Category: MLB

The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the Tampa Bay Rays scored zero runs.

After suffering embarrassment at the hand of the A’s yesterday, the Rangers needed to rebound against the team topping the American League. Turns out, it was an easy task for Cal Quantrill.

I’ve been making a bit of hyperbolic sport about Quantrill’s ascension from long relief afterthought to rotation savior in just a manner of weeks but eventually it stops being fodder to mine for laughs and veers fully into being impressive. We’ve arrived at that destination. The Rangers turned to Quantrill to be the series tone-setter tonight and the newly risen ace delivered in spades.

Quantrill kept the AL-best 83-win Rays off the board over his 95 pitches which got him through seven innings of spotless work. To help Quantrill earn a victory, the Rangers broke the scoreless tie with a two-out RBI hit by Justin Foscue off Rays left-handed starter Shane McClanahan.

McClanahan hadn’t been the losing pitcher in a game since right after the All-Star break when he was tagged with a loss back on July 19 in Boston. The Rangers made sure to pin a second loss in the second half on McClanahan when they added three runs in the bottom of the fifth, all with two outs again.

Logan O’Hoppe singled to lead off the inning and scored on a two-out RBI single from team MVP Ezequiel Duran. After Duran stole stole second, Corey Seager crushed a lefty-on-lefty dong to give Quantrill all the wiggle room he never even needed.

The Rangers added a couple more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth while Jakob Junis and Chase Silseth combined to pitch the remaining two scoreless frames.

There are plenty of hurdles remaining for Texas in the season’s final weeks but you couldn’t ask for a better way to start this series against the AL’s best.

Player of the Game: Quantrill dominated the league’s best squad with seven innings of shutout ball with just a couple of hits allowed and two walks. Quantrill struck out five Rays and earned his seventh win of the season in his 13th start of the year.

Up Next: The Rangers and Rays are back at it tomorrow evening with RHP Kumar Rocker set to take the mound for Texas opposite right handed old friend Nick Martinez for Tampa Bay.

The Friday night first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

Patrick Zalupski should do a roll call for the next ownership group meeting because Cal Quantrill is a majority statistical owner of the franchise. Quantrill, with his effort tonight, is now 4-0 lifetime against Tampa Bay over seven starts as he led the Rangers to a 6-0 win over the Rays.

Quantrill does not light up the radar guns in today’s game of velocity, but his combination of command and repetoire has given the Rays and the league fits this summer:

The Rays last faced Quantrill on July 28th and were held to a single run with just over five innings of work. Quantrill worked seven complete tonight while barely breaking a sweat scattering two singles and two late walks while striking out five. The two singles came on consecutive plate appearances with two outs in the third, but Chandler Simpson was unable to extend the two-out rally. The two walks came in the 7th inning as Quantrill, but Jorge Mateo was unable to move the traffic and allowing Quantrill to spin seven shutout innings on the evening

The righty has now pitched to a 2.34 ERA over his last 11 starts since taking over for the injured Jack Leiter in the rotation. He generated just nine swings and misses in the contest, but primarily used an up/down approach in the zone with his two fastballs while extending the zone with his splitter to get a lot of soft contact in the contest:

The game was never particularly close given the Rays only had a runner reach second base three times on the evening, but the Rangers broke the game open in the the 5th when Shane McClanahan left a changeup up and over the plate. Seager had twice hit deep flyballs off the lefty, but this one went six rows deep into the bleachers:

McClanahan had just five swings and missed in this contest, which was his lowest single-game total of the season. Casey Legumina finished the final three innings of the contest allowing the final two runs while the offense picked up just one more hit by Diaz after the consecutive singles by Fortes and Diaz back in the 3rd inning. A Jonathan Aranda hat trick accounted for half of the six strikeouts on the evening in a game that felt as close as the 73-0 football game I watched on my other screen this evening.

The Mets are hardly alone in having issues at catcher.

