Category: MLB

Hello, friends.

Pete Alonso hit a fair ball into the left field seats last night that should have been a go-ahead home run. Let’s just get that one out of the way right off the top. It’s unbelievable that the umpire did not call a fair ball live and it’s even more unbelievable that the replay center did not accept the decisive angle that would have given the Orioles a 4-3 lead. I don’t subscribe to any conspiracy theories. I think those people are just bad at their jobs.

It is one of those times I would have liked to see some fire from the manager. The figurative shadow of Earl Weaver looms over any major league field involving the Orioles. Craig Albernaz doesn’t have to do it Earl’s way, but he does need to do it some way. Just get caught being mad at the umpires when the process has screwed over your team. Point, yell, gesticulate, whatever, let the team know you’re not going to take it sitting down. Go around yelling at people until they eject you, then yell a little more.

Albernaz doesn’t seem to do this; he didn’t do it last night anyway. I don’t think it’s why the Orioles lost the game. They lost because they have an insufficient number of relievers to rely upon, and also because they went 0-6 with runners in scoring position. I just think it’s something that Albernaz should have done.

After this mishap, in classic 2026 Orioles fashion, a variety of stupid things occurred and the result was a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Yankees. Check out John Beers’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.

The Orioles bullpen being what it is lately, maybe Alonso getting the home run that he deserved would have only set up an even more tragic way of blowing the freshly-earned lead. Two runs were charged to Cam Sanders in an eighth inning outing where he hit two batters and walked another one. It’s not good to have to rely on guys of this ilk. You might get a few pleasant surprises out of them initially but guys like this are relatively cheaply available for a reason and the longer you give them, the more likely they’ll show you.

It’s a bad way to build a bullpen and these weaknesses have been exposed even more since Mike Elias decided to trade Tyler Wells ahead of the deadline. Grant Wolfram has fallen apart. Rico Garcia had his problems recently. Yennier Cano has hit a rough patch since being called into higher-leverage later-game situations. And those are just the ones you might have liked at one time. There are other, rougher names involved.

Perhaps there’s going to be at least one new face coming soon to the bullpen. Orioles beat writers, including The Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka, put this one out last night:

Is De León going to be anything? I don’t know. He was only promoted to Triple-A Norfolk recently and he’s got a 5.28 ERA and 1.83 WHIP through his first four games. Just last night, he walked three batters over the course of a scoreless inning of relief. He is the #7 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s recently-updated top Orioles prospect list. He becomes Rule 5 draft eligible this offseason. Perhaps they think he can be an extra weapon out of the bullpen. Perhaps they’ll even be right.

The 2026 American League playoff situation being what it is, the Orioles did not lose any ground in the wild card chase. The Blue Jays lost. The Guardians lost. The Tigers lost. The Rangers lost. Only the Twins were winners, so they now stand in the third wild card spot, half a game ahead of Texas and a touch farther ahead of others. Minnesota is off today. The Orioles only have to win to peel back the half game.

They need the win also to avoid being swept by the Yankees. I’ve gotta say, folks, it is entirely in character for the 2026 team to really rope people in with winning the first three games of that Rays series only to fall apart after that. They lost the next three games, each in fairly agonizing fashion. They try to avoid a fourth straight loss as the series concludes starting at 6:35 tonight. It won’t be easy: Gerrit Cole is pitching for New York. Kyle Bradish makes the start for the O’s.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Which teams have suffered the most due to injuries? (FanGraphs)
You probably won’t be surprised to know that the Orioles are in the top 5 of this ZiPS-projected WAR lost to injury.

To try and get his bat going, Gunnar Henderson needed more than batting tweaks (Baltimore Baseball)
There are some encouraging signs for Henderson recently. Hopefully we continue to see encouraging signs.

Albernaz must trust starters when they earn it (The Baltimore Sun)
The Sun was taking Albernaz to task yesterday for pulling Shane Baz in Tuesday’s game. Many people took the opposite view, that Baz wasn’t pulled soon enough.

Alexander nearing rehab assignment and return (School of Roch)
Samuel Basallo is back, Blaze Alexander is close to a rehab assignment, is there enough time for things to come back together? On that question, make sure you vote in our poll that’s running this week.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The most recent Orioles victory on today’s date came two years ago, when they knocked off the Mets by a 9-5 margin to pull into first place in the AL East by a half-game margin. Anthony Santander and James McCann each homered in the game. Dean Kremer was pretty good. Just four of the fifteen players who appeared in that box score for the team are on the 40-man roster right now.

There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1996-2001 outfielder Gene Kingsale, and 1955-59 pitcher George Zuverink.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Chilean Supreme Director Bernardo O’Higgins (1778), 23rd president Benjamin Harrison (1833), horror author H.P. Lovecraft (1890), baseball Hall of Famer Al López (1908), musician/actor Isaac Hayes (1942), TV weatherman Al Roker (1954), actor Ke Huy Quan (1971), and singer-songwriter Demi Lovato (1992).

On this day in history…

In 636, the expanding Rashidun Caliphate defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of the Yarmuk, seizing control of the area of modern-day Syria from the Byzantines.

In 1648, France defeated a Spanish-Lorraine force in the Battle of Lens, a decisive victory that paved the way for the Peace of Westphalia and the end of the Thirty Years War later in the year.

In 1858, the theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin was first published in a journal titled The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London.

In 1882, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky had its premiere performance in Moscow.

In 1977, the Voyager 2 probe launched, actually launching before Voyager 1 even though it’s numbered second. The probe passed by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune over the next 12 years and is now over 13.3 billion miles from Earth.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 20. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!

The Phillies have the day off today before they will look to continue their recent streak of good play against the Cardinals this weekend at Citizens Bank Park. It’s probably for the best the off day is today, as it looks like it would have been incredibly difficult to play a ballgame with tonight’s forecasted weather.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• ICYMI, the Phillies agreed to a major league deal with former All-Star starting pitcher Nestor Cortes.
• Zack Wheeler hasn’t been quite his usual ace self lately. He’s still working on making adjustments. ($)
• Derek Hill has been a godsend for the Phillies this season, coming through in multiple clutch moments despite pedestrian playing time and an unassuming stat line. Here’s a deep dive in exactly what all of that means from FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann.

