Category: MLB

The radio broadcasters reminded listeners of the final score, invited them to tune in again the next day, and signed off. The Dodgers had lost Saturday, so the sounds of “California Stars” wafted through Dodger Stadium.

“Well,” Charley Steiner said to his colleagues in the broadcast booth, “they’re still playing this song.”

The little things can be the ones we remember the most. On Saturday, for the first time in three years, Steiner called all nine innings of a Dodgers game.

In 2024, he beat cancer into remission. The first sign was back pain. He later suffered three back fractures, and to this day the pain is still there.

“It’s gone from intolerable to tolerable,” Steiner said.

He left Dodger Stadium in a wheelchair Saturday. He can walk, but the trek from the broadcast booth to the parking lot is too much, at least for now.

Read more:Jacob Misiorowski outduels Justin Wrobleski as Brewers send Dodgers to frustrating loss

Yet he was in the booth, and on the air for nine innings, so Saturday was a very good day indeed.

Steiner returned for opening day in 2025, but he wore down and left midway through the game. He has called a few games this season, for a few innings each time, building up his workload as if he were a pitcher in spring training.

On Thursday, after Steiner called six innings, he said he would like to try seven the next time. Duane McDonald, the Dodgers’ radio producer, encouraged him to try the full nine.

And so Steiner did, his voice sounding raspy and rusty in the early innings but getting stronger with each successive inning.

He called the statistics put up by Milwaukee Brewers prodigy Jacob Misiorowski “Koufaxian numbers.” He translated an infield single with an exit velocity of 37 mph into everyday language: “That’s driving in the school zone.”

And, on an afternoon Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski gave up two home runs — that’s 11 homers surrendered in his last 19⅔ innings — Steiner did not miss a beat when reading an advertisement: “Toyota dealers: they make it easy. Wrobleski makes it hard.”

The Dodgers have consistently and graciously told Steiner to take all the time he needed to get better, but recovery is slow, uneven and ongoing.

Read more:Edwin Díaz feels he's 'going in a good direction' after escaping jam in Dodgers' win

“Who would have ever thought that sitting could be painful?” Steiner said.

“I get home after a game, and I’m sitting with three ice packs on my back. It’s like I’ve completed playing.”

In the broadcast booth, he sometimes alternates between standing and sitting, or puts his feet up on a table, anything to avoid sitting for hours on end.

The happiest person next to Steiner on Saturday was the one who has been next to Steiner for two decades in the booth: Rick Monday, who checked on Steiner almost every day the past three years and who teased him unmercifully on Saturday, at times using words best left out of a family newspaper.

“You can’t invent chemistry,” Steiner said.

You also can’t invent what is now a lifelong bond.

“I had fun watching him, because I know he has gone through hell,” Monday said. “His world shrunk. We’re used to 50,000 people and you saw, what, one or two a day?”

Steiner nodded.

“Housebound,” Monday said.

“The last three years have been P.T. [physical therapy],” Steiner said. “Every day. Social life? Scratch that.

“If I want to go out to eat, it’s not necessarily where, but what’s the seating like? I can’t sit in a wooden chair.”

It’s too uncomfortable, he said, without cushion or support for his back.

Read more:Plaschke: 'He’s gone through hell.' Charley Steiner’s brutal but winning battle with cancer

Steiner is 77. He does not have to endure discomfort in the booth. He does not have to be here.

Or, perhaps, he does.

“It’s just nice being back at the park,” he said.

“It’s home.”

He is still building back his strength, no pun intended. His next goal: call a game on consecutive days, just as a relief pitcher has to prove he can pitch on consecutive days.

“But there ain’t going to be no Timmy Trumpet for me,” Steiner said.

That second consecutive day won’t be Sunday. From his home, he’ll do a segment with Monday for the pregame show.

And when might he be back in the broadcast booth on a regular basis? He had a twinkle in his eye, and seven of the most famous words in Dodgers broadcasting lore at the ready.

“Day to day,” he said, “but aren’t we all?”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Alec Bohm getting five hits on the day that Marvel does another trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday” confirms my theory that there are multiverses in real life and we are in one if he is having success like that.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The team’s top thirty prospects have been updated lately to include the newest draftees. Where do they rank?
• Trea Turner had to leave the game last night after fouling a ball off his knee. Sounds like he is going to be fine.
• There are under 40 games to go on the season. Answering some questions about the team seems like a good thing to do ($).

MLB news:

• With the CBS negotiations looming, team valuations are going to be a talking point. With the Yankees getting a $10 billion number, where does that put the game ($)?
• How about Joshua Baez yesterday? His three home run MLB debut is one that is going into the record books.
• CJ Abrams is heading to second base in the same season in which he was an All-Star at shortstop. Alrighty then.

