Arenado with an absolutely stellar play in left field. Matt Olson served a line drive toward the left field corner but Waldy made a great break on it and caught the ball in full sprint and full extension before tumbling to the earth. Huge play to save extra bases, especially when the next hitter got a single that likely would’ve scored Olson.
• Domo looking a lot closer to his old self tonight after getting a double and single on a liner hugging the third base line in the 3rd and a single hugging the first base line in the 6th.
• Ildemaro reached with an infield single on a little cue shot that rolled 75 feet. He then immediately stole second base which allowed him to advance to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tawa (not a great bunt but it did the job). Perfect small ball execution; runner at third with less than 2 outs and a ball hadn’t even been hit past third base.
• Ryan Waldschmidt gave himself a chance to get Arizona’s first hit with RISP with 2 outs in the 7th, but the Braves center fielder made a great read on Waldy’s shallow humpback liner to center and made the catch at knee level in a full sprint as he ran in. So close.
• Ildemaro made a fantastic leaping grab of a Matt Olson liner to rob him of a hit to lead off the 7th. Vargie reached full extension and still just got enough glove on the ball to snow-cone it. Even more impressive might’ve been the body control to keep the grip on the ball has his feet came back to the dirt. Awesome play!
• Stepping up to the plate 3/3 in the 8th, Geraldo Perdomo dropped a surprise bunt perfectly hugging the third base line for a leadoff single.

Comment of the Game

A lighter GameDay Thread tonight, likely due to the earlier start time, only getting a total of 215 comments at time of publishing. There seemed to be quite a bit of rec rationing going on early (hat tip to Sighborg) but Timmy Tawa’s late insurance run dinger loosened the recs and kilnborn earned COTG:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Braves for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 4:15pm first pitch Arizona time and televised on FOX. Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.47 ERA) is the probable starter for the ATL and our favorite hologram, Eduardo Rodriguez (11-4, 2.70 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys.

Scoreboard Watching

Full scoreboard thread to follow but feel free to update in the comments.

For a team like the Chicago White Sox looking to wrap up their division over the remaining weeks, winning the few series left against divisional opponents is crucial. Last week, the White Sox took care of the Cleveland Guardians and this week, they have a big test on the road against the Detroit Tigers.

With just 2 ½ games separating the two teams coming into this series, anything less than a series win would put Chicago in a really tight spot. Although the series is far from over, the White Sox got off to a great start with a massive 9-5 win over the Detroit Tigers.

It was your normal intradivisional game, with both teams trading blows left and right, all night. The White Sox landed the first punch in the very first inning when Sam Antonacci was driven in by Braden Montgomery after the first two batters of the night were hit by pitches.

Sean Newcomb did his job as an opener, as he allowed just one base runner over his first five batters faced. Unfortunately the Tigers landed a few punches of their own shortly thereafter.

The “Gritty Tigs” awoke from slumber off of José Urquidy, with a two-out, two-strike homer in the second and a two-out double in the third inning that had the White Sox reeling. It wasn’t the finest work from Urquidy, but his role was to eat innings, and with 52 pitches with three runs of damage he could very well see long relief work into September.

Fortunately, as they have all season, the White Sox refused to wave the white flag, tagging Detroit for two runs in the first seven pitches of the fifth inning, as a Tristan Peters two-run homer evened it up. Chicago fattened its lead from there, thanks to a Munetaka Murakami homer

and a Braden Montgomery triple:

For as much as Braden has struggled during the season, batting just .238 on the year coming into this game, he’s played a major role in multiple big wins this year. It was his fourth game in his short stint in the South Side this year driving in three or more runs. If he keeps it up, he may be the most popular Montgomery on the team before too long.

It looked like the White Sox landed a knockout punch in the sixth inning when Miguel Vargas clubbed a two-run homer, but much like Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder, the Tigers found a way to rise off the canvas and show a little life.

