Category: MLB

In a game that definitely needed to be consumed, and then recapped, the Philadelphia Phillies continued their late-summer dominance of the Twins with a decisive 9-1 victory, headlined by Philly’s seven-run, fifth-inning explosion.

As we were reminded in the pregame, the American League Wild Card situation is a bit of a cluster, especially with midgame victories by both the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles making it a five-way tie for the sixth seed. But as the Twins enter into direct competition with some clearer playoff hopefuls — the Phillies, while technically out of the mix due to an unresolved tiebreak, are still eight games over .500 — the plausibility of this Minnesota roster meaningfully competing with some of their fringe peers is called into question.

The Fightin’ Phils fought their way onto the scoreboard first today, scoring Luis Arraez on a J.T. Realmuto sacrifice fly in an inning that could have been worse for Minnesota starter Connor Prielipp.

Prielipp, clearly, was struck with intense FOMO, and he unleashed his desire to see an inning that could have been worse first-hand in the fifth. With a lone runner at first base and two quick outs, Prielipp lost all grip on reality and walked Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Arraez, the last of whom pushed across a run as he filled first. That made it 2-0 Phillies, but the score was quickly 3-0 after Alec Bohm drove an RBI single — one of five hits on the night for Bohm — to increase the lead.

Then, a two-run single from Edmundo Sosa, opening things up to 5-0, a deflating but still reachable deficit. That is, until a three-run bomb by Bryson Stott — still off Prielipp, mind you! — effectively put the game to bed before the halfway mark.

The Phillies would add an insurance run on another sac fly in the ninth, but they wouldn’t really need it. One of the only major threats of the night was erased in the fourth, when Luke Keaschall was called safe trying to score a run from first on a two-out Brooks Lee single, then saw his run erased after an accurate overturned challenge.

A Royce Lewis RBI double in the sixth would be Minnesota’s only contribution to the score today.

The Twins are now four games under .500, their lowest point since late July, and are presently out of that aforementioned third Wild Card position. They’ll have tomorrow afternoon to avoid the sweep against Philadelphia. See you then!

STUDS:

C Ryan Jeffers (1-for-3, R, RBI, 2B, BB)

SS Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-4, 2B)

DUDS:

SP Connor Prielipp (5 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 4 BB, 6 K)

2B Ryan Kreidler (0-for-3, BB, 3 K)

Tied after nine innings of baseball, the Orioles and Rays each turned to a member of their bullpen to try and keep the other team from scoring. For the Rays, it was Bryan Baker. Baker has transformed himself into a leading closer this year, posting a 1.55 ERA and a league-leading 34 saves. His last 21 appearances have come in Rays wins. For the Orioles, it was Cam Sanders. In 2025-26, Sanders made 15 appearances for the Pirates with an 8.44 ERA and 15 walks in 16 innings. The Orioles claimed him on waivers on July 13th. Which pitcher would you take?

Baker started the 10th inning against his former team with free (and pinch) runner Colton Cowser at second base. He was facing the top of the order, which naturally meant Tyler O’Neill. O’Neill was hitless to that point, but he came through in extras. Baker gave him a 96 mph fastball and O’Neill served it right back up the middle for a single. Cowser scored and the Orioles were back on top, 4-3. Pete Alonso followed with a single, but Baker stopped the bleeding after that. (If you were watching and worried about Alonso’s apparent injury on this hit, Craig Albernaz said after the game that his calf was cramping and it’s not serious.)

Then it was Sanders’s turn. The bushy-bearded four eyes somehow already has two saves for the Orioles. Sanders got the first out on a line drive to center field that made me glad it was Cowser out there, then issued a walk to make things dramatic. But he came back and struck out Cedric Mullins and Richie Palacios to end the game. Orioles win, 4-3! Cam Sanders 1, Bryan Baker 0.

The game started, of course, with Kyle Bradish. He gutted through six innings without his best stuff tonight. His command was off; he was very hittable. Still, he got it done when he needed to and held the Rays to just two runs in six innings. It might have only been one run if not for a throwing error by Carlos Narváez.

Bradish started off pretty well. He worked around a single in the first and after a 1-2-3 second inning was sitting at just 19 pitches. That gave the Orioles the chance to take an early lead. In the second inning, Gunnar Henderson singled with one out. After Christian Encarnacion-Strand flew out, it was up to the bottom of the lineup to bring Henderson home. I am beginning to see why it’s not ideal for him to bat fifth.

But the bottom of the lineup came through. After Christian Franklin worked a walk, Leody Taveras singled through the 5.5 hole to bring Henderson home. Narváez couldn’t keep it going, though, and ended the inning with a ground out.

The Rays got that run back in the bottom of the third. It was an eventful inning! Richie Palacios doubled to left field to start things up, followed by a Taylor Walls single. Tyler O’Neill fired past the cutoff man to the plate and Palacios stayed at third. Walls tried to take the extra base on the throw, but Narváez fired back to second and Henderson tagged him out. He was called safe, but it was overturned on review.

Any goodwill Narváez had on that play was blown moments later. Palacios was dancing off third base and came down a little too far. Narváez fired to third to nab him, but the ball went sailing into left field. Palacios scored easily to tie the game at one.

Bradish kept the Rays off the board in the fourth and fifth innings, but he certainly did not keep them off the bases. He started the fourth with a walk and a single, but wriggled out of it. In the fifth, he issued his second walk of the game.

The Orioles took the lead in the fifth thanks to Alonso. He thought he had ball four on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, but the umpire called him back to the plate with strike two. On the next pitch, he hit his 27th home run of the year. Another opposite-field shot. Bet they wish he’d gotten that walk!

Christian Encarnacion-Strand followed Alonso’s lead in the top of the sixth. He launched a 2-2 changeup deep into the left field stands. It gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead and was their last run scored in regulation. As we know, it wasn’t enough.