MLB news:

• Dodgers owner Mark Walter’s businesses are shifting around billions of dollars as the mogul’s sports portfolio comes under federal investigation with the sale of his ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers. ($)
• The first of Jorge Polanco’s two seasons with the Mets is officially over, as he was placed on the IL yesterday and is headed for ankle surgery, ending his disastrous debut in New York.
• Statcast has a new metric that measures a first baseman’s ability to receive throws from other infielders. Here’s where notable players, including Bryce Harper, rank.

BALTIMORE – There’s nothing quite so bottomless as a 162-game Major League Baseball season. Brent Headrick is discovering that three excruciating outs at a time.

After pitching a scoreless seventh inning and getting a favorable ruling on a questionable foul ball call, Headrick has pitched in 65 of the New York Yankees’ 126 games this season. That is an 84-game pace, which would rank second in franchise history, one game ahead of Scott Proctor and two games behind Paul Quantrill, who were used, shall we say, liberally by manager Joe Torre in the mid-2000s.

Back then, usage and load management and the long-term effects of a heavy season on an arm weren’t so copiously tracked. Nearly three decades into this century, arm care and the desire to avoid three appearances in three days, or four in five, are canon on most pitching staffs.

But these are the 2026 Yankees, wracked by injuries to the lineup and short in the rotation with aces Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Max Fried all recovering from elbow maladies at various points.

Close and late is the Yankee way right now. And so more nights than not, the bullpen phone rings and summons Headrick.

Answering that call night after night after night is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. And Headrick, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound left-hander, leans heavily on the words imparted by the Yankees’ mental skills staff.

“I’ve said this since early in the season: Attack the day,” Headrick tells USA TODAY Sports. “Each day can lead to the next. You can look two weeks in advance, but it’s not going to do any good. For me, with every aspect of the game, I try to live in today. Take care of what today needs.

“And worry about tomorrow when it gets here. That mentality has allowed me to be more present and take care of my body and do things the right way so I’m prepped for a longer season.”

And oh, what a season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a minor move yesterday, acquiring catcher Christian Bethancourt from the New York Yankees for the ever nebulous cash considerations.

The 34-year-old Bethancourt was playing in the Minors for the Yankees organization, and while he will be a Minor League player for the Bucs, officially to be assigned to Triple-A Indianpolis, he will be part of the taxi squad for the Bucs for their extended road trip on Friday.

Bethancourt has bounced around the league quite a bit, spending time with the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Rays, San Diego Padres, Oakland A’s, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, and even did a stint with the Bucs back in 2021.

He hit 11 homers in 2022 and again in 2023, but he’s just a career .225 hitter, and his high water mark for RBIs was 34.

Nonetheless, with Endy Rodriguez once again dealing with injury issues, the Bucs are shorthanded at catcher, and having another backstop in the mix, especially for the upcoming road trip, was a priority for the team.

So a minor move for the Bucs, but one that appears neccessary. Welcome back to the ‘Burgh, Christian.

When the news broke last week that Mark Walter was selling the Lakers just one year after buying the storied basketball franchise, executives working for another crown jewel in his sports empire — the Dodgers — were quick to say the billionaire had no plans to sell the team.

The Dodgers have won three of the last six World Series and 12 division titles since an ownership group led by Walter bought the then-bankrupt team in 2012, and the Dodgers now are considered the most successful — and lucrative — franchise in Major League Baseball.

Yet, amid Walter’s financial difficulties, including a federal inquiry into his insurance empire regarding $16 billion to $21 billion in undisclosed loans to his own companies, questions remain over whether the blowback will hit the Dodgers.

Walter has denied wrongdoing, and sports business experts say it’s far too soon to know whether the Dodgers will be in play. No charges have been filed against Walter or anyone associated with his businesses.

“If you’re judging on that — winning and revenue created — he’s been at the helm of all of that. … He does truly look like a white knight as it relates to his ownership of the Dodgers,” said Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Still, “we don’t know what the issues are, and we don’t know the severity and the magnitude.”

Aside from the Lakers, the Dodgers are, by far, the most valuable of Walter’s handful of sports franchises, and industry sources not authorized to speak publicly about any potential sale told The Times that the team could fetch $10 billion to $13 billion.

Walter’s sports portfolio includes the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Assn.; the Cadillac Formula 1 racing team; a premier women’s tennis competition, the Billie Jean King Cup; and the entire Professional Women’s Hockey League. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Walter has a net worth of $18.3 billion.

There have been reports that he is putting his shares of his most valuable professional soccer franchise, the Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League, on the market.

But the Dodgers are the greatest show in baseball, playing before stadiums packed with fans willing to shell out top dollar to see a roster that includes international superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Last week, Dodgers president and part-owner Stan Kasten said the Lakers sale “really has nothing to do with the Dodgers” and that “there are no changes here or contemplated here.” And Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at a news conference that he was “shocked” by news of the Lakers sale and had not heard of any potential changes to Dodgers ownership.

Andrew Granato, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in corporate finance and insurance, said that although it was not yet clear whether Walter would offload the Dodgers, it would not be impossible, given the speed and scale of the billionaire’s recent financial transactions and the mounting federal and public scrutiny.

“I imagine that no fan feels particularly comfortable if the owner of their favorite team is under ... investigation. Certainly, it’s not an ideal situation,” he said.

Walter was riding high after the Dodgers’ success and his $10-billion purchase of the Lakers last year. But the last few months have been challenging.

The loans by two Delaware life insurers that Walter owns were made to companies tied to him or his TWG Global holding company but were not disclosed as “related party” transactions as required, the Wall Street Journal reported. Related-party transactions made by insurers are required to be reported to limit conflicts of interest and protect policyholders, who have an interest in the financial strength of their insurers.

Walter, the 66-year-old chief executive of Chicago investment firm Guggenheim Partners, led a group that included another Guggenheim executive and Magic Johnson in acquiring the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, then a record for an MLB team.

The Times has reported that he tapped the insurers he owned for financing, a deal that was later vetted by state insurance regulators.

However, the amount of related-party loans made by the two affiliated life insurers now under federal scrutiny is vastly more, amounting to 40% of the invested assets of Delaware Life as of Dec. 31, according to Fitch Ratings. The credit rating firm said that is the most of any North American life insurers it reviews.

