Category: MLB

POSTPONED: Toledo Mud Hens vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

Rain, rain, go away. The Hens play two tomorrow.

Coming Up Next: Two 7-inning games on Friday, starting at 5:35 p.m. ET. The series is tied, 1-1.

Altoona Curve 10, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)

Not a ton happened in this one until the fifth inning. Altoona and Erie combined for just four hits over as many innings. Zyhir Hope turned one of those into an out with his rocket arm in the first, but it was mostly boring until the extra-base hits started flowing.

The Curve struck first, knocking Andrew Sears out of the game with a two-out double. Dariel Fregio took over, and things got worse fast. An RBI single, wild pitch and home run made it 4-0, setting up Sears for the loss. Fregio gave up another homer to start the sixth, pushing Erie’s deficit to five runs.

The SeaWolves got in the board in an exciting way in the bottom half of the inning, though. Hope hit his first home run following the Skubal trade, and it is some easy power. He flicked his bat out for something low and away, and took it for a ride to left-center. His pull-side homers are going to be even more impressive shows of strength.

Josue Briceno didn’t want people to forget he’s also a big power threat, so he went back-to-back with Hope, crushing a hung slider into oblivion. These are the future middle-of-the-order bats in Detroit, and those homers are two easy reasons to get excited. Briceno was on track to get to Detroit just after Max Clark, but he was slowed down by injury. Hope should be on an accelerated track to join Clark and Riley Greene in the outfield next year.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game was not as fun to watch. Marco Jimenez took over on the mound in the seventh and promptly gave up a solo homer. After an out, the next four batters reached, making it 9-3 in favor of Altoona, and a two-out single brought the Curve into double digits. Sigh. Jimenez does get a bit of a pass since he’s still figuring things out after an injury.

Trevin Michael stopped the bleeding, getting the final out of the seventh and pitching through the eighth. Erie loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, scoring on an error, but Altoona traded a sixth run for a double play and that was that.

Tanner Kohlepp went 1-2-3 in the ninth, but Erie’s offense only offered a two-out single in the final frame.

Hope: 1-4, HR (1), 2 R, 2 RBI, BB

Briceno: 1-2, HR (7), 2 R, RBI, 2 BB

Sears (L, 2-2): 4.2 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday. Altoona leads the series, 2-1.

Fort Wayne TinCaps 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (box)

Fort Wayne and West Michigan combined for just six hits on the day, and the longball was the difference in this one.

The Whitecaps had just one hit. Beau Ankeney doubled in the second; it was nearly a home run but just caught the top of the wall padding to stay in the park. He ended the inning stranded on third. Only two other batters reached base—Woody Hadeen and Luke Shliger—both on walks.

It’s a shame because Lucas Elissalt was putting together a pretty nice start. His heater was up to 95 mph and hitters were late on it. His breaking ball might have been even better, drawing plenty of swing-and-miss. Elissalt finished the day with 13 whiffs, the third-most across High-A today.

Lamar King Jr. homered off Elissalt with a man on base in the fifth, giving him the loss, but it was still a good outing with no walks and six strikeouts. Joe Miller got the final three frames. His lone blemish was a solo homer in the seventh.

West Michigan had trouble putting anything together against Fort Wayne’s Carson Montgomery. He only struck out three over six innings, but he also only allowed one hit for a quality start. Carlos Medina was sharp out of the bullpen, going three perfect innings with six strikeouts.

Elissalt (L, 3-5): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K, HR

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday. West Michigan leads the series, 2-1.

Dunedin Blue Jays X, Lakeland Flying Tigers X (box)

More rain… Looks like it’ll be two doubleheaders tomorrow on the farm.

Coming Up Next: Two 7-inning games on Friday, starting at 4 p.m. ET. The series is tied, 1-1.

DSL Tigers (2) 9, DSL Rockies 1 (box)

The DSL Tigers 2 squad crushed the DSL Rockies on Thursday, outscoring their opponents 9-0 after giving up a leadoff homer in the first.

Besides the home run, Albert Ramos as sharp for five innings. He worked around three more hits and two walks, striking out three batters before turning things over to the bullpen.

The offense got Ramos the lead back right away, with Eduardo Tusen reaching on an error and Manuel Bolivar hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. That’s Bolivar’s seventh of the year, so the $2.3 million international signing bonus is working out well so far. I’d like to see him stateside sooner rather than later, though.

