Category: MLB

CHICAGO –– For most of this season, Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski has been surpassing expectations.

The last two weeks, however, he has succumbed to some ugly franchise history in his first real slump all year.

In a 10-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday that tied a season-long four-game losing streak for the Dodgers, Wrobleski encountered a suddenly familiar problem. 

For a second-straight start, he couldn’t keep the ball in the yard.

Last week, the third-year left-hander was tagged with four home runs in a six-inning, five-run start against the Seattle Mariners, yet came away feeling like he hadn’t pitched that poorly.

“I just think going back and looking at it, I still threw the ball pretty well,” he said. “I know that sounds crazy considering the number and the line, but for the most part I think I did an OK job of kind of the things that are in my control.”

Problem was, when he returned to the bump at Wrigley Field on Monday, Wrobleski’s long ball problems only got worse.

Once again, he surrendered four big flies in a 4 ⅓-inning, seven-run start. 

And just like that, he became the first pitcher in Dodgers history to allow four homers in multiple games in the same season –– let alone in back-to-back outings just six days apart.

“I think sometimes teams are gonna have, honestly, good swings off you,” Wrobleski said. “And yeah, today that happened. But there’s no excuse. I think I need to be better than I have these past two.”

Monday’s barrage began with a first-inning blast that felt reminiscent of last week. 

In a 1-1 count against Seiya Suzuki, Wrobleski climbed the ladder with a seemingly well-executed 94.6 mph fastball, the kind of pitch that has typically been an effective weapon for him this year. Only this time, Suzuki was on it, lifting a two-run shot to the left-field bleachers that left Wrobleski shaking his head.

If that was bad luck –– Wrobleski said he was “not super upset” with his execution of that throw –– then the rest of the night’s damage seemed much more self-inflicted, and raised questions about a potential underlying problems.

In the second, he missed down the middle with a two-strike fastball that Kevin Alcantara clobbered for a go-ahead two-run blast (erasing the 3-0 lead Tommy Edman had staked them to with a home run during their first trip to the plate). In the third, he hung a slider in the heart of the zone that Carson Kelly teed off on for another two-run drive.

Wrobleski’s night, and frustrations, then culminated in the fifth. 

In an 0-1 count, he challenged former Dodgers prospect Michael Busch with a sinker in the zone; another go-to strategy for him this season that has often led to soft contact that keeps his pitch count under control.

Alas, Wrobleski instead got barreled up once again, with yet another home run leaving him doubled over in disbelief.

That would be his final pitch of the night. In his last two starts, his ERA has risen from 2.62 to 3.31 (his worst mark since entering the Dodgers’ rotation in early April).

“I think last week, some of [the home run pitches] were better pitches than this week,” Wrobleski said. But overall, just didn’t throw the ball well enough today, obviously. I’ve been pretty frustrated these last two.”

When pressed on Wrobleski’s struggles postgame, manager Dave Roberts argued his “stuff is really good,” and downplayed concerns about the 26-year-old approaching a career-high workload.

Instead, he said, “It just seemed like they were on everything.”

Asked if that was because of predictable game-planning, or Wrobleski potentially tipping his pitches, Roberts was unsure.

“That’s something I think we have to dig into,” he said.

“When he did make mistakes,” Roberts added, “it just seemed like they went out of the ballpark.”

Wrobleski also left the door open to the potential pitch-tipping theory, struggling to reconcile consecutive starts that have gone so wrong. 

“I changed the game plan pretty significantly today, and felt like they were still on some stuff,” he said. “At the end of the day, I just need to continue working and get better. The chips will fall where they’re going to. Just keep going.”

The Rockies pieced together a decent late rally, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an eight-run deficit on Monday night at Coors Field.

The game capped off an action-packed day that included the Rockies trading Brenton Doyle, Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik.

This one got out of hand early as Tampa Bay (66-46) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings. It was too big a hole to crawl out of as the Rockies dropped to 45-68.

Ezequiel Tovar went 4-for-4 with a homer and Mickey Moniak added his 18th homer of the season to try to help the Rockies, but they couldn’t keep up with the hard-hitting, speedy Rays. It didn’t help that the Rockies struck out nine times in the first six innings against Tampa Bay’s Ian Seymour.

In the final box score, both teams posted 15 hits, but the Rays made them count more. The Rockies went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven guys on base, while Tampa Bay went 6-for-14 and only left five on base.

Lorenzen stung early, Gordon blasted later

It only took the Rays three innings to record seven hits — including one homer — three stolen bases, three walks and seven runs. Junior Caminero hit a two-run shot for his 31st homer of the season in the first inning to put the Rockies behind right off the bat.

In the second, Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios hit back-to-back singles and then Lorenzen walked Kenny Piper, who was making his MLB debut, to load the bases with no outs. Taylor Walls hit a two-run single, Yandy Díaz hit a sac fly and Walls stole second and moved to third on a throwing error from Hunter Goodman to move into scoring position for Jonathan Aranda’s RBI single. Caminero hit into a double play to avoid further damage, but it was 6-0 after two innings.

Two more walks, another stolen base and a single in the third gave the Rays a touchdown after three innings and ended Lorenzen’s night. To get nine outs, Lorenzen needed 75 pitches. His record dropped to 3-10 and his ERA increased to 6.94.

“I just didn’t think he was in the zone enough. That’s all,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “…When you are behind in counts to a good hitting team, it’s probably not going to go that well, especially here at Coors Field.”

Tanner Gordon relieved Lorenzen in the fourth. Caminero hit his 32nd homer of the season, but otherwise, Gordon retired nine out of the first 10 batters he faced through the sixth inning. Schaeffer said he thought Gordon was “extremely efficient.”