Bradish started the sixth inning by walking Liam Hicks. Now is a good time to point out that both the Orioles and Rays lost their ABS challenges early in the game, meaning the second half of the game was played old school. And the umpire was terrible. He was equal-opportunity awful to both teams. In the Hicks walk, the first and third pitches of the at-bat were in the strike zone. But there was nothing they could do, since Narváez and O’Neill both made poor decisions earlier in the game. So Hicks took first.

Two groundouts moved Hicks to third, but got Bradish one out from getting out of trouble once again. Both outs were excellent defensive plays from Encarnacion-Strand and Henderson. Old friend Cedric Mullins didn’t strand the runner, though, with a classic Mullins triple to right-center field. That made the score 3-2. Bradish issued another walk, but got out of the inning on a line drive out to second base.

That was it for Bradish. His final line: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 3 K. As I said, he gutted it out and left the game with the Orioles in a position to win.

Over the next three innings, the Orioles’ bats went silent. After starter Ian Seymour exited, Casey Legumina came in and dominated. He pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts. They also didn’t score off Cam Booser, meaning it was up to Andrew Kittredge to get the one-run save. He was not up to the task.

Things started off well for Kittredge. Palacios and pinch hitter Victor Mesa Jr. lined out, then Yandy Díaz golfed a low slider into center field for a single. Another old friend, Jorge Mateo, came on as a pinch runner. For a good team, the Rays sure do have a lot of ex-Orioles.

Jonathan Aranda singled to put runners on the corners, and it looked like Kittredge got the ground ball he needed. The dangerous Junior Caminero hit a soft grounder to third. Encarnacion-Strand charged the ball, gloved it, and then lost it. Argh! It was ruled a hit, but looked like an error to me. The tying run scored. The next batter popped out on the first pitch, but the damage was done. Off to extra innings we went, where Sanders outdueled Baker for the win.

With this win, the Orioles have pulled into a tie for the final AL Wild Card spot with three other teams: Toronto, Texas, and Detroit. The Twins just lost to the Phillies to fall a half-game back, and the Rangers just got underway against the A’s in Sacramento. When we wake up tomorrow, the Orioles will either be in a tie for the final spot with the Blue Jays and Tigers, or they will be a half-game back of the Rangers. This was a truly wild paragraph to type.

So, Camden Chat, who was your Most Birdland Player of the game? Cam Sanders? Pete Alonso? Someone else? Let us know in the comments.

It’s hard to believe that the 2026 season is almost over. With around 40 games left to play in the regular season, the Colorado Rockies are on the hunt to avoid their fourth-straight 100-loss season.

As we draw closer to the end of the season and continue to look ahead, I wanted to take the opportunity to throw back to something we tried earlier in the year: a mailbag.

There are plenty of things to talk about, especially at this point in the season. This link will take you to a Google form so you may ask a question (or two!).

Look for the answers next Thursday, August 2o.

As for tonight, I leave the topic of discussion to you. What’s on your mind lately?

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

Jefry Yan celebrated a bit too early.

The Mets reliever unleashed his trademark jump celebration for what he thought was a strikeout during the ninth inning of the team’s 5-4 win over the Nationals Saturday night at Citi Field, though it ended up being premature.

The pitch was called a ball, and after realizing that, Yan challenged the call.

After review, the call stood as a ball.

“Now that was funny,” Mets play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen said.

But Yan would have the last laugh.

Two pitches later, Yan got Nasim Nuñez to whiff on a slider for a strikeout to end the inning.

Yan again went into his jump celebration, and added a bit extra onto it for good measure.

“Now Yan can celebrate,” Cohen said.

Yan ended up being the winning pitcher, as the Mets rallied from down a run in the bottom of the ninth inning — with Francisco Lindor’s walkoff single securing the team’s eighth win in their last 11 games.

The Mets have somehow begun to string together wins since acting as big-time sellers at the trade deadline, which is when — with the bullpen depleted after those trades — Yan got his chance in the majors.

A 29-year-old rookie, he has given up just one run in five appearances.

His celebration after strikeouts — jumping in the air and then tapping the ground — has gone viral.

“I am going to enjoy my game any way that I want to,” Yan said through an interpreter after his debut, after Guardians fans in Cleveland booed him for the celebration.

But the reaction was different on Saturday, as Yan was making his Citi Field debut and was embraced by Mets fans.

“I felt really welcomed today,” Yan said.

He struck out three batters in 1 2/3 scoreless innings pitches.

And there were four celebration dances, including his incorrect one.

Box Score

The Brewers are a struggling offensive team, and today doesn’t really change that. But Milwaukee got a couple of two-run homers today—one from a very encouraging source—and that’s often going to be all you need when Jacob Misiorowski is on the mound. Indeed, Misiorowski and a couple of Brewer relievers largely shut down the high-powered (but also struggling) Dodger offense on their way to what felt like a pretty comfortable 4-1 victory.

Justin Wrobleski, the 2026 All-Star but who was coming off three consecutive rough outings, threw a scoreless top of the first despite a two-out single from Andrew Vaughn. In the bottom of the inning, Misiorowski went three-up three-down via two popouts to Vaughn at third and a fly ball to right field.

With two outs in the top of the second, William Contreras finally broke a duck that went back a week (after singling in his last at-bat last Saturday, Contreras was 0-for-his-last-20 with six walks) with a solid single to left. Two pitches later, the Brewers actually paid it off when Joey Ortiz homered on a high fly ball just beyond the reach of Teoscar Hernández for a two-run homer. It was Ortiz’s sixth of the season, and his renaissance continues. Jonathan Ornelas followed with his first at-bat as a Brewer, but grounded out to end the inning.