Hello, friends.

It remains tough to know just what to say about these Orioles. Often over the course of this season, this has been bad, because the depth of their struggle almost defies explanation. Very nearly as often, this has been good, because you think you know what they are based on all of the bad games and then they remind you that, actually, despite of all the problems they have had, they can play some good games and beat some good teams. Sometimes, they even do this for multiple games in a row.

The Orioles pulled together another good win last night. Or maybe they didn’t pull together a good win, and in fact they stole a game they should have lost – something that they also could really stand to do more often. Either way, after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth inning, rather than just rolling over and dying in the tenth inning, they scored their zombie runner in the very first at-bat to re-take the lead and then out-of-nowhere Oriole Cam Sanders collected another save to finish off a 4-3 win over the Rays. Sure, why not? Check out Stacey’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

For a short time on Saturday night, after some games had finished but not others, there was a five-way tie for the third wild card spot in the American League. The Orioles were right there as one of those five teams. By the time I sat down to write up this article, this was down to a four-way tie because the Twins lost. These wild card contenders just keep losing! That’s why the Orioles are still in the race, no matter how bad some people think they are and no matter how bad they prove themselves to be at times.

Depending on what happened as Texas finished its game out in Sacramento after I was doing this writing, it’s either going to be a half-game deficit for the Orioles (Texas wins) or the Orioles now in a three-way tie (Texas loses) with the Blue Jays and Tigers. These teams are all three games below .500.

I know, it’s absurd to have a playoff team below .500 at this point. There are 39 games left and this condition persists. Ridiculous. Yet, that’s what it is. The whiners are going to have to get it through their heads that this Orioles team, for all of its faults, has a chance. Rejecting this reality is going to lead to a person saying stupid things. The O’s just have to play good baseball for a while! Like, another month and a half. They’re not incapable of doing this. The only thing about it is they haven’t really done it this season, for a variety of reasons.

The series continues on Sunday afternoon, with the Orioles looking to make it three straight wins over the Rays. Take note that this game will be on Peacock or NBC Sports, so if you don’t have that streamer or that channel, you’ll just have to listen on the radio instead. There will be no MASN feed at all and it won’t be on MLB.tv. Trevor Rogers and Freddy Peralta are the scheduled starting pitchers for the 12:15 game. Peralta had a bad season with the Mets before getting traded; he was lit up in his first Rays start in Coors Field but then pitched a decent game. It’ll be annoying if Rays magic fixes this guy.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Samuel Basallo to begin rehab assignment today, with MLB return nearing (The Baltimore Banner)
Not only is Basallo near the end of the path to a return, Blaze Alexander is said to be not far behind. There’s even a note in here about Félix Bautista continuing his bullpen session progression.

Pete Alonso addresses hobbling in win over Rays: ‘No concern’ (The Baltimore Sun)
The Polar Bear dealt with some calf cramping yesterday. Nobody involved with the team seems to be too worried about it.

There’s a new No. 1 on the Orioles Top 30 list (Orioles.com)
Jake Rill with a little update on MLB Pipeline’s new best Orioles prospect – this year’s first round pick, Eric Booth Jr.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1969, Boog Powell hit an inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning of a 15-3 win over the then-Seattle Pilots in Seattle. I would like to have seen that. The homer was hit off former Oriole Steve Barber. Powell’s reward was getting the bottom of the ninth off: He was replaced in the field for the last half-inning by Elrod Hendricks.

In 1998, Eric Davis’s franchise-leading hitting streak of 30 straight games came to an end as Davis went hitless during a 5-3 loss to the then-Guardians. In the last 20 years, the best an Oriole has done is a 20-game streak by Cedric Mullins in 2021.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1995 infielder Bret Barberie, 1966-68 pitcher Gene Brabender, and 1955/58-60 outfielder Gene Woodling.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: diplomat and later movie subject T. E. Lawrence (1888), author Diana Wynne Jones (1934), singer-songwriter Madonna (1958), and actor Steve Carell (1962).

On this day in history…

In 1858, a new transatlantic telegraph cable was symbolically introduced by having President James Buchanan and UK’s Queen Victoria send greetings to one another. The cable was abandoned within weeks because it didn’t work; it took eight years for a permanent connection to be made.

In 1896, three men including one named Skookum Jim Mason, discovered gold in the area of the Klondike River in Canada, sparking a gold rush once news of this discovery reached American west coast towns like Seattle and San Francisco.

In 1920, Ray Chapman of the then-Cleveland Indians was hit in the head by a pitch. He died the next day. This was the second time a player was killed from an injury suffered during an MLB game.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on August 16. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!

It not only is shaping up as a frantic National League wild-card race these final six weeks, with three teams (the Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks) fighting for the final two wild-card berths, but it could also determine the fate of three managers.

