Category: MLB

\n\n\n

The Minnesota Twins rallied late to defeat the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night, 4-3. In doing so, the Twins snapped their four-game losing streak to get within a half-game of the final American League Wild Card spot while the Royals fell back to 20 games under .500.

The Royals led for most of the evening. The scoring started in the bottom of third when, with two outs, Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. singled. After Witt stole second for his 31st stolen base of the year, Jac Caglianone, on an 0-2 pitch, lined a single to right, scoring both baserunners.

Michael Wacha pitched 5-and-2/3 innings and, while he didn’t have his best stuff, kept the Twins in check aside from a home run allowed to Royce Lewis in fifth. He only allowed three hits but walked three compared to only one strikeout—the first batter of the game. The Twins consistently worked long counts against Wacha, forcing him to throw a ton of pitches. He left with the Royals leading 2-1 and Lewis once again at the plate.

Jose Cuas ultimately retired Lewis in a 12-pitch battle. I guess I’ve never seen Cuas pitch because, wow—that was an experience, one I didn’t like. But hey, he got the job done, unlike some other relievers. #Foreshadowing

Witt scored again in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Royals lead back to two runs. For the night, he went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, and a stolen base. Since returning from the Injured List, he’s 6-for-12 with two doubles, three runs, a stolen base, and two RBIs.

In the seventh, Alex Lange worked around a two-out walk when he struck out Tristan Gray swinging. Combined, Cuas and Lange threw 24 pitches, but neither appeared in multiple innings.

Things went awry in the eighth when Aaron Bummer entered the game as the Royals’ fourth pitcher. Bummer, who somehow has a worse pitcher’s name than the recently traded Bailey Falter, certainly lived up to his moniker. He induced a groundball out against Austin Martin to begin the inning, but then gave up a single to Luke Keaschall, walked pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, and gave up a run-scoring single to Josh Bell to make it 3-2. He left with one out and responsible for the runners on first and third.

Nate Pearson, yet another reclamation project, because why not, replaced Bummer, and immediately plunked Lewis. Neat. Bases loaded. Brooks Lee followed with a two-run single to right, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish thanks in part to boneheaded baserunning by the Royals.

Salvador Perez, who had earlier singled home Witt, led off the bottom of the ninth inning by working a walk. Tyler Tolbert replaced him on the basepaths with Michael Massey at the plate. Tolbert took off once and probably had the base stolen, but Massey, facing a two-strike pitch, fouled it off. Back on first, Tolbert then proceeded to get picked off so easily that the Royals didn’t even bother challenging it.

Massey struck out swinging before Isaac Collins concluded the evening by lamely watching strike three catch the corner. He challenged it, but the call was confirmed. Ballgame. Twins win, 4-3.

The loss drops the Royals record to 48-68. Goodness, that’s bad. What’s worse: Bummer’s ERA is now a staggering 10.26.

Kansas City next plays host to the Chicago Cubs who arrive on a four-game winning streak. Game one is tomorrow night at 7:10 P.M.

Right-hander Andrew Wantz re-signed with the Cubs, three days after he declared free agency. Wantz was assigned back to Iowa.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs lost to Indianapolis (Pirates), 3-2.

Connor Noland made his first start for Iowa since June and kept Indianapolis scoreless over three innings. He allowed one hit and one walk and struck out two.

Gabe Klobosits gave up a two-out triple and an RBI single inthe bottom of the ninth to take the loss. Klobosits’ final line was one run on two hits over 1.2 innings. He struck out one and walked one intentionally.

Left fielder Hayden Cantrelle went 3 for 4. He scored once.

Third baseman Ben Cowles was 2 for 5.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies got in the eyes of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 7-3.

Brody McCullough started and got the win after five innings of work. He gave up three runs on three hits. All three runs scored on two home runs allowed by McCullough. He walked two and struck out two.

Connor Schultz did not allow a run or a hit over three innings of relief. Schultz struck out six and walked one.

The Smokies hit four home runs tonight. The first one was by DH Miguel Useche, who connected with the bases empty in the fourth inning. It was Usche’s third-straight game with a home run, his fourth for the Smokies and 11th overall. He was 1 for 4.

Second baseman Drew Bowser hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, his second with Knoxville and seventh overall. Bowser was also 1 for 4.

First baseman Edgar Alvarez cranked his ninth home run with the bases empty in the seventh inning. That sets a new career-high for home runs for Alvarez. He went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Finally, left fielder Andy Garriola hit his team-high 19th on the year in the eighth inning with a man on. Garriola went 1 for 4.

Center fielder Karson Simas 3 for 4 with a double and a steal. He had one run scored.

Useche’s home run.

Drew Bowser goes deep.

The Alvarez home run.

Garriola’s blast.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs split a doubleheader with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), winning the continuation of yesterday’s suspended game 4-1 and losing the regularly-scheduled game 4-2.

Braylon Myers started game one yesterday and lasted three innings before the rains came. Myers gave up just one run on one hit, a solo home run in the second inning. Myers walked four and struck out three.

JP Wheat threw the next two innings and did not give up a run or a hit, but Wheat did walk three while striking out one.

Brayden Spears pitched the final four innings, allowing no runs on two hits, and got the win. Spears struck out one and walked no one, but he did hit two batters.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning with an RBI single. Hartshorn went 2 for 2 with a walk and a first-inning sacrifice fly. Hartshorn also scored later in the eighth on a double by center fielder Alexei Lumpuy. Lumpuy went 1 for 4.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda went 2 for 4 with a double and a stolen base. He scored twice.

Second baseman Jose Escobar was 2 for 4 with a steal.

Diving catch for Lumpuy in center.

RBI single for Hartshorn.

Lumpuy’s double was his first South Bend hit.

Nazier Mulé started game two and allowed only one run on four hits over five innings. Mulé struck out six, walked two and hit one batter.

Adam Stone went the rest of the way, gave up three runs inn the sixth inning and took the loss. Stone’s final line was three runs, two earned, on two hits over two innings. Stone struck out two and walked no one, but he did hit two batters.

Left fielder Kade Snell hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, his seventh on the year. Snell was 1 for 3.