They say “Mets gonna Mets” but apparently that saying still has some legs on former players, too, as Huascar Brazobán had another tough night. Although he only gave up two runs to Urquidy’s three, Brazobán also only made it through just 1 ⅓ innings, allowing the Tigers to make it a three-run game before Grant Taylor found a way to work out of the jam Brazobán left him.

Fortunately, Vargas showed off his power bat one more time, and the four-run lead was too much for the Tigers to make up, no matter how “gritty” they may be. With the win, the White Sox now have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Tigers, four over the Twins and five on Cleveland. Just as important, the White Sox now hold the lead in the season series against the Tigers, four games to three. Should these teams finish the season tied atop the standings, that tiebreaker would loom large.

With tonight’s game being the fourth in 16 straight days of games, a win without using too much of the bullpen is a massive help. If they can keep these good vibes rolling and leave this tough stretch with any type of lead atop the division, the White Sox will have a huge advantage over the rest of the division.

MVP
Miguel Vargas: 4-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, two impressive pop-up catches

Runners-Up
Braden Montgomery: 3-for-5, 3 RBI
Tristan Peters: 3-for-5, 2 BBs, R

Cold Cat
José Urquidy: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-5, 2 K
Drew Romo: 0-for-4, BB
Huascar Brazobán: 1 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER

The Mets were held to one baserunner through five but they broke out late in their 4-1 win over the Nationals.

Francisco Lindor had another tough day in the field which helped Washington get on the board first, but he made up for it when he tied the game in the sixth with a solo home run. That was the team’s first hit of the day but they tacked on another run that inning with Carson Benge’s RBI single to drive in Bo Bichette who reached base after striking out on a wild pitch.

The Mets scored two more in the seventh when Jared Young hit a solo home run of his own. After another wild pitch moved Luis Torrens into scoring position, Bichette added a RBI single off old friend Max Kranick to make it 4-1 Metsies.

Robert Stock got the start for the Mets and was much better than his last start against Pittsburgh but he failed to make it through five. He was lifted after pitching 4.1 innings and allowing just one unearned run. Nate Lavender entered with runners on first and second and one out, but was able to finish off the inning without any damage.

The Mets bullpen as a whole is what allowed the offense to come back and take the lead. Lavender, Jonathan Pintaro, Daniel Duarte, and Kodai Senga were all very good in this revamped bullpen. Pinarto picked up his first major league win and Senga picked up his second save of the season although he did allow two baserunners in the ninth. The Mets have now won seven of their last ten ballgames as they look for positives during a lost season.

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Box scores

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +16% WPA
Big Mets loser: AJ Ewing, -10% WPA
Mets pitchers: +34% WPA
Mets hitters: +16% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor home run, +20.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brady House RBI single, -7.8% WPA

The Dodgers  (73-49) look to bounce back and even the series against the Brewers after a stunning 5-4 collapse in the ninth inning during Thursday night’s opener. 

Yoshi Yamamoto (11-7, 2.65 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) takes the ball for the Dodgers.

Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) starts for Milwaukee.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Brewers
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

There couldn’t have been a worse start to a series after coming off a high from the last one.

…Well, I guess there could always be worse.

The Atlanta Braves fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 2-0 shutout to open their series on Friday night.

The first run was kicked off by Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo on a Gabriel Moreno RBI at the top of the first inning. And the second was a homer hit by Tim Tawa in the top of the ninth to cap off the night.

Chris Sale pitched through his usual six innings, but gave up five hits and one earned run with a total of nine strikeouts. Besides the first run, Sale did a solid job at holding the rest of the offense off. Plus, it wasn’t his fault the Braves’ offense was quiet throughout the night.

It wasn’t until Tyler Kinley came in for Dylan Dodd that the next run would be scored beyond the fence.

Same story, different team. Not the best way to start, especially against a team that’s putting up similar results through the eye test.

But that’s why there’s always tomorrow.