It’s unclear where the money went, but the Wall Street Journal reported that billions were passed through a third party before being received by entities tied to Walter or his TWG Global holding company.

Last week, Walter stunned the sports world by selling a majority stake in the Lakers for $12.5 billion to former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, who is the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Walter has declined to comment on whether the sale was tied to the federal investigation.

The framework for a deal was consummated in a matter of days, Iger told interviewers last week. It still must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors, which meets in September.

Projecting an exact value for the Dodgers is difficult because MLB and its players union are engaged in contentious collective bargaining negotiations that many experts believe could result in a lockout when the current agreement expires in December.

Should a salary cap be agreed upon for the first time in MLB history, the valuation could jump to the high end, the source said. And about $1 billion of any sale would be subtracted to cover the Dodgers’ future commitments on deferred contracts.

The Dodgers’ massive local television deal with SportsNet LA directly elevates the franchise’s overall valuation.

Listing potential buyers should the Dodgers be for sale is challenging because the estimated value of the franchise is so much greater than almost any other MLB team. The record price for a sports franchise was the $12.5 billion for the Lakers.

Besides Kushner and Iger, those who have bid for teams aren’t in the $10-million-plus ballpark. The San Diego Padres were sold last week for $3.9 billion to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

Another question that has arisen as Walter’s financial troubles have garnered headlines is whether MLB would conduct its own investigation into Dodgers ownership or pressure the billionaire and his partners to sell the team.

“Any time there is any kind of public question about owners, they look into it,” former Dodgers president Bob Graziano told The Times. “I would guess, because there is a federal investigation going on, they’re not launching their own investigation, but they are going to wait to see what comes out of the federal investigation.”

No investigation of any kind into the matter has been announced by MLB.

MLB has never formally stripped an owner of a franchise or forced an outright sale through a vote of franchise owners. But the league forced Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers in 2012 by exerting pressure and threatening a financial takeover or disciplinary action that would have stripped operational control.

When McCourt sold the team to Walter’s Guggenheim group, the franchise was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

When Guggenheim purchased the team in 2012, it outbid billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen, who now owns the New York Mets. A group headed by former Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre and L.A. developer Rick Caruso dropped out of the bidding ahead of Cohen. Additional bidders included media executive Leo Hindery, billionaire Tom Barrack, then-St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Jared Kushner.

Times staff writer Laurence Darmiento contributed to this report.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Toledo Mud Hens 2, Iowa Cubs 1 (box)

Sawyer-Gipson Long, Beau Brieske, Brenan Hanifee, and Ricky Vanasco combined to dominant Cubs pitching as the Hens took a 2-0 lead in the series with a walkoff victory.

Gipson-Long’s first season back from Tommy John surgery has gone quite badly, but he was on in this one. He hit the first batter of the game, gave up back-to-back singles that scored a run, and from there the right-hander handled the Cubs comfortably.

The Hens got that run right back in the bottom of the first. Jace Jung was in an odd spot leading off, but he started the inning with a double and scored on a Max Anderson single to tie the game.

Gipson-Long scattered two hits and two walks through the rest of his five innings of work, striking out six. Brieske handled the sixth, allowing just a walk. Hanifee took care of the seventh. Ricky Vanasco got three quick ground outs in the eighth, and he allowed just a Jordan Nwogu single in the top of the ninth.

So it was 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Cal Stevenson came up big with a one-out double and took third on a Michael Siani ground out. Bennett Lee stepped to the dish and smashed a single to the wall in center field to walk off the Cubs.

Stevenson: 3-4, R, 2B, K, CS

Jung: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K

Lee: 2-4, RBI

Gipson-Long: 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

Erie SeaWolves 6, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 5 (box)

Carlos Peña ran out of gas late in his start, but the SeaWolves built an early lead and fought off repeated challenges from the Cats to win again on Wednesday.

The SeaWolves started off quickly. Peyton Graham led off the bottom of the first with an infield single and then stole second for his 57th swipe of the season. Woody Hadeen singled him to third, and Zyhir Hope lifted a sacrifice fly to left.

In the second, Andrew Jenkins led off with a triple and scored on a Luke Shliger double for a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Peña was carving through the Fisher Cats until allowing a run in the top of the fifth. His outing finally went sideways in the sixth as he allowed three runs.

So it was now 4-2 Fisher Cats, but Hadeen led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and rode home on Thayron Liranzo’s 14th homer of the season. Jenkins followed him with a double, and Izaac Pacheco singled him in for a 5-4 lead.

Johan Simon coughed up one of Pena’s inherited runners in the sixth, and then gave up two singles and balked in a run in the seventh. But again in the bottom half the SeaWolves answered back. Seth Stephenson led off with a single and then stole his 55th base. Graham smashed a one-hopper over the left center field wall to score him and take a 6-5 lead.

Moises Rodriguez returned to the fold after his rehab work and tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, while Wandisson Charles collected his fourth save.

Graham: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, SB

Liranzo: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, SB

Jenkins: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, 3B, K

Pena: 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The series is tied up heading into a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

West Michigan Whitecaps 9, South Bend Cubs 0 (box)

Ben Jacobs was great, and Bryce Rainer set a franchise record by homering for the fifth straight game as the Whitecaps evened up the series.

The left-hander had some struggles moving to the High-A level, but he’s on a roll now. He blanked the Cubs on three hits and two walks, striking out six, over 5.1 innings of work. All he really needs to do is keep refining his command and building himself up, but he’s very much on track to tackle Double-A and perhaps even move quite quickly next season.

The Whitecaps started building a big lead in the second. Clayton Campbell singled with one out and Samuel Gil reached on an error. Stephen Hrustich doubled in Campbell, and Gil scored on a Cristian Santana ground out.

So it was 2-0 heading into the top of the third. Jackson Strong, who has heated up quite a bit since the break, led off with his 14th home run of the season. The 22-year-old is still striking out a lot, but he walks quite a bit, is showing average power already, and plays a pretty good center field for his experience level. Keep an eye on him.

Bryce Rainer followed Strong with a double and later scored on an Edian Espinal single. Campbell then mashed a two-run shot to make it 6-0.

