Category: MLB

Dalton Rushing keeps a few baseball gloves on the top shelf of his corner locker in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse. None of them is a catcher’s mitt.

Which seems significant since Rushing is a catcher.

But in college at Louisville and in the Cape Cod Summer League, he played more games at first base and in the outfield than behind the plate. So he still runs out with a fielder’s glove during batting practice, just in case.

“I'll shag during BP, just kind of to take the shakiness, just to be as comfortable as possible if I have to go out there,” he said.

Read more:Clayton Kershaw and rebounding offense help Dodgers salvage split against Rockies

“It’s good to have that skill, to bounce over there and play. But the biggest thing moving forward is catching.”

Using Rushing as anything other than Will Smith's backup behind the plate would qualify as a “break glass in case of emergency move” for manager Dave Roberts, although he has played Rushing for 13 innings at first base and tabbed him as the next man up when he feared Freddie Freeman would miss time after being hit on the left wrist last month.

“He can handle first base,” Roberts said. “I don't feel good with him in left field, but he's done it.

“Right now the main thing is to spell Will; continue to be good behind the plate.”

Few teams cherish utility more than the Dodgers, who have used five players in at least three different positions this season. However, catchers — even backup catchers — are typically valued more for their unique skills at calling games, blocking 100-mph pitches in the dirt and throwing out would-be base stealers than for their versatility.

That’s why Smith, the Dodgers’ starting catcher and a three-time National League All-Star, has played just 3 2/3 innings anywhere else in the field in seven major league seasons. Rushing expects the same.

“The main focus is catching. It's been catching since I showed up,” he said. “When they made the decision to bring me up in May, it was kind of: ‘Hey, we want this guy to catch. Learn the position. Learn these guys as much as possible.’

“I like to keep it in my back pocket that I can play other positions. But I would say the main reason is still to catch.”

And hit, since the Dodgers also see value in Rushing’s bat. A left-handed hitter with pop, Rushing was slashing .308/.424/.514 when he was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City in May.

“The bat got him here,” Roberts said. “The performance got him here.”

How long it keeps him here is uncertain. Rushing, who has always been a starter, is having trouble adjusting to limited at-bats, hitting .186 with more than twice as many strikeouts as hits in 37 games.

But then this isn’t the first time he’s followed Smith since both catchers played college baseball at Louisville and in Cape Cod League. Smith, 30, who was born in Louisville, was undrafted out of high school but became a first-round pick of the Dodgers three years later, signing for a $1.775-million bonus. He made his big league debut in 2019, the same year Rushing graduated high school.

Read more:Rocky, and painful, outing for Shohei Ohtani as Dodgers lose to Colorado

Rushing, 24, from Tennessee, was a second-round pick in 2022, getting just under $2 million to sign with the Dodgers.

“He’s older than me by a few years, but we crossed paths a good bit,” said Rushing, who shares an agent with Smith. “It's similar paths. That's kind of what just allows the Dodgers to know what they're getting.

“He helps out a lot, and it makes my job a lot easier. Seeing him do what he does every day and kind of just running things off of each other and just trying to learn as much as possible.”

It some ways, then, Rushing finds himself in the perfect position. No matter which glove he uses.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Nothing can kill a winning streak like sloppy play, and that's exactly what happened to the Yankees on Thursday in their 6-3 loss to the Red Sox.

Not only did the Yankees pitching walk nine batters, they left 10 runners on base and made four errors -- yes, four -- that resulted in three runs and ultimately were the difference in this game.

"Not a real clean game for us. A lot of free bases there," manager Aaron Boone said of his team's performance after the loss. "For the most part in the first half, we were able to overcome them…they made us pay on the last error on the homer. Not a great night for us."

That homer Boone alluded to was the exclamation point on the tough night for the Yankees. First, Luis Gil had trouble with his command, walking five batters and making the first error of the game when he booted a chopper to him to lead the second inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed up with a throwing error on a potential double play ball that allowed the runner to advance to second with one out. After a stolen base and a walk, Ben Rice made a throwing error trying to catch a runner stealing that gave the Red Sox an extra base and allowed the runner at third to score. 

Three errors in one inning, but Gil and the Yankees kept it at just one run allowed.

Gil would allow Boston runners to clog the bases through his five innings of work, but allowed just two runs and was the pitcher of record on the winning side when he was done. The Yankees bullpen would walk four more batters and allow the Red Sox to capture the lead, 4-3, which held until the ninth inning. 

