Category: MLB

TONIGHT’S GAME: The first-place Houston Astros (63-60), who own a 3.0-game lead in the AL West, will play the middle game of their three-game series against the division rival Seattle Mariners (57-66) tonight at Daikin Park.

RHP Hayden Wesneski (2-0, 3.86 ERA) will make his fourth Major League start of the season tonight, this time opposite the M’s and RHP Emerson Hancock (6-7, 3.35 ERA).

BIG WES: After missing 14 months with injury, RHP Hayden Wesneski has returned to the Astros rotation by posting a 2-0 record with a 3.86 ERA (8ER/18.2IP) in three starts. He’s worked two straight quality starts, including tossing 7.0 innings of three-run ball in his last outing on Monday at SF. This solid start to the season has continued a strong run for Wesneski, who was great in his rehab appearances, posting a 2.25 (5ER/20IP) combined ERA in five minor league rehab starts.

ABOUT THE RECORD: At 63-60 and three games over .500, the Astros have matched their high-water mark for the season, also reached with 60-57, 59-56, 58-55, 6-3, and 5-2 records. The Astros 3.0game lead in the AL West is their largest division lead of the season.

THE TURNAROUND: After a slow start to the season, the Astros are 43-29 since May 22, which is the best record in the AL in that span. On that date, the Astros were 20-31, 11 games under, which is their low water mark for the season.

TONIGHT’S BROADCASTS: Tonight’s English telecast on SCHN will feature Kevin Eschenfelder, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales. The English radio call will be made by Robert Ford and Josh Reddick. The Spanish radio broadcast will feature Francisco Romero and Alex Treviño, while the Spanish telecast on SCHN2 will have Danny Gonzalez and Gene Flores on the call.

TONIGHT’S GIVEAWAY: At tonight’s game, 10,000 fans will receive a Yordan Alvarez Home Run Train Bobblehead, presented by Phillips66. One lucky fan who receives the Golden Yordan Alvarez Home Run Train Bobblehead will win Free Gas for a Year, Courtesy of Phillips 66.

LAST NIGHT’S WALKOFF: The Astros came back from two different two-run deficits last night and scored five runs in the 10th inning en route to a 10-7 series-opening win over the visiting Mariners. 1B Christian Walker was the hero, as he connected for his third-career walkoff homer, a three-run shot in the 10th.

RHP Peter Lambert (2ER/5IP) started for the Astros and recorded his eighth straight start of allowing two-or-fewer earned runs.

ELIAS SAYS: The Astros posted a five-run 10th inning last night, marking just their ninth time in franchise history to score five-plus runs in an extra inning and their first time to do so since they scored five runs in the top of the 11th on June 30, 2024 at NYM. Last night marked the first time in franchise history for the Astros to score five-plus runs in an extra-inning as the home team.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS: The Astros are celebrating Hall of Fame Weekend at Daikin Park, which will include the induction of Astros legends Alan Ashby and the late Phil Garner into the Astros Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony today. Prior to the ceremony, Ashby and members of Garner’s family will be available to the media in the press conference room at 4:30 p.m. today.

THAT’S OFFENSIVE: Among American League teams, the Astros rank first in slugging (.412), first in total bases (1710), second in OPS (.731), second in home runs (164), and third in runs scored (569). In the Majors, the Astros rank tied for third in homers, trailing only the Nationals (177) and Yankees (170), and tied with the Braves (164).

MVP-CALIBER: Yordan Alvarez holds the lead in all AL Triple Crown categories, ranking first in average (.323), first in homers (36) and first in RBI (88). Additionally, he leads MLB in OPS (1.063), OBP (.437), SLG (.626), and TB (275). In the AL, he ranks first in hits (142) and XBH (61), and second in runs (81) and walks (85).

YOR-GONE!: DH Yordan Alvarez connected for his 36th home run of the season last night, which gave him the outright lead in home runs in the AL. He’s now just one homer shy of matching his career high in homers (37 HR in 2022) and is 11 homers shy of matching the franchise record for a single season, set by 1B Jeff Bagwell in 2000 (47 HR).

WHAM BAM CAM: RF Cam Smith has a triple, three homers and seven RBI in his last six games. Smith is batting .375 (18×48) with one triple, three home runs, nine RBI and a 1.087 OPS in his last 13 games dating back to July 29.

