The Boston Red Sox head into tonight's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates as the -127 moneyline favorites behind left-hander Jake Bennett. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at PNC Park.
While Bubba Chandler has pitched well, my Red Sox vs Pirates predictions are backing Bennett to outduel the right-hander.
Who will win Red Sox vs Pirates today: Red Sox (-126)
Jake Bennett has been brilliant for the Boston Red Sox this season, posting a 3.21 xERA over his last five appearances while allowing just 0.62 HR/9 and limiting walks.
He has also held opponents to a 3.2% barrel rate over the last month, which matters against a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that struggles badly against lefties. Pittsburgh owns an 89 wRC+ versus southpaws compared to an 111 mark vs. righties.
Bubba Chandler is in good form with a 2.65 FIP across his previous two outings, but the hurler's 5.91 xERA and 43.3% hard-hit rate during that span show vulnerability. With Boston carrying a 125 wRC+ over its last 13 games, the Red Sox hold the edge.
Play this pick up to -140.
COVERS INTEL: The Red Sox have been swining better on the road, posting a 105 wRC+ compared to a 93 mark at Fenway Park. That gives Boston another matchup advantage against Chandler tonight.
Red Sox vs Pirates Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (+109)
The total is too low, and I’m targeting the Over. Boston’s offense has a 106 wRC+ over the last week, and although the power hasn’t been there, the Red Sox have still averaged nearly five runs per game during that span.
Pittsburgh’s lineup is also in decent form, posting a 107 wRC+ over its previous six contests while averaging nearly the same number of runs. Offense may be harder to find against Bennett and a Red Sox bullpen with a 2.78 xERA over its last 60 frames, but the Pirates may not need to do too much if Boston produces.
There’s vulnerability once Chandler exits, with Pittsburgh’s relief corps owning a 4.47 FIP lately.
Play this pick up to -130.
Red Sox vs Pirates home run prediction: Wilyer Abreu (+388)
Wilyer Abreu is smashing baseballs recently. The slugger has logged five home runs in his last 12 games while posting a .415 ISO. Abreu also owns a 56.3% hard-hit rate and 12.1% barrel rate over the last week.
He’s consistently getting lift on the baseball, with a 20-degree launch angle during that span and a 50% fly-ball rate, and that matters here. While Chandler doesn’t give up a ton of fly balls, the Bucs’ bullpen has posted a 42.4% fly-ball rate over the last week while surrendering 1.14 HR/9.
Play this pick down to +300.
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 50-60, -17.47 units
Over/Under bets: 61-46, +7.84 units
Red Sox vs Pirates weather
Weather at PNC Park looks clean tonight, with partly cloudy skies early before clearer conditions around first pitch. Temperatures should fall from 78°F to 74°F, winds are light around 3–5 mph, and rain chances stay low.
Overall, weather should be fairly neutral with no real delay concern or major scoring boost.
Red Sox vs Pirates odds
Moneyline: Red Sox -127 | Pirates +122
Run line: Red Sox -1.5 (+133) | Pirates +1.5 (-138)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-108) | Under 7.5 (+104)
Red Sox vs Pirates trend
The Boston Red Sox have cashed the moneyline in 23 of their last 35 away games (+10.25 units for a 24% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Pirates.
How to watch Red Sox vs Pirates and game info
Location
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Date
Friday, Aug. 14, 2026
First pitch
6:40 p.m. ET
TV
NESN, SportsNet Pittsburgh
Red Sox starting pitcher
Jake Bennett (7-5, 3.17 ERA)
Pirates starting pitcher
Bubba Chandler (5-8, 4.26 ERA)
Red Sox vs Pirates latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 12: Jarred Kelenic #25 of the Texas Rangers reacts after striking out swinging during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 12, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Angels 7, Rangers 0
Well that was pretty terrible.
Jacob deGrom left the game after two innings with triceps soreness. That’ll ruin your night right there, regardless of whatever else happened.
deGrom said afterwards he couldn’t get his triceps loose warming up for the second inning, that he hadn’t felt that before but that he hoped it was no big deal and he’d make his next start.
I hope so, too.
The alternative to deGrom making his next start would either be Jordan Montgomery, who allowed four runs in two innings of relief in this game, or Jack Leiter, who threw 2.2 scoreless innings in a rehab start on Thursday.
With Nathan Eovaldi already on the injured list, no deGrom would be, problematic, shall we say.
To say the least.
The hope was that the return of Cody Bradford and Jordan Montgomery would give the Rangers starting pitching depth to spare. It was suggested that the Rangers didn’t need to make a move for relief arms at the deadline, what with Bradford and Montgomery and Leiter coming back to provide reinforcements.
Bradford has looked pretty good in his two starts.
Jordan Montgomery, on the other hand, has looked like he’s cooked.
His sinker averaged 89.8 mph in this game, his fastball 89.1 mph. Both pitches were in the low 93s in 2023.
Losing 3-4 mph on your fastball is going to make it hard for you to succeed.
So yeah, probably Jack Leiter gets the nod if/when deGrom can’t go, after going 48 pitches for Round Rock, because what else are you going to do? Cal Quantrill is already in the rotation, filling in for Eovaldi. Jordan Montgomery ain’t the answer.
The Angels’ decision to fire their pitching coaches before Tuesday’s game now looks like a sage move, what with the Rangers’ offense being helpless the past three games.
I whopping five hits in the game. Jarred Kelenic, pinch hitting for Brandon Nimmo because the game was out of reach, had one. So did Evan Carter, Nicky Lopez and Austin Wynns, and when those three are leading the offensive charge, well…
And yet somehow, the Rangers are just a half-game back of a playoff spot, trailing the Tigers, who have moved into WC3. And they are just two back in the American League West.
What a weird year.
Jacob deGrom hit 99.0 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.8 mph. Peyton Gray’s fastball reached 94.2 mph. Jordan Montgomery topped out at 91.1 mph with his sinker. Ben Peoples’ fastball maxed out at 95.8 mph. Cole Winn’s fastball touched 96.4 mph. Tyler Alexander hit 93.0 mph with his fastball.
Wyatt Langford had a 109.4 mph single. Joc Pederson had a 104.9 mph groundout and a 100.5 mph fly out. Ezequiel Duran had a 103.8 mph fly out and a 102.1 mph fly out. Justin Foscue had a 103.5 mph fly out. Austin Wynns had a 101.9 mph E6.
On to Sacramento, where things will hopefully go better.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - APRIL 05: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hugs Martin Perez #33 of the Atlanta Braves after the end of the third inning at Chase Field on April 05, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Coming off a series win against the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves head back to Truist Park for a three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves enter the series with 73 wins and are 7-3 in their last 10. The D-Backs have a less impressive record with 64 wins and going .500 over their last 10 games.
The Braves have yet to announce their starters for the weekend series, while Arizona is sending out Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroka. The series gets underway tonight at 7:15 ET.
More Braves News:
Walt Weiss spoke with the media on Thursday, providing updates on Robert Suarez, Spencer Schwellenbach, and AJ Smith-Shawver.
Herick Hernandez recorded 11 strikeouts in Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. More in the minor league recap.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 30: Tony Gonsolin #26 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on May 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former Dodger Tony Gonsolin has found a new home, as the right-hander signed with the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, per a team announcement. The financial details have yet to be disclosed, notes Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors, but Gonsolin is signed through the rest of the 2026 season and has a club option for the 2027 season. He has been placed on the 15-day injured list, and his status is unknown.
We have signed RHP Tony Gonsolin to a Major League contract for 2026 with a club option for 2027. Tony has been placed on the 15-day Injured List.
RHP Eli Morgan has been designated for assignment.