It looked as if the Yankees were going to bat in the bottom of the ninth only down one, when the fourth and final error occurred. With one out, Yerry De Los Santos got a ground ball to first base, but Paul Goldschmidt could not get the ball out of his glove to make the flip to the pitcher covering. Two batters later, Roman Anthony blasted a towering two-run shot with two outs to give the Red Sox the insurance they needed, an at-bat that would have never occurred.

"Definitely gave them spots to win and I felt like tonight was one of those nights where we beat ourselves," Chisholm said after the game. "Just like [Cody Bellinger] said in the past, sometimes you just got to look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'Hey you beat yourself tonight. Tomorrow, come out better and focus more.'"

"You can’t fix every time you make errors, it’s going to be hard to overcome. It might have been the reason we lost tonight," Goldschmidt said. "There’s a lot of good teams in this league. Any time you give them an extra out, extra runs, they got two when I made my error in the ninth, it could have been a different game, I’m sure they probably scored another run off another error. You make it hard on yourself. We didn’t play good enough to win tonight."

Thursday was the third game in which the Yankees made four-plus errors in a single game this season. That's the most in MLB. Before Thursday's game, the last time the Yankees committed four-plus errors and walked nine-plus batters in a nine-inning game at home was May 1912 (h/t Katie Sharp). 

Both Chisholm and Goldschmidt said they are not overly concerned with their errors moving forward when they were asked. Chisholm specifically pointed to the Gold Glovers in the infield and chalked Thursday's performance to "just baseball," but what should be concerning is the team's performance against the teams they are likely to face in the postseason.

After Thursday's loss, the Yankees are 6-17 against the Tigers, Blue Jays, Astros and Red Sox (5-1 against the Mariners) this season. Boston pulled within 0.5 games of the Yankees for the first wild card spot and improved their record against the Yankees to 6-1 this year. 

Goldschmidt was asked about why Boston has had the Yankees' number this season and the former MVP could not think of a reason.

"I don’t have an answer. We played a lot of close games with them," he said. "They’ve been able to make one more play, one more hit than us. Hopefully, we can change that tomorrow."

The Yankees and Red Sox meet three more times this weekend before they meet in a three-game set in Boston in mid-September. There is still time to turn the narrative that Boston owns them this season, but it's getting late early. 

The Yankees committed four errors and left 10 runners on base in their 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

The loss cuts their lead for the first wild card spot to just 0.5 games in front of Boston. The loss snapped the Yankees' five-game winning streak and the Red Sox are now 6-1 this season against their rivals.

New York now has three games of four-plus errors this season, the most in MLB. But it wasn't just their defense; the offense, while resilient, just didn't do enough with their opportunities. The Yankees finished 2-for-7 with RISP and left 10 men on base. The Red Sox were much worse, going 3-for-19 with 14 left on base.

Here are the takeaways...

-Walks got Luis Gil in trouble on Thursday and it started early. He walked two batters to give the Red Sox a scoring opportunity with two outs for recently signed Nathanial Lowe. The left-handed slugger flew out to right to end the threat.

Errors were the story in the second inning. Gil booted a chopper back at him, allowing the leadoff hitter to reach and then Jazz Chisholm Jr. overthrew, by a lot, Paul Goldschmidt on a potential double play ball that went into the dugout, allowing Cedanne Rafaela to reach second on the second error of the inning. Ryan McMahon prevented a throwing error from Ben Rice, starting at catcher, on Rafaela's steal of third. After a walk, Rice would overthrow Anthony Volpe on a steal of second to allow the first run of the game to score.

Gil worked out of the inning by picking David Hamilton off of third base and getting Roman Anthony to ground out, but Boston had been held hitless after two innings and still led thanks to the three errors and four walks from Gil.

-Giancarlo Stanton started in right field and his deficiency out there showed in the third inning when Alex Bregman hit a ground-rule double that the slugger could not get to. But Gil stranded the runner as he got the next three batters out without allowing a run. Runners on base was a common theme for Gil as he struggled to pitch clean innings, but, to his credit, he squirmed his way through five innings. His biggest Houdini act came in the fifth when a walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs. After striking out Trevor Story, Gil got Lowe to fly out, which drove in a run, and Masataka Yoshida to fly out to end the inning, allowing just one run.

