Category: MLB

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Phillies fans and fans across the country.

Yet again, the bullpen needed an arm with Caleb Kilian going on the injured list and yet again, Alex McFarlane was passed over. Chase Shugart was brought back after being demoted mere days earlier and the bullpen suffers for it.

Why?

Has McFarlane done something outside of his shoddy-ish command to not deserve some time in the majors? His not coming up instead of Shugart is questionable at best. So what do you think?

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that a big opportunity for the Texas Rangers began with an extra innings win in Anaheim last evening.

MLB dot com’s Jacob Gurvis writes that MacKenzie Gore pitched well to set the tone for Texas in the opener of their road trip.

McFarland writes that, despite the possibility for injury, the Rangers are once again utilizing Wyatt Langford in center field to give the lineup a shot against left-handers.

Evan Grant writes that Jordan Montgomery returned to the big leagues but now he has to work his way back to being good at being a big leaguer.

Look who has come crawling back to Cal Quantrill as Gurvis notes that Nathan Eovaldi hit the injured list yesterday with elbow inflammation.

And, Grant writes that long-time suit Neil Leibman leaves the Rangers as an ownership stake-haver whose decisions led us to BZZR.

Have a nice day!

Rangers 4, Angels 1

• Nothing like starting a road trip with a win.
• MacKenzie Gore was good, if not terribly efficient, needing 103 pitches to get through 23 batters and 5.1 innings of work.
• Gore’s command was not great, as he missed badly quite a bit, which helps explain the elevated pitch count. Still, he issued just two walks in the game, and we’ll take that.
• Gore also generated 22 swings and misses in the game, tied for the 30th most in a game by any pitcher this season, and tied for fourth most by a Ranger pitcher this season.
• The changeup was what particularly befuddled Angels hitters — Gore threw his change 22 times, generating 17 swings, 12 of which resulted in whiffs. That ties him for the 8th most swings and misses on a changeup in a game this season.
• Fun fact…14 times this season, a major league pitcher has gotten 12 or more whiffs on his changeup. Cristopher Sanchez has done it six times, and Tarik Skubal has done it three times.
• Another fun fact…three of those 14 instances, it was the Anaheim Angels who were the victims.
• Gore continues his hot and cold, yes and no, in and out, up and down, wrong and right, black and white, fight and break up, kiss and make up season.
• I know many of you angrily turned off the television when Mike Trout hit that first inning home run off of Gore, consigning the game to the ash bin of failure and watching Mr. Show reruns in a huff.
• And note that I said television, not TV, because TV is a nickname and nicknames are for friends and television is no friend of mine.
• There were a lot of baserunners in this game, given that the score ended up being 4-1.
• The Angels were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Angels fans would probably be mad about that if they hadn’t had their souls sucked out of them by virtue of being Angels fans the past however many years.
• The Rangers were an acceptable 4 for 15 with runners in scoring position. However, three of those hits came in the tenth inning, which feels like it hardly counts. They also left 10 men on base.
• It didn’t have to go to extra innings. Corey Seager hit what appeared to be a go-ahead two out, three run home run in the top of the seventh off of the Tayler Saucedo, only for the immortal Wade Meckler to bring it back and steal it from the Seagbot.
• You may recognize Tayler Saucedo as being the person who red-pilled Pete Crow-Armstrong about Babe Ruth not existing.
• He deserves to give up a home run.
• A cavalcade of bullpen arms did good work for the Rangers behind Gore. Peyton Gore is now 6-0, by virtue of being in the right place at the right time in regards to bullpen utilization and the timing of the Rangers taking the lead.
• In MLB history, there have been 17 rookie pitchers to record at least 6 wins and have no losses in a season. And one of them was in 1899 — Charlie “Piano Legs” Hickman.
• Now, you may be saying to yourself, I’m familiar with ol’ Piano Legs, and he was a position player.
• And you’d be right! He spent his first three seasons with Boston, mostly as a pitcher, was purchased by the New York Giants before the 1900 season, and the Giants mostly had him stop pitching, mostly playing first base and the outfield instead.
• Robbie Ross was 6-0 his rookie season with the Rangers in 2012, as well.
• Both teams ended up using their bullpen heavily — the Rangers used five relievers, the Angels six — which means maybe taking the over for Tuesday’s game.
• The Astros won, so the Rangers are still a half-game back in the West. They are 1.5 games up on Minnesota and Detroit in the Wild Card, though.
• MacKenzie Gore touched 97.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.5 mph. Tyer Alexander hit 92.4 mph with his fastball. Chase Silseth reached 95.9 mph with his fastball. Robby Ahlstrom’s fastball topped out at 95.9 mph. Peyton Gray hit 94.0 mph with his fastball. Jacob Latz’s fastball maxed out at 94.8 mph.
• Elias Diaz had a 109.2 mph single and a 101.7 mph groundout. Brandon Nimmo had a 105.8 mph single, a 103.9 mph groundout and a 100.9 mph single. Corey Seager had a 104.3 mph groundout, a 101.3 mph fly out and a 100.7 mph single. Joc Pederson had a 100.2 mph fly out.
• Let’s maintain the momentum. Woo hoo!!!!