Misiorowski, working with an early lead, followed up his perfect top of the first with another in the second, this time with a couple of strikeouts. The Dodgers got their first baserunner of the game with one out in the bottom of the third when Alex Call reached on an infield single. Hunter Feduccia popped out for the second out, but Shohei Ohtani got a hard grounder past Gary Sánchez at first and into the right-field corner. Call scored from first, and Ohtani ended up at third with a triple. Freddie Freeman, up next, hit a ball down the left-field line, but Jackson Chourio made a nice running catch to end the inning with the score 2-1.

Jake Bauers drew a leadoff walk in the second. After Sánchez lined out and Christian Yelich struck out, it looked like nothing would come of it. But Contreras, who had just broken his long hitless streak a couple innings earlier, got a hold of a 1-2 pitch that was a couple inches below the zone and golfed it over the wall in left for a two-out, two-run homer. Huge! The Brewers took a 4-1 lead.

Misiorowski got the first out of the bottom of the fourth when Andy Pages hit a ground ball to third and Andrew Vaughn (huh) made a nice sliding play and Gary Sánchez (what) made a nice dig at first to secure the throw. A couple of fly balls to center later, and Miz had a nice shutdown inning.

After a quick top of the fourth for Wrobleski, things got a little hairy in the bottom of the inning. Misiorowski started the inning by getting a pop out from Tommy Edman, but Hernández, Call, and Feduccia hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out for the two Hall of Famers at the top of the Dodger order. But after a quick visit from Chris Hook, Miz locked in; he struck out Ohtani on three pitches, then got Freeman swinging at a nasty slider to end the inning with no runs crossing the plate.

With one out in the top of the fifth, Bauers got a hold of a ball but hit it to dead center where it was caught just in front of the wall by Pages. With two outs, Sánchez (immediately after an incredibly bad blown challenge) was hit by a pitch (and replaced by pinch-runner Brandon Lockridge) and Yelich also hit a ball hard—I think Wrobleski thought it was gone—but Hernádez caught it on the warning track in left for the third out. More bad luck for Yelich.

Misiorowski started the sixth with 80 pitches. Max Muncy drew a one-out walk, but Misiorowski didn’t have any other trouble. At 98 pitches, Miz’s day was over. He was a little less efficient than usual and didn’t have quite as many strikeouts, but he did a fantastic job working out of trouble; his final line was six innings, five hits, one walk, one run, and six strikeouts.

Jonathan Hernández relieved Wrobleski in the seventh and had a 1-2-3 inning against the bottom of the Brewer lineup. Antonio Senzatela was the first man out of the Brewer bullpen and, like Hernández, had no problem with the bottom of the Dodger order.

With one out in the eighth, Lara knocked a base hit into left, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a David Hamilton strikeout, Bauers was intentionally walked, at which point the Brewers sent Garrett Mitchell to pinch-hit for Lockridge. Mitchell struck out looking—the last pitch was not a strike, but Mitchell didn’t want to use the Brewers’ last challenge, and the inning ended.

With Abner Uribe on the injured list and Trevor Megill having pitched four times in the last five days, it was a bit of a mystery how the Brewers would piece together the end of the game with their bullpen. For the top of the Dodger order in the bottom of the eighth, with lefties Ohtani and Freeman coming up, it made a lot of sense that Aaron Ashby was the choice. It worked: Ohtani struck out, Freeman grounded out to first, and Pages chased a 3-2 pitch and hit a weak grounder to second for an easy inning.

Hernández was back out for his third inning of work in the top of the ninth as the Brewers looked for a little more insurance. They did not find it: Yelich, Contreras, and Ortiz went down in order, though Contreras hit a ball over 100 mph for the third time in the game.

After his good eighth inning, the Brewers stuck with Ashby in the ninth to neutralize Muncy. Dave Roberts chose to pinch-hit for Muncy instead of have him face the lefty, and the pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas grounded out. Mookie Betts got a changeup right down the middle and hit it hard, but Mitchell caught it on the warning track in center for out number two. Edman was the Dodgers’ last chance, and he kept the game alive by drawing a walk. After a mound visit and with Chad Patrick ready in the bullpen, the Brewers chose to stick with Ashby to face lefty-masher Hernández; he hit what should’ve been the game’s last out, but Ornelas bobbled Hernández’s ground ball, Hernández beat the throw, and the Dodgers brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Alex Call.

Thankfully, Ashby struck Call out on three pitches, and the game was over. It got a little scary there at the end, but they got it.

The Brewer offense still wasn’t very good and managed only five hits, but thankfully because of good pitching and a struggling offense in the opposite dugout, too, Milwaukee built their lead early and never really looked in all that much danger of losing it. Contreras was the offensive hero in what was a badly, badly needed good game at the plate; he went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs scored, and he hit the ball hard three out of four times. Ortiz had the team’s other big hit, his second-inning two-run homer.

The pitching staff was great. Misiorowski didn’t have his best stuff but held the Dodgers to one run, and Senzatela and Ashby did the rest.

The series concludes tomorrow afternoon, a 3:10 p.m. game in which the Brewers have the chance to win a third game in Los Angeles and largely salvage what looked like was going to be a disastrous road trip. In a sort of weird trade deadline what-if game, Logan Henderson faces off with Tarik Skubal.

LOS ANGELES — Jacob Misiorowski proved every bit the tough customer the Dodgers thought he’d be, striking out six over six innings in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 4-1 win on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

“He’s probably the best pitcher in baseball, throwing the baseball the best this year. He’s going to get his strikeouts, he’s incredibly talented. I think you’ve just kind of got to fight, get the pitch count up,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “It’s going to be a tough one.”

It was a very tough task on Saturday for Dodgers hitters, but they gave themselves chances.

Alex Call, starting in right field for the home-weary Kyle Tucker, reached on an infield single in the third inning after Misiorowski retired his first seven batters faced. Shohei Ohtani followed with a line drive down the right field line for a triple to pull the Dodgers within 2-1.