Gil was not sharp, but gave the Yankees a chance by pitching five innings of two-run ball. He tossed 93 pitches (52 strikes), allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and five walks while striking out just three batters.

-The Yankees hit 14 homers in their two-game series sweep of the Rays and they continued the power surge in the second inning when Rice made up for his error by launching a solo shot to tie the game.

It's the 20th consecutive run the Yankees have scored that's come via the home run. They tied the 2020 Yankees for most consecutive runs scored via the home run by any team in at least the expansion era (since 1961) (via Sarah Langs). 

That streak would end in the fourth when Chisholm led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on the throwing error from catcher Carlos Narvaez.Goldschmidt poked a single through the drawn-in infield to put the Yankees on top 2-1. 

In the fifth, Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled starter Lucas Giolito with two outs and Aaron Judge on first base for lefty Justin Wilson to face Rice. The left-handed slugger walked and Chisholm blooped a single just beyond Story's glove to drive in Judge, who stole second earlier in the inning, and retake the lead. After a walk to Goldschmidt to load the bases, Wilson got McMahon swinging to end the threat.

-The Yankees had an opportunity to score in the seventh after LHP Steven Matz gave up a one-out triple to Rice. However, he struck out Chisholm swinging and got Goldschmidt to pop out to first to escape the jam.

-Camilo Doval was the first arm out of the pen, and his struggles continued. After a leadoff infield single by Hamilton, Doval made three disengagements to balk Hamilton over to second. He walked Narvaez on four pitches before facing the top of the Red Sox lineup. Anthony lined a single the other way to tie the game at 3-3, and that was it for Doval. Doval has allowed at least one run in five of his nine appearances since being traded to the Yankees.

Mark Leiter Jr. was next and got the next two batters out (Bregman pop-up, Jarren Duran groundout) to keep the score tied. Luke Weaver was on in the seventh and allowed a leadoff single and then a double in the gap to Lowe, allowing Story to score and take the lead 4-3. After a soft groundout, Weaver walked back-to-back batters to load the bases with one out. Weaver struck out Narvaez but was pulled for Tim Hill. The southpaw struck out Anthony to strand more runners.

The combination of Hill and Yerry De Los Santos got through the eighth inning, stranding two more runners. De Los Santos started the ninth and was on his way to getting the first two outs without issue, but Goldschmidt's error allowed Hamilton to reach safely. Two batters later, Anthony hit a two-out, two-run blast to give the Red Sox a 6-3 lead.

-In the bottom of the ninth, former Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman got Judge (pop out), Cody Bellinger (groundout) and Stanton (ground out) to end the game.

Game MVP: Roman Anthony

The slugging rookie drove in three runs but none bigger than that two-run blast to keep the Yankees at bay.

Highlights

Ben Rice ties it up with a solo shot!

(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/LiLMsxvs2g

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 21, 2025

RBI single for Paul Goldschmidt gives the Yankees the lead!

(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/p7sY5BKTJ7

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 22, 2025

Jazz Chisholm gives the lead back to the Yanks!

(via @yankees) pic.twitter.com/LL1wqWa0ZU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 22, 2025

What's next

The Yankees and Red Sox continue their four-game series on Friday evening. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Max Fried (13-5, 3.26 ERA) will look to get back on track as he takes on Brayan Bello (9-6, 3.23).

It was another disappointing game for the Mets on Thursday afternoon, losing to the Washington Nationals, 9-3, and dropping the series in the process.

After winning the final two games against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend to win their first series since late July, things were looking up for New York following a series-opening win against the Nationals on Tuesday that made it three in a row. 

Perhaps the tide was finally turning for a team that had been saying for the last two months it needed to play better. What followed, however, didn't inspire much confidence as the Mets let the final two games in Washington slip away and were left in the same exact spot they've been in for the last two months.

"We just got to be better, bottom line," said manager Carlos Mendoza after the game.

Thursday's culprit was Sean Manaea, who began the game by dominating the Nationals lineup, striking out seven in the first three innings as his offense gave him a quick lead. But after such a strong start, Manaea unraveled in the fourth before completely falling apart in the fifth.

The left-hander lasted 4.2 innings and allowed four earned runs -- the fourth straight outing that he's given up four or more as part of a terrible month of August in which he has a 7.91 ERA in 19.2 innings.

"I just lost feel for my sweeper right there and then just lost control of my fastball at the end there, too," Manaea said.