But for a team that’s long waited for Francisco Alvarez to establish himself, its patience has been tested again.

Since Alvarez caught his fourth straight game Aug. 11, the Mets haven’t started either Alvarez or Luis Torrens more than two games in a row.

It’s as much an indication of Alvarez’s struggles on both sides of the ball as it is Torrens’ dependability.

And with catchers being such a difficult commodity to find, the Mets could take the duo into next season, but that was never the plan.

Alvarez was expected to get the bulk of the playing time, with the organization hoping he could become more consistent — and healthy.

Alvarez — nearly four years after making his MLB debut with the Mets late in the 2022 season — continues to be prone to both lengthy slumps and injuries.

Lately, he’s found his struggles with the bat.

As the Mets enter their homestand Friday against the Giants at Citi Field, Alvarez is back in an ugly slump, just 5-for-51 with a pair of doubles, four walks and 29 strikeouts in his past 16 games.

Torrens, meanwhile, after getting off to a brutal start to the season, has a .753 OPS since May 10.

The Mets signed him to an extension during the season and held on to him at the trade deadline.

But while they know what they’re going to get out of the former Yankees prospect, Alvarez remains a mystery.

Typically worse against left-handed pitching than versus righties, Alvarez this season has had an especially rough time when facing southpaws, with a .583 OPS, compared with .757 against righties.

Only four of the 124 righty hitters with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties have been worse.

He’s also struck out a career-high 30.6 percent of the time.

The Mets claimed right-hander Cameron Weston from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse.

The 26-year-old has made one appearance in the majors, tossing an inning for Baltimore in May. He spent most of this season with Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s been mostly ineffective.

To make room on the 40-man roster, catcher Shawn Ross was designated for assignment. Ross was picked up off waivers from the Pirates last month.

Adley Rutschman tormented his former team in his first game back at Camden Yards, hitting two home runs and leading the Red Sox to a 6-5 win in Baltimore.

Batting third for Boston, Rutschman received a standing ovation from the Camden Yards faithful in the 1st, tipping his helmet to the fans who still had plenty of love for the former Oriole. He then repaid that love by launching Brandon Young’s hanging curveball onto the flag court for an early 1-0 lead for Boston.

The Orioles would tie the game in the first on a Pete Alonso sac fly, before Alonso and Luis Robert Jr. provided some fireworks of their own in the 4th. Robert, the newest Oriole, marked his Camden Yards debut by blasting a Jack Bennett fastball into the left-field stands. The Polar Bear then followed suit, golfing a changeup below his knees just out of the reach of Boston’s CF for his 33rd long ball of the season.

Those back-to-back jacks put the Orioles up 3-1, a lead they held until Rutschman came back up in the 6th. With one out and the bases empty, Young tried to challenge his former teammate with a fastball up and in. Rutschman turned on the heater and sent another solo shot to right field to cut the Orioles’ lead in half.

After the Red Sox tied the game at 3-3 in the 7th, the former Baltimore backstop was then in the heart of another rally in the 8th. Jahmai Jones led off the inning with a single to left, bringing up Rutschman with the winning run on first. The three-time All-Star bounced a would-be double-play ball to third; however, a hard slide by Jones at second caused Blaze Alexander’s throw to skip off Alonso’s forearm and allowed Rutschman to go to second.

Like on his home run trots, the Boston catcher didn’t have to run hard to score his third run of the day. Two batters later, Nick Sogard homered off a Yennier Cano sinker at the knees to put the Red Sox up 5-3. The Sogard blast ended Cano’s streak of 48 straight appearances without allowing a homer. Roman Anthony would then take Albert Suárez deep in the 9th for the Red Sox’s fourth homer of the evening, putting Boston up 6-3.

Unexpectedly, that insurance run would prove important as Aroldis Chapman came in for the save in the 9th. After Alonso struck out to begin the frame, Gunnar Henderson slapped a belt-high fastball to left to give the Orioles some hope. That hope grew even more two pitches later, as Christian Encarnacion-Strand turned on a fastball at the top of the zone, blasting a two-run homer to left to chop Boston’s lead down to one.

