Category: MLB

Whether it’s the physical demands on the body of playing at altitude or the grind of adjusting back and forth from a mile high to sea level, attracting talent to join the Colorado Rockies has always been a challenge.

For Sam Hawkins, it’s the exact challenge she was looking for.

The Rockies new performance dietitian, who also happens to be the first woman with that title in MLB, came to Colorado specifically for the obstacles the Rocky Mountains presented.

“I believe that MLB is behind the eight ball when it comes to nutrition,” Hawkins told Purple Row. “My goal as a human is to help as many humans as I can and to be the most well-rounded dietitian I can be.”

She’s off to a great start, revolutionizing the program by looking at everything from bloodwork and performance to rehabilitation from injuries and oxygen flow in order to optimize how each Rockies player’s body functions. For example, if a player’s glycine is low, it’s usually connected to low collagen. The solution? Could be a supplement, bone broth, chicken with the skin on or even an oyster.

“What fascinates me is how nutrients can affect the body. So, there’s some specialty blood work that the guys are able to do, and that I did a lot when I was in the NFL,” said Hawkins, who was the team dietitian for the Washington Commanders before coming to the Rockies. “That can show exactly what’s going on from every amino acid, every fatty acid in your body. … All of that just fascinates me — the nitty-gritty of it. How one small change to your diet can completely change how your body functions.”

Nutrition has always been Hawkins’ passion, but her path to the Rockies is as unique as the trail she is blazing for women in the profession.

Calling her shot

It all started when Hawkins was in high school in Mississippi. One day, she called her shot.

“At the age of 16, I told everybody in my class that I was going to be head of sports nutrition for the Dallas Cowboys,” Hawkins said. “They laughed at me. … I’m very headstrong. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”

From then on, Hawkins decided to seize every opportunity she could until she landed in the NFL, where she did indeed land. Just trade the Cowboys for the Commanders.

In between, she did her undergraduate at Mississippi State, specifically so she could work in SEC athletics. She helped with baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball and track and field. She continued to work with a variety of athletes in internships at Louisiana State University, the University of North Carolina and Southeastern Louisiana before getting her first full-time gig at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Earning the credentials and experience to master her craft, Hawkins started to make name for herself in the performance nutrition world. So when the University of Memphis asked if she would build their football nutrition program, she answered the call.

“I built that program from the ground up for two and a half years,” said Hawkins, who also earned a master’s degree in exercise nutrition while she was working at Memphis.

After success with the Tigers, the dream set out by her 16-year-old self came true — if not in location, in title as Hawkins became one of the youngest dietitians in the NFL when she took a job with Washington. She not only achieved her dream, but she also did so with some world-class athletes like linebacker Bobby Wagner, tight end Zach Ertz, and quarterback Jayden Daniels.

“I enjoyed it. Washington called it a recalibration. So I came in with the new regime with the new coaching staff, new front office, new owner, all of those things,” Hawkins said. “I did what I could do there, and I got to a point where I wanted something a little bit different. I got the NFL experience, and it was great, but I wanted something more. And if I kept going down that path at 28 years old of just football, that was going to be my life, and I felt like I was meant for more.”

Recalibrating again

Hawkins always loved baseball and knew taking her talents to MLB could bring something the sport sorely needed.

Enter Keith Dugger, the head athletic trainer and director of medical operations for the Colorado Rockies. When Hawkins talked with Dugger about coming to Colorado, Hawkins felt like she had found her next step.

“We hit it off, and they were also we were in the process of recalibrating, if you will,” Hawkins said. “So, we talked about working on building out a program here. I was really passionate about coming out here specifically because of the altitude.”

One of the items she was most excited to add to the menu in Colorado to help with the elevation is beets.

“I’m a big believer in beets, in beet powder, beet juice, beets. It’s great whether you get it in a supplement or you get it in a juice,“ Hawkins said. ”It’s a dietary nitrate, so it helps the blood flow, and so the more blood flow you get, the more oxygen you can uptake, so you’re gonna feel a little bit better at altitude.“

One thing that has surprised Hawkins is how the altitude has affected her own body. Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, altitude presented a new world for Hawkins. Now, she’s learning she also has to practice what she preaches to combat the elevation changes.

“I’ve learned that I struggle to go back to altitude, probably more than they do. … So I have a habit, and I think all dietitians have this to an extent of like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna educate, educate, educate on this,’ and I’m so focused on making sure that the guys are in the right spot that I forget that I also need to do that as well,” Hawkins said. “I didn’t think I was going to feel much because I’m not an athlete, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

Going through the changes herself, Hawkins is also using her own body as a laboratory to find out what helps her feel better. Understanding what players are going through, and being able to connect with them and build trusting relationships, is the strength she prides herself in even more than her vast nutrition knowledge. She laughingly admits she talks a lot and could talk to a brick wall, so she can work well with outgoing personalities like Troy Johnston or more reserved players like Ezequiel Tovar.

She’s also in a continuous education loop to bring in new information, learn each player’s needs, find innovative ways to deliver that information to the players, stay aware of trendy nutrition fads on TikTok, be prepared to fend off misinformation and to do it all over the grind of a 162-game season.

Hawkins also said she works hand-in-hand with the training staff as well, especially when guys are injured and then rehabbing. When a player might be amping up their physical activity, Hawkins will make sure they up their caloric intake to help their bodies adjust to those changes. With an office that is one door down from the Rockies clubhouse, the location encourages easy access and ongoing communication.

Passion over glamour

For Hawkins, one of her favorite parts of the gig is planning what the fuel will be pre- and post-game for the players. In football, that only happened once a week. In baseball, it’s nearly every day, and Hawkins loves it. Even then, it changes, say for a starting pitcher or one that could be called upon to pitch in long relief like Tanner Gordon. She’s worked with him when he was starting and developing plans for how everything changes out of the bullpen.

“My favorite part of my job is the small wins. We look at what we’re doing, and we kind of critique that,” Hawkins said. “To watch him be as successful as he is, and for that plan that we put in place to be properly executed and working, those are my favorite.“

It can be harder on the road when certain foods, especially when she is trying to cater to the cultural diversity of the Rockies locker room, are hard to find. But she’s making it work.

When asked what she would want fans to know about her job, Hawkins gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her work.

“I think the biggest thing is nutrition is not glamorous. When people think, ‘Oh, I’m working for this professional sports team,’ I’m in the back making shakes. I’m literally asking guys about their bowel movements,” Hawkins said. “You have to love what you do to do this, and if you don’t, you’re not going to be happy. I want the fans to know is that it’s not glamorous, but whatever you’re passionate about, go for it because I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the passion for it.”

On the farm

Triple-A: Oklahoma City Comets 9, Albuquerque Isotopes 3

A four-run third inning was enough to sink the Isotopes on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Braxton Fulford hit a solo homer, walked and scored another run, Nic Kent doubled, singled and drove in a run, Conner Capel went 2-for-4 and scored a run and Drew Avans added a sac grounder. Keegan Thompson took the loss, giving up five runs on four hits, three of which were homers, with two walks and one strikeout in 2.2 innings.

Double-A: Erie SeaWolves 3, Hartford Yard Goats 1

The Seawolves scored two runs in the second, neither of which was earned due to a fielding error, and that turned out to be enough to beat the Yard Goats. Hartford actually out-hit Erie 9-6, but went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. The Yard Goats scored their lone run when Jared Thomas hit an RBI single to score Tevin Tucker in the seventh inning, but it was too little, too late. Jack O’Dowd had a big night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double, while Thomas added three hits. Stu Flesland III was saddled with the loss, despite giving up no earned runs (two total) on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.

High-A: Everett AquaSox 7, Spokane Indians 1

Spokane was held to one run on six hits, while the AquaSox posted 10 hits, six of which came with runners in scoring position to put up a win on Thursday night. Tanner Thach singled on a line drive to score Ethan Hedges in the sixth inning for the Indians lone run. Thach and Hedges each recorded two hits on the night. Everett Catlett dropped to 5-8 on the season after surrendering five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in six innings.