Ohtani’s triple was hit off a 100.3-mph fastball. In the fifth inning, Call and catcher Hunter Feduccia singled in the fifth off triple-digit fastballs as well, showing some signs of life against a pitch that has confounded them for two months. Down 4-1 in that fifth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out, with the top of the order coming up. But Miserowski struck out Ohtani on three pitches and fanned Freddie Freeman on five pitches to escape his biggest jam unscathed, finishing off both batters with sliders.

“It’s obviously a guy that we’re probably going to see in the postseason. He’s one of the best in the game if not the best right now,” Roberts said Saturday. “Players don’t like to be embarrassed. It’s something that is a challenge, and you’ve got to go out there and complete pitch to pitch.”

The Dodgers have faced Misiorowski three times in the last 14 months, from his fifth major league start last July to Game 3 of the NLCS before Saturday. He’s eaten their lunch each time, with 27 strikeouts in 17 total innings, permitting only four runs, three of them earned.

Juston Wrobleski allowed only six Brewers to reach base in his six innings on Saturday, but two of them happened to come before two-out home runs — by Joey Ortiz in the second inning and William Contreras in the fourth. Wrobleski has allowed 11 home runs in 19 2/3 innings over his last four starts, after allowing only eight home runs in his first 17 appearances and 106 2/3 innings.

But this outing wasn’t a total loss like his previous two. Wrobleski gave the Dodgers length they were desperate for after heavy bullpen usage of late, with Saturday the ninth day of 13 game days in a row. Wrobleski, who threw 107 pitches on Saturday and struck out six, has lasted at least six innings in 15 of his 20 starts this season. This was just the first time he did so in August.

Wrobleski has a career major league high of 126 1/3 innings this season, but he’s not quite at his professional high, counting the minor leagues and postseason. Still, with six weeks remaining in the regular season, Wrobleski figures to add to that total.

“He’s thrown a lot, but I still feel like the stuff, for me, isn’t ticking down,” Roberts said earlier Saturday. “Is it sustainable? We’ll see. But at some point in time he’s going to the ‘pen anyway because of guys wehave coming back.”

Silver lining

In addition to Wrobleski completing six innings, Jonathan Hernández followed with three scoreless innings on 34 pitches, making a full rest day for the Dodgers’ six other active relievers. It wasn’t exactly a three-inning save, but more of a save the bullpen.

Saturday also marked Hernández’s longest outing since May 31, 2024, when he pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings for the Texas Rangers at the Miami Marlins.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: Joey Ortiz (6), William Contreras (12)

WP — Jacob Misiorowski (12-5): 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

LP — Justin Wrobleski (11-5): 6 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts

Sv — Aaron Ashby (1): 2 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers finish off the homestand on Sunday afternoon (1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Tarik Skubal on the mound against excelling rookie Logan Henderson for Milwaukee.

It’s not often you see the losing team have more base hits, draw more walks, and strike out 10 fewer times than the victor, but that is exactly what happened tonight in a 4-3 Rays defeat. Simply put, the Rays had plenty of chances in this game, but left 12 men on base while going 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position while Baltimore had two solo homers by Pete Alonso and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to offset their own nine men left on base tonight.

This game took on a different feel after both teams had wasted their challenges by the 5th inning. The first challenge was lost by the Rays when Junior Caminero challenged a first pitch on the inner black that was confirmed by ABS. That was followed by two challenges lost – one by each team – in one plate appearance. Carlos Narvaez challenged a 2-2 pitch to Cedric Mullins which was uphelp and that was followed by Mullins challenging a 3-2 pitch on the inside black that was indeed a strike. Baltimore’s advantage was short-lived when Tyler O’Neill inaccurately challenged the first pitch of the top of the 5th thus leaving both teams without the ability to challenge was was a rather suspect strike zone for the game where several close pitches were called balls and a few poor ones called strikes as the game went on. All of this is to say that, sometimes, men let their emotions get the better of them and the early challenges, none of which were in big leverage situations.

One particular at bat in the ninth, while not consequential, highlights the risks of burning through the challenges the way it was done. Andrew Kittrege dotted a beautiful 0-1 sinker down and away to Richie Palacios to lead off the 9th, but the ball was called a ball. That would have led to an 0-2 count and the next pitch would have been strike three instead of strike two:

The Rays would eventually tie up the game in the 9th after consecutive two-out singles by Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda led to this bad process, good result moment from Junior Caminero and newest Ray, Jorge Mateo:

Kevin Cash brought in Bryan Baker for the 10th inning, and it was the first time Baker has looked human in awhile as an early challenge fastball to O’Neill led to a run-scoring single of the Manfred Man Colton Cowser before a single by Pete Alonso followed by an extremely close sacrifice bunt from Jackson Holliday made things even more precocious. Baker rallied to strike out both Dylan Beavers and Encarnacion-Strand around an intentional walk to Gunnar Henderson setting the Rays up for the 10th.

Nick Fortes had to stay in as the Rays’ Manfred Man since Liam Hicks had already been pulled from the game, so the odds of Chandler Simpson bunting were probably off the board in Vegas, yet he first pitch swung a liner into the outfield that Fortes apparently thought had some distance to it as he made no effort to tag on what could have advanced him to third given Leody Taveras’s erratic throw into third:

It may not have mattered since the Rays never put another ball in play the rest of the inning. That play was followed by a Jonny DeLuca walk, setting up a nice revenge possibility for Cedric Mullins against his former team, but Mullins swung through two fastalls in the heart of the zone from Cam Sanders leaving things up to Palacios. Palacious spoiled several tough pitches and nearly tied the game with a liner that fell just foul a pitch before he too swung through a fastball in the zone from Sanders to end the contest.

The Rays are now 16-12 in 1-run contests this season, and that has been a differentiator for them in the American League East with every other team in the division at least two games below .500 in similar contests. As luck would have it, the Rays just dropped a one-run contest to the team with the worst such record in the division. That’s baseball, Suzyn.