The contender among the trio that misses the postseason likely will also be looking for a new skipper.

– Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, barring a dramatic change, likely must make the playoffs to keep his job. He’s in the final year of his contact, and there have been no talks about an extension.

He was saved once before by GM Mike Hazen, who is close friends with Lovullo, but Hazen may be unable to stop a firing this time if the D-backs miss the playoffs for the eighth time in the past nine years with a franchise-high payroll.

– Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, who took over for Rob Thomson on April 28, not only must lead the Phillies to the postseason, but likely to the World Series or even win it to be asked back. Alex Cora, who turned down the job when Thomson was fired, is expected to be the Phillies’ next manager barring a World Series berth or title.

– Craig Stammen, who’s in his first season as manager, may have the best job security of the trio. He signed a three-year contract in November. Yet, if the Padres miss the playoffs, someone needs to be the fall guy, and Stammen is A.J. Preller’s seventh manager in 12 years since becoming GM and president of baseball operations.

– In the American League, Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson is expected to be fired if the Mariners miss the playoffs, and the same goes for Houston Astros manager Joe Espada.

For a long time, Americans thought baseball started around the middle of the 18th century near Cooperstown, New York, but in recent times, baseball historians have pushed the origins back to England, perhaps as early as 1744.

It has been documented in the United States since at least the 1830s, although not in the form we currently enjoy.

The National League was founded in 1876, and the American League in 1901.

More than 25,000 players have gone through the Majors, and we’re not sure if that counts the Negro Leagues, so it seems reasonable to add at least 5-10,000 to that.

With all those players, and in all those years, you’d think baseball would have seen it all by now, but it has not. Because no one has ever done what Joshua Baez did Saturday.

In his first at-bat in the majors – shoot, in his first pitch – Baez launched a home run. Then he did it again in his second at-bat, and again in his third.

He could become a footnote. He could flame out like Raleigh native Josh Hamilton, who lost much of his career to cocaine and alcohol. Any number of things might keep him from reaching his potential.

Whatever happens, though, he will leave the game doing something that Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, and thousands upon thousands of other players never did. And that’s pretty cool.

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We've got a full Sunday slate of MLB action to parse through, and whether you're looking to parlay every game or are searching for one best bet to make, my MLB moneyline picks are here to help.

See why my MLB picks for August 16 are topped by the San Diego Padres.

MLB moneyline picks for August 16

Matchup	Pick
Orioles vs Rays	-144
Diamondbacks vs Braves	+122
Red Sox vs Pirates	+100
Yankees vs Blue Jays	-108
White Sox vs Tigers	+104
Marlins vs Reds	-113
Padres vs Guardians	-104
Nationals vs Mets	-156
Phillies vs Twins	-104
Cardinals vs Cubs	-156
Rockies vs Giants	-122
Rangers vs A's	-127
Royals vs Angels	-117
Brewers vs Dodgers	+144
Mariners vs Astros	-127

Prices courtesy of Polymarket as of 8-16.

Expert MLB moneyline picks for August 16

Orioles vs Rays: Rays (-144)

Rays win probability: 59%

Rays SP Freddy Peralta rebounded with a quality start vs. the A's after getting roughed up by the Rockies at Coors Field in his Tampa debut. 

Orioles SP Trevor Rogers coughed up seven earned runs over 3 2/3 innings in his lone 2026 outing vs. the Rays, who are swinging it as well as anyone right now (third in OPS in August).

Diamondbacks vs Braves: Diamondbacks (+122)

Diamondbacks win probability: 45%

I'm more interested in playing the Over 8.5 in a battle of two mediocre starters with xERAs above 4.00, but I'll give the nod to the Diamondbacks. Their lineup has simply been better in August, ranking fifth in OPS vs. the Braves' 11th.

Red Sox vs Pirates: Red Sox (+100)

Red Sox win probability: 50%

Both bullpens should get plenty of work in, with Paul Skenes getting scratched late by the Pirates and Patrick Sandoval toeing the rubber for the Red Sox. Each relief corps is Top 5 by xERA in August, so the Under is worth a look.

The lineups will make the difference for moneyline bettors. Boston is second in OPS this month, while Pittsburgh is 21st.

Yankees vs Blue Jays: Blue Jays (-108)

Blue Jays win probability: 52%

Both the Yankees and the Blue Jays are struggling at the dish right now, but only one team has a Cy Young odds candidate on the hill, and that's Toronto and Dylan Cease.

The Jays also have the bullpen advantage based on August xERA, so roll with the home side.

White Sox vs Tigers: White Sox (+104)

White Sox win probability: 49%

This is a tough one, but Chicago gets the call behind the arm of Sean Burke. He's authored a 2.47 FIP over his last 10 starts.