“That’s what TG does for us. He gives us a chance there to come back,” Schaeffer said. “Just pounding the zone with his stuff and early contact, which is all good. It’s what you want to hear.”

Trouble came in the seventh when the Rays added two more and continued to add to their lead, which came in handy in the end. Gordon finished with six runs — only four of which were earned — on eight hits, including two homers, with three strikeouts and no walks in six innings.

Seymour strikes out more

The biggest reason the Rockies couldn’t keep up with the Rays on the scoreboard was Seymour. The part-time starter went six solid innings and registered nine strikeouts. He held the Rockies to two runs on seven hits with no walks thanks to a nasty changeup that drew 11 swings and misses.

“He pounded the strike zone,” Schaeffer said of Seymour. “He used his changeup well. Left-on-left changeup was good. He’s a good pitcher and we knew that coming in.”

Despite giving up triples to Willi Castro and Moniak, each with only one out, neither was able to come in to score.

Seymour and Michael Grove, who pitched the final three innings, were also aided by outstanding defense throughout the game. The first came from Richie Palacios when he climbed the stairs to rob Jake McCarthy of a base hit with runners at first and second in the fifth inning.

In the seventh, Victor Mesa Jr. took away extra bases from Cole Carrigg with this catch in front of the out-of-town scoreboard.

Tovar time

It’s no secret that Tovar has struggled this season. On Monday night, he looked more like his old self.

He went 4-for-4 in his first multi-hit game since July 3, while also scoring four runs. And it started with a bang. In the third inning, he connected for his ninth homer of the year to put the Rockies on the board. The solo shot went 398 feet to left center field.

He added a single in the fifth and came around to score on an RBI single from Kyle Karros to score the Rockies first two runs of the game.

In the seventh, Tovar scored again. Troy Johnston led off with a double and Tovar followed up with a single. After McCarthy hit a sac fly to score Johnston, Karros hit another single to plate Tovar and make it 10-4.

Tovar added a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth as well. He came around to score immediately when McCarthy doubled.

“It was awesome to see Tovy have that night. Good for him. He’s been looking for that for a while,” Schaeffer said. “Three hard-hit balls and that was a tough matchup there in the ninth for him with another base hit. I just saw a balanced, ready-to-go hitter. Hopefully, he can carry that over.”

Tovar did make an error in the field after he was unable to come up with a ground ball in the middle of a two-run seventh inning from Tampa Bay. Both runs were unearned.

Moniak’s big day

On the same night the Rockies announced plans for a two-year extension with Moniak that will likely be finalized on Tuesday, Moniak tripled and hit his 18th homer of the season. It was a blast, too, measuring 447 feet.

Moniak finished the night with a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth for his 49th RBI of the season.

Carrigg hit an RBI double and Hunter Goodman added a sac fly in the ninth-inning rally that came up too short.

Up next

The Rockies and Rays will face off again on Tuesday. RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-3, 3.33) will start for the Rockies, while RHP Freddy Peralta (5-9, 4.99 ERA) will likely make his Tampa Bay debut after being traded from the New York Mets earlier on Monday.

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

Cam Schlittler has been near-perfect on the road and poor at home.

It’s a trend the Yankees and their ace are going to have to figure out and fix.

The righty suffered through the second-shortest stint of his career, giving up four earned runs in just three innings against the Cardinals.

Schlittler’s usually immaculate control abandoned him as he walked a season-high five.

“I take pride in having control and limiting those walks. Don’t really have an excuse for it,” Schlittler said. “So it wasn’t my night, and I got to be better there.”

Schlittler walked leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt and served up a two-run shot to Alec Burleson.

Then came José Fermin’s RBI double and Nathan Church’s RBI single.

“I feel fine. [I] didn’t get in that rhythm,” Schlittler said. “I’ve just got to be better. Things have been a lot easier on the road. I feel like I’ve been dominant on the road and haven’t been able to do that here. And it’s frustrating. At some point, we’ve got to make an adjustment, and I’ve got to perform in front of the fans.”

It’s an odd trend heading in the wrong direction.

While Schlittler has been great on the road — 8-2 with a 1.10 ERA — after Monday, he’s just 2-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 10 starts in The Bronx.

“The bad ones I have are always here, and that’s frustrating. Things should be easier here playing in front of our fans,’’ Schlittler said. “Frustrating for them, too. They come here expecting good performances and not being able to deliver. I’ve got another opportunity Sunday and just got to be better.”

Manager Aaron Boone added: “He just never got into a good rhythm. I felt like a lot — for him — noncompetitive pitches where some easy takes for them.”

As one top prospect is set to arrive in George Lombard Jr., a former No. 1 prospect is heading back to the minors, as Jasson Domínguez was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following Monday’s loss to make room for newly acquired Heliot Ramos.

The Yankees chose to keep Spencer Jones on the major league roster.

Jones has hit better than Domínguez of late and can play center field.

Domínguez has struggled at the plate and on defense, where he’s limited to the corner outfield spots.

The 23-year-old has shown flashes of potential but has been unable to lock down a regular spot in the lineup when given the opportunity — as he was when Aaron Judge got hurt.

Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt are getting closer to rejoining the pitching staff after coming back from elbow injuries.

Rodón pitched two innings of live batting practice Monday at the Stadium and the left-hander said the session went well.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The lefty may make a minor league rehab appearance Saturday, according to Boone and GM Brian Cashman said Rodón (left elbow inflammation) could be back this month.