Low-A: San Jose Giants 5, Fresno Grizzlies 0

The Grizzlies actually saw their first two batters reach base when Ashly Andujar led off the game with a single and Landyn Vidourek walked, but a double play ended the threat and Fresno only saw five more base runners for the entire game in Thursday’s loss. The closest the Grizzlies got to scoring was when Sebastian Blanco led off the eighth with a double and advanced to third on a one-out wild pitch, but the Giants were able to escape unscathed. Juan Martinez added two singles for Fresno. The Grizzlies were held to five hits and committed two errors, leading to one unearned San Jose run.

My personal Field of Dreams | Purple Row

While the Rockies were off on Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins took the state in MLB’s annual Field of Dreams game. The pregame festivities including honoring a handful of Hall of Famers, including former Rockie Larry Walker. Check it out on Netflix if you didn’t see it. In this article, Purple Row’s Skyler Timmins reflects on the power of baseball and its connection to memories.

Francis Rivera is pitching his way through the Rockies minor league system | Purple Row

Renee Dechert continues Purple Row’s series exploring how Spanish-speaking players learn about English and American culture while working their way through the Colorado Rockies system. In the latest addition, she interviewed Francis Rivera. The 25-year-old ight-handed pitcher for the High-A Spokane Indians signed with the Rockies in 2018 out of the Dominican Republic. Hailing from a baseball family, Rivera has a passion for the game that’s carried him through injuries as he’s climbing through the Rockies farm system.

Renck: Time for Rockies to call up Charlie Condon to big leagues — in September or sooner | Denver Post ($)

Troy Renck explores how the possible lockout next season and timing could complicate callups and long-term rookie statuses for prospects, but especially for slugging outfielder Charlie Condon. Renck argues the Rockies might as well go for it and call him up now.

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

MLB Pipeline updated their top 100 list and there are now 3 Royals on it:

54. Kendry Chourio

70. Josh Hammond

84. Angeibel Gomez

However, in their story about the updates, I can’t help but notice something:

A year ago, we added a dozen members of the Draft Class of 2025 to the Top 100, the same number that was added in 2024. This time around, we’re being a bit more stingy with spots, putting just 10 from the most recent class on the Top 100, though two of them are debuting higher than anyone from last year’s Draft crop did.

10. Grady Emerson, SS, Rays (No. 2 overall pick)
11. Roch Cholowsky, SS, White Sox (No. 1)
19. Vahn Lackey, C, Twins (No. 3)
31. Jackson Flora, RHP, Giants (No. 4)
40. Eric Booth Jr., OF, Orioles (No. 7)
41. Drew Burress, OF, A’s (No. 8)
64. Tyler Bell, SS, Rockies (No. 10)
67. Jacob Lombard, SS, Marlins (No. 14)
91. Derek Curiel, OF, Pirates (No. 5)
97. Gio Rojas, LHP, Rangers (No. 16)

So, if the Royals had picked either of the players who went after them (Booth, Burress), they’d have 4 Top 100 prospects today instead of 3. I get that where they end up is much more important than where they are today. But early returns are less than ideal.

Looking at the new Royals Top 30 list, this is where their picks from this year landed:

• Pick 006 (1st) Zion Rose (6th)
• Pick 030 (CB-A) Taylor Rabe (9th)
• Pick 056 (2nd) Jack Slightom (12th)
• Pick 091 (3rd) Maxx Yehl (22nd)
• Pick 119 (4th) Dominic Battista (27th)
• Pick 269 (9th) Camden Johnson (23rd)

I’m definitely no prospect guy. There are people on this site good at that. I’m not. So maybe this is a really stupid read of it all. But it doesn’t look great, using my non-expert eyes.

Rose was picked under slot and ranked accordingly. It’s not like he’s 101st on the new top 100 either, as David Shields and Blake Mitchell ranked higher than him in the Royals system and I doubt Mitchell, in particular, was close to the top 100. But most of that underslot money went to the #89th ranked guy (Slightom). They picked him at 56th, and gave him more than $1M over slot and he only slides in at 12th. Wait, so you picked a guy well below his ranking /and/ had to give him a bunch over slot? Yikes. They had enough left over to give Camden Johnson over slot and he comes in at 23rd. But because they had to give Slightom so much, they didn’t have enough to sign their other potential overslot, 19th-rounder Hudson DeVaughan.

But, hey, that’s just one ranking system. And rankings are finnicky. Let’s see where Baseball America has the Royals in their newest rankings:

(scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll)

27. Kansas City Royals Royals Top 30 Prospects
    Preseason Ranking: 21
    Midseason Ranking: 19

Current Top 100 Prospects: RHP Kendry Chourio (No. 33), OF Angeibel Gomez (No. 47), SS Josh Hammond (No. 55)

Key 2026 Graduations: C Carter Jensen, RHP Mason Black, RHP Beck Way, RHP Luinder Avila

2026 Prospects Traded Away: None

Key 2026 Additions: Gomez, OF Zion Rose, RHP Taylor Rabe, RHP Jack Slighton, RHP Maxx Yehl, RHP Lucas Braun, LHP Carter Holton

The Skinny: The Royals have a trio of top 60 prospects for the first time in a while, but the group of players right behind them need to take a step forward.

So you’re saying that having a draft that isn’t highly regarded and then holding onto all of your players at the deadline despite being 20-odd games below .500 is not great for your rankings? The most disheartening thing to me was that they had been creeping up the charts over the last year or so. But it feels like they gave a lot of it back.

Anne Rogers profiles the brightest youngster in the org, Kendry Chourio:

This year, he’s been dominant. Chourio has a 2.06 ERA across two levels, first posting a 1.88 ERA in 11 starts for Single-A before a promotion to High-A in June. In Quad Cities, he has a 2.35 ERA, with 35 strikeouts and just five walks in 30 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline’s No. 65 prospect, he pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star festivities this year. At a career-high 78 2/3 innings, Chourio hasn’t pitched since July 25, but will get back on the mound as early as this week, part of a long-term workload plan.

The only 18-year-old to pitch for a High-A affiliate this year, Chourio is clearly talented, armed with a 94-98 mph fastball and a curveball, changeup and slider. His pitchability is advanced already and something he’s continuously improving.

“The goal is to not throw hard, it’s to have pitchability,” Chourio said. “With all [my] pitches, to have a motive behind every single one of them. Whether it’s a fastball, making sure the location of the pitch is good. Making sure you get the curveball in the zone, and executing the changeup, throwing it in or out of the zone.”

ICYMI: Royals sign former All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin

At The Star, Jaylon Thompson profiles Randy Dobnak. Just a reminder that minor league players make next to nothing and have to moonlight as Uber drivers to pay the bills.

Long before Randy Dobnak became a shooting star in a lost galaxy that is the Kansas City Royals 2026 campaign, he was scrolling through available rides on his local Uber app.

It was a source of income. And for Dobnak, a chance to nurture a lifelong dream that hadn’t begun to bear fruit.

“I’d drive around Pittsburgh for a little bit just to see how it was,” Dobnak said. “Make some extra money because we didn’t make much at all in the minor leagues.”

Here’s a couple of stories from The Athletic ($) that aren’t specifically about the Royals but do talk about Royals players.

Eric Hosmer writes about the “3 best leaders” he played with:

Raul Ibanez, Royals outfielder

…In 2014, he gave a speech to us. We were playing against the White Sox, and we were in the crappy clubhouse they have on the visiting side.

He basically talked to us about what opposing teams thought of us: Did we realize how good we were? Did we realize other teams fear us?

For us to hear that was so important. We were all young on that team, and Raul had just gotten done hitting ninth-inning homers for the Yankees a couple of years before.

It just clicked for all of us: This guy’s a legend so if people really do think of us like that, maybe we’re really good and we should play with some confidence.

I’ll never forget that speech.

Rustin Dodd wrote a really interesting story about the yips.

John Buck, a former major-league catcher, told me an even weirder story. Buck played in the big leagues for 11 seasons. But one year he suffered a concussion, and as he tried to recover, he started overthinking. When he returned to the field, he struggled throwing the ball back to the pitcher, a real-life example of Rube Baker, the young catcher with the yips in the film “Major League II.”

When the game was live, Buck could throw a dime to second base to cut down a base stealer. But when it came to softly tossing the ball back to the pitcher, he felt paralyzed.

“If there was a foul ball and the ball was dead, I was very conscious and I would have to whip that s— back at the pitcher like I was throwing it to second,” Buck told me. “How weird is that?”

This is probably where I’d have written about the Field of Dreams game. Like, for instance, it was a giant Hall of Fame festival with 26 members in attendance:

This was the largest such gathering at a ballpark, not including the annual ceremonies at the Hall of Fame in upstate New York, since the All-Star Game in 2008 that feted the final season at old Yankee Stadium.

Of course, I couldn’t see it as it was on Netflix. But, hey, MLB got an extra couple million bucks for it over showing it on Fox where anyone with a TV could see it.

(There’s also a rumor that the Royals will be playing the Red Sox for the Field of Dreams game next season, but it’s not confirmed.)

Speaking of which, NBC now has the rights to the Wild Card round. On the positive side, two games per day will be broadcast on NBC. On the negative, the other two will either be on NBCSN or Peacock.

Since there’s not much Royals news, how about one more story from around the league, concerning another AL Central team, the Tigers. Ben Clemens asks whether the Tigers would have been better off if they had kept Tarik Skubal, et al:

The Detroit Tigers are one of the hottest teams in baseball. Since the calendar flipped to August, they’ve gone 7-3, scoring more than six runs per game in the process. In a muddled American League, that puts them right in the thick of the AL Central and Wild Card races. That, in turn, means they’re back in the hunt for a World Series ring. This burst of activity has them about as likely to make the playoffs (and win a ring) as they’ve been in the last few months, in fact; they’re back above 30% to reach October after dropping as low as 18% the day they traded Tarik Skubal.

That feels weird! Less than two weeks ago, the Tigers traded their best player, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, for three prospects. They followed that up by trading Casey Mize, who had briefly inherited the title of top Tigers pitcher. It was a classic deadline sale – not a thread-the-needle plan with some additions and some subtractions, but a declaration that the plan was to get ‘em next year, and the years after that…

…Next, I got even more theoretical. I took some distributional studies that got left on the cutting room floor when I updated prospect valuations and worked out, more or less, the odds that prospects of the caliber traded for Skubal and Mize would turn into average regulars or better, plus the average WAR per year delivered in those outcomes. I also looked at the last six years of Tigers teams to figure out how many extra wins adding players like that to replace weak links would be worth (limiting those weak links to the rotation and the outfield, to match the prospects). I worked out that the guys traded to the Tigers project to boost their average projected wins by around 1.2 per year.

At this point, I’ll stop and point out that I’m doing a lot of approximating, so the error bars are large here. But with that caveat, we can do the math. Say that the Tigers bounce around between 78 and 90 projected wins for the next six years, and take the average of those World Series-odds-per-win sensitivities. Multiply that by the 1.2 wins per year I think the extra prospects are “worth.” Multiply that by six years of team control. You get an added 3.3 percentage points of World Series odds, comfortably more than the boost they’d receive from having Skubal and Mize the rest of the way this year. That might understate it, too. If the Tigers didn’t sell, they likely would have bought, but probably only on the margin, considering where they were in the standings and their underperformance over the first four months of the season. The risk of going all-in would have been too high. While we don’t know the counterfactual there, it’s reasonable to think that it would’ve made their future teams even a little worse, for small present benefit, amplifying the effect I’ve already measured here.

It’s weird to think that the high-level prospects only increase their chances by 1.2 wins per year. Then again, new players don’t just take an empty spot on the field, they replace an existing player who might be good or bad. I’m not entirely sure I buy it – as Clemens says, he does “a lot of approximating”. I only gave you the beginning and the end above – go read the rest, if you’re curious. It’s an interesting thought exercise.

But, hey, we’re reached the “Onion is clowning your team” stage of a lost season:

Blog Time!

Craig Brown takes us through Wednesday’s game via his scorecard:

My scorecard of choice when I’m at the ballpark is the Eephus League Halfliner. I use a Blackwing 602 pencil. I told you…I’m deadly serious about keeping score. I never use a pen. My penmanship is terrible, so I’m often dissatisfied with how something goes on the paper so I use the eraser for a re-do quite often. I also make plenty of mistakes.

For tonight’s exercise, I’m scoring on an iPad using a file from Lou Spirito’s THIRTY81 Project. I’m enough of a sicko that I’ll keep score at home sometimes and I use his printed PDFs when I do. This is my first time scoring on an iPad, so we’ll see how it goes! There is a high level of confidence that it will not replace my pencil and paper.

I used to take score at every game I went to. However, once MLB went to its draconian bag policies in most stadiums, I gave it up because it became such a hassle 🙁

At Royals Keep, Cory Moen looks at “Royals Prospects Who Could Make Their Debut In August Or September”. He suggests Lucas Braun, Gavin Cross, and Hunter Patteson, adding “Other MLB debuts that are possible include IF Jacob Berry, catchers Luca Tresh and Elih Marrero, and RHP Ben Sears.” Wait? Gavin Cross is already 25?

Blog Roundup:

• Mike Gillespie at Royals Keep: Three More Questions The Royals Can Answer Down The Stretch
• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History–1976 Edition: August 13 – Of all the ways to lose a game…
• Caleb Moody at KOK: Royals losing Salvador Perez to injury would be more detrimental than some might want to admit
• Jacob Milham at KOK: Royals Minor League Update: Breaking down KC’s busy week of prospect promotions

Unfortunately, no long, crazy OT today. I’m already over 2500 words. Also, I just can’t quite nail down a couple of OTs that I’ve been working on. They’re each just missing something, so they’ll have to wait a couple of weeks. Also, I’m out next week.

But I do have a couple of updates on old OTs. And we’re also doing an (abbreviated) old-school Song of the Day!

* * * * *

Last week, we fell down an internet rabbit hole, trying to figure out the stats for the water rides at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels. At the end, I wrote: “Not perfect, but not bad. I think I’ll try to email Six Flags and see how I did (if they respond).” I did email them last week, and they have yet to respond. Bummer. I’m sure there’s some crazy old guy who knows all this stuff because he was there when it happened. Sadly, the email never made it to his desk.

* * * * *

I’ve done a coupleof OTs about buying tickets for the LA28 Olympics.

If you’re bored of this (I can believe it), just skip ahead to SotD. I’m an awful judge of what people want to read about. I can see how this is as exciting as reading about someone else’s Fantasy Football league or someone’s weekly sports betting wins and losses. However, for me, personally – it’s been a fun mental exercise and a bit of an emotional ride, so I’ve just been letting it out in Rumblings.

When last we left ticketing, the Visa presale had just wrapped up ahead of the Phase 2 drop (Drop 2? I’m not entirely sure what the official terminology is). In Phase 1, there was a locals presale and then no ticket restock ahead of the proper Phase 1. Conventional wisdom was that Phase 2 would be the same with no restock following the Visa presale.

If you remember (you probably don’t and have long since lost interest), I estimated that 30-40% of the tickets were gone in Phase 1 and another smaller (10-20%) disappeared in the Visa Presale. There was also a small drop for former Olympic athletes, but I have to think that’s a very small number of tickets. That said, I think we’re well past half the tickets gone, and the drops are going to get smaller and smaller with what’s available.

I have been on the LA28 mailing list since January 2023 and have yet to be selected for any lottery. C’mon, guys!

In Phase 1, my wife got the last possible spot. Not much was left, and we only picked one set of tickets. This time, she was selected for the first slot at 10am PT on August 10th. If there was a restock, I’d have a chance at some great and/or cheap tickets. If not, we’d probably just wait until next time.

With that in mind, I went back to work on the spreadsheet. We still have nothing for Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday, and there are a couple of other gaps on the schedule. I made large lists of events to consider, but we already had most of our big anchor events. In retrospect, I didn’t narrow things down enough.

On Monday, I took everything I had learned from the last drops and logged in as fast as I could. I still had to wait 20 minutes in the second queue, but I was in faster than most. Then the big moment: they had restocked!

But things were going fast. I checked Opening Ceremony first as that’s the only real “dream” item left. There were tickets, but they started at over $1000. I just can’t do that. After striking out on the baseball finals last time, I checked those. There were sub-$300 tickets and I tried to add them. No luck. Someone else (many someones?) was quicker and sniped them before I did. The next highest category went fast, while I was still deciding how high I was willing to go. At that point, the cheapest ticket was $500+. I had to let that dream die.

My wife was hoping for women’s gymnastics. Since I spent my first precious moments searching for Opening Ceremonies and the baseball finals, any gymnastics finals seats were “long” gone. Maybe there were $1000+ seats, but that’s as good as “gone” in my book. The prelims were into the $400+ range. If I had to do it over again, I would have gone there first and probably could have snagged some for half that or even less, and it would have been our anchor event on Sunday.

Wednesday the 19th is a wild card in our schedule. I had been holding it open for the baseball finals, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. Maybe we’ll just fly out a day earlier than planned and save some money. Well, there was one “backup” event that my wife was really wanting and I was also excited for. When I saw reasonable tickets available, I quickly added them to my cart. I guess we’re not flying out early. We’re going to end our Olympic experience at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, watching the Women’s Street Skateboard Finals. That’s going to be awesome!

Once tickets are added to your cart, you have 30 minutes to check out. We’ve had the pre-Opening Ceremony Wednesday (12th) and Thursday (13th) planned for a while and have 3 of the 4 tickets already. The last thing I was missing was Wednesday morning Water Polo in Long Beach. There were some of those elusive $28 tickets. Yes, please.

I started looking at some more $28 tickets. However, I noticed I only had about 3 minutes left in my cart. What? I had added tickets less than 5 minutes before. I should still have 25 minutes. Apparently it glitched – maybe it was when I tried to add the baseball tickets. This meant I had to quickly check out or risk losing the skateboarding and cheap water polo tickets. I put in the payment information just in the nick of time.

Here’s what our schedule looks like now (have bolded; parens are TBD):

• TUE JUL 11 FLY IN – NO EVENTS
• WED JUL 12 Long Beach prelims: AM Water Polo, PM Handball
• THU JUL 13 Carson: AM Field Hockey prelim; PM Rugby quarters
• FRI JUL 14 AM Rest; (Opening Ceremony/Party)
• SAT JUL 15 DTLA: AM Men’s Gymnastics prelim; PM Track medal: w 100, m 10000, w shot put; lots of qualifying PM
• SUN JUL 16 TBD: (Potential Rest Day?)
• MON JUL 17 TBD: (Rest Day/Any other events?)
• TUE JUL 18 (AM ???); PM Baseball Semis at Dodger Stadium
• WED JUL 19 (AM ???); PM Women’s Street Skateboard Finals
• THU JUL 20 FLY OUT

Once I checked out, the system kicked me out, and I had to go back into the queue. That 20 minutes cost me chances at a lot of what I had been considering. There were still a lot of awesome tickets left. But I’m down to just a couple of days’ worth of schedule: Sunday and Monday. However, I was too slow and indecisive and I watched tickets evaporate. If I could go back in time, I know a couple of things I’d jump on, particularly as this is probably the best drop time we’ll get in these ticket sales. But I can’t. Besides, we’ve already had much better luck than I could have hoped for. We’re still under budget and with a lot of events we’re happy with. Even if we don’t add any more tickets before the games begin, I’m more than happy. The efficiency part of my engineering brain is annoyed that I was inefficient. But there’s no way I could possibly be disappointed with what we have.

If you’re curious what the ticket market looked like as each day passed and why lottery slot was really important. Here’s a couple of Reddit threads from Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You can see how tickets are bought up and sports become unavailable. Or pick a sport with lots of inexpensive tickets to start and how they just become more expensive by the day.

In theory, this is the last ticket Phase of 2026. No one is really sure if there’s going to be one more lottery Phase in 2027. If not, the last large tranche of tickets will probably be part of a first come/first served free-for-all, possibly with dynamic pricing. Also, the resale market opens in 2027.

As I mentioned above, we’re going to do an old school (albeit slightly abbreviated) Song of the Day!

I was never good at skateboarding. I was a tall, lanky, and awkward kid – that is not the body type for skateboarding safely. But today’s SotD game is from a legendary name in the sport and an iconic series in video game history. Today’s featured game is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for the PlayStation.

As I get older, I absolutely love the “You look like an old ‘Tony Hawk’” phenomenon that follows the skateboarding legend around. Also, I love the fact that his son married Kurt Cobain’s daughter and a kid who can’t possibly live up to that legacy as the coolest human being to ever walk the earth. Then again: who knows? Maybe he’ll be so awesome as to save the entire planet Wyld Stallyns-style. We could use that.

Much like my forays into real-life skateboarding, I was never great at this series. But I could appreciate the novel approach to gameplay that Neversoft built the franchise on. I also feel like it’s been a little lost to time, though it did get a remake a few years ago.

I know I’m featuring a video from the first game, but the second and third are two of the most critically acclaimed games of all time (quotes from Wiki):

• “According to Metacritic, it holds a score of 98/100, making it one of the highest rated video games of all time across all consoles and platforms. Pro Skater 2 along with Soulcalibur, and Grand Theft Auto IV are ranked second behind The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. ”
• “Similarly, the PS2 version of Pro Skater 3 earned a rare perfect 10 score from GameSpot, one of only eleven games to ever receive said score. It was also awarded the best sports game award at E3 2001. IGN rated the game 9.7/10, stating that the game “should go down in history as one of the best twitch-fests on PS2”. The game is currently the top rated PS2 game on the review aggregate website Metacritic, with an average score of 97/100, tying with Grand Theft Auto III.“

Here’s an entire full game playthrough. For those unfamiliar, it’s got that polygonal fifth-generation look that, well, has aged the worst of any generation in the history of video games. But the gameplay underneath was something revolutionary.

Box Score

After a frustrating sweep in San Diego, the Brewers are back in the win column. Despite trailing late, Milwaukee rallied against struggling Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning, scoring three runs to steal a 5-4 win and start their four-game series in Los Angeles on the right foot.

Both Brewers starter Shane Drohan and Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki had a relatively smooth go of it through the first few innings. Drohan gave up a 111.7 mph rocket of a line drive to Shohei Ohtani that came close to making it over the center-field fence, while Sasaki walked a couple of batters, but neither team came particularly close to scoring until the top of the fourth.

Gary Sánchez led off the fourth by lining a Sasaki splitter back up the middle and into center field for a base hit. After Jake Bauers flew out for the first out, Sasaki walked Andrew Vaughn on four straight balls. That brought up Christian Yelich, who hit a hard line drive into left field. Sánchez, not exactly known for his speed on the basepaths, had to stop at third, but the single loaded the bases with only one out.

Sasaki, who’s struggled with his control in the past, then completely lost the handle against Joey Ortiz, walking him on four straight pitches to bring home the first run of the game.

Up next was David Hamilton, but Sasaki still couldn’t get it together, walking him on five pitches — three of which weren’t particularly close to the strike zone — to give the Brewers another run. That brought up Jackson Chourio with two outs and the bases loaded, but Chourio bailed Sasaki out by quickly going down 0-2 before swinging at a splitter in the dirt for strike three. Still, the Brewers managed to take the lead and run Sasaki’s pitch count up to nearly 80 by the end of the fourth.

Drohan finally allowed a run in the fifth after Miguel Rojas walked, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a Ben Rortvedt single. He came back out for the sixth but was clearly flagging, retiring Andy Pages on a hard line drive before walking Tommy Edman. Freddie Freeman then battled Drohan for nine pitches before successfully challenging a called strike three, resulting in a second straight walk.

With two on, one out, a one-run lead, and a tiring Drohan, it was time to make the call to the bullpen. Recently acquired Antonio Senzatela came in and struck out Teoscar Hernández on a foul tip for the second out. With two on and two out, Senzatela battled to a full count against Max Muncy, who turned on the sixth pitch of the at-bat — a 100 mph fastball — and crushed it over the fence in right-center field.

Just like that, the Brewers were down by two, and for a team coming off a series in which the offense struggled to produce big innings, it may have felt to the more pessimistic of fans like the game was already over.

It wasn’t.

DL Hall retired six straight batters in the seventh and eighth innings, but Milwaukee couldn’t score either, so the score remained 4-2 going into the top of the ninth. Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz, who’s been getting hit around since returning from the injured list in late July, came in to try to slam the door on the Brewers.

Leading off against Díaz was William Contreras, who got caught looking at strike three for the first out. Milwaukee was down to its final two outs, but Ortiz and Hamilton both came through in the clutch, lining singles through the infield to put runners on the corners. Up next was Chourio, who worked the count full before swinging at a slider half a foot off the plate. He managed to get enough of it off the end of the bat to poke it into shallow right-center for a base hit, scoring Ortiz and putting the tying run, Hamilton, on third.

Garrett Mitchell took Díaz’s next pitch for a strike, then swung at the second pitch — a slider in almost the exact same location — and sent it into right field for the Brewers’ fourth straight single, scoring Hamilton to tie the game.

Up next was Sánchez, who struck out on a called strike three that he challenged unsuccessfully. With two outs and the game still tied, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to go to his bullpen, calling on lefty Alex Vesia to face Jake Bauers. Bauers hit a ground ball through the right side that found a gap and trickled into right field for a single, scoring Chourio to put the Brewers ahead 5-4.

Bauers then stole second and Andrew Vaughn worked a walk to load the bases, but Christian Yelich grounded out — albeit on a hard-hit ball — to end the inning.

In what had been a fairly dramatic game, the bottom of the ninth was anticlimactic, which is exactly what the Brewers want to see from their closer. Trevor Megill came in and retired Mookie Betts, Muncy, and Kyle Tucker in order to secure the first victory of the road trip. For a team that lost a couple of fairly heartbreaking games in San Diego, it has to feel good to come away with a comeback victory over a stacked Dodgers team. Good pitching and timely hitting will always be a recipe for success.

Robert Gasser will be on the mound tomorrow opposite Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers. It’s another West Coast night game, with first pitch set for 9:10 p.m. CT.

LOS ANGELES — The sound of trumpets are now the sound of alarm for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Oh, dear. Here comes closer Edwin Diaz again.

The pain and suffering continued Thursday night, Aug. 13 when he blew his third save since last week and the Dodgers lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 in the first game of a crucial, four-game series.

Diaz entered in the bottom of the ninth to the sound of the signature trumpets with the Dodgers leading 4-2 thanks to Max Muncy’s pinch hit, three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

But Diaz heard loud boos from the crowd when he neutralized Muncy’s heroics. He left the field with two outs, the score tied 4-4 and though his status as the Dodgers’ closer appears to still be secure, Diaz is undeniably feeling the heat from the fans.

Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia allowed the final run, but the Dodgers losing this night belonged to Diaz.

The second pitch Edwin Díaz threw Thursday night sailed above the strike zone, at about eye-height on Milwaukee’s William Contreras. It was an early indicator that the Dodgers closer was about to have a brutal ninth inning.

By the end of his third blown save in four appearances, even Díaz wasn’t sure what his role would be going forward.

“Now I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said after the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Brewers. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”

Manager Dave Roberts, however, as he looked at the state of his bullpen, wasn’t ready to take the closer title from Díaz.

“Give me another option,” Roberts said. “To be quite honest, none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”

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The series opener between the Dodgers and Brewers, two of the top teams in the National League, saw Roki Sasaki give up just two runs over six innings despite battling command issues. It included a record-setting go-ahead home run from Max Muncy, No. 131 at Dodger Stadium, breaking a tie with Eric Karros for the most all-time at Chavez Ravine.

Then Díaz, who has been working through an evolving set of issues since returning from the injured list (arthroscopic elbow surgery) a couple weeks ago, took over with a two-run lead. And the game went sideways.

The Dodgers (73-49) fell two games back of the Brewers (75-47) and half a game behind the Braves (73-48).

“A loss is a loss, but there’s certain losses that are more costly,” Roberts said. “And when you use five relievers and you lose a game, that’s costly.”

Though Díaz’s command issues flared early, he struck out Contreras to begin the inning. Then he gave up four consecutive singles.

“I think my fastball command today — I was throwing strikes, but right in the middle,” Díaz said. “Every big league hitter can hit it right in the middle, [even if you] throw 200 miles an hour. I’ve got to get better at that.”

Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton both hit center-cut fastballs to put runners on the corners for the top of the order.

Then Jackson Chourio’s and Garrett Mitchell’s RBI singles — to cut the Dodgers lead to one run and to tie the score, respectively — came on sliders. That was the pitch Díaz struggled to get a feel for in Arizona last weekend.

“I think it was better today,” he said. “I think I made good ones. When you miss your fastball in the middle, they see better pitches.”

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Díaz then struck out right-handed hitting Gary Sánchez on three pitches, but Roberts had seen enough. He turned to left-hander Alex Vesia.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Vesia got Jake Bauers to hit a ground ball to the right side of the field, but it found a hole to drive in the go-ahead run. And the Dodgers offense didn’t counter in the bottom of the ninth.

“It’s frustrating because I know my ability,” said Díaz, who has an 11.57 ERA since joining the Dodgers last offseason on a three-year, $69-million deal. “I know what I can do on the mound. To not be able to do it sucks. I’ve just got to come tomorrow and try to keep getting better.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen situation has flipped dramatically since his return from injury. Less than three weeks ago, Roberts said his high-leverage relievers made up “as big a trust tree as we’ve had in quite some time.”

When pressed Thursday on why he planned to stick with Díaz in save situations, Roberts’ tone had changed.

“Who’s the other option?” Roberts said. “You look back at the last week, and guys have struggled. ... Everyone’s got a role, they all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”

One factor has been health. Brock Stewart (right shoulder discomfort) and Will Klein (right elbow loose bodies) have been placed on the IL since Roberts’ “trust tree” comments.

Then there’s the issue of performance.

Scott (2.25 ERA, 16 saves), who served as the closer in Díaz’ three-month absence, has been dealing with inconsistent velocity. But he has three straight holds. On Thursday, he faced only Christian Yelich, who hit a long fly ball into the left-field corner, but Kiké Hernández made the catch before running into the wall.

Vesia surrendered two runs in ⅔ of an inning against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 4, but he had held opponents hitless with three walks over three appearances before facing Milwaukee.

Evan Phillips seemed to have righted the ship after a rocky return from the IL, but he gave up two earned runs in ⅓ of an inning Tuesday.

What about taking a closer-by-committee approach?

“We’ve got to get other guys on track to even have that be even a valid conversation, to be honest with you,” Roberts said.

So, Díaz will continue working to regain his effectiveness on the mound, without changing roles.

“He’s got to find his way,” Roberts said. “And he’s got to have a runway to find his way. But then it gets to a point where — I’m not there yet, but ... I’m betting on the fact that the stuff will kind of right, and he’ll figure it out.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

With no power to speak of—finishing the game with nothing but singles in their 10 hits—the Brewers took advantage of Edwin Díaz’s struggles to mount a late comeback and beat the Dodgers 5-4 in one of these teams’ most excruciating losses of the season.

While Roki Sasaki has never been confused with a starter who relentlessly pounds the zone, even by his standards, this performance against the Brewers came with worse command than he was comfortable with. Through his first five frames, Sasaki walked the same number of batters as he had innings. Although his ability to pitch out of trouble to prevent a blowup should be applauded, there was probably a healthy contribution from a Brewers offense that couldn’t generate any power against him.

Both runs that Sasaki allowed came in the third inning, when control of the baseball eluded him to the point of walking three batters in a single frame. Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton came up to the plate with one out and the bases loaded, and each walked in a run, receiving a combined single strike in their respective plate appearances.

With the Dodgers silent early on against lefty Shane Drohan, they counted on the struggles of the Brewers’ stars to stay in this game. Firstly, in that third inning, the damage to Sasaki could’ve been worse, but amidst his struggles, the Dodgers starter rather easily punched out William Contreras with the bases loaded before walking in the two runs.

Eric Karros mentioned in the Dodgers broadcast that through this cold stretch with the bat, Contreras has seen the defensive side of his game also falter, and that came into play for the Dodgers’ first run. With a runner at second and two outs, Ben Rortvedt knocked a single into left field, and even with Shohei Ohtani coming up to hit, Miguel Rojas got the aggressive send sign. Rojas should’ve been out at the plate after Jackson Chourio made a good throw, but Contreras hurried the tag and couldn’t hold on to the ball; this allowed the Dodgers to score their first run and make it a 2-1 matchup in the fifth.

The Brewers’ most accomplished player and in the middle of a lousy campaign, Christian Yelich, much like Contreras, also helped out Sasaki in this game. Far from his best form, Sasaki was sent out there for the sixth to try to squeeze out one more inning that started with Andrew Vaughn reaching safely for the third straight time. Yelich was next, and with the Brewers’ last chance to do damage before the Dodgers went to the bullpen, their star left-handed hitter grounded into an easy double play. Eventually, Sasaki completed the six innings of two-run baseball, a great line given the context of this performance.

Milwaukee also tried to extend their starter to complete six full innings, a decision that would come back to haunt them with the Dodgers turning this game around in the sixth. Refusing to miss time after his injury scare on Wednesday, Freddie Freeman delivered a magnificent at-bat, overcoming a 0-2 count to earn a nine-pitch walk on an overturned 3-2 strike call. Freeman joined Tommy Edman, who also had walked to lead off the inning, on the basepaths, and that was enough for Pat Murphy to turn to Antonio Senzatela in the bullpen.

Pinch-hitting for Miguel Rojas with two outs, Max Muncy did what he has done many times recently, hitting a clutch homer to hand the Dodgers the lead. This one was a three-run shot, simply destroying a high heater from the former Rockies starter-turned-relief weapon for the Brew Crew.

The saying that when it rains, it pours certainly applied to Yelich, as he was without luck on his side late in this one. Tanner Scott was brought in relief to face the former MVP with one on and two out in the eighth. Representing the tying run, Yelich got a hold of one down the left field line that very nearly went out but was ultimately caught by Kiké Hernández right at the wall.

What’s further impressive about that defensive play is that Kiké had already made a good one at third earlier in the game. And as long as he is providing this type of versatility with defensive contributions all over, the team will make do without his offensive production.

That minor scare with Scott turned out to be a preview of what was to come in the ninth. In a tightly contested matchup, a team functioning like a well-oiled machine cannot afford to have one of its integral pieces struggling in the manner that Edwin Díaz has, ultimately leading to a blown save in the ninth. Blowup outings here and there can be explained, but what’s baffling about Díaz right now, as he allowed four straight hits (all singles) to give up the lead, is that the stuff just isn’t performing as you’d expect. Too often he located the pitch well and didn’t get the result you’d assume, like in this Chourio RBI single.

Díaz blew the save and left a mess for Alex Vesia with two on and two out against Jake Bauers. Vesia threw a 1-2 slider that didn’t break enough, and Bauers squeezed it past the infield for an RBI single to give the Brewers the 5-4 lead. In typical Brewers fashion, they came back in this one with nothing but singles.

Game particulars

• Home run— Max Muncy (23)
• WP—DL Hall (2-0): 2 IP, 3 strikeouts
• LP— Edwin Díaz (2-2): 0.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 strikeouts
• SV— Trevor Megill (22): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

Phenomenal this season and coming off 5.2 scoreless innings in a low-scoring win against the Diamondbacks, Yoshinobu Yamamoto will lead the Dodgers against the Brewers on Friday night, aiming to pitch back-to-back scoreless games for the first time this season. Milwaukee will send yet another one of their young starters in Robert Gasser. The first pitch comes your way at 7:10 p.m. (PT).

The Texas Rangers scored zero runs but the Anaheim Angels scored seven runs.

I hadn’t thought much about the Rangers all day. I hadn’t even really paid attention to the lineup when I was putting up the GDT. BZZR is finally on Roku (I can finally uninstall Poob!) so I got that working a few minutes before first pitch.

As soon as the game loaded up, Rangers Sports Network was showing a graphic featuring tonight’s lineup. I did a double take as my eyes darted to the bottom of the order and I saw that Nicky Lopez was Texas’ No. 7 hitter.

It dawned on me then that, despite being in the race for a division title in potentially the worst division since the strike of ‘94 seemingly rescued us from Texas’ first ever division title coming with a below .500 record, and coming into the night holding an American League Wild Card spot, the Rangers aren’t even that much better than the Angels.

Not when Nicky Lopez is batting seventh. Not when Austin Wynns is making another start for this club and he isn’t even the No. 9 hitter.

Not when Jacob deGrom can’t even go more than two innings because he’s hurt or really wishing he’d taken that trade to Atlanta. Not when the club can only muster two hits through the first six innings and just five all night, none for extra bases. Not when the team won’t use a challenge on a pitch fully in the strike zone. Not when a bases loaded comebacker to the mound doesn’t turn into an out.

The Rangers went 1-6 against the Angels in Anaheim this season. They’ve gone 3-7 against them in total. They will have a losing record against them this year. There’s only like 40 games left this season and victories against the Rangers have contributed to like 15% of Anaheim’s entire win total.

The Angels are pretty bad — they had the worst record in baseball until winning tonight — but sitting here in mid-August, the Rangers aren’t much better if they are at all.

Player of the Game: The Roku feed was pretty smooth.

Up Next: The Rangers fly up to Sacramento for the next round of shameful beatings beginning in the middle of the night tomorrow night.

The Dodgers couldn’t hold onto a late lead on Thursday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

But with a history-making swing, Max Muncy at least gave one.

Summoned from the bench for a pinch-hit at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers’ veteran third baseman belted a towering three-run, go-ahead homer off Milwaukee right-handed reliever Antonio Senzatela.

It would only go down as a footnote on the night, with the Dodgers losing 5-4 after Edwin Díaz’s three-run blown save in the top of the ninth.

In franchise’s record books, however, the drive catapulted Muncy to the top of a notable list.

With the 131st home run of his career at Dodger Stadium, Muncy passed retired star slugger Eric Karros for most by a single player in the ballpark’s 65-year history.

“You did it Munce! You did it!,” said Karros, who was serendipitously calling the game on the team’s SportsNet LA broadcast.

“What a career. You just can’t imagine, especially if you’re Max Muncy, you can’t imagine that this is how things would end up.”

Indeed, Muncy would have once been an unthinkable candidate to become Dodger Stadium’s home run king, having joined the team on a minor-league contract a decade ago before blossoming into an unexpected star.

Yet, over his Dodgers career, his power has remained consistent –– there through injuries and positional changes and mechanical struggles that have led to more than a down seasons overall for the three-time All-Star.

“Definitely not a spot I ever thought I’d be in,” he said earlier this year.

Muncy had been chasing down Karros’ record for most of this season, in which the 35-year-old has had a resurgent campaign that earned him a trip back to the Midsummer Classic.

With 23 long balls, Muncy trails only Shohei Ohtani for most on the team. He is also batting above .250 for the first time since 2019, and on the verge of recording his most wins above replacement (he entered Thursday at 3.4, according to Baseball-Reference) since 2021.

Despite that, eclipsing Karros’ mark had required patience.

Muncy sat one homer off the record for a stretch of 59 home plate appearances in July, before finally tying it on July 29.

Since then, he had hit only one more big fly (during a road trip at Wrigley Field earlier this month) while becoming one of several Dodgers hitters to endure a midsummer slump.

Things have gone better on this homestand, however.

With Thursday’s blast –– which came on the sixth pitch of an at-bat that saw Muncy just miss an earlier home run on a fly ball that sailed wide of the right-field foul pole –– Muncy is hitting 4-for-12 this week with seven RBIs.

Tim Anderson ended the first Field of Dreams game with a two-run, walk-off shot that magically disappeared into the right-field corn, and for five years, that has been the sentimental argument for playing baseball in Iowa. Nothing since has come close to that drama.

Thursday night at least they tried.

MLB brought out 26 Hall of Famers to appear out of the corn stalks, the most at one game since the 2008 All-Star Game. Players from both teams read the monologue from the movie reminding everyone of how baseball is the constant through the years in America. Brand-new Hall of Famers Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent threw out the first pitches to Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and Joe Mauer.

All of it happened in a new, permanent ballpark that seated 8,000 Thursday night.

Dyersville has about 4,500 people living there. Thursday night close to twice that many were at the game on the outskirts of downtown, waxing poetic about the town's new tourist attraction.

The game started out with drama, Kyle Schwarber launching the third pitch of the game into the cornfield. The Twins couldn't keep up as Schwarber hit two homers and Brandon Marsh had one and Philadelphia won 7-1.

Here is who came out of Dyersville Thursday night winners and who left as losers.

Winners

Kyle Schwarber

His first at-bat ended up with a 369-foot, lead-off home run. In the fourth inning he did it again with a little help from Twins right fielder Luke Keaschall, who had it bounce off his glove and into the corn. Aaron Judge is the only other player to homer twice in this game. Judge did it in 2021 and left as a loser. Schwarber left as the game MVP, rewarded with a hot dog and cob of corn.

Brandon Marsh

He reached base four times, going 2-for-2 with two walks, stole a base and drove in two runs. His seventh-inning home run off Travis Adams was his 17th of the season, a career high with 40 games still to play.

Aaron Nola

Nola went five innings, holding the Twins to one run and he struck out a season-high nine. He came in 3-9 with a 5.47 ERA in a season that has been a grind.

LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy picked an ideal moment to become the all-time leader in home runs hit at Dodger Stadium.

Entering the game in the sixth inning as a pinch hitter, Muncy slugged a three-run blast that propelled the Dodgers to a 4-2 lead Thursday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Adding to the drama, the Dodgers third baseman hit a 3-2 pitch with two outs over the wall in right center. The crowd of 46,105 erupted in celebration. Unfortunately for Muncy and Co., the lead did not hold.

Still, it was Muncy’s 131st home run at Dodger Stadium, moving him past retired Dodgers star Eric Karros, who had 130 home runs at the Los Angeles park that opened in 1962.

MAD MAX! pic.twitter.com/tC1cvyoAU1

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 14, 2026

The blast also was Muncy’s fourth pinch hit homer with the Dodgers. All three of the previous shots came in 2018.

Muncy, 35, is in his 11th season in the majors and ninth with the Dodgers.

The home run was the 237th of his career and his 23rd this season, second on the Dodgers behind only Shohei Ohtani’s 27 homers.

Most home runs at Dodger Stadium

Here's who has hit the most home runs at Dodger Stadium, per the SportsNet LA broadcast:

• Max Muncy, 131
• Eric Karros, 130
• Ron Cey, 123
• Steve Garvey, 118
• Matt Kemp, 117

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Max Muncy sets record for most home runs at Dodger Stadium

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs blasphemed the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 10-3.

Kohl Franklin had a very good start as he works his way back from missing almost two years. Franklin allowed just one run on three hits over four innings. The one run came on a home run by the first hitter of the game, Walker Jenkins, the Twins’ top prospect. Franklin walked two and struck out three.

Evan Taylor pitched the next two innings and got the win because Franklin didn’t go five innings. But Taylor did not allow a run. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out two.

The I-Cubs struck back with six runs in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to three Iowa home runs. First, DH Owen Miller tied the game with a solo home run, his seventh of the year. Miller went 1 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. He scored twice.

Next up, third baseman Ben Cowles hit a three-run home run to give Iowa the lead for good. But Cowles wasn’t done, as he hit a solo home run in the fifth inning as well. Cowles went 3 for 3 with a walk and the two home runs. he had five total runs batted in.

Catcher Ethan Hearn hit the third and final home run of the first inning with the bases empty. Hearn went 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs batted in. He has six home runs this year, two with the Cubs.

Cowles solo home run in the fifth inning was a back-to-back blast with left fielder Greg Jones’ solo shot. That was Jones’ second Iowa home run and third overall. Jones went 2 for 4 with a walk and two steals. He scored three times.

Second baseman Ed Howard was 2 for 4 with one run scored.

Miller’s first home run.

Cowles gives Iowa the lead.

Ethan Hearn goes back-to-back.

The velocity is back for Franklin.

Greg Jones goes deep.

And Cowles says two home runs are better than one.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies grounded the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 6-1.

Starter Brody McCullough was sharp as he allowed just one run on three hits over five innings. McCullough struck out eight Trash Pandas and walked none.

Daniel Palencia then pitched the sixth inning in a rehab assignment and did much better than the last time out. Palencia didn’t strike anyone out, but he did retire the side in order on three ground outs. Palencia threw ten pitches, eight for strikes.

The win went to Yenrri Rojas, who threw two scoreless innings after Palencia. Rojas allowed just one hit. He struck out two and walked no one.

Catcher Miguel Useche hit a three-run double in the seventh inning. Useche went 2 for 4.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez went 3 for 5. He drove in one run and scored one run.

Shortstop Karson Simas was 3 for 4. He scored one run and had one RBI.

Useche’s three-run double.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were swamped by the Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers), 8-6.

Nazier Mulé started and took the loss after he was rocked for eight runs on six hits over 3.2 innings. One of the eight runs was unearned. Mulé walked three and struck out three.

Catcher Logan Poteet clubbed a solo home run in the second inning, It was his fifth with South Bend and 19th overall. Poteet went 2 for 4 and scored twice.

Third baseman Matt Halbach homered with the bases empty in the seventh inning. It was Halbach’s tenth home run this year. Halbach was 2 for 4.

First baseman Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 4 with two RBI.

Center fielder Alexey Lumpuy went 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Lumpuy scored one run.

Poteet’s home run.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans soothed the Hill City Howlers (Guardians), 11-4.

Ninth-round pick Chase Meyer made his prod debut a successful one, going 3.1 innings and allowing just one run on three hits. Meyer struck out six and walked three.

Tenth-round pick Luke Alwood’s second pro appearance was a strong as the first one. He’s now 2-0 in two appearances after surrendering no runs on just one hit over three innings. Alwood struck out five and walked one.

Shortstop Corey Nunez went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. He scored two runs and drove in two.

Right fielder Ethan Conrad was 2 for 5 with a triple and an RBI single. He scored once.

Center fielder Caden Sorrell went 2 for 5. He scored twice and drove in one.

Second baseman Juan Cabada got his first two hits in Low-A, going 2 for 5 with a double. He scored one run and drove in one.

Catcher Jose Silva was 2 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. Silva scored twice and had one RBI.

Highlights.

Carlos Rodón looks like a pitcher ready for a return to the majors.

The Yankees All-Star left-hander, making his second rehab start since going on the injured list with elbow inflammation in July, was dominant across 4 1/3 innings for the Double-A Somerset Patriots on Thursday night.

Rodón allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out seven New Hampshire hitters on 58 pitches (41 strikes) at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J.

“I feel like I’m always ready to get big league hitters out,” Rodón told reporters after his outing.

“The goal was to go out there and throw as many strikes as I could and be efficient.

“As far as what’s next, not sure. I’d love to go out there, compete and help our team win [in the majors], but that is not up to me.”

The 33-year-old southpaw said his stuff — which generated 15 swings and misses — felt “fairly crisp,” especially compared to his first rehab appearance on Saturday when he allowed three runs over 2 2/3 frames with Triple-A Scranton.

Injuries have limited Rodón to just nine starts this season with New York, where he’s posted a 4-2 record with a 3.30 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 46 1/3 innings.

Offseason surgery to remove a bone spur in his left elbow forced Rodón to begin 2026 on the IL and delayed his season debut until May 10.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters over the weekend that the team may “piggyback” Rodón by having another starter, possibly Ryan Weathers or Will Warren, pitch behind him as he increases his workload.

For his part, Rodón said he has no issue with that possibility.

“I’m willing to do whatever to help our team win,” Rodón said. “If they think that’s the avenue they want to go, I’m ready to perform and help our team win.”

The Yankees’ offensive struggles have been prevalent in recent weeks, including Thursday afternoon’s 1-0 loss in the series finale against the Mariners.

But adding a healthy Rodón to the mix would improve an already formidable staff for the Yankees.

Cam Schlittler is a leading contender for the Cy Young. Gerrit Cole, in his first season post-Tommy John surgery, has been dominant in recent outings.

Max Fried has been solid since returning from his own elbow injury recently, including his five-inning, one-run effort in Thursday’s loss.

Warren and Weathers have also been stalwarts all season — and Rodón is excited to rejoin that mix.

“I’m very confident in our guys, and it’s up there, for sure,” Rodón said of where New York’s rotation ranks among the MLB’s best. “I have three guys in front of me that are really good in this game.

“I’m glad that all of us are on the same team, so it’s great to be able to have those kind of arms.”