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The Detroit Tigers sit as a -117 home favorite tonight against the Cleveland Guardians, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at Comerica Park. 

My Guardians vs. Tigers predictions are backing the hosts behind their solid bullpen and surging offense. 

Find out more in my MLB picks for Tuesday, Aug. 11. 

Who will win Guardians vs Tigers today: Tigers moneyline (-121)

The Cleveland Guardians send Tanner Bibee to the mound tonight. He's been reliable overall, but his recent form is shakier, with a 4.78 FIP, 2.08 HR/9, and 12.1% barrel rate over his last few outings.

That is concerning against a Detroit Tigers lineup carrying a 120 wRC+ over its last six games.

The Tigers counter with Drew Anderson, who typically works only two or three innings, but that setup is easier to trust with Detroit’s bullpen dominating. Over its last 18 1/3 frames, the relief corps owns a 2.39 xERA.

I’ll back Detroit and play this pick to -140.

COVERS INTEL: Cleveland has been far less dangerous away from home, posting an 85 road wRC+ compared to a 103 mark at Progressive Field. That gives Detroit’s bullpen-heavy pitching plan more support.

Guardians vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-107)

The Under presents more value tonight. While I expect Detroit to score runs off Bibee, he rarely gets lit up, and Cleveland’s bullpen hasn’t been crushed by the long ball. They have a 4.85 xERA over the last week while surrendering 1.09 HR/9.

Detroit’s power isn’t terrific right now anyway, posting a .128 ISO in the last seven days.

As for the Guardians offense, their ISO sits at .093 over its previous six contests. That matters against a Tigers pen that is limiting damage right now.

This should be a low-scoring affair at Comerica Park. Play this pick to -130.

Guardians vs Tigers home run prediction: Dillon Dingler (+388)

Dillon Dingler is red-hot at the moment, going deep three times in the last week while posting a .385 ISO during that span. The slugger gets to face Bibee tonight, who has had recent issues with the long ball. 

What also stands out to me in that matchup is Bibee's 47.1% fly ball rate over the last month. Dingler has put 45.5% of his contact in the air in his last six games, and Bibee's barrel rate is alarming at the moment. 

Also, the Guardians pen isn't completely untouched when it comes to home runs, either. If Dingler gets some lift on a mistake, it could very well leave the yard. 

Play this pick down to +300. 

Guardians vs Tigers weather

Weather at Comerica Park looks humid and a bit unsettled tonight, with temperatures sitting in the mid-70s from first pitch through 9 p.m. ET. Winds are light around 5-6 mph, but rain chances are elevated early, peaking around 58% at 8 p.m. Conditions are playable, though a brief delay risk exists.

Guardians vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Guardians +113 | Tigers -117
• Run line: Guardians +1.5 (-178) | Tigers -1.5 (+170)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-100) | Under 8.5 (-104)

Guardians vs Tigers trend

The Tigers have hit the Under in 25 of their last 40 games at home (+9.75 Units / 22% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Tigers.

How to watch Guardians vs Tigers and game info

Guardians vs Tigers latest injuries

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There is good news from last week, and there is bad news. The good news? The White Sox took two of three from the Cleveland Guardians at home this past weekend and snapped a four-game losing streak. The bad news? The Boston Red Sox are still playing very good baseball and have swept us in the season series, for the first time ever.

But wait, there’s more good news: Cleveland has been dealt with for now, and has been dropped to fourth place in the division. Second place belongs to … the Tigers and Twins? If you remember, a week ago Detroit’s front office deemed a 3 1/2-game deficit from a Wild Card spot not good enough, and it sold off both Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize. Yet despite this, they have taken advantage of Chicago (5-5), Cleveland (3-7), and Minnesota (4-6) having a mediocre last 10 games. By this time next week, we could see the preseason favorite for the AL Central title claiming a playoff spot heading into the second half of August. With that being said, Max Clark and a healthy Troy Melton are not going to save that team, and the Tigers will run out of steam (sorry to my fiance).

This begs the question, who will claim the top spot of the worst division in baseball? Right now, things are looking sunny for the White Sox.

You would not have thought so after getting steamrolled at Fenway. The series opener on Tuesday was a 14-2 beating. That doesn’t feel great after coming off a series win against Tampa. There was a theory that Davis Martin was tipping pitches (seemingly confirmed by the pitcher himself and Kyle Teel), but has anyone stopped to consider that the righty just really stinks on the road?

