Category: Sports News

The middle game between the Dodgers and Yankees on Saturday was postponed by rain, and rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Sunday.

The first game on Sunday is scheduled for a 9:35 a.m. PT start, followed by the nightcap on NBC, with Jason Benetti, Orel Hershiser, and Roger Clemens on the exclusive national telecast for the second game.

After SportsNet LA televised Friday’s series opener at Yankee Stadium, there wasn’t going to be a Dodgers game on the network until Tuesday in Philadelphia, with Saturday’s game in New York slated for Fox, followed by Sunday night on NBC, and Monday against the Phillies on ESPN. Now, SportsNet LA will carry the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, followed by NBC and Peacock airing the nightcap at 4:20 p.m. PT.

Pitching plans this weekend were going to be Emmet Sheehan vs. left-hander Ryan Weathers on Saturday, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Cam Schlittler on Sunday. It’s yet unclear which order those pitchers will be used in Sunday’s doubleheader.

This is the first rainout of the season for the Dodgers, who’ve had two previous games delayed by inclement weather, all on the road. The series finale in Washington D.C. against the Nationals on April 5 started two hours, nine minutes late due to rain, and on June 23 against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, the first pitch was delayed by 28 minutes.

Just as tonight’s game with the Houston Astros was beginning, the Orioles announced that they have signed starting pitcher Kyle Bradish to a five-year contract extension. The deal starts with the 2027 season. Bradish had been slated to become a free agent in the 2029 season, so the deal keeps him under team control for an additional three seasons.

Per Jeff Passan, the deal is worth $90 million, but no further breakdown has been released as of yet.

Bradish is the second member of the starting rotation to be signed to a long-term deal this year. Shane Baz signed a five-year, $68 million contract close to Opening Day. While Orioles’ GM Mike Elias has stated that he believes Baz has top-of-the-rotation stuff, Bradish has proven his.

Drafted in the 4th round of the 2018 draft by the Los Angeles Angels, Bradish was traded to the Orioles for Dylan Bundy in December 2019. He made his Major League debut in 2022 and made 23 starts with a 4.90 ERA. He broke out in 2023, with a 2.90 ERA over 30 starts for the AL East champions. He was off to a great start in 2024 before having to undergo Tommy John surgery in June.

Bradish has had some ups and downs this season, but has still shown his ace-like stuff at times. Overall, he has a 3.61 ERA in 19 starts this season.

The five-year contract will take Bradish through his 34th birthday.

UPDATE

We have a ballgame to play!

OLDER

And so the weather affects this one!

Patrick Sandoval makes his Fenway Park debut for the Red Sox as the squad looks to keep this thing going! If…the weather decides to cooperate.

⚾️ Time: 4:10pm — Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Howdy, y’all? If you weren’t aware, the MLB Draft was this past weekend, and we had a good number of players get drafted. So, I thought I’d throw together a quick little recap of our newest #ProDucks. So, without further ado, here we go!

Round 3, Pick 103: SS Ryan Cooney, selected by the Toronto Bluejays

Round 5, Pick 137: P Cal Scolari, selected by the Chicago Whitesox

Round 6, Pick 187: SS Maddox Molony, selected by the Detroit Tigers

Round 8, Pick 253, P Miles Gosztola, selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers

Round 10, Pick 313, P Devin Bell, also selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers

Round 15, Pick 448, 3B Drew Smith, selected by the San Francisco Giants

Round 19, Pick 556, OF Jack Brooks, selected by the Washington Nationals

So, there we have it. Seven new Ducks into the MLB system, adding to the four from last year, and five in 2024. Which player do you think will have the best shot at making the MLB? Let us know down in the comments!

And, as always, ‘Sco Ducks!

The Mariners activated Julio Rodríguez from the 7-day IL ahead of this evening’s game against the Giants. Julio had been out since July 3, when Anaheim’s Nolan Shanuel threw the ball into the back of Julio’s head in an attempt to make a double play. Julio initially got up and sprinted to third base, looking very amped up. But it quickly became apparent that he was not alright, and he’s been recovering for the past two weeks.