The thoughts of a comeback quickly faded, however. The future Hall of Fame closer got Leody Taveras to fly out to center for the second out of the inning. Chapman then got ahead of Dylan Beavers 0-2 before blowing a 100mph fastball past the rookie outfielder to secure Boston’s win.

Outside of the two mistakes to Rutschman, Young was excellent for 6.2 innings on Thursday. He struck out the first two batters he faced, fanning Roman Anthony and Mickey Gasper on low splitters. He’d get two quick outs in the 2nd before punching out Jarren Duran on a splitter just off the outside corner.

After Rutschman’s first homer, Young set down the next six Red Sox he faced, with the streak ending on a two-out walk to Anthony in the 3rd. BY would cap that inning with a Gasper flyout to finish the first three innings with only two baserunners and three strikeouts.

The Orioles’ big right-hander ran into his first real jam in the 4th thanks to a brief lapse of control. After two flyouts to start the inning, Nick Sogard walked on four pitches to extend the frame. Young then tried to run a sinker in on the hands of Caleb Durbin, but clipped the Red Sox’s 3B to give Boston two on with two outs. The big Texan got out of the jam by getting Duran to fly out on a high fastball, stranding both runners.

Young breezed through a 1-2-3 5th inning on just 12 pitches. Rutschman’s second homer of the night snapped a streak of 17 straight Red Sox plate appearances without a hit. Young rebounded from that blast by striking out Wilyer Abreu looking on a curveball at the knees. Sogard then lined out to close out another strong frame from the 28-year-old righty.

Having only thrown 81 pitches through six innings, Young got the green light from manager Craig Albernaz to go back out for the 7th. At first, it looked like the right decision, with Durbin lining out after two pitches and Duran striking out on a 3-2 splitter at the knees. However, with two outs, Boston outfielder Eli White poked a first-pitch fastball down the right-field line to put the tying run on second. Albernaz let Young pitch to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who bounced another ball through the right side. The single scored White, tied the game at three and chased Young from the game.

The Orioles’ most reliable starter finished with a line that doesn’t accurately reflect how good he was Thursday. Finishing with 6.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 7 Ks, his stats paint the picture of a good but not great start from BY. At times, however, he was untouchable, generating 12 swings and misses and producing 5 Ks on his splitter alone. If not for two mistakes to Rutschman, Young might have earned a win; instead, he finished with a somewhat unjust No Decision.

Thanks to Cleveland losing Thursday, the Orioles remain 1.5 GB of the last Wild Card spot in the AL. Shane Baz takes the mound tomorrow night looking to end Baltimore’s three-game skid.

Box Score

After scoring nine runs in back-to-back games, the Brewers were only able to muster a single run as they dropped tonight’s series finale against the Cubs by a score of 2-1. Logan Henderson put together another great start, but Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-run homer in the third proved to be all the offense Chicago would need.

With the loss, the Brewers split this week’s four-game series at Wrigley Field. They are now eight games up in the division with 21 games to go.

Both starters — Henderson for Milwaukee and Kevin Gausman for Chicago — kept the opposing offense from doing much through the early innings. Milwaukee had a brief chance in the top of the second after Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell both singled with two outs, but Joey Ortiz flew out to center, stranding them both.

In the bottom of the frame, Alex Bregman led off with a double, but Henderson bore down to retire the next three Cubs — Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, and Pedro Ramírez — without so much as allowing Bregman to advance to third.

Henderson was again terrific tonight for the Brewers, going seven innings for the third time in four starts while striking out seven and holding the Cubs to just three hits. The lone blemish on an otherwise nearly spotless outing came in the third after Carson Kelly singled into left field with one out in the third. That brought up Crow-Armstrong, the favorite to win this year’s NL MVP award, who has struggled against the Brewers — he entered today’s game just 3-for-33 against Milwaukee this season. Henderson threw a 2-1 changeup well below the zone that PCA golfed over the center-field fence for a two-run homer.