This season he is posting a 5.32 ERA in 12 road starts. His BB/9 is 3.41, his WHIP is 1.52, and batters are hitting .295. Now compare that to his 2.84 ERA at home over 11 starts. Home field advantage still very much exists, and it plays to Martin’s favor. In these starts his BB/9 is 2.05, his WHIP drops to 1.11, and batters facing him are hitting below league average at .231. I am not Zach Bove, I do not know how to fix this, but I do know that it should be fixed. Lucky for Martin, he is currently in the front of the rotation, and should the standings remain as they are he will probably have the opportunity to start a playoff game on his home mound.

Thursday was the most stressful game of the season thus far. It was giving playoff energy and, after dropping the second game of the three-game set 4-0 the night before, it felt like a must-win game for the White Sox. It went 13 innings, and the Good Guys lost. The team could get runs across the plate in extras with no problem, but the pitching struggled to keep the Red Sox from doing the same thing. Ultimately, Caleb Durbin walked it off with a single to center field. Erick Fedde, who conveniently moved to the bullpen after the Luis Castillo trade, got pegged with the loss.

You just got walloped by a team that nobody except its fans like, you head home to face your closest division rival, and what do you do? The correct answer is lose 8-2 in the series opener. It was at this point that I thought the season had struck midnight and the team turned into a pumpkin.

It was a Noah Schultz start. Or so it was until Bove went to the mound to talk with his pitcher and then Will Venable went out for a second mound visit with the lefty. Because there were two mound visits in the same inning with the same pitcher, Schultz was required to be removed from the game after a third of an inning of work. What could he have possibly done with that singular out of work? That answer is give up two earned runs. David Sandlin got tapped for clean-up duty and instead made an even bigger mess of the game, giving up six earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. At least Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami homered?

Saturday was the long-awaited Ozzie Guillén jersey retirement day. It was a magnificent day, celebrating a man who brought so much joy to the city of Chicago. I was in attendance for the celebrations, and it wasn’t until the pomp and circumstance was over that the realization hit me of just how much Ozzie did for this city. Plus, it was really cool to see all my childhood crushes in attendance (hey, Joe Crede!).

The White Sox did not embarrass dear Ozzie on his big day. The team went down, 2-0, in the top of the sixth inning but quickly answered with a five-run rally in the bottom of the frame to secure the victory. The club gifted the Guilléns a trip to Japan as part of the number retirement festivities, so it felt only fitting that Mune slugged his 26th dinger of the year to get the scoring going. Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Tristan Peters all came up with big RBIs in the victory as well.

Sunday’s rubber match was a wet one. There was only an inning of play before the Sodfather had to get the tarp out. Both starters surrendered runs in the inning, with Cleveland having the 2-1 edge heading into the 2:23 rain delay. What started as a standard Martin outing, resulted in a Hagen Smith MLB debut when the storms finally cleared and play was able to resume.

The No. 2 prospect challenged himself in his two innings of work. He allowed no runs, struck out three, and walked four. The lefty’s stuff looked nasty. The unfortunate part was his pitch count was elevated after walking the bases loaded in the third inning. He was done after 48 pitches. I have no doubt Smith went home with a handful of authenticated balls on Sunday, one of which denoted his first MLB win.

Colson played hero in yet another game this season, launching his 26th long ball of the season. This homer got him back a piece of the team lead with Mune. It also got the White Sox the lead they needed for the 5-3 victory.

This week, the other team from Ohio comes to town (the Reds). The Cincinnati squad seems like they will be much less of a threat than their friends to the north, but looks can always be deceiving. Chicago will need a solid series before they head back to the Motor City. Just because the Tigers sold at the deadline doesn’t mean they do not remain a threat in this ever-weakening division.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, “petting never turned a tiger into a kitten.”

Youssef Chermiti faces a long recovery from anterior cruciate ligament damage sustained shortly after Rangers turned down an offer for the striker.

The 22-year-old Portuguese was injured during Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Hibernian as he collided with advertising boards following a jarring challenge.

A club announcement via social media states Chermiti "will be out of action for a significant period of time".

He moved to Ibrox from Everton in September 2025, reportedly becoming Rangers' most expensive purchase since Tore Andre Flo in 2000.

Capped at under-21 level by Portugal, the centre forward has made 43 Rangers appearances, 30 of them starts, scoring 15 goals.

Asked about reports that Turkish champions Galatasaray had made an approach for Chermiti, Rangers manager Derek McInnes told BBC Scotland prior to kick-off: "I'm led to believe the club's valuation of the player hasn't been met.

"It's no surprise that he's a player who's got a big (price) tag on him and he's got high potential, but thankfully he's our player and that will continue to be the case.

"We're trying to build a team here at the minute and we're trying to still bring additions to the team that helps us add to the good players that we've got, including Youssef.

"So it's not something we would encourage at any point."

• Rangers chairman expects up to five more signings
• Chermiti injured after Rangers reject bid for striker
• What is an ACL injury and why is it so serious?

• Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan views
• Get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app

After three straight series against the Senior Circuit, the Yankees welcome the Mariners to the East Coast. The Bombers had an off day on Monday after dropping the series finale against the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves. The Yankees continue to hold serve as they wait for reinforcements to arrive, posting a 5-5 mark over their last 10 games, including an even 3-3 record thus far on the homestand.

The Mariners dock in New York after being swept at home by the pesky and, at this point, must-be-declared-legit Tampa Bay Rays. Seattle’s season has not gone according to plan, as star catcher Cal Raleigh has struggled and the club enters play Tuesday sitting at 56-63. The Mariners have dropped four straight and are just 3-7 over their last 10 games.

This series features two night games before Thursday’s getaway game, currently scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET. Let’s dive into which Mariners will be manning the harpoons and which Yankees white whales will be hoping to avoid the trident.

Tuesday: Ryan Weathers vs. Bryan Woo (7:05 pm ET)

Weathers has had a bit of an up-and-down first season in the Bronx. After opening the year looking solid, the month of June was not kind to the left-hander. However, since the calendar flipped to July, Weathers has found his footing again. Weathers currently has a 5-7 record, 3.79 ERA, and a 1.22 WHIP for the season.

Over his last three starts, he has thrown 18.2 innings while allowing just one earned run. That stretch includes six scoreless innings in his most recent outing against the Cardinals at home. Weathers has had his struggles in pinstripes this season, posting a 4.11 ERA at home compared to a 3.35 ERA on the road, but he will look to keep the ball in the yard and continue building on this recent momentum.

Woo is one of the best young pitchers in baseball, featuring a dominant four-seam fastball, excellent command, and the type of arm slot and tunneling that makes pitching nerds drool. The good news? Woo has been two very different pitchers this season.

At home, he owns an ace-like 7-0 record with a 1.96 ERA. On the road, however, Woo is 1-8 with a 6.71 ERA. That difference has held true recently as well. In his last two home starts, Woo has allowed just two earned runs across 13 innings. In his last two road starts, however, he has been roughed up for 10 earned runs in 10 innings. Those splits bring his overall season numbers to 8-8 with a 4.31 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. Expect Aaron Boone to send as many left-handed hitters to the plate as possible, as Woo’s platoon splits also favor the lefties. Left-handed hitters have posted a .700 OPS against Woo this season compared to .585 from righties.

Wednesday: Will Warren vs. Bryce Miller (7:00 pm ET)

Much like Weathers, Warren has had his ups and downs throughout the 2026 season. Currently sitting at 8-6 with a 4.18 ERA, Warren’s season has felt a bit like a roller coaster. After starting the year in dominant fashion, he has struggled as the weather has warmed. In July, Warren went 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA.

Warren has looked better in his last two starts. Against the Cubs, he tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, and in his most recent turn against the Cardinals, he allowed three runs over 5.1 innings. As one of the backend guys in this rotation, you have to expect some turbulence with Warren, take the good with the bad, and hope he can grind his way to a quality start.

The Mariners will send another power right-hander to the mound on Wednesday, as Miller gets the ball opposite Warren. On the season, Miller sits at 4-6 with a 3.08 ERA. He features an upper-90s fastball that he pairs with a nasty splitter and sweeper. Miller primarily uses the splitter to attack lefties and the sweeper against righties, and both pitches have been effective enough to produce almost identical platoon splits. Left-handed hitters have posted a .630 OPS against Miller compared to .629 from righties.

The good news for the Yankees is that, much like Woo, Miller has struggled away from the Pacific Northwest this season. At home, he owns a 2.09 ERA, while that number balloons to 4.02 on the road. More good news? The summer months have also been less kind to Miller, who currently finds himself in his worst stretch of the season. He has not made it through the sixth inning of a start since July 2nd.

Thursday: Max Fried vs. Logan Gilbert (1:35 pm ET)

The Yankees sandwich Warren with lefties as Fried takes the ball in the series finale. Fried has been steadily building himself back up after missing about two months of the season. Since returning, he has picked up right where he left off and currently owns a 4-3 record to go along with a tidy 2.88 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.

With two August starts under his belt, Fried looks ready for the postseason push. On the first of the month, he tossed 78 pitches of one-run ball against the Cubs before reaching 90 pitches while throwing 6.1 scoreless innings against his former club, the Braves, in his most recent start. I expect the training wheels to come off soon, and might I add that having a left-handed ace take the ball every fifth day is such an awesome thing to get to watch.

While the Yankees show a little spice of life on the mound, the Mariners roll out their third straight hard-throwing righty in Gilbert for the final game. Seattle’s front office clearly has a type: tall right-handers who throw hard, get extension down the mound, and command all of their offerings. It is a good type, but with no real wrinkle from one day to the next, hopefully the Yankees’ bats can lock in and light up Gilbert.

