Category: MLB

In summoning George Lombard Jr., the Yankees knew he could play defense. 

In trading for Luis García Jr., the Yankees knew he could hit right-handed pitching and probably considered anything else a pleasant surprise. 

And so in Friday’s 10th inning, the Yankees were validated and pleasantly surprised, respectively, as both newcomers to The Bronx made sparkling plays to save what became a comeback, 3-2 victory over the Braves. 

It was a game they probably do not win without Lombard, who started a rally in the ninth with an infield single in which he advanced all the way to third on an error, drew a key walk in the bottom of the 10th and showed off one other defensive strength in the top of the inning: a cannon of an arm. 

Leading off the extra frame, Atlanta’s Sean Murphy hit a hard ground ball into the shortstop hole, which is where Lombard has starred in his brief time in the majors. The rookie ranged, backhanded and left his feet — a small leap, if not a Jeterian one — and showed off an arm whose power is obvious. 

“He’s able to — just with ease, whether he’s off-balance — no-sweat some plays because he’s physical and strong,” manager Aaron Boone said of his new everyday, 21-year-old shortstop. “He’s not even reaching for much there, and he makes that play kind of easy.” 

After a ground out brought ghost runner Austin Riley to third, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a two-out bloop down the first-base line. Three Yankees defenders converged on a flare that appeared to be sent into no-man’s land. 

“To be honest,” García said through interpreter Marlon Abreu, “I didn’t think I had a chance.” 

And yet the first baseman sprinted, extended and stuck out his glove. His best Willie Mays impression ended with catching the third out of the frame with his back to home plate. 

“What a play,” Boone said after a game that was clinched by Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly but will be better remembered for defensive excellence, which also included Trent Grisham’s strong throw to third base in the first inning that saved a run.

The good news is that the Mariners weren’t shut out. A last-gasp Julio Rodríguez solo homer helped the 2026 Mariners avoid making some ugly history, on a night when the Mariners opened the celebration of 50 years of the franchise.

The bad news is that they might as well have been, with another lifeless offensive performance – outside of one inning and Julio’s ninth-inning effort to keep the 2026 Mariners out of the record books – en route to a 2-1 loss that had the normally deferential crowd at T-Mobile Park booing lustily.

The Rays jumped ahead early in this one thanks to a home run from Jonny DeLuca, their centerfielder. The Mariners also have a Jonny who plays center field and hits homers (Farmelo), but he is not done cooking yet. I tell you that to distract you from how bad this pitch was from Logan Gilbert: 95 mph, after he’d been at 98 in the first inning, and right in the heart of the plate.

Unsurprising for a pitch located there, that got smoked off the bat, 103 mph into the ‘pen. The Rays made some hard contact off Logan; they already had four balls hit 100 mph or more by the end of the third. They were also very aggressive against Logan, often swinging at the first pitch, especially early in the game; they doubled their lead in the third inning when Jonathan Aranda jumped on a first-pitch slider for a solo homer.

The Mariner dribbled and drabbled some hits off Drew Rasmussen early, an improvement considering he usually crushes the Mariners. Cole Young singled in the first, but was foolishly thrown out trying to steal (no Cole! Bad Cole! Your job is hit singles and get driven in!). In the second, the Mariners were able to stack a couple of baserunners, with Julio collecting a hard-hit single of his own (103.7 off the bat) and Josh Naylor working a four-pitch walk. But Brendan Donovan struck out for the second out, bringing up [brace yourselves] eight-hole hitter Cal Raleigh. What a cursèd sentence to type. Cal, to his credit, also worked a walk, but unfortunately that brought up Colt Emerson, who is, as previously noted, two days old and one huckleberry tall. Rasmussen went right after Colt, feeding him the high heat he can’t lay off of, and he struck out on three pitches to end the inning. I truly believe Emerson will succeed and he’s swimming upstream currently but he just has to make an adjustment on that high stuff. The Rays also have their shortstop, Taylor Walls, batting ninth; he is also hitting around the Mendoza Line; but the entire top half of the Rays lineup is hitting .280 or better, so they’re a little more well-equipped to absorb that batting average.

To be clear, it wasn’t Emerson alone who was chasing after Rasmussen’s high fastball; Dan Wilson noted pregame that Rasmussen was able to expand up but keep it around the top rail close enough to bait the Mariners hitters into having to make quick decisions, leading to a ton of non-squared-up balls.

As they have so many times this season, the Mariners followed up a solid offensive inning where they got traffic on the bases with a wet fart of an inning, as the top of the lineup went down on six total pitches in the bottom of the third. Nice answer-back inning, fellas. That would be the theme of the rest of the night for the offense: the Mariners were aggressive against Rasmussen, but all that added up to was a lot of quick innings and quick outs as the offense again failed to get anything going. They also struck out 12 times, after seemingly getting the strikeouts in check lately.

Logan Gilbert did the best he could with the absolute nothingburger the offense gave him, holding down the Rays well. He had to navigate around a little trouble in the fifth inning after giving up a leadoff double to Victor Mesa Jr. The Mariners also have an outfielder named Victor; the last time he hit a double was July 11, and the last time before that was May 26th.

The Rays then opted to try to small-ball in a run, which wasn’t a bad strategy given it was the bottom of their order and a leadoff double comes around to score 70% of the time, but the Mariners were able to play some solid defense and work around the back-to-back sacrifice bunts. Cal Raleigh made a heads-up play on a bunt from Taylor Walls, getting Mesa trying to score on the contact play, and then Logan Gilbert caught Walls napping at first base, picking him off to end the inning.

“That’s a big spot in the game right there,” said Logan Gilbert. “I was kind of surprised we got him, but I’ll take it, because against a team like that, you can’t play with fire. We were in a tough spot right there and fortunate to get out of it.”

But if you hoped that would inspire the Mariners to turn things around offensively, that hope would be in vain. The Mariners hitters, not exactly covering themselves in glory in the first place, looked utterly helpless against Rasmussen, who accounted for eight of the twelve strikeouts tonight. With Rasmussen finally out of the game in the eighth, the Mariners got a little traffic going when Garrett Cleavinger grazed Brendan Donovan with a pitch to open the eighth, the first time the Mariners had had a baserunner since the second inning. Gross! After Cal Raleigh popped out trying to hit the rare infield home run, Colt Emerson followed came through with a solid line-drive single, which we love to see, but then vaunted on-base threat Taylor Ward struck out for the second out of the inning, and Cole Young grounded out, causing the boo birds at T-Mobile Park to come out in full throat.