There’s never a good time for a concussion, but the injury came at a particularly unfortunate time for Julio, who seemed to be regaining his timing after struggling throughout much of June. And while the injury lingered for longer than anyone would hope, it’s nice for him to have only missed one game of the second half since that’s traditionally what one might call Julio Season.

In a corresponding move, Miles Mastrobuoni was DFA’d. Among a bench full of players without options, this made the most sense because Master Bunny is the only lefty on a team that’s gotten lopsided. In addition, Mastrobuoni has already cleared waivers once this season, so there’s a reasonable chance the Mariners get to keep him again.

Julio will DH tonight as he eases back into things. Luke Raley will play centerfield because sometimes we like to have fun.

This morning an interesting report came out that the Nationals have been talking with other teams about Luis Garcia Jr. ahead of the trade deadline. Garcia’s name has not been mentioned as much in trade rumors as the likes of CJ Abrams or Foster Griffin. However, moving the first baseman at the peak of his value could make a lot of sense.

There have been no truly advanced talks yet, but it is now clear that Garcia’s name is out there. This would be an interesting move to make, and has its pros and cons. As mentioned in the Athletic article, losing Garcia could be a big blow to the clubhouse, which the front office is mindful of. 

The 26 year old Garcia has become a leader in the clubhouse despite still being a young player. After all, Garcia is the longest tenured player on the Nats, having been with the club since 2020. Obviously, losing Garcia would be more than just a loss in the clubhouse. Garcia is having a career year on the field, hitting .284 with an .871 OPS and a career high 20 home runs. 

Garcia has been on a torrid run since the start of June, with an OPS of 1.087 and 15 of his 20 homers. He has been putting the ball in the air more consistently, and it has paid off in a big way. Garcia has always had a ton of talent as a hitter, but with a better coaching staff, he is finally putting things together.

That makes the decision to trade him an interesting one. At 26, this could just be the beginning for Garcia. However, he does have a fairly long history of mediocre production before this and cannot hit left handed pitching. There is a decent chance that this is the peak of his value.

One other thing that could make it easier to stomach trading Garcia is the fact that the Nats have ready made replacements waiting in the wings. We saw Abimelec Ortiz in the last game of the first half, and he looked like he could handle big league pitching. He also hit three doubles in his first game back in AAA. If you can get assets, ideally pitchers, for Garcia and have Ortiz slide in and deliver similar production, that would be a bargain.

The Nats could target high minors or even young big league pitching in a Garcia deal. If they could get a solid starting pitching prospect and a promising but unproven young reliever, this could be a deal that could help the Nats this year. With Ortiz waiting in the wings, Garcia is a player you can trade while not losing that much production. It would be tough to ask Ortiz to be as productive as Garcia has been, but he can give you about 85% of it.

Our guy Paul made an interesting mock trade with the Red Sox, who were brought up in that article. His trade sends Garcia to the Sox for Kyson Witherspoon and Eduardo Rivera. Just like my suggestion, that brings in a nice pitching prospect and a talented but unproven reliever.

I am not totally sold that Witherspoon would be on the table for Garcia, but I suppose it is possible. Witherspoon was the Red Sox first rounder last year, but has had an uneven first pro season after Boston tried to make some tweaks to his mechanics. However, the talent is still quite large. Rivera is a relief prospect who has made his MLB debut, and has loud stuff from the left side.

Both are a bit buried in the Red Sox loaded pitching core, but would be great fits in DC. If Witherspoon is unavailable, Marcus Phillips is another name that makes sense, especially if there is a third piece coming back to the Nats. Phillips is very similar to Witherspoon, as he has big stuff but uneven results this year in his first season of pro ball. 

With Garcia, there could be a lot of interest due to his unique offensive profile. His combination of power and contact is rare. Other teams that would make sense for him include the Guardians, the D-Backs if they remain in the hunt and maybe even the Marlins. 

Garcia has one year of team control after this season, which would appeal to teams as well. He is not just a rental, and is still very young. If the Nats wanted to do a combination of buying and selling, Garcia would make a lot of sense as a piece to move. Unlike Foster Griffin or CJ Abrams, they have an in-house replacement and Garcia could help them acquire much needed pitching help. There will be a lot on Paul Toboni’s plate as we approach the deadline, and this Garcia decision will be one of many that he has to make.

This will be a short recap, since nothing really of note happened.

Gavin Williams was, well, weird. 11 Ks in 6 innings, but gave up 3 HRs and 5 earned runs.

The offense did practically nothing. After Gavin gave up a 2-run homer in the 2nd, Kwan singled with two outs in the bottom of the 2nd. Jared Jones missed on a 2-2 fastball, and Bazzana laced a triple down the right-field line, scoring Kwan. For what it’s worth, it probably wouldn’t have been a triple if not for Kwan’s spectacular baserunning, getting from first to home on what was, in most cases, a routine double.

That was all.

Pirates starter Jared Jones went 5 innings, striking out 9, and giving up only that one run. The pirates bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings, striking out 4.

The Guardians bullpen pitched 3 innings and gave up 2 runs.

The Guardians mustered up 7 baserunners today, and collected only one extra-base hit.

It’ll be Logan Allen tonight at 7:10.

The St. Louis Cardinals will play game 2 in Arizona Saturday afternoon as Dustin May takes the mound for the Cardinals hoping to win the series versus the Diamondbacks. Arizona will try to foil that plan by giving the ball to RHP Brandon Pfaadt. First pitch is set for 3:10pm central time in the desert. The game TV broadcast will be available through Cardinals.tv.

The Orioles are in unprecedented territory, carrying a season-best five-game winning streak into today’s game. What do you say we make it six?

The Birds’ second-half opener last night wasn’t the most crisply played affair, with nine walks by the O’s pitching staff and a nearly non-existent offensive showing, but Taylor Ward’s dramatic, eighth-inning home run turned a sure defeat into a dramatic victory. The win leapfrogged the Orioles a half game ahead of the Astros in the crowded wild card race.

If the O’s hope to stay ahead, they’ll need to win at least one of their next two games in Houston. Preferably both! Today Trevor Rogers will make his first start of the second half, hoping to continue the roll he was on before the All-Star break. Since the start of June, the lefty has a 1.73 ERA in seven outings, going 4-1 with four quality starts. He’s shaved his once sky-high 6.96 ERA to a reasonable 4.48. If Rogers can hold Yordan Alvarez in check, he’s got a good chance to lower that mark even further.

The Orioles, against Astros righty Spencer Arrighetti, have eight of the same nine guys in the lineup as last night. The one exception is at third base, where newly recalled Christian Encarnacion-Strand makes his Orioles debut in place of Coby Mayo. This will be Encarnacion-Strand’s first MLB appearance in more than a year, since July 8, 2025 with the Reds. He’s never had much success at the major league level, batting just .233/.275/.404 in parts of three seasons with Cincinnati, but he was tearing up Triple-A Norfolk with 17 homers and a .555 SLG in 61 games. If he can play a decent defensive third base and hit a few dingers for however long he’s with the Orioles, I’ll take that.

At 17 letters, Encarnacion-Strand has the longest last name in Orioles history. So he’s got that going for him.

Orioles lineup:

DH Adley Rutschman
SS Gunnar Henderson
LF Taylor Ward
1B Pete Alonso
C Samuel Basallo
RF Dylan Beavers
CF Colton Cowser
3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand
2B Jackson Holliday

LHP Trevor Rogers

Astros lineup:

SS Jeremy Peña
DH Yordan Alvarez
3B Isaac Paredes
2B Jose Altuve
1B Christian Walker
C Yainer Diaz
RF Cam Smith
LF Zach Dezenzo
CF Lucas Spence

RHP Spencer Arrighetti