Marlins vs Reds: Marlins (-113)

Marlins win probability: 53%

The gulf in xERA between Eury Perez (3.65) vs. Nick Lodolo (6.18) is too large to ignore. Back the Marlins in a battle of two fairly punchless offenses.

Padres vs Guardians: Padres (-104)

Padres win probability: 51%

Tanner Bibee has a 6.00 ERA through two starts in August, and the Padres are batting .423 against him as a team all-time (65 at-bats). Casey Mize exits his first quality start in a San Diego uniform, and has both a terrific bullpen and a red-hot offense to back him up.

Nationals vs Mets: Mets (-156)

Mets win probability: 61%

Jake Irvin's ERA is 5.79 and climbing because teams are barreling him up early and often (third percentile). The Mets (sixth in barrel rate) will tee off on him and Washington's dismal bullpen, which ranks dead-last by xERA this month. 

Phillies vs Twins: Phillies (-104)

Phillies win probability: 51%

Both Andrew Painter and Dean Kremer are due for some positive regression based on xERA, but I don't like Kremer's chances on Sunday afternoon. He faces a Phillies lineup that's Top 10 in both OPS in fewest Ks in August, and Kremer is reliant on fanning the opposition.

Cardinals vs Cubs: Cubs (-156)

Cubs win probability: 61%

I don't like the starting pitching matchup for the Cubs given Edward Cabrera's issues with hard-hit balls, but Chicago's got the edge in August OPS (sixth vs. 12th) as well as bullpen xERA (13th vs. 23rd). 

Rockies vs Giants: Giants (-122)

Giants win probability: 55%

The Giants' lineup is nothing to write home about, but they should figure out Gabriel Hughes seeing him for the second time this season. Hughes sports an 11.57 ERA in August.

Rangers vs A's: Rangers (-127)

Rangers win probability: 56%

Jacob Lopez has been brutal for the A's this season, and the Rangers are seventh in OPS vs. lefties in 2026. Texas will also get a crack at the A's bullpen, which ranks 27th in xERA this month.

Royals vs Angels: Royals (-117)

Royals win probability: 54%

Ryan Johnson's Baseball Savant page is bluer than a Andrew Dice Clay standup routine, and the Angels are dead-last by OPS this month. Fade!

Brewers vs Dodgers: Brewers (+144)

Brewers win probability: 41%

The Dodgers' lineup is in rough shape right now (17th by OPS this month), and Logan Henderson and his 96th percentile K-rate and walk-rate is not what the doctor ordered. 

Back the Brewers and their third-ranked bullpen by xERA in August to lock down an upset win over Tarik Skubal.

Mariners vs Astros: Astros (-127)

Astros win probability: 56%

I think both Bryan Woo and Hunter Brown will have their way with the offenses early. However, the Astros have a huge edge in the bullpen battle (sixth vs. 24th in xERA in August) and at the plate (seventh in OPS vs. 28th). 

Roll with the home team in the nightcap.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Ever wonder why the Little League World Series games feel so fast-paced?

Well, unlike Major League Baseball games − which are typically nine innings long − Little League World Series games are normally six innings in duration for a regulation game.

This makes every single pitch, hit and defensive play count as a game can have a dramatic turn of events at any moment. A game could be cut short due to the "run-rule" and a game can most certainly go to extra innings (if still tied after six regulation innings).

In the Little League World Series, an opponent must advance after each game leading up to the overall championship game. So there is plenty of drama to see if you love watching youth baseball players give it their all on each play.

While you are watching the Little League World Series games, here are some basic rules that every youth baseball fan should know.

Watch LLWS games with Fubo

Program a reminder into his phone. Tie a string around his finger. Chant his name like a mantra: Moo-kie! Moo-kie! Moo-kie!

Whatever it takes to jog Mookie Betts’ memory, to remind him he’s Mookie freakin’ Betts.

Because this Dodgers’ three-peat campaign won’t succeed without his contributions at the plate.

The Dodgers lose the plot without the swagger they’re used to from the four-time champion in their midst.

They need Betts to be that right-handed hitter who will keep opposing pitchers honest in a lineup of lefty stars. To help them compensate without Will Smith’s dependable bat and without being able to depend on $240-million-man Kyle Tucker in games at home.

They need Betts to keep feeding his “hope meter.”

Read more:Edwin Díaz feels he's 'going in a good direction' after escaping jam in Dodgers' win

“I’m always trying to remind him who he is,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday before the Dodgers began a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. “The guy standing 60 feet, 6 inches from him understands the baseball card, knows who’s in the box. And it’s important that [Betts] can’t forget that, regardless of what the scoreboard might say.”

That scoreboard has really not been helping.