It's becoming a trend lately for the 33-year-old to pitch well in the first few innings before hitting a wall during the second time through the lineup. In fact, as a staff, the Mets entered Thursday with a 7.14 ERA in the fourth inning over their last 61 games -- second-highest behind the Miami Marlins (7.65 ERA).

Citing that he feels good physically after his late start to the season with a right oblique strain and a left elbow setback, Manaea had a hard time explaining why that's been the case for him.

"I wouldn’t say fatigue. I feel good," he said. "I really have no explanation for why I’m hitting that wall."

When asked what he could do to counter it, Manaea's answer was equally concerning.

"I don’t know. I think that’s key. I think I’m doing everything in between starts, so I just gotta execute," the lefty said.

As for his skipper, Mendoza was clear in his message to Manaea, and the rest of his starters for that matter, who have not gotten the job done as one of New York's front-line starters.

After all, the Mets' streak of starters not named David Peterson unable to pitch six innings is still active.

"It starts with our starters. They set the tone," Mendoza said. "When they go, the whole team pretty much goes. And it’s been hard for these guys the past two months basically, dealing with injuries, getting guys back. 

"But at this point, with everybody pretty much healthy, we need to be better. We need to be better. And they know that -- talking about [Kodai] Senga, Manaea tonight. We need those guys. And they know they’re capable of giving us a chance to win baseball games and right now we’re not doing that. It’s frustrating, they are frustrated."

With the calendar getting ready to flip to September, time is running out for New York to figure things out, which is why the message continues to be the same as it has been for the last two months: Just play better.

At some point, though, words aren't enough.

"We gotta get going. We gotta see results," Mendoza said. "We’ve seen it from this group, especially from the guys that I mentioned. It starts right there. We don’t have much time left, so we gotta play better."

"It ain’t late, but it ain’t early either," said Juan Soto about having enough time to turn it around. "We have to win today. We don’t have to be focused on what is gonna happen in the future or what has happened in the past, we gotta focus on what we can do today."

The Mets dropped the rubber game against the last-place Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon, losing 9-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-For the first time since late July, it looked like Sean Manaea was poised to have a good day on the mound. The left-hander began his outing by retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced, including seven via strikeout. The only hit Manaea allowed over the first three innings was a ground-rule double by Brady House that got stuck in the left-field wall padding and barely missed being a home run. 

Still, after the first hard-hit ball against him and the first Nationals chance to score, Manaea came back to strike out two to end the inning and leave the runner stranded at second.

-From then on, though, things got tricky for the lefty. The fourth inning began with another strikeout, Manaea's eighth of the game, but catcher Hayden Senger couldn't stop the sweeper and CJ Abrams reached safely on the wild pitch charged to Manaea. After a lineout, a single and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Abrams came around to score on Dylan Crews' groundout to second base. Brett Baty made the play going to his right, cutting off Francisco Lindor who might have had a chance to step on second and double up Crews even with his speed.

-After surrendering just the one run in the fourth, Manaea was back out for the fifth and paid for another defensive misstep. Following a single to start the inning, Jacob Young laid down a sacrifice bunt which was handled by Pete Alonso. Instead of getting the sure out at first base, Alonso threw to second to try and get the lead runner out, but his throw was too late. Alonso's aggressiveness put runners on first and second with nobody out and had Manaea in some more hot water.

The left-hander got one out before hitting his second batter of the game to load the bases once again. Met killer Paul DeJong hit a sacrifice fly to get Washington closer, but Manaea was one out away from escaping further damage. However, he was unable to close the door and walked Andrés Chaparro to end his outing and left with the bases loaded.

-Up by one, manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Tyler Rogers to get the final out of the inning and hold onto the lead, but the submariner came in and immediately gave up the lead on a two-run single by Riley Adams. Both runs were charged to Manaea, who went 4.2 innings and gave up four earned runs on three hits, a walk, two HBPs and a wild pitch. 

It's the fourth consecutive outing that Manaea has allowed four earned runs or more after coming off the IL and pitching to a 2.08 ERA in July in four games (three starts). Manaea has an ugly 7.98 ERA in four August starts. His season ERA now sits at 5.15 in 36.2 innings.

-On the other side, pitching for the Nationals, MacKenzie Gore lasted just 4.1 innings and was touched up for three runs, including Lindor's leadoff home run to start the game -- the shortstop's eighth time leading off a game with a homer, a new franchise single-season record. Starling Marte also tagged Gore for a solo shot in the third to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

-But against Washington's bullpen, which has struggled all season, New York couldn't get anything going. Five pitchers held the Mets scoreless for 4.2 innings and before Lindor's two-out single in the ninth, their last hit was a single in the fourth inning by Cedric Mullins. 