Schmidt, coming back from last year’s Tommy John surgery, is scheduled to throw three innings of live BP Tuesday at the Stadium, with a minor league rehab assignment likely not far behind.

Since there’s not enough time — or a need — for Schmidt to build up to being a full starter, the Yankees are focused on getting him ready for a shorter role.

“He’s close to being in the mix,’’ Boone said of the right-hander. “He’s had that [bullpen] experience before. Hopefully it serves him well.”

Cashman said it was “possible,” but “unlikely” that rookie Carlos Lagrange would recover from his shoulder injury in time to contribute this year.

To open up a spot for Luis García Jr., Max Schuemann was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The San Francisco Giants did the inevitable and got rid of multiple players in a fire sale during MLB's trade deadline in hopes of salvaging the remainder of the season with a focus on next year.

Six players were shipped out of San Francisco and on to different teams. Those players included Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves, Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian to the Philadelphia Phillies, Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees, Robbie Ray to the San Diego Padres, and Erik Miller to the Boston Red Sox.

In return, the Giants got back a couple right-handed pitchers, Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair, from the Phillies. The Padres sent right-hand pitcher Miguel Mendez and infielder Joniel Hernandez to the Bay Area. The Yankees sent back left-hand pitcher Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent, son of Giants legend and Hall of Famer Jeff Kent. San Francisco got infielder Marcelo Mayer from Boston. While Anthony Molina, who they immediately assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, Sacramento River Cats, came via trade with the Braves.

Notable players that remain on the roster are Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames. Their names were floated around the trade rumor mill but ultimately stay put in San Francisco.

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey appeared on Bay Area sports radio station 95.7 FM "The Game" to provide insight and feedback on his approach at the trade deadline and moving forward.

"We made it known to teams that we were really willing to talk about any player," Posey said. "I don't think it does any good to say one way or another for us. We're still excited that we've got those big three guys, we have Devers, Chapman, Adames on the team, and still feel like there's a lot of great baseball left for those guys to play."

The bottom line, Posey said, is that he's "glad they're going to be San Francisco Giants."

As for the rest of the season ― which has about two months remaining ― it's officially an evaluation period.

"We're going to get some looks at some younger players, and I think as much as anything, it's going to be an opportunity for us as a front office and a coaching staff to evaluate some of our players, and some of them are going to get some longer runways than they've had in the past," Posey said.

Prospects looking to make a name for themselves will have an opportunity in San Francisco. But there will be a standard to live up to, and Posey is setting it.

"We keep saying you look for fundamental baseball guys that are going to throw throw the ball over the plate, control the strike zone at the plate, catch the ball on defense and make smart decisions on the bases," he said. "I do think it's been nice to see that we've been pushing the envelope a little bit more as far as stolen bases have gone the last month or so. So that's been nice to see, but just just trying to create a brand of baseball."

"I think these last two months that we can be excited about, to build off of, and and you know look to to look to build on from what we do here these last couple months and into the future," Posey added.

There's optimism to the ending of an otherwise abysmal season. Following the trades, here are the winners and losers from the Giants' moves:

The Pirates made two trades at the buzzer right before the 6 p.m. trading deadline to bolster the bullpen.

In addition to acquiring right-handers Luke Weaver (Mets) and Kirby Yates (Angels), the Pirates traded for Marlins righty Lake Bachar.

Bachar, 31, has been steady for the Marlins this season, totaling a 3.84 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 38 outings.

Through 58.2 innings, Bachar has struck out 61 and walked 21. He’s allowed 25 earned runs and the ERA is somewhat inflated by one outing allowing five runs and another four runs during the past month. 

Bachar saved two games for the fish and blew one save, owning a 1-2 record. He’s also started four games for Miami as an opener.

Bachar isn’t arbitration eligible until 2028 and is under club control for the next four seasons. 

He averages 94.5 mph with his fastball and is in the 95th percentile in breaking run value for his secondary stuff, according to baseball savant.

His .207 expected batting average and 30.6% Whiff percentage are top 15 in baseball. 

Bachar does get hit fairly hard (89.4 average exit velo, 9.0 barrel percentage), and uses his fastball the most of any pitch (30%).

The righty utilizes a four-seam fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, split finger, and sinker.

He joins a reloaded Pirates bullpen that added Weaver,  Yates, and Camilo Doval in the last three days.

The Pirates needed to completely change their bullpen going into the final two months of the year.

Ben Cherington added four relievers, now it’s time to see if they were the right ones and if it is enough. 

The Yankees are promoting top prospect George Lombard Jr. for a potential MLB debut, according to multiple reports.

Lombard, 21, is the Yankees' No. 1 prospect and No. 20 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline's preseason rankings. 

The Yankees announced after the 13-7 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday that struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe, outfielder Jasson Dominguez, and reliever Angel Chivilli were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (Dominguez's spot will be taken by Heliot Ramos, added in a trade deadline day deal with San Francisco, and Chivilli will be replaced by an added bullpen arm after the righty got shellacked for six runs on three home runs in a tough eighth inning.)

The news of his promotion comes just hours after general manager Brian Cashman downplayed the idea of Lombard soon getting called up to the majors for his debut.

"If he does, we'll certainly let you know," Cashman said soon after Monday's MLB Trade Deadline passed. "Obviously tonight, that's not the case and it's business as usual the way we're currently set."

Lombard, who New York took with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 draft, is slashing .268/.405/.440 for an .845 OPS in 56 games with six home runs and 21 RBI at Triple-A this season, his first at that level. In 20 games with Double-A Somerset earlier this year, he had tallied 12 extra-base hits in 20 games with a .312/.400/.571 slash line for a .971 OPS.

Volpe, who has struggled for health this season, has slashed .240/.324/.322 for a .646 OPS (82 OPS+ and  87 wRC+) in 56 games. The fourth-year man is still looking to put together some consistency at the plate to go along with his solid defense, but in the small sample size of the 2026 campaign, he was showing slight improvement in that area. His walk percentage was up, strikeout percentage down, and weighted OBA (.294) was the highest of his career. But the power numbers were way down; he had just 11 extra-base hits (one home run) and 19 RBI.

Dominguez, who had a hit and two strikeouts looking in Monday's loss, was slashing .230/.270/.380 for a .650 OPS with six home runs and 14 RBI and 46 strikeouts to nine walks in 53 games on the year.

On a night where your job appears to be on the line, that was not the performance Brewers right-hander Brandon Sproat was needing to have.

Sproat struggled to finish innings once again, getting the first two outs in the 1st, before allowing a single and a walk. Then he put together his first 1-2-3 inning since June 30th, and then the rails promptly fell off.

Sproat got the first two batters out in the 3rd, then allowed back-to-back singles and then a walk to load the bases. Spencer Horwitz promptly doubled to clear the bases and bring home three runs. That was bad enough. Then the 4th inning happened.

A leadoff single from Endy Rodriguez put a runner on. Then as Sproat faced Jacob Gonzalez, he threw a wild pitch, and then threw another wild pitch. Back-to-back wild pitches was enough and before Sproat could get a new baseball, Pat Murphy was out of the dugout and walking towards the mound to pull his starter from the game.

Mid-at-bat, Sproat gets pulled. You don’t see that kind of frustration very often.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. The kid is great. He’s got so much potential, he really does. But, again, two out walks, thinkgs like that, the big misses, wild pitches, that stuff you got to keep under control.” Pat Murphy said.

Garrett Stallings came in and settled things down, going three scoreless to keep the Brewers in it, but the offense wasn’t able to provide enough.

Bubba Chandler gave up some hard contact to the Brewers, but stuff was not falling through until the 5th inning when David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz supplied singles to get the Brewers on the board. In the 6th, Jackson Chourio led off with a walk and came around to score after singles from Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn. On Vaughn’s single, Bauers was heading for third and would’ve been dead to rights with a good throw, but the throw bounced away and Bauers popped up immediately to come around to score to make it a one run ballgame and chase Chandler from the game.

The Brewers would threaten again in the 7th with runners on first and second and one out for Christian Yelich and William Contreras. You would think that would put the Brewers in an advantageous spot. However, Yelich and Contreras both struck out to end inning and the Brewers did not get another runner in scoring position the rest of the way against the Pirates bullpen.

There were opportunities to be had that the Brewers could not convert. A bunt by the Pirates in the 4th inning led to confusion on the Brewers defense with Contreras calling for a throw to first rather than covering for a potential play at the plate that led to everyone being safe.

It’s a tough night for the Crew and an especially tough night for Brandon Sproat. He may soon find himself on the outside looking in of not only the rotation, but potentially the big league roster altogether.

They are back at it tomorrow night with Logan Henderson on the mound against Jared Jones.

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo record the latest episode of The Mets Pod live after the MLB Trade Deadline, with full reaction to all the moves made by the Mets leading up to it. 

Connor and Joe break down the deals, and do a full analysis of the prospect return for the Mets in exchange for Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta, Huascar Brazoban, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter and more. 

The guys also react to comments earlier in the evening from Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, and do an early preview of Joe's all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List, which looks a lot different with many new names in the mix. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

As far as Yankees prospects go, George Lombard Jr. was about as untouchable as they come as the trade deadline passed Monday.

That is because on Tuesday, he is being summoned for his big league debut in The Bronx.

The Yankees are calling up Lombard, a source confirmed to The Post on Monday night, to see if the 21-year-old that they hope is their shortstop of the future can deliver a spark in the present.

The club announced it was optioning Anthony Volpe to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, clearing the way for Lombard’s arrival as it begins the post-deadline sprint 3 ¹/₂ games back of the Rays for first place in the AL East.

Lombard, who returned from multiple sprained fingers in mid-July, has been tearing it up at Triple-A, batting .268 with an .845 OPS across 56 games — including .377 with a 1.081 OPS in 14 games since coming off the injured list.

The Yankees were asked plenty about Lombard leading up to the deadline, when they acquired lefty slugger Luis García Jr. and righty-hitting outfielder Heliot Ramos for lesser prospects but hung on to Lombard so they could deploy him themselves beginning Tuesday.

“I think he’s had an outstanding year,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. “I think he’s gotten better. I think he continues to show a ton of progress. We love the kid and the makeup. It’s been fun to see him — any of your minor league players or prospects, you want to see them develop and get better. In George’s case, obviously a high-profile one, that’s continued to happen. It’s a testament to his work ethic and his talent.”

Since he arrived in the Yankees organization — as their first-round pick out of high school three years ago — the son of former big leaguer and current Tigers bench coach George Lombard has been hailed for his off-the-charts makeup and high baseball IQ.

That, along with his high-level defense and offensive upside, allowed him to race through the minor leagues and should help him as he jumps into a playoff race with less than two months to go in the regular season.

GM Brian Cashman said in early July that Lombard was “plug and play ready to go” defensively, which should provide a solid floor for his introduction to the big leagues.

It remains to be seen what the Yankees get out of him offensively — he has typically taken at least a few weeks to adjust to new levels — though he demonstrated a high on-base ability and some emerging power throughout his time in the minors, and now will have a runway to settle in before October arrives.

After the deadline passed Monday, Cashman indicated that the Yankees had explored adding a shortstop or infield help but did not ultimately see a match — at a deadline when no major league shortstops got traded.

A large part of that had to do with Lombard looming.

“I don’t think there were a lot of opportunities that existed that were upgrades for us,” Cashman said. “We like the players we have and we like the players we have on the come. … It was going to be a high bar.”

When describing his negotiations with the Tigers on Tarik Skubal, who ultimately went to the Dodgers, Cashman hinted that they may have asked for (and refused to move off) Lombard, a price he was unwilling to pay.

The Yankees began the season with José Caballero as their starting shortstop while Volpe finished off his rehab from offseason shoulder surgery.

By the time Volpe was ready to return, Caballero was playing at a high level, so the Yankees optioned Volpe to Triple-A until Caballero suffered a small fracture in his finger.

That provided a lifeline for Volpe to get called back up, but neither he nor Caballero put a stranglehold on the position, opening the door for Lombard to get his shot.

Now, the Yankees will get to see what he makes of it.

All streaks must eventually come to an end.     Blue Jays 3    Astros 1    For Houston, their 6-game run might be history, but a new chapter has officially begun.     A few hours prior to Monday’s trade deadline, Houston would acquire Daulton Varsho in an effort to shore up their outfield production.    Varsho would seize the moment, paying immediate dividends in the first inning.   In some ways, it was only fitting that Nathan Lukes would start the night flying out to Daulton, and then in his Astros debut at the plate, he’d reach on a single to right field.   

In the top of the second, Alejandro Kirk started the scoring with a solo shot to left field.    That made the score 1-0.    In the fourth, Toronto would increase their lead after a pair of hits from Kazuma Okamoto and George Springer, combined with an error from Taylor Trammell.     That combination of events made things 3-0.   

Houston would have their chances early but failed to capitalize.    In their first and second innings they’d have multiple runners on base, but Christian Walker and Jeremy Pena each struck out swinging, stranding a pair of runners.    

Cristian Javier would provide a quality start.   Javier would go 6 innings and allow just 3 runs while scattering 7 hits.     In the 7th inning, Tatsuya Imai would make his debut out of the bullpen and pitch three scoreless innings, at one point, striking out five in a row for an impressive relief outing. 

In the bottom of the 6th, Houston would load the bases.    They’d score their first and only run on Jeremy Pena’s RBI single which brought in Yanier Diaz.    In the frame, Yordan Alvarez would be intentionally walked for the 23rd time this season.    The Astros all-time record is 27 free passes, which Jeff Bagwell registered back in 1997.     

Tyler Rogers would come on for Toronto to close things out.    

Odds & Ends:

Daulton Varsho is now wearing #18.     He joins some of the great names in team history; Joe Morgan, Art Howe & Moises Alou to name a few.      

Jeremy Pena now has a 15-game hitting streak.

Hayden Wesneski will make his second start since returning from Tommy John’s surgery on Tuesday.    First pitch is once again scheduled for 7:10pm CDT.    

So, watch any good movies lately? I hear The Odyssey is pretty good.

It’s the original hero’s journey, you know? The template on which the most compelling stories humans tell each other are based. We search for that narrative everywhere we go, in every part of our lives. We seek it out in sports, an outlet which allows these tales of great challenges followed by heroic deeds to pour out before our eyes, unmediated by the artifice of the stage or the page.

The Yankees looked as if they had completed the hero’s journey on Monday night in the Bronx. Tumbling to a 6-0 deficit after a clunker of a start from ace Cam Schlittler, the heretofore moribund Yankee offense appeared to rewrite their fate with an inspiring seven-run rally, capped off by a home run in the seventh from new arrival Luis García Jr. A sellout crowd which thought they had bought a ticket to a boring, tepid contest rose to their feet in delirium.

The bullpen did not get a single out in the eighth before all the offense’s accomplishments were but a pile of ash in the dumpster behind the nearby sandwich shop. Home run after home run left the Cardinals’ bats against Angel Chivilli in a seven-run eighth which sealed an ignominious and deeply unsatisfying fate for the Yankees: a 13-7 final score which wound up assuming the shape it had always promised to take, a laugher.

First, the initial deficit. Schlittler had nothing working on the mound tonight, allowing Cardinals to cross the plate in every inning of a meager three-frame performance. He walked five batters, struggled with his mechanics, and forced a heavily-taxed bullpen to try to summon 21 outs. First baseman Alec Burleson provided the first big blow with a first inning home run, the opening volley of what would wind up being a hat trick for him on the night.

In the second, Nathan Church scored on an RBI double from third baseman José Fermín. Close to a scoreless third, Schlittler let another run slip through his fingers as Church picked up a ribbie of his own. He departed having thrown 82 pitches, precious few of which looked dangerous to a Cardinal lineup which entered this series struggling mightily. And with the Yankee offense continuing to scuffle themselves, the 4-0 lead he left with felt nigh-insurmountable.

Well, try 6-0. After Schlittler handed his shovel to the bullpen, Tim Hill wasted little time helping him dig. Burleson’s second two-run homer of the night woke up a sleepy Yankee crowd, if only for long enough to see an absolute clothesline disappear over the right-field wall before they returned to commiserating with their fellow frustrated partisans.

The Yankee offense hasn’t looked particularly intimidating against anyone lately, and for the first four innings they had absolutely nothing cooking against Michael McGreevy. But in the fifth, they knocked the Cardinal starter out of the game thanks to a loud sound from a man with a lot to prove in the second half.

Before the game, GM Brian Cashman was stunningly unable to acquire a catcher ahead of the trade deadline. While the Red Sox acquired Adley Rutschman from the Orioles and the Rays added Liam Hicks from the Marlins, New York failed to make an upgrade behind the plate—meaning it’s up to Austin Wells to try and turn around his abysmal 2026. For what it’s worth, he took the first step on that odyssey of his own with an impressive two-run blast off McGreevy, waking up the crowd for real this time.

The first page of tonight’s heroic journey had been written, and the remainder of the script began to take shape when the next batter, Trent Grisham, greeted reliever Justin Bruihl with a left-on-left home run which whittled the deficit to 6-3. The second of those Burleson homers really loomed large, allowing St. Louis to withstand those two homers with half their lead intact—but at least the Yankees showed some vital signs halfway through the ballgame.

They’d have to scale some continued adveristy to remain in the fight.

Jasson Domínguez’ desire to galvanize the running game and use his speed as a weapon is admirable. He is unfortunately incapable of overcoming the fact that he is Jasson Domínguez. Roughly a week after turning a triple into an out in a scoreless game by comically oversliding third base, he attempted a steal of second in the bottom of the sixth. At first glance he appeared safe, but after the Cardinals challenged it became clear that Domínguez had once again come off the base long enough for Masyn Winn’s tag to stick.

But when your teammates make mistakes, you have to pick them up so they don’t linger. Ryan McMahon and José Caballero understood the assignment leading off the seventh, cracking the second pair of back-to-back homers on the night off longtime foe Ryne Stanek. McMahon’s blast challenged and cleared the right-center wall, while Caballero’s was gone on contact, soaring 400 feet out to left-center and staking the Bombers back to within one.

Grisham kept the belief thrumming with a one-out double, chasing Stanek and forcing a move for George Soriano. Ben Rice got underneath a ball, compelling the newcomer Garcia Jr. to keep the rally moving. I mean, it’s perfect, right? The new guy. The missing piece!

Luis fell behind in the count, then after he fouled off a couple tough pitches, Soriano tried firing a changeup away to retire the side. He yanked it to the inner half of the strike zone, and Garcia was ready to provide the punishment, slashing it on a line to the back of the Yankee bullpen. The 6-0 deficit was gone, and in its place stood an improbable 7-6 lead for New York.

What a climactic, exciting comeback! The heroic journey made manifest in front of a giant crowd of rapt spectators! Ready to see the Yankees toss it in the trash before recording a single out? No? Too bad! Here we go!

Aaron Boone’s first act of hubris came when he tried to steal an extra out with Ryan Yarbrough after a scoreless seventh, and pinch-hitter Blaze Jordan smacked a leadoff triple to punish him. His second act of hubris came when he inserted Angel Chivilli, who had not allowed an earned run since his callup from the minors. Chivilli proceeded to incinerate all his goodwill in one inning. He walked the first man he saw, then served up a batting practice pitch to Church, whose three-run homer decisively destroyed the Yankee lead in a matter of minutes.

In going all out to prevent the tying run from scoring, Chivilli had allowed everything the Yankees had built to that point to scatter into ashes.

Don’t think for a second that we’re done.

Chivilli allowed another single before facing catcher Jimmy Crooks. Crooks entered action with an OPS of .562. He nonetheless took Chivilli to the second deck in right field for another two runs and an 11-7 score.

But I just don’t think that was definitive enough. Can we get a cameo appearance from one of the guys we saw earlier in this story? Well, how about Burleson? He’s already got two two-run homers, so what’s the harm in giving him another?

It really is incredible. In the space of one inning, the Yankees’ methodically-built comeback was torched so thoroughly that by the end of the blaze, it was if their tower never stood. A six-run deficit became a one-run lead, then immediately rubber-banded back to a six-run deficit. Comically, YES had planned to show footage of Ryan Ruocco excitedly calling Garcia’s homer from inside the broadcast booth. By the time they finally got the chance, the Yankees had already completely blown the game away. Sorry, Ryan.

Needless to say, there was no more drama left to squeeze out of this tragicomedy. The Yankees went down quietly in the eighth and ninth. As SB Nation luminary Jon Bois once said, slap some postage on it and ship it to hell.

When your best players have bad days, it’s up to the rest of your team to pick them up so the bad days don’t loom and build into bad weeks, or months. The Yankees appeared to have done that, picking up Schlittler after one of his worst performances as a Big Leaguer by finding their collective power strokes, and flashing the ability to quickly put up runs which had been so prominently absent since Aaron Judge’s rib injury sent him to the IL.

I can’t pretend to know what a capitulation this instantaneous will do to a team’s psyche after it seemed as if they’d turned a corner, but it can’t be good. All they can do is try their best to pretend it never took place and take solace in the fact that the score will be 0-0 at first pitch tomorrow night. Ryan Weathers will throw that first pitch for New York, while we await word on who the Cardinals will start. The game gets underway at 7:05 PM on YES.

Box Score

Blue Jays 3 Astros 1

After Shane Bieber’s last start, we were a little worried about how tonight would go. Well….he gave up 9 hits and 2 walks in just 5.2 innings but only allowed 1 run. The nice thing to say is he made the pitches when he needed to. The less nice thing to say is that he was lucky. But, either way, he came out of it with a win.

Braydon Fisher got the last out of the sixth and the first two outs of the seventh. He gave up a hit and two walks, but didn’t allow anyone to score.

Brendon Little had a terrific night, getting the last out of the seven and pitched a clean eighth. Four outs, and four strikeouts (with a walk, cause it wouldn’t be a Little appearance without a walk). That brought his ERA down to 12.00. Little or someone is going to have to step up and be that seventh inning guy (though he was the eighth inning guy tonight).

And Tyler Rogers pitched a clean ninth, getting his third save of the year.

We only had 7 hits, but that was enough. We scored:

• One in the second: Alejandro Kirk homered.
• Two in the fourth: Kazuma Okamoto led off with a single and George Springer also singled. An out later, Jesús Sánchez singled in one. The throw home by left fielder Taylor Trammel was off-line, allowing the runners to move up to second and third. And Ernie Clement hit a sac fly.

Okamoto and Myles Straw had two hits each. Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero, Clement (with the sac fly) and Andrés Giménez had 0 fors.

Straw made a great catch at the center field wall, had a double, and a stolen base. He was also thrown out at the plate trying to score on a pop fly out. I don’t know what the decision making process was there, but it was just dumb baseball.

We still had troubles with RISP, 1 for 8.

Jays of the Day: Bieber (0.15 WPA), Fisher (0.14), Little (0.13), Sánchez (0.11) and Rogers (0.09). And I’m giving one to Straw (0.08 plus the catch.

Other Award: Vlad (-0.15, 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts).

Tomorrow we have Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.73) vs. Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 4.76 in his one start so far this season).

Daulton Varsho, who was a Blue Jay this morning, played center for the Astros and went 1 for 4 with a walk. He seemed really had to be leaving the Jays.

When members of his and rival front offices describe David Stearns, they often use the word “disciplined.”

He has his models, and he believes in them. He is circumspect, but not reactionary. He does not want to give up on his own players too quickly. In the best of baseball times, such patience is a virtue.

But these are not the best of times for the Mets, nor for Stearns. His 2026 Mets currently look like one of the more financially inefficient rosters in major league history, so ineffective that owner Steve Cohen spent part of July trying to dispel questions about his president of baseball operations’ job security.

So that Stearns stuck to his plan – a patient, traditional deadline approach centered on trading assets for prospects regardless of major league need – will eventually be viewed as hard-nosed or hard-headed. He did not address any of the Mets’ many 2027 needs – starting pitching, a better offensive and defensive infield, depth -- as he traded away eight major leaguers ahead of Monday’s deadline. But that, he said, was not his goal.

“I think [this] allows us to strengthen the overall quality of talent in our organization, and whether that’s these players directly impact our major league team in the future – which I think many of them will – or also having players that allow you to go out and acquire other players who impact your major league team,” Stearns said. “The players we have acquired, the prospects we have acquired, the young talent we have acquired in totality gives us the chance to do that.”

The Mets focused their deadline efforts on trading expiring contracts, though they also traded two players who were under team control beyond this year, set-up man Luke Weaver and veteran Huascar Brazoban. Brazoban, 36, yielded a 6-foot-9 righty named Gabe Davis who played with Nolan McLean and Carson Benge at Oklahoma State and a righty reliever named Zach Franklin from the Chicago White Sox. Weaver, who might have been the best reliever available at the deadline by 2026 performance, netted the Mets infield prospect Sammy Stafura from the Pittsburgh Pirates, though they had to pay down part of Weaver’s contract to get him.

“Really tough decisions there,” Stearns said of trading players who could have helped his bullpen next year. “Not straightforward. Had a lot of internal discussion and debate. Ultimately, the returns we were able to get we thought made sense, were in the best interest of the organization, recognizing that at this time of year you’re often able to get really good talent back for relief pitching. We understand that we’re going to have to go out and acquire relievers in the offseason in different ways to get our bullpen to where we expect it to be in 2027.”

Given Brazoban’s age and the fact that Weaver struggled so much in 2025 that the Yankees felt they could not rely on him in October, it is not difficult to see why the Mets decided to sell high on both. And while some opposing evaluators were surprised that the Mets had to pay part of Weaver’s 2027 salary to obtain Stafura – ranked No. 9 in the Pirates system by MLB Pipeline – he will vault into the Mets’ top five prospects almost immediately, and Stearns suggested the die-hard Mets fan could have a higher ceiling than others believe.

“He’s got tremendous defensive ability. He’s a very good baserunner. Can impact the game in a variety of different ways, help you win ballgames in a variety of different ways, and clearly has power as well,” Stearns said of Stafura, who grew up in Westchester County. “So when you begin to talk about a power-hitting infielder who we believe can play shortstop at a high level, that’s a player with a pretty high ceiling.”

The highest ceiling in the Mets’ deadline class probably belongs to Jefferson Rojas, who they plucked from the Cubs in exchange for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor. Rojas, who MLB Pipeline ranked as the Cubs’ second-best prospect prior to the deal, will likely be the Mets’ highest-ranked prospect when the evaluators release their updated rankings. At 21 years old, with an .800 OPS in Double-A, he looks like a staple of Mets infields to come.

But prospects are notoriously fickle, so it will take time to determine whether Stearns’s hunt for the best available talent will help the Mets turn into the annual contenders Cohen hoped they would be by now. Other teams experiencing disappointing years approached their deadlines differently.

The Toronto Blue Jays, for example, managed to sell off expiring contracts of players like Kevin Gausman and Daulton Varsho while also trading for controllable starters Jose Soriano and Spencer Arrighetti of the Angels and Astros, respectively. Toronto maximized its expiring contracts, but they also took advantage of teams willing to trade pitching to bolster their 2026 chances. After jettisoning Holmes, David Peterson, and Freddy Peralta from a rotation that was never deep enough when it included them, Stearns said he considered a similar approach.

“It absolutely did [appeal to us],” he said.  We explored a number of those types of players and ultimately just couldn’t line up on acquisition cost, but it is something that we explored.”

Perhaps another head of baseball operations under similar scrutiny would have operated differently. For example: After years of criticism that he was not aggressive enough in pursuing stars, Red Sox president of baseball operations Craig Breslow tossed several top prospects to the Orioles to beat the Yankees to Adley Rutschman and traded former first-round pick Marcelo Mayer to the San Francisco Giants for top reliever Erik Miller. Maybe it will yield a pennant in what once looked like a lost season. Maybe it won’t.

Either way, Stearns will provide a fascinating counterpoint: Whether stubborn, steadfast, or somewhere in between, only time will tell.

There are a select few of you who have maintained interest in the workings of the Cincinnati Reds despite their poor performance on the field and stuck around all the way until 6:00 PM ET tonight to see what they did at the trade deadline.

You a freedivers, and for that I applaud you. You held your breath for a nearly record-breaking amount of time before Nick Krall and the rest of the front office managed to make a move of any kind, but despite the expected wave of moves not materializing there were a pair of moves that impacted both the present and future of the organization.

What stands out more than anything about this deadline, though, is that so many of the ‘obvious’ players the Reds probably should have traded did not get moved, and that calls into question the strategy as a whole.

Let’s dive in to how these moves look on the surface.

Nathaniel Lowe to the Cleveland Guardians for Alejandro Rivera

Grade: B+

The Reds got Lowe on a minor league deal over the winter, held on to him long enough to promote him, and he ended up serving as a valuable left-handed bat in the strong side of a platoon at 1B/DH during his time with the Reds. He did all that on a salary of a bit less than $2 million, some of which Cleveland is now going to pick up over the rest of the season.

In landing Alejandro Rivera, the Reds get a really, really talented arm – albeit one who, at 19, has made one (1) career appearance in full-season minor league ball. He’s a lottery ticket that’s years away, but that’s precisely what you hope to get when your scratch-off Lowe ticket was purchased for a song months prior.

The only thing keeping this from being more of an A- is that the Reds chose to keep the rest of the rental gang together, and Lowe made the rental gang (and the Reds as a whole) better while being a part of it. If they’re really holding out for a miracle finish, well, subtracting Lowe dents those chances.

Caleb Ferguson to the St. Louis Cardinals for $250K of international bonus pool cash

Grade: A-

International bonus pool cash is awesome! It’s also capped based on an odd formula based on previous year spending and a litany of other things, and having more of it never hurts.

Caleb Ferguson had also been completely average in his role in the Cincinnati bullpen this year, and the remaining ~$1 million or so on his salary is now headed to St. Louis so the Reds can get that future spending cash. Add in that Ferguson was recently caught on camera hurling insults at an umpire, and I’m frankly impressed the Reds got anything for him at all right now.

The only thing keeping this from being an outright A is that the Reds surely hoped when they signed him that he’d be flippable as a bona fide All Star caliber reliever right now, and that simply never materialized. Getting something (and getting his salary off the books) is better than nothing, though.

Not trading any of Brady Singer, Tyler Stephenson, Brock Burke, Eugenio Suarez, or Pierce Johnson

Grade: TBD

You can very much make the case that Suarez had zero trade value given his prorated $15 million salary, and that’s some egg on the face of the front office (even though he had a serious oblique issue that cost him a month and clearly impacted his timing). Pierce Johnson had a forearm problem and has been mid, at best.

In Singer, Stephenson, and Burke, though, you’ve got three proven veterans playing some of their best ball of the year right this very month and none of them got moved. That’s perhaps $10 million in salary savings the Reds chose to eat, and keep that in mind the next time they cry poor in free agency.

Still, Singer will eat a lot of IP for the rest of the season that we can’t say Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns, or Nick Lodolo will be able to chew. That keeps IP off other, younger arms, and that’s got some value.

Stephenson knows the young staff and will help them continue to develop even though there was a larger market for catchers via trade this year than I can recall. Not cashing in on that sure seems like a misstep unless there’s something larger we don’t yet know.

All told, it’s an odd decision to stick with a huge cache of guys who don’t project to be around after the next 50+ games, and it makes you wonder if they simply think there’s a miracle in this group we’ve not yet uncovered. FanDuel seems to think that’s preposterous, though, as their +100000 odds to win the World Series in the wake of these moves (and non-moves) is tied for the lowest in all of Major League Baseball.

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the San Francisco Giants scored five runs.

The Rangers had more hits (7) than the Giants (6) but scored four fewer runs.

The Rangers had just two more hits (7) than they had errors (5).

The Rangers had as many errors (5) as the Giants had runs (5).

The first six batters in the Rangers lineup had as many hits (2) as Jung Hoo Lee had home runs (2).

The two home runs were only one fewer than Lee had hit for the Giants since the beginning of June.

The Rangers have lost six in a row, extending their season-worst skid.

The Rangers are three games below .500, their worst mark in over a month.

Player of the Game: Ezequiel Duran had four of Texas’ seven hits, including a solo home run in the ninth to prevent the shutout.

Also, Nolan Kingham came in for his MLB debut. Congrats, man. Sorry this happened in a game where your team committed the most errors in a game for them this century.

Up Next: LHP MacKenzie Gore is still a Ranger so he will start tomorrow’s game for Texas opposite RHP Blade Tidwell for San Francisco.

The Tuesday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and the telecast will return to the Rangers Sports Network.