All it’s been doing is serving an oppressive, jumbo-sized reminder every time Betts goes to bat of how un-Mookie-Betts-like he’s been for much of this season. Going into Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, he has career lows in batting average (.239), on-base percentage (.295) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.709).

Unless, of course, this is Betts, now at 33, in his — unlucky? — 13th major league season and seventh as a Dodger? Father Time is inevitable.

But let’s remind ourselves: It’s better to be lucky than good, and that Betts has been unlucky, which is bad.

There was the oblique strain in early April that sidelined him for more than a month. Misfortune that brought back bad memories of last season’s mystery illness that caused Betts to lose nearly 20 pounds.

And there’s the data since his return this season, Baseball Savant’s evidence of Betts’ bad rolls: His .278 expected batting average — the Statcast metric measuring the likelihood that a batted ball will become a hit — is .039 points higher than his actual batting average. That’s the third-largest discrepancy in the big leagues.

Also, Betts’ HardHit% this season — measuring the rate of hard-hit balls — of 38.8%, nearly a 3% increase from last season. His exit velocity (90.5 mph) is a mile and a half more than last season.

The game honors you, and the game tests you.

Early this month, a dejected Betts had as tough a time explaining to reporters why, despite hitting the ball hard and stacking disciplined at-bats, he’d had little to show for it. He hit only .205 in July, with a slugging percentage of .313.

“I’m gonna have to help the team at some point,” Betts said on Aug. 4. “It’s really hard, I’ve just never done this so I don’t really know how to get through it. Everyday I show up and try to restore that hope meter.

“But this is very hard.”

That’s why Roberts has stayed on him, he said, reminding him who he is. And who Betts is, of course, is a former MVP and eight-time All-Star, a seven-time Silver Slugger and former batting champion. He’s a scratch-level bowler who made a virtually unprecedented shift from right field to shortstop in Year 11. There’s not a lot Betts hasn’t been able to do.

We got a glimpse of that guy in this recent nine-game stretch, when Betts hit .387 (12 for 31) with a .645 slugging percentage.

“For me,” Roberts said, “it’s just kind of how he’s carrying himself, really. … He’s always been good with not swinging at balls, swinging at strikes. So those components have been consistent. But, yeah, for me, it’s just I like the swagger, the demeanor.”

More like Mookie.

“He’s crucial,” Roberts said. “He’s got the experience, the talent, and he’s an emotional guy. I say that in the sense that when he’s going well, guys feed off that energy. And, when he’s not, you’re sort of trying to find it in him and get it in him.

“So when he’s going well like he has been this past series, guys feel good about it. So, it’s important … that he’s kind of found something to kind of hang his hat on.”

Put a sticky note in Betts’ locker. Better yet, stick his baseball card in there. Because the guy in the box should understand who the guy in the box is — regardless of what the scoreboard might say.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Louisville Bats 3 (box)

The Mud Hens only needed three hits to win this one. Max Anderson’s three-run homer in the sixth was the most impactful. Louisville had a no-hitter up to that point.

Josue Briceno and Jace Jung had the other two hits, both coming in the eighth for the deciding run. Briceno got the RBI single after Jung hit a one-out double.

On the mound, Jackson Wolf was sharp through the first three innings. The only baserunner he allowed in that span came on a wild-pitch third strike, but everything fell apart in the fourth. Wolf gave up five hits in the inning, including three in a row to start. The Bats came out of the fourth leading 3-0.

Tyler Mattison faced the minimum in the fifth. Brenan Hanifee got five outs but came out for Beau Brieske in the seventh. Brieske gave up a double and intentionally walked a batter before ending the inning. He pitched through the eighth, and Dariel Fregio went 1-2-3 in the ninth for the save.

Briceno: 1-3, R, RBI, BB, K

Anderson: 1-4, HR (13), R, 3 RBI

Jung: 1-4, 2B (17), R, 2 K

Wolf: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: Toledo leads the series 3-2 heading into a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday.

Erie SeaWolves 5, Hartford Yard Goats 4 (box)

Max Alba battled it out with Connor Staine to a 1-1 tie through five innings, but both starters had a shaky sixth. Thayron Liranzo broke the tie with a two-run double, but Hartford responded with four straight hits to take the lead in the bottom half. Erie’s earlier run came on an E.J. Exposito home run — his team-leading 21st of the season.

Alba may not have been able to get the win or quality start, but he was sharp for those first five frames. He struck out six and walked two before that. Eric Silvagno got the last two outs of the sixth and pitched through the seventh.

Two late runs in the eighth got Erie the win on Saturday. A pair of wild pitches brought the first one around, and Roberto Campos lined a single into left field to score Izaac Pacheco.

Hayden Minton struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth, earning his second hold of the season. Yosber Sanchez got the save despite walking the leadoff man and allowing his pinch runner to steal second and third.