Snell’s home run.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Pelicans were rained out in Columbia. Doubleheader on Friday.

The Minnesota Twins desperately needed a win tonight against the Kansas City Royals for a variety of reasons. One reason: to win a game in August. Another couple reasons: to keep pace in the American League Central and Wild Card races. One more reason: to see if the offense is alive.

Bailey Ober kept the Twins in the game as best as he could, shaking off the Kauffman Stadium curse that has haunted him throughout his career. He extended the “clean first inning by Minnesota Twins starting pitchers” streak to two games and even got through the second and two outs in the third before allowing any runs. Back-to-back singles followed by a stolen base by Bobby Witt Jr, brought Jac Caglianone to the plate. He also stroked a single to right field, scoring both Carter Jensen and Witt Jr to give Kansas City the lead in the game.

Minnesota’s bats stayed relatively quiet as usual, this time against K. C. starter Michael Wacha. An Alan Roden double to open the third inning did not spark the offense. A bases-loaded opportunity with two outs in the fifth lead to nada, but not before Royce Lewis hit a bomb 421 feet and over the left-field wall to cut the Royals’ lead in half:

Witt Jr smacked a double to center field to start off the home sixth, advancing to third on a ground-out and scoring on a Salvador Perez single. Ober was able to induce a double-play to end the inning and his outing. It was a fine outing for Ober – 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, no walks – yet odd considering he did not notch any strikeouts. Kody Funderburk took over pitching duties in the seventh, allowing a hit and notching a strikeout, but not allowing any runs.

Jose Cuas finished up the sixth inning for Wacha – who turned in 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, K – while Alex Lange turned in a scoreless seventh. Aaron Bummer was called in for the eighth and he lived up to his last name for Royals fans. With one out, Luke Keaschall singled, Ryan Jeffers walked, and Josh Bell singled to bring in Keaschall, bringing the score to 3-2. Bummer was yanked in favor of Nate Pearson, who hit Lewis with a pitch. Brooks Lee singled, scoring two Twins and giving them a 4-3 lead. Although Roden walked, Victor Caratini and Tristan Gray couldn’t do their part to keep the line moving.

Andrew Morris and Easton McGee traded zeroes for their respective teams in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth. Yoendrys Gomez issued a walk to Perez to start the bottom of the ninth. Perez was replaced by the speedy Tyler Tolbert. After two disengagements, Gomez stepped off a third time and picked Tolbert off for a big first out. The next two outs were on Ks and the door was closed with a final score of 4-3 in favor of the Twins.

With their first win of the month, Minnesota snaps a four-game losing streak, pulls alongside the Cleveland Spiders for second place in the A. L. Central (with both under .500), and only half-game behind the Texas Rangers for the last Wild Card spot.

W: Kody Funderburk (3-1)
L: Aaron Bummer (1-2)
S: Yoendrys Gomez (15)

STUDS

• Royce Lewis: 1-4, HR
• Brooks Lee: 1-4, 2 RBI
• The Twins pitchers: keeping it together

duds

• no duds – t W I M s

COTG

• tWIMs and snap the losing streak, so everyone in the game thread as of right … now! … gets COTG.

The Twins will enter a border battle, travelling to Milwaukee to face the red-hot National League Central-leading Brewers. First pitch is slated for 640p Central. The Brew Crew is slated to send out southpaw Shane Drohan (6-4, 3.48 ERA) while the Twins currently have TBD. It’s anticipated that Minnesota will put Joe Ryan on the I. L. with a bum butt and call up Zebby Matthews for the start.

CLEVELAND — Nolan McLean’s early turbulence Thursday appeared as if it would just be a footnote in another strong start. 

But the Mets rookie allowed two straight singles with one out in the fifth inning and threw three consecutive balls to Nathaniel Lowe before finally firing a strike.

The next pitch was a four-seam fastball that Lowe crushed into the right field seats. 

It left McLean with the distaste of his worst outing since May 25. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits with three walks and eight strikeouts over five innings in the 13-6 victory over the Guardians at Progressive Field. 

“Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to locate the fastball that well today,” McLean said. “I always talk about off-speed [pitches] for strikes, and that was pretty much the only thing I had going for me today.” 

The outing was McLean’s first in his past nine in which he failed to complete at least six innings. The eight hits he surrendered tied a career high. 

McLean ran his career strikeout total to 213. It’s the fifth most in franchise history in a pitcher’s first 31 starts, behind Dwight Gooden (276), Matt Harvey (234), Noah Syndergaard (221) and Kodai Senga (219). 

McLean’s day started rough enough: He faced eight batters in the first inning and surrendered two runs on three singles and two walks. 

“He was in typical Nolan cruise control there for a while, spinning the baseball really well, mixing really well,” interim manager Andy Green said, referring to the 12 straight batters McLean retired before the Guardians began their rally in the fifth. “And then that fifth inning, I know he didn’t want to fall behind 3-0. Falling behind 3-0 to good hitters puts you in some tough spots.” 

Adding to his challenge was facing a complete lineup of left-handed hitters. 

“Getting ahead in the count against anybody, righty or lefty, always helps,” McLean said. “If I just played a little bit better ahead in the count, it could have been a much better outing for me.” 

But McLean could savor the three-game sweep. 

“I think finding multiple ways to score like we did today, whether it was homers or grinding out at-bats and making them walk us in, that’s really cool to see,” McLean said. “Ideally, a better start out of me could help, too, but I appreciate the offense keeping me in it.”

The Milwaukee Brewers, winners of three straight, are set to host the Minnesota Twins for a three-game set this weekend. At 72-43 on the season, Milwaukee has the best record in baseball, a full 2.5 games ahead of the Braves, who currently boast a 69-45 record after rattling off seven straight wins (paired with six straight losses for the Dodgers, who are now 69-46).

On the other side, the Twins were somewhat surprising buyers at the trade deadline, though they’ve lost four straight and sit three games under .500 entering Thursday. Even so, they’re just four games back in the AL Central and one game back in the AL Wild Card race, as the entire league looks wide open and for the taking with less than two months to go.