In the fifth, Beau Ankeney walked with one out, took second on another Espinal single, and both scored on a double from Campbell. That made it 8-0, and in the seventh, Rainer led off with a missile to left-center for his 15th home run of the season.

Luke Hoskins, Eliseo Mota, and Ryan Harvey were perfect in relief.

Rainer: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, 2 K

Campbell: 3-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR

Espinal: 2-5, 2 R, RBI

Jacobs (W, 4-2): 5.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps now hold a 2.5 game lead in the division. The series is tied 1-1 heading into a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 11, St. Lucie Mets 1 (box)

Cameron Flukey was pretty impressive in his short start, and once again the Flying Tigers hammered Mets’ pitching to win easily.

Flukey started things off with two scoreless innings of work. He threw 23 of 42 pitches for strikes, so he certainly wasn’t sharp, but he’s still just getting stretched out again and was working heavily with the fastball. He allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out two on the outing. He sat 94.1 mph with his fourseamer, showing off 19 inches of induced vertical break. He got six whiffs, four on the heater and two on the cutter. Zach MacDonald had a huge game at the plate, but he also robbed a homer on Flukey’s behalf in the first.

Ronald Ramirez led off with a double in the top of the second. Zach MacDonald followed with his 20th home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.

Donye Evans handled the third and fourth innings without giving up a run. In the top of the fifth, Enderson Delgado led off with a single and Javier Osorio followed with a double. They both scored on an Angel De Los Santos double, and he scored on a Jesus Pinto sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead.

Paul Wilson took over in the bottom of the fifth. He was still wild, but the gas is in place as he averaged 95.5 mph with his fourseam and sinker, collecting whiffs on all four pitches, including the slider and curveball.

MacDonald hammered a solo shot in the sixth for a two-homer game.

In the seventh, Osorio and Yost singled, and then De Los Santos singled in Osorio. Pinto walked to load the bas1es, and the Mets wild pitched in a run. Nick Dumesnil walked to re-load the bases, and De Los Santos scored on a Jude Warwick ground out. At this point, Mets pitching was a mess and another walk and a ground out made it 10-0. De Los Santos singled and scored on a Dumesnil single in the eighth to make it 11-0.

In the eighth, Wilson finally cracked a bit. He hit the leadoff hitter and then wild pitched him to second base before giving up an RBI single for the Mets only run. Pedro Garcia closed it out from there.

MacDonald: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, BB, K

De Los Santos: 3-6, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, SB

Dumesnil: 2-4, RBI, BB, K

Yost: 2-6, R, K

Flukey: 2.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 2 K

Wilson: 3.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers have won six of their last seven. They hold a 2-0 lead in the series with first pitch set for 6:10 p.m. ET on Thursday.

It’s a bit of a cliche, but one of the great things about baseball is that it never fails to surprise us. You can go to the ballpark and see something you’ve never seen before every night. The worst team in the league is liable to beat the best team in the league on any given day. And most crucially, ballplayers themselves are breathing, dynamic people that can and do change. Players who you thought were backups at best can shake up their offseason regimen, learn a new pitch, overhaul their plate approach, make any number of infinite changes, and turn into something you’d never dreamed of.

Of course, the process works in reverse too (players you never thought could regress and fail manage to surprise and go backwards). But let’s focus on the bright side right now and consider the Yankees that have surprised in positive ways this year. Now that we’re three-quarters into the season, which Yankee has raised your opinion of them the most?

Early in the season, I thought the answer to this question was sure to be Ben Rice. On May 3rd, Rice had a 1.214 OPS, and his 222 wRC+ led the majors. Rice carried a high level of production into the summer, but he’s cratered the last month or two. His 140 OPS+ on the year is still excellent, but it’s also probably not a hugely surprising figure to anyone that watched Rice closely in 2025.

Cam Schlittler also seemed like a great answer to this question early in the year, and thankfully, that remains the case even as we head toward the home stretch. Though he hasn’t been quite as dominant as he was during the season’s first couple months, Schlittler is still at or near the top of every AL pitching leaderboard and has a very real shot at the AL Cy Young. He’s an Ace, which was not a guarantee at the beginning of the year.

If no one on the Yankees has moved your expectations of them more than Schlittler, that’s fair. But there are some other candidates on this roster. Ryan Weathers comes to mind; his 3.56 ERA/3.62 FIP on the year are excellent for a mid-rotation arm, and if you put a little added weight onto his most recent stretch in which he’s allowed just three runs over his last five outings, Weathers starts to resemble a front-line starter.

There’s also the matter of the rooks. Everyone knew entering the year that George Lombard Jr. had real talent, but the idea that he’d be ready to contribute at a high level in the majors by the summer seemed a bit of a stretch. While we don’t know how long he can sustain this, Lombard has been a plus player in every way during his first few weeks in the majors after looking extremely polished in Triple-A. We also can give an honorable mention to Spencer Jones, who still strikes out too much but at least has looked like a major-league caliber player during his debut.

If you’re able to look past the Anthony Volpes and Jasson Domínguez’s of the world, there really are quite a number of Yankees who have taken steps forward and shifted our expectations of them. David Bednar has solidified himself as the Closer that was promised, Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn have flourished into high-leverage arms, hell, even Gerrit Cole has done a lot to wipe away any concerns during his return from elbow surgery.

What do you think? Try and go back to the start of the season, and remember how you felt about each player. Who’s done the most to raise your opinion of them since then?

We’ve got the finale in Baltimore tonight, and we’ve got lots on the site to keep you busy beforehand. In the morning, Nick reviews Wednesday night’s action, and Michael calls for the Yankees to amp up their aggressiveness on the base paths. Later, Peter profiles the great Graig Nettles, and also praises Carlos Rodon’s work in his return against the Orioles this week, while Jonathan discusses the Yankees’ tendency to downplay injuries at times.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

Time: 6:35 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, MASN

Venue: Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: To say that Heliot Ramos is off to a rough start with the Yankees would be an understatement. Before Wednesday’s game, he had a .371 OPS as a member of the Bombers, yet he has been hitting third or fourth in the order. Manager Aaron Boone implied he might be pressing a little bit, but he continues to back him. “I think there’s a level of, ‘He wants to show us,’ but we know we got a good player here and a good hitter,” Boone said. “He’s fit in very well here. I think you just want to prove yourself, so there’s probably a little bit of that going on.”