If you’re a Royals fan of a certain age, the phrase “Lima Time!” will mean something to you. In 2003, the Royals were surprise contenders after getting off to an incredibly hot start. But they needed starting pitching help due to injury and ineffectiveness. Enter José Lima.

Lima was an interesting case; he’d been a 20-game winner as recently as 1999 for the Houston Astros. But he’d also been cut by the Detroit Tigers in 2002 after pitching to a 7.77 ERA in 68.1 innings both as a starter and a reliever. To open the 2003 season, he was pitching in the Independent Atlanta League. His first start for the Royals that year saw him allow 4 runs in 6 innings and take a no-decision with the Royals rallied with two runs in the ninth off of Giants closer Tim Worrell. From then on, it was Lima Time! Lima won 7 straight starts while pitching to a ridiculous 1.65 ERA. I was young and cut off from other Royals fans at the time, but I remember thinking the Royals had found a true ace that would lead them for years to come. With the benefit of hindsight and more advanced analytics than pitcher wins, I can see now that the 3.4% K-BB% he had over that span pointed to oncoming problems. Lima went 1-3 over his final 6 starts with a 10.65 ERA. Sadly, Lima time was not to last.

Why do I bring all this up? Randy Dobnak reminds me a lot of José. I’m older and wiser now, so I can see past the shiny 2.00 ERA to the remarkably similar 3.3% K-BB%. Still, given that the Royals aren’t competing for a playoff spot as they were when Lima was around, it’s safe to just enjoy the ride of Dobnak time for as long as we can. Maybe it will even last until the end of the season! Hopefully, it lasts at least one more start, tonight.

The Angels will have Reid Detmers on the mound. Reid was considered the 47th-best prospect in MLB when he graduated from the list in 2022. He has a killer curveball and he has shown occasional flashes of brilliance, but he’s never been able to fully put things together. He does have a 3.99 ERA going back to the start of last year, and he’s been worth 3.0 fWAR this year, but he has been very up-and-down this season and is definitely not the true ace the Angels would like him to be, despite the ridiculous 14-strikeout, 1-hit, 0-walk outing he had against Texas earlier this season.

Unfortunately for the Royals, Detmers is in one of those up spans right this moment. He has a 2.39 ERA while striking out 33 and walking only 8 in his last 5 starts covering 26.1 innings. He’s also gone 0-2 over that span because the Angels’ offense has been… lackluster.

The curveball no longer grades well stuff-wise, but it’s been doing work for him along with the changeup. The real killer pitch might be his slider, though, which he throws second-most only to his fastball. The Royals will want to avoid letting him control the game with it if they can avoid it.

Detmers does have a 6.35 ERA against the Royals in four starts and two relief appearances in his career. He started against the Royals earlier this year and allowed 3 runs in 5 innings in the game that saw Jac Caglianone hit a game-tying home run in the ninth and Lane Thomas smack a game-winner in the tenth. Maybe the Royals can just dominate this time with a magma-hot Caglianone getting the start instead of being forced to come off the bench.

Lineups

Salvador Perez is back in the lineup after exiting with elbow soreness Wednesday night. Jac Caglianone and Michael Massey, the offensive leaders from last night, are the only lefties who will be in the lineup to face Detmers. Let’s hope they can do more damage tonight because I don’t like the Royals chances if they’re relying on 6-9 tonight.

The Mets' 2026 season has been largely a disappointment, but don't tell that to this current iteration of the team.

Following Saturday's 5-4 win over the Nationals, the Mets are 8-3 since the trade deadline. They are playing with confidence and getting contributions from all veterans and youngsters alike.

While Francisco Lindor's walk-off single to cap off the Mets' comeback win will garner headlines, the shortstop made sure to give his teammates credit for setting him up in the ninth.

Down one run, Brett Baty worked a walk before Jorge Polanco -- mired in an offensive slump -- lined a single before Francisco Alvarez doubled to tie the game. After A.J. Ewing struck out, Lindor came up with the chance to win the game.

"By the time I stepped into the box, I already knew what to do," Lindor said after the win. "Just seeing how the guys worked the counts, it was a much easier plan and approach once I saw everything happening the way the guys went about it."

"That's a game-winner!"

Gary and Keith on the call for the Mets' comeback in the 9th inning! 🎙

➡️ @Novigpic.twitter.com/zsKhnSd5LQ

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 16, 2026

It wasn't a perfect game for Lindor, however. He made a baserunning mistake that cost the Mets an out and a baserunner. Lindor owned up to it to interim manager Andy Green, who praised the shortstop for how he handled it.

"You don’t play perfect baseball when you are on a winning streak. But you don’t let that moment impact the next moment," Green said. "Lindor literally came up to me and owned a baserunning mistake, but he didn't let it impact the game-on-the-line at-bat. That's a championship-caliber player. That's what you want out of your whole team."

Similar to Friday's series opener against the Nats, Lindor's fielding error caused Washington to take the lead. But Lindor made up for it later with a solo shot to tie the game, which eventually led to a win for New York. Lindor's baserunning error didn't cause him to fail to come through when the team needed him the most.

Lindor's walk-off was the 10th of his career, and his first this season. He finished 2-for-4 on Saturday, continuing his torrid pace at the plate. Over his last 25 games (since July 19), Lindor is slashing .309/.407/.588 with seven home runs, four doubles, a triple, 20 RBI and 15 walks. His .995 OPS ranks third in the NL in that span.

That offensive output from Lindor has contributed to the Mets' recent winning ways. And it's not just the winning, but the way the Mets are winning that's drawing attention. There's a visible energy among the players, both with the veterans and the youngsters. Lindor has noticed it and believes it has contributed to this stretch.

"Good vibes, good energy. Guys feeding off each other, guys jumping after strikeouts," Lindor quipped. "It’s a good time right now; we just have to keep up the energy, keep playing for each other and see what happens."

Although the Mets are still way below .500 (55-69), the players want to win as many games as they can. And Lindor believes that can only benefit the team moving forward.

"The more games [the youngsters] can play, the better," Lindor said. "It’s been a tough year here for everybody. They’re seeing the year’s not done. We play to win…that’s what they’re doing. They are trying to win every single day. Even when we were losing, they got a little bit upset because they wanted to win. It’s important not just for them, but for everybody."

Lindor, who is playing his sixth season with the Mets, is not surprised by the recent success. He believed this team should have been playing this way all season; it just didn't happen for them.

Of course, Lindor's calf injury took him out for nearly two months and contributed to the team's tough start, but the vision for what the 2026 Mets could have been is revealing itself, at least to Lindor.

"To be quite honest, we had all these guys. Felt like [president of baseball operations David Stearns] did a good job, we just didn’t play well in the beginning," Lindor said. "Everyone who has been here has been in the organization from the beginning, pretty much. This is baseball. In the beginning, we didn’t come through; we didn’t execute and now we are."

The Mets will look to complete the three-game sweep on Sunday.

The A’s got back into the win column last night with the series-opening win against our division rivals, the Texas Rangers. They need all the wins they can get in their quest for the playoffs but the A’s won’t make it easy for them or anyone else the rest of the way. Spoiler hats on, people

Taking the ball tonight for the home team is right-hander J.T. Ginn. The righty is set to make his third start since returning from the IL with a blister issue (and 22nd total start this year). There’s been some bumps here and there but overall Ginn has broken out this year and solidified his spot in the rotation for the long haul. His 3.41 ERA easily leads the team but he’s also in unchartered territory in regards to his innings. He’s already set a career-high with 121 1/3 IP but Kotsay doesn’t seem concerned about that in the slightest after asking for six full frames his first two times back off the IL.

Here’s how the Athletics’ starting nine looks this evening in the middle game:

As expected no Jacob Wilson tonight after he left the game in the second inning last night. Alika Williams is covering shortstop tonight. The team is also giving regular left fielder Tyler Soderstrom the start off with a left-handed pitcher on the opposing mound, but he’s almost certainly available off the bench for a late-game pinch-hit situation.

Center fielder Henry Bolte is leading things off this evening, followed by Zack Gelof (LF) and Jeff McNeil, who is hitting third after his 4-for-5 showing last night. They’re followed by tonight’s DH Jonah Heim and Tommy White, who is back in the lineup and at first base. Lawrence Butler is back in right field and Max Muncy is handling third base, with veteran Brian Serven catching Ginn.

As for Texas, they’re sending lefty MacKenzie Gore to the bump in this one. Texas’ big offseason acquisition has had a so-so season in his first year for the Rangers. In 25 starts the 27-year-old has a 4.43 ERA, which isn’t horrible but not what they were hoping for when they acquired him in late January right before camp. He’s pitched better over his past few starts, and has only allowed one run in two assignments this month. Hopefully the A’s aren’t running into him right when he’s figuring things out.

And the Rangers’ lineup:

If the Green & Gold can take it tonight they’ll make it two in a row for just the second time since the All-Star Break. Time to secure win #49. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics -Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

Texas Rangers @ West Sacramento Athletics

Saturday, August 15, 2026, 8:40 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Sutter Health Park

LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. RHP J.T. Ginn

Go Rangers!

After a thrilling 5-4 comeback victory over the Washington Nationals - capped off by a Francisco Lindor walk-off RBI - Mets interim manager Andy Green, SP Sean Manaea, RP Jefry Yan, and RF Carson Benge shed light on the team's recent turnaround.

Finding ways to win

The interim skipper beamed with pride as he talked about how his players have shown resilience lately.

"You don't play perfect baseball on winning streaks," Green explained. "You make mistakes, but you don't let that moment affect the next moment."

Green pinpointed some examples of this from the latter stages of Saturday's win.

"Lindor came up to me and owned his baserunning mistake [of being caught stealing in the eighth inning], but didn't let it affect his game-winning at-bat. We also had two guys [Jorge Polanco and Francisco Alvarez] with tough days at the bottom of our lineup who got big hits in the ninth inning."

Another moment which looms large in hindsight was Benge gunning down Andrew Pinckney attempting to score from third base on a sacrifice fly, a double play which got the Mets out of the seventh inning and kept them within one run of the Nats.

Carson Benge shows off his strong arm again! 🚀

He throws out Andrew Pinckney at home! pic.twitter.com/XlsAiov2di

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 15, 2026

"It's amazing. I don't know how to describe it. He's automatic right now," said Manaea of the run-saving play by Benge.

Meanwhile, when asked about his arm strength and accuracy on these throws to home plate from right field, Benge himself mused that "It's probably my pitching [background]... I've translated it to the outfield pretty well."

Good vibes all around

Yan's arrival in the new-look Mets bullpen has been an undeniable feel-good factor for both his teammates and the fanbase.

"I want to thank the team," Yan relayed through his interpreter following his spotless performance on Saturday. "When I got into the dugout [entering the bottom of the ninth], I said 'let's fight back and win this game', and we were all together."

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to go out, have fun, and enjoy the game. It's helped me pitch with a little less pressure."

Manaea, Benge, and Green all echoed Yan's sentiment.

"We're playing free and easy," stated Manaea. "We're trying to make the most out of [this season], with young guys stepping in and playing well... it's been a lot of fun to be a part of."

"We're having fun and looking forward to coming to the field each day," Benge declared.

"When you have the resilience to know it will be hard at times, that's the foundation for winning baseball. You want to develop habits that induce winning going forward," Green concluded.

Former outfielder Reggie Smith was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball on Saturday in a pregame ceremony. The observance included the three other members of the first quartet of teammates in major league history to each hit 30 or more home runs in a single season.

A switch-hitter who went to Centennial High in Compton, Smith spent six of his 17 major league seasons with the Dodgers. 

Smith homered 32 times in 1977. That same year, Steve Garvey finished with 33 home runs, and Dusty Baker and Ron Cey with 30 each. The team went on to reach the World Series, where it was beaten in six games by the New York Yankees.

The Legends of Dodger Baseball was established in 2019 to honor former players who don’t have their numbers retired because they’re not in the Hall of Fame. Smith was presented with a commemorative jacket by the late Tommy Lasorda’s daughter, Laura Lasorda.

“It’s a special meaning to me because I got to wear the same uniform as my boyhood hero,” the 81-year-old Smith said.

In his speech, Smith asked the Dodgers to similarly honor Bill Russell and Dave Lopes, who passed away last year.

Other speakers included Baker and Rick Monday, who played alongside Smith on the Dodgers from 1977-81.

Monday noted that he and Smith played against each other in football, with Monday playing for Santa Monica High and Smith for Centennial.

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“I will not relive the scores of those games because I don’t want Reggie to stand up and celebrate again,” Monday joked.

Former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley was part of the ceremony, as were current manager Dave Roberts, and former players Orel Hershier, Manny Mota, Steve Yeager, Kenny Landreaux, Jerry Reuss, Charlie Hough, Derrel Thomas, Jerry Royster and Russell.

The Colorado Rockies had a nice little win streak going entering this afternoon’s game. That momentum came to a screeching halt a few innings into the game as Logan Webb and the San Francisco Giants played spoiler.

The Rockies looked like they might solve Webb, getting out to an early lead and positioning themselves to hang in a close game. A long, painful fourth inning for Michael Lorenzen made the game much less close, and the Rockies failed to string together any additional offense after their lone run in the third.

An early but fleeting advantage

The first inning gave a glimpse at why Webb has been able to go deep into games this season. He got Jake McCarthy to fly out in three pitches, struck Cole Carrigg out in six, and got Mickey Moniak to ground out after five.

Lorenzen worked his first faced batter, Drew Gilbert, into an 0-2 count but then fell behind to walk him. He bounced back, recording the next two outs, before walking Jung Hoo Lee. He peppered in a lot of fastballs early, but especially struggled to land his changeup. Despite the two walks, he recovered and worked out of the jam. Still, this marked his eighth consecutive start throwing at least 20 pitches in the first inning.

Webb and Lorenzen both had strong second innings. Webb allowed a single but added two more strikeouts and faced no real pressure. Lorenzen had a 1-2-3 inning of his own, making quick work of the side.

Three straight hits in the third swung the game. It all started with Ezequiel Tovar’s 500th career hit. Tovar got the Rockies rolling with a bloop single into shallow right.

McCarthy followed that up with a nearly identical shot to the same part of the field. Tovar took advantage of the single and broke for third, a decision that would quickly pay off. Carrigg came up next and nailed a grounder that got through into left field, scoring Tovar and putting the Rockies up 1-0.

Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last long.

The Giants’ first hit of the game was a big one. Gilbert slammed a solo home run over the right field wall to tie the ballgame in the bottom half of the inning. The Rockies were unable to regain the lead in the top of the fourth inning

It all falls apart in the fourth

Runs are hard to come by in Oracle Park and against Logan Webb. The Rockies got an early lead and kept the Giants within arm’s reach for a third of the game. Unfortunately, one bad inning was all it took. The wheels came off in the fourth inning, dropping the Rockies to a six-run deficit.

Back-to-back singles from Lee and Oslevis Basabe started things off. Lorenzen walked Drew Cavanaugh on five pitches to load the bases, putting the Rockies in a tough spot with no outs. Turner Hill, making his MLB debut, got his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly to start the damage.

Lorenzen continued to struggle with control, hitting Buddy Kennedy with a pitch to re-load the bases. There was a brief glimmer of hope that the Rockies could hold things at 2-1. Christian Koss grounded into a force out resulting in Basabe being thrown out at home for the second out. But the inning just wouldn’t end.

The story of Lorenzen’s outing today was an inability to finish, whether that was an at-bat or an inning. Despite getting ahead in the count against most batters, he couldn’t always shut them down. Despite persevering in the fourth and getting the second out, he couldn’t quite wrap things up. A two out single scored two and ended his day with the Rockies falling behind 4-1 and with more of Lorenzen’s baserunners still on.

Parker Mushinski entered and struggled. A series consisting of a single, a wild pitch, and another single put the Giants ahead 7-1. When it was all said and done, the Gigantes brought 11 batters up to the plate and scored six times.

Lorenzen’s day finished after just 3.2 innings pitched with six earned runs on four hits, jumping his ERA up to 7.08. Despite throwing 49 strikes out of his 82 pitches, he didn’t have the command when it mattered and finished with three walks to one strikeout.

After the game, Warren Schaeffer commented on Lorenzen’s struggles with finishing the job: “A lot of 0-2 counts. He just had a tough time putting guys away. I just think the story of the day was he got ahead and just couldn’t finish em. Lots of foul balls and (the Giants) kept the at-bats alive. They battled today.”

Lorenzen said the same, pointing to foul balls and balls in play: “The past few games I’ve just had trouble putting guys away. I get in the good counts. I’m working deep counts and then a ball is in play. Then you start falling behind.”

Colorado’s offense caught in a Webb

The gameplan coming into today was clear. Webb has managed a number of low scoring starts into deep innings this season. If the Rockies were to have any sort of a chance, they needed runs on the board early and to consistently convert baserunners into runs. It felt like they might pull it off early, but their production against Webb fizzled out extremely quickly.

After allowing the Rockies lone run in the third inning, Webb flipped a switch and retired the next 11 straight batters with ease before being replaced in the top of the seventh. It was a nearly flawless, vintage Logan Webb performance.

Four of his six innings pitched were quick 1-2-3 innings as the Rockies struggled to solve his pitch selection. Webb used a small but (obviously) effective mix of pitches: a four-seam fastball (30%), changeup (26%), cutter (24%), sweeper (14%), and sinker (6%). Schaeffer applauded Webb’s ability to hit all areas of the strike zone with his pitches, noting that “we just had no answer for him today.”

He logged seven strikeouts through the game, with four of those coming on his four-seamer. He managed a 50% whiff rate on the fastball, using it efficiently throughout. His cutter had the Rockies fooled as well. He got opposing batters to swing and miss on 12 pitches (compared to just five from Lorenzen).

His day ended with a line that the Rockies hoped to avoid: a quality start with six innings pitched, the one run on four hits, and those seven strikeouts without a walk to go along with them.

A numbers game

There were a few big milestone numbers hit today on both sides.

• As mentioned earlier, Tovar notched his 500th career hit which then turned into his 250th career run.
• Connor Norby, acquired in the Victor Vodnik trade, got his first hit as a Rockie.
• For the Giants, Hill got his first MLB RBI but will have to wait on his first hit.
• Among his K’s, Webb logged career strikeout 1,100.

The number that the Rockies didn’t hit? Win 50 on the season. They’ll try again to hit that milestone in the series finale tomorrow.

Outside of milestones, the number that defined the day for Colorado was 0, as several key bats in the lineup ended the day with O-fers. Zac Veen, Brett Sullivan, and Moniak were 0-for-3 (before Adael Amador pinch hit and went 0-for-1) and TJ Rumfield went 0-for-4.

Another defining number was 11: The number of Rockies strikeouts today. Every single Rockie with an at-bat today logged at least one strikeout (Veen had two). Not ideal.

Up Next

We’ll see you here tomorrow at the same Rockies time on the same Rockies channel. Colorado and San Francisco meet for the last time this season with another 2:05 p.m. MDT first pitch on Sunday.

For this one, two pitchers still looking for their first win of the season duke it out.

Gabriel Hughes gets the start for the Rockies, currently sitting at 0-4 through six starts, with a 5.61 ERA, a 1.277 WHIP, and 31 strikeouts.

The Giants will send out right-hander Blade Tidwell who is 0-0 in just two starts and 10 total games. He carries a 2.78 ERA, a 1.103 WHIP, and has thrown 19 strikeouts.

With the season series tied at six wins apiece, tomorrow will also decide which team wins the head-to-head battle for 2026.

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The Mets’ season has hardly been a party, but celebratory moments are still worth celebrating.

One such snapshot was Franscisco Lindor at second base Saturday, swarmed by teammates after smashing a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning for a 5-4 Mets victory over the Nationals at Citi Field.

“It’s been a tough year for everybody here, but [the young players] are seeing that the year is not done,” Lindor said. “We have got to fight to win.”

The victory was the Mets’ eighth in 11 games since the trade deadline. It was also their most dramatic over that stretch, with a contribution from Jorge Polanco, whose ninth-inning single helped fuel the winning rally.

Polanco had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts to that point and heard boos from a home crowd far from satisfied by his .424 OPS this season.

Francisco Alvarez’s RBI double against Yovanny Cruz tied the game before Lindor delivered his first walk-off RBI this season.

“It felt like Stearns did a good job, it’s just we didn’t perform at the beginning,” Lindor said, referring to president of baseball operations David Stearns’ roster construction. “Now we’re in a situation where guys are performing, playing better and everybody who has been in the organization from the beginning and the guys that weren’t, they were acquired by the front office.”

Lindor, after drawing a leadoff walk in the eighth, was thrown out at second trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. He apologized to interim manager Andy Green in the dugout.

“That’s a championship-caliber player,” Green said. “That is what you want out of your whole team, and I think we have seen that time and time again.”

Lefty reliever Jefry Yan, in his Citi Field debut, performed his strikeout dance three times over 1 ²/₃ scoreless innings.

“I felt really welcomed today,” Yan said of the fan reaction.

Sean Manaea was victimized by one pitch, a sweeper that Brady House hit off the left-field foul pole in the sixth for three runs, snapping his streak of four straight quality starts. Overall, the left-hander allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks over 6 ²/₃ innings with seven strikeouts.

Jared Young’s two-run double in the first inning got the Mets started after Brad Lord walked the bases loaded to start his afternoon. A.J. Ewing, Lindor and Carson Benge drew the walks before Young delivered his latest clutch hit.

He began the day with an .889 OPS over his previous 30 games, giving the Mets stability at first base. Young was 15-for-36 (.326) with runners in scoring position entering the day.

Andrés Chaparro homered leading off the fourth to slice the Mets’ lead to 2-1. Manaea worked ahead 0-2 in the count before throwing a four-seamer that Chaparro crushed beyond the left-field fence.

Manaea plunked Andrew Pinckney in the sixth and walked Chaparro before House lofted a sweeper to left field that hit the foul pole for a three-run homer that gave the Nationals a 4-2 lead.

It marked the first time in five starts that Manaea surrendered multiple homers in a game.

“The season is going to come and go and we’re just trying to make the most of it,” Manaea said. “I think a lot of the young guys are coming in, stepping in and playing acceptably well. As a team we’re playing a lot better baseball than we did the first few months.”

Benge homered leading off the bottom of the inning against lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove.

Benge’s arm helped save the Mets a run in the seventh: his strong throw to the plate easily nailed Pinckney attempting to score from third on Dylan Crews’ fly ball to right.

The assist was Benge’s sixth this season.

“I didn’t think he was going to go on that one, but I still know I have got to finish the play and got to go quick,” Benge said. “So, after I saw him kind of running after I let go of the ball, I was kind of excited for it because I knew he would be out.”