Gonsolin pitched in parts of six seasons spanning from 2019-2025, helping the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series and making the National League All-Star team in 2022, finishing that season with a 16-1 record. Gonsolin made just seven starts in 2025 once he returned from Tommy John surgery, posting a 3-2 record with a 5.00 ERA over 36 innings before elbow discomfort and an internal brace surgery ended his season. The Dodgers designated him for assignment in November before he elected free agency.
The Dodgers shored up their catching depth, as they signed Chadwick Tromp to a minor league deal on Thursday. Oklahoma City Comets announcer Alex Freedman was the first to report the signing.
Tromp has played in parts of seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles since debuting in 2020, and he has appeared in 21 big league games with both Atlanta and Baltimore. Tromp has slashed .163/.160/.184 with a double and four RBI across 51 plate appearances in the big leagues this year, while he is slashing .200/.280/.347 with three home runs and 12 RBI across 30 Triple-A games.
Shohei Ohtani continues to trend in the right direction with his throwing program, as he was able to throw from a 200-foot distance. Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports that the next step for Ohtani would be a bullpen session off a mound, although there are no set dates for said sessions yet. Chen notes that while the Dodgers have taken their time with Ohtani’s progression, they are still eager to see him return to his two-way status.
“I still feel just his health is kind of the main thing anyway,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Regardless of having Skubal or not, or having Snell back, you still have to treat him individually as what is best for him. It is additive, given he’s a two-way player, to get those innings, for sure.”
Eric Lauer gave the Dodgers much-needed length on Wednesday against Kansas City, going 6 1/3 innings while tossing 112 pitches in a 4-2 win. Looking ahead to the postseason, his status as a rotation member will be jeopardized once more reinforcements make their returns, and Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times delves into which current starters will be the odd men out of the playoff rotation.
Colorado Rockies performance dietitian Sam Hawkins talks with players this season. | Credit: Kyle Cooper | Colorado Rockies
Whether it’s the physical demands on the body of playing at altitude or the grind of adjusting back and forth from a mile high to sea level, attracting talent to join the Colorado Rockies has always been a challenge.
For Sam Hawkins, it’s the exact challenge she was looking for.
The Rockies new performance dietitian, who also happens to be the first woman with that title in MLB, came to Colorado specifically for the obstacles the Rocky Mountains presented.
“I believe that MLB is behind the eight ball when it comes to nutrition,” Hawkins told Purple Row. “My goal as a human is to help as many humans as I can and to be the most well-rounded dietitian I can be.”
She’s off to a great start, revolutionizing the program by looking at everything from bloodwork and performance to rehabilitation from injuries and oxygen flow in order to optimize how each Rockies player’s body functions. For example, if a player’s glycine is low, it’s usually connected to low collagen. The solution? Could be a supplement, bone broth, chicken with the skin on or even an oyster.
“What fascinates me is how nutrients can affect the body. So, there’s some specialty blood work that the guys are able to do, and that I did a lot when I was in the NFL,” said Hawkins, who was the team dietitian for the Washington Commanders before coming to the Rockies. “That can show exactly what’s going on from every amino acid, every fatty acid in your body. … All of that just fascinates me — the nitty-gritty of it. How one small change to your diet can completely change how your body functions.”
Nutrition has always been Hawkins’ passion, but her path to the Rockies is as unique as the trail she is blazing for women in the profession.
Calling her shot
It all started when Hawkins was in high school in Mississippi. One day, she called her shot.
“At the age of 16, I told everybody in my class that I was going to be head of sports nutrition for the Dallas Cowboys,” Hawkins said. “They laughed at me. … I’m very headstrong. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”
From then on, Hawkins decided to seize every opportunity she could until she landed in the NFL, where she did indeed land. Just trade the Cowboys for the Commanders.
In between, she did her undergraduate at Mississippi State, specifically so she could work in SEC athletics. She helped with baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball and track and field. She continued to work with a variety of athletes in internships at Louisiana State University, the University of North Carolina and Southeastern Louisiana before getting her first full-time gig at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Earning the credentials and experience to master her craft, Hawkins started to make name for herself in the performance nutrition world. So when the University of Memphis asked if she would build their football nutrition program, she answered the call.
“I built that program from the ground up for two and a half years,” said Hawkins, who also earned a master’s degree in exercise nutrition while she was working at Memphis.
After success with the Tigers, the dream set out by her 16-year-old self came true — if not in location, in title as Hawkins became one of the youngest dietitians in the NFL when she took a job with Washington. She not only achieved her dream, but she also did so with some world-class athletes like linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz, and quarterback Jayden Daniels.
“I enjoyed it. Washington called it a recalibration. So I came in with the new regime with the new coaching staff, new front office, new owner, all of those things,” Hawkins said. “I did what I could do there, and I got to a point where I wanted something a little bit different. I got the NFL experience, and it was great, but I wanted something more. And if I kept going down that path at 28 years old of just football, that was going to be my life, and I felt like I was meant for more.”
Recalibrating again
Hawkins always loved baseball and knew taking her talents to MLB could bring something the sport sorely needed.
Enter Keith Dugger, the head athletic trainer and director of medical operations for the Colorado Rockies. When Hawkins talked with Dugger about coming to Colorado, Hawkins felt like she had found her next step.
“We hit it off, and they were also we were in the process of recalibrating, if you will,” Hawkins said. “So, we talked about working on building out a program here. I was really passionate about coming out here specifically because of the altitude.”
One of the items she was most excited to add to the menu in Colorado to help with the elevation is beets.
“I’m a big believer in beets, in beet powder, beet juice, beets. It’s great whether you get it in a supplement or you get it in a juice,“ Hawkins said. ”It’s a dietary nitrate, so it helps the blood flow, and so the more blood flow you get, the more oxygen you can uptake, so you’re gonna feel a little bit better at altitude.“
One thing that has surprised Hawkins is how the altitude has affected her own body. Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, altitude presented a new world for Hawkins. Now, she’s learning she also has to practice what she preaches to combat the elevation changes.
“I’ve learned that I struggle to go back to altitude, probably more than they do. … So I have a habit, and I think all dietitians have this to an extent of like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna educate, educate, educate on this,’ and I’m so focused on making sure that the guys are in the right spot that I forget that I also need to do that as well,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t think I was going to feel much because I’m not an athlete, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who you are.”
Going through the changes herself, Hawkins is also using her own body as a laboratory to find out what helps her feel better. Understanding what players are going through, and being able to connect with them and build trusting relationships, is the strength she prides herself in even more than her vast nutrition knowledge. She laughingly admits she talks a lot and could talk to a brick wall, so she can work well with outgoing personalities like Troy Johnston or more reserved players like Ezequiel Tovar.
She’s also in a continuous education loop to bring in new information, learn each player’s needs, find innovative ways to deliver that information to the players, stay aware of trendy nutrition fads on TikTok, be prepared to fend off misinformation and to do it all over the grind of a 162-game season.
Hawkins also said she works hand-in-hand with the training staff as well, especially when guys are injured and then rehabbing. When a player might be amping up their physical activity, Hawkins will make sure they up their caloric intake to help their bodies adjust to those changes. With an office that is one door down from the Rockies clubhouse, the location encourages easy access and ongoing communication.
Passion over glamour
For Hawkins, one of her favorite parts of the gig is planning what the fuel will be pre- and post-game for the players. In football, that only happened once a week. In baseball, it’s nearly every day, and Hawkins loves it. Even then, it changes, say for a starting pitcher or one that could be called upon to pitch in long relief like Tanner Gordon. She’s worked with him when he was starting and developing plans for how everything changes out of the bullpen.