Milwaukee’s injuries currently include first baseman Jake Bauers (day to day with abdominal soreness), outfielder Sal Frelick (close to a rehab assignment), and several pitchers, including new acquisition JoJo Romero (mid- to late August return after undergoing an emergency appendectomy), Joel Kuhnel (on a rehab assignment), Rob Zastryzny (TBD), Brandon Woodruff (out for season), Brian Fitzpatrick (out for season), Quinn Priester (out for season), and Angel Zerpa (out for season).

The Twins’ only position player currently injured is Byron Buxton, who went on the IL at the end of July with a right hip strain. He received an injection and his timetable for return is TBD. On the mound, Minnesota is without Cole Sands (out for season), David Festa (out for season), Mike Paredes (TBD), Mick Abel (TBD), Anthony Banda (out for season), Pablo López (out for season), and Joe Ryan, who had general lower-body discomfort after his last start and is currently listed as TBD for his next start (he would normally be slated to pitch in Sunday’s series finale opposite Jacob Misiorowski).

Offensively, Bauers leads the Crew with 20 homers, with Brice Turang at 16 homers and Jackson Chourio at 15 homers after a solid series against the Pirates. Cooper Pratt, Andrew Vaughn, and Garrett Mitchell have also been solid producers over the last few weeks, and William Contreras, Christian Yelich, and Gary Sánchez have shown some semblance of their All-Star selves lately. David Hamilton, Joey Ortiz, Luis Lara, and Brandon Lockridge round things out. As a team, the Brewers are hitting .253/.336/.398 (.734 OPS ranks seventh), with 106 homers (last), 571 runs (fifth), and 115 steals (fourth).

With Buxton shelved, Kody Clemens, Brooks Lee, and Josh Bell lead the Twins’ offense in homers, as Clemens has 19, Lee has 16, and Bell has 14. Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach lead the team in batting average at .283 and .280, respectively, and former Brewer Alex Jackson has also been solid in limited opportunities, hitting .308/.338/.415 across 27 games. Fellow former Brewer Victor Caratini rounds out the catching depth, and Luke Keaschall, Royce Lewis, Ryan Kreidler, and Wisconsin native Alan Roden are also regulars. Tristan Gray and Austin Martin are depth pieces for Minnesota. As a team, the Twins are hitting .243/.317/.405 (.722 OPS ranks tied for 12th), with 136 homers (tied for 13th), 535 runs (ninth), and 69 steals (17th).

Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, and Chad Patrick anchor Milwaukee’s bullpen, with DL Hall, newly acquired Antonio Senzatela, and Bryse Wilson rounding the group out as the Crew is currently rolling with a six-man rotation and seven-man bullpen amid a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. As a staff, the Brewers have a 3.44 team ERA (second), including a 3.36 starter ERA (first) and a 3.54 bullpen ERA (fourth). They’ve struck out 1,128 batters (first) over 1,027 2/3 innings.

The Twins have had one of the most inconsistent bullpens in baseball. Just look at their monthly splits:

March/April: 5.15 ERA
May: 4.40 ERA
June: 6.94 ERA
July: 2.86 ERA
August (through Wednesday): 7.15 ERA

Figure that one out. Taylor Rogers leads Minnesota in appearances at 47, but he has a terrible 5.09 ERA over 40 2/3 innings. Andrew Morris has a 3.25 ERA, Yoendrys Gómez leads the Twins with 13 saves and a 1.93 ERA, and Travis Adams (5.67 ERA) and Kody Funderburk (3.18 ERA) sit at the bottom of the depth chart. The team also added A.J. Minter (2.49 ERA between Mets and Twins) and Jeff Hoffman (3.86 ERA between Blue Jays and Twins), and Tommy Nance (3.46 ERA between Blue Jays and Twins) at the deadline. As a staff, the Twins have a 4.63 team ERA (26th), including a 4.43 starter ERA (22nd) and a 4.93 bullpen ERA (26th). They’ve struck out 942 batters (19th) over 1,014 1/3 innings.

Probable Pitchers

Friday, August 7 @ 6:40 p.m.: LHP Shane Drohan (6-4, 3.48 ERA, 3.02 FIP) vs. TBD

Originally scheduled to pitch in Thursday’s series finale against Pittsburgh, Drohan has reliably pitched six innings the last month or so, as each of his last five appearances have totaled at least six innings. He has a 3.48 ERA, 3.02 FIP, and 89 strikeouts this season, and across six starts in July, he totaled 36 innings with a 4.00 ERA and 37 strikeouts. This marks Drohan’s first career appearance against Minnesota.

The Twins have only announced a starter for Saturday night’s game, but this would be Connor Prielipp’s day to pitch if he remains in the rotation. Prielipp, a left-handed rookie, has made 15 starts this season with a 3-5 record, 4.75 ERA, 3.87 FIP, and 81 strikeouts across 77 2/3 innings. He’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last four outings, totaling 22 innings with nine runs allowed (3.68 ERA) and 26 strikeouts. Prielipp made a start against Milwaukee back in May, taking the loss but pitching six solid innings with two runs allowed (one earned) and eight strikeouts.

Saturday, August 8 @ 6:10 p.m.: LHP Robert Gasser (3-4, 4.48 ERA, 4.54 FIP) vs. RHP Taj Bradley (9-4, 3.69 ERA, 3.91 FIP)

Gasser, who has had a few blow-up starts this season, has been a bit more consistent in his last three outings. In wins against the Marlins, Rockies, and Angels, Gasser totaled 16 innings with four runs allowed (2.25 ERA) and 15 strikeouts. Gasser’s lone appearance against Minnesota came earlier this season, when he went four innings in Minneapolis, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks, striking out three in a no-decision.

Bradley, a former top prospect of the Rays, was traded for Griffin Jax at last year’s deadline. While he never quite panned out in Tampa (4.70 ERA, 4.35 FIP over 354 innings across three seasons), he’s turned in his best season yet here in 2026. Across 22 starts, Bradley is 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA, 3.91 FIP, and 141 strikeouts over 126 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old righty has faced the Brewers once, back in May of last season while with the Rays. He took a no-decision in that one as he allowed two runs and struck out five over six innings.