However, Gausman — who’s had some uncharacteristic struggles this season — matched Henderson every step of the way. Milwaukee immediately got a run back in the fourth on a (monster) two-out solo homer off the bat of Andrew Vaughn, but the Brewers couldn’t muster the tying run despite threatening twice more.

In the fifth, Ortiz and David Hamilton — the Brewers’ eight and nine hitters — both reached and ended up on second and third with two outs, but Gausman got Brice Turang to stare at strike three for the third out. In the sixth, Jake Bauers worked a one-out walk and made it around to third on a wild pitch and a groundout, but Yelich grounded out to strand him. Gausman came back out for the seventh and retired the side in order, as did relievers Ryan Zeferjahn and Ryan Rolison in the eighth and ninth.

Milwaukee won’t have much time away from the Cubs, as the two teams are scheduled to begin a second series — this time in Milwaukee — on Monday. In the meantime, the Brewers will head to Cincinnati to take on another divisional opponent in the Reds for a three-game set. First pitch for tomorrow’s series opener is set for 5:10 p.m., with Shane Drohan starting for the Brewers opposite Rhett Lowder.

I spend too much time on the internet. That has become clear to me, especially over the last year or so. However, occasionally the internet brings good ideas! And that was the case last week.

I was scrolling through Threads and came across this question:

So I’d like to rephrase this for baseball into four questions:

1. If you had to create a Rockies team using nine clones of exactly one current player playing all positions, which player do you think would create the most successful team?
2. If you had to create a Rockies team using nine clones of exactly one former player playing all positions, which player do you think would create the most successful team?
3. If you had to create a Major League Baseball team using nine clones of exactly one current player playing all positions, which player do you think would create the most successful team?
4. If you had to create a Major League Baseball team using nine clones of exactly one former player playing all positions, which player do you think would create the most successful team?

Let us know in the comments!

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

Tarik Skubal faces Quinn Matthews as the Dodgers look to avoid being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals

THURSDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Cardinals
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The Red Sox had one hit through five innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.

If you think that was going to stop them, you must not have been paying attention…

Boston, as it has done over and over against throughout the week, took its time to get going and entered the seventh inning trailing and immediately ran into two outs. Double. Single. Tie Game. Boston then took the lead just one inning later, doing so once again with two outs. Single. Fielder’s Choice. Strikeout. Home Run.

It’s not pretty, but this team continues to scratch and claw — scoring 14 runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings since Sunday — and was rewarded with a 6-5 victory at Camden Yards.

STUDS

Adley Rutschman: If there was ever a time to rediscover that you’re the best two-way catcher in the game…

Rutschman, in his first game against the team that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, belted two home runs in one of the coolest subplots of the season. The Red Sox offense literally didn’t have a hit aside from those two until the seventh inning, and when the rest of the club got things going he was on base to score the game-winning run.

ESPN Insights shared that he is now the fourth former top pick to hit a home run in his first plate appearance against the team that drafted him, and first since Kansas City Royals first baseman Jeff King did it against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1997.

Nick Sogard: OH. HELL. YEAH.

Sogard home runs in his first 91 games? 0. Sogard home runs in his last 15 games? 4.

Jake Bennett: The Red Sox starting rotation hasn’t been able to contain opposing offenses in the last couple of weeks, so this was a fresh breath of air.

Bennett allowed three runs through six innings, which isn’t stellar but it sure is quality and enough for a win. That’s all that matters in September.

Roman Anthony: If he doesn’t hit this home run in the top of the ninth inning, we would have been going to extras.

DUDS

I’ve got nothing.

“CLASS ACT, THAT GUY” MOMENT OF THE GAME

Rutschman didn’t just hit two home runs, but he got two standing ovations in his return to Oriole Park.