Exposito: 1-4, HR (21), R, RBI, 2 K

Liranzo: 1—5 2B (9), 2RBI, 3 K

Hope: 0-4, R, BB, 2 K

Alba: 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:10 p.m. ET start on Sunday with the SeaWolves holding a 4-1 lead in the series.

West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Lansing Lugnuts 6 (box)

The good news is that West Michigan scored 10 runs and won the game. The bad news is that Brady Smith, who came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade, left the game in the second with an apparent arm injury. It’s not worth speculating now, but while he didn’t appear to be in any extreme pain, it didn’t look great either…

The Whitecaps piled up runs in a hurry, scoring nine of their 10 in the first three frames. Bryce Rainer got things going with a solo homer in the first. Jackson Strong followed Carson Rucker’s double and Nolan McCarthy’s single in the second with a sac fly, making it 4-0.

Lansing had an answer in the top of the third, scoring three on a Little League home run. It was a tall fly ball off the wall in center and a couple of bad relay throws, so the official scorer ruled it a triple and a throwing error by Andrew Sojka. Eliseo Mota was charged with all three runs despite the error.

All was forgiven in the third when Sojka helped spark a five-run frame, hitting the second of four straight singles for Lakeland. Samuel Gil and Juan Hernandez got the RBIs — one and two, respectively. Strong made it 9-3 with a two-run single before the inning ended.

Ethan Sloan pitched and took over for Mota in the fourth. He gave up another three-spot in the fifth, allowing four consecutive hits, including two doubles. Ryan Harvey had to get the last out of the inning and pitched through the seventh. Harvey walked a pair and gave up just one hit while striking out three.

Sojka continued to make amends in the sixth with a solo home run, putting West Michigan into double figures.

Zack Lee worked around a pair of singles over the final two innings to close out the win.

Rainer: 2-5, HR (12), R, RBI, 2 K

Sojka: 2-4, HR (7), 2 R, RBI, BB, K

Strong: 1-3, 3 RBI, BB

Coming Up Next: It’s a 2 p.m. ET start in West Michigan on Sunday with the Whitecaps up 4-1 in the series. They remain tied with the Great Lakes Loons atop the East division standings.

Bradenton Marauders 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (box)

Michael Oliveto had the only two hits for Lakeland in Saturday’s shutout loss to Bradenton. Nick Dumesnil and Angel De Los Santos both walked and Ronald Ramirez reached on an error, but they were the only other baserunners for the Flygers today.

Kelvis Salcedo worked 3.2 innings, which is the deepest he’s gone all year. Despite allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk, Salcedo’s stuff looked good. His cutter drew nine whiffs, and he landed five more called strikes for a 46.7 CSW%.

Salcedo gave up a solo homer in the second and watched the bases clear on a throwing error after a single in the fourth. It never should have gotten to that point, though. Salcedo induced an inning-ending grounder, but it hit the umpire to keep the inning going. The error just completed the minor debacle that cost him another inning of work.

He was pulled after that, but Leonardo Rossell put an unearned run on Salcedo’s record with a wild pitch before getting the final out of the inning.

Rossell pitched through the fifth in his Lakeland debut. He’s an international signee who has spent the last three years in the Dominican Summer League. He came over stateside to play with the FCL club this year and carried a 4.29 ERRA through 21 innings and 16 appearances. Rossell gave up two more runs in the fifth, but one of them goes unearned thanks to a catcher’s interference call.

Owen Hall continues to do good things. He struck out five and worked around three hits over three frames in relief. That first start meltdown continues to skew his numbers, but he has yet to allow a run or walk over seven innings in August.

Bryce Alewine pitched the final inning for Lakeland.

Oliveto: 2-4, K

Salcedo: 3.2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 K, HR

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers lead 3-2 heading into a noon ET start on Sunday.

The Yankees’ ten-run outburst from Wednesday night is already feeling like a distant memory. The team’s moribund bats have gone back to sleep, registering three consecutive woeful efforts that have returned just two runs total. Their obstacle today as they attempt to avoid a sweep at the hands of the suddenly surging Blue Jays? A date with Dylan Cease, the Toronto ace locked in a battle with Cam Schlittler for the AL Cy Young award.

On the site today, Matt will get you caught up with this morning’s Rivalry Roundup, while Maximo will opine on the deleterious effects of unreasonable expectations on Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr. Later, John will recognize Gene Woodling, an unheralded figure from the Yankees’ golden years, before running the through the week in Yankee social media.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays

Time: 1:37 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, Sportsnet, TVA Sports

Venue: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON

Questions/Prompts:

1. Can Ryan Weathers keep up his stellar run of form today?

2. Joshua Báez hit a home run in the first three plate appearances of his MLB career yesterday. Can you think of any comparable debuts in any sport?