The Mariners went with Seranthony Dominguez to pitch the ninth and happily, things went much more smoothly than his first outing as a Mariner. He opened the inning by striking out DeLuca on a sweeper, getting him chasing in the dirt. He got unlucky on a fluky BABIP flyball single to Victor Mesa Jr., who then stole second base (I remember when our Victor used to do things like that), and then nicked Richie Palaccios with a pitch to put two runners on. But Dominguez rebounded to strike out Taylor Walls on a nasty splitter, and then jammed Díaz on a sinker for a harmless inning-ending flyout. So. Much better.

Unfortunately what was not better was the Mariners offense, facing Rays closer Bryan Baker, the latest faceless murderbot to roll out of the Rays pitching machine. Baker rolled through the top of the Mariners lineup with three strikeouts, facing only some resistance in the form of Julio Rodríguez, who dropped the bat on a changeup and obliterated it over the fence, shaking alive the crowd, hoping for some late-inning magic.

But these 2026 Mariners are short on the magic. Josh Naylor struck out looking on three pitches, causing the boos to echo throughout the park.

“We do get traffic,” said Dan Wilson. “We’re able to get some guys on and the next step is getting that big hit. And right now, we haven’t been able to find it. But we’ve got to find it. We’ve got to find it quick.”

They say solo home runs don’t beat you, but they do when your offense can’t muster more than one solo home run in response. Ironically, tonight was also the Mariners alumni home run derby, so at least the fans got to see some offensive fireworks – just not ones from current members of the team.

It is worth reiterating: Max Fried is still pitching with shackles, not yet free to pitch as deep into games as he desires. 

It is worth reiterating: The Yankees’ rotation is not yet whole. 

And yet Fried again looked in peak form as part of a rotation that seems to be peaking with every start, and this Yankees lineup requires every bit of its brilliance. 

The lefty was the latest excellent Yankees starter — and, for a change, a rewarded excellent Yankees starter — in a 3-2, 10-inning, comeback victory over the Braves on Friday night in The Bronx, where Fried faced his former team for the first time and pitched as if he had this game circled on his calendar since signing with the Yankees on Dec. 17, 2024. 

No, the 2026 schedule was not released at that point. But Fried certainly pored over this year’s schedule once he got it. 

“This one’s been circled on the calendar for a little bit,” Fried said after dominating over 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings against old pals such as Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson, surrendering just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. “Definitely brought up a lot of emotions and just really was able to think about my time over there. That’s a first-class organization.” 

He mixed in all seven pitches — including a changeup he rarely throws to retire Olson in the fourth, Olson passing Fried on the field and saying he wondered if that pitch would be thrown, eliciting a smile from Fried — watched his velocity tick up and was efficient. 

“Still on a pitch count, and he’s able to get an out into the seventh,” manager Aaron Boone said of Fried, who has been stretching out on the fly in the majors following an IL stint and jumped from 78 pitches in his previous outing to 90 on Friday. “He was terrific.” 

As terrific as, well, just about every other Yankees starter going right now. Fried & Friends, which does not yet include the rehabbing Carlos Rodón, have surrendered one run or fewer in eight of the past 10 games, a span in which Yankees starters have allowed 10 earned runs in 57 ²/₃ innings (1.56 ERA). 

And yet the Yankees have won just five times in that stretch because their lineup has too often lacked a pulse — as it did for eight innings Friday, before waking up in the ninth and 10th. 

When Fried was on the mound, he received no support — at least offensively. Defensively, the Yankees offered an assist. The only true danger Fried encountered arrived immediately, Drake Baldwin and Albies reaching in the first inning. With two outs, Mauricio Dubón shot a single through the middle, Trent Grisham charging, crow-hopping and throwing strong — to third base, rather than home plate. Albies attempted to go from first to third and was tagged out by Ryan McMahon a split-second before Baldwin touched home, running the Braves into an out that cost them a run. 

“My first innings haven’t been very good,” Fried said, “so to be able to rely on the defense and just a bang-bang play, something that went my way, it was huge.” 

And it was his old friends’ last chance against Fried, who allowed just one more Brave to reach second base and who retired the final 12 batters he saw.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners kicked off a three-game set in Seattle on Friday night and the pitching matchup that featured Drew Rasmussen and Logan Gilbert did not disappoint. The pair of aces delivered a throwback edition pitcher’s duel and luckily for the Rays, Drew Rasmussen emerged victorious.

The righty turned in yet another scoreless outing and set the table for the offense to do just enough as the Rays pulled off their fourth consecutive road win. Rasmussen was nearly perfect across seven strong innings. He punched out eight and walked two, allowing just a pair of hits. Had it not been for an extended second inning where he had to work out of a bases loaded situation, he could have pitched into the eighth. The effort was good enough for his 11th win of the season as he dropped his ERA to 2.75.

Opposite Drew, Logan Gilbert also put together a strong outing but made a pair of mistakes that proved costly. Over 6.2 innings of work, he punched out six, walked four, and allowed four hits. Of those four hits, two left the yard.

In back-to-back innings, the Rays were able to get to Gilbert. In the second, Johnny DeLuca launched his eighth homer of the year to left center field and gave the Rays an early 1-0 lead.

Then, in the following inning, Jonathan Aranda, laced a ball down the right field line to extend the Rays lead to 2-0.

On a night where Yandy, Caminero, Hicks, and Simpson went hitless, the Rays were able to find just enough offense to pull this one out.

Cleavinger and Kelly combined to toss a scoreless eighth inning and Baker came on in the ninth looking for his 33rd save of the season. While he did surrender a solo shot to Julio Rodriguez that snapped the M’s scoreless streak, Baker eventually slammed the door.

With the win, the Rays were able to hold serve in the division as both the Yankees (4.5 games back) and red-hot Red Sox (5 games back) won their respective games. They also improved to a season-high 23 games over .500. Only the Brewers and Braves have a better winning percentage in all of baseball. Tomorrow night, Griffin Jax will face off against George Kirby.

After Thursday’s satisfying thumping of the Mariners, the Tigers skooched down the Pacific coast a state or two to open a three-game weekend series in San Francisco against the Giants. Detroit out-hit their hosts by an 11-5 tally, but those runners largely stayed on the bases as the Giants won the series opener 5-2.

Keider Montero, who is now, absolutely, definitely, positively, for now, in the pitching rotation, made his nineteenth start of the year for the Tigers. With the exception of a hiccup in Baltimore recently, he’s looked like himself: not a boatload of strikeouts, but he keeps walks and home runs low, limiting his WHIP to about 1. If guys ain’t getting on base, they ain’t scoring — but there was plenty of traffic on the basepaths tonight, especially early

The Giants decided that JT Brubaker would open for Adrian Houser, and yes, I’m a fan of the name. Brubaker started for Pittsburgh for three years, a few years ago, but both the Yankees and Giants decided he should be in the bullpen, and the change has done him good. He’s been an effective mid- to late-innings reliever, usually entering the game anywhere between the sixth and eighth.

The Tigers wasted no time getting on the board: Kevin McGonigle led off the top of the first with a broken-bat single to right, and Gleyber Torres followed with a single to put runners on the corners. McGonigle scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Dillon Dingler, making it a 1-0 game early.

The home team countered in the bottom of the first: Jung Hoo Lee walked with one out, and then after a strikeout, Rafael Devers hit a two-run home run to centre on a belt-high 2-2 knuckle-curve for a 2-1 Giants lead.

Houser took over for Brubaker to start the second, and Spencer Torkelson greeted him with a leadoff single. With one out a groundout pushed him up to second, and he came around to score on a Zach McKinstry single to tie the game at two.

In the bottom of the frame a walk, single and sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Montero then whiffed Christian Koss on a fastball up near his eyes for the second out, but then he walked Bryce Eldridge to load the bases to bring up Lee, who singled to bring home a pair of runs to put the Giants ahead 4-2. A grounder to third handcuffed McGonigle to re-load the bases, but thankfully a popup to Javier Báez got the Tigers out of the inning.

Both pitchers settled down for a little while, Montero mercifully getting a couple of 1-2-3 innings in a row. With Jackson Jobe due to start on Saturday, and likely not going deep in that game, the Tigers definitely needed some length out of Montero.

In the top of the fifth McKinstry singled to right, and McGonigle’s single pushed him up to third. After two foulouts to right, one of which might have been deep enough to score McKinstry, Riley Greene’s little pop-fly to left field hung up just long enough for it to be caught for the third out.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Willy Adames hit a solo home run to left field to extend the lead to 5-2. That stung.

Houser held on through the sixth; he was relieved in the seventh by Keaton Winn, who stuck around for a single, a double play and a Dingler walk. Sam Hentges, who you may remember from his time in Cleveland, came in and gave up another flare by Greene to left which dropped this time; Dingler scooted to third and Greene moved up to second as the throw went to third. Eduardo Valencia pinch-hit for Colt Keith against the lefty Hentges, but he was frozen by a curveball on the inside corner for strike three.

Drew Sommers replaced Montero for the bottom of the seventh making Montero’s final line 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K. Those three walks are pretty out-of-character for him; he hadn’t walked more than two in a start since the middle of May. What of Sommers, though? He made a soft-comebacker sandwich, using strikeouts as bread. (The last one was fun: Willy Adames received a strike-three call on a pitch that he challenged and had overturned as it was a little too far inside. Next pitch? Swung and missed at ball four, upstairs. He chucked his bat. Tee hee.)

Hentges carried on into the eighth, and gave up a leadoff infield single to Torkelson. With two outs pinch-hitter Hao-Yu Lee walked, but McGonigle flew out to left to end the inning.

Enmanuel De Jesus took over in the eighth and he went 1-2-3 like his predecessor. He could be a very, very valuable piece of the bullpen if he keeps having outings like this.

Old Friend™ Dylan Smith, who’s now the Giants’ closer, came on for the save. Greene walked with two outs, but Valencia flew out and that was the game.

Just a quick reminder, Saturday’s game starts at 7:15 pm EDT as it is on Fox nationally.

Final score: Giants 5, Tigers 2

Numbers and Notes

• Much has been made of the Tigers’ bats awakening lately, but let’s zoom out a bit: on the season, the team’s OPS is .732 (league average: .712), second only behind the Astros, who play in a dumb little stadium.
• They still strike out a lot, but perhaps not quite as often as you’d imagine: coming into tonight’s game they were fifth in the American League in strikeouts by hitters. They also have both walked and homered the fourth-most in the AL. Insert whatever joke you like about Three True Outcomes you like; eat your heart out, Big Donkey.
• Foolish Bailey released a great video this week describing how the Milwaukee Brewers beat up on bad pitchers and struggle against good pitchers, and how this may doom them in the playoffs.
• Zach McKinstry and former Tiger Zack Short spell their names subtly differently, and every time I do a recap with either of them involved I have to look up who’s an “h” and who’s a “k.” There’s nothing else to that, I just want to complain a bit.
• See how the Dodgers have lost seven in a row? That’s a shame.
• On this day in 1927 the Peace Bridge opened between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. I’m quite afraid of bridges — not of the structures themselves, but falling off them. Remember when a Yugo fell off the Mackinac Bridge in the ‘80s? Ever see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge swaying in archival news clips? There’s your phobia, right there.

The Dodgers (69-47) dropped their seventh straight game to the D-backs (62-55) Friday night. They still have yet to notch a win in the month of August. Despite a solid six-inning start from Roki Sasaki, a big night from Tommy Edman with the game-tying hit, and a huge Andy Pages homer, the Dodgers once again missed scoring opportunities, slacked defensively, and couldn’t trust their bullpen with a lead late in the game.

After the Dodgers clawed back to take a 3-2 lead, Edwin Diaz served up the walk-off home run to Ryan Waldschmidt to give the Snakes the 4-3 victory.

Everything seems to go wrong when you’re in a six-game losing streak. Merill Kelly had five no-hit innings with four strikeouts against a team he’s o-11 against in the regular season until he left the game with an injury.

Nolan Arenado got the D-backs on the board first with a solo home run off a Sasaki fastball right down the middle. Teoscar Hernandez almost was able to get his glove on the ball to no avail.

Edman nearly tied it up with a home run of his own in the top of the third, but Corbin Caroll completed the robbery with a leaping catch over the right field wall.

Shohei Ohtani walked and attempted to steal second with two outs, but top NL catcher Gabriel Moreno mowed him down. It was Ohtani’s first stolen base attempt since May.

The D-backs added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Tim Tawa walked and stole second. Arizona took advantage. Geraldo Perdomo collected his second extra-base base hit of the day. The RBI triple to center field and a bobbling Andy Pages on defense brought in the second run of the game for the Snakes.

The Kelly no-hitter bid ended in the top of the sixth thanks to an infield single by Edman. More bad base running doomed the Dodgers. Edman was picked off first base after the D-backs won a challenge. That mistake proved costly almost instantly, because Hunter Feduccia singled in the next at-bat.

Ohtani and Pages drew consecutive walks to load the bases for the hottest hitter in the lineup. Freddie Freeman is surprisingly hitless on the season with the bases loaded.

Freeman ran out a fielder’s choice on a grounder to bring home Feduccia and put the Dodgers on the board. Kelly came out of the game thereafter with an injury.

Betts got one past Arenado, a rare feat, into left field for a leadoff base hit in the top of the seventh against Arizona reliever Taylor Clarke. Tucker hit a laser right to Marte at second base who unsuccessfully tried to snare it. Teoscar Hernandez, with a golden scoring opportunity, popped the first pitch up that he saw.

Edman finally came up with a clutch hit. The RBI single poked to center tied the game 2-2.

Dave Roberts pinch-hit for Feduccia with the left-handed hitting Miguel Rojas versus lefty Brandyn Garcia. On an 0-2 pitch, Rojas singled to load the bases for Ohtani.

Pages crushed the first pitch of the eighth inning against Garcia for a huge 425-ft. go-ahead home run to make it 3-2 in favor of the Dodgers.

Arizona kept doubling with two outs against Dodgers pitching. After Scott retired the first two batters of the inning, the D-backs shifted the momentum of the inning in their favor. Moreno doubled with two outs. Ketel Marte was intentionally walked. Ildemaro Vargas, pinch-hitter, walked to load the bases for Arenado.

Arenado waged a battle at the plate going 3-2, but after 12 pitches Scott struck him out swinging to preserve the one-run lead.

Edwin Diaz walked Max Kepler to open the bottom of the ninth. Tawa struck out. Then the other shoe dropped. Ryan Waldschmidt hit a two-run walk-off home run on a Diaz slider to hand the Dodgers their seventh straight loss.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Andy Pages (19); Nolan Arenado (17), Ryan Waldschmidt (2)

WP — Kevin Ginkel (5-3): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts

LP — Edwin Diaz (1-1): Gave up walk-off home run

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto ( 11-7, 2.76 ERA, 0.88 WHIP) starts the second game of the series at (5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Brandon Pfaadt (6-1, 3.66 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) counters for the D-backs. 

Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz trudged toward the dugout as Arizona’s Ryan Waldschmidt celebrated with teammates after hitting a two-run, walk-off home run to seal a 4-3 win that sent the Dodgers to a season-worst seventh straight loss.

“We’ve just got to play better,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “I don’t think that the standings — obviously, they are important, they matter. But I just feel like with the talent that we have, we just got to play good baseball, and it’ll take care of itself. It always does.”

The Dodgers’ recent skid dropped their National League West lead into single digits for the first time in over a month. They are now only 7½ games ahead of the second-place Diamondbacks in the division.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani, Pete Crow-Armstrong put on a show as NL MVP talk heats up: 'He's a great player'

They also now have the fourth-best record in the majors (69-47), falling behind the Brewers (72-44) and Braves (70-46) and Rays (69-46).

“A week ago, it looked a lot different,” Roberts said. “And another week from now, it could look even more different. So you’ve just got to put your head down and play baseball.”

They did, at least, have a better record than last season (67-49) at the 116-game mark. But the Dodgers would prefer to, unlike last year, at least earn a first-round bye, and ideally home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Their performance Friday sent them in the wrong direction.

The Dodgers went hitless against Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly for the first five innings. Kyle Tucker and Shohei Ohtani both drew walks, as the Dodgers’ only baserunners before the sixth — and Ohtani was thrown out attempting to steal second to end the third inning.

Finally, leading off the sixth, Tommy Edman — who three innings prior was robbed of a home run on a leaping grab by Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll — broke up Kelly’s no-hit bid with a sharp infield hit.

Kelly picked off Edman at first base, but Hunter Feduccia followed with a single of his own, the catcher’s first hit since rejoining the Dodgers at the trade deadline.

Ohtani and Andy Pages both drew walks to load the bases. And the Dodgers finally scored on a groundball fielder’s choice from Freddie Freeman. That single run was all they got out of the inning.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki held the Diamondbacks to two runs in six innings. He surrendered a solo homer to Arizona third baseman Nolan Arenado in the second and an RBI triple to Geraldo Perdomo in the fifth. But he only gave up two other hits.

With both starters out by the seventh (Kelly exited with two outs in the sixth because of cramping in his right leg), the Dodgers orchestrated a comeback and then gave it up.

Edman drove in the tying run, too, lining a single to left for the Dodgers’ third hit of the inning off Diamondbacks right-hander Taylor Clarke in the seventh. But the Dodgers failed to turn a bases-loaded situation into a crooked number when Ohtani grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The next inning, Pages gave the Dodgers the lead with a solo homer off Diamondbacks lefty Brandyn Garcia.

The Diamondbacks threatened against Dodgers setup man Tanner Scott. But he escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by winning a 12-pitch at-bat against Arenado for the inning-ending strikeout.

Bubic joins the team

Trade-deadline acquisition Kris Bubic, who is rehabbing at the Dodgers’ Arizona complex, is taking advantage of the opportunity to be around the team this weekend at Chase Field.

“It’s been a whirlwind the last couple days,” Bubic said. “Obviously I had been with Kansas City the whole time since I was drafted. I’ve been there my whole big-league career. I’d been on the shelf for a little bit now, but to hear I was getting traded over here was pretty exciting.

“Obviously the roster speaks for itself. The success speaks for itself. The opportunity to be a part of this, to learn from these guys, all the coaches on the staff and whatnot, it’s going to be an exciting time. I’m really looking forward to getting started.”

Bubic initially landed on the injured list in mid-May with a low-grade flexor strain in his left forearm, he specified. While working back from that injury, he had setbacks with an impingement in his left shoulder.

Because he has an injury history with both his elbow (2023 Tommy John surgery) and shoulder (2025 rotator cuff strain), the Royals didn’t rush him back. Bubic said he had a cortisone injection on July 1 and then threw off a mound on Sunday.

“I’m kind of itching to get back going,” he said. “But I know talking with the staff here they’ve got a pretty good plan. I’m expected to come out of the ‘pen in some capacity. At this point, I’m looking forward to getting back on the field and helping this team down the stretch.”

Bubic said the Dodgers have already presented him with a couple mechanical tweaks. He hopes to begin a minor-league rehab assignment around the end of the month or beginning of September.

Homestand plan

The Dodgers plan to pitch two-time Cy Young winners in back-to-back games against the Royals when they return to Los Angeles next week.

On Monday, Tarik Skubal is scheduled to make his first home start at Dodger Stadium, and second with the Dodgers since being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers. On Wednesday, Blake Snell is set to return from the IL for his second start of the season, his first since May.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Game Summary

Full recap to follow shortly. For now, feel free to go wild in the comments!

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Nolan Arenado’s homer to open the scoring in the second inning just barely snuck over the outstretched glove of Teoscar Hernandez. Hernandez looked like he had a beat on the ball in the air and stopped a step short of the wall so I thought it was gonna die at the warning track. Then at the last second, Hernandez jumped up and reached for the rafters but the ball hit off the waiting arms of a friendly Snakes fan in the first row.
• Corbin Carroll made a stunning play in contrast to Teoscar’s failed home run robbery the half inning prior. Leading off the third inning, Tommy Edman hit a high fly ball that seemed destined to tie the game 1-1, but Corbin drifted back and timed his jump perfectly to get WAY up over the right field fence and make a home run saving catch. Incredible catch!
• Merrill was staying fairly efficient early in this one. Through 4 innings, he had only thrown 53 pitches and 6 of 14 hitters he faced had completed their AB in 2 pitches or less.
• Lars Nootbaar smashed his double in the 4th over the head of Andy Pages in center field. Pages can really cover some ground so you know Nootbaar hit it hard when Pages was nowhere close to snagging it.
• Tim Tawa’s steal in the fifth was thanks to a huge walking lead. The Dodger catcher’s throw was way late and not close to the bag for good measure. Excellent base running put a runner in scoring position with 1 out. The extra 90 feet didn’t matter since Domo later brought him home with a triple into the gap in left-center, but still job will done Tim.
• Tommy Edman got a leadoff single on a hard grounder to Tim Tawa to lead off the 6th. Tawa made a superb diving play in the hole between 1st and 2nd then when he got to his knees to toss to the covering Merrill at first, the ball popped out of his glove. That was the first hit allowed by Merrill on the night. Great job by everyone from the broadcasters to the Pitters to not mention the no-hitter! I totally forgot it until Bert mentioned it after the hit. Then Merrill went and immediately erased the runner by picking him off (thanks to replay review since Edman was ruled safe on the field).
• Merrill left with the trainer with 2 outs in the 6th after losing all command of his pitches. After the aforementioned hit by Edman to break up the No Hitter, he gave up a single and 2 walks to load the bases. He did induce a possible double play ball to get out of the jam, but it was just hit too slowly and the defense could only get the force out at second. Fortunately, the medical issue appeared to be simply cramping, but it’s an unfortunate way for this stellar start to end.
• Juan Morillo struck out Max Muncy to end the Dodger threat in the sixth with 100mph gas off the outside half of the plate. Beautiful.
• Brandyn Garcia came on with runners at 1st and 2nd and one out, gave up a single to Miguel Rojas but it was so close to being caught in center that the Dodger runner had to hold up and wait to see if it would be caught before advancing and stopping at 3rd. That brought up Shohei Ohtani who grounded into an easy double play to get the D-Backs out of the inning with a tie in the 7th.
• Gabi Moreno got a rally started in the 8th with a double to the wall over Teoscar’s head. Teoscar badly misplayed the ball but Gabi couldn’t eek an extra 90 feet out for a triple. That was followed by an intentional walk to Ketel and an unintentional 4-pitch walk to Vargas to load the bases. Nolan had an epic 12 pitch AB but ended up striking out on a half-hearted swing on a really good breaking ball that nicked the outside corner. Bummer.
• Max Kepler had a stellar plate appearance against Edwin Diaz to lead off the 9th. Fell down in the count 1-2, but worked his way to a lead off walk.

Comment of the Game

A solidly attended GameDay Thread tonight that really exploded thanks to certain heroics in the 9th inning. A total of 305 comments at time of publishing and several Sedona Red comments to choose from, but I’ll highlight the top couple responses to Waldy’s Walk Off from Dbacks fan from Japan and AzDesertLovr as COTG:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Guggenheims for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 5:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7, 2.76 ERA) is the probable starter for LA and Brandon Pfaadt (6-1, 3.66 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys.

Scoreboard Watching

Full scoreboard recap to follow shortly.

Every moment in a game is another opportunity to shift the momentum. And for eight frames, the Yankees had and wasted their chances to do so, but one big inning was all it took to survive and eventually win it in extras. Down 2-0 in the ninth, the Yankees refused to quit, rattled the Braves closer, and ultimately earned the walk-off win, with all the drama you could hope for, and then some. Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly in the 10th was the decisive plate appearance.

The only reason why the Yankees were even in a position to fight for this game until the end was because of their outstanding pitching, led by starter Max Fried. When an ace is on the mound, one break is all that the opposition will get, which often comes in the opening inning. The Braves had theirs at the start of the game and wasted it, allowing Fried to settle in and post zero after zero as we’ve so often seen from him. Atlanta had runners at first and second with two outs when Mauricio Dubón came up to bat and knocked what appeared to be an RBI single on a groundball to center. However, before Drake Baldwin could score, Ozzie Albies was thrown out at third by Trent Grisham, keeping Fried’s line intact.

Speaking of frustrating outcomes, the Yankees had a massive pile of those. McMahon worked a leadoff walk in the third only for Tyler Mahle to strike out the side, twice on the heater, once on a splitter to get Ben Rice, whom he struck out in each of his first two at-bats. Then in the fourth, the frustration levels were raised when it was Heliot Ramos’ turn to be stranded after reaching to lead off the frame, in his case with a double. Not only that, Luis García Jr. and Jazz Chisholm Jr. both popped out on the first pitch before Spencer Jones fell victim to Dubón’s superb outfield defense, catching a high fly ball to the track in dead center.

Another inning and the same song and dance with an early baserunner abandoned without a prayer of crossing home plate. McMahon had the old ‘make a great play defensively and record a hit in the next half inning’ thing going for him, but Austin Wells and Grisham stranded him at second. Before an unsuccessful challenge on a strike three fastball in the outside corner up in the zone, Grisham swung right through a tasty 1-0 heater middle in.

The attack plan for Mahle was rather straightforward, with primarily four-seamers and splitters to lefties and sprinkled in some cutters; it was just about beating the Yankees hitters to the spot time and time again. In the sixth, one baserunner equaled no runs, this time with García stopping at first after a two-out single was followed by a Jazz punchout.

All of these wasted opportunities meant that when Fried ultimately left the mound, retiring Matt Olson on a strikeout to open up the seventh, he did so with the score still tied at 0-0. The southpaw was truly excellent on Friday with 6.1 innings of goose eggs, deserving a better fate.

Fernando Cruz retired the first two hitters he faced. Returning for the eighth inning, though, Cruz threw a hanging splitter to Austin Riley, and the Braves third baseman knocked it out of the park to score the game’s first run.

One run in the context of this game was the equivalent of three to four under normal circumstances, with the Yankees offense entirely unable to generate any action. In the eighth inning, it was the Braves’ turn to waste a run-scoring opportunity when Brent Headrick stranded a pair. Just for good measure, though, Matt Olson doubled the Braves’ lead with a solo shot in the ninth off Tim Hill, Olson’s 33rd homer of the season. Even lefties continue to be a problem for Hill, who hasn’t pitched well in months and could see his roster spot in jeopardy

In the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Boone tried to be proactive, pinch-hitting Amed Rosario in place of the struggling Grisham with a lefty, Brooks Lee, on the mound. It didn’t work. Rosario was retired leading off the frame. He also brought in Paul Goldschmidt to hit for Jazz with a couple of men on after back-to-back walks to García and Ramos, but the veteran couldn’t capitalize, striking out swinging. At that point, everyone is forgiven for thinking all hope is lost, and this is not the Yankees’ night, but there were three more outs to go, the three biggest outs of any one game.

An errant throw by closer Raisel Iglesias on a squibbler from George Lombard Jr. allowed the rookie shortstop to go all the way to third with one out in the ninth. Down to the last out, Wells drove him in for the Yankees’ first and only run of the game. Still, it felt like that classic meaningless run to simply avoid the shutout.

That move to pinch-hit for Grisham meant that Rosario was up against a righty with two outs and the tying run in scoring position in the ninth—and he did his part in working a walk and passing the baton to Rice. The Yankees’ best and most struggling hitter in the game answered at a time of need with a single to the wall in right played perfectly by Ronald Acuña Jr. to prevent the runners from advancing any further.

When Iglesias loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch, manager Walt Weiss decided he wasn’t going to let his closer lose the game, which meant bringing in Dylan Dodd to retire García.

Already an integral part of this comeback effort, having started the rally in the ninth, Lombard helped David Bednar put up a zero in the 10th. The Yankees shortstop made a great play in the hole to throw out Sean Murphy and prevent the ghost runner from advancing. Great defense was a big part of David Bednar’s scoreless frame, with García also chipping in with a Don Mattingly-esque great catch in short right.

In a game of such drama, the win in the bottom of the 10th could not have come easily. And when José Caballero led off the frame with a strikeout on a botched bunt, there were some concerns of it staying at 2-2. Spencer Jones was then intentionally walked; Lombard showed his maturity by earning a free pass, which meant McMahon only needed to get the ball in the air for the win.

That’s exactly what he did, finishing the night 2-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly to complete an outstanding performance.

You couldn’t ask for a more marquee pitching matchup than the one the Yankees and Braves will provide on Saturday afternoon, starting at 3:05 p.m. (EST). Two of the greatest pitchers of the 21st century go head-to-head with Chris Sale facing Gerrit Cole.

Box Score

From the depths of despair, the Yankees remained in second place, at least for a night. 

One out away from being shut out and allowing the blazing-hot Red Sox to leapfrog them in the division standings, the Yankees’ bats finally woke up in time to stop their slide for the time being. 

Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees came back to tie it before winning it in the 10th on Ryan McMahon’s walk-off sacrifice fly for a 3-2 win over the Braves in a game delayed two hours by inclement weather on Friday night in The Bronx. 

In the kind of tight, low-scoring game that has become so familiar of late because of their futile offense and outstanding pitching — and on Friday, game-saving defense — the Yankees found jubilation before heartbreak came their way again. 

“Obviously it’s tough for us, but these guys, they’re gritty and they’ve played in a lot of these games,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I feel like we’ve had a lot of these, where it’s one run either way. It’s been tough for us offensively now for a while, so we’re in these close games it feels like night in and night out. In a lot of them, we’ve done things that allow us to win a game, and that was certainly the case tonight.” 

After José Caballero failed to get a bunt down and struck out on a foul attempt to lead off the bottom of the 10th against righty Tyler Kinley, the Braves (70-46) intentionally walked Spencer Jones to bring up George Lombard Jr., who drew a full-count walk to load the bases. 

McMahon, who had two of the Yankees’ four hits entering the ninth inning, then fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and then delivering the game-winning fly ball to right field, deep enough to score Luis García Jr. from third. 

“We got to figure that out,” McMahon said of the offense that was shut out for eight innings Friday. “We got to get going a little bit more. It’s not from a lack of work or effort, but we got to figure out a way to get going.” 

And so the Yankees (65-51) staved off third place in the AL East — for what would have been the first time this season — and dropping into the second AL wild card, staying a half-game ahead of the Red Sox, who won their ninth straight game and improved to 32-5 over their past 37. 

Winning in extras for only the second time in 10 games this season, the Yankees snapped the Braves’ eight-game winning streak. 

Of their past 23 games, 17 have been decided by two runs or fewer, with the Yankees going 12-5 in those contests, which they hope will serve them well if they can survive this and make it to October. 

“Especially when you come down to the end of the year in playoff baseball, it’s important to be able to play these tight games and be comfortable playing in tight games,” said Max Fried, who turned in 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings in an emotional first start against his former team. “So we embrace it. I know everyone in this room is comfortable and confident, going out there and trying to do whatever they can to win the game.” 

When the Yankees stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the eighth — after being shut out for six innings by righty Tyler Mahle, who came into the night with a 5.13 ERA — it appeared to be their last gasp. But then with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Lombard, in his third career game, reached on a swinging bunt and raced all the way to third on Braves closer Raisel Iglesias’ wild throwing error. 

One out later, Austin Wells roped a double to right field to make it 2-1. Amed Rosario then drew a walk before Ben Rice — who came to the plate in a 2-for-33 skid — laced a single off the right-field wall to tie it and put the winning run at third. Heliot Ramos, who reached base four times, was hit by an 0-1 pitch to load the bases, at which point the Braves replaced Iglesias with lefty Dylan Dodd, who got García to ground out, sending the game to extras. 

David Bednar tossed a scoreless top of the 10th, thanks to terrific defense from Lombard on a play in the hole and García, the first baseman who made an over-the-shoulder catch on a pop up to no-man’s land in right field. 

“We’ve been in a tough stretch where we’re facing a lot of teams in playoff position right now, and we haven’t scored a lot, but we’ve more than held our own,” Boone said. “That’s a credit to them and they continue to find ways to win games and win these close games. … We got to fight our way through this.”

On a night when the Phillies inducted Chase Utley onto the Wall of Fame, neither the weather nor the team performed up to the standard of the former star. The game was delayed almost two hours due to rain, and once it was played, Zack Wheeler had a shaky start, and the offense couldn’t take advantage of ten walks as the Phillies dropped a 5-4 decision to the Blue Jays.

Wheeler hasn’t been his best in recent starts and that continued on Friday. His command wasn’t great and he gave up solo runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. It’s possible he was distracted by the Blue Jays’ insistence that he was not maintaining contact with the pitching rubber. He certainly didn’t seem to appreciate the Blue Jays’ complaints.

The Phillies matched the Jays’ output in the early innings. J.T. Realmuto’s single combined with an error by Toronot right fielder Jesus Sanchez gave the Phillies their first run in the second, and Bryce Harper’s RBI single tied it at two in the third.

But they wasted some prime scoring opportunities after that. In the fifth, Bryson Stott led off with a walk and Justin Crawford followed with a double, giving the Phillies runners at second and third with nobody out. But Blue Jays starter Jose Soriano rebounded to strike out Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Harper.

Things fell apart for Wheeler in the sixth. He got the first out of the inning but then gave up a single to Josh Smith. He followed that by walking Brett Bateman – Wheeler’s fifth walk of the night – before Nathan Lukes ended a 15-pitch at bat by singling to right.

With Wheeler’s pitch count at 115, that ended his night. Tim Mayza entered and gave up a sacrifice fly but was able to limit the damage after that.

In the seventh, the Phillies had another great opportunity to score when they loaded the bases on three walks, but a Luis Arraez fly out ended the inning with all three runners still on base.

After Caleb Kilian gave up a solo home run to Josh Smith in the eighth (that’s now two of three bad appearances by Kilian since he arrived), the score was 5-2 and it felt like the game was as good as over. But the Blue Jays did their best to let the Phillies back in it. In the ninth, Trevor Rogers walked the first two batters before Schwarber loaded the bases on catcher’s interference.

Trea Turner made it 5-3 with a fielder’s choice ground out, and Bryce Harper cut it to 5-4 with an infield single that probably should have been converted into an out. Arraez re-loaded the bases with a walk, but with the infield in, Alec Bohm’s weak groundball resulted in a force out at home (which Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk almost botched).

It was left to Brandon Marsh with two outs. The Jays almost left first base uncovered on his ground ball to second, but Rogers got over to cover just in time to record the out and end the game.

They’ll be back at it on Saturday evening. Presumably, Utley will stick around to watch that one, and hopefully, the Phillies can do a better job of honoring his legacy the second time around.

The Yankees offense struggled for eight innings, but came alive to rally and defeat the Braves, 3-2, in extra innings on Friday night in the Bronx.

Despite being down two runs in the ninth, the Yankees rallied. A one-out infield single from George Lombard Jr. and a two-base error by Braves closer Raisel Iglesias allowed the Yankees rookie to reach third base. Austin Wells drove him in with a two-out double. Amed Rosario walked, bringing up Ben Rice. The young slugger hit a bullet off the right field wall, tying the game. Luis Garcia Jr. would ground out to send the game to extra innings.

But Garcia would make up for it in the 10th. With two outs and the ghost runner on third base, Ronald Acuna Jr. lofted the ball into right field that looked destined to drop in, but Garcia raced out and made an over-the-shoulder catch to keep the game tied.

In the bottom of the 10th, Jose Caballero struck out on a foul bunt before Spencer Jones was intentionally walked to bring up Lombard. Against the right-hander Tyler Kinley, Lombard walked to load the bases for Ryan McMahon. McMahon fought back from an 0-2 count and hit a sac fly to drive in the winning run.

The Yankees snapped Atlanta's eight-game winning streak. With the Red Sox's win earlier in the evening, the Yankees remain just 0.5 games ahead of Boston for second in the division and the top Wild Card spot.

Here are the takeaways...

-Following a nearly two-hour rain delay, Max Fried took the mound facing off against his former team for the first time. The southpaw allowed two runners to reach (walk, single) before retiring Matt Olson, but Maricio Dubon hit a single up the middle, and Trent Grisham gunned down Ozzie Albies trying to reach third base before Drake Baldwin scored at home.

From there, Fried cruised through 6.1 innings (90 pitches/57 strikes), allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. But it wasn't enough as he left the game with the score tied at 0-0.

-The Yankees were no-hit through three innings by new Brave pitcher Tyler Mahle -- who entered the game with a 5.13 ERA -- before Heliot Ramos broke it up with a leadoff double in the fourth. But the Yankees couldn't capitalize, withGarcia (foul out) and Jazz Chisholm Jr. (pop up) unable to even move Ramos to third. Jones hit a long fly ball to dead center field, but Dubon made a leaping catch at the wall to secure the third out.

McMahon hit a one-out double in the fifth, but he was also stranded after Wells lined out to center and Grisham struck out looking.

They had another chance in the eighth after back-to-back, two-out walks by Ramos and Garcia. Paul Goldschmidt was called off the bench but struck out swinging to end yet another Yankees threat. 

-Behind Fried, Fernando Cruz gave up the first run of the game when Austin Riley launched a solo shot to lead off the eighth inning. Cruz made three outs, but allowing the home run was the difference and continued the right-hander's recent struggles. 