Instead, it was New York's bullpen that let the game get away. 

-After Rogers failed to bail out Manaea in the fifth, the roof caved in on Ryne Stanek in the eighth. The right-hander allowed four runs on three hits and two walks. The big blow came off the bat of the struggling James Wood, who unloaded on a three-run bomb to break the game open and give the Nationals a 9-3 lead. Stanek now has a 5.65 ERA this season and an 18.56 ERA over his last seven appearances (5.1 innings).

-Senger notched his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fourth that put New York ahead 3-0 at the time.

Game MVP: Riley Adams

He finished 2-for-3 and his two RBI in the fifth gave his team the lead that it would not relinquish.

Highlights

Leadoff homer for Francisco Lindor!

His eighth leadoff home run of the season is a franchise record! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GCYbdeigmb

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2025

Sean Manaea is up to 5 strikeouts through two innings 💪 pic.twitter.com/2GyEbkNmsZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2025

Starling Marte solo homer! 💣 pic.twitter.com/z2jXtI0ob5

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2025

Hayden Senger's first MLB RBI! pic.twitter.com/nqjzREWtF5

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2025

What's next

The Mets continue their road trip with a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves starting on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

RHP Nolan McLean (1-0, 0.00) will make his second career start after a superb outing in his MLB debut and will face off against LHP Joey Wentz (4-3, 4.72 ERA).

Roman Anthony's towering homer vs. Yankees saves Red Sox from frustrating night originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Red Sox lost to the Orioles on Tuesday night in large part because they went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

On Thursday night in the Bronx, even though they held a 4-3 lead, it was more of the same from the Boston offense. Through eight innings, the Red Sox were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position, stranding 14 runners. And though Aroldis Chapman would have inspired plenty of confidence to lock down the one-run save, the closer would be facing the heart of the Yankees’ order in the bottom of the ninth.

Another frustrating night was potentially in the cards for the Red Sox.

But then, the rookie dug in and changed that in a flash.

With David Hamilton on second base after reaching on an error, Roman Anthony ambushed the first pitch from Yerry De los Santos. Anthony did not miss.

Roman Anthony CRUSHES this ball to the second deck 😳 pic.twitter.com/VjtsXqg6oc

— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2025

The 370-foot moonshot was a no-doubter, and Anthony took a moment to admire it before flipping his bat and trotting around the bases.

On repeat all night 😌 pic.twitter.com/ER27BW7IKG

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 22, 2025

The hit improved the Red Sox to 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and that made all the difference in the world.

For the 21-year-old Anthony, this was his first career game at Yankee Stadium. He reached base three times — he also walked in the fifth, scoring on a sacrifice fly, and singled in the sixth, plating Hamilton to tie the game at 3-3 — but that final at-bat was the exclamation point that will be remembered for quite some time.

When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors. Unfortunately, even with Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Rockies, the Dodgers only managed a split of the four-game series.

They now head to San Diego for a crucial three-game-series against the San Diego Padres with the division lead once again up for grabs.

“I wish we had won all four, but it just didn't happen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That's just the way baseball is. So we’ve got to go out there and regardless of the standings, we’ve got to beat those guys.”

The standings, however, loom large. On July 7, the Dodgers led the division by six games. The margin is now just a game.

Read more:Rocky, and painful, outing for Shohei Ohtani as Dodgers lose to Colorado

The Padres, who have won 12 of 19 games in August, are the third-hottest team in the National League this month. The Dodgers are a game over .500.

“It is what it is,” Roberts said. “It's where we're at right now and I can't change it. I feel good about our club going into San Diego.”

His club will have a bit of momentum on its side after scoring 20 runs on 30 hits in the two wins at Coors Field. Thursday’s matinee saw four players finish with multiple hits, including third baseman Alex Freeland, who was a career-best three for five with a run scored and another driven in. Freeland had six hits in the final three games in Denver.

“It's just like I'm building confidence now,” said Freeland, who entered Thursday hitting .180 since his call-up from triple-A Oklahoma City three weeks ago. “I've kind of spent a little time here now and I'm getting comfortable.”