“My favorite part of my job is the small wins. We look at what we’re doing, and we kind of critique that,” Hawkins said. “To watch him be as successful as he is, and for that plan that we put in place to be properly executed and working, those are my favorite.“
It can be harder on the road when certain foods, especially when she is trying to cater to the cultural diversity of the Rockies locker room, are hard to find. But she’s making it work.
When asked what she would want fans to know about her job, Hawkins gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her work.
“I think the biggest thing is nutrition is not glamorous. When people think, ‘Oh, I’m working for this professional sports team,’ I’m in the back making shakes. I’m literally asking guys about their bowel movements,” Hawkins said. “You have to love what you do to do this, and if you don’t, you’re not going to be happy. I want the fans to know is that it’s not glamorous, but whatever you’re passionate about, go for it because I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the passion for it.”
A four-run third inning was enough to sink the Isotopes on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Braxton Fulford hit a solo homer, walked and scored another run, Nic Kent doubled, singled and drove in a run, Conner Capel went 2-for-4 and scored a run and Drew Avans added a sac grounder. Keegan Thompson took the loss, giving up five runs on four hits, three of which were homers, with two walks and one strikeout in 2.2 innings.
The Seawolves scored two runs in the second, neither of which was earned due to a fielding error, and that turned out to be enough to beat the Yard Goats. Hartford actually out-hit Erie 9-6, but went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. The Yard Goats scored their lone run when Jared Thomas hit an RBI single to score Tevin Tucker in the seventh inning, but it was too little, too late. Jack O’Dowd had a big night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double, while Thomas added three hits. Stu Flesland III was saddled with the loss, despite giving up no earned runs (two total) on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.
Spokane was held to one run on six hits, while the AquaSox posted 10 hits, six of which came with runners in scoring position to put up a win on Thursday night. Tanner Thach singled on a line drive to score Ethan Hedges in the sixth inning for the Indians lone run. Thach and Hedges each recorded two hits on the night. Everett Catlett dropped to 5-8 on the season after surrendering five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in six innings.
The Grizzlies actually saw their first two batters reach base when Ashly Andujar led off the game with a single and Landyn Vidourek walked, but a double play ended the threat and Fresno only saw five more base runners for the entire game in Thursday’s loss. The closest the Grizzlies got to scoring was when Sebastian Blanco led off the eighth with a double and advanced to third on a one-out wild pitch, but the Giants were able to escape unscathed. Juan Martinez added two singles for Fresno. The Grizzlies were held to five hits and committed two errors, leading to one unearned San Jose run.
While the Rockies were off on Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins took the state in MLB’s annual Field of Dreams game. The pregame festivities including honoring a handful of Hall of Famers, including former Rockie Larry Walker. Check it out on Netflix if you didn’t see it. In this article, Purple Row’s Skyler Timmins reflects on the power of baseball and its connection to memories.
Renee Dechert continues Purple Row’sseries exploring how Spanish-speaking players learn about English and American culture while working their way through the Colorado Rockies system. In the latest addition, she interviewed Francis Rivera. The 25-year-old ight-handed pitcher for the High-A Spokane Indians signed with the Rockies in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic. Hailing from a baseball family, Rivera has a passion for the game that’s carried him through injuries as he’s climbing through the Rockies farm system.
Troy Renck explores how the possible lockout next season and timing could complicate callups and long-term rookie statuses for prospects, but especially for slugging outfielder Charlie Condon. Renck argues the Rockies might as well go for it and call him up now.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JULY 12: Kendry Chourio #34 of the Kansas City Royals looks on in the clubhouse prior to the 2026 All-Star Futures Game Presented by Nike at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, July 12, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
MLB Pipeline updated their top 100 list and there are now 3 Royals on it:
A year ago, we added a dozen members of the Draft Class of 2025 to the Top 100, the same number that was added in 2024. This time around, we’re being a bit more stingy with spots, putting just 10 from the most recent class on the Top 100, though two of them are debuting higher than anyone from last year’s Draft crop did.
So, if the Royals had picked either of the players who went after them (Booth, Burress), they’d have 4 Top 100 prospects today instead of 3. I get that where they end up is much more important than where they are today. But early returns are less than ideal.
I’m definitely no prospect guy. There are people on this site good at that. I’m not. So maybe this is a really stupid read of it all. But it doesn’t look great, using my non-expert eyes.
Rose was picked under slot and ranked accordingly. It’s not like he’s 101st on the new top 100 either, as David Shields and Blake Mitchell ranked higher than him in the Royals system and I doubt Mitchell, in particular, was close to the top 100. But most of that underslot money went to the #89th ranked guy (Slightom). They picked him at 56th, and gave him more than $1M over slot and he only slides in at 12th. Wait, so you picked a guy well below his ranking /and/ had to give him a bunch over slot? Yikes. They had enough left over to give Camden Johnson over slot and he comes in at 23rd. But because they had to give Slightom so much, they didn’t have enough to sign their other potential overslot, 19th-rounder Hudson DeVaughan.
But, hey, that’s just one ranking system. And rankings are finnicky. Let’s see where Baseball America has the Royals in their newest rankings:
(scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll)
Kansas City Royals Royals Top 30 Prospects Preseason Ranking: 21 Midseason Ranking: 19
Current Top 100 Prospects: RHP Kendry Chourio (No. 33), OF Angeibel Gomez (No. 47), SS Josh Hammond (No. 55)
Key 2026 Graduations: C Carter Jensen, RHP Mason Black, RHP Beck Way, RHP Luinder Avila
2026 Prospects Traded Away: None
Key 2026 Additions: Gomez, OF Zion Rose, RHP Taylor Rabe, RHP Jack Slighton, RHP Maxx Yehl, RHP Lucas Braun, LHP Carter Holton
The Skinny: The Royals have a trio of top 60 prospects for the first time in a while, but the group of players right behind them need to take a step forward.
So you’re saying that having a draft that isn’t highly regarded and then holding onto all of your players at the deadline despite being 20-odd games below .500 is not great for your rankings? The most disheartening thing to me was that they had been creeping up the charts over the last year or so. But it feels like they gave a lot of it back.
This year, he’s been dominant. Chourio has a 2.06 ERA across two levels, first posting a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts for Single-A before a promotion to High-A in June. In Quad Cities, he has a 2.35 ERA, with 35 strikeouts and just five walks in 30 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline’s No. 65 prospect, he pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star festivities this year. At a career-high 78 2/3 innings, Chourio hasn’t pitched since July 25, but will get back on the mound as early as this week, part of a long-term workload plan.
The only 18-year-old to pitch for a High-A affiliate this year, Chourio is clearly talented, armed with a 94-98 mph fastball and a curveball, changeup and slider. His pitchability is advanced already and something he’s continuously improving.
“The goal is to not throw hard, it’s to have pitchability,” Chourio said. “With all [my] pitches, to have a motive behind every single one of them. Whether it’s a fastball, making sure the location of the pitch is good. Making sure you get the curveball in the zone, and executing the changeup, throwing it in or out of the zone.”
At The Star, Jaylon Thompson profiles Randy Dobnak. Just a reminder that minor league players make next to nothing and have to moonlight as Uber drivers to pay the bills.
Long before Randy Dobnak became a shooting star in a lost galaxy that is the Kansas City Royals 2026 campaign, he was scrolling through available rides on his local Uber app.
It was a source of income. And for Dobnak, a chance to nurture a lifelong dream that hadn’t begun to bear fruit.
“I’d drive around Pittsburgh for a little bit just to see how it was,” Dobnak said. “Make some extra money because we didn’t make much at all in the minor leagues.”