Carlos Narvaez, one of the men in which he was traded for, helped facilitate the first when he took a stroll in front of home plate to allow the crowd to cheer the former face of the franchise — with the two sharing a moment together behind the dish whenever the other would step up to the plate.

Cute. Cool. Classy.

The Dodgers’ nine-game homestand continues with the middle series of the residency, hosting the Washington Nationals beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

Blake Snell starts the opener on Friday, with fellow left-hander Jackson Kent on the mound for Washington. Snell is making his fifth start since returning from the injured list, while Kent is making his fifth major league start.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Nationals
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Talk about Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. The Astros seemed poised this week to not only beat them in a series, but also eventually leapfrog them into the two seed. Astros 6. White Sox 2. It took more than a month, but finally, Houston has won a series at home.     

You’d be hard pressed to select just “one” player of the game. On the pitching front, Hunter Brown limited the damage to only the 2nd inning. Sousa and Abreu had moments of dominate stuff, each pitching a scoreless frame and AJ Blubaugh continues to dazzle, authoring yet another scoreless appearance. He’s now struck out 87 batters in 86.1 innings. The next closet (Parker Blackburn) hasn’t even eclipsed 75 for the year.

On the offensive side of the ledger, Jose Altuve started things in the bottom of the first, blasting a two-run shot which brought home Paredes who drew a walk. That made things 2-0.     

The White Sox would respond the next frame by generating four singles off Hunter Brown. By the time they were set down, things were even at 2-2. That would remain the score until the bottom of the third.    LaMonte Wade Jr. singled to right, then Yordan would move him over after reaching on an HBP. Paredes would double home Wade and then moments later, Daulton Varsho tripled which broke things open for good. Christian Walker would bring in Varsho and it was 6-2. That would be your final.    

Hunter Brown for the day would go 6 innings, picking up his 5th win of the season. He struck out 7, issued a pair of walks and allowed 6 hits.   

Odds & Ends:

The Astros won 5 of 7 meetings this season vs. the White Sox.

The Astros have tied their best mark, reaching 3 games over the .500 mark.

Since releasing GM Dana Brown, the club has won 7 out of their last 10.

The Astros are now 1.5 games behind the White Sox for the 2 seed in the American League.

This is hardly the stretch run the Mets were expecting when they opened the season with one of the highest payrolls in the game and among the loftiest expectations. 

But here we are, with 10 games left on their home schedule as they open a series against the Giants on Friday night at Citi Field. 

And as Juan Soto said Thursday, he hopes the team’s goal is to “finish strong.” 

“We’re not finished yet,” Soto said. “We’re not done yet. Who knows what can happen?” 

At various points of the year, that might have sounded like a threat, as the Mets hit different low points along the way. 

And while they remain in last place in the NL East and are certainly a team that will go down as one of the most disappointing in franchise history, they’ve at least been less of an embarrassment of late. 

As Soto said, the team hopes to “finish strong and carry that into October or next season.” 

Since the Mets won’t even make it to the end of September, let alone next month’s playoffs, perhaps it’s best to look at what the organization can try to learn over the final weeks of the regular season. 

How will the outfield look? 

Carson Benge has established himself as a solid player on both sides of the ball, getting more comfortable at the plate and, as a former pitcher, already showing off one of the best outfield arms in the game. 

Since Luis Robert Jr. was claimed off waivers by Baltimore, the Mets have gone with three different left fielders in three games: Christopher Morel, Brett Baty and another rookie, Nick Morabito, who picked up his first major league hits and RBIs off the bench in Wednesday’s win at Tampa Bay. 

Perhaps the most crucial question as the Mets look to the future is which player is A.J. Ewing? 

Is he the player that sparked the offense with an .805 OPS over his first 55 games or the one who’s been among the least productive hitters in the sport since July 11, with a .494 OPS that’s the second-lowest among qualified hitters? 