New York Post | Greg Joyce: On a day where once again the offense looked lifeless, the New York Yankees finally got some good Aaron Judge news. This past Friday, the Yankees right fielder, out since the end of May with a rib fracture, was cleared to throw the baseball, nine days after imaging revealed that the injury had healed enough for him to start baseball activities. While Judge still has a ways to go before he can return to the diamond, at this point, any little bit of reassurance that he actually can make it back this season is welcome.

The Athletic | Tyler Kepner: (subscription required) Yankees starter Gerrit Cole sits at 159 career wins, just three short of a season’s worth of victories. While that is not exactly a famous milestone — 200, 250, and 300 wins are the real milestones we like to talk about — that would tie him for 226th all-time, and rather surprisingly, set the record for most wins by a first overall pick.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Between a couple of trades and some promotions, the Yankees minor league teams have seen their rosters shuffled quite a bit over the last two weeks. In light of that, Mike Fransoso, the hitting coach of the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, spoke with Miller about several of the hitters on his team. Most notably, this included Roderick Arias, the former top prospect who signed for $4 million in 2022 but who had struggled to find his footing in professional baseball.

The mystery around Paul Skenes' 2026 struggles just keeps growing. The reigning National League Cy Young winner will not start Sunday as scheduled. Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly said that his ace will get three extra days of rest and will start Wednesday instead.

Skenes told reporters he did not disagree with the decision to push him back.

Pittsburgh is not calling it an injury, but there is no denying that something is clearly off with Skenes this year.

He threw just 65 pitches over five innings Tuesday in Miami and came out anyway, having allowed two runs, one of them earned, on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. His four-seam fastball averaged 95.7 miles per hour that night, the lowest single-game mark of his career and more than a full tick under his season average. Hitters put eight balls in play at 95 mph or harder and he got just four swings-and-misses.

The velocity has been a red flag. He is at 96.8 mph on the four-seamer, down from 98.2 last year and 98.8 as a rookie. Kelly said the bigger issue is command. The league is adjusting back, he said this week, and Skenes has to adjust with it.

More: Are Pirates signaling a Paul Skenes shutdown? Or a more actively managed workload?

Skenes had a 1.98 ERA in early May after back-to-back eight-inning shutout starts. In 16 starts since May 17 it is 5.00, with 10 home runs allowed in 84⅔ innings. (He gave up 11 home runs all of last season in 187⅔ innings.)

Pittsburgh is 3-13 in that stretch. His walk rate has climbed up to 6.8%.

Skenes, 24, has discounted the velocity questions all summer, and he did not argue with the early hook Tuesday. If he were the manager, he said, he would probably have made the same call.

The Pirates are 60-65, 6.5 games out of the last National League wild card and in last place in the National league Central. They were tied for a playoff spot four weeks ago. They don't get there without Skenes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When does Paul Skenes pitch next? Pirates push back ace's next start

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Sacramento Athletics scored three runs.

After the Rangers missed out on delivering on an early RISP opportunity in the top of the first, an inning later someone named Henry Bolte, a person I’m not sure family could pick out of a lineup, hit a ball with two on that just barely glanced off the base of the left field foul pole at the A’s temporary minor league home.

Suddenly down 3-0, it would have been easy to think, “Here we go again.”

That feeling permeated as the lineup didn’t really get anything else going through the first handful of innings and, just when it seemed like the Rangers were headed for a fifth straight loss to the two worst teams in baseball, Nicky Lopez followed a Jake Burger double with an RBI single in the top of the fifth.

The Rangers have been desperate for anything from the bottom of the order and Lopez provided a run out of the nine spot. Maybe that helped lift the spell a little from this freefall that Texas has found itself in on the West Coast, or maybe pride finally gurgled up to put a purposeful taste in the mouths of the Rangers batters.

An inning later, down 3-1, the middle of the order was due and Brandon Nimmo, Corey Seager, and Wyatt Langford went double, RBI single, two-run home run to ambush the A’s and take a 4-3 lead in a matter of moments.

MacKenzie Gore allowed the three-run home run that put Texas in that early hole, so count that as his weekly Gore Inning. After that seemingly ruinous second inning, Gore eventually managed to make it through 5 2/3 innings with just the three runs allowed, just barely missing a quality start.

Thankfully, Chase Silseth cleaned up for Gore in the sixth and then Jakob Junis made his first appearance in over two weeks, a scoreless seventh inning. It was curious to see Junis come in in the seventh but that ultimately meant Jacob Latz was called upon for one of his patented two-inning saves.

The Rangers decided to wait all the way until the top of the ninth to score again and give Latz a little breathing room. Following an Evan Carter double, Jarred Kelenic came off the bench and provided the insurance with an pinch-hit RBI single.