Here’s a couple of stories from The Athletic ($) that aren’t specifically about the Royals but do talk about Royals players.
Eric Hosmer writes about the “3 best leaders” he played with:
Raul Ibanez, Royals outfielder
…In 2014, he gave a speech to us. We were playing against the White Sox, and we were in the crappy clubhouse they have on the visiting side.
He basically talked to us about what opposing teams thought of us: Did we realize how good we were? Did we realize other teams fear us?
For us to hear that was so important. We were all young on that team, and Raul had just gotten done hitting ninth-inning homers for the Yankees a couple of years before.
It just clicked for all of us: This guy’s a legend so if people really do think of us like that, maybe we’re really good and we should play with some confidence.
John Buck, a former major-league catcher, told me an even weirder story. Buck played in the big leagues for 11 seasons. But one year he suffered a concussion, and as he tried to recover, he started overthinking. When he returned to the field, he struggled throwing the ball back to the pitcher, a real-life example of Rube Baker, the young catcher with the yips in the film “Major League II.”
When the game was live, Buck could throw a dime to second base to cut down a base stealer. But when it came to softly tossing the ball back to the pitcher, he felt paralyzed.
“If there was a foul ball and the ball was dead, I was very conscious and I would have to whip that s— back at the pitcher like I was throwing it to second,” Buck told me. “How weird is that?”
This is probably where I’d have written about the Field of Dreams game. Like, for instance, it was a giant Hall of Fame festival with 26 members in attendance:
This was the largest such gathering at a ballpark, not including the annual ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in upstate New York, since the All-Star Game in 2008 that feted the final season at old Yankee Stadium.
Of course, I couldn’t see it as it was on Netflix. But, hey, MLB got an extra couple million bucks for it over showing it on Fox where anyone with a TV could see it.
(There’s also a rumor that the Royals will be playing the Red Sox for the Field of Dreams game next season, but it’s not confirmed.)
Speaking of which, NBC now has the rights to the Wild Card round. On the positive side, two games per day will be broadcast on NBC. On the negative, the other two will either be on NBCSN or Peacock.
Since there’s not much Royals news, how about one more story from around the league, concerning another AL Central team, the Tigers. Ben Clemens asks whether the Tigers would have been better off if they had kept Tarik Skubal, et al:
The Detroit Tigers are one of the hottest teams in baseball. Since the calendar flipped to August, they’ve gone 7-3, scoring more than six runs per game in the process. In a muddled American League, that puts them right in the thick of the AL Central and Wild Card races. That, in turn, means they’re back in the hunt for a World Series ring. This burst of activity has them about as likely to make the playoffs (and win a ring) as they’ve been in the last few months, in fact; they’re back above 30% to reach October after dropping as low as 18% the day they traded Tarik Skubal.
That feels weird! Less than two weeks ago, the Tigers traded their best player, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, for three prospects. They followed that up by trading Casey Mize, who had briefly inherited the title of top Tigers pitcher. It was a classic deadline sale – not a thread-the-needle plan with some additions and some subtractions, but a declaration that the plan was to get ‘em next year, and the years after that…
…Next, I got even more theoretical. I took some distributional studies that got left on the cutting room floor when I updated prospect valuations and worked out, more or less, the odds that prospects of the caliber traded for Skubal and Mize would turn into average regulars or better, plus the average WAR per year delivered in those outcomes. I also looked at the last six years of Tigers teams to figure out how many extra wins adding players like that to replace weak links would be worth (limiting those weak links to the rotation and the outfield, to match the prospects). I worked out that the guys traded to the Tigers project to boost their average projected wins by around 1.2 per year.
At this point, I’ll stop and point out that I’m doing a lot of approximating, so the error bars are large here. But with that caveat, we can do the math. Say that the Tigers bounce around between 78 and 90 projected wins for the next six years, and take the average of those World Series-odds-per-win sensitivities. Multiply that by the 1.2 wins per year I think the extra prospects are “worth.” Multiply that by six years of team control. You get an added 3.3 percentage points of World Series odds, comfortably more than the boost they’d receive from having Skubal and Mize the rest of the way this year. That might understate it, too. If the Tigers didn’t sell, they likely would have bought, but probably only on the margin, considering where they were in the standings and their underperformance over the first four months of the season. The risk of going all-in would have been too high. While we don’t know the counterfactual there, it’s reasonable to think that it would’ve made their future teams even a little worse, for small present benefit, amplifying the effect I’ve already measured here.
It’s weird to think that the high-level prospects only increase their chances by 1.2 wins per year. Then again, new players don’t just take an empty spot on the field, they replace an existing player who might be good or bad. I’m not entirely sure I buy it – as Clemens says, he does “a lot of approximating”. I only gave you the beginning and the end above – go read the rest, if you’re curious. It’s an interesting thought exercise.
But, hey, we’re reached the “Onion is clowning your team” stage of a lost season:
My scorecard of choice when I’m at the ballpark is the Eephus League Halfliner. I use a Blackwing 602 pencil. I told you…I’m deadly serious about keeping score. I never use a pen. My penmanship is terrible, so I’m often dissatisfied with how something goes on the paper so I use the eraser for a re-do quite often. I also make plenty of mistakes.
For tonight’s exercise, I’m scoring on an iPad using a file from Lou Spirito’s THIRTY81 Project. I’m enough of a sicko that I’ll keep score at home sometimes and I use his printed PDFs when I do. This is my first time scoring on an iPad, so we’ll see how it goes! There is a high level of confidence that it will not replace my pencil and paper.
I used to take score at every game I went to. However, once MLB went to its draconian bag policies in most stadiums, I gave it up because it became such a hassle 🙁
At Royals Keep, Cory Moen looks at “Royals Prospects Who Could Make Their Debut In August Or September”. He suggests Lucas Braun, Gavin Cross, and Hunter Patteson, adding “Other MLB debuts that are possible include IF Jacob Berry, catchers Luca Tresh and Elih Marrero, and RHP Ben Sears.” Wait? Gavin Cross is already 25?
Unfortunately, no long, crazy OT today. I’m already over 2500 words. Also, I just can’t quite nail down a couple of OTs that I’ve been working on. They’re each just missing something, so they’ll have to wait a couple of weeks. Also, I’m out next week.
But I do have a couple of updates on old OTs. And we’re also doing an (abbreviated) old-school Song of the Day!
* * * * *
Last week, we fell down an internet rabbit hole, trying to figure out the stats for the water rides at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. At the end, I wrote: “Not perfect, but not bad. I think I’ll try to email Six Flags and see how I did (if they respond).” I did email them last week, and they have yet to respond. Bummer. I’m sure there’s some crazy old guy who knows all this stuff because he was there when it happened. Sadly, the email never made it to his desk.
* * * * *
I’ve done a coupleof OTs about buying tickets for the LA28 Olympics.
If you’re bored of this (I can believe it), just skip ahead to SotD. I’m an awful judge of what people want to read about. I can see how this is as exciting as reading about someone else’s Fantasy Football league or someone’s weekly sports betting wins and losses. However, for me, personally – it’s been a fun mental exercise and a bit of an emotional ride, so I’ve just been letting it out in Rumblings.
When last we left ticketing, the Visa presale had just wrapped up ahead of the Phase 2 drop (Drop 2? I’m not entirely sure what the official terminology is). In Phase 1, there was a locals presale and then no ticket restock ahead of the proper Phase 1. Conventional wisdom was that Phase 2 would be the same with no restock following the Visa presale.
If you remember (you probably don’t and have long since lost interest), I estimated that 30-40% of the tickets were gone in Phase 1 and another smaller (10-20%) disappeared in the Visa Presale. There was also a small drop for former Olympic athletes, but I have to think that’s a very small number of tickets. That said, I think we’re well past half the tickets gone, and the drops are going to get smaller and smaller with what’s available.