Soto, who took part in a baseball clinic for athletes from the Police Athletic League and was sponsored by Under Armour at City Line Park in Brooklyn on Thursday, said he “100 percent” wants to get back in left field before the end of the season as he manages the strained left calf that sidelined him last month. 

Soto turns 28 next month and had never appeared in fewer than 150 games in a full season outside of his rookie year with the Nationals, when he was called up in May. 

He’s so far played in just 89 games this lost season and has already acknowledged he needs to adjust how he trains going forward. 

Starting up 

In the three-game series against the also-disappointing Giants, the Mets are scheduled to start three promising young pitchers, with Nolan McLean going Friday, lefty Zac Thornton on Saturday and Christian Scott on Sunday. 

McLean is making a late push for NL Rookie of the Year, although Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart is considered the favorite, with Benge also potentially in the mix. 

McLean has been one of the best pitchers in the majors in the second half, with an ERA of 1.76 in his past 11 starts. 

And as The Post’s Mike Puma reported this week, another young pitcher, Jonah Tong, could get a start in Miami next week. He has yet to find success in the majors, but pitched well in seven of his past eight starts at Triple-A Syracuse and allowed just a pair of runs in his past four outings, over 21 ¹/₃ innings. 

What a relief! 

After the Mets shipped off many of their quality relievers at the trade deadline, they’ve seen more out of inexperienced arms like Nate Lavender, who hasn’t allowed a run in 12 appearances. And is Kodai Senga closing really going to continue? His performance this month — and willingness to stay in the role moving forward — could play a part in the decision. 

Last chance? 

While Luis Torrens continues to impress — both offensively and defensively — Francisco Alvarez is back in an ugly slump, just 5-for-51 with a pair of doubles, four walks and 29 strikeouts in his past 16 games. 

Brett Baty has not fared well in a utility role, and Mark Vientos’ future with the organization is in doubt after another rough season. 

The Mets claimed right-hander Cameron Weston from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. The 26-year-old has made one appearance in the majors, tossing an inning for Baltimore in May. He spent most of this season with Triple-A Norfolk, where he’s been mostly ineffective. To make room on the 40-man roster, catcher Shawn Ross was designated for assignment. Ross was picked up off waivers from the Pirates last month.

A couple of injured Mariners have had setbacks in their progression as they attempt to return to play: reliever Matt Brash has been shut down from throwing temporarily, while infielder Brendan Donovan remains in the concussion protocol.

UPDATE: Mariners GM Justin Hollander announced to the media on Friday that the results of an MRI taken on Thursday showed inflammation in his injured lat. Brash felt tightness in his lat after throwing his most recent bullpen in Boston, so the team shut him down from throwing for the time being while he got imaging done. Unfortunately, that imaging revealed the inflammation, and the team has shut him down from throwing for the next eight weeks in order to clear the inflammation. He’ll obviously miss the rest of the season, but the hope is that he can start his off-season throwing program sometime in early November provided the inflammation calms.

According to GM Justin Hollander, this was been a recurring pattern for Brash as he attempted to clear the hurdle of bullpens off a mound before graduating to throwing to live hitters and then to a rehab assignment.

“This has been a recurring theme with this specific injury,” said Hollander. “He feels good when he’s throwing on flat ground, but in the pens, it’s continued to tighten up on him as he finishes the bullpen and gets into the recovery phase.”

“He’s bounced back reasonably. Not as much as we would have hoped, which is why we’ve been in the same holding pattern where he’s throwing bullpens but hasn’t progressed to live BPs or game action because this has been a pattern over the last 10 days – two weeks, where he feels really good in between, he feels really good throwing on flat, he feels fine in the bullpen, then after the pen, it starts to tighten up a little bit. And until we can get through that, there’s just no reason to push him out there and cause more injury or have a recurrence of the same injury.”

Even with a perfect scan, it seemed very unlikely that Brash would have been able to rejoin the team before the end of the regular season. But it’s still disappointing news, and another tile in the sad mosaic of injury and ineffectiveness that has been the 2026 Mariners season.