Tusen was another member of Detroit’s international signing class this year, so it’s good to see him producing immediately at the top of the order.

Wagnel Luna tripled in the second, bringing home Jeiker Gudino. Tusen singled in Luna and later scored on a balk. Actually, it was two balks. The DSL is wild, man.

Diego Orro knocked in Jonathan Moya in the third, and Tusen doubled in two more runs in the fifth. Bolivar made it 9-1 right after with his fourth hit of the day.

Edgar Leon closed out the final two innings. He gave up a leadoff single and two walks but got the job done just fine.

Bolivar: 4-4, HR (7), R, 3 RBI

Tusen: 2-4, 2B (16), 3 R, 4 RBI, K

Albert Ramos: 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HR

Coming Up Next: Both DSL Tigers teams are in action on Friday. The No. 1 club is on the road against the DSL Angels, and the No. 2 team is on the road agaisnt the DSL Phillies.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Top prospect George Lombard Jr. has just two MLB games under his belt, but he’s looked like he belongs at this level. The new shortstop credits the major-league experience of his father and the general upbringing that has now produced two first round MLB picks, the other his brother Jacob. The other sons-of-MLBers in the Yankee clubhouse, Cody Bellinger (who Lombard met while his father coached with the Dodgers from 2016-20), Ryan Weathers, and Aaron Boone can all empathize with the value add of genetics, and now all Lombard Jr. has to do is keep going.

New York Post | Zack Braziller: Veteran lefthander Carlos Rodón will eventually return to the Yankees’ rotation, forcing the club to keep one of Ryan Weathers or Will Warren in the starting five, and sending the other to the bullpen. Although I think Weathers’ stuff, especially his excellent breaking balls, would play up more in relief, the performance on the field will dictate that decision. Warren simply hasn’t been as good as Weathers over the last six weeks or so, with Will having that one standout performance against the Cubs and not much else to show for it. Weathers, on the other hand, has allowed a single run in his last 20.1 innings.

FanGraphs | Michael Baumann: There’s a lot of things you can say about the state of the Yankee roster, but once again they made one of the very best relief pitchers in baseball appear out of nowhere. Lefty Brett Headrick has become Aaron Boone’s security blanket, deployed against hitters of both handedness with one of the best fastballs and sliders in the game — not quite Mason Miller-level stuff, but not far off. Headrick is in the midst of one of ten or so most dominant relief seasons in franchise history, and that is saying something with this org’s history.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: We close with an update on the injured list. Giancarlo Stanton and the aforementioned Rodón are facing off against each other in simulated ABs, Aaron Judge was re-imaged and can begin light workouts, and Clarke Schmidt is cleared to continue rehabbing after a brief scare earlier this week. There’s some 15-17 wins sitting on the IL right now, and if one or two of those returns can be ahead of schedule, that may be enough to start closing some ground in the division race.

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

The San Diego Padres entered the MLB Trade Deadline with multiple paths in front of them. Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller has been aggressive at past deadlines, but he has had a more complete team. San Diego has struggled on offense throughout the year, but has been playing better recently and put Preller into a position where he had to make a choice. Buy additonal resources to help the 2026 team attempt to get into and make a run in the playoffs. Sell off players with expiring contracts to try to replenish one of the worst farm systems in the league. He had the option to do nothing and let the remainder of the season play out or he could have done a combination of buying and selling to make the 2026 team better, but also address future needs.

Rumors were flying throughout the game that teams like the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates would come after All-Star closer Mason Miller, who was acquired at the 2025 Trade Deadline from the Athletics, but Preller seemed reluctant to move the player that cost him Leodalis De Vries. Rumors about Miller began to fade as it became clearer he was not available, so Adrian Morejon became the desired target. Morejon made it clear he did not want to be dealt and Preller again made it known that any team seeking to add the dominant left-handed reliever would have to pay a high price. Michael King was also rumored to be a possible trade candidate as the only rotation piece with any value.

The Padres also had a position player who some teams might have found attractive in Ty France. The first baseman signed a minor league deal with San Diego in the offseason. He plays solid defense and is a former Gold Glove Award winner, but even more appealing is his offensive resurgence. France has found his power stroke and is tied for second on the team in homers with 16. He also has a .288 average and 49 RBI.