The skipper said that Ramos is “definitely hit into some tough luck” as a Yankee, and he might be right. As Phillips explained, the .121-point difference between his .178 wOBA and .299 xwOBA since August 4 was the second-largest of any player in the majors with at least 40 plate appearances over that stretch. A .299 xwOBA is not particularly impressive, but the main takeaway is that there might be better days on the horizon for Ramos.

New York Post | Matt Ehalt: If you were a Yankees or Mets fan in 2000, you surely remember the Roger Clemens-Mike Piazza feud. It all started in July that year, when the seven-time Cy Young Award winner hit the Hall of Fame catcher with a pitch in the head. Then, in the World Series, the ace sawed off Piazza’s bat in the first inning of Game 2, picked up a piece of the barrel, and threw it in the catcher’s direction as he jogged down the first-base line.

Clemens wouldn’t return to Shea Stadium until June 15, 2002. Shawn Estes, who wasn’t on the Mets in 2000, had the responsibility of hitting Clemens, but instead, he missed the target and threw behind him in front of a crowd that, quite frankly, was thirsty for blood. To this day, he resents the instruction given to him and explains why. “The reason why I resented it is not that I felt like that it didn’t need to be done and it wasn’t like the ‘woe is me, why am I the guy that has to take care of this?’ I kind of felt like it was more of it wasn’t my responsibility,” he told Tony Reali.

“I feel like it should have fallen on someone that had more skin in the game, that had more emotions toward the situation that was at hand,” the former pitcher said.

MLB Trade Rumors | Charlie Wright: Former Yankee Néstor Cortés signed a major league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, agreeing to go to Low-A to build up. He is working his way back from arm surgery and is expected to be ready in a few weeks. Good luck to Nasty Nestor in his next adventure.

I’ve talked before about the idea of a “stopper” as a pitcher in a starting rotation who can halt a losing streak by at least giving their team a chance to win. In my mind, it’s a separate idea from a starting pitching ace who might be expected to have a wholly different level of pitching production. If there was ever a team in desperate need of a “stopper” performance, it would be the Diamondbacks at this point in the season. Even after a series win in Atlanta over the weekend, they have come into Boston and gotten knocked around on both sides of the ball by allowing a combined 20 runs in the first two games and scoring just five in response. We’ve seen over the past two years how important each win can be – especially in a National League Wild Card that is incredibly tight and also has seen the D-Backs drop back in – so avoiding a sweep was absolutely necessary. And that’s to say nothing of the cloud of uncertainty hanging over Ketel Marte’s status for the remainder of the season. This afternoon certainly wasn’t pretty, but the team did manage to accomplish the mission.

While Brandon Pfaadt may not necessarily pop off the page as a “stopper,” he has been one of the reasons for the team’s surge over the past month or so. He’s pitched to an absurd 1.22 ERA (2.56 FIP) over his last seven starts going back to July 10th – which coincides nearly exactly with the last time the team was .500 or worse. One of the keys to that success: Pfaadt hadn’t allowed a home run since his first start back from Reno, a stretch of 49.1 IP. So naturally, he allowed three home runs on the day – a pair of solo shots and a three-run shot that ended his start. The first of those solo shots from Nick Sogard in fact came on the very first pitch of the game – a 93 MPH center-center fastball that Sogard launched for his very first career homer. He nearly repeated the feat when Jarren Duran launched the first pitch he saw of the third inning into the stands, but this one was an elevated fastball instead of center cut. And finally, Pfaadt was victimized by the seemingly unstoppable Mickey Gaspar who homered for the third straight game, although this roundtripper was a three-run instead of a solo shot that tied the game and ended Pfaadt’s night.

Even as Pfaadt was being pecked to death by solo home runs, the Arizona offense looked pretty ineffectual the first time through the lineup with three hits and a walk. Their best scoring opportunity in the third was snuffed out when Jose Fernandez elected to try and score on a slow bouncer to third base and was easily tagged out. Thankfully, they rebounded to rally in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead. In the former, they had consecutive doubles from Fernandez and Ryan Waldschmidt as well as a huge two-run double from Gabriel Moreno that bounced off the Green Monster and plated both Waldschmidt and Corbin Carroll. Then in the sixth, Torey Lovullo decided to pinch hit Lars Nootbaar for Jordan Lawlar (who is clearly still getting his legs underneath him) and then promptly demolished a ball into the bullpen for his first Arizona home run and a lead. Finally, they had one last rally in them in extra innings as Nolan Arenado punched an inside fastball just over the shortstop’s head to plate Moreno as the ghost runner for the lead. However, it’s imperative as the visiting team to score more than one run in extra innings with the ghost runner. Boston reliever Jovani Moran obliged to help with that goal by completely losing the strike zone and first walking the bases loaded and then walking in a second run before inducing a double play from Waldschmidt to end the inning.

Ah, the difference only 24 hours can make.

On Tuesday, the Mariners wore one of the most lopsided losses in the history of baseball. With a 22-0 scoreline, it’s safe to say they had a bad day. Setting aside the context of one of the franchise’s most disappointing seasons to date (at least to this point), it happens to the best of us.

Despite briefly becoming the laughingstock of the sports world, the 26 players making up the active roster of the Seattle Mariners had no choice Wednesday morning but to wake up, roll out of bed, and try again. All they could do was move forward.

Move forward, they did.

The Mariners rode an early lead to a 7-5 victory over the best team in baseball Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

As if fueled by the embarrassment of the night prior — and perhaps a bit of BABIP luck — the Mariners offense left no time to ruminate any longer, jumping on Dustin May right off the bat. Back-to-back singles by Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena set the table for Dominic Canzone, who lined an RBI double into the left-center gap to give Seattle a 2-0 lead before May could even record an out.

May was able to finally retire a couple of Mariners to secure the first two outs of the inning, but he’d walk both Cole Young and Cal Raleigh to load the bases and extend the inning. These walks would haunt, much to the Brewers starter’s dis-May; Taylor Ward dumped a single into shallow right to bring across two more runs, giving the Mariners a 4-0 lead after only a half-inning.