Until then, rest well, Braves Country. We’ll return to gear up for tomorrow in hopes of turning things around.

Gerrit Cole was a tough assignment, but the pitching staff was more than up for the challenge of winning the pitching duel and the offence took advantage of their opportunities and did just enough.

There was bad news, though. Vladimir Guerrero jr. left the game after being kicked in the side of the head sliding into third. We haven’t recieved an update on his condition yet, but he looked shaken in the dugout after the play and went into the tunnel for concussion tests. Hopefully it’s minor, but they may be without their star first baseman for a little while.

Shane Bieber was very good today. He wasn’t missing many bats, but he kept the Yankees’ hitters off him for the most part and worked efficiently. He also got some sold defence behind him and benefited from mistakes like George Lombard jr. inexplicably rounding second advancing on a line single straight to Nathan Lukes and getting caught in a rundown at third.

The Yankees got their first chance in the fourth, when Spencer Jones doubled to centre field and advanced on a fly out to put a man on third with one out. Bieber got a pop out and a fly out to escape, though. He cruised through the fifth, picking up a his third and fourth strikeouts. He finally slipped in the sixth, though, catching too much of the plate with a fastball that Trent Grisham chipped just over the fence into the Yankees’ bullpen in right. He retired the next three batters to get through the inning. It was an excellent start, and it was justice that the Jays were able to take him off the hook for the loss.

The Jays could do nothing with Gerrit Cole. They manufactured one chance in the second. Alejandro Kirk worked a walk and Andres Gimenez lined a double into the right field corner. Kirk was only able to make it to third, though, and Cole struck Kazuma Okamoto out and got a ground out from Jesus Sanchez to end the inning. Cole then set the next seven Jays in order before a one out Okamoto single in the fifth. That was stranded.

Finally, the offence woke up in the sixth with the help of a bizarrer play. Brett Bateman hit a ground ball single to open the bottom of the sixth. After Nathan Lukes grounded into a fielder’s choice, Vladimir Guerrero jr. hit a ground ball single to advance Lukes to second and give the Jays their first runner in scoring position since the second. George Springer grounded to third. Ryan McMahon stepped on the bag and threw over to first for what would have been a double play except that the throw was a bit off and popped the glove off Luis Garcia jr.‘s hand. Vlad went for third and Garcia made the ill advised decision to throw it back across the diamond. McMahon, running back to the bag to try to catch it, had to jump to try to avoid a sliding Vlad and ended up kicking him in the side of the head and sprawling. Vlad had the presence of mind to get up and go home, but looked shaken in the dugout after the play. That tied the game at one. One pitch later, Alejandro Kirk lined a ball to the left field wall for a double that plated Springer to put Toronto in front 2-1.

Vlad went into the tunnel for a concussion evaluation and was replaced by Charles McAdoo. Tyler Rogers relieved Bieber for the seventh. He allowed just a ground ball single. Paul Blackburn took over for the Yankees. He retired the first two batters before Ernie Clement and Bateman reached on back to back singles. A pop out prevented the runners from scoring.

Rogers returned to get the first out in the eighth before handing it over to Mason Fluharty, who got two soft fly outs. In the bottom half, Bradley Hanner made his MLB debut. It started well, as he struck out McAdoo and Springer, but the Alejandro Kirk welcomed him to the show with a home run to right, extending the Jays’ margin to two.

Louis Varland came in for the save. He must be tired with all the work he’s gotten in the last week, so he was in no mood to mess around. The Yankees were set down in order on four pitches.

Jays of the Day: Kirk (0.27), Bieber (0.17), Rogers (0.15)

Less so: Sanchez (-0.11)

We’ll be back tomorrow at 3:07pm ET. Cy Young frontrunner Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21) will take the mound for the Yankees. The Jays haven’t announced a starter. This was to have been Jameson Taillon’s third turn with the club, but he’s on the IL with forearm tightness. That leaves Simeon Woods-Richardson (2-7, 6.23) as the logical next man up.