HADERADE: LHP Josh Hader has been stellar since returning from injury in early June, going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA (3ER/29IP), 40 strikeouts, a .121 opponent batting average (12×99) and a 0.76 WHIP, while also converting all 17 of his save opportunities, through 30 appearances.

VS. THE M’S: Prior to last night, it had been three months since the Astros last played the Mariners, last seeing them in a four-game series in Houston from May 11-14. The Astros have gone 2-7 against Seattle this season with four games left to play.

ON THE MEND: RHP Mike Burrows (rt. elbow neuritis) made his first affiliate rehab start since his injury last night, working 4.1 scoreless inning for Triple A Sugar Land in their game at Round Rock. He allowed three hits and one walk with three strikeouts while tossing 67 pitches (43 strikes).

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2009 – In the Astros 6-2 loss at MIL, 2B Kazuo Matsui singles for his 2,000th combined hit between his career in Japan and his six years in the Majors. With 2,000 hits, Matsui is automatically inducted into Japan’s Meikyukai, similar to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Game Info

Game Date/Time:  Saturday, August 15, 6:10 p.m. CT

Location:  Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network, SCHN2 (Spanish)

Radio: KTRH 740 AM; KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

The Dodgers face the best pitcher in baseball on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Kyle Tucker will watch.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Brewers
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 4:15 p.m.
• TV: Fox
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Here’s the Padres’ lineup:

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

The Mariners season is likely over, but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop here at Lookout Landing.

Emerson Hancock takes the mound for the good guys today, and will oppose one of the skis tonight. No, not Jacob Misiorowski, nor Hayden Wrobelski, who face each other in Los Angeles — boy do I wish I was watching that game tonight instead. No, also not Parker Mushinski, who pitched in relief today for the Rockies. The Astros will instead hand the ball Hayden Wesneski. The two things I know about him is he’s a Houston native and someone the Mariners have smacked around in the past. I’d prefer to learn nothing new about him today.

I think we’ve passed the point where Lineup Analysis is interesting in any way. But hey, Brock Rodden is back in there at shortstop, and Victor Robles gets another start, this time in right field with Julio back in center.

Lineups

Game Info:

First Pitch: 4:10 p.m.

TV: Mariners.TV

Radio: Ol’ Reliable

Yankees 1 Blue Jays 4

A few more runs would be ok, but it is so much fun watching the Jays lately. On a bullpen day, we beat one of the best pitchers in baseball.

We used seven pitchers:

• Braydon Fisher was the opener. He threw a scoreless inning with just a walk in there.
• Ricky Tiedeman got the next five outs. He did give up two hits and a run, but he also had two strikeouts in his first appearance in the majors. Great job.
• Simeon Woods Richardson got the next seven outs. He allowed just 1 walk with two strikeouts.
• Mason Fluharty pitched a 3 up, 3 down sixth.
• Spencer Miles got the seventh. He gave up a hit, and had a strikeout. He gets the win.
• Tyler Rogers gave up a single in the eighth, and struck out one.
• Louis Varland was unhittable in the ninth. He gets save #28. That would tie him for the 22nd most saves in a season for the Jays. Randy Myers 1998 had 28.

The offense did more than enough, which, even in this little great stretch, is unusual.

We Scored:

• 1 in the third: After Charles McAdoo lined out hard to the first baseman, Brett Bateman walked. Nathan Lukes singled him to second and Alejandro Kirk singled him home. Nice to get a run off Cam Schlittler. Unfortunately Jesús Sánchez and Kazuma Okamoto popped out.
• 1 in the seventh: Ernie Clement (pinch hitting) singled and McAdoo doubled (a couple of feet higher and it would have been a home run) him home. Just an amazing read and run by Clement. Despite another single and a Lukes sac bunt (Yankees brought in lefty Brent Headrick). After an intentional walk to Kirk (smart move), Myles Straw (who came in as a pinch runner in the sixth) struck out (and beat his helmet into the ummm helmet rack after) and Okamoto lined out (98.6 mph, but into a glove).
• 2 in the eighth: Andrés Giménez led off with a single (and I would call that a clutch situation). Brandon Valenzuela was (barely) hit by a pitch. Yankees challenged but the replay showed it just touched his forearm on the way by). Clement singled to load the bases. McAdoo singled in one (he had a big day). After a Bateman fly out, Lukes very softly ground one down the first base line that the Yankees’ pitcher could only pick up the ball and tag Nathan, allowing our fourth run. The Yankees intentionally walked Kirk again, but Straw ground out.

We had ten hits and four walks (the Yankees had four hits and two walks). Bateman, Clement (coming into the game late) and McAdoo had two hits each. Lukes, Kirk (with two walks), Okamoto, and Giménez all had one.

Sánchez also had two walks. And he had a bad moment in the outfield too. Runner on second, single by George Lombard. The runner on second scored easy, but Sánchez still threw home, which allowed Lombard to get to second. The right move was to throw to the cutoff man. Thankfully, it didn’t end up costing us.

Valenzuela threw out Luis García trying to steal second. I thought García got a good jump, but Brandon made a great throw and Giménez made a great tag.

Jays of the Day: McAdoo (0.17), SWR (0.14) Rogers (0.12), Miles (0.09), Kirk (0.09) and Clement (0.09). Honourable mention to Bateman, Fisher, Fluharty and Varland.

Tomorrow, we have a 1:30 Eastern start time. Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.40) goes for the sweep. Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69) starts for the Yankees.

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is making progress in a return to the rotation.

Ohtani threw his first bullpen in nearly a month on Friday and the next step for the right-hander will be another bullpen session and a live batting practice if all goes accordingly, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

“Then,” Roberts said, “I would see him in a major league game.”

Ohtani was in the midst of a Cy Young performance, sporting a 1.79 ERA with 95 strikeouts across 85.2 innings of work this season. The 32-year-old’s pitching clinic was halted by a knee and biceps injury, which essentially halted his two-way duties for the foreseeable future.

Barring any setbacks, it appears Ohtani is on track to return to the rotation in the coming weeks.

While the rotation certainly misses Ohtani, his absence has also caused problems for the Dodgers bullpen. The overtaxed unit has gone from eight to seven relievers, a factor in the recent poor performance from Dodgers relievers.

Ohtani is not the only Los Angeles starter nearing a return, though. Also on Saturday, Roberts shared that Tyler Glasnow will require just one more rehab start before re-joining the rotation. Glasnow looked dominant in his most recent triple-A start.

Ohtani, the pitcher, hasn’t made a start for the Dodgers since July 3. But Ohtani, the hitter, has continued grinding.

The Dodgers two-way star is hitting .290 with 27 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .930 OPS. There have been several questions surrounding Ohtani’s performance at the plate in 2026, particularly surrounding the taxing workload of a dominant pitcher.

Though Ohtani’s offensive numbers haven’t been as strong as his first two seasons with the Dodgers, his success as a two-way star has put him at the forefront of the MVP race.

TORONTO — Perhaps because there is not much else he can do at the moment, Aaron Boone sat in his office Saturday after another familiar loss and pointed to his lineup card. 

“I’m looking at these names, [they’re] all capable of doing really big things for us,” the Yankees manager said. 

And yet, in the same breath, he acknowledged the other reality they are facing. 

“This is who we got,” Boone said. “These are our guys.” 

And more often than not lately, regardless of who they are facing or which names are in the lineup, they have not been good enough. 

Once again, the Yankees were shut down Saturday, this time being four-hit by a parade of seven Blue Jays relievers in a 4-1 loss on an otherwise beautiful afternoon at Rogers Centre. 

Including the playoffs, the Yankees (68-55) are just 3-11 north of the border dating back to last year, but they can’t hit in any country these days. Since June 20 — a few weeks after Aaron Judge last played a game — the Yankees have averaged just 3.3 runs per game. It has been worse of late, scoring just three runs over their past 27 innings — resulting in three losses that dropped them to seven games back of the Rays entering their Saturday night game — and scoring two runs or fewer in 10 of their past 15 games. 

“Of course, you’re going to go through ups and downs in a season — I’d say we definitely wouldn’t ever expect it to go so long,” Ben Rice said. “But with that being said … we’re going to come out of it. Once we get rolling, hope to start stringing more wins together.” 

Before this series — which will end Sunday with the resurgent Blue Jays (61-64) throwing their ace, Dylan Cease — the Yankees had gone 5-1-1 in their past seven series, four against playoff teams. And yet, even most of their wins have been excruciating, nail-biting games in which their offense has mustered just enough to narrowly avoid wasting quality starting pitching. 

That was not the case Saturday, with Cam Schlittler becoming the latest victim, as the Blue Jays broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning off Brent Headrick then added two insurance runs in the eighth off Tim Hill. 

“Having some of the right at-bats, but then at the back end of the game, just shut down and kind of went silent again,” Boone said. “Broken record. Obviously, we know we got to be better.” 

Asked about what he could do to get his offense going, Boone responded that he could “maybe shake up the order a little bit here and there,” which sounded more like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. And there is no magic bullet sitting on the bench — instead it resides on the injured list, in the form of Judge (who just started playing catch Friday), Cody Bellinger (who could be back by next weekend) and Giancarlo Stanton (who has been out since late April and remains a mystery for when and in what form he will return). 

But the Yankees do, in fact, have to continue playing games until they return, and cannot afford to just wait for them to save the day. 

Saturday, they got off to a solid start when their two youngest hitters in the lineup, Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. strung a single, stolen base and single together to create a 1-0 lead in the second inning. 

But they did not have another hit until the seventh inning, when Luis García Jr. led off with a single, just to be promptly erased as he was caught stealing second base. García stole just four bases with the Nationals this season but Boone cited Blue Jays righty Spencer Miles being slow to the plate and trying to “exploit” that to make something happen. 

Along the way, the Yankees’ best run-suppressing starter (Schlittler in 5 ¹/₃ innings) and reliever (Headrick) each dared to give up a run, which was effectively too much for their offense to overcome. 

“We had one offensive explosion [scoring 10 runs Wednesday against the Mariners], and if not for what we’ve been going through the last couple months, these last few days are a little bit of tough luck involved, where guys are hitting some balls on the screws, we’re putting the ball in play mostly,” Boone said. “But it’s the big leagues and we’re fighting down the stretch now to be a playoff team.”

There are ways and ways of losing a low-scoring game, and when it feels as though you’ve underperformed far more than simply being dominated, the frustration level rises, such as in this 4-1 defeat to the Blue Jays. Held quietly by the Jays in a bullpen game, the Yankees lost their fourth straight Schlittler start.

Making matters even worse, the Yankees actually got on the board early thanks to George Lombard Jr., who has been a breath of fresh air for an offense in desperate need of one. His early numbers aren’t spectacular, but as a shortstop who puts the bat on the ball and makes key plays both ways, the RBI single in the second—driving in Spencer Jones—was just the latest of these.

That one run could’ve led to more if the Yankees as a whole were more reliable in seizing opportunities, Lombard taking second after the Jays left fielder foolishly didn’t throw the ball to second. Then in scoring position with just one out, Lombard was stranded as the Blue Jays pounced on the sequence of lefties at the bottom of the Yankees order—Ricky Tiedemann, making his major league debut, retired Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells.

It didn’t take long for the Jays to hurt Cam Schlittler for the first time, stringing a sequence of unlikely hits together—none more so than a Nathan Lukes single to the opposite field on a fastball well above the belt. Lukes’ knock presented a two-on and one-out situation for Alejandro Kirk, who hit a groundball to second, just escaping Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove and a potential double play to instead drive in a run. Facing an even bigger threat than Tiedemann an inning before, Schlittler punched out Jesús Sánchez and came back from a 3-0 count to retire Kazuma Okamoto and keep the score at one-all.

That sequence in the second of Lombard reaching only to be stranded by the bottom of the order’s inability to make something happen happened again in the fifth—this time even without a lefty to retire McMahon and Wells, the latter on a double play induced by Simeon Woods Richardson. Needing to look somewhere for length in the hope of not completely wearing down the bullpen, the Jays got 2.1 scoreless from Richardson. The right-hander has found success in the early samples of his return to Toronto, being this long-relief option out of the bullpen.

In the sixth, the Yankees had a favorable matchup with Helliot Ramos hitting against the lefty Mason Fluharty, who was brought in to handle Trent Grisham and Ben Rice. Not only did Ramos not manage to make strong contact, but without hustling down the line, he was thrown out despite Andrés Giménez’s initial bobble at short.

Schlittler left the game during the sixth after a couple of men reached with just one out and was at the mercy of the bullpen. The Yankees’ starter saw his line preserved by Brent Headrick, who punched out Andrés Giménez and retired Brandon Valenzuela.

Changing things up on the path to not scoring, the Yankees’ disappointment in the seventh came on an ill-advised stolen base attempt from Luis Garcia Jr. after leading off the inning with a single. Afterward, Spencer Jones was struck out by Spencer Miles on six pitches, not a single one of them a strike. The list of letdown at-bats grew longer by the minute.

Each of these wasted chances felt like it brought the Blue Jays closer and closer to a win. Eventually, the Yankees staff wasn’t going to keep up the zeroes, and that happened in the bottom of the seventh. Charles McAdoo narrowly missed out on a home run but got enough for an RBI double off the left-hander Headrick. Paul Blackburn pitched his way out of the mess created by Headrick and stranded the bases loaded. However, an inning later the Jays added a pair of insurance runs off Tim Hill, the first Yankee pitcher in this game to truly be off it, allowing the first four hitters he faced to reach safely. Even then, much like in the previous frame, a Yankees pitcher stranded the bases loaded, this time Yerry De Los Santos.

Those insurance runs felt as irrelevant as they could be because Louie Varland dominated the bottom of the ninth in such a fashion that getting someone on base would’ve been a massive task. The Blue Jays closer struck out the side to wrap up yet another loss at Rogers Centre.

If the life of the Yankees offense hasn’t been easy in the first two games of this series, expect further difficulties in Sunday’s finale at 1:37 p.m. The Yanks will try to avoid the sweep, sending Ryan Weathers to face off against the Jays’ ace, Dylan Cease.

Box score.

Tyler Glasnow will rejoin the Dodgers’ rotation after making one more start in the minor leagues, manager Dave Roberts said on Saturday.

Glasnow, who hasn’t pitched in a major league game since May 6, retired 11 of 13 batters he faced on Friday night in a start for the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.

The start was Glasnow’s third in a minor-league rehabilitation assignment.

“It was a good one yesterday,” Roberts said. “I think our thought is going to do another one, five (innings) and 75 (pitches), and then he’ll join us.”

Glasnow threw 67 pitches in 3 ⅔ innings on Friday night.

Glasnow was 3-0 with a 2.72 earned-run average in seven starts when he was placed on the injured list. 

The 6-foot-8 right-hander made a conscious effort to put on weight over the offseason in hopes that it could help him remain healthy. In his first season with the Dodgers, in 2024, his season was cut short by an elbow strain. He missed 2 ½ months last year because of a strained shoulder.

The Dodgers’ rotation is coming together. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal was acquired before the trade deadline. Blake Snell returned from the injured list on Tuesday night and Shohei Ohtani threw his first bullpen session in more than three weeks on Friday.

Roberts and the front office could be forced to make difficult decisions leading into the postseason. The Dodgers are expected to use a four-man rotation in October, and if Ohtani is able to pitch an inning or two per game as an opener, Glasnow could be asked to pitch out of the bullpen.

Glasnow started three playoff games on the Dodgers’ championship run last year, but he also pitched in three games as a reliever, including the Games 6 and 7.

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Boston Red Sox vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, August 15, 2026, 7:15 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the middle game of a three-game set, as they take on the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park.

Jared Jones will get the start for the Pirates, and he is hoping to get out of a recent funk. He has lost each of his last three starts, including his most recent appearance against the New York Mets on August 9, when he pitched only three innings and gave up six hits and eight earned runs in an 11-1 thrashing of the Pirates. Jones has not won in nearly a month, but his team has struggled to score on offense with him on the mound. During the last four games he has pitched in, the Pirates have scored a combined five runs and have not scored more than two in a single game.

It won’t be easy for the Pirates to score tonight as Sonny Gray takes the mound for the Red Sox. Gray has the most wins out of any pitcher in the American League with 14, but he is coming off a loss in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched six innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs, but the offense was not clicking like it normally does, resulting in a 2-1 loss at the Rogers Center.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, FOX

Pitching Matchup: Sonny Gray (14-3, 2.79 ERA) vs. Jared Jones (2-4, 5.03 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

First Pitch: 6:10 pm CDT

TV: Twins.TV

Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

The Twins have had a full Friday off to wash their nationally-televised Field of Dreams performance out of their mouths, and recenter focus onto the reality that they’ve still got two home games left against a strong opponent with playoff hopes. As Connor Prielipp takes the mound this evening, he does so for a team tied for the final Wild Card; with the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers both losing already today, it’s a three-way, 60-63 tie for one playoff position.

If you’d asked me months ago, or truly even a few weeks ago, I’d have sure bet a lot of money that the Wild Card race would have separated itself by now. Sub-.500 playoff hopefuls are only really in the race for as long as it takes until a random team finally has a dominant two weeks. And yet, it’s mid-August, and that still hasn’t happened. The Twins, Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Guardians all have nearly identical records, but none of the above have been able to take the reins, climb over .500, and create actual separation. In three weeks’ time, the playoff picture might look obvious. For now, it’s the same muddled mess it’s been all year, and while the vibes haven’t been spectacular in Minnesota lately, the Twins could end the evening alone in a playoff position.

Since we last saw the Twins, third catcher Alex Jackson has seen his roster spot finally dry up. Byron Buxton technically takes his spot, remaining on the roster after being activated as the neutral site’s 27th man on Thursday evening.

The talented lefty Jesus Luzardo will give the Twins another chance to solve their southpaw woes, although there are easier pitchers to try that against. Luzardo is a reigning All-Star, has put up 4.3 bWAR, an ERA+ of 135, and is probably the third-best starter in Philadelphia’s monstrous rotation that includes standout veteran Zack Wheeler and the dominant Cristopher Sanchez, last year’s Cy Young runner-up. Thankfully, the Twins will miss both Wheeler and Sanchez, but that means the big challenge of the series will lie in besting Luzardo tonight.

GO TWINS GO!

Join us in the comments below as the Braves look to even the series!

Game Info

Game Time: Saturday, August 15, 7:15 PM ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: FOX

Radio/Audio: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM

Phillies' new identity, Luzardo's gem key in Twins beatdown — by the numbers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

MINNEAPOLIS — When you think of the Phillies’ offense, the thump usually comes first.

Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper. The hitters who can drive the ball out of any ballpark at any point in a game. Plenty of strikeouts have come with that, too.

But since the start of August, the Phillies have not looked so one-dimensional.

That is no coincidence.

It lines up with the deadline acquisition of National League batting leader Luis Arraez, and it was clear again Saturday evening in a 9-1 win over Arraez’s former team at Target Field.

Before August, the Phillies ranked eighth in the majors in home runs but had the lowest on-base percentage in baseball at .303. Their 7.8 percent walk rate was the third worst in the league, and their 33.8 percent chase rate was the second highest.

The power was there. The traffic was not.

That has started to change.

The Phillies still have the top-end starting pitching needed to carry a postseason run. Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo give them a dangerous front three. Aaron Nola has been better. Andrew Painter has shown signs of progress.

But the key at the deadline was getting more runners on base and finding a cleaner path to Jhoan Duran, another former Twin, at the back end of games.

Those two issues have hurt them in previous postseasons.

The first one has looked different so far.

After J.T. Realmuto pushed across a run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning Saturday, the Phillies broke the game open with seven runs in the fifth against Twins starter Connor Prielipp.

With one on and two out, they strung together six straight baserunners.

Trea Turner walked. Harper walked. Arraez walked. Alec Bohm followed with his third hit of the day, an RBI single, on his way to a career-high five-hit game. Edmundo Sosa added another run-scoring single. Then Bryson Stott cleared the bases with a three-run homer.

It was the kind of inning that showed what the Phillies have become capable of when they are not relying on one swing to carry them.

FLIPPED THE SCRIPT

The Phillies look like a different offense.

The numbers say the same.

Since the start of August, they have produced the second-lowest strikeout rate in the majors at 16.2 percent, down from 23.7 percent before the month began. Their .367 on-base percentage leads baseball.

They are not expanding the zone nearly as often, either.

Their chase rate has dropped to 28.4 percent, more than five percentage points lower than it was before August. Their walk rate now leads MLB, and that climbed again with six more walks Saturday.

The power is still there.

But the Phillies are no longer living only on it.

AND HARP?

One of the biggest beneficiaries has been Harper.

He extended his on-base streak to 18 games Saturday, and a lot of that has come with Arraez hitting behind him in the cleanup spot.

Before the Arraez trade, Harper had a 34.6 percent chase rate, one of the highest marks of his career.

Since then, he has drawn 18 walks, the most in baseball, compared with eight hits. His 35.9 percent walk rate leads the league by nearly 13 percentage points. His .510 on-base percentage trails only Stott for the league lead over that span.

Harper said before the deadline that he would like some protection in the lineup.

Arraez has given him that.

And with Stott’s emergence since June, the Phillies’ lineup suddenly has more ways to create offense than it did earlier in the season.

ZEUS AGAIN

It has been an incredible year for Luzardo.

Especially with the context.

He has had six starts this season in which he allowed five or more earned runs. Three times, he allowed five. Twice, he allowed six. Once, he allowed eight.

Outside of those outings, there have not been many pitchers in the game who have been more dominant.

That has been especially true over his last 12 starts.

Luzardo allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings Saturday, struck out nine and lowered his season ERA to 3.23. Since June 10, he owns a National League-best 1.98 ERA with a league-leading 105 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings. His .183 opponents’ batting average over that span is the fourth lowest in baseball.

As the Phillies’ No. 3 starter, that says a lot about what this rotation can look like in October.

In a three-game or five-game series, Sánchez, Wheeler and Luzardo give the Phillies a serious front. And for a team that now does not have to rely solely on the long ball, that gives them a different feel as they chase their fifth straight playoff appearance.

HOT STOTT

Stott’s value has shown up on both sides of the ball.

According to the Phillies, Stott leads the club in fWAR since June 4 at 2.7, tied for second among all MLB players over that span behind only Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

He showed why again Saturday.

His three-run homer came off a lefty. Stott leads the Phillies with a .318 average against left-handed pitching, nearly 100 points higher than where he finished against lefties in both 2024 and 2025.

It was his second homer against a lefty this season. It also came with runners in scoring position, where Stott is now hitting .344, the 12th-best mark in baseball.

That is part of a larger turnaround.

Stott finished April with a .576 OPS. After Saturday, that number had climbed to .763.

His game has become more complete. He is giving the Phillies contact, defense, speed, better production against lefties and more impact in scoring spots.

That kind of depth is what makes this version of the lineup look different.

The Phillies can still thump.

They just do not have to wait around for it anymore.

The Yankees' offense continued its sleepwalk of late, mustering just four hits in their 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.

New York's only offense came in the second inning with Spencer Jones, who led off with a single, stole second and scored on a George Lombard Jr. single. Against the Blue Jays' bullpen game, seven Toronto pitchers allowed just four hits and walked two batters while striking out nine batters. 

The Yankees have now lost three games in a row while being outscored, 8-2. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Cam Schlittler worked in and out of trouble in the first inning, but couldn't in the third. After a walk and a single with one out, Alejandro Kirk tied the game with an RBI single. He now has three RBI in two games this series. Schlittler held the line. He'd keep the Blue Jays offense in check until the sixth, when a one-out walk and single forced Aaron Boone to pull his ace. 

Brent Headrick came in and got the next two outs (strikeout, groundout) to end Toronto's threat and put a bow on Schlittler's day. The right-hander tossed 97 pitches (56 strikes), allowing one run in 5.1 innings, on four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters. 

Saturday was Schlittler's 13th road game with five-plus innings pitched and one or fewer earned runs allowed. That's the second most in a season by any AL pitcher.

-Headrick came out for a second inning of work, but gave up a leadoff single to Ernie Clement and then Charles McAdoo -- starting at first base after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was placed on the IL (concussion) following Friday's game -- lined a double off the wall in left-center field to give the Blue Jays the 2-1 lead. A bunt single and a failed safety squeeze later, and Headrick was pulled. 

Paul Blackburn came on and intentionally walked Kirk to load the bases. Blackburn struck out Myles Straw before getting Kazuma Okamoto to line out to right field. 

Tim Hill was not effective in the eighth. A single, a hit-by-pitch and a single loaded the bases with no outs. McAdoo singled to put the Jays up 3-1. Hill would record two outs (a flyout and a groundout), but another run would come across home plate. Yerry De Los Santos came on and, after intentionally walking Kirk again, recorded the final out of the inning as the Yankees entered the ninth down three runs.

-Louis Varland mowed down the Yankees for the second night in a row, striking out Ben Rice (0-4 on the day), Heliot Ramos (0-4) and Luis Garcia Jr. (1-4) to end the game.

Game MVP: Charles McAdoo

McAdoo pushed across two of the Jays' four runs, which was more than enough. 

Highlights

George Lombard Jr. brings home Spencer Jones to open the scoring 💪 pic.twitter.com/aACBwNuscx

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) August 15, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Blue Jays wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:37 p.m.

Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69 ERA) takes the mound against Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.40 ERA). 

I don’t really like putting photos of Cubs opponents as the lead image on these recaps, but as I did after Thursday’s game in Washington, I felt I had to do that again for this one, even though it’s a Cardinal, because the story of this game is Joshua Baez, the top Cardinals prospect who made his MLB debut Saturday at Wrigley Field.

That’s quite the debut, Mr. Baez — three home runs in his first three MLB plate appearances. That’s never been done before by anyone, so at least those of us who saw the Cubs’ 8-4 loss to the Cardinals were witnesses to major league history, though not the sort of history we’d have liked.

I don’t really want to complain about Craig Counsell sitting Dansby Swanson for a day. Counsell is trying to get all his regulars some rest. But while Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramirez are both good defenders, neither is quite as good at the position he was playing in this game. Nico’s a good shortstop but Swanson is better. Ramirez is a good second baseman but Nico is better.

And thus, the Cubs couldn’t turn a double play in the first inning that would have ended that inning with no scoring. Instead, a run scored on the second force play to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. That brought up Baez, who otherwise would have led off the second inning.

Instead, he smashed Matthew Boyd’s first pitch for a 449-foot home run. Pretty impressive for a MLB debut, even though his power was known — 34 home runs in 103 games in Triple-A, and the Cardinals fans in the Wrigley Field crowd today cheered his name when lineups were introduced.

So the Cubs were down 3-0 before they came to bat, and then the first five Cubs were set down in order. Then Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan booted Nico’s grounder with two out in the bottom of the second, and Ramirez followed with a double, with Nico stopping at third.

Both scored on this three-run homer by Michael Conforto [VIDEO].

Okay, that’s good! The game is tied. More from BCB’s JohnW53:

Until Michael Conforto’s three-run homer, the Cubs had scored runs in just one of the previous 75 plate appearances, going back to the eighth inning Wednesday at Washington: Seiya Suzuki’s three-run homer in the sixth inning Friday.
…..
Conforto’s was the Cubs’ 26th three-run homer of the season, most by any team. The Nationals and Yankees began the day with 22. The combined average of the 29 other teams was 16.

The Cubs hit 27 all of last season, which ranked seventh. The Mets and Red Sox tied for the most, with 30.

It remained that way until the top of the fourth, when Baez took Boyd deep again.

That was the third time any player had hit homers in his first two MLB plate appearances, and the others were also connected with St. Louis teams. Bob Nieman, a St. Louis Browns player, did it in 1951, and Keith McDonald did it for the Cardinals in 2000.

Boyd managed to hold the Cardinals down and keep it a one-run deficit until the top of the sixth, when he walked Alec Burleson to lead off the inning.

Now, I ask you: Why on Earth would you throw Baez anything near the plate? He’s already taken you deep twice, Matthew Boyd. Honestly, I think I just would have walked him. Instead, he smashed pitch 2 here for his third homer of the afternoon:

Okay, not right down the middle, but still.

So it’s 6-3 Cardinals now and two batters later, Boyd served up his fourth home-run ball of the day to Jordan and his day was done. Boyd’s been so good lately that I think we can forgive him one clunker of a start.

More from John:

Today’s start was Matthew Boyd’s 46th as a Cub and 214th of his 12-season career. It was the third in which he allowed four home runs. The first two were Aug. 13 and 31, 2019, as a Tiger. He never has given up five.

Two previous Cubs served up at least four this year: Jameson Taillon, five, on the South Side vs. the White Sox on May 16, and Shota Imanaga, four, at home vs. the Athletics on June 4.

The Cubs were going down in order, with just one walk in the fifth and sixth, and also Miguel Amaya hit into a pair of double plays, in the fourth and seventh. The Cardinals added one more homer, by Burleson off Colin Rea in the eighth, and the Cubs did make an attempt to come back in the bottom of the inning. Seiya Suzuki led off with a double and Michael Busch singled, with Suzuki stopping at third.

Suzuki scored, but it was on a double-play ball by Alex Bregman [VIDEO].

So that ended that rally, and the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.

Props to Baez, that is an impressive accomplishment for your first MLB game. Baez drove in five runs, which means the MLB record for RBI in a debut game still belongs to Starlin Castro, who drove in six in his debut for the Cubs May 7, 2010.

One more note from John:

This was the third game of the year in which the Cubs surrendered at least five homers. The first was five, on May 16, in an 8-3 loss at the White Sox. The second was seven, in an 18-3 drubbing at home by the Giants.

Fortunately, this game only counts as one loss and the Cubs still have a chance to meatloaf this series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Edward Cabrera will be activated from the injured list and make the start for the Cubs, and the Cardinals will counter with right-hander Hunter Dobbins. Game time Sunday — and note, it’s different! — is 2:15 p.m. CT. That’s because this game is being nationally televised on ABC (no blackouts) and also streamed on the ESPN App. The BCB game preview will post at 12 noon CT.