The Dodgers also got a fourth straight strong effort from starter Clayton Kershaw (8-2), who gave up three runs in 5⅔ innings. Kershaw has allowed just five runs over 23 2/3 innings this month, dropping his season ERA nearly 50 points to 3.13.

That was also good enough to keep his team in first, something he noted afterward.

“You can't take anything for granted in Colorado, obviously,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we're [one] up going in [to San Diego]. So we feel good about it.”

Freeland agreed.

“We definitely could have produced more. But you know what? We're going to take this one today and take this momentum and bring it into San Diego,” he said.

After Kershaw won the opener of a three-game series with the Padres at Dodger Stadium a week ago, the teams were even atop the N.L. The Dodgers wound up sweeping that series and have won eight of 10 with the Padres overall this year.

“We've played well against those guys this year,” Roberts said. “They're going to give us everything they have this weekend.”

The Dodgers got started early Thursday with Mookie Betts, who reached base four times, opening the game by walking on five pitches. Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run home run, his 16th of the season, to center field.

Read more:Plaschke: The 'legend' Clayton Kershaw is legendary again for Dodgers

The Rockies cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a popup that got lost in the sun, a sacrifice bunt, a balk and an RBI groundout. But they would get no closer, with the Dodgers scoring in each of the first five innings to take an 8-2 lead.

Freeland had his first career triple along with a double and single, falling a homer shy of the cycle. He had six hits in the final three games in Denver. Betts finished two for three with two walks and two runs scoring while Freeman, who was two for five, raised his season average to .304 and is hitting .328 for August.

Shohei Ohtani feeling fine

Roberts said pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is fine after taking a line drive off his right thigh in Wednesday’s game. Ohtani was scheduled to have Thursday off and Roberts said he’ll be back in the lineup Friday.

Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates set to return

The Dodgers will activate reliever Tanner Scott before Friday’s game in San Diego and reliever Kirby Yates on Saturday. Scott has been out a month with inflammation in his left elbow while Yates has missed three weeks with lower back pain.

Roki Sasaki making progress

Right-hander Roki Sasaki made progress in his second rehab start Wednesday, going 3⅓ innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and struck out two before leaving after 60 pitches. He will make another rehab start next week before the Dodgers make any decision on his role in September. The team had talked about using Sasaki in a relief role.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

As the Yankees get closer to the end of the regular season, they are hoping to return two essential arms to the fold.

Before the start of a crucial four-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, manager Aaron Boone delivered updates on Fernando Cruz and Ryan Yarbrough, who have pitched in rehab starts the last couple of weeks, and both are heading in the right direction.

The Yankees skipper said Cruz will have at least one more rehab appearance, which is set for Friday. And although that will keep him from this weekend's series, the hard-throwing right-hander should be ready by next week.

"We want him to go two ups, a four-out scenario just to have that built in with missing enough time," Boone explained. "The temptation will be to lean on him with how good he’s been all year. I want to have a little bit of volume built so when he gets here, he’s able to jump into any role we need him. We’ll give him one more. That’ll put him in play for the start of the Washington series, hopefully."

After the four-game set with the Red Sox, the Yankees will host the Nationals for a three-game series starting Monday.

Cruz has made three minor league starts over the last week. His last appearance came on Aug. 19 with Double-A, where he struck out three batters and allowed one hit in his one inning of work. In his three minor league starts, he's allowed four runs on five hits and one walk across 2.1 innings while striking out four batters.

In 32 major league appearances this year, Cruz pitched to a 3.00 ERA with 54 strikeouts across 33 innings pitched in his first season in pinstripes. He also closed two games.

As for Yarbrough, the southpaw made his second rehab start on Wednesday, throwing 50 pitches in 3.1 innings with Triple-A. He allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three batters. 

"We want him to go another one to continue to build up a little bit," Boone said. "With the lack of starting depth down the stretch, it’s important to build it out if we can a little bit. It’ll be at least one more for him and then we’ll see from there."

In 16 games (eight starts), Yarbrough has pitched to a 3.90 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP this year with the Yankees.

The Yankees have signed right-handed pitcher Paul Blackburn, who was released last week by the Mets after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers.

Blackburn, 31, will work out of the bullpen for the Yanks.

In a corresponding move, right-hander Allan Winans was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"Some depth, some length, our pen right now is not filled with a lot of guys who can give us a lot of length," manager Aaron Boone said before Thursday's game. "Obviously, a track record of success in the big leagues. A guy that’s built up who can give us some coverage if we get in a situation where we need some real length."