Brash isn’t the only Mariner who has struggled to clear an injury benchmark. Infielder Brendan Donovan remains in the concussion protocol. The benchmark he’s not able to clear yet is being able to complete his pregame work without feeling symptoms of his concussion – he’ll get to the end of his pregame routine and feel effects such as nausea, fatigue, and/or dizziness. Hollander called Donovan’s progress “incremental” and “slow” and said all the team can do is continue to see if he can clear that benchmark before a return to play can be considered, at which point the team will determine whether to send him back to Tacoma for a couple of rehab games or activate him straight to the big-league team.

“Some days are better than others,” said Hollander. “The last few days, he has felt symptomatic towards all of thsoe pregames…it’s just not okay if we run him out there when he’s feeling those things until he can get all the way through them and feel 100%.”

Hollander also provided an update on Emerson Hancock, who is currently on the IL with a groin strain. Hancock will throw on Sunday, either from a mound or flat ground, at which point the team will have more information about how he’s feeling and decisions will be made about how to proceed.

There’s better news for another injured Mariners reliever: reliever Cole Wilcox will throw off a mound this weekend, and the hope is he’ll be able to throw a couple of bullpens with the goal of getting in some rehab games in Tacoma before the Triple-A season ends, and then ideally be available for the Mariners after that.

Hollander also updated Emerson Hancock’s status on Friday, saying he had a follow-up MRI that was “encouraging.” He’s scheduled to throw on Sunday, which will hopefully provide clarity about his availability moving forward.

One final note: newly-acquired reliever Hoby Milner is away from the team attending to a family emergency. RHP Troy Taylor is up from Tacoma in his place.

After salvaging the final game of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday afternoon, the Athletics begin a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners tonight.

Following last fall’s run to the American League Championship Series, the Mariners entered this season as a trendy pick to win the American League. However, Seattle has failed to live up to expectations, entering with a 66-74 record, five and a half games behind the first-place Houston Astros and in dire need of a September run to return to the postseason. It is the Athletics’ job to play spoiler as a series loss to a last-place squad is something the Mariners can ill afford.

A’s right-hander Jack Perkins will start the series opener. The 26-year-old enters his 33rd appearance and 13th start of the season with a 3-10 record, a 6.42 ERA, three saves and 109 strikeouts over 95 1/3 innings.

Perkins will look to continue his recent success this evening in his fourth career game and first start against the Mariners. In his most recent outing against the Baltimore Orioles, the right-hander took the loss despite allowing just one run on four hits over five innings.

Walks remain a problem, as he issued at least four in each of his two previous outings. Facing a Mariners team with some momentum after winning a series at Fenway Park, Perkins will need to limit free passes and avoid mistake pitches in the heart of the plate.

Here’s the Athletics’ starting lineup for this one:

Tommy White remains out of the lineup due to back soreness. Denzel Clarke, who is just returning from an extended injury absence, joins him on the bench after starting all three games in Texas.

The A’s stacked the top of their lineup with their best healthy hitters, all of whom need to contribute if the Green and Gold want to score runs and have a chance at winning. It will be a surprise if the hitters in the sixth through ninth spots provide much production against tonight’s Mariners starter. Shortstop Alika Williams, who homered yesterday, has been a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, third baseman Max Muncy is running out of time to shed the first-round bust label.

That aforementioned Mariners starter is elite pitching prospect and Minor League Player of the Year candidate Kade Anderson. Anderson, whom the Mariners selected third overall, and Jamie Arnold, whom the Athletics selected with the 11th pick, were considered the two best left-handed pitchers in last year’s MLB Draft class.

Both southpaws began their professional careers this year in Double-A. While Arnold experienced some initial inconsistency adjusting to the professional game, Anderson went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA in his first 18 professional starts.