Sunday, August 9 @ 1:10 p.m.: RHP Jacob Misiorowski (11-5, 1.63 ERA, 2.05 FIP) vs. TBD

Misiorowski, who has made 21 starts this season, is looking at potentially crossing the 200-strikeout threshold in the series finale on Sunday. At 195 strikeouts across 127 innings this season, the big righty leads the league in ERA, FIP, strikeouts, WHIP, and K/BB ratio. He took a tough luck loss in his last appearance against the Angels, as he worked seven innings with two runs allowed (via a two-run homer) on two hits and a walk, striking out 10 in Milwaukee’s 3-0 loss. Misiorowski’s only appearance came against the Twins last June, when he went six-plus perfect innings before allowing a walk and a homer to begin the seventh, striking out six in a win.

As mentioned above, this would be Joe Ryan’s regular day to pitch assuming he’s feeling better as he currently is day to day with lower body soreness. The 30-year-old veteran righty has made 23 starts this year, with a 6-8 record, 3.65 ERA, 3.42 FIP, and 138 strikeouts across 125 2/3 innings, earning his second consecutive All-Star selection. He’s been roughed up in his last few outings, though, allowing 17 runs (16 earned) over 15 1/3 total innings in losses against the Guardians and Royals (x2). Ryan has made five career starts against Milwaukee, with a 2.83 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings. That includes a no-decision back in May, when he went six frames with one run allowed and seven strikeouts.

How to Watch & Listen

Friday, August 7: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Saturday, August 8: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Sunday, August 9: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Prediction

The Brewers have had Minnesota’s record over the last couple of seasons, as they’re 9-4 since the start of 2024. I think that trend will continue here — give me Milwaukee to win two of three.

Aug. 18

Today in sports history

Today is Aug. 18. On this date in:

1915: Braves Field opened before more than 46,000 spectators as the Boston Braves defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1.

1922: Gene Sarazen, 20, defeated Emmet French at Oakmont Country Club to win the PGA Championship, his second major of the year and the first of three PGA Championships.

1924: Cincinnati reliever Tom Sheehan pitched 15⅔ innings as the Reds overcame a six-run deficit and defeated the New York Giants 8-7 in 17 innings.

1931: Lou Gehrig played his 1,000th consecutive game for the Yankees.

1947: Rockford Peaches star Dottie Kamenshek went 5-for-5 with two home runs in an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League victory.

1956: The Cincinnati Redlegs and Milwaukee Braves combined for 10 home runs, tying the major league record.

1958: Heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson retained his title with a 12-round victory over previously unbeaten Roy Harris in Los Angeles.

1960: Milwaukee Braves right-hander Lew Burdette threw the only no-hitter of his career, facing the minimum 27 batters in a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1967: Boston Red Sox outfielder Tony Conigliaro suffered a fractured cheekbone and severe eye damage when struck by a Jack Hamilton fastball, an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season and all of 1968.

1973: Atlanta’s Hank Aaron hit his 1,378th career extra-base hit, passing Stan Musial for the most in major league history.

1982: Philadelphia’s Pete Rose made his 13,941st career plate appearance, moving past Hank Aaron for the most plate appearances in major league history.

1983: The Kansas City Royals completed the protested “Pine Tar Game,” defeating the New York Yankees 5-4 in a four-out resumption at Yankee Stadium 25 days after George Brett’s disputed home run.

1992: Boston Celtics great Larry Bird announced his retirement after 13 NBA seasons, three championships, three consecutive Most Valuable Player awards and 12 All-Star selections.

2002: Rich Beem held off Tiger Woods by one stroke to win the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National for his first major title.

2004: Lisa Leslie scored 25 points as the United States defeated South Korea 80-57 in Olympic play at Athens.

2016: Usain Bolt won the Olympic 200 meters in 19.78 seconds, becoming the first man to capture the event at three consecutive games.

2016: American Ashton Eaton won his second consecutive Olympic decathlon championship, with a score that tied the Olympic record.

2016: Argentina defeated Belgium 4-2 to win its first Olympic gold medal in men’s field hockey.

2019: Daniil Medvedev won his first ATP Masters 1000 championship, defeating David Goffin 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the Cincinnati final.

2019: Madison Keys defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (5) to win the Cincinnati title, the fifth WTA singles championship of her career.

2021: Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time of his career in an 11-9 victory over the Miami Marlins.

— USA TODAY Network

This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Today in sports history, August 18

Aug. 16

Today in sports history

Today is Aug. 16. On this date in:

1893: Baltimore’s Bill Hawke threw the first major-league no-hitter from the modern pitching distance of 60 feet, 6 inches, beating Washington 5-0.

1920: Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was struck in the head by a pitch from New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays; Chapman died the next day and remained the only player to die from an on-field Major League Baseball injury.

1924: Helen Wills successfully defended her U.S. Women’s National Championship title, defeating Molla Bjurstedt Mallory in the final.

1927: Babe Ruth hit the first home run to clear the roof at Chicago’s Comiskey Park as the Yankees defeated the White Sox 8-1.

1947: Pittsburgh’s Ralph Kiner blasted three consecutive home runs in a 12-7 victory over St. Louis as the teams combined for a then-major league record 10 homers in a game.

1948: Babe Ruth, who revolutionized baseball with his home-run hitting and retired with a record 714 homers, died of cancer at age 53.

1964: Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood collected eight consecutive hits during a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most remarkable single-day hitting performances in MLB history.

1965: The American Football League awarded an expansion franchise to Miami owners Joe Robbie and Danny Thomas, creating the Miami Dolphins.

1976: The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Diego Chargers 20-10 in a preseason game in Tokyo, the first NFL game played outside North America.

1992: Nick Price captured his first major championship, winning the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club by three strokes.

1996: The San Diego Padres and New York Mets played in Monterrey, Mexico, in the first regularly scheduled Major League Baseball game staged outside the United States and Canada; Fernando Valenzuela started for San Diego in a 15-10 victory.

1998: Vijay Singh won the PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club for his first major title.