Much like the Brewers the night before when facing Leo Rivas, the Mariners had no intention of stopping there. After Milwaukee was held scoreless in the bottom of the first, Donovan led off the second inning the same way he did the first, with an infield single — he’d reach base four times over the course of the evening. Randy Arozarena took a pitch off the forearm and Canzone blooped a single into left field to load the bases again with nobody out. Julio Rodríguez would advance the runners and tack on another run by driving a sacrifice fly to deep center field, making the score 5-0.

One pitch later, Josh Naylor snuck a single down the right field line to score two more.

Young and Raleigh were put away to retire the side, but the Mariners were able to chase May, holding a whopping 7-0 lead midway through the second.

The comfortable lead was plenty of room for Logan Gilbert to get to work. He didn’t have his best stuff on Wednesday and had some trouble putting away hitters in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of his struggles early in the season. He allowed leadoff walks in both of the first two innings and paid for it the second time, with Joey Ortiz following it up with a line-drive homer over the wall in left to cut the Mariners lead to 7-2.

Like I said though, Gilbert had a similar look to earlier in the year. Usually, the damage done off of him isn’t the problem as much as a lack of efficiency. This was the case tonight — he’d begin the sixth inning but was unable to record an out, his night coming to an end after five-plus and 100 pitches.

Eduard Bazardo entered the sixth in relief, facing the first of a couple of dicey situations the bullpen would encounter as the Brewers refused to go away quietly. Ortiz lined a sacrifice fly to right with the bases loaded to narrow the lead to 7-3, but Bazardo was able to strikeout a couple in the frame to prevent an unraveling.

By this point, the Mariners bats had quieted down. DL Hall pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the Brewers, buying some time for his team to mount a rally.

The Brew Crew threatened again in the seventh against José Ferrer, but came up empty from an opportunity with two outs and two runners in scoring position. It was in the bottom of the eighth where the Mariners’ lead briefly looked to be in danger. Seranthony Domínguez allowed a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles to cut the deficit down another run and bring the tying run to the plate. He hunkered down though, earning a ground-ball double play by Cooper Pratt that narrowed the score to 7-5 but left the bases empty. Gabe Speier came on and worked a groundout to end the inning.

Andrés Muñoz slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth, setting the 2-3-4 of the Brewers lineup down in order to earn his 100th save of his Mariners career.

It may sound cliché, but Wednesday night’s Mariners victory was emblematic of both baseball and life. One day, life gives you everything you can handle and it gets the best of you. The next, well, maybe you kick the best team in baseball in the teeth before they even know what hit them.

Tuesday was ugly. Wednesday, the series is tied. Rubber game Thursday.

It’s Wednesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Please come in and sit with us for a while. There’s no cover charge. We validate parking. There are still a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you if you thought Pete Crow-Armstrong would reach the rarified “40-40” mark this year. You all were quite optimistic, as 63 percent of you thought he’ll get there.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You’re free to skip ahead if you want. Or you’re free to join us.

Tonight we’re featuring guitarist Julian Lage with the SFJAZZ ensemble in 2025. John Medeski is on organ, Jorge Roeder is the bassist and the drummer is Kenny Wollesen.

This is a nice bit of funky fusion for those of you who like that. This is “Speak to Me.”

Sorry I don’t have a movie to talk about tonight, so I’m going to throw the floor open to you.

I wrote about The Roaring Twenties on Monday night, so tonight I thought I’d just ask you for your favorite gangster films. In particular, I’m curious as to whether you think one of the first two Godfather films is the greatest gangster movie of all-time (and which one) or whether you lean towards Goodfellas. Or maybe one of you will put in a bid for Infernal Affairs or its US remake, The Departed. (I don’t remember who did it, but a while ago one of you suggested that I watch Infernal Affairs and to whomever made that recommendation, thank you.)

There are a lot of other great gangster films, both classic and more modern. There are those who argue that Bonnie and Clyde is among the most important American films ever made, as it heralded the end of the old studio system and the Production Code and ushered in the New Hollywood Era of the late-sixties and seventies. That’s an era that many think is the golden era of American filmmaking.

I haven’t seen Miller’s Crossing in a long time, but I remember it being very good. I don’t think Casino is as good as Goodfellas, but it is pretty darn good. There are both versions of Scarface, although I think the Pacino version is too over-the-top. I guess that’s part of the appeal. Going back to the 1930s, The Public Enemy and Little Caesar are stone-cold classics.

There’s The Untouchables, which I haven’t seen in a while but which gives up the phrase “That’s the Chicago way!” There’s also that scene that’s an homage/rip-off of Battleship Potemkin.

Bugsy Malone has a certain insane charm that has never been recreated and never will be. If you’re familiar with the film, you know what I’m talking about.

So what great gangster films am I missing?

Welcome back to all of you who skip the music and movies.

The Cubs gave up a heck of a lot to get right-hander Clay Holmes for the final two months of the season and the playoffs. Infielder Jefferson Rojas was one of the Cubs top two prospects and he certainly has the potential to be an everyday regular and maybe even an All-Star. But after a poor first start with the Cubs (and we can forgive that since it was his first start in three months after an broken leg), he’s been nails in his two most recent starts.

Even before the Cubs made the deal for Holmes, there was a lot of talk about how Holmes was perfect for the Cubs. As an extreme ground ball pitcher, few pitchers are as well suited for the Cubs elite infield defense as Holmes. Over Holmes last two starts, he’s thrown 12 innings and has allowed just one run.

So the question is, should the Cubs make a long-term commitment to Clay Holmes? He’s a free agent at the end of the year. Right now, none of the current Cubs starters are under contract for next year. The Cubs rotation in 2027, if they don’t sign anyone else, is:

Edward Cabrera

Ben Brown

Javier Assad

Justin Steele (if healthy)

Cade Horton (if healthy)

Jordan Wicks (??)

Braxton Garrett (??)

So clearly the Cubs are going to have to sign some starters this winter. Should Clay Holmes be one of them?

In this article, written when Holmes was still a Met, estimated that Holmes would sign a deal for three years and between $60 and $75 million. (The Athletic sub. req.) Of course, the uncertainty of the upcoming lockout and the collective bargaining talks complicates things. But would you make that commitment to Holmes?