Preller decided not to move any of his MLB assets and instead added two of the top starting pitchers on the market in Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants and Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers. Gage Workman a left-handed utility player was also added in the trade with the Tigers. Preller and the Padres paid a price for their additions. Former first-round pick pitcher Kash Mayfield, 17-year-old shortstop Joniel Hernandez, pitcher Miguel Mendez and pitcher Jackson Wolf were all used as currency to make the deadline additions.

Mize made his first start for the Padres against the Arizona Diamondbacks and had a horrible night. He allowed eight runs on nine hits in three-plus innings, but by all accounts, that performance was an anomaly and not the norm from Mize. Workman chipped in with a three-run double in the loss on Wednesday, which was his first hit with San Diego. Padres fans will get their first look at their other new pitcher when San Diego returns to Petco Park to host the Houston Astros. The Friar Faithful will be looking for a similar result to the last time Ray took the mound at Petco when he completed six innings and allowed one run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts as a member of the Giants.

Now that the deadline has come and gone and decisions have been made, Gaslamp Ball would like to know what you, the readers, think about the performance of Preller and the Padres at the deadline. Results will be post later in the week.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

The San Diego Padres split the series and evened the season series tonight at 5 wins a piece as the Padres bullpen really shut things down.

Kohl Drake was getting almost no swing and miss tonight as his stuff was simply not playing against this Padres lineup. Drake didn’t even have good command tonight as he pitched to a lot of 3 ball counts. Drake was only able to get through 3 2/3 innings tonight needing 80 pitches to do so as he was simply not effective. It honestly felt like he should’ve given up more than the 3 runs he gave up, but some good outfield defense which we will get to later bailed him out on some balls that were smashed.

Phillip Abner struggled over 3 innings, but atleast he was able to give this team 3 innings. Abner threw 52 pitches which Lovullo acknowledged in the post game was probably a little bit above what his limit likely was, however getting those extra outs definitely put this bullpen in a better position heading into the big weekend series against the Dodgers.

Ryan Waldschmidt who consistently has been getting replaced deep in games defensively had 2 phenomenal catches earlier in this game. Both of them crashing into the CF wall and traveling more than 80 feet to catch both. Maybe this will allow him to stay in games?

The Dbacks offense plated a run in the 3^rd inning on an RBI single by the hottest catcher in baseball Gabi Moreno who would go on to record 3 hits on the night. The Dbacks were able to load the bases with 2 outs in the inning, but unfortunately Nolan Arenado flew out and the Dbacks offense was unable to score more runs. The red hot Tim Tawa would then single in the 4^th inning, and that would be the last base hit for this offense until 2 outs in the bottom of the 8^th. Pretty tough to win many games with that little of offensive production. Not much else to report on the offense however it is probably fair to note that the Padres bullpen has really carried this team, so maybe we just chock it up to that.

The Dbacks will now gear up for a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers as they will look to Merrill Kelly to rebound in a big way from his last start. After the series split, the Dbacks will keep just a 1 game lead over the Padres for the final wild card spot as the Phillies won tonight. The Dbacks will square off against the Padres for 3 more games on the final 3 games of the season in San Diego to see who wins the season series, and potentially to decide who gets to go to the playoffs.

I guess you can say the White Sox refused to go down without a fight, but the Red Sox wouldn’t die. In a 13-inning game that lasted more than four hours, the White Sox fell short in the finale in Boston, falling victim to a late-night sweep.

Luis Castillo debuted with a much-needed nine-pitch inning and kept the Red Sox quiet again in the second. Ranger Suárez plunked Joey Bart in the second, but that was the only baserunner for the White Sox through two innings.

Suárez went well over the 30-pitch mark in the third inning, with the bullpen up and warming by the end of his frame after 70 total pitches. His nightmare inning started with a walk to Braden Montgomery and a two-run homer well over the Monster by former Red Sox minor leaguer Chase Meidroth.

With two outs, Suárez picked up a pitch clock violation to walk Miguel Vargas. Randal Grichuk and Colson Montgomery had back-to-back singles. Colson’s knock sent both Vargas and Grichuk home, with Grichuk scoring on a throwing error by center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Bart would end the inning, but the White Sox had exhausted Suárez and taken a 4-0 lead.

The Red Sox answered in the bottom of the third. With one out, Anthony Seigler walked and came home on a Connor Wong home run. Nick Sogard singled, but Rafaela grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, preventing further damage.