Blackburn had a 6.85 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 23.2 innings in seven games (four starts) for the Mets this season.

His stint in Queens stretched from the second half of last season to a few days ago, and was marred by injuries (including a cerebrospinal fluid leak that required surgery this past October) and ineffectiveness.

In 24.1 innings for the Mets in 2024, Blackburn had a 5.18 ERA and 1.56 WHIP.

He is set to be a free agent after the season.

Jeff McNeil is dealing with right shoulder soreness, Mets managerCarlos Mendoza said before Thursday's game against the Nationals.

McNeil is not in the starting lineup for Thursday's series finale in Washington, D.C.

Per Mendoza, McNeil has been experiencing the soreness since last week, which is why the versatile defender served as the Mets' designated hitter on both Saturday and Sunday against Seattle.

The hope is that giving McNeil a day off on Thursday will allow the soreness to ease up, as the Mets don't anticipate McNeil needing an MRI.

"It's just the throwing. It's been hard for him," Mendoza explained. "Give him the day, see where we're at."

"We don't think it's anything serious," Mendoza added. "We're not planning on taking imaging or anything like that. We're gonna put him on a medicine, and hopefully calm it down."

Despite not being in the lineup every day and shuffling through multiple defensive positions, McNeil has had a strong season, slashing .259/.351/.444 with 10 home runs, 44 RBI, and 30 runs scored.

HIs 127 OPS+ is the highest he's posted since his All-Star 2022 campaign.

Sloppy Giants continue to look overmatched by Padres after ‘frustrating' series originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres already had the best ballpark food in the National League, but this spring, they decided to kick things up a notch. A mini donut stand showed up down the first base line, and several concession stands now sell replica Western Metal Supply Co. buildings filled with banana pudding and nilla wafers. 

The dessert is the greatest addition to Major League Baseball since the pitch clock, and judging by how many Padres and Giants fans were carrying it around over the last four days, it might singlehandedly cover the next $300 million contract that Padres executive A.J. Preller decides to hand out. 

In just about every way — ballpark atmosphere, food, scoreboard graphics — the Padres are ahead of the curve. Giants employees can feel it when they visit a ballpark that used to be jokingly known as AT&T Park South, and that extends to the field, too.

Thursday’s 8-4 loss was the sixth in seven games between the NL West rivals over the past two weeks. The Padres outscored the Giants 44-13 over those seven games, and the difference between the two teams — once competing for the same Wild Card spot — is now 11 games. 

Overall, the Giants went 3-10 against the Padres this year and got outscored by 36 runs. It’s one thing to finish well behind your division leader, but the Giants now trail the Los Angeles Dodgers and Padres by double-digit games. Given their trajectory — they have the worst record in baseball over the past five weeks — there’s a chance they finish 20 back of two teams in their own division. 

From the top step of the dugout, it has certainly felt like the Giants have been working uphill in just about all of these matchups. 

“If you get behind them, their bullpen is pretty tough to score on. We’ve done that often against them and we haven’t done enough offensively to put any pressure on and keep some of their plus guys out of the game,” manager Bob Melvin said. “They have a good lineup. They played well against us. Earlier in the year, I felt like we matched up a little bit better against them, but certainly it’s frustrating. 

“It’s a team in your division that you feel like you should play better baseball against. To go 3-10 is bad.”

The Padres are addicted to star power, but that’s not necessarily the reason the Giants have been overwhelmed. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. have had good years, but not MVP ones. Jackson Merrill’s sophomore campaign has been ruined by injuries. Their bullpen is the best in the league and is even stronger with the addition of Mason Miller, but their rotation has been patched together. 

They do, however, do several key things that the Giants do not. They’re last in the National League in strikeouts, more than 200 behind the Giants, and that’s what stood out to Justin Verlander when asked about the matchup. 

“They put the ball in play a lot,” he said, pausing for several seconds. “They put the ball in play a lot.”

That was on full display in the fifth inning, which ruined Verlander’s day and left him with a 1-10 record. The Padres put down three consecutive bunts, one of which was thrown into right field by Casey Schmitt. When the rolling ball was dropped by Luis Matos, it became a two-error play that led to two runs. 

The Giants caught a couple of breaks early, too, which led to two runs. But they have been unable to fully make an opponent pay in recent weeks. The Padres did, with Machado lining a two-run double off Verlander after the errors, making it a 6-2 game. 