I have been on the LA28 mailing list since January 2023 and have yet to be selected for any lottery. C’mon, guys!
In Phase 1, my wife got the last possible spot. Not much was left, and we only picked one set of tickets. This time, she was selected for the first slot at 10am PT on August 10th. If there was a restock, I’d have a chance at some great and/or cheap tickets. If not, we’d probably just wait until next time.
With that in mind, I went back to work on the spreadsheet. We still have nothing for Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday, and there are a couple of other gaps on the schedule. I made large lists of events to consider, but we already had most of our big anchor events. In retrospect, I didn’t narrow things down enough.
On Monday, I took everything I had learned from the last drops and logged in as fast as I could. I still had to wait 20 minutes in the second queue, but I was in faster than most. Then the big moment: they had restocked!
But things were going fast. I checked Opening Ceremony first as that’s the only real “dream” item left. There were tickets, but they started at over $1000. I just can’t do that. After striking out on the baseball finals last time, I checked those. There were sub-$300 tickets and I tried to add them. No luck. Someone else (many someones?) was quicker and sniped them before I did. The next highest category went fast, while I was still deciding how high I was willing to go. At that point, the cheapest ticket was $500+. I had to let that dream die.
My wife was hoping for women’s gymnastics. Since I spent my first precious moments searching for Opening Ceremonies and the baseball finals, any gymnastics finals seats were “long” gone. Maybe there were $1000+ seats, but that’s as good as “gone” in my book. The prelims were into the $400+ range. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone there first and probably could have snagged some for half that or even less, and it would have been our anchor event on Sunday.
Wednesday the 19th is a wild card in our schedule. I had been holding it open for the baseball finals, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. Maybe we’ll just fly out a day earlier than planned and save some money. Well, there was one “backup” event that my wife was really wanting and I was also excited for. When I saw reasonable tickets available, I quickly added them to my cart. I guess we’re not flying out early. We’re going to end our Olympic experience at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, watching the Women’s Street Skateboard Finals. That’s going to be awesome!
Once tickets are added to your cart, you have 30 minutes to check out. We’ve had the pre-Opening Ceremony Wednesday (12th) and Thursday (13th) planned for a while and have 3 of the 4 tickets already. The last thing I was missing was Wednesday morning Water Polo in Long Beach. There were some of those elusive $28 tickets. Yes, please.
I started looking at some more $28 tickets. However, I noticed I only had about 3 minutes left in my cart. What? I had added tickets less than 5 minutes before. I should still have 25 minutes. Apparently it glitched – maybe it was when I tried to add the baseball tickets. This meant I had to quickly check out or risk losing the skateboarding and cheap water polo tickets. I put in the payment information just in the nick of time.
Here’s what our schedule looks like now (have bolded; parens are TBD):
TUE JUL 11 FLY IN – NO EVENTS
WED JUL 12 Long Beach prelims: AM Water Polo, PM Handball
THU JUL 13 Carson: AM Field Hockey prelim; PM Rugby quarters
FRI JUL 14 AM Rest; (Opening Ceremony/Party)
SAT JUL 15 DTLA: AM Men’s Gymnastics prelim; PM Track medal: w 100, m 10000, w shot put; lots of qualifying PM
WED JUL 19 (AM ???); PM Women’s Street Skateboard Finals
THU JUL 20 FLY OUT
Once I checked out, the system kicked me out, and I had to go back into the queue. That 20 minutes cost me chances at a lot of what I had been considering. There were still a lot of awesome tickets left. But I’m down to just a couple of days’ worth of schedule: Sunday and Monday. However, I was too slow and indecisive and I watched tickets evaporate. If I could go back in time, I know a couple of things I’d jump on, particularly as this is probably the best drop time we’ll get in these ticket sales. But I can’t. Besides, we’ve already had much better luck than I could have hoped for. We’re still under budget and with a lot of events we’re happy with. Even if we don’t add any more tickets before the games begin, I’m more than happy. The efficiency part of my engineering brain is annoyed that I was inefficient. But there’s no way I could possibly be disappointed with what we have.
If you’re curious what the ticket market looked like as each day passed and why lottery slot was really important. Here’s a couple of Reddit threads from Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You can see how tickets are bought up and sports become unavailable. Or pick a sport with lots of inexpensive tickets to start and how they just become more expensive by the day.
In theory, this is the last ticket Phase of 2026. No one is really sure if there’s going to be one more lottery Phase in 2027. If not, the last large tranche of tickets will probably be part of a first come/first served free-for-all, possibly with dynamic pricing. Also, the resale market opens in 2027.
As I mentioned above, we’re going to do an old school (albeit slightly abbreviated) Song of the Day!
I was never good at skateboarding. I was a tall, lanky, and awkward kid – that is not the body type for skateboarding safely. But today’s SotD game is from a legendary name in the sport and an iconic series in video game history. Today’s featured game is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for the PlayStation.
As I get older, I absolutely love the “You look like an old ‘Tony Hawk’” phenomenon that follows the skateboarding legend around. Also, I love the fact that his son married Kurt Cobain’s daughter and a kid who can’t possibly live up to that legacy as the coolest human being to ever walk the earth. Then again: who knows? Maybe he’ll be so awesome as to save the entire planet Wyld Stallyns-style. We could use that.
Much like my forays into real-life skateboarding, I was never great at this series. But I could appreciate the novel approach to gameplay that Neversoft built the franchise on. I also feel like it’s been a little lost to time, though it did get a remake a few years ago.
I know I’m featuring a video from the first game, but the second and third are two of the most critically acclaimed games of all time (quotes from Wiki):
“According to Metacritic, it holds a score of 98/100, making it one of the highest rated video games of all time across all consoles and platforms. Pro Skater 2 along with Soulcalibur, and Grand Theft Auto IV are ranked second behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. ”
“Similarly, the PS2 version of Pro Skater 3 earned a rare perfect 10 score from GameSpot, one of only eleven games to ever receive said score. It was also awarded the best sports game award at E3 2001. IGN rated the game 9.7/10, stating that the game “should go down in history as one of the best twitch-fests on PS2”. The game is currently the top rated PS2 game on the review aggregate website Metacritic, with an average score of 97/100, tying with Grand Theft Auto III.“
Here’s an entire full game playthrough. For those unfamiliar, it’s got that polygonal fifth-generation look that, well, has aged the worst of any generation in the history of video games. But the gameplay underneath was something revolutionary.
Heston Kjerstad hit a game-tying homer in the fifth, but the Tides dropped this one in 11 innings. Enrique Bradfield Jr. was thrown out at the plate in the tenth, and Anthony Nunez allowed the designated runner to score on a two-out single in the top of the 11th.
Norfolk starter Juaron Watts-Brown gave up two earned on seven hits over four innings. Watts-Brown struck out six and did not walk a batter. The bullpen posted six zeros before Nunez let one slip. Yaqui Rivera struck out four over two perfect innings.
Kjerstad began the game on the bench but entered when Reed Trimble exited with an injury. MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported that Trimble left the game with right hamstring discomfort. Trimble doubled in his only at bat. Kjerstad finished 2-for-3 with the long ball and a sacrifice bunt.
Anderson De Los Santos trimmed the lead to two with a two-run shot in the ninth, but Reading held on to secure the win. Chesapeake out hit the Fightin Phils 9-8, but Reading took control by scoring in five consecutive innings.
Baysox starter Patrick Reilly struck out seven in only four innings but also walked four batters. He surrendered three hits and allowed two runs to score.