Greg Weissert replaced Suárez for the fourth inning and quickly gave up a single to Brenton Doyle, who then stole second. Doyle got to third when Wong couldn’t squeeze the pitch after Braden struck out. Doyle started the frame by beating out the throw to first, then winning a challenge after stealing second. Moments later, pinch-hitter Sam Antonacci drove in Doyle with a double. Meidroth picked up a walk with Munetaka Murakami looming, prompting another meeting at the mound. Weissert would luck out by striking out both Murakami and Vargas. Thankfully, though, a lead was still intact at 5-2.

Castillo ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth, surrendering three straight hits. Andruw Monasterio doubled, sending Caleb Durbin home. Then Seigler doubled, tying the game.

Andrew Benintendi and Colson started the fifth with back-to-back singles. With two outs, Braden singled, beating out the throw and then getting to second as a plethora of bad throws sent two runs in, making it 7-5, Good Guys.

Bryan Hudson came on to replace Castillo. Rafaela singled with one out, and Wilyer Abreu struck out right after. Rafaela tried to steal second, but Bart threw a dart to second, and Meidroth tagged him out when he stepped off the base, ending the threat and the inning.

Jordan Hicks gave up back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the sixth, allowing another Red Sox run to score. Grant Taylor came in for the final out and shut the Red Sox down.

For the second time in the game, Bart was hit by a pitch with two outs in the seventh. Unfortunately, the newly acquired catcher left the game with a trainer after taking the hit. It was all in vain via a failed bunt from Tristan Peters. Taylor stayed in for the seventh and put two straight batters aboard, one on a walk and the other on a hit-by-pitch. The righthander somehow escaped the jam with a strikeout, keeping the game within one run.

During the eighth inning, the broadcast announced that Bart suffered a fracture in his fifth metacarpal, so see you again soon, Edgar Quero. Two runners got on base, but the White Sox failed to make anything happen. With two outs in the bottom half, Jarren Duran reached on a throwing error. Seigler singled to put two on, driving Taylor out of the game. After an overturned challenge, Drew Romo managed to catch Duran stealing third for a massive out to end the inning.

With the game on the line, Colson picked up a one-out walk and was rewarded second after a balk. Peters picked up the second free pass of the frame with two outs, but Braden hit the ball right to second on the first pitch. Huascar Brazobán stayed in the game to pitch for the bottom of the ninth after coming in for the last batter in the eighth. Wong started the inning with a double and advanced to third on a sac bunt from Sogard. Two outs and two strikes later, the Red Sox tied up the game with a single from Abreu. Will Venable challenged another safe call, and it was overturned, sending the already-stressful game into extras.

Known terrible person Aroldis Chapman gave up a beautiful home run to Meidroth in the top of the tenth, his second two-run homer of the night.

Trent Richards, on for the bottom half, issued a walk to Masataka Yoshida and an RBI double to Monasterio to put the game within one run with only one out. Duran was intentionally walked to load the bases as the bullpen started moving. Seigler’s sac fly sent another run in to tie it 9-9 with two runners still on base. Richards walked yet another hitter to load the bases, but Sogard hit into force out.

With a wild throw and a sac fly, the White Sox reclaimed the lead in the 11th. Rafaela started the bottom half of the inning with a single, and Abreu would tie the game once more at 10-10. Richards walked yet another batter, putting two runners on base with only one out. Jahmai Jones singled to load the bases, putting five players in the infield for the White Sox. A fly out from Monasterio kept the bases loaded, and Richards was finally pulled from the game. Duran ended the inning with a fly out.

Once again, the White Sox took the lead, now in the 12th. Peters singled, and with one out, Antonacci singled to send the ghost runner Romo home. Meidroth snuck one under the glove, prompting Justin Jirschele to send Braden home, but he was thrown out. Murakami was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs, and Vargas hit into a force out. A sac fly from Rogers tied the game for the fifth time, as we’re in hour four of this game.

The Good Guys couldn’t get it done in the top of the 13th. Erick Fedde came out to try and hold the tie, but four-plus hours of torture finally ended when Durbin walked it off with a single, handing the White Sox a 12-11 loss and a sweep.