In his last seven games, Cruz has an ERA of 5.40 (four runs in 6.2 innings).

Tim Hill allowed a leadoff solo shot to Olson in the ninth to push the Braves' lead to 2-0. 

-Rice finished 1-for-5 with three strikeouts and is now 2-for-22 over his last seven games and 7-for-55 over his last 15 games with just one home run over that time. Hopefully the tying single gets him out of his funk.

Lombard, in his third game with the Yankees, went 1-for-4 with a strikeout, a walk and the run scored.

Game MVP: Ryan McMahon

McMahon not only drove in the winning run, but he was the only Yankee to have more than one hit, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk.

Highlights

Ryan McMahon makes a great play and fires to Luis García Jr. at first to get the out! pic.twitter.com/eiUEleUspq

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 8, 2026

Ben Rice ties the game at 2-2 with a big base hit, bringing Austin Wells home! pic.twitter.com/T7tkFaKfrp

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 8, 2026

Luis García Jr. saves a run with an incredible catch over his head to keep the game tied 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OAD141R0GP

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 8, 2026

Walk-Off W. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/jYskxcs8h3

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 8, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Braves continue their series on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m.

It's a duel between aces as Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.42 ERA) takes on Chris Sale (12-6, 2.08 ERA). 

Rays 2, Mariners 1

Anagrams: Julio Rodríguez and Eduard Bazardo, +.03 WPA

Bananagrams: Taylor Ward, -.17 WPA but let’s be clear, every single member of the offense could be in this category tonight, as not a single one aside from Julio had a positive WPA. They, to put it gently, stink.

Game thread comment of the day:

One must imagine The King happy

That was stressful, especially after yesterday’s nightmare ending. It was close all game, with the Jays just edging out to what seemed like a comfortable lead in the late innings before nearly throwing it all away again in the ninth. In the end they hung on by a fingernail.

The deadline additions played a huge role tonight:

• Jose Soriano showed both why he’s had some struggles and why he can be so effective in spite of that. His sinker and curveball generated plenty of ground ball contact plus some swings and misses. His four hits and three walks against three strikeouts over 4.2 doesn’t stand out, but there was a lot to like and he left his team in a position to win.
• Josh Smith was 3-4 with a home run on his 29th birthday. The homer was a moonshot to centre field, giving hope that the power outage that’s wrecked his season was related to his first half injuries and might be behind him. He also stole a base
• Brett Bateman’s first MLB plate appearance, indeed his first swing at his first pitch, was a double crushed off the top of the wall the other way. Then he worked a pair of walks later in the ballgame.
• Matt Waldron, who was a minor league signing and not a trade acquisition, worked a solid eighth inning with a strikeout.

They Jays took an early lead in the second inning on an Andres Gimenez solo home run. It would be short lived, though. In the bottom half, Soriano issued a two out walkd and Jesus Sanchez badly misplayed a ground ball single, letting it get past him to the wall and allowing the runner to score from first. That established a pattern. In the third, Brett Bateman took his first MLB pitch, a Zach Wheeler fastball at the top of the zone, and lined it high off the left field wall for a double. He advanced on a ground out and came around to score on an Alejandro Kirk sac fly, staking the Jays to their second one run lead. Again it was erased in the next half inning, as Kyle Schwarber doubled down the left field line and came around to score on a Bryce Harper single.

Their third lead of the night came in the fourth. Josh Smith hit a two out single, Bateman worked a walk, and Nathan Lukes hit a grounder into right. Smith comfortably beat the throw home to put Toronto in front 3-2. That lead would hold up for a while. Soriano worked around a walk in the home half with the help of a double play. After a Sanchez double was stranded in the top of the fifth, he got himself into a jam by issuing a leadoff walk and then a soft line double that put men on second and third. He rallied with back to back strikeouts before giving way to Mason Fluharty, who punched Bryce Harper out to end the threat.

The Jays added to their lead in the sixth. Smith singled again, and Bateman’s second walk of the night advanced him to scoring position. At that point, Zach Wheeler was at 101 pitches after an uncharacteristically wild performance that featured a season high five walks. Lukes gave him an absolute war, battling him for 14 pitches before lining the 15th into right for an RBI single to make it 4-2. Lazaro Estrada preserved that margin in the bottom half, working a scoreless inning around a walk.

Old friend Tim Mayza, who’d finished off the sixth after Lukes knocked Wheeler out, set the Jays down in order in the seventh. Estrada got one out but then issued his second walk. Brendon Little took over and after a lineup walked the next two batters he saw, loading the bases with two out. He got Harper to fly out softly to centre, though, escaping the jam.

One more insurance run came in the eighth on a Josh Smith solo home run to centre field off Caleb Kilian. Matt Waldron made his Blue Jays debut in the eighth, recording a clean inning with a strikeout. George Springer singled and stole second in the top of the ninth, but was stranded.

That brought it down to Tyler Rogers for the save attempt. It didn’t go smoothly. He walked the first two batters, and Schwarber ticked Kirk’s glove on a check swing for a catcher’s interference to load the bases and bring the winning run to the plate. Treat Turner hit a one hopper to first, which Okamoto fielded and threw to second. The Jays had a chance for a double play, but Gimenez bobbled the transfer and they only got the out at second. Next, Harper hit a grounder into the second base gap. Clement got there but bobbled it, allowing the runner at third to score and putting the tying run at second and the winning run at first. A walk loaded the bases and put both in scoring position. A couple of tough fielding plays narrowly got the Jays out of it. First, Rogers managed to get a chopper that Clement fielded behind the mound. His throw narrowly beat Turner home, forcing him for the second out. Next, Brandon Marsh hit a grounder similar to Harpers’ into the second base hole. Clement fielded it cleanly, but Okamoto had gone for the ball before turning back to cover and didn’t look likely to make it back in time to beat Marsh. Luckily, Rogers had gone to cover himself and narrowly won the race to the bag for the game ending out.

Jays of the Day: Lukes (0.15), Smith (0.12), Bateman (0.10), and while no individual reliever qualifies all of them except Rogers can share a nod for quality relief work

Less so: Okamoto (-0.12)

Tomorrow we get the most exciting pitching matchup of 2018, as Max Scherzer (1-4, 7.92) faces Aaron Nola (3-9, 5.55). First pitch is set for 6:05pm ET.