2001: Barry Bonds hit his 52nd and 53rd home runs of the season, surpassing Willie Mays’ Giants single-season record of 52.

2003: Eighteen-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo made his Manchester United debut as a substitute and helped spark a 4-0 Premier League victory over Bolton.

2006: Bruce Froemming worked his 5,000th major-league game as an umpire, reaching the milestone at Fenway Park.

2008: Michael Phelps won the Olympic 100-meter butterfly by 0.01 seconds for his seventh gold medal at the Beijing Games, tying Mark Spitz’s record for most gold medals at a single Olympics.

2008: Usain Bolt stormed to Olympic gold in the 100 meters in a world-record 9.69 seconds at the Beijing Games.

2009: Y.E. Yang defeated Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, becoming the first Asian-born man to capture a major golf championship.

2009: Usain Bolt lowered his own 100-meter world record to 9.58 seconds while winning the world championship in Berlin, a mark that remained the event’s world record.

2010: The Washington Nationals signed Bryce Harper, the No. 1 overall selection in that year’s MLB draft.

2015: Jason Day won his first major championship, finishing at a record 20 under par to capture the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

2016: Houston’s José Altuve recorded his 1,000th career hit and became the fastest player in Astros history to reach the milestone.

2016: Simone Biles won the Olympic floor-exercise title in Rio for her fourth gold medal of the games, tying the record for most gold medals by a woman gymnast at a single Olympics.

2018: The New York Mets routed Philadelphia 24-4, setting a franchise record for runs in a game.

2019: Cincinnati rookie Aristides Aquino became the fastest player in Major League Baseball history to reach 10 career home runs, accomplishing the feat in just 16 games.

— USA TODAY Network

This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Today in sports history, August 16

Longtime readers of Purple Row may recall a silly little article I did back in 2022 while we waited for the MLB lockout to end. I’m very much an enjoyer of superhero movies, and I was eagerly waiting for the release of The Batman at the time. I also love Rockies baseball, so I married the two concepts and researched how the Rockies did each year a new Batman movie was released.

I recently went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day and thoroughly enjoyed my time watching Tom Holland swinging around New York doing whatever a spider can. So, while I have to wait until 2028 for the sequel to that Batman movie to come out, tonight I figured I could look back on another one of my favorite superheroes, Spider-Man, and see how the Rockies have done each year a new theatrical movie has come out.

Spider-Man (2002)

The film that catalyzed the rise of the modern era of superhero films into the cultural zeitgeist, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, earned a massive $825 million globally in 2002. As far as origin stories go, this is pretty good as we hit all the notes of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man while he ends up facing off against Willem Dafoe’s incredible performance as the Green Goblin.

As for the Rockies, they went 73-89 during the 2002 season. Hall of Famers Larry Walker and Todd Helton each delivered seasons worth over 6.0 bWAR to carry the team offensively. Jason Jennings also won the first, and so far only, Rookie of the Year award in franchise history after he posted a 4.52 ERA in 185.1 innings over 32 starts. Mike Hampton also won the pitcher Silver Slugger award.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Raimi’s second Spider-Man film is still considered one of the best superhero films ever made, and earned $797 million globally. Based on the Spider-Man No More! storyline from 1967, our titular hero finds himself struggling with a conflict of being Spider-Man but also wanting to have a normal life as Peter Parker. This causes his powers to malfunction while he also has to deal with the threat of Doctor Octopus.

The Rockies weren’t as successful in 2004, posting a record of 68-94. This season marked more of a transition for the Rockies as “Generation R” started to take form with the arrival of players like Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Brad Hawpe. Helton did his thing, putting up 8.3 bWAR, while the Rockies traded Walker to the St. Louis Cardinals. Often forgotten, Jeromy Burnitz hit 37 home runs and drove in 110 RBI during his lone season in Colorado at the age of 36.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

The end of the Raimi trilogy was a huge financial success, earning $890.9 million at the box office, while receiving mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Spider-Man is dealing with a troubled relationship with Mary Jane Watson while facing multiple threats on the villain front, including the Venom symbiote that enhances the rage he’s been feeling. It’s looked at more fondly nowadays, like the rest of the trilogy, partly because of meme culture like Bully Maguire.

The Rockies also had a great time in 2007, despite not exactly being the best overall team on paper, as they made a run to the World Series, where they were unfortunately swept by the Boston Red Sox. Troy Tulowitzki burst onto the scene as a rookie, Matt Holliday put up an MVP-caliber season, and Jeff Francis was an unlikely ace on the mound. It was a well-rounded team that just ran out of steam, but it is still one of the greatest stories in Rockies history.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Sony decided to reboot the Spider-Man franchise after they couldn’t agree on a story for another Raimi-directed Spider-Man film. So, they turned to director Marc Webb and cast Andrew Garfield as the new titular hero. The movie wanted to focus on Peter Parker’s feelings as an outcast and add more drama into the story, while rehashing his origin story. He ends up having to face off against the Lizard while courting Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. The film earned $758 million at the box office.

For the Rockies, 2012 was a forgettable season. Injuries decimated the team while pitching was some of the worst in team history. Despite strong campaigns from Carlos González, Dexter Fowler, and Michael Cuddyer, the team lost 98 games, and it remains one of the worst seasons ever for Colorado, even if things would get much, much worse in the future.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

If people thought Spider-Man 3 was messy with too many villain plotlines, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 turned that dial up to 11. Despite making $716.9 million globally, the film wasn’t well received, as its plot was a mess and Sony tried too hard to launch an expansive cinematic universe with it. Despite Garfield and Stone being excellent in their roles, the film just didn’t have the legs to sustain further installments, and a deal was cut to share character film rights with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reboot the character again.

The Rockies also had a bad time in 2014, losing 96 games. Overall, the offense was solid, but not always great, while the pitching struggled quite a bit as usual. Injuries also played a part in forcing the Rockies to throw anything and everything at the wall to see what stuck, and it just didn’t pan out.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

After making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, Holland’s first solo film as Spider-Man kicked off an extremely successful era for the character. The film follows a young Peter Parker doing everything he can to impress Robert Downey Jr.‘s Iron Man and prove he should be an Avenger. This causes him to cross paths with Michael Keaton’s Vulture and forces him to learn that the suit isn’t what makes the hero. The movie earned $880.9 million worldwide.