Holmes turns 34 in the offseason. That means that any three-year deal with Holmes would take him through his age-36 season. If you’re worried about age-related decline, you might not want to re-sign Holmes. But Holmes has been remarkably healthy throughout his career. Yes, he just missed three months, but that was the biggest injury of his career and it came on a comebacker that broke his fibula. That’s a freak injury and not the sign of someone who is injury prone. His other trips to the injured list in his career have been short, with the longest one coming in 2022 for back spasms. He missed three weeks that time.

So let’s say Holmes would sign a three-year, $70 million extension. If you were Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins, would you make that offer? Would you offer more?

I apologize for the crappy way this question is posted. This feed polling system doesn’t allow for many characters and options. I hope you know what I’m asking. If not, ask for clarification in the comments.

By the way, I also apologize for using a photo of Holmes in a Mets uniform. But I have a policy of only using photos taken at night for After Dark for thematic reasons and Holmes hasn’t pitched a night game for the Cubs yet!

Thank you for stopping by, both tonight and all week. I hope we’ve made your evenings a little brighter. Please get home safely. Stay cool and dry out there. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

Arguably, the biggest moment of the Yankees' 5-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday was Pete Alonso's would-be go-ahead home run that was called foul.

The Orioles slugger already hit a solo shot earlier in the game, but was up in the seventh in a tied game with two outs. Yankees reliever Brent Headrick threw an 84 mph slider over the heart of the plate. Alonso smashed the pitch to left field for what looked to give the Orioles the lead, but third base umpire Will Little called it foul.

A crew chief review ensued as everyone waited for MLB's Replay Official to make a decision. After a few minutes, the call was upheld to the shock of Alonso and the rest of the Orioles. 

The Orioles couldn't believe this potential go-ahead home run from Pete Alonso was called foul. 😳 pic.twitter.com/Wb8Q3AZT6d

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 20, 2026

"You definitely never know what they're gonna rule. But I was really surprised that it came back 'stands,'" Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said after the game. 

"Just based on the video, the Hawkeye had it fair in the dugout," Alonso said. "From what it looked like, it was to the right of the pole. What I was told, in order to overturn a call, you need to have two camera angles to confirm it. The only view that shows it fair or foul was down the line, but no other camera angle is available."

"After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory," a statement on Alonso's homer from MLB's Replay Command Center read. "The call stands, and it is a foul ball."

Alonso would strike out two pitches later and the Yankees rallied to put up two runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead and hold on for the win. The Orioles slugger, while disappointed, gave the Yankees credit for doing what needed to be done to win.

"It is what it is. The video room and the umpire at third base, that’s the only opinions that really made it happen," Alonso said. "Kudos to [the Yankees] for breaking the tie that next half-inning. They executed and they bared down and got it down. And we didn’t." 

"It’s 2026, I think technology advanced pretty good," Albernaz said. "There’s teams using AI on the iPads and other sports use ball-tracking data for challengeable calls. Don’t understand why we don’t do it, but it’s not why we lost the game. But that moment was a big moment, and takes away a home run from us and Pete as well."

The Yankees were 2-for-11 with RISP, which included George Lombard Jr.'s go-ahead single in the eighth, while the Orioles were 0-for-6. 

From the New York side, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked about the call after the game and revealed that Brett Weber, who handles replays for the team, had the ball as foul. 

"We were unsure and then Webby looked out after the game. And he’s got a foul," Boone said. "Sorry, Pete."

"When I went towards the line, I thought it was foul," Headrick said. "You never know in that situation the way it’s hooking. You never know what’s going to be called. Obviously, we’re glad to see that it was foul. We’ll take it."

The win extended the Yankees' streak to three games and kept pace with the Rays, who also won Wednesday. New York remains 5.0 games behind Tampa Bay for the AL East crown while the Yankees gained a game on the Red Sox for the top AL wild card spot, now 3.5 games ahead of their division rivals.

BALTIMORE — Major League Baseball now uses technology to confirm or overturn balls and strikes.

Is it time for something similar around the foul poles?

The Baltimore Orioles certainly felt aggrieved Wednesday night against the Yankees after Pete Alonso’s deep fly to left field in the seventh inning was ruled foul — and the call was upheld on a review.

The play occurred with the game tied at 3. The Yankees then scored twice in top of the eighth and went on to win 5-3.

“I think a simple fix is like football, you have the pylon camera with the plane, where it shoots right across the goal line,” Alonso said. “And I feel like, for us, we could easily have a laser or a camera that shoots straight up.”

Manager Craig Albernaz shared Alonso’s frustration.

“On the dugout iPads there’s ball-tracking data with the field that the players see, so it’s really tough to have that (call) come back as ‘stands’ and have that visual in the dugout as well. It’s 2026,” Albernaz said. “There are teams using AI on the iPads and other sports use ball-tracking data for challengeable calls. Don’t understand why we don’t do it.”

At least one replay seemed to show the ball on the fair side of the pole, but it wasn’t clear what angle that shot was from.

“What I was told is in order to overturn a call, you need to have two camera angles to confirm it,” Alonso said. “But the best view, the only view that shows the ball fair or foul is the one down the line, but no other camera angle is available. So video room rules it foul, umpire obviously called it foul initially. It is what it is.”

It might have been easier for the umpire — and the replay room — to make the call if Alonso’s hit hadn’t been so high. It appeared to tower above the foul pole at one point.

“That we don’t have the technology in place to actually say, ‘Hey, this was fair or foul,’ is literally crazy in 2026. It’s crazy,” said Chris Bassitt, Baltimore’s starting pitcher Wednesday.

Bassitt then blamed financial considerations for why such technology isn’t used.

“Because it would cost money,” he said. “That’s it. I mean, that’s literally it.”

Given it was their final meeting of 2026 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies wanted to finish this series with a win.

Certainly, they put up a good fight — this was their best game of the series — but it wasn’t enough, and the Dodgers won, 6-4, completing the sweep. Before the game ended, the Rockies had struck out 15 times.

The Dodgers are now 77-51 while the Rockies fall to 50-77.

”We’re getting there,“ manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game. ”There’s a ton of good stuff that happened tonight.“

Such is the nature of a rebuild.

The Rockies offense just wasn’t enough

The Rockies managed to get their first baserunner in the first inning when Mickey Moniak jumped on a Roki Sasaki fastball — the first one he had thrown in the game. However, with two outs remaining, the Rockies were unable to capitalize.