The A’s recently promoted Arnold to Triple-A. In contrast, Anderson bypassed Triple-A entirely. This evening will mark Anderson’s third big-league start and first against the Athletics. He did not look out of place in his first two outings, showing the ace-level potential that could boost a Seattle rotation that has underperformed relative to its lofty expectations. The A’s injury-depleted offense better be prepared for a challenge against a pitcher who balances out the Mariners’ right-handed-heavy rotation.

And the Mariners’ starting nine:

Perkins will have to be careful when facing the Mariners’ first four hitters, as all four have hit at least 20 home runs this season. Catcher Cal Raleigh has regressed after his historic season last year, but he has started to turn things around lately.

Today will be right fielder Lazaro Montes’ second MLB game and home debut. The 21-year-old’s power bat and Cuban nationality have earned him comparisons to Yordan Alvarez, adding an additional threat for Perkins and the rest of the A’s pitching staff to deal with.

Time to win a second straight game and play spoiler in Seattle. Let’s go, A’s!

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As the Yankees continue their path to the postseason, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes opens up the mailbag to talk roster construction when Aaron Judge returns and much more...

Are the Yankees really going to run with Grisham in center field instead of Spencer Jones and is it even likely that they’ll send Jones down with Judge returning? -@yellow643

I can see a world in which the Yankees run with Trent Grisham in center down the stretch, at least against right-handed pitching, out of respect for his experience and to give him time to get his bat going before the postseason. I don’t know if I would make that decision, and I don’t know if they will, either.

I cannot see a world in which the Yankees do not have Jones on their roster down the stretch and into October. Yes, Aaron Judge creates a roster crunch, but I don’t anticipate Jones being the one pushed out. He has been too good, and is too much of a power threat, to take off the roster for the most important games of the season. And if he is on the roster, the Yankees will have to take another position player off.

The Yankees’ general dearth of right-handed bats makes this complicated. I would assume Heliot Ramos remains on the roster as a pinch-hitter or platoon option in center against a tough lefty. So that means an infielder would have to go.

Amed Rosario feels like the likeliest choice, but even in a difficult offensive season, he maintains the Yankees’ confidence as a right-handed option off the bench. But in the postseason, Paul Goldschmidt can fill that role, even if it means pinch-hitting for someone in another infield position: The proven positional versatility of Jose Caballero and the theoretical versatility of Luis Garcia Jr. allow for creativity.

Ryan McMahon’s defense at third base is probably too important to the success of key pitchers like Max Fried to leave off the roster due to his inconsistency offensively. But I could see them making that decision if they are worried about being too left-handed.

Long story short: I think Jones has proven himself too valuable to leave him off the roster when Judge returns and beyond.

Will we ever see Giancarlo Stanton play again in pinstripes? -@MrEd315

I don’t know. His contract situation makes any kind of retirement scenario complicated: The Yankees owe him $25 million next year and a $10 million buyout if they choose not to bring him back for 2028. Thirty-five million isn’t crazy for the Yankees, but it isn’t nothing.

My expectation is that this will be up to Stanton. If he wants to try to play again – and he is just 44 home runs shy of 500 – I think the Yankees will give him that chance. Even if he is a semiregular designated hitter and a huge bench bat, his clubhouse presence probably justifies keeping him around. But his legs clearly gave out on him this year, which is not a good sign for a player with chronic elbow pain, too. I would not be surprised if he decides to call it after this season, though to be very, very clear, I have not heard anyone who would know suggest that is imminent.

Who do you think will have a better career? Nolan McLean or Cam Schlittler? -@LobstersLong

Whichever one is healthiest. Period. They’re both incredible young talents. Schlittler has been better so far and appears to be an excellent big-game pitcher. So he has the edge for now. But McLean’s stuff moves naturally in ways people spend whole careers trying to achieve. His numbers are not THAT far behind Schlittler, all things considered. To me, whoever is healthier will finish with the better resume. They’re both incredibly talented.