The Rockies also had a coming-of-age story as well in 2017 as they went 87-75 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Sneaking into the playoffs as a Wild Card team, Colorado faced off against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card one-game playoff and lost in a back-and-forth affair. Led by a rookie starting rotation and an incredible core of position players, the Rockies seemed to finally have the makings of a team that could compete for years to come.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

In 2018, Sony released an animated film that would focus on fan-favorite character Miles Morales as he becomes Spider-Man and ends up interacting with other multiverse variants of Spider-Man. The film was meant to rehabilitate the Sony Spider-Man brand after The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s failure. It grossed $395 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and became the first non-Disney film in seven years to win Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.

Building on the success of 2017, the Rockies won 91 games in 2018 and almost won their first division title with a Game 163 playoff against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They lost and settled for a Wild Card spot, heading to Chicago to face the Cubs in a marathon victory. They were then swept in three games in the Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The offensive core continued to mash while the young rotation, led by an incredible year for Kyle Freeland, delivered on the mound all season. Unfortunately, they just ran out of steam.

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Holland’s second solo venture as Spider-Man served as the epilogue to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. It sees Peter Parker feeling the pressure of following in the footsteps of Iron Man and just wanting a simple European vacation with his friends. He ends up running into Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, who appears as a friend at first but turns out to be a disgruntled former employee of Tony Stark. Spidey saves the day, but Mysterio has the last laugh, revealing Spider-Man’s identity to the world.  This movie became the first Spider-Man film to gross $1 billion at the box office.

The Rockies fell from grace in 2019 as they lost 91 games. Failure to improve in the offseason and major regressions from the pitching staff negated any positives that the offense was able to provide throughout the season. Nolan Arenado belted 41 home runs and finished sixth in MVP voting at least.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

There is reason to believe that the third Tom Holland-led Spider-Man truly helped save the movie theater business in 2021. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, theaters were struggling as studios started putting things directly on streaming services on release day. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the highest-grossing film of 2021 with a box office take of $1.910 billion. The film focuses on Peter Parker enlisting the help of Doctor Strange to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man; however, the spell goes awry and inadvertently draws in legacy villains from the previous Sony Spider-Man films as well as the previous iterations of the hero. Spidey saves the day by making everyone forget that Peter Parker exists, setting the scene for his next adventure in 2026.

2021 was another lackluster season for the Rockies as they were never quite in contention, but not bad enough to inspire change. They ended up going 74-87. Arenado had been traded before the season, and both Jon Gray and Trevor Story would be free agents after the season. The offense had its moments, but the pitching was mediocre enough that it just didn’t move the needle enough in either direction.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

The sequel to the 2018 animated film ended up grossing $690.9 million and also won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. It follows Miles Morales as he struggles with figuring out who he is supposed to be and also forging his own destiny. He runs into more multiverse shenanigans with other Spider-people while the villain The Spot poses a big threat to the multiverse. The sequel to this film is supposed to come out next summer.

The year 2023 is etched in the mind of every Rockies fan as it was the first time the team had ever lost 100-games in a season. Going 59-103, the Rockies couldn’t hit, and they couldn’t pitch. Despite drastic changes needing to be made, the plan was to stay the course and hope the players just played better. They would not play better, and things would get worse over the next two seasons.

Keep swinging

Across the board, I’m sure the Rockies would love to have the financial success of every Spider-Man movie that has come out. It’s a beloved character that has featured in generally solid films as well as other types of media. I wish I could say a good Spider-Man film correlates with a good Rockies team, but that just isn’t the case, especially over the last couple of years. The newest film is doing quite well at the box office, and the current Rockies have been improved, but there is still a long way to go in Colorado.

So tonight, let’s shift away from baseball for a second and talk Spider-Man. What is your favorite Spider-Man movie? Do you have a favorite comic book storyline? Is there any other piece of Spider-media that is near and dear to your heart?

Have some fun chatting about it below!

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

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone was the team’s workhorse two seasons ago.

In 2024, Stone led the Dodgers in starts and innings. But he missed the 2025 season while he recovered from shoulder surgery.

On Thursday, Stone made his first start in nearly two years.

The right-hander hasn’t taken the mound in a regular-season game since Aug. 31, 2024. Stone made his 2026 debut with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday.

He allowed one run in 1.2 innings. Stone allowed two hits and recorded three strikeouts against the Salt Lake Bees.

Stone joined OKC after rehabbing his injury all season, which points to a potential return for the pitcher this year. The Dodgers are cautiously optimistic about Stone’s recovery with the right-hander possibly returning to the starting rotation in September.

Stone sported a 3.53 ERA with 116 strikeouts across 140.1 innings in 2024, emerging as quite the workhorse for the Dodgers that season. He became the first Dodgers rookie pitcher to throw a complete game since Hyun Jin Ryu in 2013.

His successful rookie season was derailed by a shoulder injury, which he sustained in September 2024. Stone missed the Dodgers’ postseason and hasn’t pitched for the team since.

Now, it appears Stone is set to make his long-awaited return to the Dodgers down the stretch. While LA’s starting rotation is crowded, Stone could be a placeholder for one of the Dodgers’ stars including Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani hasn’t made a start for the Dodgers since early July and inserting Stone back into the rotation would give the two-way star more time to rest before the postseason. Additionally, if Stone doesn’t skip a beat in his return to LA, he could very well make a case to make the Dodgers’ postseason roster.

Cubs All-Star Pete Crow-Armstrong is feeling the bite of one Mad Dog. 

Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo went off on Crow-Armstrong during a Wednesday segment on “First Take,” where the sports talk personality addressed the conspiracy that PCA repeated on Kristin Cavallari’s “Let’s Be Honest” podcast, claiming that Babe Ruth never existed. 

The Cubs superstar took it a step further when he also said that if the legendary Yankee did exist and hit 714 career home runs, then he did it against pitchers who were essentially throwing to him underhand. 