Gilbert owns an 8-7 record with a 3.42 ERA and 1.00 WHIP on the season. Unlike his other companions, Gilbert has actually been better on the road this year, posting a 2.50 ERA away from home compared to a 4.01 ERA at T-Mobile Park. In his most recent start against the Rays, Gilbert went 6.2 innings and took a tough 2-1 loss after allowing a pair of solo home runs that proved to be the difference. Tampa Bay also worked four walks, a season high for Gilbert.

The Yankees took two of three when they visited Seattle back in late March and early April. Here’s hoping for more of the same this time around in the Bronx.

Meet the Mets

A Brett Baty grand slam capped off a five-run first inning, and the Mets held on for an 8-5 win in the opening game of their three-game set against the Braves at Truist Park.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, ESPN

The Mets are rallying around one another post deadline as their winning ways continue.

The Mets placed closer Devin Williams on the IL with a right shoulder strain.

The club won’t name a closer in his absence, and many different guys will get their shot in the ninth.

Kodai Senga picked up his first career save last night, but due to Carson Benge’s mistake of throwing the final out to a fan, he did not get to keep the ball.

Laura Albanese argued that this is the right time to try Senga out in the closer’s role.

Carson Benge’s breakout season can partially be attributed to his bat, and partially to his ‘big time’ outfield arm.

Chelsea Janes answered some fan questions related to the Amazins, including inquiries about the plan at first base in 2027 and whether innings limits could result in early ends to Scott and Thornton’s 2026 seasons.

Tim Britton looked at the 2027 outlook in the latest installment of This Week in Mets.

Andrew Tredinnick attempted to figure out what the Mets will look like in 2027.

Mitch Voit has been scorching hot since debuting for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, and he earned Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week.

Nicolas Carreño of the Brooklyn Cyclones was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week after throwing 5 2/3 hitless innings and striking out eight.

Billy Amick, one of the team’s newest prospects, is wasting no time making himself right at home with his recent power surge.

Around the National League East

This series between the Phillies and the Cardinals could have major playoff implications.

The Phillies held on to win the first game of the series, 6-5. Andrew Painter took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning for Philadelphia in the win.

Caleb Killian, whom Philadelphia acquired as part of the Luis Arraez trade, has been placed on the IL with a ‘moderate’ strain of his left oblique.

Spencer Strider and Hurston Waldrep have been cleared to begin throwing as they look to work their way back from their respective injuries.

The Nationals are baseball’s highest-scoring offense, and are doing so by being historically young (seriously, the team only has one plate appearance all season by someone over the age of 29).

Around Major League Baseball

Free agency is right around the corner. Here is the biggest player each team stands to lose.

Not that it matters to the Mets, but the MLB postseason schedule was officially released.

The Red Sox have been historically hot despite missing several key players to injuries this year.

Byron Buxton may return this weekend for the Twins, while Joe Ryan tossed from flat ground

Tim Anderson officially announced his retirement.

The Blue Jays narrowly beat the Red Sox 2-1. It wasn’t all good news for Toronto, who lost starter Jameson Taillon, who was making his Toronto home debut, to right forearm discomfort after just four innings.

The Twins scored five in the seventh and then held on to beat the Orioles 9-5.

The Rangers scored three in the 10th to beat the Angels 4-1.

The Astros, like their Texas counterparts, also put up a three-spot in extras to beat the Giants, 6-3 in 10 innings.

The Diamondbacks blanked the Rockies 9-0.

The Rays used an eight-run eighth to secure their seventh straight win as they topped the Athletics 10-6.

The Padres beat the MLB-best Brewers 3-2. The win was aided by Jackson Merrill, who hit his third home run in as many games.

The Dodgers defeated the Royals 6-5 in Tarik Skubal’s home debut. Skubal discussed feeling the nerves in an outing that he said was ‘special’ to him.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore previewed the team’s three-game series against the Braves.

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

This Date in Mets History

Gary Carter, who hit career home run 299 in mid-May, finally connected with career home run number 300 (and ended a career-worst 63-game stretch without a dinger) on this date in 1988.

The Braves have to be ready to escape this New York Part of the schedule. After some struggles against the Yankees over the weekend, the Braves once again could not figure out the Mets in an 8-5 loss on Monday. A bizarre first inning led to 5 runs allowed by Bryce Elder, and was just too big of a hole for the Braves to climb out of. With a tough part of the schedule upcoming, it would be nice if the Braves could win one or both of the next few games.

Braves News

Both Spencer Strider and Hurston Waldrep will start throwing exercises in the near future. It does not seem to change their outlook for this season that much, as Weiss implied neither should be counted on to contribute this year.

After the Mets, the Diamondbacks will visit the Braves in Atlanta.

Mauricio Dubon is the Heart and Hustle Recipient for the Braves.