MVP
Chase Meidroth — 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 H, 4 RBI, 2 BB, E

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery — 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, SF
Sam Antonacci — 3-for-5, 2 RBI, 2B

Cold Cat
Munetaka Murakami — 0-for-6, 1 BB, 3 K

Baseball is a funny game. It’s hard to win a lot. You win seven straight, sweep one team, win a series against another, Martin Perez is on the hill, it’s rainy — you figure, no one can win ‘em all, we’ll get ‘em tomorrow, we’re in a good place, yadda yadda yadda. Well, turns out, the Braves can get ‘em tomorrow and today, as they showed no signs of letting up in an 11-3 rout that granted them a sweep of the Marlins as well as their eighth straight win. The victory extended their longest winning streak of the season so far, while extending the stretch of three or fewer runs given up to six games, and the stretch of four or fewer runs given up to nine.

Overall, this game featured one of the silliest homers you’ll ever see, and then descended into silliness basically everywhere else, as the Braves walloped Miami pitching. In the end, it was a stat-padding laugher, which was kind of a nice change of pace amid a stretch of fairly tight games.

Things were pretty quiet for the first few frames; Matt Olson hit a ringing double in the bottom of the first, but Michael Harris II grounded out. Perez issued a leadoff walk in the second, but a double play ball allowed him to have a 1-2-3 frame.

The first bit of silliness came in the bottom of the second. Mauricio Dubon hit a soft liner to right for a single, and decided to try to stretch it into a double, where he was handily thrown out. That wasn’t all that remarkable in and of itself, except that two batters later, Dominic Smith dunked an even softer liner to left, and was also thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. That was a nice appetizer for the bottom of the third, where, with two outs and a runner on first, this happened:

It wasn’t the ball going off Jose Canseco’s head. It wasn’t even Tim Hudson’s adventure with Bryce Harper. But, nonetheless, it was very silly, and helped repay Ronald Acuña Jr. for at least some of the heinous xwOBA underperformance he’s experienced this season.

And then, perhaps as a result of some skybound deity laughing so hard they cried at the Marlins own-goaling the Braves two runs, the rains came. Said rains lasted for quite a while, knocking both Perez (3 IP, 3/1 K/BB) and Janson Junk (3 IP, 1/1 K/BB, one “homer” allowed) out of the game.

Tyler Kinley had few issues in the fourth. The Braves had a scoring chance in the bottom of the inning, as Mauricio Dubon walked against Tyler Zuber, and eventually stole second and took third on a throwing error. However, Smith grounded out, and Austin Riley stared at a Zuber strike three down the pipe for some reason. Victor Mederos followed Kinley with two quiet frames (2/1 K/BB ratio). John King matched Mederos for one frame, but the game got completely away from the Marlins in the bottom of the sixth.

Olson started the inning by nearly homering on a ball just foul. Five pitches later, he found a changeup just above his ankles and scoop-bliterated it into center to make it 3-0. Harris followed with a double, and Dubon bounced a curve below the zone for a single. Given that King throws with his left hand, the Braves then pinch-hit Lane Thomas for Mike Yastrzemski. Thomas swung at a first-pitch get-me-over slider from King and yanked it down the left-field line for his first hit with his new team, pushing the score to 4-0. The Braves then proceeded to rouse Ozzie Albies from his team-enforced slumber; he drew a walk to re-load the bases. Out went King, in came onetime Braves farmhand Victor Vodnik, and Riley greeted him with a sac fly to center. Two groundballs against Vodnik suggested that the inning end, but Xavier Edwards bobbled the second one, allowing another run to score. Things could’ve gotten even zanier, but Acuña’s hard liner was hit right at the center fielder to end the inning.

Danny Young came in for the seventh and was really the only Brave (other than Jim Jarvis, who went 0-for-4) to not have a good game. Young started his night with a strikeout, but then a walk and a few singles made it 6-2. Young could’ve gotten out of the frame by retiring backup catcher Brian Navaretto, but instead, he hit him on the shin with a sweeper. That forced Dylan Lee into the bases-loaded situation, and Lee got out of it as Otto Lopez weakly lifted an 0-1 changeup to center. I feel for Young, who is not that far removed from Tommy John Surgery, but you figure that the Braves won’t keep him on the roster too much longer if he doesn’t find some feel for his arsenal sooner rather than later.