Russo was outraged by the take and responded as such, saying that “this drove me nuts” and labeled it “derogatory.” 

“Hey Pete, you’re talking to me now about Ruth!” Russo said as he ran through Ruth’s historical numbers. “Nobody hit home runs like Babe Ruth. Say what you want about Ohtani, we understand that he’s a unicorn. Babe Ruth is so good it’s mindboggling. Did you know, Peter Crow-Armstrong, that Babe Ruth hit 27 home runs over 500 feet? Bonds? Never. Not one. … Ruth owned baseball, nobody hit home runs like Ruth! He out-homered leagues! To sit there and say they were pitching underhand, well why didn’t anybody else hit the home runs hitting underhand? 

“Outside of Gehrig, nobody hit home runs! It drives me crazy, especially in baseball, it drives me crazy when I hear today’s athletes and media guys who are 30 years old, who disparage the old-time guys.”

Russo acknowledged that one argument he would give credence to would be the fact that prior to 1945, baseball was segregated and that could have inflated some of baseball’s records. 

Crow-Armstrong, in the midst of another terrific season for the Cubs, went on the podcast and discussed where he first heard the theory.

“This is gonna be crazy,” he acknowledged. “Babe Ruth never existed is one that I like. I heard some pitcher with the Mariners … I think he did some podcast on Zoom where he was going down the rabbit hole with somebody about how Babe Ruth never existed.

“We always talk about how the game is evolving, people might as well have been like underhanding the ball to that guy,” he continued. “And he’s regarded still as one of the best players ever. Might as well dive further into it and be like, well, maybe he just never existed.”

The ESPN talking head later said he did not like how people think that players from 1927 are not nearly as good as players today. 

“Are you crazy?” Russo continued. “He would have been a Hall of Famer as a pitcher, forget as a hitter. There’s only one Babe Ruth. He hit anywhere, any place, any time. He’s that good. And when you start to knock Ruth…pay attention, do your homework. That was a disgrace what he said this week.”

It was a great day for the Mets prospects down in Double-A on Thursday.

The Rumble Ponies exploded for 23 runs in their 23-3 win over Hartford. The 19 runs set a franchise record for Binghamton and many of the Mets' top prospects -- most arriving at the trade deadline -- contributed to that score.

None more than Mitch Voit. 

Voit, No. 5 in Joe DeMayo's list of Mets prospects, went 5-for-6 with a walk and two RBI. In eight games since being promoted to Double-A, Voit is 19-for-27 with a home run and eight RBI. He tied Binghamton's single-game record with five hits. 

Jefferson Rojas, the centerpiece in the Clay Holmes deal and the Mets' new No. 1 prospect, got off the schneid, picking up his first hit in his second game in the Mets' system. The shortstop finished 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.

Billy Amick, who came over from the Twins in the A.J. Minter deal, was the big run producer in this one. The third baseman went 3-for-4 with a walk and six RBI. Two of Amick's three hits were home runs. 

Thursday was Amick's fifth game with Binghamton and he is 6-for-18 with three home runs and eight RBI since arriving in the Mets system. 

On the pitching side, Gary Gill Hill, who was traded to the Mets from the Rays in the Freddy Peralta deal, had a solid Binghamton debut.

The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and walking two while striking out four to pick up the win. Entering Thursday's game, the 21-year-old pitched to a 7-3 record, a 4.49 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP across 20 starts.

Mets prospect Billy Amick crushes a 3-run home run on a 3-0 pitch for Double-A Binghamton 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2GPdlDYcnW

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 6, 2026

Mitch Voit, the Mets #6 prospect, drives in another run for the Rumble Ponies! pic.twitter.com/d3gjcCOPj1

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 6, 2026

The Phillies offense pounded out eight doubles on 16 total hits to dispatch the Nationals and take the four-game series with a final score of 7-3. It was the most doubles Philadelphia has had in a game since September 6th of 2024 when they also had eight in a game against Marlins. Bryson Stott led the way with two doubles while Luis Arraez, Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Brandon Marsh rounded out the collection. Meanwhile on the mound, Cristopher Sánchez wasn’t his sharpest but was able to finish five innings and allowed just two runs.

Double your fun

The first two bagger came in the first inning courtesy of Luis Arraez, who continues to make an impact offensively in his first few games with the Phillies. He doubled in Trea Turner and moved Bryce Harper to third after they had reached on a single and a walk respectively.

Alec Bohm quickly followed with the Phillies second double of the night, driving in Harper to push the lead to 2-0. Arraez tried to score from second, but despite hurdling the tag attempt by Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz, was not able to touch home plate and was called out.

The next double came to lead off the third, with J.T. Realmuto ripping one down the third base line off of Nats’ starter Miles Mikolas. Bryson Stott then grounded out to third to advance Realmuto before Justin Crawford bounced a worm burner over the head of the drawn in first baseman for a base hit and an RBI, extending the then lead to 3-1.

Double number four came two batters later, when Turner hit a ball off the wall that Crawford likely should have scored on, but the rookie appeared to hesitate going into second base and was ultimately thrown out at home to end the inning, becoming the second runner to be gunned down at the plate in as many innings for the Phillies.

Harper got in on the fun to begin the third inning, lining the Phillies’ fifth double of the game down the right field line. Arraez then hit a fly ball to the warning track that should have allowed Harper to tag up and go to third, but Harper appeared to misread it and did not advance. Bohm then lined out putting the run in jeopardy, but Brandon Marsh came through with double number six, a sharp 105 MPH line drive to right that scored Harper and pushed the lead to 4-1.

Realmuto knocked in Marsh with a run of the mill two-out single before Stott notched double number seven to right to give the Phillies a 6-1 lead. Stott later led off the sixth inning with his second and the Phillies’ eighth double of the night and eventually came around to score after a Crawford bunt set up a Kyle Schwarber RBI single to give Philadelphia it’s seventh run of the ballgame.

Not your best but good enough

Cristopher Sánchez struggled with command all night despite only issuing two walks. He needed 98 pitches to get through five innings and had to escape multiple jams. The first such instance came in the third when Esteury Ruiz and Dylan Crews led off the inning with back-to-back singles when the score was 3-1 Phillies. But Sánchez was able to bear down and get Andrés Chaparro to ground into a double play before striking out Brady House swinging to extinguish the threat.