Wehiwa Aloy finished 2-for-5 with a double, and Thomas Sosa went 2-for-4 with a two-bagger and a walk. Dom Keegan got the Baysox on the board with a solo shot in the fourth, and Aaron Estrada came off the bench to deliver a base hit and a sacrifice fly. Griff O’Ferrall and Brandon Butterworth both reached base twice with singles and walks.
Butterworth is set to be promoted to Triple-A today.
High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays) 4 F/10
Bowling Green scored two in the 10th, but Frederick walked it off with three runs in the bottom half. Randal Diaz tied the game with a two-run double, and Yasmil Bucce worked the count full with the bases loaded before taking a game-winning walk. Bucce finished 2-for-4 with a double.
Vance Honeycutt finished 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. DJ Layton eventually entered for Honeycutt and scored two of Frederick’s five runs.
Evan Yates finished one-out shy of a quality start. Yates allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out five.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox)
Delmarva took control of this one early with a five-run first. The Shorebirds tacked on two more in the second and coasted to the finish line.
Jaiden Lo Re led the charge with a 3-for-4 day that included a two-run triple. Jhomnardo Reyes added another run-scoring triple in the first, and Miguel Rodríguez drove him in with a two-run homer.
Starter Holden deJong allowed a pair of runs over four innings. Jake Dykhoff earned the win with four innings of bulk relief.
Members of the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies walk out of a corn field Aug. 13, 2026 at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
Good morning.
The Phillies beat the Twins 7-1 as MLB returned to Dyersville, Iowa at the new Field of Dreams stadium.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JUNE 30: Matt Chapman #26 of the San Francisco Giants during the MLB game at Chase Field on June 30, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We knew that Matt Chapman’s season was almost certainly over. But now it’s really official. During Thursday’s off day, the San Francisco Giants quietly moved Chapman from the 10-Day IL to the 60-Day IL with an abdominal strain. It had already been revealed that Chapman would undergo surgery for his sports hernia.
The Giants have yet to announce the news, it just showed up on their transaction log, along with the promotion of AAA outfielder Turner Hill. Both moves should be formally announced before Friday’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies. The Giants had to make a move to clear a space on the 40-man roster for Hill, and moving Chapman to the 60-Day IL accomplished exactly that. They can do the same with Harrison Bader and Casey Schmitt, should they need to open up any additional spots in the 40-man roster.
With that, Chapman’s 10th — and worst — MLB season comes to an end. It’s the first time in his career that he’s ended the season with a below average wRC+ (95) or single-digit home runs (7). His fWAR (1.3) is the second-lowest of his career, trailing only the 1.1 mark he posted in 2020, when he was limited to 37 games in the pandemic-shortened season.
Some of that may have been generic struggles or regression, but it’s also fair to assume that he spent much of the season playing through his core muscle injury, and had his performance negatively impacted. Hopefully he can get fully healthy over the offseason, and be back to his All-Star level talent come 2027.
Roch Cholowsky may be No. 11 to MiLB, but he’s No. 1 in the Chicago system. | (Winston-Salem Dash/Instagram)
MiLB published its first Top 100 rankings since the 2026 MLB Draft, and fan favorite Roch Cholowsky is already in conversation with today’s elite minor league prospects.
Chicago’s No. 1 overall pick came in at No. 11 with an expected MLB debut date of 2027. This comes as no surprise, as Cholowsky was initially assigned to High-A instead of Single-A or even Rookie level. His strong college track record and four-plus tools put him ahead of Detroit’s 2023 No. 3 overall pick, Max Clark, currently ranked No. 13, as well as Minnesota’s 2026 No. 3 overall pick, Vahn Lackey. On all fronts — skills, developmental maturity and baseball IQ — Cholowsky is starting his baseball career at a point where many high school players are coming into their own as minor leaguers, except for one.
Tampa Bay’s No. 2 overall pick, Grady Emerson, sits above Cholowsky in the MiLB rankings as the only player from the 2026 draft to crack the Top 10. There’s certainly an argument to be made that Cholowsky deserves the higher spot. While Emerson brings a similar four-tool arsenal, Cholowsky entered professional baseball with a much more extensive track record against advanced competition, and the White Sox thought he had enough polish to send him directly to High-A. Emerson, meanwhile, is beginning his professional career at the rookie level.
Cholowsky’s first six games shouldn’t move the needle much in either direction. He has just five hits and a home run in 30 plate appearances, but that sample is far too small to draw any meaningful conclusions. The more compelling case for ranking Cholowsky ahead of Emerson is where the two players are developmentally right now, not what either has done in his first few weeks as a professional.
The Golden Spikes Award finalist and this year’s Big Ten Conference Player of the Year joins middle infielder Caleb Bonemer and shortstop Billy Carlson as the White Sox’s representatives on MiLB’s Top-100 leaderboard. Bonemer has punched above his tool grades in Single-A, High-A, and Double-A since being drafted in the second round in 2024, while Carlson’s injury has kept him from advancing beyond Single-A. Though May and June looked promising for him, Carlson’s non-displaced fracture of the tip of his left thumb has set him back and put his development miles behind Cholowsky and Bonemer.
At first glance, Chicago’s future infield looks more crowded than the Eisenhower Expressway during rush hour. But Chris Getz and the Sox front office are forming a clear path for Cholowsky to claim a starting infield spot next year.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 13: Jackson Chourio #11 of the Milwaukee Brewers scores behind Ben Rortvedt #47 of the Los Angeles Dodgers, from a Jake Bauers #9 hit, to take a 5-4 lead, during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a frustrating sweep in San Diego, the Brewers are back in the win column. Despite trailing late, Milwaukee rallied against struggling Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning, scoring three runs to steal a 5-4 win and start their four-game series in Los Angeles on the right foot.
Both Brewers starter Shane Drohan and Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki had a relatively smooth go of it through the first few innings. Drohan gave up a 111.7 mph rocket of a line drive to Shohei Ohtani that came close to making it over the center-field fence, while Sasaki walked a couple of batters, but neither team came particularly close to scoring until the top of the fourth.
Gary Sánchez led off the fourth by lining a Sasaki splitter back up the middle and into center field for a base hit. After Jake Bauers flew out for the first out, Sasaki walked Andrew Vaughn on four straight balls. That brought up Christian Yelich, who hit a hard line drive into left field. Sánchez, not exactly known for his speed on the basepaths, had to stop at third, but the single loaded the bases with only one out.
Sasaki, who’s struggled with his control in the past, then completely lost the handle against Joey Ortiz, walking him on four straight pitches to bring home the first run of the game.
Up next was David Hamilton, but Sasaki still couldn’t get it together, walking him on five pitches — three of which weren’t particularly close to the strike zone — to give the Brewers another run. That brought up Jackson Chourio with two outs and the bases loaded, but Chourio bailed Sasaki out by quickly going down 0-2 before swinging at a splitter in the dirt for strike three. Still, the Brewers managed to take the lead and run Sasaki’s pitch count up to nearly 80 by the end of the fourth.
Drohan finally allowed a run in the fifth after Miguel Rojas walked, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a Ben Rortvedt single. He came back out for the sixth but was clearly flagging, retiring Andy Pages on a hard line drive before walking Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman then battled Drohan for nine pitches before successfully challenging a called strike three, resulting in a second straight walk.
With two on, one out, a one-run lead, and a tiring Drohan, it was time to make the call to the bullpen. Recently acquired Antonio Senzatela came in and struck out Teoscar Hernández on a foul tip for the second out. With two on and two out, Senzatela battled to a full count against Max Muncy, who turned on the sixth pitch of the at-bat — a 100 mph fastball — and crushed it over the fence in right-center field.