With the Miami rally thwarted, the game then descended into something more farcical. Walk-triple-single against Vodnik in the bottom the seventh got those two runs right back. Brent Suter made his Braves debut in the eighth, and picked off a batter he walked. Cade Gibson was Miami’s last pitcher-slash-victim, and he gave up Acuña’s second longball of the night. It wasn’t really fielder-aided this time, but it was also just a routine fly ball that happened to float all the way towards the right-field corner and across the very generous wall out there in front of the Chop House. As a result, Acuña now has his second two-homer game of the year… and maybe the most unique one of his career. That may have been a good place to shut this one down, but it was not to be. Olson hit a liner to center that smashed out of the center fielder’s glove; a Harris single then scored Olson, and a Dubon double then scored Harris to make it 11-2. Dubon’s double actually came against Sanoja, who was “punished” for whiffing on Olson’s liner by being forced to pitch and get the final Braves out of the game.

Suter went back out for the ninth and was basically just lobbing it in there to get the game over with. The Marlins ended up collecting three hits on letter-high, sub-90 mph fastballs in the process, but eventually they ran out of BABIP and outs, and the game ended.

It was a fun one in the box score here:

• Acuña had the two homers;
• Olson would’ve been perfect but for the liner-that-turned-into-an-error, with two walks to go with his homer and double (and “double”);
• Harris finished a homer short of the cycle, with his triple somehow his first of the season; and
• Dubon went 4-for-4 with a walk and a double.
  

Meanwhile, Braves pitching had an 8/4 K/BB ratio and avoided any Marlins longballs — by my count, they haven’t allowed a homer in five games now, which is wild (and very helpful).

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when the Braves rumble into Yankee Stadium to face old pal Max Fried.

I can’t believe they did it again…

The Red Sox pushed their winning streak to eight games with a 12-11 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, overcoming five separate deficits to secure their third walk-off victory of the season in the 13th inning at Fenway Park.

Boston received contributions from almost every single person on the roster, deploying everyone who was available in the bullpen and on the bench. Connor Wong, Jake Rogers, and Erik Miller all left their mark on the contest, though things were punctuated by Caleb Durbin.

I’ve got you covered with the game’s studs and duds:

STUDS

Durbin: I’ve learned to love this young man…

Durbin almost definitely broke his pinky again, but still left the game with three hits — including the game-winner — and played stellar defense at third base. Dirt. Dog.

Miller: The Red Sox leaned heavily on their most-recent addition to the bullpen, and he delivered with two scoreless innings that kept the game in reach. Miller has now struck out four of the nine batters he’s faced in his new uniform.

DUDS

Jarren Duran: Boston had the game-tying runner in scoring position with two outs in the eighth inning when “captain chaos” decided to do something completely idiotic and advance to third base on a ball in the dirt — he was thrown out rather easily. 0-for-5 on the night, as well.

Ranger Suarez: If this team is going to make noise down the stretch, they’ll need more out of their veteran starting pitchers.

Suarez has gone 4.2, 4.0, and 3.0 innings, respectively, in the three starts that he’s made since coming off the injured list on July 26 — which quite frankly isn’t going to get the job done. It’s imperative that he turns things around and stretches back out…

“OH MY GOD, FENWAY PARK IS COMING UNGLUED” MOMENT OF THE GAME

Anthony Seigler.

No, Wilyer Abreu.

NO, ANTHONY SEIGLER AGAIN!

NOPE! CALEB!!! DURBIN!!!!!

How about this team?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iowa Cubs

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

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

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

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

Third baseman Ben Cowles was 2 for 5.

Knoxville Smokies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Useche’s home run.

Drew Bowser goes deep.

The Alvarez home run.

Garriola’s blast.

South Bend Cubs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Diving catch for Lumpuy in center.

RBI single for Hartshorn.

Lumpuy’s double was his first South Bend hit.

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

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

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

Snell’s home run.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STUDS

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

duds

• no duds – t W I M s

COTG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But McLean could savor the three-game sweep. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Probable Pitchers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Watch & Listen

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

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

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

Prediction

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

Aug. 18

Today in sports history

Today is Aug. 18. On this date in:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— USA TODAY Network

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

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

Aug. 16

Today in sports history

Today is Aug. 16. On this date in:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— USA TODAY Network

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

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

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

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

Spider-Man (2002)

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

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

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

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

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

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

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

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

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

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

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

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

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

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

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

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

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

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

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

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

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

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

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

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

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

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

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

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

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

Keep swinging

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

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

Have some fun chatting about it below!

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