It’s time for a new series and we’ve got two very bad teams pitted against each other: in the orange corner, the San Francisco Giants, and in the purple corner, the Colorado Rockies.

Righty Landen Roupp takes the mound for the Giants for the 24th time this year. The 27-year old is 7-11 on the season, with a 4.22 ERA, a 3.52 FIP, and 123 strikeouts to 57 walks in 123.2 innings. Roupp bounced back from a mini slump in his last start, giving up just one run in 5.1 innings against the Detroit Tigers, though he walked five batters. He has the most losses in the league, currently.

For the Rockies, it’s left-hander Kyle Freeland, who makes his 22nd start. The 33-year old is having a tough year, as he’s 3-10 with a 6.63 ERA, a 4.65 FIP, and 96 strikeouts to 26 walks in 112.2 innings. He lasted just 4.1 innings in his last start, but in the start before that he threw a complete game against the Kansas City Royals, with just one run allowe.

Enjoy the game, everyone!

Lineups

Giants

1. Jonah Cox — CF
2. Rafael Devers — DH
3. Bryce Eldridge — 1B
4. Victor Bericoto — LF
5. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
6. Oslievis Basabe — 2B
7. Buddy Kennedy — 3B
8. Andrew Knizner — C
9. Christian Koss — SS

RHP. Landen Roupp

Rockies

1. Jake McCarthy — CF
2. Mickey Moniak — LF
3. Willi Castro — 3B
4. TJ Rumfield — 1B
5. Troy Johnston — DH
6. Connor Norby — 2B
7. Zac Veen — RF
8. Ezequiel Tovar — SS
9. Brett Sullivan — C

LHP. Kyle Freeland

Game #122

Who: San Francisco Giants (50-71) vs. Colorado Rockies (48-73)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

The Yankees had a late lead with Gerrit Cole dealing, but a defensive blunder allowed a two-run inning, as New York fell to the Blue Jays, 3-1, on Friday night in Toronto.

Up 1-0 in the sixth, the Jays had two runners on and one out. George Springer hit a groundball to Ryan McMahon. McMahon stepped on third for one out, but the throw to Luis Garcia Jr. at first took his glove off as he tried to scoop. Garcia tried to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at third base, but he threw it into left field, not noticing that no one was covering. Guerrero and George Lombard Jr. collided at third, as the ball went into the outfield, but Vlad was able to score. Alejandro Kirk followed with an RBI double to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. McMahon and Garcia were given errors on the play.

It was enough for the Blue Jays as the Yankees' offense. New York left four runners on base and went 0-for-3 with RISP.

Here are the takeaways...

-Cole pitched on a tightrope early, as Toronto had runners on second and third with one out in the second inning. Cole struck out Kazuma Okamoto and got Jesus Sanchez to ground out to end the threat. 

After that defensive misplay pushed two runs across, Cole finished the inning, but that two-spot put a damper on the right-hander's night. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks through his six innings, while striking out five. 

-On the offensive side, the struggles continued. Lombard made a baserunning blunder, straying too far off second on a Trent Grisham single in the third, and the team wasted a leadoff double from Spencer Jones in the fourth. Jones was on third with one out before Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Heliot Ramos flew out to end the inning.

Grisham lined a home run (359 ft, 100.3 mph) over the right field wall for his 16th of the season. The blast put the Yankees up 1-0 in the sixth.

-The Yankees bullpen kept the Blue Jays off the board until the eighth. Bradley Hanner, making his major league debut, struck out the first two batters on the night, but Kirk launched his fifth home run of the season to give Toronto an insurance run.

-Shane Bieber held the Yankees at bay. Aside from allowing the Grisham homer, the former AL Cy Young winner allowed just four hits and one walk across six innings while striking out five.

-The Yankees had just five hits. Grisham had two with Jones, Chisholm and McMahon reaching base via the hit.  

Game MVP: Alejandro Kirk

The Blue Jays backstop drove in two of the team's three runs.

Highlights

Trent Grisham homers to give the Yankees the lead! pic.twitter.com/qjbbZPJdwG

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 15, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Blue Jays play the second game of their series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 3:07 p.m.

Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.21 ERA) will take the mound. Toronto has yet to announce a starter.

The Mets had just one hit through five innings, but woke up in the sixth inning and would go on to beat the Washington Nationals, 4-1, on Friday night.

New York has now won seven of their last 10 games.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Francisco Lindor's season-long defensive issues continued Friday night. The SS misplayed a ball up the middle in the top of the third inning, allowing CJ Abrams to score and give the Nationals an early 1-0 lead. It's Lindor's ninth error of the season in just his 65th game (he had 13 errors in 2025 over 158 games).

-- Although Lindor made up for the mistake later in the bottom of the sixth inning, crushing a breaking ball to left field for a solo home run that tied the game at 1-1. The homer off of LHP Andrew Alvarez was just his fourth from the right side of the plate this year and 12th home run overall.

New York then found a way to take the lead as Bo Bichette reached first on a strikeout-wild pitch, Luis Robert Jr. singled against Jake Bird, and Carson Benge drove in the run to go up 2-1.

-- Robert Stock took the mound for the first time since his rough start against the Pirates (eight earned runs in 3.0 IP) and put together a solid outing. He allowed one unearned run on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks over 4.1 IP and a career-high 84 pitches.

The 36-year-old started strong, leaving two Nationals stranded in the first inning and tossing a quick 1-2-3 second inning. Washington got to him in the third, scoring an unearned run on Lindor's error, but he powered through to leave two runners stranded. Stock bounced back for a four-batter fourth inning and came back out for the fifth, but was pulled after a walk and hit-by-pitch. 

-- LHP Nate Lavender cleaned up in the fifth, recording two flyouts on three pitches to keep it a 1-0 game. Jonathan Pintaro pitched a scoreless sixth inning thanks to a 4-6-3 double play with two Nats on base, and kept it going with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

-- Jared Young gave the Mets an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, blasting a hanging curveball 408 feet to right field to make it 3-1. The inning stayed alive after two walks and Bichette took advantage, tacking on another with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-1.

-- Pitching with a three-run lead, RHP Daniel Duarte breezed by the Nats in the eighth with a scoreless frame. Kodai Senga ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a single and hitting a batter, but was able to record his second career save by striking out Abimelec Ortiz on a ghost fork.

Highlights

A two-strikeout inning for Robert Stock 🙌 pic.twitter.com/aLAZNTY0AB

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2026

Robert Stock makes the play to third for the out pic.twitter.com/F4gvr9mFCR

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2026

Francisco Lindor with a swing and a drive! pic.twitter.com/5HV4cO1ZEh

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Carson Benge gives the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/R1WwkfFKaE

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Carson Benge makes the sliding catch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/U8Hk3cgc1H

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Jared Young crushes a home run! pic.twitter.com/YaB4S02jbj

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

Bo Bichette drives in another run! pic.twitter.com/tvc20dRW6g

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Nationals continue their series on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

LHP Sean Manaea (4-5, 4.13 ERA) takes the mound, while the Nats have yet to announce a starting pitcher.

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani took the bullpen mound at Dodger Stadium, with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and pitching coach Mark Prior looking on, and began his first bullpen throwing session in more than three weeks.

Friday marked an important step in Ohtani’s throwing progression. He threw 34 pitches before the Dodgers’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers, appearing to mix in different pitch types.

Although Ohtani hasn’t landed on the injured list for lingering inflammation and soreness in his left knee, he hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3.

After Ohtani received a lubricating Orthovisc injection in his knee at the beginning of the All-Star break, the Dodgers hoped he would pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 22. But as they monitored his response, it became clear he wasn’t going to be ready.

Read more:Swanson: Dave Roberts and Dodgers need to stop using Edwin Díaz in high-leverage moments

Instead, Ohtani threw a 31-pitch bullpen. But his recovery regressed, and he was shut down from throwing.

“At the end of the day, he wants to be healthy,” manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week. “He wants to be there in the postseason. I think that did check him up. If you look at how we kind of paused things — we all want to be smart and careful. I’m happy that we’ve done that with him.”

Ohtani restarted catch play on Aug. 7. And after playing catch three more days this week, Ohtani and the Dodgers determined he was ready to throw off the mound again.

“Rather than rush the progression of this I would rather make sure we’re headed in the right direction,” Ohtani said last week. “Making sure we’re taking the right steps.”

Ohtani is expected to go through a bullpen progression and then advance to throwing live batting practice — although Roberts said earlier this week he didn’t know how many of each he’d need before returning.

Read more:Inside Lakers mega-deal: Mark Walter made a shocking decision. Bob Iger, Joshua Kushner jumped at the chance

Because the Dodgers want to keep Ohtani in the lineup, he’ll have to build up in games rather than going on a minor-league rehab assignment.

Ohtani did something similar last season, but then, he was returning to the mound for the first time since 2023 elbow surgery.

“Having kind of done that — an inning here, an inning there and then you sort of build up during the season, absolutely,” said Roberts when asked if 2025 could serve as a blueprint. “And I think he’s seen what that buildup can lead to and how it looks. I certainly feel that he’ll buy in.”

Injury updates

Catchers Will Smith (neck) and Dalton Rushing (elbow) each took steps in their hitting progressions. Both took batting practice before the game.

Smith has been out since early June. Rushing landed on the IL on Aug. 3.

Big day for injured catchers. Both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing are hitting on the field pregame. pic.twitter.com/FUN6Dtz6YG

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) August 14, 2026

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Aaron Boone didn’t get to see the end of Friday’s Yankees-Blue Jays game from the dugout.

The Yankees skipper was ejected from the top of the sixth inning of the Bombers’ 3-1 loss by home plate umpire Vic Carapazza over a disagreement about balls and strikes.

Luis Garcia Jr. was up with two outs in the sixth and took a breaking ball from Blue Jays starter that appeared to be well below the strike zone, but Carapazza called it a strike.

Boone uttered something, and then Carapazza took off his mask and looked toward the first base dugout and said: “What’d you say? I didn’t hear you.”

“I think it was down,” Boone replied calmly.

However, that was seemingly enough for Boone to get tossed for the fourth time this season and the 50th of his managerial career, tying him for 25th all-time.

Boone then came storming off the bench and got in the home plate umpire’s face before exiting for the clubhouse.

The Detroit Tigers started another crucial series with a division rival, as the AL Central-leading (for now) Chicago White Sox came to town for the first of a three-gamer. The White Sox showed why they’re leading the league in runs scored as they pummelled the ball relentlessly on their way to a 9-5 win.

Jackson Jobe made his second start of the year for the Tigers, after spending time on the Injured List earlier this year recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. He looked great in his first start, in San Francisco: five innings, one hit, one walk and four strikeouts. Having him in the rotation for the rest of the year, contributing the quality innings of which we know he’s capable, sure would help the Tigers chase down a playoff spot.

The White Sox decided to put on a little Pitching Chaos themselves and have Sean Newcomb open; he’s done this a few times over the past few years, so this wasn’t going to be his first rodeo. Besides, for both of 2017 and 2018 he was a full-time member of the Atlanta rotation, acquitting himself decently well before moving to a relief role in a few stops around the major leagues between then and now. Staying healthy has been Newcomb’s main problem over the years.

Jobe started the game in a pretty unusual way: by hitting two batters on the back foot with consecutive off-speed pitches. That’s not what you want to do against the American League’s top run-producing lineup, obviously — and with two outs a single to left put Chicago up 1-0 with runners on the corners. But Jobe got Colson Montgomery to swing and foul-tip a 98-mph fastball into Dillon Dingler’s mitt and the damage was thusly contained. He threw 25 pitches in the first inning; given that he’s still building up to full strength that meant his outing was probably going to be on the short side anyway, but in the second he only needed nine pitches to get those three outs.

Newcomb got the first out of the bottom of the second, and Old Friend™ José Urquidy came in for him. Remember Urquidy, very briefly, at the end of last season? Well, former teammate or not, Spencer Torkelson greeted him with a single, and after a strikeout Ben Malgeri connected on a low changeup for a two-run home run, putting the Tigers ahead 2-1.

The Tigers added to that lead in the bottom of the third: with two out, Kevin McGonigle singled and Eduardo Valencia followed with yet another extra-base hit, a double that scored McGonigle and put the home team up 3-1.

Alas, the White Sox then did what they do better than anyone else in the league: score a bunch of runs. A single to lead off the fourth was followed by a Tristan Peters two-run home run to even the game at 3-3. They took the lead 4-3 on a Munetaka Murakami solo home run two outs later, and Miguel Vargas followed with a double. A walk ensued, then a Braden Montgomery triple scored another pair of runs to make it 6-3 and end Jobe’s day. Jacob Waugespack was brought in to douse the flames and thankfully he did, coaxing a fly ball out of the other Montgomery for the final out.

Jobe’s final line was not pretty: 3 2/3 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 4 K and a pair of home runs. On the radio broadcast, Andy Dirks said it looked like Chicago’s hitters knew what was coming, and I can’t help but wonder if he was tipping his pitches a touch. Also, remember, he’s still coming back from Tommy John surgery, and history has shown it takes a while to really regain your sharpness.

After that, things settled down for a while, and Enmanuel De Jesus took over in the top of the sixth. With one out Murakami walked and Vargas blasted a long home run to left for an 8-3 lead, though.

Things got quiet again until the bottom of the seventh when Malgeri struck again for another home run to lead off the inning, narrowing the lead to 8-4. Max Clark followed with a sharp line drive to right-centre; Braden Montgomery dove for it and missed, and Clark motored around the bases for a triple.

A Gleyber Torres groundout scored Clark to make it 8-5. Huascar Brazobán, who’d taken over for Urquidy to start the sixth, departed in favour of Grant Taylor; it’s been a rough week with a heavy load for the White Sox, so burning as many of their good relievers as possible may just help the Tigers the rest of the weekend, if nothing else.

De Jesus got the first out of the top of the eighth and Ty Madden stepped in to promptly give up another Vargas home run for a 9-5 score.

In the bottom of the inning, Colt Keith hit a double the opposite way with one out to show the Tigers weren’t quite finished yet. He advanced to third on a Torkelson groundout, but a Zach McKinstry groundout stranded him there. They didn’t do much in the ninth either against lefty Bryan Hudson, and that was the game.

Final score: White Sox 9, Tigers 5

Notes and Controversies

• As you might have seen, Thursday’s combined shutout victory against Cleveland was pretty unique, as it was the first time since 2014 that a team had shut out another without striking anybody out. Who was that previous team? You might know them as the Detroit Tigers; Rick Porcello went the distance, shutting out Oakland while throwing a Maddux.
• Keider Montero started Thursday’s whiffless masterpiece. His strikeouts-per-nine-innings has actually gone down this year, from 7.1 last year to 6.0 this year so far.
• You know what else has gone down by about one per nine innings this year for Montero, too? Walks. Last year, 3.1 (oooh); this year, 2.0 (aaah).
• Since pitches have been routinely counted in 1988, Greg Maddux has the most Madduxes, as you might imagine. Know who has the second-most? I sure didn’t, and I never in a million years would have guessed Zane Smith, but hey, there you are.
• On this day in 1901, Gustave Whitehead claimed to have flown an airplane in Connecticut. Did he beat the Wright Brothers by over two years? Not too many people seem to believe it. No photographic evidence of his machines being off the ground exist, nor did he keep detailed documentation about it.

The Brewers started their series against the Dodgers last night with a big comeback win. After being swept in San Diego, it was not looking good as they were down two in the ninth inning last night. However, a three-run inning capped a comeback for them as they took the series opener. The Brewers will try to build off that tonight in game two against the Dodgers.

Robert Gasser makes the start tonight for the Brewers. He’s coming off of a shorter start against the Twins, where he allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. This is Gasser’s second start this season against the Dodgers. In his first start against them, he allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings, striking out four. So far this season, he has a 4.57 ERA and 4.51 FIP. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since the All-Star Break, and has allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of his 13 starts.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers will turn to their top starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Over 21 starts this season, he has a 2.65 ERA, 3.43 FIP, and 127 strikeouts compared to 32 walks. Yamamoto is coming off of a shorter start, pitching just 5 2/3 innings against the Diamondbacks. He did not allow any runs, but allowed three hits and three walks while striking out six. The Brewers faced him back in March, and scored just one run off of him in seven innings. He allowed seven hits and one walk in that start while striking out three.

There’s good news and bad news on the injury front tonight. The bad news is that the bullpen took another hit, with Abner Uribe being placed on the IL with a right forearm flexor strain. It’s not a serious injury, as the images on it came back clean. It will be a few days of rest for him before he returns to throwing. Grant Anderson was recalled to fill his roster spot.

Meanwhile, there are other positive injury updates. Brice Turang remains day-to-day and can hit, but tomorrow will be a critical day to decide if an IL stint is needed. Meanwhile, Sal Frelick is making progress on his rehab assignment and could return soon if play in the field goes well. Frelick is playing in right field for Nashville tonight and hit a home run in the game. Finally, Cooper Pratt is also recovering well and will only need a near minimum IL stint, but will need a rehab assignment.

Most of the same players are in the lineup, but it has been shifted around a bit. Garrett Mitchell is leading off with Jackson Chourio behind him. Jake Bauers is back at first base and batting first, while Andrew Vaughn remains at third base and bats fourth. Christian Yelich and William Contreras move up to fifth and sixth in the lineup, and Luis Lara is back in the lineup batting seventh. David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz fill out the lineup.

First pitch is at 9:10 p.m. It will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

Tyler Glasnow made his third minor league rehab start on Friday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and this was his best yet. Glasnow struck out eight batters in 3 2/3 innings against the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Colorado Rockies affiliate.

Glasnow only allowed three balls in play among his 13 batters faced, and didn’t allow a ball hit into the outfield until a harmless flyout in the fourth inning. He walked two and ran a few other deep counts, getting him pulled at 67 pitches, one out shy of the planned four innings.

Isotopes hitters had trouble with Glasnow’s secondary pitches. He threw his slider, knuckle curve, and curveball a total of 23 times, and induced seven of his 11 total swinging strikes on those pitches.

Despite the relatively short outing, Glasnow tied an Oklahoma City season high with eight strikeouts, last done by Emmet Sheehan on Wednesday.

This was the third rehab start for Glasnow, who has been out since May 8 with back spasms. The right-hander pitched two scoreless innings on August 4 with Class-A Ontario, then went 2 2/3 innings last Sunday with Oklahoma City. Thus far Glasnow has allowed only a run on two hits and three walks, with three strikeouts.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday at Dodger Stadium that Glasnow is expected to make one more minor league rehab start after this one, during which he will stretch out to roughly five innings and 75 pitches, before potentially returning to the Dodgers.

Much like when activating Blake Snell earlier this week, the Dodgers will need a corresponding move to make room on the 40-man roster, because Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list. But that return looks much more tangible now than it did two weeks ago.