Just like that, the Brewers were down by two, and for a team coming off a series in which the offense struggled to produce big innings, it may have felt to the more pessimistic of fans like the game was already over.
It wasn’t.
DL Hall retired six straight batters in the seventh and eighth innings, but Milwaukee couldn’t score either, so the score remained 4-2 going into the top of the ninth. Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz, who’s been getting hit around since returning from the injured list in late July, came in to try to slam the door on the Brewers.
Leading off against Díaz was William Contreras, who got caught looking at strike three for the first out. Milwaukee was down to its final two outs, but Ortiz and Hamilton both came through in the clutch, lining singles through the infield to put runners on the corners. Up next was Chourio, who worked the count full before swinging at a slider half a foot off the plate. He managed to get enough of it off the end of the bat to poke it into shallow right-center for a base hit, scoring Ortiz and putting the tying run, Hamilton, on third.
Garrett Mitchell took Díaz’s next pitch for a strike, then swung at the second pitch — a slider in almost the exact same location — and sent it into right field for the Brewers’ fourth straight single, scoring Hamilton to tie the game.
Up next was Sánchez, who struck out on a called strike three that he challenged unsuccessfully. With two outs and the game still tied, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to go to his bullpen, calling on lefty Alex Vesia to face Jake Bauers. Bauers hit a ground ball through the right side that found a gap and trickled into right field for a single, scoring Chourio to put the Brewers ahead 5-4.
Bauers then stole second and Andrew Vaughn worked a walk to load the bases, but Christian Yelich grounded out — albeit on a hard-hit ball — to end the inning.
In what had been a fairly dramatic game, the bottom of the ninth was anticlimactic, which is exactly what the Brewers want to see from their closer. Trevor Megill came in and retired Mookie Betts, Muncy, and Kyle Tucker in order to secure the first victory of the road trip. For a team that lost a couple of fairly heartbreaking games in San Diego, it has to feel good to come away with a comeback victory over a stacked Dodgers team. Good pitching and timely hitting will always be a recipe for success.
Robert Gasser will be on the mound tomorrow opposite Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers. It’s another West Coast night game, with first pitch set for 9:10 p.m. CT.
LOS ANGELES — The sound of trumpets are now the sound of alarm for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Oh, dear. Here comes closer Edwin Diaz again.
The pain and suffering continued Thursday night, Aug. 13 when he blew his third save since last week and the Dodgers lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 in the first game of a crucial, four-game series.
Diaz entered in the bottom of the ninth to the sound of the signature trumpets with the Dodgers leading 4-2 thanks to Max Muncy’s pinch hit, three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.
But Diaz heard loud boos from the crowd when he neutralized Muncy’s heroics. He left the field with two outs, the score tied 4-4 and though his status as the Dodgers’ closer appears to still be secure, Diaz is undeniably feeling the heat from the fans.
Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia allowed the final run, but the Dodgers losing this night belonged to Diaz.
Forget about the saves Diaz was supposed to be racking up for the Dodgers. Is there any saving Diaz from himself?
He’s complained that his sinker’s not sinking. But guess what is sinking? Diaz’s stock.
On Thursday, he did earn some credit – for the loss. He is now 2-2 this season but also a massive disappointment.
In the offseason, the Dodgers signed Diaz to a three-year deal worth $69 million and prepared the trumpet intro for the three-time All-Star.
By mid-July he went on the injured list when loose bodies − fragments of bone and cartilage − were found in his elbow. Surely the Dodgers hoped that might explain Diaz’s early struggles.
Diaz had a 10.50 ERA in seven appearances before he ended up on the injured list with his elbow injury.
But when he returned from elbow surgery in late July, it soon became apparent that the Dodgers may have fixed his elbow but not his problems on the mound. Diaz's ERA has ballooned to 11.57 and he's given up the lead in the ninth in three of his past four outings.
There was no tougher gut punch than Thursday against the Brewers. In 2/3 innings pitched, he gave four consecutive hits and was charged for three earned runs, rendering his two strikeouts immaterial.
"This game hurts, it matters, but (Diaz has) got to find his way and he's got to have a runway to find his way," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame.
Though Roberts stood by his guy — "I definitely don't think that he would have gotten here to this point if he were a guy that would spiral," Roberts said — with the playoffs two months away, arguably the Dodgers' biggest problem has been exposed.
Edwin Diaz cannot be trusted to save games, no matter how loud those trumpets play.
Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz walks off the mound after giving up the tying run in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The second pitch Edwin Díaz threw Thursday night sailed above the strike zone, at about eye-height on Milwaukee’s William Contreras. It was an early indicator that the Dodgers closer was about to have a brutal ninth inning.
By the end of his third blown save in four appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his role would be going forward.
“Now I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Brewers. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”
Manager Dave Roberts, however, as he looked at the state of his bullpen, wasn’t ready to take the closer title from Díaz.
“Give me another option,” Roberts said. “To be quite honest, none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”
The series opener between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top teams in the National League, saw Roki Sasaki give up just two runs over six innings despite battling command issues. It included a record-setting go-ahead home run from Max Muncy, No. 131 at Dodger Stadium, breaking a tie with Eric Karros for the most all-time at Chavez Ravine.
Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of issues since returning from the injured list (arthroscopic elbow surgery) a couple weeks ago, took over with a two-run lead. And the game went sideways.
The Dodgers (73-49) fell two games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a game behind the Braves (73-48).
“A loss is a loss, but there’s certain losses that are more costly,” Roberts said. “And when you use five relievers and you lose a game, that’s costly.”
Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz reacts after giving up the tying run in the ninth inning against the Brewers on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Though Díaz’s command issues flared early, he struck out Contreras to begin the inning. Then he gave up four consecutive singles.
“I think my fastball command today — I was throwing strikes, but right in the middle,” Díaz said. “Every big league hitter can hit it right in the middle, [even if you] throw 200 miles an hour. I’ve got to get better at that.”
Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton both hit center-cut fastballs to put runners on the corners for the top of the order.
Then Jackson Chourio’s and Garrett Mitchell’s RBI singles — to cut the Dodgers lead to one run and to tie the score, respectively — came on sliders. That was the pitch Díaz struggled to get a feel for in Arizona last weekend.
“I think it was better today,” he said. “I think I made good ones. When you miss your fastball in the middle, they see better pitches.”
Díaz then struck out right-handed hitting Gary Sánchez on three pitches, but Roberts had seen enough. He turned to left-hander Alex Vesia.
With two outs and runners on first and second, Vesia got Jake Bauers to hit a ground ball to the right side of the field, but it found a hole to drive in the go-ahead run. And the Dodgers offense didn’t counter in the bottom of the ninth.
“It’s frustrating because I know my ability,” said Díaz, who has an 11.57 ERA since joining the Dodgers last offseason on a three-year, $69-million deal. “I know what I can do on the mound. To not be able to do it sucks. I’ve just got to come tomorrow and try to keep getting better.”
The Dodgers’ bullpen situation has flipped dramatically since his return from injury. Less than three weeks ago, Roberts said his high-leverage relievers made up “as big a trust tree as we’ve had in quite some time.”
When pressed Thursday on why he planned to stick with Díaz in save situations, Roberts’ tone had changed.
“Who’s the other option?” Roberts said. “You look back at the last week, and guys have struggled. ... Everyone’s got a role, they all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”
One factor has been health. Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) and Will Klein (right elbow loose bodies) have been placed on the IL since Roberts’ “trust tree” comments.
Then there’s the issue of performance.
Scott (2.25 ERA, 16 saves), who served as the closer in Díaz’ three-month absence, has been dealing with inconsistent velocity. But he has three straight holds. On Thursday, he faced only Christian Yelich, who hit a long fly ball into the left-field corner, but Kiké Hernández made the catch before running into the wall.