Sánchez ended his night with another tightrope act in the fifth, when the Nats loaded the bases on a Brady House walk with one out in a 6-2 game. But once again, Sánchez was able to settle down and prevent further damage by striking out CJ Abrams and inducing a groundout against Harry Ford to end the inning. The Phillies southpaw ended his night with five innings pitched, two runs, six hits including a home run, two walks, and six strikeouts.

Not TOO stressfull

Sánchez’ early exit required the Phillies taxed bullpen to once again throw four innings a night after eight relievers pitched in an extra-innings game. Orion Kerkering was first up and allowed one run on two hits but collected three strikeouts. That would be all the bullpen allowed, as José Alvarado, Jonathan Bowlan, and Jhoan Duran would combine to throw three perfect innings with three total strikeouts in relief to preserve the series win.

Tomorrow’s matchup

The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler (10-2, 2.49) to the mound against the Blue Jays and newly acquired starter José Soriano (9-6, 3.29). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM. Chase Utley will be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame with a pre-game ceremony to begin Alumni Weekend.

Like everyone else, Paul Blackburn was following the Yankees’ moves at the trade deadline. He heard the noise about them potentially adding arms to the bullpen. 

It didn’t happen. 

“The trade deadline is always a weird time. As players, you do what you need to do. I feel like, as a whole down there, we’ve all thrown the ball really well,” the veteran right-hander, who has emerged as a key piece to the bullpen, told The Post. “We feed off each other, we give each other a lot of confidence down there, just a really tight group. For us, it’s about taking the ball and getting outs.” 

“I think [the front office is] confident in our group and we’re all confident in our group to go out and get the job done.” 

General manager Brian Cashman was active at the deadline, but only added offensive help in Heliot Ramos from the Giants and Luis García Jr. from the Nationals. There were no additions made to the bullpen, although there will be reinforcements of some kind at some point. 

The expectation is that when Clarke Schmidt returns from Tommy John surgery, it will be as a reliever.

And once Carlos Rodón is back from the injured list — he makes his first rehabilitation start Saturday — either Ryan Weathers or Will Warren will be moved to the pen. 

For now, the onus is on the current group. That is led by closer David Bednar and surprising success stories Brent Headrick and Blackburn, along with up-and-down righty Fernando Cruz.

The Yankees pen has the best ERA in the sport at 3.33, and over the last 55 games, that number is down to 2.56. 

Blackburn could turn out to be pretty important, not only because of how well he has pitched — he has a 2.02 ERA in 41 games — but because of his experience making the transition.

He can be a sounding board for the starters making the change.

When he made the move last year, Luke Weaver helped him significantly. 

“There is a little bit of challenge there, just going through it,” he said. “It’s still pitching, but it is different, as far as mentality and your day-to-day, things like that. 

“I feel like in the game now you see a lot of starters going to the pen and pen guys going back to starting. There’s a lot of guys that have gone through it, that can help each other out.” 

Time, once again, for the Most Important Game™ in the Most Important Series of the Year™ – collect the set! Hyperbole aside, last night’s unexpected demolition job of Casey Mize in his Padres debut has made this one more a “nice to win” than a “must win” for the Diamondbacks. Worst case scenario, a loss would split the four-game series and leave us exactly in the same spot against the Padres as we were going in: one game up, and with the season series even. The plus side = four games fewer on the schedule for San Diego to overtake us. The down side = any tiebreaker will be determined at Petco, by the final series of the season from September 25-27.

A win would thus be helpful. It’d leave us three games clear of any team in the wild-card race, and additionally, give us a 6-4 advantage in the season series, with those three left to play. San Diego would therefore need to sweep Arizona at Petco to own the tiebreaker, if that were to come into operation. Oh, it’d also put the D-backs 7.5 games back of the Dodgers. That’s still some way, but considering Los Angeles were 14 games up less than a month ago, on July 8… You have to go back to June 14 to find their lead that small. But I won’t be getting excited until Fangraphs shows odds for them winning the division considerably less than the current 99.4%. Mind you, it was literally 100% a month ago.

A couple of thoughts on Mitch Bratt’s stellar performance last night. As already noted, at 81, it was the highest Game Score by a pitcher his age or younger in franchise history. That broke a record which had stood for over 13 years, being set by Tyler Skaggs in 2013, when he threw eight shutout innings against the Rockies. Asterisk there, of course, with it being the Rockies. Though at the point, they were merely bad, rather than being Teh Suck. Also, Bratt struck out nine of the 24 batters he faced. That equaled his K total for the entire month of July, when he faced 85 batters. It made a strong case for why he should remain in the rotation when Michael Soroka returns. Over to you, Kohl Drake…

The Los Angeles Angels traded five players at Major League Baseball’s trade deadline — Zach Neto wasn’t one of them.

The 25-year-old remains under team control for three more seasons after the conclusion of the 2026 campaign, which is part of the reason the Angels didn’t part ways with Neto this summer.

So, does that mean the Angels intend to build around Neto for the foreseeable future?

Neto wouldn’t answer, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger.

“But Neto wouldn’t say if the front office led by interim general manager John Mozeliak gave him any assurances that they plan to build around him going forward and not trade him this offseason,” Bollinger writes.

There’s no telling whether the Angels plan to trade him once the season ends, but Neto’s silence speaks volumes.

However, his name being brought up in trade rumors wasn’t the only thing Neto had to worry about this summer. Since mid-July, the infielder has endured a brutal slump at the plate.

In the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles, Neto hit his first home run since July 5. The three-run dinger powered the Angels to a 4-1 win.

Prior to Thursday’s performance, Neto had struggled the last 10 games. He averaged .125 with no extra-base hits, one RBI, 16 strikeouts and a .330 OPS.

Neto’s future in Los Angeles remains uncertain even with the deadline over, but it’s clear the Angels are in rebuild mode.

For now, Neto appears to be breaking out of his offensive slump after a tough few weeks leading up to Aug. 3.