The Dodgers began accumulating hits as well in the second when Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker singled. Following that, Kiké Hernández singled to drive in Betts and give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

In their half of the second, the Rockies had another double as Connor Norby sent a ball into left field. Norby was at third when Brett Sullivan walked with two outs, and Ezequiel Tovar stepped to the plate. But it was for naught as Sullivan attempted to steal second and was thrown out, leaving the Rockies scoreless.

The third inning found Moniak hitting a single with two outs, but the Rockies (again) were unable to capitalize.

Betts expanded the Dodgers lead to 2-0 when he went yard in the fourth inning, his 16th homer of the season.

Things did not improve from there.

Following a Tucker single, Kiké Hernández hit the Dodgers second home run of the inning (and his second of the season), and the score was 4-0 Dodgers.

After that, Freeland got Rortvedt to line out before shaking his arm. He was immediately removed from the game, and Schaeffer called to the Rockies bullpen and rookie Mark Manfredi.

TJ Rumfield hit a lead-off single to kick off the Rockies half of the fourth, and Norby followed that with his second double of the inning with one out. And then Adael Amador came through with a two-RBI double.

The Rockies were unable to plate additional runners, but they were on the board, and Sasaki was at 83 pitches when the inning ended. The score was 4-2 Dodgers.

Neither team scored in the fifth, but it was Sasaki’s last of the game. His final line: 5.0 IP with two runs (earned) on seven hits. He walked one and struck out six on 99 pitches.

Nick Frasso pitched the sixth, facing his former team — and he made quick work of them, allowing one hit but getting two fly outs before striking out Shohei Ohtani.

In their half of the sixth, the Rockies were unable to gain any traction against Brock Steward, and the score remained 4-2 Dodgers.

Schaeffer had Frasso handle the seventh as well, which he did, allowing one hit but no runs.

Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia almost made quick work of the Rockies in the bottom of the seventh. But then he walked Jake McCarthy followed by throwing a four seamer to Moniak that he sent over the right-field wall for his 20th homer of 2026.

And then the game was tied at four.

”That ain’t easy to do,“ Schaeffer said of the at-bat. “I’m proud of Mickey. I’m proud of all of them.”

Reactivated earlier in the day, Jaden Hill handled the eighth inning with authority, allowing one fly ball and striking out two.

Dave Roberts went with Jack Dreyer in the eighth, and he promptly issued a lead-off walk to Rumfield. Following that, pinch hitter Jordan Beck flew out to right. Then Norby and Amador struck out to end the inning.

With the score tied, Schaeffer turned to his closer, Jordan Romano, who never lost a beat in working through the Dodgers 9-1-2 hitters — including a sick strikeout of Ohtani. (Come on, MLB Film Room. Make the clip available.) It was the rare evening when Ohtani did not manage a hit at Coors Field.

Looking to prevent a Rockies walk-off, Roberts sent Kyle Hurt to the mound for the ninth inning.

Sullivan lined out for the first out, and Schaeffer sent in Willi Castro to pinch hit for Tovar, but he struck out swinging. McCarthy managed to beat the throw to first (thanks to the Rockies challenging the call), which brought Moniak to the plate.

He struck out, and the game went to extras.

With Pages the ghost runner on second, Jimmy Herget faced Teoscar Hernández that moved Pages to third. A Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. Betts followed that with a double to make the score 6-4. It was a solid night for Betts who had three hits, including two RBI, and two runs. McCarthy got the second out, and Schaeffer went to lefty Brennan Bernadino to face Tucker. He flew out to right, and the Rockies headed to their half of the 10th, down 6-4.

The Dodgers returned to LHP Tanner Scott, who threw 27 pitches the night before. He got Cole Carrigg and Rumfield out on one pitch each.

With that, all eyes turned to Jordan Beck.

It took six pitches, but Scott struck Beck out to finish the game.

The Rockies finished the night with four runs on nine hits. They had three walks and struck out 15 times. (Only Rumfield, Beck, and Sullivan did not strike out.)

Kyle Freeland leaves early

Freeland got off to a brisk start that saw him facing the minimum and retiring them on nine pitches.

However, his pitch count quickly rose in the second inning and hit 30 before the Rockies managed to get three outs. After getting through the third inning and giving up two home runs in the fourth, he was abruptly removed from the game due to an apparent injury.

His final line was 3.2 IP with four runs (all earned) on six hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Later, the Rockies announced that Freeland left with neck tightness.

Schaeffer had no additional details after the game.

The bullpen (mostly) shines

The bullpen took over in the fourth inning, and they were solid.

Mark Manfredi made his MLB debut after being called up earlier in the day — and the first batter he faced was Shohei Ohtani, whom he promptly walked with two outs. Manfredi then gave up a single to Andy Pages, but got Teoscar Hernández to fly out to Zac Veen ended the inning. In the fifth inning, Manfredi tallied his first MLB strikeout with Freddie Freeman.

He followed that with a flyout and striking out Miguel Rojas. Not bad.

Manfredi’s final line was 1.1 IP, allowing one hit but no runs. He also walked one and struck out two on 19 pitches.

“That was really cool to see him coming in there,” Schaeffer said. “I thought he threw the ball exceptionally well.” Then he added, “That’s what makes this game so great.”

Former Dodger Nick Frasso’s final numbers were 2.0 IP allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out two and did not issue any walks on 28 pitches. However, he did have a pitch-clock violation.

Jaden Hill picked off where he left off with a spotless inning that included two Ks. He threw 12 pitches.

”It’s good to have him back,“ Schaeffer said.

Not to be outdone, Romano handled the ninth with a fly out and two Ks on eight pitches.

As for Jimmy Herget, it was not the night he wanted. In 0.2 IP, he allowed two runs on two hits in the 10th inning.

Brennan Bernadino went 0.1 IP. He faced one batter and did not allow a hit.

Next up

The Rockies have an off day tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Friday, same Bat Time, same Bat Station, at 6:40 pm.

That’s when the Rockies will welcome José Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians to Coors Field. Starting pitchers are slated to be Joey Cantillo and Tanner Gordon.

See you then — and look for more articles on Purple Row tomorrow!

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