MLB News

Despite a rough start, the Dodgers were able to come back to win Tarik Skubal’s Dodger Stadium Debut.

Jackson Merrill remains hot in helping the Padres beat the Brewers.

Nathan Eovaldi landed on the IL due to elbow inflammation.

New York Daily News | Gary Philips: Jazz Chisholm Jr. has lost himself a considerable amount of money in his pending free agency with his downright bad 2026. The Yankee second baseman has managed just a 92 wRC+ with a career high strikeout rate, and of course self-proclaimed that he’d be able to land a 50/50 season in spring training. Jazz hasn’t been the only problem with the team’s offense of course, but he’s been a major contributor — or rather, non-contributor. If nothing else he seems to at least be aware of it, but awareness is different from adjustment.

NJ.com | Adam Zagoria: Tommy John released a very sad public farewell to the Yankee franchise and fanbase over the weekend, as the 83 year old enters hospice care with bladder cancer. Dr. Chris Ahmad, the club’s head doctor, penned his own touching open letter to the man on Monday, acknowledging John’s place in baseball history and remarkable determination to return to the game despite the shortest of odds.

New York Post | Ethan Spears ($): The Yankees will not have a clear path through the AL without Aaron Judge returning and hitting like we’re used to seeing Aaron Judge hit. Cody Bellinger will also likely need to be back, patrolling left field and hitting cleanup. However, the emergence of both George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones as potential lineup-lengtheners give the club a couple more options, although relying on rookies — including one with just five games under his belt — to be reliable contributors through their first taste of MLB baseball is a risky endevor.

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer have been contemporaries atop the “best pitchers in baseball” list over the last decade or so, and they mirrored each other in strikeout accomplishments over the weekend. Scherzer fanned the 3,516th victim of his career on Saturday, moving into the top-10 in all of baseball history, and moments later Cole sat down the 1,000th batter as a Yankee, the fastest to do so in pinstripes, needing just 139 games. Both pitchers are closer to their enshrinement in Cooperstown than they are to having lost prospect status, but we can still mark the milestones when they come.

With the Yankees sitting idle, and at first pitch, the Red Sox losing a one-run game to the Blue Jays, tonight felt like the perfect opportunity to gain ground on both teams in the AL East pennant race.

Two pitches in from West Sacramento, Yandy Diaz launched Jacob Lopez’s offering atop the visiting clubhouse at Sutter Health Park.

Diaz’s 16th round-tripper of the season also gave him sole possession of sixth all-time on the Rays’ home run leaderboard. 1-0, Tampa Bay.

Newly-acquired right-hander Freddy Peralta had the honor of taking the mound first at the launchpad of the American League.

In the bottom of the first, things got shaky as Peralta had a nearly 30-pitch first inning that included a Tyler Soderstrom double, as well as a Soderstrom steal of home.

From the second through the fifth inning, other than a Jonny DeLuca single, the Rays offense went stone cold.

In the bottom of the fifth, Zack Gelof homered to bring the score to 3-1 Athletics.

In the seventh, DeLuca and Chandler Simpson reach base on singles that traveled no more than 40 feet from home plate. Nick Fortes drove in DeLuca with an RBI groundout, and the Rays draw within 3-2.

Right-hander Chris Roycroft entered after Freddy Peralta’s quality start, and surrendered three runs to push the Athletics’ lead to four runs. 6-2 Sacramento.

Within four pitches, in the top of the eighth, Diaz and Jonathan Aranda single, and Diaz signaled for Caminero to calm down from second base as Caminero has been pressing recently with runners in scoring position.

On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Caminero launched one into the West Sacramento sky to cut the deficit to one.

Ryan Vilade would walk next, followed by a DeLuca single, and Chandler Simpson tied the game with a single to right field.

DeLuca and Simpson would steal second and third, Nick Fortes would draw a walk, and Taylor Walls delivered with a two-run go-ahead double to bring the Rays to 8-6.

Tampa Bay would send twelve men to the plate and score eight unanswered runs, their biggest offensive inning of the season.

Tyler Wells and Kevin Kelly pitched the eighth and ninth innings, with Wells allowing one hit and one walk, and Kelly delivering a scoreless frame.

The Rays win 10-6, and sit atop the AL East with a six game lead over the Yankees and an eight game lead over the Red Sox. Tomorrow’s probable pitchers are Nick Martinez and Mason Barnett, and first pitch is 9:40 EST from Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, CA.

The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the Anaheim Angels scored one run in ten innings.

Despite the fact that the Angels are among the worst teams in baseball, and indeed the team currently with the worst record in the American League, the Rangers came into tonight’s game winless at Angel Stadium in 2026 after getting swept by their divisional rivals up the road from Disneyland back in late May.

The Rangers only fared marginally better when last these two teams met in Arlington around a month ago with Texas claiming two of three against the Angels despite suffering a 13-1 loss to Anaheim in the middle game of the series, a game started by MacKenzie Gore.

Gore was on the hill tonight for the Rangers as they tried to inch closer to a positive record against the division’s basement dwellers. Two batters into the game and it was already 1-0 Angels as Mike Trout hit his 785th career home run against Texas.

Ultimately though, that first inning solo home run amounted to the Gore Inning (TM) as Gore settled in and didn’t allow another run through his 5 1/3 innings of work. The Angels did make him work a little as it took him 103 pitches to get to one out in the sixth before hitting the showers, but he finished allowing just the one run on four hits and a couple of walks with nine strikeouts.

Meanwhile, tonight’s starter for the Angels was Reid Detmers and he seems to enjoy alternating between being pedestrian and dominant against the Rangers. The last time Detmers took the mound against Texas he allowed five runs in four innings which seemed seemed to mean the Rangers were in for a struggle tonight.

Detmers didn’t reach dominance but he did hold the Rangers to a run in six innings on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts.

After the lefty starters left, we eventually had a battle of the bullpens. I’m loath to assume that’s a situation that favors the Rangers in any particular game this season but against Anaheim, it should be. Luckily Texas’ ‘pen held firm keeping the Angels off the board for the remaining 4 2/3 innings, not even allowing Anaheim’s Manfred Man to touch home in the bottom of the tenth.

As for the Manfred Man for the Rangers, Nicky Lopez scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run when the Rangers loaded the bases (scary, I know!) and got consecutive weakly-hit RBI base hits from Brandon Nimmo and Jake Burger. Burger’s hit, which drove in two, included Corey Seager scoring from second base where Seager decided to test the arm of Anaheim right fielder Wade Meckler.

Perhaps that was a bit out of spite after Meckler had committed robbery against Seager earlier in the game, reaching over the fence to take away a potential two-out, three-run home run in the top of the seventh with the score 1-1 that would have saved us all a little grief with the need for extra innings.

Nevertheless, Jacob Latz came in with a three run lead and worked around an 11-pitch walk to Trout but nothing else as the Rangers are again above .500 and have their first win at the Big A this year. It doesn’t seem like it needed to be that difficult but will be marked off in the win column regardless.

Player of the Game: I supposed I could highlight Elias Diaz for collecting a couple of hits including an RBI single off of Detmers to tie the score when it looked like the Rangers were about to waste a two on, no outs situation in the top of the fourth. Or Nimmo for the winning hit with the bases loaded.

Also, though, Robby Ahlstrom came in to clean up an inning where Chase Silseth had gotten into a little trouble with the game tied. Ahlstrom pitched another scoreless frame after that and hasn’t allowed a run since July 12 spanning 13 appearances.

Up Next: The Rangers and Angels will be back at it for some late night baseball with LHP Cody Bradford expected to make another start for Texas against RHP Ryan Johnson for Anaheim.

The Tuesday night first pitch from the Big A is once again scheduled for 8:38 pm CDT and will once again air on the Rangers Sports Network.

Well, I’m not sure what I expected. The Royals stars (Witt, Cags) were showing out both offensively and defensively, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the moribund bullpen in a 6-5 loss to the Dodgers that was full of punch-counterpunch.

The 6th inning was the key part. The Royals held a 3-2 lead and Noah Cameron, who had pitched pretty well up to this point, gave up a few hard-hit balls in a row to put runners on second and third with two outs. John Schreiber came in and promptly blew the game by walking Kyle Tucker and giving up a weak line drive down the right field line just beyond Cags’ outstretched glove. All three runners scored to give the Dodgers the lead. Sigh.

The Royals counterpunched with a Kyle Isbel two-run homer in the seventh inning to bring the game back to even-steven at 5-5, but Alex Lange gave up two singles in the bottom of the seventh to relinquish the lead for good. It goes as two runs total charged to Schreiber and Lange, but I don’t think Cameron really deserved those runs being charged to him.

It’s a shame. Facing Tarik Skubal, the Royals position players put up a good fight.

In the first inning, in his first-ever at-bat against Skubal (really?), Cags fouled off four pitches to hit a grounder that squeaked through the middle to score Witt from second (Cags extended his hitting streak to 9 games with that hit).

In the third inning, once again Cags came up to bat and continued his torrid second-half power show. After a Nick Loftin double, Cags was down 0-2 in the count. Then he ripped a 110.8mph line drive home run to push the lead to 3-0. It was beautiful – one of those rising liners that seemed to just keep elevating as it went. Skubal embodied the grimace emoji as soon as the ball left the bat. The Royals chased Skubal after only five innings pitched in which he gave up three runs. I think if you’re facing Skubal, you take that every time.

The star on the other side, Shohei Ohtani, then counter-punched with a deep hit of his own after seeing Jac hit the dinger in the third. It was just short of a homer, but with Hunter Feduccia on second after a double, Ohtani got a bread-basket changeup from Cameron and blasted it to the gap. Freddie Freeman followed with a single to score Ohtani.

On the defensive side, throughout the game, Witt flashed the leather in the deep hole, like in the bottom of the second when he ranged to his right and fired a perfect throw to Massey to allow him to turn the double play. Witt was all over the place. I think he even caught a pop fly in left-center later in the game. Rex was talking about his hands so much that my wife wanted to file a complaint with HR. Fair. He was ridiculous.

It felt like a good effort from the boys. Well..at least it was a good effort from half the team.

The Royals fall to 49-71. The Dodgers are 71-48. They play again tomorrow at 9:10pm US Central time. Michael Wacha will pitch against Blake Snell.

Tarik Skubal never located his best stuff Monday, missing the strike zone with his fastball far more frequently than usual.

The Dodgers found their way out of their recent downward spiral, though, and that was enough of a relief for their new ace and back-to-back Cy Young winner. Skubal pitched five innings, giving up four hits and three runs. He struck out six.

“I kind of sprayed the ball a little bit,” Skubal said after a 6-5 win over Kansas City in his Dodger Stadium debut. “That’s kind of unusual for me, especially with my command, but I thought I competed well and gave our team a chance to win.”

That was a welcome change for the down-on-their-luck Dodgers, who entered having lost eight of nine, including sweeps by the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers had lost seven in a row before finally winning Saturday at Arizona, then promptly resumed the slide Sunday with a loss to the Diamondbacks.

Read more:Shaikin: The Shohei Ohtani Economy: A two-mile ride to Dodger Stadium, for $85

So it’s hard to know whether Monday’s win marked a turnaround or simply another tourniquet to pause the bleeding. Tuesday, it’s Blake Snell’s turn. He underwent surgery on his left elbow and hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since May 9.

The Dodgers (71-48) are hoping for an encore performance at the plate, where Monday there were some familiar flickers of life.Freddie Freeman had three of their 10 hits, driving in two runs. Shohei Ohtani had two hits and scored twice. And Max Muncy — on his bobblehead night — had a bases-loaded double that gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead in the sixth and ignited the antsy crowd.

That good feeling didn’t last long, as the Royals (49-71) forged a 5-5 tie in the seventh with a two-run homer.

The Dodgers pulled away for good in the seventh after Ohtani singled, then stole second, and Freeman brought him home with a single to right.

“I thought we fought well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Tarik didn’t have his best stuff. You could see his fastball command wasn’t there. But he didn’t buckle.”

From the offense, Roberts said, “I saw that urgency tonight which we’ve got to build on from here on out.”

Urgency? The guy who had the winning hit probably wouldn’t choose that word.

“There’s going to be no panic out of this clubhouse,” Freeman said. “I understand what Doc’s saying [but] baseball’s a little different. I can’t go out there and swing harder and throw harder. That’s just not how it works.”

Slumps happen, even with good teams. Last year’s Dodgers lost seven in a row in July yet went on to win the World Series. But this recent slide has been sobering, with virtually all bats going cold at once. What’s more, the Dodgers have struggled mightily to hit fastballs.

The Athletic crunched the numbers and determined that no team in baseball has faced as dramatic an increase in fastball percentage, with the Dodgers seeing that frequency climb steadily since May.

“It never feels good to be bullied,” Roberts said. “And to know that teams go after us with the fastball more than any team in baseball, that’s bothersome. ... We’ve scored a lot of runs — fourth in baseball — but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The story is the best version of ourselves, and that’s hitting the fastball and making adjustments in at-bats situationally, all of it.

“So yeah, it’s something that I hope our guys will take that personally. We shouldn’t get bullied.”

There were some mental errors too. By the fifth, the Dodgers were out of ABS challenges, with Miguel Rojas tapping his helmet to check on a called strike that wound up being squarely in the strike zone.

That came after an unsuccessful challenge by Andy Pages in the fourth, and his track record on those inquiries is grim. Thirteen of his 24 challenges were confirmed strikes.

Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone had 20/20 vision at the plate, with a pair of two-strike hits early in the game that gave the Royals a 3-0 lead. The first was a low-velocity ground ball threaded up the middle to drive in a run. In the third, he hit a two-run shot over the right-field wall.

It wasn’t until the fifth that Skubal at last punctuated Jac with a K.

Skubal made no apologies about the butterflies he was feeling.

“I think nerves are a good thing,” he said. “The day I’m pitching and I don’t have nerves is probably the day I retire, because having nerves just means you care.”

Roberts said of Skubal: “I think we’ll see a different guy Sunday. ... I liked the way he came back to the bench and looked over his outing. I’m sure all he cares about is winning the game, which we did. We’re going to have plenty of time to lean on him, and he’s going to be great.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.