Latz, who was pitching in just his fourth game all month, worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth but never allowed another baserunner. With his lead doubled by his second frame, Latz was able to comfortably claim his 24th save of the year to snap the losing skid.

Further good news, since Houston was walloped by Seattle earlier in the day, the Rangers gained a game in the standings where they now sit just two back of first place. Despite being two games below .500, the Rangers are also ahead of three other teams by a half game for the final American League Wild Card spot.

Weird year.

Player of the Game: The Rangers have really, really, really needed Langford to break out of his lengthy August slump and that finally came about tonight as he collected three hits including the big eventual game-winning two-run dong.

Up Next: The Rangers and A’s conclude this series in the road trip finale with LHP Cody Bradford next up for Texas opposite LHP Jacob Lopez for the Northern California squad.

First pitch Sunday’s finale is set for a more reasonable 3:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Michael Massey and Jac Caglianone powered the lineup last night. They did it again tonight, with the only two hits KC had – both singles – in a 1-0 loss to the Angels.

When your team falls by a score of 1-0, it would be easy to place the blame on the offense. But this was really Reid Detmers flashing some of that brilliance I wrote about before the game. When he’s on, there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do, and baby, he was on tonight. Detmers struck out 11 over 8 scoreless innings and required only 92 pitches to do it. He didn’t walk anyone, and he allowed those two singles mentioned at the top. That’s it. The Angels asked closer Ben Joyce to finish it off and, wielding a fastball that easily tops 104 MPH, he did just that with a pair of strikeouts.

Randy Dobnak, known more for his sweeper, threw the Angels a healthy dose of changeups in his 5.2 innings tonight. He figured out early that the sweeper wasn’t working and the Angels could do nothing to the changeup, so he threw it more than any of his other pitches. Ultimately, he struck out six while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 scoreless innings. He had some good defense behind him, but Dobnak Time continues unabated as we inch ever closer to the end of the season.

Craig Kimbrel was tasked with escaping the sixth inning with two runners on and managed to do so when a deep flyball from Josh Lowe died just in front of the track, landing in Starling Marte’s glove. Kimbrel relied again on the marine layer as well as a fantastic play from Tyler Tolbert in the seventh.

Nate Pearson got the eighth and, unfortunately, his control issues from most of his career popped up again when he allowed a leadoff walk to Wade Meckler. Jose Siri pinch-ran for him and promptly stole second. Pearson got Mike Trout to pop out, but a groundball at 102.6 off the bat of Nolan Schanuel managed to deflect off of Caglianone’s glove into right, and that was all she wrote. Pearson recovered to get a strikeout and a groundout, but the winning run was already in.

Cags just missed a home run to center field in the first inning. According to Baseball Savant, it was barreled, the third-hardest hit ball in the game, and would have been a home run in 6/30 parks, including UNIQLO in Los Angeles. Jac’s single in the fourth was hit at 105.5, the hardest-hit ball for either team all night. When he stole second (his sixth of the season!) a few moments later, it was the first and only time a Royal made it past first all night. He did look pretty silly striking out in the seventh, but you can only do what you can do. The lack of offense meant he did not get a fourth at-bat.

That was the first time in five contests the Angels managed to beat the Royals. KC can’t have a .500 road trip anymore, but they could at least escape Anaheim of Los Angeles with a series victory if they can win tomorrow. Noah Cameron (4.45 ERA, 4.13 SIERA) will try to rebound from the off-kilter start in LA. The Angels will counter with a right-hander, thankfully, rookie Ryan Johnson (6.71 ERA, 5.17 SIERA). The game is the Royals’ last one on the West Coast this year and will start at 3:07 PM Central time.

Danny Young this season has an ERA over 8, a FIP over 7, and an xFIP over 6. He has at times in his 5 season, 73.0 inning major league career been an acceptable major league reliever and even has acceptable career numbers over that time, but he has simply not given the Braves a compelling reason to keep him on their roster this year. Meanwhile, the Braves are reportedly contemplating how to bring AJ Smith-Shawver onto the roster. My proposal is to simply get rid of Danny Young, perhaps bring up a stopgap arm for a few days and then have AJ replace Grant Holmes in the rotation. Holmes can be a good arm out of the bullpen and while he has done admirably to perform the job of a back end rotation starter, he can impact the Braves the best for the remainder of this season out of the bullpen.

Braves News

The Braves got absolutely pounded on a night when they really had nothing going against the Diamondbacks.

MLB News

The Cardinals promoted top prospect Joshua Baez and he hit a homer in each of his first THREE MLB plate appearances Saturday.

Red Sox’ Aroldis Chapman passed the threshold for his $13 million vesting option, pending post-season physical.

The Blue Jays put Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the concussion IL after taking a knee to the head.