Tonight, the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies participated in the MLB Field of Dreams Game on the iconic site of the 1989 film. For thoughts on my favorite baseball movie of all time, check out the game thread.

Before the umpire decried “play ball!” in Dyersville, IA, Netflix orchestrated a beautiful pregame ceremony featuring Hall of Famers materializing out of the corn much like the Black Sox on celluloid.

After all the pageantry and pomp, it was time to play!

First inning runs-allowed have been a trend for Twins starting pitchers of late, and that didn’t change in the Iowa cornfield. In fact, three pitches in from Taj Bradley and the Phils were up 1-0 as Kyle Schwarber scalded a sphere into the stalks. After a Bryce Harper walk and a Luis Arraez single (of course), Bryson Stott gave the Fightins’ a crooked number with an RBI knock. 2-0 PHI.

Singles from Trevor Larnach & Ryan Jeffers sandwiched around a Byron Buxton pop-out gave the Twins a first inning rally of their own, but a Josh Bell swinging strikeout on 3-2 and a hot shot from Royce Lewis right into the glove of SS Trea Turner cut the rally as short as Moonlight Graham’s career.

In B2, Luke Keaschall got the Twins on the board by beaning a ghost juuuust beyond (357 ft off Aaron Nola) the LCF fence. PHI 2-1.

Alas, Keaschall giveth and Keaschall taketh away. After a Brandon Marsh BB in T4, Schwarber again bombed a ball to RF which bounced on—rather than in—Luke’s glove and over the fence for a two-run jack. Turner would immediately double down the RF line, and just as quickly Harper would single him home. 5-1 PHI.

That would be the end of the line for Bradley. Same old story (same old career, really) for Taj: random bouts of wildness doom him to a bummer of an outing.

The next MN scoring opportunity came in B5, when a Buxton double and walks to Jeffers & Bell loaded the sacks for Lewis. In the most dramatic spot possible for the MN batter who most thrives in those situations—Royce struck out on three pitches.

Through five innings, the Twins simply gained no purchase off Nola’s diving-in-the-dirt knuckle curveball (9 K).

More moonshine mashers in T7: after Alec Bohm nearly creamed some corn and ended up with a double, Marsh stalk-ed Travis Adams in the next AB. 7-1 PHI.

Despite clean pen outings from Taylor Rogers & Tommy Nance, the Twins could not muster any further mash. Closing things out for the Phanatics? Jhoan Duran with a clean B9.

Your Final: Philadelphia Phillies 7, Minnesota Twins 1.

76% of the way through their 2026 campaign, the Twins continue to be maddening in their step-forward, step-backward sequencing. Still hanging in the fringes of the AL Central “race” and the muddled AL Wild Card mess, if not doing themselves any favors with an extremely hot-or-cold offense.

Zach’s Zealot

• The whole Field of Dreams idea: Win or lose, this is a great thing that MLB does combining sporting & cinematic pastimes.

Zach’s Zombie

• Putting this game on Netflix: I know, I know…“elder millennial yells at cloud”. But think of the interest this could have drawn if aired on FOX or NBC or what not. At very least, allow it to be simulcast in the Minny & Philly markets on a local station and/or Twins.TV. Forever short-sighted is MLB.

Egg-cellent Elocution

• This special event not only brought out the HOF legends pre-game, but also HOF legends like TawnyFroggyin the chat!

Who’s Got Next

• The odd Friday off-day mid-series to allow the Twins & Phillies to get back to MN for two more Saturday & Sunday.

Kyle Schwarber’s second home run during Thursday’s MLB at Field of Dreams Game came with a little help from the field.

During the fourth inning of the Phillies 7-1 win, Schwarber belted a ball to right field off Twins starter Taj Bradley, but with the stadium’s low fences, it was in reach for outfielder Luke Keaschall.

Just as Keaschall appeared to track the shot down, however, the ball popped right out of his glove and over the fence, extending the Phillies’ lead to 4-1 over Minnesota.

The Netflix broadcast booth consisting of play-by-play commentator Matt Vasgersian and former MLB stars CC Sabathia and Hunter Pence let out collective “oh nos” as the ball fell out of Keaschall’s glove.

“I think that was a Keasch-made home run unfortunately,” Pence quipped.

Schwarber’s first home run came on the third pitch of the game in the first inning, as he sent one well into the corn field beyond the right field fence.

The two blasts put Schwarber at an MLB-best 37 home runs on the season.

Schwarber has yet again been one of the league’s top hitters this season, posting a slash line of .250/.371/.544 with 72 RBIs after Thursday’s effort.

Schwarber was ecstatic headed into Thursday’s game, telling reporters that he was “excited to see the corn” at the Field of Dreams.

“I think it’s going to be awesome,” Schwarber said, according to MLB.com. “I’ve never been out there before, so I’m excited to see the corn, see the field they actually filmed it at. Just to be in that atmosphere, I think it’s going to be really cool.”

He added that he expects the game to also have a nostalgic feel to it.

“I know they’re going to have a lot of different activities and things before the game that’ll make it a little bit nostalgic and make it feel like you’re playing back in the day,” Schwarber said.

“So I feel like it’ll be a really cool thing, and hopefully, we have a great time.”

I have a confession to make: I haven’t watched Field of Dreams. I intended to watch it last night, but I ended up watching The Long Goodbye instead. In my defense, that’s sort of related to baseball, since Jim Bouton is in it. Anyway, I’m going to substitute some Bull Durham references, since that’s a Kevin Costner baseball film that I have seen; it’s close enough. Bull Durham is somewhat risqué, and this is a family friendly blog, so I’ll be mindful; I’m not going to suggest that anyone playing tonight could benefit from having a fan read Walt Whitman to them.

Kyle Schwarber wasted no time in getting cinematic, blasting a fastball that caught the middle-inside of the plate deep into the maize. Bryce Harper walked, and Luis Arraez singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. Bryson Stott singled to left-center, scoring Harper. “Oh, my stars and garters,”, said the old-timey fans watching the game (speaking of garters, Annie Savoy would surely have advice for Minnesota starter Taj Bradley about how to deal with a rough patch).

Aaron Nola also had a rocky first, allowing two of his first three batters to reach, the second on a tiny little dribbler. Ground balls may be more democratic, but Nola decided not to embrace that particular philosophy, putting the next two Twins down without allowing the ball to touch the ground. Unfortunately, the ball hit by Luke Keaschall in the second also did not touch the ground, at least not until it found the corn over the left field wall.

In the fourth, Brandon Marsh worked a leadoff walk, then stole second; he was called out, but the film reel was rewound, and upon a second viewing he was deemed safe. Kyle Schwarber, knowing that a cinematic event calls for a sequel, smacked another ball out to right; Keaschall leapt and got a glove on it, but the ball bounced off and into the corn. Kyle Schwarber believes in the soul, the hanging curveball, opening your Christmas presents on Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve, and he believes in long, slow, deep moonshots that take three days to land (what he thinks about the novels of Susan Sontag is unknown). Trea Turner doubled, Harper singled, and the score was 5-1.

Save for that solo shot, Nola had cruised through four. In the fifth, allowed a two-out double up the third base line in the bottom fifth, then walked the next batter, and then the next, and suddenly slow cinema became a thriller. Royce Lewis came to the plate with the bases loaded, representing the tying run. Nola rose to the moment, putting him away on a trio of pitches: knuckle curve, four-seamer, knuckle curve.

That ended Nola’s night (1 ER, 5 H, 9 K, 3 BB), with Brooks Raley his successor. He allowed a double, but kept the Twins from scoring; it’s very unfitting for a team with that name to have just a single run. The Phillies had no such problems: Alec Bohm doubled to deep center, and Marsh pulled a fly ball into the corn in right, and the Phillies had seven runs.

Orion Kerkering took the mound in the eighth, as Derek Hill took to right field in place of Harper. Kerkering put the Twins down in order.

The Twins entered the ninth dreaming of their Hollywood miracle. They did what they needed to in the top of the inning, surrendering no more runs. But the tall task was yet to come. Facing Jhoan Duran down by any amount is imposing; facing him down by a half dozen is petrifying. He wanted to announce his presence with authority, and did. The Twins managed a hit against him, and no more.

The Phillies are 65-58. They’ll return to action on Saturday at 7:10 in Minnesota.