A lot of bad things can happen on the road. In terms of baseball and the Seattle Mariners, they could have lost a road series today, in Houston, to the division rival and leader Astros.

The Seattle Mariners did not do that, and instead they won the game and the series with a score of 3-2, behind strong outings from both Bryan Woo and Andrés Muñoz especially, and with the offense holding just strong enough against Houston’s ace Hunter Brown.

A lot of bad things can happen on the road, and they can happen very suddenly. And the 2026 Seattle Mariners, and by extension their fans and others who choose or are otherwise obligated to watch them play, have seen many bad things happen. Last season’s success has given in to a plethora of woes including key additions becoming subtraction by injury, and other unexpected negative maths involving declines and struggles both expected and otherwise. On the outside looking in of even a Wild Card spot and heading into the twilight of the season with few routes for optimism, a lot of this season and trying to root for the Mariners has been a bit like watching your car go up in flames on the side of the road. All plans of where Seattle hoped to go and how they planned to get there going up in smoke.

Of course a lot of my feelings are coming from personal bias, as just last week, I watched my only vehicle do just that: go up in flames on the side of the freeway. More than just my car, it was also a symbolic foot forward from life changes in the off-season that saw the bottom drop out from me entirely in unexpected ways, the fallout of which has taken a long time to recover from and in such a way that has limited my investment in this year’s team. Lucky perhaps overall purely in terms of fandom, but no misfortune could keep me away from watching the M’s entirely, and I have tracked their trajectory and the commiseration of their flock tentatively. In an odd way, I have actually found catharsis with the kinship of directionless I feel with the team this season.

No moment felt more like an inferno-induced end to Seattle’s season ride than the dramatic loss they had in game one on Friday night, where a rare strong offensive output still gave way to a heartbreaking walk-off bomb. Out of first place, out of a wild card, out of steam. The season is over, right? Well, in what our own Ryan Blake dubbed the “first game of the offseason” yesterday, the Mariners did a very Mariners thing to do and defied expectations, by, you know, winning. Decisively.

Cue today’s game where their strong season record against their rival would battle with the encroaching night of the consequences of extended bouts of disappointment. Bryan Woo shouldered that fight for the team today, as well as facing his own personal battle of his overall good year with the bad half of that year, being his road performances. The lights of Daikin Park were anything but too bright for Bryan Woo today, and if anything he out-dazzled them with a line of 6.0 IP, 75 pitches with 49 thrown for strikes, five strikeouts, one walk, and two earned runs on only three hits, both runs being solo shots.

Woo was locked in for the first and second, needing ten and nine pitches respectively. It was all on contact in the first inning, but in the second he racked up two of his five strikeouts, getting Jose Altuve and Christian Walker both swinging, Walker on three pitches. The third would see Woo give up his first and only non-home run hit today to Yainer Diaz, but Nick Allen supplied the double play needed to keep Woo having faced the minimum going into the fourth.

Woo was near elite today, but he was not perfect. Two pitches into the fourth, Jeremy Peña punished the middle-middle fastball Bryan left hanging, knocking it into the stands in right field. An 103.5 mph smack off the bat that would be out in 26 out of 30 parks.

Woo would give up a 3-2 walk to Altuve before the inning was over, but otherwise escaped the inning on contact outs. Then he would face the minimum in the fifth and collect another K, before running into first-batter-of-the-inning trouble again in the sixth. This time the solo shot would also be only two pitches into the at bat, but it would be Nick Allen as the culprit, and the pitch slightly less middle-middle, but a no-doubter that would be out in 30 out of 30 ballparks.

Woo then stabilized to two outs with a Peña fly out and an Yordan Alvarez swinging strikeout on a 2-2 curveball, but would hit Isaac Paredes with a pitch before finally getting Altuve to pop out and end the inning and Bryan’s night. After only 75 pitches it is easy to think Bryan could have gone deeper into the game, but according to Dan Wilson they made a precautionary move and took him out due to some shoulder soreness, that in turn Woo has said is nothing he was concerned about. Is that smoke coming from under the hood? No, that was just the rare Houston evening fog, surely.

Where Woo was efficient and with little flaw, he did so the entire game with the backing of an early and constant lead. Randy Arozarena got it started in the first, with a one-out solo shot that was sent 94.7 mph as many feet as three out of four years have days, a home run in a mere 2 of 30 parks.

Seattle went three up and three down in the second, but started out the third well enough with back-to-back full count walks from Brock Rodden and Brendan Donovan, taking advantage of a suddenly shaky Hunter Brown. Arozarena would swap spots with Donovan with an infield grounder, and move Rodden to third, but then erase himself from the basepaths when he would be caught stealing with Dominic Canzone batting. Unfettered, Canzone found an inside slider and sent it 104.4 mph into right field with an xBA of .890, collecting a single and an RBI.

Brown’s shakiness became tectonic in the fourth inning, but only after getting contact outs from first two batters Josh Naylor and Cole Young. Then Cal Raleigh walked on four pitches. Then so did Weston Wilson. Then Brock Rodden, wanting to stand out among his now-he-can-call-them-peers, did so by going 3-1… and then drawing a walk on five pitches! Bases loaded, two outs, and up comes Brendan Donovan. The at-bat ended on a called strike at the top of the zone on a 2-2 count, and while it would be easy to want Donovan to have used one of the two challenges the Mariners had here given the leverage instead of say, the completely ridiculous time Arozarena would use one later, it was a much better located pitch than what Brown had been tossing all inning and some grace can be given to the Seattle third baseman. In his last inning in the fifth Brown recovered and faced the minimum and collected swinging strikeouts from both Canzone and Julio, and ultimately today only gave up three hits against his two earned runs just like his opposing starter Woo, but the Mariners took five free passes from him on the day.

So it was then against Bennett Sousa, Hunter’s replacement, that the M’s would get their next and final run, in the sixth inning. 100.6 mph off of the bat and a scant 327 feet (out in only 1 out of 30 ballparks), Cal Raleigh took the 2-2 slider he was handed and turned it into his thirteenth home run of the season.

That’s all the Mariners would score, but with such a narrow lead, they were far from fighting off the home team Astros.

Woo gave way to Eduard Bazardo in the seventh, and after collecting two outs including a Christian Walker swinging strikeout, he gave up a single to Lamonte Wade Jr. before getting Yainer Diaz to ground into a force out to end the inning. Bazardo then swapped with lefty Gabe Speier for the eighth, a move clearly planning for the lefty-lefty matchup that would be Yordan Alvarez batting third. Speier was on task, getting pinch hitter Nelson Velázquez and Jeremy Peña to fly out and line out, before then facing Yordan. Who then of course, did a very Yordan Alvarez thing, and scooped a slider he had no business even making contact with for a line drive single.

Isaac Paredes similarly stayed on brand and hit a single, moving pinch runner Cam Smith to second. Then the Mariners decided to go to their pen for a more favorable matchup in terms of handedness, bringing in Seranthony Domínguez to face Jose Altuve. For many, Domínguez would be far from the first choice in such a close, high leverage situation. Seranthony answered those worries with the aplomb of, well, a car on fire on the side of the freeway, and quite literally fell on his ass trying to field an easy infield pop up. Altuve safe on first, all runners advance but none score, and now the bases were loaded with two outs. Up comes Daulton Varsho. A 1-2 at bat capped off by a lethal below-the-zone-splitter later, down goes Daulton Varsho, and Domínguez and the Mariners escaped the eighth without damage. Seranthony can fall down, but he can sure stand the hell back up, too.

The bottom of the ninth rolled around with the tight 3-2 score held, and it would be Andrés Muñoz that would come in for Seattle to face down the defending ‘Stros. After a much more comfortable lead quickly turned into disaster on Friday night, of which Muñoz was the pitcher to allow the disaster to unfold, the heat from the tension of the thin lead was enough to ripple even the most stalwart Seattle viewer’s sight. Christian Walker led off the inning with a 3-1 ground-out, and then Lamonte Wade Jr. walked on a 3-1 count. One out, sure, but with eyes watering. Then, Muñoz struck out Yainier Diaz swinging on a 1-2 pitch, a blink-and-you-miss-it 101.8 mph fastball in the outer half of the zone. Then, in just enough time to have rubbed your eyes in disbelief, Taylor Trammell went down swinging on three strikes. Muñoz pocketed his 100th career save, and the Mariners won their 9th of 11 games against Houston, and the road series.

For the Seattle Mariners, the question doesn’t lie in what to do with a flaming car on the side of the road of a baseball season. Floors will cease to exist; plans, will go awry. The question remains what do you do when that happens? A car burning up won’t change the fact that you still have a destination, that you still need to figure out how to get there. You can stand there, bleary eyed and lost, and watch it all burn. Or, you can grab a hose, help put the fire out, and one foot at a time, take the next step. I don’t know what lies ahead for the Mariners through the rest of this season, and the margins have become so thin, neither do they. But if they keep playing like they did today, yesterday, and even a little like they did on Friday… we might not hate where they end up.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country.

Jose E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones could make a move to show the Friar Faithful they are committed to winning once they pass the vote of the 29 MLB owners to become the new owners of the San Diego Padres by signing one of the most dominant relievers in the game to an extension.

Adrian Morejon has grown up in the San Diego system and has always had the talent and ability to be great. The problem has always been his ability to remain healthy. Padres fans have gotten to see a healthy Morejon over the past few seasons and they have obviously liked what they have seen from the left-hander.

This week’s Gaslamp Ball Reacts Survey asked respondents a very simple question. Should the Padres extend Morejon? In a very rare response, 100 percent of respondents said they want to see Morejon remain in San Diego for many years to come with a brand new contract extension.

Morejon could be the closer on several teams, but he seems content to remain with the Padres and continue to setup Mason Miller who has racked up 30 saves on the season. Morejon told the media he would like to stay in San Diego. He knows the Padres have multiple years of control of Miller meaning there is no immediate path for Morejon to be a closer. He seems fine with that and the Padres should be fine with that’ too.

The offseason and 2027 as a whole are unknown cue to the ongoing labor discussions, which is why Feliciano and Jones could extend Morejon to make a significant impact on their good will with the fans that pack Petco Park night in and night out.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers remain one of the favorites to win the World Series, but that doesn’t mean it will come easy.

Manager Dave Roberts called out his team both offensively and defensively on Sunday, Aug. 16 after the Dodgers lost three of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium.

"I say this because it's just been four or five, six weeks of below-average production in our offense,” Roberts said. “It's just the truth, and I think we just haven't played clean baseball for quite some time, and that speaks to the defense.”

When asked which was more concerning, Roberts pointed at both.

“I think both,” Roberts said. “Giving extra outs, which causes pitches and the guys are working with the defense and their at-bats, but I still think there’s certain intent offensively, but they both need to get better.”

The Dodgers have lost 10 of their past 15 games – including a seven-game losing streak from July 31 to Aug. 7 – and have gone 13-14 since the All-Star break.

Joe Musgrove last pitched for the San Diego Padres on Oct. 2, 2024. He walked off the mound that day, a playoff game versus the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card series, knowing that his elbow was done. He had known for most of the season that his time was limited before he would need UCL repair surgery. Musgrove pitched most of the season with a partial tear in the ligament.

After spending all of the 2025 season working on his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Musgrove went into spring camp in February of 2026 hoping to return during the season. The original plan was for sometime in the middle of the campaign, at least allowing himself time to build up for a late-season run.

After starting a game in the spring, it became clear that Musgrove needed more time before being ready to join his teammates. The Padres shut him down soon after, and he only began to make meaningful progress in July.

Musgrove has now made three rehab starts in minor league games. The first one was on Aug. 4, with Single-A Lake Elsinore, and the other two were with Triple-A El Paso. In the first outing, he went 2.2 innings with 39 pitches. He allowed a home run but had no walks, and reported feeling good the following day.

In the second start on Aug. 9, he went 3.1 innings and threw 53 pitches. Musgrove threw all of his pitches and averaged 93-95 mph on his fastball through the outing. 

For his third start, again with the Chihuahuas, Musgrove went 4.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with a home run. He also walked one and struck out five. The results are not the important part of the outing when a major league pitcher is on a rehab assignment. It’s just like Spring Training, where results are basically ignored while they work on their pitches, their location, and specific goals.

The notable stat from his outing was that his fastball sat consistently 93-97 mph throughout the 70 pitches he threw, hitting 97 in the first inning, 96 in the fourth inning, and 95 in the fifth. With the increased velocity, it might not be a surprise that his location suffered as a result.

Per Jeff Saunders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Musgrove has not hit 97 mph with a pitch in a big league game since 2017. Before his surgery, Musgrove was consistently 90-93 mph with his fastball.

Musgrove will join the new Padres

The Padres acquired two starters at the trade deadline to shore up a rotation that had struggled to field more than two regular starters for the past month. The Padres’ use of the “pitching chaos” approach bought them some time for general manager A.J. Preller to trade for two reliable pitchers in righty Casey Mize and lefty Robby Ray. Joining Michael King and Walker Buehler, these two provide the team with four of the five needed starters that can complete 5-6 innings regularly. This will protect the bullpen and help the offense.

There is still a TBD spot in the rotation and that could be where Musgrove slots in as soon as next week. He will probably get one more minor league start before being activated for the major league team. 

While righty Randy Vasquez has occasionally filled that spot admirably, he has been highly inconsistent and therefore not reliable. The goal, with 37 games remaining in the regular season, is for their starting staff to do enough to give the offense a chance to score more than the other team as well as give the bullpen relief from the high demands made of them through the middle of the season.

Musgrove is a gamer. That is something all Padres fans know about the veteran. He will give it his all whenever he is out on the mound. If he has enough command of his pitches, Musgrove could provide a big step toward the stability the starting rotation needs down the stretch and into the playoffs.

TORONTO — After floating the idea Saturday night of shaking up his lineup to find some offense, the most notable change Aaron Boone ended up making was sitting Jazz Chisholm Jr. for José Caballero.

And while Boone said Sunday morning that he expected Chisholm “to be back in there regularly” at second base moving forward, Caballero at least gave him something to think about on Monday’s off day.

Making only his second start since George Lombard Jr. was called up on Aug. 4, Caballero provided a lift for a slumping offense, scoring a run and then driving in another as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-3 in 10 innings at Rogers Centre.

“Certainly hoping for [a spark], and he was good,” Boone said. “Obviously good defense, but a big hit for us, a big walk, a [steal] to set up the first run, drove in the next run. … A lot of really good things by him and a big difference in the game today.”

The Orioles are in line to throw three righty starters against the Yankees in the series that begins Tuesday at Camden Yards, making it possible that Boone will in fact go right back to Chisholm at second base.

The pending free agent is in the midst of a rough season, finishing Sunday batting just .216 with a .683 OPS, though he did hit a single in the ninth inning and stole a bag after entering the game as a pinch runner in the seventh.

But Caballero, who has shown he can be effective in spurts, did it again Sunday.

Leading off the third inning against Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease, Caballero drew a four-pitch walk that began with him using back-to-back challenges to turn two called strikes into two balls.

He then took second on a groundout, swiped third for his 30th steal of the season and came home to score on Luis García Jr.’s sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.

“I always try to help my team in any way possible and see any opportunity that is out there to take advantage of,” Caballero said. “I was able to take third base on him and make it easier for my teammate behind me to drive me in.”

In a 1-1 game in the seventh, with two outs and runners on first and second against lefty reliever Brendon Little, Caballero roped a single to left field that scored Lombard for the 2-1 lead.

It initially appeared like another run might score on the play, as Caballero got in a pickle between first and second that went on long enough for the pinch-running Chisholm to score, but replay review showed Caballero got brushed with a tag during a drop and roll before Chisholm crossed the plate.

“I already messed it up — I think I decided to go to second a little late, so in my head, I was like, ‘Let me stay in the rundown, maybe I can get an extra run out of it,’ ” Caballero said. “That was the plan after I got caught in between. I tried my best, and it almost worked out, but it didn’t.”

The boos were heard both on the field and virtually Sunday.

After watching their beloved Los Angeles Dodgers stumble through a 6-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, dropping the four-game series 3–1 and surrendering a potentially critical postseason tiebreaker, angry and frustrated Dodgers fans turned to social media to voice their complaints. 

“The Dodgers just haven’t looked like a good baseball team for a few weeks now,” wrote one fan, stating the obvious. 

Since July 25, the Dodgers are 7–13 — one of the worst records in baseball of that three-week span. Going back even further, they’ve been a below .500 team since the end of June. 

The Dodgers still remain atop the NL West at 74–51, but they have fallen into third in the National League standings. That means LA would be playing in a best-of-three Wild Card series if the postseason began on Monday instead of enjoying a first-round bye. 

Entering the series with the Brewers, the Dodgers were fresh off a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals and had an opportunity to leapfrog Milwaukee for the best record in baseball if they won the series. 

The fact that they instead lost three of four at home, and the manner in which they lost, transformed frustration from Dodgers fans into something closer to an alarm bell. 

“These #Dodgers at bats are pathetic,” one fan posted. “Zero hard contact. Not making the pitcher work AT ALL.”

Another was even more direct: “This offense is dog s*** and I’m not really sure who to blame for that.”

Sunday supplied plenty of ammunition: Tarik Skubal delivered another quality outing, yet the Dodgers once again provided little run support. Their prized trade-deadline acquisition is now 0–2 with a 3.18 ERA through three starts. The Dodgers offense has provided him with just four runs in his 17 innings pitched. 

Some fans believe the problem runs deeper than approach or execution.

“The Dodgers have played more baseball than any other team from spring training 2024–present,” one user wrote. “They’re also the oldest team in baseball. Fatigue is certainly a factor.”

Others aren’t interested in excuses.

“This team is on a serious slide,” another fan wrote, adding that the chances of a three-peat seems to be fading with each lifeless performance.

World Series trophies aren’t handed out in August, but it seems like Sunday’s loss has reached a breaking point for the fanbase. October is getting closer and patience in Los Angeles for the Dodgers offense to rise to their potential is getting shorter. 

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Mariners 3, Astros 2

On fire (complimentary): Andrés Muñoz 0.20 WPA, Bryan Woo 0.13 WPA
On fire (emergency!): Josh Naylor -0.19 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

With two outs in the 6th, the Rockies up 8-7, Mickey Moniak greeted Reiver Sanmartin, San Francisco’s third pitcher of the inning, with a punched single into left.

One run scored as left fielder Turner Hill overran the ball, allowing Moniak to take second and a second run to race home. The top of the half started with the Rockies in a one-run hole. After that single punctuating a four-score rally, the half-inning ended with them in possession of a commanding lead that would only grow as the game progressed. 

A rough frame for Sam Hentges, JT Brubaker, and Sanmartin for sure. And only a brief dip into the weeds of the inning is required to recognize that rough isn’t a strong enough word. 

Four walks were handed out in the 6th. Tack on a wild pitch and a hit batter — that’s six gifts of 90 feet. 540 feet of hassle-free, ‘round the bases travel before Moniak’s 80 MPH punch — Colorado’s first and only hit in the inning — turned the diamond into a carousel. Hentges faced four batters, walking two and retiring two. Brubaker came in as the fireman and bag the third out; instead he spiked a change-up that catcher Drew Cavanaugh lunged to get in front of. Cavanaugh deadened the ball but lost track of it as it trickled comically out behind him. Everyone on the field and the stands could see where the ball ended up except for the desperate catcher, and those brief moments of frantic searching was enough for Zac Veen to race home and tie the game. A wild pitch that ended up about six inches from the plate.

That unfortunate break (along with some excellent aggressive base running) left Brubaker rattled. He walked Amador, then on four pitches, forced the bases loaded with another free pass to Jake McCarthy. In an 0-2 count, he plunked Cole Carrigg to surrender the lead and bring Moniak up to the plate. 

As awful and clumsy and amateurish and goofy and embarrassing and u-g-l-y as that 6th inning, it was not an anomaly. That 2-run single was just Colorado’s fifth hit of the day, and yet, somehow, they had scored ten runs. That kind of production doesn’t come without some generous handouts.

Starter Blade Tidwell walked five over 4.1 innings, though he limited Colorado to just three hits they still tagged him for six runs. In the 2nd, two walks and two singles preceded number-9 hitter Amador’s 2-out, 3-run shot to right. Tidwell would walk two more before being pulled in the 5th for Hentges, and both would eventually reach home after a double by Carrig and Moniak sac fly. Keaton Winn surrendered a walk and another 3-run homer before he recorded an out in the 7th.     

Eight of the 11 walks (10 BB + 1 HBP) gifted by the Giants came around to score. It’s the 38th time this year that a pitching staff has walked at least 10, and the second time (their 16-2 loss to Milwaukee on June 1st) in which San Francisco has walked as far onto the wild side. It’s just the 15th game in which the team walked at least ten while giving up 9 or fewer hits.

38? 15? Doesn’t that feels like a lot? Almost commonplace, even. I mean, what we did is just another day at the ballpark for the Rockies — they worked ten walks against the Diamondbacks four days ago. If we really want to wallow around in this suck, let’s pile on the other crimes and misdemeanors. Sunday’s loss was the fourth time in the 21st century that a Giants team has handed out at least ten walks, hit at least one batter, thrown at least one wild pitch, committed at least one error, and surrendered at least ten runs in a game, with the most recent franchise collapse coming in a 14-3 loss to the Phillies in 2024.

Less common, but 2024 feels very close. There’s still some level of precedence for the bad we witnessed this afternoon. Does that make it worse? Absolutely! Not only did we get treated to one of the worst pitched games a team can put together against one of the worst teams in baseball — but it’s not even one-of-a-kind, barely even unique.  

If you’re chasing that feeling of distinctive despair, consider how one-sided the incompetence was. This loss was far from a team effort. The offense scored 7 runs — that’s a solid performance. The last time a Giants team scored as many while also committing all that aforementioned nonsense was 1979.

What will really salt the wound was how nice the start of this game was thanks to the offense. The bats kept up their groove from yesterday, going 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Six of their runs came with two outs. Rafael Devers hustled out a double in the 1st and came home for the game’s first run on a Bryce Eldridge single. Next ups, Devers responded to Amador’s 3-run shot with one of his own in the very next half-inning — he even put his in the water for his first Splash Hit. Lead-off extraordinaire, Drew Gilbert bagged another RBI knock. Turner Hill collected one too for his first Major League hit, and Buddy Kennedy worked a bases loaded walk in the 5th, earning the San Francisco arms their third lead of the day.

All of that didn’t matter. The seven Giants’ arms (well, five in particular) were dead-set on their artlessness. Everything the offense gave to them was repackaged and offered up to their opponents — a turn even more vexing considering zero walks were handed out yesterday. (That kind of 180 might explain why the Giants have yet to win four games in a row).   

A 13-7 loss, and a 6-7 season series loss to the Rockies (their first since 2020). Truly a fitting end to the Battle of the Bad.

The Mets are calling up Christopher Morel from Triple-A Syracuse ahead of their series-opener against the San Diego Padres on Monday, according to multiple reports.

Morel, 27, played in 22 games with the Miami Marlins earlier in the 2026 season, but was designated for assignment on June 21. He had struggled mightily with Miami, hitting just .162 with three doubles and one RBI. 

New York then signed him to a minor league deal on June 30.

Since joining Syracuse, Morel has turned it around. He's hitting .321 with a 1.098 OPS, 12 home runs, and 29 RBI over 31 games. Defensively, he's seen time at first base (10 games), third base, second base, left field, and right field.

Last year with the Tampa Bay Rays, Morel hit .219 with 11 HRs and 16 doubles over 105 games. His best season in the big leagues came with the Chicago Cubs in 2023, hitting .247 with 26 home runs and 70 RBI over 107 games.

The Colorado Rockies have done it: They’ve won their 50th game this season, something they have not achieved since they won their 50th game on August 28, 2024.

In honor of this feat, and the excellent community we have here on Purple Row, we’d like to do a giveaway!

To enter, comment with your favorite Rockies win of 2026.

We will select two winners after the game on Sunday, and they will receive one of two Larry Walker bobbleheads.

Since we’ll also be celebrating Larry Walker getting a (long-overdue) statue this weekend, it seemed like a perfect time for this particular giveaway.

We look forward to reading your responses!

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

After a tough outing on Aug. 5, Mets starter Jonah Tong has now turned in two straight strong performances for Triple-A Syracuse.

The right-hander struck out six over 4.2 IP on Sunday against Jacksonville, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks.

He came out of the gate firing, striking out two in the first inning, but let up the one run on a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning. Tong fought back to retire three straight including back-to-back strikeouts and kept it going with a 1-2-3 third inning.

Tong hit the leadoff man in the fourth inning before getting some help from his defense on a double play and caught stealing. His day came to an end in the fifth inning after surrendering a two-out walk and single. Reliever Joe Jacques came in to get the third out and keep the runs off Tong's scorecard. 

Syracuse's bullpen was then able to hold Jacksonville hitless for the rest of the game, pulling out a 2-1 win. Hayden Senger drove in the team's first run in the second inning, and Eric Wagaman's sacrifice fly in the seventh gave them the lead.

While Tong didn't earn the win, he did lower his season ERA to 5.15 and is up to 115 strikeouts over 94.1 IP.

The St. Louis Cardinals begin a brutal week where they’ll play 5 games in 4 days against the Cincinnati Reds beginning with a day/night doubleheader on Monday. What we know about pitching matchups already shows this might be one of the most interesting and possibly pivotal weeks of the season so far.

Here are the probable (key word) pitching matchups according to MLB.com:

Monday, Aug 17 (12:40 PM Central Time): TBD (Game 1 of Doubleheader) vs Quinn Mathews

Monday, Aug 17 (5:40 PM Central Time): Rhett Lowder (RHP) vs Andre Pallante

Tuesday, Aug 18 (5:40 PM Central Time): Andrew Abbott (LHP) vs Kyle Leahy

Wednesday, Aug 19 (5:40 PM Central Time): Chase Burns vs Matthew Liberatore

Thursday, August 20 (11:40 AM Central Time): TBD vs Michael McGreevy

It’s important to emphasize that the pitching matchups are somewhat tentative and changeable. I was able to confirm the Cardinals starters for Monday’s day/night doubleheader based on a report from Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch:

Here’s how the projected Reds starters have been performing. Rhett Lowder is 1-1 over his last 3 starts. He lost his most recent start on August 12 against the Chicago White Sox although it wasn’t his fault. He tossed 5 1/3 innings and only allowed 2 earned runs giving up 7 hits while striking out 4 and walking just 1. He won the previous start to that against the Athletics throwing 6 innings giving up 4 hits and 2 earned runs on August 5.

Andrew Abbott is also 1-1 over his last 3 starts. His most recent outing on August 13 against the White Sox was a no-decision as he pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 7 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 3, but also walking 3. Prior to that, he was victorious on August 6 tossing 6 2/3 innings against the Athletics giving up 7 hits, 3 earned runs while striking out 4 and walking 2.

Chase Burns is the most effective Reds starter the Cardinals are expected to face as he’s 14-2 on the year. His most recent game on August 14 was a gem against the Marlins as he pitched 7 innings giving up only 4 hits and no earned runs with 8 strikeouts and no walks. The outing prior was a dud on August 8 as he got rocked by the Washington Nationals giving up 5 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3.

Who are the Reds players to watch?

Sal Stewart – JJ Wetherholt’s main competition for the NL Rookie of the Year leads the Reds with 26 home runs and 91 RBI’s with a batting average of .259. St. Louis can’t let Stewart beat them.

JJ Bleday – Bleday currently has 20 home runs with just 47 RBI’s and an average of .217.

Elly De La Cruz – Elly has 20 home runs, 56 RBI’s with 21 stolen bases and an average of .262

Spencer Steer – Steer has 16 home runs, 40 RBI’s with an average of .238

Eugenio Suárez – Cincinnati’s DH has 18 home runs, 49 RBI’s with an average of just .205

The Cincinnati Reds, who sit in the cellar of the National League Central, are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have lost the past 2-in-a-row to the Miami Marlins this weekend. The St. Louis Cardinals, by comparison, are 7-3 in their last 10 games winning the past 2-in-a-row against the Cubs in Wrigley. The Cardinals have a 5-3 record against the Reds this season overall. They split a doubleheader in Cincinnati on May 23 winning game 1 decisively 8-1, but losing game 2 in 11 innings 7-6.

Even though he was hitless on Sunday after his historic MLB debut Saturday, Joshua Baez brings a different look to the St. Louis Cardinals lineup. There are no doubts that he’ll have to make adjustments to Major League pitching, but I noticed that Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson seemed to be seeing better pitches when they hit in front of Baez this weekend against the Cubs. The sample size is much too small to draw any real conclusions, but I’m hopeful that his presence will continue to light a fire under the St. Louis Cardinals offense so their bats support some great pitching efforts recently. I also recognize this is a development year, but I’m not conceding a run at the playoffs yet. I greedily want to see the Cardinals take at least 4 of the 5 games in Cincinnati this week if not a sweep. At minimum, St. Louis needs to win the series and grab at least 3 of 5. There’s no reason the Cardinals shouldn’t come out of Cincinnati with a better look at a playoff spot than they have going in. Will that happen? We’ll find out starting Monday.