Vesia surrendered two runs in ⅔ of an inning against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 4, but he had held opponents hitless with three walks over three appearances before facing Milwaukee.
Evan Phillips seemed to have righted the ship after a rocky return from the IL, but he gave up two earned runs in ⅓ of an inning Tuesday.
What about taking a closer-by-committee approach?
“We’ve got to get other guys on track to even have that be even a valid conversation, to be honest with you,” Roberts said.
So, Díaz will continue working to regain his effectiveness on the mound, without changing roles.
“He’s got to find his way,” Roberts said. “And he’s got to have a runway to find his way. But then it gets to a point where — I’m not there yet, but ... I’m betting on the fact that the stuff will kind of right, and he’ll figure it out.”
Aug 13, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; A general view of Dodger Stadium during the third inning between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
With no power to speak of—finishing the game with nothing but singles in their 10 hits—the Brewers took advantage of Edwin Díaz’s struggles to mount a late comeback and beat the Dodgers 5-4 in one of these teams’ most excruciating losses of the season.
While Roki Sasaki has never been confused with a starter who relentlessly pounds the zone, even by his standards, this performance against the Brewers came with worse command than he was comfortable with. Through his first five frames, Sasaki walked the same number of batters as he had innings. Although his ability to pitch out of trouble to prevent a blowup should be applauded, there was probably a healthy contribution from a Brewers offense that couldn’t generate any power against him.
Both runs that Sasaki allowed came in the third inning, when control of the baseball eluded him to the point of walking three batters in a single frame. Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton came up to the plate with one out and the bases loaded, and each walked in a run, receiving a combined single strike in their respective plate appearances.
With the Dodgers silent early on against lefty Shane Drohan, they counted on the struggles of the Brewers’ stars to stay in this game. Firstly, in that third inning, the damage to Sasaki could’ve been worse, but amidst his struggles, the Dodgers starter rather easily punched out William Contreras with the bases loaded before walking in the two runs.
Eric Karros mentioned in the Dodgers broadcast that through this cold stretch with the bat, Contreras has seen the defensive side of his game also falter, and that came into play for the Dodgers’ first run. With a runner at second and two outs, Ben Rortvedt knocked a single into left field, and even with Shohei Ohtani coming up to hit, Miguel Rojas got the aggressive send sign. Rojas should’ve been out at the plate after Jackson Chourio made a good throw, but Contreras hurried the tag and couldn’t hold on to the ball; this allowed the Dodgers to score their first run and make it a 2-1 matchup in the fifth.
The Brewers’ most accomplished player and in the middle of a lousy campaign, Christian Yelich, much like Contreras, also helped out Sasaki in this game. Far from his best form, Sasaki was sent out there for the sixth to try to squeeze out one more inning that started with Andrew Vaughn reaching safely for the third straight time. Yelich was next, and with the Brewers’ last chance to do damage before the Dodgers went to the bullpen, their star left-handed hitter grounded into an easy double play. Eventually, Sasaki completed the six innings of two-run baseball, a great line given the context of this performance.
Milwaukee also tried to extend their starter to complete six full innings, a decision that would come back to haunt them with the Dodgers turning this game around in the sixth. Refusing to miss time after his injury scare on Wednesday, Freddie Freeman delivered a magnificent at-bat, overcoming a 0-2 count to earn a nine-pitch walk on an overturned 3-2 strike call. Freeman joined Tommy Edman, who also had walked to lead off the inning, on the basepaths, and that was enough for Pat Murphy to turn to Antonio Senzatela in the bullpen.
Pinch-hitting for Miguel Rojas with two outs, Max Muncy did what he has done many times recently, hitting a clutch homer to hand the Dodgers the lead. This one was a three-run shot, simply destroying a high heater from the former Rockies starter-turned-relief weapon for the Brew Crew.
The saying that when it rains, it pours certainly applied to Yelich, as he was without luck on his side late in this one. Tanner Scott was brought in relief to face the former MVP with one on and two out in the eighth. Representing the tying run, Yelich got a hold of one down the left field line that very nearly went out but was ultimately caught by Kiké Hernández right at the wall.
What’s further impressive about that defensive play is that Kiké had already made a good one at third earlier in the game. And as long as he is providing this type of versatility with defensive contributions all over, the team will make do without his offensive production.
That minor scare with Scott turned out to be a preview of what was to come in the ninth. In a tightly contested matchup, a team functioning like a well-oiled machine cannot afford to have one of its integral pieces struggling in the manner that Edwin Díaz has, ultimately leading to a blown save in the ninth. Blowup outings here and there can be explained, but what’s baffling about Díaz right now, as he allowed four straight hits (all singles) to give up the lead, is that the stuff just isn’t performing as you’d expect. Too often he located the pitch well and didn’t get the result you’d assume, like in this Chourio RBI single.
Díaz blew the save and left a mess for Alex Vesia with two on and two out against Jake Bauers. Vesia threw a 1-2 slider that didn’t break enough, and Bauers squeezed it past the infield for an RBI single to give the Brewers the 5-4 lead. In typical Brewers fashion, they came back in this one with nothing but singles.
Phenomenal this season and coming off 5.2 scoreless innings in a low-scoring win against the Diamondbacks, Yoshinobu Yamamoto will lead the Dodgers against the Brewers on Friday night, aiming to pitch back-to-back scoreless games for the first time this season. Milwaukee will send yet another one of their young starters in Robert Gasser. The first pitch comes your way at 7:10 p.m. (PT).
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 12: Jarred Kelenic #25 of the Texas Rangers reacts after striking out swinging during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 12, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored zero runs but the Anaheim Angels scored seven runs.
I hadn’t thought much about the Rangers all day. I hadn’t even really paid attention to the lineup when I was putting up the GDT. BZZR is finally on Roku (I can finally uninstall Poob!) so I got that working a few minutes before first pitch.
As soon as the game loaded up, Rangers Sports Network was showing a graphic featuring tonight’s lineup. I did a double take as my eyes darted to the bottom of the order and I saw that Nicky Lopez was Texas’ No. 7 hitter.
It dawned on me then that, despite being in the race for a division title in potentially the worst division since the strike of ‘94 seemingly rescued us from Texas’ first ever division title coming with a below .500 record, and coming into the night holding an American League Wild Card spot, the Rangers aren’t even that much better than the Angels.
Not when Nicky Lopez is batting seventh. Not when Austin Wynns is making another start for this club and he isn’t even the No. 9 hitter.
Not when Jacob deGrom can’t even go more than two innings because he’s hurt or really wishing he’d taken that trade to Atlanta. Not when the club can only muster two hits through the first six innings and just five all night, none for extra bases. Not when the team won’t use a challenge on a pitch fully in the strike zone. Not when a bases loaded comebacker to the mound doesn’t turn into an out.
The Rangers went 1-6 against the Angels in Anaheim this season. They’ve gone 3-7 against them in total. They will have a losing record against them this year. There’s only like 40 games left this season and victories against the Rangers have contributed to like 15% of Anaheim’s entire win total.
The Angels are pretty bad — they had the worst record in baseball until winning tonight — but sitting here in mid-August, the Rangers aren’t much better if they are at all.
Player of the Game: The Roku feed was pretty smooth.
Up Next: The Rangers fly up to Sacramento for the next round of shameful beatings beginning in the middle of the night tomorrow night.
COVERS INTEL: The Red Sox have been swining better on the road, posting a 105 wRC+ compared to a 93 mark at Fenway Park. That gives Boston another matchup advantage against Chandler tonight. 