“It’s just their ability to capitalize on mistakes,” Schmitt said. “They capitalized on my mistakes.”

Schmitt made four errors in the series, which generally was filled with sloppy baseball by the Giants. That’s particularly frustrating for the staff, given that Buster Posey’s main directive after executing a trade deadline sale was to play cleaner baseball. 

“It looks terrible,” Melvin said. “When you’re not hitting and you play bad defense, it just looks awful. Two errors on one play — you look at Justin’s line, and he certainly did not pitch to that line. His stuff the first couple innings was just as good as we’ve seen it and we scratch a couple (runs) and then obviously the fourth and the fifth just got away from us.

“We continue to work on it. We do have some guys playing some different positions at this point in time and some new guys here, but that’s no excuse. We have to play cleaner defense.”

Verlander has pitched well in recent weeks, but he was charged with seven earned runs. He has had unfathomably bad defensive luck, run support and help from the bullpen this season, and on Thursday, the frustration showed. The future Hall-of-Famer chose some words carefully, knowing that not much needed to be said about how shaky the defense was behind him.

But he also called it “one of the more frustrating games of my career.” 

“Especially with the season I’ve had, you’re kind of scratching and clawing to find your way out of it and you feel like you’ve finally found something to grasp onto, and then you have a game and inning like that,” he added. “I’m being tested, for sure.”

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast

What we learned as disastrous fifth inning dooms Giants in brutal loss to Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN DIEGO — Tim Lincecum was well onto the back nine of his career when he threw a no-hitter at Petco Park. Justin Verlander might be approaching his 18th green, but for about an hour on Thursday, he too was mowing down the San Diego Padres. 

Then it all spun out of control, thanks in part to some sloppy Giants defense. 

After a strong start, Verlander got knocked out in the fifth inning, which included three consecutive successful bunts by the Padres. He fell to 1-10 in an 8-4 loss, the 24th in 33 games for the Giants since July 12.  

They dropped the final three games of the series and lost six of seven to the Padres over the last two weeks, getting outscored 44-13 in those seven games. Overall, the Giants went 3-10 against the Padres, who are neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West standings. 

Well, Poppie Is A Little Sloppy

Verlander retired the first nine batters he faced, striking out three. But the Padres scored two runs in the fourth and then piled on in the fifth as the wheels came off. 

With two runners on, the Padres put down three consecutive bunts. Freddy Fermin’s was generously ruled an infield single after Casey Schmitt whipped the ball down the right field line, and when Luis Matos tried to pick it up, he dropped it. Two runs scored. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a bunt single and Luis Arraez bunted both runners into scoring position. When Manny Machado lined an elevated fastball into the gap, the Padres had a 6-2 lead. Verlander’s day was done. 

Schmitt is a natural third baseman, but he struggled this week while filling in for Matt Chapman in his hometown. He made four errors in the four games at Petco Park. 

Devers Demolition 

The two early runs for the Giants came after a series of misplays on the other side. Tatis and center fielder Ramon Laureano got crossed up on a high fly ball and it bounced off Tatis’ glove, allowing Matos to reach third. Andrew Knizner followed with a liner to right that skipped past Tatis for an RBI double, and he scored later in the inning, which included a bobble at second base. 

Andrew Knizner puts the Giants in front 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RQTQdlcPgq

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 21, 2025

There was only one error on the Padres during the sequence (Tatis is going to win the Gold Glove anyway, he probably does not need the extra help).

The Giants got on the board in a more traditional way in the sixth when Rafael Devers crushed a Dylan Cease fastball well over the right field wall. It left the bat at 108 mph and went 435 feet, making it the fifth-longest homer of the year by a Giant. 

Rafael Devers gets one back 💪 pic.twitter.com/5r7UTGxHDB

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 21, 2025

Join The Club

Willy Adames followed the Devers blast with a homer of his own, which ended Cease’s day. It was the third time the Giants have gone back-to-back this year, and oddly, all have come in the last five games. 

Willy Adames crushes his 20th dinger of the season 🙌 pic.twitter.com/D1b0ZuiFOo

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 21, 2025

Adames’ homer gave him 20 on the year, the most of any Giant who has been here all season (Devers has 25). He’s the third San Francisco Giants shortstop to hit 20 homers while playing the position, joining Rich Aurilia and Brandon Crawford. Aurilia holds the SF-era record with 36 homers as a shortstop in 2001. 

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast